Author's Note: Let me know what you think of THIS. Bwahaha!

It was the morning of the day before Keiko and Makoto's wedding and things were already interesting. I'd been minding my own business not being nosy at all. Honestly, it was not my intention to witness anything. It was one of those situations where you walk into something and suddenly find yourself incapable of looking away.

Keiko had requested for Zhen to make a special gift for Makoto that she planned to give to him the night before the wedding. And by that I mean she would be sending it with somebody else since she believed it was bad luck for them to see each other so close to the wedding. Willow had been sent to retrieve it, but it had been two hours since anybody had heard from her and therefore, I had been sent to see what was up.

That was how I ended up in the doorway of Zhen's shop, the doors that they left wide open despite the frigid weather, witnessing a conversation I had known would be coming eventually, but I hadn't expected to actually see. It seemed as if Willow was taking the advice that Marissa had given her before she left town.

"I-I can't keep going on like this, Zhen," Willow said, her face red and splotchy as she stood there in front of him. As short as she was, she looked like she was about six feet tall thanks to the resolve I could see she felt. She wasn't a pretty crier like Colby was, but that was actually helping her look completely fierce in some strange kind of way in that moment.

"What are you talking about, Bubblegum?"

"Don't call me that," she snapped. I'd never known that he had a nickname for her. I supposed it was something he only called her in private considering nobody ever knew exactly what was going on in their relationship.

Zhen let out a weary sigh and slumped into a chair and she moved forward to loom over him with her hands planted on her hips.

Willow took a shaky breath before she said "I love you Zhen." His head snapped up, but before he could say anything she hurried on with "I love you, but I'm tired of all of this. I'm tired of this back and forth thing. One minute it seems like you want to be with me and the next minute you act like the age gap is too much."

"Will, I do want to be with you. It's just. . ."

She held up one hand and he immediately trailed off. "You see? It's that indecision right there that I can't take anymore. You have to make up your mind. Either you want to be with me or you don't. Either you want to commit to being a relationship or you'll let me go because I'm done with this hot and cold situation."

"I'm not trying to be hot and cold with you. I'm not that kind of a man, Willow."

She let out a weary sigh of her own. "I know, Zhen. I know exactly what kind of man you are and I think you're perfect. I know you're not actually perfect, but you're perfect for me. And I'm perfect for you. You know, people in our kind of situation get together all of the time. Do you know how many women out there get involved with older men? There are women who are twenty and marry men who are seventy, you know! Of course, women like that are usually gold diggers."

She paused and he paused and they stared at each other awkwardly for a moment as the last part of her speech sank in. "Uh. . ."

She forged on, though, flaming face of embarrassment and all. "You're not seventy. You're not rich. I'm not a gold digger. What's going on between us is nowhere near as scandalous as you have made it out to be in your head. I'm not a child."

He stood up and started pacing as he seemed to resist the urge to tug at his hair out of frustration. That was a wise decision since he looked like he was close to pulling some of those strands out. "I'm fully aware that you're not a child!"

"Are you?!" she practically yelled. "I might be younger than you. I might be as short as a twelve year old. I might even be immature at times, but I'm a woman. I'm a woman, Zhen. Do you need me to spell it out for you? W. O. M. A. N. And if you can't treat me like one then I guess this has all been a waste of our time. I always thought that if I just kept at it long enough then I could break down those walls and you would realize that we're meant to be, but. . .I don't know." Her voice finally dropped and she wrapped her arms around herself as if she needed something, anything, to hold onto. "Maybe I was wrong this whole time. Maybe we aren't right for each other. That's it. We aren't right for each other." She looked at him with what might have been the most heartbreaking expression I had ever seen cross her face in all the time I had known her, which was a long time. "We really aren't right for each other," she whispered.

I could see the tears falling from her eyes as she turned away from him and started heading toward the door. I was just beginning to panic as I tried to figure out where I was going to hide when Zhen reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Willow, please wait. Please," he begged of her as she stopped in her tracks.

With a sigh, she turned around and looked up at him. "What do you want, Zhen?"

'What do you want, Akito?' That phantom question from the other day haunted me.

"I want you, Willow, I do. I want to be with you. You're right. You're. . .you're completely right."

Her mouth dropped open a little. "I-I am? I mean yes I am, but. . .I am?"

"Look, I. . .I don't want to lose you. You're right. You're not a child. You're a smart, thoughtful, beautiful young woman and I've been a fool. If I have to choose between being with you or losing you then I'd be an idiot to choose to let you go."

She was quiet for a few moments before she asked "You want to be with me? For real, now? Like. . .a real relationship?" She sounded equal parts hopeful and cautious.

He kissed her then and I wasn't sure if I should put my hands over my eyes or look away. Actually, I should probably walk away because I was kind invading their privacy.

"I love you, too, Bubblegum. Stay with me?" he requested somewhat pleadingly once they came up for air.

"Yes!" she enthused immediately. "No. I mean yes, but no. Yes, I'll stay with you, but I have to leave for now. I completely forgot that I came here to get that present Keiko wants to give Makoto! She's been waiting all this time."

And that was my cue. I backed away and quickly looked for somewhere to hide so that they didn't see me peeping at them like a total creeper. I quickly settled on hiding behind the sign of his shop. About two seconds after I tucked myself into a small and inconspicuous ball one of the doors opened. I heard another kiss, some quiet words, and then the door shut. I peeked out from behind the sign just enough to see Willow's long pink hair billowing behind her as she took off toward the seed shop. Yes, I felt completely awkward that I had inadvertently witnessed that whole entire scene. Still, though, I felt very happy for Willow since she was finally getting what she wanted from Zhen.

I spent the bulk of my afternoon putting up the decorations I'd slaved over for weeks. This wasn't something that I did alone. I recruited people from the wedding party to help me as well as a few of the older children of the towns. Jackson was one of the people who I had helping me and I had an interesting conversation with him while we worked.

"It was great, Vi. Sometimes I just get so lost in my music. It's like I zone out of the real world and I'm completely tuned in to a world that's all my own. You know the feeling, right?" He was keeping the ladder I was currently on steady so I didn't do something totally clumsy like fall. Come to think of it, why was I up on that ladder? I wasn't sick like that day in Konohana, but I was still Clara Klutz, an accident waiting to happen.

"Yeah," I confirmed as I adjusted a snowflake so it was dangling just right. I very carefully climbed down from the ladder and looked over at Jackson. "I get completely caught up in my art sometimes."

"I'll say. You must have really been in the zone to get all of these decorations done!"

"I had help. Sometimes," I told him as I moved on to the next task. Keiko had wanted to be one of the people helping out, but I told her I didn't want her seeing the decorations until the wedding. The overall result of my work was supposed to be a surprise for her and Makoto, although I had let him help me a time or two.

He took the ladder and put it against a wall. When he came back he said "I wish I'd been here to help you do some of that. It's just. . ."

Jackson had left town because he had some important gigs to play. Another part of the reason he left, though, was because of our breakup and I'd be foolish not to realize that. "Well you're here now. That's what's important," I assured him.

With a sigh, Jack seemed to decide to let himself off the hook. "Yeah, well, I can't wait to go out on the next set of performances. It's just, I get to go to cool places and see cool things and I love making music, but sometimes it feels kind of empty because everybody I care about is back home."

As he said that I caught a glimpse of Colby across the room. That was when something seemed to click into place in my head. Colby had always wanted to get away from the two towns and get out in the world to see new things, if only for a little while. Hadn't she told me something like that not too long ago? And after her breakup with Ignacio, Colby definitely needed a breather. A change of scenery and pace would do her some good. Besides that, being around a guy like Jackson who was the opposite of pond scum would do her a world of good as well. I was positive that I had just figured out a solution that would benefit the both of them.

"Jackson," I said as I watched him smooth down a table cloth.

"Hmm? What's up?" he asked. He gave me a smile that was just enough to reveal that dimple I adored, the one that I had never noticed until I finally started to look at him a little more closely. I couldn't unsee the man that I had finally noticed. I would always see him a little differently from how I'd seen him most of my life. That was okay, though. Different isn't a word that always has to carry a negative connotation.

"I believe I have an idea that will help you out."

Later on, when evening came around, I had finally finished putting up all the decorations and was having a good time with the girls at the seed shop. It was kind of a bachelorette party, but all we were doing was chatting and perhaps enjoying something in our glasses that wasn't appropriate for children to drink. If Marissa were there she would probably call us boring and insist that we had to do something completely inappropriate just to shake things up.

"So there I was getting ready to leave when Zhen grabbed my arm to stop me. He finally said he wants to be with me! He told me that I was right about everything. Oh, and he even said he loves me!" Her voice dropped down a little and sounded breathy with absolute wonder as she said "He finally admitted that he loves me."

"I'm so happy for you, Willow!" Keiko said as she gently squeezed her maid of honor's hand. Willow had already told Keiko the story earlier when she finally delivered Makoto's present. Now she was telling it all over again for mine and Colby's benefit. Of course, I already knew what happened, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

"I just feel so happy!" she told us with a giddy laugh. I wasn't sure if her fantastic mood was a result of finally landing her man, the wine in her glass, or both. It was probably both.

"Oh, oh! I have news of my own," Colby declared as she practically slammed her glass down on the table. I was surprised that she didn't break the stem of it. She was talking to all of us, but she looked straight at me as she said "Jackson came over to my house earlier."

"Jackson?" Keiko asked.

"As in Violet's cousin who was her boyfriend who is now her cousin again? That Jackson?" Willow threw in.

"Keep it up and I'll ask the Harvest Goddess to block that tunnel again," I sent out as an empty threat that everybody knew I would never make good on.

"Anyway, he told me he's going back out of town soon because of his music. He wants someone from home to go with him to keep him company and he asked me!"

I beamed at Colby from across the table. Jackson had actually extended the offer! I'd made the suggestion to him earlier and he'd thought it was a good idea, but he hadn't told me whether or not he was going to act on it.

"Splendid!" Willow said enthusiastically as she clapped as fast as a hummingbird's wings. Okay, now I was sure that the wine was definitely going to her head. It would probably be best if we cut her off soon so that she wouldn't be feeling too sick to attend to Keiko on her big day.

Keiko let out a happy little sigh. "That sounds lovely. You be sure to write us with details of every place you visit!"

"Hey, that's great, Col! Haven't you always wanted to do more traveling outside the towns? Now you're getting your chance."

She sent me one of those looks that suggested I wasn't fooling her. Jackson had probably told her it was my idea, now that I thought about it. That would certainly explain the look on her face. My suspicions were confirmed about five minutes later when she pulled me aside for a more private conversation.

"You put Jackson up to it," she stated as I leaned against the kitchen counter with my glass in my hand.

I took another drink before I answered with "Well yeah, but I just thought that you'd. . ."

I didn't get a chance to finish my sentence because Colby wrapped her arms around me and squeezed tight. The contents of my glass were sloshing around from me being jostled, but nothing spilled out.

"Thank you, Vi. I probably wouldn't have thought to ask something like that of Jackson, but you did. And now I get to go out there and see new things."

"Y-Y-You're welcome," I said as I struggled for breath but didn't complain.

"I'm cutting off your air supply, aren't I?"

"A little bit, yeah," I confirmed right before she released me. I took in a few deep breaths before I said "I really am happy for you, Colby. You're going to have so much fun and Jack is going to look out for you out there. I mean, I know that you can handle yourself, but regardless I know he's going to have your back."

She took a deep breath of her own. "I know he will. Jackson is a great guy. He's nothing like. . ." She couldn't bring herself to say Ignacio's name, but I knew she was referring to him.

Keiko's original plan was to have Willow, her maid of honor, deliver her gift to Makoto for her. Once we had cut Willow off from the wine, however, she quickly fell asleep with her cheek pressed against the top of the table next to the tray of food we'd demolished. I volunteered to go instead, despite being a bit tipsy myself. I felt guilty for witnessing Willow's private conversation with Zhen earlier so it was the least I could do. Especially since I certainly didn't want to go out into the cold otherwise!

So that was what brought me to don my cold weather gear and step outside into the freezing night air. 'Spring is almost here. Spring is almost here,' I chanted in my head like a mantra, helping me hang on to my sanity during these cold times.

Konohana was silent, white, and bathed in moonlight. It really was a winter wonderland and the wedding was going to reflect that. I may have made the decorations and acted as the liason for my dad, but Willow really had been the driving force behind making sure that everything came together just right. The winter wonderland theme, after all, was her idea in the first place.

I tried not to trip over my own feet even though my head was feeling a bit fuzzy from the wine. I had just made it past the request board when I heard him say my name. "Violet?" His voice floated to me on the scant night breeze, as familiar to my ears as my own.

"Akito." I looked to my left and sure enough, there he was. He had his hands in his pockets and while he wasn't as bundled up as I was, he definitely didn't look cold. Perhaps that was because inside, Akito was just one of the warmest people I had ever met. Maybe for him that figurative warmth actually translated into the literal. "What are you doing out and about?"

With his good-natured smile in place, he told me "I could ask you the same thing. What's up?"

I pulled the nicely wrapped gift out of my pocket and held it up so he could see it. "Keiko got a gift for Makoto that she wanted him to have the night before the wedding. I was just on my way to take it to him."

He laughed a little and shook his head. "Great minds think alike, I guess. Makoto sent me to take something to Keiko." He pulled a small box out of his pocket as well.

"Well I'll be. How should we do this? Should we exchange their gifts since we're both so conveniently right here?" I was making a concentrated effort not to slur my words.

Akito closed the distance between us while he talked. "We can. I'm on my way to dad's shop to grab something before I head back. Do you want to come with me, or do they need you back right away?"

It took me about half a second to formulate the answer to that question. "I don't think they'll miss me for a while yet." I reached out for the arm that I didn't even have to look to know he was already offering.

There I was, out for a moonlit stroll with Akito. It was probably a good thing that I was holding onto him since I was already clumsy enough as it was without my head feeling all fuzzy. He held the door open for me when we got to his family's shop and I hurried inside, rubbing my gloved hands together while I tried to reclaim some of the heat that the elements had sapped from me. When that didn't work I started breathing on them.

"You and cold weather truly don't mix," he commented as he took off his coat and hung it up. He kept his scarf on, but tucked his gloves away in one of his pockets. "How about we hang out here for a little while and get you warmed up again before we head out?"

"Oh, I am so behind that plan," I assured him as I let him help me out of the thick, bulky coat I had on. I handed him my scarf, too, and did the same as he did when it came to my gloves.

I took the time to greet mini Delilah and saw Akito send me an approving grin. All the animals in the shop, including the puppy he planned on giving our goddaughter, were fast asleep for the night so it was quiet.

Akito motioned toward the table and said "Have a seat, Vi."

"Don't mind if I do," I told him as I lowered myself onto the cushion on what had at some point become my side of this table. Akito draped a warm, soft blanket across my shoulders. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Hey, do you want something to drink?" he asked, in gracious host mode.

"This smells like you," I commented kind of absentmindedly as I breathed in a face-full of the blanket. "You smell great, Ki." A happy sigh escaped me.

"Wait, what?"

I realized I'd forgotten to take off my earmuffs and I proceeded to spin them around my finger after I did. I spun them so fast that they flew off my finger and went flying across the room. "Oops."

Akito raised an eyebrow as he retrieved my earmuffs and sat them on the table. I made the split second decision, for some mysterious reason, to put my hand over his. I stared down at his hand, that strong and reliable hand, as I ran my thumb across his knuckles. Akito stiffened and I could have sworn I heard a sharp intake of breath before I slid the earmuffs out from under his hand and pulled them over to me.

Akito was silent for a few moments before he said "Water. I think you need some water. Keeping you hydrated will help you bounce back in the morning from whatever it is you've been drinking."

I turned around on that cushion and leaned back against the table with my elbows propping me up. I watched him as he went about the process of getting me water. He was thoughtful, so thoughtful! He was thoughtful and kind. He was patient and caring. He was smart and funny. He was gentle and hardworking. He showed animals the same consideration and courtesy as he would a person and he valued life in all forms. And he was totally unaware that he was loved so completely and unerringly by. . .me.

"Hey, where did your mind just go?" he asked me as he turned around and approached me with a full glass of water. Akito sat it down on the table and then gently turned me around so I was facing it. He put the blanket back across my shoulders and I didn't even remember when it had fallen off.

I put my elbow on the table and rested the side of my head in my left hand. "Straight to you, of course," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked, cocking his head to the side as he struggled to hear.

"Nowhere," I spoke, louder this time.

Akito sat down across from me and nodded toward the water. "Drink up, Vi." When I frowned down at the water he said "Please? For me?"

I stared at him from across the table and thought about how I'd probably do just about anything for him and all he had to do was ask. That was a dangerous amount of power for one person to have over another and he had no idea he was even wielding it. The thing about Akito, though, was I knew he would never, ever use that kind of sway as a weapon. Somebody like Ignacio or Courtney would have, but never Akito. He was better than that. He was good, so good. I carefully picked up the glass and drained it. When I sat it back down on the table I let out another sigh. How in the world was it possible for one person to have so much love locked up inside of them and not just. . .explode from it? Like. . .how in the world was I not scattered across this room in a billion pieces because all that love just came shooting out and my body couldn't survive its escape?

"And you didn't hear a word of what I just said, did you?" Akito asked with a look that was half amused and half concerned on his face. It was there in the slight upturn of his lips and the furrowing of his eyebrows.

"Hmm? What was that?" I asked as I rested my head against my hand again while I gazed at him.

He was saying something to me and I knew I should be listening to whatever it was, but my head was still fuzzy and there was a thought that was fighting for my attention as my eyes slipped down to his lips. How many times had I looked at those lips? I had them memorized in my mind so well that I had drawn their exact shape before in sketches I'd made of him. And yet, I still didn't know if they were as soft I imagined them to be.

The blanket dropped from my shoulders again and the empty glass rolled onto the floor as I climbed up onto the table. And I had completely lost track of my earmuffs. It was a small table so I didn't have far to go as I crawled over to Akito's side of it. He looked at me with confusion and shock as I sat back on my legs and found myself just a little above eye level with him.

"V-Vi, hey, what are you. . .?"

He fell silent as I pressed my thumb against his bottom lip and I felt his breath cease. I turned my head from one side to the other as I concentrated on his lips, tracing a path across them and marveled at how sometimes one's imagination could get something correct. They were soft.

Akito finally took a deep, shuddering breath and my eyes started moving up. I saw those freckles of his that I had always found absolutely adorable, crossing his nose and journeying toward his cheeks. I saw that his bangs had fallen into his left eye and I smoothed them back into place so I could gaze into those intense golden beacons. His eyes looked confused and pained and there were questions there, so many questions. I had a question of my own raging inside.

'What do you want, Akito? Because the one thing I've always wanted most of all is. . .you.'

For half of my life I'd been madly in love with this man and I'd been dreaming of kissing him for so long. Why had more than a decade passed and I hadn't kissed him?! In the back of my mind I knew there was a reason for this. The sane, rational Violet somewhere inside of me was yelling it at me at that very moment, but I was selectively tuning her out. That Violet didn't know what she was talking about. Akito was right in front of me, so close, but not close enough. Why hadn't I kissed him before? What was stopping me from kissing him now? The answer was. . .nothing. Absolutely nothing. My heart was going boom-clap boom-clap boom-clap in rapid succession as I put my hands on the sides of his face.

"Violet." Akito's voice was thick and slightly raspy as he softly asked "W-What are you doing?"

My gaze slipped back down to his lips again as I answered with "This." And then I lowered my lips over his.

A few things happened at once. Akito's lips responded to mine instantly and urgently, hungrily, almost as if they'd been waiting for this as long as mine had. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me to him, so close that I could feel the frantic beat of his heart and if I didn't know any better I'd say he had a case of boom-clap boom-clap boom-clap all his own.. My fingers were suddenly in his hair, the silky tresses flowing over them like water. So much softness had come from such a rugged and strong man. Soft knuckles, soft lips, soft hair. But this kiss, it was anything but soft, and I absolutely did not mind. I wanted more. More, more, more. I wanted to kiss him until I didn't know what my own name was anymore, until he couldn't remember his. I had spent so many years keeping my emotions in check and all those things I had never been able to bring myself to say were pouring out without even one single word being said.

This was what had been missing when Jackson and I had kissed. This! This. . .instantaneous combustion of feeling that was consuming me, mind, body, and soul! This . .chemistry that was so palpable that I could probably reach out and touch it! This. . .undeniable sense rightness as if balance had finally been achieved in the world and all was as it should be! Jackson and I had kissed one, two, three times and in a million years it couldn't have come anywhere close to this.

That rational, sane Violet was nagging at me somewhere in my mind again and her voice kept growing louder and louder. And try as I may, I couldn't shut her up this time.

'This is wrong!' she was yelling at me.

'No,' I argued. 'This is right. It's finally right!'

'He just broke up with Courtney,' she chastised. 'He's vulnerable. It's too soon!'

'Too soon.'

Right. That voice in my head was right. Hadn't I decided to let more time pass after Akito's breakup and then think about telling him how I felt? Hadn't I not wanted to be his rebound? Hadn't I not wanted to turn him into my rebound after Jackson?! And yet here I was, nearly in the man's lap, kissing him! Rational thought was rapidly taking over. I broke the kiss then, looking like a frightened deer in the headlights as my eyes met his. My breathing was shallow and choppy and I felt like I wasn't getting enough air in. Wait, was I hyperventilating?!

Akito cleared his throat once, twice, and looked at me with such tender care and concern that I felt my heart break in that moment. I had basically just thrown myself at and taken advantage of the man and he was actually worrying about me! "V-Vi. Are you okay? Did I. . ." He trailed off as a tear slipped down my cheek, quickly followed by another and another. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Violet, I don't understand. . ." he said, sounding like he was trying not to panic for my sake.

"I'm sorry," I cut him off quietly, clenching my hands in my lap and watching as my tears hit them. Plop, plop, plop.

"What are you. . ." he started. I didn't let him finish before I jumped up and climbed off the table. "Vi, wait!"

"I'm so sorry, Akito!" I choked out as I sprinted from the room. I made it to the front door and didn't even bother with grabbing my jacket or my scarf. I ran out the door and I kept on running.