Author's Note: This chapter comes with a major fluff alert! (Finally... I thought we'd never get to the soppy stuff!) Yeah, so.. don't kill me - I'm a fluff-writer, what can I say?XD

Also, while typing up this chapter (yeah, I write my stories by hand, would you believe?) I realised that it could have been done alot better. Maybe someday I'll rewrite it... hmm...

One day remained until Horo's departure.

And good riddance, Ren thought as he put the last of the bowls away. For the second day in a row, he had been stuck with the chores because of Horo. Tonight, Anna had told him to do the dishes – a task he carried out with a scornful expression. All day, he found himself in an awful mood. He knew deep down that it wasn't because he was angry with Horo; it was more to do with the fact that Horo would be leaving Funbari Onsen tomorrow – for good. And still, Ren had not been able to breathe a word of the way he felt, either because Horo had not taken any notice of Ren's hidden hints, or because Ren had been so angry with him recently he hadn't been able to express the way he really felt. No matter how much he told himself he was happy with Horo leaving, he knew he could never truly feel that way.

Leaning on the sideboard, he stared out of the window at the clouded night sky. The dishes had taken him so long that everyone had gone to bed. Horo had disappeared hours before, complaining of being ill. Pirika had left soon afterwards. Only Ren knew the truth; in order to get back to their village on time, they would be leaving in the early hours of the morning. They needed their rest.

As Ren had watched Horo leave the table, he had wondered to himself if that was to be the last time he saw the one he loved…

He felt his eyes begin to prickle with unexpected tears. He closed his eyes sharply, desperately willing them away. The stars shone down on his sorrowful face, as tears left stains on his cheeks. For a few moments, he stood there, crying to himself.

Had he lost his chance? Was that it? Was everything over now?

"Are you crying?"

His head shot up, purple hair falling into shocked golden eyes. He kept his eyes fixed on the lunar sky, feeling his veins pulsating with nerves.

"You are, aren't you?"

His heart quickened faster as he felt a hand grip at one of his wrists. He whipped his head around instinctively, to see a set black stare fixed into his eyes. He knew it well – it was Horo.

Horo did not release his grip on Ren's arm, even as Ren struggled against it. But he was weakened by the shock, and was unable to pull his hand free.

"What's up?" he asked, with concern in his voice.

Ren stared back at him with empty eyes. For a moment, he said nothing, tears still streaming. As he scanned over the Ainu's soft features – azure hair, gentle eyes that shone with worry, perfect lips… - he felt it. He knew his love was true. He wanted to be nearer, in his arms, to cry, to feel how love really was… he was a fool for thinking he ever hated him.

"Did you… read it then?" Horo dared.

"What…?" Ren managed to breathe, confused.

"The letter I gave you yesterday," Horo watched Ren's expression as perplexity spread his face. "…I guess you didn't."

Ren shook his head slowly. Then his mind flicked back to the previous day – that shopping list?

"I thought it was…" Ren trailed off.

"I figured you wouldn't read it," Horo almost laughed, though sorrow was in his eyes too.

Again everything fell silent. The two stood there, alone in the darkened kitchen, Ren's wrist still in Horo's hand. Nothing happened – the two just stayed there, raptured in each other's eyes.

Ren's urges grabbed him, making everything but Horo fall away from around him, making him want - need – to get closer.

"So… I guess you didn't get what I've been trying to tell you," Horo murmured.

Ren shook his head, seeing no other answer to a question he did not understand.

"I needed to tell you before I go… how I really feel about you."

Ren saw Horo's cheeks flush red, and his gaze dropped, before he carefully leant closer to his ear, and whispered, "I love you, Ren."

That was all it took. Ren literally collapsed into Horo's chest, where strong arms caught him, holding him close.

He could feel Horo's heart beat against his skin, hardly able to believe what he was feeling. Everything was silent between them as the words lingered, until Horo let out a nervous laugh and pulled Ren tighter still. "It's funny, I thought you were gonna kick the crap out of me for saying that…"

"Horo, I… I wanted to tell you the same thing… I love you, Horokeu…"

Horo put a gentle hand under Ren's chin, lifting his head so they had eye contact. With a soft finger, he brushed away the tears that stained Ren's cheeks.

"I thought I'd never get to hear you say that," Horo smiled.

Feeling his hands trembling, Ren gripped Horo's fingers in his own, breath stolen by the moment.

A sound on the floorboards from upstairs made Ren nearly pull his hands away, but Horo's grip kept them there. "Come on, let's not stay here." A second later, Horo was tugging Ren gently by the hand towards the stairs. Before Ren knew it, they were stepping into Horo's room, under the cover of darkness.

Horo's room was equally dark. Ren realised how different it looked by night – but regardless, this place still felt as special to him. He could hardly believe he was standing in there now, hand-in-hand with the one he loved. Turning to his left, he saw Horo's face, soft skin flecked out by the moonlight, a loving smile on his lips. He felt himself being pulled forwards again by Horo. The two soon reached Horo's bed, having stepped over bags that Horo had packed for his journey the next day – bags that meant nothing to Ren now, all thoughts of Horo's leaving drained from his mind as he sat down on the bed with his love.

He couldn't hold back his questions any longer. "Horo… how long?" he asked, unsurely.

Horo replied with a shake of his head. "As long as I can remember…"

Ren could see a slight flush of red in Horo's cheeks picked out by the moonlight.

"And that letter of yours…"

"You don't need to apologise," Horo interrupted. "I knew you wouldn't read it anyway."

"What… did it say?" he dared.

"Nothing I haven't said already," Horo shrugged.

Unable to think of anything to say, Ren reached out a trembling right hand to clutch Horo's left. He closed his eyes, everything falling away at this mere touch.

He felt Horo's other hand touch the side of his face, brushing dark purple hair from his eyes. "You know, it's getting late," he heard Horo say, focused solely on the hand lightly brushing his cheek. "Maybe we should sleep."

He has to leave early tomorrow. The thought barely even crossed Ren's mind – he did not take it in. All he was focused on now was Horo, no concern over what tomorrow would bring.

Nothing had ever felt more right to him as he lay there with the one he loved, in the bed he has slept in just a few days before, alone. His mind felt blank and numb with serenity as he felt himself slip into sleep, Horo's fingers entwined with his.

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the two chapters, andI'll make sure to update soon!
Oh, and for anyone who's interested, I wrote a random RenxHoro poem that I put up here on I'm looking for some feedback as to whether I should carry on with peoms or not. It's called 'Entwined' if you wanna take a look! Thanks everyone!