"I'm glad you came. Come in, close the door behind you" Ran walked to the window, she rested against the glass. "Take a seat please" She crossed her arms over her chest, Ran took a moment to look at the man's face, a long moment to look at his face. So familiar that she almost wanted to touch it, to hold with both hands. Ran's face had softened on its own but she took the control back "Where to start... How should I call you? Conan? Shinichi?"

"If there's anyone who could possibly choose it's you."

"You're not answering my question..." Ran stretched and sat on the armchair in front of him.

"They call me Conan, everybody does, even my parents call me that way."

"I'm not surprised, you lived nearly longer as Conan than as Shinichi so it's only logic."

"Something like that..." He was almost shaking and seemed unable to add anything to the statement.

Ran could clearly see it, she could feel the hesitance in his voice but she wasn't going to spare him just yet "The same goes for you and Ai. You spent more time with her than with me, you even got married."

Conan's heart started a race in his chest still he needed to think straight "Ran I swear it's never been romantic. We just had each other for comfort and... It felt nice to not lie to someone."

He was looking down and didn't notice Ran's hand approaching till she touched his own "That's unnecessary Conan, it wasn't a reproach. Maybe I should be jealous, but I am not.." She took her hand back "I didn't really mean to wait for Shinichi to come for me, I just kept myself busy, really busy. It was the perfect excuse to go around the social obligation of dating. I tried just once, I have to say that it wasn't that bad."

"Charlie?"

"Yeah Charlie..." She sighed "The poor man didn't see it coming, I got here and realized that I had to stop the comedy. In football terms that'd be called a draw."

The playmaker smiled faintly "I feel like you're going a bit too easy on me."

"That's right I probably should have got angry because you lied to me countless times, you even kept the comedy running when I was with you in Tokyo."

"I'm sorry Ran" Again his eyes were directed to the ground.

"But I'm not getting angry because I knew, deep inside I always knew so I just should have trusted myself. Also I feel like I can't be mad at you Conan, you were always there for me till I left... Also I'm not completely innocent either, I ran away with our child and I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry."

"Ran, I mean it's... I blamed it on myself all along and if you feel guilty for anything let me first tell you that you're not and if you still feel so I'd be more than happy to forgive you." Conan got slightly overwhelmed in his little speech, as he realized it his embarrassment was visible on his face and he started to scratch the back of his head "We're not going to spend the day apologizing, are we?"

Ran giggled "No of course not. Oh actually I wanted to give you something, let me find it."

"Do you have a present for me?" The man got back to a more usual smirk.

"Well not really, it's not much." She handed him a flash drive "It won't really be enough to catch up but I've gathered as many pictures and videos of Emiko."

"I guess I don't have to worry about theatres programs" He placed the item in the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Conan..." Ran sat on the edge of the bed she seemed embarrassed. The woman was clearly avoiding eye contact, she was looking outside while holding her elbow. "What do you want?"

At first the man didn't really understand, the question was quite sudden as well but after a blush appeared on Ran's face he finally understood. The panic made his body temperature rise quickly still he had to say something. He got up and walked to her "Ran I wouldn't dare to ask you for a chance with you still..." He stopped, sat next to her and sighed a couple of times "I know that I have no rights on Emiko, even if I wanted to I can't even prove that she's my daughter. I want to know her and if possible to be a father."

"Would you tell her everything?"

"Yes, if you allow me to of course..." He attempted to place his hand but Ran took it back as soon as they made contact.

"We will see, I still need to think about it... Humm the hotel's restaurant seems completely okay and now that we're done with... How would you call it? Parental talk, maybe? Shall we have a nicer talk at the restaurant?"

Conan hadn't recovered yet from his try and despite his embarrassment gladly accepted.

It didn't take more than a minute for Ai to notice Conan didn't come back home. She stood a second at the window smiling for no real reason. Conan being absent didn't prevent her from living life on, she got ready just like the usual. The problems started as they would usually have gone to the training facilities together but she actually decided to take this as the beginning of her life without Conan.

A life where she'd have to take the bus, it was nothing too annoying but still. Walking along the empty street to the bus stop she got a weird impression as if she was followed. Just where did that came from? A noise, it probably was just the wind mixed with some good old paranoia. A man was already standing by the bus stop sign, at the moment she laid her eyes on him she saw him raise his hand and turned back to see the bus coming.

The trip went relatively fast listening to music. A part of her was dying to know how her ex-husband's conversation with Ran went but she could only produce a long list of alternatives. She'd know everything soon or hopefully she would depending what Conan decides to share. Ai was taken away from these thoughts when she had to get off, the woman still had a good 5 minutes of walk ahead of her. After a little while she noticed a man walking behind her, the same man who called the bus. She slowed down, he slowed down. Ai turned back making sure they would make eye contact, not only she confirmed that he was following her but also she wanted him to know that she noticed. It was proven to be very effective as a few hundred meters away he had disappeared. Who could be following her?

Finally she made it to the facilities, Ai searched through the parking lot, their car wasn't there. She waited a while, a car got passed the entrance but it was only Nathan.

"Mrs Edogawa! Ohayogozaimasu!"

"Hey Nathan! You should really start calling me by my actual name you know..."

Nathan walked towards her, a bit too close to her taste but it was something foreigners tend to do and they seem to never learn it.

"Now that's embarrassing... I don't know your name" Nathan typically scratched the back of his head.

She smiled at him, she had worked there for almost 2 years and no one knew her name it was far time "You can call me Ai."

"It's not your last name, is it?" He frowned in complete confusion.

"It's actually my first name. Can you believe it?" They started to laugh and laughing felt so good and natural for Ai.

*CLICK* She definitely heard it. Ai instantly had a feeling of déjà vu, she had heard that sound before.

"We should get in, none of us can really afford to get sick."

Her eyes weren't even opened yet but she could already feel the light in the room, she had forgotten to close the curtain so it was only logic. Everything was so quiet when she gained consciousness. Her mind was perfectly clear therefore she didn't need more than a second to straighten. Ran simultaneously hit the other side of the bed only to get her hand bouncing back on the mattress. Her heart was pounding so fast, he couldn't have done this to her.

Ran held the cover against her bare body taking a good look around her. No sign of Conan. She jumped out of the bed and in some clothes. That's when she heard it.

The bathroom door creaking made her freeze right where she stood. Conan magically appeared in front of her. He was almost ready to leave, just repositioning his sleeves when she was only wearing panties and the first t-shirt she found.

"Did I wake you up?"

Ran remained silent as she felt tears forming she looked down a while "No... I thought you were gone!" She slowly walked back trying for the bed before collapsing on it.

"Oh..." Conan wanted to calm her down but it wasn't easy when she wouldn't take her hands off her face. He had no other choice but to grabbed her arms and brought it down. "Ran I couldn't bring myself to wake up when you were sleeping so deeply. Instead I postponed it and prepared first but I would have said goodbye. I promise I wasn't going to leave like that."

Ran punched the mattress with her right fist "I'm sorry I overreacted... But it's only your fault!"

He kneeled down "I know Ran..."

She washed the tears off with the back of her hand "Be honest with yourself please. What do you want from me? Say it!"

"Ran I'd lying if I say that I don't want you back, of course I do and I kno..."

"Stop!" She placed a finger on his mouth "I've shown enough how I feel about you yesterday but it doesn't matter how I feel. You hurt me as Shinichi, again it doesn't matter. I can forgive you, I might have already..." She got up and opened the wardrobe to take a bathrobe. "Emiko is young and I want to protect her. I'm sure you understand."

"Of course... I don't want to do any harm to her, I love her." He gathered his courage and took her hands.

Ran smiled for the first time since she woke up "I know you do. Still I would want to believe all of your words Conan..." She placed her hands on his chest and ran them up to his face "If Shinichi Kudo is still in there I'm sure he will understand that I want proves."

"I'm on it."

"That's the least I expected from you Conan" She took her hands off his face to place them behind her back. She was staring at his blue eyes, they didn't change one bit, the same ones she fell into many years ago. The man opened his mouth as if he was about to say something but Ran interrupted him "I know you're late, aren't you?"

He smirked, she simply knew everything... Conan tiptoed to kiss her forehead, he wouldn't allow himself to take more initiatives yet. He planted his feet in order to start a run, which he did but only as far as the door knob. He walked back to her and popping his head up from behind the wall "I ordered you a breakfast, it's on me of course."

Her smile had clearly made it to the bright side, he was trying hard and it was working "You really should better get going."

"I'll call you!" He sprinted away smashing the door on his way.

Emiko overslept causing her morning to have gone away in her sleep. Again too many thoughts kept on running in her mind when she was intending to sleep.

After missing out on their lunch, Emiko managed to join Kioshi for a casual afternoon in Akihabara. They went to the cinema and besides to pick the movie the Japanese boy didn't say anything. When they went to the game centre, a place she reckoned he might like, he barely touched a joystick. Again when they went to the local Starbucks imitation he didn't say a word and refused to order anything.

The British girl tried her best to stay calm even if she actually wanted to grab his shoulders and shake the hell out of him.

Emiko threw her head back turning her coffee can completely upside down to get the very last sip of it. Breathing in and out she didn't say anything, it was a very quiet afternoon indeed. However Emiko clearly felt her blood boil after a few hours and she just couldn't keep it in any longer.

She stopped just a second to think, allowing Kioshi to be a good step ahead of her. She planted both of her feet in the ground and caught his wrist from behind. He had no other choice but to face her. "Tell me Kioshi... What's the matter? What did I do to upset you?"

He looked down "Nothing..."

Emiko sighed all the air filling her lungs "Okay I understand social conventions are a bit different over here but hell, if you have something to say just say it!"

Her facial expression was horrible, she was definitely pissed but on another level. It didn't seem like she would let him run away without a proper explanation. Still his heart started to melt as he realized that she was yet to let go off his wrist and a slight blush appeared on his face, which was very fortunately hidden by the cold wind. "I was just thinking you know..." he stopped there.

Emiko let go off him to face palm herself "Is that your explanation? Now you're supposed to tell me what you were thinking about."

He placed his hand in his coat pockets and started to walk again making the girl run to catch up "Tell me Emiko... You're going back to London at the end of the school year, aren't you?"

Now she was confused "Well of course I am."

He looked up for a moment "I guess it can't be helped, it's your home."

"Actually no it's not, at least it doesn't feel so. You don't know that but when I am in London people only see in me an Asian foreigner. They even call me Chinese but that's another story... My point is despite being fully British, being raised and born there I will always remain a foreigner. So I thought since both my parents are from Tokyo maybe this could be my home but clearly I also feel like a foreigner here. The truth is that I am yet to find a place to call home."

"Wow that's more complicated than I thought it was" For the first time since the conversation started he actually dared to glance at her.

"It is It is... Hey don't go thinking that's a good enough explanation!"

"I was just thinking that you're going to leave us and that I'll miss you... I'll miss you so much."

"Aww" the sound escaped her lips without any sort of control. She instantly brought him close and tied her arms around his back to hug him, a nice tender and very long hug.

She was his best friend and there seemed to be no way to keep her by his side. That's the moment he decided that he would keep his feelings inside, there was no point in trying to bring her closer if she was already thinking of leaving him. He felt tears forming in his eyes even though the expected end was still relatively far away, he closed his eyes as his pride wouldn't allow her to notice and responded to the hug with equal tenderness. Time flew by as they stood still a long while, 5 minutes or maybe 10 till the girl placed her hands on his shoulder to pull away. She sent shivers through his body when she unintentionally grazed his cheek with hers.

"I'll miss you too. I even started to think about weird plans such as fitting you into my suitcase unfortunately I heard that's illegal."

He smiled shyly at her nonsense, something afar caught his eyes. He wasn't completely sure but his fan boy had spotted something. "Wait for me here, I'll be back in a minute I just need to buy something. Just wait, okay?"

Emiko obeyed although she had no idea of what could be so urgent, she just looked at him running to the nearby store. He came back after a 5 minutes which was an eternity for the impatient girl, Emiko instantly noticed that he had a magazine wrapped under his arm. He walked slowly to her, way too slowly. "Why did you leave all of sudden for a magazine?"

"I am not sure that's a good idea... It's the cover... I mean when I was right here with you I saw someone with the magazine..."

"Give it to me already!" She filched it from him and instantly let out a gasp when she saw the cover. "Wait wait wait... It's the corridor of mom's hotel room I recognize it!"

"Jeez give it back you shouldn't be looking at this!"

"Why did you buy it then if it wasn't to show me?"

"Well I thought... It doesn't matter what I thought it's your parents kissing on a magazine cover. Just stop looking at it anyway!"

"Come on Kioshi it's just a picture and besides that it's only good news right?" The boy shrugged in a giving up fashion, he knew she was going to be right. "One last thing... Can you tell me what's written there?"

"What? You still can't read it for yourself?"

Emiko frowned before grabbing his shoulder "It takes years to master Japanese but you know that already."

Her nails unconsciously started to dig into his shoulder, not enough to hurt him thanks to his thick winter jacket but far enough to stop him from anymore joking "Divorce drama intensifies, that's what is written."

Her hand relaxed on his shoulder till she pulled him a little down to her height and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The second her lips touched his skin her heartbeat sped up, her temperature rose. Biology taught her that it was a natural reaction to danger allowing your body to prepare for escape.

She just ran without looking back, straight to the agency forcing her way through the people and nearly tripping a few times. Emiko was hoping that Kogoro wouldn't have heard about it yet and could drive her to Ran's hotel since another cab bill would have ruined her. A twenty minutes nonstop run through Tokyo, nothing undoable for such a well trained girl but still Emiko was exhausted when she reached the stairs leading to her grandfather's office. She knocked but didn't get any answer. When she was about to open the door Emiko heard loud voices coming from upstairs one of those being his.

The teenager jumped the last stairs separating her from the door, the vague Japanese screaming finally became clearer.

"You have no right to tell me such things! I took my independence many years ago now so all of this is none of your business." It's mom! Well at least going to the hotel is useless now.

"We see what it is, actually everybody does see it. Yet you still say it's not our business..."

Kogoro ended with a groan, it was the go Emiko was waiting for. She had to interrupt them as quickly as possible or else it would go too far. She hid the magazine in her bag with her left hand and opened the door with her right hand. The young girl didn't need to say anything, just her presence stopped everything.

"Elephant in the room, huh?" Emiko looked straight at Kogoro hoping it would help to cool him down. She then more shyly turned to her mother who seemed to be whispering "Sweetheart..." Ran looked at her parents and received an approbation nod from her mother. She then drove her to her former bedroom closing the door behind them. Emiko placed her bag next to the desk, Ran sat on the side of the bed.

"So... I assume that you already know why your grandfather was screaming at me..."

Emiko looked to her bag "I do."

Ran instantly covered her face with both hands in embarrassment but recovered quickly "Emiko it's..."

Emiko directed both of her palms towards to stop her, she walked to the window "Mom you don't have to explain to me if you don't feel like it."

Ran's face eased suddenly even turning to a bright smile, she joined her daughter "I just don't know yet what it will be. I need time..."

Ran caressed gently the back of Emiko's head and brought her closer in a tender embrace. Emiko felt her mother tensed up before suddenly letting go off her. She ran away in a fashion that reminded the young girl of herself. Where and why could she be running? Emiko stood perplex in her room, turning around she found an answer when she caught the sight of Conan's car.

AN: The end is near! Could you believe it? I started this fiction about a year ago and now I can finally see the end of it. It might take me another month to write the next chapter which is probably the last one. It will actually consist in a double upload with a short epilogue. Don't forget to review, let me know anything and I really mean anything