So there's a tumblr meme where people submit a character or pairing and a word and you write a ficlet for them. I did four. Someone asked me to put them here, so I did. Also I would really like to continue writing them, so please feel free to submit a character or pairing along with a word and I will write you one too!

This one, and the next two with John, were for a friend who is Blue-Starlight92 on here.

It comes in a sudden stab of realization that Naru really isn't worth all the trouble.

Mai has spent too long, far too long, chasing after someone who is too broken to be in a relationship like the kind she wants.

The feeling is so freeing, like heart has been lifted out of a years-long fog. She wants to skip and clap and sing, but that would be a little suspicious, and also they're on a case, so it's not quite tonally appropriate. Nevertheless, she walks with a spring in her step, one which doesn't go unnoticed by Monk.

"Well, what do you look so happy about?" he asks, raising one eyebrow.

"Nothing."

"Fine, fine, don't tell your old man."

"You're not my dad!" But her mind is only half on the banter right now.

It's all John's fault, really. In a way. He'd just asked her how her day was going and if she was all right because she'd looked a bit down, that was all. And Mai had realized, with one of those rare moments of clarity, that Naru had never done any such thing.

It wasn't precisely that he was mean or nasty. Well, sometimes. But, really, it's just that he's closed-off. And she's never going to be able to open him up.

So, instead, she smiles at John and finds that the possibilities are better every day.