This is dedicated to my best friend, Felicity. If she never went to Japan and decided to challenge me with a Japanese Yosegi Puzzle Box, then this story would of never been written. So thanks, Spazz for everything; the challange, the facts, the second opinions, the title and for the great ideas.

If desired, please visit this site first:

http://www . Benegifts . com/ Japanese-Yosegi-Puzzle-Box-4-Sun_p_41 . html

It'll help you better understand the mystery that is the Japanese secret boxes (Himitsu-Bako) or puzzle boxes. I described it the best I could, but sometimes an image is needed. Just remove the spaces and it should work.

Gabriella Montez has always been particularly fond of puzzles. She always got a thrill from solving a problem, that's why she loved her days on East High's Decathlon Team, but right now she was extremely frustrated. The reason? A beautiful piece of wood that was about the same size as her hand. She dropped the box in her lap and picked up the now crinkled sheet of paper, reading it once again.

To my lovely Gabriella,

I know, that was a totally cheesy way to start this letter. In my defense, "Dear Gabriella" just didn't sound right, too formal. Anyway, I miss you more than you could ever imagine. I know that it's only been a couple of days since I arrived in Japan, but I can't help but miss you. I'd kill to hear you're sweet laugh right now. Stupid time differences! Okay, I could go on and on about how much I miss you so I should just stop here and explain my gift. We were in Hakone the other day and there are these boxes of sorts that are all handmade, they're called Japanese secret boxes (Himitsu-Bako) or puzzle boxes. The mosaic on the box is called yosegi and there's this lengthy process of gluing different types of wood and shaving it down. I saw it and I immediately thought of you and your fetish of solving things. So Gabriella, my dear, I present you with your very own Himitsu-Bako. Have fun figuring this out! As a little incentive, there's something really special inside. I'll try to call you soon, when it's not insanely early over there and when I'm not in a meeting. I love you very, very much!

All my love,

Troy

p.s. There are instructions for this, they're just inside the box. Here's a hint though, there are seven steps. I love you!

It was torture enough for the young brunette to be away from her longtime boyfriend. She didn't need to be irritated by the puzzle that laid in her lap. She gingerly picked it up the box and closely examined the smooth surface. The quiet atmosphere was interrupted by two quick knocks.

"Come in!" she called, not daring to remove her eyes from the wood in her hands.

Chad Danforth poked his had through the doorway and set his sights on the girl he now considered a little sister. "Gabster, I see that you still haven't figured out the puzzle. You wanna borrow my hammer?" he added the latter sentence quite cheerfully.

She rolled her eyes and turned to look at Chad, who had his afro tied into a ponytail. "No, I do not need your hammer. I am totally equipped to figure this puzzle out. Besides, I'd hate to ruin it."

"Fine, but if you change your mind, it's under the kitchen sink. Now, why don't you and your Himi-whatako.."

"It's Himitsu-Bako," she corrected quickly.

"Whatever it is, get out of bed and go out on to the backyard. There are some people out there that are dying to see you." he added with a mischievous grin before shutting her door.

Gabriella set the puzzle on the nightstand and pushed back the sheets of the bed. It was nearly 11:30 a.m. and the majority of the morning had been spent trying to pry apart the wooden box. She stood up to stretch and quickly made her way to her suitcase that laid on the floor. It was now summer and she had survived her first two years at Stanford. Her mother decided to tour Europe with several friends, thus Gabriella opted to take a trip down to Albuquerque with Troy. Unfortunately for Gabriella, her Adonis was currently on the other side of the world. She wasn't too disappointed though, staying in Chad's guestroom had proved to be pretty entertaining. She let out a long sigh then proceeded to change out of Troy's shirt that she wore for sleeping and into a yellow sundress that fell to her knees.

As the glass sliding door came into view, Gabriella couldn't hold back a squeal. She quickened her pace and pried the door open, stepping into Chad's backyard.

"Taylor!!" she exclaimed as she pulled her best friend into a hug.

"Gabs, the pictures you sent me didn't do you any justice. You look great!"

"So do you! Jeeze, it's been way too long. Calls and e-mails just aren't enough."

"Oh, I see how it is Gabs." a feminine voice laced with sarcasm said from behind.

Gabriella detached herself from Taylor and turned around to grin at a slender blonde. "Hey Sharpay," she greeted, walking over to hug her. "Chad told me you were visiting Kelsi and Ryan in New York. If I knew you were here, I would of visited you sooner."

Sharpay shrugged, flipping her long longs over her shoulder. "I was, but I came home a couple days ago and I was busy with some Drama Department business."

"Speaking of which, how did East High's spring musical go? Did it top the one we did our senior year?"

"Puh-leeze," Sharpay said, waving her hand in dismissal. "Nothing could of topped our show. Do you remember Tiara Gold, that blonde little sophomore than tried to steal my role?" she prompted as she walked over to the grill. "She is such a little diva, always bossing everyone around and what not. Please tell me I wasn't that bad."

Gabriella exchanged a knowing glance with Taylor, both holding back from laughing.

"Oh no, Sharpay. All you did was guilt Troy into convincing Gabriella to go to the Freshman Honors Program."

"With the intention of stealing my spot in the musical." Gabriella added with a smirk.

"Then the summer before that you screwed around with everyone just to get Troy and the Star Dazzle award."

"How about when-"

Sharpay cut off Gabriella before she could bring up anymore of the past. "And I'm really sorry about all of that, but Tiara is terrible!"

Gabriella smiled. If two years ago someone had told her that Sharpay Evans would be flipping burgers at a grill while lightly conversing about the terrible things she had done and that they would be really great friends, she would of laughed in their face.

The sliding doors opened once more, revealing Chad carrying a pitcher of iced tea and Zeke carrying two covered dishes.

"Hi Gabi!" Zeke created brightly, placing the dishes down in order to hug the shorter brunette. "I made your favorites as a welcome back home meal: my famous potato salad and triple chocolate chip cookies for desert."

"Awe, Zeke! You're the best!"

He smiled down at her before walking over to Sharpay, his girlfriend for the past year.

Chad handed the pitcher to Taylor and sat down on the picnic table by the grill, picking up the puzzle box that Gabriella had cast aside. "Gabster, I see that you've still made no progress with your Japanese puzzle."

"That's a puzzle?" Taylor inquired while she poured the iced tea into five different cups.

"Yeah, it's called a Himitsu-Bako or Japanese puzzle box. Troy got it for me when he went to Hakone and it arrived in the mail yesterday."

"Oh yeah, Zeke told me that Troy's in Japan. What's he doing there? " Sharpay asked as she helped Zeke arrange the hamburgers.

"You remember how Troy got a job at this sports equipment company awhile back? His bosses just love him so they invited him to come with them to Japan for a series of meetings because the company's considering to go international. He'd be a fool not got."

"That's such a great opportunity! How long is he gone for?"

"16 days but he's been there for 11 days already. I can't wait for him to -"

"Oh shitake mushrooms!!" Chad suddenly exclaimed, catching the attention of the four other people. "I am so sorry, Gabi."

"Chad," Gabriella began cautiously, "what did you do?"

"I don't know, I was just fiddling with it and all of a sudden one of side walls moved!" Chad held up the wooden box and sure enough, one of the sides was protruding.

Taylor took the box from Chad's hands and began to examine it. "I think that was a good thing, Chad. The walls seemed to be interlocking. The wall you moved allows for the next step to take place."

"Sweet!"

Gabriella stood in shock as she stared at Chad. She had spent all night attempting to open it and Chad gets through step one in a matter of seconds. "How...How did you…How did you do that?" she finally manages to get out.

"I just slid this wall down like so," he explains while demonstrating with ease. "Oh goodie! The burgers are ready!" Chad exclaimed as Zeke and Sharpay made their way to the table with the burgers. He handed the puzzle to Taylor and began to distribute the paper plates.

Taylor looked down at the puzzle for a minute or two before sliding up another wall. "I got another wall done. Anyone else want to have a go?"

Zeke, who was currently spooning some potato salad onto a plate with a burger, raised his hand. "I'll try. C'mon Gabs, sit down and eat already." He set the plate down in front of an empty seat by Taylor and then began to study the puzzle box.

The brunette nodded obediently, causing her curls to bounce. She didn't have to be told twice, she had been suffering from some serious withdrawal of Zeke's cooking. She happily ate her lunch as she watched her friend pass the puzzle back and forth, while conversing lightly about their college experience thus far. Gabriella didn't dare to touch the puzzle, out of fear that she'd screw up her friends' hard work. By the time everyone was finished eating and moved on to desert, six of the seven steps were completed.

"Okay Gabs, this is it." Taylor handed her the box, all of them focusing their attention on the petite brunette. "All you have to do is slide the lid to the right."

"Why do I feel like we're in some action flick where they're dismantling a bomb?" Gabriella joked, feeling slightly uncomfortable with all the attention. The group laughed as Gabriella easily slip the top of the box off. Gabriella gasped at it's contents. She noted the paper that she had assumed to be the instructions, but focused all her attention onto the golden band beside it. She shakily set the box down and held up the ring for her friends.

"Holy crap!" Sharpay exclaimed from her seat in front of the brunette. "It's beautiful! That had to be at least two karats, maybe even three."

"There's a note on the back of the diagram, Gabs."

Gabriella clutched in her hand as Taylor handed her the sheet of paper. She flipped the diagram of how to open the box over and immediately recognized the handwriting.

Congratulations! If you're reading this, that means you figured it out. (Unless you got really frustrated and just borrowed Chad's hammer.) Unlike this box, love comes with no instructions so it's hard to tell when I'm doing something right. By now, you must of also seen the ring. I lied in my last letter, when I said that seeing this box reminded me of you. Everything reminds me of you! All I could think about was how much you would love it over here. I already had the ring, it was my grandmothers, and I was planning on asking you soon. I just didn't know when or why or how. You're a smart woman so if I did some over the top, romantic dinner, you would of figured it out the second you step foot into the room. When I saw this box, I was reminded of us. We took all these steps to open ourselves up to each other and in the end we fit together perfectly, like a puzzle. It was sure as hell didn't start easy but as soon as you get the hang of it, everything just falls into place. Now, what I'm about to say is extremely cheesy (then again, the rest of this note was pretty cheesy as well but that's why you love me). Gabriella, you are my missing piece and without you I'd never be complete. Will you complete me by granting me the honor of becoming my wife? You don't have to answer me now, you have until the time I get back to think about it and as much time as you need after that. Just know that I love you, that I'm in love with you.

-Troy

"Awe, Gabster's crying." Chad teased lightly.

She suddenly rushed into the house, leaving her friends in a daze.

"Uhmmm..should we go after her?" Zeke asked carefully.

Before anybody could respond, Gabriella had reappeared at the entrance into the backyard. "Chad, where'd you put the number to Troy's hotel?"

"By the phone in the kitchen."

And with that she was off again.

"Nope, Zeke. I think she's fine. Can I have some more cookies?" Chad added, giving Zeke his best puppy dog face, making the table of friends laugh.

Meanwhile, Gabriella sat on the kitchen counter with the cordless phone pressed against here. It felt like hours before she heard someone breathe into the other line.

"Hello?" Troy croaked into the phone.

Gabriella felt her heart skip about 100 beats. She had the ring in one hand and his letter in the other. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Ye-"

"Gabriella? Babe, is that you? Is something wrong?"

"Yes! I mean, no. I mean, yes it's me and nothing is wrong." She laughed nervously and bit down on her bottom lip. "I'm sorry, did I wake you? What time is it there?"

"It's just after 3:15 in the morning."

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I was just so excited that I didn't even take into consideration the time differences."

"Excited?" his suddenly sounded awake.

She nodded, forgetting for a moment that he couldn't see her. She took a deep breath, mentally and physically preparing herself. "Troy, I'd love to marry you. Nothing would make me would make me happier."

-

-

-

Three days later Troy Bolton walked into his best friend's house, using his spare key. He heard laughter coming from the dining room and quickly made his way towards the sound. She had her back to him and he held a finger to his lips, silently pleading for his friends that also occupied the room to acknowledge him. He crept quietly behind her and wrapped his arms around, kissing the top her head.

Gabriella's body stiffened for a second before relaxing as she felt her capturer kiss the top of her head. She looked up, surprised to see a familiar pair of blue eyes looking down at her. She immediately wiggled out of his grasp and stood up quickly. His strong arms immediately pulled her to him and she smiled into his chest.

She remembers his words in his proposal letter, she has already committed it to memory, and she cherishes just how perfectly they fit together, like a puzzle.

A/N: Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this because I had fun playing around with ideas and writing it. So how was it? I haven't completed a story in nearly 7 months, this was just kick I needed to finish the other stories on my laptop. Okay, I'm done talking. Please review and tell me what you thought. Oh and if you haven't, you should seriously go to that Web-site at the top. These boxes are really cool and extremely entertaining. LOL

Lots of love,

Kae xoxo