fllnangel, thank you for the information, I wasn't aware, and now I am. Everyone else, my Christmas present to you (sorry if you don't celebrate Christmas, if you don't, it's a just because present, because I love you all so very very much) And now, on with the story! Oh. Ps. Like I told you, I lost all my files, and I somehow lost my hard written copy of this too, and I had a splendidly AWESOME scene for you all coming up next chapter and can't seem to find and/or remember anything about it except it was awesome, so I'm going to keep searching and that will account for some of the upcoming delay. I'm not going to lie, part of it is going to be school and my general laziness. So, sorry in advance!

Chapter Nine: Stop Twenty-two: Last Vegas, Nevada, USA

Surprisingly, Takuto was the one to wake Mitsuki when they reached Nevada. He'd never been the one to come to her door, so he was a little hesitant to knock. When he did, he was met with silence, "Mitsuki?"

Ooshige was the one to answer, and Takuto smiled warmly, "Hi, is-" but his eyes found her. She was sitting on a heater in front of her window, staring out, blankly, "Is she okay?"

Ooshige ushered him in, "Mitsuki-chan, Takuto's here," Ooshige announced as they entered.

"Oh, hi," she turned to stare at him with those same horrifyingly blank eyes. His mind jerked as it hadn't in nearly seven weeks. He saw her, that girl, on a plane, those eyes…

That same girl, those same eyes, lying in a hospital bed, while he clutched his head by her side. Someone was shaking his shoulders, but he looked up only to find it was Ooshige.

"S-sorry," he mumbled, turning back to Mitsuki who had seemingly forgotten him.

"Mitsuki-chan, maybe you sh-"

"How many hours away is it?" she interrupted.

"One, one and a half," Ooshige answered, looking down. "But I don't…"

"You up for a drive?" she addressed this to Takuto.

"S-sure," he stumbled, and she nodded and headed out. He took one glance at Ooshige who smiled weakly before he followed her.

The ride consisted of nothing but muttered directions. Mitsuki was clutching the map in her hands and staring at it with those blank, haunted eyes. They were terrifying and familiar, and Takuto knew they were familiar because they were terrifying and terrifying because they were familiar. No one forgot eyes like those. Seeing them on the little girl in his head was enough, seeing them on Mitsuki was downright torture.

"So-uh-where are we headed?" Takuto got enough courage to ask forty-five minutes into the drive.

"Here," she answered, and he took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at the map. Just enough time to see Lake Loslin, Nevada, and just enough time for a tire to blow out, and the car to swerve off the road.

"No Izumi," Mitsuki whispered softly as Takuto stepped out of the car to examine the damage.

"Go and see Eichi if you must, but don't bring him with you," Izumi shot back.

"Dammit this one's flat too," Takuto muttered, slamming the trunk. "Well, looks like this day is shot."

Mitsuki shook her head, "I have to get there."

Takuto stared at her curiously when she stepped out of the car, "Why?"

Her eyes filled with tears, "It's just something I have to do."

"Well, I'll call Omori and have him get the car. Come on," Takuto tried to wave down a car, but each one passed until Mitsuki came to stand beside him.

"Where you headed?" the man in the SUV inquired.

Mitsuki held out a map and pointed, "Here."

"Hop in," he instructed, and she climbed in the passenger seat while Takuto, grumbling, opened the back door.

"Not from around here?" the man inquired, and Mitsuki shook her head.

"I'm Japanese," she answered in practiced English, and he nodded.

"Should have guessed, why are you in Nevada?" he slowed his speech and added verbs, for which she was extremely grateful.

"An old friend," she responded, gazing out the window. Takuto watched her from the side view mirror and couldn't help but wonder what lie ahead of them.

"Be careful ya hear?" the man instructed as he dropped them off.

"Yes, thank you," Mitsuki bowed, which made him laugh before she set off down the road, Takuto following warily.

"Turn back Mi-ki, this is foolish," Izumi ordered, but she shook her head firmly. "Do you want to see Ooshige in danger?"

"Takuto, I should only be a few minutes. You just want to wait around here?" Mitsuki gave Takuto a tone that suggested he would be wise to comply.

"Uh…sure…I guess?"

"And Takuto," she warned as she headed out, "be careful who you kiss."

He lowered his head and nodded, "Of course."

She smiled wanly and headed in the direction of a nearby church.

Only a second had passed before Takuto began to follow her; Izumi cursing fluently. He tried to fly forward to Mitsuki, but something held his tongue and his wings, "Me-chan!" he mouthed with no sound.

"This is how you should always be Izumi-kun," she joked, "silent."

He was forced to simply glower, tied as he was.

"You know if you make that face too long it'll get stuck that way," she continued her teasing.

His scowl disappeared only to come back in full force when she erupted in giggles, I'll never understand you Me-chan, he thought.

"Someday maybe," she whispered, and he didn't seem surprised.

She touched the cold stone gingerly, unable to breathe. Her mind raced, flashing her pictures that were still alive in her memory.

"Mitsuki, I love you…"

"Promise me when we see each other again we'll both be closer to our dreams."

"You don't have to pick it up…"

"Eichi-kun!"

She shook her head and tried in vain to force it all to leave as tears slipped down her cheeks, "No," she whispered fiercely. "You wouldn't want me to cry."

"Eichi wouldn't want that," his smile had melted the ice that covered her heart.

"Keep singing to the end," Meroko's words pulled her through.

Softly, she began to hum, then, her melody began to find words that had been dormant for three years. Words she'd tried to banish, that she'd tried to forget. Now, she understood, like his memory, the words were unforgettable.

"Kimi o suki ni natte dore kurai tatsu no kana?
Kimochi fukurande yuku bakari de

Kimi wa kono omoi kuzuiteiru kana
Ichido mo kotoba ni wa shitenai kedo
Yuki no youni tada shizuka ni
Furi tsumori tsuzukete yuku

Hold me tight konna omoi nara
Dareka o suki ni naru kimochi
Shiritaku nakatta yo

I love you namida tomaranai
Konnanja kimi no koto
Shirazuni ireba yokatta yo

Kimi o itsu made omotteiru no ka na?
Tameiki ga mado garasu kumoraseta

Yureru kokoro tomosu kyandoru de
Ima tokashite yukenai ka na?

Hold me tight oreru hodo tsuyoku
Kogarashi fubuki ni deatte mo
Samukunai you ni to

I miss you kimi o omou tabi
Amikake no kono mafura
Konya mo hitori dakishimeru yo

Eien ni furu yuki ga aru nara
Kimi e to tsuzuku kono omoi kakuseru no ka na?

Hold me tight konna omoi nara
Dareka o suki ni naru kimochi
Shiritaku nakatta yo

I love you mune ni komiageru
Fuyuzora ni sakebitai
"Ima sugu kimi ni aitai yo"

He watched her from afar, singing on her hands and knees in front of a grave he couldn't read. The words stirred something in his soul; she was singing her father's song. The breath caught in his throat and soon he found himself mouthing the words as well; words he'd sung countless times. But, they were words he'd been running from. When the words faded, and her tears returned, he took a deep breath and approached. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard her sobbing, curled up on the grave.

"Eichi-kun, why did you leave me here?"

Her small twelve-year-old body was lying on the same grave while she whispered, "I'll just got to sleep here and then surely when I wake up I'll be with Eichi-kun. No one can get between me and Eichi-kun. Eichi-kun, come and take me already. I'm here- I'm here now. Come to me Eichi-kun, hurry up and come," her small fingers wrapped around the cold stone; her breath condensed in the cold.

"Mitsuki," he choked, and she sat up and turned to him, frozen tears glistening in her eyes.

"Takuto," she gasped and tried to stand, but the cold and pain folded her knees.

He went to her and crouched by her side, "So this is him?"

She nodded weakly and looked back to the grave, unable to stand the pain, yet needing to confront it all the same, "He…" but there were no words to do him justice.

"I had no idea, when you said he was gone I thought-not this," but anger still welled in his heart, seeing his angel cry, seeing her bleeding heart exposed. The anger was seething, more intense than he'd ever felt, but familiar. He let the images that he now understood to be memories tell him why.

"Her smile belonged to Eichi and you-you didn't have to go and die!"

A feeling of death surrounded him when he entered the house, the house with the big pine outside. She was supposed to be resting, but he couldn't and knew she wouldn't, so he decided to go and check on her in Eichi's room, but she was gone.

Knowing her death was near, he flew, searching. He found her curled up on this tombstone, begging to die, begging to be with Eichi again, and his heart crumbled. He was not in her heart, and…he picked up her lifeless form and the vision faded.

"Mitsuki-I-you," he shook his head, and she reached up and touched his cheek with frigid hands. "You're freezing," he picked her up and started to carry her back to town.

"Takuto I can-"

He gave her a sideward glance, and she silenced. Instead of protesting, she snuggled into his warmth, and he smiled slightly.

"Takuto! Mitsuki-chan!" Ooshige was there with the car to greet them. "No…"

"She's fine," Takuto assured Ooshige, "just cold."

"She-" Ooshige tried to explain but managed a weak smile when she realized she didn't have to.

He set her down but kept an arm around her waist to support her, "And things begin to come together, only," he looked at Mitsuki's hopeful eyes, "more questions begin to arise."

"No!" Izumi shouted angrily, and Mitsuki turned her head; her eyes widening in fright.

"I-it's not my fault," she began, the cold still numbing her brain. "He followed me, please Izumi, don't hurt them!"

"Izumi?" Takuto's eyes narrowed.

"Bastard!" his fists were clenched as he lunged, and the two began to fight in the air.

"No!" Mitsuki screamed.

"Stop! Izumi-kun!"

His eyes snapped open, "Where is Meroko?"

Izumi hissed, "This isn't over Mi-ki," he whispered vehemently. "It's far from over."

"No! Izumi! Please!" Mitsuki screamed as the Shinigami flew away.

Ooshige shifted her weight nervously when Mitsuki's shouts faded, and she began to sob.

"Sh…Mitsuki," Takuto whispered, still very much confused.

Mitsuki scanned the stadium for Izumi but couldn't find him anywhere, "Hi!" she called to the audience who screamed their approval. "Wow," she whispered, looking them over. She was surprised to see so many for seemingly being in the middle of nowhere. "Well, I wrote this for a friend because she loved someone who-" she stopped to think of the words, "loved someone else."

She sung for Meroko that night, in silent prayer, praying that someone would hear her and make everything okay. She just didn't want to hurt anymore.

The audience felt the cold and pain in her words despite the language barrier.

Takuto sat and watched as visions of Meroko tore through his mind.

Long, flowing pink hair and bright eyes, heart that could be as shallow as a stream and as deep as the ocean, jealousy that burned but integrity that left the real mark. And she loved him, she confessed time and time again. A small bunny sunning in a palm tree and a radiant girl shedding her hair to loan him magic.

Magic for what? When he thought on it his head would pound angrily, so he had to drop his thoughts. This was ridiculous! Rabbit girls and magic; Mitsuki's death day and Full Moon, all of it was insane. He wanted to laugh at himself but the images (or were they memories?) They haunted him, making him unable to drop it. So, again, he strayed, afraid of what Mitsuki would bring to him. When they were together he stayed quiet, brushing off Mitsuki's worry and small glances.

Through the rodeo in Dallas, the shopping in Chicago, ice skating in New York City, the city tour in Boston, he stayed absolutely silent. The two drifted apart until they reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where American independence was first written. It was there that he woke up and realized how much he had to lose.