HOLYSHIT.

-Excuse the language, but DAMN. It's been a long while.

Mostly 'cause I forgot about the story. But I'm finally updating! I'm so sorry that I've been gone so long!

I was listening to She is Love by Parachute, then I just thought of this story. UWAH. O.O

By the way, for EVEN MORE inspiration for this chapter, I listened to Growing Up by The Maine. Even the title of the song fits the chapter, ne? :3

Anyhoo. I'm skipping the character talk thing because 1. I'm really lazy. And 2. I realize that it really isn't necessary. ^-^

(Finally) Here's Chapter 13!

A Little Talk Before It All Ends

Later that night, Amu went outside to have some alone time while the others stayed inside for scary stories and fake campfires.

"Damn, I'm really going to miss this school…" She sat on that favorite bench of hers as she stared at the school that she would soon leave.

"Amu-koi? You out here?" She heard Kukai's voice approaching as she wiped the lone tear that was falling.

He smiled and sat down on the bench with her. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

"Hai! I was just…admiring the school while I still can. Honestly, I don't want to graduate yet. I thought I would have another year here, but when Koura-sensei just surprised us with that…I realized that I would soon leave…" She started to choke up.

"Amu," Kukai hugged her, "It'll be alright. We can always visit on weekends. We can't always stay there at Golden Rose. You know I'll go crazy if I stay there for four years!" He chuckled.

Amu giggled, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But, this is where I discovered myself. This is my second home. This is where I met all of you guys! I don't want to leave any of this yet!"

"Love, that's the hard part of growing up. You don't want to leave your past behind, but that's what memories are for. Memories are the reminders of everything that you wanna remember. I guess I was prepared for this more, because I knew that I was going to leave this year. I know I'm being selfish when I say this, but I'm glad you guys are graduating along with me. You guys are my best friends, and I would've been all alone in that huge school for prodigies! And without knowing you guys were coming with me," He grinned sheepishly, "I probably would have changed my mind about going to Golden Rose."

She stared up incredulously at him, "No way. You would've given up an amazing opportunity at an amazing school just because it's so far away from us?"

He gave her a blank face, "You do know that I've had feelings for you for two years, right? And, Hotori, Yaya-chan, and Fujisaki-chan are my best friends, too. I've been with you guys for so long, I'm not about to leave."

"So you would've failed this year, just to graduate with us?"

"Mhmm!"

"Idiot."

Kukai pouted, "But I'm your idiot!"

"Hold it Lover Boy; it's only been a day." She grinned teasingly at him.

He stuck up his pointer finger, "But two years of feelings, my love!"

"Whatever you say, dearest…But back to the sentimental talk, we're really graduating tomorrow, huh?" She bit her lip to hold back the quiet sob that was creeping up her throat.

He sighed and held her close, "Yes, Amu, we are. But, you know that this place will always be in our hearts.

"Except Yuo, he just can't wait to get into high school girls' pants."

Kukai chuckled, "As much as I'd like to defend him, I have to agree with you. I'm pretty scared for Yaya-chan, aren't you? I'm scared that she's just gonna get hurt with him."

"I'm scared for her, too. For example, when he was flirting with me, he acted like it was a joke, but his grip was too strong for my taste. I'm not looking forward to going to high school with him."

"That's how I feel too," Kukai nodded, "I have a feeling he's gonna cause us a lot of drama when we get there. I just don't want him touching you, Yaya-chan, or even Fujisaki-chan. I want to talk to Yaya-chan about it…" He drifted off.

"I know what you mean, he seems like he's planning something. I have a feeling he's using Yaya to get something…I'm not necessarily talking about getting into either me or Nadeshiko-chan's pants, but rather something like…I don't know, either revenge or popularity. It's a strange feeling, really."

He sighed, "Well, I don't want to burst her bubble just yet. Their relationship is still fresh, she's still deeply smitten with him and wouldn't want to believe us just yet."

"You're right, but I don't want her to get too serious with him any time soon. I want to talk to her about it right away, so I want to do it after graduation…You'll come tell her with me, right?" Amu looked up pleadingly into her boyfriend's eyes, looking for an answer.

He let out a sigh, "Fine, I'll come with you. But you're starting the conversation!"

"I will, only if you promise to back me up."

"Yeah, yeah. You're so demanding, Amu-koi."

"I AM NOT."

"Riiigghhhttt. Oh, but I have to tell you something."

She rolled her eyes, "What is it?"

"I think you're extremely sexy and we should get married after we graduate high school." Winking, he gave Amu a mischievous grin.

Said pinkette blushed, " S-Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, I don't?"

"No! You don't know where we'll be by then! We may be out of each others' lives by then!"

He pouted, "Are you saying you don't think we'd last that long?"

"I'm not saying that," Amu paused, searching for words to continue, "I'm saying that we never know what the future holds."

"I guess I understand now," Kukai said, thinking a bit, "But I have a intuition that my feelings for you will last a really long time." He said sincerely.

Blushing, she answered, "I think the same thing about my feelings for you. I just hope high school isn't going to be dramatic that it's going to lead to our relationship's end or something."

"Oh, Amu-koi, I will not let any obstacles get in the way of my love for you! I shall fight any men, even women, who dare destroy our romance!" While saying this, he put his hand on his heart and fake teared dramatically.

Amu smacked his shoulder, "You're such a goofball, you know that?"

"Why of course, m'dear! I believe that I'm more of a joker than you are!"

"Horrible pun."

"You know it!"

"Whatever, let's just head inside. It's becoming a little chilly because of the spring breeze."

"I shall follow you to the ends of the earth, my darling!"

"Save it for graduation."

"Whatever keeps me in your future!"

Walking towards the doors leading inside, Amu paused for a bit and looked up at the stars.

"I really hope we'll all make it through together."

END CHAPTER.

First of all, I'm really sorry about how short this chapter is, I promise the next one will be a lot longer.

This is the second to last chapter, so that's right! The next chapter will be the last for this story. I needed this chapter to show how much Kukai and Amu have really grown and how much I have grown as an author. Looking back on my past chapters, I realize how different they seem. I'm sorry if you didn't like it, but it's just that my writing style has changed. I actually have a Quizilla account, but I refuse to tell anyone of it unless you really PM me and ask about it. I currently update really quickly on that website instead of this one. (I've been more into reader-insert fics lately.)

I know this story wasn't so good, it's just because I wanted to start a story that had humor and happiness in it before the next one.

THAT'S RIGHT: THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL.

It's going to be a tad bit more dramatic, though. And, I can't promise frequent updates. You see how long it's taken me to write this one, short, little thing.

I truly apologize for such a late chapter.

I probably lost a lot of my original readers, and for that, I am really sorry.

I hope you continue to stay tuned for the next chapter and for the sequel.

The sequel's title is still yet unknown and I have not started writing it yet.

Thank you all who waited these past almost two years and I hope you continue to read my work.

Sincerely, ~PrincessSerenity2630 :D

(Btw, did anyone see the foreshadowing in this chapter? It's really obvious!)