"Yao, where are you?"

My footsteps echoed through the long corridor as I ran, searching for Yao. My feet hurt from running in the tight shoes, but I didn't care.

Bursting out through the main door, I headed towards the garden, looking around for him.

"Yao?!" I called out.

No sign of him.

The garden looked serenely beautiful under the starry night, but I had no time to sit back and admire it. I helplessly looked around, hoping to get at least a glimpse of him.

"Yao!!"

"(Y/n)?"

I stopped as I heard the familiar voice. Turning around, I saw Yao standing near the begonia flowers, looking at me in confusion.

"Yao..." I whispered in relief.

I ran towards him.

"Yao, you're he―Aah!"

I accidentally twisted my ankle and fell down.

"(Y/n)!"

Yao ran up to me. "Are you okay, aru? Did you get hurt?" He helped me sit up and examined my foot.

"I-I'm alright," I smiled as I winced through the pain.
"Aiyah! What were you doing running like that, aru?" he scolded me.

Heat rose on my face as I averted my gaze. "What about you...? You didn't come to see me..."

Yao stared at me, wide-eyed. Looking down, he softly spoke. "I was coming to see you later, aru." 

I glanced at him. Even in the darkness of the night, his face held a deep blush. He silently looked at the ground, pursing his lips together as if holding himself from saying something.

"Were you..."

I looked at him.

"Were you going to say something to me, aru?" Yao finally asked, still holding down his gaze.

A cool breeze blew, blowing Yao's bangs from his face and revealing a pair of eagerly anxious brown eyes. Seeing him so flustered like that, I couldn't help but giggle.

"(Y/n)?" Yao stared at me, confused.

Wiping a tear from my eye, I faced him with a smile. "I rejected Kiku," I told him.

Yao stared at me blankly for a few seconds. After a few moments, he finally understood what I meant and stood up in shock. 

"Aiyah!! But, why aru? Don't you love him??"

I shook my head.

Yao stopped. "Y-You don't, aru?" He finally calmed down on my answer and sat down on the grass beside me.

He looked straight ahead. "All this time I thought..."

"You thought?" I playfully looked at him.

He let out a chuckle and turned to me. "I thought I had lost you, aru..." He raised his hand and gently caressed my cheek.

I felt heat rise on my face as Yao's warm gaze made my heart thump louder. I slowly touched his hand on my cheek and gently squeezed it.

"Yao, I don't want to lose you either," I whispered, looking into his eyes. 

"(Y/n)..."

He pulled me into his warm arms. I leaned against his chest, listening to his calm heartbeats as his breath caressed my neck. "You don't know how much you mean to me, (Y/n), aru," he whispered in my ear.

Emotions that I had bottled up inside of me all this time, overwhelmed me all at once. Tears rolled down my cheek as I hugged him tighter. "Y-You mean a lot to me too, Yao. I...I..."

Yao placed his finger under my chin and gently pulled my face up closer to him.

"You...?" He endearingly smiled at me.

A deep blush rose to my face. "I...I..." I couldn't get my words out!

Yao lightly chuckled and patted on my head. "Let's get you back to your room first."

He was about to stand up when I tugged onto his sleeve. He looked at me, puzzled.

I stared down, blushing profusely.

"I love you, Yao."

The silence of the night returned for a couple moments. Yao stood there, frozen.

I slowly looked up at him, unsure what his reaction would be. My eyes widened on seeing his face.

Warm tears rolled down his face as he stared at me longingly.

"I...have yearned to hear those words for so long, aru...I..."

He wrapped his arms around me and stood up, picking me up like a bride. Gently stroking my hair, he touched his forehead with mine.

"Wǒ yě ài nǐ, (Y/n)! Wǒ ài nǐ!"

"Yao..." I smiled as tears fell down my cheek too.

I wiped his tears off and pulled his face closer. "We kept our promise, didn't we?"

Yao gave a bright smile. "Shì!"

We leaned in closer till our lips pressed against one another. The soft touch of Yao's warm lips brought back the memories of our friendship blossoming into pure love. The love that we both felt for each other for so long....

Slowly parting away, we gazed at each other with a smile.

"Oh my goodness!! Did you see that??"

A sudden voice interrupted our moment and we looked up towards the windows.

Several countries were watching us and giggling. Some even had cameras with them!

"Kesesesese! Another shot, China and (Y/n)!"  Gilbert raised his camera.
"Aaaahh~ That was so romantic~" Francis nearly fainted.
"Woah, you guys gave us a good show!" Antonio chuckled.

I looked at Yao. "Yao, what do we do?" I asked him.
"I know what to do, aru..." he confidently smiled.

"We run, aru!!"

I laughed as Yao carried me and ran across the garden towards the gates of the Hetalia Mansion.

The starry night may not have been this bright in years for us. But all we knew was that we found love.

~~~♡~~~THE END~~~♡~~~