In great loping arcs, Keitarou Urashima erased his whiteboard after a long day of educating. So far, His class had become quite popular. He had somehow managed to make Polynesian history interesting, some said just by the pure enthusiasm he had for it.

His archeological career was finally taking off as well. Tokyo University had of course offered him another semester at increased pay, but he politely declined. He couldn't risk another incident like the one with Mutsumi. He just couldn't take facing those girls again, and every day he stayed, the probability of them discovering him rose. Also, several other colleges had sent Seta letters, inquiring about Keitarou, which Seta had forwarded to him by e-mail. Yes, it finally seemed that coming back to Tokyo had been a good idea.

"Hello, Keitarou."

Ok, maybe it wasn't a good idea after all.

Keitarou spun around on his heels, only to be greeted with the sight of the now 19 year old Naru Narusegawa.

Keitaro had to pause for a moment as he considered the possibilities that lay before him. He almost had no clue what to do, even though he had been practicing what to do in such an occurrence all semester.

"Hello again, Naru, How are you?" She sat down on the edge of a desk and crossed her legs.

"Pretty good, I got into Tokyo University about two years ago."

"So I've heard."

"But that's no big deal for you though, right? You're teaching here now!" She exclaimed with a slightly mocking tone.

Keitarou leaned against the white board and folded his arms, "Why'd you come here Naru?"

"You've changed Keitaro, I know it. You're stronger now, certainly more handsome than when I last saw you. But, I guess it's just a different kind of handsome, you were cute back then but now, you're... well... different."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I've changed too, Keitaro. Well, maybe not very much physically, but certainly mentally. I'm not the silly adolescent girl I was back then. I... I would never do that to you, now."

"I'm sure you're a fine young woman, Naru. But why'd you come here?"

Naru looked down, apparently studying the inaccuracies of hr nails, but concentrating very hard, finally, her gaze returned to meet Keitaro's level stare, "I came here because... because I need to make up for what I did to you."

"You don't have anything to make up for. What's done is done."

"You don't truly believe that, do you, Keitarou? She took a step towards him.

Keitaro shrugged, "Like you said, you were just a teenage girl. You couldn't have possibly deciphered your true feelings for me."

"There's more to it than just that, Keitaro." She took another step forward?"

"I don't see anything else."

"I... I still love you, Kei-kun," with that, she moved with astonishing speed to a passionate embrace about him before he could react. Stunned, it took him about fifteen seconds before he pushed her away, sending her sliding across the floor, into one of the metal desks.

"God Dammit, Naru, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I.. I..." Naru could only stutter incomprehensibly, unable to move from the sheer terror that now possessed her.

"You think you can just come in here and pretend like everything's back to normal? After... after all the times you called me a loser and beat me up and... and... do you know what I was doing that night, lurking by your bedroom door?"

"N... No..." she managed to mumble weakly.

"I was holding this," he slid a small black box across the floor to where Naru sat, paralyzed. She paused for a moment, but then, slowly, she reached out and took hold of it. She snapped the lid open and gasped.

Slowly, tears began to pour silently down her face. Keitaro had moved around and sat next to her, leaning his back against a dislodged desk. She leaned towards him, and he accepted her into a warm embrace.

"Shh... It's... its ok Naru."

"Oh, Kei-kun, I'm so sorry..."

"It's alright Naru, I forgive you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was never any good at holding a grudge." She was only weakly sniffling now, and she managed to look up at his face and smile. He returned the smile, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

He spoke softly now, compassionately, "Naru, there's a part of me that want's to give you that ring, marry you, and have a wonderful life with you, and that part of me is what's making me do this." He moved gently over her, so that she slid onto her back easily, and embraced her with a warm kiss. She returned the tenderness of the kiss, and for the first time in two years, Naru's heart rose.

He disengaged gently, still holding her cheek with the palm of my hand, "But, there is another part of me that knows that what we had before, we could never have again."

"I forgive you Naru, now please, forget about me and be happy."

He helped her slowly to her feat, "Goodbye, Naru."

He turned to leave, but she grabbed a hold of his arm, "You're... you're sure there is no way you could stay, I'll... I'll do anything..."

He smiled sadly, and shook his head, "No Naru, I can't stay. I have to go get married."

"So, how'd you're trip go?" Keitaro had been back on the archeological dig with Seta for three weeks now, but Seta had been somehow reluctant to bring up the subject. Currently, they were both relaxing during a break in the dig.

Keitaro sipped some of his lemonade, and replied, "It went pretty well I guess, the dean was very impressed with my performance."

"You give any thought to what college you want to work at?"

"University of Hawaii gave me a pretty sweet deal."

Seta nodded his head, and there was a lull in the conversation, "did you see her again?"

Keitaro nodded, and there was another uncomfortable pause, So, when's the date?"

Keitaro looked up sharply, surprised, "How'd you know?"

Seta laughed, gesturing over to where Nyamo was passing out lunch to a few of the hired laborers, "You're girl sure can't keep a secret."

Keitaro shrugged, "who needs a girl that can keep a secret, when you have a wife that always tells you the truth?"

"Good point."

THE END