Hello everyone, hope you're all prepared for this. I'm not going to keep you from reading this, so enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Live!

At the roof with Nico still comforting Maki…

"Nghh…" Maki was still crying while being embraced by Nico.

"Maki, I know I probably shouldn't tell you this, but… I have to go."

"W-what, you're already leaving?" Maki looked up to Nico, her face red from sobbing.

"I have to."

"You don't 'have to', but you just want to."

"That's not-" Nico was interrupted as Maki pushed her away and distanced herself from Nico.

"Forget it, save your excuses! If you want to go, then just go!"

"M-Maki…"

"I said go!"

"…I-" Nico was about to say something, but couldn't find the right words to say. She began to walk to the door to the roof and as she opened the door, she turned around to look at Maki one more time. "I'm sorry." With that she left the roof, but as she walked down the stairs, she encountered Umi.

"Umi…"

"Hah… Nico, is Maki alright?" Umi asked as she panted.

"W-wha-, why are you panting so much?" Nico asked, disregarding the question Umi asked.

"N-never mind that, is Maki okay?"

"Um… not really, she's still crying a lot."

"Okay then, I think I'll talk to her." Umi started walking towards the door to the roof, but was stopped by Nico.

"I know you want to make her feel better, but I think she just wants to be alone."

"She already is, but I think what she needs right now is someone comforting her."

"Umi…"

"Maki loved you and you hurt her twice. Eri has you and you have Eri, but who does Maki have? I know you think being alone is good for her right now, but I think differently."

"…Man, I guess I can't argue with that." Nico let Umi go. "Fine, go and talk to her."

"I will even if you told me not to." Umi started walking, but Nico told her one more thing before she was out of sight.

"Good luck with what I think you're going to do."

"Thanks Nico."

Umi made her way to the door and before she even opened the door, she could hear sobbing. That stopped in her tracks, but it only made her more worried about Maki. She opened the door and at first she couldn't see Maki, but she walked along the wall and found Maki bundled up and crying at the corner.

"Maki…" She slowly walked towards Maki.

"…I want to *hic* be alone, so *hic* can you please leave." Maki cried as she spoke.

"I'm not going to leave you all alone while you're like this." She sat beside Maki.

"…Why not *hic*, it's not like*hic* you have a reason to stay."

"I don't need a reason to stay by your side when you're crying your heart out. You don't have to be alone when you're like this." Umi wrapped her arm around Maki and pulled her close. "You'll feel better when someone's by your side when you cry."

"U-Umi..." Maki said as she felt the warmth from Umi's body surround her. It was different from Nico's embrace. Nico's hug felt like it was just because of pity or guilt, but this hug, this hug from Umi held a different meaning.

"Umi... Umi!" Maki clutched onto Umis shirt, gripping it tightly with her fingers. As she continued to tighten her grip and say Umi's name, Umi held her closer and closer.

"Wahh!" Maki continued to sob heavily to release her frustration and pain. As time passed with Maki sobbing, Umi tried to gather the courage to Maki her feelings.

Although, with what happened earlier, she was finding it quite difficult to say. She knew she had to say, but she knew Maki had a lot going right now and she didn't want to burden her even more.

"Hey um, Maki."

*sniff* "W-what is it?"

"What do you think about love?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"How do you feel about love, before this happened and even after it did, what do think about it?"

"It's quite painful, especially if it ended up like it did with me. I don't think I'll ever love anyone the same way I loved Nico. I think I'll always doubt when someone tells me they love me and the doubt the fact that I will ever be loved the way I want."

Umi thought that maybe, maybe she may never get a chance like this. She can confess to Maki and also help her know that love can happen with her. A love that's real, a love that care, a love that's there.

"Do you think you can ever love again?"

"...I don't know, maybe not."

"To be honest, I was hoping you would say yes, or I don't know what will happen in the future."

"Eh, why would you hope for that?" Maki raised her head a bit to look at Umi.

"Because, I know someone who loves. I mean really, really love you. The same way Eri loved Nico, this person waited for a while even after realizing this love and even gave someone a chance to love you. But after this person saw what happened between the three of you, they started to struggle of keeping their feelings locked up inside."

"It sounds like you really know how this person feels, are you close to this person?"

Umi chuckled and thought "Huh, even Maki can be pretty oblivious sometimes as well. I guess she can't know everything, no matter how smart she is."

"I guess so, we're practically the same person."

"Wow, so you must be really good friends with this person. Does Honoka and Kotori know this person?"

She chuckled again. "Yup, they know her alright."

"So who is this person that loves me so much, and is she really a good person like you make her sound?"

"I don't know, do you think I'm a good person?"

"Yeah, after all, here you are sitting and consoling when I was feeling sad. You had no reason to do so, but you're here anyway. I think you're one of the nicest people I know of right now..." Maki slouched and put her head down on her legs, looking as if she was thinking deeply about something.

Umi smiled at her. "Then you have your answer."

"Huh?" Maki noticed what Umi said and thought it sounded weird, so she picked her head up and looked at her.

"If you think I'm a good person, then the person I was talking about is a good person."

"Huh?" Maki was still confused and Umi knew she had to spell it out for Umi.

"After all, the person I'm talking about is me."

"W-what?" Maki was both surprised and confused.

"It's me, the person who loves you is me."

"Umi..."

"I thought you would've figured out the moment I said that we were practically the same person, but I guess i had to say it after all." Umi chuckled at how puzzled Maki looked.

"W-what did you just say Umi?"

"I said that I'm the one who loves you."

Maki turned her head away from Umi, for some reason she was embarrassed. She didn't know if she should say yes or no.

After she rejected Nico, a lot of things went wrong, but if she accepts Umi's confession. It may just be because of fear of repetition, and not because of her feelings and that will just be wrong thing to do to Umi.

"I-Is this a confession?"

"Yes."

"I-I see... But, what if I say I can't answer right now."

"I'll say I understand and that, until you're ready." Umi pulled Maki close and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll wait for you."

"Can you really do that?"

"Of course."

"I see..."

"But now, that you're feeling better, do you think you can go back to the club room."

"Y-yeah, I guess so."

"Okay then." Umi stood up first and reached her hand out to Maki. "Here, take my hand."

Maki looked up to see Umi reached her hand out and for some reason, it made her want to smile, but she hid it until Umi couldn't see her anymore.

Maki grabbed the hand and Umi pulled her up. When Maki was already standing, she suddenly hugged Umi.

"Thank you for this and for being able to wait." was all she said until she let go of Umi and ran out of the room. She was heading for the club room with the smile she kept from Umi on her face.

Umi was left behind, but she didn't mind after what Maki just did and told her. She sighed and then looked at the empty space of the roof where they would usually practice.

"Yeah,I can wait. After all, there's still time." She then headed to the club room, running so she could catch up to Maki.

"Love lasts after all." Maki thought as Umi finally caught up to her. Together, they headed to the club room, being more than friends, but still less than lovers. "Even after I move on, the love I had for Nico was real and it will still be in my heart even if I love someone else."

They were close to what they wanted, but not quite just there yet. Although, they still have time until they head separate ways, and even though they don't end up together. They will always have each other, no matter what.

THE END.

"Our first love is the one hurts the most, but then again all love that ends badly, will hurt. But if we take a chance at being hurt, we may find a chance at true happiness, even if it takes longer than we think."

Hey guys, so this is the ending of both this story and currently Love Live. I'm still sad that the season is over, but glad that there will be a movie. Hopefully, though they come up with a way to make a season 3 even after the seniors graduation.

Anyways, back to the story. I hope you all forgive me for not pairing everyone up, but I thought it will be better to end it up this way. I know that Nico and Eri and Honoka and Kototri were the only ones together in the end, but that's fine isn't it. And I know that Maki and Umi didn't really end up together, but after what happened between them. I think they will become more than friends even if they are not lovers. Love comes in many different forms and a strong friendship is one form of that. This is just the beginning of what may happen in the future so who knows. And maybe one day, I may think about doing a sequel about this about their journey to love, but not right now. I hope you all understand the ending and accept it(Sorry if you really didn't like it.)

Not all endings are good, and not all endings are bad. The real ending that really matters is the one we decide on and that can be either.

So, thanks for reading this and BYE BYE!:D