A/N- Yeah yeah, I know. It's been awhile, which is nothing new for me, but I also left you guys with a cliffhanger. I've been sick, so don't get too mad, ok? Anyway, I left you with a lot of questions last time. Most importantly the fate of Domeki. Read here for the final chapter of Out. Hope you enjoy.

Now instituting page breaks in the form of "xxx"! ha ha, I don't particularly like them, but some time will pass in this chapter and I just want to be clear about when that happens…

Warning/Pairing/Disclaimer- Just the usual, but for the last time.

Chapter 15- Of Love For You

Life without Domeki was hard. Really hard.

To Watanuki, it seemed as if the entire world had gone gray. The archer no longer interjected with a sarcastic comment or helped him through difficult times. And he needed the archer most, he couldn't be reached.

For Watanuki, the worst part had been the realization. He had been going about the cleaning in the shop with none of his usual vigor, and hadn't been thinking about anything in particular. And then it had hit him. The weight of all that had happened came crashing down on him. He broke down crying, completely overwhelmed by sadness. And guilt. There was so much guilt.

He'd hidden it pretty well from everyone, but he was tearing himself up inside. He'd seen the future, and it was true, he had changed it some. After all, Watanuki hadn't been injured at all, but in the end that wasn't enough. Watanuki had done his best and it just hadn't been enough.

Yuko and Himawari were sad too, of course. But not on the same level. And Akira, though he had indeed been sad, he'd only really met Domeki about a week ago. He got over it pretty quickly. They each tried their best to comfort him, but there wasn't much they could do. Any extended time Himawari spent with Watanuki when Domeki wasn't around was hazardous to his health. Akira attempted to fill the void that Domeki had left, trying to be with Watanuki whenever he could, so that he wouldn't be alone. Yuko merely went about their ordinary life, trying to get Watanuki back into the routine he'd been in when Domeki had been around.

Watanuki appreciated their efforts, he did. But it hurt every time Himawari would suddenly cut their chat short for fear of hurting him. Akira, try as he might, simple wasn't the same as Domeki. And "getting back into the routine" as Yuko called it, just reminded him of Domeki even more.

'If I had just done something different! Anything! Told him? Made a wish? What! What would have saved him!', Watanuki told himself everyday.

It was weeks until Watanuki could think of the final moments without crying. It happened when he was walking home one evening. Some parts of the battle with Victor didn't quite add up. It took Watanuki a long time to notice them, but when he did he knew that the answers were important. He decided to ask Yuko in the morning.

When he walked into the store that morning, Yuko wasn't at the door to greet him like she had been ever since Domeki… had become unavailable. Watanuki shimmied out of his shoes and went looking for Yuko, taking note of the silence in the house. He found Yuko where he had originally met her, laying on the couch. She looked pretty serious.

"I have some questions.", Watanuki said.

"I imagine you do.", Yuko responded.

Not wasting any time Watanuki got right down to it, intending to start from the least important and work his way up, "What did Victor mean when he disappeared? He said some stuff about living forever with someone and not saying goodbye."

"Although, I do know the answer to that question, it's not my place to say.", Yuko answered, "Perhaps, someone you haven't seen in awhile will tell you someday."

"That's pretty vague. Even for you.", Watanuki shot back with a wry, almost smile.

Yuko herself did smile a bit, "Ha ha, is that right? Anyway, I expect that's not all you wanted to know, is it?"

Watanuki shook his head, "I was wondering… in the heat of the moment it seemed pretty natural, but now that I've had some time to think, or rather now that I've been ABLE to think there was something off about that battle."

Yuko nodded her head, giving Watanuki the indication that he should continue.

"I reflected the fireballs back at Victor, giving me and… him a chance to ready our attack. And then, when it looked like that still wouldn't be enough, I was able to increase it's power. How did I do these things?"

"That's easy, Watanuki. If you do a little bit of reasoning first.", Yuko explained.

"How so?", Watanuki questioned.

"What are your powers Watanuki?", Yuko prodded gently.

"Well, I can see spirits, of course. I have Premonitions from time to time, and I can feel the emotions of others, which you told me is more formally known as Empathy.", Watanuki listed, "But I don't see how…"

"And what was Domeki's power?", Yuko interrupted.

"Yuko… I-", Watanuki began before letting whatever he was going to say go and answering her question, "It came from his desire to protect. Specifically me."

Yuko frowned a bit, "That's true. But more generally, where do they come from?"

Watanuki thought for a moment. Then his mind suddenly made the connection.

"From his… feelings?", Watanuki guessed hesitantly, afraid to be wrong.

"Exactly!", Yuko exclaimed, "Now do you see what happened, Watanuki?"

Now it was Watanuki's turn to frown as he wracked his brain for a relationship between all the questions Yuko had asked. He drew a blank.

"I'm sorry Yuko, I don't know.", Watanuki admitted.

"That's fine, I'll tell you anyway.", Yuko said graciously.

She took a deep breath and started again, "Domeki's power comes from his emotions. One of your powers, Watanuki, is to feel the emotions of others. Since his power comes from his emotions, and you felt the emotions that gave birth to that power, you were able to temporarily copy it, saving your life."

Watanuki's mouth was wide open in awe. He had no idea that the Empathy power could be used like that! If he was understanding her correctly, he could copy anyone's powers, so long as he was around them and their powers came from their emotions. Watanuki shook himself and steeled himself to ask his last question.

"Why couldn't I change it?", Watanuki whispered, referring to the future he foresaw.

Yuko immediately sobered up, "But you did change it. You standing here is proof of that."

"Well, not enough! Why couldn't I effect the outcome like I wanted to!", Watanuki yelled at the top of his lungs.

Yuko lowered her eyes and spoke softly, "Sometimes premonitions aren't visions of a future you can prevent. Sometimes they're there to prepare you for what is to come, so that you can accept it more easily."

"That's… That's not good enough! It's not fair! Why wasn't I able to save Domeki like all the times he saved me!", Watanuki cried, "What's the point in having these powers at all, if I can't do anything with them?"

Yuko was silent, there was nothing she could say that would make him feel better, and there were plenty of things she could say that would make him feel worse, so she opted to say nothing.

Watanuki looked at the clock and then around the room, making a decision.

"I'm going to visit him." Watanuki declared, "I won't let him be forgotten. The least I can do is bring him some flowers, and maybe say hello."

Watanuki laughed at the last bit, but with no humor in his voice.

"Watanuki…", Yuko trailed off.

"Don't worry, Yuko.", Watanuki assured the woman, "I won't do anything stupid."

He walked briskly forward in the warm sunlight. He kept his eyes fixed forward, not letting them or his mind wander. He merely focused on getting from point A to point B. He continued this way for some distance, until a sweet scent hit his nose. He slowed to a stop and looked around for the source of the aroma. It turned out to be a flower shop, that had apparently just opened, for Watanuki didn't recognize it.

He entered the store on auto-pilot, having no idea why he was even bothering. After all, more likely than not, even if he brought flowers to Domeki, he wouldn't see them. However, the desperate hope within Watanuki that Domeki would, in fact, see them kept him rooted to the spot.

He absently walked through the store, stopping here and there to look at the flowers. He saw red roses, but he immediately dismissed them. Watanuki was NOT a romantic. At least, he fervently denied he was. Right next to them, however, were perfectly good yellow roses. As a plus they were on sale. Watanuki sighed and quickly went through the process of paying for them and having them wrapped.

On his way again, Watanuki reached the cemetery that was becoming a frighteningly familiar landmark to him. As he passed all the gravesites, he became increasingly distraught. When he finally reached his destination he broke down.

"I-I-I'm sorry! Please… don't stay this way… be how you've always been… I can't stand it if you won't…", Watanuki cried into his hands.

xxx

A few months passed since that day, and some things changed, while others did not. He had regular contact with Himawari, though not as much as before. She seemed to have gotten over the incident fairly well. At least, it seemed she wasn't crying anymore. In a moment of irrationality, Watanuki was actually angry at her for moving on, but he soon realized he was being ridiculous.

Akira and him had contact regularly, but they rarely saw each other in person. Akira had suggested they hang out several times, but every time Watanuki politely declined. He just didn't feel like going out and having fun.

Yuko became her everyday self, for which Watanuki was grateful. A Yuko that was stoic and intense all the time was seriously stressful. Watanuki expected her to just suddenly start telling him something cryptic at any given moment, though she rarely did. The mood in the store had been positively tense until she'd eased up a bit. Watanuki supposed that she had been grieving too.

And Domeki was still gone. That hadn't changed. Not even a little. Watanuki hadn't even had a dream about Haruka, which he thought might be the next best thing. Another thing that hadn't changed was Watanuki's mood. Oh, he'd begun to cover it under a shell of false cheeriness or anger or whatever, but it was fake. Himawari was probably fooled, Akira probably wasn't, and Yuko… well, let's just say that she had told him to quit moping when he'd been smiling his widest for her.

One day, Yuko broke the unspoken rule and asked Watanuki a what if question.

"Watanuki?", she called, drawing his attention, "What if I told you that there was a way to save Domeki?"

Watanuki blinked in shock, but answered, "I'd ask you what I would have to do, and then I'd do it. And then get mad at you for not telling me right away."

"There's a way to save him.", Yuko stated, creating a silence.

Watanuki looked down, "That's not possible. The doctors have done everything they can, but he still won't wake up."

"There's a way to save him.", Yuko said again, with no emotion.

"He's in a coma, Yuko!", Watanuki shouted, "Machines are the only thing keeping him alive right now! The doctors said to give up all hope of him waking up and accept that he's gone!"

"There's a way to save him.", she said yet again.

"STOP! Stop saying that!", Watanuki demanded, "I've just started healing! I can't go through this again!"

"But you're the only one who can save him…", Yuko spoke softly.

Watanuki sniffed, trying to keep the tears from falling, "R-really?"

Yuko nodded.

"How?", Watanuki asked simply.

"You once used the power of Lifeguard. If you could use it again, it's possible you could heal Domeki.", Yuko explained.

"Really! That's all there is too it?", Watanuki cried happily, "Why didn't you say this before!"

"It's… risky, to say the least.", Yuko admitted, "For the power to work, Domeki's life has to be in danger, and right now the machines that are keeping him alive are also preventing his life from being threatened."

"Oh…", Watanuki trailed off.

"In order for this to work, you'll have to unplug them. He could really die this time.", Yuko revealed, "Not only that, but Watanuki, you are untrained in the Lifeguard power, there's no telling whether you'll be able to get it to work or not, and even then it may not work the way you want it to."

"I see.", Watanuki stated.

"I wanted you to give you some time to get your emotions, especially your guilt, under control. If your Empathy power is off by even a little because of your own desire to not get close to someone again, this won't work.", Yuko sighed, "That and Domeki doesn't have as much time as you might think. While it's true that running a temple does have it's perks, it doesn't bring in enough money to support a hefty and constant hospital bill like his. He's almost out of money. With no money, and no parents around to protest, the hospital will most likely be forced to let him die."

"What! No!", Watanuki protested, "I'll do it! I'll save him, no matter what!"

"Hmm, you have a lot of determination.", Yuko observed, "That's good. You'll need it to see this through."

"When can I do it?", Watanuki asked.

Yuko smiled a bit at the question, "Whenever you feel you're ready."

"Then I'm going now!", Watanuki declared, "I'll be back later! With Domeki!"

With that, Watanuki was out the door in no time flat.

"My my,", Yuko remarked, "with that attitude, he just may be able to do it. I'll wait for him to return. For them both."

Watanuki ran down the street, not bothering to watch for cars. Luckily he didn't get hit. He ran past the flower shop that he'd been giving a lot of business to lately. Past the graveyard that he'd only just realized was way too close to a hospital for comfort. He ran into the doors and past the reception desk, not noticing the bright grin from the tall boy and soft smile from the black haired girl sitting in chairs in the waiting area.

He burst into Domeki's room, and found him just as he left him. Domeki hadn't changed a bit. Well, his hair had grown a little longer, but Watanuki kind of liked it so at his request it hadn't been cut yet. He was breathing quietly, and to just hear it, one would think he was sleeping. But Watanuki also saw the various machinery that Domeki was hooked up too, including the one that was monitoring his vital signs.

Watanuki decided to leave that one plugged in so that he'd be vaguely aware of what sort of state Domeki was in while he did what he had to do. He took a quick look around to figure out what would be the fastest way to unplug the machines that were keeping Domeki alive. Watanuki gulped at that thought.

'Can I really do this?', Watanuki wondered.

He took one more look at Domeki and made his decision.

'Of course I can. If I don't he'll die anyway, right?', Watanuki reasoned.

Watanuki found a power strip that had all of the machines plugged into it. He grabbed all of the cords, except the life monitor, and took a steadying breath. Then he ripped them all out of their sockets.

Domeki's breathing immediately worsened and became labored. From the beeping of the machine, it sounded like his heart was starting to go into a panic. Watanuki froze for a moment then immediately sprung into action.

Placing his hands on Domeki's chest, right above his lungs and heart, Watanuki began to attempt to remember what he was feeling when he tapped Domeki's power of Lifeguard. He was definitely regretting leaving the life monitor plugged in, as the insistent and constantly increasing tempo of the beeps started to freak him out.

As the beeps reached a terrifying crescendo, Domeki started shuddering and Watanuki started to fall apart.

"No! I have to protect you like you protected me! Please don't die!",Watanuki pleaded, beginning to cry.

Through his tears, Watanuki became aware of a warmth emanating from his hands. He looked down and saw that they were glowing a golden light. Domeki's breathing seemed to calm down and his heartbeat slowly resumed it's normal speed.

Watanuki sat still in shock as Domeki groaned and then opened his eyes. It still didn't quite click when Domeki turned to look at him, seemingly dazed.

"Hey Watanuki. What's wrong? Why are you crying?", he asked.

Watanuki was unable to hold back. He grabbed Domeki's shirt and cried into his chest. Sobbing and gasping, having no control of himself. Domeki said nothing, he merely patted Watanuki's head as his torrent of tears dried up into a trickle.

"Domeki.", Watanuki breathed.

Domeki looked into his eyes, curious.

"I- I do too. I feel the same.", Watanuki confessed.

Domeki didn't need to be an Empath to feel the emotions engraved into those words. He smirked and grabbed the back of Watanuki's head, bringing him down for a kiss.

A kiss that turned out to be not even close to their last.

A/N- There it's finally over! Did I fool you in the beginning? I honestly wasn't sure if I could keep Domeki's fate ambiguous, while implying his death, while successfully deceiving you guys. Oh hey, also I hope you realized that in the last two chapters both of the boys confessed their love! I wanted to get the point across without actually saying the words. Not sure if it worked, though.

IMPORTANT- Thank you to animegirl456, ArleneLee, Buzzbug82, Clarrolx, deleerium, dontchafeel likedancing, Eilonwyn, firestone99, lyrastone, Ritsuko-Kubel-Kettenkrad, sasukexchan, Shadow's Tears, Shikari The welsh ninja, sleeping itasaku fangirl, , Twelf Bell, wolfshadowlurker, 3dumplings3, stagehand-no-bento, Atanih Manaka, C. Isabel, .Icecream, EchizenRyomaLover, George2Bob1, Holly Alice, Jayuna, Kalika, katiesquilts, LonelyReflection, Maki-sama, Mayo2198, Mizumi-cham, mrawgirl09, mssekishi, songwriting, Nymphfairy10260, shylust, Silver Winged Firefly, sparkling red, WitchWoman, Wolf-girl-Artemis, Yami Ryo, and Yusuel for adding me to their favs, alerts, or both!

Now for the final public review answering time! (I will answer your review to the last chapter in a PM unless you specify otherwise.)

George2Bob1- Yeah he got hurt, but it all worked out in the end. =)

James Birdsong- Here it is! The finale. Hope it was even better than you expected. Thanks for reviewing all this time.

Eilonwyn- Ha ha, I couldn't kill him off, but I thought about it. I personally like happy endings better so that's the one I went with.