THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS. PLEASE ENJOY THE FINAL CHAPTER!!
Chapter XI - Love Disease
The snow fell softly onto the ground of Tokyo, covering it with a blanket of white color. It was Christmas morning and Tohru had already finished all of her Christmas shopping the other day. She was staring out of the large bakery window, watching as the snowflakes danced their way to the ground with a feather light touch. Tohru sighed with happiness and finally got up off of the counter, surveying the empty bakery, letting out another loud sigh. She leaned down and fixed up the cakes in the display, thinking about the looks on Uo and Mitsuki's faces when she had given them their candy canes and cards a few days back. They had been so happy and gave her giant hugs, she simply loved Christmas. Most of all she just loved seeing the smiles and the feeling of giving presents to her precious ones. Christmas just had his feeling to it that just made her want to go outside and break into a whole singing and dancing fit. She smiled when she looked at the nicely wrapped box next to her on the counter and thought about the present that she was going to give to Kyo after her shift. She couldn't wait.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
After a few hours of working, the clock finally struck eight o' clock and she wished the manager of the bakery a Merry Christmas before closing up the bakery. She expected Kyo to be outside already but instead she just saw a white piece of paper taped to the door. The note read:
Meet me at the park
-Kyo
She wondered what this meant and what he was going to do or say... the boy was full of surprises. She blew out a foggy breath in the night air and strolled through the snow covered ground. She smiled up at the blinking lights that hung on the rooftops of houses and stores, making the whole street light up with various amounts of red and green color. She did a little twirl and admired the Christmas trees that were so beautifully dressed up outside with their dangling ornaments and golden stars shining brightly on top. When she finally reached the park she was in high spirits and immediately spotted Kyo sitting on the swings with a paper in his hand and a nervous look on his face. She walked up to him with a grin on her face and leaned over to him, announcing,
"Merry Christmas!"
Kyo nearly fell over with a startled look on his face; he had been so lost in his own little world that he hadn't seen her approaching him. She giggled and put her hands behind her back, asking,
"So what is it that you wanted me to come here for?"
Kyo licked his cold and dry lips, lifting himself up from the swings, then he gulped and began to pace around in front of her, making her begin to feel a little uneasy. He then cleared his throat and said awkwardly,
"Look... I just wanna say I'm sorry for holding this off for so long, but we've been down such a hard road and all, but now that the road is smooth again and I have a confession to make...so just listen, okay?"
Tohru gave him a funny look and replied uneasily,
"...Okay."
Tohru slowly seated herself onto a swing and placed his present down beside her, watching him as he opened up the folded piece of white paper with trembling fingers. She watched him intently and waited as he gritted his teeth, clearing his throat for a second time, and wiped his sweaty palms onto his pants before finally speaking,
"Love disease...I always thought of love as a disease. Something that you caught...something that only caused pain and destruction. I only thought of love this way because in my past I had lost a loved one, and I guess I never got back on my feet, until you came along. That night at the bakery when I first met you, you really changed my life... At first the only reason I had agreed to guard you was because of the free food that was included but... before I knew it I started to get attached to you after a while, and that really messed with my head. You still stuck around for me though, and you kept lifting me up whenever I was falling. I've even started to believe in love again, because you give me faith to believe in it. You restore my hope...the words that I continue to hurt you with mean nothing. It's just that I've been so damn afraid of being with you... so please forgive me and my cowardice actions. You've changed my mind about things... you change my definition of love. Now I think of it as a gift. These are the words that are from my heart, words that have no lies hidden behind them, words that mean something, and I hope that you'll accept these words...and accept the fact that I'm in love with you. Head over heels in love!"
Kyo bent down over a shocked Tohru and whispered in his most sincere voice,
"I want to be with you more than anything else in the world..."
She managed to find her voice deep down in her throat and squeaked out softly,
"Me too..."
Kyo smiled softly at her, grabbing the chains of the swing that she was sitting on, putting the swing to a stop, and whispered out,
"Good, cuz I'm gonna kiss you now."
He leaned in and their eyes fluttered shut as he kissed her softly on the lips, with no regrets left behind, warming their bodies throughout the snowy winter night. He was finally healed from his horrible disease.
I'm sorry Ayumi... but please forgive me for loving again. We must move on and find happiness again right? I've finally found mine.
After the kiss their foreheads touched slightly and they both smiled from the aftermath of the moment. Tohru's eyes brightened up suddenly and she reached down next to her and scooped up the wrapped box from the ground. Kyo's eyes widened when she stuffed a nicely wrapped present underneath his nose and said cheerfully,
"I brought a present for you! Open it!"
Kyo beamed at her and took the package into his hands, letting his excitement get the best of him as he ripped open the paper like a little boy on Christmas morning. He lifted the cover of the box to reveal a wrapped slice of chocolate moist cake, a brand new picture frame, and a black bandana that was new as well. His face lit up, picking up the piece of cake that was wrapped in a clear paper, and said with a chuckle,
"I always loved that free cake of yours..."
Tohru blushed bashfully and tipped her head lower, not daring to look into his cinnamon colored eyes. He finally reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a skinny velvet box. He handed it to her and she looked up with surprise, not expecting a present at all. Kyo grinned lopsidedly at her and waggled the box in her face,
"Open it already will ya?"
Tohru nodded obediently and opened up the blue box slowly to reveal a shining silver chain with a heart shaped locket hanging on the end. She covered her mouth with her hand, letting out a small gasp. She whispered out softly,
"This is so beautiful... but... this must have cost a fortune! I can't accept this!"
Kyo chuckled again and put his hands over her gloved ones and their eyes connected deeply with each others. He said simply,
"I don't care about the money anymore... so just take it alright? I told you, you don't have to be so polite around me... so just take it okay?"
Tohru laughed softly and shook her head in disbelief,
"This is incredible..."
"Love makes you do crazy things right?"
She threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him with gratitude,
"Thank you so much! I'll wear it everyday!"
Kyo felt an idea suddenly boil up in his mind and pushed out of the embrace gently with a mischievous smile on his face,
"I've got an idea, come with me."
She looked confused as he pulled her along to the nearest drugstore, where he purchased one of those cameras that developed the pictures right after you took them. After buying it, he grinned and held up the present she gave him, pointing out,
"Well I'm gonna to need a picture to put into this frame right?"
Tohru felt her lips spread into a huge smile; feeling happier then she had ever felt before. Kyo saw a man walking down the empty streets and tapped him on the shoulder lightly.
"'Scuse me sir, can you take a picture of us together?"
The jolly man lifted his lips up and nodded with agreement. He took the camera from Kyo's hands and waited until Kyo and Tohru got into their positions. The man then pushed the button and snapped a photo of the two with their arms around one another, being plain happy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that night Kyo sat on his bed with an irremovable smile plastered onto his face. He reached underneath his bed and took out the dusty and broken picture frame with him and Ayumi in it. After looking at it for a long time he took out the picture from the cracked frame and made a long and happy tearing sound as he tore the picture in half. Then he chucked both the torn picture and the broken frame into the garbage can, taking out the brand new picture frame from the present Tohru had given to him. He smiled and slipped the recent photo that they had taken into the new frame and held it at arm's length, admiring it from afar. Then he placed it on the table next to his bed, smiling contently to himself before falling into a deep sleep with no nightmares. Not anymore.
Love is a like a disease.
Nobody ever wants to catch it,
But they end up catching it anyway.
And when they do, it causes great amounts of
pain, and destruction
But when the disease is healed,
You become a new person, a better person.
Views on life become clearer, and
you want to take more chances in life...
The thing about love is that it may cause you pain at times...
but you have to be strong and live through the pain,
and with patience and time, the disease will subside and heal...
Now I know that, and I finally feel... happy.
Love has changed me.
T H E E N D
Yea... sorry guys, but the story had to come to an end sometime, right? Well I'll be thinking up ideas for another story soon, so hopefully you guys will wait for it and read it too :D So many people have been so supportive and nice and every good word in the dictionary :] You people really made me feel happy that my writing actually had some sort of an impact on you guys... thank you guys so much. BYEBYE