AN: Thanks to JDUBZ for being an awesome Beta Reader! I ran out of creative ways to say this a long time ago.

Chapter 1: July 23rd

It had been a month ago that Subaru had asked Rem to run away with him, and it was a month ago that Rem had agreed to run with him. Subaru still couldn't believe that she agreed. It took some persuasion, but in the end she probably couldn't resist his stunning looks. OK, maybe I'm just full of myself.

After moving out to Kararagi, Rem and Subaru had found a place to live, a tiny apartment. It was cheap and run down, but it was, most importantly, affordable for two people who had run away with almost no money. Rem had paid the driver most of the money lent to them by Roswaal to cover any expenses that they may have while in the capital. What he didn't prepare them for was a journey to another country.

"Where are we going, Subaru-kun?"

Rem was currently being dragged out the front door of their apartment to go somewhere unknown to her.

All that had happened that morning was that Subaru had told her that he was going to take her somewhere special. For Rem, just being with her Subaru-kun was special enough, but to go somewhere special with her Subaru-kun was even more special.

They woke up early in the morning and went out shopping in the shopping district of their little town. With little tents and tables set up to sell goods at cheap prices, Subaru and Rem had to make do with what little money they had. However, the deal with Oki had definitely help them on two ends; having mayo and saving money.

Subaru moved to a clothing shop and looked at the women's section.

Rem tapped on his shoulder and looked around him, putting a finger to her chin, "Subaru-kun? Why are you looking at these clothes?"

Subaru turned to Rem and gladly explained, "Haha, well you see, Rem, I found a nice place to spend our Saturday." Subaru turned back around as he sifted through a pile of dresses, "Where we're going is a surprise."

Rem instantly got excited. Gasping, she held her hands below her chin and went on her tippy toes, "And Subaru-kun is going to wear a dress?!" Her eyes glistened at the thought of seeing Subaru in a cute dress.

A shadow casted over Subaru's face at the thought of something that embarrassing, "Gee, I didn't think something like that would make Rem so happy."

The shadow that had consumed his face disappeared when he found the perfect dress. He pulled it from the neat pile and held it out in front of his body for Rem to see. A triumphant look was etched onto his face as he presented a pale, peach colored summer dress.

Rem's small smile widened when she saw the dress. She walked up to it and felt it in her hands. "It's so soft and pretty, but…" she took the dress from Subaru and held it up to his body, "...isn't it a bit too small for Subaru-kun?"

Subaru mentally face palmed. She still thinks it's for me…

Subaru got the dress back from Rem and held it up to her her body, "No, Rem….. The dress is for you to wear."

Rem giggled and put her hands to her side as Subaru determined if it would fit her.

"Hmmmmmmm…" Subaru thought as he let Rem hold the dress while he stood back and imagined Rem wearing it. He snapped his fingers and smiled brightly, "You'll look gorgeous in it."

Holding up the dress, Rem used it to hide her blush.

"Hey, Rem. You OK?" Subaru used a hand to move the dress to the side and look at Rem. Her cheeks were still pink.

Was it something I said?

The small shopkeeper approached them. It was an elderly woman who was dressed in bizarre clothing. "Can I help you lil'uns?" Her wooden cane made a tapping sound on the stone floor every time she stepped.

Subaru turned back around at the sound of the woman's voice. Waving with enthusiasm, he said, "Oh, no thank you for now. We're just looking to see what to get for my friend."

The woman switched her cane to her other hand and aid while shaking her head, "Well if you're getting something for the girl there…" she used her cane to remove the summer dress from Rem hands. "You're definitely not gonna want this."

She placed the dress back down onto the table and skimmed through another pile. After a few seconds, she found what she was looking for, "Hey we go." She pulled out another summer dress that was light blue, "I'm sure she'll fancy this one much more."

Subaru nervously smiled as he rubbed the back of his head, "Well, I never really did have much fashion sense. Hehe." After, he waved a hand in front of him, "Anyway, it's not my decision. Rem?"

A sparkle danced across her eyes when she saw the dress. "It's beautiful."

The woman held it out for her to take.

Rem gladly held the dress in her hands and hugged it.

Seeing Rem make her decision, Subaru pulled out a pouch of coins, "We'll take it."

Rem's hand was being pulled to the dagon carriage outside their apartment by Subaru. Her other hand was holding down the sun hat she wore with her blue summer dress. Subaru still wore his track suit, he always chose to wear it any chance he got between washes.

"Where are we going, Subaru-kun?"

Subaru opened the door to the carriage with a bow, "Like I said, Rem-rin, it's a surprise." In his hand behind his back was a picnic basket so it kinda gave away the fact that it was a surprise.

Rem looked over Subaru's shoulder to see at the basket, "Subaru-kun, are you taking Rem on a picnic?"

He replied with a nonchalant face, "Maybe, maybe not."

Rem backed away from Subaru with a smile, "First a compliment, then a dress, and now a picnic? Subaru-kun spoils Rem too much. Rem likes it." Giggling her short, cute giggle, Rem turned to step into the carriage.

Subaru was frozen in place, dropping the basket, until he was able to get out what he wanted to say while making illegible sounds, "Tah, tah, tah, it's not like that!" His hands were in front of him with his palms up, gripping the air.

Rem's expression stayed true as she sat down. She looked at Subaru who was still looking at her from the outside. Patting the seat in front of her, she tilted her head and closed her eyes. Subaru couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked.

Subaru took a deep breath before stepping into the carriage. The blue haired ex-maid clapped her hands and bounced in her seat.

The driver of the carriage whipped the reins. They jerked forward as the dragon started to pull the couple away.

Suddenly, Subaru busted out the door of the carriage, yelling, "Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait!"

He practically fell on his face as he shot out of the carriage and ran back to retrieve the picnic basket he had forgotten on the floor. Rem poked her head out to watch Subaru. He ran back at full speed, noticing the carriage hadn't slowed down. "I said wait!" Waving an arm above him, Subaru desperately tried to catch up with the carriage.

About a dozen miles west of their little town was a lake that was surrounded by a large assortment of houses. However, they allowed it to be part of a large park that held a small wooded area and many grassy hills that people took their kids to. raspberry bushes were planted in the area to appeal to more kids, keeping the area lively and more popular among families.

Subaru had come across this place when he was delivering a large quantity of copper to someone a few cities across Kararagi. It was a long trip, but he was able to keep busy by taking in the sights, and learning about the area. Early on in his delivery, this lake had stood out to him and he thought it was a perfect place to relax and maybe have fun. Seeing it again on the trip back only confirmed his thoughts on going there. He was sure that the vibrant colored flowers that grew ubiquitously around the park would definitely appeal to Rem.

"We're here! Yes!" Subaru rose the basket into the air as he took in the view. They had broken a barrier of trees and were now in full view of the park. As expected, a vast lake steered a mile or two down in the opposite direction. Surrounding it were grassy plains and hills.

A smile formed on Subaru lips when he saw Rem marvel at the scene. "How did you find this place, Subaru-kun?"

"Well, when you deliver packages to god-knows-where, you tend to pick up some things along the way." He extended his arms towards the lake, "This was one of them!"

Rem put her hands behind her back and twisted the front of one of her shoes into the grass. "This place is beautiful, but not as beautiful as Subaru-kun." She immediately started girlishly running down the hill and towards the lake, giggling the whole way.

Subaru watched as her dress gracefully flowed behind her. He thought how cute she looked when she ran in that get up while her hand had to hold her hat down. However, when Rem's comment hit him he wasn't sure if he heard right. "Hey, Rem! What was that?!"

He took off down the hill, chasing after the fanatical demon.

Rem waited for Subaru to catch up to point out the geese that were swimming in the lake. "Subaru-kun, look! Ducks!"

The honking sounds of geese filled the air.

Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk!

Subaru placed the basket down and looked at the geese from next to Rem, laughing internally at Rem's cute mistake, "You like geese, Rem?"

Rem noticed her mistake and blushed and shook her head, "I don't know. Rem has never seen one in real life. Rem has only ever seen them in paintings."

Being cooped up in a secluded village and mansion almost her whole life had deprived Rem of seeing many things in the outside world. One of those things was geese.

Subaru put a finger up, "Tell you what, Rem. I dragged you here to Kararagi so it's my duty to make your stay here as enjoyable as possible. First step is to expose to you things you never were exposed to before, things that'll be enjoyable of course…." he began rummaging in their basket.

Curious as to what he had planned Rem stared at Subaru, "Hm?"

"Ah, here we go." He pulled out a small loaf of bread. "I made sandwiches for this occasion, but brought more bread for each of us in case we were still hungry. Don't worry, they can have this one and we'll share the last one." Tearing off a piece, Subaru handed it to Rem. "Throw it at the geese."

Doing as he instructed, the bread landed near one of the geese. It eagerly gobbled it up and went back to whatever it was doing before.

Rem gasped happily when she saw the goose eat the bread. She tugged at Subaru's sleeve, "Subaru-kun, it ate the bread!"

Subaru laughed light heartedly, "Ha, yeah they do that, Rem."

Tearing off another piece, Subaru threw one himself, but this one didn't go as far. His plan was to get them closer so Rem could see them better.

After throwing another piece, he gave the rest of the loaf to Rem, saying with an encouraging smile filled with warmth, "Try to lure some closer so you can get a good look at their cute faces. I'm going to set up the picnic."

"OK, Subaru-kun." Rem smiled as she threw a piece of the bread into the water.

Subaru picked up the basket and moved back so they can be under the shade of a tree that wasn't too far off. Setting the basket down, he retrieved a thin green blanket from within and laid it on the grass.

When he laid out the blanket, he also started to empty the basket . He pulled out sandwiches, orange slices, strawberries, the last loaf of bread, and corked bottles of apple juice. Or appa juice as they call it here.

When Subaru finished he looked at his work, "There...all done. For a guy that can't do much...this looks acceptable."

He turned to see Rem happily tossing more of the bread to the approaching geese. Subaru thought she looked so carefree there so he pulled out his metia and followed Rem with it's camera setting.

He snapped a shot of Rem tearing off a piece of bread, one of her tossing it, another of her noticing more geese coming closer, another of her face growing nervous as more geese began to surround her, another of her edging her way out of the circle and the bread still on hand, another of her backing away from the geese with a nervous smile, and then the last shot was of Rem running from the geese as they chased her. They were obviously just trying to get to the bread, Subaru laughed as Rem ran towards him.

"Subaru-kun!"

Subaru laughed louder, as he grabbed the load that he had with him and got ready to throw it. Rem kept running towards him, her eyes watering.

The bread sailed from Subaru's hand like a football, flying over the geese and catching their attention. All of them moved back into the water where the bread landed.

Rem collided into Subaru's chest, digging her face into him. She looked up at Subaru with innocent eyes and said in a quiet voice, "Are they gone?"

He answered while patting her head, "Yes, Rem-rin, they're gone. They should be busy now so they won't bother you."

Rem blushed when Subaru called her by the pet name he'd given her. She smiled and rubbed her face into Subaru again, taking in his scent, "Thank you, Subaru-kun…"

The geese had finished the bread a long time ago and hadn't come back to Rem for more, much to her relief.

The two had been eating together under the shade of a tree, talking about little things and watching fisherman sail out into the lake and try to catch something.

Subaru leaned back onto his elbows, watching one of the men reel in a big weird looking creature.

He had come to love his time in Kararagi. It's resemblance to home was uncanny and he loved everything about it. Being in Kararagi was the happiest thing in his life, especially with Rem. That's when he asked her, "What makes you happy, Rem?"

In mid bite, Rem opened her mouth and said, "Why, Rem's hero of course, Subaru-kun."

Subaru sat up full and looked at Rem, "No...what truly makes you happy? What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of happiness?"

Staring into Subaru's eyes intently, Rem answered as best as she could, "Well...Rem has always wanted to be happy with life. Rem think about the future a lot...more than she probably should, hehe." She looked out into the lake. "Rem has always wanted a family since mother and father... The only thing I had left as a family was Nee-sama and so I cherished her. Rem tried to do everything she could to please her sister; wake her up, dress her, help her with work, and make her happy in the end. It all worked, Nee-sama was happy and content. However, Rem knew that wouldn't last forever. When life moves forward and splits into different paths for different people, they must take that road even if it means leaving others behind temporarily." Rem grabbed her sandwich with two hands, her expression falling. "People change, Subaru-kun, and when that happens, so do the people around them. Nee-sama and I won't be together forever….I know that." She ripped the sandwich in two. "Soon we'll grow apart. Nee-sama will see that Rem is no longer needed when we leave the mansion to live our own lives. I won't be by Nee-sama's side anymore and she won't be by mine. That's what saddens, Rem."

Slowly, her smile began to come back, "But what does bring Rem back to hope is the thought of starting a family. With a family, I'll be tied with the one I love and our wonderful children. That way Rem will never be alone again because I'll have my own handsome husband and darling, little kids to take care of. It'll fill the hole that Nee-sama had once occupied in place of our parents.

"And someday, everyone's time must come to an end. It's a bad thing to say, but Rem would rather die before my husband. That way I'll be surrounded by the one's I love; my husband, my children, their children, friends, family, and maybe Nee-sama. Then Rem will go in peace, sent off by her loved ones. Thinking that, Subaru-kun, is what makes me truly happy."

Subaru shifted in his spot so his head rested on Rem's lap. He looked up at Rem's face with a big smile, winking at her. "Well, Rem. When the day comes that you finally meet your future husband," he poked her on the top of her head, signifying that her horn had protruded. Blushing, Rem made the horn shrink back into her head. "I hope he's as fanatical as you are."

After making her horn come back in, Rem started to tear up at his words. Her hat blew off her head from the wind, but she made no attempt to retrieve it. The feeling of Subaru's head on her lap was something she didn't want to go away. "I think he already is."

The sky was starting to darken. Rem and Subaru laid in the same position; Subaru's head on Rem's lap while she stayed still to not disturb him.

Subaru had fallen asleep long ago, but Rem remained awake, watching Subaru's face. It reminded her of a baby; a cute, innocent, little baby. That's one of the many things she found so endearing about him. If only he could see just how much Rem wanted him, but instead he chose to look the other way out of embarrassment.

"Subaru-kun looks like an angel when he's asleep."

Rem stroked his hair, feeling the strands move in between her her fingers. She trailed her fingers down to the back of his head and to his neck. Subaru shivered in his sleep at the contact and Rem quickly removed her hand.

Rem giggled quietly, "Subaru-kun is so sensitive under Rem's touch." She began to play with his ears while he slept soundly, unaware of Rem's fondling.

Her hand cupped his neck while her thumb caressed his cheek. Subaru-kun's skin is so soft.

While doing this, her eyes fell onto his lips. Her thumb stretched to the end of Subaru's mouth and was just about to skim his pink lips, but she stopped herself and looked away, removing her hand.

Heart thumping, Rem slowly began to slowly turn back to Subaru's sleeping form. "Why, Subaru-kun? Why must you be so cruel even when you are asleep?

"Keeping me from loving you to my heart's extent is what hurts me the most." she looked back at his lips, "Maybe if I…." She leaned her head down until she could feel his breath on her lips. She lowered even more until her own lips were mere millimeters from his. Subaru-kun.

"No.." At her own volition, Rem pulled away before she could do anything else. She hugged her own body out of embarrassment of what she almost did. Shutting her eyes tightly, she thought, Subaru-kun's cuteness is too cruel to Rem.

The stars in the sky shined brightly on Rem as she gazed back at them. Maybe….if Rem did it indirectly…

She looked back down at Subaru's peaceful face, his lips slightly parted.

"Subaru-kun, forgive me…."

Using the tips of two of her fingers, Rem lowered them until they touched Subaru's lips. She gasped at the warm feeling, wishing she could feel that on her own lips.

Removing her fingers, Rem said sadly, "Subaru-kun…."

Blushing, she put the two fingers that had touched Subaru to her own lips, sealing an indirect kiss. She held them there for 10 seconds, trying to take in the feel of his lips with her imagination. A burning feeling of struck her in the chest, it was one she hadn't felt in a long time. It was burning love. Rem was deeply in love with the scrawny, cocky boy from another world.

Rem heard a noise behind her and turned her head. A man was carrying a lantern and waving at her as if to tell her to hurry. It was their ride back home.

Wiping a tear that had just formed, Rem turned back to Subaru. Before waking him, she whispered into his ear, "I will wait for you…...my husband."