After a long writer's block, I have finally figured out where things are going to go. So here we are, chapter 6! Thank you for all the lovely reviews (really, they're what got me motivated to try my hand at finishing this) and I hope to have the entire fic finished by mmm….. Valentine's Day.

Chii sighed happily, her eyes half-closed and a look of extreme relaxation on her face.

"Are you hungry Chii?"

She sat up and looked at the sandwich Hideki was offering her. She shook her head. "No, Chii's tummy is not hungry." She smiled radiantly at Hideki, who after one week of living like this still hadn't quite gotten used to seeing Chii's expressions on another girl's face. "Chii is enjoying her picnic very much! The sun is…" She trailed off, unsure quite how to describe the feeling. "Sunny? Chii doesn't know how to explain… there's a feeling, on the skin…"

Hideki scooted her close to him and hugged her. "You mean the sun is warm. It's nice, isn't it?"

Chii nodded and cuddled against Hideki. "Chii likes being human like Hideki. Chii will miss having feelings."

Hideki looked into Chii's big brown eyes with concern. "Does that make you sad Chii? Would you rather remain human?"

Chii rested her cheek against his and closed her eyes again. "No. Chii likes being human, but this is not Chii's body. Chii can feel Yuki, can hear Yuki in Chii's head. Yuki is nice, like a friend to Chii, but Chii cannot take Yuki's body." She looked Hideki in the face and brightened. "Chii is storing up her feelings! When Chii is in her own body again, Chii will still remember all her feelings!"

Hideki kissed her mouth unexpectedly, overcome by her statement. She was so brave, his Chii, so kind and good. She deserved to be happy, to be human and have her existence be counted as precious as a person's. Chii was momentarily surprised at the kiss, but she responded eagerly. Naturally. Yuki had kissed boys before, and although Chii had no memory of it, Yuki's body knew what to do.

"Motosuwa! What are you doing?"

Hideki pulled away from Chii and looked up. Standing over him was Shinbo, Sumomo on his shoulder. She had a concerned look on her face, and so did Shinbo.

"You're back from your honeymoon!" Hideki said in surprise, not having expected Shinbo to return from his honeymoon with Ms. Shimizu. He really ought to call her Takako, but somehow it felt impolite to call his former cram-school teacher by her first name. It might be ok for Shinbo, who was now her husband, but it didn't feel right for Hideki.

Shinbo crossed his arms, a strange look on his face. "And not a moment too soon it seems. Who is this schoolgirl you're kissing? Where is Chii?"

Hideki blinked up at his friend, drawing a total blank. Then he realized he'd never told Shinbo about Chii's accident. He laughed and stood up, pulling Chii up with him.

"Shinbo, allow me to introduce you to… Chii," he said a bit playfully, stepping to one side to allow Shinbo to see her completely.

Chii smiled up at Shinbo, who was still taller than her. "Shinbo! Chii is happy to see you!" She turned to Sumomo. "Hi Sumomo!"

Sumomo jumped into Chii's shoulder and looked at her closely. "Chii?"

Shinbo was floorstruck. "Chii? Is it- could it be?" His eyes shifted back and forth from Chii to Hideki, wide in disbelief. "How?"

So Hideki sat down again and was shortly joined by Shinbo and Chii while he explained the whole chain of events and lucky circumstance that had occurred in the last week. Shinbo had difficulty understanding how Chii had transferred herself into the comatose Yuki's body, but Hideki himself didn't really understand either so the matter was skimmed over briefly.

"So now Chii is human," said Shinbo, looking at Chii and watching Sumomo play with Chii's new shorter hair.

Hideki nodded. "Essentially. But this is entirely temporary. As soon as Chii's new body is finished, we'll be attempting to transfer her back." He picked up one of the sandwiches and offered it to his friend. "You want?" Shinbo shook his head no, so Hideki unwrapped it and took a thoughtful bite.

"How are you going to 'transfer' Chii to the new body? If you don't really know what happened during the power surge in the first place…" Shinbo trailed off.

Hideki swallowed hard, and looked away. "Minoru understands what happened better than me, but even he's not sure. The truth is we'll never really know for sure how it happened. We can only hope we'll be able to remove Chii from Yuki's mind."

"Yes. You have to at least try to transfer her. How does Chii feel about all this?"

At this point in the conversation, Chii took interest. "Chii feels fine!" she said cheerfully, interrupting without any compunction.

Shinbo looked at her with interest, "You really don't mind? Being human, being able to do all the things a person can do but a persocom can't- you're fine with giving all that up?"

Chii nodded. "This body does not belong to Chii. This body is Yuki's. Yuki says she would like to have it back again, and be with Yuki's mother. Chii wants to stay with Hideki. Chii is fine with being a persocom, if Chii can stay with Hideki."

Hideki felt a lump rise to his throat, and he could hardly croak out her name. "Chii," he said hoarsely, reaching for her. Chii embraced him lovingly, heedless of the sandwich that fell off Hideki's lap and spilled crumbs and tomato slices over the skirt of her dress.

"Chi?" she asked, concerned about the tears in his eyes.

Hideki laughed, and shook his head. "I'm just happy you're here Chii. With me. I love you… so much."

Something inside her responded to Hideki's emotion and Chii swallowed dryly as her vision became a bit blurry. Her throat felt tight and her face grew hot. Tears rolled down her cheeks that weren't her cheeks, and for the first time in her life, Chii was crying.

"Chii loves Hidkei too. So much," she sobbed, half laughing, as if a great dam had burst and all the tears she had never been able to shed before were pouring out now, while they had the chance. "Chii has loved Hideki all along, but now Chii feels like Chii loves Hideki even more." She laughed shakily as Hideki wiped the tears off her cheeks and pressed herself close to him.

"Chii… you cried." Hideki squeezed her tight and murmured in her ear, "No matter what anyone says, I'll always know it's true. You love me, and I love you."

Shinbo got up awkwardly, feeling like peeping tom in the middle of this touching scene, and the romantic mood was spoiled. "Well, I get it now. Chii, I hope everything works out." He turned to Hideki and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I know things will work out."

Chii and Hideki waved goodbye as Shinbo left with Sumomo. Then, packing away the remains of their picnic, they returned to the Hibya Apartments, hand in hand.