Alfred let out a big yawn as he climbed up the stairs to his apartment. He had just spent the day running around Paris filming with Vladimir for the travel show they worked on together.

Vladimir had told Alfred about an interesting job offer for his own show. It was an exciting offer and it meant it would continue to keep him away from the US for the most part.

Alfred was so lost in his thoughts that he tripped over the package blocking his doorway. He picked up the package and opened the door.

The package is postmarked from San Francisco and the name on it was Julia Belischmidt. Alfred furrowed his brow because he didn't think he knew a Julia when it hit him. Julia was Julchen's name. He hadn't heard from her in a while.

Opening the package, there was note on top of a DVD. "WATCH THIS BEFORE LOOKING AT THE REST OF THIS PACKAGE YOU BASTARD."

Alfred had to chuckle as he removed the disc and put it in his laptop to watch. Julchen never changed her attitude towards him.

The video started and Alfred immediately recognized the room. It was Julchen's childhood bedroom.

"Is this thing on?"

Julchen moved in front of the camera and Alfred's jaw dropped. Gone was the short hair he'd last seen her with. Instead her hair reached down to her waist.

"Okay good it's working. Now close your mouth Al. The long hair makes me look awesome."

Alfred let out a short laugh. Julchen really was still awesome.

"So this video is because I can't tell you the news in person so this'll have to do."

Alfred furrowed his eyebrows when Julchen put her left hand in front of the camera.

"Hey asshole look closely at my left hand."

Sitting there, on her ring finger, was an engagement ring.

The shock Alfred already felt at seeing how his friend had changed increased even more. He hadn't even known she was dating someone.

"That's right. I'm getting married and you better be there asshole. You're gonna be one of my bridesmaids after all."

Julchen looked down and her smile grew soft as she looked at the ring.

"I can't begin to explain how happy I am and I really hope you're there to celebrate with me."

Alfred felt so guilty. He hadn't been back to San Francisco for over two years now and the fact that he was missing out on so much of his friends' life hurt.

Julchen looked up and face palmed.

"I almost forgot to tell you. My maid of honor is Sakura so you're going to be answering to her throughout this whole thing. Anyways the invitation is in the package. Be sure to answer. Bye. Love ya… idiot."

Alfred blinked as the video ended. Sakura was Julchen's maid of honor. He had no idea they were that close.

"Sakura huh. I wonder how she's doing."

Sakura took a deep breath before centering herself on the stage. She glanced around the hall and almost started laughing when Julchen let out a wolf whistle.

"Looking good up there. Don't forget us when you get famous for comedy."

The party people started laughing and Sakura laughed with them.

"And that everyone is a great example of how my friendship with Julchen works."

Sakura waited a bit for the noise to die down before continuing.

"I've known Julchen since we were in high school but instead of being friends with her, I was friends with her little brother which is a bit sad because Julchen is more likely to drag me to out to try something new. No offense Ludwig, I still love you but this is for Julchen."

Ludwig sighed and put his face in his hands while his boyfriend Feliciano patted him on the back.

"Julchen and I didn't become friends until we both ended up going on the same trip six years ago. After the trip was over, I never expected to see her again because I was moving to New York for med school. Two months later, there's someone banging on my door and guess who it was."

A mummer went out over the hall most people saying either Julchen or Julia.

Sakura nodded, "Julia Belischmidt had gotten a job as a graphic designer for a firm in New York and the first thing she did was come visit me."

"Damn right I did." Julchen looked half ready to jump up and join Sakura on stage.

Another laugh escaped Sakura. "Since then, I've seen all the different things that Julchen's been up to. I was there when she decided to dye her hair crazy colors. I was there for the worst break up of her life. And I was definitely there when she asked me to set her up on a blind date with someone."

Matthias yelled out, "I still can't believe she let you set her up."

Sakura laughed and yelled back, "I know! And now she's marrying said blind date."

The lights started flickering and a very different voice covered the hall.

"You know the last person I ever expected to get married was always Julchen. So imagine my surprise when I find a package outside my door with a video where she's telling me that she's getting married and expects me to be there."

Julchen grinned, "Al you bastard. You're late."

Alfred F. Jones stepped out from behind the wings of the stage and Sakura could only stare. He looked good and she felt her heart thump.

"I'd apologize but that's just not my style. Congratulations to Julchen the baddest bitch you'll ever meet and good luck to her future spouse."

After that things got a bit crazy. Alfred winked at Sakura and jumped off the stage and somehow started a flash mob.

Sakura whispered softly. "Welcome back Al." Right after that, Julchen dragged her over to the flash mob and Sakura joined in.

Alfred looked at Sakura and looked a bit surprised at how she had changed.

When Alfred went to visit Julchen after crashing her party, it was just his luck that Matthias was there as well.

"Oh look who it is. We didn't expect you to show up here."

Julchen gave Matthias a warning glance before turning to Alfred and smiling softly. "I'm glad you could make it. I know you haven't been back to the U.S. since the funeral."

Alfred hugged her, "Hey I wasn't going to miss this for anything."

Matthias snorted but didn't say anything. Julchen broke the hug to glare at him before turning back to Alfred. "I have to introduce you to Matthew. That's my fiancé by the way."

A splash was heard from outside that made the three friends rush outside to the pool.

Julchen stifled a laugh. "Matthew, sweetheart, what are you doing in the pool?"

Matthias and Alfred glanced at each other as Julchen's fiancé pulled himself out of the pool.

Matthew mumbled. "I didn't mean to end up in the pool. I accidentally fell in and then my ring came off somehow and I just found it."

Julchen laughed as she helped him up and then steered him to look in Alfred's direction. "Matthew, this is one of my best friends Alfred. He's the one who crashed the party tonight."

Matthew squinted in Alfred's direction while also smiling. "I can't really see your face clearly because I don't have my glasses on but it's nice to finally meet you." He turned to Julchen, "Um, Julie, my glasses are supposed to be in your room but I'm not sure if they're still there."

Alfred raised an eyebrow at the nickname while Matthias muttered in disgust. "I do not need to know the shit that my best friend gets involved in with her fiancé."

Matthew decided to hug Matthias at that very moment while still being wet. "Matthias. Sakura told me she was looking for you when she told me that she'd put my glasses in Julchen's room. I was told to get them so I stop being a walking hazard."

With that Matthew walked into Julchen's room, found his glasses, smiled to Matthias and Alfred on his way out, kissed Julchen on the cheek and walked back towards his hotel room.

Matthias shook his head. "I forgot how passive aggressive that fiancé of yours is Julchen."

Julchen snorted. "You deserved it asshole. Now get going. Sakura's going to murder you if you get sidetracked." She looked at Alfred. "You've been awfully quiet. What's up?"

Alfred looked bemused. "Just feeling surprised that you're marrying my cousin who I haven't seen in years because my dad got disowned."

Julchen eyes grew wide before a devious smile grew on her face. "The blackmail I can get on you just increased. I'm going to enjoy this so much."

Alfred then heard her mumble. "I hope Matthias isn't gambling right now. He can't afford to get in more debt."

Matthias, as it turned out, was gambling. Alfred had been on his way back to his room when he spotted his old best friend sitting at a table playing poker with a bunch of other people. He started to move toward him when he was grabbed by someone.

Sakura had seen Alfred move towards the poker table and stopped him. "I'll take care of this. If you try to stop him, you'll just make it worse."

Alfred froze because this was the first time he'd heard Sakura's voice since he had returned.

Matthias glanced up and paled seeing Sakura walking towards the table. "Well I'm out gentlemen. I've lost enough money as it is."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at Matthias. "Are you planning to run out of money before the wedding even happens?"

"Of course not Sakura. It just so happens that I enjoy gambling. Unfortunately, I'm on a bit of a losing streak currently."

Sakura was about to say something when Alfred found himself unable to keep his mouth shut. "I know you've always enjoyed gambling but you've never been this bad before."

Matthias glared at his old best friend. "Oh like you would know. We haven't talked since you left."

Alfred tried to stay calm. "I'm just worried about you. Am I not allowed to worry about you anymore?"

Matthias scoffed. "If you worried about anyone other than yourself, you would have kept in touch."

Alfred exploded. "It's not like you kept in touch either asshole. You could have reached out but you never fucking did."

"I shouldn't have had to. You were supposed to be my best friend but I guess you can't be bothered to care about things like friendship. Or family for that matter. You weren't even here for your dad's funeral."

Alfred jerked back with shock as Matthias had hit Alfred right where it hurt. Before Alfred could respond, Matthias turned to Sakura. "I'm almost done with my part in tomorrow's events. I'll see you later."

Sakura nodded before turning to Alfred after Matthias left. "You really need to talk to him properly before the two of you manage to ruin things for Julchen."

Alfred was left alone with his thoughts then as Sakura also left to get ready for the next day.

Alfred didn't realize that Julchen's wedding would involve a competition. Somehow, when Julchen had chosen Sakura's godfather as her wedding planner it had become inevitable.

"You know, I don't think a competition between the two sides of a wedding party is normally a thing."

Sakura hummed, "Raj Mama mentioned it to Julchen that weddings in India often have competitions. Now please take these boxes to him, do whatever he needs, and then meet me this afternoon for a top-secret assignment."

Alfred knew better than to argue with Sakura in a mood so he quietly took the boxes to Raj, the wedding planner.

Raj had plenty of tasks for Alfred to do before sending Alfred to meet Sakura with a word of advice. "My goddaughter has put a lot of effort into this wedding so I recommend not antagonizing her if she seems a bit high strung today."

Alfred wanted to roll his eyes but he remembered the rumors about Sakura's mother. If Sakura was anything like Chun-Yan, then Alfred would likely end up with his neck snapped if she lost her temper.

"There you are. What took you so long? You know what. It doesn't matter. Hurry up and follow me."

Alfred couldn't even get a word in as Sakura dragged him up to a hotel room. Before he could say something, he was dragged to the balcony and there was a wooden plank laying between it and the next-door balcony.

"Okay what are we doing here? And what's with the plank?"

Sakura hushed him. "Don't be so loud. I need you use the plank to sneak onto that balcony and tell me what you see in the room."

"Is this because of the competition? Why is this such a big deal?" Alfred knew he was complaining but Sakura was giving him a look that promised death if he refused to follow her orders.

Looking in to the room the first thing Alfred saw was Matthew attempting to dance. Then a girl joined him and Alfred let out a low whistle because she was hot.

Sakura hissed at him. "What is it? What do you see?"

"Matthew is dancing very badly and was just joined by this really hot girl."

Alfred could feel glare directed at his back as Sakura made a guess. "It's probably Matthew's cousin from France. He mentioned she'd be coming."

Before Alfred could say anything, the girl turned around and he recognized her.

"Oh fuck, that's Marianne."

Alfred quickly scrambled back to the balcony Sakura been waiting on. "Sakura, you won't believe this but Matthew's French cousin is Marianne. Do you remember her?"

The air around Sakura turned frigid and she smiled coldly. "Oh, I remember Marianne alright. I remember her all too well."

Alfred walked into Julchen's room to see Matthias on the couch watching a football game.

"Dude, one of your best friends is getting married soon and instead of helping out the planning, you're here on your ass doing shit."

Matthias snorted. "What does it matter to you? You weren't even there for any of the shit that went on for your dad's funeral."

Something inside Alfred snapped. After that first punch Alfred lost track of everything of trying to avoid getting hurt while hitting Matthias as hard as possible.

"What the hell is happening here?"

Julchen had entered the room to find Matthias in a headlock and Alfred with an elbow planted in his stomach. It was obvious to see that she was getting ready for the night since she was dressed up and her hair was done up all fancy.

Alfred let out a low whistle as he let go of Matthias. "Damn Julchen, you look hot."

Matthias straightened himself out before turning to face her. "I have to agree with this asshole. You're going to knock the socks off that fiancé of yours."

Julchen glared at both of her boys. "You know I expected things to go wrong when the two of you saw each other but I didn't expect you to fucking fight until after my wedding was over. But apparently, my best friends can't even pretend to get along until after I'm happily married."

Matthias and Alfred opened their mouth to speak but Julchen held up her hand. "I don't want to hear it. The two of you don't have to be friends anymore but I still expect you to at least be civil."

Julchen turned and left but as she was leaving they heard a sob coming from her direction that left them speechless.

What happened between Alfred and Matthias after Julchen left was never shared but the two of them left that room as friends once again.

Alfred hadn't been expecting to run into Matthew before the competition though maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised. From what he remembered of his cousin, Matthew had always been the type to freak out before a major competition.

"Hey man, are you okay?"

Matthew had a slightly glazed look in his eye. "I'm going embarrass Julie and she'll call off the wedding and break up with me and—"

Alfred should have realized that Matthew would start rambling considering what he remembered of him so before it kept going Alfred shoved the bottle of Fernet in his face.

"Um Alfred, what is this?"

"Liquid courage. Now take a sip and you should feel calmer."

Matthew gave the bottle a considering look before he chugged down about half of the bottle.

Alfred gaped as Matthew patted his shoulder. "Thanks for that man. I really needed it."

Matthew handed the bottle back before he went out there and managed to blow the crowd away while also making Julchen laugh in joy.

As this was going on, Alfred went and found Sakura watching with a look of mild devastation on her face.

"Amazing performance, right? I didn't know Mattie had that in him."

Sakura turned to glare at Alfred. "Why did you get Matthew drunk?"

"Okay two questions. One, why are you accusing me and two, how do you know he's drunk?"

"Let me give you two answers, one I saw you give him that bottle and two, I introduced Matthew and Julchen to each other. Of course, I know what he's like drunk."

"Oh, so you were aware that Mattie gets really fun when drunk?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes, I was aware and that's why I was being careful to make sure there was no alcohol near him tonight. I wanted my performance to succeed and now everyone is going to find it boring."

"Really? What were you going to do?"

"It doesn't matter now. I'll just let Julchen know that I won't be performing."

Alfred looked horrified. "What? No! You have to perform. Julchen will murder me if she finds out I caused you to cancel your performance."

Sakura gave Alfred a blank look. "Well do you happen to have a better idea?"

After giving Sakura a considering look, Alfred grinned. "Can you break dance?"

"What are you planning?" Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Well I was thinking that maybe we should have a dance off."

This gave Sakura a pause before she gave Alfred a bloodthirsty grin. "I hope you're prepared to lose."

Alfred may have lost but the grin on Sakura's face when she dragged Julchen out onto the dance floor was worth it.

The rest of the night passed in a blur but Sakura's smiling face stayed in Alfred's thoughts throughout it all.

Sakura woke up to someone pounding on her door.

"Sakura hurry it up. We're going exploring today remember."

Sakura groaned as she rolled over. Hopefully her mom would kick Alfred out and let Sakura get some more sleep.

Apparently, Chun-Yan had other plans because instead of making Alfred leave, she invited him in.

"You wait here boy, I'll go wake Sakura. That child would love an excuse to spend her whole day inside just because she's on vacation."

Sakura huddled under the covers cherishing the last of her remaining minutes. Chun-Yan's favorite method of waking up her children was to steal their blankets and if that didn't work, the dreaded spray bottle would be used.

Chun-Yan was unfazed by Sakura's glare. "Time to get up daughter of mine. Your friend is here to make you go out and I have things to do."

Sakura grumbled. "Why can't I just stay in today?"

"Because I'm going out of town today and since the wedding is so close, you'll be staying in the hotel starting tonight as well so you might as well go out now with your bags."

Chun-Yan left as Alfred came in to see Sakura's childhood room. He looked around curiously seeing the signs of the girl he remembered from high school. When he looked at Sakura, his expression changed from curious to amused.

"Cute puppy pajamas."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she grabbed an outfit for the day. "They are quite cute and you can't judge because I know for a fact that you have a set of pajamas with cars on them."

Alfred laughed. So, this was Sakura before her first cup of caffeine for the day. There was something very cute about it.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Alfred, almost like she knew what he was thinking. It looked like the ability to read minds ran in the family. When Chun-Yan had opened the door for him, she had given him this soul-searching look before smiling and letting him in.

Alfred waited patiently as Sakura got ready. He had learned a long time ago that rushing any of his friends often led to pain on his part.

When Sakura finally joined him with her bags for the hotel he grabbed them out of her hands to hurry her up.

"You just go sit in the front and I'll go put these in the back. We're running late and will probably have to cancel going to the one dessert place on my list."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at his impatience. "Hmm. Don't forget to cover my stuff so things don't get stolen."

Alfred poked his head out to look at Sakura as she was about to enter the car. "It hasn't been that long since the last time I was in the Bay Area. I know how to keep things safe."

Sakura shrugged. If Alfred remembered what she needed him to, that was all that mattered.

Alfred sat down in the driver's seat and sighed. "I hate driving through San Francisco. After we get your stuff to the hotel, we should just take public transportation around."

"Works for me."

Sakura and Alfred spent a lot of the day following the list Alfred had made before Sakura got fed up and tore it up as they spent time in one of the many parks that she had been dragged to.

"What was that for?"

"I am done for the day Al. We're going to rest here for a bit and then you're taking me back to the hotel. If you want to keep doing things after that then feel free but I'm done for the day."

Alfred settled down next to Sakura after looking at her in disbelief for a moment.

Sakura didn't even look at Alfred as they relaxed next to each other.

"You know, it's moments like this that remind me that I miss living in the Bay Area sometimes. New York and San Francisco may have a few things in common but they're very different cities."

Alfred glanced over at her. "I forgot that you relocated to NYC for med school. Are you still living there?"

"Yeah. I'm in my residency there right now. I liked going to med school there a lot more than I expected and my mom likes the idea of all of us spreading out around the country."

"Oh, did any of your siblings move out?"

"Yeah, Yong-Soo is in Dallas and Mei is in Chicago. Leon is probably going to stay here in the Bay Area seeing as how he'll be taking over for our mom. What about you? Are you ever going to come back to SF or are you staying in Europe?"

Alfred was taken aback by the question. "I. I don't think I could ever live in the Bay Area again. I hate being here after everything that happened with Papa."

Sakura's eyes were questioning but soft and the whole thing came spilling out.

"I don't know how much you know but I've been working as a travel journalist for a while and when Papa passed away, I was on an assignment and when the call came to the agency about Papa being in the hospital, they didn't bother to tell me until I checked the multiple emails Arthur had sent me."

Sakura's eyes had grown wide. She had known that Alfred hadn't made it back in time for Francis's funeral and that he had changed jobs right after it all.

Alfred gave Sakura a self-depreciating smile. "Yep by the time I found out that Papa was gone, Arthur had been forced to handle everything by himself. I still haven't visited Papa's grave because a part of me never wants to because maybe then I can imagine that the father that supported me all my life is still there."

Sakura took Alfred's hand and moved her thumbs in a comforting pattern on the back of it. "It's never easy to acknowledge who we've lost but that won't bring them back. I learned that lesson when my father passed away years ago."

"Does it ever get any easier?"

"In its own way yes. There will always be an emptiness where they were but that just means they're still with us in their own way."

((page break))

Alfred was talking to Julchen's brother Ludwig and his boyfriend Feliciano when they heard an altercation happening.

"Matthias, you bastard! I'm going to murder you."

Turning in the direction of Julchen's voice, she was held back by Matthew as Matthias was hiding behind an unfamiliar person.

"Matthew let me go and get out of my way Lukas. I don't know what reason you might have for protecting this asshole but I don't care."

Feliciano tugged on Ludwig's sleeve. "Shouldn't we go help them?"

Ludwig just sighed. He was far too used to Julchen's antics. "Feliciano, would you go interfere if your sister was getting ready to beat someone up."

Feliciano thought about it for a moment. "No, I wouldn't. I would let Amy handle it because as Lovina's wife she knows how to manage it."

Ludwig gave his boyfriend a fond look. "Yeah that's right. That's why I'm going to let Matthew handle it and if he needs help, he'll let me know."

Feliciano murmured to himself. "I certainly couldn't hold back Julchen, let alone my sister. That's why I just watch in awe when Amy just picks Lovina up and carries her away."

Alfred managed to overhear that and snorted before heading over to see what was going on between his two best friends.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

Matthew gave Alfred a strained grin. "Oh hey Alfred. Matthias just went slightly over his budget for gambling and I picked up the remaining amount."

Julchen snarled. "I told you not to go over the budget Lukas set you and then you let my fiancé pay for it."

Matthias stayed behind Lukas as he protested. "I'm going to pay Matthew back as soon as I get the chance. I was just telling Lukas about what happened when you decided to beat me up before I figured out what to do."

Lukas rolled their eyes before turning to Alfred. "You must be Alfred. Matthias watches your show weekly. He's very proud of you."

Matthias looked betrayed. "Babe you can't just tell him that. Alfred doesn't know about this because he's a bastard for not staying in touch."

Lukas looked utterly unimpressed with that argument. "I think I can do whatever I want seeing how you went over the gambling budget we both agreed on. Honestly how are you so bad at handling money?"

Matthias looked sheepish. "There's a reason why you're in charge of my finances babe. Anyways I'm really sorry Julchen and I'll pay Matthew back as soon as Sakura gets back. I actually won a bet against her and it was a substantial amount."

All of them stared at Matthias. Finally, Alfred managed to ask what they were thinking. "How?"

"Well it was a dumb bet where I said that at Amy and Lovina's wedding that they'd run off before the reception was finished and she disagreed."

Alfred didn't know who Amy and Lovina were but everyone else did. It was another reminder that his friends' lives had moved on without him. He had to wonder what else might have changed.

"Well then. Anyways it's nice to meet you Lukas. I'm not entirely sure who you are other than that you have some kind of relationship with Matthias over here."

Lukas had a wry smile on their face. "I am Matthias's lover. Matthias was planning on introducing me to you after the wedding so that it wouldn't take away from Julia and Matthew's nuptials."

Alfred had never seen Matthias and Julchen as happy as they seemed with their significant others and Alfred realized that he had someone he wanted that with.

The person Alfred was in love with was Sakura and he felt an urge to go find her and talk to her.

"Hey, I just realized something so I'm going to go do a thing."

Matthias whooped and Julchen grinned. Much like they would have when they were younger, they spoke in unison. "Go talk to her you idiot."

Alfred ran around to the areas that Sakura might be until he finally found her. However, once he finally found her, she was talking to someone else.

A sense of jealously filled him but if Alfred had learned anything from his Papa, it was how to treat a woman with respect and that meant not causing a scene just because he felt jealous of how Sakura was smiling at the other man.

Nonchalantly, Alfred made his way over to them. "Hey Sakura. I was just looking for you. Can we talk?"

Sakura looked a bit surprised to see Alfred but she quickly smiled at him. "Oh hey Al. Of course we can," Sakura turned back to the other man, "Hey I'll see you tomorrow Herakles. I can't wait to see how the wedding pictures come out."

Herakles sleepily nodded before Sakura and Alfred went to a more secluded area.

"So, is he your boyfriend?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Alfred. "Even if he was, I don't see why you would care."

Alfred laughed sheepishly, "Well I'd rather not ask you out if you have a significant other. I wouldn't want to put you in that position."

"Don't do this to me Alfred." Sakura's eyes were serious.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Don't do what?"

Sakura let out a sound almost like a sob. "Give me hope and then break my heart all over again."

Alfred's eyes widened. "I don't want to break your heart though. I just want to see if you'll be willing to at least give a relationship between us a try."

Her eyes softened but Sakura shook her head. "Oh Alfred, could you ever give up traveling the world for me?"

He couldn't formulate a response to her question at all.

Sakura's smile was sad and she kissed him on the cheek. "You can't give up your dream and I wouldn't want you too and that would just make both us miserable if we tried to make a relationship work."

With that, Sakura left Alfred behind to stew in his own thoughts.

The next day, neither of them spoke much as they separated after the wedding. Sakura had returned home to New York and Alfred had made the decision to visit his stepfather.

"What do you plan on doing then Alfred? I'm sure there's plenty of work you can do as a journalist in New York if she's important enough to you. Your father would have figured this out already."

Arthur didn't understand why his stepson was being this obstinate. He certain that Francis was much better with understanding his own feelings than this.

As if reading Arthur's mind, Leon sighed. "It's because he's your stepson old man. Francis and Mama told me how you refused to acknowledge your feeling for the longest time."

Leon yawned as his stepbrother and Arthur stared at him.

Alfred looked horrified. "It's contagious. Stepfather's emotional density is catching. No wonder I didn't realize I wanted to marry Sakura until this very moment."

Arthur was dismayed. "Who said anything about marriage? You guys haven't even gone on a date let alone talk about marriage."

Alfred waved away Arthur's concern. "That's fine. I only plan on giving her a promise ring right now and I'll propose properly later."

Leon laughed. "Nee-san will be so surprised if you do that. You should absolutely do that."

Sakura certainly wasn't expecting any company on New Year's Eve. Julchen and Matthew were currently spending their honeymoon in Europe. Matthias and Lukas couldn't leave their business when they had finally gotten out of the red. Finally, Feliciano and Ludwig were spending New Years with Feliciano's sister Lovina and her wife Amelia.

So yes, Sakura was not supposed to have any company so the knock on her door was a surprise. It was even bigger surprise to see Alfred there.

"Alfred! Aren't you supposed to be in San Francisco with your stepfather?"

"See I was but then I realized that I was dishonoring my Papa's memory by not even trying to convince you to give me chance."

Sakura gaped. "You can't be serious?"

Alfred came in and put down a cake on her dining table and took his bottle of champagne to kitchen. "Do you happen to have a corkscrew I can use? This is some good champagne and we should definitely drink it together."

Sakura handed him the corkscrew as she started ranting. "You're expecting me to believe that you're willing to give up on your dreams of traveling the world for what? A relationship with me. That's absolutely ridiculous."

During her rant, Sakura had turned her back on Alfred and when she turned around, he was on one knee holding a ring up for her. She quickly covered her mouth knocked speechless.

Alfred's gaze was steady as he looked at her. "Who said I was giving up my dream just for you? You taught me when we went on that trip that people and their thoughts can change. And my dream certainly has."

Sakura started tearing up but Alfred kept his eyes on her. "I don't want to travel the world if that means I can't have someone as amazing as you in my life. If anything, next time I travel anywhere in the world, I want you by my side. So, what do you say Sakura? Will you give us a chance?"

"You idiot. Of course, I will but that better not be an engagement ring."

"Oh god no. I'm not that dumb. No wedding plans here just yet."

Sakura laughed as she helped Alfred to his feet. What a way for her year to end. She owed Julchen money now.

this was hell to finish but it's done, i hoped you liked it and if you want to read more by me, check out my ao3 because i'm not uploading here anymore after this