A/N: Well, here it is!


Epilogue

There must have been an entire ten minutes with me glancing at Satoshi's stunned figure, and him just staring at the apartment. I grew resltess, fidling with my thumbs and kicking at a small piece of cardboard on the ground. Was it an ugly apartment? Was it too small? Was it too big? Did he not want it after all?

"It belonged to our maid," I explained, not knowing what else to do. "Riku and I managed to convince our parents to get it." I paused. "Well... it's kind of part of my punishment for running away as well. I'll be cleaning it and painting it and making it just like new." I spotted a cobweb in the doorway and scowled. Mom and Dad really knew how to make me miserable.

Satoshi remained silent, however. He was really begining to get on my nerves, you know? I mean... how long can a kid stand in awe?

I swallowed and walked around a bit. "This is the kitchen, and I thought a light blue would be a cool color for it..." I was begining to sound like a 40-year-old real estate agent. Couldn't he say SOMETHING?

I led him around the entire appartment, trying to get him to say something. I failed miserably. He just followed me, as if in a dream, nodding absentmindedly.

"I just... didn't want your dad to get on your case," I said, twidling my thumbs. "I thought that... maybe you would like to live here..." We stood in the bedroom, which probably needed the most work (because whenever I would walk, small clouds of dust would form around my feet). He was still completely stunned, and I was growing restless.

Finally, I took out the penny I had been fingering for almost six minutes and held it out to him. He tore his eyes from the empty space in front of us and looked at my hand.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked. His eyes came to bore down into my own, and I felt as if he was looking into my soul. It made my knees go weak, and I tried really, really, REALLY hard not to squeak. His lips slowly (VERY slowly) curled into a small smile... then a toothy smile... then a full out grin. He threw back his head and laughed. It was so light and care-free that it made my heart jump. "What?" I personally didn't see anything funny in the situation.

He shook his head, his laugh dying down, and sighed. It was then that he reached out, took my hand, and pulled me incredibly close to him. I felt an arm wrap around my tiny waist, and the only thing I could do was stare into those blue eyes. He took the penny from my hand, slipped it into my pocket, then moved his hand so he could run it through my hair. I shivered, and he rested his forehead against mine. He shook his head slightly, as if he were amazed at my very being.

"I'll save you a penny," he whispered. With that, he leaned in, closing the space between us, and kissed me. A full out kiss on the lips.

I was so shocked that I couldn't breathe. I felt this tingling sensation in my stomach, and my heart felt as if it would burst from my chest. I shut my eyes tight, trying to make myself calm down, but I eventually felt myself relax. It was so weird because... well... this was SATOSHI.

All the same, he didn't act like it was ME. I mean... He gave me soft, gentle kisses, keeping a firm grip on my trembling body. Whenever he would pull back so we could breathe, he'd kiss my neck or my cheek. I soon found my hands traveling from my side... to his torso... to his chest... then finally to his neck. There, unconsciously, I pulled him closer. It was so, incredibly... nice.

I mean... When I had kissed Dark, nothing like this had ever happened. When I kissed Dark, it was all about lips and tongue and looks. There, standing in an empty (and rather dirty) apartment, wrapped in Satoshi's arms, it was all about us. It was about the warm feeling in my organs, and the diziness that made my knees weak, and the way my fingers became entangled in his hair (and vice versa). It was about the dream land I was in, and me shivering when he would kiss the crook of my neck.

It was just... nice.

"Why did you do this?" he breathed once he had pulled back.

Despite practically not being able to stand, I smiled. "Let's just say that I'm repaying you for helping me. Ok?"

Satoshi nodded, giving a half shrug. "Ok." He kissed me again. It was so full of passion that I had never expected to come from him that I nearly pulled away. He held me close, though, tracing my lips with his, and I melted.

A/N: This would normally be the part where writers would put "And the two lovers lived happily ever after". But... that's not my style. So I will just leave it as this:

THE END


A/N: AHH! Fluff. I normally don't do fluff, or at least I try not to. I try to make it in character and all. Was it out of character in any way? Well... I know that throughout the story Satoshi was different from other stories, but oh well. Anyway... it had been a challenge to write this way (not having the entire story written out beforehand and all), and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing. And so ends Journey. Stay cool, peeps.