A/N-So here it is the long anticipated final chapter… well not really long anticipated… whatever. Ok so I need to ask everyone a favor before they read this. Go to stabilomusic(dot com)and click on albums, happiness and disaster and listen to the song ordinary. Go on. I'll wait. Sings in head Alright done? Cause seriously you should go listen to the song. I don't write songfics, but the song fits so damn well. Alright now that that's out of the way here it is. I hope you all enjoy reading it cause I enjoyed writing it.

Life Ch 10

The sun was starting to set and it cast a yellow-orange glow across Tokyo. A breeze blew through golden hair making it appear more tussled then usual. Teal eyes looked across the courtyard of the school and then back down to the watch that had been its victim for the past hour. Haruka sighed as she pushed herself off of the wall she had been leaning against and proceeded to walk to her car. She had been in that previous position waiting for Michiru to show up so they could go home together, but she never appeared. Haruka was worried to say the least. She knew that Michiru was suppose to be at a rehearsal so she had told her earlier in the day that she would train at the track and then meet up with her after. She had actually used the time to talk to Arian about what she was planning for this Friday… the day she would confess her love to Michiru. As she got to her car she heard a door open behind her. Turning around she hoped to see Michiru, but frowned upon noticing it was Kenshi one of the percussionist. She was about to get in her car when she turned around and jogged toward Kenshi.

"Kenshi-san." She called out in order to grab his attention. It worked and he looked up from the music he was looking over.

"Oh hi Haruka-san. How are you?" He asked smiling politely at her.

"I'm well, thank you. Listen, have you seen Michiru?"

"Actually no, I haven't. She was supposed to be at the rehearsal, but she never showed up. I didn't think too much of it since she doesn't really have to be there. She only really shows up to help the other violinists. Why is there a problem?"

"No… no I was just wondering if she would need a lift that's all. Well thanks Kenshi-san. Have a good night."

"You as well Haruka-san. Bye" And with that he walked off leaving a very confused blonde there.

"That's not like her at all…" She muttered as she got in her car, speeding off in the direction of her apartment. When she walked in she noticed that Michiru's shoes were there and she heaved a sigh of relief at knowing she was safe at home. She walked over to the Michiru's room and knocked on the door. She gained no response and tried again. After again receiving silence as an answer she turned the knob and slowly opened the door whispering Michiru's name.

"Michi?" She peered through the crack she had just made and saw Michiru already curled up in bed, seemingly asleep. Haruka walked in and stood next to the bed watching its occupant sleep for a minute before bringing the covers up around Michiru, making sure they were secure. Afterwards she walked out and closed the door while quietly bidding Michiru a good night. After the door was close, dark blue eyes opened slowly. Michiru sat up and looked at the door. She wiped the tears that had started to fall from her eyes and pulled her knees up to her chest. She thought back to what she had seen earlier that day

She had just finished her last class of the day and was making her way to her locker when a familiar voice caught her attention. She looked around trying to find Haruka and eventually saw her... with Arian's arms around her neck. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. This proved it… They clearly still had feelings for each other and were back together. She had quickly run away from the scene and only stopped when she reached her locker. She grabbed her things from it and then ran outside heading home. She knew that she was supposed to go to rehearsal and then meet up with Haruka afterwards… but she didn't want to see Haruka… and clearly Haruka didn't want to see her. When she arrived home she immediately shut herself up in her room and cried. She cried because now she didn't know what she had left. She was alone. Without Haruka she was completely alone. She had finally calmed down and heard Haruka come into the apartment. She had glanced at the clock and realized that Haruka had probably waited for her for quite awhile if she was only getting home now. She heard Haruka knock on the door and decided that she still couldn't face the blonde. She had hoped that Haruka would just go away if she ignored her, but instead she had opened the door. Michiru quickly pretended to be asleep. She had listened intently and heard Haruka take quiet steps towards her and then there was silence. Michiru was surprised when she felt the covers being lifted onto her and then heard Haruka retreat while whispering "Good night Michi."

Now she sat there crying silently. Why did it take her so long to realize that the person she had always wanted… the person she had always loved was right in front of her face. And then even when she had realized it, still couldn't act on it. She had had the chance, but never took it and now it was officially too late. Someone else had Haruka. Michiru cried more and more as she thought of Arian holding Haruka… kissing Haruka.

'Why can't that be me?'

And as she had done so often the past two and a half weeks, she cried herself to sleep.

The rest of the week Michiru managed to skillfully avoid Haruka. She would wake up early and come home wither before the blonde or after, and lock herself in her room. And every time Haruka would check up on her she would pretend to be asleep. She felt terrible doing that to the racer, but she still couldn't bring herself to talk to Haruka without breaking down. Haruka had helped her so much after Takashi, and she didn't need to burden Haruka with the fact that she was in love with her. It wasn't Haruka's fault that she was in love with her. No. Michiru would just have to learn to deal with this on her own.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Haruka was sitting in the cafeteria of the school when Thursday came. She was gloomily pushing around her salad with her fork when someone sat down across from her. She glanced up hoping to see Michiru, but instead saw Arian. She frowned and returned her contemplation to her salad.

"It's nice to see you too." Arian said sarcastically. "What's wrong Haruka? Last I saw you were all psyched up and excited about confessing to Michiru and now you're sitting here looking like someone just killed your dog."

"It's Michiru."

"Oh don't tell me you've changed your mind? I swear to God you are so thickheaded th…"

"No." Haruka cut in. "No it's not that it's just that… well it seems as if Michiru is avoiding me."

"Avoiding you?" Haruka nodded. "Why would she do that?"

"I honestly don't know. But I haven't seen her since Tuesday afternoon. She was suppose to meet me after her rehearsal, but as it turns out she never went. When I got home she was already asleep. And the rest of the week she's gone before I get up and then asleep when I get home. I don't know what's wrong." Haruka said finally abandoning her salad and giving Arian her full attention. Arian in turn just frowned.

"Well that is odd… Perhaps she's still jealous of us and can't bear to see you without taking you in her arms and kissing you" Arian said with a dramatic flair, placing the back of her hand against her forehead. Haruka glared at her. "Ok sorry, but you know maybe that is it. She's jealous and can't deal with it head on so is instead avoiding you."

"That's ridiculous."

"Really? Did you always hang around watching Michiru with her boyfriend or did you skulk off to a corner to be alone and sulk?" Haruka only blushed at this very accurate statement. "Uh huh. Once again I have to say it… you really haven't changed have you."

"Alright fine. Let's say your right… What do I do? How do I ask her to meet me at the festival if she won't even look at me?"

"Ah, see now this is why you have me here… to save your ass." Arian smirked as she sidled up closer to the blonde to reveal her brilliant plan.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Friday came and went quickly and Michiru found herself returning to the apartment after school and rehearsal. She had been surprised today because when she got up early in order to avoid the blonde; she found that Haruka was already gone. She also noticed when she left the school that Haruka's car was gone from the parking lot and now that she entered the apartment discovered that she wasn't there. Michiru thought it strange at first, but then her mind quickly took her to where she didn't want to be with thoughts of Haruka and Arian. She sighed as she walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. As soon as she turned the corner her eyes were met with a bouquet of red roses. Stunned she walked up to them and took the envelope that was resting against the base of the vase. It had her name scrawled on it in familiar writing. Hesitantly she opened it and read,

Dear Michiru,

I Don't know what I've done that has made you feel that you need to avoid me, but please believe me when I say that I'm sorry for it. I've never meant to hurt you and if I have I regret it immensely. I know that I can be dense sometimes, and as a matter of fact have been called such numerous times this week, but I've finally figured out something that has been plaguing me these past 3 years in regards to you and I've made a decision. I would greatly appreciate it if you would meet me tonight at the Tokyo festival at 8:00. I hope you will come, because this is really important to me and I need to say it before I once again revert back to my normal cowardice self. So please, I beg of you… meet me tonight.

Haruka

Michiru stared at the letter while the words that she had just read raced through her head.

'What does she mean 'in regards to me'? 'Really important'? 'I beg of you'?'

For as long as Michiru had known her, Haruka Tenoh has never begged. Not in action, nor in words. If she was begging now then it had to be important. Michiru was really confused by all this.

'What decision has she made and what does it have to do with me? And why does she want to meet me at the festival of all places.' Michiru looked up at the clock on the stove and saw that it was already 6:45. If she was going to go she would have to get ready and leave soon to be on time… but did she want to. Michiru looked at the roses that stood on the table and couldn't help, but smile a bit. 'I guess I owe her and if this is important I should be there. I should be there as her friend… even if that's all I can ever be.' With that final thought Michiru hurried to take a shower and change.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Haruka paced back and forth, worry etched onto her handsome features.

"Jesus Christ Haruka calm down." Arian said as she picked at the cotton candy in her hand. Haruka only looked up and then back down to continue with her pacing. Arian frowned and discarded the cone from the cotton candy and stood blocking Haruka's path. "She's going to show up ok. There's no way she would leave you waiting like this."

"You mean waiting like this for the second time this week?" Haruka asked a little bit angry. Her nervousness and tension was starting to make her really agitated.

"Well this time you left a note that pleaded her to come here and if I'm right, as I usually am, then she won't let you down."

"Well I really hope you are right because I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't show."

"Look at the bright side… you got to spend the evening with me and that's about as fun as it gets." Arian said trying to cheer up her blonde friend. Finally she got a small smile out of her friend.

"Thank you Arian. For helping me with all this. I really appreciate it, no matter the outcome."

"You're welcome Haru-chan." Arian said as she embraced Haruka. When they pulled apart Arian's eyes went wide. Haruka noticed and turned around to see what she was looking at. She was met with the sight of Michiru standing there, with tears in her eyes.

"Michi… I" Haruka tried to explain, but before she could utter another word Michiru took off running in the direction of the beach. "Shit." Haruka said as she took of after her.

"Haruka!" Haruka turned back to Arian. "Follow through with the plan. I'll hold up my end." Haruka only nodded and continued running.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Michiru ran and ran until finally her legs gave out and she collapsed into the sand. She was having trouble breathing due to the running and the crying so she sat there panting looking out over the water. She was suddenly aware of another presence behind her and winced as she heard the voice of the person she loved so much.

"Michi…"

"Go away Haruka. Just please… go away." Haruka stood still looking at Michiru's shuddering shoulders for a few minutes before she sat down behind Michiru and pulled her into her arms. "Haruka I said go away." Michiru said as she struggled a bit to get out of the embrace.

"No." Haruka said with a little more force then she would have liked to.

"What?" Michiru asked incredulous.

"I said no. I'm not going away. It's taken me too long to get here and I won't stop just because of a misunderstanding… or at least what I think is one."

"What is there to misunderstand? You should just go back to Arian so you two can be happy."

"I'm happy where I am right now." Haruka said in a light voice as she eased up her grip on Michiru who turned around to face Haruka.

"What?"

"I said I'm happy where I am now… with you." Haruka said as she reached out and wiped away the tears from Michiru's eyes. "Michi… did you think that Arian and I were back together?" Michiru blushed a bit as she realized that she had been mistaken.

"Well it just looked like… you said that you had really missed her and…"

"Yes I missed her… but as a friend nothing more Aside from me moving we realized that we didn't love each other. We broke up on good terms and are friends, but we have no intentions of getting back together." Haruka continued staring at Michiru's face which despite being tear stained still looked beautiful in the moonlight that shone off the waves of the ocean. "Michi… were you jealous?" Once again Michiru just blushed and looked down. She then felt a soft hand lift her chin up and in the next instance a pair of soft lips were pressed against hers. At first she was shocked, but soon gave in and kissed back. The kiss was a gentle, timid one at first, but grew a little more intense until they broke apart for air. Michiru stared up into the teal eyes that she loved so much and couldn't believe what had just happened… that is until Haruka leaned down and captured her lips again. When the broke for the second time Haruka was the first to speak. "I can't even begin to tell you how long I've wanted to do that."

"I can't believe how long I've wanted you to do that." Michiru said quietly, more to herself then to Haruka. She then spoke louder, "Wait… How long have you wanted to do that?" Haruka blushed at this and scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Ummmm… since the first moment I met you." Michiru couldn't help but giggle at this, but then she turned serious.

"Why didn't you ever say anything to me?"

"Well what was I suppose to say? 'Hey Michiru I know we just met and I don't know if you're a lesbian or not, but I love you.' Not exactly the perfect ice breaker if you ask me." Michiru once again laughed at Haruka's response. "Also I was convinced that you were straight what with the boyfriend and all." Michiru frowned a bit at the mention of Takashi. Haruka noticed this and immediately regretted it. "Sorry to bring that up, I didn't mean to…"

"No it's alright Haruka. Really. I can't say that I'm fully over what happened, but I know that I will be… with you here with me." She said smiling up at Haruka who returned the smile.

"Well now that we now how long I've been pining over you…what about you?"

"What? What do you mean what about me?"

"Oh come on you were clearly jealous… and by clearly I mean Arian had to practically hit me in the head with a 2X4 before I saw it." Michiru blushed again.

"Well… I suppose I only really realized that I loved you after the incident, but then after thinking about it… I realized that I've loved you for much longer… perhaps since I met you. I was just too blind or stubborn or whatever to realize it. And then when I saw you and Arian I thought that I had lost you." Haruka took Michiru's hands in hers, kissing the back of them and then looking into her deep blue eyes.

"You'll never lose me. I made a promise that I would never leave you and I have every intention of honoring that promise." Michiru couldn't help it, she once again broke down in tears… but these were tears of happiness. "Michi what's wrong?" Haruka asked shocked and concerned as to why she was crying.

"Nothing… Nothings wrong. Everything's perfect… now." Haruka smiled and wiped away Michiru's tears before placing another kiss on the girls lips. Afterwards Haruka gently turned Michiru around so that she was sitting in between her legs and wrapped her arms around her waist. Michiru placed her hands on top of Haruka's and leaned back into her enjoying the warmth it provided. They sat like this for a little while until Haruka looked down at her watch.

"Wow I didn't realize it was so late. We should get going."

"Why? It's Friday we don't have to be up early tomorrow." Michiru asked confused.

"I know, but I made… 'reservations'." Haruka smirked mysteriously as she stood up and offered her hand to Michiru. Michiru accepted and when they were both standing they brushed the sand off of themselves. Once satisfied, Michiru looked over at Haruka and noticed that Haruka was all dressed up. She was in her black suit with a Dark blue shirt and the gold tie she had worn previously. Haruka saw her staring at her and returned a curious stare. "Something wrong?" She asked.

"No… I was just thinking how handsome you look right now. You're all dressed up." Haruka smirked at this.

"Well I had planned to make this a very special evening… I certainly didn't plan to be running along the beach after you."

"Sorry about that."

"Never mind, as far as I'm concerned it all worked out well wouldn't you say?" Michiru nodded and hugged Haruka. "However it's not over yet. Come on." Haruka said as she took Michiru's hand leading her back towards where her car was parked.

Soon enough they found themselves at their apartment building and Michiru gave Haruka a skeptical look, to which Haruka replied with a mysterious grin. When they got into the apartment Haruka told Michiru to wait in the entrance way, which she did with a confused look still plastered on her face.

"Alright you can come in." Haruka's voice floated from the kitchen. Michiru turned the corner and gasped a bit. The table was elegantly set, the roses as its centerpiece, and a delicious looking meal sat on the table steaming. Michiru's confusion was even more now.

"Haruka how did you do all this? You've been with me." Michiru asked.

"I had a little help from a friend." Haruka said as she held up a note for Michiru to see. Michiru took it and read it.

And there… I held up my end of the deal now you hold up yours by not screwing this up. Because I swear to God if you do I am going to kick your ass right back to America.

-Arian

Michiru couldn't help, but laugh at this.

"Arian did all this?" Michiru asked gesturing to the table.

"Well we all know that I can't really cook aside from the occasional stir fry so I asked for her help. As a matter of fact she helped in more ways then this, but yeah. I told her that I would be bringing you around 10 and she said it would be ready and waiting and lo and behold it is."

"Well now that I know you two aren't dating I'm liking her more and more." Haruka laughed and pulled out a chair for Michiru to sit in, which she did. Haruka then went to the other side of the table and sat down. Once she did she raised the glass of wine that had already been poured.

"To us?" She asked in a bit of an unsure voice. Michiru giggled as she raised her glass and repeated the phrase.

"Hai, to us."

They ate their meal in relative silence, but one that was very comfortable and enjoyable. They stole glances of the other as they ate and every time their eyes met they smiled and blushed a little. After they were done eating they were outside on the balcony enjoying the cool breeze. Haruka had her arms wrapped around Michiru's waist, and Michiru was leaning back into Haruka's body. They stayed like that for awhile until Haruka broke the silence.

"I love you Michiru." Michiru turned around in Haruka's arms and leaned up to kiss her. After parting Michiru smiled at Haruka.

"I love you to Haruka."

The End..?

A/N- The question mark is because I have gotten some requests for a sequel and I am thinking about doing it. I don't know when, but maybe. Let me know if you want me to. The bigger my ego the more likely chance you guys have of a sequel. Lol. Just kidding. Anyways I have to thank all you guys who read, whether you reviewed or not, because I am just so damn happy that you read it. And to those of you who did review hugs all in big group hug. I can not thank you enough. I never imagined I would write a story that would get a 100 reviews… I assume this chapter will get me those last 2 I need to hit that mark. It's an amazing feeling, really it is and I feel honored that you guys stuck with me to the end and didn't want to beat me up for the absurd amount of clichés I used. Well maybe you did, but were polite enough not to mention it. Overall I think a good time was had by all so once again Thank you and I love you all. Till next time keep enjoying 'life'. (Come on I had to) Sayonara.

-Reusch17