Epilogue
Show your world to me
"Do you ever wonder whether your life is real or not?" I asked Ninamori Eri.
She giggled -- the silver sound of her laughter borne aloft by the wind. I wanted to run my fingers across the source of that sound, wanted to find out if it was as pure and sweet as the sound she made.
"You ask the strangest questions. Of course life is real -- you're living it, aren't you?"
I had to smile. She looked so sincere and convinced of her answer.
How I wished it were true.
"Hey, Naota-kun?"
"Hmm?" I leaned back, resting my hands on the ground as I stared up at the boundless blue sky. "What is it?"
"Did you -- were you able to find her?"
Her.
"I did."
"Oh."
I watched her lean forward, her shirt stretched tight across her back, revealing the graceful curve of her spine.
"What happened then?"
"I said goodbye to her."
I could see the confusion in her eyes.
She wanted to know why I did what I did; she wanted to know why I walked away from the woman that I loved.
Loved.
I did love Samejima Mamimi -- in my own childish way, I did. But I wasn't a child anymore and the love that I felt for her then wasn't there anymore, where it used to be.
"Mamimi has her own world now and she seems happy in it. I didn't want to interfere with that. She deserves to be happy."
"But what about you? Don't you deserve to be happy?"
"What makes you think I'm not?"
I lay back, the grass cushioning my fall. I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. "I'm happy here … with you."
And at that moment, I realized what I needed to have said long before I embarked on my summer sojourn. I opened my eyes and turned my head to face her. "I'm happy here in Mabase with you, Ninamori Eri."
She smiled and lay down beside me – her face inches away from mine. "You say the strangest things, Naota-kun."
