Broken Thoughts

Written by: Catrina Winner

Disclaimer: ^ ^ No. I don't own it. Don't sue me. You may get an old piece of gum and a chewed up pencil if you'd like to try. Or you could just age your own gum and chew up your own pencil and leave me alone. ^ ^

A few authors' notes: Many reviews! Thank you all! *drum roll* This is the last chapter!! Aren't you all so proud of me? I think this is the first fanfic I'll have ever finished. Wow. The title can be translated (roughly. very roughly. c'mon just work with me!) to "That is heart." ^ ^ Read on and review so I'll write the rest of my 16 chapter humor/romance Pretear fanfiction, which I don't have posted yet. Heh.

*************************** Chapter Five: Kokode Kokoro

Hayate stepped back and stared into Himeno's eyes. His arms trailed down hers, then dropped to remain at his sides.

"Himeno. I was so worried! Where. where have you been?" his eyes sparkled and he again enveloped her in his warm arms. Himeno stood very still for several seconds, then finally moved her head enough so she could view Hayate's face. His eyes were closed tightly, but she could see the light glimmer of a single tear there.

"I was out." she said quietly, pulling away from him and turning her back. The light color of her hair caught the sun in magnificent ways, sending dazzling colors onto the pavement around them and making Hayate's eyes smart. She rustled around for a moment, then bent down and lifted her book into the air. Hayate watched these proceedings with a sad and heavy heart. The way Himeno had detached herself from his arms had been enough of a sign that she was trying as hard as possible to escape him.

"Himeno. I." Hayate paused for a fraction of a second, then a bright- eyed Himeno turned to face him.

"Here, Hayate, I bought you something too." She handed him a kendama, much like the one he had given her when she was training to become Princess Pretear. "I thought you might like one, as you did give your old one to me. And I." she trailed off at the sight in front of her.

Hayate's eyes had widened immensely and he slowly reached out a hand to grasp the kendama in it. His fingers lightly brushed against hers and she retraced them quickly, still unsure of the boy before her. He stared at the gift for a long time before returning his gaze at her.

"For. me.?" he asked haltingly. Himeno nodded, her hair bouncing up and down vigorously.

"I thought you might like something. And I did get something for everyone else, so." she smiled. Hayate looked back at the kendama, then up at her. With one easy motion, he threw the gift into the bushes surrounding them and stepped closer to her.

She stared in the direction that the kendama had flown in; unable to comprehend why Hayate had done such a thing. She had little time to make heads of tails of it, however, for the next thing she knew, she was in his arms again.

"Himeno. I don't want any gifts from you," Hayate said slowly, "I only want one thing."

Himeno looked at him questioningly, once again trying to pull back and away from him. But this time, Hayate refused to let her go, and instead bestowed a light kiss upon her lips.

The pink-haired girl was stunned beyond words. Hayate jumped back a second later, completely releasing her, and stared off into the dirt off to the side, blushing furiously.

"I love you."

Those three words were all she had ever wanted to hear. Slowly, she allowed her eyes to flicker back towards his, which her looking at her nervously. She suddenly threw herself into his arms with a gleeful cheer and hugged him tightly. Hayate looked slightly surprised at having his confession being received in such a manner, but apparently he had no complaints.

A bright flash of light erupted from behind the blushing couple as Himeno risked another light kiss. Both leapt apart from each other a scant instant too late. Sasame was standing boredly next to Kei, who was tossing a camera up and down in the air. Mannen, Shin, and Hajime dangled from the tree beside them, with Goh bringing up the rear, a wide smile on his face.

"Took you long enough," Kei muttered and turned to leave. Hayate was glued to the same area, mortified that his confession had been caught on film. Himeno grinned, handing him the book, then stomped over to Sasame where she threatening lifted a fist.

"If I don't receive copies of those pictures, someone will be in a lot of trouble!" then she grinned, dropped her fist, and returned to Hayate's side in amidst a tumult of laughter. Hayate looked down at her, smiled, and gently kissed her hair. Another flash of light blinded him and he snarled, stumbling blindly off in the direction he thought the cameraman was standing in, following the rowdy laughter that filled his heart.

~Owari~

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So sorry that this hasn't been posted earlier! I didn't realize I hadn't, and today I noticed it was sitting around in my fanfiction folder, and not on or my website, and I quickly remedied the situation. Well, I do hope you enjoyed the ending to my first complete fanfiction, and please, please review! ^ ^ Any comments or criticisms are appreciated! If you're bored, you can always go check out my other fanfics and review those. ^.~ Anyway, goodbye for now!

~Catrina Winner~