I'm Still Waiting For You

Hoshizora miage watashi dake no hikari oshiete

Anata wa ima doko de dare to iru no deshou?

Tanoshiku shiteru koto omou to samishiku natte

Issho ni mita CINEMA hitori kiri de nagasu

Daisuki na hito ga tooi

Toosagite nakitaku naru no

Ashita me ga sametara

Hora kibou ga umareru kamo GOOD NIGHT!

I still, I still, I love you

I'm waiting, waiting forever

I still, I still, I love you

Tomoranai no yo HI!

Tsuchinoe (considered the ultimate Paragon by her worshipers) was the tutelary of the Royal Family for ages. How they had a Japanese deity with an English rule is still unknown, but there are many rumors that say half of their blood line is Asian. The Kings and Queens all worshiped her with their lives and paid tribute regularly, this continuing for centuries. Until one sovereign began to have doubts of the 'spirit'. He prayed half-heartedly, and only spoke of her name when it was needed. She, feeling his disbelief, visited him from her place in the skies and disguised herself as an ordinary, orphan farm girl. She went to the castle, and upon feeling her great aura, the servants realized Tsuchinoe's presence, taking her in and serving her better than their own master. The King was enraged and demanded to meet this new guest. Unfortunately, the goddess made it so that only true believers could distinguish her power. He did not. She unleashed her awesome and heavenly supremacy on his poor being and cursed him to the depths of hell. After the next successor was crowned, she left, but not before warning the new ruler that there must be someone to worship her on the thrown of Rye at all times, or else the entire kingdom will end with the same fate as the nonbeliever. And when the main heir came to accept her position as Queen, Tsuchinoe promised to send down a sign to signal the beginning of the most harmonious period known to history. Thus beginning a royal tradition.

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The train ride for her went unbearably slow, and the constant clanking of the tracks beneath her was beginning to get annoying. Leftover rain droplets slid off the window and Sakura watched as they dragged a thin stream of water with them; it was all she could do at the moment. You see, Sakura Haruno was the heir to a long chain of nobles, delegating from her ancestors since beyond the Renaissance period. It was all very stupid actually. Why in heavens name do they still have a monarchy in the twenty-first century? She would have thought that this type of lifestyle was crumbled and forgotten by now. But no, her grandfather just had to force this land on her with no regard of her own personal life. Gee, she loved her family.

Truth be told, she was a bit glad that her blood relatives weren't all dead. It was quiet lonely in her parents house. And cold… but she wasn't one to complain. Being alone was better than living on the streets, and frankly, those kinds of people scared her. Sakura only wished that she wasn't expected to take over the 'family business'. She would rather work for money than sit on a thrown and have servants bustling about, taking every word that escaped her lips to heart. The very thought made her shudder; Sakura liked her privacy.

Her eyes drifted toward a messenger bag on the seat across from her, close to the door. She stared at it, inwardly debating, but her body moved unconsciously and folded the flap backward, pulling out a small music box. It wasn't elegant, nor magical, and it looked more like junk than anything else, but Sakura's eyes filled with unspeakable emotion just by the sight of it. Her dainty fingers twisted a tiny crank on the side, and lifted the top carefully afterwards, holding it as delicately as she could. A beautiful melody surrounded her, and she felt as though she was overpowered into escaping the real world, tucked safely in the depths of her thoughts. She remembered this tune; he used to always hum it to her. On nights when the storm raged furiously outside, she would curl up on his lap and listen while he patted her in a comforting way. That's how dreary days, such as now, became her favorite.

Her face was emotionless, a dazed looked glazed over her eyes.

No one would have ever guessed she was so broken.

But too soon the music stopped and Sakura snapped back into reality. She closed the box and set it next to her, staring at the floor sadly. She hated him now; there was no reason to still think about him.

She shook her head and gazed up at the moon; it was almost time for her to arrive. Oh how she dreaded stepping onto this train. Sakura sighed, 'Best not to live in the past.'

She stared out at the scenery again, a bit more calm, and notice a copse the glowed in a strange way. And, in the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a familiar figure. Sakura narrowed her eyes and leaned in more, but it had disappeared into the thicket of trees. She sat back down, pressing the heel of her palm in between her eyes, wondering if it was just a hallucination. She shook her head, 'Don't linger on it,' she told herself, 'Don't linger on it. All this stress is getting to your head, that's all.' She glanced to the side. In the starlight… the moon seemed to smile. She shook her head again, this time harder, 'What the hell's wrong with me?'

Before she could pound her head in more, the bell rang though the speakers and a gruff man's voice sounded, "Rye. Train stop in Rye." Sakura looked up at the speaker with an indifferent stare and reluctantly gathered her belongings. Man was this visit going to suck.

She slung her bag on her left shoulder and pulled her roller from the top shelf. Sakura glared up at the amplifier, inwardly hoping they'd say there was a mistake, but nothing came. Sakura huffed and dragged her luggage behind her, barely gripping the handle, and exited out of the closest door. She looked from side to side, catching families and couples hugging each other in welcome. Sakura sighed wistfully, she hated traveling. I mean, she could easily recite the names of all the people in her home town, no sweat. But, she didn't exactly like the idea of being the odd one out.

Sakura walked to the front gates of the station, leaning against the brick wall of the old building. She turned her head casually and almost screamed in surprise. Unknowingly, Sakura'd stood next to the most decrepit statue her eyes had laid upon. A gargoyle with a face made up of other dead, rotting faces greeted her with a deformed smile, like it was screaming while frowning. A chill ran up her spine; oh yeah, she hated this.

"Pardon me ma'am." "Ah!" Sakura jerked around, hand raised up ready to slap the offender, but paused when emerald met emerald. The man in front of her had dark circles around his eyes, making the green pop out more, and flaming red hair, a kanji mark for love on his forehead. He was too similar…

…too similar to the real thing!

"Get away from me!" Sakura yelled, backing up and covering her head with her hands. 'No… don't come any closer! You're too alike! I don't want to see your face!' Involuntarily, she began to quiver. The man stood in helplessness. His mistress was… afraid of him? But he was supposed to be by her side at all times. Well, this was going to a problem.

He tried to take a step forward, only to have Sakura shrink back. "Go away!"

He held out his hand and tilted forward a bit in inquiry, "Ma'am, did I do something wrong?" "Go away!" He straightened again and looked to the stone pathway; his eyes drooped in a silent apology. 'How do I calm her down?' Then his eyes slowly widened in remembrance.

He walked over to the other side of the gate and lean against the brick, like Sakura did, and he began to hum.

I started out slow, lightly jumping from one refrain to another, then in the middle, it began to gradually get faster and more possessive. There were parts that quieted and swiftly switched to a crescendo. And it ended on one last separated note. He opened his eyes (which he hadn't realize he closed) and slowly looked over to Sakura. He was surprised.

There she was, trembling in the same position she was in before, with newly leaked tears streaming down her face. His instincts kicked in and he push himself off the wall, but didn't move from his spot, still respecting Sakura's space.

"Wh-What's the matter ma'am?" his eyes searched her for any physical pain.

Sakura lifted her head up a bit more, staring at him, "How… how do you know that song?" Her trembling lessened, but to no noticeable extent and she looked at him incredulously.

He stood there, dumfounded, and uttered the only answer that came to mind, "Uh…"

Sakura took the time he processed her words to wipe the stray tears from her cheeks. She fixed her posture and waited for a reply. Feeling her questioning stare, he struggled to give her a real sentence. "My… my brother, he used to sing it to me when I was young. It always calmed me down so… I thought… you know…" For the first time in his life, (that he could recall) he flushed in embarrassment, avoiding her gaze.

Sakura blinked. And then, the oddest thing happened.

She started to laugh. Sakura went into a fit of giggles and lifted her hand to point at him several times. Finally, when her hysterics died down, she peeked towards him and saw his expression.

Confused and a bit insulted. She smiled, snickering once and a while behind her, walked over and stuck her hand out. Though she was still wary of him, her acquaintanceship was won over, even if a little. "Hi, Sakura Haruno, not ma'am." The boy looked down at her accommodating gesture and slowly returned it, grinning broadly when they shook. "Gaara, Gaara no Sabaku, your personal right hand man."

Sakura lifted her chin and set her lips in a grim line, mocking a debating pose. "Hm, I don't know. We're not too fond of each other… and you remind me of something I'd rather not get in to. Are you sure you want to stay close to someone who hates your guts?" Gaara could tell she was being playful, but her words were dead serious, and he replied with utmost certainty, "At your service."

She smirked and cocked her head behind her, "Then start now. My luggage is by the gargoyle, retrieve it and show me to the car." Sakura leered sarcastically and waited for him to actually see the face of the stone monster. I was only a few seconds before- "Ah!" Sakura chuckled at his childish sound, ignoring the fact that she'd done the same only a while ago. "Come on lackey, my feet are getting sore!" Gaara rolled the bag at his side, standing to her right and gave a hand wave saying, 'this way'. Sakura shook her head amused and trailed behind, but something caught her eye. She turned and there, standing next to a lone Oak Tree, was a man almost identical to Gaara, smoke rolling around his feet. His charcoal brown eyes were trained on her as she felt her legs about to give. He smiled.

"My little cosset has finally found her match," he smirked. Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment. But before she was able to say anything back, he vanished and her eyes widened. "Sasori?! Sasori! Where…?" She swivel around in desperation, searching frantically for any sign of her first love.

"Sasori!"

"Is there a problem, Sakura?" she turned and met the worried face of Gaara. "Huh, oh, no. I- uh… no, nothing, sorry." She ran to him, stopping on his left and continued to the parking lot. Must have been her imagination.

Little did she know, up in heaven, there was an extremely pleased goddess smiling at her though the air.

And the rest… is history.

The someone I love right now is far away

So far away my tears will not stop flowing

Tomorrow, I know there is still hope for me

So I lay myself to sleep and bid you GOOD NIGHT!

The someone I love right now is far away

So far away my tears will not stop flowing

So I sleep and when I open up my eyes

Please just let me feel your presence in the morning.

I still, I still, I love you

I'm waiting, waiting forever

I still, I still, I love you

And I'm never gonna stop.

I still, I still, I love you

I'm waiting, waiting forever

I still, I still, I love you

And I will see you again. YEAH!

Okay, well hope you enjoyed it. The song at the beginning and end are called 'Lost My Music' by Cristina Vee from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The only difference between the two is that the top is Japanese while the bottom is English. Even the tune and time the syllables are said are identical. It's an awesome song. Oh yeah, and I'm gonna enter this in Vesper chan's contest. I would SO appreciate it if you guys supported me. Thax!

Luv Ya Mi Peeps! ;P

Izzy