A/N: I do not own anything related to the actual Love Hina Series, but all other plot ideas and my characters are my own.

I hope you enjoyed chapter 7. I hope I can get this chapter up much faster than I got chapter 7 up. I hope you guys enjoy this one.

Chapter 8: True Love – Only a Stepping Stone Away?

Hunched over his bedside, Naru woke up from her slumber. Realizing that she had a blanket over her. "Who would place a blanket over her? A pervert?" she thought to herself. She looked over to Keitaro's bed and saw his warm smile on his face. She knew that he is happy, probably thinking about some perverted thoughts, yet for some reason, she loved that aspect of him.

There was a knock on the door. "Keitaro Urashima, are you up yet?" the doctor asked from the outside. Naru got up from the wooden hospital chair and opened the door.

"So doctor, how is he doing?" Naru asked Keitaro's doctor.

"Well Keitaro has made a full recovery faster than usual, and is now allowed to go home. If he has any problems, bring him back right away," the doctor said as Kei started walking towards them with a small limp.

"Naru, let's go home now. I can't wait to see everyone now," an excited Keitaro said.

"Okay, let's go home," Naru said. Both of them turned to the doctor, bowed and said, "Arigato sensei (1)."

They started walking home when suddenly Keitaro's stomach began to grumble.

"Well I guess that while I was sick in bed, I cooked up a large appetite," Keitaro said with his unique smile, which Naru can never forget.

"Well it's just like you to always get hungry at a time like this," Naru said.

They both entered a beef shack, Keitaro's usual place that he would take Naru out on their dates. They got their orders, and ate their meals.

"I noticed over the past few day you have been rather busy. What's going on?" Keitaro asked his fiancé.

"Nothing, just planning for our special day together. What about you? You had a smile earlier this morning. What were you thinking of? Hm?" Naru replied.

Blushing, Keitaro couldn't tell his girlfriend of what he was dreaming about earlier. As much as he wanted to, he knew it would all end up in pain.

"N-N-N-Nothing Naru. I was just thinking about us in the future," Keitaro replied, quite scared at how Naru would take his response.

While preparing for her infamous Naru punch, she said, "Yeah right, you sick pervert."

Quickly putting some money on the table for the bill that Naru would normally refuse to pay, Keitaro prepared for his flight into the stratosphere. A few seconds passed by and he hadn't been hit yet. Suddenly, Naru kissed Keitaro on his cheek. Shocked, Keitaro wondered what that was for.

"What was that for?" asked a shocked Keitaro.

"Why do you have to ask? All you need to know is that I love you," Naru blushed as she replied.

Finishing their meals and paying for their bill, they continued on their way home. Keitaro started to think to himself.

'Why is Naru so strange lately? I guess I really missed out on a lot of things while I was bedridden,' he thought to himself. On their way back, Keitaro started to reminisce about his past.


Overhearing the words of one of his fellow classmates during break, Keitaro started to eavesdrop on a girl's conversation with one of her friends…

"You know, hopefully at the end of this year, I will be accepted at Tokyo University. They say that at Tokyo University, love seems to come true for people who go to Tokyo U. I hope to meet the special guy I promised to meet there when I was older," Yuka said to her classmate.

"I know. My sister's best friend shortly got married within months after she met her boyfriend at Tokyo U. I guess love really comes true at Tokyo U," Mai replied.

Mustering up some courage, Keitaro decides that he must talk to Yuka after-school. During lunch, he wrote a note to Yuka and left it in her locker, asking if she could meet him up in the school rooftop after-school.

After-school came before Keitaro realized it. Waiting by the fence towards the edge of the roof, a cool breeze swept through the roof and brushed upon Keitaro's face. The door suddenly opened, and Yuka appeared before him.

"Hey Keitaro, what is the meaning of this note? I'll be late for my after-school club if we don't make this fast, so what's up?" Yuka asked impatiently.

"I just wanted to ask you a question," he replied back. "I heard you earlier today and I was wondering why you intend to go to Tokyo U."

"That's simple. It's because there is a saying that goes, "If two people fall in love, they will go to Tokyo U together," she replied.

It suddenly hit him. He remembered why he wanted to go to Tokyo U in the first place. He remembered that promise he made with that girl so long ago in his dreams. Everything about that girl seemed to elude him. Her face, her name, the way she spoke, the smell of her hair – they all evaded him. He opened his mouth…

Keitaro nearly jumped when Naru grabbed his hand and held on to it tightly. His face turned bright red when Naru grabbed his arm. He loved the fact that he finally found that person of his dreams, the person who returns his love back, even though it comes with a small price of pain. He loves Naru for every little thing she is.

Naru thought to herself, 'I wonder what is going through his mind. He knows that I would never hang onto his arm like this, but I missed being around him and talking to him. He accepts me for who I am, and I love him.'

Eventually, they got back to the inn. When they arrived, everyone greeted them.

"Welcome home Keitaro!" the gang said to him.

"I made your favorite ramen dish, sempai," Shinobu said.

"Here is one from my secret stock," Kitsune said while handing Keitaro a whiskey bottle.

"Here's a banana bunch!" Su said while taking a banana from the bunch as well.

"Thanks everyone, but I think I'll go take a nap right now," Keitaro said to the gang while starting to walk to his room.

Another breeze swept through the windows and over a distant rooftop…

… "Can I ask you another question?" Keitaro asked again.

"Sure, just make it quick, I'm really going to be late at this rate," she replied back.

"D-did you make a promise with a boy to go to Tokyo U when you were younger?" Keitaro asked hesitantly.

"Uhhh, I'm sorry Keitaro but I didn't, why do you ask?" she replied.

"Nothing, it's nothing," he sighed. He was hoping that she was the girl he sought. From then on, he vowed to himself to find the girl of his dreams, and of his memories.

Suddenly he woke up because someone touched him. He turned around to find Naru by his bedside.

"W-W-What are you doing here?!" Keitaro asked rather shocked.

"Well you were having a bad dream and you were talking so much that I heard you from my room, so I came down to check up on you. Why, what did you think I came down here for? Hmmm?" Naru asked, while preparing for her painful fists.

"I WASN'T THINKING OF ANYTHING BAD!" he shouted as he begged for mercy.

"Tch, whatever let's go. Shinobu cooked for you, the least you could do for her, is eat some of it," Naru replied as she forgave him.

"Okay, we'll have some," Keitaro replied as he felt relieved that he wasn't going to be seeing stars.

On the walk downstairs Naru grabbed his hand and sat at the dinner table together. Stunned, yet happy, Keitaro led his fiancé to her chair and sat her down as if they were at a formal restaurant.

"Oh Sempai, I'm glad you are home. I made some ramen for all of us as a mid-morning snack," Shinobu said ecstatically.

"Thanks Shinobu," Keitaro said to the little cook.

Shinobu served them their ramen. The ramen was freshly made, when Suu came in running with a drool down her face, wanting some.

Shinobu served her with some banana slices in her ramen.

Shortly after, Mokoto came in after her bokken sword practice.

"Mokoto, I made some ramen, come join us," Shinobu asked the swordswoman.

Mokoto took her seat and started to eat her ramen.

Keitaro and Naru finished up before everyone else and decided to go out again, this time with Naru taking him somewhere.

The gang too, noticed something strange about Naru lately.

"What's going on between those two?" Shinobu asked.

"Just let them be, Shinobu. He just got back and I'm sure she really wanted to spend some time with him, but being stuck in a hospital would surely make things hard for those two," Kitsune answered.


'What is Naru doing? She sure has been acting strangely since I came out of the hospital, Keitaro thought to himself.

Naru interrupted him again when she grabbed his left arm and held on to it tightly. She grabbed his arm and wrapped herself around it so tightly that Keitaro nearly had a nosebleed when he felt her breast rub against his arm. 'What happened with this woman? It is as if she is a completely different person,' Keitaro kept asking himself.

The couple decided to take a stroll down the park. They walked hand in hand, and just talked about how things were going. Eventually, Keitaro stopped suddenly, exhausted because he just came out of the hospital. They walked over to the closest park bench and sat down to allow Keitaro to catch his breath. Naru saw how exhausted her fiancé was and looked for a cool place to rest. She found a bench underneath a tree in which they could rest, but the bench was only big enough for one person to lay down. Reluctantly, she asked if he wanted to take a nap on her lap.

"Keitaro, you look really exhausted, d-d-do you want to lay down on my lap and rest for a little?" Naru said.

"W-W-What did you just say?" Keitaro asked surprisingly.

"I'm only asking because you look like you could use it, so don't think that this means anything else" she replied.

"Okay, okay, it just sounded weird coming from you," Keitaro said while placing his head on her lap.

"Don't get any funny ideas, I'm just letting you rest until you are feeling better," Naru said coldly.

"I won't," he replied back.

"…Naru?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Keitaro took a nap on her lap right after he said that. Naru looked at her fiancé, smiling and being happy, and shed a small tear.

"I told myself that I wouldn't cry until after the wedding, but I'm just so happy right now," she said to herself, while wiping off her own tear. Caressing his face, she gave him a soft kiss to the forehead shortly after, then decided to take a nap of her own.


She woke up at the base of a tree at the top of a hill, with her newborn daughter and Keitaro on a picnic blanket enjoying the warm sun. Shortly after, the rest of the gang appeared carrying their picnic basket as well. Naru held her baby Sakura and started to feed her. Listening to all of her companions' great accomplishments, she did nothing else but smiled and reflected.

"Keitaro, I heard that you just came back from a huge excavation from Europe. How was it?" Kitsune asked.

"It went great. We found the ruins of an ancient Roman city, and discovered more about the Roman technology at their time. It was rather advanced for their time," he replied.

"But enough about my boring findings, what about you Kitsune? I heard that the tea shop now has made a huge success and that you're now opening another shop up north," he inquired.

As Kitsune started to speak, baby Naru finished feeding Sakura, let her go from arms, and allowed Sakura to walk on the picket blanket. Kitsune grabbed Sakura and carried her on her shoulders and started talking about her success.

"Yea, you're right. I guess it's our tea and the atmosphere our shop brings about," she answered.

The cook spoke right after. "Motoko," Shinobu said, "I heard your latest novel and was a great seller. Congratulations! When do you plan on publishing your next novel?"

"I'm not too sure, I have a few ideas for where I want to go to in my next novel, but I haven't decided what to write about this time," the author replied.

Quickly, Suu came from behind, pulled out from papers, and said, "Why not continue writing about this one… 'The swordswoman, after going through her tough journey, found her love. Though he was entranced by another woman, she vowed to get him back.'"

Motoko, completely shocked at how Suu got her hands on those papers, shouted, "AH THAT WAS MY SECRET WORK."

Soon after, Suu ran off with Motoko close on her tail.

The rest of the gang just sat there enjoying each other's company in silence. With a gentle breeze that brushed upon their faces, the sun started to set on their wonderful day together.

'Wow,' Naru thought to herself. 'Everyone seems to keep pushing harder and harder and achieving their dreams.'

Caught mid-thought, Keitaro approached his wife with their baby in one arm.

"Naru, I'm going to start putting some stuff away into the car, so just stay here," he told her.

"Alright, the rest of use will start cleaning up," she replied.

Turning his head towards his baby, he said, "Come on, Sakura. Let's help daddy with some of this stuff," and he headed towards the van carrying a few things with him.

Nudging Naru with her shoulder, Kitsune started up quite an embarrassing conversation with the other girls.

"So, when do you two plan on making 'another'?" she asked.

"W-W-What?" Naru answered quite shocked and embarrassed.

"You know what I'm talking about. Are you two, well you know, going to make 'another'?" she asked again with a grin on her face.

Everyone else huddled around in a tight circle and started asking really personal questions about their favorite couple.

"Come on Naru-senpai, tell us," Shinobu asked.

Naru's face at that point was blood red with embarrassment. She didn't know what to say. Naru, though reluctant, put her head deeper into the circle and everyone else followed. She started talking about their relationship and the gang screamed at every detail. From a distance, Keitaro could hear their screams and laughter.

"Who would have ever thought that you, Naru, would be the mother of Keitaro's baby," Kitsune said.

With blood rushing to her face again, Naru replied, "W-well ummm, it's not like I did it without wanting it. I really love the guy."

The gang screamed again when Naru said that.

After putting everything away, Keitaro came back and said, "Well it's getting dark, we should head back."

Everyone entered the van and left the hill.

Naru woke up soon after to the cold metal pressing upon her cheek. Her fiancé let her sleep while he went to a nearby vending machine and got drinks for them. She had been asleep for about two hours adrift in her fantasies.


While his fiancé was sound asleep, he woke up soon after she drifted away. Placing gently lifting his head from her lap, he arose from his quick slumber. While she was asleep deep in her dreams, he decided to walk around the park on his own.

'Something is really troubling Naru lately,' he thought to himself. 'What could possibly be troubling her? She is acting rather strange lately. Could it be that she is planning on telling me something sometime soon? What could she be planning on telling me?' he taught to himself.

He walked around the park for a while and found a nice patchy area of grass underneath a shady tree. He thought some more about what was really going on with his relationship with Naru.

'Why is she so especially nice today? What happened? What does she want to do today? Why did she want to go out with me so soon right after I was released from the hospital? What is going on?' These were all questions that sped through his mind.

'Could it be that… she … she… is pregnant? That isn't possible. We haven't even done anything like that yet,' he rationalized.

Something then struck him, and it seemed to hurt as he thought of the worst. 'Maybe she found someone else who is more worthy of her than I am,' he thought as he gulped his lack of trust in Naru. 'If she did find someone better than me, then I'll let her come out and tell me herself,' he thought to himself. 'Probably it was when I was in the hospital recuperating from my injuries, when she found someone else who seems more promising.'

Suddenly he heard laughing from along the cement trail. Turning to the source of that joy and laughter, he saw a young couple. To him, they seemed so happy and carefree. At that instant, he remembered what had happened in front of the Hinata Sou.

Turning to Naru and grabbing her hand, Keitaro said…

"Narusegawa, don't worry… I'm really happy right now! Let's stay together forever."

Naru, so moved by his words, started to open her heart and let her true feelings flow out of her.

"Keitaro… I… I… I'M THE SAME AS WELL! Maybe he peaks at me in the hot springs… but I don't care about that at all! Actually everytime I hit Keitaro… I'm not really angry at all. Even if I'm not the girl of his promise… I WANT TO BE WITH HIM FOREVER TOO!"

Sniffling, Naru shed a few tears of finally telling Keitaro how she truly felt about him. Taking it all in, Keitaro simply said, "I understand."

Suddenly reminded of that early morning before the sun rose up from the horizon, the sun made it's appearance to Keitaro. Renewed in resolve and spirit, Keitaro decided to go back to Naru thinking, 'Whatever Naru has planned for me today, I will be sure to take it all in and let things happen the way they were meant to be. Even if she doesn't love me, I'll still love that woman I still love till this day.' The prince returned to his sleeping beauty, hoping he would wake her from her deep slumber.

Making a quick stop to the vending machines, the sweet prince purchased two elixirs with hopes that it would revive his princess. Prepared for what his princess had in store for him, he returned without a second to waste, fearing that his princess would awake before he would arrive by her benchside.


Keitaro returned surprised that Naru was still asleep. Gently placing the coffee can on her cheek, she woke up. Jokingly, Keitaro said, "Ohayou (2), Naru-san." Rubbing her eyes, and making a big yawn, Naru woke up. Grabbing the coffee can, she scooted over so that Keitaro could sit down as well. The two opened up their drinks and decided to take a break before they continued on their date.

Taking a sip of his coffee, Keitaro eventually spoke up. "So Naru, well you seem a bit unusual today, what did you want to do today?"

Naru placed her drink down and looked at her fiancé. She saw how puzzled he was and how concerned he was. She spoke up and said, "Would you be upset if I told you it was a surprise?"

He replied, "No, I'm just a bit concerned as to why you are so nice to me today."

"You'll see," she said with a smile.

The two finished their drinks, placed their cans into a recycling bin, and resumed their date. Naru grabbed onto his arm and held on tight, so much so that his arm became numb. Keitaro so concerned asked where she was taking him. She replied with a simple smile.

Eventually the two go to their destination. Keitaro didn't realize where Naru had taken him until he looked up at the sign above the doorway. It simply read, "Eternal Ring." It hit Keitaro that he got Naru's engagement ring there and he needed to get her ring resized for her finger. Apparently he forgot that he was supposed to pick up the ring today.

Turning to Naru, he said, "Naru, how did you know that I had to come here today?"

Giggling, she replied, "Well the store called a few days ago while you were in the hospital. Since you were gone, I decided to take the call, and well they told me that you got the ring resized for me, and now we are here."

A little red, Keitaro entered the store. After waiting for a few minutes, the retailer approached the couple with her engagement ring.

"Try it on," he said.

With sparkles in both her eyes and from the ring, Naru eagerly put on the ring. Raising her hand up towards the ceiling to get a better view of the ring, Keitaro could remember how stunning the ring would look on the delicate fingers of his love.

Naru knew that she would never let that ring go.

After getting the ring resized for Naru, they left the store. Naru left the store while staring up at the ring that symbolized their deep-bonded relationship.

Naru was so happy after finally being able to wear her engagement ring. Keitaro saw the Naru's smile beam with joy and happiness. He still wasn't sure why she is acting so strange today, but he was starting to get an idea why she was.

After they got her ring set, the started walking back to the inn since the day was coming for a close. On their way back, they decided to get a quick snack before they arrived home.

Arriving at a small bakery, the two noticed that they were starting to clean up for the day. They decided to order two slices of strawberry cake and enjoyed themselves as they saw the sun setting. After about an half an hour, they continued for home.

Walking together arm-in-arm, Naru noticed something which they haven't done together yet. She wondered if Keitaro would be okay with doing something with her which they haven't done together in years.

Turning to him, she asked, "Hey Kei?"

"Yea, what is it?" he replied back.

"Would you mind doing something we haven't done in years?" she asked.

"W-w-what is it?" he answered rather shocked at her request.

"It's a surprise," she responded.

Clueless as to what would happen, Keitaro followed along as Naru walked over to a small store she had in mind.

When they entered the little place, Keitaro realized what she was talking about. Both of them took a look at their several options. Naru then picked out what both of them wanted, after a few seconds of waiting, their order was ready. As their order arrived, Naru held up her left hand showing her engagement ring, turned and kissed Keitaro on his cheek. Leaving Keitaro with a shocked look on his eyes while he looked back on Naru, the small photo booth took their picture together and printed out their sheets of small sticker pictures. It was a day in which they could not forget. It had been about four and a half years since they took their first photo booth picture together, and they celebrated today with a very special picture. It was a photo that would begin their lives together and now another one would start a new chapter of their lives with a bright light to look forward to. (3)


They arrived home a little bit late for dinner, but it was okay. The girls saw the stone on Naru's hand and realized what had happened. The two were rather quiet at the dinner table, taking in the chain of events that had happened in that long and memorable day.

After dinner ended, the two went to their respective rooms, exhausted at their day together. Naru, still so happy from receiving her ring, held up her ring as she was laying down on her futon, thought about her dream in the park for a little bit, and stared at her ring for an hour. Keitaro thought to himself in silence, 'I guess I don't need an explanation from you. You're actions are enough for me.' After he thought this, he fell asleep.

Late at night, Keitaro heard footsteps outside from the hallway. The footsteps became louder and louder as they approach his door. Suddenly Naru whispers to Keitaro, "Keitaro, are you awake?"

Surprised at what Naru could want at this time, he slowly slides his door open so that he wouldn't wake up everyone else.

"What's wrong Naru?" he asked.

Since the lights where off, he couldn't see Naru until she was right beside him. Naru walked up slowly to Keitaro, only for Keitaro to see before him Naru in a very revealing yukata (4). Keitaro was shocked to see Naru wearing something so skin-revealing to him, and wondered what was going on. Moments later, Naru quickly embraced Keitaro and simple said, "Keitaro, Keitaro, aishiteru (5)."

A/N:

There is some Japanese text in this chapter. Here are the translations.

1) "Arigato sensei" - Thank you doctor.

2) "Ohayou" – Good Morning.

3) "It was a photo… with a bright light to look forward to." – I hope you caught the pun.

4) "yukata" – A kimono usually worn during the summer.

5) "Aishiteru" – It's rather hard to translate, but it basically means "I love you." Since it is Japanese and there are several ways to say "I love you," "aishiteru" is the type of deep caring love for one another that transcends all other forms of love. As I said, it's rather hard to translate into English and to explain the translation.

Well I haven't been writing lately, but that was because I was having huge writers blocks when I wanted to write. Now that I have some new material and time to write, I hope I can get a few more chapters out faster.

Please read and review. I hope you really enjoy this very long overdue chapter.

Preview: Chapter 9: Becoming One (Still a work in progress).

What does Naru plan on doing? How does Keitaro plan to handle Naru in the middle of the night? Are they going to reach a new plateau in their relationship? Could it be a possible real Sakura is planning to be introduced into the new world?