Chapter fifteen (Ending one)

(Hinata-sou common room, nine months later, 11:00pm)

It had been a quiet, uneventful evening for the Urashimas; it had been a quiet, uneventful evening for the whole of the Hinata-sou. So naturally, the day had been full of zany things that would curl the hair of anyone who didn't live there.

Su had invented a new weapon, and roped Keitaro into testing it with her for most of the morning. (read: forced) So as a result, Keitaro had spent much of the afternoon repairing various parts of the building. Shinobu had come home crying from high school, saying that a guy had pulled her skirt down as she stood up to give an answer in class. As a result, Kitsune, Su and Sarah had found the guy, hung him upside-down from a tree by his shoelaces, then tickled him for the better part of four hours. All just part and parcel of a normal day at the Hinata-sou.

Motoko Urashima opened her eyes, and was greeted with the sight of five tiny fingers dangerously close to them. She gasped a little, startled, and then was comforted a split-second later when the little hand was withdrawn to reveal a happy, smiling baby. Held by Keitaro, of course. He grinned at her, then turned his head to face the child.

"Look, Yumiko-chan! Mama's awake!" Baby Yumiko, nearing three months old, gurgled in reply.

"Mama!"

"That's right, Yu-chan. That's your mama." Keitaro turned back to Motoko and grinned, a sly look more fitting of Kitsune than Keitaro crept over his face. "You know what, Yu-chan, I think mama would just love it if you were to jump on her. Here we go!" Without any further warning, He tossed the laughing baby at her. She caught her easily, not having lost any of her old reflexes. She curled little Yumiko up in a single arm, and the baby caught hold of her resting spot with both her hands, eyes slowly closing. It was a wonder she was even awake at this hour. With her free hand, she reached over and smacked Keitaro.

"Ow! Motoko-chan, what'd you do that for?"

"Don't you ever be so careless with your own daughter again! Are you stupid?" Keitaro put an arm behind his head and laughed.

"Oh come on, Motoko-chan, you and I both know there's no way you would have missed her."

"Still... Be more careful, you twit!" Keitaro nodded in reply, and leant over to kiss her; right above her left eyebrow in that spot that gave her shivers all over. Only he knew about that spot, and he used it to his advantage whenever possible. "You fiend... Taking advantage of my physical weaknesses to curry favour. Ha! See if it works." She regretted saying that instantly. He kissed her there again, and again, and a third time, then licked the same spot ever so gently. She gasped. He blew on the spot he'd just licked, and she fairly melted. "Okay... I give up, you win, you win." He grinned.

"Hah! That always works. You're such a softie underneath all that swordswoman stuff, 'toko-chan. S'why I love you so much." She gave him a phony "I'm-SO-mad-at-you-right-now" face, but it was ruined by a giant, jaw-dislocating yawn.

"Oi, Keitaro-kun... I'm so tired I think I'm going to collapse. I'm so glad we're through with school for the summer. I think I'll go to bed now, and I'll tuck in Yumiko with me, if you don't mind a third in the bed." She winked at him, and he blushed. "You pervert. Still thinking dirty thoughts, I see." He started flailing his arms, sputtering a denial, but she hushed him. "I'm teasing, silly. I'm going to bed now. Coming?" Keitaro shook his head, and sat down on the couch beside her.

"Nah, I think I'll read for a little before bed. I'll be up later, 'toko-chan. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kei-kun." She rose, gathering little Yumiko into her arms as she did so. She spared her husband one more glance, and then walked over to the edge of the staircase that would lead her to her

(their, remember)

room, and the bliss of sleep. She felt very, very happy. Today had been a good day; the best part of it being that life promised her, Keitaro, and Yumiko many, many more of them.

Keitaro sat. His book, Ishmael, lay open on the table in front of him, temporarily forgotten. It was part of the summer reading list for a humanities class he'd be taking in his final year of university, and he was having trouble getting into it. The fact that it was in English made it a little harder, he supposed. While he understood the language fairly well, the entirely different alphabet made reading in English a not-so-pleasant experience.

In any case, his mind was far from Ishmael at the moment. His eyes were drooping, half-closed, and a dreamy, contented smile was on his face. In the past, one would have immediately associated that look with Keitaro lapsing into one of his slightly lewd fantasies, but such was not the case this time. Keitaro was very much a different man from what he used to be. His daydreams were mainly of things that had already came to pass; his own life was just so full and satisfying for him now that his dreams tended not to stray too far from reality. Right now, he was thinking about that day that had brought about this change. Not that day, dearest listener, not the day

(night, it was nighttime)

that it was all set in motion, but that wintry morning in December when he and Motoko were joined as husband and wife.

The Hinata-sou was covered in Christmas decorations already, so there hadn't been much call for decorating in honour of the ceremony. That had suited Motoko just fine, although Kitsune was a little disappointed that nobody had listened to her "Sake bottle motif" decorating idea.

"I'm telling you, guys, it'd be great! We could dress the bride and groom up like cups, and then drench them in sake when the ceremony's finished! Whaddy'all say?" This had of course been met with a variation of boos, hisses, and debris flung in Kitsune's direction, so she hadn't pressed the manner.

Motoko, ever the traditionalist, had insisted on a San-san-kudo ceremony, but had conceded on the point that theirs would be slightly more frilled than the traditional version. When it had began, Keitaro and Motoko had walked into the Hinata-sou common area from opposite sides. Motoko was wearing a black gown that hugged her figure nicely, reaching almost to the floor where it was trimmed with lace and velvet. She looked stunning. Keitaro was wearing a simple suit in a soft grey colour, along with a white shirt and black tie. Not formal, but hardly casual, the two of them looked utterly perfect.

Nobody dared say a word. The whole thing just seemed so surreal that it was felt by all just a single word might shatter this fragile reality. Nobody could help but think that it didn't seem entirely right, after all they'd went through together, that it was Motoko here with Keitaro and not Naru. That thought was never spoken, though, and the ceremony proceeded. Keitaro and Motoko knelt on silk cushions placed on either side of a low table. Tsuruko now entered the room, looking as resplendent as ever even in her gi and hamaka, carrying a gold cup filled with sake. She stood at the edge of the table, looking from Keitaro to Motoko and back again.

"I wish you both peace, happiness, and a fruitful future. Motoko-han, Urashima-kun... Drink you both of this and take each other's hands." Tsuruko set the cup down on the table and indicated to Keitaro to start the ceremony. He lifted the cup to his lips and sipped, slowly, deliberately. He passed the cup to Motoko, where the process was repeated. The cup made its way around three times three, and they were wed. Such a simple thing, but it meant so much to everyone. Motoko took Keitaro's hands, looked into his eyes, and said—

Knock, knock. Keitaro's head snapped up, his eyes opening again. Had he dozed off? He looked over at the clock on the end table. Its small green numerals told him news he wasn't really keen on. It was now three in the morning. (Lovely,) thought Keitaro, (Motoko's probably going to wonder what happened to me if I don't get to bed soon. I'd better go up and--)

Knock, knock. Again came the noise, a little more urgent this time, and Keitaro actually registered it in his brain, from which the sleep-haze was slowly clearing. (Now who the hell is that? It had better be goddamn good for them to want to knock at almost three in the morning.) Cursing under his breath, he heaved his protesting body off the warm couch and shuffled towards the door.

Knock, knock. A third time.

"All right, all right, I'm coming! Bloody hell, haven't you morons ever heard of slee—" Here he flung the door open, his face set in grim lines of anger. Instantly, his words died on his lips. They didn't wither and trail off, they died. Dropped dead entirely. All the anger melted away from his face, and all he could do was stare as voices echoed off the crevasses of his mind.

"I never want to see you again."

"That's a confession. BAKA!!"

"Keitaro, I trusted you."

All of these and a million more phrases came screaming back to him as he looked out at the form of Naru Narusegawa, who bore a small, demure smile on her face. She looked slightly dishevelled, and her eyes were rimmed with red, but otherwise she was the same girl that had stormed out of this place nearly a year ago now. She smiled, barely perceptible, and greeted him.

"Konbanwa, Keitaro. Long time no see, ne?" His mouth opened, and his lips began to move, but no sound came out. He licked his lips, paused, and tried again.

"K... Konbanwa, Narusegawa. Come in, come in." He stood aside, and gathering her bags, she walked in past him. She set down her suitcases next to the couch, and then motioned for Keitaro to come closer. He did so.

WHACK

Naru slapped him. Hard. So hard, in fact, that he felt the side of his face that she'd hit go numb, and a high keening sort of noise began to make itself heard in Keitaro's ear.

"Uh... I missed you too?" Keitaro said, a little confused.

"You had that coming to you, Keitaro. Now that it's done with, yes, I missed you. I'm really glad to be home, too." Keitaro face-vaulted. Picking himself up, he pulled Naru into a rough hug.

"Welcome home, Naru-chan. I've got to ask, though, why the late arrival?" Naru pulled back a little, smiling.

"Well, I did the time conversion wrong, and booked a flight that I thought would get me here around eleven in the evening. I wanted to surprise everyone, but I guess it'll have to be just you until morning. She backed up a step, but kept a hand on each of his elbows. She leaned in gradually towards him, shortening the distance between their lips as she did so.

"Kei," Naru began, in a husky sort of whisper that Keitaro knew only too well, "It's been way, way too long. I've missed you so much..." Her face was now inches from Keitaro's own. She leaned in a little closer, meaning to kiss the very life from his body, and... nothing. She opened her eyes, and Keitaro had turned his head, an uncomfortable sort of expression on his face. Naru felt dread envelope her like a sudden ice storm. She tried to speak, but her words caught in her throat. What came out was this: "Kei... What... Why?" Keitaro looked pained, but resigned. Like he was about to dive off a cliff he'd been sitting at for years, now. He said nothing for the moment, only led her over to the couch to sit down. She complied, feeling more frightened than she had ever been in her life. (Oh kami no, I waited too long. I waited too long, I can't believe it, he's gone, all I wanted the whole year I was gone was to hold him again, and now I come back to find out that he's gone, I waited too long, kami, no, say it's not that, say it's something else, oh kami please...)

"Naru?" Keitaro was looking her straight in the eyes, and she attempted to still the voices that were still yammering in panic within her mind.

"Kei... Keitaro? What is it? What's going on, Keitaro?" She stopped herself from saying any more, for fear she wouldn't be able to stop talking once she really got going. Keitaro took her by the shoulders, and locked his gaze with hers. Everything disappeared around them as he spoke.

"Naru... You've been gone a long time. I've missed you terribly. I cried so much for during the first two months I'm surprised I still have eyes left. Months have almost turned into a year, and now you're back, and you want to pick up where we left off." Keitaro paused. He licked his lips, and with a bare glancelet at the ceiling, as if searching for the right words there, began again. "I don't think there' anything I wanted more, at one time, but things are... different now, Naru. We can't just go on as we always have." Naru was stunned. She shook her head, and replied.

"What? Keitaro, what do you mean? What's different? I still love you! I'm sorry that I left, I'm sorry I was gone for so long, if it's any consolation it probably hurt me as much as you, even! I'm sorry that I'm such an indecisive fool, and I'm sorry that I hurt you, even if you did hurt me too. I just want to feel you in my arms again, Kei, I felt so SAFE when I was there, and now you're telling me that my sanctuary is closed for good? What changed, Kei?! WHAT?!" Keitaro put a hand over her mouth, and she stopped. She started to speak again, but instead a sob escaped her lips. She bit down on it, refusing to let any more come out. Keitaro spoke again.

"Naru... I loved you then, and in some way, I still love you, but things have changed. I don't think any words I could say would explain them well enough, so why don't you just come with me for a minute, okay?"

"Where are we goin—" Keitaro put a finger to her lips.

"We're going to my room. Be quiet, though, or you'll wake everyone else up." Keitaro took her hand, and the two walked up stairs familiar to both of them. Down a hallway they used to chase each other down when they were feeling playful and the other tenants were out. To a door they'd opened in tandem so many times. Memories flooded the two of them.

Keitaro made a shushing motion with his free hand, the other resting on the edge of the door. He said nothing, and slid it open. He pointed into the blackness of the room, an indescribably sad expression on his face. Naru looked. She saw nothing. She took two careful steps into Keitaro's

(HERS and Keitaro's)

room, and waited for her eyes to adjust. She turned back to Keitaro and mouthed "What am I looking at?" Keitaro pointed past her towards the bed. She swivelled her body around, and as her eyes settled on the bed, her breath caught in her throat. Motoko was asleep there. As if that wasn't clear enough, curled up in Motoko's arms was a tiny baby, a girl, with Motoko's raven-black hair. Had the light been better and the baby awake, she would have seen that the baby also had Keitaro's big, soulful brown eyes.

Tears pricked at Naru's eyes. She saw everything very clearly now. She had waited too long. Too little, too late. He was gone, and this time, different from all the other times she'd left him to mope by himself, he wasn't coming back. She backed out of the room, tears running silently down her face in a glistening rain. She followed Keitaro's lead down the hallway and stairs, the flood of memories becoming a stinging whip this time around. She seated herself on the couch again, and Keitaro took a chair across from it. He spoke.

"Well, Naru... I..." He licked his lips and tried again. "That's what's changed." He sighed, and his own tears began to flow. "I'm... I'm so sorry, Naru." Naru shook her head, trying her best to speak through her tears.

"N-not as sorry as I am for leaving, Kei. I... needed time to myself, and that's what I got. I got a little m-more than I b-b-bargained for, though." She broke down. Pulled her knees to her chest and sobbed. Her cries sounded like those of an animal in some deep anguish. Keitaro, crying openly himself now, came over and put a hand to her shoulder. She leapt up, encircling him in her arms. Their faces were inches apart as she spoke again.

"Keitaro... Would you do me a last couple of favours before I go?"

"Go? Naru, where are you g—" She cut him off with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Nevermind that. Will you do two things for me?"

"Ask."

"Don't tell anyone I was here. I'll... I'll come to visit again eventually, but right now I can't be here." She laughed. "Funny that I'm saying that again, after all this time." Keitaro nodded.

"I won't if you don't want me to, but where—" Again, he was cut off.

"Baka, let me speak. I'm going away, you don't need to know where. I'll find another place to live, and I'll finish my studies at Tokyo University. I... Oh god, Kei, this is the worst case scenario I could imagine for a homecoming." She sniffled again, and tried to collect herself before going on. "Kei, look. What happened to us is both our faults, in different ways and to different degrees. Blame aside, though, I don't want to lose you forever. I don't think anything could make me want that. I promise you, like I promised before, you'll see me again. I just can't stay here, not with you and her and..."

"Yumiko. The baby's name is Yumiko." Keitaro filled in the end of her sentence for her.

"Yumiko-chan... Pretty name, Keitaro." Naru shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Anyway, that's that."

"Naru... what about your second request?"

"Oh, yes." Naru looked him in the eye, thoughtful, wistful, and terribly sad all at once. "Kiss me. Kiss me just once, like you used to. Kiss me one last time; for all the times that we've been cheated of. Keitaro... please?" Keitaro looked at her. She was begging him. The whole scenario was just so horribly reminiscent of that night, the night that the world stood still, the night that spawned this tearful reunion, that he nearly laughed. He held in his giggles, though, and granted Naru's request.

He leaned in and kissed her. He tasted salt on her lips from her tears, and from his own. She kissed him back, lips quivering ever so slightly as new tears poured from her eyes. A hint of her tongue met the tip of his, and quickly as it begun, the kiss ended. Naru stepped back, gathering her bags.

"Well, Kei... I guess this is goodbye, again, for now. Remember, I promised. You'll see me again." She spared him one last, wistful glance, and then she was gone. She walked down to the street to hail a cab, and as a funny trick of fate, the first one she happened upon happened to be the same one that had taken her away from the Hinata-sou in the first place.

"Same as last time, if you remember, sir." The cabbie looked back at her and grinned.

"Actually, I do. You really must dislike this place, ne?"

"No, not as such... Before, I was running away when I shouldn't have. This time, I'm leaving because I have to. Next time you see me, though, you'll be taking me back there. I'll call for you personally." The cabbie laughed, and flipped on the meter. The cab sped away into the night, and for the second time, Naru Narusegawa watched Hinata-sou fade into the distance. The tears came again, soft and silent, as she bade her final, personal goodbyes to the man she had loved so dearly; now lost to her forever.

Keitaro watched her go from the door. Watched her walk down the street, fading slowly into the distance. Watched her almost-disappeared form, now just a dot, get into a cab, finally disappearing. He walked back inside, moving stiff as a wooden puppet that had only a nodding acquaintance with grease. He sat on the couch, and something on the floor caught his eye. It was a small photo album, and inside it was contained all the photo-stickers of Naru and he together. Flipping through it, he was barely even aware that he was weeping.

"Naru, Naru, Naru... Oh kami, Naru, I'm so sorry, I'm just so goddamn sorry..." He said nothing more, only cried. He hugged his knees as she had done, and cried. Suddenly, he felt a hand on the back of his neck, and heard a familiar voice.

"Kei-kun... Shhhh, it's all right, Kei-kun. Shhhh." Motoko rubbed his neck soothingly, and purred that comforting nonsense we all love to hear when we're distressed. He latched on to her and bawled like a little boy. She took him in her arms and rocked him gently back and forth, whispering still in his ears. When his crying had turned to sniffles, she spoke again, more clearly this time. "Kei-kun... That must have hurt so much, for both of you. I woke up when you opened the door to our room, so I heard a lot of what happened. You were as kind as you could have been to her under the circumstances."

"You... (sniffle) listened to us?"

"Mmhmm, I was sitting on the stairs. You did the right thing, Kei-kun. Even in such an impossibly painful situation, you still managed to do the right thing." He smiled a little at that, and kissed Motoko deeply. "Come on, Kei. Let's go to bed. You're tired, I'm tired, and Yumiko might wake up at any moment and we don't want her to be alone." Keitaro nodded and rose. He spared the door she'd walked out of one more glance, and then followed his wife upstairs. He fell asleep almost instantly once in bed, but Motoko lay there for a minute or two before falling asleep. The last words she heard that night came from Keitaro, probably mid-dream.

"Narusegawa... Sumimasen..."

End Chapter fifteen (Ending one)

((Blargh, I'm such a sap. I cried while writing this chapter. Yes yes, you're all invited to flame and/or laugh at me. I'm not a HUGE fan of this chapter, but you must understand the difficulty involved here. Coming next is Epilogue one, in which EVERYONE is happy. Naru gets over losing Keitaro, at least for the most part she does, and everyone ends up friends again. Trust me, you'll like it. I promise. [here's a hint: Naru-obasan. That is all.] Okay! So, after I publish the epilogue, which shouldn't take me TOO too long, I'll get right to work on ending number two. Promise. Okay, Min Toshihiro over and out.

...Oh yeah. REVIEW, PLEASE! :D))