A/N: I deeply apologize with all of you my wonderful readers for the long wait, I was deep stuck in works, exams, family, new place (college is a whole new level =o), and diverse problems (some of them concerning this fandom :[ ). I don't want to rant over the things I did (and see :I ) so, forgive my irresponsibility and enjoy the last chapter of FgaR.

I had an amazing time writing this story and I'm glad you enjoyed it as well :)

•He was a friend of mine•

It was the loneliest place he had ever seen. It was the most beautiful place that had ever existed. It laid before his eyes. The road was in front of him; a straight line with an undefined end. He walked ahead, stepping on the reddish grass, and staring at the imprecise, wavering horizon. At his sides, lines of white trees and plants stretched upwards, almost touching the clouded sky. The wind whistled into his ears; words without tangible meaning were whispered secretly. Leaves and small flowers of different colors fell graciously all over the place.

He was embraced by the warm air, as if there was really someone hugging him fondly.

Within the thickness of the forest, a purplish mist mixed with the air. The light slowly faded away to the point where he couldn't even see his hands. There was a clicking sound and the light came, blinding him. Several signs appeared; neon light and bulbs of unusual shapes hanging inconsistently from a unknown place in the sky. He blinked a few times and saw further on a table, neatly decorated with a golden tablecloth, an unlimited row of silverware, food and two chairs to sit on.

Pulled by an invisible force, he sat facing a yellowish lake.

The water was calm, without a movement on the surface. There were no waves, there was no life, and yet it was mesmerizing to his eyes. These feelings were a mistake, he thought. There was a feeling inside his chest telling him that something was wrong. But he couldn't possibly point out what it was.

Everything was perfect. Everything was ideal. Everything should be idyllic. Everything in there was for him. Yes, for him. He knew it. Everything was placed solely thinking on his behalf.

A tiny voice, in the back of his head asked, why are you waiting?

Why was he there…?

Alone.

The realization hit him. Suddenly, he knew what that awful feeling he felt was. The place… there was something missing… No. There was someone missing. The dreaded feeling changed into sorrow and his heart cried in pain. His name. What was his name? He rose from his seat, panicking. He didn't remember his name. He was forgetting that person's name. No!

His face, his face was slowly fading away in his mind. Memories were losing their meaning. Places and situations were slowly being erased.

"Stop!" he yelled desperately.

He held his head between his hands, shaking.

Why do you resist?

He couldn't forget. He didn't want to forget.

You are going to suffer.

He didn't care. He could take the pain. It was proof he had lived, it was proof that something was there. It was proof of his hope.

"Shizu-chan is an idiot."

•••••

Shizuo sat upright. His heart drummed against his ribcage, and cold sweat rolled over his skin. It took him some time to calm down; he breathed deeply and slowly, evening his heartbeats. A dream. It was a dream. He let out a shaky breath. Damn it all. It felt so real. There was a subtle feeling of warmth over his skin. Shizuo shook his head and jumped off of his bed. He took a light shower and changed quickly into the first thing he could find.

Minutes later, he was striding down the dark alleys and streets of Ikebukuro.

The night and the full moon were his only company.

•••••

"I don't know if I should be impressed or annoyed, Shizuo," Shinra mused aloud. "Anyhow, come on in. I think I know why you came all the way here at three in the morning."

Shinra stepped aside and let Shizuo in. The blond walked directly to the guestroom. Shinra sighed and closed the door. After, he followed Shizuo's path, and like these past five days, Shinra saw him as he stood beside the bed of the room with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You know, you never ask anything about his condition, so I, sometimes… well, most of the time… frankly speaking, all the time, I feel like I'm on the edge when you just stay like that watching him… I feel like you are going to jump on him and kill him… or something… Don't look at me like that! You know I have basis to state that hypothesis. Okay, okay, easy. I will shut up now, don't get angry."

There were three whole minutes of silence until Shinra spoke again. "His state is something similar to comatose. However, this wasn't caused by intoxication, or metabolic abnormalities, or the normal head trauma. This seems to be auto-induced, but how he did it is something beyond my judgment. I'm not going to ask what happened." Shinra shrugged. "I mean, you walking here one day with him in your arms, panicking that you might have killed him, was enough shock for me. I never thought you two could actually kill each other. Oh, you know, I found something interesting. Generally a patient who is unable to voluntarily open his eyes doesn't have a sleep-wake cycle, yet, Izaya seems to be dreaming all the time."

Shizuo was quiet the whole time, barely listening to Shinra's rant. He really didn't care about that complicated stuff. The only thing that he wanted to hear about was Izaya's awakening. And that was the only thing Shinra seemed to forget to mention.

At some point, Shinra left and Shizuo sat on the bed watching Izaya sleep. He was just asleep, right? He was just resting. Yes, resting and leaving him with tons of questions. Five days ago he was rescued by a weird girl with strange powers. Five days ago someone possessed Izaya's body and threatened to kill everyone, including Shizuo.

Shizuo felt an involuntary shudder at the thought of the pain he had experienced during that time.

He took Izaya's limpid hand in his own and squeezed it. He felt warm but somehow cold.

Izaya couldn't hear him, could he?

He didn't know. He didn't know anything. Were the dreams he had had real? What should he do? He didn't know. The only thing he could do was to wait and pray that some merciful god could ease his pain.

•••••

Shizuo was fascinated by those lips. He, unconsciously, licked his own lips.

"It's rude to stare like that, Shizu-chan."

"Don't care, they're my eyes. I can watch whatever I want with 'em, Izaya-kun."

"I beg to differ. If I wanted to, I could rip out those pretty eyes of yours from within your skull and squish them like lemons."

"You think my eyes are pretty? Thanks, man. I like yours better, though, they're like red candy, you know what I mean?"

"How could this discussion end up like this?"

"Dunno," Shizuo shrugged. "When I'm here I feel like I'm high."

"I have to practice more. It's more difficult than I thought to be with you like this."

"What? Hey, hey, I'm not sure what you meant, but don't leave me alone."

"…Yes, you don't know what you are saying, and my presence is affecting you."

"Hey, have I told you that you look good in those?"

"I'm sorry?"

"That outfit. You look hot."

"What on earth is wrong with you?"

"I told you, dunno. Must be your doin'." Shizuo shrugged again and walked over to Izaya. "I feel like I can do anythin'."

Shizuo pushed Izaya down to the ground and pinned his arms above his head. Shizuo brushed his nose against Izaya's face, breathing in deeply every so often. The lips that had been tempting him earlier were close to his own, but he stopped.

Shizuo sat and brought Izaya onto his lap. Shizuo buried his face into Izaya's neck.

"Why did you stop?" Izaya asked, resting his chin on Shizuo's shoulder.

"When are you coming back?" Shizuo replied.

Izaya struggled to speak. "That… I don't know…"

"Is that so…"

The place they were currently sitting in was a small house with a beautiful garden, with various flowers and bushes surrounding them.

"Could you hurry?" Shizuo hadn't moved from his position.

"…Why?" Izaya asked finally, after a long pause.

"'Cuz I miss you."

There was another long pause and Shizuo peered at his companion.

"Don't look!" Izaya freed his arms and held Shizuo's head in place.

"Oof!" Shizuo tried to move. "Why can't I look?"

"Because I say so!"

"…heh, you're blushh-augh!"

Shizuo was pressed further into Izaya's sternum. "Shut it!"

Shizuo laughed and said afterwards, "You seriously need to come back…"

"Why? Why can't you just simply think that this is a dream and forget about me?"

"…Have you wished that dreams were really true?"

"No."

"Neither do I… But, since you left, I began to wish them. I began to wish dreams could come true."

•••••

It was morning when Shizuo woke up. His hand was still holding Izaya's. The oxygen mask was still attached to his pale face. A few machines were connected to his body. Shizuo brought his free hand to his face and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

There was a soft knock at the door and Shizuo looked up to see Celty standing in the doorway.

[Good morning.] she typed.

"Mornin'," Shizuo replied sleepily.

[Your boss called me. He's worried about you and he isn't the only one worried about you, Shizuo. You won't tell us why or how the fire started in Shinjuku. Or how Izaya ended up like this…]

Silence followed.

Celty moved her shoulders as if sighing. [I just want you to know that I'm here when you feel like talking, okay? (^^)/ ]

"Thanks," Shizuo said quietly.

[Breakfast is ready. I have a job to do now and Shinra is also out, feel free to use anything you might need. See you later.]

Celty waved goodbye.

Shizuo stood for a few minutes in silence, the warm small hand still on his own. He rubbed his thumb on the back of Izaya's hand. He rose from his chair and planted a kiss on his forehead, then sighed and walked out of the room.

The television was on. The forecast was presented.

{We await the end of this rainy season within the next couple of days −}

He left Izaya alone for a few moments.

{−this is probably the last rainy day−}

When he came back, Izaya was no longer in his bed.

Panic engulfed his being. He searched throughout the entire building. The next couple of days, he searched through the entire city.

And the rain seemed to have forgotten how to stop.

•••••

A pair of red eyes looked upward; they roamed through the vast dark sky above his head. Stars were twinkling; he could see comets and meteors travelling in white lines of stardust. Izaya raised his right hand, stretching his palm as if to seize the celestial Astros. The ground underneath his back began to shake; there was a stillness passing through the air. His hand began to shake. Far away from there, a red star rumbled; its inner core started crying and its surface began to die away.

Izaya breathed out and watched with mild curiosity as a new black spot appeared in place of the bright star.

He heard footsteps getting closer to where he was. "There you are," a deep voice said.

"Here I am," Izaya said insipidly.

"May I sit?"

"Of course you can, I don't care either way." Izaya said, his eyes still glued to the sky.

"Your skills are impressive, Orihara-san."

"Tsugaru, pretty please, shut up."

"You are upset. Want me to hug you?" Tsugaru asked with a smile.

"Oh please do, and then let's see how pretty you'll look with the burns I plan to give you~!" Izaya finally looked at Tsugaru. "I promise the burns will carve deep enough to reach your bones, and hurt so badly that you'll want to pass out."

"No matter how appealing that sounds, I have to refuse." Tsugaru's smile was still there.

Clouds began to form, moving their purplish shapes to cover the sky.

"I don't love you," Izaya said, sitting on the ground without looking at Tsugaru.

"I know," Tsugaru replied. "You can't love me because I'm not human, but the real reason is something I knew all along, since the first time I met you."

Izaya keep staring at the sky.

"I do love you, though," Tsugaru said. "After all, you are something correlated to Psyche. I love you also for who you are, and I'm fine with you not loving me back. I feel rather relieved by that, in fact."

Tsugaru moved and hugged Izaya from behind. "Tell me, Orihara-san, what is more frightening? To be loved by me?" Tsugaru kissed Izaya's shoulder. "Or to be loved by Heiwajima-san?"

•••••

"I would say that Heine-san is a masochist," Tsugaru pondered.

"I agree. Just look how happy it gets when you two fight. Though, I would also say that you are a sadist and that both of you should form a really happy relationship of S&M-glee already," Izaya said.

"Oh no, Heine-san is not my type and I'm not into hardcore stuff."

Heine slammed his hands down on the table. "The preparations are arranged. You have twelve hours before we set off," he said venomously.

"It's time to say goodbye."

•••••

It's been three days since Izaya went missing and Shizuo walked through the streets of Ikebukuro like zombie. Something inside of him hung broken. He felt terribly exhausted, mentally and physically. All the people looked just like a big gray mass. He wandered in the streets and alleys until something caught his attention.

Slowly, someone appeared clearly in Shizuo's eyes. A dark jacket and black hair disappeared around the corner of Simon's place. With a stir of emotion, Shizuo ran after the person.

When he caught the person, his mouth hung agape. "Um, sorry I thought that you were someone I know… sorry… I'm sorry." Shizuo said, embarrassed, and hastily drew his hand from a girl who had a curious red color of eyes.

"Huh, that person must be very important to make you do that kind of face," she said, rubbing her sore arm. "Dude, you are strong… and dumb, apparently." She was very irritating.

But she was right. "Yeah, he is an important person…"

"So, tell me. If you got just one chance to speak with that important person, what would you say?"

"That's personal info, don't ya think?" She was making him angry.

She made a sly smile. "Just answer, will you? You owe me for this ache in my arm."

For some reason, he couldn't deny that moment. "I'll probably say sorry… 'cuz even though I wanna say a lot of things, I don't think I'd say them at all… I think, I'd say that 'I never thought to fall in love with you'. You became what I love most in this world. When I wake up you're the first of my thoughts. You're my salvation. I'm the one who wants to love you the most. You have no idea how much I love your smile… Or simply shut his lips with mine. I think it's pretty much the latter."

The girl stood there, frozen stiff. "You… why, oh my, oh lord… don't you dare tell him all of that, okay? You are going to freak him out! What kind of sappy talk have you been practicing?"

Shizuo glared at her. "It's my damn right to tell him what I want. And-"

"Yeah, yeah, but you can't tell him, can you?"

Shizuo stilled. Of course he couldn't tell him. He didn't even know where he was.

"I mean, as soon as you see him again, you are going to kiss him~"

Shizuo looked at the girl strangely. The girl grinned. "When he has his eyes like this," she closed her eyes, "you have to kiss him, that way he'll open his eyes~!"

"You're an odd girl."

"Thank you~!" The girl began to walk away. "It's been a painful pleasure to meet you. See you soon~." She winked at him.

After a moment, Shizuo turned in the opposite direction. Soon after, the same problems, his old burdens, attacked his heart. Weird, why did he forget his problems?

Startling him from his thoughts, a voice shouted, "Two years! Shizu-chan!"

Shizuo turned on his feet, but the voice and girl had already disappeared.

How did she know his name?

•••••

People were rushing from place to place in the normal routines they had lived. Busy people walked through the streets of Ikebukuro. From the very top of a tall building, a dark figure stood, his red crimson eyes looking downward. A sly smile hung at the corner of his mouth. It felt as if he had woken up from the end of a dark lonely dream. That was the very minute, the first step of his new life.

When he saw the person he was looking for, he breathed in and shouted the person's name.

He smirked down at the person who looked stupefied. He closed his eyes and took one step, off of the corner of the building.

His name was shouted and he couldn't help but feel happy.

When his body landed, he was finally within the warm embrace of a pair of familiar arms.

Open your eyes.

•••••

Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire. – Francois Duc de la Rochefoucaul.

•End•

A/N: I hope it was of your liking, it was an incredible trip I had with you. Thanks to you I was able to reach more than 100 comments. It's some kind of personal achievement you allowed me to feel. I'm grateful (in absolutely glee) and also eager to read your comments. This can have a happy ending so you can't complain, lol.

See you somewhere in the future!