A/N: I loved the movie so much that I thought it deserved fanfiction. I hope this is all in character! Enjoy.

People who lived their lives before Umi said that there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. It's a fine line of emotions that Umi hasn't put much thought in to, not before Shun.

But even now, the line between love and in love crosses her mind very rarely. She thinks, briefly, that this thought has something to do with Shun. The way he looks at her from the corner of his eye, as if he's trying to capture her soul by a mere glance, makes her think. He usually doesn't try to articulate the feelings behind the glance. Maybe because it's difficult to string words together, or maybe it's because it's not necessary to find the words to articulate. Umi gets what he's trying to say, though. It's as if he's trying to tell Umi that he loves her, but he's not in love with her.

The thought vanishes as quickly as it came, because. Umi's relationship with Shun seems more stable, more regular, more of everything that made it so wonderful prior to all of these complications. She still helps him with the stencils for the Weekly, writing away with a quiet yet determined fire burning in her stomach. Umi doesn't even mind that her hand cramps up near the end of the stenciling job, because she gets to laugh at the occasional jokes Shun makes. They're not very original, but they make stenciling less tedious. Students who pass by with a spring in their step and a story to tell also add the experience of stenciling.

The sun sets in strings of gold, pale magenta, icy blue and streaks of inky indigo. Umi's job as a stencil-maker finishes, but she's not done with Shun; before she can leave, she waits for Shun. Shun sporadically asks Umi for a ride home on his bike with a faint twinkle in his eyes. She's not sure what the twinkle in his eyes mean beyond pride for finishing the work he poured his heart into. Whenever it's cool out, and Shun rides his bike faster than usual, the wind in her face that flowed through her hair as they biked together made her squint.

Sometimes, in a fit of bravery, Umi'll invite Shun over to her house for dinner, because that's what she's good at: appreciating people with food. Asking Shun to her house for dinner means she loves him. But it may not technically indicate she's in love with him.

So what's the difference? Love means respecting and caring for someone deeply in a way that distinguishes itself from just plain liking someone. That could apply to being in love with someone as well. Maybe she's not supposed to know the distinction. That's okay with Umi, she's still got time to figure it out.