'Remember,' was the whisper on the trees, frost and snow holding down branches.
His eyes are trained, waiting for the spring for new hope and joy.
He'll never forget her, who they were together, and even though he'll always remember, he knows that that just pierces his heart further.
Hatori remembers his precious Kana, remembers their love, so sudden and so strong.
His lips sometimes have a mind of their own when he thinks of her and rise up into a gentle and peaceful smile.
Hatori remembers gentle love, burning passion, or at the very least, her desire to always remain by his side, remembers when it became too much for her.
He remembers the day that his own frostily kept heart leaked on to her, spilling itself on to the pages, letting Akito wound them, sweep them under the rug of regret and sorrow.
Hatori knew that it was the curse; he couldn't just throw it away even to be with Kana.
If the years had been kind, and he'd only met her after the curse had begun to break then they'd surely make it if she didn't find love with someone else first; he knows as well as the next person that what ifs can truly hurt the most.
A part of himself is still somewhat selfish, longing to forget, and yet he never wants to let that part win; he always wants to remember her, joy mixed in with bitter sadness.
Kana was and is probably still everything that he is not; she has an energy that no one quite matches and yet some days he sees her in Tohru, a young woman head over heels for Kyo, sees her in her joy, her kindness, her heart, and yet it will never be the same, never be enough.
Hatori pushes the bitter feeling to the back of his mind, used to it after all this time, and wonders if he'd been better at protecting her, would they have lasted much longer?
He sees in others what he longs for, what he desperately misses, and yet he bites that envy back and away; she wouldn't have wanted him to ever be like this after all.
Hatori just misses her, sees her in the snow during winter, her laughter, her joy, and he sees her in the first breath of Spring, sees her in its coming to life.
Kana is all that he can never be, and yet he truly loves her for all of that; he misses her so very much that every day without her hurts a little more than the last.
He wonders though if he'll ever be strong enough to move on and never forget; he never wants to forget her even if it leaves him in this single state forever.
Hatori misses her, loves her more than anything, and knows that every day without her will pile up like it always has, but yet he never regrets erasing her memory.
She deserves to be happy, not riddled with guilt, and he'll make sure of that every day and reaffirm what he knows to be true even when the ache becomes piercing, even on his hardest days without her.
Hatori truly loves her, and that is enough for him, for the rest of his life.