Moment of Change

"Oh, oh boy."

The young man sat up carefully, holding his head.

"Keitaro? Are you alright?"

"Um, yeah, I think so. Wait, what did you call me? And, uh . . . why was my head in your lap?" he sked with a blush.

"Keitaro. It is your name."

Motoko looked at him critically. She'd hit Keitaro harder than that in the past and he'd been fine.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Well, yeah, it's just . . . this might sound a little strange, but . . . who am I?"

Motoko paused.

Temptation presented itself.

Only one time in a million would it have been triumphant. Her hesitation lasted for a handful of seconds that felt like years to her as desire clashed with conscience . . . and desire won.

She wanted this so badly.

"Your name is Urashima Keitaro and . . . you are my fiancée."

Author's Notes

Finished! And only twice as long as I thought it would be, too! I apologise in advance for notes that are longer than the chapter, but they're in relation to the whole story.

Do I really believe that Motoko could do such a thing? Well no, not really, but the point of this story is to explore a might-have-been. I was re-reading some of the manga as research for 'Once In A Blue Moon' when I came across a scene early in Volume 13 that occurs between Motoko and Keitaro when Keitaro and Naru have just become a couple and Motoko is very distraught after seeing them kiss (the same scene becomes the divergent point in this story). I thought there was a certain intimacy between Keitaro and Motoko there, not to mention more than a little pathos on Motoko's part, and the thought occurred to me that if she'd had the opportunity to take Keitaro away from Naru at that point she might just have done it (those of you who've read the manga in its entirety may remember that towards the end Motoko's feelings for Keitaro get to be fairly strong - she even admits to loving him to his face). It's not that she schemed to separate them, but chance handed her a golden opportunity and she chose to exploit it. I rather suspect that most of the other girls might have done the same, under the right circumstances.

This is the story of what might have happened if she had done that - and once she's committed to her path turning back isn't really an option. It's also, without my originally intending it to have been, a story about the friendships between the girls and how strong they are. With Keitaro out of the picture those bonds can be examined without the distorting effect of his presence.

One of the people who reviewed this story commented that it had an 'introspective/longing' feel to it and I think that's an accurate description. Though I set out to write a sort of character study when I started 'Moment of Change' (an examination of Keitaro's significance to the other characters by seeing what might happen if he was removed) and I feel I've succeeded, I seem to have produced a sort of soft-core darkfic as well. And I don't think that's a bad thing - there aren't many of them for Love Hina.

Finally, I just know someone's going to ask for a sequel, so I'll say right now - don't expect one (I don't think I could even write one anyway). After all, real life doesn't always come to a neat, tidy conclusion, and I suppose that's another theme of this story.

Oh and the reverse timeline isn't my idea - I nicked it from Memento (good movie) but the idea of writing a story in that way also helped shape the plot of 'Moment of Change' to a significant degree. Besides, I just like the concept of a story where the beginning is also the climax.