Alice and Yuri didn't speak much as they walked through the town. Alice glanced over at Yuri, and wondered what in the world he did in town. Yuri didn't seem to notice how Alice was staring at him. He just continued to walk with his hands behind his head and a small smile on his face.

As the two got to the park Yuri turned to Alice and randomly asked, "Hey, what do you like better: sunsets or a clear night sky?" He stopped and looked at her, waiting patiently for her answer.

Alice cocked her head to the side and watched Yuri for a moment. Why the random question, she thought. "Well, both are quiet beautiful, but I think I'd have to pick a sunset. There are more wonderful colors in a good sunset than a stary sky," she decided. "Why do you want to know?"

Yuri eyed her for a moment and arched his eyebrow. "What, I can't ask you a simple question anymore without getting interrogated?" he said, bringing his arms down from behind his head and folding them across his chest.

Alice scuffed her feet a little and stared at the sidewalk and said, "Well, no, I just wanted to know why you wanted to know."

Yuri shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I guess it just came to me. There wasn't a conversation going on, and well I didn't like walking in the silence. Now there's a conversation going, and I like it better."

Alice stared at him for a moment and started to giggle. She could always tell when Yuri was trying to lie. Well, at least lie to her. For some reason he would get really serious and defensive, but only when he lied to her. "You're a bad liar," she told him.

Yuri frowned and looked ahead of him. "What are you talking about? I'm not lying. Why would I lie?" he questioned.

Alice shrugged her shoulders and smirked. She enjoyed catching him in his lie. "Well, simply because your trying to hide something from me. Does it have something to do with what you were doing out in town earlier?" she asked curiously.

Yuri knew he wasn't going to get by Alice now since she knew for sure he was lying. He let out a long breath and smiled slightly, "It might," he replied. He then put his hands back behind his head and continued, "But I'm not gonna to tell you. I was gonna later in the day like I said, but not anymore."

Alice blinked. She was astonished by how fast the tables were turned against her. "Why not? Come one tell me what you were doing, please." She looked at him innocently, giving a sort of puppy dog look to sucker him into telling her.

Yuri looked at her and grimaced. She looked so cute, but yet sad at the same moment. He opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it and shook his head, closing his eyes. "Nope, not gonna work Alice. I'm not tellin' you."

Alice folded her arms and sighed, "Fine then," she said in a defeated tone.

There was a long silence between the two. It only lasted for about thirty minutes before they began to talk again once they were actually at the park. There wasn't much to at the park but walk and talk, and that's just what they did. For about three hours they did that. Yuri looked up at the sky for a moment, then turned to Alice and said, "Hey come this way. There's a place on the other side of the park that I wanna show you."

Alice nodded. Yuri took Alice's hand and grasped it gently in his and led her through the park quickly. He looked a little lost for a few moments, but quickly remembered which way to go. Alice looked ahead and saw what looked like a large lake coming up. She hadn't realized it until now, but they had been walking around for quiet some time, because as they approached the lake Alice could see that the sun would soon be setting behind the horizon.

Alice looked over a Yuri and smiled slightly, and thought back to the question he asked her earlier, about whether she had liked sunsets or night sky's better. 'He was going to take me here today either way. My answer just dictated the time,' she thought to herself as they soon stood halfway across a small bridge out on the lake. Alice admired the view, and the trouble Yuri went through to find this spot. Was that what he was up to all day, trying to find somewhere special to take her? She pondered on the thought for a little while, but soon was swept away by the beauty of the sky as it morphed into swirls of red, orange, pink, and even a little purple.

Even Yuri just leaned over the railing of the bridge to watch the event, captivated by the view. He never really took the time to sit back and watch a sunset, but then again he was usually always on his feet, and never had the time to enjoy something like this. "Pretty, huh?" he said softly to Alice, still gazing out into the horizon.

Alice took her stare away from the sun, and looked at Yuri. He looked so peaceful at that moment. She just smiled and watched him for a moment, before nodding and replying simply, "Yeah." She had just turned her attention back to the sunset, when all of a sudden she felt Yuri's warm embrace as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing his head down on her shoulder. Alice smiled again, even larger this time, and leaned back against Yuri and rested her head against his.

There was a special moment between them just then, the one every one wants to have. They lifted their heads slightly and exchanged loving glances with each other. Then, Yuri slowly raised his hand up and put it gently against Alice's cheek, and turned her head towards him more, pulling her into a passionate kiss. They remained in a nice little lip lock for approximately ten seconds. It ended abruptly when Yuri pushed something solid into Alice's mouth with his tongue.

Alice pulled back and gave him a bewildered look as she stepped back. She opened her mouth and spat out what ever it was that Yuri pushed into her mouth into her hand. It took a second for her brain to register what it was, and when she did she looked up at Yuri in shock. It was an exquisite diamond ring.

Yuri watched Alice for a moment and swallowed hard. All day he'd been going through what he wanted to say in his mind, but now that the moment was here, he froze. He didn't know what to do now, and what was done was done and there wasn't any turning back now. He turned his back to Alice and rubbed the back of his head, thinking that if he didn't see her he wouldn't be as embarrassed as he was right now. "Alice…" he began, "I know that we really haven't had a relationship for a very long time, but… well… I-I've been in love with you for so much longer than that."

Yuri could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks, and he felt that his knees were getting weak. He didn't know that proposing was going to be this hard. He took another big gulp and continued on, "…You, you're the only one that truly understands me out of every one I know. For a long time I was dead inside, but you made me see there was so much more to live for. You've made me finally understand what happiness is, and now that I have it, I don't want to loose it. If you feel this is rushed, I'm really sorry, and you can say no, but I had to do this because I really feel that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, by your side."

He couldn't stop thinking about how terrible it all came out. He had so many better words he rehearsed in his head earlier, but now they were just a rambling form of what he wanted to say. He was almost afraid to turn around to see the look on her face. He didn't want her to reject him, but he could understand it if she did. He bit his lip nervously, and slowly turned around. "So, Alice Elliot, will you marry me?" he said finally. He didn't want to make his little speech sound worse than it already did, so he decided to ask her now instead of rambling on some more.

Alice stood there, staring at him, trying to find her voice. She would never have guessed that this was what he had been doing all day in the town. Finally, her voice returned to her, and she replied to his question with a large smile, "Of course, Yuri."

((Yeah some of you probably saw that coming, oh, but just you wait till things get more involved in the second shadow hearts game. Muahaha. Any way, sorry about the slowness again, and I haven't gotten the chance to really sit down and play shadow hearts and all. I'm kind of busy. I have three AP classes at school, work, and softball to worry about this semester, so don't expect much more anytime soon.))