Hotaru paced nervously in front of the Starlight Tower Restaurant as she waited for her date. 10 minutes passed. Matt finally arrived. "Sorry I'm late, Hotaru. I got caught in a traffic jam," Matt said. Hotaru kissed him. "It's okay with me," she said, smiling at him. They walked in. "You have a reservation, I trust?" a waiter said, coming up to them. "Yeah. Ishida, party of 2," Matt responded. The waiter showed them to a table by a window. "Matt, what happened between you and Mimi?" "I don't want to talk about it right now," Matt said. After placing their orders, the conversation between Matt and Hotaru turned to Hotaru's latest novel. "I was inspired by what's going on with Tai and Sora. It's about these two friends, a boy and a girl, that get pulled into an alternate world during their summer vacation. Over time, they have adventure after adventure and the boy and girl slowly fall in love. Then, they have to go through numerous trials to find their way to each other." "Not a bad idea," Matt said. The night passed slowly. Matt and Hotaru started talking about the way their lives were going. Matt really understands me. It's like he can see what's going on in my head. The way I feel towards him, is it love? I hope so. I mean, I really like Matt, and he likes me, so maybe we can have what Tai and Sora have, Hotaru told herself as she and Matt walked out of the restaurant. "Um, do you want to go get ice cream?" Matt asked, indicating the local ice cream parlor. "Sure," Hotaru replied. Now's my chance! I'll tell him! I love you, Matt Ishida! The only problem is, I don't know if he loves me. What'll I do if he doesn't? a guy like Matt only comes once in a lifetime, Hotaru thought as they walked towards the ice cream parlor. Once they arrived, Hotaru ordered a large strawberry sundae for herself, while Matt ordered a chocolate parfait. The two of them took their orders and sat in a booth by the windows. "Matt, please tell me. What happened between you and Mimi? It's been haunting me ever since I saw the look on your face when Joe proposed to her." "Well, if you must know, Mimi left me for him about 4 months ago." "It seems we've both been hurt in love." "Yeah. It seems that way, doesn't it?" "So, we're kindred spirits, you and I. We're not so different after all," Hotaru said as she looked at Matt's face. "Hotaru, the truth is. I love you," Matt said. "It's only taken me these last few days to understand. "Matt, I love you too," Hotaru said. In half an hour, they left, running into Tai and Sora as they walked away. Tai had asked Sora out, and Sora had got Mimi to take care of Umi while she was on her date. "Will you look at that? Hotaru and Matt, a couple. Who would've thought?" "I did. I felt something between them. It was the bonds of love that were forming between them," Sora said. She and Tai continued walking. They reached a small park with numerous trees. What was carved on one tree caught Sora's attention. Y.I + H.T 4evr, it read. "Matt and Hotaru were here," Tai remarked when Sora pointed it out. "This knife," Sora said as she picked up a small switchblade knife that was at the foot of the tree. "It's Hotaru's. I've seen it before. She must've dropped it when she and Matt put their initials on the tree," Sora told Tai. "Hey, look at that," Tai said, pointing at something under what Hotaru and Matt had carved. "Kindred Spirits," Sora said. "That describes those two," Tai said as he took the knife from Sora and carved something on the tree. When he moved away, Sora caught sight of the words he had carved. "Sora and Tai forever," she read. She looked up at him. Tai pulled a small black box with a gold band on it out from one of the pockets of his jeans. He handed it to Sora. She opened it and gasped. In the box was a silver ring with a ruby surrounded by small sapphires. She looked at Tai. "Sora, will you marry me?" he asked. Sora smiled. This time, she wouldn't run away. "Of course I will, Tai. I love you, and nothing will ever change that." Sora walked into the dorm she, Hotaru, and Mimi shared. "Hi, Sora," Hotaru said, smiling at her friend. Sora grinned. "How was your date?" "Terrific! How was yours?" "Great! You aren't gonna believe this, but Matt and I are in love," Hotaru said dreamily. Sora smiled. "Congratulations, Hotaru. You're not gonna believe what Tai did." "What did he do?" "Asked me to marry him." "Oh, my God! Congratulations, Sora! This is so cool! Please tell me you said yes!" "I did. Once college is over, we're getting married." Sora and Mimi started discussing wedding plans while Hotaru went out for a walk. She looked up at the stars. "If Matt and I love each other, and we're kindred spirits, that means he knows I want to marry him, right?" she asked. Then she sighed. "There's no way Matt knows I want to marry him." "Oh, really?" Matt asked as he walked up behind her. "Hi, Matt," she said. Matt pulled a small red and blue box out from behind it. He opened the box to reveal a gold ring with an emerald surrounded by diamonds. "Even though we've only gone out once, I know there's no other girl I want to spend my life with. Will you marry me?" Matt asked. She smiled at him. "Of course I will. I love you, don't I?" she responded. "Besides," she remarked as she kissed him, "we're kindred spirits, after all."