The next few weeks were filled iffy at best; even though Takara had started to corporate with the nurse she was still weak and vulnerable to disease. Aidou spent every waking moment he could by her side talking to her about what she had missed, feeding her whatever meal the nurse had left for her, reading to her, sometimes he would just sit next to her on the bed and hold her; content to know she was there with him. Zero would stop by too though not as often, he knew that his relationship with her was what cause all of the drama and was careful not to start more. He still thought that Aidou wasn't good enough for her but he knew that she loved him anyways and if he tried to split them apart he would be hurting her just as much as the blood sucker.

It took two months for her to recover enough to walk around, her first trip was out to the rose gardens where Aidou first told her that he liked her and it brought back many good memories. They sat in the grass underneath one of the trees that lined the edge of the garden and talked for hours enjoying each other's company and warmth of the sun beating down on them. Surprisingly enough the nurse had allowed Takara to move back into her own room as long as she had someone to help her do things so that she wouldn't strain herself, at first it was suggested that one of the Night Class girls help her around but Aidou and Ichijo refused to allow it stating that they could take care of her just fine on their own. And so they would take turns spending the night with her sleeping on a second bed that had been moved into her room, they would walk her down to have "breakfast" every evening before class before spending whatever time they had before class with her. Then they would walk her back to her room where she would stay until they came back from classes. She had wanted to start attending school again like everyone else but the nurse refused stating the screaming and commotion of the fan girls would ware her out. So instead Ichijo would take notes for her and gather any homework that was assigned and bring it back, between him and Aidou she was caught up with the rest of the class in weeks. However the peace wasn't lasting.

No matter how well she took care of herself she couldn't seem to shake the weakness that had been plaguing her, and so one night while the others were in class she decided to go talk to the nurse about what was going on. She made it down to the school "hospital" with minor issues and after being chewed out by the head nurse for ten minutes for "acting recklessly" Takara confronted the woman about her concerns. At first the woman just stared blankly at her before she let out a heavy sigh and sank into the chair behind her desk.

"I was afraid this would happen."

"What do you mean, what's going on?"

"Well Miss Fukui it would seem that you pushed your body past its breaking point and now it can't heal itself."

"What does that mean, am I going to be stuck like this for the rest of my life?"

"I wish that was all it meant. Miss Fukui your body isn't going to get better, in fact it's only going to get worse. Had I known that you were this ill I would have never allowed you to move back into the moon dorms, even walking around is taxing on your body at this point."

"Does this mean I'm going to die?"

The nurse didn't answer right away, it hurt her to see such a young woman condemned to death, especially when things had just started to go right for her.

"Unfortunately yes, you will. But how long you have before you go can be prolonged. I'll set up a private room for you here, with any luck you will have at least another year before your body really starts to wear down."

"And what about if I don't move back into the hospital?"

"Then you have a few months at best."

Instead of taking the nurse up on her offer right away Takara considered what it would mean to spend the rest of her remaining days in a hospital bed. True she would have more time to spend with those she loved but she wouldn't be able to do anything with them, there would be no more walks with Aidou through the rose garden, or horseback rides with Zero, or discussions about manga at the pond with Ichijo. She would be confined to a small room with nothing to look at except four blank walls until her time was up.

"No, I refuse to move back here. With all due respect mam, if I'm going to die soon I would rather spend my last days having fun with the people I love."

"Very well, it is your decision to make. I will inform the Headmaster of your situation."

"Thank you, but if you could, tell him that I don't want anyone else knowing about my condition. He may tell Kaname if he must but that's all, I don't want people fussing over me as if I were a china doll; I get enough of that already."

"As you wish."

With that Takara got up and started walking towards the door.

"Would you like someone to walk you back?"

"No, thank you, but I can do this on my own."

Takara barely beat the other night class students back to the dorms, she had just finished smoothing out her sheets when Aidou and Ichijo walked in. She smiled at them and asked how their day was, she listened with rapt attention as the recounted their day laughing gaily when they started to bicker over whose paper was going to get the better grade. She would miss the two of them dearly and felt bad that she was keeping such a big secret from them, but she knew that if they were to find out about her impending demise they would never let her do anything. They would treat her as if she was made of glass and that was not how she wanted to spend her final days.

"… Kara, hey Takara, you in there?"

"Huh, oh what? Sorry, I was spacing out for a moment, what were you saying?"

"I was asking if anything interesting happened while we were away."

"Nope, I just sat here and read, the usual." She cringed inwardly at the lie, she knew that there was no other option but it still felt wrong lying to them. They spent the rest of their night doing homework and sharing laughs, when the sun started to come up Ichijo bid the two of them goodbye before heading off to his own dorm room. It was Aidou's turn to spend the night but when he went to get up off the bed Takara grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Would you sleep here tonight? I'm kinda cold." He nodded stunned, never in a million years would he have dreamed that she would ask him to share a bed with her, especially after what he had done and said to her. As he lay down she turned to face him and buried her head into his chest, instinctively he wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her close and that's how they fell asleep, pulled tightly together and cozy as could be.

The next three months were the best and worst of Takara's life. They seemed to fly by as she tried to spend as much time having fun with her friends and lover as possible, she made sure to constantly remind them all that she loved them dearly and whenever they asked why she was being so affectionate she would simply tell them that her near death experience had opened her eyes. Unfortunately it could not last, on the last Sunday of the third month she collapsed while walking with Aidou from the gardens back to her room; He panicked and rushed her to the hospital but it was too late. She had pushed herself too far and now she was paying the price. Aidou was devastated when he found out that she was dying, he couldn't even begin to wrap his mind around what that meant.

"How long have you known?"

"A few months."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because I wanted to spend my last weeks with you having fun, if I had told you then you would have treated me as if I were too fragile to even touch. That wasn't how I wanted our final days to be."

"How long do you have left?"

"I don't know, the nurse said that it would be any day now," Takara looked up to see that Aidou had tears running down his face. She reached up and gently brushed them away before letting her hand rest on his cheek, "just remember that no matter what I love you."

"I love you too."

Those were the last words she spoke, that night she slipped into a coma and after a week they took her off life support. Aidou was heartbroken and only kept on living because he knew that Takara wouldn't want him to give up so easily. Over time he build up a brick wall around his heart only letting a select few in, he also put on a mask, to the outside word he was a playboy who would never settle down when in truth he was a lover who's heart was broken.

Zero never fully recovered from losing her either, he became colder to everyone even Yuki. For the second time in his life he had lost someone close to him and he refused to allow it to happen a third.

Ichijo became less enthusiastic, he was still bubbly and kind to everyone around him but to those who had known him for a long time there was a noticeable difference. His eyes didn't sparkle as much and his smile was just a bit smaller, all because one of his best friends had passed on.

In time Takara became little more than a memory to the general population of Cross Academy, she was buried near the pond she loved so much and a statue was erected in the rose garden in memory of her. Sometimes a student would ask about who she was and someone would tell them about the girl that won the playboys heart and melted the wall of ice that surrounded the prefect. Her friends never forgot though and every week they would spend an hour together in her garden or by her pond sharing stories of her and keeping her memory alive.

I officially hate myself. I feel awful that I killed her but it had to happen, I'm sorry to anyone who was hoping for a happier ending. There will be at least one more chapter, a Christmas special! Please let me know what you thought of the ending I'm curious to see what you all thought, in other words PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!

Thanks for reading!
-Ambercat999