A/N - I do not own Skip Beat! Just, apparently, a bit of a stomachache from too much birthday sweets.

"You could ask her to come with you. When you leave."

Yes, the idea had occurred to him.

"So why don't you? She's right there."

Ren sighed, and stroked Kyoko's back as the two of them lay in bed. (Fully clothed, for his benefit as much as hers.) The alarm clock would go off any minute, and she would have to get ready and leave.

Lately, he'd started having conversations with himself - not with Kuon, not really. If anything, his inner voice had started to sound suspiciously like President Takarada. Or possibly even Yashiro. Hopeful. Excited. Determined to make the most of a situation, no matter how grim or unappealing it seemed.

The illusion, of course, was fragile - one little phone call could shatter it to pieces. Yet it kept on reappearing, rising from the ashes like a phoenix… drawn by the voice of a girl.

He couldn't imagine going back home without her.

He also couldn't imagine telling her everything before they left.

"So break a few rules. Let it be a surprise."

Oh, yes, some surprise that would be - Kyoko, meet my mother. My father you already know, and please don't worry about calling him Otou-san, he would be absolutely delighted if you did.

Ren shook his head, just as the alarm went off. Kyoko shifted in his arms, then sighed. "Five more minutes."

"I'm not sure the director will let you have that," he said. "Or the President, for that matter."

Her eyes opened and she shot up. "What time?" She looked around, chest rising and falling. "Where's the fire?"

"No fire, no fire." He reached out and stroked her arm. "Just me."

She groaned and sank back into the pillows. "At least there is a drill in case of those," she said, clearly working up the energy to rise. "No such luck with filming."

"Not at all," he agreed.

As they rose and got about preparing for their day, he couldn't help but catch sight of himself in the mirror - rumbled, red-eyed, and tired. Filming was wearing him ragged, but it was also coming to an end. No amount of snuggling would help that. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his inner voice hissed ask her one last time, before slinking off completely.

Ren cringed. It would be a long day.

Or maybe it wouldn't. He watched Kyoko splash water on her face, then go about pinning her wig into place. Her movements were quick and precise. Practiced. She was still innocent in many ways - no other person would come to him in the middle of the night so trustingly - but she wasn't a little girl anymore. Her grudge against Fuwa and her quest for revenge kept her in perpetual adolescence, but she was starting to let go of it. Ren could see it now - the person she would become, someone confident and powerful, a force to be reckoned with.

Would she be by your side, though, if you keep on lying to her?

No, he thought. No, she most certainly would not.

Bracing himself against the wall, he tried to keep his voice light as he said, "Filming is going on schedule."

"That's good, isn't it?" she asked, re-emerging from the bathroom.

"If it all goes according to plan, my part will be wrapped up in a few days or so." He coughed. "Then I need to leave."

"It will certainly create a legend," she said. "Around the character, I mean. I bet it would be entertaining to watch."

"Yes," Ren said. "Well…"

"Do you think Cain will have to attend the premiere? It will be a few months ahead, but I bet—"

"Kyoko," he said. "I'm not sure if attending the premiere will be possible."

She stopped fussing with her disguise (she'd been adjusting her piercings, tugging at her own lips and distracting him terribly.) Her whole body went very still. "I… see," she said.

He hated - hated - how miserable she was, and how well she was hiding it. Crying and tears he could handle. Emotion - in all forms - was a clue, and something he could follow along with. "There are no guarantees for time," he said. "And it is difficult to tell when I'll be free, when I'll be able to get in touch."

"Of course. That's perfectly understandable."

"Kyoko, please don't try to be brave on my account," he started, but she held up her hand.

"Senpai," she said, sternly. "I'm not being brave. I understand what is going on." Then she looked down. "Anybody would do the same thing. It's only the dutiful thing to do."

"I want you to come with me."

That came out wrong. He could tell from the way her eyes widened, her breath hitched. "I know it's on a short notice," he began. "I know it is probably a considerable expense. I'll cover it. I'll cover plane travel, and accommodation, and if you have to take time off work…"

"You're right," she said. "It is a short notice."

He stopped, unsure what to make of her tone. Kyoko sighed and rubbed her temples.

"I said the wrong thing." Ren wished he could hit himself. "I'm sorry. I—"

"Please. Just… just give me a second." She squeezed her eyes shut, as if warding off a migraine. "Senpai—"

"Ren."

"Ren, I want to support you, I really do." She dropped her hands and looked at him. "But that's not how it works."

No? He used to think money could solve everything.

"I just took a holiday," she said. "And I've signed filming contracts with Box-R and other… other projects. I can't leave on a short notice, to Hokkaido or Okinawa or…"

"It's… a bit farther away than that," Ren said, slowly.

The look she gave him was suspicious. As she had every right to be. "How much farther?" she asked.

"I—"

"Ren. Just tell me."

"Across the ocean," he said. "My family is in America."

"America…" she spoke the words as if she was testing out the sound.

"Yes. California, to be precise. But they're going to Austen for my mother's treatment." Ren coughed. "You don't have to fly out with me, you can come later. When you can take a longer vacation. We'll find things to do. America is so vast, you can sometimes drive for hours without seeing another person. I can—"

"Ren. Stop."

He let his hands drop. He'd been gesticulating like some caricature, as if he waved his hands around and made the right noises he could trick her into thinking this was something it was not. Get a grip, man, he thought.

"So. That's a no, then," he said.

"Ren, I don't even have a passport," she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Or did you forget the part where I'm a 17 year old without a guardian."

Yes, he did. He forgot with an alarming frequency.

Shamed, Ren hung his head. "You're right. I'm a moron. I didn't even think."

"I wasn't trying to get you to beat yourself up," she snapped. Coming up to him, she took his face in her hands. He must have looked particularly miserable, because Kyoko's expression softened. "I'm not doing this to be mean. I would love to be able to support you. But there are some things… there are some things I cannot do. And some things I can't just drop."

The tension in his chest eased a bit. The terror - a blind, horrible terror - that had seized him when she'd said no - it started to fade. Reason began to prevail again - not the harsh mistress he imposed on himself in moments of failure, but someone else. Someone kinder. See how she feels, she said. Learn the limitations.

"I understand. I'm sorry I put you in an awkward position."

Kyoko sighed, and leaned in for a quick kiss. "It won't be like this forever," she said it with determination. As if she could bend fate itself to her will. "Even if we are apart for longer… we'll find each other again."

As they had already. She didn't know it, but it made his heart leap. "When you come to see me, I'll greet you with the biggest, gaudiest bouquet of flowers I can find," he said.

That got a laugh out of her. "No, you won't."

"Biggest, gaudiest, pinkest thing you ever saw," he said. "With lace and funny plastic fairies struck throughout. Its ribbons will have ribbons. And I will stand there, at the airport, while your arrival time gets pushed further and further back, because there is always a delay.

"Who knows?" he said. "Maybe I'll wear a pink jumpsuit too."

Kyoko laughed so hard her wig fell off.

The chuckles followed her through most of her day - in fact, they came in hand when Natsu had to simulate a proper character breakdown and go into full scare mode. It did her good, love. Shockingly, it did her good.

But underneath all that merriment, there was a darker edge to everything. Ren's mood was good this morning - the diametric opposite of how she'd found him the night before. He'd gone from freaking out about her not being able to come with him - to America, of all places - to making jokes about emasculating himself on her behalf. She knew his mood to be mercurial - but now it had gone from unpredictable to impossible. She had to admit - to herself, at least - she was a little bit relieved that she couldn't go.

Because she was afraid.

For all his attempts to soothe her, she was afraid.

That day, when they finished shooting, she sat in her dressing room, plagued by thoughts. Old habits made her look for Corn, hoping that the ritual, the weight of the stone in her hand would help soothe her.

She'd found it shattered.

At first she thought she'd gotten things wrong, that she'd taken a piece of costume jewelry and it had broken in her pocket accidentally. But no - she looked for Corn everywhere. There was only one place it could have been, and in its place now sat shards.

Kyoko believed in fairies. She also knew a premonition when she saw one. Taking out her phone, and feeling more than a little bit faint, she dialed Kato-san.

She hadn't lied to Ren. There was no way she could get a passport in time to join him on his flight home. But she had guardians. It was time they stepped up to the part.

And if they refused? The grudges were not usually the cautious ones, but even they seemed worried.

Kyoko sighed. If they refused… there was one more person she could technically go to. And she wasn't looking forward to it.

It would be worth it, she thought. I could travel on a short notice. I could always use that.

Motion begets motion. A careless whisper here, a misplaced phone there. A moment's distraction at the wrong place and wrong time. An idea is just an idea until it finds a fertile mind to plant itself in. And grow.

And then grow some more.

In a land full of open spaces and sunshine, a woman sneaks out for a walk.

She's beautiful, and she is famous, but her health has been subject of speculation and there is more than one person wanting to talk to her about it. Off the record, of course. She's all charm and smiles, a little bit baffled - just a little bit - but not enough to raise the reporter's fear. She wants them playing her tune - she has to play her part. Luckily, she's had a lifetime of practice.

Across the ocean, a different sort of sun shines over the buildings. An actor who doesn't know if he is an actor anymore contemplates his future. Not in a cafe - too crowded, and it makes him melancholy, thinking that he might have to trade places with the server sometime soon. No - he's chosen a nice shady bench, with a good view of the hotel district. Good place to lick one's wounds. And look for weaknesses.

In that same town, a rock star puts away his guitar for the first time in a while.

And gets a call from home.

A/N - Does anybody want to translate this in Spanish? Yo hablo un poquito pero no puedo traducir todo esto...

If anybody wants to have a go, give me a message so that I can signpost people to it. The spelling will probably be better...