Lita stared at the notes on the table. One was addressed to her, the other to Sakura. She opened the letter that was for her. It was from Arthur.

My beloved,

I'm so sorry, my dear, but Alfred and I have been called to war. I really didn't want to leave you without an explanation. But please, always remember that I love you and will never leave your side unless our lives and the lives of others depend on it. I assure you, I am only doing this to protect you so that you can be happy and live freely. We are fighting a powerful enemy who will stop at nothing to destroy the world and all its countries, bringing anarchy, chaos and mayhem. I love you with all of my heart and soul, my love. Oh, how it pains me to leave you. I can see you crying, your beautiful face streaked with tears. I don't want you to cry, my love, because I will return to you as soon as I can. I promise, my love, I will. I am so sorry I have to leave. But, when I come back, we can be happy again. I promise. Farewell, my love. Until I return.

Forever Yours,

Arthur

Lita felt tears well in her eyes. She held the letter to her heart, her tears falling onto the floor. The first love letter Arthur had ever written to her… and it was all about going off to war. Life is rather ironic, isn't it? Lita thought, wiping her tears and sitting on the couch. Just then, Sakura came in the door. She saw Lita on the couch, sniffling. Sakura ran over to her friend, dropping her schoolbag and sat next to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked, hugging Lita.

"Arthur had to leave… There's a letter to you from Alfred on the table…" Lita said, hugging her friend back.

Sakura got up and picked the letter up off the table. She took it to her room and read it aloud quietly.

Dear Sakura,

I'm really sorry, but Arthur and I have to leave. These are dark times and some people need to be heroes, right? Anyway, Arthur said we shouldn't leave without explaining where we're going. I honestly don't know where we're going, but all can tell you is that this is for the good of all the people in the world. I'm really going to miss you and your bright smiles. You are my best friend and I love you so much… But, you don't really care, do you? I'm sorry, that last sentence was unnecessary. Anyway, I'm really sorry that I have to leave. Don't miss me too much, okay? And good luck in your relationship with Kyouya.

Love,

Alfred F. Jones

"Thank you, Alfred…" Sakura whispered, putting the letter in her sock drawer as her tears fell to the floor.

She collapsed onto her bed and sobbed, curling into a ball. Her heart hurt so badly. She just wanted to be a child again, in her mother's arms.

"Mommy…" she sobbed.

There was no reply. Sakura wasn't expecting one. Her mother and father were both long gone and buried. A vision of the funeral popped into her head. A lot of her friends were there: Feliciano, Ludwig, Kiku, Lita, Arthur and Alfred. Her Alfred. The same, sweet, caring Alfred that left the note. The same Alfred whose heart she broke. She sobbed and sobbed until her eyes were dry. Lita heard Sakura sobbing and let her be. Once she heard Lita's door shut, Sakura got up and tip toed to the kitchen. She went into the drawer and grabbed a butter knife. She went back to her room and ever so carefully shut the door. She put the knife to her finger, dragging it along a bit to see if the blade was sharp enough. Once blood started leaking out of the line along her finger, she nodded and moved it down to her wrist where she started gently slitting it. Not enough to kill her, but deep enough to make blood drip onto her bed. Tears blinded her vision and she slit randomly, making x patterns. When she was done, she tiptoed to the bathroom and washed the knife off, her blood running down the sink. She ran her fingers along the inside of her bloody left wrist. She washed all the blood away. She was careful not to get it on anything. She was tempted to take her razor and cut her right wrist too, but decided against it. That would be saved for tomorrow. She looked at her watch, it was 6:45. Kyouya was coming to pick her up in 15 minutes. She walked to her room, taking the knife with her and changed into a strapless dress that had gloves as part of it. She sat in the front room, waiting for her boyfriend to arrive. Promptly at 7, the doorbell rang. She answered it and was greeted with a kiss. She kissed back unwillingly, wishing it was Alfred she was kissing. She faked a smile.

"Hello, my dear." Kyouya said, leading his girlfriend out to his car, "I hope you don't mind that I'm driving tonight?"

"No, not at all, hun." Sakura said, getting in the car, "So, what are we doing tonight?"

"Well, since you look like that, we might as well go out somewhere nice for dinner… And maybe we could go back to my house and watch a movie?" Kyouya said, noting the depressed and fake aura coming off of her.

"Sure. That sounds like fun…" Sakura said, faking another smile.

Several times during dinner, Sakura excused herself to the ladies room. Kyouya figured she drank too much water or maybe had a bad reaction to the food. He truly had no clue that really, Sakura was slitting her wrists, trying to make the pain inside her go away, or at least dull. But it didn't it only made her worse and she had to go more often. She came back as Kyouya paid the bill and he looked at her.

"Do you feel alright, dear? Did you have a bad reaction to the food?" he asked quietly.

Sakura shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I just want to get out of here…"

Kyouya nodded, "Would you like me to take you back home?"

Sakura shook her head as Kyouya took her hand and led her out of the restaurant and to his car, "No. Let's just stick to our original plan."

He nodded, opening the door for her, "Anything for you, my dear."

She winced quietly at the words 'my dear'. The car ride to Kyouya's house was painfully quiet. Sakura scratched her semi-open cuts, making her wrist red, but not scratching enough for blood to leak out. Nobody could ever know about what she was doing to herself. Kyouya was so nervous. He hid it very well, but he knew he was going to mess up something. I just want it to be perfect… He sighed quietly and pulled into the driveway. Kyouya opened the car door for Sakura and she stepped out into the cold winter night, shivering. Kyouya put an arm around her, still holding her hand and she leaned into his warmth, still wishing it was Alfred holding her hand and Alfred keeping her warm. Once they got into the house, Sakura shed her jacket and hung it up in the closet, pulling the gloves on her arms. She reasoned it was better to look strange then to have to reveal her secret. She was thinking about telling Kyouya to break up with her, but decided against it. She already broke one man's heart. She didn't want to break another. Kyouya sat on the couch and Sakura sat beside him. He still had his arm around her as the movie started. By the time the movie was finished, Kyouya was getting impatient. He wanted to do it before he lost the words and the will to. As soon as the credits finished rolling, he turned the movie off and they sat in silence for a little while. Sakura gazed out the window. It had to be about midnight. She felt a tug on her wrist and looked over at Kyouya. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

"is something wrong?" Sakura asked.

Kyouya smiled and shook his head, "No. I'm fine…"

"Oh, okay…" Sakura said.

"Sakura…" Kyouya started, "I love you..."

Sakura started to shake. Oh no! Oh my god, this can't be happening…

Kyouya struggled to get on one knee and pulled out a small box with a ring in it, "Will you marry me?"

Sakura, still shaking, broke into tears, "Oh my god… Kyouya… I'm so sorry… I can't. I just can't," she grabbed his hands, "I… I don't love you… I'm so sorry…"

Kyouya nodded, feeling tears welling. She loves Alfred… I understand. It's just… ironic, isn't it? Kyouya sighed, willing the tears away and taking Sakura's hands in his.

"I… I understand…" Kyouya choked.

"Oh, Kyouya. You'll always be a dear friend… But, I can't say you mean more…" Sakura whispered, tears pouring down her cheeks as she put her hand on Kyouya's cheek.

Kyouya nodded, "You love Alfred. I guess I was blinded by jealousy," he chuckled, "It's funny, cause usually, it's Hikaru who gets jealous…"

Sakura nodded, wiping her tears, "Thank you… for understanding…"

Kyouya whispered, "Absolutely," in her ear before kissing her lips just once.

Sakura kissed back, knowing that this was a mixture of a 'goodbye' and 'I love you' kiss. She wanted to at least leave him with something. He had given her everything and she had given him nothing. She waved lightly and went to the door. He ran to her side.

"I'll drive you home!" he said, leaving the box that was previously in his hand on the floor.

She smiled, "Oh yea. Thanks… I'm really sorry…"

Kyouya put a hand on her shoulder and led her out to his car, handing her jacket to her, "No problem… Sakura…"

She smiled sadly at him and put her coat on as he opened the car door for her, "Thank you, Kyouya…"

Kyouya got in the car and drove Sakura home. The car ride was painfully long and quiet. Kyouya held Sakura's hand tightly as he walked her to the elevator. They got on together. When they arrived at Sakura's apartment, Kyouya kissed her passionately, just one more time. It was so painful for both of them. Sakura felt so guilty. Kyouya's emotions were swirling and churning, but a part of him just couldn't let go of her. She separated from him, giving his hand a squeeze before going into her apartment, but not before whispering a tearful 'Goodbye' to him and shutting the door quickly so he couldn't see her break down. Kyouya took a deep breath and boarded the elevator, alone this time. Since he was alone, he let his emotions out. Tears fell from his eyes for the first time since he was a child. His father always told him to never cry. It was a sign of weakness, and Ootori's were always expected to be strong. He pulled his jacket tighter to hide his shaking form as he walked outside. He bumped into someone, who he politely helped up and kept walking until the person tugged on his wrist. He turned around and squinted, seeing it was none other than Haurhi.

"Kyouya-sempai. I didn't realize it was you I bumped into. I'm sor- Eh? Sempai, are you crying?" Haruhi asked.

Kyouya looked away from her, the tears still leaking from his eyes, "No…"

Haruhi frowned, "Are you sure? You look pretty upset… Or maybe you're stressed? Basically, something's wrong…"

Kyouya sighed, "I'm fine, Haruhi. Your concern is appreciated, but unneeded. Thank you. I should be going now. See you later…"

And with that, Kyouya left Haurhi standing in the cold winter night. He got in his car and put his head on the steering wheel, crying and shaking even harder than before. He had experienced this feeling before. It was a mixture of loss and pain. The pain of knowing that once again, he had fallen in love only to have his heart broken. It was less last time, but this time, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He had truly loved her. Once he finished crying and shaking, he wiped his glasses with his shirt and put them back on, turning on the ignition and driving away.

"Goodbye, Sakura… my love…" he whispered softly, one last tear rolling down his cheek as he pulled away, opening the window to let the winter air in the car to make him cold again.