Epilogue
Love stories are the romance of life. The essence of the heart, the pounding and the aches we feel deep in our bodies. Love is sometimes hated, feared, needed, scoffed at- But you cannot deny love exists. Many love stories don't end happily. Yet in those rare love stories....so perfect, yet so heartbreaking....the love is carried on to the ends of time.....through to the old and the after life.
Sometimes a love story can end with a swift kiss and a marriage proposal with two kids and a cottage on the hill. Sometimes, they end in a sweet agony, tears and death. Sometimes, they end in a yearning that carries on through the years, the most devastating of them all.
Yet this love story was different. It was reality.......a real life love story, all brought together with the age old question of coincidence....or fate.
This love story was unravelled by a young girl, eleven years old who came to understand her parent's love....and their survival through the years.
If this is Love...
Then why do I Fear it?
A smile. A touch, a glance, a kiss. White dresses....hands joined....tears and laughter....a bouquet....an aisle....
If this is Love....
Then why does it feel forbidden?
Love...deep into the moonlight....a life, born new....happiness....
If this is Love
Then why do I feel like dying?
~
13 Years Later~" Mother! I asked for grape juice, not orange!" Kasia yelled, stubbornly. " I hate orange juice!"
Kasia's mother rolled her eyes. " Can you just drink you're juice and get to school? Please?"
Kasia shook her head. " I. Want. Grape Juice!!"
Kasia's brother waddled into the kitchen, his eyes intent on the butter knife on the table. Without his mother seeing him, the little boy grabbed the knife with pudgy little hands and began to wack the chair with it.
" No, no, Kaito, that's dangerous!" Mother cried, her eyes widening as she raced over to the pudgy little boy and grabbed the knife out of his hands. Instantly, the boy's eyes watered and he began to bawl.
" Oh come on, Kaito-" Mother started, but then the milk that was heating on the stove boiled over the rim and Kasia began to scream, " Orange Juice! Can't I just get some damned orange juice over here?"
" Kasia!"
The chaos in the kitchen halted....except for the milk of course, but that was unstoppable. Kasia turned slowly, her eyes going up and up until she saw an angry amber eyes and then she looked down quickly. Even Kaito stopped crying and stared up at his angry father.
" Kasia! Get your own juice and I don't want to hear you swear again. Kaito! Why are you playing with that knife?" Her father bellowed
" Me daddy!" Kaito squealed, reaching for the knife again, but his mother pulled it out of reach.
" I don't think so, Kaito!" His father growled and picked Kaito up and held him up, holding him up to the ceiling. Kaito began to squeal and his father chuckled and his mother smiled softly.
Kasia watched with angry eyes and grabbed her bag. " I'm leaving for school!" She snapped. Her mother turned to her and asked, " It's snowing, wear your winter jack-"
" I'm leaving!" She said loudly and stomped out the door and slammed it. Walking out onto the snow covered street, she mumbled, " All they ever do is cuddle Kaito like he's the only kid they ever wanted. Daddy's little boy, Mother's picture perfect son. How about me, huh?"
She reached school pretty fast, for it was only a few blocks away. It was pretty cold out and it was snowing, but only lightly. She stomped onto the junior high school's grounds and met her friends, Jiko and Tarika who looked like they were fighting over a piece of paper.
Jiko and Tarika were her best friends. Jiko was slightly...weird, if you can call him that and Tarika was intelligent, always getting the best marks in class. Even though she was slightly....trend based.
When Kasia had reached them, she heard their conversation.
" I just want to see it again!"
" It's real, Tarika! We got in!"
Kasia rose an eyebrow. " Got in where?"
Jiko turned around, grinning broadly. " Well, you know what I wanted to tell you earlier, Kasia? We got in!!"
Kasia looked at him, warily. " Got in where?"
" The RADIO! MIST98! Remember, we entered the contest and we get to be guest DJ's!! They called me last night! I was trying to call you all last night, but you're brother kept on picking up the phone and slobbering on it...." Jiko sweat dropped.
Kasia's eyes were widening. " WE GOT IN?" She screeched.
Tarika and Jiko nodded and Kasia let out a shout of joy. " YES! When is it?"
" This Saturday..." Jiko said. " At two o'clock!"
Kasia paused in mid shout. " Oh no."
Tarika asked, " What is it?"
" I can't come! It's my parent's anniversary that day!" Kasia said desperately.
" NO! You have to come!" Jiko yelled.
" I can't..." Kasia said sadly. " Why do my parents always ruin everything for me?"
She walked away to the washrooms, leaving Jiko and Tarika staring after her.
*************
" God, will you two stop smooching?" Kasia mumbled, bitterly.
Her mother broke away from her father and looked at her, concernedly. " Are you okay, dear?"
" YES, I'M OKAY! Why do you care, anyways?" Kasia spit out.
Her mother rose an eyebrow at her father and Kasia yelled, " I SAW THAT!"
Kasia's father sat down on a chair and said gruffly, " Kid, tell us what's wrong."
" I'm not a kid."
" Fine then, little girl-"
" I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!"
" Then what are you? A boy?" Kasia's father rose an eyebrow and Kasia flushed, angrily.
" Dad, just get off my case, will you?" Kasia muttered.
" Not until you tell us what's wrong. We have to go your uncle's house soon, anyways, so tell us quickly." Kasia's father said.
Kasia looked at the time. One thirty....God dammit. " I won a contest. I got to be a guest DJ on MIST98. But because of your anniversary, I can't go."
There was silence and Kasia looked up, curiously. Her mother's expression looked rather shocked and her father looked startled.
" Did you say...MIST98?" Kasia's mother asked, her voice rather breathy.
" Yah..." Kasia trailed off.
Kasia's father looked at her mother and they both nodded in a solemn agreement. Kasia's father turned back to Kasia. " Look...you can go. But we're coming with you."
" What??" Kasia yelped. " I CAN GO??"
Kasia's father nodded and Kasia squealed. " YES!" She jumped into her father's arms and Kasia's mother laughed happily.
She was going to MIST98!
****************
" Did your parents really have to come?" Jiko asked Kasia under his breath.
Kasia was jumping excitedly in her chair. " Who cares? We're going to be guest DJ's! Do you know what you're going to say?"
Jiko shook his head. " I'm probably going to choke up and say something stupid..." Jiko trailed off sadly.
Kasia smiled, cheerfully at him. " No you won't! You'll say something really smart and cool! I know you will!"
Jiko grinned at her and Tarika growled. " How long are they going to take?"
Suddenly a man loomed in front of them. " Well, hello kiddies! Welcome to MIST98 the best radio station in town! Are you kids ready?"
Kasia jumped up, joyfully. " Yes! Lets go!"
The man grinned. " Well, let me introduce myself! I am the oldest man you'll ever meet and I've been working at MIST98 for over...20 years now, I think."
Tarika's eyebrows rose. " You don't look old," She remarked.
The DJ shrugged his shoulders. " It's called a mirage..." The DJ swept a hand over his face and made a goofy, wrinkled expression. All three of them laughed as the DJ stuck out his hand. " I'm DJ Bingo. And who may you be?"
" I'm Kasia Li...." Kasia said, smiling as he shook her hand. Tarika and Jiko also introduced themselves and the DJ snuck a look at Kasia's parents. Kasia's mother looked as if she was in a trance as she stared at DJ Bingo and at the music studio and her father was just holding her mother around her waist as if he was her support line.
" Are those your parents, kiddo?" DJ Bingo asked.
" Uh...yah!" Kasia said. " It's their anniversary....why they wanted to come here, I don't know!"
" Introduce me then!" The DJ said interestedly as Kasia went up to her father.
" Syaoran Li..." She said and then pointed at her mother. " And that's my mom, Sakura Li. Or she was Sakura Kinomoto."
The DJ grinned. " Since it is your anniversary, do you guys want to say a special something on the air? You can choose a song too!"
Kasia's mother cleared her throat. " If we could....I hope that it won't be too much trouble for you."
The DJ shook his head. " Absolutely not! What song?"
Her mother tilted her head. " I'm not sure if you might have this song....but I want to hear Is This Love, by Deven Keldron."
DJ Bingo stared at Kasia's mother for a moment and Kasia felt like smacking her forehead. Trust her mother to act all old to the coolest guy in the world. Her cheeks flushing, she looked up to see DJ Bingo's reaction. A slow smile was spreading over his face.
" Yeah...we have that song. Quite an old song, you know. But we have it." DJ Bingo said softly.
Kasia's mother gripped her father tightly. " Thank you."
The DJ nodded at her. " At your request. Alright, kids, into the station we go! We're on in five minutes! All of you will have a minute of air time to say whatever you want to say and you can choose whatever song you want! Alright?"
" Alrigggght!" They all cheered. Kasia turned to her parents and was surprised to see there was tears in her mothers eyes. She stared at her mother, shocked, but she couldn't say anything as she was bustled into the studio and given a pair of headphones.
Why was her mother crying?
" Weeeeeelcooome back to MIST98, people and today, YES TODAY is the special day we have every year where people in your hometown are picked to be guest DJ's..."
Kasia and her friends had a fun time answering all the questions and Kasia made a speech about body image on her turn to speak. They all chose popular songs though and Kasia made a slight wish that her parents could be more modern. They were always so tied up with those olden songs...who the hell was Deven whatshisname?
As Tarika's song was being played on the radio, DJ Bingo turned to her parents. " Ready for your time?" The DJ asked.
Kasia's mother nodded and she sat down on one of the chairs and Kasia's father sat down on the other. Kaisa's mother carefully put on the headphones as a man behind a glass window began to count them down. The light flashed as the DJ welcomed them back in.
" And today, we also have a married couple with us, who would like to share their happiness with the world! Welcome, Syaoran and Sakura Li! Sakura, you have a few words for us, don't you?"
Kasia's mother nodded and took a deep breath. Kasia watched her mother push back her short auburn bangs and those emerald eyes, so like her own, blinked away tears. Her father watched her intently, his serious amber eyes softening and Kasia felt entranced as her mother began to speak.
" Some people may not know this...but love starts in strange places. So many years ago....I was a guest DJ. DJ Bingo was there too....and my name was Cherry Blossom. I asked for a song, a sweet song to be played...and someone called in, asking who Cherry Blossom was. DJ Bingo decided to play matchmaker and get us to meet....but instead, we exchanged letters. Letters and letters....I fell in love with a mysterious man with the name of Little Wolf....not knowing that he was real and was in my own hometown. He was my best friend's photographer."
The whole studio was silent, gaping at Sakura Li as she continued. " I just wanted to thank MIST98 for....literally giving me happiness and joy. You brought my little wolf to me...and for that I thank you. I'd like to play a song, the song that had brought us together. Is This Love, by Deven Keldron."
" Those few years ago, I said these exact words.'Ever since I was a child , I heard that song. My mother used to sing it , and now I listen to that song anytime I feel lonely , or scared. I used to think that if I played that song , my soul mate would come and chase away my loneliness. It never happened , but I will never give up hope!' And I never did. And my soul mate did come. All I did was believe."
There was silence after her words and all DJ Bingo did was press the button that said play and the soft tunes of the song came on. Kasia and her friends stared at her parents, wonderingly.
DJ Bingo got to his feet as Syaoran and Sakura got up as well. " I-I remember you..." DJ Bingo said awed. " I remember you! You came and gave a letter to me...and I was your messenger for awhile. It was so strange....." DJ Bingo shook his head. " I can't believe it."
Jiko gaped at Kasia's mother. " You used to be a guest DJ too?"
Sakura smiled. " Yah...hard to believe, isn't it?"
Syaoran smiled. " I can't believe it too. When my daughter said she was going to be a guest DJ....it was shocking. Sakura knew that we had to come and just say thank you. So thank you. For all you did."
DJ Bingo grinned widely. " You two actually stuck together! Had a child together-"
" Two!" Sakura broke in, smiling
" Two!" DJ Bingo gasped. " I thought....I thought it would be just a fling, you two would break up and that's the end of it. You actually got married..."
" Love works in strange ways..." Sakura trailed off, thoughtfully.
DJ Bingo just shook his head. " You two look great. I can't believe it. It's such a miracle, such a coincidence...."
Syaoran shrugged. " I'm just glad it happened. Thank you for letting us be here. We'd better go though-"
" No, stay!" DJ Bingo insisted, but Syaoran shook his head.
" We'd better leave. Thank you again, DJ Bingo. We'll stop by some other time."
They all walked out of the door but while they were all piled in her parent's car, Kasia dared to speak. " Was that...did that really happen, Mom?"
Sakura smiled as she pulled out of the parking lot. " Yes dear. That's exactly what happened."
" That's so romantic!" Tarika squealed.
Jiko shook his head. " That's too many coincidences."
Sakura shrugged. " Maybe it was fate."
Kasia stared at her parents, and shook her head. " You have one hell of a story to tell me when we get home!" Kasia said, crossing her arms.
Sakura and Syaoran laughed. " Amen," Syaoran said, raising his fist.
They all laughed and Sakura drove them all to a nearby skating rink. They all hustled inside to rent skates and grab cups of hot chocolate. Kasia pulled on her skates and jumped on the ice. " Let's go!" She said, cheering.
Her parents stepped on the ice, soon followed by Jiko and Tarika. Sakura spun around in circles, catching the snow flakes on her palm and blowing them away.
Kasia skated up to her mother and stared up at her. " Mother, I'm sorry I'm being so rude to you all of them time. Really, I am."
Sakura smiled at her warmly. " It's alright, honey."
Kasia grinned at her. " I never heard that song before, Is this Love. Can you sing it for me?"
Sakura shook her head, looking mortified. " I hate singing. I can't sing at all! Only your Auntie Tomoyo can sing."
Kasia pouted. " Please? Your mother sung it for you! Sing it for me!"
Sakura looked at Kasia for a long while before smiling. " Alright...but don't complain when you hear my voice!" She warned, laughing. Kasia grinned as Sakura coughed and began to sing, her voice soft and quiet.
If this is Love...
Then why do I Fear it?
If this is Love....
Then why is it forbidden?
If this is Love
Then why do I feel like dying?
If this is Love...
Then why do I feel on fire?
My heart beats....I ache for your touch
And I know right now, right here
This is love.
Kasia stared at her mother as her mother finished singing. " Pass that onto your own daughter one day..." Sakura said, smiling.
Kasia nodded, numbly, as her father skated up to Sakura and kissed her softly under the falling snow. She watched them hold each other closely, protecting each other from the biting cold. His hands came up to stroke her cheeks and Kasia turned away, smiling softly.
That is love.
~Fini~