Chapter 5: Someone Special - December 25

Ahim de Famille woke up in a panic, unaware of her surroundings. Taking frantic looks around, she tried to remember why the room looked so familiar, it was like she had seen it in a different lighting...

"Ah, you're awake."

Ahim turned around to see Luka walking over to her, two mugs of coffee in her hand. Drinking from one, she offered the other cup to Ahim who took it, cradling it in her hands.

"Sorry it's not the good stuff," Luka took her as Ahim took a cautious sip from the mug.

Careful to not let her distaste for the coffee show, Ahim replied with a polite voice, "It is good."

Luka's lips twitched as she knew full well that she had screwed up the coffee and that Ahim was trying to spare her feelings.

"Luka-san," Ahim began. "Can you tell me why I am back in your apartment?"

Luka drained her cup and plopped down on the couch, Ahim having shifted her position. Setting the cup down onto the floor, she turned over to the other girl and asked her, "What do you remember about last night?"

"Nothing at all," Ahim shook her head. "I only remember Joe-san coming in and I took the wine..."

Ahim gasped, covering her mouth. "Luka-san," she said, her eyes pleading. "Please tell me I was not drunk last night."

Luka shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting around.

"Oh no..." said Ahim, visibly dismayed. "I hope I did not do anything embarrassing."

Luka's mouth quirked. "Well," she said, " It depends on what you call 'embarrassing'."

Ahim shook her head, "What did I do?"

Luka patted the other girl's head, "Well, from what Joe told me, you kissed him, and proclaimed your love for him."

Ahim's face turned a deep shade of red as she heard what she had done. "Oh no," she moaned in despair. "My first kiss and I was intoxicated."

"Your first kiss," Luka looked at Ahim with a raised eyebrow. "You really are an innocent princess."

Ahim shook her head, "It is not that. I have just never loved a boy as much as I love Joe-san."

"Ah!" Luka clapped her hands excitedly. "You said it again!"

"I suppose so," Ahim quietly mumbled. "There is no other word to describe my feelings for him."

"Were you going to tell him?"

Ahim nodded, "After today's concert, I was going to confess my feelings towards Joe-san, although now..."

Luka snorted, "You know that Joe still doesn't believe that your feelings are genuine. He thinks that it was just out of the fact that he was close to you that you kissed him and blurted out all those things to him."

"Does he?"

"Yeah," Luka shook her head. "Men, so ignorant."

"I suppose then..." Ahim ventured carefully. "That it would be appropriate to still confess to him tonight?"

"If you feel like you are still able to," Luka advised her.

"Do not worry for me, Luka-san," Ahim said with a grim smile on her face. "I am much more stronger than I appear."

Luka smiled wryly as she cradled her coffee mug. Ahim took a few glances around the apartment while Luka observed her, noticing the lack of noise.

"Luka-san..." Ahim implored carefully. "Where are the rest of your friends?"

Luka raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure that's the question you want to ask me?"

Ahim blushed, knowing that she had been caught. "I want to know where Joe-san is," she admitted quietly.

"There we go," Luka nodded with approval. "You two should learn how to be more direct. It would save so much time.

"In any case, he's at work today."

Ahim looked slightly crestfallen, "At work?"

"Seems like something came up and he had to take inventory there," Luka patted the other girl's shoulder.

Ahim bowed her head, trying not to let her tears show. After all, Joe had always arrived late at the concert hall in the last two days. If Joe was off at the same time again, he wouldn't be there until after her performance.

If he decided to show up.

Luka pulled the girl over, "It's not like he's not going to come to your concert," she told her.

Ahim looked up, "My concert?"

Luka shook her head over to where the tickets lay on the kitchen table, "Joe found them in his jacket last night. I don't think he knew about them."

"He did not know about the tickets," Ahim said. "I had hidden them in his jacket last night before..." Ahim's voice trailed off as she remembered the previous night's incident. "They were meant for all of you."

"Thank you," Luka said. She got up and took one of the tickets in her hand, reading the time of the concert. "It starts at 7, right?"

Ahim nodded.

Luka mulled her thoughts over before speaking carefully. "What if Joe was able to come to your concert? What would you do?"

Ahim thought carefully and looked Luka fully in the eyes, "I would tell him everything."

"Everything being...?"

"I would tell him I love him," Ahim said boldly.

Luka smiled at Ahim's courage. "That's one down," she whispered to herself.

The sun was starting to set as it heralded in the afternoon. Its orange glow illuminated the snow warmly as people courteously greeted each other with a cheerful "Merry Christmas" as they walked around. Snow was starting to fall gently from the clouds, providing a new dusting on the ground.

Joe walked down the street at a brisk pace. His hands were in his jacket pockets, his face tucked into his collar as he attempted to keep warm. He was currently lost in thought, or rather, distracting himself from last night's events.

Earlier in the morning when he woke up, he had looked up and saw that Ahim was still sleeping peacefully on the couch. Joe had spent the night with his back against the couch, his head resting against a pillow that was propped near Ahim's stomach. As expected, Ahim was a still sleeper, hardly moving around. Turning around to face her, Joe marveled at how tranquil she looked, and how peaceful and calm she made him feel. He reached out to caress her face, but stopped short of doing so, unsure of himself.

"You can do it, you know."

Joe gave a start and saw that Luka was starting at him from the hallway. Slowly, Joe retracted his hand.

"Do what?"

Luka sighed.

"I saw how you were looking at her, Joe," Luka accused him.

"I don't know what you mean," Joe replied evenly.

Luka walked over to him, her yellow pajamas wrinkling as she folded her arms. "You looked as though you loved her."

Joe turned away, unwilling to respond to Luka's claim. Instead he got up and brushed off himself.

Luka asked him, "Where are you going?"

"Work," came the reply.

"Work?" echoed Luka in disbelief.

"Have to make sure that the ingredients don't go rotten over the night."

Luka stared at him in disbelief, "When are you going to be back?"

"Maybe sometime in the afternoon," Joe shrugged. "Maybe sometime in the evening."

Luka hit him hard on the shoulder, "If you dare miss Ahim's concert, I will kill you."

Joe looked at Luka and merely said, "I can't make any promises."

Luka raised her fist at him again, but expecting it, Joe caught the punch and lowered it. Luka scoffed and went into the kitchen. "Are you going to say goodbye to her?"

Joe shook his head, "No, I'm going to let her sleep more."

Luka nodded and turned around to make coffee. Seizing the opportunity, Joe grazed Ahim's cheek with his hand and whispered softly into her ear. Standing back up, he noticed that Luka was taking a longer time with the coffee than usual, but shook it off.

"I'm off," he said.

To his credit, Joe didn't actually lie about needing to go into the bakery on Christmas to check for stock. He had arranged it with his boss to do so, as a way to earn extra money. He had finished up his itinerary check by early afternoon and ran out of options to hide. So he decided to take the long way home, passing through the shopping districts.

Joe sighed deeply. If he could rewind back time, he would've never had gone into the concert hall again. He could've saved himself all this trouble if he just hadn't gotten Ahim again.

But...

In the short time he had spent with her, he had felt a bond grow between the two. On his side was a quiet attraction to the girl who could never be fully his. He had nothing to offer her whereas she already had everything that she would need.

But she still took him out to dinner, still taught him the piano, still waited for him at the concert hall.

Joe shook away these thoughts. No, those were just out of pity and kindness, he thought.

Snapping out of his reverie, he found himself back at his apartment. By now, the sun had fully set and darkness had settled in. Opening the door, he found the apartment lit up with Marvelous, Doc and Luka sitting on the couch.

"Hello?" Joe said uncertainly.

Luka turned around, while Doc and Marvelous just stared at each other in confusion. "Well, you're not so late."

"Hey Joe," Marvelous drawled. "Mind explaining what this is all about?" He waved one of the tickets to Ahim's concert.

Joe's face paled as he attempted to exit the apartment, but in a flash Doc and Marvelous had darted over to him and restrained him, forcefully sitting him down on the couch.

"Well, I'm caught," Joe said neutrally.

"Ahim asked where you were this morning when she woke up," Luka began. "Did you know that?"

Joe shook his head.

"She also asked why she was back in our apartment. Did you know that?"

Again, Joe shook his head.

"You're going to answer all those questions in a few hours, after her concert. Did you know that?"

"What!" Joe stood up, but a quick sucker punch to the gut from Luka sent him back to the couch, cradling his stomach.

"You're going to the concert, Joe," Luka told him.

"But I can't! Not after last night! Please, Luka!" Joe pleaded.

"Listen," Luka stared him straight in the eyes. "You're a good guy. I know that. What happened last night happened. Thank God you didn't do anything worse.

" But if you really feel bad about it, who do you need to talk to about it?"

"Ahim," mumbled Joe. "I need to talk to Ahim."

"Right," Luka said, holding out the final ticket. "Now, I think you need to go to that concert."

"How will I get to see her?" Joe took the ticket and got up. "How will she know that I'm there?"

Luka smiled, "Leave that to me."

Ahim sat timidly behind the curtain, her fellow orchestra members filing in one by one. Behind the thick red curtain sat hundreds of people who had turned up to listen to the free concert. Ahim gripped her bow tightly, hoping that Luka's plan had worked... although what it was, Ahim wasn't so sure about.

Having left the apartment two hours after, Ahim had immediately returned home and refreshed herself, before arriving at the concert hall. As was his custom, the flower seller that came during the performance days was already out there preparing his flowers despite the cold that was settling in. The wizened old man waved cheerfully towards Ahim, who waved back at him before entering the concert hall. It had been easy for her to distract herself through continuous practice, but now that the time had come, Ahim couldn't help but feel nervous. Two questions burned continuously in her mind: "Will he come?" and "Will he listen?"

The conductor rapped his baton smartly on his music stand twice, signalling for attention. Ahim focused her thoughts and composed herself, relaxing herself.

Still, the questions burned.

Joe and his friends had taken their seats up in the upper box where Joe had first hidden in when he initially came into the concert hall that Christmas night one year ago. To Joe, the feeling of being back in the box brought a slight touch of nostalgia back to him as he said down on one of the comfortable chairs. To his surprise, the other boxes were filled with other people that looked like they were critics or people that belonged in the boxes. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, he squirmed in his seat only for Luka to look over and shush him.

For the concert, Ahim had happily provided the four of them with dress clothes that would be suitable for the occasion. She had taken Luka for a brief shopping trip, allowing for Luka to pick and choose shirts and ties for each of the men and a nice yellow dress for herself. It was these that each of them were now wearing, with Marvelous and Doc each sporting a blazer and black dress shirt with red and green ties, respectively. For his part, Joe was wearing a blazer with a dark blue shirt. His tie was stuffed in his pocket as he claimed that he didn't want to put it on. When Marvelous saw that Joe was going without his tie on, he had attempted to take his off, only for Luka to threaten him with a smile.

The curtains opened and revealed the orchestra behind it. Applause erupted as the conductor bowed and raised his baton, with each member raising their instruments.

"There she is," Luka whispered to Joe. She didn't have to. As soon as the curtain opened, she had caught Joe's eyes. Her elegant poise and her pale pink dress made her shine like a beacon in comparison to the rest of the orchestra members who were all dressed in formal suits or varying darker colours.

"Ahim..." Joe breathed as she began to play. Her melody flooded the room and engulfed everyone with varying feelings of love, warmth and care.

Ahim drew her bow over the strings with careful confidence, her eyes focused to the sheet music in front of her. By now, she could play the song by heart, but her sheet music was a reminder of what to think about. As she played, she tried to place all of her feelings into her song, so that if Joe was there, she hoped he would be able to understand her feelings behind the song.

As her solo drew to a close, she looked up and made eye contact with the conductor who lifted up his baton, readying the orchestra. Pulling back her bow, the conductor simultaneously brought down his baton, starting the rest of the orchestra.

Applause once again erupted from the audience as Ahim continued to play, joining in with the orchestra.

"I didn't know she was that good," Luka observed as she watched Ahim from above. Marvelous and Doc only nodded, mesmerized by the music. Joe sat stoically, just watching Ahim play, watching her fluidly make her bow dance upon her cello's strings.

As the song started to slow down, Ahim once again took over as the sole player. She gracefully ran her bow back and forth, until she ended the song with a flourish.

For the third time, clapping, cheers and shouts burst forward from the audience, as some even began to throw roses towards the stage.

Acting impulsively, Joe reached into his pocket and took out his pink tie. Reaching the edge of the balcony, he threw it over, aiming at Ahim.

Ahim heard a slight thud as she felt something light hit her cello. A ribbon? No, but the colour looked familiar. She picked it off from the ground and recognized it as one of the ties that she had picked out with Luka. She looked up eagerly to the box which she had reserved and found the one she had been looking for.

Her eyes sparkled as she waved subtlety to Joe, her smile widening. Joe merely waved back to her, his face unsure of what to do. However, Ahim put down her cello and tied the tie around her neck. As the cheering died down, she watched out of the corner of her eye as Joe retreated back into the box.

He was here. Now all she had to do was tell him.

The rest of the night went smoothly as the concert finished. More ties had been thrown at the stage, but none of them were touched. Joe's mouth twitched every time a tie was thrown, but he paid it no mind. She was wearing his.

"Come on," Luka pulled him. "Let's go and congratulate her."

Joe nodded as he and the rest of the boys got out of their seats and walked down to the ground floor. As they reached Ahim, they noticed a group of admirers already thronging around her.

"Ahim!" Luka called out. Ahim's head perked up as she noticed Luka waving her over. Bowing once, she excused herself from the group and headed over to her friends.

"Well done," Luka congratulated her as she hugged the other girl.

"Congratulations on a successful concert!" Doc said, while Marvelous merely echoed Luka's sentiments. Ahim thanked them all and turned to face Joe.

"Good job," Joe said as he looked at her. "You played wonderfully."

"I am so glad you enjoyed it," Ahim said. "Um... is there a way that I could talk to you in private?"

Luka nodded and dragged the other boys away from the two, while Joe led the way back up to the box. Ahim locked the door behind them to prevent any unwanted interruptions.

"Umm... about last night," Ahim began, but Joe cut her off.

"Ahim, I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the best of me," Joe said quickly. "I shouldn't have taken advantage of you."

Ahim shook her head, "You did nothing wrong, Joe-san. We were both inebriated and could not think properly."

"I still shouldn't have done that," Joe insisted.

"I think I wanted you to do it though," Ahim admitted quietly.

Joe stared at her in shock. "What?"

"I wanted you to kiss me," Ahim repeated with more boldness.

Joe didn't understand. "But... why?"

"Because I love you, Joe-san," Ahim confessed, her face turning red, but she remained steady.

"You do?"

"I do," Ahim affirmed. "I was hoping you felt the same way about me."

"But I can't give you anything," Joe protested. "This shouldn't be. I can't provide for you."

"I do not need you to give me anything material," Ahim scolded him, but reached for his hand. "But was I right?"

"About what?" he asked.

"Do you love me back?"

Joe thought long and hard for a few moments before he said, "I do. I love you, Ahim."

Ahim smiled before she squeezed Joe's hand once. Releasing her grip, she undid his tie that was still wrapped around her neck.

"Why did you throw down the tie?" she asked him as she did the top button of Joe's shirt.

Joe watched as Ahim tied it around his neck, "I wanted to let you know that I was here. To let you know that I was watching."

"I'm glad," Ahim tightened the tie and left it out. She gripped it and looked up at the decoration that was hanging from the ceiling. She smiled at the irony.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked her.

"Nothing," Ahim told him. "Just look up."

Joe looked up and noticed what Ahim was looking at. Mistletoe. "Oh, uh," Joe mumbled.

"It is okay," Ahim said, using the tie to pull him closer. "This time, we're not drunk, Joe-kun."

Joe cupped Ahim's face as their lips met under the mistletoe. As they parted, Ahim stared at Joe, her eyes beaming with happiness.

"Merry Christmas," they both said in unison, before they laughed at the coincidence. Joe pulled Ahim closer to him, bumping their foreheads lightly before sliding in for another kiss under the mistletoe...

Well, it's the end of this story :D as always a couple thoughts for this chapter.

First things first, as stated in the previous author's note, this chapter was delayed for the longest time (around 3 weeks) because of my purchase of Pokemon X, other things, vacation things, school and other things. As a result, I procrastinated until the last minute and actually gave it to Pearl and Lisa to edit the Friday before I went in for work. I work overnight for two and a half days so I managed to beast out this chapter in five hours. Yes. :D

Second thing was that in my original notes, I actually had no idea how I'd be writing out the confession, the confrontation and what Joe was going to throw. Originally, the chapter was going to start right before the concert started and Joe would still be home, thinking about whether to go. Eventually he would go and things would pan out. What he threw changed from bread, to a blue rose, to finally the tie that we read about. The confrontation stayed the same, though I had intended a scene for Marvelous and crew to come in with crackers and just spoil the mood. I'm kind of glad I didn't, and how Joe would eventually put a necklace around Ahim's neck. When I reached the end though, I didn't think it would be plausible given how poor he was, so that's alright.

Hmm... the genesis of this story came from the term "Impossible Girl" from Doctor Who. I don't know why, but I just thought that it was a good line and this sort of happened from it. Afterwards, I asked around my friend's circle for Ahim's instrument, asking for a Cello or a Violin. Surprisingly, a lot of them voted for the cello, which I favour a bit more than the violin.

Other major changes happened around the third chapter, where instead of just Joe and Ahim going out for dinner, it would be the whole crew and they would bunk over at Ahim's house, learning that she was rich. But it was changed to the piano scene which I think was a bit more heartwarming and the sleeping scene didn't change. I wanted to keep that.

Oh, before I forget, the chapter titles were all from the song, "Last Christmas". Haha, I wonder if anyone got that.

Finally, I want to thank you all for reading this, even though it's around a month after Christmas when this is posted, but time management for this sucks. To Lisa and Pearl, thanks for editing over the holiday season and during the beginning of school. To those that read, reviews, favourited and followed, I thank you.

Look forward to my next fic, which should hopefully be a Valentines/White Day pair of Chiaki and Kotoha and Takeru and Mako respectively. Both of them are in the writing stage right now and should be done on time.

Of course after that, we go into Kamen Rider Wizard. Have I mentioned that Koyomi and Haruto are my newest OTP? .

As always, thank you.