I'm posting first my ever Tender Thoughts for a change. Big thanks to my reviewers: riaanaa, CapsTra, Padfoot Starfrye, DiaphanousBlack, and Lily Fenton Phantom!

To Rebekah: thanks much for the greeting and for the positive feedback! Another Ghibli fan!

To deathgod10: that's something I really wanted to hear! Glad you like Totoro too and the quirks of Ta-kun's father :)good luck in your studies

The line with this sign* was not mine—it was from Bradley Greive. Introductory song—Last Flight Out. There could be errors, sorry about that. This idea is a little inspired from Bo Sanchez' work. Have a joyful reading. Kindly drop some reviews once you're done.

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~Chapter 11: Romeo and Juliet~

Although it's hard and scares me so

A life without you scares me more

-:::-

She was seated somewhere quite, refusing a little for the things to sink in. And was listening to her own shallow breathing. A small bento box was at her hands, near her folded knees.

So he was with a girl.

She was lovely. And her lashes were long. They suit each other.

And at top of that, the lovely girl held a velvet box in her dainty fingers. It might be…

Misaki was never been one to associate herself with pointless rumors and gossips. But these past few days, rumors began flying around the hospital premises and around some high-class restaurants, where he frequents, spread by some of his noisy women admirers.

The youngest Walker had found the woman to settle down with.

It wasn't supposed to reach her ears until a concerned frequenter in their shop, while she was arranging the daisies near the counter, chose to tell her the matters concerning him but in a delicate and caring manner. She conveniently ignored the rumor…but the arrangement was candidly crap.

Her newly found prince was someone out of stereotype.

Her prince didn't wear a shining armor and velvet cloak, but a white long coat to cover his perfect built and a funny surgical mask at times. Her prince didn't ride in a mighty galloping stallion but in a four-wheeled vehicle created by men. Her prince didn't have a sword by his left side but a stethoscope always hanging around his neck. Her prince didn't croon a mean love song- she once heard him sang by the hallway and to be blunt, it was particularly awful—though he plays guitar, violin and piano instead.

Well, it was passable, she could live with it. But there's one thing she was missing— she was not his princess. There's no point in going deeper, if they've already made someone else theirs.

Her kingdom didn't exist here.

Maybe somewhere, far away.

It was strange. Very, very strange. Her heart was like pierced by thousand sharp needles and all she could do was to clutch it …because it hurts. The last few days of her life had been so wonderful that she almost forgot how it was to cry. She would never have a chance to be loved back. But it's okay.

It's okay.

Maybe, it was her fault for expecting a little. Or too much.

The fears and doubts she hated to acknowledge came back in full force. Maybe the dream was over. Time to get back to reality and gather up the stones. People *tend to forget that Romeo and Juliet DID NOT, in actual fact, end all that well. But just as life, the coming of love was an unfathomable gift that has its reasons for coming and going.

She rolled the daisy in her fingers, careful enough not to grip its frail stem. Her vision was blurry, and the daisy in her hand seemed two instead of one. She was later seen rummaging the cabinets for a bandage. Because bandage seemed to heal everything.

It rained that night, and the days after.

:::

Morning of April 20, it was her best friend's The Promise Day.

The wedding took place at a massive cathedral, one-hour drive away from the city. More than 800 guests filled the high-domed, 250-year old church. Pink roses were everywhere because it's the bride's favorite.

Kuuga, the groom, in his handsome and dignified black tuxedo, came an hour earlier than he should. Then finally, in a fine carriage was Sakura with her father who came fashionably late.

The bride was a beauty to behold. Her strawberry blunt bangs were pushed to the side, her hair was down—which was a rare sight—cascading past her bare shoulders in sweet waves. She had her wonderful white gown and 6 foot train swept behind her every steps. And the groom became amusingly speechless.

However before the bride's turn, the best man and the maid of honor were supposed to walk down the aisle together first.

Misaki was standing at the church's door.

She closed her eyes, hoping for a little more strength. Even just for today. Because she was not going to ruin the wedding just because of her inner struggles. The sound of flute and violin began to fill the whole church, a signal for them to start marching. She linked her arms with his, like it's the most natural thing to do, and deliberately dodged all of his glances.

All the overflowing affection he bottled up in his gazes became unknown to her.

Takumi was one of the blessed creatures in the history of mankind. Yes, he was very manly in his suit. His eyes were smoldering and the air he brings in his every gait commands everyone's attention.

Yet he was pleading silently to the girl beside him…Please look at me.

There was a sad story in her eyes, and he has yet to figure it out.

And although he never voiced it, she was the definition of beauty for him. She had showed up in her silk peach gown, and easily took his breath away. He loved this girl.

She never looked up at him and she never knew.

:::

He stepped off the bus. Two warm hands dug deep in his pockets, keeping them away from the coldness the light rain was giving. It's reaching on his skin, bit by bit, and he didn't even try to bring shelter, umbrella would be troublesome. There were just times when he felt like complaining. At these times, he wondered if he could ride up on the wind when he figured he just have to go and see her.

A fat woman in gray uptight dress instantly opened the door for him, but he stayed outside.

He asked her politely, searching for the certain presence he knew should be there.

And the fat woman knew him, of course. He was the owner's son of the very ground they were stepping on. The woman sighed and with a half-hearted reply she said 'She's down in the kitchen, probably still fixing her mess about the plate ceramics.'

Her words were cold, echoing in his mind. In other words, she was the gofer. The clumsy. The sometimes rude. Tomboy. The just ordinary girl, nothing special at all. The dishwasher. The simple kitchen maid. What she really wanted to say was Why bother looking at her? She's not worth your time.

Because face it, not all have a golden heart and have a thought that focuses in good and not in bad, in magnificence and not in faults. However, there was this guy who happened to have a golden hair and a heart as well. The man stared at the lady, unyielding on his purpose and said 'Call her anyway.'

A hundred seconds won't make him colder. He didn't mind waiting even if waiting will take him a lifetime. There were changes, he had. Meeting her was the best change she made in him.

He takes every afternoon hoping that when she shows up, she would pat his shoulder and look him in the eye. It's been two weeks and the longing it caused him physically pained him in the chest. Was there something wrong? Did he make any unnecessary? Was she mad? Did she …miss him, even just for a bit?

It broke his heart to see her this pale and the circles she had under her eyes.

When the shadows no longer covered her panicked face and the glassed door had eventually closed behind her, he searched the extremities of her hand, grabbed it and bolted down together the glittering silver segments of road. He had no idea where to go but his spiritless feet kept on running. She trudged along with him, still in her uniform, steps heavy with lack of sleep.

Green fingers of earth begun filling their sight, grasshoppers were chirping across the field. In her nostrils were the smell of the damp earth, wet pine-needles and barks.

I guess you heard, I guess you know

The ground was pooled with wet grass and mud yet he felt like sinking into one knee. The moment seemed all wrong yet he felt like fishing the velvet box out of his pocket. The noise in his head…was so loud and powerful.

In time I'd have told you, but I guess I'm too slow

So it didn't surprise him when he finally blurted out what has been bugging him lately. 'Marry me' and he meant it, every word.

Misaki, who had been staring blankly in the sky, looked down to him. Her shock was apparent. The heart in her glossy eyes broke away in halves. He was dropped in his knee, ignorant of how the mud stuck unattractively at his pants. In his hand was a brilliant sapphire atop the tiny ring of dazzling gold.

And it's overly romantic but I know that it's real

Her shoulder tensed and she balled some shirt in her shaking fist. She gave a brashly heart-rending laugh and her eyes surprisingly welled up.

'D-did you know, you don't say that kind of thing to just r-random people?'

Sniffling was the first thing she did as she stubbornly wiped the first few streaks of tears on her cheeks. And he was held transfixed. She was on her feet standing and frustratingly wiping her tears away. He wanted to say Hey, don't cry, but he couldn't. These arms he have seemed too heavy to lift them any further. And so he remained in his pose, with one of his knee planted on the ground, giving her way to continue whatever she wanted to say.

It's like I'm in somebody else's dream,

'Did you know… the only edible thing I could make are fried rice and boiled eggs?! Did you—' she breathed heavily, licking her parched bottom lip to continue '—k-know that I get grumpy when woken up at the wrong side of the bed?! And then, then you'll get bored sooner! You wouldn't be proud!'

This could not be happening to me.

He stood up warily, prints of crushed grass were on his damp white pants but he didn't really care. He looked at her, not leaving her shaking figure as he moved a step forward. She would lock her door, he could tell, and his only coherent thought was to hold the bolt and to NEVER let it closed.

'I can't even –'

'If you're planning to give me one-hundred reasons why I shouldn't do this, well lady I'm telling you, I will give you one-thousand reasons why I wouldn't change my mind and nothing could persuade me otherwise.'

But you were there,

He stopped, stared lovingly at her wide eyes. Watching as some more of her tears, along the raindrops, fell with gravity. With this he became aware of their height difference, she was always this small but watching her today, he felt like she was shrinking in his gaze. He cupped her cheeks, with the full intention of meeting her eyes which had been so elusive lately. Courage bubbled up inside him.

'I love you' said he 'I love you, not because I see a potential personal maid in you. I don't mind eating hard boiled eggs everyday if it means being with you forever.'

'B-but there was this wo—'

'I'm not seeing any other woman other than you.'

…and you were everything I'd never seen

The rain has stopped. And there was something in his eyes that says he's not lying. He gently kissed her hair as she looked blurrily at her shoes, worn out and damp.

'It's always been you. I want to marry you, because I want to call you mine. I know you are stubborn, headstrong and so much unladylike in all the wrong places but I don't see them as faults or imperfections. They make you, and I love you, so please.'

These kind words and thoughts melted her tough iron cage. And the patient love he has been trying to give her by his outstretched hand reached her poor spirit. After all, love was kind, in deed and truth.

You woke me up from this long and endless sleep.
I was alone.

She has been longing to see herself someday, in the arms of someone. In someone who will be holding her forever not just in dreams and half-hearted illusions. Someone who will be saying the three-precious-words to her without any condition, every waking day or at the phone, every night. Someone who will be willing to travel half the globe for a chance to be with her even just for a second. Who will be there to encourage and smile when the dreams were drifting so far and distant.

He drove out all her fears.

I opened my eyes

For here was the man who would unconditionally hold her hand for the whole world to see. He was the man would always here to understand and listen. And he was the man who, in amazing ways, thinks of her differently –except to those who don't understand—because in his very eyes she can never be ugly, and in his heart she can never be ordinary.

The sun has broken through the blanket of clouds, with large brushstrokes, painting her once dull surroundings in riot of colors. Once more, the grasses were very green and the skies were so blue. So he took her hands and pressed the promise of unending love into her palms.

'In the near future, for the rest of my life, won't you stay with me?'

She smiled, finally, murmuring in her small broken voice at the crook of his neck about his cheesy proposal and that she loved him, too. She fell all over him again, as they found one another in each other's arms, little by little, then all at once.

and You Were There.

-:::-

Done. Lyrics from the song You Were There.

Two chapters to go.