DISCLAIMER: I don't own Noir. Bee Train does.

To say that it had been an eventful day for Mireille Bouquet would be an understatement to say the very least. She had just fought for her life to save her fellow assassin Kirika Yuumura from a ceremony known as "Le Grand Retour" to bring back something known as "The True Noir" and she herself had been in a fight for her life against Chloe, the girl who felt it was her destiny to fight and kill with Kirika as the feared pair of assassins known as Noir, and she would have died if it wasn't for Kirika. And now, with the Soldat high priestess Altena dead, with Chloe dead, and with the place forgotten by time known as The Manor in the past, all Mireille could do now was drive, get medical attention for her and Kirika's injuries, and get back home and have a nice cup of tea.

First stop was to a crummy motel room that served as the "practice" of a friend of hers named Pierre, a doctor who became known throughout the Parisian underworld for tending to anyone, no questions asked. As Mireille watched the girl who killed her parents receive medical attention, she began to realize that over the past weeks, they were more than just two assassins working together. They were a team in every sense of the word, and if anything, they needed each other.

Mireille didn't know what time she got back to her apartment except that it was late, and in a way, she didn't care in the slightest. All she wanted was some sleep, and so when she reached her door, the only thing Mireille did was carry Kirika to her bed, and then fell right asleep, only waking up to get a blanket over the two of them to keep warm. When Mireille woke up after God knows how many hours, the first thing she did was stretch her arms…only to find that Kirika wasn't there. Mireille's mind started to wander to what could have happened. She began to think that the Soldats could have come for Kirika to carry out their plans for Noir, but quickly dismissed those ideas, as she suspected that if the Soldats wanted Kirika, they would probably take her as well, and if the Soldats had no use for either of them, the girls would probably be dead or shooting for their lives by now. But as Mireille tried to figure out what had happened, a voice caused her to break out of her trance.

"Mireille?"

Mireille turned to see Kirika with a teapot, teacups and a multitude of teabags. "Nice to see you're awake", Kirika said with a small smile. "I'll make us some tea. Is Earl Grey alright?" Mireille only answered with a smike and three words: "That sounds lovely".

As Kirika brewed the tea, Mirielle only looked outside watching the people of Paris walking by and living their lives, going wherever. She didn't even notice Kirika giving her a cup of tea. As Mireille looked outside her window, Kirika looked at her and her mind went on to wander, thinking about everything that had happened and all the facts that had unearthed. How Kirika was the one who killed Mireille's parents, how Altena had apparently groomed her to be part of a deadly duo of assassins that would be feared by the entire world, how the two of them came to know Chloe and how Kirika had to kill Chloe to defend Mireille, how she and Mireille found each other seemingly by chance in Japan and especially how they fought the Soldats at nearly every turn, and how they managed to survive. Fnally, Kirika decided to break the silence.

"You came back for me, Mireille. But why?"

Mireile was taken by surprise. Things certainly didn't go according to Mireille's plan. When Mireille returned to France with Kirika in tow after finding her at a Japanese construction site, the two would agree that they would work together as assassins to find out the truth behind Kirika, and when that happened, Kirika would be killed. But instead, the girls found themselves deep in a conspiracy between an ancient society looking for the true meaning behind their codename: Noir. And now, Kirika was very much alive and the two of them were reeling from bullet wounds and had God knows how much metaphorical blood on their hands. But when it came to coming back for Kirika when she was to head to the Manor and become Noir, All Mireille could say was…"I read your letter."

"But why didn't you kill me when you had the chance?" Kirika retorted. "In fact, you know everything now. I killed your parents! I'm just some doll that was made to kill. Altena and the Soldats took me, trained me, and just dropped me in some school with a gun and an ID card that says "Kirika Yuumura". Killing is all I know, and if it wasn't for you, I would be with Chloe killing in the name of Noir. I even made you the tea you wanted. You know everything now, SO WHY WON'T YOU KILL ME?"

Mireille struggled for an answer. So she just repeated herself. "Because I found your letter, that's why." And Mireille found the perfect way to get some answers. It was the perfect question. "Why did you write that letter?"

"Why?" Kirika was taken aback for a minute. This was the thing that she wasn't ready to answer. And yet, Kirika found she needed to get the words off her chest.

"Because," Kirika answered, "I felt that when I learned that the Soldats had plans for me, I thought I would never see you again."

Mireille was unconvinced. "You wrote that in you're letter. You're not saying everything." Kirika knew that she had to come clean, and put down her cup of tea.

"The real reason I wrote that letter," Kirika gulped, "is because I was afraid that if I never saw you again, I would lose the only person in the entire world who actually cared for me. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to properly say goodbye to you on my own terms before you killed me. The thing is, over the last few weeks, I've come to see you as more than assassin, Mireille. I see you as the greatest person I've ever met, and meeting you was the greatest thing that ever happened to me." Kirika moved closer to Mireille and took Mireielle's cup of tea from her hands and put it down on the table, then placing Mireille's hands into her own.

"But, the one thing I wanted to write in my letter, and the thing I want to say is, is…"

"What is it?" Mireille asked. She could see tears forming in Kirika's eyes.

"…I LOVE YOU!"

"What?"

"I love you, Mireille. I love you with all my heart." Kirika cupped Mireille's face with her hands. "I love everything about you, Mireille, I know that you would always be there for me just like I would always be there for you. I love how you love me for me. And…and…I'm sorry, forgive me."

The next thing Mireielle knew, Kirika was kissing her on the lips. Mireille was shocked to see this girl who had killed her parents was kissing her. And when Kirika broke the kiss, Mireille found herself looking not into the eyes of a cold-blooded, carefully groomed assassin, but as a girl who had been forced into a cruel world and had seen things no girl her age should see. With a small smile, Mireille wiped Kirika's tears away and kissed her on the forehead.

"But, why?" asked Kirika. "I killed your family, and you know everything now. Why don't you just kill me now, like you promised? What about the Soldats? And what will we do now? How will we live?"

"Don't worry about them right now", Mireille answered, trying to comfort Kirika. "If the Soldats wanted to kill us, we would probably be dead or shooting for our lives by now. Also, since we're technically considered Noir in the eyes of the Soldats, they have no reason to kill their greatest source of power. Also, since we've been fighting the Soldats for so long, chances are we have a slew of contracts waiting for us in our mailbox." Kirika could feel herself at peace as Mireille spoke. "If anything else, we won't have to worry about money anytime soon. My parents did hold a great amount of power in Corsica, you know?"

Kirika smiled at the idea of living on the island with Mireille, away from the influence of the Soldats. "Hey, Mirielle? I know I can never ask for forgiveness for killing your parents, but your mother told me something before I killed her."

"What's that, Kirika?" Mireille asked.

"She said, 'Please take care of Mireille'." Kirika gave Mireille the biggest hug she could give. "Can we just be by each other's side forever? And when I feel I'm ready to die, will you kill me, Mireille Boquet?"

Mireille was puzzled at Kirika's final request, but from her heart she answered with, "It would be my honor." Mirielle looked at Kirika's smile and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "So?" Mireille asked. "What do you want to do today?"

"I just want to lie in bed with you all day. I could use some rest after all we've been through. Both of us can." Kirika answered.

Mireille could only give one reply: "That sounds wonderful." And so the two of them made their way made their way to Mireille's bed, crashing by each other's side, knowing that at some point, they would inevitably doze off to sleep

As the two lied in bed together, Mireille realized that at least for right now, she and Kirika didn't have to worry about the Soldats or preparing for her next hit or anything like that. Right now, the only thing that was on her mind was being with the one person she knew more than any other person in the entire world. As she saw Kirika's smiling face, Mireille realized that this was the first step of her future. It was just like what she told Remy: even if leaving the Manor wasn't the end and Mireille Boquet and Kirika Yuumura haven't seen the last of the Soldats, the two women will go on to live their lives the way the saw fit. And in a world of darkness, they will seek the light.

THE END

Author's Note: I would like to thank everyone who took time to read this. I can't tell you how many times I stopped because I realized I misspelled Mireille's name (it's –ei, NOT –ie). The last thing I want to say is that I find Noir to be an anime that needs more love. It's on Hulu if you're interested in it.

Again, thanks for reading.

-MartintheDragon