Here I am
This is me
There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be
Here I am
It's just me and you
Tonight we make our dreams come true

*~*~*

“Mend my heart,” she told him, turning away.

“I don’t know how to do that.” It was true. He desperately wanted to tell her that he loved her, to go to America with her, to spend the rest of his life with her… but it wouldn’t work. It was better this way. He was doing the right thing for her.

“See, when you figure that out, you call me.” She walked off, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes, the tears that were falling. It would have been so much easier if he hadn’t come. It would have been easier if he could accept his feelings. If she hadn’t fallen for him, if he hadn’t pursued her, if that stupid offer from Columbia hadn’t come… so many things could have made this situation easier. But they hadn’t. And this was the hardest thing that she had ever had to do.

*~*~*

It's a new world
It's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day
It's a new plan
I've been waiting for you
Here I am

*~*~*

She gazed unseeingly at the view, the greyness, the coldness, the utter emptiness of it all. She was supposed to be boarding now, but she wanted to wait. What for? She didn’t know. She just wanted to spend some time, thinking. Alone. As she would be forever. The tears were starting to fall now… she had always prided herself on being in control, but now, just now, she wasn’t.

Lost in a silent reverie, it took her a moment to realise that her mobile was ringing. She fumbled with the clasp on her handbag, and, choking back the tears, answered. “Hello?”

“You told me to call when I knew how to mend your heart.”

She could hardly believe it. She was trying to understand what he meant, what this meant, when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around slowly, barely daring to believe that it could be him. But it was. He held up his passport and a boarding pass, and told her he loved her.

*~*~*

Here we are
We've just begun
And after all this time
Our time has come
Yeah here we are
Still goin' strong
Right here in the place where we belong

*~*~*

She laid her head on his shoulder as they sat on the plane. “I’m just… I’m glad you came,” she said, trying to explain how she felt, and failing miserably – if any aspect of her could have been called miserable. She had never been so happy. She felt that this, this was what she had spent her life waiting for. Just these few moments made up for anything she had ever suffered, and anything that she would ever suffer.

“I couldn’t let you leave,” he replied, smoothing her hair back, so that he could see her face. “Not without me.” He could still see the tear tracks on her face – tears that she had cried over him, tears of sadness at their parting, and tears of joy at his being with her. And it felt so amazing, so wonderful, to know that he had inspired these emotions. Not that he wanted her to be unhappy, quite the reverse, he would give his life for her happiness. But to know that she loved him so much, it was a feeling that he had never known before. For his mere presence to mean for much to someone, for her to cry with joy just at seeing him. It was unbelievable. As was the fact that he felt exactly the same.

*~*~*

Oh it's a new world
It's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day
And a new plan
I've been waiting for you
Here I am

*~*~*

“Are you scared?” he asked, wanting to feel reassured, that, although he loved her, the doubts were normal.

“Are you?” she countered, wanting to know his answer before giving her own. It was the game of being in control all over again. Throughout the day, he had been the one in control. He had been the one with the power to break her heart, the one who had broken her heart, and the one who had mended it soon after. But she wanted to be back in control. It was a bit of familiarity. Their relationship would obviously be different now, but she wanted some things to stay the same.

“I’m terrified,” he confessed. “I love you, and I never would have forgiven myself if I’d let you go, but I’m terrified of what might happen.”

She took his hand in hers. “I’ve never been more scared in all my life. But I’ll tell you one thing. If you weren’t here with me now, I’d be twenty times more scared.” She smiled. “We took a risk. If we hadn’t, we would have regretted it every day for the rest of our lives. Every decision has consequences, and we don’t know what those will be until we’ve made the decision, until we’ve taken the risk. But, whatever happens, it’ll be worth it, just to be together.”

*~*~*

Oh it's a new world
It's a new start
It's alive with the beating of young hearts
It's a new day
It's a new plan
I've been waiting for you

Here I am

*~*~*

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, dreaming of their future. Their life together. As they landed, they awoke from one dream, to find themselves in another, even better than they could have imagined.

“We’re going to make this work,” she assured him, as they stepped out into the still night air. “I love you, and we’re going to make this work.”

And, as they stood there, bathed in the glow of moonlight, to the world, they were just another couple. But, to that couple, embarking on a new life together, in a new country, with their entire lives ahead of them, they were the world.

*~*~*

Here I am
Right next to you
Suddenly the world is all brand new
Here I am
Here I am
Where I'm gonna stay
Now there's nothin' standing in our way
Here I am
This is me