Hey all, thank you for keep reading this story! ^^ I'd never expected such a response when I first thought of this story, this being an OC story and all! So thank you so much!

Mew-Star-Mew: don't worry, I'm doing my work ^^ It doesn't take long for me to write a chapter (say, 20 minutes), that's why I can update frequently. ^^

The day came. Reine took a look at the calendar, and she realised that May hadn't even ended yet. She remembered that Mikhail told her it would be late mid June, but somehow he was able to make it sooner.

Reine gritted her teeth, trying to suppress her anger.

Both Neil and Reine wore their formal suits for today an in an unspoken agreement, both of them wore black attire, as if they were in mourning.

Just as Reine put on her earrings, she noticed that Neil was struggling with his tie, as always. Reine rose from her seat and went over to Neil, "Here, let me help," she offered. Neil complied and soon, his tie was fixed.

"Uh, thanks."

"You're always so clumsy with your tie," Reine mused.

"That's why I don't become a doctor like Allen," he managed to joke.

"A vet is close enough,"

Reine refused to look at Neil's eyes today, and that didn't escape his attention. "Thirteen years…" she mused faintly.

"I'm sorry for throwing away those years." Neil replied. "I'm so sorry…"

His apology made Reine felt even worse. She knew she was the one playing with fire, yet he was the first to apologize. "Don't…" she managed to reply. "I should be the one…"

Neil reached out to her, and finally, for the first time since they began the proceeding, Neil took her in his arms without being in a lapse.

"I'm so sorry, Neil…"

Her tears began to soak in his jacket. Neil breathed in the scent of cherry blossom perfume she wore, and realised that there were some things that would never change:

Her being a crybaby.

Her scent of cherry blossom.

And how he loved her because of and in spite of everything that she was.

Neil decided to wait in the car while Reine fixed her makeup. Just as she took her purse and was about to go outside the house, Keith approached her.

"It's today, right?" he asked.

"Yes,"

Keith then handed over a silver medal to her. Reine realised it was the medal she had won decades ago in the interschool championship high school category, the medal that symbolised her determination to keep fighting, and the medal that Neil had worn on their wedding day on his jacket.

"You seem to have forgotten about this," Keith said.

Reine knew her son had known about the story behind that medal, as well as the gold medal that came alongside with it. And he was correct: she had forgotten about this.

Reine took the medal from her son and put it inside her purse. "Thank you,"

Rod came to be one of the official witnesses of the divorce, which was ironic since he had been the best man during Neil's wedding. Rod had only been aware of the divorce last night, when Neil asked him to come.

"Hey, I brought you your wedding band," Rod complained when Neil told him of what happened, "And now you're asking me to watch you sign that paper? Do you have an even worse joke?"

"You are my best man," Neil replied.

And it was enough for Rod to drag his ass off to give the moral support Neil would have needed.

What stupid mistake Neil make this time round? He wondered, only to remember what Reine told him just a few days ago:

"I made a mistake. A terrible one."

So… is this because of Reine? But what is it that drove Neil to divorce her? This doesn't make sense at all.

Rod's train of thoughts was interrupted by Gwen, who came as the witness of Reine's side. "Do you know the story?" Rod asked almost immediately.

"Reine asked for it, and Neil complied."

"Neil isn't the cheating type!" Rod exclaimed.

"I think it's not cheating."

Their conversation was cut short when Neil's car came into their sight. He parked the car nearby and stepped out with Reine. When Reine's eyes caught Rod, the latter knew that she was on the verge of tears.

Rod came to her, "What is it?" he asked through a whisper. "How come…?"

"This is the mistake I made…" Reine replied. "I asked for a divorce."

Rod glance at Neil, who was barely able to keep up his poker face, and as he studied Neil, he noticed something in Neil's breast pocket.

A gold medal?

Mikhail greeted the four visitors in his office. It was easy to tell that Reine had brought her sister, since they were identical (even their hair colour), and Mikhail was wondering whether Dr Forrester's witness was also his brother.

"Gwen Rosencrantz," the woman introduced herself.

"Rod Braxton," the man followed.

Mikhail then led them to the chairs, where the Forresters sat directly across him, and the witnesses next to each spouse. Mikhail set the papers before him, checking for the fourth time of the day that it was the right set of papers. He took a black pen and passed both to Neil Forrester.

Usually, he should have given the papers to Reine Forrester first since she was the one filing the suit. However, he made an exception for today.

Reine watched nervously as Neil perused through the papers. He flipped the papers carefully as he read the terms, and after he finished reading the last page, he took the pen and opened it. He paused for a moment.

Is he hesitating? She asked inwardly, hopeful.

Her hope was crushed, though, when Neil eventually signed the paper. He then passed the paper and the pen to her. She read the first page: "Divorce Settlement".

She still remembered the day she asked for the divorce: how she wished it would end as soon as possible. And now, she was reaching that end she had wished for, but was this what she had really wanted?

She stared at Neil's signature on the paper, and when she lifted her head, her green eyes were met with Mikhail's grey, expectant eyes and when she turned, Neil's violet eyes were also fixed on her.

She knew one stroke of her hand would determine which path she would go down from this day onwards. And most probably, with whom she would walk with for the rest of her life.

Eventually, Reine remembered what her son had given to her, and more importantly, what he had reminded her of. She took a deep breath, and put down the pen in her left hand. "I refuse to sign the paper."

"What?!" Neil and Mikhail exclaimed in unison.

"I don't want the divorce anymore." Reine replied in the same composure.

Rod punched into the air, "Go, Reine!" he cheered excitedly.

"Is there any terms that you don't agree with?" Mikhail asked, trying so hard to maintain his level of professionalism.

"I don't want the divorce anymore, is that not clear enough to you?" Reine asked, slightly annoyed, before she turned to Neil. "I know I was the one who asked you for this, but I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"It's not about that anymore, Reine," Neil reminded her, "and you know."

"You are fighting your fight," Reine replied, "and I am fighting my own fight."

"That's right,"

"But are we fighting the right fight?" she asked.

On that, Neil fell silent.

"I will sign only if you can tell me you don't love me anymore while looking into my eyes!"

Neil averted his gaze. "You know I can't do that."

"Exactly!"

"I want to protect you—"

"Bullshit!" Reine interjected as she rose from her seat. "If I'm the one you want to protect, you did it in the worst way possible, Neil Forrester."

"So you're saying you'd prefer to watch me dying than be happy with someone…" his eyes met the legal advisor's before he continued. "…better?"

Reine momentarily glanced at Mikhail before she looked at Neil again, "I'd rather knowing you're not dying alone than giving a chance to someone else making me happy and knowing that it won't go anywhere."

Mikhail knew this might happen, and for that reason he had secured Neil's signature. "Mrs Forrester, this state's law stated that once a spouse signed the divorce papers this can be brought to the courts if the other spouse refuse to—"

"Can you just shut up?!" Reine snapped.

"So I can bring this to the court?" Neil asked.

"Yes, you may."

Neil seemed to weigh the option. Reine turned at him again, tears started to form in her eyes. "Say, Neil, if our positions were reversed… would you sign this paper as well?"

Silence befell the room. Now, everyone was staring at Neil. Eventually, Neil leaned back into the chair. "You're such a difficult woman," he said, "A fire, bullhead, crybaby… and you're so damn good at arguing."

Neil then stared at Mikhail, "I'm dropping the suit as well."

Reine lunged at Neil and kissed his cheek, prompting the latter to blush. "Hey! We're not teenagers anymore!"

"You're still shy as ever," she replied with a cheeky grin as she hugged him adoringly.

Mikhail was at loss of words, however, when he saw Reine's obvious happiness, he couldn't help but be happy for her as well.

Her happiness didn't last long, however, since Neil suddenly experienced another lapse. He clutched his head tightly as he tried not to scream in pain.

"Neil?" Reine asked, alarmed by his sudden change.

Neil couldn't say anything; the pain was too excruciating. The last thing he remembered before everything went dark was the scent of cherry blossom.

Fighting the right fight.

With Reine managed to convince Neil to let her stay and thus cancel the divorce, everything seems to end happily.

But, there's still one more fight: Neil's cancer.

Stay tuned for the next update!

by the way, the request box is still open. I'm quite sad coz you guys won't tell me what you want hiks T.T

anyway, thanks for reading!