Because I...

Fell for...

The girl...

I met...

That day...

At the coffee shop...

The one with the prettiest smile, laugh and heart.

Those were the words in every single note left for Sakura. Her third note came from the toy store where they bought the bears, the fourth coming from the same ice cream man of that day, the fifth from the photo booth in the mall they had used to take the pictures that was now framed and in Sakura's room.

The sixth one came from the little bar and restaurant they always ate at.

And the seventh was at the same park, where she received the first box and note, right underneath the same sakura tree fell asleep on, and the same sakura tree where they made most of their memories.

Along the way, the driver had given Sakura a beautiful casual dress and a few accessories. She wore it, of course.

And after a long day of following notes and such, including the activities the notes left her to do, Sakura was lead to the same place where it all started. By the time the activities were over, it was surprisingly late. Very late.

It was 11:55 in the night. The distance between each place were quite far, now that she thought about it. Or maybe it was just longer because Kioshi wasn't there like all the times before.

Sakura was told by the driver to follow the trail of cherry blossom petals leading inside. She carefully followed them, where it lead to Kioshi, who was standing under the cherry blossom tree. He held a large bouquet of lilies, and a small box in his other hand.

The man was dressed in fancy clothes, nothing too grand, but he definitely looked more, dressed up than usual. "Hey Sakura..." he smiled as she approached him.

He handed her the bouquet of flowers and hugged her, making sure not crush the gift. Sakura eyed the box in his hand suspiciously before the boy suddenly pulled out some papers. It was the one Sakura had given to the driver after the man told her this was the last stop.

"Are those...?" "Yeah, the notes I gave you. But... I want you to read them again, just the last two lines of each one, and join them together."

"O-Okay..." Carefully, Sakura ripped off all the other parts of the notes, leaving the strips with the two words on it. She joined them into one sentence, her eyes widening with each word she read. She looked up to her best friend with watery eyes.

"W-What...? D-Do you...?" she stuttered, looking up to him as the papers fell from her hands. "Why did you do all this? For... this?"

"Of course," he smiles sweetly, his deep hazel eyes boring into hers. Then he repeats the same words.

"Because I fell for the girl I met that day at the coffee shop... The one with the prettiest smile, laugh and heart."

~*****~

"I know we've only known each other for one month, Sakura," He says seriously, taking her smaller hands in his bigger ones. "And I know you probably aren't ready to trust another one for a relationship after what happened a few months ago. But even if it's not a full relationship, I just want you to give me a chance... I can wait. I can wait until you're ready again."

His words squeezed her heart tighter and tighter, because she's just not sure about love after what Soryu did, but she couldn't deny the little bit of feelings that grew for the boy as they spent more time together.

"I... You don't need to wait... I think I can trust you to take care of me, Kioshi..." she whispered quietly, stepping forward to hug the boy, who smiled so brightly.

"Really?" he asked, smiling as he gazed at her with affectionate eyes. "Thank you, Sakura... I...I love you." he hesitated before letting the words tumble out his mouth.

Saying it felt so right... He pulled her into an embrace, Sakura dropping the bouquet as tears blurred her eyes. She wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest as he rested his chin on top of her head, his hands drawing circles on her back, trying to calm her.

Sakura didn't know anymore. She didn't know if she loved Soryu anymore, or if she even wanted to make the break up official.

But for now, one thing was for sure, she was in love.

And she was ready to give him a chance.

~*****~

After Kioshi suggested to play music, the two had danced the night away, and soon enough, they were tired, sleepy as hell as the clock struck 1:00 am.

Of course, Sakura's boyfriend didn't forget.

"Happy birthday, Saku." he smiled as he kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Thanks, Kio..." she smiled, kissing his cheek. 

"I actually have a gift..." he muttered, reaching into his pocket where the little box from earlier was.

"Haven't you given me enough?" "Those weren't on your birthday, silly." he laughed, pulling out the black box from earlier.

Sakura noticed the ring on his left ring finger before, but decided to ask him after, she wanted to trust him and give him a chance. "I know you were worried about this ring." he chuckled, showing his left hand.

"But this was actually for you." he knelt down, opening the box to reveal a ring almost the same style as his.

"I know this isn't extravagant or fancy, but Sakura, this ring, I give to you as a promise, okay?" he said, taking her left hand in his right. "With this ring, I promise to protect, honor, respect and love you. I know this isn't an engagement ring or a wedding ring, but until then, if you'll stay with me that long, I promise that I'll love you and protect you until we move on to an engagement ring, then to a wedding ring."

"I promise not to hurt you, not to ignore or isolate you from anything I do... I promise to give you my life."

Although it was probably cheesy and such, Sakura found her heart melting at his words and his earnest eyes. Tears filled her eyes again and she dropped down to her knees beside him, tackling him with a hug and kiss.

"Yes! Yes!" she cried, "I love you... I'm sorry for making you wait, Kio. I love you so much..." she muttered, letting him slide the ring on her finger.

They hugged each other and shared another kiss before smiling at each other brightly.

And under the moonlight and the starry night sky, they whispered their feelings to each other as they held one another.

"I love you... And I promise to do so until my last breath."

~*****~

A/N: 

Yeah, baby! I'm on a roll! Three chapter in a day, please help me if I can't count XD

Anyway, nothing much here, but a big thanks to you all and all the readers who I've managed to weave into this story!

Thanks for reading!

Ciao!

~Dark Angel