A/N: Retroactively dedicated to Thalia (maniacalmuse/verisimilitude 9) for organizing a wonderful Ficathon. THANKS SO MUCH!
If you like Shitennou/senshi pairings, you should definitely check out the Ficathon 2011 fics (reveals will be up on Shitennou Forums soon) – it was just phenomenal this year. Everyone put so much effort into their fics, and they were an absolutely wonderful read.
This is the last chapter of Messages – I had a great time writing it, and it's helped me gain some more insight into Makoto, who has always been one of the hardest characters for me to write. Thank you for reading and for all the encouraging feedback.
Autumn
One crisp fall morning, Makoto woke before dawn. The first thing she did was water her larkspur, hoping the gorgeous, five-pointed indigo blooms would pull through the early frost. After a pause, she plucked one of the flowers and pinned it to her blouse. It never hurt to have an open heart.
There seemed to be a new, delicious aroma in the air, and she found herself looking up every time the chimes over the door rang to announce a customer. She told herself not to be silly, that she wasn't expecting anyone, and that the biggest event that was coming up in their lives was still another week away. No need to be jumpy, not when the one she waited for still hadn't come after all this time, and perhaps he might never come.
With a quiet sigh, Makoto took herself to the back of the bakery and let Unazuki handle the customers. She spent the day quietly and productively, and the part she enjoyed the most was starting on Usagi and Mamoru's wedding cake. It was going to be stunning, she knew, something out of a dream and all the better for finally being realized. She was in the middle of shaping flowers out of gum paste when Unazuki dashed in.
"Makoto, I'm sorry, but can I leave a little earlier than usual? Motoki just called – his car broke down, and he needs a ride."
"Sure. Just let me wash off my hands, and you can go right away," Makoto told her. So she was in the front, rubbing away the prints from noses and hands pressed eagerly against the glass cases, when the chimes tinkled an melody they had never chimed before, but it was one that rang sweetly in her ears.
She straightened slowly, with her back still to the door, and listened to the sound of the footsteps approaching. She felt the anticipation rush through her like champagne bubbles rising in a glass, and she almost thought this visitor could feel it, too. Expectation, hope, and warmth – those were the things that spread outward from his footsteps.
"Makoto?"
He cleared his throat nervously, and she turned to find herself at eye level with a bunch of daisies.
"I know you must have plenty of your own, but these always make me think of you."
She smiled at him tentatively as the color brushed her cheeks. "Thank you. You can never have too many flowers." Especially not daisies, with their cheerful yellow centers and soft white petals. They celebrated loyal love, beauty, patience, and simplicity.
"I know I'm late," and here she could hear the nervous note in his voice, like a squeeze of lime in sinfully smooth batter, "but I've heard everything in this bakery is delicious – and meaningful. What do you recommend?"
Makoto smiled slowly, delighted to find that her memory had been true when she met eyes the shade of Brazilian chocolate. "Why don't you try this one here, the one with the pink and white roses?"
As they sat down together and began to know each other again in the quiet bakery with the sign flipped to "Closed," Makoto felt her heart fill with happiness as she watched him eat the cake that meant "I love you still and always will."
Fin.