Okay, to start off, I'm going to give a basic summary of what happened in between this chapter and the last. Natsumi is now a senior, just as athletic and academic as always. The Keron army, finally tired of the ARMPIT Platoon's constant failures, has banished them to Pekopon for the duration of their lives, and the frogs are no longer trying to invade. The Keron Army tried their own invasion, once, but gave Pekopon up as a bad job when they realized that ARMPIT was much better defensively than offensively, and they weren't giving Pekopon up easily. So, no more invasion. From Keron, at least. Giroro and Natsumi are still together(which thrills Fuyuki, still the occult nerd), Giroro's still in the tent, and Momoka still hasn't managed to get Fuyuki to clue in on her feelings, which are as violent as ever. Tamama still hates Angol Mois, who isn't banished, but stayed with Keroro. Dororo and Koyuki are still in the woods. Saburo died in a *cough* 'tragic' car accident, so Kululu is now officially living in the not-so-secret base, and Aki is still Aki. Oh, and Natsumi grew out her hair so that her pigtails reach down past her shoulders. (Not that that really has anything to do with the storyline…) Okay, so here's the story!

"I can't believe this is the last year of school!" Natsumi thought as she woke up on the first day of her senior year. She stretched, threw on her uniform, and headed downstairs to make breakfast, where Giroro was already waiting for her. She smiled at him. Without a word, they walked into the kitchen side-by-side. Once in the kitchen, at the same time, they asked,

"Toad in the hole?" and laughed. (referencing the fact that Keroro was always in debt. They're laughing at him. It's been a running gag for them for a while, after Natsumi came up with it. For those who don't know, toad in the hole is where you cut a hole in a slice of buttered bread, crack an egg into the hole, and fry it. It's good.)

In agreement, they went around making the simple breakfast, and once it was finished, Natsumi ran upstairs to get Fuyuki out of bed. (He still can't wake himself up) All through breakfast, Giroro and Natsumi held hands under the table. When it was time for them to leave, Natsumi grabbed the lunch Giroro had made her, gave Fuyuki the lunch she'd made him, and they ran off. Natsumi blew Giroro a kiss over her shoulder on the way out.

The first day of school was just like any other first day of school. Natsumi's friends crowded around her, greeting her and asking how her summer went. The classes weren't anything special. Lunch came quickly. Natsumi opened her lunch to find heart-shaped sushi and a note saying simply, "I love you." Natsumi giggled.

"Who packed that? I didn't know you had a boyfriend!" her friend said, reading the note over her shoulder. Natsumi sighed. You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

"You don't know him," Natsumi said, staring off into space. There weren't any invasion forces there to reckon with, so she turned back to her lunch and ate it slowly. Her friends obviously weren't satisfied by her vague answer, but she wasn't exactly going to say 'I'm going steady with an alien'. It wasn't weird to her or her family, because they were so used to the frogs, but to anyone else, she would look insane, for numerous reasons. That or they would assume that she meant a foreigner.

Her friends kept trying to pester her about the identity of the boy who'd made her lunch, but dropped it when she gave them her signature glare. When school was over, she waved goodbye to her friends and started home. Within minutes, Giroro, his anti-barrier on, was walking beside her and asking her how her day went. She told him, knowing he would assume the worst and get overprotective if she didn't answer. It was one of the things she loved about him.

They turned into a park, the trees green and vibrant, and flowers blooming. Natsumi sat on a bench to admire nature's beauty. Giroro paused and turned when he noticed that Natsumi had stopped walking. Natsumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Giroro knew that face.

"What are you thinking about?" Giroro asked, walking back over to Natsumi and putting a hand on her knee. She opened her eyes.

"Not much. Just reminiscing," she answered. She stood up again, and she and Giroro strayed off the sidewalk, wandering deeper into the trees and holding hands. Suddenly Natsumi stepped on something, and the ground underneath her gave way. She automatically let go of Giroro's hand, sparing him from the fall. A few seconds later, there was a crash and a yelp as Natsumi hit the bottom of the old well, who's wooden cover had rotted through.

"Ow!" Natsumi exclaimed, wincing from the pain in her left eye, which had hit against the stone wall of the well as she fell. She felt a trickle against her skin, and hurriedly tore a bandage from her uniform to cover the bleeding.

"Natsumi!" Giroro yelled after her. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Giroro! I think I fell into some sort of well!" she called up to him. She tried to stand up, but searing pain blazed through her ankle. "I can't get out, though. My ankle's hurt! And I'm bleeding. It's a head wound, so I can't tell how bad it is! They always bleed a lot!"

"Don't worry! Stay right there! I'll go get help!" Giroro called, and ran off frantically back to the Hinata's.

Natsumi was starting to get dizzy when Giroro came back with his flying saucer and some rope. He pulled her out to safety, but the moment she was out, she fell, partially from the pain in her ankle, but also from blood loss. Her eye was worse than she'd thought.

Giroro ran over to support Natsumi's head. Keroro was on his way with Fuyuki, who'd called an ambulance. He gently set her head across his lap, but when he had set her down and brought his hand up to stroke her cheek, he was horrified to find it wet, the makeshift bandage soaked through.

"Natsumi! Your eye! Stay with me!" he said desperately, as Natsumi's right eye blinked confusedly. The ambulance, along with Fuyuki and Keroro, arrived just as she lost consciousness.

"Natsumi!" Fuyuki exclaimed, running over. The paramedics lifted her hurriedly into the back of the ambulance, and Fuyuki hopped in while the frogs flew behind on their saucers.

Coincidentally, the ambulance passed Aki on her motorcycle on the way home from work, and she noticed the frogs. Dreading what she might find out, she shot after it.

When the ambulance stopped, Natsumi was rushed inside, leaving the rest of the group to wait in the lobby. Giroro immediately started pacing and beating himself up about it. If only he'd been paying better attention! None of this would have happened.

"Keroro! What happened to Natsumi?" Aki panted fearfully, barging into the room.

"I don't know! All Giroro told us before he ran off again was that Natsumi was hurt and to call for help!" Keroro said, turning to look at her.

"So, Corporal, what exactly did happen?" Fuyuki asked, biting his lip in worry over his sister.

"I was walking her home through the park, and she fell into an old well whose covering had rotted through. It's my fault, I should have seen it," Giroro said quickly, kicking a chair in anger.

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't your fault, Giroro. You do everything you can for her, we all know that," Fuyuki said. "I hope she recovers soon. It didn't look too bad, from what I could see. Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm sure she'll be fine." By the time he stopped talking, it seemed like he was comforting himself more than anything else.

Giroro was still pacing when a nurse came in to report on Natsumi's condition. Keroro was almost stepped on, being invisible, but he jumped out of the way just in time. Aki and Giroro jumped up.

"How is she?" they asked simultaneously, though the nurse could only hear Aki.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine, Mrs. Hinata. Her ankle's broken, and there will be some light scarring over her left eye, but other than that there's no damage. She'll need to stay overnight so we can change the bandages on her eye and make sure the bleeding stops, but she shouldn't even need stitches. And she'll need crutches for a while her ankle heals, but there will be no lasting damage. She's conscious, if you want to go in and see her," the nurse offered, and led the way to Natsumi's room. There was a bandage taped over her eye and a cast on her foot. They all ran over. Giroro and Aki each took one of her hands. Natsumi smiled weakly at them.

"He's been beating himself up, hasn't he?" she asked. Aki nodded with tears of relief in her eyes. "Silly him. It wasn't his fault."

"I know," Aki said, squeezing Natsumi's hand.

"But if I'd just…" Giroro started, but Natsumi took her hand out of his and put a finger to his lips.

"Not your fault. You understand?" Natsumi asked fiercely, glaring eye-to eye with Giroro. He looked away and nodded.

"Besides, once the bandages come off, we'll match!' Natsumi said, putting a hand on the bandage over her eye. Giroro smiled weakly, chuckling. Natsumi suddenly started making a face and scratching at her mouth.

"Natsumi? What's wrong?" Giroro asked quickly. Natsumi shook her head, giving a smile.

"Got a loose strand of hair in my mouth, silly frog. I'm fine." Natsumi replied, finally managing to expel the trespasser. She sat up and let down her pigtails, then put them back up, once again securing the strand in its elastic prison. Giroro sighed.

"Are you hurting at all? Is there anything I can do?" Giroro asked desperately. Natsumi smiled cheekily.

"I'm your warrior princess, remember, frog? Nothing can hurt me! But if you want, you could kiss it better," Natsumi said. Chuckling and shaking his head, Giroro obliged.

"See? I'm fit as a fiddle, now!" Natsumi said. "When do I go home?"

"As I'm sure they already told you, you come home tomorrow," Aki said. "It's getting late. I'm sorry, but I need to make sure Fuyuki and Keroro get fed."

"It's okay, mom. I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright?" Natsumi asked. Aki nodded, and everyone except Giroro left the room.

"You should go home, too, Giroro. I'll be fine here. It is a hospital, after all. They'll take good care of me." Natsumi said.

"If you think for a hot second that I'm going anywhere, then you sustained more damage to your head than the doctors say," Giroro told her, gripping her hand more firmly.

"I had to try, didn't I?" Natsumi asked, rolling her eyes. She scooted over and gave him room to sit on the bed. After a few minutes, Giroro nodded off, closely followed by Natsumi.

Giroro woke with the sunrise, just like he always did, but he didn't move. Natsumi had put her arm around him, and he didn't want to jostle her or wake her up. Natsumi didn't take long to wake up, being in the habit of waking early, so she was awake when the nurse came in to change her bandages. The bleeding had stopped, but the bandage she had on had dried blood on it.

"You'll need to keep this on for a few days, okay?" the nurse instructed. Natsumi nodded. "And I'll go get you your crutches so you can be ready to go when your family comes to pick you up, okay?"

A few minutes later, Natsumi's crutches were delivered, and the couple had nothing to do but wait for Aki to show up. When she finally did come, she looked tired.

"How do you manage to wake that boy up every morning?" Aki asked. Natsumi laughed.

"Years of practice!" she replied. Grabbing the crutches and carefully standing up, she hobbled out into the waiting room, where Aki signed some papers, and Natsumi was free to go. Aki had called the school and told them that Natsumi would be absent, and she had to go back to work, so Natsumi and Giroro had the house to themselves, or might as well have. Keroro was busy building Gundam models, reading comics, and watching cartoons. Natsumi collapsed on the couch and stared at her crutches, panting.

"These are a lot more tiring to use than you would think!" she exclaimed with a pant.

"Want a drink?" Giroro asked. Natsumi nodded, and Giroro ran into the kitchen to get her a tall, cold glass of ice water. He brought it back for her quickly, and she drank it gratefully.

For the rest of the day, Giroro waited on Natsumi hand and foot so she wouldn't have to walk around too much. Eventually, Natsumi convinced him relax and sit down. She curled up in a ball on the couch and flipped on the TV with the remote.

It happened to be the only episode of Captain Geroro that either of them liked; the one based on their own story. (technically, based off the comic book that was based off their love story, but you know what I meant) Giroro sat next to her. By the time the opening credits were over, Natsumi had scooped him up and set him on her lap. She grabbed a blanket he'd brought her earlier and draped around both of them.

They watched the episode reminiscently, remembering the awkward days when neither would admit their feelings, and the awkward days when they had admitted, but didn't know how to act once they had.

Now, their relationship was as natural as breathing. Just like in the fairy tale the Princess and the Frog, the species didn't matter. He was her prince charming, and that was final. Although Giroro wouldn't change into a human no matter how many time she kissed him.

When the episode was over, Giroro went into the backyard to make Natsumi some sweet potatoes. (he'd heard her stomach rumbling) Natsumi watched him through the open door. When he came in a while later with the food, Natsumi dug in gleefully. She LOVED sweet potatoes!

With her stomach full and her heart smiling, Natsumi drifted off. When she did awake, it was to the sound of Fuyuki getting home from school.

The next day, Natsumi woke up to find breakfast already made and Fuyuki already woken up, courtesy of Giroro. She rolled her eyes, but smiled just the same. Something told her that he would be doing this until her cast came off and she stopped needing crutches.

Not wanting her to have to walk to school, Giroro gave her a lift on his saucer, enveloping her in the anti-barrier until she was at school. Her friends ran up to her when she walked through the gate.

"Natsumi! Fuyuki told us about the accident! Are you okay? Let me carry your bag for you!" said one of her friends. Sighing, as she wasn't the type who enjoyed getting obsessively fawned over, Natsumi relented and let her friends help her inside.

The next few days were the same, and Giroro even took over her chores. Natsumi became fidgety and restless. She couldn't wait until she stopped needing the stupid crutches!

Finally, the day came when Natsumi could take off her bandages. Giroro helped her gently take them off. He frowned a little.

"Well, you were wrong about one thing, Natsumi," Giroro said, trailing a finger down her scar. "We don't match. Yours looks so much better." He leaned in and kissed her. She kissed back.

"I doubt it," she told him, laughing, when they broke apart. "I'm glad I can finally use both eyes to see, though! Now I just have to wait until I can use both feet to walk!"

The time flew by, and soon Natsumi was back on her feet. Giroro was relieved. He would deny it, but he became even more protective after that. He started following her to school to make sure nothing happened, and he began walking her to and from home every day instead of just once or twice a week. Natsumi usually didn't like fuss, but it was Giroro, and that made it endearing.

But Giroro couldn't follow her everywhere…

(That was a lead-in to the next chapter. You can ignore the last sentence until I post again)