Hey everyone :) Sorry it took a little while for me to update: I got kinda distracted by my April Fools one shot that I did :P Hope you can all forgive me ;D This is a Loooong chapter... but a good one! I think ;P Don't forget to review! I'll be updating soon, don't worry :)

Gill's P.O.V

I still couldn't sleep. Insomnia seemed to go hand in hand with having Hikari in my life, especially when I had tried to cut her out. I rolled onto my back and sighed heavily, running my hand through my hair: I couldn't help the small smile on my lips. Was kissing her like that really the best decision? I didn't care anymore. She looked so beautiful in her dress, her hair billowing in the wind… and the cherry petals… It kind of seemed like a bad romance novel when I thought about it now. I was never one to be reckless, but since I saw Hikari with Luke: the most reckless guy in town, I found myself becoming… well… a lot less like myself. Was it that I wanted to become more like Luke? I felt myself scowl at the thought. It wasn't that I wanted to be Luke; it was just that my feelings for Hikari made me do things that were totally irrational. I grimaced remembering my misinterpretation of seeing her with Luke, his confrontation with me was still fresh in my mind.

He had pounded loudly on my door; I turned my attention from Luna, who was talking about her hair or something, to the knocking and grumbled over, swinging the front door opened. The blue haired carpenter glared down at me, his facial expression grim,

"What do you want," I hissed. Our argument in the bar four days earlier was still fresh in my mind: probably because Luna wouldn't stop crying about the fact that Kathy had given her a black eye. The only thing that had become more annoying to me then Luna's vanity was her need for reassurance in everything she did.

"I want you to know the truth," Luke whispered, leaning in towards me. He glanced over my shoulder at Luna who was standing with her arms crossed, her nose in the air. She tapped her foot,

"Come away from the door Gill, there really is no need to talk to…" She wrinkled her nose, "that man," she made a small Hmpf noise,

"Look," I said through gritted teeth, "You'd better leave,"

"Not until you know what happened, listen to me!" He grabbed my collar and pulled me closer to him, "I don't want to say it in front of her, okay? It'll just…" he released me slightly, looking away, "…Cause a lot more fights, okay?" I paused for a moment, measuring his expression. What he is talking about? I couldn't help myself. I nodded slightly,

"Fine, come back here in fifteen minutes: I'll get rid of her," I kept my eyes narrowed, not sure whether to trust him or not. He nodded, his expression softening slightly as I closed the door and leaned my back against it, fixing my expression to nonchalant as I gazed over at Luna. She waltzed over to me and pouted,

"What did he want?" She took my hand and led me over to the couch,

"He wanted to talk about relocating his business," I lied, my mind spinning on ways to get Luna out of my house in fifteen minutes. Once her mind was made up, it was difficult to sway her.

"How boring," She sat down and batted her eyelashes up at me, clearly trying to be alluring. She patted the cushion next to her in a gesture for me to sit. I crossed my arms and sighed as I slumped into the couch,

"He's actually coming back so…" I looked away, knowing she'd have that fake little pout I'd grown weary of,

"So..?" She twisted her hair through her fingers "So you want me to leave?" I looked over to see her glowering back,

"Well, I need to talk to him. It's business and if I want to be mayor then I—" I was interrupted by her mouth catching mine, I was surprised at her sudden affection and sat there stunned. She moved slowly but in a flash she became more aggressive, her hands knotting through my hair. I tried to push her off, "Luna… I…" She didn't let up, so I pushed with more power this time, "Luna I'm serious!" She landed in a little heap back on the couch and looked at me; I couldn't tell if she was annoyed or upset,

"I'm the prettiest girl on this island, Gill," She said haughtily, "I think you'll find that you can keep some carpenter away for me," I couldn't help the scoff that escaped my lips, "Oh I'm not the prettiest?" She was now angry: this was sure.

"I didn't say that Luna," I rolled my eyes standing up, aware that she was following me as I walked into the kitchen,

"Every guy on this island would kill to have me on his arm, but it's you I choose to be with," I turned to face her and she was closer than I had thought. She backed me against the wall, "Aren't you happy you're with me?" She was suddenly sincere and I felt a pang of guilt for rejecting her so forthright,

"Yes, I'm happy," I said slowly, trying to smile.

"So then, can you keep a carpenter away for me?" She breathed, coming closer to me, "Please," I could feel her warm breath on her neck and I was suddenly reminded of Hikari: I blushed. When Luna pressed her lips against mine, and my eyes closed, I couldn't help but imagine it was Hikari's lips I was kissing. My eyes shot open and I pushed her away again, guilt taking over me,

"Luna, no, it's business, I need to take it seriously. Can you please try to understand?" I walked back to the door and she stomped her foot,

"I don't take my business so seriously!" she shouted, "You're such an ass! I deserve so much better then you!" her words were filled with venom, and I was surprised by how little they hurt me. In fact, I felt a wave of relief wash over me,

"You're right Luna, you deserve more," I smiled as her mouth dropped open,

"Are you kidding me? You're not breaking up with me; I'm breaking up with you! Okay?" She stomped her foot and then walked toward me,

"Okay, that's fine," I said as flatly as possible, I didn't want to hurt her feelings badly.

"Fine!" She flung the door open and we were both met by a very dazed looking Luke. She stumbled back slightly before pushing past him; her nose was in the air as she hurried home. Luke just looked at me, wide eyed. I shrugged,

"We broke up. Looks like Kathy was right all along," I frowned but Luke smiled at me, encouragingly,

"Well, then chances are better that you'll like what I'm going to tell you,"

How could I have been so stupid? My pride had gotten in the way again. She could never forgive me; I couldn't stop the thought from rolling around in my mind. Although I knew I didn't deserve her forgiveness, I prayed that she would. I'd be lying if I said the flower festival wasn't one of the best days of my life, but I couldn't shake the look on Hikari's face when I had finally apologized to her. Why couldn't I have stopped at that? Probably because I had been imagining what it would be like to kiss her since the day we met. She seemed happy enough, and I could tell she was kissing me back, but what if she was upset with me still? I sat up; the soles of my feet met the cool hardwood of my bedroom. I didn't know what I was doing as I pulled on my navy blue hoodie and zipped it half way up my chest. I stuffed my hands into the pockets and walked swiftly down the stairs, taking care not to wake my father: I had to see her. As I slide my shoes on, I slipped out of the door and into the cold night air, making my way hastily down the street. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I knew it must be late: the lights in the bar were off, but I didn't care. Nothing else really seemed to matter at this point. I stopped abruptly outside her farm, now questioning my rash decision: she's sleeping. You're going to wake her up? How cruel. She's probably so tired. I kicked at the ground hesitantly. I shut my eyes and took a step closer to her door, my hand meeting the cool metal of the doorknob. I held my breath as I twisted it, testing: it was unlocked. The door swung open silently and I froze: stunned that I hadn't knocked. How rude! I knew I wasn't rational because my feet had taken me inside: I closed the door lightly behind me before I knew it I was standing over her. She was sleeping so peacefully in her single bed… or so I thought,

"So now you're breaking and entering, huh?" She turned over groggily, laying on her back to stare up at me. My eyes bulged: I was discovered. She blinked, waiting for my reply, but I was lost in her big hazel eyes that I couldn't stop thinking about. Her eyes narrowed, "Ookay, you're just going to creepily walk into my house and stare at me?"

"N-no," I stammered taking a step backwards, biting my lip: I could feel the blush rising in my cheeks.

"So then…" she sat up slowly, "Why're you in my house..?"

"I thought you were sleeping," I sputtered, great, make yourself sound like a creepy stalker: way to be buddy, I scolded myself. She blinked twice, tilting her head slightly to the said, questioning, "N-no, I mean, I was just… I uh…" All this seemed to go a lot better in my head on the way over here.

"You couldn't sleep?" She asked, a smile on her lips,

"Yeah," I finally breathed, my eyes downcast,

"Me too," she sighed, pulling her blankets off and swinging her legs out of bed. She was wearing a red nightgown, very reminiscent of the dress she had worn to the festival the day before. She slipped on a pair of bunny slippers before taking my hand and pulling me towards the kitchen, "Want some tea?" She asked, grinning up at me,

"Yeah," I said for the second time. Why, oh why am I acting like this? My thoughts raced around my head. Hikari went to work in the kitchen, fetching herbs out from her fridge and boiling water: she hummed happily to herself. I stood watching her and couldn't help but smile. She looked up and blushed,

"What are you staring at?" She asked, suddenly self-conscious,

"You," I shrugged, "You're… beautiful," I walked closer to her, my smile widening as her blush deepened,

"It's like… two am, I probably look like I've just died or something," she sidestepped me, flattening out her hair. I laughed quietly, my apprehension gone now that the initial shock of me in her house had worn off,

"Prettiest corpse I've ever seen then," I grinned, but she just looked away, trying to hide her smile,

"Nice P.J's" she quipped, fetching two mugs from the cupboard,

"Likewise," I eyed her approvingly, but she just blushed again as she handed me a mug of tea. She walked over to her couch and sat down, I followed chuckling quietly: just being around Hikari lifted my spirits. I sat down beside her, placing my mug on the coffee table and looked over at her out of the corner of my eye,

"Why couldn't you sleep?" she sipped her tea, trying to act indifferent to my being there. I sighed heavily,

"It's sort of… embarrassing," I ran my hand through my hair,

"Oh, and coming into my house in the middle of the night unannounced isn't? You could have knocked," She glared a little,

"Yeah… I'm sorry," I really was, it was very unlike me to do something like that, "It won't happen again," I said sternly, lifting my mug to my mouth,

"Well… I mean…" she shifted slightly, "it's okay… I kinda… I'm really happy you're here actually," She focused on her tea, making it painfully obvious that she was attempting to hide her embarrassment, I chuckled a little, "What?" She looked over,

"Nothing, I'm just happy," I shrugged, looking over at her.

"Why?"

"Because,"

"Because Why?"

"Because I am,"

"You suck," She put her tea down abruptly and stared at me, her eyes narrowing, "Why couldn't you sleep?" she breathed,

"Because I…" I grumbled slightly, "I can't stop thinking about you, Okay?" The frustration in my voice made it sound a lot more edgy then I wanted it to. Her eyes widened as she leaned back, at first I thought I had upset her as she picked up her tea, but the grin that followed reassured me.

"Yeah," She sighed happily, "Me too,"

"Hikari," I said, remembering why I had come to her house in the first place, "I'm really sorry, about everything," She looked up at me, puzzled,

"I know," She smiled, "You already said that at the festival,"

"No… I know…" I shook my head, "I shouldn't have been like that. I was just acting… well… reckless?" It sounded kind of like a question, and I shook my head again, frustrated: I wanted to say this right. She looked up at me, expectant but also a little confused. I sighed and started again, "I should have just apologized, I mean, I acted really horrible to you and all because I had too much pride to actually just ask you what was going on. I shouldn't have kissed you and I really don't want you to be mad at me or anything so I—" I was interrupted by her giggle, which then turned into a bigger laugh, "W-what?" I stammered,

"Gill…" She said, becoming slightly serious again, "The flower festival was amazing," She flushed deep pink, "I uh… I really liked… that you… kissed me…" She turned away and I felt myself relax tension in my shoulders I hadn't realized was there. She turned back to me and smiled that sweet little smile I would never get sick of. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her closer to me, burying my face in her hair,

"Good," I breathed as she nuzzled closer to me. We sat there for a long time in silence, feeling incandescently happy. I wanted to know everything about her, but realized how little I actually did know, "Hikari?"

"Mmm?" She replied sleepily

"What happened to your parents?" I said slowly. I felt her body stiffen slightly and she sat up straighter, looking me in the eye, measuring my expression.

"Are you wondering why I left home?" She said intensely, almost in a whisper,

"Y-yeah… but you don't have to tell me I mean…" I trailed off. She stared at me for a while before sighing heavily.

"No, I want to tell you… it's a long story though…" She looked away: was she ashamed?

"I'm not going anywhere," I smiled at her encouragingly.

She drew breath and then told me everything. I still remember the way her eyes got glossy when she spoke about her parents, and how much she clearly missed everything about her old life: her farm animals… some of her old friends… but she told me how desperately she needed to leave. When she told me about Kurt my fists tightened, I could feel the rage in my body causing me to shake slightly. I had let out a string of curse words and had a little bit of a fit when she told me what he had done to her. I gathered her in my arms and held her there as her tears absorbed into my hoodie. I never wanted to let her go… And I wanted to kill that Kurt guy: which I made very clear to her.

She fell asleep in my arms and I carried her back over to her bed, placing her gently down. I looked out the window and saw light: dawn already? I chuckled quietly: how reckless I was becoming indeed. I stared down at her for a few moments, before a thought occurred to me. I walked over to kitchen and scribbled something down on a post-it note, then placed it on her bedside table. I kissed her on the forehead before quietly leaving, getting out before any of the villagers spotted me leaving her house at this time in the morning: I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea… I walked home grinning ear to ear.

Hikari's P.O.V

My eyes snapped open as my alarm clock beeped obnoxiously, was all that a dream? I swung out of bed and looked over at the coffee table: Two mugs. I sighed, grinning slightly as I fell back onto my bed. It had been one of the best nights of my life. I chuckled as I sat up, turning off my alarm clock. There on my bed side table was a note written with neat, elegant scrawl. It read:

I'm taking you to the Circus on the 22.

And thanks for the tea.

Finally, GillxHikari. Geeze it took the two of them long enough;D, Sorry about the length... I know it got super long D: ANNNNYYWHOOO REVIEW! (yeah, I rhymed, I'm that awesome. :P) But seriously! I love them reviews :D Love you guys!