Last chapter, guys. The oh-so-anticipated conclusion, amirite? In all honesty, I didn't originally intend for this to be four chapters long; I wanted it to be three, but the last part got too long so I split it up. It's a bit annoying, seeing as I'm not too fond of the number four, but I guess it works. *shrugs*

Disclaimer: Own TWEWY or its characters I do not.

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Simple and Clean

- Ch. 4 -

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Rhyme tugged hard on the laces of her skates. At the very least, she didn't want to fall over because her shoes were too loose.

"Ready?"

She nodded and stood up. "I... I think so."

Joshua giggled. "If you say so. Now," he extended his black-gloved hand, "hold on tight, okay? We don't want you falling too hard."

Rhyme gently placed her own hand in his. "What, you're already convinced that I'm going to fall?"

"Hee hee."

The two stepped out onto the ice. It was like entering a different world: People were everywhere, zooming around the pale blue rink against the bright colors shining all around them. Lights were strung up everywhere - not just around the rink, but around every nearby building - and wreaths and ribbons hung all over the surrounding walls. It really was like its own little world, standing out against the darkness of the Tokyo night.

"Okay, now, you need to find a rhythm. It's like walking to a beat."

"Walking to a beat... okay... Ah!" She slipped a little and grasped his hand tightly for support, recovering quickly.

"A-alright... so... like this?"

She moved her feet slowly past each other at a surprisingly steady pace, as if to a song, with a certain amount of beats between each movement. She got off balance a few times, but always recovered almost right away and picked it up again.

"Yes... you're doing well... Careful... Mmm hmm, just keep going at that pace. Now, try sliding your feet more rather than picking them up off the ground."

"Okay..."

By the end of their session, they had made it around the rink several times, and each time they went just a little faster than the last. Once they had finished up, they began wandering about Shibuya with not a care in the world. After walking for a while, they ended up back at Hachiko. The crowd had, for the most part, spread out around other areas, making room for them to sit.

"Ahh!" Rhyme sighed, plopping down at the statue's feet and stretching her arms and legs out. Joshua sat down next to her, placing their bags at his own feet.

"So? Did you have fun?"

Rhyme turned to face him, her head resting back against the stone. Her cheeks were a rosy, warm shade of pink thanks to the cold, and her eyes were sparkling with the reflection of every single light in the city. She was beaming, and Joshua felt, for the first time, like he had actually made someone happy.

And man, was that a good feeling.

"Of course!" she replied, sitting up again. "I still can't believe that I actually got around that last time without falling even once! You're a fantastic teacher, Joshua!"

Joshua smiled. Yeah, that was a damn good feeling.

"Oh," he said, suddenly remembering his earlier impulse, "I almost forgot..." He reached into his oversized coat pocket and pulled out a small blue box, wrapped with a single red ribbon. Rhyme looked from the box to him inquisitively, wondering what on earth he could be doing until suddenly it dawned on her.

"Is that...?"

"It's for you."

He handed her the box and a look of shock flooded across her flustered face.

"O-oh, no, I couldn't possibly..." He nudged it toward her once again, and after glancing at him one last time, she bit her lip and took it. She began gingerly pulling the ribbon off, protesting all the while with, "You really didn't have to..." and, "I can't believe this..."

As she opened the box, her mouth fell open, putting a stop to any more objections that she might have had.

"Here, let me put it on you..."

She silently held out her wrist as Joshua reached over and closed the clasp. It was a bracelet, undoubtedly from Pavo Real ('So that's what he was doing...'), made up of tiny silver skulls held together by small chain links. Rhyme turned her wrist and admired it from every angle, letting the city lights bounce off of it and reflect upon her disbelieving face.

"Joshua... I... Thank you! It's... It's gorgeous..."

He smirked. "Glad you like it."

"Why...?"

She looked up at him with a curious expression, as if she was searching for answers that just weren't there. Joshua, however, just smiled again.

"What? I can't buy you a Christmas present?"

Before Rhyme could inquire further, she was distracted by something cold landing on the very tip of her nose. She let out a small gasp.

"It's snowing!"

They both looked up. It was, indeed, starting to snow. Small, sparkling ice crystals were tainting the darkened sky, floating down and melding into the lit-up Shibuya backdrop. When Rhyme lowered her gaze again, she was surprised to see Joshua staring at her. He had this expression on his face that she had never seen before...

She thought she felt her cheeks redden even more and she quickly averted her gaze. Somewhere in her mind, she knew. At that exact moment, she knew that she liked Joshua... more than just as a friend. A wave of seemingly random facts suddenly flowed to the front of her mind: It was Christmas Eve - He had just given her a bracelet - They had just gone ice skating together - He was still looking at her -

- And she was still refusing to look at him.

She looked up to meet his gaze again. "Joshua... Umm..."

"What is it?"

She turned away again, and this time she was sure that her face was gaining more color by the second. She was about to make another sorry attempt at forming a sentence, but when she next turned to look at him, Joshua's face was mere inches from her own.

Without either of them saying a word, he leaned in and kissed her, just like that. The snow was falling more heavily now, and the shining flakes were swirling all around them. Had they not known better, they might've thought that time itself had stopped.

When they finally broke apart, neither of them had anything to say. They just sat there and looked at each other for a long time in silence, the rest of the world just a colorful haze in the background.

"Joshua..." Rhyme began, breaking the quietude, "I... I think I really like you." Her eyes widened as she said it, and the pitch of her voice indicated that she was surprised at herself. Joshua didn't reply right away, but he smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. This time, after he kissed her, he nuzzled his face into the collar of her coat. His hand found its way around to her back, and he let his arm wrap around her tiny waist.

After a few moments, he lifted his head to look at her. Her black hat and the golden locks that poked out from under it were dusted with a fine coating of sugary snow. A few flakes rested easily on her eyelashes, adding to the sparkle that was already twinkling in her piercingly blue eyes.

Joshua leaned in again and rested his forehead lightly against hers, closing his own eyes. He could practically feel Rhyme's heart beating through her coat - though that could very well have been his own thundering pulse - and he felt strangely at home right there, sitting on the cold concrete with her in his arms.

"You're all I need, Rhyme. You're all I need..."

He pressed his lips against hers one more time, taking in the sweet, warm taste of her tongue as he pulled himself closer and gently pushed her against the statue. She made him feel so... so simple, so clean... like he really didn't need anything else at that moment.

"Mmm..."

Joshua opened his eyes again as Rhyme spoke.

"Joshua... Thank you."

He was the one who should be thanking her, but to hell with that. She was his, dammit, and he was Joshua. He wasn't about to thank her.

"You're welcome," he said, again burying his face into her neck.

"Merry Christmas, Rhyme."

She giggled and looked up at the still-starless sky, her rosy cheeks glowing into the falling snow. Here she was on Christmas Eve, sitting at Hachiko's feet with Joshua, of all people, and she was probably the happiest girl in all of Tokyo. Still smiling, she rested her cheek on his hair and closed her eyes.

"Yeah... Merry Christmas, Joshua."

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... The ending... I'm not terribly satisfied with it, but I don't hate it. I hope it's okay...

*EDIT: -exasperated sigh- I changed the goddamn ending. I literally was having trouble getting to sleep because it was bothering me so much, and just now I finally decided to do something about it, once and for all. I hope that it's better, I really do.

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