Snowflakes fell gently onto the already covered ground, coating the odd angel or cross with a dusting worthy of the heavens. Some of them landed on a solitary figure reading a stone slab, the date showing it was implanted not six months earlier.

Here lies the body of…

~*flashback*~

"A Mr…Hiiragizawa?"

A man, who could only be Hiiragizawa Eriol, stood up quickly, his eyes still slightly red. Just moments ago he had held a small bundle of joy, his own daughter. His life couldn't have been any better. And then…"Yes, that's me. How is she? No, how are they?"

Baba Jun, the nurse on duty, led the young man to a small room that they had reserved for confrontations like this. The Black Room, they called it. She had been working in the ICU for close to forty years now, but it never became any better.

"Mr. Hiiragizawa, I'm afraid your wife's condition has worsened. She's…she's in the ICU now," she maintained eye contact, knowing it to be crucial, "and I'm…you see, she knew of the complications from before, but we're very hopeful that the new surgery will help, however-"

"She's going to die, isn't she?"

Jun's eyes widened. Never in all her years had someone arrived to that conclusion that fast. Eyes falling, she pressed on, "Well sir, she knew that there would be problems with internal bleeding. She told me how much you wanted a child during her pre-check ups. If I may say, she loved this baby more than her life."

"She's going to die, isn't she?"

Jun took a deep breath and looked up. "Yes, sir, she is."

Hours later, when she filled out her resignation form, when asked for why she wanted to quit, she wrote, "I have worked here for what seems like a thousand years and seen terrible minutes of deep sadness, but today I have seen a thousands year's worth of sadness in a minute."

~*~

Hiiragizawa Mina stared at Akizuki Nakuru solemnly, holding out a small stack of envelopes. They were gaily coloured, and Nakuru stared at them quizzically.

"Nani?"

"Nakuru, I'm dying. Don't even try and deny it, I know that all your magic mumbo-jumbo is telling you that I'm fading. But I want my daughter to know me. You know, my mother died when I was 19? While I was sad that she died, I kept on thinking, hey! at least I got to know her. So, for my daughter, I've written nine letters, for each of her first nine birthdays. Promise me you'll give them to her?"

Nakuru took the letters with a shaking hand, willing herself to be able to, just this once, say something meaningful. "Mina-sama, I-I don't know what to say."

"Of course you don't. I wasn't expecting anything subtle from you. If I were, I would have asked for Spinel. Smile, please? My world's falling apart, but some things should remain the same."

Nakuru half-swiped at her eyes, smiling. "Will do, Mina-san. Will do." She took the letters, admiring the detailed drawings. "Oh, you know that Eriol-sama is right outside the door?" she waved with one hand, opening the door.

Eriol walked in and sat down, registering in the back of his mind that Nakuru – bless her – had gone out and closed the door. Rocking back and forth, he cast around for something to say, absently rubbing his finger over her hand.

"You are…very bad." Eriol clenched his wife's hand, smacking it lightly. She looked at him, smiling with sad eyes.

"Eriol, you know you wanted a child."

"I want you too."

"Well, she looks like me a little. She has my hair. Seems like she has your eyes, however."

"What, the glasses?"

"No, baka, the colour. The doctors left that field blank on the form, you know. Her eyes didn't stay the same colour for two seconds."

"That means she has my-"

"Your magic, yes." When he fell silent, she rolled her eyes, "Eriol, you couldn't have done anything."

"I should have been able to save you."

"Eriol…"

"Mina…"

"Eriol."

"Mina."

"Eriol, promise me something."

"Anything, Mina."

"Promise me-promise me you won't cry?"

Eriol whipped his head around, turning his head away from the tear-streaked face of his wife. "That's not fair."

"Please? For me?"

Eriol took a deep breath, and sat on the edge of the bed. "I promise. But no-"

"Promise me something else?"

Eriol bit his lip to keep from crying. He shook his head, the movements jerky.

"Please, Eriol?"

"…yes, Mina?"

Mina blinked hard a few times, then summoned up her courage and took her husband's face in her hands. Now or never. "Promise me…promise me you'll name our daughter…Tomoyo?"

~*end flashback*~

Eriol turned around and sprinted out of the cemetery.

~*TBC*~

A/N: Based on the Bollywood film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Happened/Happening/Will Happen). Read and review!

wicherwill ^_^