"For you, a thousand times over"~ Khalid Hosseinei, The Kite Runner

~'~

Dear Fidel,

Today, I fly to England with just one dream which I hope comes true- to convince you to marry me. You can't imagine how hopelessly in love I am with you. It seems that finally my dark skies have lightened with a thousand stars. It seems that now, finally, I have found the meaning to the life I was living. Finally, I have found the moral to my story. And finally Fidel, I have found my other half.

The first time I saw you, I couldn't stop looking at you. I couldn't believe that something so beautiful could even exist. I thought I was dreaming and I wanted to wake up from it because I was falling in love with a dream. But no, you weren't a dream. You were reality, you were standing there as Jason's elder sister with an unimaginably beautiful smile and enchanting self. You were there, Fidel, waiting for me, inviting me in and telling me to let go, let go off my worries. You were, are and always shall be, my saviour.

We might have just spent three weeks together. And a thousand phone calls after that. But in those three weeks, whenever I looked at you, I felt that I was looking at flowers blooming. Every time I heard your voice, it felt like the piano gently playing it's keys. That's how beautiful you are to me, Fidel. Yes, you had struck my eyes. But that's not the only thing you did to me. You took my heart away, you captured it and now I can't get it back. And you know what? I don't want it back.

I could never say this in person to you. And that's why I am writing this down. Thanks to Agnes. And by the time you finish reading this, I would perhaps be sitting in front of you holding out a ring. I don't care if we live miles away. Love didn't care to strike us, did it? So today, Fidel, I promise to love you till the end of my life. I promise to be there for you, to help you escape all the troubles. Will you marry me, Fidel? Will you be my wife?

With all the love I could have given to anyone,

Takumi Asahina,

A guy who is hopelessly in love. With you.

Fidel's beautiful green eyes filled a river as she read the letter in silence. Her mind was now like a parched land where no seed of hope could sprout. She was lost. Why did he have to leave? Why did he just go away? Just why?

"I think," Agnes said, hugging her picture with Akane as tears invaded her eyes, "That he was going to give this to you. He had forgotten it in his room"

Fidel sobbed as she embraced the hand written letter. "I want him back"

Jason looked away, as the salty water dropped to his fair cheeks.

"What happened to their body?," she asked, unable to stop.

Agnes couldn't hold it anymore. She dropped to the floor, beside Fidel and cried. "Not found"

And so, just like a storm, like wind which comes and goes, Akane and Takumi were gone. Like the shooting star which spreads smiles when seen, which takes wishes away with it, they were gone. Like a pleasant surprise, like a flower which soon dies, they were gone. Like the sun which spreads it's light but soon is invaded by darkness, they were gone.

The two people who had brought nothing but smiles were punished for doing so. They were gone, just like that, without a warning, without a decent goodbye, without a single word were gone. But were timeless in their hearts.

~'~

"I don't know whether I should call this a happy ending because Jason and me are, and always have been incomplete without the two of them. Without Takumi and Akane, we are like a book without words. We are like those fallen leaves which can never stick back to the branches. We are like those roots with can never percolate deep enough to get the water the tree requires.

' But nevertheless we have collected those pieces they left behind, we have saved those footprints they have made in our sands of life. In the end, we have gotten everything we could wish for and much more- money, big cars, smiles, family, love and," she paused, blinking away her tears. "Timeless friendship"

The crowd applauded, wiping away the moisture that had formulated in their eyes. He looked at her, smiling, as she smiled at the crowd. Indeed this was her best-seller. Their eyes locked for a minute, looking within each other with immense love which had managed to survive the storm. He nodded at her. His Cherry. Then, she was crowded by the fans, and the waves of their love were halted for some time.

~'~

He knocked at her door, saying, "May I come in, Ms. author?"

She laughed, pulling him inside. Then she looked at him in the eye and whispered, "I still miss them."

He looked at the hundreds of pictures which hung on the wall behind them, all from the world tour, with Akane and Takumi.

"I do too," he replied. "A lot"

She followed his gaze and smiled at the pictures, reliving all the priceless moments she had spent with the two of them.

"I liked my name in the novel though," he grinned. "Jason Marbles"

"Well, ours was the only ones which I changed anyway"

"So I noticed. But you didn't change 'Cherry'"

"Because I love certain things which comes from you. And who I am to adulterate that?"

He chuckled. "Insane"

"I am, for you"

They laughed lightly, their voices echoing in the silent room like music.

"Um?," Fidel whispered, coming in from behind. "I just wanted to congratulate-"

She embraced her. "Thank you"

"So finally I know your story," smiled Fidel, sadly.

"Not mine," replied she. "Ours"

~'~

Happy endings are not always 'happy'. Sometimes, they talk about overcoming your fears, building new relationships, learning to live and learning to lose. Sometimes, happy endings demand a few upsetting ends.

As for Agnes and Jason, they had moved on. They had collected all they could, framed their pictures and joined the broken pieces of their hearts and kept what they could- memories and timeless friendship. Everyday Agnes would smile at the framed photos and read a few chapters of her novel so that she could keep them in mind. Every day Jason would look at Takumi's phone and smile because he hadn't changed Agnes' name- it was still Superman. And everyday Fidel would smile at Takumi's letter and realise that she was right on deciding to never marry again. Because they would reside in their heart today and forever.

The glass box beside the picture wall shined. It housed her bestselling novel which proudly stood and said- "In three hundred and sixty five days"

~'~