A/N: Well, that zoo in Omaha was great. Henry Doorly, great zoo. It seems to be the only adjective in my head right now-great, I mean. Oh well, here's the very last chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own KH.
Chapter 12: That Little Ole Fortune Cookie
A year passed without me really realizing it, since that's what the calendar does to you every year. You're flipping pages faster than you assumed you would. So, Aer and I managed to get a whole lot more serious after that acoustic performance of my life. We went out once a week if not more often. Pretty soon, my cellphone bill had gone way up, which was probably what I deserved. That gave me a reality check to the point I would come over to her apartment to talk to her. What a way to save money, huh? But hey, holding a secretarial position didn't offer a whole lot of dough, so I did have to penny pinch quite a bit to get by. That's what happens when you're in your early twenties.
I introduced Aerith to my friends and family later that summer, and like I knew they would, they all loved her. They couldn't find one fault to pick with her, not even my best friend Axel, the resident cynic. Speaking of which, he was getting along a lot better than he used to. He had been clean and sober for about two months when we went to see him. Despite his agonizing court date that wound up telling him that he had to attend AA meetings, he knew that it would pay off in the long run. Though the carting around, he told me dryly, definitely wasn't worth it. He did have a job, though, so he would save up for a car.
From what I understood from Roxas, he was getting fairly serious with his girlfriend, too. So, I guess love was all around. As for Mom and Namine, they treated Aer to a shopping trip at a nearby bigger city at one point during her visit. Typical. I never understood why female bonding equals shopping, so I've blamed it on pure estrogen.
Overall, the year had been great, one of the best ones of my life. I even marked the calendar on the day of the one-year anniversary that we met at that hospital where she still worked. It might have been under amusing circumstances, but look how well that turned out for us? I actually got a girlfriend out of that hospital trip. Fate works in mysterious ways.
Then, we exchanged Christmas gifts later that year, the best ones that we could afford. It was obvious that her job paid better than mine, let's just say that for a fact. And when spring came, she stocked up on flower seeds again, as was her way. Adding to the rooftop garden was always her main priority around that time. Speaking of which, I wondered when we would ever go to Michigan so I could meet her family. Then again, Michigan was way, way further away than small town New York state, so we would have to see when we could go out together. Probably on a weekend, because that was usually a good time. In the meantime, I think I planned to take the next step.
In our relationship, I mean, I would do something that I had thought over for a while now. I needed to confide in my best friend for this one. Considering I hadn't touched my cellphone in a couple of months or so, I figured it would be all right to call up Axel. Next time, I would probably call Roxas, since I obviously didn't do that enough. I couldn't show favoritism in front of my two closest friends, after all. I smiled once I heard him pick up.
"You know you're interrupting my rousing game of Halo, don't you?"
Oh, how typical of Axe to complain about missing out on video games.
He had the day off from college, so that was his preferred hobby of choice. Wow, we were all so immature.
I put the TV on mute. "Why are you still obsessed with that game? Personally, mine died ages ago...when I started getting a life."
"Ouch, man. But, you do know I am without a car right now. I got an excuse. A valid one, if you ask me."
"Yeah, yeah, don't chew me out." I chuckled. "But, hey, I was thinking about my girlfriend Aerith."
"Oh yeah, she was nice."
"I'm thinking about..." Then, I whispered my intentions.
Axel must have paused his game, because I stopped hearing obnoxiously loud sound effects from the video game. He must have checked to make sure he heard right. Yeah, I couldn't believe I was willing to follow through with my plan either. But, it had been long enough, a reasonable time. If anything, I picked the opportune moment.
"Seriously, dude? Guess I'll have to get used to her, huh?"
I drawled out, "Yep, but that shouldn't be a problem, should it?"
"Hell no. She is all right, believe me. Good luck on what you're gonna do there."
"Hopefully, I won't need it. So, how've you been?"
In a more serious, sincere tone, Axel told me, "Way better than I used to, Dem. I feel free. Then again, I'd been taking my heavy drinking way too lightly before. I should have realized that it was serious. But, ya know, life is going great now."
I nodded, getting up to move over to the fridge. "Good."
"And I met—well, I guess, found—somebody."
"Great!" I grinned. "Are you going out with her?"
"Not yet, but I plan to. If I can do it, you can do it."
Hm, Pepsi or Coke? Oh heck, I would grab a Pepsi, goes down the throat more smoothly.
As I cradled the cellphone right between my shoulder and ear, I popped the tab open. "My situation is kinda different. But, yeah, I'm pretty sure I can. Glad you're doing well, Axe."
"You too...to say the least."
"Later."
"Bye."
OK, that was positive feedback. No "dude, I'm not sure about this" kind of advice. Axel basically told me to go for it, and I would due to the plenty of money I had saved up. Not to mention I had a plan in mind.
"K, Pence, I got a request for you," I told my slightly younger friend as I stepped right up to the counter. Normally, I doubted the Changs took requests like this if at all. I made sure that I would be original and unique in doing this and be that one-of-a-kind guy whom Aerith had fallen in love with. I would have used my guitar Ferris to help me out with my big moment, but I'd seen it already done in a movie. There was no way I would imitate something I'd seen off TV. To be inventive, I had had to come up with a new way on how to go about this.
"What is it, Demyx?" Pence asked, genuinely curious.
Since I don't feel like giving away what happened in my amazing story, I did pull out a certain thing from my hoodie pocket. The loose bagginess of a pocket like that might not have been the most advisable place for this important thing, but it was still there. I took it out of its container, and Pence's brows furrowed questionably.
He even said, "This is gonna be an odd request."
"Yeah," I responded eagerly, feeling like a hyper, excited little kid who found out he was going to the zoo. This was exhilarating yet nerve-wracking all at once.
I tacked onto my comment by saying, "But, I really wanted to be original. Besides, Aerith is waiting for me at one of the tables. I told her that I felt like chatting with you. Anyway, um, would you put it in a fortune cookie?"
Pence's eyes got big, but he did laugh slightly. "Holy crap, dude, you are serious! I think we have the perfect fortune to go along with it, too. In fact, I know we do."
"Great!" I grinned. "So, this isn't completely weird, is it?"
"Nah, not really. It's original all right. Your girlfriend is lucky."
"She sure is." I gave him the thing. "Protect it with your life."
When I returned to the same, exact table where Aerith and I had sat on our first date, I heard her humming softly to herself. It was a pleasant sound to hear, especially since she had that soft, gentle voice. I slid into my chair gracefully for once. It was kinda weird. I hadn't been overly klutzy after the hospital visit. Love was the best kind of good karma. Maybe it could cure all ills. Right, meanwhile, Aer appeared to come back down to Earth once she saw me.
"What did you two talk about?" She tried to play detective.
I drummed on the table with my chopsticks. "Eh, nothing much other than when the weather is ever gonna improve."
It had been raining quite a bit during these past two weeks until it got annoying. I sang "Here Comes the Sun" in the hopes that the sun would actually show up while I sang. No such luck. I had to lie to Aer, though, so that the surprise I would give her would be even more meaningful. I was psyched yet my palms had sweat all over them. It was practically a relief that we got our meals, because the pressure of waiting was sort of getting to me. It usually does when I have to wait for something this big.
"I ordered the same thing I ordered on our first date. But, I am the sappy, sentimental type."
"You're very big on details," Aerith remarked, amused.
"Sure am."
I couldn't wait until she finished the rest of her meal and that the only thing left would be the fortune cookie. My fate rested in that triangular-ish cookie, that insignificant yet major thing. It could make or break our relationship. It could make or break me.
Why was I worrying? I was normally a cool, calm guy strumming on his acoustic and sometimes singing Beatles songs.
I don't even remember what our conversation was, because I was so wrapped up in my own anxieties. Then, I noticed her reaching for her fortune cookie. What if she swallowed the ring or something? I didn't want this extra-special date to end in a trip to the ER.
"I wouldn't eat that yet if I were you," I nearly shouted since I wanted each and every detail of this moment to be perfect.
A confused look was on her face. "Why not?"
"Because...of the message in there. Yeah, don't you want to read your fortune? I had Pence personalize it. I doubt they actually had that fortune in copies, like he claims they did. I guess it's the element of surprise thing."
I must have put up a fairly convincing argument, because Aer said, "OK," and poked her fingernail through the wafer to get the piece of paper out. Good thing she opened fortune cookies like that, or else she would have found the Thing too soon.
" 'Your life will be full of more reward in the near future'," she read out loud before squinting suspiciously. "That's not very fortune cookie."
"I know that, but you gotta listen to me." I clasped her hands.
She smiled shyly and looked willing to listen, judging by her dreamy green eyes fastening onto me. Great, here came the big speech, the one every guy had to make. Well, not every guy, but a lot of guys in the whole world anyway. This was an everyday occurrence yet not to me.
This would change my life in one way or another.
"Aer," I began, squeezing her hands gently. "We've been together for a while now. It might not be long enough by some standards, but I know how strong my feelings for you are. From the moment I was a big klutz in front of your workplace or near it anyway, I had no idea how much my life would change. Like, seriously, a broken arm and a concussion leading to this?"
Aer laughed and nodded her agreement about my question, not expecting the date or what happened after that, apparently. I don't think anyone could have predicted it, to be honest. It was something that popped out of the blue, leading to something wonderful and pure. And even if it came on the heels of her monumentally horrible break-up, it still turned out awesome. We hadn't even fought that much, thank God.
"But, it all turned out great in the long run, didn't it?" I inquired rhetorically, seriously. She nodded again. "Then, well, I just want to tell you how much I love you, how much I'll always love you."
Wow, that speech was worded better than I thought it would be, for me just winging it. When you fall in love with someone, words can come out right for a change. Granted, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it's so ideal. You're comfortable around someone else to the point that you share your thoughts and feelings with them. You wear your heart on your sleeve, and it pays off for the most part.
"You can open the rest of that cookie now," I told her softly.
Confused, she followed my instruction nonetheless and cracked the rest of the fortune cookie all the way open.
In case you didn't figure it out by now, it was an engagement ring that had lain inside it. Pretty creative way to propose, don't you think?
As surprised as I assumed she would be, Aerith clapped her hand over her mouth. Tears sprang to her eyes instantly. Since I couldn't see her mouth, I worried that she was gonna turn me down.
"Are you OK? Are you sad?"
She laughed through her tears. "No, no way. Yes! My answer is yes!"
Oh, so she wasn't sad and...accepted me to be her husband! That was so awesome! I was relieved that I didn't cry, even though I swore I'd been about to. I'm still a guy, you know.
I grinned. "I love you."
She pressed her lips to mine. "You know I do, too."
When Pence walked up to a table to clear it, I gave him the thumbs-up to let him know that the plan had gone off without a hitch. He just gave me a smile and a nod and walked off carrying the dishes. Oh man, I couldn't believe I would get married for sure in the near future.
Yep, this was the perfect night, and I ate my egg rolls absentmindedly after I made my proposal. How could I have focused on something as no big deal as that?
"You were fairly creative with that ring in the fortune cookie," Aer complimented. "I don't think I've ever heard of a proposal quite like this. But, it was a great idea. Go back to the place where we had our first date. It's sweet."
I winked at her. "Least I could do. You seriously made my night."
She wiped away what remained of her tears of joy on the back of her hand. "You made mine. You made my life, really. Two years ago, I never thought I would date anyone again, much less be engaged."
"It was fate," I sighed. "Fate can be so convenient."
So it could be. I walked her home that night, admiring the way that ring shone on her finger. It wasn't too many karats due to affordability, but it was enough so that it could be noticed. We held each other for a long time, kissed passionately, and went our separate ways. I picked up my cellphone at home to call another special lady in my life.
"Hey, Mom," I said, trying to keep my cool. "Guess what?"
A/N: I thought this would be a good end to the story, with Demyx starting to call his mom to tell her the news. I don't know why, but it just felt right. As for the engagement scene, I wanted it to be...well, unconventional. XD Yeah, I know I didn't specify who Axel met, but it actually doesn't matter to the story overall. So, I guess it's just some unnamed chick. I don't know. I just got back from vacation, so I'm a little worn out.
Hopefully, this was worth the wait for you guys. And yeah, this is THE FINAL chapter, so I hope you enjoyed reading it as I've enjoyed writing it. Later!
