✔ | At Least We Have Forever

Final Chapter - As Long As I Have You

Riya's eyes widened at the sight that it made her gasp quietly. She covered her mouth with her hand when she saw him getting down on one knee. "Oh, my goodness! You don't mean... You asked Grandpa for ー"

Kurama nodded as he gently cut her off. "I asked his blessings for me to marry you. I have to prove myself that I'm worthy for you. I told him that I'll continue living for you so I could protect you and love you till the end. You're the best thing that I've ever had in my lifetime. You changed my life in ways I never thought possible. You made it the loveliest one to live and I would never regret having you in my life for the rest of eternity. That is, if you'll have me."

"Kurama..." was all Riya could say since her mind was still in shock. She couldn't believe she did something like that to him.

"I want to be the biggest part of your life from now until eternity. I know that if I love you forever, that love will transcend even in my next life. Whatever happens to us from now on, I want to be a part of your life. I want to be with you forever. But it would only happen if you accept me to be yours. Will you make it possible, Riya? Will you accept to be my eternity by marrying me?"

As soon as Kurama was done asking that fateful question, Riya smiled despite the tears incessantly falling from her eyes. She couldn't believe this was happening. She still thought this was a dream. That evergreen tree they were standing under held a special memory that started it all. And now, Kurama was surely determined to make another special memory that they would forever remember together.

She heaved a heavy sigh before she spoke. She tried to talk despite her voice cracking because of intense emotions welling up inside of her. "You know, I thought a day like this would never come into my life. I thought that since I shielded my heart by turning it as cold as ice, no one would save me from my sufferings. But when you came to my life, you've destroyed that impenetrable ice in my heart. You're the person who taught me how to live my life again. You've picked up the broken pieces of my heart and glued it back together. And it will always stay that way as long as I have you in my life forever. I want to be with you forever. So yes, I'll marry you, Kurama!" she answered teary eyed as she beamed a smile.

A smile that showed new hope to live for.

Kurama's smile was priceless after that as he stood up and took Riya's hand. He pulled the sparkling diamond ring out of the box and slid it onto Riya's ring finger. But before Riya could say anything, she was pulled to a tight hug followed by a passionate kiss that she knew she would never get tired of feeling for the rest of her life and beyond. The white snow continued to fall and the night wind blew rather cold but it didn't even matter to them.

The kiss ended when they felt breathless and they looked at each other lovingly. That lovely and memorable night was surely something she would remember forever.

"You really have a lot of surprises in your sleeves, huh?" she commented with a sweet smile.

"Didn't I tell you before? I wouldn't mind showing you a lot of surprises if that would make you smile. And I'm glad I haven't failed to do so," Kurama said.

That sweet moment, though, was interrupted with another lovely surprise from afar. She gasped as she saw fireworks explode to the slightly snowy night sky. As she looked at them with a smile, memories regarding the fireworks flooded her mind. But all in all, she was glad to see one thing made her realize a lot of things in her life. It made her realize that she had to live her life as beautiful as the fireworks so that if she disappeared, its beauty will always remain in her heart. It would only be possible if she had Kurama in her life.

"That's Hiei's gift for you," Kurama said, breaking the silence between them.

It made her look at him in confusion. "Hiei's gift for me? You mean his Christmas gift?"

He nodded. "And engagement gift, too. He knew you wouldn't turn down my proposal down. But seriously, he has an idea about how much you love fireworks. Yumi told him so. Maybe that would be a better surprise gift than anything else."

"And I have to admit, he was right. But speaking of surprises ー" Riya paused and looked up the tree. Kurama did the same thing and they both saw a wreath covered in mistletoes. "ーis this a part of it?"

Kurama gave out a chuckle and shook his head gently. "Hiei's a person you would least expect to do this ー considering the mistletoe's meaning if it's hanging above the lovers' heads. I bet this is Yumi's idea to put something like that up there."

"Yumi did that? Seriously?" she asked in disbelief before laughing. "And to think they would actually collaborate for something like this, huh?"

"They're like that ever since. What more could you expect from them?" And then he faced her again. This time, with a teasing smile on his face. "So... do you have a plan of ruining this mistletoe's tradition?"

She frowned when she heard that. "Tradition?" But then she immediately figured out the meaning of what he said because of his smile. "You're sly for a fox demon. You know that?"

"It still depends on the situation," he joked. Both of them laughed at that before Kurama was caught surprised because Riya grabbed him by his shirt's collar.

"Don't worry. Sly or not, I still love you for that," Riya whispered and smiled. The fireworks only enhanced the romantic mood, thanks to Hiei.

He smiled, as well. With that, he touched the back of her head and pulled her close. He kissed her with so much love and passion that he never wanted to stop. But even if he did stop, he knew that Riya would still be there.

Of course, she would. And he would make sure she would forever stay beside him. After all, he loved her so much.

Riya was his everything.

His destiny...

His eternity...

xxxxxx

"You got everything, Yumi?" Yusuke asked in a whisper.

"Yup. And in high-definition video, too," Yumi replied as she continued to record the event using her camcorder. "This should be one great memory to watch over and over."

"You think you can do something about the audio?" Ayako asked.

"Don't worry. This will turn out perfect."

After that, Yumi shut off her camcorder.

"So we're good to go?" Yukari asked.

"We better be before those two suspect something. They'll be coming after 12 so we shouldn't disturb them," Keiko said.

"And what do you think we're doing if you're not disturbing them?" Kuwabara asked a bit sarcastically.

"Stalking is different from disturbing, Kuwabara-kun," Sei answered before standing up along with the others. "Let's leave them here. We'll be interrogating them about it later, anyway."

Yumi, Ayako, Keiko, Soujiro, Yukari, Sei, Ren, Yukina, Botan, Shizuru, Yusuke and Kuwabara hurriedly but carefully left their hiding place to go straight back to the Miyuzaki mansion. For the last time, Yumi looked back to have a glimpse of the newly-engaged couple. A gentle, grateful smile crossed her face as she saw the two embraced each other.

One thing I know for sure ー this is the face of a destiny unbreakable by anything. Forever... They've really put their fate in that word. At least they have forever to love each other, they couldn't ask for anything else.

With that thought, she continued to walk away from that place along with the others. Now she just have to devise a plan on how she would tell Hiei that she was pregnant.

Hiei would be shocked and thrilled as hell, that was for sure.

This is one of the most wonderful Christmas ever...

And a lot of people would definitely agree to that.

THE END

xxxxxx

Finally! After almost a decade, I posted all of the chapters online. It's been a long time, to be honest. Thank you for reading this story until the end. I truly appreciate it.