One Love Chapters 15 through 17 (final)
Chapter 15
Jun scowled at me and if I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn he wanted to slap me.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked roughly. I shook my head and tried to take deep breaths, I felt like I was choking.
"Those two... people out there! They were fi- fighting and saying these, these things! That’s how everyone ends up! I knew it!" I rambled quickly, holding onto Jun’s arms to keep from fainting. Jun looked at me like I was crazy.
"Minako! Seriously..." he growled angrily. He took me over to one of the chairs and sat me down roughly. Jun then knelt in front of me and took my frightened face in his hands, forcing me to look at his glowering stare.
"Are you seriously going to do this now? Because if you are, I’m going to have to hit you... and I don’t want to." Jun threatened me. I looked him with my eyes huge.
"What? Why?" I whispered. Jun rolled his eyes at me.
"Because you’re being a spazz again, Minako! Look at what you’re doing! You’re saying that some couple you don’t even know, makes you want to call this off!" Jun said fiercely, his face softening a little as I began to cry again.
"But... what if Sho-kun and I-"
"You won’t, that’s the point. Now if it was me and you... then you might have to be worried... but it’s you and Sho-kun. A year later and you’re still together, right? What were we? Four, five months?" Jun said softly and a little annoyed. I swallowed my remaining tears and fell forward, hugging Jun around the neck tightly. I hated how I could get so easily panicked over nothing. If Jun wasn’t there... I don’t know what I would have done. As he hugged me back, I could breath again and my panic spell eased.
"Jun... what do I do now?" I mumbled through my last tears. Jun pulled away from me and smirked.
"You... are not going to leave one of my best friends at the altar. And if you do... then I’ll just have to marry you myself, so we can end up like that couple you saw out in the hall." Jun said with an evil smirk. I laughed tearfully again and hugged Jun once more. What he told me made complete sense. I was stupid to think Sho and I would end up like those two people out in the hall. We were different...
Jun had left me to get dressed when Hisa, Yuko, Satoko, Aya, Ayeka and my mother came in soon after my panic attack. I had to redo my makeup due to the crying I had done, which upset Ayeka. I still was a bit shaken up, but when I finally put on the wedding dress... it all seemed to go away. I must have stood in front of the mirror for nearly ten minutes just staring at myself. Everyone was crying behind me, mumbling how beautiful I looked and my young assistants wishing they would look that perfect for their wedding.
Even Ayeka, who had originally told me to go with the more modern, snug fitting dresses instead of my fluffier, traditional style, had nothing but comments and praises. My veil had gone on last, then my elbow high gloves, along with the tiara that Aya had given me from her wedding. That was the moment where I started to tear up again. After four years of fighting my feelings for Sho-kun, here I was, five years later, getting married.
Our ceremony was held outside on the beach, and I had secretly gone barefoot. As I stepped outside at the beginning of the aisle with my father at my side, it turned into a dream. I looked straight ahead down the aisle towards Sho, who seemed to hiding his nervousness just as I was, and he gave me a smile and a wink. The ocean behind him was in sunset, casting everyone in oranges and pinks. As the music started, my father had to jerk my arm slightly to get me out of my daze. I tried my best not to laugh as everyone awed and quietly complimented me. Aiba, Jun, Ohno and Nino sat in the front row next to Ayeka, Aya, Hisa, Yuko and Satoko. Aiba was trying his best not to cry, along with Jun, but he would never admit that, and Nino and Ohno gave me a perfectly synchronized thumbs up, along with dorky grins. My father kissed me on the cheek, then went to sit down.
Sho stood in front of me with his hand out. I took it and smiled tearfully at him.
"Don’t cry." he said in a teasing whisper. I laughed quietly and nodded.
"Promise." I whispered as we both faced the altar.
Chapter 16
"I didn’t cry!" Jun exclaimed over the music and loud laughter.
"Yeah you did! You asked me if I had any tissues!" Aiba loudly called out Jun. Jun and Aiba continued to argue back and forth while Sho and I made our way around the tables to greet the guests and thank them for coming, and we also found several people that neither of us knew.
"I heard you had a breakdown." Sho said quietly in my ear as we passed the tables. I smiled and looked at him.
"Just a slight one... luckily Jun was there." I admitted. Sho took my hand tightly and kissed it.
"I know, he told me after he was kicked out of your dressing room." Sho said with a smile. We passed a very crowded table with Nino standing at the head, he had his cards fanned out across the table and was asking a guest to pick one. I had a feeling Nino would be showing off his magic sometime during the night. Ohno had found his place with several older guests talking about where Ohno went to fish and what types of gear he used. Sho and I passed by our parent’s table and came face to face with none other than Johnny Kitagawa-san and his sister. I had never seen Johnny-san in person my entire life until now, so I was quite shocked. Sho and I bowed and Johnny-san congratulated us with a hint of "not letting this marriage spoil one of his boys’ future". He went on to tell us how he would like to stay longer, but he had other business to attend to and just dropped by to congratulate us.
We watched Johnny-san and his sister make their way through the crowd towards the door. Sho had started talking to one of his relatives, but I continued to watch Johnny-san curiously. I had noticed that Aya was standing in his path. Aya turned her head slightly towards Johnny-san and with a smile, both bowed their heads to each other. As Johnny-san passed through the doors, Aya had a glimmer of sadness in her aged eyes. I had never asked Aya what happened between her and Johnny-san... but I guess by the look in her eye, Aya had made a decision long ago that she still regretted.
"Minako-chan? You’re spacing out already?" Sho’s voice broke through my daydream and I smiled at him, shaking my head.
Sho and I sat down at the head table next to Aiba and Jun, who had switched their topic to some television show. A ringing of a wine glass echoed the room and everyone went silent, looking over to Aya. She stood up and bowed.
"A little over a year ago... Minako-chan opened up to me with a very serious problem... a very complicated and somewhat familiar situation to me. She was confused... and I was the only one she turned to for help. She was undecided in her future, she had never thought about her future until then. My advice to her was to follow what she wanted, what her heart wanted. She listened to me... and now, here she is. Minako-chan... Sakurai-kun, I wish the most of luck to you. Cheers." Aya said with a smile as she held her glass up to Sho and I. Everyone cheered and drank their wine. Aya’s speech had made me cry again. I truly admired Aya for what she did and the advice she gave me. If I had never opened up to her, I might have been in a much worse position... she had saved me from making the same mistake she did. Aiba wanted to do a speech next, but he had already broken down again. So Jun took his place.
"...Sho-kun... what you are doing now... is what I wanted to do four years ago... however, it would have never worked out as it had today. Sho-kun, don’t let her go. Minako-chan, I’m glad I was there for you..." Jun ended with a slightly quivery voice. Sho and I looked up at Jun in awe. He had said it perfectly. Shortly after we finished the toast, mine and Sho’s first dance was up next. The lights dimmed and a blue light lit up the room, making it almost ghostly like. I didn’t know what song it was because I had left it up to Sho. We stood in the middle of the room, all eyes on us, waiting for the music. And once I heard the piano, I knew what it was.
"Be With You?" I whispered as Sho took my hand. He nodded with a smile.
"Ohno-kun chose it... I couldn’t find one that I liked." Sho whispered back, resting his head on my shoulder.
"Isn’t it a bit... arrogant, to use your own song?" I asked quietly with a smile. Sho laughed quietly and didn’t respond. I loved his choice. I couldn’t have found a more perfect song. We stayed silent through the rest of the song, until Sho quietly sang the last two lines.
"Soshite boku wa kimi no motoni... soshite itsumo kimi totomoni." I started to laugh along with Sho, because he purposely made his voice unnecessarily deep and made his eyes cross as he looked in my eyes. As the guests cheered, Sho and I kissed yet again, both of us smiling happily.
I found out soon enough that Be With You wasn’t the only Arashi song Sho had chosen. Throughout the night I heard Fight Song, Blue, Love So Sweet and I think I even heard Niji, special request by Nino, of course. I danced with everyone that night, even though I did have to drag Nino and Ohno out. Aiba was always on the dance floor with Sho and I and Jun sat back in the audience, watching in amusement. Once there was another slower song, I walked over to Jun and took his hand.
"Why are you dancing with me?" he asked in annoyance and I pulled him out onto the floor. I put my arms around Jun’s neck and smiled up at him.
"Because you haven’t danced all night with me. Now, just enjoy it." I said firmly. He smiled slightly and put his arms around my waist. I closed my eyes and sighed. "Thank you... Jun." I whispered. Jun didn’t reply, he just kissed the top of my head softly.
Chapter 17 Final
I had managed to sneak out of the ceremony hall with Sho after our photo session, and we hurriedly made our way to the shore. Sho had left behind his jacket, tie and shoes, while I left behind my veil and gloves.
"The sand won’t ruin the dress, right?" Sho asked as we walked across the beach. I shrugged.
"It’ll wash out right? I’m not too worried." I said with a smile, taking Sho’s hand. We sat down by the water and looked out at the moon’s reflection on the ocean.
"I would have never seen myself here four years ago..." Sho said quietly, looking over at me. I nodded in agreement. We finally had a moment of silence together and it wasn’t anything else but perfect. Sho leaned over and brushed my hair from my face. He kissed my lips softly, his hands gently on my neck. I put my hands around his neck, bringing him closer to me.
It was a new and welcome feeling, being able to be together without the fear of being seen.
"See! I told you they were here!" Aiba’s voice rang out over the beach. Sho and I pulled away from each other and started to laugh. Sho kissed me quickly again before everyone came closer.
"Didn’t you ever think they wanted to be alone?" Nino called after Aiba in annoyance.
"They have a whole week coming up to be alone! And I want to play with them before they go!" Aiba replied back. Everyone had left their jackets, ties and shoes behind, just like Sho had. Aiba had his dress pants rolled up to his knees and announced that he was going to make a sand castle. Ohno and Nino had started pushing each other, seeing who would fall into the water first and Jun sat down next to Sho quietly. I don’t think I had ever laughed so much in one night than this one. Jun had given into Aiba’s pleas about helping him with the sand castle and Ohno was busy finding all sorts of shells and excitedly showing Nino. Sho had gotten up after Aiba had begged him to help with the castle, leaving me and Jun.
"Minako... could we walk for a bit?" I heard Jun’s soft voice ask me. Slightly taken aback, I nodded and stood up, brushing sand off the back of my dress.
"Sho-kun, we’ll be right back." Jun told Sho as we passed by him. Being slightly preoccupied, Sho nodded and went back to helping Aiba. Jun and I walked silently down the beach shore until everyone’s voices disappeared. I wasn’t exactly nervous being with Jun, maybe a bit anxious. I looked over to him as he walked quietly with his hands in his pockets.
"Jun?" I whispered quietly. Jun stopped and looked at me with a slightly dazed look.
"Minako... I really am happy for you... you know that, right?" Jun asked softly. I smiled happily and nodded.
"Of course... we both know that." I said quietly, stepping forward and taking his arm in mine. Jun smiled slightly as we began to walk down the shore again, looking at the stars.
"To be honest, Minako... I can’t help but to be jealous along with that happiness." Jun said quietly with a slight frown. I looked up at him worriedly.
"What?" I whispered.
"You’re the one that I wanted for myself... it sounds selfish, huh?" he said smiling weakly. I swallowed nervously. I didn’t expect this.
"Jun... what do you want me to say?" I asked quietly after a moments’ pause. Jun turned towards me and gently swiped a strand of hair from my face.
"Nothing." he whispered with a smile. I looked at him in confusion. What was he trying to get at?
"Jun... I don’t understand." I replied slowly. Jun nodded.
"For almost five years after we’d been together... I finally realized what I wanted but... I lost it... I lost you." Jun said softly, his dark eyes serious. I blinked my tears away and hugged him tightly around his waist. At first Jun was tense as I stuck to him, but after a moment, I felt him relax and pet the back of my head softly.
"You never lost me, Jun... we just moved on." I mumbled. Jun held me tightly and rested his head on top of mine.
"I’m glad, Minako-chan..." he said softly. As I stayed in Jun’s arms for several minutes, there was nothing that arose between us.
"Next time... I won’t let you go so easily." Jun said suddenly as we pulled away from each other. I smiled up at him.
"I’d like to see that." I said tauntingly. Jun smiled and laughed and suggested that we return to the others. We walked slowly, arm in arm, in silence while gazing at the stars. Having that brief talk with Jun, I knew finally that he would truly be okay... maybe that was the reason he told me what he was feeling... to close the book on our relationship for good. I glanced at his moonlit profile and smiled, Jun was not one to open up like he just did. I had seen a rare side of him... and I was flattered.
As we returned, Ohno and Nino had joined in on the castle with Aiba, while Sho stood back giving orders.
"Sho-kun, I found your bride wandering... keep tabs on her, would you?" Jun said sarcastically. Sho turned around and caught me in a hug, smiling brightly.
"Minako-chan? What’d I tell you about that?" he said quietly as he held me close. I laughed and leaned my head close to his.
"I love you." I whispered softly so only Sho could hear. Sho looked back at me with nothing but love in his eyes. He then pulled me close and kissed me again, but this was much more deep and emotional than ever before. Perhaps it was the influence of the starry, moonlit night or perhaps just myself being a hopeless romantic... but it was the most perfect kiss we had ever had.
Nino rolled his eyes and turned his head away with a slightly embarrassed smirk, Ohno looked on with an astonished smile and Aiba started to laugh happily, but Jun smacked the top of his head and told him to be quiet. We all stayed out on the beach for a good part of the night, talking, laughing and just doing what we do best.
Then, I realized I had reached my goal. Wasn’t this what Aiba had been telling me about when I got back from my first visit here? The perfect picture he had described to me. The perfect picture I made my goal. I looked over to Sho next to me, laughing at Jun, who was trying, and failing, at building a new castle. Sho’s hand was in mine and no one minded. I smiled out at the sparkling ocean and knew that this was truly a picture perfect scene that would last forever.
What first started out as my confusing and highly emotional love situation... had turned out in the end, to be nothing but a pathway to my one love.
"Just one person in the entire world
I've chosen you
Because if I'm with you, no matter what the future is like
It'll be shining always."
~ Arashi "One Love"
End
Jun scowled at me and if I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn he wanted to slap me.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked roughly. I shook my head and tried to take deep breaths, I felt like I was choking.
"Those two... people out there! They were fi- fighting and saying these, these things! That’s how everyone ends up! I knew it!" I rambled quickly, holding onto Jun’s arms to keep from fainting. Jun looked at me like I was crazy.
"Minako! Seriously..." he growled angrily. He took me over to one of the chairs and sat me down roughly. Jun then knelt in front of me and took my frightened face in his hands, forcing me to look at his glowering stare.
"Are you seriously going to do this now? Because if you are, I’m going to have to hit you... and I don’t want to." Jun threatened me. I looked him with my eyes huge.
"What? Why?" I whispered. Jun rolled his eyes at me.
"Because you’re being a spazz again, Minako! Look at what you’re doing! You’re saying that some couple you don’t even know, makes you want to call this off!" Jun said fiercely, his face softening a little as I began to cry again.
"But... what if Sho-kun and I-"
"You won’t, that’s the point. Now if it was me and you... then you might have to be worried... but it’s you and Sho-kun. A year later and you’re still together, right? What were we? Four, five months?" Jun said softly and a little annoyed. I swallowed my remaining tears and fell forward, hugging Jun around the neck tightly. I hated how I could get so easily panicked over nothing. If Jun wasn’t there... I don’t know what I would have done. As he hugged me back, I could breath again and my panic spell eased.
"Jun... what do I do now?" I mumbled through my last tears. Jun pulled away from me and smirked.
"You... are not going to leave one of my best friends at the altar. And if you do... then I’ll just have to marry you myself, so we can end up like that couple you saw out in the hall." Jun said with an evil smirk. I laughed tearfully again and hugged Jun once more. What he told me made complete sense. I was stupid to think Sho and I would end up like those two people out in the hall. We were different...
Jun had left me to get dressed when Hisa, Yuko, Satoko, Aya, Ayeka and my mother came in soon after my panic attack. I had to redo my makeup due to the crying I had done, which upset Ayeka. I still was a bit shaken up, but when I finally put on the wedding dress... it all seemed to go away. I must have stood in front of the mirror for nearly ten minutes just staring at myself. Everyone was crying behind me, mumbling how beautiful I looked and my young assistants wishing they would look that perfect for their wedding.
Even Ayeka, who had originally told me to go with the more modern, snug fitting dresses instead of my fluffier, traditional style, had nothing but comments and praises. My veil had gone on last, then my elbow high gloves, along with the tiara that Aya had given me from her wedding. That was the moment where I started to tear up again. After four years of fighting my feelings for Sho-kun, here I was, five years later, getting married.
Our ceremony was held outside on the beach, and I had secretly gone barefoot. As I stepped outside at the beginning of the aisle with my father at my side, it turned into a dream. I looked straight ahead down the aisle towards Sho, who seemed to hiding his nervousness just as I was, and he gave me a smile and a wink. The ocean behind him was in sunset, casting everyone in oranges and pinks. As the music started, my father had to jerk my arm slightly to get me out of my daze. I tried my best not to laugh as everyone awed and quietly complimented me. Aiba, Jun, Ohno and Nino sat in the front row next to Ayeka, Aya, Hisa, Yuko and Satoko. Aiba was trying his best not to cry, along with Jun, but he would never admit that, and Nino and Ohno gave me a perfectly synchronized thumbs up, along with dorky grins. My father kissed me on the cheek, then went to sit down.
Sho stood in front of me with his hand out. I took it and smiled tearfully at him.
"Don’t cry." he said in a teasing whisper. I laughed quietly and nodded.
"Promise." I whispered as we both faced the altar.
Chapter 16
"I didn’t cry!" Jun exclaimed over the music and loud laughter.
"Yeah you did! You asked me if I had any tissues!" Aiba loudly called out Jun. Jun and Aiba continued to argue back and forth while Sho and I made our way around the tables to greet the guests and thank them for coming, and we also found several people that neither of us knew.
"I heard you had a breakdown." Sho said quietly in my ear as we passed the tables. I smiled and looked at him.
"Just a slight one... luckily Jun was there." I admitted. Sho took my hand tightly and kissed it.
"I know, he told me after he was kicked out of your dressing room." Sho said with a smile. We passed a very crowded table with Nino standing at the head, he had his cards fanned out across the table and was asking a guest to pick one. I had a feeling Nino would be showing off his magic sometime during the night. Ohno had found his place with several older guests talking about where Ohno went to fish and what types of gear he used. Sho and I passed by our parent’s table and came face to face with none other than Johnny Kitagawa-san and his sister. I had never seen Johnny-san in person my entire life until now, so I was quite shocked. Sho and I bowed and Johnny-san congratulated us with a hint of "not letting this marriage spoil one of his boys’ future". He went on to tell us how he would like to stay longer, but he had other business to attend to and just dropped by to congratulate us.
We watched Johnny-san and his sister make their way through the crowd towards the door. Sho had started talking to one of his relatives, but I continued to watch Johnny-san curiously. I had noticed that Aya was standing in his path. Aya turned her head slightly towards Johnny-san and with a smile, both bowed their heads to each other. As Johnny-san passed through the doors, Aya had a glimmer of sadness in her aged eyes. I had never asked Aya what happened between her and Johnny-san... but I guess by the look in her eye, Aya had made a decision long ago that she still regretted.
"Minako-chan? You’re spacing out already?" Sho’s voice broke through my daydream and I smiled at him, shaking my head.
Sho and I sat down at the head table next to Aiba and Jun, who had switched their topic to some television show. A ringing of a wine glass echoed the room and everyone went silent, looking over to Aya. She stood up and bowed.
"A little over a year ago... Minako-chan opened up to me with a very serious problem... a very complicated and somewhat familiar situation to me. She was confused... and I was the only one she turned to for help. She was undecided in her future, she had never thought about her future until then. My advice to her was to follow what she wanted, what her heart wanted. She listened to me... and now, here she is. Minako-chan... Sakurai-kun, I wish the most of luck to you. Cheers." Aya said with a smile as she held her glass up to Sho and I. Everyone cheered and drank their wine. Aya’s speech had made me cry again. I truly admired Aya for what she did and the advice she gave me. If I had never opened up to her, I might have been in a much worse position... she had saved me from making the same mistake she did. Aiba wanted to do a speech next, but he had already broken down again. So Jun took his place.
"...Sho-kun... what you are doing now... is what I wanted to do four years ago... however, it would have never worked out as it had today. Sho-kun, don’t let her go. Minako-chan, I’m glad I was there for you..." Jun ended with a slightly quivery voice. Sho and I looked up at Jun in awe. He had said it perfectly. Shortly after we finished the toast, mine and Sho’s first dance was up next. The lights dimmed and a blue light lit up the room, making it almost ghostly like. I didn’t know what song it was because I had left it up to Sho. We stood in the middle of the room, all eyes on us, waiting for the music. And once I heard the piano, I knew what it was.
"Be With You?" I whispered as Sho took my hand. He nodded with a smile.
"Ohno-kun chose it... I couldn’t find one that I liked." Sho whispered back, resting his head on my shoulder.
"Isn’t it a bit... arrogant, to use your own song?" I asked quietly with a smile. Sho laughed quietly and didn’t respond. I loved his choice. I couldn’t have found a more perfect song. We stayed silent through the rest of the song, until Sho quietly sang the last two lines.
"Soshite boku wa kimi no motoni... soshite itsumo kimi totomoni." I started to laugh along with Sho, because he purposely made his voice unnecessarily deep and made his eyes cross as he looked in my eyes. As the guests cheered, Sho and I kissed yet again, both of us smiling happily.
I found out soon enough that Be With You wasn’t the only Arashi song Sho had chosen. Throughout the night I heard Fight Song, Blue, Love So Sweet and I think I even heard Niji, special request by Nino, of course. I danced with everyone that night, even though I did have to drag Nino and Ohno out. Aiba was always on the dance floor with Sho and I and Jun sat back in the audience, watching in amusement. Once there was another slower song, I walked over to Jun and took his hand.
"Why are you dancing with me?" he asked in annoyance and I pulled him out onto the floor. I put my arms around Jun’s neck and smiled up at him.
"Because you haven’t danced all night with me. Now, just enjoy it." I said firmly. He smiled slightly and put his arms around my waist. I closed my eyes and sighed. "Thank you... Jun." I whispered. Jun didn’t reply, he just kissed the top of my head softly.
Chapter 17 Final
I had managed to sneak out of the ceremony hall with Sho after our photo session, and we hurriedly made our way to the shore. Sho had left behind his jacket, tie and shoes, while I left behind my veil and gloves.
"The sand won’t ruin the dress, right?" Sho asked as we walked across the beach. I shrugged.
"It’ll wash out right? I’m not too worried." I said with a smile, taking Sho’s hand. We sat down by the water and looked out at the moon’s reflection on the ocean.
"I would have never seen myself here four years ago..." Sho said quietly, looking over at me. I nodded in agreement. We finally had a moment of silence together and it wasn’t anything else but perfect. Sho leaned over and brushed my hair from my face. He kissed my lips softly, his hands gently on my neck. I put my hands around his neck, bringing him closer to me.
It was a new and welcome feeling, being able to be together without the fear of being seen.
"See! I told you they were here!" Aiba’s voice rang out over the beach. Sho and I pulled away from each other and started to laugh. Sho kissed me quickly again before everyone came closer.
"Didn’t you ever think they wanted to be alone?" Nino called after Aiba in annoyance.
"They have a whole week coming up to be alone! And I want to play with them before they go!" Aiba replied back. Everyone had left their jackets, ties and shoes behind, just like Sho had. Aiba had his dress pants rolled up to his knees and announced that he was going to make a sand castle. Ohno and Nino had started pushing each other, seeing who would fall into the water first and Jun sat down next to Sho quietly. I don’t think I had ever laughed so much in one night than this one. Jun had given into Aiba’s pleas about helping him with the sand castle and Ohno was busy finding all sorts of shells and excitedly showing Nino. Sho had gotten up after Aiba had begged him to help with the castle, leaving me and Jun.
"Minako... could we walk for a bit?" I heard Jun’s soft voice ask me. Slightly taken aback, I nodded and stood up, brushing sand off the back of my dress.
"Sho-kun, we’ll be right back." Jun told Sho as we passed by him. Being slightly preoccupied, Sho nodded and went back to helping Aiba. Jun and I walked silently down the beach shore until everyone’s voices disappeared. I wasn’t exactly nervous being with Jun, maybe a bit anxious. I looked over to him as he walked quietly with his hands in his pockets.
"Jun?" I whispered quietly. Jun stopped and looked at me with a slightly dazed look.
"Minako... I really am happy for you... you know that, right?" Jun asked softly. I smiled happily and nodded.
"Of course... we both know that." I said quietly, stepping forward and taking his arm in mine. Jun smiled slightly as we began to walk down the shore again, looking at the stars.
"To be honest, Minako... I can’t help but to be jealous along with that happiness." Jun said quietly with a slight frown. I looked up at him worriedly.
"What?" I whispered.
"You’re the one that I wanted for myself... it sounds selfish, huh?" he said smiling weakly. I swallowed nervously. I didn’t expect this.
"Jun... what do you want me to say?" I asked quietly after a moments’ pause. Jun turned towards me and gently swiped a strand of hair from my face.
"Nothing." he whispered with a smile. I looked at him in confusion. What was he trying to get at?
"Jun... I don’t understand." I replied slowly. Jun nodded.
"For almost five years after we’d been together... I finally realized what I wanted but... I lost it... I lost you." Jun said softly, his dark eyes serious. I blinked my tears away and hugged him tightly around his waist. At first Jun was tense as I stuck to him, but after a moment, I felt him relax and pet the back of my head softly.
"You never lost me, Jun... we just moved on." I mumbled. Jun held me tightly and rested his head on top of mine.
"I’m glad, Minako-chan..." he said softly. As I stayed in Jun’s arms for several minutes, there was nothing that arose between us.
"Next time... I won’t let you go so easily." Jun said suddenly as we pulled away from each other. I smiled up at him.
"I’d like to see that." I said tauntingly. Jun smiled and laughed and suggested that we return to the others. We walked slowly, arm in arm, in silence while gazing at the stars. Having that brief talk with Jun, I knew finally that he would truly be okay... maybe that was the reason he told me what he was feeling... to close the book on our relationship for good. I glanced at his moonlit profile and smiled, Jun was not one to open up like he just did. I had seen a rare side of him... and I was flattered.
As we returned, Ohno and Nino had joined in on the castle with Aiba, while Sho stood back giving orders.
"Sho-kun, I found your bride wandering... keep tabs on her, would you?" Jun said sarcastically. Sho turned around and caught me in a hug, smiling brightly.
"Minako-chan? What’d I tell you about that?" he said quietly as he held me close. I laughed and leaned my head close to his.
"I love you." I whispered softly so only Sho could hear. Sho looked back at me with nothing but love in his eyes. He then pulled me close and kissed me again, but this was much more deep and emotional than ever before. Perhaps it was the influence of the starry, moonlit night or perhaps just myself being a hopeless romantic... but it was the most perfect kiss we had ever had.
Nino rolled his eyes and turned his head away with a slightly embarrassed smirk, Ohno looked on with an astonished smile and Aiba started to laugh happily, but Jun smacked the top of his head and told him to be quiet. We all stayed out on the beach for a good part of the night, talking, laughing and just doing what we do best.
Then, I realized I had reached my goal. Wasn’t this what Aiba had been telling me about when I got back from my first visit here? The perfect picture he had described to me. The perfect picture I made my goal. I looked over to Sho next to me, laughing at Jun, who was trying, and failing, at building a new castle. Sho’s hand was in mine and no one minded. I smiled out at the sparkling ocean and knew that this was truly a picture perfect scene that would last forever.
What first started out as my confusing and highly emotional love situation... had turned out in the end, to be nothing but a pathway to my one love.
"Just one person in the entire world
I've chosen you
Because if I'm with you, no matter what the future is like
It'll be shining always."
~ Arashi "One Love"
End