Hello everyone! I know its been an extremely long time since I have updated, but I have been very busy lately. I'm sorry that I have kept you all waiting for so long. But, you don't have to wait any longer!---On with the story.....

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Love Hina in any way. Ken Akamatsu has all rights. I do, however, own Katsu and Xueluan.

SACRIFICES FOR LOVE

By: KiMitsukai

Chapter 8: Underneath The Moonlit Sky

"It wasn't my sister's,.....it was my wife's." Those words echoed in Naru's head as she stared at the man that she had found herself falling in love with. Her mind forgetting all about the man that she had come here looking for. Along with the fact that he had walked away from her. She looked down at her shoulder as Katsu's hand came to rest there.

He whispered gently to her. "Now, please Naru, give me the ring...."

She gazed up into his eyes, her own cloudy with tears as they rolled silently down her cheeks. She looked back down at the rose diamond ring on her finger and then back up at him. Her voice cracking and full of agony. "Why? Why didn't you tell me you were married?"

"I-.....Well,... I guess it never occurred to me to tell you."

"Never occurred to you?" She raised an eyebrow as a hint of sarcasm escaped in her tone. "It never occurred to you that you should tell the woman you are dating YOUR MARRIED??!!?!" She glared at him.

"Naru,....let me explain. Its not how it looks."

"I see clearly how it is." She ripped the ring off her finger and shoved it into his chest. "Take your damn ring! I DON"T EVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!!!" She sobbed in an angry voice.

"Naru,....." He reached out to her, but she smacked his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" Her voice was steely and cold and flames of hate burned in her eyes.

"Oh Naru,.... don't be like this. Just let me expla-"

She cut him off. "I've heard enough. I hope you have a wonderful life with your wife, because we are through!"

She turned from him and walked out the exit leaving Katsu staring after her disappearing form. Tears built up in his ebony eyes as he watched the woman he loved walk away. For some reason though, he couldn't find the will to run after her. "Naru, I would have a wonderful life with my wife,...... if she were still alive." He said in a low voice to a Naru that wasn't there. "She didn't even let me explain....."

"How could she? She was in so much pain that all she wanted was to be out of your presence."

Katsu turned his head to stare at the woman whose voice it belonged to. He noticed that she looked somewhat familiar, although he couldn't put a name to her face. "Weren't you that man's date?"

Her voice was casual and laid back. "Date? No, not really. More like two friends enjoying an evening out."

"Two friends, huh? I saw the way you were looking at him and believe me, that didn't suggest friendship."

"I can say the same for you about the brunette who just walked away from you. As for me, my "date" already loves someone else. So, there is no hope for me."

Katsu nodded understandingly. "Yes, the same applies to me. Hmm,.... did you get the impression that they knew each other?"

She nodded. "Yes, because they do. As do we."

Katsu stared at her, bewildered. "Um, Miss, I believe that you are mistaken. I would remember if I had ever met someone as beautiful as you."

"Man Katsu, you really are forgetful. Its me, Xueluan Khan."

He shook his head, embaressed. "I'm sorry, but I'm still not sure that we have met before."

Xueluan let her hair down and took off her glasses. "Remember me now?"

Katsu smiled with recognition. "Xueluan Khan! From medical school!! Long time no see."

"Yes, it has been a long time Katsu." She smiled. "Its nice to see you again. How have you been?"

"Not so bad. Nothing interesting." He omitted mentioning his deceased wife. "And you?"

"Same. Its been lonely without you though. Its not the same working without you as my partner."

"Yes,.. the same for me. Have they given you a new partner yet?"

"No. My superiors have been examining a young man's medical skills. He's in his last year of medical school. They believe that if his skills prove good enough, he'll become my new partner. But, no one will ever be as good as you Katsuhiro." She stared into his eyes and Katsu could have sworn he's seen lust in them.

He blushed and cleared his throat before talking. "Um,.... I suppose. By the way, you can call me Katsu. Thats what everyone calls me these days."

She nodded. "So, Katsu? Would you like to go somewhere and get a cup of coffee with me? We could catch up some more. Besides,..." She looked around the restaurant at all the angry faces that peered back. "...I get the feeling we've over stayed our welcome here."

"I agree. Sounds like a good idea. The coffees are on me though." He smiled and walked her outside into the frigid night air.

"I won't argue with that." She smiled as she laced her arm through his.

~*Naru's POV*~

"The nerve!! After all we went through to find him!!! I should never have even bothered. It's clear that he's happier without everyone from Hinata around. Especially me."

Naru walked slowly along the lightly snow dusted sidewalks. The faint yellow streetlights giving the atmosphere a peacefully quiet feeling. She rubbed her bare arms to try to keep warm. She was in such haste to get away from Katsu that she had left her jacket in the restaurant. It began to lightly snow.

"I think I should get out of the cold for awhile. I don't want my cold to get worse." She spoke to herself as she turned the corner. At the end of the street on the left corner was a coffee cafe. "Hmm,.... I think some nice warm coffee would be nice."

~*Keitaro's POV*~

"She's such a hypocrite!! Yelling at me for eating dinner with a woman when she was doing the same with some man.!!!! Besides,.... since when has she ever cared for me in any other way than as a useless landlord!?! NEVER!! Thats when! I've given her obvious hints that I love her, but she always ignores them.... Maybe she's just trying to tell me something." He shuffled along the sidewalk, his hand in his pockets. "Thats it! She's been telling me all along that she doesn't love me and I've been too blind to see it!!! I'm such an idiot!!!"

Keitaro walked along the town's deserted streets. All citizens inside their warm houses. The moon was full and bright creating bluish shadows that swept over the snow-covered land. Indigo clouds passed by the moon creating dancing shadows upon the few bare trees lining the street. It was a cold late November night. Winter had come early with the promise of a long hard stay.

He was staring at the ground, heading to the same coffee house Naru was. As he turned the corner he walked right into someone. "I'm so sorry." His glasses had fallen off and lay on the ground. He fell to the ground, searching with his hands to find his glasses. Without them he couldn't see a thing. He'd be lost in the world.

"Eh, 'dun wurry 'bout it!" The man's words were slurred and his breath smelled of liquor. The man swayed as he stood there for a second, not exactly sure why he was there. Then he began to walk away only to stop as he heard a crunch beneath his foot. The man looked down and lifted his foot to find a pair of smashed glasses. "Oh, surry mistur." He then walked away, falling down twice and walking in front of a car. Nonetheless, he was gone and Keitaro was left lost without his sight.

Keitaro felt around and found his glasses. "Great. Just great." He left them on the sidewalk and stood up. He opened his eyes real wide, hoping it would make him see better. He was wrong. He placed his hands out in front of him and began feeling his way down the street.

In just a matter of seconds he had bumped into someone again. However, this time his hands had found the body first. He was squeezing the person while thinking 'This feels very familiar. It's usually followed by a-'

"KEITARO!! YOU PERVERT!!!!!" He looked up and recognized the voice.

"Na-" A fist made contact with the side of his face before he could finish talking. He fell over backwards and slammed into the concrete. Usually he gets up right away and starts to run from her, but he stayed still, like a statue.

"Keitaro?" Naru began to get worried as he just layed there, unmoving. "Are you alright?"

His voice was soft, but venomous. "What do you think?"

"I guess not." She walked over and knelt beside him. "I'm sorry Keitaro." She placed her hand on his shoulder and tried to turn him around. He resisted her touch and threw off her hand.

"I'm sure you are. Your always sorry when you hit me, aren't you?"

'What's wrong with him? He never talks to me this way.' She wasn't sure if he really wanted an answer to that question or not, so she ignored it. "Well, I didn't exactly like where you were grabbing me Keitaro."

"That couldn't be helped."

Her voice rose with anger. "Are you that much of a pervert?!"

He swung around to face her. His eyes full of pain and sorrow, but unseeing. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Not intentionally. Its not my fault I'm blind and can't see where I'm going!"

As he said so, Naru realized that his glasses were missing. "What happened to your glasses?"

"They broke."

"How?"

"I don't feel like explaining."

"Okay,.... well, let me help you then."

He nodded, knowing that he would need a way to get back to Xueluan's. "Okay, thanks." He extended his hand so Naru could help him up. She grabbed his hand gently and pulled him up to his feet. However, once on his feet she didn't let go of his hand.

"You can let go now Naru."

"I know, but I want to hold your hand. Is that okay with you?"

Despite being very angry with her, he couldn't help but blush and nod his approval. After all this time it looked like she warming up to him. Or maybe she was just pitying him. In any case, at the moment he was content to walk with her. A light breeze blew some snow around them, encasing them in its essence of wintry magic.

Naru rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes for a second, living in the moment of being so close to him. 'He really has no idea of how much I love him.' Her thoughts were interrupted as she opened her eyes to see Keitaro disengaging himself from her. "What's the matter Keitaro? If you don't want me to lean on you I won't."

He began to take his jacket off. "Oh, its not that. I didn't mind at all. Actually, I enjoyed walking with you like that." He held his jacket out to her. "Its just, your not wearing a coat. Wear mine, you shouldn't be walking around with a just a silk sleeveless dress on."

She took his jacket and put it on. She stared at him. "How did you know I wasn't wearing a coat?"

"Funny thing when you can no longer see, your hearing gets much better." He laughed. "No, really. I knew because you were shivering and your body felt cold against mine."

"How could you tell if I felt cold or not against you when you were wearing a jacket?"

"I could just tell." He smiled and laced his hand through hers. "Let's continue shall we? I'm really dying for a nice cup of warm coffee."

'He's changed so much since I last saw him. I wonder,... do I like this Keitaro better?' She thought as she leaned against him once more. She noticed that he felt more like a man than she thought he would. She always considered him weak, but she began to notice that he was a lot stronger than he appeared. She nodded. "Yes, let's."

They had their coffees and sat at a table by the window. They said nothing to each other, but enjoyed each other's company nonetheless. They heard the door open and enter the familiar voices that belonged to Katsu and Xueluan. It seemed like everyone had the same idea. Naru stared at them, more specifically, at Xueluan and then looked back at Keitaro. "Keitaro, Xu-" She began.

"I know. I heard them walk in."

"Should we say hello?" She was still amazed at how honed his senses were tonight. Almost as if he was a martial artist and had expertise in kendo or karate or something.

"No, let's wait and see if they notice us first."

"Okay."

So, they sat in complete silence sipping their drinks for an hour and a half. Throughout all that time neither Katsu nor Xueluan had noticed Keitaro or Naru. It was as if they were in their own world, where only the one opposite the other mattered. They walked right past Naru and Keitaro towards the exit, smiling at laughing at a previous joke that had been made.

"Keitaro, they didn't even see us."

"I know."

"It looked like they were getting along real well together. I mean REAL well."

"I noticed."

"That doesn't anger you?"

"Not in the least."

"Why's that? I thought you loved her."

"Naru, I see its really you that is blind."

"Huh?"

"I've always loved you. From the very first time I walked across the entrance to Hinata House my heart has belonged to you."

She gaped at him and remained speechless. 'Oh Keitaro, I had no idea.'

Thats it for now readers. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring. I'll try to make the next one better. Thank you for reading and please leave a review.