I reached out and brushed off the thin dust of snow that had gathered upon the flat stone.

"Hey," I said, grasping the red and ivory paper bag. "I brought two." I set one on top of the stone and the other I held in my left hand. I hesitated a moment, then took a small bite.

"These are from your parents' third store. Just as good as the original. Just as I remembered them being. Kinda surprised though, y'know? Come back from Lisbon to find another store. When I stopped by your dad talked about selling it off so that they could retire... but your mom just smiled a little bit. Watari was overseas, too. Although, his trip was probably more exciting than mine."

I took another bite, holding the treat in my mouth as I gently swept away the rest of the snow from the engravings.

"I left Tsubaki with little Hiroko. I told her Sakura was old enough to watch her by herself now, but she doesn't listen. Overprotective, I say. When I was her age I was jumping off bridges with strange violinists. Though, she would probably kill me if she knew I was here..."

I looked up at the slowly shifting snowflakes, spiraling sporadically as a gentle breeze began to kick up.

"Sakura's been practicing her clarinet. She tells me she wants me to play with her on Ernesto Cavalini's Adagio e Tarantella. Do you know that one? ...Hiroko likes to crawl around the study as I practice. Tsubaki yelling at the kids to go outside. Yelling at me to get dinner... which I do, sometimes."

I finished my canele knelt down in the snow. Cars were lazily rolling by, kicking up small flurries of white powder.

"So much has changed... and yet, nothing has changed at all. It's been so long, Kaori. I can't even remember some of the things you said, I can't remember the number of times you pestered me and called me and surprised me. All I can remember is the feeling. To think that I had lost so much, and you came along and showed me all that I had left to cherish. It's gotten easier as I get older, and yet I can't forget. Just like I can't forget the way that your eyes were sparking as you danced on the water, and the way your bow moved as it danced across the strings. I can't forget. I'll never forget. But I wonder if moving on... was as painful for you as it was for me. I can't help but wonder, who would you be now? Would you still be that tempestuous little blonde? Or would you have settled down? Would you have stopped eating cake? Would you be touring with me? So many things I wanted to ask you then, to tell you. So many things I want to ask you now. I suppose you have a lot of questions for me, too. Although, I don't think you can make me hear you now... and I know that you have heard my answer so many times, but I have to tell you again: you did, not just me, but everyone."

I stood up and dusted off my knees. I took two steps back and gave a bow.

"Thank you. Oh, and you better be practicing the Kreutzer. I am, and you don't want to be left behind, because the second I get up there, we're going to play that duet. I have to get back to Tsubaki now... to my family. Goodbye, for now. I'll see you when you decide to show up again."

I turned around and started walking out of the cemetery. As I rounded the corner, I looked back, and sitting next to that singular canele was a black cat, licking its paws. I smiled as best I could, and I kept walking, back home, back to life.