A/N: Hello! Its already the first weekend! Woo-ho! Yeah, all right! So I realized just how much I missed writing the story, but had to do a little bit of work on this chapter. I spent like an hour just trying to come up with material to be a part of this chapter. Anyway, after you all see the title of this chapter you'll be able to guess the last chapters title, but I don't care. Okay, here we go. Love and be loved. Read… and review please.
A/N: (revised) Yeah… that first 'a/n'… about four weeks old now. Please forgive. Love and be loved. Read… and review please.

See No Evil

I've always considered water as the opposite of the autumn leaves. Water is both a wonder, and a curse. Water creates, and water destroys. Water can save a life, and water can kill a life. In the winter, water is frozen over and left to be skated on by young love, old love, children, teens, and just about everyone. Come spring, water is used by the clouds on the flowers that have been dead, and give them new life. In the summer, water is put into the pools both public and private, for people- mostly awkward people- to jump into and be cooled. It also becomes popular to carry around water and drink it in times of exceptionally warm weather. Then, in autumn, the water becomes welcoming, and wonderful- just as it did that day a week ago today.

Once again, school was out and I was packing up to leave. I was happy it was the weekend again. Takato and me were going on a date again today… it feels awkward to call it that. A date. A date? I mean, really… were just two very close friends who enjoy the others company, like to talk to one another, and just happen to be of opposite sexes. I mean… that's normal right? For a boyfriend and girlfriend, that's normal right? Well, what do I care what normal is anyway? Up until a few months ago being ANYTHING near normal was considered out of the question as far as I was concerned.

I finished putting the last book in my bag, and turned around… well if good things come in two's then what comes from one thing? Erica was sitting on top of her desk, alone, and apparently waiting for me to come and argue with her, or even say something. I hadn't spoken to her yet since thee um… 'incident.' I never knew that silence could be so powerful, but Erica had it coming to her, didn't she? It was she who told me herself, that "silence suits you, Rika." Wasn't it? I guess the sounds of silence weren't so kind to her as she thought. I began my trot towards her, I knew she was going to stop me, but still decided to hope, maybe, just maybe, today would be different?

Apparently not, because she got up when I was only a few feet away. I did like I always do, I turned left, and she side stepped. I turned back to the right and she side stepped. Then I went back to the left and around two desks and… she followed? She hadn't done this before. I looked up at her with a look of disgust. Is NOW the time to push her over? 'Yes!' My mind screamed, the tough girl curtain- or whatever was left of it- was begging to get its chance at coming out of retirement. Takato seemed to have burned that curtain down, and made sure it burned to ashes. I no longer wore my pride on my sleeve, and rather didn't keep to myself as much… just in school.

"Not-ugh Nonaka, not today. Today, you're going to hear me out and what I have to say about you." She said.

I wasn't going to do anything of the sort. But what could I do? My anger at her was still present, but she wasn't boiling my blood enough for me to do anything to her. And what was I going to do about her game of cat and mouse? She wouldn't let me get away, not this time. I clamped down and got ready to tune her out. Maybe I could try and force the sound from my alarm clock to come out of her mouth some how? "First thing's first, you're a bitch."

I looked up at her with anger in my eyes, which was nothing compared to when I had daggers in my eyes, or worse fire. I hadn't tuned her out in time for that one, but whatever. I tuned them out . . . now!

"More importantly, your 'boyfriend' is just some big loser, I'm sure. I've got friends in his school, they say he doesn't have many friends. And the one's he is friends with, he's usually seen fighting with them. Sounds like you two match, except for the friends thing on your behalf."
Damn! My ears weren't tuning her out! Well, I was just going to have to take this lying. The curtain was burned, dead, and wasn't ever coming back, so I wasn't going to fight her. "And as for you…"
She paused before going on. Just as she had done in my room… she was trying… trying to savor the moment? As if she already had a killing stroke ready, what? She continued, "You may have a 'boyfriend' now, but I know the real you is still underneath. Your still cold."
I looked up at her, the anger rising in me. 'Still cold'? I was far from it! So far, being cold hadn't crossed my mind an extremely long span of time. She had paused again, savoring her victorious moments, for every little while that they lasted. "You're still falling apart."

The anger turned to daggers, and my blood seemed to be running. "Still falling apart"? I was never falling apart. I had never fallen apart; I was always a whole. There were times before I met up with Takato again when I felt like crying, but knew that it was wrong- and that it was weak, but that was all a long past memory! I was past those points in my life… she was trying to bring back the old me, and it was very well damn working! She had paused again, still savoring these godforsaken moments! What the- "And I know the truth behind you still Rika. I know the real you is on the inside, begging to say something, anything, to me! Do you want to know what I know about you Rika? I'm going to tell you, are you ready?" (pause) "I know, your still dead inside." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

The daggers became fire, and it was a passionate fire that begged the rebirth of my curtain. I felt the linger sensation in the pit of my stomach that meant the curtain might actually respond to the pleas. I removed my eyes from staring at her, and looked down at my feet. "Dead inside"? "Dead inside"? How… how could she say such a horrible thing! She was trying to pry the old me out… but an image of Takato came into my head, and I knew what he would have wanted me to do… I knew…

"I know your still-" SLAP! I guess I'll never know what exactly she thought I still was. I had slapped her. I starred at the part of her cheek where my hand had hit, and gradually, slowly, it grew a shade of red as a mark was left. "Your wrong." I said.
I pushed her left shoulder as I moved past her, just to make sure she was out of the way. I had told her she was wrong with a very shaky voice, maybe because it was basically out of use whenever I was in school, or around school, or maybe because I was actually hurt by what she had said. Either way, I think I got the reaction I had wanted out of her- shock! I turned around to look at where she was before I walked out into the hall, and she was still standing there, frozen and rooted to the spot, holding her cheek.

With school let out, I walked out of the school and into the sunlight of the afternoon. I took a look around and found what I was looking for. I started walking over to my group of friends- Kazu, Kenta, Jeri, and Henry. I got to the group and said, "What's going on everyone?"

Kazu was the first to respond. "Not much, but me and Kenta gotta leave."
Kenta gave him an odd look. "We do?"
Jeri and I laughed at this, but Henry didn't seem to be paying any attention. "Yeah chumly! Now lets go, we've got a card tournament to win!"
"But I always lose in the first round… and it's usually to you!"
"Exactly, I've got a card tournament to win."
Again we laughed as Kazu dragged Kenta away, but Henry was focused in on something else. "What's up, Henry?" I asked.

He didn't respond… and seemed to not have heard me. I waved my hand in front of his face, and… nothing? "HENRY!" I yelled at him.
He wasn't responding? It was as if he wasn't even breathing, but his eyes were open, and he was standing up. "Henry, are you all right?" Jeri asked.
I grabbed him by the wrist to try and jerk him to life and as soon as I touched him he seemed to snap out of his trance. "Oh… hi Takato, didn't see you there."

See me there? What was he talking about? I had yelled at him, was he like loosing it or something? Should I push the subject and ask him about it, or just assume he had blanked just now? I choose the second of my options. "Whatever, so does anyone want to walk with me home today?" I openly invited them both.

But neither responded at all. What gives? "I said, does anyone want to walk home with me today?"
This seemed to get their attention. "Oh, yeah of course!" Jeri said.
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Henry also said.
"Good, then lets get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover and it's the weekend so lets rock!" I said.

We started are walk back to my house along the sidewalk and Henry asked "So Takato… you never did say why you and Rika started hanging out again in the first place."
I smiled thought back to last week. They had asked, but I ended up fighting with them, rather then answering them. "Jeri knows why." I said.
She seemed to be taken aback a bit by this, not knowing exactly how to respond and therefore, not answering. I smiled again, and turned around as I was walking (walking backwards) and said "We started hanging out again just about… em, almost two months ago."
As we were walking she didn't seem to get what I was trying to convey, but suddenly she stopped walking and opened her mouth in amazement at what she must have self-revealed. Henry stopped to wait up for her, but I turned around and slowly started to walk away, waiting for her to yell something, or for either of them to come running to catch up. "Takato! No way! Not… two months ago? No way!" she yelled.

I can't imagine how confused Henry must have been at this point, but just ignored him. "(While still slowly walking away) Yes way!" I yelled back.
I heard footsteps as Jeri obviously had started to run to catch up. "You mean… like… two months ago, TWO MONTHS AGO?" she said, apparently unsure how to word herself.
"No, two months ago like two months ago." I said half replied, half mocked her for bad choice of words.

Henry laughed, but she wasn't so keen to humor. "Shut up, Henry! You mean, like… the same exact day? Or… was there a time in between? Or what?" she asked.

I savored this moment to delay her anxiety of not knowing the answer for a few seconds and replied "Exact… same… day."

She squealed with giddy excitement, and Henry apparently was lost in his own little world, probably thinking 'what the hell are they talking about?' I decided it was time he found out. "So Henry, any questions so far?"
"Only a few…" he said in a semi-serious tone.
"Well you see, just under two months ago I asked Jeri out, and she turned me down." I said in a voice determined not to show any insecurity or self-consciousness, but rather just let everything out there.
I waited… and waited… and waited a good thirty seconds for Henry to ridicule, or mock me, and still nothing came. Just when I thought I might ASK him to make fun of me for this, he spoke. "Yeah… and? What's so bad about that?"

I felt a bit of idiot about myself. Apparently I had been feeling bad about something that wasn't half as bad as I had EVER feared. I didn't say anything and I could tell… they knew I was in deep thought. "Nothing." I said, but then something came to me. If she had said yes, where would I be now? That thought however seemed to be kicked right out of my head as a picture of Rika came into my mind, and I smiled. More thoughts came in and out of my head, as a cloud of ideas seemed to be gathering, but that image of Rika shown right through all of them.

I spoke again, "It's nothing, because its not important anymore." I said, after and awkwardly long time of silence.
They laughed a bit at this. I wasn't sure why… it wasn't meant to be funny, but I guess it's laughable that we had such a long awkward silence. Henry didn't care… my two best friends, not including Rika… who was both my best friend and girl friend, didn't care that I got turned down. That was a nice thing to know… a very nice thing to know.

After another like ten minutes of walking home, joking, and talking about what had happened we finally got to my house. I smiled and looked at them, saying "Thanks for ah… walking home with me guys. I appreciate it."
"Para nada." Henry said.
"No habla espanol." Jeri said out loud.
"Brujar." Henry said.
"Fuck you, Henry!" she yelled at him.

I laughed at their Spanish conversation, as people walking by gave us all very odd and questioning looks. I guess it must have been very weird to see two teenagers speaking Spanish to one another and then suddenly to hear one scream out "Fuck you."

"Yeah… I gotta go." I said.
They turned their attention to me and laughed. "Alright, I'll see you on Monday." Henry said.
"Yep. Adios." I said.
"Hasta luego." He responded.
"DAMN IT, HENRY!" Jeri yelled again, oblivious to everyone around them.

'What a nice couple.' I found myself thinking as I walked to the back of the store. Wait… couple?

I made my way up the steps, my book bag weighing me down as I went. It made my steps slower and made 'falling backwards' more of a 'possibility', and less of an 'option.' I got to the top and headed for my room. I turned around and fell backwards onto my bed, book bag leading the way. I sat their for a few seconds, absolved in the pressure from a long week now past, and weighed down by the pressure of a sure to be rough weekend ahead, which, coincidentally, was also my book bag. I closed my eyes and thought of the date I had planned for me and Rika today. Sadly, I was unable to come up with anything quite up to par with what I had done last week, and decided to just take her back there. My brain seemed to be unloading all of the information it had taken in this past week. I felt the warmth of my bed wrap itself around me, and my left arm, which I had been lying on, became numb. I felt a 'pins and needles' effect come upon me as I could no longer feel a lot of what was going on with my body. Sleep seemed to come over me like a curtain closing on me hard. I felt it come upon me and…-

"NO!" I yelled, not loudly, but loud enough for me to open my eyes in response.

I rolled off of my arm and tried to sit up… no good. My book bag straps stopped me from going anywhere. I slipped my hands out of them, and sat up, rubbing my forehead. 'I can't fall asleep.' I thought. I stood up and couldn't think of what to do. I decided, if I didn't know… then mom certainly did! I ran out of my room, noticing my quickness, despite being sleepy, and headed down the stairs, yelling "MOM!"

I reached the bottom, and hadn't gotten a response. I opened my mouth to yell again, and heard, "I'm right here!"
I walked left, towards where we actually baked the bread. "Hello Takato." She said to me.
"Hey Mom! What's up?" I asked.
"Not much. Just working the store. Yourself?" she said, putting some bread in, while taking some out.
"I-" my stomach rumbled loudly and I quickly changed my choice of words, " am very hungry. And bored in the meantime. What should I do before I go to Rika's?"

"Look around you, Takato! Bread! Bread! It's everywhere!" she said, in an almost hysterical voice. "Just eat some of that. As for being bored, maybe you should do some homework? That's always nice! Or take a shower… or help me and your father!" she said.

I took some of the fresh bread she had just taken out of the oven, bit into it thinking over my options and she said, "Homework?" almost as if imploring me to do it.
I smiled, swallowed the piece and said "That shower sounds pretty good mom, thanks!"
I turned around, at her laughing, and started heading back up the steps to get ready.

I pulled on my shorts, and long sleeve T-shirt. It may be on the verge of snowing, but I sure am not taking another dive into the pond and soaking another pair of jeans. Which reminds me, I took off my new watch and put it on the bed. I looked at the clock… 4:58! Shit! I hustled down stairs, and started looking for mom, or dad. Anyone, just so I could get in the car (A/N: Holy shit… do they even have a car? I just realized, I don't think they do. I don't remember them ever showing one in the show.), and get to Rika's house. "Takato! Your mothers waiting outside." Dad yelled to from the front.

Waiting? I ran to the front and outside to find mom waiting with the car on. I smiled, 'good old, reliable mom.' I walked to the car, opened the door, got in, and said, "Sorry."

"It's fine. We've even got time to kill! Maybe…" she said, with a calculating look. "Maybe I can even try to comb that hair of yours."
I laughed, "Mom!"
She smiled and laughed as well. "Okay… so, lets go." She said as she started up the car.
I prepared for the short ride, and the long journey back to the pond that would follow.

We pulled up to Rika's house, and I quickly jumped out and ran to the front door. I was excited for a chance to be with Rika again. I knocked three times… waited a few seconds… and open the door stands Rika… looking absolutely beautiful. She has her hair back in a ponytail, but not in the traditional way, spiked up (A/N: Personally, how does she get it to stay up like that? I mean really?), but instead just a regular, laid back ponytail, with an actual scrunchy holding it together. A white long sleeve shirt on that was covered with a, get this, PINK, and WHOLE heart! She did have jeans on, probably because its so cold, but it made me wonder… what would she look like with a skirt on…? My mind wandered for a few seconds and I realized I hadn't said anything yet. "You look gorgeous!"

The word 'gorgeous' hadn't meant to slip my mouth, it was suppose to be 'great' but my brain seemed to override my gut and tongue so it came out 'gorgeous.'
I was somewhat happy with her reaction though, she smiled, blushed, and shied away a bit, turning to go back inside, while mumbling a heartfelt "Thanks."
I followed her in, guessing that I didn't need an invitation. I didn't close the door because I wasn't sure if my mom was coming in or not, and was glad I didn't when she came in a few seconds later, rummaging through her purse.
As we walked into the, now, very familiar kitchen I caught an aroma of something wonderful coming from just beyond where Rika was standing. She moved away, and I couldn't smell it. I turned to look at her and realized it was her. I was lost in my own little universe right now, and she was the sun. (A/N: awww) She turned to me and smiled and I felt happy. Was this… could this possibly be? Was this, truly . . . love? I suddenly realized I was still staring a her, quickly pulled my eyes away, and felt like kicking myself for acting like such a dumb ass. Love? Seriously… love? In EIGHTH grade, who am I kidding? I'm just really absolved in her right now… but… oh, never mind! I don't want to think about that now, well, at least not right now.

My mom finally made her way into the kitchen, still looking for something, and finally Mrs. Nonaka, who I just noticed was sitting at the table, said "Okay you two, you can go."
"Are you ready?" I asked her, excited for our time-to-be well spent.
She gave me a questioning look, as if saying to me why I bothered asking, but she said, "Ready as I'll ever be."

I smiled, grabbed her hand- happy to be back in my place: with her- and led the way out of the kitchen, out the front door and down the stone steps. I was in a hurry, because I knew we only had such a little bit of time, but she didn't hold back, but kept on running with me. Until we got to the end of her driveway, when she asked, "So where are we going today?"
"Back to the pond…" I said, realizing she might take this as bland, and changed course saying, "but trust me, if its not as exciting as last time (emphasizing on the last two words) we can go somewhere else next time."
I tightened my grip on her hand as I ran across the street, determined not to let go.

It took us a good long time to navigate along the tree's and such, but finally we were slowly making are way down the hill to where the pond awaited. We hit the bottom, and rushed to the where the rocks surrounding the water were. "Still beautiful?" I asked her.
"Still beautiful." She replied, with a smile and slight blush about her.

We laid on the rocks, however uncomfortable they may be, and stared out into the water. I felt like I was living a dream. To be on the most secluded and beautiful place I knew of in existence, with the most beautiful girl that I knew, in this perfect time of season, just before it was going to snow, a few days tops… it was something out of this world.

I smiled at the scene in front of me. It was just plain, flat out, nature in all its wonderment. I had been doing that a lot lately, I noticed. Smiling. Long gone had been the time when a smile wouldn't crack my lips if I was given a rare card, or money, for it. These are the days in which my life seemed to be at its best. How could I have gone from 'emotional wreck' that I was just two months ago, to 'complete wreck' after his attack, to 'happier then ever' in such as short span of time? It was an utter wonder to think of how I had changed so much.
Swoosh! Without even feeling him touch my head, Takato had pulled my scrunchy out in a swift, merciless motion. I gave him a look of 'little' contempt; he knew I didn't like to leave my hair out… or did he? He hadn't really ever seen me with it out, so he probably didn't know. "Why'd you do that?" I asked.

"What do you mean? You look even better, if you can believe that, with your hair down!" he said.

She did.

I blushed very deeply, and felt hotter in the cheeks then when the 'roses' had first come out to play, last weekend. Hmm… how do I make him pay for both letting my hair out, and making me blush? I know… I'll confuse him.

I couldn't seem to pull my eye's away from her, she just looked incredible! I was going crazy staring at her! I had never seen her with her hair down, but this seems to fit her so well!
"How much do you like me?" she asked me.

What?…

What?

What!

"Um… what?" I asked back, hoping beyond hope, she would say something different.
"Did I stutter? I asked, how much do you like me?" she asked, turning on her side to face me.
I seemed to be in shock, as I couldn't comprehend how to respond, in any way, shape, or form. If I told her the truth, that I thought I might 'love', her she might be stricken with too much, and shy away. On the other hand, if I didn't answer well enough she might not think I like her as much as I really do. But if I didn't answer… then she might take it the REALLY wrong way. I swallowed hard and got ready to be misunderstood, and to have a bad choice of words. I turned on my side as well to face her. "Umm… well… I really, really like you I guess."

That was BAD! She gave me a look asking me if I was serious, and I went on, befuddled, "I mean…I mean… I… um…. Wow… umm… I really, really, REALLY like you?" I offered.
Still that same look of disappointment, and I knew I had to improve it with out using the word 'love'. I racked my brain for a second to try and come up with a word that might slip in between 'like' and 'love' and couldn't find one. I thought deeper, but I was being pressured with no time to think this over. I had to say something, so I just let the words spill out of my mouth, "I mean… I care about you a whole lot, and its just, I can't find the right word to describe it! I mean… I'm beyond 'liking' you… it's just…"

So much for that method, 'words spilling out' wasn't going to work either. "Then think of a word!" she almost DEMANDED from me.
I look up at her, and she was smiling. This made me happy and I closed my eye's to think, maybe by closing my eye's I could come up with a better word?

Here's my chance! I moved in for the kill.

About a second went by and I still couldn't think of a word to describe how I felt about her, other then 'love'. I felt her move closer to me, and just before I could open my eyes to see what she was doing I felt the greatest sensation my body had ever felt, and I wanted to shake with feeling at it's impact. I opened my eyes and we were engaged in a kiss… our 'first kiss'. But this feeling I had it was like…

I kissed him, and could feel only one thing in my entire body… Electricity…

But this feeling that I had it was like… Electricity…
She pulled away after another almost three seconds.

I smiled more then EVER before, turned my head to look at the ground and blushed madly. I could only think of one thing to say. "THAT'S… how much I like you."
He couldn't seem to respond, and I looked up to see him blushing redder then myself… at least I think… I hope.
"That's a lot." He said.

I stared into his eyes, and he into mine. It was magic, and electricity is what it was. It was beautiful. This… this could no longer 'possibly' be… this had to be love.

We smiled a bit longer, and it was then, that I was positive it was love. I had to let him know how I felt… but I wanted him to know it in a heartfelt way, not in another kiss, or through physical reactions. There had to be a way…
Sing for him! A voice told me in the back of my head, But I only know one song! Another voice said. I knew he liked to hear me sing… but was it really worth it? Did this deserve a song from me? Of course it is! The first voice said again. I was caught… should I or should I not?

"Umm… so, do want to hear me sing?" I asked him, unsure of myself.
He smiled, took a split-second look at the pond, and looked me in the eye, "I would love to hear you sing."
I love how he used the word 'love' in context to why I was going to sing for him. I took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." I said.
"Here comes a beautiful song." He said, almost instinctively.
I smiled a bit more at this. I readied my voice for it, and began my song-

We crossed the street towards my house after coming out of the woods. My voice was well spent. He had made me sing that song eighteen times! Okay, maybe not eighteen times, more like six. But that's almost like eighteen to someone who almost never uses there singing voice.
As we headed up the street he said, "Sing it one more time, please."
"No way!" I replied.
"Please, one more time, just for me!" he begged.
I struggled, if I pressed the issue it might result in an argument, mostly on my behalf. I decided to just give in, one last time. "Alright, one last time. But you have to hold my hand while I sing it." I added.

He smiled, and said, "If that's what its gonna take." In a mock-serious voice.
I put my hand out, and the warmth of his own grabbed hold, and I found new energy and new life inside myself. I started to sing again:

"Promise that we'll stay for the sunset
and when the moon shines through the darkness
we can find the path that leads us home
and on the way you…
Maybe
Sing me a song…
Promise that you will always be there…
Hold my hand if I'm ever real scared…
Help me stand up tall…
If I fall down…
Make me love always…
On my bluest days…
How could you promise
you'd always would be there
why'd you have to go away somewhere
Every morning
Into everynight
Do you watch over me
Like the sun in the sky
And I'm all alone
standing in your night; I wish that I could…
maybe…
sing you a son…
tonight…"

I stopped. "That's it! That's all you get."
"Awww! Come, on!" he argued.
"Nope, that's all. Besides, were home now." I pointed out.

He looked at the house as he was, actually, just noticing for the first time. I had buried my eyes in his while I was singing, however, I was paying more attention to my surroundings then he was.
"Well… then… no more song?" he asked, defeated.
I smiled a sympathetic smile and said "No. No more song."

"Well… it was still beautiful." He said, his voice gaining its life again.
I smiled, again, and let go of his hand. "Alright, lets go."
He shook his head, and led the way to the front door.

I loved to hear her sing. It was like my own little piece of heaven coming upon me, and awaking me to everything that was beautiful in the world. I walked up the stairs, her footsteps fast behind me and decided it had been an incredible day. A beautiful day, a beautiful pond, my first kiss ever(!), a beautiful song, and most important, a beautiful girl, whose beauty was greater then any other of the things.

I stopped at the front door, and reached out my hand to open it, but Rika grabbed hold of my wrist, and pulled me to face her. She pulled me closer and we kissed a second time. There was no tongue involved… no grabbing for each other… we only touched where she held my hand… there even seemed to be an unwantingly like feeling upon us… that we cared too much about each other to try and convey it 'physically'… It was a sweet, short kiss. I thought back to what I had been thinking earlier, about if it could 'possibly' be love, or not? At such a young age? This… this could no longer 'possibly' be… this had to be love.

It was short, because the door I had intended to open, was flung open and standing in the doorway was Mrs. Nonaka, mouth wide open, but sort of in the shape of a smile, and her eyes spoke of shock… or was it?

We broke apart quickly, embarrassed to be caught kissing at the front door. I didn't say anything, but was desperate to say anything… anything to maybe lessen what Mrs. Nonaka was thinking.
"It's good to know my only daughter is being treated to such a nice young man." She finally said, and smiled at us.
Rika laughed at this, in shock that her mother would respond so, and said "Mom!"

A/N: Don't look at me like that! (hangs head in shame) I can only beg your forgiveness. It took me FOUR weeks to type this chapter. Maybe that's why it so long? I wasn't really conscious to how long it was, because it was broken up while I was typing it. It didn't take me four weeks, it took me about 5 or 6, maybe 7 days to type. But I only had one night to type in, in those four weeks, during the school week. Cross countries a bitch, I tell you that. With that alone, I lose one-hour per-day, then add homework, about 45-60 minutes for dinner, and ouch. Houston, we have a problem. As you saw at one point, I did lose a good core part of the chapter, and after that, which was like 3 weeks ago, I was just disheartened to typing at all. It was annoying to have to type that whole two pages over again. I got it done eventually, but it sucked. The first time their conversation the way home was WAY better. By the way, Henry said 'bitch' in Spanish when he said 'brujar'. I had a Spanish test the next morning, and it's the only Spanish curse word I know, so whatever. 'Hasta luego'- for the less educated- means, I think, 'see you later.' Oh yeah, for any people who want to kill me for it, because while I don't like Jeri at all, and hate 'Jurato' in general, I DID butcher Jeri's character. I admit it, she never had that nature to even think of cursing in the show, but I thought it was really funny the way I wrote that part out. Anyway, I'm so sorry its really long (18 pages double spaced!) but I had to get SO much across before I get to the last chapter. Hopefully that will be up by Monday! I have a four-day weekend, but I don't want to dedicate it to just typing, sorry. I realized actually DO have a life outside of this story. Please forgive, also, that I had Rika sing this chapter. If you want to get the full affect of it go onto you tube dot com and look up "Digimon Rika Promise" and just watch the scene from the movie. I loved it. I didn't want us to be stuck at the pond forever so I cut out the first times she sings it, and just gave you the last time she sings it. Also, I'm going to give you a sad/pathetic/shameful/laughable/pathetic/pathetic little fact about my life. I ugh… I've ah… I've never kissed a girl. I'm working on it though! (watches out for the people getting ready to throw stones) Please no! That is precisely why I don't elaborate on their kisses. Just assume they're kisses that signify 'love'. Please don't hate me! Anyway, I have a question for everyone who has followed this so far (cough Kuroy). This is the largest cry I have out to the people, I need at least 4 reviews. At the minimum, so even if you're just reading this now, please review, even if you don't like the story. I need at least 4 because it's a three-answer poll. If you don't have an account, I'd love anonymous reviews! The question is: Should I make a sequel? I already got one opinion on this, it was that as the author I should have the final call, which I do, but I want people's opinions. The three choices are: (1) Yes! Make it to them going back to the digital world, because we all remember the portal they showed in the last scene of the season. (2) Yes! Make a 4-story, 9 chapters each, and line of stories, which would follow them through high school. Or, (3) No! A sequel could possibly destroy everything great about Autumn Leaves, especially if I write a crappy one. That's all for now. I love you all!

Love Always. Rukao Forever.

(Truck horn sounded and trucker talking) Honk! Honk! I thank you.
(Chappelle in the background) I'm Rich Bitch!
(I also don't own 'The Chappelle Show' closing or anything remotely like that.)