The next week passed by slower than any other week I had ever been through. We were having the end of the semester exams, to which I hadn't sudied very much. While everyone else in my class blew through the tests, I sat there tapping my pencil half the time hoping the answer would just come to me. Some of the questions I knew, but I guessed on at least half of them. I knew that these tests were super important, but I had other things on my mind.

It was my mothers' last few days back in Japan before she would head off back to the United Sates for a few weeks. She looked like she was ready to leave anyway, because she had nothing to do at home. I would come back from school to find her cleaning the floors for the third time, or unmaking the beds just to make them again. She was used to working all the time for her job, that it seemed abnormal not to be filling out paper work, or having someone tell you what to do all day.

On the day of her departure, she had her one suitcase resting by her side as she stood at the door. It was late at night when my father was home and I was about to go to sleep. My dad hadn't found out about my zoo trip at all, and I couldn't thank my mom enough for that. If he had found out, there was no telling what he would have done.

"I'll be back before you know it," she said, then hugged me.

And I knew she was right. Every time she left for work, it felt like she only left for a few days rather than a few weeks. I squeezed back. "I know you will. Love you mom; be safe."

I felt her nod against my chest. She then approached my father and mumbled a few things to him that I couldn't hear, then kissed him. She looked sad to leave but we all knew she would be back. Wrapping her fingers around the handle of her suitase, she said her last goodbyes, opened the door, and then she was gone.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mondays we're not my days. Like most teens, I lived for sleep and if I don't get enough of it, I feel like crap the rest of the day. If my dad didn't have to work so early, he'd probably drag me out of bed himself, but he stuck with his own schedule and I stuck with mine. If I was late for school, it wasn't his problem.

So when my Monday alarm rang, I seriously thought about skipping school but I decided against it, having too many absent days already.

During lunch, I sat by Okito and my other friends at the same table we always sat at by the windows. They were deep in discussion about cars, which was the one thing I wasn't into as much as most guys were. I took driving class earlier in the year, but I had to wait another year to get a car. Most of us were seventeen so it wasn't like I felt left out, because all of us had to wait for our eighteenth birthday anyway.

I turned away and zoned out from them. The sky was dark gray, setting a gloomy, heavy feel in the air. It looked very promising of a storm.

"Hey Okito," I nudged him. "Looks like rain. Guess that means no practice," I gestured outside at the clouds. I tried to sound disappointed, but I was secretly delighted because it meant I might have a chance to see Yui.

His face fell. "Yeah, guess so. That's a shame." He pointed it out to all the other guys and they looked let down too.

As if on cue, the rain came rushing down; slow at first but picking up after a few minutes. I quietly celebrated in my head as we dumped our food and left to class, hoping I would be able to find my umbrella when I got home.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"It's not that scary," I said, shutting Yui's window curtains. "And closing the curtains isn't going to take the noise away."

"I know!" she cried, hiding under the blankets in her bed as thunder boomed again. I heard her make a small noise.

"It's not going to harm you," I said with a joking voice. "There are a lot more things scarier than thunder storms."

"Maybe to you."

I sat at the end of her bed, watching the lump under the covers breathe up and down. I felt like comforting her, but something held me back. Glancing to the corner of the room, I focused my attention to the large shelf filled with different snow globes of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I didn't know how I hadn't noticed it before.

"So do you collect snow globes?" I had to shout over the roaring thunder.

"Yes," I heard her muffled voice tremble. "My mom buys them for me."

"That's pretty cool. I wish I collected something," I spoke my thoughts outloud. "Do they play music?"

"Some of them do. You can touch them if you want."

I couldn't see her face beneath the sheets, so I didn't know if she was being serious or just giving me permission because she wanted to be nice. I asked again, and she assured me it was alright.

I stood up and aproached the display. There had to be at least fifty snow globes, each one a different theme. Some were just plain, but some had animals in them and were delicately hand painted. After viewing them, I had gained a new respect for sculptures who put so much effort into things like snow globes, statues and pottery. Kind of like my dad.

One of them caught my eye; a smaller one that had a blue base painted with the word, "Release" over and over again. On the inside of the round sphere part, there was tiny red balloon, and of course the tiny "snow" flakes sitting at the bottom. I picked it up and studied it, remotely curious. It was so basic, yet got my attention for the simplicity.

I was about to ask her about it, when suddenly a bolt of lightning came down just outside the house, making an enormous crack that left my ears ringing. All the lights instantly went out, and the room was pitch black. Yui was making small noises under the blankets as I tried not to blindly trip over something.

"You alright Yui?"

She didn't answer, continuing to make trembling noises, and I heard her mother's light footsteps coming down the hallway. She entered the room with a silver flashlight in her hands.

"This is the only flashlight I have, I'm afraid so you'll be in the dark until I can fix the power box," she made it sound like that sort of thing happened all the time.

"Oh, okay," was all I could think of. "How long do you think it'll be?"

"It's hard to tell. I'm not the best with electrical wires, but it shouldn't be too difficult."

I sat back on the edge of the bed. "Let me know if you need any help."

She smiled assuringly before leaving. The room was completely dark except the small sliver of moonlight shining though the gap in the curtains onto the bed. The rain sounded like it wasn't planning on stopping anytime soon.

"Yui?" I rested my hand on what felt like her shoulder. Her breath moved rapidly. "Is something wrong?"

She didn't answer at first, so I pulled back the covers. The pale moonlight fell on her face, revealing it covered with fresh tears. "Yui?"

"Hinata..." She sobbed. Without thinking, I hugged her to me, letting her cry in my arms. I had no idea why she was so frightened, but I decided to just let her be. More thunder came, and she squeezed her eyes tight.

"It's okay, Yui. Nothing is going to hurt you. Everything's fine," I instsed, putting my hand on the back of her head as my shirt was soaked with her tears. "It's just a little noise. Your mom is fixing the lights and they should come back on soon."

Her face was hidden in my shirt. I tried to tell her there was nothing to be afraid of, but she just kept on crying. I lifted her arms around my neck for her, and held her. For a moment I wondered if Yui had once had a bad experience with storms and that was why she was so scared. I had a friend who once flew on an airplane and almost died in a crash, and now refused to ever fly on one again. Perhaps this was similar.

I nestled my face on the top of her head. Her hair smelled like flowers. "It's alright Yui. I'm here... I'm here."

I had been so focused on her that I hadn't noticed my heart racing in my chest. My body felt warm and my blood was rushing faster than normal. The way her face was against my chest, her eyes closed and worn with crying, the smell of her hair and how her fingertips pressed against my back...

I never wanted to see her hurt like that again. The next time I saw her cry, I vowed to myself it would be of happiness and not of fright or sadness. I just wanted her to have all the happiness in the world, because she deserved every single bit of it. I didn't know what I was feeling, but I did know that nobody had ever inspired me or meant so much to me before. Seeing her like that broke my heart.

"Sorry..." She managed to say inbetween her sobs. "I... I don't..."

"Don't apologize."

"But I've ruined your shirt..."

I glaned down and saw her looking at me. For some reason I smiled. "It's alright. It's just a shirt."

"I'm so pathetic," she choked. The moonlight hit her face, showing her wet eyes and distressed face. But nobody had ever looked so beautiful to me.

"Nonsense. Everyone has their own phobias."

"It's not that-"

I silenced her. "It's fine Yui. I mean it." I felt my face heat up, and I was grateful for the darkness so she didn't see my face go red. My throat felt dry like I couldn't speak, and my mind raced over the millions of things I wanted to say.

I swallowed. "Yui... I-"

She looked at me patiently, another bolt of lightning flashed, but this time she didn't even take her eyes off me.

"I... I-"

Just then, the lights flickered back on, and I blinked in surprise. Yui looked around too, like she had forgotten what had even happened.

"Looks like my mom fixed it," Yui said quietly, not wanting to move her arms from my neck.

"Yeah," I agreed awkwardly. My heart felt like it was going a thousand miles an hour, and I didn't want to let her go yet.

I just wanted to stay that way. Forever.

Once again, I apologize for the slow updates. School has been hitting me across the face pretty hard with work. I've been studying like crazy so it's hard to find time to write, but I'm really glad you guys like it! :) thanks for reviews it means a lot :)