Aishiteru

Only yesterday had Yuuhi told her all about Aya, but she felt like she'd always known. There'd always been that hunch that he'd been longing for someone, someone who wasn't herself, but he'd confirmed it to her yesterday. Suddenly her heart felt so much heavier. Her hand rested on the telephone, but the receiver felt like it weighed a ton.

'I'm so stupid,' she put the earpiece against her ear and enjoyed the dull noise flowing into her mind. All she could hear, though, were the sounds of Mamoru's voice as he called her selfish. Over and over, and each time she heard them, the words became more true.

She had the number memorized. Hell, she used to call the poor guy five times a night just to hear his voice. She used to be so insecure that he was halfway out the door, but it seemed that the tables turned once she knew he wasn't leaving. All the same, she couldn't lift her fingers to the phone and punch in those digits to his voice.

"Usagi?" She slammed the receiver down and turned towards Yuuhi so fast one would think she'd been doing something horribly wrong. Calling her ex-fiancé wasn't wrong, was it? Leaving a place she'd only been at in such a short time wasn't wrong, right?

But why did she want to go back? She already knew she didn't love Mamoru, and she was reminded every time he yelled at her for doing something wrong. Even when she tried to tell Rei, the raven-haired girl just told her to grow up. Her own mother had told her that maybe she was just being immature.

Were they just trying to get rid of her? Sometimes she didn't know. She had feelings too, she couldn't change her immature ways, and maybe she just didn't want to. She liked who she was, except when everyone else told her it was bad.

"Is something wrong?" Yes, yes, everything. Everything was falling apart and she didn't have anything to hold it together. Yuuhi still loved Aya, she knew he did, and he could never love her. Usagi Tsukino could never be Yuuhi's Aya.

"I can't do it. I need to go back to where I belong, Yuuhi." Usagi glanced down at the duffel bag that rested next to her feet, full of all the belongings she'd brought when she left Mamoru. "I can't just run away from my whole life on my childish whims like this. It's not fair to my friends or to...Mamoru."

"Usagi," she'd been so busy looking down she didn't realize that Yuuhi was right in front of her, "you belong right here." He pulled her in close; she could feel how warm he was, and the tears running down her cheeks.

"Yuuhi...I love you." There, she'd sealed the deal. "I mean, I know I'm not Aya or anything, and that I could never take her place, but..." And she was silenced, not by his words, but by his lips. He broke away quickly, leaving Usagi's head spinning.

"I don't know how else to convince you, Usagi. I love you, too, more than Aya, more than anything. I don't want you to leave. I can't stay sane without you. Please, just stay here with me." Usagi felt herself crying, and she wished she wouldn't, but she'd never felt the love that Yuuhi felt in anything that Mamoru had ever said to her. She moved her eyes down to the duffel bag once more, then lifted them up to Yuuhi's to find her vision blurred beyond distinction.

"I'll stay. Forever." Yuuhi smiled and moved his hand up to her cheek, gently wiping away the tears that still fell. Usagi smiled back, and neither of them needed words. As they leaned in closer, the moment seemed ethereal. All at once, a crash echoed through the hallway and Suzumi tumbled out of a nearby cupboard, trailed by Mrs. Q.

"Oh wow! That towel was here all along!" Suzumi laughed a high-pitched, nervous laugh and sped off as fast as she could, Mrs. Q wasting no time in following. Yuuhi glared after them, apparently annoyed, but Usagi was laughing mirthfully beside him. Noticing Yuuhi's exasperation, she tip-toed to his height and placed a kiss right on his lips.

"You wanna help me cook dinner?" He grinned as she plopped backed down to her normal height and nodded vigorously. Unbeknownst to the chaos he'd just incited, he led Usagi to the kitchen. In the hour subsequent, an array of explosions fit for a world war rocked the foundations of the Aogiri home.

"Kami-sama, Usagi, how do you possibly ruin a salad? Can you cook anything?" Yuuhi finally threw his arms up in frustration. Usagi looked up at him, teary-eyed with embarrassment and covered in lettuce.

"Yes," she began indignantly, "I'm very good at ramen." Yuuhi couldn't stop laughing for ten straight minutes.

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-giggles like mad- Ramen. I didn't remember this chapter being so sad. But it was...for a while there...god I'm so frickin' tired. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the next chapter is the last...sadly...the end. Love to those who've reviewed, the last chapter will be out on Christmas Day. -wink-

Angel-Goddess: Yay, we're both spastic! :D I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about this story, it makes me all giddy. I wanted to make it longer, but...I couldn't. I didn't want to stretch it out too much. Now I'm worried I didn't stretch it out enough. But I do have...an idea...for a new AnC/SM crossover in the works. It'll probably be a long while before it's out though, sadly.

Ha, I've been updating like a madwoman this past week. I want to update every story...but I still have quite a few to go. Hmm...I got the impression, from what I've read in the series, that Chidori does like Yuuhi. But I think you should write a Yuuhi/Usagi too, that way I can have a lovely story to read about them too. :D I'm sure it'd be lovely. You have to at least try. -begs- (And you're ending was, for some reason, hilarious to me. I nearly died. Oh well, laughter :D) Thank you so, so much for your reviewage of this story. You're wonderful. :D

Also, big thanks to Bambi Star and Rena Moon and Koldy for their reviews and comments. Now I must go get a tattoo and read The Da Vinci Code. Merry Christmas!