Intro:: Anna ::
Its strange how life can sometimes take an unexpected turn. Take my life, for instance. I was a completely ordinary girl, minding my own business, when the wish of studying abroad landed me in Japan, and now here I am, crammed into a Tokyo bullet train, staring numbly at the giant rock attached to a band in the velvet box which is being offered to me hopefully by a beautiful actor with anxious eyes of the deepest brown. And I have no idea how to answer him. If I say yes, I can kiss the annonymitity I hold so dear goodbye, and step out of my nice, relatively safe, hopelessly ordinary and boring lifestyle and into the whirlwind of celebrity. I would be married to a husband constantly traveling, in the center of the world's eye, adored by countless millions of girls. Yet if I say no, I will be forced to seperate myself from someone I truly love, and spend a lifetime in regret and doubt, always wondering what would have happened if...? Perhaps you are wondering how I managed to wind up in this predicament? Then maybe I should back up a year or so and explain a few things. Now it all seems like centuries ago....
Part I:: Anna ::
It was spring. Everywhere I went, I could smell it in the air. The trees were just starting to bud out, the ground was wet with mud and melted snow, and the grass had finally turned green again. I was wandering idly down the sidewalk, heading for school. The birds were singing, the morning sun was soft on my face, and a slight breeze was tossing my hair playfully about. Nothing could shatter the peace of this morning-- "ANNA!" A voice shrieked from behind me, and before I had time to react, I was engulfed from behind by a pair of arms-- okay, almost nothing.
The momentum of the body behind me caught me off guard, and before I had time to compensate, both I and my attacker fell to the ground in an undignified heap. "Good Morning, Maia. And how was your spring break?" I asked calmly, deciding that if I just played it cool, the people ahead of us would turn around, start walking again, stop staring and forget about the two mad girls sprawled across the sidewalk.
"It was wonderful! You'll never guess what happened!" Maia exclaimed as I dragged myself up to my knees. I had to laugh. Maia Sarabande was my best friend since the beginning of sophomore year. Indeed, we'd become nearly inseperable... which was why my descion to study abroad for a year in Japan was such a difficult one to make. At least it was until Maia decided to go, too. Now all we had to do was wait and see if--
"I got in! the letter came yeasterday! I've been accepted! We're going to Japan together, Anna!"
I let out a shrill squeal, which Maia matched, and then we hugged each other feircely and laughed hysterically for roughly thirty seconds. "I hope we're placed near each other! Just think, Anna, shopping in Tokyo!" She exclaimed. "Beaches in Miyazaki," I added.
"Real norimaki rolls-"
"-non-translated manga-"
"-festivals-"
"-caligraphy classes-"
"-bullet trains-"
"-and hott Japanese guys!" We finished together, laughing again. Unfortunately, the clock above the school decided to chime, sending the deep tones of westminster chimes out across the high school campus
and to where we still knealt in the middle of the sidewalk. "Shit!" Maia cried and we both leapt up and starting running. "If we're late again--" I started, but never finished. We raced to the school, up the steps, and into the building, ignoring our lockers and making homeroom before the last chime tolled.
Safe again!
Part II:: Anna ::
Tokyo. It was Spring again, just three weeks after my eighteenth birthday. It was hard to find signs of the season in the urban landscape, so different from the little Massachusetts town where Maia and I had traveled from. We had only been in Japan for maybe a month. We had both been placed in Tokyo, and somehow had the pure luck of being in the same high school, same class. I could have died of joy! My hosts, the Kazuya family, were nothing but kind. I don't think I'd ever met nicer people in my entire life. Maia's hosts, the Arai family, were also wonderful.
Maia and I stuck out like two daffodils in a feild of heather. Maia, with her long auburn hair and grey eyes, and rather.... voluptous bosom; me with my wheat colored, chin-length bob and eyes that were not quite green, not quite grey. I didn't have the problem Maia had in the chest department, however. I mean, roses are red, violets are black, why the hell is my chest as flat as my back? But it didn't really matter much, because Maia is a wonderful seamstress. Her uniform looked just the same as everone else's.... now that her cleavage is properly concealed (yes, it's my job to torture her).
We were in heaven. Pure heaven. In fact, there was only one part of Japan that I hated with a passion. I would have done anything to avoid it, would have gladly given my soul to forgo it: The daily commute from home to school. The walking parts weren't so bad, but the fifteen-minute ride on the bullet train was hell. Pure hell. There's nothing like seventy people crammed into a train car designed to hold thirty or so. Blaaaaaaaaghhhhhh! I am severely claustrophobic. This, I've learned, is not a good thing to be in Tokyo. There were days when I contemplated throwing myself in front of the oncoming train rather than boarding it. Today was one of those days. I gritted my teeth as I entered the platform, hugging my messenger school bag closer and taking deep breaths. I felt my heart rate increase as the train came hissing into the station. "Here we go again," I muttered to myself, stepping up to the doors and hoping, praying, that somehow against all fate it would be a light day. Mondays were never light days.
I took one final breath as the doors hisses open, and the shut my eyes and blundered into the crowded, over-heated interior of the car. People filed in behind me, and when no once could move themselves in any more of their own violition, the white-gloved packers began stuffing more in, until finally the doors hissed shut again and the train began to move. My back was to the car wall, but I was uncomfortably aware of the now-familiar feeling of a body pressed closely to mine. I kept my eyes shut. I didn't want to know.
"Hello there." A very pleasent, very sexy male voice with an alluring British accent said above my head. My eyes shot open. Maybe I was a lazy little student, but a conversation with someone else who spoke English besides Maia and Mr. Hongo, my English teacher, was something I couldn't pass up.
I tilted my head up, and found myself staring into the deepest, most lovely brown eyes I'd ever seen in my short eighteen years. "Good Morning." I breathed, and the God of a man crushed against me smiled amiably. I couldn't shake the suspicion that I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't figure out where.
"Enjoying the ride?" I asked again, smiling back. "I am now!" He laughed. I wasn't sure what to make of that, so I kept smiling. It's not like I'm particularly gorgeous or anything. Maybe this stunningly attractive man was as starved for familiar words as I was. "So, what brings you to Tokyo?" He asked curiously.
"Education." I replied with a pointed look downwards at my uniform. "What about you? Vacationing, business, visiting?"
"I guess you could call it business, Miss...?" I blinked at him for a moment before it clicked.
"Oh, jeez, sorry! I'm Anna Yardley."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Yardley!" He said with another laugh.
"Likewise. Call me Anna. And you are?"
"Bloom. Orlando Bloom. Call me Orli." He smiled.
If I hadn't caught myself, my jaw would have dropped, but somehow I managed to keep a calm front. Orlando Bloom! Of course! The eyes, the accent, the bone structure.... the sensuality...
"Sure thing, Mr, Bloom." I replied, not missing a beat. Wait 'til I told Maia about this!
Its strange how life can sometimes take an unexpected turn. Take my life, for instance. I was a completely ordinary girl, minding my own business, when the wish of studying abroad landed me in Japan, and now here I am, crammed into a Tokyo bullet train, staring numbly at the giant rock attached to a band in the velvet box which is being offered to me hopefully by a beautiful actor with anxious eyes of the deepest brown. And I have no idea how to answer him. If I say yes, I can kiss the annonymitity I hold so dear goodbye, and step out of my nice, relatively safe, hopelessly ordinary and boring lifestyle and into the whirlwind of celebrity. I would be married to a husband constantly traveling, in the center of the world's eye, adored by countless millions of girls. Yet if I say no, I will be forced to seperate myself from someone I truly love, and spend a lifetime in regret and doubt, always wondering what would have happened if...? Perhaps you are wondering how I managed to wind up in this predicament? Then maybe I should back up a year or so and explain a few things. Now it all seems like centuries ago....
Part I:: Anna ::
It was spring. Everywhere I went, I could smell it in the air. The trees were just starting to bud out, the ground was wet with mud and melted snow, and the grass had finally turned green again. I was wandering idly down the sidewalk, heading for school. The birds were singing, the morning sun was soft on my face, and a slight breeze was tossing my hair playfully about. Nothing could shatter the peace of this morning-- "ANNA!" A voice shrieked from behind me, and before I had time to react, I was engulfed from behind by a pair of arms-- okay, almost nothing.
The momentum of the body behind me caught me off guard, and before I had time to compensate, both I and my attacker fell to the ground in an undignified heap. "Good Morning, Maia. And how was your spring break?" I asked calmly, deciding that if I just played it cool, the people ahead of us would turn around, start walking again, stop staring and forget about the two mad girls sprawled across the sidewalk.
"It was wonderful! You'll never guess what happened!" Maia exclaimed as I dragged myself up to my knees. I had to laugh. Maia Sarabande was my best friend since the beginning of sophomore year. Indeed, we'd become nearly inseperable... which was why my descion to study abroad for a year in Japan was such a difficult one to make. At least it was until Maia decided to go, too. Now all we had to do was wait and see if--
"I got in! the letter came yeasterday! I've been accepted! We're going to Japan together, Anna!"
I let out a shrill squeal, which Maia matched, and then we hugged each other feircely and laughed hysterically for roughly thirty seconds. "I hope we're placed near each other! Just think, Anna, shopping in Tokyo!" She exclaimed. "Beaches in Miyazaki," I added.
"Real norimaki rolls-"
"-non-translated manga-"
"-festivals-"
"-caligraphy classes-"
"-bullet trains-"
"-and hott Japanese guys!" We finished together, laughing again. Unfortunately, the clock above the school decided to chime, sending the deep tones of westminster chimes out across the high school campus
and to where we still knealt in the middle of the sidewalk. "Shit!" Maia cried and we both leapt up and starting running. "If we're late again--" I started, but never finished. We raced to the school, up the steps, and into the building, ignoring our lockers and making homeroom before the last chime tolled.
Safe again!
Part II:: Anna ::
Tokyo. It was Spring again, just three weeks after my eighteenth birthday. It was hard to find signs of the season in the urban landscape, so different from the little Massachusetts town where Maia and I had traveled from. We had only been in Japan for maybe a month. We had both been placed in Tokyo, and somehow had the pure luck of being in the same high school, same class. I could have died of joy! My hosts, the Kazuya family, were nothing but kind. I don't think I'd ever met nicer people in my entire life. Maia's hosts, the Arai family, were also wonderful.
Maia and I stuck out like two daffodils in a feild of heather. Maia, with her long auburn hair and grey eyes, and rather.... voluptous bosom; me with my wheat colored, chin-length bob and eyes that were not quite green, not quite grey. I didn't have the problem Maia had in the chest department, however. I mean, roses are red, violets are black, why the hell is my chest as flat as my back? But it didn't really matter much, because Maia is a wonderful seamstress. Her uniform looked just the same as everone else's.... now that her cleavage is properly concealed (yes, it's my job to torture her).
We were in heaven. Pure heaven. In fact, there was only one part of Japan that I hated with a passion. I would have done anything to avoid it, would have gladly given my soul to forgo it: The daily commute from home to school. The walking parts weren't so bad, but the fifteen-minute ride on the bullet train was hell. Pure hell. There's nothing like seventy people crammed into a train car designed to hold thirty or so. Blaaaaaaaaghhhhhh! I am severely claustrophobic. This, I've learned, is not a good thing to be in Tokyo. There were days when I contemplated throwing myself in front of the oncoming train rather than boarding it. Today was one of those days. I gritted my teeth as I entered the platform, hugging my messenger school bag closer and taking deep breaths. I felt my heart rate increase as the train came hissing into the station. "Here we go again," I muttered to myself, stepping up to the doors and hoping, praying, that somehow against all fate it would be a light day. Mondays were never light days.
I took one final breath as the doors hisses open, and the shut my eyes and blundered into the crowded, over-heated interior of the car. People filed in behind me, and when no once could move themselves in any more of their own violition, the white-gloved packers began stuffing more in, until finally the doors hissed shut again and the train began to move. My back was to the car wall, but I was uncomfortably aware of the now-familiar feeling of a body pressed closely to mine. I kept my eyes shut. I didn't want to know.
"Hello there." A very pleasent, very sexy male voice with an alluring British accent said above my head. My eyes shot open. Maybe I was a lazy little student, but a conversation with someone else who spoke English besides Maia and Mr. Hongo, my English teacher, was something I couldn't pass up.
I tilted my head up, and found myself staring into the deepest, most lovely brown eyes I'd ever seen in my short eighteen years. "Good Morning." I breathed, and the God of a man crushed against me smiled amiably. I couldn't shake the suspicion that I knew him from somewhere, but I couldn't figure out where.
"Enjoying the ride?" I asked again, smiling back. "I am now!" He laughed. I wasn't sure what to make of that, so I kept smiling. It's not like I'm particularly gorgeous or anything. Maybe this stunningly attractive man was as starved for familiar words as I was. "So, what brings you to Tokyo?" He asked curiously.
"Education." I replied with a pointed look downwards at my uniform. "What about you? Vacationing, business, visiting?"
"I guess you could call it business, Miss...?" I blinked at him for a moment before it clicked.
"Oh, jeez, sorry! I'm Anna Yardley."
"Nice to meet you, Miss Yardley!" He said with another laugh.
"Likewise. Call me Anna. And you are?"
"Bloom. Orlando Bloom. Call me Orli." He smiled.
If I hadn't caught myself, my jaw would have dropped, but somehow I managed to keep a calm front. Orlando Bloom! Of course! The eyes, the accent, the bone structure.... the sensuality...
"Sure thing, Mr, Bloom." I replied, not missing a beat. Wait 'til I told Maia about this!