A/N: This is dedicated to one of my readers/ reviewers who gave me a suggestion to do something 'spring-y'. So, this is my interpretation of it. Hope you like it! (you know who you are). And thanks for yr comments & support. Love ya! :)
It was spring again. The time for new beginnings and new starts. But the past was not to be forgotten as well.
Haku strolled down the path, lost in his own thoughts as his feet carried him down the very familiar trail. He thought of all the times he had come and she was not here. He wondered if this year was to be different. Haku remembered the promise they had made when they were kids. How they promised each other that they would meet at the tree every spring just so they could see each other again. But from the time they made that promise till now, almost ten years later, she had not shown up once. Yet, year after year, he had continued to come, faithfully keeping to their promise.
She wondered if he still remembered the promise they had made to each other that spring. The promise... that she had not kept. She wondered if he still went there every spring, even though she did not. She desperately hoped he did, for this spring, she would keep to that promise. Chihiro missed him, but she had not been able to come before, until this year. As she walked through the park that had once been so familiar to her, all the memories came flooding back to her. And she remembered him... and the tree. The tree, of course, how could she forget?
"Isn't it big, Chihiro? It's so tall! And the flowers smell wonderful, just like you." He bent down and picked one of the fragrant blossoms off the ground. He examined it carefully before gently placing it in her hair.
"There!" Haku was pleased with himself. "You are pretty... and the flower's pretty too! It matches." Chihiro blushed at his compliments and whispered her thanks to him. Holding hands, the two young children walked slowly around the trunk of the great tree, wondering at its size.
Now, the great tree was in sight. It had not lost its majesty with the years. In fact, it seemed to have increased in height and splendor. To Chihiro, the tree was very special, a place where she had spent time with one of the most special people in the world. It was also where that incident had occurred. Her first. Even now, as she recalled it, a light blush tinted her cheeks.
It was a familiar practise now. The two teens would meet at the base of the tree, then intertwine their hands and slowly walk around the trunk, talking about anything and everything.
This time, it seemed a bit different to Chihiro. Haku had bent down and picked up one of the pretty flowers that had drifted down from the boughs of the great tree. He carefully tucked the flower behind her ear then stepped back to admire her. It reminded Chihiro of the time when they were both kids. Though a few years had passed, the feelings between them had not changed much, only to develop and strengthen their relationship.
"In a few months, I'm leaving." Chihiro had whispered the dreaded words to him, and they hung between both of them like one of the falling flowers, suspended in the breeze. Slowly, he turned to meet her eyes. She saw an unusually serious expression in his emerald orbs.
"Then promise me one thing," he whispered to her, brushing a strand of her hair away from her face. "Promise me that you'll never forget us. That we'll see each other again in the future. I want you to promise that every spring, on this exact day, we'll meet at this tree."
"I promise," she told him. He could see unshed tears in her eyes.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
It was then that they had shared their first kiss. It had sealed their promise. But it was a promise that she had gone back on. Now he wondered, did she even intend to keep it in the first place? Shaking the doubts from his mind, Haku stopped and stared at the bark of the tree, running his fingers over the rough wood, feeling the grooves and callouses of the bark. So different from the soft warmth of her hand. Sighing, he turned to go, realizing that it was yet another year that she had left her promise unfulfilled.
Suddenly, he stopped.
The young man before her could not be the boy from her youth, could it? Dark, shoulder-length hair. It was not as green as she remembered, though. Hesitantly, she stepped forward, unsure if the green-eyed man before her recognized her.
"Chihiro?" Shock colored his voice and his moss-colored eyes were wide. The woman nodded, her long brown ponytail bobbing from the movement. Apparently, that was all the recognition she needed.
She practically flew forwards into his arms, embracing him for the first time in years.
As she hugged him, unshed tears from so long ago flowed freely down her cheeks. He had waited after all. Even though she had not come, he had kept to his promise, faithfully, year after year. Every spring was no different it seemed, he would be waiting at the tree for her.
Their lips met. She remembered that time, when they were younger. It had been the same. Her hands went up to cradle his face while his arms snaked around her waist, holding her close.
"I'll always wait for you. Remember that, okay? And one day in the future, we'll get married at this big, old tree." Their innocent words extracted several indulgent smiles from passing adults. They held hands and stared into each other's eyes. Mahogany and emerald.
"Really? You'll always wait for me? Will we have kids too?" She flashed a shy smile at the boy. He nodded vigorously.
"Of course!"
She had laughed at that. Bubbling with delight, she had leaned in to embrace him and plant a kiss on his cheek.
Around them, spring had arrived. The flowers in the tree were just beginning to blossom and their fragrance permeated the air. A single flower drifted down from the boughs of the great tree. Down, down, where it landed at the feet of a couple.
Spring. New beginnings... and old reunions.
A/N: Hope that was alright for you! Thanks again for your support and have a wonderful spring! :) for me, it's eternally summer. Not that it's all that good or bad, but yeah. Comments & criticisms welcome! I dunno about you guys, but I strangely like this story... anyway, let's not be ego, shall we? ;) I have another idea (kind of) for this too, but I haven't finished writing it. I'll see how it turns out before (maybe) posting it. it kind of centres around spring too, so hope you guys aren't bored of this yet. Thanks for reading!
