A/N: Tadaa! This is the last chapter of WLTO. First off I'd like to say Happy Birthday to Vi-chan, who I started this fanfic two years ago for her birthday. I'm sorry this took so long to finish, but I hope you and everyone else enjoy the last chapter.

Chapter 18 - Cherry Blossom

Rima was small. She knew it, accepted it and was even able to make use of it. Standing at the gates of Nagihiko's giant traditional Japanese-styled house made her feel a lot smaller than usual. Then again it could just be nerves. Nerves. Yep, that was it.

She rang the doorbell once. Waited. There was a soft creak as the wooden door opened to reveal an elderly lady with a kind smile. "Ah, you must me Mashiro Rima-san. The young master is expecting you."

The girl bowed, feeling it was the right thing to do. The old lady, who Rima presumed was the Fujisaki household's housekeeper, led her through the old house.

There sure are a lot of corridors, thought Rima. She was feeling kind of tired from all this walking already. Finally, after being sure she'd be stuck in this maze of a house forever, the lady stood in front of two sliding rooms.

"The young master's room is here." She tapped lightly on the panel and slid it open. "Your guest has arrived."

Rima walked into the room and took a look around. She suddenly felt a lot more anxious. This was the first time she was in a boy's room.

The housekeeper exited and slid the door behind her. This was the first time she was alone with a boy in a boy's room.

Nagihiko, who had been kneeling down by his short table smiled at her and nodded his head towards the cushion opposite him. This was the first time she was alone with Nagihiko in his room.

She kneeled down on the cushion; Nagihiko had just poured a glass of tea for her and had put it on her side of the table. Rima thought the setting here was quite strange. She was used to sitting on chairs with Nagihiko in the royal garden or the cafeteria at school. Nagihiko seemed at ease though; he probably always sat down like this with his family.

The blond took a sip of her tea, feeling slightly awkward. Amu had arranged the whole thing. Their friend had told Rima to go over to Nagihiko's house today so the two could talk things over. She hadn't talked with him since the flower exhibition.

She wondered if she should say something first. She looked up and Nagihiko who was looking at her expectantly. The jerk. He wants me to start the conversation. Well no, I'm not going to. It's his house, he should start it. That and she didn't really know what to say.

Nagihiko took a breath and Rima stiffened. This is it. "Hello Rima-chan. It's been a while since I last talked to you." He smiled at her. "How've you been?"

How've you been? After two whole days of not speaking to each other (she completely tried to avoid him at school today) that was the best he could come up with? Maybe he's nervous as well, Rima reasoned.

This was Nagihiko though. He always thought before he spoke. There must be some reason he asked that question. Rima's cheeks turned pink when she realized something. Amu! She must have told her I was crying over Nagihiko. Which I wasn't doing. I was just sulking. And sleeping. I didn't cry over him.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you very much," she said sharply. "And no I haven't been crying over you no matter what Amu said."

Nagihiko blinked in surprise. "You were crying over me?"

"I just said I didn't! Amu said it, not me!"

"Amu-chan never said that."

"Oh."

A silence took hold of the room. Rima finished the rest of her tea; Nagihiko had finished his a while ago. She noticed that he was gazing at her. Shifting uncomfortably she asked, "Is there something wrong?"

"No – I was just thinking – you look pretty today."

She felt the heat rush to her face. What was with the sudden compliment? She hadn't put on any make-up. It was Nagihiko after all, she didn't think he really approved of make-up, after being forced to use it while performing as a girl. Maybe it was what she was wearing.

It wasn't anything fancy, just a white dress, coming just below her knees and a mild-yellow cardigan.

"You look…nice too, I guess."

He was wearing a white t-shirt with a blue jacket and some jeans. Actually…for Nagihiko that's quite plain. His style was usually more extravagant. Then again that part of him was derived from Temari and there was a possibility that Nagihiko was now adjusting more to Rhythm's style. His clothes were getting more and more casual.

"Amu-chan broke up with me, you know," he said suddenly, breaking her line of thought.

"O-of course I know that, stupid," she said. "Why do you think I'm here?"

"I don't know. Why are you here?"

Good question. Exactly why was she here? She was here to talk to Nagihiko…but about what? Both of them now knew the whole complicated story of their love lives (Yaya hung around Rima, filling her in on things she heard from Kukai about Nagihiko). She was sure Kukai had also told Nagihiko all about what Rima was thinking as well.

Rima had to stall. "Where are Temari and Rhythm?"

Nagihiko looked at the space around her shoulders. "Where's Kusu-kusu?"

"I asked first," Rima said obstinately.

"Kiseki is having another guardian character meeting so they're there at the moment."

"So that's where she went, "she muttered.

Her companion chuckled. "I had a feeling you didn't know where she went."

"Hmph."

…

"Hey Rima-chan?"

"Yes?"

"Remember what you said at the flower exhibition?"

"Yes."

With his right arm on the table, Nagihiko leaned his face on his hand. "Did you mean what you said back then?"

Mean what I said? Oh…is he talking about my confession? Oh. "Yes." He knows I meant it. If I didn't I wouldn't have run off after that.

"So you remember what I told you, then?"

Rima blushed. "Yes." Was 'yes' all she could say right now?

"Then, will you go out with me?"

"Yes. I mean no. I mean…"

Nagihiko's smirk vanished. Wait, since when was he smirking like that? He enjoyed that, didn't he. "What?"

No? Why would Rima say no? After all this trouble there was no reason to, really. Actually, there was one thing she wanted to do before they she accepted. "I want to go on a date first."

She wanted to make sure that after the date, being right now, emotionally stable, she was completely sure that she wanted to go out with him. To make sure her tears weren't wasted on him.

Nagihiko's smile was back. "Oh, that's fine then." He stood out and walked to Rima, offering his hand to her. She let him help her up. "I was planning to take you somewhere anyway."

Rima returned the smile. "Let's go then."

xxxxx

After arranging Nagihiko and Rima's meeting, Amu decided that she should clear up her own feelings and misunderstandings. It was time to tell the truth to the person she really owed.

She asked Tadase if she could go to his house after school with him; she need to talk to him. At first he was surprised, but then he smiled cheerfully, sincerely and said, "Of course you can."

And this led to her being here now, sitting next to Tadase in front of his room, where he had asked her to join the Guardians.

"This makes me feel nostalgic," Tadase admitted. So he had been thinking about the same things to.

That made Amu feel a little better and somehow gave her a bit more confidence."Tadase-kun, I came here today, to tell you why I broke up with you. I think you deserve to know."

Tadase stayed quite. Good, she couldn't bear to look at his face while she told him; she settled for looking down at her hands.

The words came spilling out of her mouth and she didn't want to stop them. She explained, everything from what she felt when he left, to what she heard from Kiyo and Saaya, and why she started going out with Nagihiko. As she talked, she felt herself feeling lighter and lighter, as if she had been carrying a heavy weight with her without realising it.

When she was finished she was out of breath, she never realised that she had been talking so fast. She still didn't look at Tadase, she wasn't sure if she wanted to see his reaction or not.

"Thank you, Amu-chan."

Her head snapped to look at Tadase who was smiling gently at her. She didn't understand. "Why are you thanking me?"

"For finally telling me the truth."

"Aren't you mad that I never told you for so long?"

He shook his head. "I told you a long time ago, I'll always be here for you, no matter how long you take."

Amu stared at her prince. Prince. How long has it been since she had thought of him like that?

"To be honest though…I don't care if you think you don't deserve me. I love you Amu-chan. I always will."

She turned completely red. Damn it, why couldn't she control her face just this once? Tadase's surprise attacks still got her.

Tadase chuckled fondly. "Well Amu-chan." He took her hand in his. "Now that Fujisaki is going to go out with Rima-chan, will you go out with me again?"

Amu's face-redness increased tenfold. "…I – I'm sorry Tadase-kun. I mean, after everything that's happened I don't really trust myself to go out with anyone." She looked away. "Actually, I decided that I'm not going to date anyone. At least not until high school."

Tadase kept his hand on hers. "High school. That's a year and a half away." He leaned back and looked up at the sky. "I can wait Amu-chan."

"…okay." Amu felt a warm feeling emerge in her chest. It was a familiar feeling that she got whenever she was with Tadase. She glanced at Tadase and she knew that he meant it. He would wait for her.

She then remembered something. She slowly removed her hand from under Tadase's, as not to startle him and rummaged through her school bag to find – "The neckclace! Here it is."

She took it out and held it up to Tadase.

He instantly recognised it. It was a necklace with a single charm on it, a golden crown. He had given it to her on Christmas (he saw her put it away without opening it in front of everyone else) in return for the goodbye present she had given him; the lucky charm in the shape of a clover.

Amu smiled shyly. "I haven't worn it since that day…but I kept it safe."

Tadase smiled, understanding what she wanted him to do. He took it from her and placed it around her neck, putting it on securely.

She turned to face him again. "How does it look?"

"Beautiful. It brings out your eyes."

Blushing once more, Amu held the crown of the necklace in her right hand.

High school. Tadase-kun, I promise that by the time we get to high-school, I'll be someone who will deserve you.

xxxxx

The place Nagihiko had planned to take Rima wasn't far. In fact it took them less than five minutes to get there.

"We're having our date in your garden?" asked Rima, just to confirm it.

Nagihiko smiled pleasantly and her and she took it he was being serious. It wasn't the general thing to do to have your first date in a garden, but after some thought, Rima knew that she wouldn't have liked anything better. The cinema was too impersonal and a walk in the park was something they did on most days.

He took her to the centre of the garden, and it really was beautiful. There was a glass table with decorated chairs and a long bench on the side of one of the bushes. The bushes were trimmed neatly and there was a cherry blossom tree looming over them. She couldn't think how lucky the Fujisakis were to have such a garden in the middle of their house.

She sat down on the bench and Nagihiko sat down next to her. "It feels like we're in the Royal Garden…but more open."

He nodded. "I thought for our first date that we should enjoy the nature and just talk."

Rima was fine with that. The best way to know a person was to talk to them, after all. And the natural surroundings just helped her feel much calmer. She closed her eyes for a second, taking in the scent of the cherry blossoms.

"I've got a question for you." Rima opened her eyes and looked at Nagihiko. "When did you realize you loved me – or rather, are there any specific reasons that you love me?"

Rima's smile turned smug. "What's this Nagihiko? You need something to boost your ego already? It's nothing special really, just that you're fun to tease."

Nagihiko's laughed with good humour. Rima joined in after a few moments.

"Alright, I'll tell you." She looked at his eyes, eyes inviting her to open up. "After you were with Amu…I realised I hated it. I hated seeing you with another girl. I guess that makes me kind of selfish, but that's what made me realise that I loved you."

She tilted her head to the side. "As to why exactly I love you. It's not exactly something I can explain."She touched her chest where her heart would be. "I just feel it." She smiled. "I could tell you all your good qualities and maybe somewhere in there is the reason."

Nagihiko, he was one of the first ones to really be able to sympathise with me. Even when I was suspicious of him and taunted him a lot, he still wanted to make me like him. I guess in the end he did make me like him, but whether he wanted to, he also made me love him.

"That's good enough for me." He put an arm around her and brought her closer to him, so that she was now leaning on his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a while, before Rima asked, "What about you?"

"Me?" Nagihiko looked down at her. "I've liked you for a long time Rima-chan."

"You have? How come I never realised it?"

Nagihiko grinned. "Because I'm a better actor than you?"

"Keep dreaming that."

"Rima-chan, I don't care how cheesy this sounds, but I love you because I just love being with you. I don't care whether we're arguing or whether we're sitting like this, but I just love being with you."

Rima giggled. "Idiot, so you'd like me even if I was arguing with you right now?"

"Yes – but I do prefer this, it's much more comfortable."

"I think I prefer this too."

Nagihiko smiled as he let Rima rest her head against his chest now. She announced it was more comfortable than his shoulder. He didn't mind, he was sure she could hear his heartbeat, and it would tell her that he was sincerely enjoying her being here.

"Just so you know, if anyone asks, you confessed to me and then I graciously allowed you to be my boyfriend."

"Oh really? I thought it went something like, you really wanted to go out with me after I kissed you."

"After you wh-?"

She was cut off by Nagihiko's lips on hers. He pulled away before she could respond to it.

"That was too sudden, stupid cross-dresser."

"Don't worry about it shorty, you'll get used it."

"Oh whatever." She hugged him.

Rima smiled up at Nagihiko, who was smiling back just as radiantly, as a cherry blossom landed on her head.

A/N: THE END. I'm pretty satisfied with that ending, and I hope my readers are too. This is definitely the last chapter, although I might write spin-offs (accompaniments?) to this story in separate fics. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this, to review it, to favorite this, and to subscribe to this story. Rima and Nagihiko forever 3

- SilentStormfall (Dina) 10/4/2012