You're almost there.

Shizuru tried to balance herself on the bars while moving her feet forward, but was finding it awkward as her legs couldn't yet support very much weight. Her arms grew tired and she fell to one side, Natsuki was at her side in an instant to help her. Shizuru shook her head, she needed to do this herself. She pushed herself forward one more step before she gave out and fell to one side. Natsuki was there to catch her and help her back to the wheelchair.

"Don't push too hard, Shizuru. You're going to hurt yourself."

She had been in physical therapy for over a year and was looking better for it. She had regained all of the weight she had lost during her coma and had returned to her old figure. As a side effect, Natsuki had put on a little more weight than before and, to spite Shizuru's assertions otherwise, she was self-conscious about it. After six months of therapy she was able to move around a lot better, gaining most of her former strength back in everything but her legs. Those were still weak, but she had been working hard on trying to walk and it was paying off.

Shizuru laid her head back in the wheelchair and sighed. "I'm so close, Natsuki."

"I know, but I still want you to be careful." She leaned over the chair and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek. "I spent enough time without you, I don't want to spend any more."

Natsuki wheeled Shizuru towards Trudy, who was working with another patient on restoring motion to his fingers. "Trudy, I think I'm done for today."

Trudy didn't turn her eyes away from her patient, but somehow paid attention to Shizuru. "So soon, but it looked like you were close to a breakthrough." Natsuki patted her pockets down and realized she had forgotten her wallet and walked out to the car to get it. Trudy turned to look at Shizuru. "You've been working really hard lately. Is there any particular reason why?"

"There is." Shizuru had been working harder for the past month with a particular goal in mind. "Natsuki's birthday is next month and I had this vision in my head of inviting her out to dinner and walking up to the table with her. I thought it would be romantic, but I'm just not strong enough yet."

"That does sound romantic. If there's anything I can do to help you, just ask."

"You've already done so much for us, I couldn't ask you to do more. This is something I need to do on my own."

Natsuki returned from the car and took the handles of Shizuru's wheelchair. "Are you ready to go, sweetheart? I'm pretty hungry and I thought we could try the sandwich shop next door."

"Sure, honey."

Trudy waved goodbye and Natsuki wheeled Shizuru out of the physical therapy center and to the sandwich shop next door. Shizuru ordered a six inch turkey sub as she had gained all the weight she had wanted to and was trying to eat better. Natsuki, on the other hand, ordered a twelve inch sub with extra meat and cheese. She felt the look from Shizuru. "What? I told you I was hungry."

Shizuru smiled at her. "Nothing, honey."

"Don't give me that, I could feel your look."

Natsuki smiled back, handed Shizuru both sandwiches and pulled a chair out for her so her wheelchair would sit at the table. She filled both of their drinks at the fountain then sat down across from her. She unwrapped her sandwich and tore into it with fervor. Shizuru smirked while she opened her own sandwich and laughed at how quickly Natsuki always ate. "It's not going anywhere, Natsuki. You can take your time."

"I told you I was hungry."

They ate together quietly, both of them enjoying the time they got to spend together. Natsuki had just finished her sandwich when she heard a familiar name over the TV in the corner. "Look, Shizuru, you're on TV."

-IPR-

Three weeks prior to it's airing, Chie Harada, a reporter for the local new channel 25, was looking for a good human interest piece to round out a segment she had spearheaded called, 'The Human Condition', when she came upon reports of a near fatal car accident and the young woman who had awakened after six months in a coma. Seeing the opportunity she had been looking for she grabbed her briefcase, making sure she had her recording camera and a tripod for it, and took off for the woman's house.

When she pulled up she noticed that the front yard of the house seemed to be meticulously cared for and that the house showed no signs of disrepair. She walked up the sidewalk and knocked heavily on the door. The door opened to reveal a woman in her late teens with long dark blue hair and wearing a red and white polka dotted apron. "Hello? Do you need something?"

The woman's eyes bored into her, as if trying to read her mind, but Chie kept her composure, as a journalist she was used to dealing with such hostility from people. "Sorry if I'm interrupting something, my name is Chie Harada and I'm a reporter with Channel 25 news." The woman's expression didn't change and Chie had to fight to keep herself steady under that steely gaze. "Is there a Shizuru Viola living here?"

The woman crossed her arms. Did I hit a nerve. Maybe I read it wrong and she passed away, and now I've brought up something painful for this woman.

"What do you want with Shizuru?"

That was close.

"I would like to speak to her about doing a piece about her for the evening news. I think the viewers in this city would appreciate hearing her story of survival."

For a moment the woman didn't move, didn't respond at all to her inquiry. Just when she started to think she would be rebuffed, she uncrossed her arms and stepped back into the house. "She's in the living room."

"I didn't get your name, Ms..."

She held out my hand for her to shake and was surprised by the strong handshake she recieved in return. "Natsuki. Natsuki Kuga."

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

She walked through the house, a bit surprised by it's untidiness considering the well manicured lawn, and took a door to the right that led to the living room where a woman with long brown hair looked up at me from her wheelchair and smiled a charming smile. Her ruby eyes were full of mirth when she asked, "Hello? Have we met before?"

"We haven't, my name is Chie Harada and I'm a reporter with Channel 25 news."She could feel more than hear the other woman enter the room and stand behind her, she felt a bit pressured but remained stoic. "I was hoping to get an interview with you about your recent ordeal for a segment on the evening news."

Natsuki shook her head, obviously against the segment, but Shizuru smiled and put her hands together. "I think that's a great idea. Natsuki, will you bring us some tea, please?"

Natsuki nodded and left the room towards the kitchen. Chie started to unpack and set up her tripod in front of the wheelchair. "She seems a but gruff. Is she your caretaker?"

"Well, she does take care of me."

Chie finished setting up the tripod and had adjusted the camera when Natsuki walked in with three cups of tea on a tray and set them down on a nearby table. She handed Chie one and gave one to Shizuru, kissing her on the cheek before taking her own in hand. Chie smiled. So it's like that, is it?

Chie pulled one of the loose chairs in the room over to sit in front of Shizuru and turned the camera on. "First let me ask you for your name and what you do for a living."

"My name is Shizuru Viola and I'm a pre-law student."

"Pre-law, very nice. So, if you could tell me in your own words, what happened the night of the accident?"

Shizuru turned thoughtful, her brow scrunched up and Natsuki looked worried. "I don't remember anything about that day. It's a complete blank to me, like it didn't even happen."

"What was it like, being in that coma for over six months?"

"Honestly, I don't remember any of that either. When I came to everyone told me that I had been in that bed for six months, but I didn't feel any of it. Like time had no meaning for me."

"I must say, you look very healthy. How has your recovery been?"

"Long, really long. But, thanks to the best girlfriend in the world," the camera caught Natsuki's hand taking Shizuru's, "I've stuck with it and am now getting closer to walking again."

Chie reached around behind the camera and turned it to face Nafsuki. "Now, if I may ask you some questions? What is your name and occupation?"

"Natsuki Kuga, and I'm studying to be a motorcycle mechanic."

"How long have you and Shizuru been together?"

"Going on six years, now. We've been together since high school."

"That's a long time. So tell me, what was it like being by her side during this trying time?"

Natsuki looked down, away from the camera, and her voice grew somewhat listless and distant. "It was...the most painful experience of my life. Getting to see her, talk to her, hold her hand, but knowing that she couldn't see or hear me was traumatizing. I blamed myself, I cried every night and had a nervous breakdown. After that my mother sent me to a therapist, and that helped, but watching her waste away was heart teaming. I felt so helpless."

Natsuki's eyes watered and Shizuru held her hand tightly. This was the first time for her to hear this story and her eyes watered at what her love had gone through. She stroked the back of her hand tenderly. "I'm sorry, Natsuki. I didn't know you went through all that."

Natsuki looked up into Shizuru's eyes and they locked. "What else could I do?"

The raw emotion in the room nearly moved Chie to tears, but she was an experienced journalist and kept herself composed while the camera was on. She turned to face it. "Wow, such powerful emotion. The story of their love is truly a testament to the human spirit and how much we can endure for one we love. With 'The Human Condition, this has been Chie Harada."

She switched off the camera and turned around to find Natsuki and Shizuru in a tight embrace. She wiped tears from the corners of her eyes and stood. "I think I have what I need. I have a few release forms that I'll need you both to sign. Standard stuff saying that I can release footage of you and your story on live TV."

She reached into her bag and pulled out the forms, taking them to the coffee table where Natsuki and Shizuru signed away the rights to their story. "Alright, I'll take this to editing and, fingers crossed, it should and within a few weeks." She packed up her gear and the forms then shook Shizuru's hand. "You've been through a lot, Shizuru, but the worst is over now." She shook Natsuki's hand. "I don't know if I could have waited, but I know it took a lot of character to do it. You're a better person than I am, Natsuki." She left the front door feeling good about the story she was going to tell."

-IPR-

For two weeks after the segment aired, Shizuru doubled and re-doubled her efforts to walk, going to physical therapy every day and pushing herself to the limit. Natsuki grew worried and monitored her closely to keep her from going too far and hurting herself. She didn't know what had motivated Shizuru, but attributed it to spending over a year in a wheelchair. It would be enough to drive me crazy.

Two days before her birthday, Natsuki dropped Shizuru off at the clinic and promised to pick her up after her class was out. Shizuru wheeled herself into the building and met with Trudy, who was just finishing up with another patient. "Back again, Shizuru. You're really serious about this."

"Today's the day, Trudy. I can feel it."

Trudy helped her through her warm-up exercises before taking her over to the bars. Shizuru lifted herself up easily onto them as she had gotten used to it over time. She slowly started to let go, resting more of her weight on her legs. She started to shuffle forward, one awkward step at a time, letting more and more of her weight rest on her legs until, to her amazement, she was barely holding on to the bars at all.

On her second go around across the bars, she completely let go of them, her gait was awkward at first and she had trouble finding her balance, but she was walking on her own. Her smile must have been infectious because Trudy was smiling brightly at her. She started clapping and in seconds had the entire clinic clapping for Shizuru as she managed to walk back to her chair before collapsing in exhaustion. Her legs hurt but she had walked again. The feeling was indescribable.

Trudy approached the chair and knelt down beside it. "Wow. You really did it. Natsuki is going to be ecstatic when she hears this."

Shizuru caught her breath. "Just don't tell her yet. I want it to be a surprise."

Trudy didn't mention it and she held the surprise for two days until Natsuki's birthday. As soon as Natsuki had left for her class that afternoon Shizuru began her own preparations. She started by cooking her a birthday dinner, composed of some of Natsuki's favorite foods, while leaning against the counter for support. After two days of walking she had become stronger, but tired quickly so she used anything around to help hold herself up.

After she was done cooking she practically covered their dining room table in candles and food, changed into one of her nicest dresses and turned off all of the lights in the house. After she was finished she sat at the table and waited. She didn't wait long.

The door opened and Natsuki noticed that everything had been turned off. She found this odd so she called out for Shizuru who answered, "I'm in the dining room." Natsuki entered the dining room and found the candlelight dinner that Shizuru had prepared. Shizuru stood up from the chair she sat in and took two steps towards her. "Hi."

Natsuki's jaw dropped, both at the dinner so lovingly prepared for her and at Shizuru standing on her own. Her smile threatened to leave her face. "Hi, bella."

Shizuru wavered and Natsuki was there in an instant, wrapping her up in a hug and helping her to her feet. "Happy birthday."

"When did you start walking again?"

"Just a few days ago, I wanted to surprise you."

"You did." Natsuki kissed her passionately and it took them both back to a time before the accident, when they were just two women in love. Natsuki surveyed the table. "You made all this for me?"

"Yes," Shizuru leaned close and whispered seductively, "and you have to eat all of it before I give you your present."

Natsuki cracked her knuckles and grabbed a fork. "Then I had better get started."

-IPR-

That night they slept in each other's arms after enjoying Natsuki's birthday present. Shizuru tossed and turned before finally bolting upright and shouting, holding her head in her hands. Natsuki was awake and holding her in an instant. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I remember...everything. The restaurant, I'm talking to Haruka and Yukino...then Yukino leaves so I drive Haruka home and the truck in front of me skids and I swerve. Then the tree and darkness."

Natsuki held her close until the pain subsided and Shizuru lay back down on the bed. "I remember dreaming, but I don't remember the dream. Only that I could feel you around me, and I could hear you tell me you loved me every day." Shizuru looked Natsuki in the eyes. "You were there with me everyday, weren't you?"

"Of course." Natsuki squeezed her arms around Shizuru and pressed her forehead against hers. "I promised."

So ends I Promised, my fourth completed fanfiction and one of the most popular that I've written. Thank you to everyone who read my work and to everyone who reviewed, especially those that helped me improve the story. Stay tuned for another ShizNat fanfiction titled Taking Over Me - White Wolf Whispers, hopefully coming soon.