(A/N; Konichichitan! I was writing this fic after a bad nightmare and...yeah, it's a bit dark, mind you, Nevertheless, enjoy!)

Proposal

The proposal came unexpectedly. They were sailing on a ship namely Tarantella, a first prize that Nodame had won in a lucky draw, and also a welcome-back present for him after finishing yet another tour. As she stretched her arms, laughing gaily with the others, Chiaki went over and whispered the proposal. A whisper, but loud enough for them to hear. They shrugged it off, thinking of it as a mere drunkard slip away.

Nodame became Chiaki Megumi the very next week.

There, stood at the end of the reception hall was Kuroki, clad in a tailored Armani suit. He stood there reminiscing their past; they used to date once; the very time when Chiaki was away for yet another tour. It was such a meaningful period for him, and he knew for her as well. But she would never show it. Never. And when she called last night saying that she'll be married tomorrow, he was nothing but devastated.

As easy as the proposal came, it is now plunging towards a waterfall. Nodame had heard their conversation; a plan they made to terminate her. She woke up dizzily in the middle of the night only to hear Chiaki on the phone with God-knows-who making up the fatal plan. Nodame stood there, paralyzed, unable to move. It was like listening to stroboscopic sound, quick, pulsating phrases of words. Now, as the rain beating her body, she struggled to get as far away as she could from the house.

The torrential storm had turned the path into a muddy, slippery mire that sucked at her feet and slowed her down as she had that the feeling that she was running in a nightmare. Only that this is real. Nodame reached the lake and there, staring at it. The calm water had turned into a seething, churning ocean driven by demonic winds that built up high waves that brutally smashed against each other. She looked down before her and saw the rowboats tied to their moorings, spinning around in the turbulent water, straining to break free..

Nodame scrambled down to a boat and jumped in. Instantly, the boat leaped away from the dock, soaring in its sudden freedom. She pulled herself onto a seat and picked up the oars but the giant waves kept pitching the boat, and the oars were sucked into the water. the boat was hurtling towards the lake center. Nodame's teeth began to chatter from the cold, an she began to shiver in an uncontrollable spasm. She felt something lap at her feet and she looked down and saw that the boat was filling with water. she started to cry, because her wedding dress was going to get wet. Kuroki had bought it for her and now he was going to be mad at her.

She wore a wedding gown because she and Kuroki were in a church, to be united, then the lights went out and Nodame was back in bed and Chiaki was holding her down and the woman was throwing water on her, drowning her. She looked around for the church, but it was gone. He did not want to marry her anymore, and now she had no one.

The boat began to rock treacherously as the huge wave smashed against it. But Nodame was no longer afraid. Her bode was slowly filling with a delicious warmth, and the rain felt like soft velvet on her skin. She clasped her hands in front of her, like a small child and began to recite the prayer she had learned as a little girl.

'Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep

If I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take'

And she was filled with a wonderful happiness because she know at last that everything was all right; she's on her way home. At that moment, a large wave caught the stern of the boat, and it slowly began to overturn in the black bottomless lake.

OWARI

(A/N; comments are delightful, dani)