"Ryo! Come on and tell me where you're taking me." Sakura laughed.
"You'll see when we get there." Ryo replied as they moved through the forest. It was a little while longer till they stopped.
"Now you want to tell me where we are?" Sakura asked.
"Can't you tell?" Ryo asked gesturing around them.
Sakura studied the familiar surroundings. "It's where we first met." She said laughing.
"Yeah, I figured that if we wanted some alone time that this would be a good place to go." He said with a hint of suggestion in his voice.
"What are you saying Ryo?" Sakura teased.
Ryo looked at her and embraced her. Sakura returned his hug with a quizzical look.
"What was that for?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, Sakura." Ryo said humbly.
"Whatever in the world for?" Sakura asked truly puzzled.
"For the fight we had before you got captured." He said as he hung his head.
Sakura looked surprised and put her hand under his chin, tilting his head so that he looked into her eyes. "Listen to me, Ryo. Don't beat yourself up about it. It's ok, I know that you didn't mean it, you were just frustrated." She said sweetly.
"But that's no excuse for the things that I said," he finished. "I said some terrible things to you and really hurt your feelings and I'm sorry." He walked and plopped down on a nearby rock.
Sakura walked over to him and sat down next to him. "All's forgiven." She said. "If anyone should be asking for forgiveness, it should be me." She said as she stood up and walked towards the water.
Ryo looked at her in surprise as she stared at her reflection. "You? Why? You haven't done anything"
Sakura stared at the water sadly avoiding Ryo's gaze. "Yes I have. I allowed myself to get taken control of. I wasn't strong enough to overcome Aria's magic."
"You can't blame yourself for that!" Ryo protested as he walked over to her side. "You tried your best and that's all that matters. Besides, you were able to break free from it." He said.
"With your help, what if you hadn't been there? What if you couldn't break through the hold she had over me. I could have killed you Ryo!" Sakura said sadly.
"But you loved me enough to break the spell, and that is more important to me than the fact that you tried to kill me." Ryo said as he put his arm around her waist.
"And besides," Sakura added teasingly. "You tried to kill me too." She said pointing to her bandaged side where Ryo's sword had cut her.
"I could never kill you." Ryo said softly leaning forward.
Sakura backed away smiling, "I know, I said you'd try." She said with a laugh. Ryo laughed as he pulled her close.
Ryo looked at her until Sakura stopped laughing. "What?" she asked.
"There's something that I been wanting to ask you for a long time, and now I think is the right time to do it." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.
Ryo bent down on one knee and took Sakura's hand. "Sakura, will you marry me and become my wife?" he asked as he slipped a diamond ring on her finger.
Sakura gazed in shock at the ring on her finger as a tear slipped down her cheek. "Ryo…I…
