"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

Even after all this time, just hearing him say those words still made her very happy. "I love you too my darling." Kurumu whispered back to him.

With a content grin Tsukune closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Kurumu remained awake. She was resting her head comfortably on his chest and looking at his tranquil face. He never had any trouble falling asleep. That's because he has a clear conscience, she thought to herself. Only the innocent can sleep like that.

Half an hour later she was still wide awake. She decided to get some warm milk to see if that would help. Careful not to disturb him she slipped out of bed and headed to the kitchen.

On the way to the kitchen she opened the door down the hall from theirs. She just wanted to sneak a quick peek. Opening the door just a crack she looked inside the room. There, peacefully snuggled in thick blankets was her three year old daughter Kumiko. She had the same color hair as her mother and was already adorable. She had no doubt her daughter would carry on the proud family tradition of being a successful succubus. Her eyes were the physical feature she liked the most in her daughter, they were the same beautiful shade of chocolate as her husband's.

She carefully shut the door without waking her.

There were always cookies in the large old fashioned cookie jar they kept in the kitchen. She took a couple and nibbled on them as she drank from her tall glass of milk. Alone at the kitchen table she thought about the things she had done, the decisions she had made. It was an almost nightly ritual.

She remembered their senior year at Youkai and the fun times they had all had together. She remembered Gin and Ruby, the stalker, and the annoying little know it all. But her thoughts always focused on Tsukune and Moka. He had been her destined one and the boy she honestly loved with all her heart. She had been her best friend and her greatest enemy.

It wasn't Moka's fault, any more than it had been her own, neither of them had set out to fall in love with Tsukune. He had won both their hearts by selflessly protecting them, and as time had passed that love had only grown stronger and deeper. For her it had definitely been a double edged sword. Her love for him had given her constant joy; just getting to see him each day had made her heart race. She would greet him by pressing his face to her bosom, and while he always protested and complained she noticed how many times she caught him eying her. Whenever she would catch him doing it he would quickly look away, as though he were guilty of something. He never realized how happy it made her that he was looking at her.

But that was as far as it ever went, some looks, some kind words, moments of friendship shared with others. No matter how often she told him she loved him, no matter how desperately she tried to show him, he never really returned her feelings.

That was because for him those deeper feelings were all reserved for Moka. They would stare at one another and disappear into their own private world calling each other's names. When there was danger her safety was always uppermost in his mind.

At first they were both much too shy and inexperienced to really admit how they felt. But after he'd nearly been killed at the start of their senior year inner Moka had taken the initiative. She had proclaimed her love for him and kissed him.

From that time on they were always seen hand in hand. They would disappear together to return later with blushes on their faces. On a couple occasions she had stumbled on them out in the woods… kissing. All through their senior year the two of them grew closer. It was obvious who Tsukune would choose to be with.

Oh she'd tried to fight it. She confessed her love and greeted him with greater and greater urgency. She showed up in his dorm room stark naked spread out on his bed. She batted her eye lashes at him and told him she would do anything he wanted. She had even offered to be his mistress. She was desperate to be with him even if it could only be as the other woman.

But no matter what she did Tsukune refused her advances and remained faithful to Moka. In an odd way she had even been proud of him for being such a devoted and loyal man. Her experience as a succubus had shown her just how rare a trait that was. But as graduation approached it seemed clear she would never get to be with him.

And then one day Moka disappeared.

About a month before graduation she simply vanished without a trace. No note, no witnesses, no sign of struggle, she was just gone. Kokoa had gone crazy; certain something had happened to her sister and blaming Tsukune for it. Tsukune was terrified as were the others. They'd searched the academy grounds desperate for some sign of her. They put up posters and interviewed anyone who might possibly have seen anything. They had contacted her parents and Tsukune had put his life in serious risk facing her father. But no matter what they did they couldn't find a single trace of her. It was like she had disappeared from the earth.

Eventually graduation came and Tsukune was finally forced to leave Youkai Academy and return to the human world. His heart was broken, but he held onto the hope that he might see her again one day.

In the human world he began attending Shibsu University. He was all alone again, just another freshman far from home. And she was there for him. Her grades hadn't been good and she had bombed the entrance test, but one little 'talk' with the dean of admissions and she had got in. At university she was finally able to get him all to herself. Ruby remained at Youkai as assistant to the Chairman, Mizore was forced to marry and begin having children, Yukari had decided to attend Oxford. The human girls there were too blind to realize what an amazing person he was. At long last she'd gotten her chance with her destined one.

It didn't happen quickly. They didn't date at all until their second year; it took him that long to finally feel ready to move on. She had learned not to push, she was a friend to him their freshman year and accepted that role because she was the only girl in his life. When he was ready to begin dating they did so, she moved at his pace and never asked him for more than he was ready to give.

In time they became lovers and their hearts grew close. She healed his wounds and won his genuine love without charms or potions. When they married it was the happiest day of her entire life.

She stared at the cookie in her hand. It was chocolate chip, like the one she had given to Moka that night. Well… not exactly like that one. The one she had was free of any poisons. She could still remember the look of fear in Moka's eyes as she gasped unable to breathe. She could remember struggling to climb into the air weighed down by a burlap sack with Moka's body and a bunch of heavy stones. She could still see the sack as it plummeted through the night sky down into the black waters below.

She left the cookie on her plate, no longer hungry. I'm not innocent, she thought. But I always knew I would do anything to be with him.

Getting up from the table she headed back to bed.