Hello, this is MadManMatt64 speaking. To the fans of this story I apologize for having you wait so long to read this story. Also I would like to thank theepitomeofrandom, nintendosegasonyguy, XanderN, and Foot Pains for being the only people who reviewed this so far. Please review this, I appreciate every single comment or constructive criticism. Flamers will be make up for the wait, have a ten and a half page chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: I Am My Own Worst Enemy

Aeris's POV

Well, here I am again, back to a few days after Leo's conception, but instead of killing him, I have to protect him. It shouldn't be too hard, I mean, all I have to do is convince other me not to stick that hanger up there. Although, if I know me, she will be very hard to convince. Hold on a second, if I did go back in time and save Leo, doesn't that mean that none of this should have ever happened? Urgh, better stop thinking out that or else I'll poke a hole in the space-time continuum.

Okay, I arrived 10 minutes before the other Aeris supposed to get here, and now I have to formulate a strategy to stop me from aborting Leo. I checked my surroundings to see that I am right outside the hospital that Leo's mom was visiting for her check-up at the doctor. Maybe I could delay her and then other me would get impatient and leave. No, other me would just come here do what I did except in a more appropriate environment. I can tell that this is going to be hard.

Leo's POV

I hate the feeling of going through time. Oh sure, it looks cool, but when you actually go through time, I feel like I'm going to throw up. Although I do have to say, its nice having your head attached to something. So here me and Caspar are, back at the End of Time, Caspar with his smile and me with my conflicting emotions. Caspar walked over to me and clapped me on the back, "Congratulations Mr. Leonardo! You'll be back in the real world with a brand-new girlfriend in no time."

I shrugged his hand off my shoulder, "She's not going to be my girlfriend. She just misses me is all."

He gave me one of those all knowing looks before saying, "It didn't sound like that to me. It sounded like she really wanted you back."

I scoffed, "Yeah, as a friend. She just wants me back so that she can get her old life back."

He raised an eyebrow, "Then why did she say what she said?"

"I...", I began, but that only gave way to those famous words, "don't know."

Caspar kept looking at me weird, "Mr. Leonardo, let me ask you this; why are you denying this? Did something happen between you two that made it so that you couldn't see her as more then a friend?"

I hesitated. There was that one thing that wasn't important enough to mention until this point. I told him what happened.

Christmas Time, Four Years Ago

They had just completed Senior Year at Ottawa Public High School. Leo's parents were so proud that their son had actually graduated out of school that they bought him an apartment in Toronto where he could live and plan out the rest of his life. Not only that, but it had two bedrooms so that someone else could live with him. His mother suggested renting it out so that he could get some extra money, but his father suggested that he give it to a certain pink someone for a little, "horizontal tango", as he put it, much to his son's annoyance. He took his dad's advice, but only because she was a friend that needed a place to stay and nothing more (even if he wanted to be more then that). They thought that they should celebrate their good luck by doing something they hadn't done since they finished middle school; build a snowman.

It was snowing that day (of course) and Leo was walking through the park before Aeris got there so that he could scope out a good place for building the snowman. By chance he met the local con-artist/ testicle lover Johnny Evilguy, who was peddling his "totally not cursed by any lords of hell" objects. Leo happened to be carrying all the necessities for a snowman, coal for eyes and buttons, carrot for the nose, and two sticks for arms, but the only thing missing was the top hat. Not wanting to disappoint Aeris without bringing one of the most crucial pieces in creating a snowman, he was about to turn around and go back home before Johnny stopped him and showed him a top hat he happened to have in stock. Leo wasn't sure at first, what with both the "Orange Sapphire of Might" and "Monkey Paw" incidents, but he was in a hurry and Aeris could be there any minute, so he paid Johnny and got the top hat.

About a half an hour later Aeris showed up and they began to build the snowman. For no reason in particular they both started singing "Frosty the Snowman" when Aeris put the hat on the snowman's head. Much to their surprise and delight, the snowman did come to life, but then something went wrong. Frosty writhed in pain, not to mention his eyes were bleeding. Then on the top hat, a pentagram appeared.

Slowly, the snowman began to change. The coal eyes started to catch fire and the mouth became jagged, becoming a gnarled smile. The sticks grew claws and grew longer. It let out a shriek and went after the two frightened cats. They dodged out of the charging snowman's way, luckily not getting scratched by its' talons. Aeris turned to Leo and shouted the words that were still fresh in his mind, "Get out of here! I'll hold him off while you get help!"

He nodded and ran, knowing exactly what he would do to save her. Pantsman was too far away fighting that Kruglor guy, so he ran all the way to his house and barged into his room. He rummaged through his stuff until he found what he was looking for; a small, rotting Monkey Paw with two of the fingers curled, signifying that two of its four wishes had been spent. He knew this was a long shot, after all his first two wishes were complete and total busts, but he had to do this to save Aeris!

It took a fifteen minute run to get back to the park, and what was there, was one of the most horrifying things he had ever seen in his life; Aeris Cole, his best friend, his constant tormentor, his secret crush for who knows how long, was bleeding to death in the claws of a demonic snowman. The evil snowman looked like it was about to eat her, but luckily Leo made a quick wish of sending the snowman to the hell it came from and saved Aeris from being demon food. Not wanting to waste a potentially useless wish to save her, Leo instead packed snow on the unconscious cat's wounds to stop the bleeding , picked her up and hurried her to the nearest hospital. They didn't ask questions, they didn't at all stop to think about how Aeris got the way she was, they just took her to the ER and left Leo to wait and wonder if she would live or not.

The End of Time

"After she got better,", I continued, "I visited her one day and asked her how she was. Do you know what she told me?", Caspar shook his head, "She told me she didn't even remember why she was in the hospital to begin with. I didn't tell her about what happened because I didn't want her to live with the memory of almost dying. After she was discharged from the hospital, we moved to Toronto, along with my friends who went with us for different reasons. I thought that my soul was going to die when Aeris was laying there in a pool of her own blood, but when she said that, I felt crushed. I was the one who bought the possessed hat. I almost killed her. I made her forget everything that happened that day, both the good and the bad. That's why I can't love Aeris."

Caspar looked thoughtful, "Guilt and shame are powerful motivators indeed, for both good and evil reasons. You feel that things would've been different if you stayed by her side instead of getting help when she told you to?", I nodded, "Well let me give you this bit of advice, come on, lean closer."

I followed his instructions and leaned in closer to his face, only to get a slap to the face that would even give Aeris a run for her money. I shouted, "What the fuck was that for!"

He shouted back, "For being an idiot! Do you really think everything would've changed for the better if you stayed with Aeris? If you did stay I highly doubt that either of you would've survived! Besides, she's alive isn't she, and even if that weren't the case, she told you to get help! So what if she lost a few pints of blood as long as she still walks the Earth! My advice to you is that when you do get back to her, you don't let that stop you from loving her. If you spurn her only for the reason that you gave me, well, lets just say I've got friends that are no longer of this world."

I decided to take his word about the last sentence and reconsidered my emotions. Ever since day one, I had a slight crush on Aeris, but it was mostly because she was really hot (pink fur is just a massive turn-on for me for some reason). As I got to know her I began to think about her on a more emotional level rather than a physical one. Then high school rolled around and Aeris started to become the raging bitch that we all know and love, and right then was the time that I really started to fall for her. I know it may sound weird, falling in love with somebody who constantly abuses you for no reason other then to vent stress, but when I'm around Aeris and she isn't in one of her homicidal moods, I can feel that she appreciates my company, maybe even enjoying every waking moment spent with me. Not to mention last years Christmas (A/N I'm not putting that sequence in. Its been used to death and you all know how it goes, so why bother). Let me tell you, waking up with lipstick on my forehead gave me a good feeling for making her happy. That was diminished though by the snowman incident. I guess I can never live that down. I mean, how can I forgive myself for almost indirectly killing my best friend/ roommate/ possible future girlfriend? I want to be with her, but my stupid guilt won't let me. I sigh, "Caspar, help me. What can I do to make myself not guilty about this?"

Caspar's expression softened a little, "You really seemed to have contemplated this didn't you? Well, let me give you some real advice now; tell her about what happened. If she really does love you, she won't care and you'll live together happily. If she does whatever she usually does, then at least you'll have a clear conscience."

'Well, I guess having a clear conscience is better then being guilty forever.', I thought to myself.

Caspar started talking again, "Well, I do believe that Aeris is about to come face to face with another Aeris to fight over what happens to your existence."

"Sweet!", I yelled, my bad mood totally forgotten, "I always wanted to see a cat fight, literally and figuratively!"

Caspar looked at me a little weird before saying, "I'm afraid that you won't be able to see this Mr. Leonardo. None of the Time Gates go to that specific point in time, so all we can do is wait here and wonder which Aeris wins."

I looked at the door that lead to the Time Gates and sighed. I guess we can't always get what we wish for.

Aeris's POV

I'm sitting behind a bush in front of the Leonardo household with only one minute to spare. These last few minutes have been the longest in my life, every second ticking away at the pace of an hour. This must be that 'calm before the storm' thing that people talk about. It feels like I've had a lifetime to reflect on my emotions for Leo. Looking back, its hard not to see all the times when I wasn't attracted to him. The first day I met him, the day we were going out to this convention dressed as Prince of Persia characters, and last years Christmas. Oh my God Christmas. That day two years ago. Somehow I knew he fucked up everything about that day, that he got the one hat that would transform an innocent snowman into a snow demon, but what do I do? Do I punch him until he gets a concussion? No, I just tell him I don't remember how I got into the hospital so that he wouldn't worry about me. Why didn't I do the stuff that I usually do whenever he does something as stupid as that? "Because you care about him and you didn't want see his feelings hurt.", I heard a voice in my head say. I sigh in frustration. Why did I abort that wonderful bastard? I mean, he was just being his usual idiot self, why was today any different? My parents are alive and healthy so that's not really a sore spot. I don't know what happened to make me so angry. Maybe it was because I was playing a game and annoying me was like a death sentence to anyone but that seems like a stretch for some reason. I sigh again. This is almost as hard to figure out as stupid spinning drum from Sonic 2.

I hear a beep coming from my wrist. Sure enough, ten minutes have passed and the time has come to bring Leo back. I raise my head to see Mrs. Leonardo walking through the gate that led to the house. If I remember correctly this is about the part where I come in. Yep. Three bangs, three flashes, DeLorean appearing out of nowhere. That's me alright. Other me stepped out of the time machine and raised her sunglasses menacingly. I could hear Leo's mom saying, "Um... may we... help you?"

Evil smile on other me's part, "Yeah...", and here comes the part where I have to step in. I jumped out from behind the bush and ran over to other me shouting, "Stop!"

Other me turns in my direction and looks open mouthed. I don't blame her really. She then shouts back at me, "Who the hell are you?"

I started to explain, "I'm you from another time. When you abort Leo time changes for the worse and you, that is to say me will not benefit from this at all."

Other me looks like she's sizing me up as she looks at me. I looked over to the Leonardo's and they seemed to be just as confused as other me was. Then I heard other me speak, "Well somehow I don't believe you."

I really should have known that explaining everything wouldn't help, "What do you mean? I am you! How could you not believe me!"

"For all I know,", she began, "You could be some alternate universe me that actually likes Leo for some reason."

I gave myself a look, "Seriously? First of all, if I am an alternate version of you, how could I travel to this universe to save this Leo? Secondly, what could I gain from keeping Leo alive? Finally, how could I even know this was going on if I did come from some alternate universe?"

Maybe pointing out all of the flaws of what other me just said wasn't the best idea. She's glaring at me and if I know me, that's not a good sign. She started talking again, "You know, even if you are future me, I'll kill you anyway just for getting in my way."

You know it's funny. I never really looked at myself before this moment, I mean really looked at myself. Was I that much of a bitch? I stood there, mirroring her death glare, and said, "You don't want to do this."

She gave another evil smile, "Oh, I think I do."

She then started to run toward me with a clenched fist. I was quick enough to dodge out of the way, but she was on me again before I could recover. Now I know how Leo feels. I fell to the ground but I picked myself up quickly before other me could claw at me (literally). I gave her a swift kick to the stomach before I back-stepped away from her. My strategy is to keep her on the offensive and use her openings in her attacks to my advantage. It helps knowing that I usually just attack and just do about nothing else. Kinda reminds me of Punch-Out, but with much higher stakes.

She has a crazed look in her eyes before she decided to try and punch me again. This time it connected and I saw stars. How did it come to this? Why do I have to fight myself to save the existence of my best friend who is now my brand new love interest, who is no longer part of this world because I basically killed him. Why did I ever think that this was a good idea. I push these thoughts aside for now because other me is coming at me again. This time she tries to kick me like I did earlier, but I sidestep and she loses her balance and staggers. I saw my chance and took it by bringing both of my fists on the back of her head. She fell down face down and I couldn't help be feel a little triumphant standing over her. Of course it didn't last long at all, because she was back on her feet in about the span of two seconds, and I couldn't hit her. She then charges at me with her shoulder out, trying to ram me. I sidestep again, but I couldn't get a hit on her because she ran by too fast. She turned around and attempted get me with a quick punch, which I again dodged. I countered with a punch to her side, to which I got in response a heavy wheeze. She clutched her side for a second and I used the advantage to kick her legs out from under her. Once more she fell to ground, and I was on her faster than you can say "Ultra-Combo". I crouched in front of her and continuously punched other me in the face. I noticed with grim satisfaction that her nose started to bleed, and purple spots started to appear on her face. Hold on Leo, I'm coming for you.

General POV

"Hey Caspar, I've been thinking.", said Leo, looking at Caspar with a odd stare.

"Yes?", Caspar said, unconcerned about the look Leo was giving him.

"You said that both of the Aeris's would have to fight each other right?", He said, his tone apprehensive.

Caspar nodded. Leo continued, "What kind of fight is it Caspar?"

Caspar sighed, "To the death. Are you concerned?"

Leo shook his head, "No, I think the Aeris on my side will win, but what happens when she does win?"

Caspar raised an eyebrow, "I don't understand."

Leo started to get angry, "Oh, sure you don't. Its not like you haven't dealt with this before... oh wait, yes you have. Tell me what happens when she kills her past self Caspar?"

He avoided Leo's stare, "She will cease to exist, much like you have."

Leo tried to hide his sadness behind an angry look, but some of it bled through. He continued in a mixture of sadness and anger as he said, "You said we could go home. Were you lying? I don't know about you, but this sure as hell isn't home."

Caspar backed away from Leo, "Now Mr. Leonardo, allow me to explain-"

"Explain nothing!", Leo shouted, "You gave me false hope! If you think only Aeris can hit hard, think again!"

Meanwhile Good Aeris is still beating her other self into a proverbial pulp until she notices that her punches are becoming increasingly lighter, almost to the point where they seemed to be doing no damage at all. She stopped punching for long enough to notice two things: other her had stopped breathing and her fists had started to fade. She was confused as to this fact before she realized the enormity of her situation; she had killed her past self, and now she was fading into the ether, much as Leo had probably done. Not knowing what to think of this revelation, she turned to leave the front yard of the Leonardo's to be stopped by a feminine voice shouting, "Wait!"

She turned around to see Mr and Mrs Leonardo running toward her, no doubt wishing to thank her. Her assumption was correct when Mrs Leonardo said, "Thank you so much miss, if you didn't show up, I don't know what would've happened."

She gave them a small smile from her now fading face, "Don't mention it. I only did it for him.", she pointed to Mrs. Leonardo's stomach when she said this.

Mrs. Leonardo seemed confused, "What do you mean by him? The doctor wasn't able to tell what gender it was yet."

Aeris chuckled a little, "Just a hunch I guess. By the way, he will be born very retarded." *POP*

Leo's POV

I hate him. He lied to me, he made me think everything would be fine. Well newsflash to him, me and Aeris being trapped in an eternal limbo isn't really my idea of everything going back to the way it was. I was about to hit him when a flash of light blinded me. After blinking away those annoying spots in my eyes, I saw what caused the flash; a pink cat, crumpled unconscious on the floor. I rush over to her and lift the upper half of her body off the ground. I shook her gently, trying to get her to wake up, whispering to myself, "Please Aeris, wake up."

Eventually my quiet prayers were answered when I saw her eyes gently fluttered open.

Aeris's POV

When I woke up my vision was blurry. The most I could see was a large nondescript gray blob. Wait, a gray blob? As my vision clears I begin to see new features like white fur, emerald green eyes, and blue clothes. My heart soared. I did it, I brought him back! The only thing I could think of doing right now is grabbing that beautiful fucktard and kissing him full on.

General POV

Neither of them knew of the pleasure that Aeris's action brought to them both until they were experiencing it. It wasn't a lustful kiss, one where the both of them tried to see which one could chew the others face off first, but something along the lines of a kiss one would see at the climax of a romance movie. If one were to look at the both of them, they wouldn't turn their head in disgust, muttering about 'getting a room', instead they would turn their heads away in respect of the couple who were sharing a private moment one step below the former of this sentence.

Leo was at first taken aback by the extreme forwardness of his best friend/brand new girlfriend. Yet as the experience wore on, he grew to except it, opening his mouth so they may give each other the 'slip of tongue' as it were. They both loved this moment, Leo's first kiss, and Aeris's reuniting with her new love. Naturally, as is the case with most couples in this situation, they never wanted the moment to end, but as we all know, nothing like this could last forever. It was mostly due to Leo, who suddenly for no reason other than plot contrivance, saw an image of Aeris laying on the ground surrounded by deep pink snow and a large snowman standing over her, and the thought of never being able to leave a realm where time did not pass came to mind. He didn't end the kiss abruptly, just slow enough so that Aeris wouldn't suspect anything.

When they parted, they looked at each other as if they hadn't seen each other in years, when in fact, the length of a day has passed. She started to talk, sadness lining her voice as she spoke, "Leo, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me?"

He chuckled, "Well I would think that a few seconds earlier answered that question."

She laughed a little at his joke. Sure he was the King of Idiots and the veritable Sultan of Stupidity, but he was her idiot, and nothing could change that. She took notice of her surroundings for the first time since she arrived and she asked Leo, "Where are we?"

Leo frowned, something that concerned Aeris. He always had that stupid grin on his face, but a frown was rare, and that meant something bad had happened. He sighed and started talking, "This Aeris, is the End of Time. I came her when you destroyed me, and you came here when you killed your other self. Now we're stuck here forever."

Aeris was a little confused. Did he mean the End of Time from Chrono Trigger? If that was the case then where was-, "I never said that! If you would've just let me explain myself!"

They both turned their heads to see the brown clad Guru of Time in the corner looking a little indignant. He started speaking again, "Mr. Leonardo, if I may please speak."

Leo said nothing and Caspar took that as his invitation, "Firstly, Ms. Cole, you were wondering earlier today about why you were so incorrigible when dealing with Mr. Leonardo, correct?", she nodded, slightly awed that he knew her thoughts, "Well let me go back a little. After the threat of Lavos was destroyed from this world, I wondered how I could make myself useful to the world. After a while of thought, I knew the perfect way to contribute to society in my current state; making people who hate each other realize the importance of the other person. I've turned bitter enemies into close friends, cold neighbors into friendly socialites, and even abusive relationships into actual loving ones. It is a relatively easy task. First I control time in such a way that changes someone's personality and thought process enough so that it whatever the other person says next in an insulting fashion will set the altered person off into a rage in which they believe that eliminating the other person from time will solve all of their problems. Any questions so far you two?"

Leo, still angry at Caspar, asked, "Yeah, two actually. One, how the fuck did you get time manipulation powers and why haven't you used them before, and two, how do you change someones personality?"

Aeris was a little surprised to hear that Leo was actually talking like a regular person , but Caspar went with it and said, "To answer the first question, ever since I got here I have had the ability to control time for reasons even I can't explain (A/N Plot contrivance FTW!) and I didn't use them before because I had no good reason to use them."

Leo scoffed, "No good reason? You could have used them to destroy Lavos!"

Caspar sighed, "No I couldn't. I only have the power to alter events in minor ways, so I couldn't change the Day of Lavos, and for your second question, have you ever heard of Tabula Rasa?"

Leo raised an eyebrow, "That stupid MMO that Richard Garriott made? I tried playing the beta but in the first few minutes some pink guy whose username was Gareth Gobulcoque (A/N whoever gets the reference first, I will personally high-five) showed up kept complaining about bad the game sucked. Can't help but feel his sentiments though."

Aeris sighed. Still the same old idiot, "Actually Leo, I think he means the social theory that says that a person is born without a personality and that how they're personality depends on how they're raised."

Leo turned to Aeris, "How do you know that?"

She sighed, "Because unlike you, I actually payed attention in school."

Leo crossed his arms and pouted, "Its not my fault that the teachers wanted me to learn about things I didn't give a crap about."

She laughed a little at the statement, but stopped when Caspar cleared his throat. He continued, "In any event, Aeris is correct in what Tabula Rasa is. What I do is that I change events in a person's childhood so that their personalities change to where they think killing someone in the past is an effective way to get rid of somebody. Then when they do kill them I change their personalities back so that they realize their mistake and fix it. The process takes anywhere from a day to a year, but it does work and I have always gotten good results."

Aeris started speaking now, "So your saying that you changed things in my past so that my personality changed, just so that I would abort Leo from time?", He nodded, "I can't help but feel that that's completely stupid, but if it weren't for that, I don't think that I would've found out my emotions for Leo. Thank you."

Leo looked at her wide-eyed. Did she just thank someone, something that she rarely ever does? Caspar smiled at her and tipped his hat to her. He looked at Leo now and said, "Speaking of emotions, Leo has something that he would like to tell you."

Leo's POV

Her eyes turned to me expectantly, wondering what I could possibly want to tell her. I cleared my throat and said shakily, "Um, Aeris. A few years ago at Christmas you woke up in the hospital and told me you didn't remember why you were there. I'm going to tell you why."

Aeris's POV

To say that I was heartbroken was the understatement of the fucking millennium. I sat there next to Leo, who was close to tears as he recounted the whole snowman ordeal that he thinks that I repressed. Did I do the right thing not telling him? All I wanted to do was keep him from worrying about me, but now that he's telling me this, I can feel my eyes start to water too. He's at the part where I told him to to run where I stop him. Tears started to flow as I said, "Leo I'm sorry. I lied to you."

General POV

Confessions flew between the two cats like angry birds. Eventually the both of them were crying and hugging. Caspar let them have their moment with a smile and a happy heart. This was what made everything worth it, seeing two people making up to each other. It took hours (not that time has any actually meaning in a place where time no longer became relevant) until they both calmed down enough for Leo to turn to Caspar and say, "Alright, you explained why Aeris did what she did, but if we both no longer exist, how can we get home like you promised?"

Caspar kept smiling, "Yes, I believe that's the point that you wouldn't let me finish. First of all, let me tell you that the only reason that I didn't tell you that Aeris would have to kill her past self because I didn't want you to do what you did when I told you that she would disappear. I was going to say that I can teleport you back to before Aeris went into her rage, but you will remember everything."

Aeris raised an eyebrow, "You can? That seems incredibly convenient."

Caspar chuckled, "Well the author wrote himself into a bit of a corner so he had to put in a duex ex machina to get himself out." (A/N Oh, shut up Caspar! Your the one benefiting from all this!) "Well at least I'm not giving character's I don't own powers that they can seemingly pull out of their ass!" (A/N You know what, if you don't want it I can take it back, but you know you will be disappointing our two lovers here.) "You wouldn't! You said so yourself in your Bio that all your stories have happy endings! (A/N I know, but I can make an exception for this if you don't stop breaking the fourth wall. That and insulting my poor storytelling skills.) "Fine. This will be the last time I break the fourth wall."

Leo and Aeris had no idea of what was going on of course, I mean, would you if you saw an old man talking to the sky in an angry tone. He looked back at them and rubbed the back of his neck with a weak laugh, "Sorry you had to see that. Anyway, I can transport you back in time to before Aeris used the time machine. Are you ready to go home?"

Leo and Aeris looked at each other in the eyes and smiled. This was meant to be, and they had Caspar to thank for that. They both looked at Caspar and they both nodded, to which Caspar responded with a friendly smile. He walked over to the old-fashioned street-lamp in the middle of the square and motioned the two cats to join him. When they did, Caspar mumbled gibberish under his breath. It was then that they noticed that a soft glow shined off of them. As the incantation grew longer, the glow became brighter. For a brief moment, Aeris compared this to one of her fanfictions, but the biggest difference here was that this was not a fanfiction (A/N Well, technically it is, but whats the fun in saying that?). Soon, the two cats left the End of Time, a few sparkling pieces of dust where they used to be the only evidence that they were there at all.

9:00 A.M, October 19, 2011, was what the atomic clock in their kitchen said when they opened their eyes. Aeris looked at their (their) apartment in a satisfied way, glad to see there was no Metal Gear anything anywhere. They turned to look at each other once more, love and appreciation in their eyes. They then pulled themselves into a hug. She spoke softly, "Leo?", he grunted in response, "Why me?"

They backed out of the hug and Leo gave her a questioning look, "What do you mean?"

She averted her gaze away from his eyes, "Why me out of all the girls in this world? Why did you fall in love with someone like me, a huge bitch when you could have a nice cat to be the one you love?"

He smiled a small smile, "Aeris, why wouldn't it be you? We have the same interests, we've known each other for over 11 years, we've lived under the same roof for four, and you expect me not to fall in love with you? Not only that, but I'm a wreak if you haven't noticed. I highly doubt anyone other than you would go out with me."

She laughed a little, but her self-confidence still needed boosting, "But I've been such a bitch to you. What could you find attractive in me?"

He still gave her that small, reassuring smile, "Aeris, where you see a bitch, I see a tough, smart, beautiful, caring, loyal person that I am lucky to have known. To tell you the truth, I didn't really mind all that much about the beatings. Well, except for the one where you threw your laptop at me."

She laughed, "Yeah, I don't know why but for some reason that laptop was more important than my only friend."

He laughed too, "Maybe because you weren't able to save your perverted stories."

She started blushing in embarrassment, "There not perverted. There about finding love in unexpected places."

He started looking smug, "Is one of those places an asshole, because your character's seem to be going there a lot."

She punched him in the face for his snide comment. He shook his head after the blow and said, "Good to see you aren't changing your personality just for me."

She chuckled, "Trust me, I may have changed a little for the better, but you can't tame me."

"Good to hear", he responded, "By the way, did I mention what I said was totally worth it?"

It went on like this for a few more minutes, the both of them, bantering back and forth about their new relationship, and where it would take them. Soon they both noticed that they were very tired and needed sleep, a luxury neither of them had ever since their little escapade.

They both walked out of the kitchen and into the hall, Aeris turning into her closer bedroom and Leo making his way toward his room further down the hall. He was stopped however when Aeris called out to him, "Leo, would you mind if we slept together?"

Of course being the stereotypical idiot male, his thoughts immediately turned toward lewd things, but he restrained himself and asked her why, to which she said, "I figured that since we're a couple now that we could sleep in the same bed. So are you coming or not?"

You could not have asked Leo to run through that door fast enough. She sighed and closed the door. She turned around to see Leo was, surprisingly not in a seductive pose on the bed, but actually asleep on one side of her queen-sized bed. She smiled at knowing that Leo wanted to see if this relationship would work before they did anything too rash. She may not have been changing for him, but it almost seemed that he was for her. She then shut off her lights and laid on the bed next to Leo, sighing in contentment. That day, they got the soundest sleep they had ever had in their lives.

(November 26, 2011) You have no idea what I had to go through in order to edit this last chapter. I accidentally backed out of this twice before I saved it. Anyway, the re-edit is done now, so enjoy! Please Review!