-Surprising even herself, and maybe a mark of how much she'd mentally matured in just a short few months, Sakura's reaction didn't sting quite as much as she'd thought it would. There was still a pain there, but it was a subtle one, and one she'd kind of known was coming...-

I should be the one apologizing... -Sakura hadn't said it, but she knew that tone. She'd heard it so many times before, even if there was a different, distinct, fragile quality to it now.-

But please... Don't feel pressured to return my feelings. I... I know I don't really have a right to them. What I've decided, is that no matter what happens... I plan to still be here at your side, no matter what label we have for each other. -Or what becomes of them as the future unfolds. Because she can see, at least partially, into Sakura's heart, and see that uncertainty.-

So... sorry. But I have to live honestly with you from here on, or we would have both almost died for nothing.