"Challenges is what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful"~ Joshua J. Marine

~'~

Agnes dropped to her bed with a sigh, "Enough!"

Jason, Takumi and Akane looked up at her, "What?"

"Today's our last day. And I'm too tired to roam about like a pilgrim."

Takumi stuffed his clothes inside the suitcase. "So what to do then?"

Agnes sat up. "Tell me your story"

Jason, Takumi and Agnes sat in front of her and stared. "What do you mean, 'your story?'"

"Everyone has a story to tell. You know, what happened in their lives, how they overcame it? Everyone has a writer within so come on, tell me your story"

"Says a writer herself," Jason mumbled.

"I know, right?," Takumi responded. "Your books are mind blowing. Our story is nothing in comparison--"

"Will you begin?," she ordered.

Jason, Takumi and Akane smiled.

"Well," began Takumi. "If you so want to know it, here it is. Our parents were entrepreneurs. They started a business, which failed drastically, I suppose and we were left to starve soon. Some accident took away their lives and we were adopted by our uncle, such an angelic soul he was. I remember something about my mother though. Whenever Akane or I would abuse, my mother would hold our ears and say," Profane language is injurious to the ears" as if we were smoking and it was spoiling our lungs. Insane."

Jason and Agnes laughed.

"But," continued Akane. "As luck would have it, they passed away. So we completed our education and started our own anime business. To be honest, we hadn't expected to be rich at all. But then it all somehow worked out and now we are rich with so much money that we don't even know what to do with it"

"Yes," agreed Takumi. "But you see, this is not we are happy about. The only thing that matters to us now and that we learnt the true meaning of life, and that today if we were to go away forever we would have no regrets. And if God ever asks us what we achieved in life, you know what our answer would be?"

"You learnt how to live?," confirmed Agnes.

"Nah," replied Akane and Takumi together. "We were able to make the world's loveliest couple smile"

Their words touched Jason and Agnes to their core. They somehow prevented the tears from forming in their eyes, for the thought of parting was too painful.

"Your turn," said Agnes, mutedly.

Jason nodded. "There once lived a boy- passive and mute. His life seemed to be engulfed by books from childhood for they seemed to have a different world altogether. He was very close to his mother, who listened to him patiently, as if savouring every word he said. There wasn't much to be said about him back then, and when he grew up, his life took a drastic turn. All of a sudden, they were gone, leaving behind a huge industry that produced an insurmountable amount of products and wealth. And so this boy was crushed between his business and his passion- human psychology.

Finally one day he decided to break apart. He travelled around the world with insane people- a girl and two Japanese twins. And only if he had known it would turn out to be this way, he would have done it long ago. The girl was beautiful, but insane. But perhaps it was her insanity that brought him back to life. He was attracted to her like moths to light. He slowly resided in her. She was the girl he has fallen for, badly, truly, deeply. His heart had seemed to send signals to him all the time, but he realised it late. But he did. And it was the best thing that happened to him.

The two twins proved to be the friends he never had. The friends he had always craved for his entire life and when his wishes were beginning to seem like a dream, they were there, like two angels spreading their arms wide and embracing him, telling him that finally he has got what he had craved for. Love, family, and friendship.

'And it was then that the boy finally realised that all this while he wasn't living at all- he was just surviving, doing things mechanically and surviving all that life was offering him. But finally he learnt what it was to live.

Living wasn't any rocket science. It was appreciating each moment he had, loving the girl of his dreams from his heart, and embracing his friends with faith. And finally he had learnt what this trip actually was- It was a lesson. A lesson about living, about jumping and singing and dancing and facing the storms and flying. The only thing he hadn't learnt was to stop. And that," Jason ended, "Is my story in a nutshell"

Agnes was dumbfounded. Takumi and Akane were flabbergasted. The three of them looked at him, out of words, for his story was beautiful. Without saying anything, they went forward to embrace him, for the last time ever.

~'~

That night, Takumi and Akane stood at the door with their suitcases.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Akane said, tears forming in her eyes.

"So am I, sister," Agnes said, looking through her watery pupils. "I wish you didn't have to go"

"You remember you promised us to marry, right?," Takumi smiled at Jason. "So you better do"

Jason laughed as he embraced him. "I will"

Agnes looked at him tears dropping on her cheeks. "I'm going to miss you. You are the best brother I could ever have"

"Why do all girls make me their brother? Am I that bad?," Takumi joked.

Agnes laughed through her tears.

"I'm going to miss you too. And I promise to send you all the dark chocolate I have back home," Takumi said, giggling.

"Yeah, very funny"

And finally, the two of them departed. Jason and Agnes stared at  them until they were a distant figure and finally invisible. Agnes sniffed.

"Stop crying," Jason whispered to her.

She rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't believe this is over. I wish it wasn't "

He patted her gently as she sobbed. 

"I hate to see you cry"

"Yeah, I look disgusting like this"

He laughed. "No you don't. If you ever asked me what is the most beautiful thing I saw in this whole trip--"

Agnes looked up. "I ask you. What is the most beautiful thing you saw in this trip?"

"You won't believe me"

"I will"

"Well," he smiled. "It was you, Cherry"

~'~

Agnes banged onto Jason's door, her eyes red with all the crying at 2 a.m. Jason opened the door, shocked.

"What's wrong, Agnes?"

"The p-plane...," Agnes replied, hyperventilating. "Akane and Takumi's plane has crashed!"

"What?"

She dragged him towards the television.

The plane from America to England has crashed...

Unable to locate the debris...

Akane and Takumi are gone..

~'~

I just thought that since I hadn't given away much of their personal lives, I would rather give it here. Last chapter will be updated soon. For all those who tagged along, I cannot thank you enough.

All my love today and always,

Aashna.

~'~