A/N: Sorry about lack of updates, as it gets closer to the end of the year I get busier, but I'm going to keep updating as much as possible! This is a quick little chapter, I should have the next one up tomorrow. Thanks for reading as always guys.

Point In Time: Self-reflection

Chapter 21:Patience

Nodame had never been a patient woman, wasn't raised to be one. Her entire family had patience issues.

Waiting in lines, waiting for shows, waiting for basically anything for too long was enough to drive them mad. It was one of the main reasons she had failed so spectacularly at studying, she just wasn't patient enough.

She didn't see it as a bad thing, really. It was just part of who she was. It wasn't as if she actually needed everything the moment it came into existence, she just became so excited about whatever perked her interest! That excitement just quickly became too much , and she began to want gratification as soon as possible. She wanted to have fun.

Which was also why she could never quite grasp music scores. It took so long to understand and memorize the papers, why bother when she could simply listen and then play?

So, when she first realized her feelings for Chiaki, she was surprised to find that she didn't immediately expect his love in return. Sure she wanted him to be with her, but she wasn't angry that it didn't just happen. She understood him very quickly, and knew her wait for his affections could be a very, very long one.

But for some reason that was fine with her. For the first time in her life, Nodame was being truly patient.

She knew he was a slow one when it came to his emotions, it was extremely obvious. She knew somehow that if she really wanted him to understand how she felt, and how he felt towards her, it would take a lot of time. He would need to realize it himself, she couldn't change him. She didn't really want to.

She expected herself to become restless, to give up or to try to find someone more interesting. But she didn't. The restlessness never came, she was content with the way things were going.

Nodame wasn't sure why she was so tranquil about the entire thing, she just was. Even as he denied, yelled, or shied away from her, she didn't break. She knew all she needed to do was to be patient. He would come around, and it would be worth every second of waiting.

And she was right.