PART III: 5 Centimeters Per Second

The final part! I hope you enjoy.

"My name is Takenouchi Sora and I'm from Kyoto,"
"It's so nice to finally meet you, Sora-chan,"
She smiled politely in response.
"Yamato has only said the nicest things about you," he said, chuckling. When he laughed, the wrinkles in his face deeply protruded. He looked very old, but yet, very friendly and kind. It made her feel at home – even though she was meeting her future father-in-law.

Yamato and Sora had dated for six years before he finally asked to marry her.
He proposed to her on her birthday a year ago. He had asked her out to a very nice dinner and proposed at the table. He had given her a ring with a small ruby cut into a heart. It fit snugly onto her slim ring finger.
They had since been planning the wedding together, which was coming up this summer.

This was the first time she had ever met his father. She still had to meet his mother and his younger brother; Yamato's parents were separated, with Yamato's father raising Yamato and his mother raising his younger brother, Takeru. She had only heard good things about Takeru from Yamato. He apparently was already married. His wife is a sweet girl from Tokyo named Hikari. Sora wasn't sure why, but that name seemed very familiar.

-x-x-x-

Taichi got off of the train quickly, practically jumping onto the platform.
He walked faster than he normally would, as he was in a hurry.
He was rushing to go home and see Mimi.

After graduating high school, he attended a college back in Tokyo where he met Mimi.
Taichi was studying international affairs in hopes of becoming a diplomat, and Mimi was studying journalism. The two had met in an electives class – Intro to Creative Writing. Taichi managed to graduate from that college, but Mimi soon dropped out so she could attend a nearby cooking school instead. Taichi's father was critical of that decision, but his mother was supportive. His little sister, Hikari, didn't think it was a problem either. She thought Mimi could have a cooking show on TV; she was charismatic and very pretty. People would love her.
Taichi had actually managed to stay in touch with Meiko during all of this time. She didn't think it was a problem that Mimi had dropped out of university; her only worry was whether Taichi was happy with her. He assured her that he was.

Taichi ran to the apartment he shared with Mimi.
He was so impatient that he couldn't wait for the elevator, settling for the stairs instead. When he finally reached the floor that he and Mimi lived on, he ran to their front door, struggling to open it with his keys. Mimi eventually had to open the door for him.
"Welcome home," she said.
"Oh, Mimi," Taichi said, sweating.
"Why are you sweating?" Mimi said, giggling.
Taichi walked into their home, closing the apartment door behind them. He wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, tightly embracing her. "Happy birthday," he said, snuggling his face into her neck.
Mimi hugged him back, wondering why he was being so affectionate. "Thank you," she said.
"I wish I got you an actual present this year, but honestly-"
"-you forgot," Mimi said, interrupting him.
Taichi's face fell. "Y-yes," he admitted.
"Oh, Taichi," she backed up from him, removing herself from their embrace. "I feel like you don't take me that seriously,"
"Why would you say that?"
Mimi gave him a stern look.
"Oh," Taichi said, realizing that she was referring to the incident just now.

Mimi sighed heavily.
"Taichi,"
"Yes?"
"We're not getting any younger,"
"Yes,"
She looked intently into his eyes. Her face was so serious. "Are we going to get married?"
He was taken aback by her sudden and serious question. They had only been together for a couple of years. Why the rush? "Mimi, why are you-"
"Taichi, if you don't want to get married, then obviously I'm wasting my time here!" her voice started to crack, as tears started running down her cheeks. Both her eyes and face started turning very red. "I-I want to have kids, I want to have a ring on my finger, I want to tell my parents I'm getting married! I want that dream!"
At this point, she was sobbing. Her body was shaking, as she fell down on the floor.
Taichi rushed to comfort her, but she swatted him away.

"I think you should go,"

-x-x-x-

She stared at the empty sky above her. She stared into the vast emptiness that was full of darkness. She rested her elbows on the railing of her balcony. Her chin laid on the palms of her hands. She stared at the giant full moon hanging above her, which softly illuminated the night.

'I wonder if he's looking at this moon, too. It's so beautiful tonight.'
Lately, she had been thinking of him quite often. She wondered if it was considered being unfaithful to Yamato.
She stared at the engagement ring that snugly fit on her finger. The ruby glimmered beautifully in the moonlight.
A few weeks ago, while going through her old belongings, she found an old letter. It was addressed to a Yagami Taichi.
It was that letter that she never gave to him, all those years ago.
The one where she confessed her romantic feelings for him.

Ever since then, she had recurring dreams about him. She couldn't stop thinking about that boy.
Guilt plagued her mind; she could never recall exactly how the two stopped communicating.
She hadn't heard directly from him in years, but she heard through some mutual friends he too had relocated to Tokyo. She had heard that he had settled down with a girl he met at school. Thinking of that girl, even though she had never met her, made her chest tighten. It wasn't exactly jealousy, but she did have rather negative thoughts toward that woman – which she found rather strange, as she herself was to be married soon. It was rather hypocritical of her to have sour thoughts about that boy moving on, even though she did herself. She did occasionally have "what if?" thoughts, wondering what would've happened between her and him if neither had moved.

But she was content with the way things turned out, as she was sure this was the way things were meant to be.
She was going to start her own fashion line soon.
She had a successful, gorgeous, husband-to-be who treated her like a queen.
Recently, she and Yamato adopted an adorable pink parakeet and an adorable dog. Their home was going to be so lively soon.
Things couldn't have looked better for her.

-x-x-x-

He retreated to a friend's house that night.
It was a good friend from college. His name was Izumi Koushiro. A very intelligent man, he was very skilled with computers and coding. He recently became a data scientist at his company; although he had explained to Taichi a million times what that had meant, he still didn't quite understand.
When he explained his situation with Mimi, his friend merely chuckled.
"That sounds like Mimi,"
"I know," Taichi said, rolling his eyes.
"Why are you rolling your eyes like that? Don't you like her?"
"I guess," Taichi replied, his face looking solemn. "Honestly, after that interaction, it made me think that I don't want to marry her after all."
"Why is that?"
Taichi merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Mimi is a sweet girl. She's beautiful, funny, and very talented at cooking. You've got yourself a real star,"
"I know," Taichi said, sighing.
Koushiro raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?"
"Are you going to say anything else?"
Taichi bit his lip, wondering what else to say. "I don't know, I guess she's sweet. I think she wants too much; we're almost 30! Why does she want to get married so soon?"
Koushiro rolled his eyes this time. "Do you hear yourself? You don't want to marry the girl you've been living with for almost five years?"
"...No," Taichi replied, honestly.

Koushiro's face was full of disgust at this point.
Taichi looked naively at his friend, wondering why Koushiro was so upset with him.
"Do you and Meiko still talk?"
"Yup,"
"What does she think?"
"She thinks I'm not actually happy with her,"
"She's not wrong, is she?"
"No,"

Koushiro leaned back on his sofa. "Is it still Sora?"
Taichi had told Koushiro all about his long-distance love with Sora from long ago. He had told him everything, from meeting each other the first day she had transferred to his elementary school, to that night in the shed. He had told Koushiro about all of their letters they had exchanged back and forth. Taichi thought about it for a moment and merely nodded.
"I heard from one of your old classmates that Sora is getting married to some musician," Koushiro said, observing Taichi's facial expression.
Taichi merely smiled softly. On the inside, his heart was slowly breaking after hearing that she was to marry someone else. He wondered what kind of man he must be; he must be a good person if Sora liked him.
"You two liked each other so much but neither of you made an effort to keep the relationship going,"
Taichi merely stared.

"That seems so bizarre to me. You kept in contact with Meiko, a girl you claim to not have romantic feelings for, but stopped communicating with Sora, your childhood love. Also, you're living with a girl that you clearly don't want to marry, even though she wants to marry you. Do you have your priorities in order?"
"Definitely not," Taichi replied, laughing.
Koushiro couldn't help but break out into laughter, as well.
"If you like Mimi so much, maybe you should date her!" Taichi suggested, still laughing.
"Maybe I will,"

-x-x-x-

She woke up, lying next to her fiance.
Still a little tired, she snuggled next to his body.
"Good morning love," he sleepily whispered. He rubbed his tired, indigo eyes.
"Good morning," Sora replied, smiling.
He leaned in to kiss her, before getting up to get ready for the day.

She continued to lay in their bed, thinking about that dream she recently had.
There was a giant white field in front of her, covered in winter snow, walking hand in hand with a young boy with rustled chestnut hair.
She was shivering, so he wrapped himself around her to keep her warm.
After he leaned in to kiss her, she felt the sharp edge of an envelope in her pocket nudge her. It was a sign that she should give him the letter. But instead, she chose to keep it in her coat pocket. And when she made that decision, his body vanished. She was alone suddenly in that vast, white sea of snow.
Then she woke up.

The dream sent chills down her spine.
Wanting to distract herself, she decided to head out for the day. She was going to take a stroll around Tokyo.

-x-x-x-

He rolled over on the couch, rubbing his tired eyes.
Yawning, he thought about the dream he just had.
A young teenager again, he was walking in a field blanketed with snow, walking with a girl. She kept saying how she was cold, so he did his best to keep her warm. He wrapped a protective arm around her when suddenly, an envelope flew by them.
"You should chase after that," she suggested.
"I don't need to," he replied, leaning in to kiss her. But as he said that, she disappeared.
Right then, he woke up.

A little shaken, he decided to head out for a walk.

-x-x-x-

Sora headed to her old elementary school, which she happened to live nearby.
It was nostalgic visiting it. The cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom, covering the area in a pink flurry. It was a familiar sight to see, making her smile. She walked by a railroad crossing and then remembered.
'I made a promise with Taichi,' she thought to herself.

School children walked together towards the railroad crossing. A young boy and girl were walking together, admiring the cherry blossoms. The image of those two reminded her of her elementary days.
'We promised to see the cherry blossoms together again one day, didn't we?'

A cherry blossom petal softly fell in front of her. She decided to grab it. Gazing at the pretty petal, she began to feel a flood of memories in her mind. She remembered those late nights she stayed up writing letters to him, and waking up early in the morning upon anticipation that a letter could possibly arrive from him. "We were so childish," she giggled to herself. "I hope you're doing well," she whispered, letting the petal go.

-x-x-x-

Koushiro lived fairly close to Taichi's old elementary school.
The school where he met Sora.

He came across a familiar sight: a railroad crossing. It looked just like how he remembered it. Cherry blossom petals flew around in a flurry, as children walked home together. A smile crept across his lips, reminding him of his own childhood.
He remembered how he and Sora would always walk home together.
The promise they made as children flashed in his mind.
"Let's see the cherry blossoms again Yagami-kun,"
"Okay!"

He continued to walk across the crossing, passing by a woman.
His eyes caught beautiful orange hair amongst the pink petals floating in the wind.
Her orange hair was so unique. He had yet to find anyone else with such a beautiful shade of hair color.
'It can't be,'
His heart stopped beating as he reached the other side of the crossing.

'I just know that if I turn around now, she will too.'
He turned his face, catching a glimpse of her back before the crossing rails fell down and a train dashed by.

-x-x-x-

He quickly turned around, desperate to see her face.
The train quickly passed by, as Taichi stood, waiting.
He expected to see her face: those eyes he's dreamed of every night, that smile he's missed.
But she was no longer there.

He stood there, solemn. Somewhere deep inside, he was sure she wouldn't be there, but he foolishly hoped she would wait there anyways.
A soft gust rustled the cherry blossom petals around him.
They had made a promise once, as children, to see the cherry blossoms again.
Today that promise was fulfilled.

He considered chasing after her, possibly to catch up, but decided against it.
Another gust of wind caused an explosion of cherry blossom petals to erupt in his face; a pink flurry.
The sun shone through the sheer pink petals.

His heart felt so much lighter, no longer being anchored in the past, clinging to memories that were only fabricated by his loneliness.
She had truly moved on.
And so will he.

Accepting the fact that she was no longer stuck in the past, he smiled gently. He turned his back and continued on his way, finally at peace with himself.
He was ready to have a talk with Mimi, now.
Maybe he would even call Meiko later, and ask her to get coffee or something.