Spoilers for the last episode, and the OAVs.

SHE HAD never been this nervous before. Even taking major exams when she was but a teenager, she didn't care. Never did, because she always thought at the back of her mind that things will turn out for the best. Besides, she doesn't expect much. She studied, she answered what she could, and hoped that she'll somehow get by. Yui once told her she was too cheerful for her own good, but she scoffed it off that a little happiness wouldn't hurt anyone.

Well, more than a decade later she wasn't so sure that her disposition still worked. She started questioning if she could manage to be as cheerful as the next sixteen-year-old, after all that had happened.

She absently ran her finger over the rim of the ceramic cup in front of her, her other hand tapping her thigh in an odd, rapid rhythm. She kept glancing back and forth, tying to catch sight of him from afar so she wouldn't jump from her seat when he finally arrived. He wasn't here yet - he was five minutes late, and she couldn't decide if that were a good or bad thing - so Miaka Sukunami sat there for a moment, considering taking a sip of the capuccino she ordered. Not bad, she thought. But the coffee was making her even jumpier.

She was definitely nervous.

Where could Taka be? she thought somewhat impatiently. More importantly - what did he want?

She hadn't expected to receive a call from him yesterday afternoon at work. She didn't want to hear from him; she had never heard from him after he walked out the door - and out their 12-year marriage...

But he had wanted to see her - and his surpise call brought back a lot of... good memories, which Miaka found unfair. He had sounded the same, so much like the man she loved, the man she trusted. His voice, although distorted by static over the phone lines, had made her ache for him and abhor him at the same time. She had felt so confused the previous afternoon that she decided to call it a day and just head home.

She smoothed down the front of her cream blazer, and ran well-manicured fingers through her hair. She looked good and she knew it - and, she hated to admit, it was no accident why.

Miaka's eyes roamed the streets outside the cafe. She looked right, left, but found no sign of her ex-husband. What she found, instead, was that it was getting more difficult not to drift back to the painful day eight months ago when she wouldn't wake up from the nightmare no wife want to have...

"So that's what this is about?" she had snapped out at him. Her vision was blurry with tears she didn't want him to see, and her bdy shook with fury she had never felt before in her life. Even she was taken aback by the degree of her reaction to his outright confession; after a few minutes of recovering from her initial shock, she had thrown a huge fit. Not that it was highly unlikely for her, it was just that she had been enraged when she had thought she would be numb, and she was overly vocal when she had wanted to sulk in a corner and weep her eyes out.

Taka had, understandably, chosen to keep his mouth shut. She went on, unmindful of the fact that their son might be listening in, if he wasn't already. "The times you went home late? The places you said you had to be but weren't? The extra hours you spent at the office - you were with her?" Miaka exaggeratedly ticked off the items off her fingers in angry motions.

Taka had his mouth set in a grim line. "It was one week, Miaka-"

She wished he realized how much that reply only fueled her anger. "Oh, right, a week. Just one week, seven lousy days. Compared to being married to me for twelve years, a week is nothing. Right?" Her eyes blazed as she paused in her tirade. She had never felt so angry in her life. Then again, she had never felt so deeply hurt and betrayed in her whole life either.

No, nothing comes close to this.

"Miaka-" Taka tried again. She looked at him, and saw the naked pain reflected in his eyes.

Hell. If this hurt him, does he know how much she's bleeding inside?

/ This isn't true. Please... tell me this isn't true. /

She found the one love she would wait a lifetime for- only to lose him in the end.

She sat down on the couch, her legs giving way. All of a sudden she became conscious of how tired she was - funny, when the scenario had been too swift.

Yes, tired. Weary, and drained. And utterly defeated.

"As much as I love you, Taka," she said quietly, with finality. "I don't want to see you again. Ever."

She still couldn't believe that had happened. Sure, eight months have passed - and she thought she had gotten used to it, being an unofficially separated [1] woman - but the pain lingered. She used to think this was never going to happen to her - with all her experiences as Suzaku no Miko, fighting to keep Tamahome then rediscovering him in Taka - Miaka had every right to think that they weren't any ordinary couple. That they had a great deal of love that precedes them, encompassing time and dimensions and supernatural happenings; it was something she believed they could hold on to for all eternity.

She was wrong. Yes, they weren't any ordinary couple, but they were just human. People who could get tempted, and who could fall... mortals who face up to the reality that nothing really lasts forever. Like marriage. Like... love.

And now he calls up, barely a year later - was she ready to face him? She couldn't decide if the eight months of their separation was too soon, or too long.

Miaka checked her watch - fifteen after four. Still no sign of Taka. Feeling resigned and without anything else to do, she just sighed and decided to finish what was left in her half-empty cup.

"Hey," someone suddenly drawled out in a soft baritone. Miaka practically spouted off her coffee at the man who stood in front of her, she was so surprised.

She choked in the most un-elegant manner, cursing under her breath for not noticing him quickly enough. Where in the world did he enter? She hastily reaching for the table napkin and wiping her mouth hurriedly. Arigatou, Kami-sama, for not letting me spill anything on my dress, she prayed gratefully.

"Taka," she said in greeting, forcing a bright smile. "You-you're here."

He was trying not to laugh and she knew it. "Konnichiwa, Miaka," he acknowledged. Without invitation - perhaps he didn't need one - he sat down opposite her in one of the plush leather stools.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said sheepishly. "Some people just can be so slow in moving, I guess."

Miaka resisted the urge to narrow her eyes at him and just shrugged. "That's all right."

Uncomfortable silence settled over them. Miaka tried very had not to notice that Taka looked more handsome than the last time she had seen him. With his navy blue blazer and his starched white dress shirt, he looked like a movie star. He had his hair cut too - which suited him just fine.

He was staring at her, Miaka realized a moment after she finished making an inventory of his outfit. "You look great today," Taka murmured.

Miaka reddened automatically - and cursed herself again for the reaction - and looked away. "Thanks."

Taka drummed his fingers over the table. "So... uh, how's Ryuuen [2] doing?"

Miaka obviously brightened. "Pretty well, actually. He just got accepted in his school's soccer team," she said proudly.

"Really?" Taka beamed as well, his eyes lighting up like any proud father's. "That's great. He's really getting into sports, isn't he?"

Miaka nodded. "Yes," she commented absently, "and he's doing great in academics too, even under the circumstances -" She stopped short, then clammed up.

The awkward silence stretched out between them. Taka heaved a heavy sigh. "I was hoping we could tak more," he said, "but, well -" He reached into his jacket pocket and presented here with a box. "Here."

Hesitantly Miaka took the velvet box from him and lifted the lid.

Inside was a gold locket with her name engraved on the ruby-studded pendant. "Oh Taka," she whispered, "it's - it's -" Priceless. Immensely beautiful and outrageously priced, no doubt.

She looked up at him, as if asking whether she should open it, and he nodded, with an indulgent smile on his lips.

Miaka unlocked the clasp and studied the image inside. The small spherical frame held their miniature wedding picture.

"Happy birthday," Taka said simply. Miaka looked up at him, and held his gaze. "That's all, really," he said, smiling at her wistfully. "That's all I wanted to tell you - here, let me help you put it on..."

As he stood up and circled the table to stand behind her, Miaka felt... out of it. Of all the people who would greet her a happy birthday...!

But she was sure glad he remembered.

Say thank you, Miaka thought, steeling herself against the resentful events about to flood her mind, make this impersonal.

But as his hand touched the cool skin of her neck, waves of beautiful memories crashed over her - and she willfully drowned in them.

New words tumbled out of her mouth instead.

"I missed you," she choked out. Her eyes pooled with tears, the same way they had when she was younger - which made her disgusted with herself, for being the vulnerable woman she was. No, she didn't want him to see how much he still meant to her - she wanted to show him that she was strong, that she could handle things on her own...

Seconds dragged on, and Taka was still standing behind her. Then, slowly, he reached down and covered her smaller hand in his. His were warm, although callous - sturdy, solid, dependable Taka. Who once told her he would always be there for her.

Who was now telling her the same thing with his touch.

"I'm sorry," he said into his hear, his voice cracking.

She turned slightly and stared deep into his eyes, and saw the sincerity she refused to see almost a year ago; a gentle, welcoming smile formed on her lips. She gently entwined their fingers together - interlocked, as if never to let go.

She watched Taka's face mirror the smile she had on her own. He clasped her hand more tightly.

Right then, that was all each of them would have needed.

Notes:

[1] I'm not familiar with the divorce laws in Japan, so I'm sorry if this sounds overly westernized. Let's just presume they didn't really get divorced, just... separated. Y'know, living in different houses, and having no contact whatsoever in the whole eight months (yes, she was THAT angry and he was THAT willing to let her cool off). Also their son lives with Miaka (obviously).

[2] OK, I couldn't think of a nice name for Taka and Miaka's son - so let's just say Miaka named him after Nuriko. Er, why? Coz he's my favorite Suzaku Seishi. ^^;; No, really, coz I think he's been a damn great friend to both Tamahome and Miaka, that it would be logical if Miaka wanted to name their son after the purple-haired seishi.