My name is Haruko Kamio, and I am the mother of the kindest, gentlest girl that ever lived. Her eyes were wide and full of life; her presence calming; her smile infectious; her laughter contagious. And she was very, very fragile. From a young age, she was inexplicably brought to tears if she ever felt she was making a true friend, and so she was very alone.

I regret not being there for her more. There's not been a day gone by that I didn't wish I could take all of the time back and start over. I regret that I was only really her mother for a short time. And then she died.

I fell apart. The days went by excruciatingly slow, and she never left my thoughts. Over and over again, the scene played back in my head. My beautiful Misuzu, lifeless in my arms. The tears flow endlessly down my face, and there's nothing I can do. She is simply gone, no longer of this world, and I am here alone.

Every day, I cried and I drank, and I drank and I cried. I was angry. Angry that I couldn't save her; angry that I didn't even know why she had died; why she had to endure such pain, and all for nothing. My heart ached so intensely at the very thought of this. Everything reminded me of her, and so I drank even more.

One day, I stumbled drunkenly into her bedroom, and was overwhelmed with grief. I collapsed onto her bed, and pulled her sheets close. I could still smell her. This was all that was left of her.

The funeral was very empty, and that only made it worse. This beautiful little girl had inadvertently effected so many, just with her smile alone, and so few cared to pay their respects.

Hijiri and Kano Kirishima, Minagi Tohno, and Misuzu's birth father, Kousuke, were the only attendants. And it broke my heart.

It's only been three months, and yet it feels as though so much time has gone by. The world I used to live in, the world with Misuzu alive and well, seems so distant. And I know I will never again be a part of that world. But I am confident that she is watching carefully and lovingly over me, as she always did. She may be gone, but in a way, she is everywhere.

She is the ocean; she is the sunlight; she is the very happiness of all who live in this small, comfortable town.

I can see her in all these things, very clearly, and I await the day I may see her again, in that little piece of heaven that's a little more beautiful than the rest.