"I still remember the first day I met you. It was about three months after Sora and Matt first got together, and I was still taking it pretty hard." Tai chuckled slightly at his understatement - he had been a wreck.

"I'm not too proud to admit it, actually, but I came pretty close to hating Matt during that time. We'd rarely ever seen eye to eye, exactly, and that… that was pretty brutal. But I never really did." The brunette stopped a moment, gathering his thoughts. "It kills me that I let it consume my life so much, but there it is."

"Then, suddenly, you were there. Of course, I had thought about you once or twice since we met, but I never expected you to remember me - much less to come to me to learn Japanese." He ran a hand through his wild hair, eyes glazing over slightly as he reminisced. "It was tough. I'd never taught anything before, really. But you came all the way here because you wanted me to teach you. I had to get you fluent enough to figure out why, if nothing else."

"In the process, I did end up learning some of your language, too. You would teach me just as I taught you, word for word. It was fun - I'd never really thought about learning another language, but I'm glad I did." A small pause, as he gathered his thoughts again. "Gradually, we went from acquaintances to really good friends. I noticed I was less upset whenever I was around you. Eventually, we were good enough friends - and we could communicate well enough - for me to ask you exactly why you decided to come to me for lessons."

"Needless to say, your reasoning shocked me. Well, I guess I should say your lack of reasoning. 'It seemed like a good idea at the time,' you said. And here I thought I was impulsive." Another pause - this time, to regain control of his emotions, as he was nearing tears.

"You came into my life for absolutely no reason, and you changed it for the better. I couldn't believe my luck. And then, of course, it wasn't long 'til we started dating. You're the reason I'm still sane today. Until that point, I had loved Sora with everything I had - I never expected to be able to be happy with anyone but her."

"But we were happy. More than happy. I was overjoyed to finally put all that behind me, and finally be living a normal life again. I'm pretty sure Matt and Sora were pretty happy, too. No more jealous glares from this guy!" Silence, as Tai once again regained control of his emotions.

"Then we got married. That was the happiest day of my life. We said our vows in each others' language, since that was how we met. Kari was the flower girl, and I swear, she was the prettiest little sister a brother could ever have." Tai caught sight of Kari's face in the crowd, blushing at the compliment.

"Our families didn't quite know what to think. It was that way from the beginning, actually, but I'm sure they never expected it to go that far. Still, they got along well, so long as there was an interpreter around. Then, there was the honeymoon. You always said you wanted to see New York, so when we got off the plane, the look in your eyes made it totally worth spending my entire summer paycheck on the trip."

"Mimi was there, which was great. You two… A match made in heaven. We were there for three weeks, and I loved every hectic minute of it that I spent with you." At this point, Tai had given up controlling his emotions, and tears were running freely down his face.

"Then, we learned you couldn't have children. That… that was the worst thing I ever had to endure. You were crushed. I tried to console you, but I had no idea what I was doing. Thankfully, Mimi always gives good advice. On her suggestion, we adopted a beautiful baby girl, and the way your eyes lit up when you held her…" His voice grew too thick to continue, so he just shook his head, and continued once he was finally okay.

"I told you that I only wished that she could've been your child, and you looked at me like I was the biggest fool in the world. 'She is mine,' you said. 'Just as much as she is yours.' At the time, I didn't know what you meant, but I learned soon enough. It didn't matter if she was genetically our daughter. She was still family." His daughter - now a beautiful girl of fourteen - was at the front of the crowd, never once attempting to hide her tears.

"We raised her, and we struggled through holding multiple jobs, and we did our best to make sure she grew up with everything she could ever ask for. In a way, it was hell. Never a moment's peace, never time to rest. But it was worth it. I got to raise the most wonderful, talented, intelligent and beautiful girl the world will ever know, all with you right there at my side."

At this point, Tai hung his head, placing his hands on the casket in front of him. "Then we went to the doctor for a checkup, and found out about the cancer. I didn't want to believe him, but you were strong. You just asked him if it could be treated, and when he told you that you were probably going to die, you asked him how much longer to expect." The entire room was saturated with emotion, and Tai had to once again take a moment to compose himself.

"You made the most of the time you had left. All our friends, our family… Even though you were the one dying, you ended up having to comfort all of us. You're so much stronger than you look. Stronger than anyone I know. Then, when your time came…" Another moment of silence.

"You told us not to worry. Not to be sad that you were gone. To celebrate the life you had, instead of mourning for what we lost. So we'll do that. After today… After the funeral, we'll stop being sad. We'll go on with our lives. But we'll be sure to keep a special place in our memories for you."

By now, everyone in the room was in tears - even Matt, who swore he wouldn't cry. Bending down and gently planting a kiss on his deceased lover's forehead, Tai whispered:

"Je t'aime, Catherine."

A/N: Aw, hell. This actually started out in my head as a happy story. It just sort of gravitated towards sad the more I thought about it. It seems I just can't find it in me to make Tai happy.

Well, I tried to make it all sappy and fuzzy, even through the sad portion, so I really hope I managed to strike a nice balance between the two. As always, I very dearly hope you enjoyed it. If not, be sure to tell me why!

Je t'aime = I love you