A week had passed ever since Sayuri had been admitted to Arkham's refurbished Mental Health Facilitation Unit. At first it was hard for her to adjust but with a few days she settled down to the routine.

There were no impositions on the resident patients, they were given separate rooms and were allowed to make use of the newly installed facilities such as the library and swimming pool.

All of them were scheduled to have a compulsory visit with a psychiatrist, every evening for the first week and then with regular intervals. They were also asked to keep a journal to record their thoughts whenever they felt like it. The psychiatrist would then not read the journal (since she respected everyone's privacy) but would give them a form to fill on how they felt after recording each entry.

Sayuri was to stay at the facility for a month and since it was her first week she had met up with her psychiatrist daily. Even though she had never thought it would be possible, but eventually she realized that her sessions were actually helping her.

By the end of the week, she felt a lot better as if a huge burden was slowly lifting up from her shoulders. She had kept in touch with Tim regularly as well but she had been hesitant to talk to Richard.

It was partially due to the fact that she had retaliated harshly on him while he had just wanted to help her out and also due to the fact that he had confessed his feelings for her.

The truth was that after Ryuu, she had totally shut herself out from the world. She had completely given up the will to live life to the fullest and the only motivating force she had which kept her moving on was the desire to reconcile with Tim.

Ever since then she had made Tim the main objective of her life and neglected her own self entirely. She had shunned everything which reminded her of love but there was still one person who strongly roused the same affection in her heart that she held for Ryuu. And much to her disappointment, she could not shun him away just like she had done so to all others.

She could not shut Richard Grayson out of her life and the inability to do so sometimes even frustrated her.

How many times she had made it clear to him that it would be best for both of them if he left her on her own, but still he was always there standing as a firm support. Fulfilling the part of a good friend who would stay beside her through good times and bad.

She feared that he was coming too close to her for his own benefit. A trail of murders was connected to her, she was herself a fugitive and she knew very well that the moment her captors found out her current refuge, they would annihilate all her friends.

All the Waynes and to most of her fear, Richard and Tim as well.

She stopped writing in her journal looking down at the words she had written as her eyes began to fill up with tears.

"I can't bear to lose Richard too. I don't want him to end up like Ryuu or like me, for that instance. He deserves so much better, he deserves all the good things in the world. And I'm certainly not good enough for him."

She knew very well that by now Richard had become quite important to her. He had acquired a special place in her heart which at first was only reserved to Ryuu Ishikawa. While he could not replace Ryuu, he had still somersaulted his way straight into her heart with just as much ease and grace as that of an acrobat.

So even though she didn't want to push him away, she feared that she was getting rather selfish and not thinking about his benefit. And according to her, his benefit laid only in staying away from a murderer like her.

Closing the journal, she stood up and took out her swimsuit from the compact drawers. She badly needed to relax, focus her brain on something else and the best way to do so would be taking a dip in the pool.

She hoped the water would calm her down. But deep inside she felt as if the day would come soon when she would have to face Richard and answer his questions. The day would come soon when she would have to tell him everything in order to ensure that he didn't end up getting hurt due to her.

***

Tim had been feeling a lot down lately so Richard decided to take him to visit Sayuri. They were allowed to visit in the evenings and he had even called beforehand to make sure the staff wouldn't have any problem with it. Since it was a working day, they could not take her out but the receptionist had assured them that they could freely take Sayuri home for the weekend and drop her back in the morning as per the rules or earlier if her condition worsened.

Richard was right in assuming that it would elevate Tim's mood. As soon as he told him, Tim was up on his feet, eager to go to her as fast as he possibly could.

They reached the hospital and requested to visit Sayuri Drake upon which they were told that she had gone for a swim. A nurse ushered them to the pool where gentle ripples were forming on the water surface as a delicate figure moved through with soft graceful strokes.

"Sayuri, you have visitors," the nurse called.

Moments later, her head emerged from the water, brown hair soaking wet and pale skin glistening from the pearl like water droplets.

"Sweetie, how long have you been in here? You're turning blue, come on out I think it's been more than an hour already. Here, take this," she held out a bathrobe and a towel. Then turning to Richard and Tim, she spoke, "let her take a shower first. I'll bring her to you afterwards."

Sayuri who had disappeared below the surface upon seeing Richard with Tim, peeked out again, "its alright, Linda. I'll take a shower and then meet them myself. Just a few minutes."

"Sure," Tim replied and both went out to wait in the waiting room.

Not long afterwards, Sayuri came to the waiting room as well. Her eyes lit up on seeing Tim who had rushed to give her a hug soon as she stepped in.

Richard stood back watching the two with a soft smile on his face. At times like these he could clearly see what Tim meant whenever he had said that Sayuri was quite like a mother figure to him.

She had gently wrapped her arms around him, "looks like my little Tim has missed me a lot."

"You have no idea," he mumbled in reply.

"Oh of course I do," she remarked with a soft chuckle, "I missed you too, Timbers."

She held him by his arms, taking a good look at him. She had noticed the paleness of his face and the tired rings round his blue eyes which had alarmed her. To her, it seemed as if he was worried about something and not  properly taking care of himself.

But then she knew that he was most probably worried about her and a soft sadness spread in her eyes, "you haven't been eating or sleeping on time."

Tim shrugged, "I'm fine."

"I can see that you're fine but you're not good," she elaborated, "if worrying about me takes such a toll on you then I'd rather you stop doing that altogether."

"Sayuri!"

She elaborated in a much softer tone, "hey, I didn't mean for it to come out harsh like that. I'm just scared you'd harm yourself if you go on like this."

Tim nodded, squeezing her hand in his, "it's okay. I won't harm myself, you know that."

"But this isn't going to convince me. First thing you do after reaching home is take an hour long nap."

"Alright."

"Promise me, Tim."

"I promise," he replied.

She ruffled his hair affectionately, "now that's like a good boy."

"Dick's here too," Tim spoke up after a while, noticing that she hadn't acknowledged his presence at all. Either she hadn't noticed him or she was intentionally avoiding him.

"Grayson," her cheeks colored faintly as she brought her eyes up to meet Richard's blue ones, "hi."

A smile broke out on Richard's face and he held his hand out for her to shake, "hey."

She bit her lip, thinking on what to do. He still had his hand out for her and she felt bad at making him feel awkward like that. So she reached out and grasped his hand but instead of shaking it politely like he had expected her to, she buried herself into his embrace. "I'm sorry, " she mumbled, her voice muffled and raspy as if she would break down any moment.

Richard was a bit taken aback at first but gently hugged her back, stroking her head softly as he whispered, "its okay, Sayuri. You don't have to apologize for anything."

Her forehead was resting on his chest and her hands clutched on to his jacket as if she never wanted to let go of him. She was slightly shaking as she let herself dissolve into his comfortable warmth, a sense of protection settling around her. She had never felt that sort of protection with anyone except Ryuu.

But Richard made her feel the same. He gave her the same reassurance of being safe from all horrors and free from all kinds of judgement. And that was a feeling which she hadn't experienced in years.

And no matter how her mind warned her against it, her heart craved for that sort of connection. She longed for someone to hold her close and cherish her, she desired to be loved. And having Richard in her life seemed nothing short of a blessing for that little moment.

Just for a few minutes as he held her close to him, she let herself forget about the past and the future, only living in the present. She let all her worries disappear just for the time she was still with him.

She knew the second he would let go of her, all the worries would come flooding back to her but she deliberately turned a blind eye to it all for the time being.

And even though she had never expected that but she found an exhilarating sense of warmth and comfort in doing so.

"Sayuri," his voice was gentle when he spoke again, "sit down please."

He made her sit on the bench and knelt down on his knee in front of her, clasping both her hands in his, "how are you?"

"I'm good," she replied, "much better than before."

"If you have any problem with anything here, let me know, I'll get it fixed."

"No no, everything's quite nice. Richard, would you sit beside me?"

He obliged and took the seat beside her, though he hadn't let go of her hands.

"You too, Tim."

Tim who had been standing in a corner watching them both, did as she asked him to as well.

"How are you both? And the others too, Barbara, Jason, Steph, Bruce, Alfred, all of them?"

"They're all fine. But only me, Dick and Bruce know that you're here."

"Oh."

"I thought you wouldn't be comfortable if they all knew so I requested Bruce not to tell," Tim elaborated.

"You thought right. I appreciate that."

Then turning to Richard, she spoke up, "Richard, please forget whatever happened that night. I'm really sorry. I yelled at you, I threw things at you, I... I tried to hurt you even though you were only trying to help. And you were right about every single thing you had said to me. I'm so so sorry."

"Hey, I said you don't have to apologize for anything," his thumb gently caressed her upturned palm in an attempt to reassure her, "none of it was your fault."

Her eyes watered at his sincerity but she held the tears back in, "but still... I treated you like garbage!"

"But you also said that you love this garbage," he remarked lightly, "so how can I possibly forget that night?"

Her cheeks donned a beautiful scarlet hue as she kept silent for a while, contemplating what to say to him. She spoke at last, "how can you always make a joke out of any situation?"

"Watashi mo anata o aishitemasu," he repeated the words she had said to him that night, "and this is clearly not a joke."

The crimson shade deepened as he gently cupped her cheek, capturing her lips in a kiss.

Tim stood up silently and walked out, not wishing to intrude in on their moment. He went to the gardens instead, thinking that maybe it was for the best that Richard was there to care for her too. Richard seemed to know exactly how to make her feel better and though at first, Tim hadn't been much supportive of the fact that Dick fancied his sister, he could see now that it did more good to her than anything else would.

Or anyone else for that instance.

Sayuri's left hand held on to Richard's shoulder, gently sliding up to his neck as he deepened the kiss, holding her other hand in his and pulling her closer towards him.

She closed her eyes arching her head back as she let him leave a trail of light butterfly kisses on her neck. At that moment, she felt as if she was finally where she should be. As if her heart had found peace at last.

"Sayuri," he mumbled amid the kisses and she responded, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Yes, Richard?"

"Get well soon, I miss you more than I can ever tell you," his hands caressed her cheek, gently brushing away the stray tears that had escaped her eyes earlier.

She nodded, "I'll try my best." But then as if she had suddenly remembered something, she turned to where Tim had been seated earlier but found the place empty, "where's Tim?"

"He has a sense of when it's better to let others have some privacy," he remarked with an amused spark in his eyes.

"You're the limit, Grayson," a smile formed on her face again, "let's go find him. I hope he's not feeling too embarrassed."

"Knowing Tim, on a scale of one to ten his embarrassment level would definitely be a fifteen."

"Oh dear. Where'd you reckon he would be then?"

"Probably in the gardens," he replied, "come on. Don't over think it, he'll be fine. He's trained to handle much bigger shocks as compared to this one."

"Grayson!" Sayuri shoved him playfully.

He shrugged but his eyes were still dancing in amusement, "what? I'm only being honest here."

***