A/N: This is not a happy story. Just a heads up.
The cherry blossoms fell around you like snow on that day. Your words that shocked me so greatly then still ring loudly in the back of my mind.
"I like you, please go out with me."
Why I accepted then, I'm not sure. Perhaps it was a whim, perhaps I was simply tired of the mundane life I had fallen into, or perhaps even then as you looked at me with those beautiful pleading eyes and cheeks as soft and pink as cherry blossoms I knew how much you would change me.
Do you remember?
Our first date went nothing like either of us had expected.
We had decided to go on a walk through the park, but the weather had other plans. The rain came down before we knew it, and the remainder of the day was spent hidden away in a small shop filled to the brim with old books. We talked about our favorite stories and shared suggestions with each other. My bookshelf gained a handful of precious additions because of that day.
Our first kiss came only a few short weeks after that. You looked so breathtaking in the pale moonlight, and when you sent me that small, unsure smile, I found myself leaning in before I could even think twice about it. It was chaste, shy, and sweet; utterly perfect.
Why don't you remember?
The first time we made love; how my fingertips pressed into your soft flesh and slid and scraped against your sides as we lost ourselves in the throes of passion. Despite neither of us having had much experience, our first time was more pure and beautiful than I could have ever dreamed it would be.
Can't you remember?
Our first real fight, after we had been living together for almost a year. I cannot recall exactly the reason for it, but I will never forget the look of fury on your face or the way your eyes burned into me like fire. Even engulfed in rage, you were so beautiful. I couldn't look away.
Don't you remember this?
When I asked for your hand in matrimony, you were silent for so long I feared you response would not be the one I had grown to hope for, but when you grabbed me in a tight embrace and wept into my shoulder, I knew your answer.
The day we were wed, your eyes could not dry either. I had never before smiled as much as I did on that day. I held your hand tightly as you cried. We vowed never to part.
I once more held you close on the day our request to adopt a child was denied. Your tears then were ones I hoped to never see again. I swore to you that I would always be there.
Do you remember that?
That fateful doctor's visit. Dementia, they said.
You were so strong.
I fell to pieces.
Please, remember.
Every day, it seems you forget more and more. I can see the way it tears you apart. I want to be strong for you, to be there for you like I promised, but it becomes harder and harder every time you look at me like I'm a stranger.
Remember me.
I've tried my hardest to keep you on track, but you are starting to become more and more distant from me. I feel like I'm losing you. Even if our past together is gone from your memory, at least let me have this present with you.
Don't leave me.
I don't know what to do for you. You hardly recognize my face anymore. The doctors say that it may be best for me to move on.
I can't.
I need you.
You have accused me of breaking in to our home and won't listen to what I have to say. Explaining the situation to the police was more painful than I thought it would be. You don't know me any longer.
Please.
The years have passed quicker than I wished they would. You've fallen ill, and despite my shouting and crying and wailing, the doctors aren't optimistic.
Even now as you lie sleeping in the cold hospital room, though your hair has grayed and deep wrinkles have set in all across your face, I still am in awe at how beautiful you are.
Remember.
You are so frail now. I'm afraid to touch you, even though that it all that I wish to do. I want to touch you, kiss you, hold you, hear you say my name just once more. I'll do anything.
Please.
Our time is almost up.
I want to hold back my tears for you, to be strong for you just one last time, but I cannot stop them. I can only bury my face in my hands.
"Cherry blossoms."
I can hear you speaking weakly, and I snap up to look at you. I see you gazing out the window longingly. The soft pink petals on the trees outside float away on the wind. You look confused, as if you are trying to recall something but simply cannot. It is an expression I have seen on your face many times over the past years.
"I… I confessed to someone under the cherry blossoms once."
"Yes."
You look as if there is more you wish to say, but a violent string of coughs shakes your whole body.
I move to help, but I fear that you will turn away from me again, and I don't think I could take it. You finally stop and let your eyes fall closed again. Your breathing is heavy.
"I confessed to someone under the cherry blossoms," you repeat.
"You did."
"They said yes."
"That's right."
You fall silent, and if it were not for the rhythmic mechanical beeping of the heart monitor, I would have feared the worst.
"I'm glad," you finally say. You open your eyes and the tears I was trying so hard to keep at bay fall freely once again when you look at me. It's not the cold, blank look I had grown accustomed to seeing. It is warm, loving, and kind; a look of recognition in those beautiful, beautiful eyes.
"I'm glad you said yes, Sei."
You smile at me, and never in my whole life have I seen anything as radiant.
I wrap my arms around you and weep into your shoulder, as you once did to me. I whisper words into your ear, over and over; I am not even sure what I'm saying anymore. All I know is that you're here with me. For the first time in years, you are truly here.
"I love you," I mutter and pull back to look at you.
You smile at me one last time and give my hand a weak squeeze. Your eyes gently slide closed.
The beeping of the monitor slows and slows before finally stopping all together.
The wind carries the cherry blossoms far off into the sky.
Thank you.
I recall once, many years ago, you asked me when it was that I first realized I loved you. At the time, I could not come up with a definitive answer. I said something about how it didn't matter when it began, only that it happened. However, if I was to be asked the same question now, I believe I would have a true answer to give.
I fell in love on a warm spring day in my third year of high school when a clumsy, nervous, beautiful boy confessed to me under the cherry blossoms.
I will never forget you, Kouki. You will live on in my memory. Always.