This is it. This is the end. After the chapter I'll have a bit of a message for all of you, stay tuned for it. I really, really hope you enjoy this chapter, it does jump around a bit.

~34

The next day a girl wearing a bubblegum pink Kimono and carrying an oar joined them at breakfast. Her hair was a bright blue that in the past, Michelle would have been sure had to be the result of an expensive dye job.

"That's Botan." Yusuke offers as he shovels another pancake into his mouth. He was very much enjoying the American breakfast Michelle had made for them all.

"At least say 'hello'! How rude!" The girl waved her finger and lectured Yusuke.

Michelle slowly leaned over to Kurama and asked in English, "She okay?"

This caused her mate to bite back a chuckle. Yusuke however had managed to pick up a good amount of English in their time together nearly choked on his food. Michelle simply blinked at him. It wasn't exactly everyday a woman walks around with an oar while wearing a Kimono. It made even less sense as they were a good ways away from a body of water.

"You must be Michelle!" The girl's attention shifted as she made her way over to her new target.

"Hai..." Michelle nodded.

"I have something for you!" She announced, in a singsong voice as she produced a manila document envelope out of seemingly nowhere.

"For me?" Michelle took the envelope with both hands and a slight bow of her head, not entirely sure as to what was going on. "Thank you…"

"It's your new paperwork, Silly! For your new identity." Botan had for too much energy for the morning.

Michelle decided coffee was going to be an order of the day, possibly a lot of it. She hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. While yes, she was tired, she somehow ended up spending most of the night talking to her mate. It helped for her to explain and express the worries and fears she had as well as the things she was mourning. Morning came too soon and she could have slept a few more hours.

Somehow, she ended up being dragged out of the house by the blue haired woman who had changed in to jeans and a simple tee shirt. The boys trailed behind as Botan chatted Michelle's ear off. Michelle hardly had the time to register how far they went. The train ride felt like just a few minutes but in reality was nearly an hour and a half.

"Is it really you?" Keiko asked with tears in her eyes as they met up at a mall in Tokyo.

"You better have been practicing your English." Michelle smiled as she jokingly scolded the girl in English.

"I'm so happy" Keiko hugged her teacher tight. It was poor manners but she didn't care. She had been so scared that the teacher they had all grown to love would be killed. They wasted the day shopping, spending Botan's money on some clothes and basic items she would need to get by.

As the afternoon dragged on, Michelle slipped out of the dress shop and into a small café. Coffee was needed, badly. Keeping up with teenagers was making her feel old.

On the radio in the café a news report played. A woman's body had been found at a nearby park. She had suffered grave injuries and sexual assault, the female reporter explained. It was believed that the body belonged to the missing American teacher, aged 25.

Michelle listened as the reporter explained that how the body was placed couldn't be explained. No video surveillance of the area showed anyone entering or leaving in the timeframe. It was as if the body appeared out of nowhere.

Out of the corner of her eye, Michelle caught a glimpse of a brunet, falling out of her chair. Michelle was quick to the woman's side, helping her to sit up.

"Are you alright?" Concern was thick in her voice as she eyed the tired woman. It didn't look like she had slept in a week. Her eyes were bloodshot.

"They found her. She's dead." The woman clutched at Michelle. It was pathetic, the woman knew, but she cried into the shoulder of this kind stranger. Michelle rubbed her back and offered soothing words until the woman calmed down.

She helped the tired woman off the ground and into a chair and went off to get her a drink. Green tea, three sugars, just as she knew the woman liked it. Sitting in the chair next to the woman, she set the warm cup down.

"Drink, it will help some."

"Thank you…" the woman mumbled as she sipped at it. "How did you know?" She eyed the stranger with the pale blue hair.

Michelle was thankful her gem was hidden, a trick Kurama had taught her while they stayed in his den.

"I assumed you're American. Most Americans I know take their tea like that…" Michelle shrugged.

"I'm Sara…Sorry about that." The woman didn't look up from her tea. She was embarrassed and heartbroken. She had refused to believe Michelle wouldn't come back to her. But they found her. She was dead. Michelle was dead.

"Tomoe, Micheru but Micheru is fine... Is there anything else I can do for you? I can sit with you, if you would like?" Michelle had given the name printed on her new identification. She was now Tomoe, Micheru. It was so close to who she was, yet it wasn't her name.

They sat together for an hour, Sara telling her about her friend. When they parted, Michelle left Sara with her number, should she need anyone to talk to. It was a new number for a phone just purchased today.

To Sara she was a kind stranger. Michelle hoped she would call.

Sara would be okay, Michelle knew that now.

Her friend intended to finish the year contract. Sara believed it was what Michelle would have wanted, and she was right. Sara had told her how she was going to see everything she could in Japan, do everything she could, even if that meant staying for an additional year long contract. She needed to see and do everything Michelle couldn't do now, couldn't see now. She wanted to see everything Michelle had said they would do together.

Michelle smiled sadly as she stood, watching her dearest friend walk away. She would return home, to the apartment that was now all hers and grade papers and plan lessons to the best of her ability. She would fight on. She would carry on. She would be okay.

It took a few weeks for Michelle to adjust to life at the temple. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Keiko often visited once during the week and one the weekends. Per their request, she began teaching them English again. Keiko's parents even paid her for her private lessons.

Kurama visited much more often. Michelle felt bad about the long trips he would take so often to see her but every time she protested he would tell her that mates shouldn't be apart. She loved her time with him.

Sara had called her a few times and their new friendship was starting to grow. Kurama had to often remind Michelle to allow it to grow naturally, slowly over time. He was also often reminding her not to give away her identity. Sometimes, Michelle wanted nothing more than to joke over old memories with her dearest friend. Never again. They would have to have make new memories that would, in time, if she was lucky, become old memories.

After six months she had a few English students from town in addition to her dear friends. She often made the trip to Tokyo to spend time with Sara. For the last two weeks she had been excited for a group trip to the hot springs near the temple. Sara was pleased to find that some of Michelle's students were also friends with Micheru. It made her happy to see that they were not left too troubled over her friend's death.

If only the police could catch the monsters that put Michelle through such pain and took her life. With a shake of her head, Sara put such thoughts out of her mind. She had made up her mind; she was going to be happy. She was going to live her life how Michelle would have wanted her to, with a smile on her face.

It was winter now and a few inches of fluffy snow graced the ground. Sara had lagged behind while she was lost in thought and the group had gotten ahead of her. She had to jog to catch up as Micheru waved and called to her.

Behind her new friend, Shuuichi was descending to one knee. Large snowflakes fell all around them and Sara slowed to a walk. She watched as something she didn't expect played out before her.

"Cheru." Kurama called softly from where he knelt behind her, to get her attention. It was a nickname he adopted for her. It worked well for both her actual name and her new name. Their friends fell silent, or at least so it seemed. He was always so careful to call her by her new name when they were with Sara and Michelle had gotten used to it with time.

The forest was thick around them. Behind him in the distance was the inn they would be staying at for the weekend. It would be a perfect winter get away with the snow.

Michelle turned and her breath caught in her throat. Never once did they talk about this. He wasn't human. She wasn't human anymore. This was something decidedly human and she had completely written off the idea of something like this ever happening to her. Their relationship wasn't that of humans and so this would have little meaning for them.

Suddenly, Michelle found it still held a whole lot of meaning to her.

"Michelle." He whispered, knowing Sara wouldn't hear. In his hand was a box. A black box. Michelle's hands went to her mouth and her eyes went wide.

He waited for what felt like an eternity before he spoke again. He didn't launch into a speech. It wasn't needed. In the black box, was a simple silver ring. Rather than a large diamond, it held a pearl with just the slightest tint of blue in its color. Surrounding the pearl was a ring of small diamonds.

"Would you allow me the honor of having you to call as my wife?" He asked in English. The wording felt sloppy in his mouth but he didn't care. He wanted to ask her in her language, even if he wasn't always the perfect master of it.

Words failed her and so Michelle simply fell into his arms. She was sure he would catch her. She nodded against his neck as she clutched him.

"I have an apartment for us." He whispered as he held her.

She never realized how badly she wanted this. She leaned back and kissed him hard, not caring who was watching.

Her friends, Sara included, cheered. The weekend was spent relaxing. Well as much as Michelle could. Sara, Keiko and Botan all wanted to begin planning the wedding before she even got her coat off. A western wedding or a traditional Japanese wedding? A gown or a kimono? Questions flew at her.

Kurama simply wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to his chest as she began to feel overwhelmed.

"Why don't we do both?" He offered. He had just gotten a promotion at his stepfather's company and the bonus would allow him to pay for both a western ceremony and a traditional temple ceremony in addition to the reception.

Michelle liked that idea.

As they left at the end of the weekend, Michelle smiled as she watched Sara place a white rose on the rocks just outside of the hot spring's water.

"I wish you could have been here Chelle." Sara's voice was thick with tears.

Kurama squeezed Michelle's hand before he spoke.

"I think she's watching over you." He offered. His mate smiled at his words.

Yes, she was watching over her, and she was proud of her.

I didn't expect to cry during this chapter. But I did, it was odd. This story means a lot to me. I started it with no idea where it would take me, writing blind. It changed direction out of nowhere and now we have this. This truly became a story of acceptance- in more ways than one. Just as Michelle learned to accept the horrors done to her and what the man she loves really is, just as Kurama learns to accept that his past and what he is doesn't make him unworthy of true love, I learned to accept my writing.

Thus, I would like to thank you. Each and every one of you, for reading this. Another thanks goes out to every single person who reviewed- you are the ones who taught me to accept my writing. You are the ones who helped me find my voice. So, I thank you, each and every one of you. Even those who picked apart my writing with the best of intentions and left me feeling attacked and hurt. I felt that way because of my own issues and I believe through ALL of your words, I have grown.

I hope you agree.

In the next few months you will probably see my next work, titled "Mute"- the Hiei x oc work that really plays with Kurama and Shiori, what would happen if she found out about demons? If she found one and took her home to nurse back to health?

I do hope you all review this chapter at least. I would love to know what you think of it.

~Tsuki