After 100 Years

Summary: If we are reborn, I would choose to fall in love with you all over again. One-shot, ClairexDoctor.

A/N: I wrote this because my game in MFoMT accidentally got deleted, and I'm very sad. TT-TT

The doctor stared blankly at his wife, who lay dying in front of him. And he couldn't do anything about it. Elli lowered and shook her head as she squeezed his shoulder, murmuring something that he couldn't quite catch as she left the two of them alone. He knew he should go to her side, but for some reason, his feet wouldn't obey. He wondered if it had anything to do with the thought that if he did sit next to her, he was giving up on her condition.

It wasn't fair. They had gotten married in mid-summer, and not even two seasons later, she became sick. At first, she tried to hide it from him, trying to keep him from worrying, but he eventually noticed and forced her to take some medicine with her when she worked. She was a strong woman, so no one even suspected that the illness that started out as a light cough would have spread so quickly throughout her body. And he knew he was to blame. Didn't he promise to protect her always? Didn't he tell her every night that he would take care of her if she got sick? If he had only done his job, if he had been more careful, then…

"T…Trent…"

Her weak voice made his heart ache. She slowly lifted her trembling hand, trying to beckon him to come closer. He shut his eyes tightly, and, breathing deeply, forced his feet to take him to her side. His heart broke as he heard her labored breathing, and he had to fight back tears when he took her hand in his. He could see she was suffering, fighting to stay alive for just a little longer…and yet she continued to smile.

"…I'm…I'm sorry," she whispered.

"No," he assured her, "I should be saying that to you. This is my fault…"

"You…you're always…too hard on yourself…" She tried to laugh.

He tightened his grip on her hand. "Don't leave me," he pleaded. "I…I love you!"

She looked sadly into his eyes as she struggled to breathe and placed her free hand on top of his. "I…love you too…"

He pushed back locks of her blonde hair from her face, muttering, "This isn't fair."

"No…it isn't." She smiled again. "But I'm glad…I had the chance…to be with you…" She suddenly began to cough violently, causing him to jump to his feet. "Trent…" she continued hurriedly, "listen…"

"I'm listening, darling, I'm listening..."

"If…if we are reborn…I would choose…to fall in love with you…all over again…" He looked at her, confused, but she just smiled again. "I love you…" she sighed softly.

He stood there for a long time just staring at her face. It wasn't until Elli returned that he finally realized that she was gone. Hot tears rolled down his face as he continued to hold onto her cold hand.

"I love you too, Claire…"

Trent smiled as he admired the view, deciding that the Goddess Pond in the Forget-Me-Not Valley was just as beautiful as the one in Mineral Town. He stretched his arms in the air, feeling refreshed after spending all morning studying at Dr. Hardy's clinic.

Presently, he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned to come face-to-face with a rather cute blonde girl. "Oh, hello," he greeted.

"Hi there!" she replied brightly.

"You're the new farmer here, aren't you?" he asked.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, how'd you know?"

He laughed. "Hardy told me about you." He reached out his hand. "I'm Doctor Trent, his student."

She smiled as she shook his hand. "My name's Claire."

Neither of them could explain it then, but the moment their hands touched, tears started streaming from their eyes, and they felt as if they had just found the missing piece of their soul.

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't understand, the story started out in MFoMT, and ended during DS Cute.