AN: Alright since it took me so dang long to update the last chapter, I've taken the liberty of updating again. I am going to warn you, though. This is a very up-and-down story. Please prepare yourselves for more angst shortly. But for now, this is more romantic than anything else, I suppose.

So please enjoy and R+R

I wish I could be forever with you.

I wish I could be the sun and the sea.

So let me be a passing scenery,

A song with no name.

Let me be the breath in your lungs,

Like smoke on a cold winter day.

Let me be a single heartbeat,

For all of these things are fleeting;

They are forgotten.

But all of these things are important

And cannot be lived without.

The lines of that poem still rang out in my head. I lay curled beneath the thick fleece of my bed, the crimson sunset my only source of light in this small room. My phone beeped again, but as it could have only been Mato or my father, I had no intention of answering. I simply wanted to sleep and forget for a moment that I was living in this pathetic little existence.

When my phone rang for possibly the hundredth time, I finally answered.

"If you hang up, I'll kill you." a very blunt voice called out. My eyes widened. Though we had never been close, I knew that voice from anywhere.

"Who's this?" I asked in a voice that seemed too far away to be my own.

"Shizuru, what happened to you?" Tokiha-san asked. "I mean I know I didn't know you that well, but it's not like you to just up and disappear."

"I think you have the wrong number-" I began.

"Fine. Just listen, then." she snapped. "Ever since you disappeared, she hasn't been the same. I can't even get the girl to lose her temper anymore!"

I hesitated in my words, but they needed to be said. "How does this have anything to do with me?"

Mai seemed a bit shaken from my words, but it did not deter her rampage as I thought it would. Instead her voice grew louder. Soon I was holding the phone away from my ear just to keep from rupturing it.

"I don't know what could have possibly happened to make you so cold, but you took all the happiness Natsuki could have had and now you have to make up for it." she practically growled.

"…And how do you think I'm going to do that?"

She snorted. "I haven't been talking your ear off for no reason."

A knock came at the door.

Shizuru was in Tokyo. She was a thousand miles away but she was so close that I felt like I could grab her from where I stood. After all this time, I finally knew where that devil with a halo was.

But did I really want to know?

"She's been avoiding me all this time. What if she really hates me?" I asked of Mai.

"There is no way in heaven or hell that Fujino Shizuru could possibly hate you, Natsuki." Mai replied, "Clearly something happened. I bet that if you just go talk to her then she might open up to you again."

"But her father said that it was too painful for her to be around me anymore." I mumbled in despair. "What if I only end up hurting her again? I want to see her, but I don't want her to grow to despise me."

Mai stood, yanking me to my feet. "I've never in my life seen someone so passive when it comes to love, Natsuki. Are you just going to lay down and die or are you going to tell Fujino how you feel?" she snapped.

I blinked, surprised.

"I'm tired of seeing you like this all the time. I want my short-tempered badass biker back, not this sullen push-over I'm stuck with now." she growled. "This is a love story and you're the knight in shining armor. Now get your act together and go after the princess, moron!"

At that moment, something clicked in me and I smiled. Mai rolled her eyes, shoving me towards the door to her apartment. I waved a silent thank you and farewell before running outside and mounting my bike. I felt the bit of exhilaration I used to always get when the engine revved and my heart nearly soared as I weaved in and out of traffic.

Everything moved too slowly. Even though I was abusing my position and managed to get a private jet, it still took several hours for me to exit the airport nearest Tokyo. There I rented a lovely looking Ducati and shot through the incredible amount of traffic as quickly as I could. I had managed to get the address from Mato, but I wondered if she would even be there. Mai was sending me texts all the while, telling me that she wouldn't answer the phone. Soon my anxiety was so bad that I could barely keep my hands from shaking.

Then, I got another text. She was home! She was finally within reach after all this time. And after spending ten minutes convincing the land lord of her apartment that I was an old friend, I finally climbed the stairs to the top floor. And within minutes, I was standing in front of her door.

My hand was trembling so much that I struggled just to knock on the door. For the longest time I simply stood there, wondering if she knew I was here. Panic rose in my chest as the minutes ticked by. The little bits of doubt in the back of my mind grew and grew until I could barely breathe.

But the door opened and I was greeted by those wonderful wine-colored eyes I had grown to depend on so much. They widened in utter shock and the woman stepped back, staring at me as if I were a ghost. Then that voice I had longed to hear finally reached my ears.

"Nat-…-suki…" Shizuru whispered.

It was as if God had cursed me. After everything that had happened, I had finally managed to start a new life and now everything was falling apart again. As I looked into those striking green eyes I could only see what died in me that day. I could only see what could have been and what would never be. I could only see pain and despair waiting for me in the future.

Tears stung my eyes and I shook my head. "No…" I whispered, pleading with whatever supernatural power was desperately trying to ruin me. Why did this have to happen? Had I not suffered enough already?

"Shizuru, wait." Natsuki said in a soft, hurt voice that, more than anything, I did not wish to hear. "I know you probably hate me, but I need to tell you something. Just listen and I'll disappear forever. I won't ever come looking for you again."

I tried to run, to flee to my bedroom where I could lock myself in, but Natsuki caught my wrist. I was pinned to the wall, but even though her strength was enough to keep me in her grasp, it did not hurt. Her touch was tender and kind and that hurt more than any violent act she could commit against me.

"I've been thinking about this for a really long time." she continued in that quiet voice. "I wanted to tell you that night but… And then you just disappeared and I didn't know what to do anymore. But this time I won't let this chance slip away. I want to tell you how I really feel."

I shook my head, tears freely streaming down my face now. "No!" I cried. "The person Natsuki is looking for… The person you want isn't me!"

Natsuki's free hand came up to my face, wiping the tears from my eyes. "What are you talking about? The person I've been looking for is right here."

"But she's not!" I argued through strangled sobs. "I'm not that person anymore. The "me" from that time isn't here anymore."

Natsuki gave me a sad smile which only made me cry harder. "No matter what happened in the past or what happens in the future, Shizuru is still Shizuru. You are still you." she whispered. "And no matter how much you've changed or how much you will change, you will still be the only person I love."

"No!"

"I love you, Shizuru."

"N-" But my protests were cut off by a soft pressure against my lips. I pushed Natsuki back, shaking my head again. "This can't-"

"I love you." she asserted again, gently. Again she kissed me, the hand gripping at my wrist sliding down to pull my hair back. And as I felt her warmth flood me, my anxiety and my fears all began to melt away. All of the pain that had been weighing down on me over the last year began to heal and slowly my heart starting opening up again.

And out of nowhere, I fell in love again.