A/N: This is a companion fic for If You're Feeling Patient and takes place at the same time, in case you were wondering.

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Chie Sanada looked down at the line on the document before her, the line that would turn her back to Chie Satonaka once it was signed. It wasn't that she didn't love Akihiko. That couldn't be further from the truth. They were divorcing on good terms, but with the way he lived his life, there was no way they could ever truly be happy together. He had warned her all those years ago that he was married to his job, but she had stupidly married him anyway. For the past ten years, he had always been faithful to her, but he was hardly ever home. Their own son hardly knew his father, and something about that bothered Chie.

With a deep breath, she signed the divorce papers before turning toward the hallway in their small two-bedroom apartment. "Touma, are you almost ready to go? We have to catch the train!" she called to her nine-year-old son.

Though he seemed unbothered by this divorce, and actually looked forward to moving to Inaba with his mother, Chie really wondered how he really felt. Then again, when he was told that he'd still see Akihiko whenever he was free, he chuckled darkly and replied, "So it's not like anything will change then, huh, Mom?"

Touma Sanada entered the room, slinging his backpack over his back. "Ready!" he announced, smiling at his mom. He had her dirty-blond hair and his father's gray eyes, the perfect mixture of each of his parents. For a moment, his eyes lingered on the papers on the table in front of his mother, but he quickly looked away and toward the door. "To a new life, right?"

"Something like that," his mother replied, ruffling his hair. "Don't worry, Touma. He'll still come visit us. Things are just...better this way." She couldn't stop the heavy sigh from escaping her lips. "Though we're not going to be married anymore, we'll still be a family, Touma. You know that, right?"

He nodded his reply and stepped toward the front door. "I know, Mom. We should probably get going, though. If we miss our train, who knows when the next one will be coming."

"You're right," she said, taking a deep breath. Chie slung her own bag over her shoulder and set her pen and apartment key down on the papers. Her legs felt heavy as she walked toward the front door, trying to ignore how badly she wanted to turn around and rip those papers to shreds. She focused her gaze on her son as he exited the apartment, her heart feeling heavier and heavier with each step.

Once she reached the threshold, she placed a hand on the wall and took a deep breath. "I'll always love you, Akihiko," she softly said, "but this isn't about me. I don't want you to worry about us anymore. Touma and I will be fine." Her hand fell back to her side. "I'll never regret marrying you. Goodbye."

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Looking down at her sleeping son, Chie finally wiped away her tears as the train prepared to pull into Inaba. She gently shook him, taking a deep breath and composing herself properly. "Touma," she softly said. "We made it. It's time to get off the train."

When he didn't even stir, she frowned. Though he didn't think she noticed, he'd cried himself to sleep as the rocking of the train lulled him to sleep. Taking pity on the poor boy, she decided to carry him. After all, he'd had a pretty rough day. In comparison to how heavy her heart felt, her son was light as a feather.

Naoto Shirogane met her at the platform, offering her a small smile. "Welcome home, Chie," she said, keeping her voice low to avoid waking the child her friend held. "It's good to see you, even if the circumstances suck. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"No, I'm good," Chie replied, feeling numb. "Thanks for coming to pick us up, Naoto. My parents live too far to walk with him." Despite the aching in her chest, she offered Naoto a warm smile. "I'm sorry if it cut into your plans."

"Don't be ridiculous," the dark-haired woman replied, shaking her head as if Chie had told her some lame joke. "Ted's finishing up at work, so I've got time. You know as well as I that if he wasn't at work, he'd be here with me. Heck, if Yosuke hadn't already put the girls to bed, he'd be here too."

"It's still weird to think that Yosuke is a dad," the other mused, shifting her son's weight in her arms. "And that he has two daughters even. You remember how he used to be." She then smiled fondly as she remembered what had changed him for the better. "Ami really helped him a lot, didn't she? How's she doing, by the way? The last I heard was that she was in the hospital, but that was a month ago."

Naoto frowned. "She's still there," she sighed, a hint of bitterness in her tone. "Of all people, she's the last person who should be stuck in that situation." She led her friend to her car and helped Chie buckle Touma in, noting how much the boy looked like his father. Deciding not to bring something like that up, Naoto instead pushed the boy's hair out of his face, smiling fondly.

Chie noticed Naoto's small gesture with her son and couldn't stop herself from asking, "Do you and Teddie ever plan on having kids, Naoto?" She saw her friend freeze before pulling her hand back to her side and ball it into a fist. "I'm sorry," she quickly said. "I just see Teddie's social media posts with you both and Yosuke's kids all the time, and you just look so happy. It makes me wonder if you ever have plans of becoming a parent."

"It's not that we don't want to," the other woman slowly began, getting into her car. She took a deep breath. "It's more like we're scared to. You know the truth about Ted's origins, so surely you understand our reservations on it. After all, he's a Shadow. What would that child be? Or would it even be possible?"

"I understand," her friend replied, nodding sagely. "Just know that I'm here for you to talk to if you need it."

"Thank you, Chie," Naoto replied with a smile as she started the car. She watched Chie climb in and shut the door. Biting her lip, she decided to bring up another subject she had been worried about. "Does Yukiko know that you're back? I met with her for tea last week, and she hadn't said anything, so I didn't mention it."

Yukiko. That name brought back memories. She had been Chie's best friend from childhood up until their senior year of high school. With what they had been through together, how could Chie had not fallen in love with her. Yet when she finally confessed those feelings of love to her best friend after their high school graduation, Yukiko had flat-out rejected her. Things hadn't been the same ever since. And after Touma was born, they seemed to lose touch.

"I...honestly don't know," she admitted in a small voice. "It's not like it would really matter if she knew or not, right? She's the one who stopped contacting me after I had Touma. And then I became busy with raising him. We lost touch awhile back, and I doubt she even knows that I'm a divorcee now." Her heart wrenched at the thought that the girl whom she once told everything to all those years ago had no idea about anything currently going on in her life. "I feel that if I reach out to her, I wouldn't know what to say. It sounds stupid, but I just can't do it, Naoto. A part of me knows she'd be there to comfort me through it all, but yet another part of me believes that she wouldn't care either way."

"Which part do you believe is stronger?"

Chie sighed. "By this point, I honestly don't know." She knew that if she saw Yukiko again, her feelings might come flooding back all at once, which would make it all the more painful. "I want to see her, Naoto. I really do. But I don't think I can trust myself to see her just yet, with just ending a ten-year marriage and all. It wouldn't seem right. We both know what would end up happening, and I don't think my heart would be able to take it."

"We're meeting for tea in a couple days," Naoto quietly told her friend. "You're more than welcome to join us if you'd like. Give it some thought, okay?"

The rest of the car ride was small talk and catching up, and when Chie reached her parents' home, she had almost forgotten the events of that day. But once Naoto had left and Chie sat in her childhood bedroom, the only other sound in the room being her son's soft snores as he slept, she finally let herself cry it all out.