I'll love you more with every breath, truly, madly, deeply, do…
-Truly, Madly, Deeply by Savage Garden

It was mornings like these that made life doubly worth it, the young man standing by his kitchen sink decided. Mornings when the sun shone more brilliantly than the brightest star in the night sky, when the birds sang songs more beautiful than the highest quality European violin could ever play, when the sky was bluer than the perfect pastel blue of a painter's palette. These mornings when life seemed perfect and the possibilities endless.

Cliché, he thought, smiling to himself. So cliché he was tempted to forget he ever thought the thought, but he let it stay. He wasn't at all cynical; he was open, smiling, accepting, and thoughts of how foolish he was for believing something so cliché washed over him without leaving a mark.

His best friend in high school called them storybook days—days so wonderful, so promising, so amazing that they could only be real in stories. Good things always happened on these days, she asserted, that was why they were so valuable. He'd laughed, and asked her if their sheer beauty wasn't reason enough for them to be valuable. After thinking a moment, she'd agreed. They were beautiful, but the good things they brought with them only made them better.

"So what kind of special things happened?" he'd asked with his customary smile.

"Oh, I don't know. Dreams come true. That sort of thing."

"So what do you hope will happen the next time such a day comes?"

She'd smiled wistfully and looked upwards into the sky. "I suppose… Maybe not the very next time, but on one of these days I'd like to meet my true love."

He'd laughed, but not in mockery. "A real life fairy tale?"

"Of course! Handsome prince, castle in the hills, beautiful dresses and parties, the works," she'd laughed at her own silliness. "No, but this is the sort of day you'd want it to happen on. You know what, Fujitaka?"

He'd turned to her, eyes wide. "What?"

"I think you'll meet your true love on a day like this." She'd smiled eagerly at him.

"Really?"

She nodded vigorously. "Of course! Things would work out like that for you. She'll be beautiful—I know she will. Perfect in every way. That's what you'd need. You couldn't have anyone who wasn't less than perfect."

"Then I think I'm going to be looking for a long time."

"Maybe longer than I will. But it won't be forever. Nothing is forever."

That friend had grown up and moved away when they went to university. He still heard from her occasionally. They'd taken similar paths in education, although she was an elementary school teacher while he was a high school teacher. She'd only waited eight years before her storybook day came. She was married now, with two children. He barely envied her. She was right—he'd find someone eventually, but he wasn't going to push it. Things happened when they did, and there was no point holding your breath waiting for them.

He downed the last of his coffee and carefully picked his suit jacket off the back of his chair. He checked his immaculate kitchen once more, reminding himself mentally to do the breakfast dishes when he came home after school. Oh wait… never mind. Make that tonight after dinner. He had a meeting of some kind after school. He scrunched his high, pale brow in thought. That's right… Okada wanted him to meet one of his students. That was it.

The final once-over complete, he slipped on his shoes, shrugged on his jacket, and picked up his briefcase from its waiting position next to the front door. Smiling to himself, he opened his door to the bright sunlight and stepped outside. He contemplated taking the bus to the school, but decided against it. The day was so beautiful, a walk could hardly hurt him. Adjusting his glasses on his long nose, he set out in the direction of the high school where he taught, barely suppressing the desire to whistle like a schoolboy.

A perfect storybook day. He laughed out loud as he wondered if today was the day he'd meet his true love. It would make quite a story in later years, wouldn't it?
"Are you coming?" a voice called from the top of the tall flight of stairs.

"Hai, hai!" the young woman called up to her friend.

She smiled and hurried up the stairs with her customary grace. Her long hair and skirt flowed around her as she moved, catching the eye of more than one fellow student. Her bookbag hung heavy from her left shoulder, but her face and body showed no sign of physical exertion. She tripped up the final two stairs lightly, catching herself on the top one. With a little laugh she stumbled forward, nearly knocking her friend over.

"Ah!" she cried, reaching for the falling girl. Despite her best attempts, the girl fell anyway, a tumbling mess of hair, bookbag, and uniform skirt.

"Ohaiyo, Sonomi," she greeted in her sweet, calm voice, smiling up from the ground. She stood up, brushing herself off, waving away the offers of help and cries of sympathy.

"Morning to you, too, Nadeshiko. What took you so long?" Sonomi asked, as she started down a hallway towards her first class that morning. Little stumbles like that were natural, normal, and completely expected from Nadeshiko. Sonomi had seen enough of them to know that Nadeshiko was not hurt, and that she'd simply brush it off as though nothing had happened.

"Oh, nothing. I was standing in my kitchen, looking at the colors the stained glass panel made on the tile floor. It was so beautiful…" she murmured longingly, dreamily looking up at the bright white ceiling of the high school hallway.

Sonomi sighed, barely concealing her exasperation. "That's what took you so long this morning? I missed the bus waiting for you!"

"Did you?" she asked, turning to look at her friend with wide eyes. "I'm sorry about that, Sonomi. I really didn't mean for that to happen. I was just looking at the colors on my floor, and then I saw the sky out of my kitchen window, and I had to stop and look."

"Had to?" Sonomi asked incredulously.

"Absolutely. Haven't you ever absolutely had to do something?"

Sonomi snorted. "Like the history paper last semester? Or the chemistry lab last night? Yes."

"Not like that Sonomi… oh, you know what I mean, you just don't want to admit it. Something told me today was going to be a special day, that's all. I wanted to know what it was."

"And did you find out? Then at least I'd feel better about missing the bus," Sonomi chided, tone softening barely. As gruff and practical as Sonomi seemed, she had a soft spot for her daydreaming best friend. Maybe more than a soft spot—she loved her best friend with all her heart. Nadeshiko was the pride and joy of the family, and Sonomi couldn't help but love her too.

"No," she replied sadly, head hanging slightly, allowing her dark curls to partially curtain her delicate face. "I didn't. But I'm sure I'll find out soon," she replied cheerfully, looking up and smiling.

"You'd better hurry to class now," Sonomi scolded, gently pushing her friend towards her classroom.

"Ah, yes, I suppose so."

"What are you doing after school? Maybe we could go out together…?"

"I'm sorry, Sonomi-chan. I'm going out to eat with Okada-sensei and one of his friends, another teacher. Oh! But you could walk with me a little ways after school!"

Sonomi nodded. It didn't surprise her that Nadeshiko was being invited out by the teachers; she was an excellent and beloved student. The teacher that hadn't yet met her… well, that was his loss. "That's all right. I'll see you tonight, then?"

"Of course. When are you coming over?"

Sonomi shrugged. "Probably after eight."

She nodded in agreement. "All right then."

"Nadeshiko! What are you doing? It's dangerous! Come down!" Sonomi ordered helplessly from her place on the ground. The ground. Where Nadeshiko should have been.

Instead, while Sonomi's back had been turned, she'd somehow managed to scamper up a tree to see a bird's nest. Quite frankly, Sonomi was surprised she'd made it that far. She would've expected Nadeshiko to trip over one of the cracks in the sidewalk before she ever made it up the tree. But apparently the bird's nest was too important for her to miss. Some strange force had kept her upright all the way into the high branches—and Sonomi was appropriately distraught.

"It's all right. The branches are stable. Just a moment…" she murmured, reaching a slim white hand out towards the nest.

For just a moment, time stopped. Even Sonomi was entranced. The nest contained only two baby birds. Sonomi could barely see from where she was standing, but there was something captivating about the scene. Something perfect about that moment, as Nadeshiko's fingers brushed the rough twine of the nest, her eyes lit up with joy as she smiled. The sunlight catching in the leaves and in her hair, filtering pale beams of light to leave patterns on Nadeshiko's ivory skin and dark skirt. Sonomi had never seen anything quite so amazing as that moment.

She would always remember that moment just before the fall.

But at the time, she nearly forgot about the beauty of the moment as she faintly heard the branch creaking. So today wasn't charmed in any way—Nadeshiko would fall anyway. Her own panicked voice cut the silence as she cried Nadeshiko's name.

"Nadeshiko!"

There wasn't even a moment for Nadeshiko to look up, for Sonomi to caught surprise and the inevitable laughter in her eyes. Nadeshiko always laughed. Even when she was falling, even after she fell, that bright smile was always on her face. The next thing Sonomi knew, Nadeshiko was on the ground in a flurry of skirt, shoes, and hair.

She hurried over, but stopped when she saw that something had broken Nadeshiko's fall.

No, correction—someone had broken Nadeshiko's fall. And now he was sitting up, smiling at her best friend.

Sonomi would always remember the moment just after the fall, too.

The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Normally, he'd take his time in his room, carefully tidying up his desk, straightening his papers, sweeping the floor. Today, though, he took a quick, cursory glance around the room to make sure everything looked decent, mentally apologizing to the janitors for not sweeping his floor like he usually would. Then he grabbed his jacket and briefcase and hurried outside. Okada would be waiting for him, punctual man that he was.

He decided to walk along the east side of the school, where the large trees grew. The day was growing warm, thanks to the friendly sun, and the trees would provide some welcome shade. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for something to fall from the trees.

Actually, it was a someone that fell on him, he noted as he sat up, brushing dirt from his pants and shirt.

"Are you all right?" a pretty, female voice asked.

Eyes wide, he looked down at the girl in his lap. She'd fallen from one of the branches overlooking the sidewalk, one of the branches with a bird's nest perched on the end. She was stunningly beautiful. Her dark curls cascaded over her shoulders and down to her waist. Her eyes were used to smiling—they held a light and a joy that could only come from smiling. Right now, though, her eyes were wide and anxious as she attempted to make sure he was, indeed, all right. He noticed that she was wearing the high school uniform.

But it really was her eyes that captivated him. They were large, dark, and deep. They held joy, laughter, smiles—not a trace of pain or fear or sorrow. Just happiness. A happiness that ran so deep in her nature, it was her. She was happiness, she was light, she was joy. Even after such a spectacular fall, her eyes still held smiles. They were innocent, naïve, honest smiles. They were smiles that spoke of love and affection and curiosity, smiles that hid nothing behind them. Her smiles were as necessary as the air she breathed… if ever her ability to smile was lost, then she herself would be lost.

The words from high school came back to him… "… you'll meet your true love on a day like this… perfect in every way… nothing is forever…"

"Yes," he replied at last, smiling.

You're wrong, he mentally told his friend. Some things are forever. This girl's smiles… were forever. They were life. They were air. And he was breathing deeply.

"I thought an angel fell from the sky."