Disclaimer- This does not belong to me.

The days that followed the day Kira received the wonderful letter from Rei flew by with unusual quickness for Kira. For Tatsuya on the other hand it was painful, like the dull ache of a headache. All he thought about night and day was Kira, not that he thought about much else before but now things were different. He knew that he had to come up with something fast elswise he'd loose her for good. He wondered how things could have gone so wrong when he'd gone from friend of boyfriend to roommate. He'd even become as desperate as to consider spilling his soul to her. That however was very dangerous. If he told her and she felt the same then they'd live together happily ever after, if she didn't feel the same then she'd leave and he'd be left alone with the pain of rejection.

"Tatsuya, Tatsuya!" she called, waving her hand in front of his face to capture his attention. "So which should I take, this or this?" she asked, holding up a blue tube top and a sea foam green halter top. "It's hot in Arizona right? I hear they have desserts."

"Huh?" he asked, dazed from his intense daydream.

"I already explained this to you. I'm only taking enough clothes for two weeks and then you can send me the rest. You know with the limit on how much baggage you take and such," she said quickly. She held her two tops higher up. "So which ones?" she asked.

"Either is fine," he said with a tired sigh.

She rolled her eyes at him. "That's all you've been saying all week!" she told him. She looked at both and then folded them and placed them in her suit case. "I guess that's it then right?"

"I guess," he answered.

"Can you think of anything else I might need?" she asked him as she zipped up her large black suit case and slipped on the couch next to him.

"No, nothing at all," he said, trying real hard to hide the pain he felt inside.

Kira looked over at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "I'm gonna miss you," she told him, placing her head on his shoulder.

Tatsuya closed his eyes and inhaled the beautiful smell of her hair. "I'm going to miss you too," he told her. "More than you'll ever know," he whispered, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch it.

"I wanted to thank you, for everything that you've done for me. You helped me get my feet back on the ground. I'll never forget that. I'll call you every week or more often," she then giggled. "How often am I supposed to call you? I don't quite know how this overseas friendship works," she said, lifting her head to look at him.

He smiled halfheartedly and shrugged. "Whenever you feel like it," he answered.

She grinned at him and placed a warm hand on his cheek. "Well, it's late and I'll need my strength for tomorrow morning won't I?"

"Yeah."

She nodded and walked off to her room, it was pretty bare now. All that was left was her bed, she'd put all her other things either in her suitcases or in boxes. Kira couldn't stop grinning, up until she was in her night clothes and underneath her covers. Tomorrow would be the day that she'd finally be with Rei again. She was so excited she couldn't sleep. She wondered what they'd say to each other, wondered what he'd look like. Maybe he'd cut his hair, or he'd gotten a tan from the harsh sun. No matter what she knew he'd look beautiful.

Tatsuya laid on the couch and glared angrily at the ceiling. He was furious with himself. He wondered when he'd become such a whimp. Why was it he couldn't bring himself to tell Kira how he truly felt? In fact he could barely bring himself to look at her let alone speak to her like he could before. Perhaps it was because he knew that within twenty four hours she'd be across the world and would have completely forgotten about him.

By the time they both fell asleep it was time for them to head towards the airport. Neither ate, both perhaps too nervous of what events lay ahead of them. The ride there was painstakingly quiet. There was no traffic and most stores were closed and nobody walked the streets so there was nothing to look at.

They pulled up to the front and Tatsuya unlocked her door with the push of a button on his arm rest. He jumped out and piled her suitcases on one of the carts. "You take this and go ahead and check you baggage's. I'll park the car and meet up with you."

She nodded and began to push it towards the doors. She sensed some sort of sadness in him and it bothered her that she didn't know what to do or say to make it go away. She asked herself if her place really was with Rei and then remembered promising to stay by him no matter what and knew her answer.

With her plane ticket and passport in hand she approached the desk, ready to hand them over and walk through the door onto the plane. The butterflies in her stomach were fluttering angrily and her heart was beating her rib cage to dust.

After all her papers were verified and handed back to her Kira turned back to Tatsuya to say her final goodbye.

"Well this is t," she said, prompting Tatsuya to say something. He'd been silent all morning.

He looked at her with sad eyes and nodded. "Have a safe flight, call me as soon as you can to let me know that you've arrived safely," he told her. The tiny voice in the back of his head was quickly driving him mad. He felt like if he didn't confess his feelings to her his head would explode.

"I will," she said, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"Last call for flight 280, direct flight to Arizona, USA," came the crisp voice over the loud speaker.

"That's me. Goodbye Tatsuya. Can't thank you enough for all you've done for me," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek before turning and headed towards the gate.

"No, wait!" he said, finally giving into his feelings.

She stopped and turned to him. "Yes?" she asked, looking at him strangely.

"Please don't go!" he said with alarming urgency. He ran up to her and held her hands in his and then knelt down before her, looking up at her with the eyes of a puppy. "I love you, always have and always will. I know the timing is bad but I swear that if you stay with me I'll make you the happiest girl on earth," he said. He could feel his hands becoming sweaty as he awaited her response.

She opened her mouth to speak but the words refused to come. She was too shocked to speak or move.

"Again, last call for flight 208," said the announcer.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go. love you Tatsuya, but the way you love me. I'm sorry for the pain I've caused," she said quickly before turning and leaving behind a very heartbroken Tatsuya.

He watched Kira from his kneeling position, feeling very much like a fool. His heart was crushed into smaller pieces with each step she took. She walked through the door and out of Tatsuya's life. He let out an angry sigh and dropped his gaze to the shiny floor of the airport. He cursed Rei in his head for having such a tight hold on Kira's heart. He cursed himself as well, perhaps if he'd been more honest with his feelings from the beginning and told Rei that he wanted her for himself Rei wouldn't have gone out with her and he wouldn't feel the way he did now. He got up from the floor and dusted off his knees with his hands. The damage was done and he assumed that would be best if he moved on.

The drive from the airport was lonely and he only felt worse upon entering his apartment. It was awfully quiet and the boxes containing Kira's belongings only felt worse upon entering his apartment. It was awfully quiet and the boxes containing Kira's belongings only made his heart ache for her more. He'd have to ship them to her in a week or so. At this moment he wished that he kept going out with Harumi. Even if he didn't love her he could keep the illusion of being happy and he mightn't feel completely empty. The thought of calling her was extremely tempting but he figured that she'd probably be angry with him and so he decided to pack away Kira's things in the storage closet and attempt to forget about her.

On the plane Kira was quickly growing tired of gazing at the clouds outside. After many hours the fluffy white clouds against the bright blue sky became boring, for they were seemingly unchanging. She spent a few minutes gazing at the other passengers, but sleeping subjects weren't much fun either. She decided to follow suit and too fell asleep.

Her sleep was fitful as she was tormented with Tatsuya's pained expression. What happened in the airport was a blur in her memory. How could Tatsuya have feelings for her after so long? What was he thinking when he confessed to her? What did he expect her to do? How did he think it would make her feel to know that her best friend, her boyfriend's best friend had feelings for her? Did Rei know? Perhaps that was why he seemed to turn a cold shoulder to Tatsuya all of a sudden. It was all to confusing and trying to make sense of it all.

After what felt like hours they finally arrived at the airport safely. Kira unbuckled her seat belt as soon as the lighted icon above her head deemed it safe and got her hand luggage. The bright light that hit her when she stepped out the door of the airplane and made her way down the stairs almost blinded her. She feared that she'd lose her footing. It would have been horrible if the first time Rei saw her she had a black eye.

When she stepped onto the ground she stepped aside and looked around for an escort of some sort, she was told she'd have one in the letter Rei sent her with the plane ticket. Her eye's spotted a group of three men and took a few steps in their direction, hoping it would be someone to help her find Rei. She got closer and when she could identify the faces she saw that it was Rei who stood in the middle of two body guards. Kira's heart skipped a trillion beats, he was just as beautiful as the first time she laid eyes on him.

They made eye contact and Rei cracked a toothful smile and began to jog towards her, closely followed by his two protectors. She too quickened towards him and when they got close enough he threw his arms around her and held her tightly in his arms. His grip soon became too tight and she could feel her lungs constricting from the lack of air.

"Rei! Too tight!" she squealed.

He immediately let her go and began to blush. "Do you know how long I've wanted to do that?" he asked with a shy smile. He reached out and stroked her cheek.

"About as long as I've wanted to kiss you," she said, closing her eyes and leaning towards him.

He leaned down and ever so gently caressed her soft and plump lips with his own. Rei let out a soft moan and then reached out to bring her closer. Kira savored the kiss like it could be their last.

They parted and she looked up at him with loving eyes. It was amazing how much someone can change yet look the same as they did before. His pale skin had been tanned beautifully by the strong sun of Arizona, his blonde hair was still long but better groomed and no longer unruly. He even grew a little facial hair, which made Rei look a good five years older that he really was. His eyes however still held the same warmth and his touch was more calming and realizing than anything else, and that made Kira happy.

ALERT ALERT ALERT- I'd like to start a C2 (look it up, it's a new community for writers type thing here at ). If anyone is interested in joining, becoming an official, suggestions, etc put it in your review, or email me at