Tired. This was the only word that could describe Sonoda Umi in this moment. It was a Wednesday, 10 pm, and she was going home from an exausting day at the Dojo. She stayed there, with her parents, from eight in the morning until now. Today it also was her birthday, hence her parents held a little celebration at lunch break, but she still hadn't managed to talk, for a single minute, to her girlfriend of almost eight years, Kousaka Honoka. The gingerhead in question was busy with her parents' shop herself, and communicated via message that she was likely to spend the night in her old house, instead of the one they were sharing since the day after Umi's graduation: it was her and Honoka's parents gift for her graduation and the seven years as a couple; a nice, comfy house where the two of them would have lived a good life. Umi couldn't help but feel a little sad tha Honoka wasn't home: it was the first birthday she missed since they first met, almost twenty-five years ago. Well, there was plenty of time to make up for it, tomorrow.
When she finally reached home, Umi noticed a sign on the door.
Message for the birthday girl: , It read.
Turn me around, birthday girl!
Umi did as she was told, and turned the sign around.
Good evening, Umi. First of all, happy birthday! I am your lucky sign. Unfortunately for you, you can't enter your home. I have to ask you to enter the car that just parked behind you, outside the courtyard.
Umi turned around, and, indeed, there was a car. And what a car. A limousine, black, with one of the back doors opened for her to board it.
"Honoka?" she called. No answer. Of course there wasn't. But something told her to trust the sign, because it was from her girlfriend. She approached the car, entered and sat on a very comfortable seat. On the other one, in front of her, a red envelope stood out on the white leather. She picked it up, and, in the moment she opened it, the door closed itself and the car begun to move.
Inside the envelope there was a picture, and a message.
Everything started from here. Said the message. We were so little, and never I would have imagined, that day, that you would have come to be such an important person in my life. This is the first time we met, even if none of us remembers it.
The picture showed her and Honoka's mother, posing with smiles on their faces, and two cute toddlers in their arms: Honoka was fairly bigger, being seven months older, but that was indeed, the first time they met.
"Madam, I was told to bring you here and let you out from the car. You have a message out there: once you get it, please come back on board."
What probably was the driver's voice shook her from her thoughts, and she noticed that the door was open once again.
Umi stepped out from the car, and immediately recognized the place she found herself into as her childhood park: there, she played with Honoka, and, later, Kotori. There she grew accustomed to Honoka pulling her out of her shell and to the antics she later came to love. On a tree, another envelope, white this time, waited for her.
Without hesitation, she reached for and opened it. Inside there was a photo. A fairly recent one, judging from the quality of the picture. It was a landscape, a familiar one: actually, she could almost see that same image only by rising her eyes and looking behind the tree. Something wasn't right though: it seemed that the picture was taken from a higher place than the ground. Then it came to her mind. She turned the photo.
This place holds one of the most important memories of my childhood. I must tell you I didn't really know, back then, how was the view from up there. But now, as I take this photo, I can barely hold back my tears. Because the view is beautiful, and because you share this memory with me.
Tears dropped onto the paper, as old memories replayed in Umi's mind: the runs in the park, Honoka proposing to climb the tree, and the view. A view from a place she never knew could be at reach. With a smile on her face she went back to the car, and, after a short ride, she was asked again to step down from the car: this time it was Homura's. The front door, despite the late hour, was open, so Umi naturally went through it, only to find Yukiho, dressed in a nice dress, with a blue package in her hands.
"Good evening, Yukiho." Umi greeted the younger Kousaka.
"Good evening, Umi-nee. This is for you. You should open it in your car, I was told." Yukiho answered with a smile, holding the package out for Umi to take.
"Is this Honoka's idea?" Umi couldn't help but be curious.
"You should open it in your car, I was told." Yukiho repeated, with a wink. That was all the confermation Umi needed. She nodded, thanked the younger woman, and went back to the car, where, during the ride, she opened the package to find three manjuus – one with the 'Ho' kanji on it, another with the 'Umi' kanji on it, and the third one with a small heart – and yet another short letter. In that exact moment, her stomach growled. She dind't eat anything since 6 pm, anyway, so she took a manjuu and started to eat it while reading. The sweet flavour made the words even better:
So, that was my house, but you already know it. It was my house, but now, living with you, I'm home. Someone said that a person's home is with her beloved ones, and I am sure that my home is everywhere you are. I am so lucky to have you, I can't put it into words. I hope you are enjoying the manjuus, I made them today just for you! This is for all the memories we have of us being here, eating manjuu and chatting, or doing homework, or anything, as long as I was with you.
In the moment she finished reading, she felt the car stop once again, and the door opened. She was at Otonokizaka, now. And, of course, on the front gate, was another letter.
This is Otonokizaka, as you know. This is where everything happened: here I realized how important you are, here I understood my feelings for you, and on that roof, eight years ago, on the 26th of June, I confessed to you. I was so sure that you wouldn't have liked me back that when you started crying and saying 'I love you' I wasn't sure of what to do. Then you embraced me, and I finally got a glimpse of the best feeling in the whole world: being in your arms, with your heart pounding at the same pace of mine, our lips meeting in our first kiss. I love you, Umi. I have since those days, and I still do now. Please, now, get back into the car, there's only one more stop.
Umi was crying openly now: cheeks flushed red, heart punding crazily. Everything, of that 26th of June, came back. The warm sunset, Honoka approaching her from behind, the confession, and Honoka saying she knew she wasn't good enough to be her girlfriend. That's why she started to say "I love you" in that way to her. Honoka often forgot how much she was loved, by so many and so much, but by nobody more than Umi. The younger girl that day decided that she would have implanted that seed into Honoka's brain, and she never stopped repeating it. There was one more step now, but this time she was sure Honoka would have been there.
When she turned to the car, after tidying herself up, the man who supposedly was the driver was waiting for her beside the open door. He talked to her while she approached him: "Madam, I must give you this now. Please read it on the way." And he offered her a new, decorated, white envelope, which Umi gladly took from her extended hands, before getting back on the car, where she hastily opened it to read the following:
There is one last memory for us to go through. When my parents asked us if we wanted to live together, and you accepted straight away, I was overflowing with happiness. You, saying yes, without an hesitation, without a thought, really showed me how much you love me, and how amazing you are to want to live with someone like me. I love you so much, Umi, I can't imagine a life without you. You have been in my life for so long, now, and we have done so much. I want to do one more thing. Exit the car.
As if it was reading with her, the car stopped again, but the door didn't open. She reached for the handle and opened it herself, and from outside a choir of voices screamed "Happy Birthday, Umi!". The blue haired woman looked around, to see all of µ's in nice outfits, that made her t-shirt, jacket and sweatpants pale in comparison; the Sonoda and Kousaka families where there as well. Everyone was in her and Honoka's garden, clapping. Her mind was already overwhelmed by happiness and the joy of being all together again, Kotori, Rin, Hanayo, Maki, Nozomi, Eli and Nico, as well as Yukiho and Arisa. Tears came back in her eyes, but in the moment she took a step towards the girls, Eli talked.
"Aren't you missing someone, Umi?" She asked, with a knowing smile. In that moment, Umi noticed that her love, Honoka, was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is she?" asked Umi.
A familiar voice came from behind her. "Here." Umi turned around, to see Honoka, down to one knee, clad in a suit, with an earnest smile on her face. She couldn't say a word, when Honoka took a hand in hers and talked to her: "Good evening, Umi. I'm sorry, I lied to you. Today I wasn't working with my parents, I was busy preparing this."
Umi opened her mouth to say her that it didn't matter, that she was happy all the same, but Honoka continued, not leaving her the time to talk. "I wanted to take you on a trip in our memories, because I want you to know that those times will always have a special place in my heart, but, as I said in my last letter, I want to make one more thing. Because the memories we have, as friends at first, and as lovers after, are the best I have right now, I want to make a new set of memories, from now on. I don't want to have you as my lover in my memories." Honoka reached for her pocket and pulled out a dark, velvet box. Umi gasped and the box popped open, revealing a silver ring with a topaz and a sapphire side by side on top. "So, Sonoda Umi, will you make me the happiest in the world, and be my wife in the future? Will you marry me?"
Umi's heart skipped several beats since the revealing of the ring, and a new, stronger feeling of joy, and love, and happiness invaded her. "Yes" was the only thing she managed to say, between sobs, "I will." Before completely losing herself when Honoka slid the ring onto her finger, before getting back to her feet and pulling her into a long, passionate kiss, savoring Honoka's lips and tasting the same but always new taste, this time even sweeter, and behind them everyone started clapping, and whistling.
The tiredness she felt just half an hour ago was gone, replaced by an intense and overwhelming happiness, that she knew would last forever, with Honoka by her side, as her wife.
A/N: I wrote this on a whim because I was out of ideas with my first draft. Happy birthday to the best girl of muse, with the best pairing ever. As always, fell free to correct any mistake that you see. If you did enjoy this please leave kudos or a review, but for now, Jack36 out.