You're near me but can you hear me? Chapter two

by: kyllir

Disclaimer: I own a Conan doll, yes I do, but I don't own the series.

A/N: I'm using the Japanese names again this time, so in case you get confused, Shin'ichi is Jimmy, Ran is Rachael, and Kogorou is Richard. Oooh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEISH! ::GLOMP::

It had been about a week since Ran had received her last phone call from Shin'ichi, she was used to his calls being far apart, so she wasn't worried about him. Conan was troubled though, he seemed to have been turning something over in his mind for the last few days. Every time Ran tried to ask him what he was thinking about he would start and then mutter something about a math equation.

"You know," Ran began one evening, "I can tutor you if math is becoming a problem." Conan sat up all of a sudden,

"Huh? Oh yeah, math... I think I figured it out myself, I'm going to my room to finish my homework." with that he skittered out of the room before Ran could say anything. When he reached his room he pulled his door shut and flopped onto his bed, he needed to think, but not about math. Sighing, he flipped onto his stomach and switched his radio on. He was glad that he had the radio in there to drown out his screaming thoughts. An upbeat techno-ish melody emitted from the small radio, the pounding of the drums seemed to synch with his heartbeat as a woman began to sing,

All your love I had and all was cast away from me, gone in an instant,

Wont forget, I'll focus hard to untangle this mystery, aaah knowing you don't suspect a thing,

'This is a cheerful song.' Conan thought to himself sarcastically as he played the words over in his head, the song immediately reminded him of the issue that had been troubling him this past week.

Remember summer days, hanging out, our time together,

looking back on those even now brings tears that wont cease, you were my true love,

Letting the music guide his thoughts, Conan shut his eyes, remembering old times. One event in particular stuck out in his mind, it was right before the school year started,

"The karate championship is coming up in a couple weeks, are you going to come?" Ran asked Shin'ichi as they walked through the park.

"I can try, but you know how it is with cases... if nothing comes up, I promise I'll be there to cheer you on." he replied a little nervously, Ran glared at him and huffed,

"Fine, but you'll have to make it up to me!" she continued to glare, he gulped nervously and laughed,

"Okay, okay, if you win the championship I promise I'll take you to that amusement park you like, my treat." He smiled as the anger drained from her face and was replaced with a smile,

"Alright then, Shin'ichi! You know I'll win, so don't forget!" they both laughed,

"I know you will, I know you will..."

Conan smiled at the memory, but things had changed so much since then...

Just please have faith in me, I'll bring them back you'll see,

My wounded heart beats only for you, and longs to unveil hidden secrets...

He began to wonder if he would ever find those men in black, if he'd be stuck as Conan forever. Wouldn't it be better then, if he told Ran who he really was? If he wasn't coming back, she'd worry about him. Phone calls couldn't hold her back forever, after all... The reason he wouldn't let himself tell her before was because he had foolishly assumed that he would only be stuck as a child for a couple weeks at most, if he had known it would drag on for almost a year, he would have told her, regardless of Agasa-hakase's warnings. Watching her wait for him to return was much more painful than any amount of waiting on her could ever be. He had convinced himself that he was keeping his secret for her own good, but what if it wasn't doing her any good at all?

Simple wounded heart, it always longs for you, and longs to tell you secrets...

He switched off the radio and sat up again, he had only a vague idea of what he was doing as he walked from his room over to Ran's, and knocked on her door.

"Who is it?" he heard her ask from inside the room, he gulped and answered back,

"Ran-neechan, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ran was a little worried by his tone of voice and immediately admitted him into her room. He sat down on her bed, it was obvious now that math wasn't the thing troubling him, if she had to guess, she would have said it was girl trouble, but wasn't Conan a little young for that?

"What can I help you with, Conan-kun?" she asked gently, he took a shaky breath and looked up at her for a moment before looking back at his knees.

"Ano... Ran-neechan, how would you feel if someone lied to you?" he asked in a small voice, she blinked and answered,

"Well, I think I'd be hurt that this person couldn't tell me the truth." She wondered where this was going. Conan drew another shaky breath,

"But what if the truth was painful? Wouldn't the lie be better then?" he glanced upwards for a moment to see her expression, she looked a little confused. She paused for a moment to think, and then responded,

"The truth would definitely be better, while the lie may be pretty, it is cruel to let people think something that is not true, to deceive themselves. People can never move on with their lives if they don't know what's going on, nor can they respond or be prepared for it when it eventually catches up with them. There is only one truth, and it always prevails." she said, a sad smile on her face as she thought of Shin'ichi, she knew that he would have said the same thing. Conan's eyes widened as he took in what she said, he felt ashamed. Once again he glanced downwards,

"Are you sure you'd want the truth?" he asked in a small voice.

"Yes, of course." She looked down at him, wondering what was making him act so serious. This definitely went further than normal girl trouble, she was going to ask him what the exact situation was when he looked up at her. His eyes looked very sad and worried, she was caught off guard by such eyes and stopped.

"Ran-neechan, if I tell you something, will you promise not to be too mad?" he bit his lip, Ran's eyes widened. She still didn't know what was troubling the boy, but why would he worry about her getting mad at him?

"I promise, go ahead Conan-kun." She watched as he wrung his hands nervously,

"Ran, I..." He began, Ran's eyes widened a bit when he dropped the honorific, "I'm sorry that I haven't been honest with you. One truth does prevail, and I had forgotten that. All this time, I thought I was protecting you, but I only made you hurt more." he hung his head in shame, "Ran, I really am Shin'ichi. I'm sorry." he sniffled as tears fell down his cheeks. Ran was speechless, more shocked than angry. She looked down at Conan as he wiped at his eyes furiously, almost as if begging his tears to stop. She felt tears of her own well up in her eyes as she wound her arms around the crying boy. He looked up at her in surprise, tears still flowing from his eyes, before diving into her embrace.

"Shin'ichi..." she whispered as she hugged him, "I'm just glad you're safe... but please don't lie to me again."

"I wanted to tell you in my real voice, but I love you Ran..." Their eyes met for a moment. Ran smiled down at him,

"I love you too, Shin'ichi..." They continued to embrace one another, as if they'd both been lost for a very long time and finally reunited. "Shin'ichi." Ran stated in a harsh tone, he cringed, "You have got a lot of explaining to do. However... that can wait til later." She laid down, Conan still in her arms, and they both fell into a restful slumber. With smiles on their faces they drifted softly into dreams of one another, finally at peace.

The end