Valkyrie85: This is my first attempt at a Oneshot. Thank you for giving it a try.

Because I Am

Five years. It's been five years since the day we parted, or to be exact, since the day I left you.

We had been the college sweethearts that everyone on and off campus knew about because we were both exceptionally well-known in each of our respective realm of expertise: You, the easy-going, handsome rich boy with a bright future, played in the country's youth soccer league while I, "The Girl With a Dark Past," was a gold-digging pleasure whore who evaluated every aspect of life with a price tag.

You knew I approached you only for your money, but you still accepted me. You were kind, way too kind. You didn't care if my feelings for you were superficial, and you kept on loving me. You had told me it was "Okay to love" and it was "Okay to trust." You had told me that I was not the selfish and low gold-digger that the rest of the world and I believed. But, you were wrong.

When your Mother found out about us, she was more than furious. She had come to me on more than one occasion to send me away with a considerable amount of money. I had declined her offer but not for the reason that you believed. I chose not to accept because I knew that if you became a soccer star in the future, which I was 200 percent certain about, my gains would have surely surpassed the one that your Mother had offered. Yes, I was greedy as well.

Everything changed the day when the car crashed into you as you chased after me after we got into a fight. Your right leg had to be amputated because the doctor said the bones in your leg were entirely crushed. I can still remember your excruciated wailing outside of the operation room that day. Your Mother and your sisters were in just as much agony outside as you were inside, while I simply stood there, emotionless and dry from tears, and weighed in on my future with a useless you. The disadvantages had outweighed the advantages. I had decided to take your Mother's offer and left for China.

"Miss Kinomoto, same as usual today?" the amber-eyed You, five years later, stand before me on the other side of the counter and ask with one of your beautiful smiles that you once used to give me all the time. Your face hints no sign of aging, or even of your actual age since you've always looked younger than you actually are, in addition to your unkempt chestnut-coloured hair that adds boyishness to your features.

I give you a small smile in return and nodded with a "Thank you." There is no line up because of the rain today, and you slowly make your way to the coffee maker, hand placed on top of your limb out of old habit. You stretch your arm upward to the shelf in an attempt to get my favourite coffee beans, Crème Dark Roast. As the coffeemaker brews, you turn to the fridge for the whip cream.

"How are the workers, today? Did they manage to finish the proposal in time?" you ask me conversationally with the whip cream in hand.

"Yes, they did. But, one of them resigned today because she 'couldn't handle my tough expectations'," I reply, imitating my subordinate's tone of voice. With or without the memory that you had before the car accident, you are still the friendly you by nature.

You put the three sticks of sugar and two spoonful of cream into my cup along with the coffee, as I always ordered. "Young people these days are too spoiled," you say to me with a shake of your head. "A little bit of expectation and they cry. I work in this café all by myself with this limb, but I don't complain."

You mention the limb, and it makes me uneasy. I shake off the feeling as I get my wallet out to pay you. "How is business today? " I ask, already knowing the answer because you have mentioned it before.

You walk back to the counter with the coffee and place it on the countertop. "Whenever it rains, the business is always slow. Workers in the nearby buildings only come out for a snack or two only when it's clear outside." Then, you pull out a black umbrella from under the counter and hand it to me along with the cup of coffee and a strawberry muffin that I didn't order. "Take this with you. You'll be soaking wet by the time you reach your building if you don't have an umbrella. Remember to eat the muffin, as well. Drinking coffee on an empty stomach is terrible for your health."

You give me a wink and another smile.

"Thank you for the muffin and the umbrella. I'll give it back to you tomorrow," I say to you, waving at you with the umbrella before leaving the café.

If I can see you and have a casual talk with you everyday, not as someone who is "The Girl With a Dark Past" and a gold-digging pleasure whore, but as a respected manager at a large business corporation, I'm satisfied.

This, Li Syaoran, is enough for me.

Valkyrie85: Exaggeration is my talent, I know. I'm only experimenting with these OneShot stuff for now, so please go easy on me with the flames : ) As a side note, I just wanted to say that while I was writing this, I cried. If you liked this story, maybe you might like my other one, called "All I Want Is You." Check out my profile page for more of my stories! Thank you for reading!