MD: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I wanted to make this chapter exciting and a really good one!

Conan: Well, you better. After the pathetic chapter you put up last week.

MD: I am sooooooo sorry guys. I didn't mean to make the chapter so short. But I needed a good place to end and it just sorta came up sooner then I expected. Again, I'm really really sorry.

Conan: Wow, I knew you felt bad, but not this bad. Maybe this chapter will be good after all.

MD: I hope so. And since last chapter was so short I'm going to get straight into this one. Conan, disclaimer if you please.

Conan: Fine fine, whatever. Masked Detective does not own Detective Conan, and if she happens to use someone's idea on something, she is truly sorry as she does not mean to.

MD: Now, onward into the chapter!

Of Truth and Troubles

Conan paused outside of the door to catch his breath. He checked his watch and saw that it was five to six. He quickly threw off his shoes and walked into the apartment. He looked around and spotted Ran setting the table. He walked over so that he could help her.

"Hey Ran, I'm back." Conan announced in his most innocent voice.

"Hi there Conan. Cutting it awful close on the time there are we?" Conan just rubbed the back of his head with a small laugh. (A/N MD: You know, the guilty one that all the anime characters do. Conan: I think they could have figured that out without your help.)

Conan and Ran quickly finished setting the table as Richard walked in. Dinner was quiet as everyone quickly ate their food. Conan ate much faster then usual as he hadn't eaten lunch, and he was nervous about telling Ran the truth.

Conan helped Ran clean up the dishes and the table and walked with her to the living room. Conan looked at Ran nervously. He cleared his throat and tugged lightly on Ran's skirt.

"Erm, Ran? Can I please talk to you outside? Maybe we could go for a walk. Please? It's really really important." Conan stared at her, praying silently that she would agree.

"Well, if it's that important to you Conan, then it's fine with me. Hold on while I go grab my coat."

"Arigato Ran. I'll go get my shoes on." Conan slowly walked over to where his shoes were trying to control his breathing.

"You can do this Conan. You guys are best friends. Just tell her about the last few months and tell her just how sorry you are. Once you cross that bridge, er, if you cross that bridge, then you can tell her your true feelings after you take the antidote." As Conan was trying to calm himself down, Ran had come back with her jacket on and was finishing tying up her shoes. She opened the door and looked at Conan.

"Ready to go?" Conan nodded his head and walked out the door. Ran followed him and turned around to close and lock the door. She knew she couldn't trust her dad to watch the house while she was gone.

They both started walking, just silently enjoying one another's company. Conan did his best to lead Ran to where he wanted to go without her noticing. After about ten minutes of walking in silence, they arrived at their destinations. Ran stood still for a moment, staring at where they had arrived.

"Conan, why did we come here?" (A/N MD: I wanna stop it there. But I won't, I owe you guys from my last chapter being so short. Conan: Thank Ra, you had me worried there for a moment. MD: When did you start saying Ra? Conan: Shut up and continue the chapter.)

They had arrived at Tropical Land. It was closed and dark, but both of them recognized it in a heartbeat. Conan went over to a bench by the gate and sat down. He invited Ran to do the same, so she sat down next to him.

Conan started to swing his legs and realized that he wouldn't be able to do that for much longer. The thought of getting his old body back gave him a little courage. He sighed deeply and looked over at Ran. She was looking at him, concern embedded in her eyes. She gave him a worried look and repeated her question.

"Conan, why did we come here of all places?" "What's wrong with him? He looks so nervous." She watched as he gave another sigh and then listened closely as he started to talk.

"Well, umm. I need to tell you something; something I've needed to tell you for a few months now. But I ask one thing of you. Please don't interrupt me until I'm done. I know you're going to be angry, but please hear me out completely, promise?"

Ran looked at him closely, curiosity mixing in with her concern. "I promise Conan." She whispered and gave her full attention to whatever it was that he had to say.

"Do you remember the night that Shinichi disappeared?" Ran jumped a little at the surprising question, but nodded her head all the same. "Well, I'm going to tell you what happened to Shinichi after he separated from you that night." Ran bent closer so that she could hear well. Her mind had gone numb. Even if she could say anything, there was nothing she could think to say. She looked at Conan intently, silently begging for him to go on. Conan closed his eyes for a second, and then quickly continued.

"Well, when Shinichi ran off, he had gone to look for one of the men in black that he had seen during the murder case with the roller coaster. He had noticed one of them sneaking around and decided to go and see what he was up to. He made sure that you didn't go with him because he didn't want you to get hurt. So he followed the one man and witnessed him blackmailing some guy. It was something about smuggling guns. He started to take pictures for evidence that he could use later on." Ran was looking at Conan funny. "What about the other guy in black that we saw? Where was he during all of this?" Conan seemed to read her mind as he continued.

"Shinichi was then hit on the back of the head from the one guy's companion. The guy being blackmailed quickly ran off as the one doing the blackmailing walked over to an only half-conscious Shinichi. He wanted to shot him, but the other one talked him out of it. Said that there were too many cops around. So, instead, they fed him a poison. One that had never been tested on humans." Conan paused here, too afraid to go on. Ran thought that this was the end of his story so she voiced out the one thing that she had feared for so long.

"So, he, he d-dead?" She asked in an almost silent whisper, tears quickly filling her eyes.

"No, he's not." Ran froze. "If he's not dead, then where is he? The hospital? No, he would have told me during one of his phone calls. How does Conan know all this? Did Shinichi tell him, or did that poison… was I really right all of those times?" Ran looked at Conan intently. "That's not the end of your story, is it?"

Conan looked at her, tears quickly filling up in his eyes. "Ok, this is it. Oh, please understand Ran, please forgive me!"

"The

poison, it shrunk him. He shrunk into me! I'm Shinichi Kudo!" With that Conan looked away, his shoulders shaking form his suppressed sobs. "I'm so sorry Ran! I met Dr. Agasa first after what had happened when I was trying to get into my house. He said that if I told you, I would be putting you in danger! I didn't want to do that. I did something stupid, and I didn't want you to pay the price for it. I didn't mean for it to go on this long. I wanted to tell you so bad. I wanted to wipe away your tears and tell you that I had never left. I had hoped that calling you would help. I'm so sorry." Conan whispered this last apology, tears finally escaping from his eyes. Ran sat there, shocked beyond words. Finally, she leaned down and pulled Conan's face gently to face hers. She slowly pulled off his glasses and set them to the side. She stared into the face of the one person she had been missing for six months. Her best friend since kindergarten.

"What am I supposed to say? Should I forgive him? He seems so sorry. I've never seen him like this. He's always so arrogant and always backs up everything he does. I know I should forgive him; he was only looking out for me. Isn't that what friends are supposed to do." Ran continued to stare into his face until she finally found her voice.

"Why did you choose to tell me now? Did you catch the men that poisoned you?" Conan shook his head,

"No, but Dr. Agasa said that he found a cure. And that he should have it ready in about a week, I think. I wanted to tell you the truth, as Conan, so that I could show you that I do trust you. And that I don't want to keep any secrets from you. You're my best friend Ran. I couldn't bear to see you cry. I wanted to help so badly. You have no idea how bad it hurt me knowing that I was the cause of your pain. But, I'll understand if you don't forgive me." Conan looked at Ran, waiting for her answer. Ran stared back at him for a moment before she finally gave the anticipated answer.

"I forgive you Shinichi. But please, don't ever do that again. I sometimes thought that I had lost you. You're my best friend. I guess I understand why you did what you did. I probably would have done the same thing. But, thanks for telling me, in the end. Now, we can try to take down these men in black together." At the last statement, Conan's eyes filled with tears of happiness and quickly leaned over and gave Ran a hug. Ran hugged him back, tears also filling her eyes. They sat there for a long time. The night, the time, everything seemed to disappear and no longer existed. After six months, two friends had finally been reunited. Not only physically, but in their hearts too.

Finally, when the things around them seemed to come back to life they broke their embrace. Conan gave a small shudder, as his small body could not generate as much heat as his old body. Ran noticed the shudder and realized that they should be getting home. It was late and it wasn't too safe to be wandering around at night. After all, Shinichi or not, Conan was still a little kid.

"Let's go home Shinichi. You should stay at my place until you get your antidote. I doubt you'll be able to cook much being that short." Conan gave her a huge smile and jumped off the bench.

"That would mean a lot to me Ran." Ran slowly stood up and grabbed Conan's hand.

"You're still a little kid right now. Can't have anything happening to you before we get that antidote." Conan laughed with her as they started walking home. He almost felt like singing. He felt as if he had just taken off hundreds of pounds off of his heart. He couldn't wait to take the antidote. He wanted nothing more then to tell Ran about how he felt. Of course, he knew he would be in big trouble when Ran remembered exactly what she had told him on the first night of this big mess. But there was plenty of time to worry about that later.

Ran unlocked the door once they had arrived. It was two o'clock in the morning. They silently took off their shoes and tip-toed to their rooms. They said a quick good-night before the separated. Conan got into bed that night, his heart filled with happiness. Ran had really forgiven him. Now all he had to do was tell her that he loved her in his real body, and then the world would be perfect.

Ran got into bed, with a lot of the same thoughts in her head. Her heart felt like a huge hole had just been filled and was better then before. She started to think about what she had said to Conan the first night they had "met" and panicked for a second. She shrugged her shoulders and decided that she would worry about it later. Right now, she just wanted to celebrate the returned of her beloved Shinichi. She turned over to the window to stare at the beautiful moon. "When was the last time the moon was this beautiful? I love it. It's so big and white. It reminds me of Shinichi. It's always there, even in the daylight. You just have to look for it. Sometimes it disappears, but it always comes back, just as beautiful and amazing as before." With that thought, Ran closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep. But these two weren't the only people out there who were happy…

"Boss, I just located our target."

"Excellent. Where is he?"

"He goes by the name Conan Edogawa. Lives with Kogoro and Ran Mouri. The poison seems to have turned him into a six or seven year old. It somehow shrunk him"

"Interesting, very interesting. We will defiantly have to look into this. Keep an eye on him. And wait for the perfect moment to strike."

"Yes boss, I'll do that." And with and evil smirk he closed his cell phone and shoved it into his pocket. "Sleep well, Kudo, for it may be the last night you ever get to enjoy!" With that, he seemed to melt into the darkness with a small, vicious laugh.

MD: Well? Was that good enough? I really tried to capture how the characters would feel in such an important moment. I hope I did them justice.

Conan: Did you really have to make me cry!

MD: Well, it was an emotional moment. I think any person would have cried, male or female.

Conan: I guess that's true…

MD: Anyways, let's respond to these reviews! Wheeeeeee

Silver Sky Magician: Well? Did I do okay? I'm so happy that Conan got to tell her! It warms my heart to see those two together. Thank you so much for reviewing! I really hope you liked my chapter!

Fyliwion: Thank you so much for the compliment. It really inspires me to keep writing when I hear such kind stuff from you guys. I'm glad you weren't mad about my really short chapter. Thank you so much for reviewing. I hope this chapter was enjoyable for you!

marce-breeze: I hope this chapter was as good as you were expecting. It means a lot to know that you think my fanfic will be a good one. I'm really trying! Thanks for spending time to review! Hope you continue to enjoy!

Alexandra: Wow! Thanks for all of the amazing advice! It really helped me to put this chapter up. I was so nervous about this scene. I mean, it's really really important! I really hope I did a good job on it. I thought about my best friend for this chap. We shall call him DB (inside joke, nothing to do with Dragon Ball). Thanks so much for giving such helpful advice. It really did help a lot. I hope you continue to read and enjoy. Thanks again for all of the help!

Gamer135: I know that my chapters aren't that long, but I'm really trying. And I feel really bad about the last chapter being so short. I hope you forgive me and don't hate my story. Sometimes I can only go so far on a chapter. They tend to end themselves a lot of the time. Oh well. Thanks for reviewing. I hope this chapter was a little better!

MD: Thanks again you guys. It means so much to me and Conan when you take the time to read and review our fic!

Conan: Man, you feel really bad about last chapter don't you? You've said sorry like a hundred times.

MD: I am incredibly sorry about that. I just couldn't keep going. Like I said before, this chapter was really really hard. But all your encouragement and advice really helped! Even yours did Conan!

Conan: Yeah yeah, whatever. Let's just end this already.

MD: You're right. It's two in the morning and I'm tired. (Hey, I'm goin ta bed at da same time as Ran and Shinichi! How funny!) Anyways, please review. As you can see, advice is greatly appreciated and always taken to heart! So, dat's about it fer dis chapter. Ttfn!

Conan: Ta ta for now!