Author's Note: I promise that this will be the last "troubled" chapter. Usually this stuff comes near the beginning of a story, but I feel that when you find yourself in love with someone, hurtful things begin to have more meaning, making you stronger as a pair. Too bad Taka and Tanya both have to submit to my logic (sorry, guys...)!

I hope you all enjoy!

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Chapter 11: Making Promises

I never could've known I would come to love this girl so dearly. Barely a year after receiving that beautiful letter, the writing simple yet elegant, I had fallen hard and fast for her. Though I hadn't read it through more than once, I didn't have to. What she had written was scrawled in my mind. Over and over I would think on the voice that pleaded with a man she only knew in passing all so she could escape her city life. Or maybe something more.

The letter rested in its bright red envelope on the nightstand. It had once sat alongside a frame with a photograph, but it's companion had been purposely forgotten elsewhere after an episode of childish defiance. Now the letter stood all alone, and perhaps I found it better this way. There was no longer a reason to yearn for the image of a woman I had come to loathe.

A letter is far more valuable than any photo. You can fake a smile, but letters are special. You could lie in a letter, I suppose, although I find it'd be a waste of the effort. Besides, there's no way Tanya wouldn't have wrote exactly what she meant.

Takakura, don't you find it strange how some people come to meet one another? I could easily call it fate, but I prefer to think my father wasn't destined to die in order for us to come together. I suppose that may sound just as cruel, being that I barely knew the man's name let alone his face; however, I feel you're a person who would understand...

Yes, I understood. When we met, I was bewildered by her. She had "borrowed" her mother's black, floor-length evening gown for the somber event, and everyone seemed to confuse her with an endless list of possibilities which included: she was his young girlfriend, a childhood companion, a cousin, a niece... In fact, I had mistaken her for that once beautiful image in my mind, yet the excitement had vanished after I came to see who it was. She was surprised as well at first, but then she laughed and introduced herself with a hearty-handshake, "Tanya, as in, 'good to know ya!'"

"Takakura," I heard a voice over my shoulder. Glancing back, I saw her covered in top soil and animal hair. Without that unflattering dress, she wasn't a doll in a shop window, for every ounce of her was hers alone. No one else could be remotely like her. "Hey. Is it okay if I rest for a while? I know it's morning an' all, but I'm a bit down today."

"Why? Aren't you feeling well?" I asked with obvious concern. Since when did Tanya ever take a break from anything, let alone farm work?

She slipped in a quick smile before shaking her head. "I've just got things to think about."

I recalled the conversation a couple nights before, and with a reassuring nod, I let her go. After hearing about the true diagnosis of her father's death, she had changed somewhat. Her cheeks were ashen, and the once youthful light in her violet eyes had faded. She was like a flickering flame near the end of the candle, and as I considered where I had seen the gaze in her eyes before, a grave worry began to overcome me.

How can I be so blind? I asked myself, jogging out my door after her. I stumbled into her house, only to realize no one was there. The bed was made, the wood stove remained untouched. Frantic images began to swirl within my mind gone mad. Her throwing herself into the frigid ocean, diving into the rocks from one of the mountain tops, or hanging from a roof beam all were tragic endings that surged into my thoughts. I was desperate for a message from the only person who could know...

A familiar sight caught my eye as I shot out from the shack. There, lying in the snow where a person much like herself had once laid before, was Tanya. Her body sprawled out onto the powdery pasture, and though I had hoped she would reply to my call, she remained quiet. Nothing moved... nothing changed... With all my will power, I pushed myself into a run, leapt over the low fencing, and swept her frail body into my arms.

"Tanya... Tanya!" I cried out, trying to shake her back into consciousness to no avail. She was peaceful, appearing to be only sleeping like those fairy tale princesses where all I needed to do to wake her up was kiss her. But this was no fairy tale.

My heart... stopped... Here she was, laying in my arms, and I may have already lost her... I was afraid all along... I should've never said a word about what happened... I could've let her believe he had no part... in dying like he did. But... I...

"Taka..." she breathed at last. Her eyes, though still faint and far away, slowly opened glimmering into something resembling life.

Relief could not even wash over me before I hurried her into the house. I flew her home, like a crippled angel with one wing left to carry her. Her skin was burning, but at least I knew death's chill hadn't stolen her away. She yelped a little being handled so roughly although she didn't openly complain. I even saw the remnants of her old smile coming back. It was only then that I knew she'd be all right.

Thank the Goddess.

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A tad less than a week or so, she was feeling far better. During the time she was ill with whatever disease had befallen her (I surely wasn't going to carry her in my arms to Dr. Hardy), I had taken the liberty of being the all out everything man. Since who knows how long ago, I did far more than go to the city market every morning. I started and finished my day by her schedule which meant waking up at the unGoddessly hour of four in the morning and going to bed around midnight only to do it all over again.

She watched me carefully from her little bed. Tanya didn't ask for much, but she certainly didn't argue with the special treatment. She had always enjoyed my cooking, but because I was so overcome with the happiness of knowing she'd still be with me, I seemed to relish in it. It felt so honestly good to feel I wouldn't be alone. After all, she had kept her promise.

"Why do you worry about me so much, anyway?" she asked one evening. "I haven't really done anything to deserve it."

I smiled, holding her hand as I told her, "Because you're the only one who ever bothered to care about a man like me."

"Don't you dare say you're an old man," she warned, face set and firm. I had no doubts she could still win with a strong argument even hampered by the flu and tissue stuck up her nose.

"No, I'm not gonna say that," I laughed. "What I wanted to say is, that letter you sent me was the first one I had ever gotten. No one thought it was necessary, I guess."

"So that's why you kept it for so long!"

"Maybe, but I have another theory. Do you remember what you wrote on the last line?" Her blank expression was there for an instant before she smiled so beautifully. She didn't say a word, but she waited for me to say it for her. "Yes, Tanya. I kept that letter because it gave me hope. I knew I didn't have to be alone."

I don't have to know anything about you to see what a good man you are, Takakura. Since I first saw you that sad day, all I can think is, 'I have to work on that farm and be by that man's side... forever.'

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Final Author's Note: Ugh, these past three chapters were brutal. I can't write angst, at all.