Disclaimer: I don't own Elfen Lied. All I can hope for is the creator will create a sequel to this awesome anime.

Place in my Heart

Chapter I Feelings Revealed

As he watched the arm rock back and forth in it's case his mind was crazy in thought. The broken music box housing the sea shell that was given to him out of the purest of love sitting beside it. All of his saddest memories of his past were grouped together in this one spot and yet he could not turn away from them. Every night after the old grandfather clock reawakened he would sit in front of it and remember. Remember all the happy memories of the now deceased Nyu. Remember the short time he had with Lucy, both childhood memories and the more recent encounter with her.

He was now able to distinguish between Nyu and Lucy. After that incident at the bridge, their exchange on the steps, and a lot of thinking in front of the clock he finally came to realize what was happening ever since Nyu/Lucy came into his adult life. His mind would often trail back to the exchange at the bridge, more specifically, to the kiss. Through all of the other events that one seemed to shine above them all. If only he hadn't been so weak, if only he would have not let her go.

Flashback

Kouta looks down the steps at the woman he both loved and hated as she walked down towards the darkness. They both knew where her final destination was and it wasn't to go down to the beach for another sea shell. The look in her blood red eye before her departure was all the communication she gave him, but was all that was needed. As he watched Lucy walk down the steps his mind was being torn apart. Part of him wanted Nyu to stay so the 5 of them could live together forever. He knew that could never happen, common sense told him otherwise. The fact that all those soldiers were trying to kill her told him that they wouldn't give up that easily. If they didn't get their mark they would persist until Lucy and all who were associated with her were killed. Kouta couldn't put Yuka and the others through the trials of death for his own selfish reasons.

Kouta watched as she walked into the darkness, walked out of his life. He sat down and laid his head into his hands, tears began streaming down his arms. 'Why did things have to be this way, why couldn't there ever be any happy endings' he thought as he continued grieving to himself. He sat for a few minutes after her departure before slowly getting up and headed for his final destination, home. He wondered if it would ever really be 'home' without her. Sure, he had Yuka, Nana, and Mayu there, but Nyu was what brought them all together. Kouta walked through the door that lead to the yard and turned around to close it. What he heard next would haunt his dreams for many nights to come. He heard the very faint command "Fire!" and hundreds of bullets ring through the air. As he shut the door one final tear descended from his chin towards the earth below.

End Flashback

He felt a tear slowly forming in his right eye but he struggled to hold it in. Try as he might he couldn't shake the memories of the one that he had loved, the one he lost, the one he would never see again. The time the grandfather clock came to rest so long ago was when time really started for Kouta. While the clock was motionless his experiences with Nyu were burned into his head. If only time would have stopped like the grandfather clock had he would have been the happiest man alive, just Kouta and Nyu in each other's arms forever. After that day when the clock reawakened he secluded himself into his own thoughts, not really participating in any of the activities around the house. All of the people in the house knew why he was so depressed, but nobody could come up with anything to say in attempts to alleviate the pain he was feeling.

Kouta is snapped back to reality by a familiar female voice, her voice slicing through his defenses because he wasn't expecting anybody to be awake at this hour. "Kouta, are you ok?" Nana's voice echoed through his ears as he sensed an amount of concern he wasn't expecting from the naïve girl with horns.

"Nana, what are you doing up this late," Kouta replied as he looked up at her as she walked down the stairs. She was wearing the night gown that Yuka had given her which in some way had eased the man's thoughts.

"Nana's going to get a glass of water, " Nana said as she was staring at the ground, pretending to be watching where she was walking. Nana immediately felt bad for lying to Kouta, in truth she had wanted to walk with him about Lucy. Though it was a sensitive subject, she knew that if anybody should talk to him about Lucy it should be her. She felt like it was her responsibility to discuss such matters about other diclonius.

"What are you doing awake at this hour Kouta?" said Nana in an attempt to get a strait answer but not expecting one. Her eyes wandered over at the grandfather clock and music box that were directly in front of him.

Kouta followed her gaze and knew that it was pointless to avoid her. She knew exactly what he was thinking about and wasn't going to let him off as easily as Yuka and Mayu have been. She wore a look of sadness and understanding on her face that completely broke through the wall that he had slowly built while sitting in front of Nyu's shrine. "I was just thinking about Nyu and Lucy."

Nana wore a smile on her face as she sat next to Kouta. She hadn't thought he'd be so willing to talk with her about such a sensitive subject. "I know you miss her Kouta, we all miss her. Nyu had such a pure heart, she was always so nice to everybody." She paused, trying to think of something to cheer him up. Her train of though was interrupted by Kouta's reply.

"Nana, do you think I made the right decision when I let Lucy walk out of my life?" Kouta's eyes pleaded with Nana's to answer truthfully.

"Though I wasn't there I think it was more Lucy's decision than yours," Nana said surprising herself with the works that flowed out of her mouth. She made it sound as if Lucy didn't want to stay with him and that wasn't what she meant. Through the thoughts exchanged between diclonius she knew that all Lucy ever wanted was to be with her Kouta. She knew it'd be best to withhold that information from him since it would crush him.

"You're right Nana, she left on her own. I just wish . . ." He trailed off as his mind drifted to the special place in his memory, ". . . wish that kiss would've lasted forever."

A/N: Well, there's my first fanfic. Regardless of whether you like it or not, please review. This could be a one shot but I think I will continue, depending on whether or not reviewers want it to continue. I will be leaving Iraq soon so if reviewers like it I will try to get 1 or 2 more updates in before I leave. I'm sure there are plenty of errors splattered all over this fic. I haven't written anything like this for quite a while, I apologize in advance. Inspirational music played while writing fic: Pink Floyd – Momentary Lapse of Reason & Pink Floyd – The Wall.

-FreshMeat- I expect that error to be fixed:-