Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina.

Pre-read by: darksoulessbody17

"The Late Results of Stubbornness"

Chapter six: "Memories, Digging and Explorations"

Long silence followed her words. She just stood there; her gaze kept on the ground. But strangely, not a single tear trailed down her cheeks. It seemed like she finally eased the burden she carried on her shoulders so long time. Finally, Keitaro decided to break the silence.

"Looks like… it was really hard for you to tell all of this…" he said with a serious face.

"Yeah…" was the simple response; as if she didn't really want to talk after telling such a story.

"You really…" he tried somewhat desperately to comfort her somehow. "... didn't deserve for so much pain in your life. Actually, I think nobody does."

"Life is life." she replied blankly. "It's not for us to decide." Despite her words, she let out a deep sigh. Then, she looked up. "But… I feel much better, now. I… I think I just had to share that with someone."

"Yeah…" he said seriously. Then he smiled hesitantly. "So, you want to eat? It's getting late."

"Sure," she replied with a weak smile.

---------------

"What is that?"

"Hm?" Ai asked absently, looking up from her work. Another week passed and they still dug around, looking for artifacts. Though they didn't find anything new since Ai's last discovery. Despite that, she still had the same (or even bigger) enthusiasm towards it. She really enjoyed digging. First of all, it was a good way to occupy her mind, and it was a nice entertainment, too. Keitaro even joked she would dig until she finds King Solomon's lost mines or something like that.

"I mean, what was that melody you were just humming?"

"I was humming something…?" she asked startled.

"Um, yeah, you were." He said a bit surprised that she was obviously doing it without even knowing it.

"Oh," she smiled slightly. "I didn't even realize. It's an old melody."

"I know that," he said, also with a smile. "I'm not sure, but I can remember some parts of it… though I can't recognize it." He scratched his head.

"Well, I know it well… for a long time." she said softly, still smiling.

"How long?"

"You can say, ever since I was born." Now, she was grinning.

"Huh?" He was puzzled.

"Uh…" Her smile dropped a little. "Mom liked it."

"Oh…" his face grew serious.

"Well, she never sang it to me, when I was a baby, or anywhere near me. I don't know why; maybe because it's quite a sad melody. Maybe she thought it wasn't good for a little child 'cause it can make them depressed. Anyway, you can guess how surprised she was, when she heard me humming it one day when I was only three. She asked me where I learnt it. I couldn't answer. I simply didn't have an idea. So, she concluded I remembered it when I was in her womb."

"Hey, that's possible. I've heard of this kind of thing, but never actually saw it." he said with an awestruck smile.

"Well, anyway, she taught me the lyrics and since then we liked to sing it together. When I was little, she even sang it to me as a lullaby. Sometimes, I even demanded it, threatening I won't sleep otherwise." she chuckled. "You know," she smiled a little. "She had a wonderful voice."

"I know…"

"Huh?"

"Eh, uhm, I mean, you have a nice voice, so it's only logical she was the one who passed it on you." he explained rather nervously.

"Err, thank you for the compliment," she blushed.

"No, that's not a compliment. It's just the truth." he managed to smile.

"If-if you say so…" her blush deepened. She started to dig with double energy to hide it.

But Keitaro noticed something else – for the first time when she talked about her mother, she actually smiled instead of crying…

---------------

"You should cover up yourself more tightly," Ai heard, already half-asleep. She blinked several times and finally cracked her eyes open. Indeed, the cover reached only her waist. She must have tossed herself while drifting away again.

"Uhm, okay…" she yawned and covered herself up neglectfully. She was always as sleepy as if she didn't get any sleep for a week, after just one day of digging. Not that sleeping in the van was bad, of course. It was way better than sleeping on her old mat. Keitaro tried to explain she shouldn't overtax her strength and such. But her only reply was making a 'poor-girl' face – something he could never resist. After three weeks of hanging around him, she knew him well enough and didn't hesitate to use her knowledge now and then.

"You know, it's kinda important. The nights aren't really warm now. You could get a cold, you know." Keitaro said with a smile, kneeling down next to her futon.

She blinked, not smiling back.

---------------

"Hey, Ai, you can't sleep uncovered." The four-year old girl just looked up at the young woman curiously.

"Why?" The woman smiled.

"Because you could get a cold."

"But why could I get a cold because I sleep uncovered?" The woman let out a playful sigh.

"Because all those evil germs really like cold and just wait for an opportunity to infect you." The girl seemed to be a little scared with that and gulped. Children tend to have a lot of respect towards the things they don't know too well. "So, will you be a good girl and help your own health?"

She nodded. "Sure, mommy!" she exclaimed and tugged the cover up maybe even too enthusiastically.

Her mother caressed her hair. "Good girl," she whispered softly with a warm smile giving her a peck on the cheek.

---------------

"Hello? Ai-chan? You still with me?" Keitaro asked both puzzled and worried at the same time.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry! I must've dozed off," She lied, not wanting him to know what she was really thinking about. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Does this often happen to you?"

"Uh, well…" she blushed a little, trying to forget the memories that dwelled in her mind just a while ago. "Sometimes. More to me than others, anyway." He let out another chuckle.

"I see…"

---------------

Ai looked up from her spade, covered with sweat. Another location, another part of the forest, and yet, still nothing.

"See, I told you. It needs a lot of patience," Keitaro said with a smirk.

"I am very patient," she replied, wiping the sweat out of her forehead.

"Yeah, and not tired at all…" he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, it's not a big deal! I'm not a sissy!" she panted.

"Oh, so you want to keep digging?"

"Definitely!" she stated firmly with a determined look.

"I see. What a pity."

"Huh?" she looked at him, not quite understanding what he had said.

"I thought you might want to help me explore the cave I found this morning, when you were still sleeping…"

"WHAT!" she bolted up instantly, dropping her spade. "You… you found a cave! Where is it? Are there some artifacts inside!" she started to assail him with questions.

"Hey, calm down," he chuckled. "It's kinda far away, but we have a car so that won't be a problem…"

"So when are we going?" she asked impatiently. He scratched his head in thought.

"Not today. Sorry." Her excited smile dropped a little.

"But why?"

"You know, big caverns like that one need a proper attention. We can't just nip in there and look around. We'd need to prepare ourselves. Besides, it's dangerous, so maybe you'd better…"

"No way!" she cut him off, anticipating what he was going to say. "I'll be fine!"

"Listen, Ai-chan," he said with a stern face. "That's REALLY very dangerous. You know, many dangers can lurk inside, and I mean very serious dangers. I mean…"

"Weren't you the one who asked me to help you in the first place?" she grinned slyly. He trailed off, obviously caught.

"Errr… it's not like… I mean, I was saying…" His desperate search for an excuse wasn't really a successful one, though.

"So when are we going?" she asked once more, ignoring his words. He sighed in defeat.

"Oh, fine! Tomorrow afternoon, I think."

"Great!" The joy on her face was clearly visible.

"But listen, Ai-chan," Keitaro began once more. "You have to promise me that you won't go anywhere without me and that you won't do anything on your own, without my permission, okay?"

"As you wish, Urashima-san." she stated calmly and turned her head to watch the now setting sun.

'Geez, Naru would kill me for that,' he sighed inwardly in secret, allowing himself a little smile.

---------------

"So, are you ready?" Keitaro asked with a gentle smile, looking at Ai at his side.

"Yeah," she said, though she didn't really feel at ease. The big, dark hole in the rocks was definitely enough to scare one, although some people called it a 'cave'.

"Don't worry," Keitaro reassured her with a smile. "It's okay to be scared now."

The sudden touch on her hand made her look down at it, and she saw Keitaro's hand gently holding hers. It was so sudden, she jerked it away.

"Oh, sorry…" he whispered, surprised, with a kind of a sad look at his face.

"N-no, it's nothing… I-I don't really mind, b-but… uhhh…" She dropped her head.

"Hey, I understand." The following silence wasn't very pleasant, though. "Come on, let's go now," he said finally, smiling encouragingly, again.

She nodded and followed him inside, but right now, yet again this week, her mind was somewhere… or sometime else…

---------------

Five-year old Ai was clutching onto her mother skirt. That place was so new to her… so unfamiliar. She didn't like it at all. And the noise didn't make it any better, quite the contrary.

"Mommy… do I really have to stay here…?" she asked imploringly once more, not wanting to let go of her mother clothing.

"Ai," she said calmly, looking down at her. "I don't want you to stay here, too, but you need to understand I have to make money and because of that have to go out sometimes. And I don't want to leave you alone."

Ai nodded, but she still had another argument prepared. "But Yasumi-san always took care of me!" Her mother sighed.

"Yes, but she's a bit too ill now and she's an old lady. You know she loves to be with you, but you also know that you shouldn't bother someone who's too weak, right?"

Ai nodded once again, a bit sad. "Poor Yasumi-san…" Then she looked up again. "But will I be okay, mommy?" she asked still uncertain, and still holding her mother skirt.

"Of course," she replied with a reassuring smile. "These ladies here are all nice and will help you. You don't have to worry. And there are lots of children in your age here. Maybe you'll make some friends?"

"I don't need any friends," Ai whispered grumping. "You are enough for me."

Her mother giggled. "Yeah, but I can't be always with you. I'd like to, but life is life."

Ai was silent. She still wasn't sure about this.

"Listen, Ai, don't worry, I will come back for you," Ai's mother tried to convince her. "I won't leave you here, don't worry. I love you too much for that."

The little girl's face brightened immediately at these words. "Okay, but promise you come back quickly!" she finally gave up.

"Only if you promise me you won't cry and will behave well, okay?" her mother bantered.

"I'll try!" Ai promised, causing her to smile.

"Good. Well then, if I'll hear you were a good girl, we have ice-creams later, all right?"

Ai just hugged her tightly with a big smile on her face. "'Kay, mommy. Can they be strawberry ones?"

"Sure," the young woman laughed. Then she gave her daughter a quick peck on the cheek and turned to leave. Ai watched her on her way to the door. There, she turned back once more and gave the girl an encouraging smile. With that, she left.

Ai smile dropped at instant while she looked down. "I mustn't cry. I promised…" she murmured.

"So this is your first day in the kindergarten, huh?" she heard a kind voice. She looked up sadly, seeing a woman in her early 30s, smiling gently at her.

She nodded.

"Don't worry; your mommy will come back."

"I know. She promised, and she always keeps her promises." The child stated simply.

"Then why don't you play with someone until she comes back?"

---------------

'Yeah… I remember. I was so afraid that day… and after all, I realized I was worried for nothing. It's kinda similar now…'

Lost in her thoughts, Ai didn't realize until now, that Keitaro stopped a while ago before a seemingly bare wall and was now studying it.

"Uhm, excuse me, but why did you stop here?" she asked weakly. He smiled, not even turning his head.

"Sometimes, things aren't clearly visible at first sight. Nor even at second or third one," he said with a smirk, checking on the wall.

"Huh? What are you…" she trailed off as he put his hands on some stone and forcefully pushed it aside. The sight Ai saw made her thunderstruck.

There was a dark hole in the wall of the cave. It wasn't really big – which meant that a teenager like Ai wouldn't be able to enter into the passage upright, not even mentioning Keitaro.

"Wow…" Ai said in awe. "But how did you know…?"

"Years of experience," he replied with a wink. Yes, that was so simple…

"You think there are some priceless artifacts there?" she asked energized.

"Who knows? This passageway doesn't seem to be natural. It had to be built by someone." he pondered.

"But getting through would be a bit uncomfortable, don't you think?" she hesitated, frowning. To her surprise, he shook his head.

"I'm quite sure that after this passage there would be another giant cave, so we just have to crawl through this short route." He flashed a smile, and turned to her. "Shall we?" He gestured to the entrance.

"Okay!" she exclaimed with an excited grin.

"Ladies first," he winked.

"As you wish, Urashima-san." With that she began to crawl through.

---------------

The way wasn't as short as Keitaro expected. Ai didn't know anymore if she was crawling in such an uncomfortable position for minutes or hours. She was covered with sweat, her hands and knees desperately wanted a bit of rest after having to hold the whole body and being hit by various stones and shingles. Because of boredom, her mind began to wander on various things. 'I wonder what girls would say if they knew I'm crawling through some dark cave with a strange, kind archaeologist guy…' She almost stopped at that thought. 'Girls…' she reminded herself. 'Are they… worried about me right now? Or don't they care anymore? Nah… considering what they've said back then…'

---------------

"Hey, Ai what is it?"

"Huh?" Ai blinked several times snapping off a daze and turned her head halfheartedly to the girl in the same age as her, dressed just like her, in the proper junior high-uniform. The girl had green eyes and long blonde hair dropping freely behind her shoulders; her quite pretty face covered was covered with freckles, though they didn't make her uglier. Actually, thanks to them, her face was looking even cuter.

"Come on, tell us, what's going on?" she repeated her question; the worried look on her face was clearly visible.

"I told you, Asano-chan: everything's fine!" Ai snarled rather forcefully before resting her head on her palms again.

"Oh, Ai, stop this, we've known you long enough to know something's wrong!" another voice countered. There was another girl standing next to the blonde. She had light red hair and brown eyes which looked as if there were some kind of wisdom hiding behind them.

"Nothing's wrong, Asuna! Can't you two just leave me alone!" Ai started to lose her patience.

"No, we can't!" Asuna replied immediately. "We are your friends and we can't leave you like that!" Ai just grumbled.

"Like what?"

"Sitting lifelessly at your desk and staring into an empty space! Or not listening to the teacher! It's so unusual for you, just like snowing in summer!" Asuna obviously had some arguments prepared.

"And we never saw you that sad," Asano added. "Not even mentioning it's going on for months already!" Ai sighed deeply.

"Look, it's my business, okay?" she tried to sound at least a bit polite.

"Won't you even tell us?" Asuna wondered. "Why are you so quiet about this? Why won't you let us know, when we ask you almost every day?"

This time Ai didn't feel like answering them.

"Oh, come on," Asano tried once more. "We want to help you! It's so painful for us to see our best friend in such a state. It makes our sad."

Ai was still silent. However, she began to shiver slightly.

"Hey," Asano decided to push her advantage a bit. "How long have we been friends already?"

Ai finally spoke after a moment. "Ten years, I guess…" she said softly. Yes, these three really had fun hanging out together. They were inseparable at school as well as out of it. They had a lot in common: similar life philosophy, the same hobbies… Strangely, Ai didn't have any other friends. Maybe she didn't need anyone else, while she had two so perfect friends? Or maybe she was just to shy to look for someone? Anyway, life was much better with them around. She still remembered that time when they first met… her first day in the kindergarten. These two just asked her if she wanted to play together with them, and she agreed weakly. Ai still remembered how much fun she had that day, that she wasn't scared anymore, and that she even didn't want to leave when it was time to go back home. She remembered how she was talking about her new friends the whole next day, while her mother just smiled warmly at her. Her mother… her mother…

Ai found the hard lump forming in her throat. Not looking up, she stood up, took her schoolbag, and then turned to leave.

"Uh, Ai, where are you going?" Asano asked, totally confused. "The lesson is about to start!" Indeed, the teacher was supposed to come anytime now.

She didn't answer and started heading to the door.

"Hey, Ai, what are you doing? You have trouble, if your mother will find out that you…"

That was enough. Asuna hit the nerve.

"SHE WON'T FIND OUT BECAUSE SHE'S NOT WAKING UP ANYMORE!" Ai yelled, turning back. That caused two other girls to step back in horror.

"W-what are you…?"

"SHE'S DYING, THE HELL, SHE WON'T MIND ANYMORE! MY MOTHER IS DYING! NOW, IF YOU KNOW ALREADY, LEAVE ME ALONE!" with that she rushed out the classroom, managing to catch the glimpse of her shocked classmates, who fell silent with horrified looks … However she couldn't see anymore because of her tears…

---------------

'She died the same day… and I never returned to school. Every day in child's house I just pretended I'm leaving to school… I never saw them again…' Ai shook her head, trembling. 'That wasn't a good way of saying goodbye… What did they think back then? After all, I didn't explain it any further… I guess I'll never know…' She sighed.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the end of the passage. 'Wow, finally!' she thought, dropping her previous sad thoughts. 'The end of the tunnel… Normally there would be a light at the end of it, but… oh…' she felt a bit awkward as she realized the meaning of 'light at the end of the tunnel'. But she didn't have much time to ponder upon it since she finally reached the end of the passage.

At the end was, indeed, the second cave, even bigger than the first one. However, she couldn't really see anything because of the engulfing darkness. Nevertheless, she had a pretty good hearing so it wasn't a problem for her to hear Keitaro emerging from the passageway just after her.

"Sorry about the long walk," he said.

"You should rather say 'crawl'," Ai smirked.

"Yeah, I suppose," he laughed shortly.

"So…" Ai began, trying to look around, even though it wasn't really possible to see anything. "How are we supposed to see anything here?" She suddenly jerked up when a small source of light flashed from behind. She turned around to see Keitaro holding torchlight.

"Even heard of this brainchild device?" he joked.

"Many obvious things are not really obvious with you, Urashima-san," she frowned, but smiled nevertheless. He chuckled and started to explore the surroundings thanks to the torchlight.

"A-HA!" he exclaimed in triumph.

"What, what?" she asked quickly, already overexcited. He just pointed somewhere in the front of them. Following his gaze, she couldn't help but stare in awe at some strange symbols on the wall… and mostly at some old, dusted, though surely priceless vases, pedants, or even some gems on the pedestal next to the wall.

"Amazing…" was the only word Ai was able to say. Keitaro just nodded.

"Yeah, that's the best place for hiding a small treasure," he explained. "These old tribes were really clever, after all. No one could even reach their precious belongings."

"So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" she exclaimed energized and rushed forward.

"Ai, wait!" he shouted.

"Huh?" she froze and turned around. His panicked look started to surprise her…

… as the shadow beneath her started to grow bigger and bigger…

… she looked up…

… and saw a big part of stone debris falling directly on her. She didn't even get to scream. Before she could do anything, her view was blocked by something pushing her off the range of the falling debris…

---------------

Ai vision was coming back slowly. She could make a Keitaro's form through the blurry image. She blinked several times. He was obviously leaning towards her. "Ai! Ai! Can you hear me!" he sounded as worried as if his own life was at danger.

"Yeah…" she replied weakly. "I'm fine." She began to slowly remember what happened. Suddenly, a realization hit her. "Have you… just saved me!" she asked amazed.

"Uh…" he scratched his head, not losing his worried-to-death look. "You can say so… I pushed you out of the way."

"I can't believe it! You could've died because of me, and…" she started to blame herself nervously, not daring to look up into his eyes.

"It's okay. I'm all right, so you don't have to worry." She looked up hesitantly. He had that kind of reassuring smile on his face.

"But…"

"And besides…" his face became worried again. "I don't think you can feel that because of the shock, but it seems your leg is broken." Ai looked at her legs, startled. Her right one was actually turned in an awkward angle. She never broke any of her limbs and always dreaded it as if it was something what can't be cured. Right now, she started to feel the pain already.

"Oh…" was the only thing she could say. To her surprise, he quickly lifted her up.

"Wh-what are you…" she began, not able to fight the blush on her face off.

"I need to carry you to the hospital fast! I found another exit of this cave!" These words scared her more than having a broken leg.

"N-no! The police…" she began to ramble.

"Ai, I'm not going to argue with you right now!" he said very seriously, enough to make her feel his own nervousness – which was probably as big as hers. "Not only it's broken, but it also has a few serious wounds, cuts and such! It's too serious to dismiss this! Don't you think it's more important than being caught!"

"B-but… I don't want to ever come back… there… anymore…" she whispered so sadly that it could tear one's heart in half.

"I know…" he agreed, already heading to another exit of the cave. He was sprinting fast, but he carried her so gently as if she was one of the king's jewels or something. "Say," he said softly and warmly. "You mentioned that doctor Wakau, right? If he was your mother's friend, maybe he could help us?" She just nodded weakly.

"Maybe…" she said in a mere whisper. But the pain was getting worse and worse…