By the way… You left without saying goodbye to me.

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have come to save you. I told you that I would move time and space if you needed me at your side." The soft, trembling voice of Theodore rang out in the cold night. A single tear slid down his cheek and a shocked expression crossed his features as a gloved hand rose to wipe away the quivering drop.

"What is this emotion I'm feeling? I don't – I don't understand." Sterling brows rose in concern as he tried to make sense of what was happening. "Am I…leaking?" Theodore had risked another trip from the Velvet Room to seek out what happened. She had just… stopped coming and Theodore had thought nothing of Elizabeth asking to take his place for a few days.

Closing his eyes, he clutched his hands at his chest in silent prayer and thought of the past.

Now that you're gone, all I can think about now is you and me…

"I have enjoyed these dates, Minako." Much more than I should, he thought. "If I could ask you for one more? Might I see your room, I've never had one of my own before and I am curious as to how they work." Now he was making excuses to be alone with her.

A soft smile touched her lips as she nodded. "It would be my pleasure." Minako extended her arm to Theodore, but he opted to take her hand instead. The small gesture lit up her face and the awestruck look crossed Theodore's face as he caught himself staring at her.

"Is there something-?" Blinking her wide amber eyes, she looked at him in slight shock.

"No, no. Of course not." He smiled charmingly and shook his head slightly. "Shall we?"

Her head nodded and the two of them left the Velvet Room.

The trip to the dorm was a relatively quiet one, however, Theodore was stealing glances at her while she was looking out the window of the tram.

It hurts me to see that we've been a lie… Would it have hurt you to try?

It was getting to the point where Theodore couldn't wait to see her again, though his heart was silently breaking knowing that this was the last time he could see her. Igor had chided him about his ventures into the real world and the ramifications it was having on him. If only she knew…

He would give up forever for her.

If only...
Before he knew it, they were standing in front of the dorms. "So this is your home?" He asked curiously and looked around as if he'd never seen such a building like it before. And he hadn't, really. Only what he could read in books.

"It is!" Always enthusiastic, Minako was. She smiled happily and was still holding his hand, even though his grip was just a little tighter than it had been. There was another one of those semi-uncomfortable silences as Theodore looked from Minako to the dorm and back again.

"Um. I know it's a bit late to be mentioning this, but…" He paused and cleared his throat slightly. "Would it be permissible for me to enter?"

"Of course, silly. Come on." She took his hand and opened the door and he grabbed it from her and opened it for her instead.

Thankfully, there was nobody present in the lounge and Theodore took a small breath of relief. Good. Less to explain, he supposed. Quickly, the two of them climbed the stairs to the third floor and to her room in silence. Opening the door, she ushered him through before shutting it behind herself. She even clicked the lock, which earned a perked brow from Theodore.

"Ah, I see…" There was a smug smile across his face as Theodore looked around a bit before Minako's voice brought his attention back to her.

"What's that smile for? Are you disappointed or something?" Blinking, she looks at him with a perked brow.

With a blink, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "Huh? Oh, pardon me." He composed himself. "Was I smiling?"

"M'hm…"

"It's just that… Your 'presence' is strong here." He closed his eyes and then opened them again. "Maybe 'scent' would be more accurate a term."

"What? Do I smell?" Minako lifted her arm and sniffed herself and looked around her room with a paranoid urgency.

"No, no… Not at all."

"What kind of smell is it?" She asked, calming just a touch.

"I am not certain I could break it down for you. It's difficult for me to explain it. There's chemical components and…" Minako waved her hand, effectively cutting Theodore off in mid-sentence. "What I am trying to say is, that it is neither good nor bad." He stated simply. "If I may be so bold as to say… I quite like it." There was another pause. "Ah…"
Theodore couldn't keep his awkwardness in check, and usually he was so sure about everything. Everything but Minako, that is. "Oh. By the way, regarding my current request…" He was all but shifting where he stood. "Um. Didn't it make you… uncomfortable?" He looked up from his gloved hands to Minako's face.

"What?" She chuckled softly. "I may have been a little surprised at the suddenness of it, but no. I'm not uncomfortable with you being here." Her voice dipped down to just above a whisper. "I…um. I've actually wanted you here before, you know." She confessed and tugged on her lower lip.

"If that is so, then I am glad to hear it." The last of her confession seemed not to be recognized by him at the moment. "This world is filled with such brilliance and beauty. The station, the school, and the shrine all had their charms, but there was something lacking from them. Every moment I spend with you has turned into an unforgettable memory. I know our time has been short." I regret that more than you'll ever know… He thought silently. "And I thank you, so very much for showing these things to me. For sharing your world with me." Theodore's face saddened slightly before he spoke again. "However, this will be my last request to visit your world." He couldn't bear looking at her face as he spoke, so his honey eyes closed. "And that means this is the last chance I'll have to spend time alone with you…" The saddened expression deepened. "You have fulfilled my requests to the fullest that you have been able to do." It took all he had to raise his gaze to meet hers, and he took a small breath. "Thank you… For everything."

Minako didn't quite understand what was happening. She could begin to feel the burn at the back of her throat and the tears stinging her eyes. "What? But I don't want this to end!" She couldn't find the right words to say.

An unreadable expression caught Theodore off guard and he chuckled without meaning to. "You're such a little minx, you know that? Do you understand what it was you just said?" He reached out and carefully took one of her petite hands in both of his gloved ones. "It's sinful, you know. This feeling. You are my guest. A valuable guest to the Velvet Room, yet my feelings and attachment for you is…" He took a long pause to think about what it was he wanted to say. "I cannot hope to calm it anymore myself, actually…" This wasn't going as well as he hoped. "That's why." A flustered feeling took over him and he huffed, almost childlike.

"I wish you would understand just a little of what I'm feeling!" Theodore admitted honestly. "If only you could sense even a fraction of this storm raging in my heart. You'd understand…"

Minako pondered apologizing for making him feel that way, but that would mean admitting that she wasn't having conflicting emotions when it came to Theo. And that would be lying. Gripping his hands in hers, she could tell her voice was going to break soon. "I feel the same way! I understand what it is you're going through."

"Mas—" A sharp sound from Minako caused Theodore to rephrase what it was he was about to say. "Minako…" She boldly met his gaze when he said her name and he had a surge of strong emotion. "Do you wish to compound my sins with this? Do you not realize how severe my punishment will be for this? It will be made all the worse…" Trying to compose himself, he could feel his jaw clenching. "You do realize that, don't you? Tch, such cruelty…"

Abruptly, Theodore took his hands away from hers and pulled off the gloves he had never been without. He cast them to the bed behind him before looking at Minako once more. "All right then…" He smiled warmly. "Come here." Once more, he reached for her hand and for the first time he could feel her skin on his and it was like a million small bursts of electricity along his hands.

Like fireworks and supernovas.

Theodore dwelled in this sensation for longer than he should have, but the touch of someone he… Someone he loved was something he wanted to cherish for as long as he could. "Until now… I have been your faithful student. But, there is much that I can teach you as well." He leaned closer to her so that his lips were a mere breath's distance from her ear. "At times like these, you are supposed to close your eyes." He whispered and soon his lips brushed along the curve of her neck and he could all but feel her pulse jumping to the surface of her skin.

The soft gasp from her lips and the way she curled the front of her body against his was all the invitation he needed…

Twisting and turning it rips through my heart. It's been tearing me apart!

Time passed and Theodore sat at the edge of the bed before he looked over his shoulder at her with a smile. She shifted her weight and brought the sheet with her when she pressed herself against his back. Nuzzling her lips to his neck, she sighed contently.

"I should go…" Theodore commented and reached up to brush a strand of hair from Minako's face tenderly. A sad smile still managed to make his face look beautiful to her.

"Do you have to?"

"Yes." With that, he pulled himself up from the bed and began to pull on his clothes. Raising an arm, he ran his fingers back through his hair with a sigh. He didn't speak again as they descended the stairs from her room back to the lobby. There were people there this time and a startled noise from the corner meant that someone had seen them.

"Wh-what?" Akihiko's voice rang out and Theodore could practically hear jaws hit the floor. He knew none of these people, and none of them mattered but the one whose hand he was clutching.

"Come on." She said softly, turning her gaze briefly to Akihiko and then to Ken. But, she said nothing. Though their looks were horrifying enough that she knew that she would have some explaining to do – especially considering her tousled appearance. The last thing she heard before the door shut behind them was; "Holy shit!" from Junpei.

"I'm sorry about tha—" Minako stopped as Theodore's finger pressed gently against her lips and he shook his head.

"It's me who is sorry, Minako." He said softly and he could tell that she was looking over his shoulder for any sign of peepers from inside. He took her face in his hands and made her look at him. He let his gaze trail over her face as if taking in every detail for the last time. "You know that if I stay in this world for much longer, I may forget my duties entirely…" It looked as if he was struggling not to cry. "And I fear that may be too big of a disadvantage for you. I could not put you in that kind of situation."

Tears were freely flowing from Minako's eyes as she listened to him. "I don't care! I don't want to lose you. Don't – don't leave me, Theo. Please...please!" She was fairly begging at that point, and she didn't care how ugly it looked, either. Minako clasped at his wrists with her hands. Her cheek leaned into one of his hands and she cried.

Theodore's eyes closed as he continued. His bad news just got worse. "And that's why… That's why this will be the last time you will see me." His voice cracked with emotion. Emotion that he didn't know he had. Emotions that he didn't know that he even could have. His heart broke more as Minako's cries turned into sobs. He lifted her face, still in his hands, so that he could smile at her. "Your hand, please."

"For the last time." His hands dropped from her cheeks and he grasped her hands in his before leaning to place a soft kiss against her lips.

And then… He was gone, and she was alone.

Now that you're gone all I can think about now is you and me…

It really was the last time he ever saw her. Shortly after his return to the Velvet Room, he remembered that Elizabeth had a task for him, which caused him to be away for some time. He never heard the news of her death. It wasn't until his return and the fact that he could no longer feel her anymore that caused the surge of panic.

"She said it was for my own good. That I had become too attached to you, that you took me away from what I was – what we were created for." Tears rolled freely down his cheeks. "I would have torn worlds apart to come to you. And then you could still be here – be here with me. You wouldn't be gone and I wouldn't be alone." He bent and laid a single card on the frost-covered grave.

"I'm sorry, my love." Whispered words danced through fogged breath as he placed bare fingers against the stone.

She was the first person he ever loved. She was the only one.

You and me…