AN : It's been YEARS, I know… And I was still dwelling around posting this, correct it a a little more (checking the grammar one more time, editing some more etc) but I figured that it was about time…

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Ran was counting the money inside the cash register as it would soon be time to close. In the meantime the few remaining customers were finishing their dessert when she felt that someone was watching her from the other side of her bar. Just as she was about to take her eyes off the money to take a look at that person, they inquired "What is your finest Japanese whiskey?"

"The Yamaza…" Ran couldn't finish her sentence when she looked up to answer the question.

Conan was standing slightly to her right. He was inside her restaurants. He was in London. He stood there for a second trying to think. "The Yamazaki is sure good but it's a tad expensive isn't it?".

Ran was stunned "What are you doing here?"

"Well I couldn't possibly come to London and not pay you a visit."

"Of course." Ran smiled and called one her employee and asked him if he could finish her task for her. "So, do you actually want to drink something?"

"The Yamazaki sounded great to me."

"It's funny. I mean maybe it's because you are…" she cleared her throat "…Conan-kun I just can't picture you drinking alcohol even though you are the age that you are.

She poured him a glass anyway and grabbed some tea along with a couple of cups.

The restaurant was very modern and classy. It wasn't overly decorated but there were some bamboos here and there. Also a beautiful cherry tree sculpture stood at the center of the room. The restaurant's owner lead the way to a traditional door which hid an additional table that was very low and had no chairs around it.

"Wow it's just like home!"

"I know, right. I had this made for the people who wanted a more authentic experience. It also gives you more privacy." Ran started sliding the door back and forth but left it open "Unfortunately I don't get to have privacy around here. I am to be available at all times."

"It must have been tiring. Especially while taking care of Emiko…"

She rested her chin on her palm "It's gotten a lot easier along the years but you know… I think you may start to understand the feeling now. Parenting means constantly feeling like you could have done better. Emiko has had to put up with me and the restaurant."

"Sorry Ran…"

Ran placed her hand on his as if to say that it wasn't necessary "Besides I only got the restaurant 10 years ago which I realise sounds like a long time but I've been working in this place ever since I left Japan. It was the typical asian restaurant that serves anything from sushi to nem owned by a Chinese old lady. There was a 'we're hiring' sign so I came in, in the middle of the afternoon saying that I was here for 'the cardo'. We did some kind of interview but she quickly went from asking for a CV to asking me why I fled Japan and I started crying. I told her the whole thing… Well I tried anyways. That sweet old lady offered me the job and she even let me stay in the small room upstairs."

"I see… I should really thank her."

"She died last year… Also I'm pretty sure she would have told you that she didn't want to be thanked because what she did was 'normal'. Anyway she gave the restaurant to me 10 years ago because she was too old to work, after all she was 80 then and I gave her a cut of the profits every month." Ran turned her head and noticed that most of the lights had been switched off.

It was already over midnight and the last clients were gone. Ran's waiter was probably praying that she'd let him go soon. It was time to go home and she decided she'd offer Shinichi to continue their conversation at her place. Shinichi obviously accepted without question.

Although she'd usually very much enjoy her 10 minutes walk back home she gladly went along in Shinichi's rental Mercedes.

"You never got to tell me… How long are you staying?" She asked as they parked in front her building.

"2 days."

Ran couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Regaining some sens she asked "You booked an hotel, didn't you?"

Shinichi started to scratch the back of his head "Well, actually I didn't…" As Ran looked a bit unsettled he added "I thought that maybe you'd end up inviting me to stay over and I thought it would be impolite to cancel the hotel at the last minute."

"You mean more impolite than inviting yourself here?" She crossed her arms.

"I am sorry Ran. I wanted to surprise you, I was so excited to see you that I didn't think this through. Besides, I really wanted to see where you both lived and where you worked. More than anything else I wanted to be with you."

His words eased her and she admitted "You're right I would have offered you to stay here in the end." She started to run her hand up and down his back in a calming way.

Ran opened her front door letting Shinichi and his luggage in. He was carefully observing her in order not to make a faux-pas, copying her every move. She put her coat in the closet, he put his coat in the closet, she put her shoes on the rack so did he. She walked away in her socks, he stood there for a moment looking for slippers.

Ran looked at him with a smile from the other end of the hallway "There aren't any. I put them away since Emiko wouldn't wear them."

He followed her to the living room as she gave him a little house tour. The house was pretty old although it looked very charming with its creaking wooden floor. Most of the walls were plain white which had both pros and cons. The living room was centred around a large TV faced by a comfortable 3 seats blue sofa. The left wall was completely covered by book shelves that wear separated in two by a door. The nearest shelf was slightly smaller, it contained cooking and meditation books. The farthest was stacked with Sherlock Holmes novels printed in an old looking hardcover style. Shinichi also spotted Tolkien and other classics both in the fantasy and mystery genre.

"So, she is a bit of a book nerd."

"How do you know that they aren't all mine?"

"Emiko told me that you made her read Sherlock Holmes so I deduced it would be her side."

"Deduced, huh? Anyway speaking of Emiko. You've been seeing her, right? How is she doing?"

"Well she seems to be doing fine. Her Japanese is definitely improving."

"What about Kioshi?"

"Well, I don't know. He's doing fine I guess. Why do you ask?" He seemed genuinely confused.

The living room was opened on a luxurious kitchen they were only separated by a large counter where Emiko and Ran would probably have their meals together.

Ran went to the kitchen, poured some water and aligned several pills on the counter. "Well, you know… She has crush on him and he has a crush on her so I am just checking up on them."

"You don't worry about what could happen?"

Ran didn't answer right away as she she took the first couple of pills. She couldn't help but notice Conan staring at her worryingly. She swallowed quickly and said "Melatonin, for the jet lag you know… I freaked out at first but then Emiko and I had a nice talk. I trust her and I made sure that she knows that she can talk to me if she needs to."

As he simply nodded she offered to finish up the tour by showing him upstairs. Shinichi and Ran looked at each other in silence for a moment. Ran thought it was crazy how just looking into his eyes would prevent her from thinking straight. She closed her eyes to focus for a moment and offered him to see what was upstairs.

"The whole floor is pretty much Emiko's except for a small room where I keep a desk for myself. I am guessing you want to see her room."

Ran opened the door for him. He stood right in the middle of his daughter's bedroom. It was rather small but the space was optimised enough to make it look comfortable. Nothing but a couple of Japanese learning books stood on her desk. The shelves were also emptied off their books and only held a number of sports trophies and medals. By the looks of things Emiko never settled for just one sport although she definitely had her fair share of martial arts. There even was a picture of her and Ran with their kimonos. Judging by Ran's black belt she probably had Emiko try karate for a year.

Shinichi sat on the bed while Ran stood against the door, she tried to see where Shinchi's eyes would stop and read his mind. Unfortunately she couldn't ever grasp it as she was distracted by his happy smile. As they went back downstairs Ran still couldn't get herself to sleep so she offered to make them both some herbal tea.

Something was bothering her and after wondering the whole evening what it was she finally came to the conclusion that Shinichi was up to something.

"Tell me Shinichi what is the actual purpose of your trip here?"

He looked up at her, slightly startled by the sudden formality "Well, I had a business meeting here."

"A business meeting? Aren't you a professional football player?"

"I'd be pretty stupid if I were just that. I can't rely solely on my football skills to make a living especially knowing that I may retire soon."

She sat next to him and placed her hand on his leg in a comforting gesture "I see… We're not so young anymore, are we?"

He cracked a smile but quickly cleared his throat "I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep up on the pitch with the actual 20 years olds." He chuckled lightly "Also… I'm here because I made a promise and I intend to show you that I'll keep to it. You told me that you wanted me to prove myself so I'm trying…" As Ran stayed silent he gently grabbed her by the hand and led her back to the sofa downstairs.

Ran spontaneously sat as she expected the conversation to continue but instead of that she found herself observing Shinichi. He was searching for something in his coat pockets. Ran was particularly intrigued, she thought he was moving rather slowly. Finally she spotted him taking a deeper breath.

He finally turned to face her again and without further ado he held out his hand to her. The natural thing to do would have been to reach for whatever he wanted to give her but she froze when she realised that what he was giving her was a ring and suddenly felt like she couldn't breath nor move.

He took a deep breath "Before you say anything, this obviously isn't an engagement ring nor is this a proposal". He couldn't looked at her directly and chose to look right in front of him, still he felt that her body relaxed. Shinichi chuckled softly "It's a bit silly when I think about it. I bought this ring for you before I even told you that I was in love with you. Then… Conan happened and things didn't pan out the way I had hoped they would." Shinichi paused for a second and lend the ring towards Ran a second time "When you left I was devastated of course but in a way I was also relieved because I thought that you finally were out of harm's way. I was also pretty confident that I would be able to solve my 'difficult case' quickly and return to my life as Shinichi. I was going to find out your whereabouts, explain everything to you, ask for your forgiveness and eventually give you this ring as a simple present."

"Shinichi" she called his name as she slowly took the ring from him hand. "I've forgiven you."

"I had a point to make. Despite effectively letting you go, despite marrying someone else, I never were able to bring myself to get rid of it and I kept it hidden. I never renounced you. I always hoped I'd have the chance to finally give it to you."

Ran held the ring in her left hand and examined it for a second.

"It's nothing too fancy… I mean I couldn't afford anything too nice on my parents allowance."

"It's beautiful, I love it" She cut him off. She took a slow deep breath while still looking at the ring. "It wouldn't take much convincing to get me to actually give you a second chance right away. Emiko would probably tell you that I've been waiting for you since forever and… I probably have." She sighed "I don't think I can wear it but maybe we can give it to Emiko when we tell her who you really are."

"Sure." He slid his arm behind her back and brought her into a tender embrace. After a moment Shinichi cleared his throat "Ran… Should I take Emiko's bed or?"

Ran immediately straightened herself. She nearly answered right away but she refused to just blurt something out. Still she couldn't look at him and said while looking at he coffee table "Or we can just put your stuff back in my room."