Chapter 19

The following morning, I had awoken to more texts from Sakura as usual. She had spent the previous night talking about the operation with her parents, as well as spending time with them. I had hoped that we might spend some time together, but her next message squashed that idea.

"I'll be seeing Kyoko for most of the day, and I have some things to do before tomorrow so I won't be able to see you today :( hope you slept well. Miss you." Well that is a bummer. But I could understand that she'd want to spend time with her family and friends, it wasn't fair if I got to take all of her free time.

"I miss you too. Have fun with Kyoko today." I wondered if I should say more, but decided to leave my reply at that. Despite our unique relationship, I didn't want to come off as clingy or needy. I may not have a ton of experience in this department, but that probably wouldn't go over well.

I thought about what I would do for the day, debating on if I should text someone to make plans. Instead I found myself at my desk, a pile of books in front of me. It had been a while since I had time to myself, between the looping and the past few days with Sakura.

Hours passed by as I read, checking my phone every so often in hopes that another message from Sakura would come. I wondered if I should send a message first, but the thought that it might distract her from spending time with Kyoko turned me off from the idea.

I was making my way through the third book in the pile when my phone finally vibrated. Quickly putting the book down, I looked to see that it was from Sakura. "Just got back home, sorry I didn't talk to you earlier. Today was such a busy day, and I've still got some more to do but I really missed you. Are you busy?"

Maybe it wouldn't have come off as clingy then. "Nope, just taking a break from some reading." I hit send, placing the phone back on the desk. Before I could even begin to do a light stretch, my phone started to vibrate once again. Instead of another message, this time she was calling.

"Hello?" Instantly the sound of her voice filled my ear, more pleasant than any music. "Hi, I'm not interrupting your reading am I?" If only you knew I've been waiting for you all day. "Not at all, I was actually thinking of finishing for the day anyway. What's up?" I tried to think of what could be so important that she had to call, in fact it was the first time we had ever spoken on the phone.

"Like I said, I just really missed you today." I felt a sudden tightness in my chest as she spoke, hearing those words compared to just seeing them on a screen impacting me to the point that I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat or two. Her tone sounded a little sad, and I wondered if there was more to it.

"I missed you too. It's weird, after all the time we've spent together the past few days and it's still not enough." Wait did I really just say that? There was a pause before Sakura spoke again, and I wondered if I had said too much. "I feel the same way, I'm glad I'm not the only one."

"Is everything okay?" Please don't tell me something bad has happened, not after everything. "Of course, I just wanted to hear your voice before tomorrow. You will be there right?" I nodded, before realizing she couldn't see that. "I will be, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me. My family won't be able to make it, and I couldn't ask Kyoko to come since she still doesn't know about the disease." I couldn't imagine what her reaction would be if she knew the truth. We had barely managed to skirt by the issue at the party.

"Shall I meet you at your house and we can walk together?" Even if it was only for a little bit longer, any time I could spend with Sakura I'd gladly take it. "That sounds perfect, can you be here by 10?" That would give us enough time to get to the lab, and maybe delay for a bit. "I can do that."

"Okay great, I can't wait to see you. I've gotta get started on some things so I'll talk to you later." It's over so soon? I had so much more I wanted to say, hell I just wanted to keep hearing her voice. "I'll be looking forward to it. Love you."

I could have sworn I could hear her smile as she replied back for the final time on that call. "I love you too." The call ended, though I kept holding the phone up for a moment afterwards.

So tomorrow is the big day. I wondered if I should bring her something in the morning, or go grab something for when she got out of the surgery. If I didn't have to be at her house until 10, I could probably grab something on the way over if I woke up early enough.

I went down to make myself something to eat, still wanting to stay up just a little bit longer to talk to Sakura some more. It was strange having the house to myself, I had grown accustomed to the sound of the tv being on when I came downstairs. I turned it on as I ate, the background noise instilling a sense of normality.

After finishing, I quickly did the dishes and cleaned up the mess I had made from cooking. That had managed to kill an hour from the time I had come downstairs, but still nothing from Sakura. I sent her a quick text telling her I was going to get to sleep early, and laid down in bed.

Please no weird dreams tonight, that's all I ask.

"I'm so sorry, I really thought this would work out. I never imagined it would end like this." Rio comforted me as I sat in an uncomfortable hospital chair, unable to speak as tears fell like a waterfall.

It didn't work? I floated above the scene, watching as Sakura's parents came out of the room I was seated in front of, arms wrapped around each other in support.

no no no No No NO. It wasn't supposed to go this way. This was supposed to be her chance at a normal life, why even give me the chance to save her if it was just going to end this way. Was this a way for fate to laugh at me?

I felt myself rising upward, and the dream changed. I was in a church now, flowers decorated along each row of seats. Kyoko was running around in a dress, trying to get everyone set up in time. What is this?

I watched as Sakura's mother walked down the aisle, taking a seat in the front row. This must be a wedding, but for who? Before I could wonder for too long, I watched myself head to the alter, dressed in a tux. Wait, this is my wedding? So that must mean...

Before long, the rest of the wedding party had taken their place. Suddenly a familiar tune began to play, and everyone stood up and looked towards the entrance as Sakura and her father walked down the aisle. We're getting married? So this means tomorrow really works out? Wait we're getting MARRIED?

Before I could see anymore, the sound of my alarm woke me up. I really should have set it for a little latter. Cursing myself, I got out of bed and turned off the alarm. I had plenty of time to go get something for Sakura, but all that was on my mind was the wedding portion of my dream.

Sure, the first part stuck with me too. But I decided to not dwell on it, there had already been so much negativity lately that I simply wanted to focus on the good. Even if the good is something like a wedding.

Did I care about her? Absolutely. Did I love her? Of course. But the idea of getting married was such an out of this world concept for me, seeing it so realized in the dream had taken hold in my mind.

I checked my phone, seeing a response from Sakura after I had fallen asleep. "I understand, I did want to talk to you more but we have the walk together in the morning so I can wait until then. I hope you have sweet dreams, and that they involve me."

Oh they definitely involved you. I wondered if I should tell her about them, but decided to hold off until after this was all over. I had no idea what she would say if I mentioned how we were getting married in my dreams, there was no way I could tell her that I had seen the operation ending terribly.

Getting cleaned up, I headed downstairs to have some coffee before I left for the day. It was still too early for my mom to be out, so it was quiet. This time, however, I was grateful for the silence. I had so many things on my mind, and talking through them would have taken up all the time I had set aside for myself.

Stepping out of the house, I headed off for my first destination. I had thankfully looked up the times for my stops before going to sleep, so I made it to the store just as they were opening. After browsing for a bit, I found the first gift for Sakura. Accepting the offer to have it wrapped, I paid for the item and placed it into my bag.

Heading down the street, I walked into the second shop. The selection here was a little sparse, though as was to be expected since they had just opened. I picked out what I hoped Sakura would like, taking it to the counter. Handing over some more money, I was all set to head to Sakura's house.

A few minutes before 10, I knocked on her front door. I wasn't sure who would be answering, so I held the second gift behind me. Thankfully, the person who came to the door was the person I was waiting to see.

"You're a little early, just couldn't wait to see me huh?" Sakura smiled as she lept forward to hug me, and I had to quickly move my hand from behind my back so she didn't crush the gift. Pulling back, she finally noticed what I was holding.

"Are those for me? They're lovely." I nodded, handing the bouquet of sakura flowers to her. "I wasn't sure what flowers to get you, so I figured getting the ones that you're named after seemed like a safe bet." Though they aren't as lovely as you.

Smiling, she took the flowers and gave them a small sniff. "These are my favorite, so you did wonderfully. Not that I'd expect any less from my wonderful boyfriend." Now it was my turn to smile, the simple praise being it's own reward. Sakura stepped inside to place the flowers in a vase, before closing the door.

"Well we have some time to kill before we need to be at the lab, do you mind if we stop somewhere along the way?" I nodded, figuring we would. We made our way to a park, one that we had never come to before.

Finding a spot on a bench, we sat down together as Sakura reached over to take my hand. She looked over to me before speaking up. I hadn't really noticed until now, but she had clearly had somethings on her mind this morning. "There's something I want to say before we go to the lab."

The Author's Desk

I hate to end it here, but as we come into the final arc of the story I have to pace myself. Writing all of those longer chapters in the past has worn me out a bit. I think with this story, I'll simply do one ending. If people really want to see the alternate ending, I may write it as a one shot.

I really want the final arc of the story to revolve around our hero and Sakura, as that's how the original story starts and ends, minus the bit with Kyoko and Sakura's mother. At the end of the day, it's their story. You can expect to see Rio again, since it is thanks to her that this operation is possible.

With that all being said, I have not given up on the idea of a sequel/more chapters if the interest is there. I wouldn't have teased the future double date and the wedding dream if I didn't want to keep the story going. But all things must come to an end, and this arc I think would be a good stopping point. You can rest assured that the story won't simply end with "it worked" or "the operation was a failure."

I plan to have the next chapter out in a few days, so until then, thank you for reading and I'll see you in the next chapter.