CHAPTER NINE

     After Ann left Kyo alone in the hot spring, he went home. He felt no need to go into the town. He just sat in his house, laying wide awake in bed. Kyo couldn't believe how much he'd messed things up. He kept telling himself, if he had only kept his mouth shut about the diary, none of that would have happened. A bit late to realize that now, of course.

*~* My View *~*

     Normally I'm a pretty calm guy. Even when things go wrong, I can handle myself perfectly fine. The biggest flaw in that quality is that I tend to keep emotions bottled up. Once the final blow comes, I let all that anger, frustration, sadness, all of my emotions, I let loose.

     I had come home in a rage. Pillows and cushions were strewn about the living room and my bedroom. Luckily, I didn't break anything. Instead I took out my aggression on the softest things I could find. Occasionally I'd hit something not so soft, like the wall, scream in pain, and then go back to punching pillows. Finally when I had exhausted myself, I flopped down on my bed and sobbed silently.

     Great. This is just fine and dandy. The one person in life I knew I could count on, the one person I would have trusted with my life, my best friend Ann was now angry with me. And not without good reason. Why was I so stupid?

     I couldn't figure out which was the bigger mistake. Reading the diary, or telling Ann I had read her diary. Was telling her a mistake? Was it the right thing to do, or just plain stupid? Either way, it was too late now.

     A knock at the door made me jump. From the sound of it, I could tell it was Ann, but I couldn't believe she'd be here. It had only been an hour since she'd walked off, angry with me. But it sounded like her knock.

     I dragged myself off the bed and weakly made my way to the door. Rather than taking the effort to open the door, I rested my head against it and called out "Who is it?"

     "You moron! It was suppose to be a surprise! You were supposed to open the door!" Ann's voice shouted jokingly from outside.

     Slowly I opened the door and saw her smiling face. Her face was still slightly red, but I figured that matched my eyes, which were probably red from crying. "It might have been more of a surprise if you hadn't used your typical knock," I smiled weakly back.

     Ann ran into the house and wrapped her arms around my waist. She was considerably shorter than me. The top of her head didn't even reach my chin.

     "You fat head, don't go thinking you're forgiven," she said with a laugh. "I just figured you were allowed to make a mistake or two."

     "God, Ann. You don't know how sorry I am. How can I make it up to you?"

     She pushed me back a little so she could look me in the eyes. "I know how. You can answer a question for me."

     I was confused. I had no idea what question she had for me. "Uh, sure. What is it?"

     "At the hot springs, you said you like me too. Well…does that mean you'll go out with me?"

     I smiled. "Well, I don't know. I mean, the girls are pounding at the door, night and day. I wouldn't want to break their hearts…"

     Ann punched me in the gut, harder than I think she realized. Even after the blow I managed to wheeze out "Of course I'll go out with you, ya nut."

     Again she hugged me. It was a great feeling. Ann and I had hugged before, but this was different. One difference was that she was so happy that she was squeezing the life out of me. Another was how we both felt about it. The mood was different.

     Eventually, Ann pulled out of the hug and looked at her watch. She gasped and looked at me. "Quick, turn on the TV! Mechabot Ultror on Summer Vacation is coming on!"

Epilogue

     So from that day forward, Ann and I were together. I was the happiest I had ever been. We did everything together. She'd come to the house and help with farm chores, and I'd help around the inn if help was needed. We made a dish together and won the Cooking Festival. With the help of her father, we demolished the other teams in the Tomato Festival. Of course, it was that Fall, on Moon Viewing Day, that I'll never forget.

     I believe Ann and I were sitting atop Mother's hill. The only other people there were Karen and Rick, but they were off sitting by themselves, minding their own business. I was lying on the ground, propped up on my elbows. Ann had her head rested against my chest.

     "What a beautiful night, eh Kyo?" Ann said, lifting her eyes to look up at me.

     "I'd say something like 'Not as beautiful as you', but you'd probably just laugh at me," I admitted, smiling at her.

     She smiled back. "Yeah, I would."

     "Getting kind of chilly, though. You want my coat?" I was wearing my long, brown coat. (Remember from the beginning of the story?)

     "No, I'm fine," Ann said, snuggling a bit closer. "Unless you want to go back home."

     "No, no. That's all right." After a brief pause, I summoned up all the nerve I could. "Um, Ann? Can I ask you a question?"

     "Depends what the question is," she responded, apparently not noticing how serious I had become.

     "That doesn't make me feel much better about asking it…"

     "Just ask it, Dopey." She was staring up at the moon.

     She was full of loving nicknames for me. "Well, uh. I was wondering. Would you, uh… Would you… Would…" I was twirling the blue feather in my fingers, trying to find the right words. I had pictured this moment for a long time. Whenever I had dreamed about it, I had handled it much better. The perfect words would come flowing out, and she would leap into my arms.

     Ann turned her head curiously, wondering why I was stuttering so much. The first thing she saw was a blue feather spinning in front of her face. It took her a moment to put it all together and react, but once she did you could see the light bulb click, and her face light up. She smiled ear to ear and latched onto me with one of her bear hugs.

     "S-so…is this a yes, or a polite way of telling me no?"

     She released me from the hug and held me at arms length. With a punch to the shoulder, she responded, "Of course, you idiot! Of course I'll marry you!" She looked down at the ground. "I-I had been waiting for you to ask." Regaining her usual confidence, she added, "If you didn't ask me soon, I was going to get you into a head lock and force it out of you."

     We went back to watching the sky. Ann and I were no longer girlfriend and boyfriend. We would soon be husband and wife. This was the happiest either of us had ever been.