Title: I Won't Let You Disappear Too

Author: Gypsy Dancing Girl

Fandom: xxxholic

Pairings or Characters: No pairings intended . . . Watanuki, Yuko, Maru and Moro.

Genres: Family, Friendship

Rating: K

Warnings: Spoilers through Chapter 144.

A/N: There is next to nothing under Maru and Moro! Or under Kohane! How could this be? I thought Watanuki has grown fond of just about everything, whether he'll admit it or not.

"What will become of Maru and Moro?" Watanuki asked, covering the sleeping girls with a blanket. "If I succeed you when you disappear . . . what will happen to these two un-aging creatures that you created?"

"Something needs to keep the shop in and out of the proper dimensions. These two served my purposes. Clow used something else . . . and no, I shan't tell you what. If you survive all this and take over, you can continue to make use of them if you please, or you may choose to let them fade into not-being and create something new."

Watanuki flinched and tucked a pillow under Moro's head, petting the smooth locks affectionately. "I'm not letting them disappear. Just because they don't have a soul, doesn't mean they aren't real!"

"Are they?" Yuko asked, stroking Mokona's stomach as she nursed her wine.

"Of course they are," Watanuki declared, tucking the girls in further and bestowing a good night kiss on each forehead. "They have feelings."

"Do they? Or are they just reflections of what I'm feeling or want?"

Watanuki stilled from trying to remove the rabbit that he didn't remember them having from Maru's death grip. "What do you mean, Yuuko-san?"

"Isn't it odd for two small girls to serve me so loyally and put my well-being so far above their own wants? They've never asked to go outside. Is it because that they know they can't go or because I don't want them to ask?"

Watanuki bit his lip and just tucked the rabbit in with Maru. "They know. And their feelings on things differ. Maru likes sweet things and Moro likes salty. Maru prefers the cleaning chores and Moro likes helping me cook best. So they are real," he declared.

"You're attached."

"They've saved my life. I can remember their names . . . even if those names are inappropriate, Yuuko-san," he said pointedly. "They are real and important and I won't let them disappear . . . even if I do."

"Prices."

"Then I'll pay the price," Watanuki maintained stubbornly. "I'm going to live half of eternity to pay off my debt at this rate anyway. What's another few hundred years?"

Yuuko smiled. "Indeed." She melted away outside and Watanuki sat down in the chair by the bed, rather than go back to his own room in the shop.

Moro stirred, her sleepy eyes finding him, settling, and shutting again. "Night, Watanuki," she mumbled sleepily.

"Good night, Moro-chan and Maru-chan," Watanuki said simply to the sleeping children. "I won't let you disappear too."

The End.