(Ophelia)

 

Koharu glanced up at me as her eyes glimmered, setting the paper on the table beside her so that it didn't land in the food and soil it. Letting her eyelids fall shut, she nodded as her vision was shrouded in black and moved her chin lower.

I was ready to start bawling under all the pressure I felt.

"One."

Shit.

As her voice rang out in a gentle, staccato melody, I needed to get my thoughts together. I reached my hand into the pocket opposite the one that previously housed the letter, swirling it around until my nails collided with a small container.

"Two."

I'm running out of time if I don't move a little quicker! Why did I only say three counts?

With slick hands, I made a couple of nanosecond-long attempts to pry open the box's top. After enough frenzied tries, it popped open until the top and bottom locked at a right angle.

"Three."

I fell off the couch onto the floor, landing perfectly on one knee at the cost of a greenish-yellow bruise later in the day. I made sure the box faced outward on my sweaty palm, shaking, inhaling.

This was probably going to go well, but the sliver of a negative prospect was constricting, binding me to the worries in my mind.

And then, the slight roughness of an exhale came from my mouth as it hinted at my pure anxiety and excitement…

It was as if time hid itself in a glacier when Koharu finally opened her eyes and gasped, and I had to keep it from seizing my throat to where I was wordless, unable to utter anything apart from a nonsensical croak.

"Koko, I know we discussed this the other day, but I want to make it official…"

I took one long gulp as we stared each other down, gazes refusing to waver.

It's obvious what I'm going to say…

"Will you marry me?"

I doubted I ever saw a bigger smile on her face than that one as I raised the diamond ring to her. It was thin and fairly conventional, but the center of the stone was gold like the metal around it. Pieces of metal snaked around in a spiral to hold it in, and a few rubies formed a rhombus.

She seemed so shocked that she couldn't respond for a moment, but she nodded as she slid the ring out of the red velvet box, placing it around a slender finger like it was the most delicate thing she ever touched.

"Of course." As if to diffuse the knotted tension, she quipped, "You're taking my name, though."

My face warred between both elated and teary contortions, even though I wanted to giggle out of sheer glee. In the end, the sadder expression prevailed. Quickly, my expression possessed the messy, snotty appearance that I only revealed in front of those I trusted the most.

Holy shit. She accepted it. Maybe that was easier than I thought.

Following that outburst of emotions, there was a loud boom like a gunshot outside. I grinned as I heard it, but Koharu jumped from her seat and halfway onto me.

Through the window, we saw fireworks colored like the full spectrum of a prism streak the sky like they belonged there naturally after a rainstorm, like liquid sunshine. Dozens of deep rumbles rang throughout the walls, and they threatened to shake and topple me over. Each rocket shot another color into the air until every inch of the sky in sight was a coated canvas, and the rainbow reflected across our faces.

Koharu looked over to me—flickering between red, blue, yellow, green—with a smile.

Thanks, Leo. I couldn't ask for anything better.

I made a subtle hand gesture towards the window, and I swore I saw a hand wave back at me near the windowsill.

"It's beautiful," Koharu said, utterly awestruck. "Did you plan it?"

Not cocky enough to wink back, I let the confidence in my voice answer when I said, "Take a guess."

After a few minutes of colorful bursts, Leo geared up for the grand finale.

Accompanying an even louder series of bangs and pows, an assortment of lights soared into the sky. With the combination of sunlight and a blinding set of fireworks shooting up like birds taking flight in a flock, it was hard to tell what shape they formed for a moment. In a few seconds, they evened out, and Koharu grinned upon the realization.

"A heart." Her voice was soft and affectionate.

I threw an arm over her to hug her from the side.

"All for you."

As the last specks of light fizzled out, we were left with a feeling of wholeness as if we needed nothing else right then. Everything was perfect. An excess would have spoiled it.

Yet some excesses only filled the cup further to leave the best available. Sure, beggars couldn't be choosers, but if there was no need to beg, pickiness was fine.

Maybe I was crazy, but I thought I saw the glossy coat of unicorn zip across the sky in front of us, leaving a trail of sparkles in its wake as its wispy tail followed it.

I had better not be hallucinating today!

"So, wifey," Koharu spoke with a giddy giggle after a long silence both inside and outside, "what's next for us?"

The joke was an obvious facade; her face was already a gorgeous, glimmering wreck.

The name made me feel warm in such a way that I wished I had proposed to her earlier to reap its benefits. I wished I had asked her the first time I brought the idea up in the nearby town, but the time wasn't right to sow the seeds of a new chapter.

Now, however, was perhaps the best I could have done.

"Wedding planning. Hair pulling," I quipped.

She poked my cheek. "It's too early to think about that!"

When she took her hand and stared at the ring, a tear slipped down her face. Noticing how it fit perfectly, she spun it around on her finger.

Thanks for getting me her measurements, future brother-in-law.

"You're right. I think we need something fun before then."

She shifted closer to embrace me harshly, ignoring part of what I was saying. Some wetness permeated my thin robe, so I stroked the back of her head. (I couldn't poke fun at her in return; there was a river heading straight for the crown of her head, converting it into a lake.)

"I love you so fucking much," she said, straining her voice as it was muffled against me. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to ask me this."

I hugged her tighter. "Koko, I love you, too. I was only scared because I didn't know what to say… didn't know if I was worthy of asking with this whole royalty system."

"I wouldn't say yes to any prince or princess. That's for sure."

She continued sobbing against me, and I cried against her, ingraining her touch and warmth into my skin to savor the moment.

"I'm so glad I can be that one for you then. We can be together for however long we're able to—whatever 'forever' turns out to be."

Not needing to say much more, she nodded. "Always."

Always.

Why spoil these tender minutes with lengthier vows when that was perfect, succinct?

I never thought all that time ago we would end up here together, but here we are, wrapped in each others' arms and declaring our love to each other as the sun rises above us. It smiles, enlightens us, and pushes us forward to become closer to each other. It's the spotlight telling us to carry on, and it shall not cease until it halts with the ends of our lives.

I met you in a dream, and I feel you in reality. The two realms were distinct yet intertwined, but it seems like the dreams faded when you became my everything.

I always promised I'd see you when I fell asleep, and you always waited for me, sitting calmly across the table to greet me with a smile.

You always brought me into your world, and I had longed for a sanctuary of my own. After everything, you found yours in the outside world, too.

Maybe we don't have that secret of ours in my dreams and the Sun Kingdom to look forward to anymore, but the abundant future is already staring us down.

To think that, one day, two people who were dissimilar at first glance would foster the greatest love was absurd to me for a while.

When the suspicions collide with the truth, however, I might say that anything is possible. If fairies and unicorns are real, then our emotions must be. The only things that are left are what are real for us, and the rest of the world can kindly fuck off.

I sniffled some against Koharu's back, inhaling her, feeling her like she was a lifeline. I couldn't prevent myself from smiling as she looked back up at me and met my eyes again while matching the same energy that my expression radiated.

When we live every day like a fantasy, I realize I never say goodbye to my sunny dreams, and they've laid right here with you all along.

 

[THE END…?]

[SYISD : Book One]