Love is a Sweet Poison

"There were times in the middle of the night that I would wake up and when I could not fall asleep, I would work on it. Escaping your embrace was the hardest. I thought that I would wake you up." Amelia says this and is blushing and she turns her eyes away.

"I am surprised that I did not wake up. I will keep this close to me but do not lose sleep because you would like to make something for me... please." Gabriel smiles at her and looks at the parents in the room. " I will take care of Amelia with all that I can. She is still young and I know that I am still young but I want you guys to know that I will respect the wishes of our elders." He bows to Irene, Amelia, and Edward. 

There was a knock at the door and Tomoya entered with more sake and some food. "I've brought you more refreshments and some food." He placed everything down on the table before leaving again. 

"You said it, son!" Clarence placed his hand on Gabriel's head and messed up his hair. "You two can sit next to each other while we eat this. I know that you both had a late meal." 

Gabriel got up and went to Amelia and helped her up and they sat facing away from the back garden. He whispers in Amelia's ear. "I love you." 

Still blushing, Amelia turned her face and kissed his cheek. She smiled and whispered back, "I love you too." 

Smiling Gabriel sits back down and pulls her into his lap and rests his head on her shoulder. "I will be your strength from now until the end of time." 

"This is what I saw the entire time as we travelled here. It's the sweetest thing." Edna smiled happily. "I am glad that I followed you last time. This time I will stay here since you are agreeing to this marriage and not opposing it." 

"Thank the goddess for that. You know the last meeting we set for him he said some rather vulgar things. It made me lose hope that he would find someone. I knew he didn't want to do this but at the ripe age it is only right that he gets married." Clarence sighs and shakes his head and looks at the food. "Tomoya is celebrating that we will not be here anymore." 

"Oh, is that what you did to ruin your meeting?" Amelia looks at Gabriel as he rests his eyes on relaxes while holding her.

"All's well that ends well. I did what I had to with the support of my family. Which led me to the boy that I saw at the library studying over many books. I never walked to you and it might have kick-started our ties earlier if I had." Amelia closed her eyes and rested in Gabriel's arms. 

"Oh-oh! You two knew each other before?" Edna leans closer to hear the story.

"Mother, it is not like that. I say Amelia a lot at the library. I never walked up to her as that library is a place of study and she came with some of her homework. She did not always stay for long. Sometimes she would pick up a book and start reading. I watched from afar and stayed out of the way. It is not my job to get in the way." Gabriel looked at Edna and Clarence, "This was also before that I knew that she was sick. As a matter of fact, Amiritsu sensei was trying to discourage me." 

"That sounds like Yoko. She would do anything that she could to help Amelia. Yoko is my sister. She also went against the grain and became a school nurse so that she could protect students and show the girls that if you work hard enough you can be like the boys. I am grateful to Yoko as having her at the school means I can worry less about Amelia." Irene picked up a pair of chopsticks. "Itadakimasu." 

The rest of the adults did the same and said, "Itadakimasu."

"Amiritsu sensei is a wonderful school nurse and if there is one thing you can count on is that she will look after Amelia. She tried to warn me away but look at how that ended up." Gabriel kept holding Amelia and didn't move to eat anything.

"Aunt Yoko spoils me and makes sure that there is a bed for me to lay on anytime I feel an attack coming on. The nurse's office is a safe place for me to take my medicine so nobody sees that I have to take it." Amelia looked at the food and felt no hunger. "Are you hungry?" 

"I am. Will you be upset if I eat enough for the both of us?" Gabriel watches as Amelia smiles and nods her head no. "Itadakimasu." He picks up a piece of sashimi and adds a little wasabi on top and dips the fish into a dish of soy sauce. "The cuts of fish are wonderful." 

Amelia picked up the teapot and poured herself and Gabriel some tea. She watched as everyone dug into the sushi and smiled. He got an idea and picked up a pair of chopsticks and grabbed a piece of sashimi. She did as Gabriel did and held her hand under the sashimi. She held it out for Gabriel to eat and she was flushed with embarrassment. 'What if this is too bold and Gabriel does not like what I am doing?' 

Seeing the fish being offered by Amelia, Gabriel takes the sashimi in his mouth and eats it happily. "You can feed me all that you want. I know that you are not all that hungry but I feel bad because here I am enjoying the food while you are sitting there watching our every move." 

"It is not like that. I really am not all that hungry. I thought that if I at least fed you a few pieces then it would look like we all enjoyed the feast." Amelia placed the chopsticks down and poured another cup of sake for Gabriel. "You are overthinking." She offers the cup to him. 

Taking the cup from Amelia, he drinks it down and eats a few more pieces. "I was only picking on you a little bit. I thought it was very thoughtful that you wanted to feed me. You are so sweet." He places down his chopsticks. "Goshisousama. If we are done here I will walk in the back. You four can sit here and discuss things but this time, Mother, please stay here." 

"I won't follow you this time. You are fighting for Amelia to be your bride. Both of you are excused to go. Protect her well." Edna waves them away. 

Gabriel stands up and helps Amelia up and the two leave. Instead of letting Amelia step down on the ground, he lifts her down. "You are much too light. So before you ask if you are too heavy, it is a fact that you are too light." He kisses her cheek. 

"I have learned that you can pick me up with ease. I know that I am light for you to pick up." Amelia walks beside Gabriel. "It is nice to be wandering the garden with you again." They wander around until they reach the bench and Amelia sits down. "I am glad that you are my chosen partner. I know that I will be protected and loved." 

"Of course you are. I know that you love me and I can feel it radiating off of you." Gabriel stepped behind her and Pulled out his return gift to her and clasped it around her neck. The sakura blossoms flew around them in the breeze. He kissed the top of her hair. 

Looking down at the necklace that Gabriel hung on her neck, she saw the fan that had two lilies etched on and below the open fan were some intricate swirls. At the meeting part at the bottom of the fan, there was a teardrop stone. The stone was black with streaks of gold in it. "This is absolutely lovely but you didn't have to buy me another gift. You already paid for so much for me." Amelia's eyes tear up with happy tears.