She remembered the last afternoon in the park. It started snowing suddenly and Ana was so absorbed in sketching the cranes dancing like ethereal ghosts, their pristine, gossamer wings flitting gracefully among the huge, ephemeral snowflakes and the handful of bright orange rays of the setting sun piercing their way through the layer of snow-filled clouds, that she did not notice that it was only her and her painting teacher left in the observatory until she raised her eyes from her finished picture. He walked to her then and observed her watercolour, and, as if guided by a force he could not resist any longer cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She felt then that, somehow, this man whom she barely knew was her destiny, but instead of admitting it, she laughed off nervously the words expressing exactly what she was feeling when they came from his lips. 

She recalled how, unable to part from him knowing that she would not see him again the day after, she let him accompany her to the door of her hotel room later and, against her better judgement, letting her feelings guide her, she invited him in. He did not refuse, how could he, they both knew that those were the last hours they had left... 

Tears welled up in her eyes now, just like that morning when she woke up alone, with a single snow-white origami crane resting on the pillow next to her, realising that she didn't even have his phone number... 

"If only he was here now... " Ana whispered, looking at the cranes absently, trying to shake off her memories and focus on the present again.

Her breath caugh as a sudden, unexpected thought popped up in her mind. She slid her hand in her pocket and closed it around the paper bird she always carried with her like a talisman. The cranes in her room were only nine hundred ninety-nine-- she held the thousandth in the palm of her hand.

Perhaps it wasn't Kate who folded them patiently for her-- but it was definity her sister who found the man Ana loved, the father or her baby who had left her without a word of goodbye, without leaving her a way to contact him.

Just that he didn't. Ana unfolded the origami bird sitting in her palm carefully, revealing an address, a phone number, and a sentence scribbled in tiny letters, 'I know we hardly know each other, but I wish you would marry me. I have fallen in love with you.'

Her legs shook and she let herself sink among the white origami cranes, feeling... dumb.

She thought he had simply left that morning, feeling embarrassed for what had happened between them, and never thought of her again. How many times did she cry since she got back, missing him, how many times was she tempted to call the art school in Kushiro to ask for his number... But she could not push herself to look for a man who never planned to stay in touch with her.

Just that he did, she had his number all along...

A tear dropped on the undone crane she held in her hand and Ana wiped it off quickly, not wanting it to dissolve Kaito's unspoken words. She would never call him now, not after all these months, but this was proof that he had loved her too...

She pressed the piece of paper to her heart remembering that one thousand cranes folded into origami meant your heart's desire would come true.

Maybe... If only it was really him who had made those cranes for her... If only he was really here...

Ana did not hear the door open, but when she raised her eyes, through the haze of tears she saw her sister standing in the doorway.

"Kate... why, how...?" She asked, looking at her sister accusingly before her eyes landed on another figure standing in the semi-darkness filling the corridor. 

"Kaito..." she whispered unbelievingly.

"Ana..." he whispered back, voice breaking, as he approached her. "You left... I could not find you..." he murmured, kneeling next to her. "I asked you to marry me..."

"I only found out now." She smiled at him, dabbing at her tears, feeling silly. "I thought it was you who left me..."

"Your sister told me you were pregnant... Ana... I understand if you don't want to marry me just yet, but... let me stay close... We're... about to become parents..."

"Meet your daughter then. Her name is Meraki." Ana said, taking his hand in hers and placing it on her belly.

"You couldn't have chosen a more beautiful name." His voice shook with the emotions he tried to suppress as he stood up and pulled her to her feet gently, then wrapped her in an embrace.

"I... missed you so much," she admitted, looking into his eyes.

"It wasn't that difficult to find him, Sister." Kate spoke from the door. "I had to call that art school a few times and be quite insistent, but in the end they gave me his number. And the moment he knew how heartbroken you still were, he got on the plane."

"How long have you been here?" Ana asked him, well aware that folding all those cranes must have taken him a while. 

"Ten days. Your sister refused to tell me where you lived until she got to know me at least a little. She made me meet those friends of yours who visited Japan with you, too." He said, turning to Kate with a smile. 

"What... should we do next?" Ana asked, trying to catch up with her fast changing reality.

"I'm here to stay, if you want, or take you back home with me if you prefer, Ana. I love you." Kaito said, sealing her lips with a kiss.

"Fine, fine, just wait till I'm out. Call me if you need anything, Sister." Kate said, leaving them alone.

"Thank you, Kate!" Ana and Kaito called at the same time, even as the door closed behind her.