Our time was running out. He was hugging me so tightly, so I guess he knew it too. He kept talking to me, whispering to me, not letting me fall asleep. I wanted to fall asleep, warm in his arms, but he wouldn't let me. I tried to tell him to let me, but my lips only moved without sound. I couldn't figure out how exactly to move them. But then he rang the bells again, and then that was all I could think about.
His name...it was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't remember it. I caught glimpses of happiness, times we had spent together. But they were flying away...away...just like the veil...
But even though I couldn't remember, I still felt happy. Overjoyed, in fact. This was worth it, worth all the pain in my head and chest, worth all the tears I remember crying, even worth the words that I could not form. This was what I had wanted above everything.
I let my hand drop.
I fell asleep, and all I remembered in that moment were the bells...and him, his warmth, like the spring I had waited so hard for.
Oh, Yuichi...you made spring for me.