5 Centimetres Per Second

Hi! First 5cms/s fic so I'm soo stoked! *bows* I haven't read fics in the archive and idk anyone, so please take care of me! Hehe, written cus why not C:

It's Friday, so I got the chance to type this out―raw. I've been listening to the song "One More Time, One More Chance" by Yamazaki Masayoshi over and over again, and so I decided to upload a fic about how I am feeling ish right now (5cm/s context though). And oh, Kondou Akira was just a random name.

I have used a Christian wedding for my story, so yes, Christian customs will be used below. Italics will be used for Shinohara Akari's pov, and Toono/Tohno Takaki's will just be the same normal font, unless stated that it isn't him.

Dedicated to Zekkter because we both love this thing yooo. Here's my late Christmas present to you! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own the movie or the manga or the song. Credits to Yamazaki Masayoshi and of course, the great Shinkai Makoto-sensei. A HUGE fan of his works. (Go watch The Place Promised In Our Early Days.) Thanks for the feels and the tears.

One more time

Akari looked so beautiful.

I could feel the tears brimming at my eyes, threatening to spill if I looked at her any longer. She was wearing a very simple and white, strapless wedding dress; her natural peachy pink blush rested on her cheeks and on her pink, peaked nose; her small thin lips curved to form a smile that I have come to love dearly, and her long brown hair was tied into a bun, leaving only a few brown tresses to frame her flawless face.

Akari looked so beautiful.

I smiled as she walked from the big brown door to the altar; every step that she took was filled with grace. Although she was not walking alone, she was nervous, and I felt it. She looked like a leaf in the wind, but she kept her front.

Her blush darkened when our eyes met, and she seemed to have been put into a trance. Akari stopped walking, so I smiled and nodded to encourage her to walk on.

I bit my lip as the big door opened. This would be the last day that I would be Shinohara Akari. I looked at Mama and Papa beside me―Mama had tears in her eyes and Papa looked like he wanted to cry. I grinned to reassure them that I would be fine, and Papa's lips touched my cheeks.

"Akari, Mama and I love you so much."

Did I have any regrets?

I knew that the man I loved was waiting for me, and I love him so much that it hurts.

My stomach churned as I heard Papa's words resonate in my ears. It's been years since I lived with them, but it still felt strange that I would have to move in with someone else. I heard the door hinges creak and I began to walk. It was like a journey of forever, and I felt like crying.

My legs felt heavy as I saw familiar faces. They were all smiling, some were wiping their eyes with their hankies, and I felt the cold air surrounding my body. It felt odd to be carefully watched by such a huge crowd. I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks.

As I walked with my parents, turning a bit and smiling at the sea of faces, I saw one that I knew too well. Too well that his face and my memories of him were etched deep into mine. Amidst all the caked heads and the bodies in kimonos was a boy I knew. Toono Takaki.

Suddenly, I couldn't move.

Did I step into concrete?

As the bells rang and the people cheered, I walked out of the church. I was happy for Akari; happy to know that she would be well off and happy with someone else. I smiled when I saw her talking to people she knew; some of whom I knew. There were a few schoolmates here and there.

I felt nauseated, so I tried to get out as quickly as possible. I got to see Akari, and that's all that mattered.

"Congratulations Akari-chan! I'm so happy for the two of you!"

"Akari, you look so beautiful! Congrats to you and Akira-san!"

"Hmm, where's the lucky man? Shouldn't he be here with you?"

As I put up a smile and had small-talk with some relatives, I looked around. No sign of brown hair anywhere. It would be questionable and a rather interesting topic for the middle-aged women to talk about if I screamed "TAKAKI!" at the top of my lungs.

But I have to see him.

Just one more time.

.

.

.

And so I did.

One more chance

I swished my head quite violently as I heard my name, only to be met by Akari's brown orbs.

Time froze for the both of us.

I had a million things to say, some of which involved me congratulating her, telling her how beautiful she looked, and how I was happy for her. I had a million things to say, and only one came out of my mouth.

"Sorry."

Wait... what?

"I'm sorry for coming uninvited. I'll take my leave now."

Great. What am I saying? Not even a word of congratulations?

"T-Takaki!"

I turned around, and she was crying.

"I'm sorry for coming uninvited. I'll take my leave now."

All the memories flooded back in as I watched him walk away. His face hadn't changed; all remained untouched but his eyes.

His eyes looked empty, and he looked full of regret, but he was smiling when he left.

"T-Takaki!" His name came out of my mouth just like that, and when he turned to face me again, I didn't know what to do. I let my tears flow freely.

I knew that I was now a married woman, but this is my last chance.

Toono Takaki.

His name filled my thoughts.

I ran to him.

Words could not express how surprised I was when Akari ran to me and hugged me, but as if instinctively, I hugged her back. She cried on my chest. I rubbed the back of her head, and she looked at me.

"Takaki."

She had a lot to say, and I did too, but I learned that sometimes it's best to leave some things unsaid. I smiled at her to let her know, that I too understood her.

"I know, Akari."

Her name rolled off my tongue so easily, and it felt so right saying it. I looked far beyond as I held her, only realising something that I should've seen earlier. "Oh look, the cherry blossoms."

The sakura trees were in full blossom, and each petal fell ever so slowly.

She looked at the trees before turning her gaze towards me, and it took me back to the last time we watched them fall.

It was beyond wrong, but I let myself do it anyway. I let my thumb graze her cheek, feeling the fine hairs that were on her smooth skin. She closed her eyes and let herself cry onto my hand. I love Akari, and I could feel that she loves me too, but all that had been was thirteen years ago.

As much as I loved her, everything has changed.

You will always love your first love, and that person will forever stay as your first love, but that's it.

It stays deep at the bottom of your heart, and it will never go away. But it's locked up, and is only free in another time―the past. It will only be free in that time, and not in the present, because you have come to accept the fact that that person was your first love―and that person will only stay there.

I knew all these things the night we kissed. How should I treat such a gentle and delicate soul? I didn't know. I don't know. I would only ruin Akari, and yet she would still continue to love me.

I could feel her wet warm tears seeping through my dress shirt and onto my skin, and again, I could feel her soft lips on mine. It was more than a decade ago, but I know that it will always remain.

"Go Akari. Your husband is waiting for you. And thank you―for calling me. I'm glad we got to watch the cherry blossoms."

I gave her one last hug before she broke into a smile. And then she laughed. Her laugh removed the chains that were holding me back from living. It was sad, but it was sincere, and I would treasure it always. I would treasure it until the day that I die. Maybe then, I would be good enough to love her, and Akari and I could be together. In another time. In another dimension. Far off in the unknown, I know, that Akari and I will be.

"Thank you Takaki. I'm glad too. I'll remember you forever."

Walking away, I couldn't help but feel my heart pound and simultaneously flutter to unknown depths and heights. We watched the wind caress the beautiful pink flowers and carry them into the wild blue yonder, and that's when I came to know that I could be happy again.

We finally watched the cherry blossoms.

I smiled as Takaki walked away from me, and I could feel that that was the last time that I would ever see him again. I was beyond happy, because even though it hurt Shinohara Akari, I, Kondou Akari, came out unscathed. I felt so lost so many times in the maze that I was trapped in―until now.

Thank you Takaki. I will always love you.

[Normal POV; footnote]

Cherry blossom petals fall at an average speed of five centimetres per second. They all come together from the same tree, but as they continue falling, they take different paths. Each petal is beautifully unique and different from the others, and each will not land on the exact same position that another did.

Some get blown away by the wind and carried into the sea.

Some are plucked from the air and carefully tucked into the palm of a young child.

And some just fall on the ground.

It takes them really long to make it to wherever their destination is, but only very few of them land and stay together until their time is over, and soon, decomposition takes place.

They don't last very long, but they make an impact on everything around them.

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No one really notices it.

But people are like that as well.

おわり

A/n: I will update my other fics after exams. Don't kill me yet. Much love from ArrowBee-san/~