Disclaimer: I don't own Durarara! or it character. All original characters are of my own design and creation.

A/N: You guys didn't really think that was the last chapter did you?

Teal eyes open and stare up into a bright blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds.

Nausika's brow furrows. Wait…wasn't she just in a park? At night? So a blue sky with white clouds was odd to be looking up at right?

To add to the odd feeling she also realizes she's lying in a field of tall grass, fanned out like she's about to make a snow angel despite the spring weather. The green blades tickle and irritate her arms and legs, left bare by her white dress, as a gentle breeze brushes past them and through her bangs. She hears birds chirping but, looking around, she sees no birds or trees they could be roosting in to warrant the sound. There are just miles and miles of green grass, blue skies, and gentle breeze.

"Am I dead?"

"No, this is more like limbo." Nausika's eyes widen tenfold and she sits up with a start to look behind her fretfully. "But…it's not limbo…since you're not dead."

Nausika's vision blurs again, only this time as tears begin to fill her eyes as she looks at her visitor, dressed in black, hair dark as night, and eyes just as bright as the sky.

"…Ch…Chidori…?"

The younger Yumi beams and waves enthusiastically, even though she's only a few paces away. "Hi Onee-san! Long time no see!" The darker sister then bounds over to her with the sprit more suited for a five year old than someone her age, stopping just before she collided with the blonde.

"This is a dream." Nausika says in a whisper, reaching a hand out timidly towards Chidori but pulls it back before actually touching her.

Chidori smiles. "Yeah, basically. But…this is a nice dream. I like it here!" She announces with a curt nod at her decision.

"If I'm not dead why are you here?"

"Because this is your dream and you never listen to anyone but me, and I'm here to tell you to go home." Chidori says, clasping her hands behind her back as she sways from her toes to her heels.

"Home?" Nausika asks in confusion, brow knitted together in a deep furrow.

"Mmhmm. You have to go home to your new family."

"New family? I don't have a new family. You're my family." Nausika argues and Chidori giggles behind a small fist.

"I know that Onee-san, but I'm not there anymore. Your new friends are your family. Like that cute Shizuo guy! He's dreamy looking!"

At the younger woman's bright eyed gushing, Nausika balks in surprise before her face falls. "Shizuo…" She's ashamed to admit it but she had forgotten all about him for a moment. How could she forget about Shizuo?

The brunette smiles sweetly at her sister with that wise look of understanding of hers, "I love you Onee-san, and I'll always miss you. I'm glad we got to see each other again. But, now don't take this the wrong way when I say this, I don't want to see you again for a very long time."

Nausika scoffs out a laugh and rubs the back of her head. "Yeah, I think the quiet would do me some good."

"Ooo! Onee-san is so stingy! Just for that, I'm not going to let you name your first born after me!" Chidori cries with a stomp of her foot before her exaggerated anger is washed away into a soft smile again as she dashes the last few steps between them to embrace her older sister. "You have to live for the both of us now Onee-san. You have to cut your hair short and get married and go back to Paris to get those pastries we stood in line for for hours but were sold out by the time we got to the front. You have to go to Thailand and all those other places we said we'd go and do all those things we said we'd do. And when you're old and grey, and your grandkids are having grandkids, then you can come and see me and tell me all about it." Nausika nods her head beside Chidori, smiling even though hot tears stream down her face as her grip on her sister tightens. She could never say no to Chidori.

"It's time to wake up now Nausika. It's time to go home."

Opening her eyes in the real world was much more difficult than it had been in her dream. Her lids are heavy and uncomplacent with the task of rising, but still begrudgingly do.

Unlike in her dream, the sudden rush of bright florescent light hurts her eyes and her vision swims for a moment before focusing on the beige ceiling above her.

She hears her chirping birds but, when her eyes shift over to the sound, she see that what she had thought had been birds in her dream was actually the chirping of a heart monitor. 'Where the hell am I?'

"Hey, you're awake!"

Nausika's head lulls back over to the other side to see Shinra in the room's doorway. The young doctor bounds over with his normal enthusiasm, but halts when he nears the bed. Like a puppy who thinks about leaping on to its master's bed but remembers being scolded for it.

"Where am I?" The bedridden blonde asks, her voice scratchy and heavy from lack of use. She coughs for a moment and Shinra hands her a cup of water to quench her dry throat.

"You're in the guest bedroom of our apartment. We figured taking you to the hospital would be ill advised because of your ability. The doctors there wouldn't be as understanding as us."

"Us?" Nausika asks with an arched brow as she sits up. It's an arduous task after being prone for so long, her limbs and muscles stiff and fussy, but she manages.

"Oh, my father and I. He's a doctor too! Most of this higher grade stuff is his. He's fascinated with the supernatural and when I told him about you he jumped at the chance to look at you." Shirna explains while gesturing at the high performance medical equipment around the room.

"You mean experiment on me." She corrects, rubbing her throat as the soothing cool water rushes down,

Shinra chuckles. "Well, I guess that's a better way to put it. But don't worry, Shizuo threatened to break his spine if he touched you in anyway not indicative to medical care. He's very protective of you." At the mention of the other blonde Nausika visibly perks up in alarm. "Don't worry! Shizuo's fine. He's just in the shower. He hasn't left your side except to bathe now and then when we force him or to relieve himself. I was worried we'd have to put him in a bed next to you if you didn't wake up soon."

Nausika sighs in relief before looking sullenly into her cup. "How long was I out for?"

"It's been almost a week. You had everyone pretty worried."

"Everyone?" She asks curiously and Shinra beams.

"Of course! Shizuo, me, Celty, Simon, Dennis, Mikado, Anri, everyone was worried about you. Even Kasuka sent flowers." The spectacled brunette points over to a table and Nausika looks to see it littered with various bouquets of flowers and cards saying 'get well soon' on the from. "Celty's been taking care of them for you. She's really great with things like that."

"Tell her I said thanks." Nausika says, a hint of a smile on her face at how her 'new family' worried about her. Her smile then falls and she looks at Shinra seriously. "What happened to Dakota and Cowboy? And Saika?"

The young doctor sighs and scratches the back of his head. "They left after the fight. Shizuo was pretty upset that they were just going to bail on you like that, but they explained that it was for the best for now. They said they'd visit soon though. They told me to give you this." Shinra hands Nausika a manila envelope, unaddressed and remarkably plain.

The blonde takes it cautiously and opens it to deposit the contents on her lap. Shinra seems more surprised than her by her friend's 'gift'. But Nausika isn't surprised at all. She knows what the shattered cellphone, empty bullet casing, and garnet ring folded awkwardly in a cheap unsigned birthday card means. Vitalia is dead. Nausika is free. And that was her birthday from them since they would be too long gone to do it in person.

"Hey, it's your birthday?"

"It's the 28th*." She replies while collecting all the items except for the card to put them back in the envelope. "Can you throw this stuff out please?"

"Well, we'll definitely have to celebrate." Shinra comments after taking the parcel, as if he knows what this 'gift' means but has the good sense to not comment. "As for Saika, we gave it back to Anri."

"You should have thrown it in the ocean." Nausika grumbles while taking another sip of water.

Shinra smiles with a nod. "We thought about that. But even the slight chance that it could fall into someone else's hands was a chance to great. Anri seems to have the best level of control on it. So until we can figure out a way to perhaps destroy it permanently, it should be with her." He explains and she is loath to admit that she agrees.

Suddenly, the white noise of the shower cuts off and Shinra leaps out of his chair in a panic.

"Aww man! Shizuo's gonna be so mad! He's gonna kill me if he see you woke up and he wasn't here cause I made him take a shower! Do me a favor; just please pretend to still be asleep!" The young doctor says in a rush and Nausika can't help but laugh a little, even though it hurts.

She lies back down and closes her eyes in mock sleep just as the door opens.

"Ah Shizuo! You're back! Did you have a nice shower?"

She can't see it with her eyes closed but is sure Shizuo shrugs. "Yeah, it was ok." His voice is gruff and detached, like he's not even really there. There is the sound of a slight creak from the plastic chair again and she assumes its Shizuo sitting in it.

"Well, that's good. Oh look at that, it's almost lunch time! Hey, I'm gonna to take my beloved Celty out for food. Do you want anything?"

Nausika has to make a serious effort not to smile when she hears Shinra's horrible attempt to be nonchalant and equally awful attempt at a lie.

But Shizuo doesn't seem to notice as she hears him grumble a little through the whooshing sound of his hair when he shakes his head. "No, no thanks. But…maybe you could bring something back for Nausika? You know, for when she wakes up."

Nausika's breath catches in her throat as a large, warm hand covers hers. It pains her that Shizuo isn't even aware that she awake, but is so hopeful that she will wake up that he wants to make sure she has something to eat when she does. And yet, he sounds so positively heartbroken and forlorn that her own heart breaks for him. And she can't take it anymore.

Her slender hand squeezes Shizuo's back and she hears a soft gasp just before her teal eyes reopen.

She smiles up at the other blonde with a tired smile. "Hey you," Nausika says carefully, a nervous smile creeping on to her lips.

"Nausika…?" The strong man says just above a whisper as he looks at her complete awe, like he doesn't believe she's finally awake and looking up at him. Suddenly, he springs forward, enveloping her in an awkward embrace across her flat body and crying, "You're finally awake! You're ok!"

"Yeah, I'm ok." The former assassin confirms, stroking Shizuo's head as he tries to hold her.

"I was so worried! I was so scared you'd…that'd you'd never….Gah! Don't scare me like that you idiot!" Shizuo rambles and then scolds into her shoulder before clutching her tighter, clinging to her almost.

"Sorry, I'll try to be more considerate if I get ran through again."

"That's not funny!"

Shinra chuckles quietly from the doorway, trying to discreetly wipe tears from under his glasses, before he announces, "Well, we'll leave you two alone." He then leaves with the headless rider, despite her protests to see the awakened blonde before she's dragged away to lunch she won't eat.

The taller man doesn't seem to hear Shinra or care as he keeps holding Nausika like she'd disappear if he lets go.

And she basks in it for a moment, the rush of warmth through her chest form him and not from him as he clutches her and she continues to stroke his hair. "Yep, its official, you really need to get your hair redyed." She says after a moment to break the quiet tension creeping into the moment.

A laugh barks out of Shizuo's throat at her joke and he pulls back; just enough to rest his chin on her chest with a soft smile is on his face that Nausika returns before dropping her hand to stroke his cheek.

"I missed you." Shizuo confesses sullenly, as if the thought of her never coming back was still too fresh in his mind for him to bear.

"Well, I'm here now." She replies, before her gentle smile falls. She suddenly realizes that, along with his darkened roots, the space under Shizuo's eyes has gotten darker too. He feels a little thinner now, as well as pale. Nausika then understands now what Shinra had been talking about and a stone drops into her stomach. "I'm sorry." She says morosely, her guilt over everything that had happened as well as making Shizuo neglect his own health over her filling her up.

A gentle hand comes under her chin and tilts Nausika's face back towards its owner. Shizuo smiles and says, "For what?" And Nausika's throat clenches as the words she uses to sooth him are offered to her.

The blonde male leans in towards her, but Nausika turns her head back away. "Uh, I don't think you want to do that. I've been asleep for a week…"

Shizuo glares at her with a frown and turns her face back towards him. "Don't care!" He growls before kissing her solidly on the mouth.

The blue highlighted blonde tries to struggle for a moment, but gives up after a few seconds and lets Shizuo kiss her.

Her lips are chapped, and she's sure her mouth tastes stale even though she's had some water. His faint stubble hurts her cheeks as it scratches against them. But still it's the best kiss she's ever had.

It's Shizuo who pulls away after a bit, but not far, pressing his forehead to hers. "I love you. Please don't leave me again." He says against her lips in earnest, clenching her hand tightly in his again as if still terrified she'd float away.

"I love you too. And I'll stay as long as you want me." Nausika replies with a sheepish smile, still worried that later he might not want her after everything that's happened.

"Hope you didn't make plans anytime this millennium."

The two of them laugh for a moment, reveling in the corny joke, before Nausika tilts her chin up to meet Shizuo again.

It felt good to be home.

And everyone lived happily ever after! The End!

Special thanks to , Emerald Gaze, gzillafan, flyfly246, ShatteredSoul37, and guests for reviewing last time!

There will still be drabble posting in Side Stories when I have time. I just want to again say thank you to everyone who reviewed, faved, and followed this story and me over the time this story has been active. I really enjoyed writing it for all of you and glad you all enjoyed reading it! :3

Thanks for reading!

*-Nausika's birthday is November 28th 1986. Making her a Sagittarius and a Tiger