Love is a Sweet Poison

"It was a lot of fun setting everything up. The flowers are still blooming, and it is stunning at this time of year. I wish I knew about that spot in the past." Sara gushes and sighs.

"That is the reason it is a secret. So that no one else knows that it is there. Well, Mother knows and so does Father. Miyuki was helping me for a while after Kazuki disappeared. I do feel bad that you lost Suzuka because I encouraged them to run away with each other." Gabriel shakes his head, "in my defence I did not know that they loved each other. I thought it was different people." 

"It is all in the past now. I get to work with Amelia and that is very fulfilling." Miyuki waves it as if the topic is over and done with. "Come let's go and see if they are ready." She moves away from the door and starts to walk towards Amelia's room

Gabriel shook his head and stayed back for a moment. "I will give them a little more time to get ready." 

Amelia watched as Gabriel left and blushed when he winked at her. She spoke only after the door was closed. "How did I get to be so lucky?"

"Because you are the kindest and most beautiful girl out there." Sachi stood up and caught a glimpse of the needlework. Her heart hurt because it was her favourite colour. 

Ami went to the drawers and started to hunt for something acceptable for Amelia to wear. "Look at all the yukatas that you have now. You will look amazing in this one." She pulls out a yukata that is a pale blue that has a mix of hydrangea and iris.

"Nice find Ami." Sachi takes the yukata from Ami and helps Amelia get dressed. She takes the obi that Ami found next and wrapped it around her and tied a bow in the back. She stepped back and admired her work. "Oh, that makes your complexion so well."

Ami stood up and walked around Amelia. "This is amazing! I hope that we can dress you up again." She walked over to her bag and changed quickly and held her obi around her body.

Sachi walked over and tied the bow for her. "There you go." She pats Ami on the back before getting dressed. 

Amelia walked behind Sachi and tied the obi for her. "Thank you. I know that it has been a hard decision to make today but that does not mean that we will not be in touch." She turned to the door when there was a knock. "Come in." 

Miyuki entered and looked at the girls that were now ready to go. "You all look beautiful." 

Sara went to Mayumi's side and looked at her as the girl's eyes sparkled. "Did you have fun?

"Sara, they all have such beautiful yukatas!" Mayumi jumped up and was beaming in happiness. 

"Yes, that they do. Yours is also very beautiful." Sara patted Mayumi on the head. 

Gabriel came and knocked on the door before opening it up. "You all look great. Mayumi, if you want you can ask your grandmother for a new yukata. She has a lot of patterns and if memory serves me right there is a beautiful pink sakura blossom pattern." 

"I will make sure that I ask Grandmother!" She looks around. "Where is Itsuki?" 

"Itsuki is already waiting for us," Sara says while smiling. 

"Alright, we should head up there now then." Amelia opens the door to the backyard and sees there are geta sandals lined up waiting for them. She picks up her pair and slips them on after taking off her slippers. 

Everyone else follows suit. Gabriel stands next to Amelia making sure that she was steady before he offered her his arm for her to hold onto. "How are you feeling right now? Any dizziness or and lingering blackouts that I should watch out for?"

"I am surprisingly feeling fantastic. Which is a surprise. I thought that I would feel groggy today, but I think a good night's sleep really helped me feel better." Amelia placed her arm through his and relaxed as they led the group up the hill. As she came to the top she noticed that there was a huge blanket set up. Kuma and Itsuki were sitting there with Edna and Suzuka.

Edna got up and walked over to the shocked Amelia. "Gabriel asked for this to all be set up and the weather is immaculate. I asked if we could join you love birds."

"I am glad that you are here Mother and Sister." Amelia waved to Suzuka. "I am a bit shocked and if I think about it since no one was really carrying anything I should've expected as much."

Suzuka waved back and looked at the group coming. "I would get up and greet you all, but it is getting hard to move around." her hand goes to her belly and rubs. 

Itsuki gets up and runs to Mayumi's side. "I have been waiting for you to arrive. This is going to be so much fun!" 

Mayumi took his hand, and they walked back to Suzuka. Mayumi starts to tell her mother all about her adventures today in an animated motion.

Gabriel leads Amelia to a spot and helps her sit down then sets himself up behind her. He pulls her back so that she could rest6 on his chest.

"Thank you," Amelia whispers this and looks at the family. "I don't know about all of you but I can smell something amazing." 

Kuma smiled and flashed Amelia a huge smile. "You all are in for a treat today. I have decided that since we are out here that I would barbecue the meat and vegetables." 

"That sounds absolutely divine." Ami's mouth was watering as she sniffed the air.

Sachi shakes her head and places the wagashi sweets to the side. "I brought some wagashi treats for everyone."

"Well aren't you a wonderful guest. I want to make sure that you both know that you are welcome to come here. I do not Amelia to feel that we are isolating her but the air is so much nicer here." Edna smiles at the guests.

Sachi smiles back, "Thank you. I love that everyone is taking care of Amelia. We have been her friends at school since day one. We were going to ask our families for money to help keep Amelia in the school." 

"May father love Amelia like another daughter, so it wouldn't be hard to convince him. Amelia is such an amazing person. I would beg for her to make sure that she could continue her education. I am also grateful that your family is taking such great care of her. Irene and Clarence have always done everything that they could for Amelia and if I am honest it was hard for them." Ami smiled sadly.

"We offered to help numerous times. Father offers Irene work at the shrine in secret so that Amelia does not worry about her. So it is not a surprise that our families are so close." Sachi looked at the shocked Amelia.

"Thank you for telling me this. It must have been hard to keep sure a secret from your friend." Edna pulls Sachi in for a hug then hugs Ami.

"I knew. I knew this whole time. There is no way that Mother could hide that from me, but I never wanted her to worry. I never told her that I knew." Amelia was still resting in Gabriel's embrace. "I am grateful for what Hideo did for us and for what each of you did for me."

Ami tore away and went to Amelia. Did you know that I left supplies for your meat buns because father went to a farm and ordered too much meat just so that Irene could make you the meat buns you love?" 

"I didn't know exactly that, but I knew that you were leaving it for Mother. Your family treated us so well." Amelia wiped the tears from Ami's eyes. "Come now. There is meat and vegetables to be eaten. Dry your eyes all of you." She smiled and patted Ami's cheek.

"Because of your kindness, Amelia never had to suffer. I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart." Gabriel bowed his head still holding onto Amelia. Everything moved around them and everyone got up and went to Kuma except for Gabriel and Amelia. Once he made sure that no one was watching he kissed her on the neck and lightly nibbled on the skin. "Anything else that I should know about?"