If you haven't seen Hotarubi no Mori e then I suggest you watch it or read the manga or you won't really understand what is happening in this story. Here is the link for the movie: video/x14fj6i_hotarubi-no-mori-e_shortfilms

...

"Hotaru! Your friend is here!" Hotaru's mother shouted from down the stairs.

"Give me one second!" She shouted back as she was fishing through her closet to find her favorite purse. She was going on a date with a boy from her class, Yoshimori. She was currently in her senior year in high school and had no plan of what she wanted to do in the future.

"Ah, there it is!" She reached for the handle of her purse and carelessly pulled it down. An avalanche of her items barreled around her. Then something hit her on the head; a white mask.

Memories flooded back into Hotaru.

Gin. The Forest of Fireflies. The spirits.

She had forgotten about the incident completely. Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame her and she began to feel sick.

"Hotaru!" Her mother called, interrupting her thoughts.

"Coming!" She shouted.

She got up from the pile of nostalgic items, and headed downstairs for her date. When she walked down the stairs, she saw Yoshimori holding flowers. Yoshimori had black hair, black eyes, and was much taller than Hotaru.

Her now long brown hair flowed perfectly around her waistline. She wore a blue summer dress with flat white shoes.

"You look amazing, Hotaru." Yoshimori said.

"You as well." She replied.

Her mind was in the gutter. How could she have forgotten Gin after all these years? Was this sick feeling she had guilt?

"Have you heard of the Forest of the Fireflies?" Yoshimori asked.

Hotaru snapped out of her daze, "Yes, why?"

"Well rumor has it that all of the spirits who lived there moved to the forest right behind your house; the Forest of the Waterfall."

He kept talking about some weird stuff that Hotaru was disinterested in. Why was she on this date with him? She had thought they clicked so well, but after her recollection of memories, she was having huge doubts.

The night dragged on, and Hotaru could barely keep up with Yoshimori. She kept thinking about Gin and what could have been if he just hadn't helped that little boy. Finally Yoshimori dropped her off at home where she planned to lay in her bed and sob all night, hugging Gin's old robe.

"Thank you for tonight, I had a lot of fun..." She trailed off, completely averting eye contact.

He smiled and began to lean in; Hotaru panicked and hugged him instead.

"Goodnight." She hurried into her house and went up to her bedroom.

...

"Wow! That was so weird," Hotaru exclaimed, "They really went all out with their disguises didn't they? It was like a mimicking competition. Is it like this every year?"

"Yeah," Gin said, "Every time summer comes around..." He paused for a moment, "Hotaru... I can no longer wait for summer to come around. When I'm away from you, even though I can't be around crowds, I still want to go see you.

After a small silence, Gin took his mask off; revealing his symmetric face and beautiful white hair. He placed his mask on Hotaru's face, then kissed the cheek on the mask.

I bet this is the last summer I am going to see him. Hotaru thought.

As she was about to speak, two children came flying by; one of them tripping over a rock. Gin being the man he was reached out to stop the boy from flying face first into the dirt.

"Be careful, okay?" He said to the small child.

"Yeah! Thank you mister!" He ran away to catch up with the other child.

Hotaru looked over her shoulder and saw that Gin had begun to slowly fade away.

"Gin?"

"Hotaru! Come here! I can hug you now."

With a little hesitation, Hotaru jumped right into his arms. She had never felt so happy than she did in that moment. Then he disappeared leaving only a trace of his robe. Hotaru stayed on the ground for a little while; silently sobbing into his only remains.

Hotaru woke up in a panic. She hadn't had that dream since that event occurred two years ago. That same feeling of guilt was back. It was a bright Saturday morning, and her mother had went to work.

She recalled what Yoshimori said about the Forest of the Waterfall.

Getting out of bed, she decided to take a look into that forest that she had never been in. She didn't recall it ever being there either until it was mentioned by Yoshimori.

Near the entrance of the forest there was a square well at the top of a set of stairs. She walked up the stairs and stared down into the well making a wish: I wish that Gin and I can be reunited.

After multiple hours of searching for the Waterfall in the forest, Hotaru gave up and decided to go home. But where exactly was home?

Her memory of being lost as a child flew into her mind, and she began to tear up. She fell to her knees and completely broke down.

"Hey, Shorty." A voice came from around.

She looked up, confused as all hell; then she spotted him.

"Gin?" He mouth draped open.

"Hi, Hotaru."

She ran up to him; every intention to hug the crap out of him, but then he hit her on the head with a stick.

"Did you forget? I can't touch any humans."

"How come you are alive, Gin?"

"Well when I touched that human boy all those years ago, it turned out he was a half human half spirit. It's odd, I know. They are the rare type. So when I touched him, I only vanished for a certain amount of time. The Mountain God said I would be able to return to the human realm until you remembered me. And you did, when that cluster of things fell on you. I've been watching you this whole time, Hotaru, and now we can turn our relationship into something else."

"Gin," she smiled, "I am so happy that cluster fell on me. I want to take our relationship one step further, but how can we do that when we cannot physically touch each other?"

"Well," he sighed, "I didn't want to bring this up because of the temptation it might stir; the Mountain God said this:

Flashback

Mountain God: Gin, you have been touched by a half human, therefore you are able to return to the human world. But, Hotaru must remember you within a span of 3 years. If she does not, you will vanish forever. If she does remember you before 3 years is up, you may return to her at once. And since the Forest of the Fireflies got burnt to shreds, I'll even make sure that a new one appears by her house so and you and the other spirits will live there.

Gin: Will I be able to touch her?

God: That you will have to decide. You can risk disappearing by touching her, or you can not touch her and stay with her forever.

End of Flashback

So, Hotaru, please promise that you will not try to touch me-" He got cutoff by her immediately running into his arms.

"I know I can touch you. No God is that cruel enough to put you through the same thing twice." She buried her head into his warm chest.

"What if you had been wrong just now?" He frowned, hugging her head.

"Sh, just accept this." She giggled.

"Hotaru..." He pulled her head up with his hands; and kissed her.

The moment they both wanted and wished for their entire lives. Things finally were beginning to come together for the two lovers.