It was just shortly after he died. They had been through so much together.
They had lost their first son, went through so much grief, lived an incomplete life with each other.
She told him a thousand times to stop smoking, even if it we hot to her, but he refused. He was a doctor and he knew the consequences to it. He gained his consequence back in the spring of 2011, when he was only 29, she 19.
He battled lung cancer for a period of only seven and a half years, when finally he retired to his grave at36. Shelby could picture the time span from the day they met up until she watched him die.
Everyday, she clutched his picture, morning him even more. Although it had been already three years since he died, it felt like yesterday. They had three children total: Ichigo, who would be 12 years old now, Suiko, 9, and Hikaru, 5.
Shelby reached under her desk and grabbed her purse, fumbling through her wallet, trying to find her money to pay Ayame for staying two hours over. She grabbed the extra Y 4000 and placed it in her pocket, knowing she could just hand it to him as he left.
She sighed as she walked over to the x-ray file cabinet and pulled out some film from a patient and placed it against the light. As she studied it, her radio, which had been low, began to play older songs.
"You" a solo by Amy Lee, came on. She enjoyed listening to the American stations that they had in Japan. She stood up to turn it up. She went back to studying the x-ray film as the lyrics rang in the room.
The words have been drained from this pencil
Sweet words that I want to give you
And I can't sleep
I need to tell you
Good night...
Shelby looked up and stared at the radio, which was under a giant family portrait they had done just about a month before Hatori died. She stood up and walked over to stare at the picture. She smiled up at the picture, trying hard not to think about it.
When we're together
I feel perfect
When I'm pulled away from you
I fall apart.
All you say is sacred to me.
FLASHBACK
"I am gonna stay out here for a little bit, OK, Hatori?"
"Is something wrong?"
"No.. I just want to think."
"Oh, OK. I'll stay out here then."
"Do you think Ichigo is up there?"
"I'm almost positive."
END FLASHBACK
Shelby looked over at the radio and then down to the floor as tears filled her eyes. She looked back up at the picture and smiled at how happy she can remember them being.
Your eyes are so blue
I can't look away
As we lay in the stillness
You whisper to me
"Baby marry me
Promise you'll stay with me."
FLASHBACK
"Shelby, baby, I have something that I need to ask you."
"Um, OK. Go ahead, Haa-san."
"Shelby Merritt, will you become Mrs. Hatori Sohma?"
"Oh...o-o-of course!"
"I love you so much, Shelby!"
"I love you too, Hatori!"
END FLASHBACK
She walked back over to the x-ray and wrote something down on a pad of paper. She placed the pad of paper in a drawer, replaced the x-ray back in it's cabinet, and grabbed her purse and keys.
She walked over and picked up Hatori's picture.
Oh you don't have to ask me
You know you're all that I live for
You know I'd die just to hold you
Stay with you.
"I... I miss you, Haa-san..." she wept. "So much." She wiped her tears away and stood by the book case where the picture that was currently in her hand always stayed.
"I told you to not smoke, but you didn't listen... We both knew the dangers of it, but you just didn't listen to me."
Somehow I'll show you
That you are my night sky
I've always been right behind you
now I'll always be right beside you
FLASHBACK
"Hatori... I told you not to smoke... now look what happened!"
"Shelby.. don't... please..."
"Hatori, LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!"
"I see that! I know.. I know... God, Shelby, I am so sorry."
"Hatori, why couldn't you just quit? Why couldn't you just quit?"
"Baby... I don't know."
END FLASHBACK
So many nights
I cried myself to sleep
Now that you love me
I love myself
FLASH BACK
"Hatori! HATORI! No, Hatori!"
"Mrs. Sohma, get back! Get back, he's going! You can't bring him back now! Let him leave!"
"HATORI! NO, I LOVE YOU! COME BACK, HAA-SAN!"
END FLASHBACK
Shelby winced as she remember what it was like to not be able to hold her loved one when he needed her the absolute most. He was leaving this world for the other one and the doctors held her back from holding him.
Her most regreted memory.
I never thought I would say that
I never though there'd be
You...
She turned to look at her clock and caught a glimpse of the outside, where it was snowing. She clutched his picture and walked over to the window. It wasn't snowing earlier, but it just recently. The ground was still a dark green color.
"Haa-san?" she spoke out into the silence, opening her window. "Are you showing me that you're watching me? Are you up in Heaven, telling God to let it snow, because you want to show me how much you love me?
"Was it you who made it snow at your funeral and on all of our children's birthdays, even if Ichigo's is in June? There's no need for snow anymore, Hatori. I know that you are watching over the three of us, both you and Ichigo.
"Don't let it snow anymore, because you are free. You're no longer unmelted snow. As you put it 12 years ago, I am the fresh breath of Spring that melts away the snow. Even then, you were still frozen. Now that you are gone from this world, you can be completly unmelted. You are free."
In the original song, she says "Amy"