Koki was starting to worry.

Was it normal for a person to sleep for three days straight when experiencing jet lag? Maria was doing just that. It wasn’t a continuous sleep but she was having 12 to 15 hour sleep cycles then she was up the rest of the time. It just seemed abnormal and by the third day Koki wanted to take her to the doctor. Add to that, Koki’s frustration that he hadn’t seen her much. When she was awake it was when Koki was asleep, staying up until morning to see Koki at breakfast. His mother had informed him that she stayed up until noon then back to bed. By the third day she had slept all day only getting up to go to the restroom, then back to sleep.

“Koki, don’t worry. She’s fine. Her body is adjusting. She slept through the night so she is getting back on her schedule.” Ai said as the family gathered, sans Maria, at the breakfast table.

Ai knew all about dealing with jet lag as she was a former flight attendant. Although it was extreme, it was not anything to worry about, just troublesome.

“How are things going for the company’s New Year’s ball?” Ai asks Yoshiro.

“Everything is coming together.” Yoshiro, Koki’s father answered. “I am excited about this year because this gives us a chance to introduce Maria to the society in a way. It’s a good thing this jetlag hit when it did. Imagine if her body had waited.” Yoshiro had a point there, but Koki was still slightly worried. Maria had yet to come down stairs. Koki tried to eat quickly yet neatly, just barely achieving that. He wanted to at least look at Maria before he left for work.

“Koki slow down!” Ai playfully scolded him.

“What?” Koki asked looking up in mid position of stuffing his face with eggs. There was a confused look on his face.

“She isn’t going anywhere,” Yoshiro laughs. “Eat your food slowly we don’t want you to choke.”

“Hai…”

Koki finished the rest of his meal normally before pushing his chair back and jogging up the staircase. He needed to see his baby before he did a hard day’s work today. Quietly turning the doorknob, he slid his head around the door. Peering inside he saw that the covers in a bundle on her bed, however Maria wasn’t in the bed. After a moment, Koki hears the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Stepping more into the room Koki closed the door behind him. Just as Koki was walking more into Maria’s room the bathroom door opens and out walks Maria.

Maria’s eyes still looked a little sleepy but she was more awake then she had been these last few days. Immediately her eyes zone in on Koki.

“Hey Koki-baby,” Maria greets him. There is a sleepy smile on her lips.

Koki walked towards her, “Hey back. Are you back with the living?” Koki meets her half way wrapping his arms around her waist; Maria’s hands gently wrap around Koki’s waist as she snuggles her body against his, pressing her face into his neck. Inhaling a deep breath, she takes in the masculine woodsy scent that was uniquely his, the most heavenly scent that there is.

“You smell nice,” Maria snuggles more into Koki. “Yeah, I’m awake now. I think I’m on a daylight schedule now.” She says in response to Koki’s earlier question.

Koki’s lower body stirs in excitement as Maria’s lush curvy body encountered his, her clean scent transferring onto his clothes. Koki nestles his head in the croak of her neck rubbing his nose against her neck. I could be with her like this all day and never get tired of this Koki thought. “I was beginning to worry, you were sleeping so long.”

Maria’s smile widen as she detects the concern in her fiancée’s voice. She turned her head to look up at Koki. “Were you coming to play Prince Charming again?”

A smile flutters across Koki’s own lips at the title, “Umm, you know me so well.”

“I’m learning…Even though Cinderella is awake can she still get a kiss?”

Their noses were still touching, however with a smirk on his lush lips and without saying a word he closing his eyes he takes possession of Maria’s lips. Almost instantaneously, passion erupts between them, the kiss deepening, tongues dueling, heartbeats racing. Low moans escaping from their throats. It felt like forever since the last time they had been this close.

Koki’s hands traveled down Maria’s backside and grabbed two handfuls of her behind. In response, she grabbed two handfuls of his behind. Pulling away to get air they shyly smiled at each other.

“See that’s how I like to say ‘Good Morning’.” Koki says.

“I’ll remember that.” Maria smirks back. Of course, she already knew that. “Are you getting ready to abandon me?” she teases.

“I don’t want to.” Koki nipped at her lips, initiating another kiss. “I have to help dad oversee the final phase of the ball. I’ll be home by 2 o’clock.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

At that moment, Yoshiro knocked on the door. “Koki? Let’s go!”

“Okay! Be down in a second.” Koki answered. “Will you be better to go the ball tonight?”

“Cinderella is NOT missing this ball. Oh, and Kazu and Jin will meet us here. Kazu texted me yesterday.”

“I got that text too; although I don’t understand why.”

Koki was confused about that. Jin never came over to get ready for the annual ball at his place; they always met up at the location.

“Well, its just Kazuya being a great best friend.” Maria said. Noting the confusion her statement caused she went on to explain. “I was never allowed to go to any balls or dances or even to have my own debutantes ball at fifteen. My grandmother always told me such frills where too lavish for someone like me. To this day, I don’t understand why she hates me so much. Anyway, Kazuya knows this so she wants me to have a “two best friend getting ready for the prom” feel…or something like that. That’s why.”

“Ahh…that makes more sense…I’m sorry that you never got to have a prom.”

Maria  shrugs her shoulders like it was no big deal, as if being willfully denied something that most teenagers took for granted  was of no consequence. “I’m sure that I’m not the only person that missed their Senior Prom and besides I have this ball tonight to make up for it. And even if I had went to that prom you wouldn’t have been there to take me so I am sure that I didn’t miss anything.”

At that last statement, Koki’s heart swelled. She made her life, prior to leaving her grandmother’s home, as no dark drama, although Koki knew that it had been exactly that. It  strengthen his resolve to make sure that the rest of her life is filled with light and love.  

“I better go before Dad comes back looking for me. I love you. I’ll see you latter.”

“Mmmm. I love you too. Work hard.” Reluctantly Koki left to start his day.

~~~

New Year’s Eve…

Maria’s Journal Entry:

New Year’s Eve has never been that exciting for me. Maybe I should rephrase that. Greeting a New Year is wonderful, full of hope and wild expectations, however there was never any…I don’t  really know how to explain it. I usually feel like I have to dig deep inside myself to feel excited about it. I am always grateful to God for allowing me to see another year. It is something that I no longer take for granted; however, this year it is different. A nervous yet happy energy is coursing through my body. And it’s all because of Koki Tanaka.

It is because of Koki’s love for me that I am now engaged to the iest male on the planet and that I am now living all the way on the other side of the planet. He has given me a new family by asking me to be a part of his family. And because I have never really belonged in my own biological family this new family has accepted me faster and happier than my own family ever has. And now he has presented another life experience of going to a ball like Cinderella! Something that I kind of had written under the life column of “IT IS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN” (conveniently right after listing falling in love). It made my heart beat with wonder. What else he was going to gift me with?

It’s probably stupid that I should be this excited about attending this ball but I couldn’t help it. And Kazuya was not helping me a bit…

“Sit still! Will you stop bouncing around?” Maria scolded her bestie. The source behind Kazuya’s bouncy movements is attributed to the random songs playing on her IPod. At the moment, Prince Royce’s Album Phase II was playing in the background. His soothing voice flooded the room. If Maria didn’t restrain herself she would be bouncing along as well. She was in the middle of styling Kazuya’s hair so that was not a smart thing as she had a very hot curling iron in her hand.

And if as on queue Prince Royce’s song “It’s my time” came up next in the rotation. It seemed to speak to her about what was going on in her life right now, magnifying the feelings of happiness that are flooding her body. Then it hits her why her feelings felt so foreign. She was completely happy; for the first time in her life, she was happy. It was a revolutionary feeling.

Running the curling iron through the final stand of hair, and then securing it in place, Maria smiled and announced that she was done.

“Finally! Now we can put on our dresses!” With that announcement, Kazuya bounces from the vanity table and almost skips to the closet where an hour ago she had deposited her dress.

“Hey, be careful of your hair. I don’t want the rollers to fall out before the curls have a chance to set.” Maria continued to scold.

“Okay Mommie!” Kazuya called back in her little girl voice to which Maria laughed, the vibrant bell-like sound filling the room.

Koki’s younger sister Suki picked that moment to enter her future sister’s room. After spending the last couple of days with Maria, Suki had come to the decision that she liked Maria-chan, a lot. Unlike Koki’s previous girlfriends who talked to her like she had no brains and seemed to only tolerate her, Maria actually talks to Suki like she is a highly intelligent girl and took a serious interest in getting to know her as a person. For that Maria had earned Suki’s loyalty and undying friendship. It hadn’t hurt that Maria genuinely liked Suki and appreciated her wit and sense of humor.

“Hey babydoll! What are you up to?” Maria asks as Suki flopped down on her bed, propping her face up on her hands as she watched Maria and Kazuya pull their dresses from the closet.

“I’m bored and I thought watching the two of you get ready for the ball would be better than watching my brothers turn into zombies playing those video games.” Suki answers.

“They’re still playing those things?”

“Yep, they get like that sometimes. It’s scary.” Suki frowned at the thought of her older brothers, Juri and Subaru, becoming slaves to their PS2. As the girls placed the large boxes that held their dress on the end of the bed, they carefully open them; upon seeing the stunning gowns Suki wished for the 100^th time that she were old enough to attend.

“Okay, Cinderella, lets finish getting ready for the ball.” Kazuya gushed in excitement.

A/N: In order to post something sooner I have decided to break chapter 11 into Chapter 11 and Chapter 12. Hopefully I will be able to finish writting the rest of the chapter over the next couple of weeks especially over Thanksgiving break when I am off from work. Love you guys. And thank you to the new subbies! Very Much appreciated!