New Year, New Life: Chapter 10

Beginning the Rest of Our Life

A gentle but insistent beeping penetrated Natsuki's sleep. She slowly opened her eyes to see Shizuru, who was sleeping peacefully next to her, slowly lift the lids from her own lovely eyes. A quick grope towards the night-table and the alarm was silenced. The two lay there quietly for a bit, not even moving their heads from the pillow, gazing into each others eyes, enjoying this simple closeness and the view of their partner's face and soul.

This is finally right, Natsuki thought. Living here together with Shizuru was where she belonged, where they both belonged. It was home, something she now realized she hadn't had since her mom died, and something that she had missed terribly without realizing it. She took Shizuru's hand and brought it up to her lips for a gentle kiss.

``Good morning, dear.''

A matching look of love filled Shizuru's face and she kissed Natsuki's hand in return.

``Good morning, love.''

The two spent a little more time just holding hands and gazing into each others eyes. They soon got out of bed, as they needed to make breakfast and get going today. As enjoyable as it was in bed together, there was more to life than that, and anyway they would be back here together this night, and the next night, and forever. They made and ate breakfast and reminisced about other breakfasts they had shared at this table: the first one after Natsuki's surprise visit that stormy night which had started them on this path; the one after their first night together as lovers; and many more. They finished without rushing and did the dishes.

Shizuru and Natsuki checked that the table and kitchen were all cleaned up and in order, then picked up their book bags and headed out the door for the start of classes at Fuuka University. It was Natsuki's very first day, and the first of Shizuru's second year.

As they walked toward the bus stop, Natsuki thought to herself. Both she and Shizuru had been reborn following the HiME festival. And discovering her love for Shizuru could also be called a rebirth, for both of them. Now they had a life together, and this year they had forged bonds and plans to continue that life, forever. She reached down, her hand unerringly meeting Shizuru's, whose thoughts had been following the same path as Natsuki's.

Continuing to hold hands, the two of them headed out: to the first day of classes this term, to their college careers, to the rest of their life—together.

Author's Note:
And so we come to the end of New Year, New Life. Thank you for keeping with me in this less-dramatic, more-fluffy part of Shizuru and Natsuki's life. I really appreciate your reviews and look forward to seeing your opinions now that this part of their tale is done.

With Natsuki finally graduated, and the two having moved in together, we have a whole different set of dynamics to pull stories from. At the moment, all of those ideas are pretty nebulous in my head though, so I think I may give Shizuru and Natsuki a little privacy to enjoy their life together and work on stories from a couple other areas that are banging on the inside of my head. I'm looking forward to your reviews. They inspire me, so please keep them coming.