The light of the morning sun shone into the bedroom. Catarina woke up enveloped in comforting warmth. Eiichi's long fingers gently flew through her hair.

"Good morning..." Catarina greeted sleepily. 

"Morning..." 

 . . .I'm tired from last night. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was 5 am. It's still too early to get ready for the day. I'll just stay like this for a while longer. 

Meanwhile, parting her long blonde hair, Eiichi brought his nose to her neck. The ticklish sensation made her squirm.

"Eii....that tickles," she laughed slightly.

"Does it?" He smirked into her skin and held her closer by the waist. "Hmm~" From behind, he continued nipping at her skin faintly.

"Y-You aren't going to start tickling me, are you?!"

"Don't worry, my angel. I won't tease you so early in the morning." The brunette planted a kiss on her nape. "I've already teased you plenty last night, don't you remember?"

!!! Hearing that, Catarina's cheeks turned red. Eiichi, knowing that she got flustered, turned her around to face him. As soon as he did though, she hid her face in his chest.

"Let me see your face, angel." She could feel the amusement dripping from his voice. Shaking her head, she clutched her arms around him tighter.

Letting out a low chuckle, he ruffled her hair affectionately. "Alright, I'm sorry. I won't tease you anymore."

After listening to him, she slowly pulled away and looked up at him. She mumbled, "you're always making fun of me. It's not fair."

"Sorry, I can't help it when you're so cute." The male pecked her rosy cheeks. "Forgive me?"

"Mm-hmm." She closed her eyes when one of his hands started stroking her head.

"Catarina?" Eiichi called her before she could fall back asleep from the warmth.

"Hmm?" She replied, not opening her eyes.

"Can you take the next two days off?" He asked, face serious.

She lifted her eyelids. "I think I can but. . . . . why so suddenly?"

In answer, he simply smirked. "You'll see."

.  . .  . . .  .

"This is..." Catarina opened her mouth. "Lockheart castle?"

"Yup." Eiichi led Catarina by wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "The last time we were here for the shooting of 'Black Garden', the two of us couldn't sightsee properly."

"You're right," she nodded in agreement. "But aren't you tired after driving for three hours?"

"Of course not." He grinned. "It's the first trip since our honeymoon. How can I ever be tired when I'm out with my wife?"

His words made her smile brightly. "I'm honoured." Then she looked around. "It's a good thing there are only a few visitors on a workday."

"Well then, there are a lot of spots for couples in this place. Shall we go there first?"

"Okay!" Locking their fingers together, they began moving around.

The first attraction they came upon was the spot with suits of armour. It was famous for couples hanging heart shaped shells on the suits.

 This idea is actually really romantic. No wonder, Lockheart Castle is known as 'Lover's Sacred Ground'. 

"So, we have to write our names and date of visit on it," Catarina read the instructions.

"Do you want to write our names?" proposed Eiichi.

"No," she shook her head with a small smile, "I think it'll be better if we write each other's names instead."

It was his turn to smile. "It's a very good idea, Catarina." Giving the shell to his wife, he watched her write his name with the marker. Somehow, this small action made his heart flutter. The blonde then passed the items to him and he completed his part.

'Eiichi Otori & Catarina Otori' was written just above the date of their visit.

"Let's tie it at the top, above every other shell." Saying that, he hung it accordingly. Being tall has so many perks, thought Catarina.

Does it look weird on me…? Catarina stared at her reflection. After lunch, the couple had arrived at another one of the popular spots: the wedding dress up corner. For a commemorative photo to be taken of the two of them, they went on their separate ways to get changed in mediaeval clothes.

 I wanted to try something new but.... I guess I'm still shy even when there aren't many people. The dress she had chosen was a wine red mermaid dress. I hope Eiichi likes it. I think he's waiting outside for me.

She was right. That tall, elegant back belonged to none other than her beloved. After she called out to him, he turned around.

"C-Catarina...." As soon as he saw her, he blushed. "You.... heavenly."

"You like it?" She asked, hopeful.

Speechless, he nodded. She always dressed so modestly so it was sort of a new sight. She looked as celestial as she did during their wedding.

"Your beauty is out of this world, my angel." Bringing her hand to his face, he grazed his lips against her knuckles. It caused Catarina to blush faintly. She casted her eyes on the floor, a shy smile on her pink lips. Quietly, she muttered, "Thank you."

"!!!" Eiichi's cheeks got shades of crimson. She had no idea how attractive she looked, did she? In order to hide his flustered face, he adjusted his foggy glasses. Recovering his voice with a cough, the male offered her his hand. "Let us head for the shoot, my lady."

"Yes!" Enthusiastically, she placed hers on his. She teased, "my prince, you look stunning as well."

The brunette chuckled. "It's good to hear that from such a lovely lady."

"Will we go to the clock tower next?"

"Not today, angel," he shot her a confident look, "we'll go when it's the right time."

"???"

.  . .  . . .  .

"Wow......" Catarina whispered in awe at the scene.

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" Eiichi asked from beside her.

"Mm-hmm." Her blue eyes continued capturing the beauty of the night garden. "If the employees here didn't know you then they wouldn't have allowed us to visit this place at dawn."

" 'Black Garden' brought more popularity to this place, after all. Nevertheless, I'm glad they didn't deny my request."

"No matter how you see it, wanting to visit the castle before sunrise- it's a crazy request." She shook her head. "It's something that only you can pull off."

"I wanted to see the sun rise from the tower with you." Eiichi looked at his watch. "Speaking of, we should hurry to the tower. The sun should be rising very soon."

The reason why they didn't visit the tower on the previous day was because Eiichi wanted to go there when no one was present except the two of them because it would become a memory just for them.

 Eiichi is so sweet and romantic. Catarina giggled in her hand as they reached the top of the tower.

"What's the matter?" Eiichi asked, curious of her sudden laughter.

"It's nothing." She moved closer to him. "Eii?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you, Eiichi." She brought him down to her level by pulling his shirt's collar.

"!!!" Eiichi was stunned when she suddenly joined their lips together. When she pulled away, he spoke, "that was sudden."

Her cheeks turning pink, she grinned. "I just felt like it."

"I see. In that case..." This time he leaned down and gave her a loving kiss. "I love you too, Catarina."

The rays of the rising sun fell on their smiling faces, making the affections in their eyes shine even brighter.

"Look!" The blonde pointed at the sun rising from behind the hills. "Isn't it pretty?"

From behind, he wrapped his arms around her stomach and rested his chin on top of her head. "Yeah."

The comfortable silence got broken by Eiichi's smooth and soothing voice.

"Let's sing together with the beat of the sun.
Come now, it's time to wake up."

'Akatsuki no Utage'- this song is so perfect for this moment. I wonder if he chose the dawn for this reason? Once the sun had risen completely, Eiichi pulled away and smirked. "Catarina, shall we?"

Understanding what he meant, she hummed in agreement. They held the string of the bell together. They say that if lovers pull on this bell together, it will grant them eternal love.

"I'm sure our love will last forever even without the help of this bell," claimed Eiichi, without an ounce of doubt. The light rays reflected brilliantly on their wedding bands and matching necklaces, almost as if agreeing to his words.

"Me too." They shared glances. "So, why not ask for its blessing instead? So that our feelings for each other never wavers?"

"That's good." He got prepared to pull on the string. "Ready?"

"Yes!"

"3...2..1." Catarina and Eiichi counted in sync.

May we never forget to cherish each other. May we never lose sight of the light of our love. May our family always remain happy.

*Ding Dong*

The End.

My new Eiichi x OC book is finally out. Actually, it's not what I had initially started. I was going for one-shot stories but it seemed like those were better suited for AO3 than in this book. And then HEAVENS released their new album 'One Day'. I couldn't stop myself again haha...

So, yeah, I wrote it as an epilogue of my first book 'Angel of HEAVENS'.

My writing skills have gone rusty since I haven't written in a long time. But I still did my best so I hope you enjoyed it, even if very little.

Let's continue supporting HEAVENS and Eiichi❤💙