Shelf #012

For a moment, they stopped at the big rocks a few meters from the small waterfall and sat. Julie and Kuu felt like little kids touching the surface of water with their hands. It felt cold to the touch. Suddenly a cold breeze of dawn swept towards them, and Kuu saw Julie shivered slightly to the wind. It was too sad that she wore a simple white, fitted sleeveless top tonight. The tussled scarf around her neck wasn't enough. He took out his denim coat and wrapped it around her.

She jumped back slightly to the surprise it brought her. The jacket felt really good and warmed her arms. She smiled at him.

"Thank you, Kuu," Julie said softly.

Now Kuu realized how this dawn actually suited her eyes perfectly. They sparkled like little jades under the moonlight. Her fair face glowed like mother of pearl as white as the moon. The silky waves of her golden hair glowed a dark gold this time, sweeping gently behind her as breeze blew. She was such a goddess tonight.

Chuckling softly, Julie took Kuu's stare. "What is it?"

Kuu whispered. "No –– I, to be honest. . . I think you're really lovely. . You look so beautiful. . . . Fabulous."

And Kuu saw it again. There it was. The impetuous, gorgeous smile flashed across the rose-colored lips of his goddess.

"I lost my two elder brothers since I was young," Julie said, throwing small rocks towards the river. She watched the ripples as the stones skipped through the surface.

They had been talking about their lives for a while since they sat on the rocks. They started the conversation with their family. Kuu started a while ago. Now he listened as Julie told the side of her story.

"The elder, Russell, had a heart attack right when I was twelve. Right on the night he was about to propose to his girlfriend of eight years. . . We could hardly take that, as Russ was very healthy in our eyes. It was too late for us to take the doctor's warning a year earlier. . . Then it was Phillip. . When I was seventeen, he got into a bike accident in Paris. The scariest thing was that, his bike crashed at the same place, the same tunnel where Princess Dianna crashed years later. . He was about to see me that night. Phil rushed from home, as I couldn't make it when I was too busy with work. . . I lost my mother when I was born. She died giving birth to me. Last year, my father died of heart attack. . He promised he would see me on the aisle when I wed. . I don't think that will ever happen."

She looked at Kuu and smiled painfully. "I wish it will. . . with my mother I've longed to see –– and my brothers around. . . I guess that's life. . That's why I had to bear it in, when I see dirt splashed everywhere on the papers about me. . ."

Kuu listened quietly in front of her. Silence sweept deeper as she felt freedom taking over her tonight and let all her true feelings out, opening them little by little.

"Most of them weren't true at all. . I can't trust anyone around me. . I want to go to someone where I could complain freely, hear me out, and just be right there. . . Sometimes I would think, and I hoped all the people I love, the four people in my heart would be there for me––"

Julie didn't know why, but hot tears just formed in her beautiful eyes. Her long lashes fluttered and streams fell.

"–But no one was there when I need it." she said tearfully. Kuu was amazed to see this woman still speaking softly. "I don't know what it felt like to be in the arms of your mother. . . I've seen children in the park, playing with their moms watching them. They fell and their mom would catch them, hold them close and kiss their face. . To sing lullabies. . To sleep at night peacefully to the stories they told you, about fairies, knights and prince. . . I couldn't relate to it at all, but I can say, that when I was very little, my father would tuck me in bed and told me stories about my mother and how they met. . Then when I was a kid, Russ would teach me how to prune grapes, Phil teaching me how to ride a horse. Those things, were not with my mother around, but that love was different. . ."

Her teary eyes looked up at Kuu, and amazingly, she smiled warmly. "It must be really great to have a mother. . . If I do have a child, I'll give it with all my being. Everything that I yearned for all these times, with the press around you–– and there was no one there for you –– I'd be there for my baby. . I don't know when, but if that will happen. . I don't know how I would feel. . . ."

Kuu felt his heart would burst. Looking through her sad eyes, there was still a flickering hope beneath it. He never realized until now how hard it really was for Julie, to bear familial pain and the pain from media surrounding her for years. When his story also bore pain, hers were a twist of pain and suffering. . . He admired her: not just her beauty but her strength, standing alone on top of the world. He felt she would make such a great mother. . .

In the gleaming light of dawn he looked at her eyes and caressed her face. He cupped it and Julie closed her eyes. He pecked his lips against the tears, taking it with him and erased it all away. He softly kissed her forehead, her wet fluttering eyelids, her nose, then to her lips.

"From now on. . . you'll never be alone," Kuu said in their kiss. Julie's eyes blinked.

"Kuu. . ."

He looked deeper in the eyes, caressing her cheek with his hand.

"I don't want to see you cry again. . Or I'd be hurt. I want to see you smile, you're more beautiful when you smile. Promise me. ."

Julie's head nodded in the hand holding her cheek. She touched his hand. "Mmm. . I promise. ."

He kissed her lips again. "I will be with you. . I promise. . ."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he pulled her closer to this sweet, tender embrace they kissed passionately, their hearts melting as one.

"I'll never let you go. . ."

#~##~#