Alright, I meant to warn people last chapter, but this will be my last chapter for this story! For Pepper/Tony lovers, there will be another soon to come Pepperony story... in fact I think I'll start it right after this one since my Avengers 2 one won't be started until the first trailer comes out. So thanks for all the support on this story, it's been great writing it

Tony sat on the hospital bed in his own clothes finally. He was alone, but it was the first time he had been in two days. Pepper had stayed with him every second that was possible, and the only reason she wasn't there now was because she was getting all of the discharge papers filled out down in the hospital waiting room.

Tony looked down at his chest. New bandages were wrapped around most of it and he'd have to keep putting new ones on everyday for another week or so. The stitches underneath itched a bit, but for the most part they were barely noticeable. What was noticeable however, was Tony's sense of freedom. It felt good not having a big glowing circle in the middle of his chest to keep him alive.

Tony sighed and looked down at the small glass bottle in his hand that wasn't any bigger than a marker cap. Inside, were tiny pieces of shrapnel: Tony had asked them to save it for him… he had the idea on the plane ride over to Tokyo for the surgery. He felt like he needed to get Pepper something, but not just something. He wanted her to know that she would always have his heart. Of course she'd have that figuratively, but she could have the shrapnel that was near it literally. That was close enough. He wasn't just going to just leave the shrapnel plain in the bottle though.

"Mr. Stark, you can go now. Miss Virginia Potts is waiting in the lounge downstairs." A nurse said upon entering his room. Tony nodded his thanks and stood up and looked around at his room… he would not miss this place.

Once down in the lounge, Tony was able to pick out Pepper in an instant. Not many people in Tokyo had her hair; well, not many people did at all in fact. She was facing away from him, looking out the glass doors waiting for Rhodey to come around with the car. Tony smiled as he watched her, feeling incredibly grateful for her being his. Tony slipped the shrapnel into his pocket and made his way around waiting couches and chairs to approach Pepper from behind. He wrapped his arms around her waist, making her jump.

"Hey, you." He mumbled into her neck. Pepper instantly relaxed when she heard his voice.

"Look who's free." She grinned up at him. Tony rolled his eyes and kissed her forehead.

"Where the hell is Rhodes, I want to go home."

"Owwwww!" Tony complained loudly as Pepper fastened the new bandages over his chest.

"Tony, stop fidgeting." Pepper said, calmly. She was used to this routine whenever Tony got hurt and she helped bandage up his wounds. He got impatient and moved around too much, making it hard not to hurt him. He sighed and finally stayed firmly planted on the stool next to the counter, just in time for Pepper to finish.

"Done." She said as Tony swung around to face her. He looked up into her eyes with his puppy dog brown ones. She felt her stomach flutter still, just like she used to back before they were even together. Pepper leaned down to kiss Tony, and he happily complied. He frowned when she pulled back too quickly, though.

"You're cramping my style, Potts."

Pepper chuckled and rolled her eyes. "You'll live. You have a meeting in thirty minutes. If we start this now, we'll never get out of here."

"I'll be quick!"

Pepper laughed. "Tony, it's you're first meeting for a month now, you have to get ready." She told him. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but you're asking for it later." He told her. Pepper raised her eyebrows. This wasn't exactly a threat. "In fact, be wearing something nice when I get home. I have something planned." He told her, smiling proudly. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Don't look so worried!" Tony started. Pepper grinned.

"Fine, what did I tell you? I trust you." She said, making Tony smile proudly. "Most of the time…" she muttered afterwards making him scowl at her.

"Oh, come on. Get going." She said, pulling him off the stool and guiding him to their room to get ready for the meeting. The only thing that was going to get him through it was the thought of coming home to a nice planned evening with his Pepper.

Tony wore his white suit, which was rare. He actually spent time on his hair instead of just carefully ruffling it, which did work out for him every time anyway. A thin black box was tucked away in the inner pocket of his jacket for Pepper. He had had it made specially… what was inside the box, not the box, obviously money not being a problem. It had taken the crafters a couple days as he sped them along so he could have this night with Pepper.

Standing in the middle of the penthouse living room, Tony felt nervous all over again… and he didn't know why. Usually when he went on official dates with Pepper like this, he did feel nervous. He wanted it to be perfect, and himself to be perfect for her. He felt like he did while he watched her all those years before that one night on the rooftop by the Expo. He thought back and smiled… he loved thinking about that night.

Pepper walked into the room, interrupting his thoughts. He looked at her and couldn't help but smile. She never failed to amaze him with her beauty. Her dress was tight and silvery with tank-straps crossing over her shoulders and down her back which was mostly showing. It hugged her hips and stopped pretty short to Tony's satisfaction. Her hair was down and straight… natural. Tony liked it like that.

Pepper smiled back at him and shook her head. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. You look gorgeous, babe." Tony told her, making her smile more.

"You're not too bad yourself." She said, smirking. Tony did an imaginary hair flip.

"I try." He said, not even attempting to keep his ego down. Pepper rolled her eyes and made her way across the room to kiss him. Tony pulled her against him and playfully nipped at her bottom lip making Pepper hum happily.

"The night hasn't even started." She smiled at him. Tony shrugged.

"Never too early to get some Pepper." was his answer. He knew how to charm his way through everything. "Now come on, we're on the floor right below." Pepper eyed him with question, but he didn't answer. He only took her by the hand and led her to the elevator where they kissed all the way down. Tony had a feeling he wasn't going to last long with his pants on.

When the doors opened, Pepper took in a sharp breath.

"Did- did you do all of this?" she breathed, looking at the large room in front of her. She'd never bothered going to this floor; she never had a reason to. It would've been just a completely empty room surrounded by big glass windows if Tony hadn't completely transformed it. There was a circular table set up in the middle for them, a white table cloth draped over the surface. Two chairs sat across from each other, waiting from them to occupy each one. Candles were everywhere… on the table, hanging from the ceiling, lining the walls. Soft music played from… somewhere. Pepper wasn't entirely sure where, but it didn't matter. The floors were glossy and reflected the beautiful lights of New York City. Flowers were placed on the table along with dinner for each of them.

"Yeah…" Tony said, surprisingly modestly. "You like it?"

Pepper grinned up at him and nodded. "I love it, Tony." A year ago she would've never guessed that Tony Stark had the ability to be so romantic. She was still in awe whenever he did anything like this.

"Well, then. After you, Miss Potts." Tony whispered in her ear.

They'd ended up dancing together after dinner and a toast to not being dead and Tony not having a big hole in his chest anymore. Pepper was wrapped tightly in Tony's arms with her own wrapped around his neck. Her head lied on his shoulder as they danced and she wished they could stay like that forever. Everything was perfect, Tony had made it so. She grinned to herself. Maybe she should start trusting him more often.

"Oh yeah," Tony said, gently loosening his grip on Pepper to pull away.

"Hey…" she said, disappointed. Tony smirked and kissed her cheek.

"Chill, Peps. I got you something." He told her, reaching into his jacket.

"Aw, Tony. Why'd-"

"Nope, shh. No questions." He interrupted. Pepper chuckled and shook her head. She wasn't going to argue that. Tony pulled out a thin black box and handed it to Pepper. They were standing by one of the huge windows that reached from the floor up to the ceiling so it was like they were standing in the middle of the air with the New York skyscrapers all around them. Pepper looked at Tony before looking down at the box and sliding the top off. She was immediately smiling when she saw the necklace inside.

"IIIIIIIII bet you can't guess what the chain is made out of." Tony challenged her. Pepper took the delicate chain in her hands. There will small fragments of… something chained together. It was beautiful with the red jewel surrounded by diamonds, but Tony was right… she had no idea. She glanced up at Tony, her eyebrows drawn together. He gave her a half smile and lightly tapped his chest.

"Wait… no way! Tony how'd you do this?"

"I asked the doctors to save the shrapnel and then found a pretty good craftsman." He simply answered. Pepper looked at the necklace in awe as Tony went on explaining. "Pep, I know I give you some pretty good reasons not to trust me. But I do want you to trust me when I say, I'll always be yours. No matter what happens, I'll never ever leave you. My heart forever belongs to you… and so does the closest thing I could get from it." Tony chuckled, gesturing towards the shrapnel. Pepper just stared up at him. She felt like her heart was beating at a million beats a second, but she didn't care. All she could think of was how much she loved the man standing in front of her now.

"Help me put it on." She said. Tony took the necklace from the box and Pepper turned around so he could put it on from behind. She moved her hair out of the way so he could fasten it on. Pepper let her hair cascade down her back once more and looked at the necklace. She loved it, she loved him. Needless to say, she was happy both of them were alive to have this moment. And every moment afterwards.

Pepper turned back and was immediately pressed up against Tony in a kiss that started off subtle, but certainly didn't stay that way. Her hands ran through his hair, and his hands skimmed across the open back of her dress. They made their way to the elevator and eventually to their room. Things had worked out near to perfect at this point, Tony realized. He had his Pepper and that was all that mattered. Next stop, becoming Iron Man again.