What was she doing here?

Aoko sat down on the steps on the square across from the clock tower, staring up at its old face. She took off her police cap and ran her hand through her unruly brown locks tiredly.

At twenty, she had joined the Kaitou Kid Task Force under her proud father. He'd been glad to see her getting involved, getting over an ugly breakup. A very ugly breakup. He'd never understood why she suddenly hated Kaito, though he'd taken it to be the reason for the young man's disappearance. Aoko knew that it was just for his night job.

At twenty-one, she had seen her father shot down and realized that there was more to the Kaitou Kid than lighthearted thievery. It was the first time she'd seen Kaito, except on heists, since the year before. Just a dark figure on her windowsill, a quiet whisper of "I'm sorry", and then nothing but roses left at her father's funeral.

And now, at twenty-two, she was sitting under the clock tower again, like she had when she was six, when she was sixteen. This time, there was no father to wait for, no Kid to chase. Both were gone.

It had all ended a month ago. The courts had spent the last couple of weeks going through the members of the crime syndicate that had murdered her father, Kaito's, and so many others, and assigning them sentences ranging from between twenty years and a thousand.

It was all over, and it had left her alone. So somehow, as she always had when she was alone, she'd come here.

The Kaitou Kid had sent out a notice shortly after the mass arrests, proclaiming that as a retirement present to himself, he would be paying a private call to claim a beautiful blue jewel that he'd always coveted, sending every sapphire owner in Tokyo into a panic. But in the month since, he had not been seen. Nobody knew what he was coming for, or when he would come.

Aoko presumed that he was recuperating. He had taken quite a few hits- not that she was worried about him. She was not. She was not. She was-

She was. She was. She was so worried about him that she could barely eat or sleep, fearing that he'd died of his injuries, refusing to get them properly treated. She was done lying to herself- she missed him so much. She longed to go back to that horrible night that she'd found out who he was and take back all the horrible things that she'd said, all the hurt she'd tried and managed to cause; wished she'd been bright enough back then to forgive him, to realize that if Kaito, of all people, was the Kaitou Kid, he'd have a hell of a good reason...

But she couldn't unsay what she'd said any more than she could bring her father back from the dead. He probably still thought she hated him. He'd vanish overseas with whatever he stole last, and she'd never see or hear from him ever again. She buried her head in her knees, screwing her eyes up against the tears.

"Are you here on your own?"

Her head jerked up. Kaito was sitting next to her, not looking at her but the clock, a blank, serene expression on his face- A Poker Face.

"Yeah," she said, also looking not at him but the clock. "I'm always here alone."

"Do you ever wish you could turn it back?" Kaito said in that same even voice, still staring at the clock. "Undo all the stupid things you did, all the stupid things you said... bring back the people you've lost?"

Aoko swallowed. "Every time I come here. But it can't be done. Old words can't be taken back, no matter how much you hate them. All you can do is push them aside with new words."

"Words like "I'm sorry"," Kaito said softly.

"Yeah," Aoko agreed.

They were both silent for a long moment. Then, at the same moment, they both turned to each other and said "I'm sorry-!"

"You're sorry?!" Aoko gasped. "No, You had your reasons, I shouldn't have said what I said, It was so cruel, I didn't mean it..."

"You're sorry?!" Kaito yelped at the same moment. "Hell, my reasons didn't justify lying to you all the time, I hurt you, I totally understand why you said what you did, I just thought..."

They both trailed off in their babbling, staring at each other. Then Aoko began to giggle, and her laughter was infectious, soon consuming Kaito too until the pair were laughing helplessly in each other's arms. Passersby stared at them incredulously.

"We're both kinda stupid," Kaito pointed out.

"Yeah," Aoko giggled, wiping her eyes. Sobering up, she realized that she and Kaito were holding each other up, and they shuffled apart a little. "So..." she said softly, staring at him, "what now?"

"We start over," Kaito said, popping out a rose. "Aoko... The last two years, without you, have honestly been the worst of my life. It was only bearable because I thought... I thought you were happier without me. So long as I told myself that you were happy, it was bearable. But..." he stared straight into her eyes, something sparkling in the deep blue. "You wouldn't have come here if that was the case, would you? If you'd happily pushed me aside... if I'm making a mistake, tell me now. If you look me in the eye and tell me that you don't want me in your life, then I swear I'll vanish and you'll never hear from me again. But... I don't want to let you go again, Aoko. Be warned..." he held the flower out to her.

"If the blue child is mine," he said softly, "I won't ever return her."

"Kaito..." Aoko said quietly, "I can't."

His eyes immediately shut down, flat, blank, like the rest of his Poker Face.

"I see," he said neutrally. Aoko looked him in the eye and smiled gently.

"I could never tell you that I don't want you in my life," she elaborated softly, reaching out and taking the rose. "I did that once and it was honestly the stupidest thing I've ever done. I could never do it again. I don't want you to leave me again, Kaito. Never again."

Realizing what she meant, Kaito's face slowly lit up with the biggest, most genuine smile she could ever remember seeing from him since- well, quite possibly before Toichi died. That innocent little boy in the blue cap stood before her once more. Then all innocent thoughts left her as he pulled her to him, this time for a kiss, as soft and beautiful as their very first, three years ago- a lifetime by the standards of all that had happened since.

"Gotcha," Kaito whispered. "I'm Kuroba Kaito. Hajimemashite. Are you here alone?"

"Not anymore," Aoko whispered. "Never again."

Dedicated to my BFF. Happy 17th, Ayumi-chan! ^_-