A/N: Please remember that I write fanfics because I enjoy doing so. I don't have to do it, I'm certainly not being paid, and I do not appreciate getting anon reviews complaining about a lack of updates during the rare week that I can't. I have a life outside of the computer that comes first, and a lot of you need to remember that bitching at someone is not the way to get what you want.

For what felt like a very long time, Seiya didn't say anything. In fact, not only did she not move she barely even breathed. If it hadn't been for the slight movement of her chest, I might've started to worry that I had shocked her into a coma. As it was, I leaned forward a little until I could feel her breath ghosting across my cheek. Okay, that was a relief. At least I knew that she was actually still alive. Now all I had to do was get her to respond, hopefully in a positive way.

"Seiya? I just want you to know - you don't have to, um, feel the same way or anything like that. I understand if you don't think of me like that now. It's been a long time, and I know I pretended like I didn't understand before, and you thought we didn't have a chance because of my future, so if you don't love me then I get it. I do." What I didn't say, but couldn't help thinking, was that I also understood if she didn't want me because of the baby.

Seiya blinked, finally, and then sucked in a deep breath as she shook her head roughly. "I'm sorry, I think I just hallucinated," she said. " I could have sworn that you just said you were in loved with me."

"I did say that," I told her, a little worried about her lack of a reaction. A lot of people had surprised me tonight. Was Seiya going to do the same thing?

"You did say that," she repeated blankly.

I nodded. "Yes, I did. I love you, Seiya. I'm in love with you, I should say. But if that's not something you're interested in for whatever reason, I won't let it change anything between us. You're one of my best friends, and I couldn't imagine living my life without you." I swallowed, not wanting to think about what my life would be like if Seiya decided that this made things too awkward between us. I no longer clung to her the way I once had, but if she decided she didn't want anything to do with me outside of the bare minimum of doing her duty I knew I would fall apart.

"Oh god," Seiya muttered, surprising me, and then she rolled over onto her back and put an arm over her eyes. "Am I dreaming right now? Did I fall asleep after my shower and dream that you're telling me all this?"

I couldn't help laughing, even though it was probably inappropriate given the situation. I reached over and gave her a gentle pinch on the arm, just hard enough that she jumped. "There, you have proof that you're awake and definitely not dreaming," I said. I didn't want to push my luck, but I felt bolstered by the realization that at least she hadn't jumped up and run out screaming. If anything, I was cautiously optimistic: Seiya had dreamt of me, of us, in this very situation. That had to be a good sign.

She dropped her arm and peeked over at me. "You love me," she said.

"I do."

"I don't know what to say," she admitted. "Out of all the things that I thought you were going to tell me, that wasn't even close to the top of the list. Actually, it wasn't even on the list."

"You could say how you feel about me," I said hesitantly. Dreams or not, the fact that she hadn't said anything in return was making my pulse race. No matter how understanding I would try to be if she didn't feel the same way, I needed to know. This state of not knowing was torture.

"I love you." She said it like it should have obvious, like I should have already known, and I just stared at her. She smiled a little tremulously. "Odango I have always loved you, even when I wasn't supposed to. Even when it got me into trouble with my sisters, even when I thought I didn't have a chance with you, even when my princess came back to life, I still loved you. Did you really think that spending more time with you and learning more about what a strong, amazing person you are would change that?"

My mouth was hanging open. I literally could not think of a single thing to say in response to that. Because when she said it like that, it all seemed to be so absurdly simple that it made me wonder why I had bothered to worry about it. "But," I said a little helplessly, "the baby... That's a lot of responsibility, Seiya. I don't want you to think that I'm asking you to... to do anything."

"It is a lot," Seiya said, looking straight into my eyes. "I do know that, Odango. And I would have to think about it, and we'd have to talk about what kind of role you would want me to play after I had decided what I would be comfortable with. To be honest, I haven't even thought about it. But I would never let the fact that you're having a child keep me from being with you. I mean, you've already got one child. Chibi-Chibi is pretty much your daughter. You're going to have to raise her. What's one more?"

I had to smile, because Seiya's words were making me feel incredibly light. But at the same time, I knew there was a lot more to think about. "If we started dating and the press gets wind of the fact that I'm pregnant, you know what they'll think," I pointed out.

"That I'm the father." She paused before asking in a quieter voice, "Does that bother you?"

"No!" I couldn't imagine my baby having a better father than Seiya. I just didn't know if I could ask her to take that on. We were both so young, and sometimes I couldn't help thinking that Seiya was really only just starting her life. Kinmoku had been so different, and now she had the chance to start over. Did she really want to be bogged down with me and a couple of kids? Did I want to ask her to make that sacrifice?

Seiya must have realized how conflicted I was feeling. "Look, let's not think about all this right now. Let's just get through this fight with Rubeus and then we'll worry about it, okay?"

Part of me wanted to keep talking about it now, but a bigger part of me much preferred being able to push it all aside for later. I didn't want to have to think about things like the media and what the rest of the world was going to think. And I knew I had to give Seiya time to think about what it might mean to be a father. That was a lot of responsibility. I'd had a taste of being a mother with Chibi-Usa and Chibi-Chibi, and I knew it would not be an easy task. Was she ready for that? Did she even want that? She might be saying that she was okay with it now, but once she had time to think she might feel differently.

All of this was spinning through my mind, and it took me a minute to realize that Seiya was watching me. I thought back and realized that she'd said something else to me, but that I had no idea what she'd said. "Sorry, I was thinking. What did you say?"

"I said, can I kiss you?"

My heart just about stopped. I'd never seen that earnest look on her face before, and no one had ever asked me a question like that. The first time Mamo-chan and I had kissed, it had just happened so naturally. It was after the fight with Ail and Ann, when he finally remembered who I was and what we meant to each other. We'd walked out of the ruined building together, and he'd stopped me with a hand on my shoulder. My friends had kept going, all the while shooting me these little knowing smiles that had made my heart skip several beats. I remembered turning around to look up at him, and the next thing I knew he'd leaned down and kissed me. And I remembered thinking that it felt like the two of us had done that a thousand times before, it was so familiar.

I ran my tongue across my lower lip. "Yes," I said finally, watching as her expression changed to one of relief. It thrilled me to know that she had been even a little bit worried that I might say no. "Yes, please."

Seiya exhaled slowly and nodded. She brought her free hand up and brushed a strand of gold hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear. It lingered there, her fingers brushing against my cheek, and I turned my head slightly into her touch. She smiled at that and moved a little bit closer. I stayed perfectly still, not daring to shift even a little just in case I messed up. This was like something out of a movie, and I was almost embarrassed by how much I wanted her to kiss me at that moment. I couldn't stop looking at her mouth and wondering how it might feel.

But she was taking forever. I forced my gaze up, away from her lips, and focused on her eyes. Was it my imagination, or was there a flicker of panic lurking there? Was she having second thoughts? If it had been anyone else, I probably would have started freaking out that maybe she didn't really want to kiss me after all. But this was Seiya, and I knew she wanted it. Wanted me. She would have said so otherwise. So I was pretty sure that she was starting to wonder whether I really wanted it. I knew I had to give her some sort of sign that I had meant every single word that came out of my mouth not ten minutes ago. I just wasn't sure what the sign should be. This had been so easy with Mamo-chan; he always just kissed me.

This was Seiya, though, and maybe I should be the one doing the kissing. So I let myself lean forward. I wanted to close my eyes, but I was afraid I might miss if I did. I stared into her eyes as our lips touched for the first time. It didn't last long, maybe about two seconds, but I was stunned at how different it was. Her lips were so soft, yielding beneath mine, and full. I knew as soon as I pulled away I didn't want to stop. I reached for her again and she let out a little breath, her fingers spreading out to cup the back of my neck so that she could pull me against her.

We kissed again, longer this time. I liked the way her cheek felt against mine. Her skin was so smooth. I could smell her perfume, a very mild vanilla scent that I knew she only wore when she was certain that she wouldn't have to appear in public as a boy. She seemed to know exactly where to put her hands, letting the other one rest gently on my hip, her thumb rubbing absent circles that sent chills all the way up my spine. I let mine stay on her back, though I had to consciously stop myself from moving them down further.

We breathed together for a split second when our kiss finally ended, and I almost enjoyed that more than the actual kiss. It was so intimate, so private. I opened my eyes, not sure when I'd closed them, and found that she was smiling at me. "That was good," I said. I immediately wanted to hit myself for not saying something more interesting or complimentary. Good? Pancakes for breakfast were good. That kiss had been... amazing.

Seiya just grinned. "I'm glad it met your approval," she said in that voice she only used when she was teasing me. She ducked down quickly and kissed me on the cheek, and I felt myself blush as she rolled to her feet. "Once we've beaten Rubeus, Odango, and we come home, I'll help you talk to your family again."

"What?" I blinked before remembering why I'd been so miserable in the first place. Seiya had made me completely forget. "Oh, yeah, thanks."

"No problem." She backed up towards the door and paused there, staring at me like she was trying to memorize everything about my face. "Good night."

Her scrutiny made me feel things I knew I shouldn't be feeling. I swallowed hard. Even though I wanted her to stay, I knew she needed to go. I whispered, "Good night" and watched as she opened the door and slipped out.

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