I'm sad to say that this is the last chapter of the story. To all my avid readers, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure sharing this story to you. I hope to see you again soon. I love you all.
Chapter Sixteen: Take Us Out of Our Misery
"You KNEW."
Tai & Sora glanced up at their friend's angry face.
"Both of you knew she didn't go with Michael."
Sora's face stayed calm while her husband grinned. "Everybody knew."
"I didn't know!" he yelled down at her.
"Easy man, that's my wife you're talking to." Tai said defensively.
"So where has she been all this time?" Matt asked, ignoring Tai's warning.
Sora patted her husband's arm. "Why don't you help those customers?" She pointed to a group of people who just entered the shop. "I'll take care of this."
The moment he left, Matt rounded on her. "So?"
"So what?"
Matt looked as if he'd explode at any second. His face was red with anger. "Sora, I want to know where she's been since she left my house."
Sora placed her hands on her hips & glared up at him. "Do you make a habit of bullying pregnant women?"
"Sora!"
"Okay, okay," she held her hands up in surrender. "It's not like it's some big secret. Everyone knew she moved into her new house."
Matt practically pouted. "I didn't know."
"You didn't ask."
Her words silenced him momentarily. "Why would I ask if I knew she didn't leave?"
"You assumed she did," Sora returned to her seat. "Just like you assumed she want to go back to Michael in the first place."
"Yes, well, I have information now that I didn't have then."
"She told you that he cheated on her?"
Matt looked as if he'd like to punch something. "She should have told me then."
"So you could kick Michael's ass? Maybe she thought it was better to keep you out of prison." Sora hid a smile.
"I don't event think I like the guy very much."
"Yeah, you & half the population. Poor Kynna."
"I'm sure she'll find out eventually."
"Oh, I think she had a fairly good idea before they left."
Matt stared at her. "You told her?
"Who, me? As if I would do such a thing!" She blinked innocently. "But I may have suggested that Michael wanted to speak to Mimi in the hallway about something just before the auction started…"
Matt laughed for the first time in days. "You're incredible! Remind me to remember that the next time I'm making such a mess, will you?"
Sora raised an eyebrow at him. "Mmm, you owe Rachelle Song, & her boyfriend, an apology. I just thought I'd remind you."
He had the good grace to blush. "Yeah, I know. She gave me an earful after Mimi left. I sent her flowers & a letter saying how much of a jerk I am."
"That's another reason you need Mimi in your life. She's the only one who ever sticks up for you. Otherwise the women in this town would have to slap the shit out of you just to keep you in line."
"I'm an idiot, aren't I?"
Sora smiled. "Are you asking me or telling me?"
Matt slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. Suddenly things were all clear to him. "Damn, I'm an idiot!"
"About time too. So now what are you going to do?"
"It backfired on you, Mimi."
She stared at Sora. "What do you mean?"
"The whole Joe Kido 'in your face, Matt' scam that you tried."
Mimi shrugged her shoulders & looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yeah, I bet you don't. Well, whatever it was, it backfired. So you have no one to blame but yourself. If you only swallowed your pride, talked to him, told him how you felt, then you could both be laughing your heads off now."
Without looking up from her paperwork, Mimi continued playing innocent. "Backfired? How?"
"He quit."
That got her full attention. "What the hell do you mean, he quit?"
"Matt," Sora frowned. "He quit his job."
Mimi stared at her in shock.
Sora stared right back. "Well?"
"Where is he going?"
"And why would you care?"
"Sora!"
"I wish people would stop saying my name in that tone of voice. It's really annoying."
"Oh, for goodness' sake, Sora, will you just tell me what the fuck is going on?"
"No, I'm serious…why would you care? You want him to suffer, didn't you?"
Mimi stared at her friend in shock, her voice shaky. "How can you think that? You, of all people, know how I feel about him."
Sora looked away for a moment. "Well, what you did wasn't nice. There's entirely been too much of that stuff going on, and I told Matt as much too. You know, Rachelle was mad at him for kissing her in front of you?"
"She was? That was nice of her." Mimi looked down at the table, guilt washing across her conscience at all the nasty thoughts she thought about the woman. She sighed. "I thought Matt might, at the very least, be jealous enough to realize what he was losing if I went out with Joe. But I didn't tell Joe any lies, Sora. He knew how I felt…what I truly FEEL for Matt. When he visited me at the house, his invitation was a friendly one. Nothing more."
There was a strained silence as Mimi struggled to hold her tears. "How can he just leave, Sora? He loves this place; it's his life."
Sora smiled softly at her friend. "He loves YOU. He's not about to stand around watching you go out with someone else."
Mimi's head snapped upwards. "Then why in hell won't he say so? Is it going to cost him so much?" Her eyes sparked with anger & unshed tears. "Where on earth does that stupid jerk think he's going to go, anyway?"
"I heard someone mention something about endangered animals, or something, somewhere…" she watched as Mimi ran out of the shop. "Hey, where are you going? Mimi?"
As soon as the front door of the shop closed, Sora smiled. "Ha!"
Matt wasn't in his office. Running frantically from the building, Mimi scanned the area with desperate eyes. Then she saw him, his tall frame standing on a far ferry. He was talking to a long line of tourists as they waited for the harbor's tour boat.
Matt had spent most of the morning waiting for her arrival. He first saw her when she reached the entrance to the dock, his face immediately softening into an affectionate smile. "Hey, Tachikawa."
"Don't you 'Hey, Tachikawa' me, you great big jerk!"
He blinked at her, then pointed at his chest. "Who? Me?"
"Yes, you." She turned & smiled sweetly at the line of tourists. "Hi, how are you folks today? I hope you had a nice holiday."
There was a mumbled chorus of 'great' & 'really good' from the crowd as she turned back to look at Matt. "So you quit, did you? That's twice in one month. That must be a record even by your standards."
"Now, Tachikawa…"
She smiled sweetly over her shoulder at the tourists. "I hope you found Odaiba lovely."
The smile vanished as she looked back at him. "You couldn't just stay & fight to keep me, could you, Ishida?"
"If you'd just listen…"
"What part of the world are you from yourself?" She asked an American, & didn't wait for an answer as she turned back on Matt. "I mean, you fight so goddamn hard for everything else, so why couldn't you do the same to keep me?"
"I thought…"
"Oh, no you didn't, Matt. Thinking never was never part of it."
"If you'd just wait a minute…"
"Are you guys staying longer, then?" She smiled at the crowd again.
"Mimi, please…"
She glared at him, her eyes glittering. "Please what? Calm down? Don't talk about it here? What is it? Am I embarrassing you? Well, you know what? I hope I am."
Matt reached out towards her. "We can talk about this & sort it out; I know we can. I just had to get you here so I could do this face to face. If you'll just let me…"
"And hasn't the weather been great to you?" She asked the American, interrupting Matt's speech. "So you'd rather get yourself killed somewhere than trying to stay here?"
"Mimi…"
"Why travel all the distance when I can help you out right here?"
Without any warning, she pushed him square in his chest with all her strength. The move was so sudden it caught Matt off guard. He lost his balance, falling off the dock & into the water making a big splash.
"I really hope you enjoy the rest of your visit." She smiled sweetly at the line of shocked faces. Then, spinning on her heel, head up high, she marched back down the dock & across the harbor.
"Mimi!" Matt spluttered as he yelled across at her. "Mimi, damn it, will you wait for just a minute?"
Several of the tourists took a picture of him as he pulled himself onto the dock. He managed to smile at them. "Brunettes. You gotta watch out for them."
"And that ain't no lie!" An American grinned at his brunette wife. "Ain't that true, honey?"
"You wanna go swimming' too, sweetie?"
"No, ma'am."
"Mimi!" Matt ran after her, his shoes squelching with every step. "Will you just stop?"
She kept on walking. Her foot was about to step onto the stone stairs off the harbor when he yelled across at her, "I didn't quit my job, Tachikawa. And I'm not gong anywhere?"
Mimi stopped. Matt stopped running & waited. The wheels in her head turned slowly. He wasn't leaving, but Sora said…Sora! She looked up at the stairs & Sora waved at her with a big smile on her face. Shaking her head, Mimi continued walking.
"Did you hear me?" His voice sounded desperate. "It was the only way I knew I could get you to come & see me." He shook his head. "Aw, c'mon, Tachikawa. Are you gonna make me do this here?"
She lifted her chin as she walked, almost clear of the harbor as he spoke again. This time his voice was louder. "Mimi Tachikawa, would you please put us both out of this misery & just marry me?"
Mimi froze. Taking a deep breath, she slowly turned to look at him. "Now, why on God's earth would I want to do something as stupid as that?"
Matt shrugged & held out his hands, his shirt sleeve dripping water. "Because I'm so in love with you that I can't think straight when you're not around."
She folded her arms across her chest to stop her heart from beating its way through it. "Oh, I see. And when exactly did you discover this astonishing revelation?"
"Oh, I guess…about ten years ago."
She faltered. Matt started to walk towards her while tourists smiled ridiculously at him. A crowd started to form as the tour boat pulled in.
"It was on your birthday."
Her eyes widened. "My eighteenth birthday?"
"You told me you were in love with Michael, & even though I knew that I couldn't take my eyes off you."
"You couldn't?"
Passengers got out from the boat, but the new passengers refused to get aboard. The boat's conductor stepped onto the dock. "What's happening?"
"It was a really bad feeling being disloyal to Michael, but I just couldn't help it. After all, I saw you first."
Mimi smiled slightly. "You did, didn't you?"
Matt kept walking towards her, his steps slower & his voice lower. "You held me together when my parents dies."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"I thought I'd never get over it, but you stayed with me & I didn't want anyone else there but you. Just you. I didn't want to let you go."
"I just wanted to take it all away from you, Ishida. I loved you so much & when you were hurting I was too."
Matt stopped for a moment. "I know."
"Honey, are you getting on the boat?"
The woman waved a hand at her husband. "You just shush. I'm not goin' anywhere 'til I see these two couple kiss & make up."
"Ten years, Matt? All that time & you never said a word?"
He gave another shrug & again moved closer. "You left me." He smiled warmly. "I even came to fetch you once. And I kept on asking you to come home, didn't I?"
Mimi nodded. "Maybe if you told me the reason I'd have come home sooner."
He stopped in front of her, the air held still in his chest. "What finally brought you home, Tachikawa?"
At last she smiled. "YOU. I came home to you, Ishida. I thought you always knew I would."
"Why?" The word was a whisper as he made love to her with his eyes.
"Because I'm in love with you. I've loved you ever since I met you. It just took me a while to admit what it was. It's such a big scary thing, Matt. My life revolves around you."
He smiled. "I know. My life revolves around you too."
"So why did you give up, dumb ass? You really thought after all that happened between us, that I could just go back to Michael?"
"I thought I lost you to him a long time ago." He reached out to touch the side of her face. "I'm sorry, Mimi. I'm sorry that I couldn't see what was right in front of me. The one thing in my life I should have fought harder for was the one thing I was most afraid to lose."
Her smaller hand covered his against her face. "You wouldn't have lost me, you jerk. I might have let us both suffer a little bit longer, but eventually I'd have to come back to kick your butt & ask you why you hadn't come to get me."
He smiled into her eyes. "I've waited a long time for you. Come home with me…to OUR home…& stay."
Mimi nodded, her gaze steady. "Okay."
Matt smiled his lop-sided grin at her for several happy moments. "Hey, Tachikawa?"
Mimi tilted her chin towards him. "What, Ishida?"
"I have a little proposition for you."
She laughed. "Oh, really? And what could be it now? Because I should warn you, I've sworn off those things."
"Okay, then…a dare. I dare you to spend the rest of your life with me."
She glanced around at their audience, & then smiled back at him. "I'm in."
They stood for a long moment smiling at each other, then he leaned forward. "Should we start with the baby making process?"
Her honey-brown eyes widened.
He chuckled. "Oh, and by the way, watch out…dip ahead."
As flashes went off & cameras clicked, Matt dipped her back in his arms & kissed her. A ripple of applause echoed across the harbor.
-The End-
To all my readers, Kaye, Dyra, Nae, matt&mimi4eva, KoumiLoccness, josiewitchgirl, Cole the Demon Hunter, Velika Lubov, flowerpowermimi, Anime-Crazz, B2Mimato5g, kuruta, Dr.Phil is sexy, janay, reh, lovemimato, roroblueeyes, deb's, STAR, riven, luvfaytdestini, UchihaItachiANBU, twisted words, Ramen Nyudo, BettterDeadThanAlone, okami, thundaa, freeze1, bubbles05, nabee502, xObUnNi, Dragon of Athena, fan-of-fanfics, d25, hikkix2, Mrs.Ishida-to-you, reijin, Mimato-4eva, pink-writer. And to my girls, PnkSaKuRaSyAoRaNS2, Angel, & Zionne.
Thank you so much for everything. I hope to see you all real soon!
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