[prompt: fireworks]
"What do you think, Guoba? It sounds better than yesterday, right?" She set the violin down on the table beside its bow, her cheeks flushed red. The small creature's eager thumbs-up kept her confidence going just enough to practice for hours.
"Tomorrow I'm going to find a suit to wear," she told him, picking him up and setting him on her lap. "I'll practice the song until it's perfect and then I'll play it for Xiangling.. and then I'll show her the ring." Xinyan fell silent, her eyes focusing on the wall across from her as she squished Guoba's ears.
"Right then! Practice makes perfect, so I'd better get going." She set him on the table and picked the instrument up again, the bow gliding across the strings. Waiting to be good enough at the violin was the hardest thing she'd ever done- and even now, she wasn't perfect.
She just wanted to be good enough for Xiangling.
Lucky for her, Guoba was more than happy to play audience. He'd spent many afternoons with her in the apartment, listening to her practice while Xiangling worked at her father's restaurant. Over time Xinyan had grown to love the instrument, the way it sounded compared to her guitar. She would've loved to write a song of her own for the occasion but it didn't feel like enough.
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Her suit was black, the jacket buttoned perfectly over her white shirt. She did her hair up in the usual pigtails, sticking straight up with spiked bands. A black bow tie completed the look, tucked perfectly under the collar. No matter how many breaths she took, her heart wouldn't stop racing.
The ring was in her pocket and the violin was in its case, carried carefully to the location Xiangling had picked. Xinyan felt bad for making her miss the fireworks by the dock but they'd agreed on this. The date had been in place for nearly a month.
"Sorry I'm late," Xinyan murmured. The second she laid eyes on Xiangling all the air left her lungs.
She sat under the golden tree, her dress a soft black fabric over a ruffled white skirt. In her hair was a yellow butterfly pin, the same color as Xinyan's eyes. The evening light made her look as though she belonged in the sky, among the stars rather than humans.
Xinyan had to do it tonight. If she waited any longer, she'd lose all her confidence and the ring would be coated in dust.
"I wanted to play you a song I learned." She took the violin out of its case and held it, her fingers finding the right position before she brought the bow to the strings.
She looked to the sky, to the tree, anywhere but Xiangling. Music spread over both of them, nothing in Xinyan's mind but the next note. She'd been waiting for this moment forever, for a thousand lifetimes.
Every feeling she had poured into the song. Love, fear, hope that tonight wouldn't end with her alone again. She could feel the ring burning a hole in her pocket.
"You learned that just for me?" Xiangling's voice was full of wonder, her hands gripping the fabric of her dress.
On her knees, the violin hidden back in the case, Xinyan could feel how small the distance was between them.
"I wanted to impress you."
She slipped the ring out of her pocket and held it out, her eyes saying all the words stuck in her throat. "Xiangling, you.. will you.."
The tears came faster than the words. Nearly tackling Xinyan in a hug, hiding her face in her shoulder. "Why would I say anything but yes?"
Light filled the sky, bright as day, accompanied by a loud bang.
"The fireworks are starting," Xiangling whispered. "I told you we wouldn't miss them."
The ring fit her finger perfectly.
