Valiant

Even though she was up late last night, she still forced herself to wake up early. Today, she would be doing a very difficult decision. Her plan consisted of breaking up with Ian and confessing to Will. You may think she was brave. Not everyone could confess. But... She wasn't. In fact, she was the opposite. After doing her plan, she would quit this game and disappear from everyone's lives.

With a heavy heart, she then left a mail for Ian. And after that, she blocked him. She spent her last hours in the game with Max and Clara. It was a good thing she said goodbye to her other friends last night. And now, the only one left was Will.

She took a deep breath as she typed her love letter to him.

"Will, I quit the group and the game.

I guess I just want to thank you for everything. Thank you for being my first friend here. Thank you for always motivating me albeit in a very unconventional and mean way. XD I seriously couldn't have done it without you. ^^

I broke up with Ian around 8 AM. And I'm going to tell you why. I'm not in love with him anymore. I did a lot of thinking and self-reflecting and I realized last July 15 that I'm in love with someone else.

Now I know what you're thinking. ‘F***, is it me?’

Well here's your answer.

Yes. I'm in love with you, Will.

But I know you'll never love me back. The moment I realized that, I immediately gave up too. There's no way you can love me, anyways. You bully me a lot. You make me feel sad/bad every single day because of your mean personality. Heck, you can even ask Clara or Max how many times I cried over you. XD Now, now. I'm not blaming you or anything. I'm just telling you that if I were in my right mind, I won't fall for you.

And yet I still did.

I truly think that you know this but you're in denial. I'm too open with my emotions. I act on it without a second thought. And you're really smart so I'm not surprised if you figured it out.

Anyway, this is getting too long now.

Thank you for everything. ^^ Goodbye."

Tears were falling from her eyes as she clicked "Send".

Was this the right thing? She didn't know. She didn't know what was right anymore. All she knew right now was that she was so heartbroken. She would miss him so much. He was her first love. And ironically, despite all of the pain she felt, she didn't regret ever falling for him.

So if someone said she was brave, she wasn't. She ran away. Just like she always did...

After two hours, she was still in her bed. Her eyes all red and puffy. And that was when she stood up and opened her email. She was determined to face him. She didn't care anymore if he would reject her. She just didn't want to move on from him. She wanted to continue loving him. She wanted to continue seeing the things that reminded her of him. And so she decided that she wouldn't quit the game and that she would face Will.

She saw Will's reply two hours ago asking her to come back. Her heart beat fast.

Wha... What was going on? Why...? Why did he want her to come back? Could it be...?

She didn't want to hope but she did. But... He never replied again.

Her heart was crushed. And she still continued sending him emails. But he wasn't replying. That was it.

Clara then told her that Will loved her too, even before she got together with Ian. And when she learned that, she cried. Her heart was overwhelmed with happiness. She was so convinced he would never love her. But he did... Although he was trying to move on from her and even though he said that his love for her as a good friend increased, she didn't care.

She took a deep breath and decided that she needed to contact him. They need to talk and figure some things out.

So if someone said that she was valiant, maybe she was. Yes, she ran away but she came back. And now, she wouldn't ever run away again.

Waiting

26th day of July, the day she left but still came back. The day she broke up with Ian and confessed to Will. And she had been online since 3 PM and it was now 11 PM. Will... Will never went online even once for that day.

It broke her heart. The day before she promised to use all of her water guns on him. She saved up fifteen. She even transformed into GNW Shino because she knew how much he hated him just to tease him. But... But her plan was pointless. The guest of honor didn't arrive.

And so she just used the water guns on her friend.

The next time she checked the clock, it was already 2 AM. She needed to sleep now. But she couldn't. Her thoughts were filled with Will and how much she wanted him back to her life.

She sighed. Sleep was out of the question. She then sent another email to him.

"Will, you'll always be my first love. You'll always have a piece of my heart. FLND (First Love Never Dies), they say. I'll never give up. I'll never stop waiting for you. Even if it would take a really long time. I swear it."

And... sent.

Seconds, minutes, hours and days passed by. And still no response. And she felt so down every single time she checked her inbox and still didn't receive anything from him. But she always assured herself. She would never give up on him. She'll show him how determined she was.

As always, she stood near the gates at South Konoha. He was always there. And she would wait right here, hoping that she would see him again.

Aftermath

"--And the end." I smile as I look at the crowd. Some are yawning. Others are doing something else, obvious that they didn't pay attention. But most... Most of them are tearing up.

"I... I’d like to ask you two questions, Dawn-sensei." The same girl who asked me to tell a story earlier asks. I'm glad this girl is slowly getting rid of her shyness. She didn't trail off that much.

"Ok." I say, beckoning her to ask what is on her mind.

"First, where are her friends and Ian right now?" she asks. Many people in the crowd nod in agreement.

"Well, they're still friends. Clara is now a famous chemical engineer and artist. Max found his passion in advancing technology and is now one of the owners of a famous company specializing in developing software. Karl is a successful businessman in Nepal. And Ian is a well-known civil engineer in the Philippines. Oh and he is in good terms with my friend. They were able to talk it out and they ended things peacefully." I say, my smile widening as I narrate what happened to each of them.

"Thank you Dawn-sensei. Here is my second question. You revealed the name of the girl's best friend/love, ex, and friends. But you never revealed the name of your friend." She points out.

I just smile mysteriously. I knew someone’s going to ask about that.

"That, my dear, will be answered at a later time."

The whole crowd groans and I just continue smiling.

- - -

I'm walking around South Konoha. I see the ramen shop, Redemption Merchant, Black Market Merchant, Kakashi-sensei's clone, Anko-sensei and Fukurokumaru...

Everything is still the same. There are more players right now but I'm glad to say that I know most of them now.

Everything is still the same... except for one thing.

Immediately, a white-haired, dark-clothed man appears in my mind, still wearing a bored expression.

I smile sadly and my eyes find its way to the slightly tattered and old yellow orange ribbon on my left wrist. Before I knew it, I'm already untying it. Even though I have a short pale blue hair now, I still tie it out of habit.

"Let's do this!" I exclaim cheerfully and stand at my usual spot near the gates.

I’m honestly expecting that today will be the same as the previous ones. I’ll stay in this place almost all day when work isn’t that hectic, doing my daily missions and/or chatting with my friends. And then, when the clock will read 10 PM, I have no choice but to go offline. I’ll take one last long and sorrowful look at the gates, sigh and finally go back to the real world… The usual.

But today… Today is different.

Around 7:41 PM, just when I am planning to go off in order to sleep early, a flash of white hair catches my eye. My heart starts swelling up again. Swelling up with hope that maybe it’s him. Darn it. This always happen. Get a grip! Not every white-haired guy is him!

I just sigh and am about to click the “Close” *on when I hear a voice called my name.

I turn my back and my eyes widen. And before I knew it, tears start cascading down my face as I cover my mouth in shock.

I open my mouth but I can’t say anything. My throat suddenly feels dry. I just… I can’t believe it.

A young man stands in front of me but instead of boredom, a hint of a smile is shown on his face. He is still wearing dark clothes, a sword still strapped on his back. And he’s taller than before. In contrast to his clothes is his hair that grew a little bit longer now. It's still as white as snow.

One thing is running in my mind right now. Welcome back.

"The smile upon my lips,

It will surely never die.

As I'm waiting here for you,

until you're back by my side."

-- Freida Martinez

Author's Notes:

*He used purple instead of blue because he knew that my fave color is purple. XD And let's be real. Violets aren't colored blue. XD

Btw, congratulations that you made it this far. Here's a cookie for you. ^^ *gives dark chocolate cookie*

Thank you for reading. ^^