Thanx to reviewers! Four reviewers! You ALL know who you all are! Thank you so much! You gave me encouragement while I was 'down'... and I feel that these are so many people I must dedicate this LAST chapter to! Yes! LAST chapter! I don't need to say it again! Yes... it's a sucky ending!
THIS LAST CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL THE REVIEWERS I EVER GOT:
My first review: FROM ME! HA HA
2: x0kAkAwiix0 (niceee...)
3: Cherry-SweetHeart (ESPECIALLY YOU! YOU REVIEWD A MILLION TIMES!)
4: A Cannon (they got a hug at the end.)
5: gamma-rae (for telling me... NO!)
6: Dragon Star 16 (I continued!)
7: .x.original.star.x. (I am SO sorry for not noticing you earlier! You get credits for the last review for the 10th chapter!)
This marks the end for this chapter... unless... there will be... enough... reviews AFTER this... for a... sequel?
"You're… you're all right?"
Why wasn't the world spinning around me?
I wasn't dead.
Not yet.
Not ever yet.
Not until a many decades later.
Because I want to live.
I do.
And I want to fulfill those big dreams.
And I can live on.
And I can make my mother smile up there… in a happy place… in heaven.
So this is what is happening.
I never deserved this… this life… but I did.
It's not the life, I had a perfect life, and I still do.
It's what I do.
They are looking at me… waiting me to do something… for me to choose and make the decision.
The decision of my life.
I understand so much now.
And I find myself… shaking.
Shaking with fear…
Shaking with tranquility…
Shaking with happiness…
… And love.
And love.
Because I will become the glue that will bring all the pieces together, and although I still cannot make up for one missing piece… it is still there.
It hangs above us, suspended by an invisible string.
And she will still be there… always… watching us… holding us together.
But only if we remember, only if we remember her.
So I will remember her… and then everyone else too… will remember her.
And then remembering will bring her closer… and she will draw us closer… and we will love.
And be that perfect family again.
Yes. That perfect family again. Perfect. Family. Love.
Yes.
That is what I want.
That is what mother wants.
That is what Touya wants.
That is what dad wants.
Yes.
"I'm ok dad." I smile, the smile radiant…
"I'm ok Touya." With love…
"I'm ok mom." Pure love.
And then I see them all smiling too.
That means dad and Touya… and the dumped Janet.
All for me.
All for mom.
She is our angel who will guide us to love.
But first…
… We have to remember her.
We start with the pictures that are in the attic.
We polish them, put them in colorful frames.
Then we put up a new one each week, and for each holiday.
And we will bring her everywhere with us to remind us… that she is our mom.
Our love. Our angel. Our family.
Yes.
And then we will arrange her stuff again, but she did not have much. We will each take a part of her and make it a part of us.
So we can remember her.
So we can remember we are family.
And then we will put her on the table where we will sit down on Sunday mornings and sit there… laughing… and talking… eating pancakes… telling stories…
Because we are family, we are still the perfect family.
And we will be like that forever.
A family.
-
I called Sakura today.
I've decided to tell her the truth.
I have become a new person, a kinder person, and a loving person. Even without those riches.
And she will still be my best friend.
The only thing is that… I wonder if she'll still forgive me.
"Hello?"
"Sakura… it's me again."
"Tomoyo-chan?"
"Will you meet me at… Penguin Park?"
"Yes!"
And then a click and a dead line.
I am waiting for her on the swings.
I am waiting to tell her everything.
And she comes running to me… happily… she is happy to see me.
I stand up to smile back… happily and sadly… because I have come to tell her the truth.
She gazes at me… stares at my messy hair… and not the greatest outfit.
But she's still happy… because it's me.
Will she still be like that when I tell her?
Will I break her heart?
But I can't do it anymore… I have to tell her the truth.
"Sakura… my mom was broke during the end of school."
She looks a little surprised.
"Sorry I didn't tell you…"
She looks a little worried.
"We had to sell everything away… and then I learned your mom died."
She looks a little sad.
"Then we moved to a little apartment… a bought groceries… and she got a new job as a librarian… and…" I felt tears…
Sakura moved her hand… she was crying a bit too.
"… I found out how greedy I was… and so heartbroken to hear we were broke…"
"No… I would be the same too…"
I shake my head, "But I had my mother… why wasn't I happy enough? And then… there was you… I couldn't… I couldn't tell you for some reason… I was too scared and greedy and…"
I'm crying hard again… I don't know if she is too…
"… and then my mom told me about my dad…"
I feel a hand on my shoulder, and a handkerchief in my left hand.
"… and I remembered everything that happened to my dad…"
I dab the folded cloth to my cheeks and eyes.
"… and then I learned love… I learned how to become a new person… and…"
She smiled, "I did too."
I look up at her, "I'm going to be… living somewhere else… and…"
I feel myself trembling.
"Aren't you… mad?"
Sakura… she smiles, "No. I want to be your best friend… forever. I know what you were going through… do you want me to tell you what happened to me?"
She did tell me. She told me everything.
And we realized about how two months… so much could happen… so much could be kept away from each other.
But no matter what… we promised each other that we would be friends… best friends.
Even if we lived far away… even if we didn't go to the same school… we had shared one pain with each other still… and we could still be best friends still.
And she forgave me.
She forgave me.
"You're my best friend, of course I'd forgive you."
And then the clouds cleared away… the rain stopped… the fog and mist were all drowned by the warm rays of the sun… and the clear blue sky… and the salty smell of the ocean… ever flowing water… ever flowing love…
Our lives went on.
We were still best friends.
We shared one pain.
We shared one love.
We shared our secrets.
We shared our hearts.
And forever that would be… even through troubled times… even through those times.