Matt jogged up the small flight of stairs and surveyed the restaurant until he spotted Harashi sitting at a table near the window. He greeted the waitress who handed him a menu as he took his seat and looked across the table to see an agitated expression on Harashi's face.

"Is something upsetting you, Harashi?"

Harashi shook his phone, "I just received a phone call from our client downtown and the twit took it upon himself to redesign a room by taking a sledge hammer and knocking one of the walls down and taking out the electrical wiring while he's at it. Why would you pay a professional contractor so that you can do their work, explain this to me, Yamato?"

"That does pose a problem, but it is not something that can't be fixed," Matt replied. "It will take time but we can begin that reconstruction after we're done here."

"How was your drive up this morning? You know it probably would have been a lot easier if you took the train with me."

Matt smiled and looked around before his eyes settled to the view outside. "But the view is the best part of Minakami! And since we will be here for a few days I figured it would be convenient to have a car in case we want to take a look around the area."

"We're at a mountain resort, what else could we possibly need to look at here but trees, snow, and more trees?" Harashi commented. "Besides, don't forget this is a business trip."

Matt smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, my friend, you have my full attention. You have to admit, it is hard not to admire this place—the building, the landscape—this resort is probably one of my favorite places to visit in all of Japan."

"Ah, lunch is here," Harashi looked anxiously at the plate placed in front of him and did not hesitate to dig his fork into the platter. He glanced up at Matt. "And of course you like this place, Yamato. After all, you're the architect who designed it. Now I don't throw my praises out often, but this place must be great to visit during the winter time, they must really profit on all the couples taking romantic vacations here."

Matt's eyes left his friend and wandered to look at the garden view outside. His eyes surveyed the soft sway of the trees and the light shower of snow. The sight of snowfall brought a string of melancholy to Matt as he recalled how he had spent the last recent winters and if he is doomed to feel the annual nostalgia again. Matt's thoughts were interrupted by a small movement at the corner of his eye; a child was running through the grass beside her small dog, but before she could make it halfway through the garden a woman in a white coat playfully scooped her up. Her mother, Matt assumed, and watched as she wrapped a scarf around the child, smiling and speaking to her when her husband walked up behind them and the three began their stroll.

Harashi noticed the pensive look on Matt's face and followed his gaze, "Why are you staring at that family?"

"Tell me, Harashi… do you ever look at the past year of your life and realize," Matt paused, "that no matter how much success you have, you're still not where you had planned to be?"

"What a negative thought, Yamato!"

Matt shook his head, "No, no… I'm being honest—"

"And I'm honestly concerned," Harashi pointed at his friend. "Listen to me here, Yamato, before you dive into another pool of sadness; you have a good life. The plans we make as kids are never in line with reality, and your unique path has not been easy… but look at who you are now and the man you chose to become. You may think you don't have everything you want right now, but it doesn't mean you'll never have it."

Matt sighed and looked back outside at the family. Harashi's words may be right, but I may have already made the worse decision of walking away from what I want.

The view took Mimi's breath away. She marveled at the sight of the surrounding white-covered trees and ascending view as the car drove up the paved mountainside. As the vehicle pulled into a lobby circle, Miyako had beaten her to jumping out of car and danced around at the sight.

"This place looks more wonderful than the pictures!" she exclaimed, looking back at Mimi as she got out of the car. "Can you believe we are here?"

Mimi smiled widely and they began their walk inside, "Inoue-san! This is beautiful! What a wonderful place for the wedding." They both looked towards the mountain view; the sun was riding low over the surrounding trees, indicating that the day was drawing to a close. "It is a good thing we made it here before dark," she said and took her best friend's hand as they walked inside towards the front desk. "Hello, my name is Tachikawa Mimi, we are here to meet with a Mr. Seiguro?"

The man smiled and nodded, "Yes, that would be me. It is a pleasure to finally meet the both of you. You will be pleased to know that we have the wedding and reception rooms nearly finished and ready for our lovely bride-to-be and her big day!" He gestured in front of him and nodded. "If you would follow me, I can show you our banquet halls this way. Ah, is the groom joining us today?"

"He could not get out of a business appointment, but my maid of honor is accompanying me," Miyako smiled and tugged at Mimi's arm. The man smiled and proceeded to lead them.

Mimi and Miyako fell in love with the rooms they were shown, their eyes and smiles radiating excitement as they saw each one decorated with elegant tapestries, dazzling light fixtures, fancy tables and flower arrangements. The hotel manager pointed towards large wooden doors.

"This is our grand ballroom, where the reception will be held," he said, opening the door. "It is under some reconstruction right now but it should be ready by the time of your wedding next week—"

Mimi's smile immediately left her face when she stepped through the doors. Standing barely 10 feet from her was Matt, who was talking to a couple of the men at work. He looked back and forth from the ceiling to the men, pointing to different corners of the room until he faced her.

"Ishida," Miyako glanced from him to Mimi and turned to the hotel manager. "Would you mind if I take a look at the garden?"

"Yes, of course…It is a little too cold for a wedding, but lovely during December. This way," he answered, confused, and the two continued walking.

He couldn't breathe. Seeing her, standing underneath the doorway just steps away from him. It wasn't a dream this time; seeing the light in her eyes, the frame of her face, the glow that seemed to radiate from her very core that immediately filled him. For the brief moment that they stood there, the world seemed to spin slowly on its axis, the way it was supposed to feel.

"Hello."

"Hi," Mimi whispered and slightly shook her head. "What are you doing here?" she let out a small smile, accompanied by a short laugh when she realized they had said the same words simultaneously. "We're here for the wedding—"

"I'm the architect—" Matt replied at the same time then immediately processed what she said. Wedding. "Oh."

"You, you made Minakami?" Mimi smiled in wonder, looking around. "That's wonderful."

Shrugging sheepishly, Matt rubbed his neck, "Well, mostly designing. It was one of my first projects last year… Mr. Seiguro was right though, Minakami is a perfect place for the," he paused briefly, "for the wedding!" Mimi smiled and took a few steps closer, her eyes surveying the room while his stayed on her. He noted the little things that had changed about her and everything that had remained the same, all the while breathing in how beautiful she looked and the way her eyes would turn from the room and graze over him. Something had awaken in him, a rejuvenating feeling that he could only closely describe to himself as something he had felt two years ago, when she first called him Yamato. She's getting married here? Only now?

Mimi caught his eyes looking at her hands. "How long have you been doing this?" she asked inquisitively, disrupting his thoughts.

"Um, about… a year and a half, shortly after I left Tokyo," she grimaced at his answer, although he was unsure why. She continued not to say anything, and finally Matt stepped towards her. "Mimi—"

"Mimi?" Miyako quickly stepped into the room and glanced between them. She gestured towards Mimi, "I've made dinner reservations and my wedding planner will be joining us. We should probably get going."

Matt's eyebrows rose in surprise, Inoue is the one getting married. Looking back at Matt, Mimi clasped her hands in front of her and spoke gently, "Yamato, I am glad to see that you are well and finally found something you love…" While she is naturally cordial, it seemed unlike her to be so guarded and subtle. Slightly confused, Matt watched as she unclasped her hands and turned her left hand so that he may see that her finger carried no ring. She didn't marry him, more perplexed than ever; he examined the change in her eyes and saw sadness, but for what he could not find an answer.

"Yes," he blurted and stammered. "Well, it was nice to see you, Mimi—and you also, Inoue-san. Enjoy your dinner…" he nodded. Mimi hesitated then gave him a courteous smile before turning to leave with Miyako.

"How can you not think that was a sign of fate bringing you two back together?" Miyako prodded the following morning. Mimi refused to take part in the conversation and continued folding her clothes and placing them into her suitcase. Scowling at her friend, Miyako grabbed Mimi's purse and began digging.

"What are you doing?" Mimi cried and attempted to snatch her bag but only after Miyako had succeeded in finding a small black box. "Miyako! No—"

Miyako stood up and opened the box, showcasing the ring inside for Mimi to see. Mimi frowned and looked away, "So tell me, Mimi, why you are still carrying around Yamato's ring even though you claimed you have moved on? Is it because you still had hopes of seeing him again?"

"No," Mimi scowled and hesitated. "I mean… I did," she admitted and gently took the box from Miyako. Mimi sighed, "I did, but for all the wrong reasons. You never forget your first love… especially when you never stopped loving them long after they're gone. I loved Yamato, and I loved Michael, and while I loved one more than I loved the other they are both gone; I just wanted to keep hope, that someday love will find me again." She closed the box and looked at Miyako. "I want to stop lying to myself by returning this. And if fate did have a hand in this, then it is exactly what I want because now I can return the ring to its owner. I can care about someone my whole life, but I don't need to hold onto a ring. I can have peace."

"So, you still love Matt, don't you?"

Mimi glanced at her friend for a moment, "I can't imagine the day that I won't."

Matt checked his watch for the time as he entered the lobby. A line of frolicking children created an obstacle for him as he made his way to the front desk, although Matt was also distracted as his eyes darted around and surveyed the busy lobby.

"Mr. Ishida? May I help you look for something?" a woman from behind the desk asked him. Matt frowned and shook his head, asking for Harashi's whereabouts. "He is currently held up in a meeting but asked me to remind you of your lunch reservations in, half an hour. Also, Mr. Ishida," she called when he turned to leave. She took out an envelope from her desk and handed it to him. "A young woman left this earlier, she wanted to make sure you received it."

Curious, Matt shook the envelope and froze when his ring fell onto his hand. He immediately glanced up towards the woman. "Was there a note with this, or a phone number?"

The woman shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not. The young woman who left it had checked out of the hotel early this morning."

Matt nodded, clenching the object in his hand before turning to walk out the door. Distracted by the thoughts of yesterday, Matt began to make his way around the property, unaware of his route or those around him.

"'Finally found something to love'," her words troubled his mind as he tried to decipher the meaning behind them, and the meaning behind the look in her eyes. A cold breeze greeted him as he walked around the garden; he pulled his jacket tighter around his shoulders and found a bench underneath some trees. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the ring.

He sighed and twiddled the object around his hand while the questions began flooding in. Why would she return this, and why didn't she marry Michael? Wasn't that the reason why I left, she knew she would have been miserable if she didn't marry him. Was it Michael? He better not have done anything to hurt her, he gritted his teeth but sighed shortly after, no, he's not that kind of person. Then why… why would she bother to have shown me her hand if she didn't still care? She returned my ring, maybe she's moved on from the both of us… I can't blame her, after everything that has happened.

"There you are!" Matt glanced to his right to see Harashi walking towards him. "I was walking to meet you for lunch when the woman at the front desk stopped me and said she saw you wandering out the door. What are you doing, it's cold! What's that you're holding?" he asked when he caught sight of the ring.

Matt stood up and the two began the walk back, "It's the engagement ring I had bought when I was with Shoji… I gave it to Mimi before I left Tokyo. She left it for me this morning."

"Mimi was here? Did you see her? What happened?"

Shrugging, Matt replied nonchalantly, "Nothing. She was… Mimi, beautiful," he paused. "She didn't get married."

Harashi smiles widely, "She didn't—that's amazing news, Yamato! What did you do when you found out?"

Matt looked at Harashi in confusion, "Nothing. She didn't exactly tell me. It was strange, Harashi."

"What do you mean nothing? Why didn't you go after her to find out why she didn't get married?"

"And what exactly would have happened, Harashi?" Matt scowled. "We would confess our love and do this all over again? I'm not the one for her, Harashi."

Harashi abruptly stops and puts his arm in front of Matt, "Wait a minute here."

"What? What don't you understand? I've said it several times—I'm not the man she thought I was, I may remember who I am but I'm not that Yamato—I'm, I'm incomplete!"

Harashi shrugged his argument off, shaking his head, "What does that even mean anymore, Yamato? I'm confused… what exactly do you think you still need to prove, need to 'fulfill' before you can allow yourself to be with this girl?" when Matt only stared at him in wonder, he continued. "What I'm trying to say is that you're living a nice life; your family has helped you a lot with your memory, you've got a job that you're passionate about, you do know who you are, Yamato—what are you waiting for?"

"But Mimi, I've already put her through so much. What if she doesn't love me anymore?"

"Did you ask her?" Matt shook his head, feeling guilty after remembering all the times Mimi confessed her love to him, telling him to stay. "You keep saying you're incomplete, well isn't the point of finding love is that the other person completes the parts that are missing?"

Opening his hand, Matt looked at the ring. She was always giving me another chance, and I never gave her any.

"Goodnight!" Mimi smiled cheerfully and waved as she closed the door after her last couple customers. She flipped the "CLOSED" sign to face the light snowfall. Mimi turned and started to pick up fallen garments when she heard her phone ringing. It was Miyako. "I closed the shop, I have to run home to change—yes, don't worry, Miyako, I won't be late to my own best friend's rehearsal dinner! Be ready by 8?"

She giggles as Miyako spoke in excitement and they exchanged goodbyes. Mimi quickly wrapped herself in her coat and scarf, quickly shuffling her boots on the piling snow as she made her way home, where Mimi wasted almost no time properly draping her damp clothes onto her bed to pull a dress from the back of her closet. She smoothed out the light pink fabric before sitting on her bed to slip on her shoes. Mimi walked towards the kitchen while fidgeting to close the clasp on her bracelet with just one free hand when a knock distracted her.

"Is it 8 already," she whispered and hurried to the door. "You're early!" the smile was quickly erased from her face when she met Matt's eyes. He stood in front of the door, smiling timidly at her. She stared at him in shock for a moment before clearing her throat and collecting herself. "Why are you here?"

Matt looked at her carefully, examining the shocked and unwelcomed look on her face and realizing it was probably better to stay in his place, "I wanted to try and look for you, to talk to you after we saw each other a few weeks ago… it had taken me a while, partly because I went to your old company and didn't know you had left, and mostly because I wasn't sure if you would have wanted to hear from me again."

She didn't say anything in return, which prompted him to continue, "You should know that I never wanted to leave you," he paused when he thought he caught the confusion on her face, mixed with the familiar sadness in her eyes. "You've moved on and I'm sure the last thing you want is to rehash the last 10 years all over again. I'm only here to apologize."

She examined his face, carefully speaking, "What are you apologizing for?"

"Everything," Matt said. "I have made the biggest mistake of my life, Mimi," he pauses and looks at her. Mimi is frowning slightly but moves aside and gestures him inside. As she closes the door, Matt starts again before she could refute anything he says. "I thought I was being selfless by walking away and letting you have a free conscience, but I was actually more blind than anyone. You were fighting for me, never giving up on me. I walked away when everything I could ever want and need was asking me to stay. I don't deserve anything from you, not your love or forgiveness. But, here I am, asking for them anyway."

He raises his brows in question when she only responds by looking down at her arm. She becomes fixated on fastening her bracelet, almost to the point of frustration, and Matt quickly takes her wrist. "Please, let me," she sighs and whispers thanks, keeping her eyes on her wrist even after he was finished. Matt watches her state of discomfort and begins to go through the rest of the script he had worked on during his walk. Clearly, Mimi needed more convincing after everything that has happened between them.

"There were so many times that I wanted to just tell you how I felt—to hold you, kiss you. When we worked together, calling you "Miss Mimi" was the only thing I could do to stop myself from admitting that I loved you. I had to literally make myself walk away from you because—because I was afraid of what I can do to you if I chose to accept being Yamato, like I knew I wanted to… because I saw how much pain my supposed death had caused you for so long, I couldn't risk the possibility of doing that again. And then I realized how much of an idiot I was, to think disappearing would help. But, I should be thanking you, for never giving up on me and loving me. For helping me, saving me. I made the worst decision of my life that day at the hospital, and if it takes saying I'm sorry to you for the rest of our lives then I'll do it. You're all that I have, Mimi; my life just isn't complete without you."

Mimi frowns then opens her mouth, "Thank you." She was about to continue when there is another knock on the door. Mimi appears torn for a second, her eyes looking as if she was debating to say something, but she dismisses it with a headshake and opens the door. To his surprise, Matt sees Mimi greet another man at the door whom she does not hesitate to welcome inside. He stands at the same height as Matt, with hair that is dark and clean cut, with light green eyes and a big smile on his face.

"Matt, this is Kenta," Mimi smiles towards the man as he reaches to shake Matt's unstable hand. "Matt—just stopped by to catch up, we used to work together," To catch up? Work together? So, that's what he has been reduced to in her mind. The man, Kenta, looks at Mimi.

"You look beautiful, Mimi! Should we get going?"

Mimi glances between the both of them, "I will meet you downstairs in a few minutes?" Kenta nods to the both of them and exits, leaving Mimi to meet Matt's gaze, who stood frozen staring at the spot Kenta was standing in. He looks at her in disbelief and Mimi finally gathers enough strength to talk. "You didn't still expect me to keep waiting until I stopped breathing, did you?" when Matt didn't answer right away, the feeling of guilt reached Mimi that she had to look away. She didn't mean to sting him with her words. "I haven't been seeing Kenta for that long… but, Matt, you did walk away, and I had to do the same thing I did when I thought you died 10 years ago. I picked up what remained of myself, and survived."

Nodding, Matt replied, "I understand. I'm just, surprised, but I understand."

"After you left the hospital, I knew I couldn't marry Michael because even though I loved him it wasn't right, for the both of us. When I ran into you at the hotel, that's when I realized that maybe you were right… that there has been too much in our past that it's better to move onto a new beginning…" she hesitates, but decides to reach for his arm. "Thank you, for coming here and for apologizing. And I do forgive you."

Matt tried to muster a smile but could only manage a nod. He started to walk towards the door and shook his head. "No," he turns to her and takes her hands, placing and holding them on his chest. "I was wrong again, Mimi; yes, there has been so much between us but you were right to not give up on us. I didn't need to retrace my steps to my past because all I needed was you—we belong together, Mimi Tachikawa, and fate only brought us together again to show us that. What I'm trying to say is… I remembered you; it's okay if the past is in puzzles, you're here now, Mimi, and I'm sorry it took me so long to realize. I don't want to mourn the time we've lost; the pain I feel will never compare to the regret that came with walking away from you, and I'm afraid that if I let you out of my sight again I will never feel the rest of my whole life the way I felt when I'm with you."

"Matt," she whispers, shaking her head.

"Yes, I'm not giving up, Mimi. Not this time," he lets her go and opens the door. "The park where we met, the day before I regained my memory... meet me there, a week from today at the same time, if you still love me. Like I know you do," he almost whispers the last words before leaving.

The sounds of metal hitting glass brought Mimi's attention back to the present. She glanced around the dinner table and picked up her own glass to follow the motions of the other guests, provoking a kiss from the bride-to-be and her groom. Mimi smiled when she saw the smile radiating from Miyako's face as she watches her fiancé stand up and take out a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"I would like to thank all of our family and friends for joining us tonight," he says with a smile and turns to bend down and kiss his bride. "Miyako, to say the words I love you would only begin to scratch the surface. I love that after I spend day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. I love that you hate my favorite kind of cereal so we wouldn't have to fight over the last bowl." This causes a soft laughter to emit from the crowd. Mimi looks over at Kenta.

"Tomorrow is going to be the best day of my life, for I'm marrying my best friend. When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. I'm a lonely ghost of a man without you. Miyako, you are my life; we belong together."

More cheers, laughter, and glass clinking fill the room but all Mimi could think of were Ichijouji's last words. We belong together. The same words Matt had said to her earlier, after confessing the love that he still had for her. But was that enough? He's walked out of my life more than twice, how can he be sure that we really are meant to be together? She asked herself. Her left hand found itself clutching her chest, as if an invisible rope was threatening to strangle her heart. I don't think my heart can handle any more breaking at this point! Something grabs her other hand that catches her attention. No, not something—someone. Kenta, Mimi returned his smile to keep him from suspecting anything after he had commented on her sudden shift of mood, not knowing that it was because of Matt's visit.

Mimi gives Kenta's hand a light pat before he is satisfied with her reassurance. It doesn't take much to convince him since he doesn't know her well enough yet to know how she operates. As his hand leaves her, Mimi catches sight of her bracelet, now being fixated on playing with its clasp. It took Miyako to say her name twice before Mimi finally looked up.

"Oh! My speech, I'm sorry," she quickly rose to her feet and unfolded a piece of paper. She smiles at her friends and clears her throat. "I can still remember the look on Miyako's face after she had just met Ichijouji. She might not have known it then, but I did, that her life was changed forever. It wasn't just Ken's kindness and spirit that made Miyako fall in love with him—it was the million things that, when you added them all up, they only concluded that…they belonged together," the words continued to flow from the paper she held and through her lips, but again those three words meant more to Mimi than the people she was speaking in front of. Because, all of the sudden, in a distant memory, Mimi was 15-years-old again…

She loved walking to school during the winter season, but that year—that day—was even more special. She remembers seeing a boy with blonde hair walking across the street, Mimi yells for him to stop but he doesn't listen, so she finally has to run to catch up to him. He was a strange boy; laughing at her and telling her that asking made it optional for him to answer, which she thought was such an odd response, but it only made him more interesting to her. Yes, Mimi remembers becoming friends with this strange boy and even liking him, because he understood her and was kind to her and he knew just when to take her seriously and always smiles when he sees her. That was the day when her life changed forever.

"That was a great dinner," Kenta yawns and stretches himself onto the sofa.

"Hey!" Mimi protests when she catches his eyelids beginning to fall. "You can't fall asleep now! You promised we would go out for ice cream!" she laughs a little and pretends to give him a scowl when she drops a pillow over his head.

"Do you see how she treats me, little one?" Kenta asks the cat when it saunters over to him. Mimi rolls her eyes and walks over to the coat hanger, looking back to see Kenta begin some kind of game with the cat. He may act like a child sometimes, but Kenta is a good man. A reliable man. A man who doesn't walk away. All I need is time; I know I can love him, too. When she returns with their coats, Kenta is holding up a folded piece of paper.

"Did you write your maid-of-honor speech to Miyako on the back of a page from a book? It looks like… Hitoshi Matsumoto—oh, isn't he a musician?" (Look through chapters 6&7 if you don't remember the importance of this!)

"Comedian," Mimi quickly swipes the paper from his hand and smiles nervously when Kenta gives her a confused look. She grabs a book from the table and inserts the crinkled page inside. "When I was beginning to write down my thoughts, I was in the middle of a walk and only had this book with me…"

Kenta seemed to accept the story for normal, "They say you don't marry the person you can live with—you marry the person you can't live without. That was probably my favorite line from your speech," he smiled and held her coat out. Mimi smiles when he switches subjects. "When do Ichijouji and Miyako return from their honeymoon?"

As Mimi slips into her coat, she replies, "Well…they are gone for two weeks and their wedding was… 6 days ago," she falls silent, only reminding herself that it was exactly a week ago that Matt had asked her to meet him. Tonight. She hadn't completely forgotten, of course. She grabs her keys and smiles at Kenta. "Shall we go?"

This is impossible, Matt cursed in his head when he caught sight of the hundreds of people walking around the park where he had told Mimi to meet him. It looks like there is some kind of festival going on, but how am I ever going to spot Mimi in this crowd? He looks at his watch and sees that he is at least an hour early and decides to walk around until he finds an area that has enough clearing around it so that Mimi will be able to find him. Fortunately, after only ten minutes of walking, Matt finds a wide bridge and situates himself near the middle, between two perfectly lit lampposts. He checks his watch for a second time.

Please find me again, Mimi.

It's snowing, Mimi notices the white flecks descending in a light shower around her. As snowflakes land on her nose and quickly turn into water drops, she turns to Kenta. "Where are we going now?"

Kenta takes her hand and continues walking, "It's a nice night, and I thought I would take you someplace fun!" Fun wasn't precisely the word Mimi would have conjured up when she saw where he had taken her. When Mimi flatly asked if Kenta's idea of taking her to the park was a cruel joke, he gives her a puzzled look. "I saw a flyer about a festival of lights happening, I thought you would enjoy it?"

Mimi shakes her head and covers her earlier comment with a smile, "No, it's lovely! I was surprised. We should, go for a walk then." He's convinced, leans down to kiss her, and begins to lead the way. Mimi looks around and checks a big clock that hung on a building nearby. 7:53.

"Kenta—Kenta, wait!" she takes her hand back. When he asks her if something is wrong, Mimi fumbles. "I just… I wanted to ask you, why is it that you think you're in love with me?" The question definitely catches him off guard and he scratches his ear. Mimi immediately regrets putting him on the spot, but it was a question she needed an answer to.

It takes him a couple minutes, but Kenta finally finds his answer, "I like spending time with you, Mimi. You make me happy; you're kind, beautiful… I don't really know what kind of answer you're looking for here?"

Mimi sighed and touched his cheek, "Don't you see it? I'm just someone you can live with. You should want someone who knows they deserve you; that causes something inside of you to change and awaken when you see them. I'm sorry, Kenta. I like spending time with you, too, but maybe you and I only deserve each other as friends."

Kenta's eyes squinted slightly to peer at hers. He touches her hand and pauses briefly. "Have you already found someone who deserves your love then?"

Matt checks his watch, although he already knew by the chiming of the clock that he had been standing on that bridge an hour longer than he had hoped. He thought walking around might prove to be helpful in case there were too many people for Mimi to easily find him, but his results were only discouraging.

He looks down when he hears his phone ringing, "Harashi. No… I really thought she would show up, but I think I've lost my chance completely now."

"I'm sorry, buddy. I'm over here at Rokuba, you should come by and I'll buy you a drink. At least you did it, you tried, and you stayed this time."

"Yeah…about 10 years too late though. Thanks, but I think I'm just going to go home."

As she gets closer to the insides of the park parameter, Mimi found that the music only gets louder and the streets more busy. She tries to remain calm and collected as she looks around for any sign of Matt. I shouldn't have taken that time to go back, he might already be gone, she clutches the piece of paper in her hand to remind her why it was so important for her to run home. However, she wasn't sure anymore if her effort would only result in never finding Matt, leaving him to want to walk away for good.

Mimi shook her head vigorously, No! No, I'm not losing him again; this is not going to happen. "Yamato! Yamato!"

She's running now, her head whipping from side to side and calling his name as loud and far as her voice will carry. "Yamato!" People glanced at her as she brushed past them. "Yamato!" She was instantly reminded of when she had first seen Matt, chasing after what she thought was his ghost, only to learn that he had forgotten who she was. And again, the morning after she had read a note from Matt, declaring his love for her:

"Thank you for loving me the way you did, Miss Mimi. Your spirit, and your love, were so pure and great that I finally found myself wishing that I was truly the man that deserved you. Yamato Ishida or Matt Ishida, it doesn't bother me anymore which one you want because I love you. I am who I am, and everything inside of me is in love with you."

We belong together, there's nothing to doubt or be scared of anymore, Mimi thought. She was beginning to slow her pace as she reached the bridge, her legs beginning to weaken from the cold, when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. And just as she turned her gaze she saw Matt running from the opposite side, a wide smile across his face.

"Yamato," Mimi wasted no time diving into his open arms and he lifted her up, for what seems like forever, unable to let her go. "You're here," she whispered into his chest. "I was so afraid you were gone, Yamato…"

Matt kissed her forehead, "I came. I came back, when I finally heard you calling my name," He holds her for a little while longer, then pulls back just enough so that he could tilt her chin. A short laugh escapes his lips when he sees her crying. "I guess I'm still making you cry even to this day."

Mimi smiles as she wipes her eyes, "Yes, but these are good tears now," Matt begins to lean down closer to her face when Mimi abruptly pulls back, realizing that the hand resting on his chest was holding something tightly. "Oh, I almost forgot…I would have been here on time, but I had to run back home to grab this." She holds out the piece of paper from her book before and places it into Matt's hand.

"What is it?"

"I had to give a speech as Miyako's maid-of-honor, but I only had the book you gave me around when I was inspired to write it."

Matt pauses, "So you want me to read a letter you wrote to your friend?"

Mimi laughs, "Well, not exactly. Most of it is for Miyako, but there's a part written on the other side, that I never read to her, because it was really for you."

Still a bit confused, Matt begins to read it, "I love you, not only for who you are, but for who I am when I'm with you. I love you, not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you have made of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out. I love you for putting your hand into my heaped up heart and passing over all the foolish, weak things that are held dimly there, and for drawing out into the light all the beautiful things that no one else had looked quite far enough to find. I love you because you have helped me to make my life a beautiful life worth living. I love you because you have done more than anyone could have done to make me the best I can be… and more than anything fate could have done to make me happy. You have done this by being yourself and loving me."

Tears begin to fill Matt's eyes and smiles as he closes the gap between them. And he held her, in a kiss that felt long overdue but will definitely not be the last.

When they finally pull back, Matt touches her cheek, "I could have written those same words to you."

Smiling, Mimi brushes the side of his hair and lets out a soft sigh, "Who knew you would turn out to be such a great guy that I just met across the street, Yamato Ishida."

Laughing, Matt tells her, "I'm never going to leave you ever again, Mimi."

"Good," she says. "Forever?"

"Longer," and he kisses her again.

The End.