REALIZATION

I was the one to erase her memories.

Her memories of us,

Just to save her from the pain.

She was dying,

Reliving the grief and guilt,

Every day in her mind.

It was the only way to save her

And rescue her from the darkness.

I had to let her go

And let her forget all of her, all of our precious memories,

Spent together.

I was the sacrifice while she went free.

I was the one to stay behind,

forever caged in the past and the time of lost spring.

This kind of sacrifice is just too much,

Too much to ask of anyone.

Anyone but me.

Because for her happiness,

It was worth it all.

Even if it all vanished into the deep abyss,

She deserved it.

She had suffered so much,

She needed this one piece of happiness.

"She hates you, Hatori. She doesn't want to remember the pain she has caused you. She's wondering why you haven't been merciful enough to spare her from this pain. She wants to forget, Hatori." He hissed into my ear, his hypnotic voice slowly weaving a dance around my muddled mind.

Because who was I to deprive her of this bliss?

"You love her, Hatori. Save her...Give her what she wants." His cold, unemotional voice snaked up my veins and grasped my heart in its icy hold. "She's suffering. Now you don't want her to suffer, do you?"

How could her happiness be held at stake just for my own selfish passions?

"I'm so glad that I met Hatori. I'm so glad that I'm in love with Hatori."

Kana's face suddenly filled up my mind and blocked out Akito's devious whispers, lighting up before my eyes just like spring time.

She was so young, she still had a life to live. I couldn't keep her chained up like this, forever locked to pain.

"She's crying from the hurt." He murmured as his long fingernails idly traced the cracks in the floorboards. "She wants to let go."

Even if I had to forever descend back into the ice I feared, even if I had to live in the coldness of winter for the rest of my life, even if I would never feel spring again...

"I love you...I love you so much." And she smiled.

Everything, everything...it would all be for her.