The wind blew gently through the light pink cherry blossoms and red maple leaves, rustling them to create a melodic sound that soothed Sumiko Hara's troubled mind, even if ever so slightly. It was rare for cherry blossoms to bloom in the autumn. She felt fortunate to be able to live in one of the few cities to have that specific breed of cherry blossom. Her admiration of the foliage was soon consumed by the thoughts running through her head. She clutched her purse closer to her body as anxiety tensed her muscles. She closed her brown eyes and inhaled the cool autumn air. 'In through the nose,' She guided herself mentally, 'Out through the mouth."

"Mommy! Mommy! Can we have our coins now?"

Pulled out of her trance, Sumiko looked down into the blue eyes of her daughter. Her face radiated a bright and innocent happiness. Sumiko's anxiety lessened its grip on her muscles as a sense of adoration flowed through her. She reached into her purse and pulled out two rolls of one-yen coins. Her daughter jumped up and down and reached out her hands toward the coins.

Sumiko let out a small laugh and lowered her hand to allow her daughter to grab the rolls. "You and Ryuji have fun, Ayame," She said with a smile. "I'll be on the bench right here."

Ayame nodded her head excitedly as she gave a roll of coins to her less hyper friend, Ryuji. She grabbed his hand and immediately began pulling him toward the crane fountain. "Come on, Ryuji, before the fountain runs out of wishes!"

"It can run out of wishes?!" Ryuji gasped.

They ran as quick as their five-year-old legs would take them. Sumiko smiled as she watched her daughter's brown hair set into pigtails bounced up and down with every step. She had her raven-haired friend's hand firmly in her grasp with him holding hers just as tight. Sumiko vaguely heard them chatter about wish faeries as they approached the crane fountain. They unwrapped their coins and began to eagerly throw them into the fountain, at least five at a time.

Sumiko sat down on a wooden bench close to where she was standing. She pulled out a simple blue notebook and a black pen. She opened it to a blank page in the middle of the book. With the click of her pen, she began to write:

My dearest Ayame,

Today marks five years since you've been in my life. It has gone by so fast, hasn't it? We're here at your favorite park with your best friend Ryuji from kindergarten. For your birthday, you asked me for two hundred one yen coin rolls for you and Ryuji to throw into the crane fountain. You said that it was important that your's and Ryuji's wishes came true, and that the more coins you throw, the more likely that wish would come true.

Little do you know, I have a wish too.

"Mommy!" Ayame cried as she ran to her mother. The closer she got, Sumiko could see the tears begging at her eyes. Ayame tried to wipe them before she got to her mother, but the wiping made them fall more. She stopped in front of Sumiko still wiping her eyes.

Sumiko put down her pen and moved her daughter's arm from her face. She looked into her puffy pink eyes with sympathy. The blues seemed to radiate brighter against the new hue. Sumiko smiled and wiped her daughter's face with her dry hand. "What's wrong, dear?"

Ayame sniffled, trying to compose herself enough to form words. The words struggled to escape her throat. Ryuji soon appeared behind her with tears in his eyes as well. He did better at holding them at bay than her poor daughter.

"Aya dropped all her coins in the fountain! The birds attacked her!" Ryuji cried loudly while still keeping his tears within his eyes.

Sumiko stifled a laugh, which helped Ayame to find her voice. "It's not funny!" She screamed, "I didn't get to make my wish!"

Sumiko composed herself and shook her head slightly as if telling herself that she needed better self-control when communicating with her daughter. She reached into her purse and pulled out her coin pouch. She fished out two one-hundred yen coins. Her daughter's eyes lit up at the sight of the larger silver coins. "These are all the coins I have left, but they are both worth one-hundred yen. One coin has a hundred wishes in it."

Ayame grabbed both coins. A toothy grin returned to her tear-stained face. "A hundred wishes in one coin?! Cool!" She took one coin and handed it back to her mother. "You should make a wish too!"

Sumiko smiled and waved her hand in front of her face. "No, Ayame, those are for you. It's your birthday gift."

Ayame grabbed her hand and placed the coin in it. "I want to give you one for my birthday! You have a wish too, don't you?"

Sumiko looked at the coin in her hand, then back into the determined eyes of her daughter. Ayame loved her so much, as most five-year-olds typically do of their parents. Guilt settled ever so slightly within the raven-haired woman. For how long will she be maintaining this facade? As quickly as the guilt surfaced, it was swept back to the recess of Sumiko's mind. She smiled and gripped the coin in her hand.

"Thank you, Ayame. I'm very blessed that you're such a generous soul."

Ayame's face dropped slightly. "I'm a what?"

Sumiko laughed softly as she cupped her daughter's face with her free hand. "A very kind person. I'm a lucky mother."

Ayame laughed, pleased with what her mother said. "I just love you, Mommy!" She turned to grab Ryuji's hand and once again pulled him to the crane fountain. Ryuji yelped as he tripped over his feet. He yelled at her to stop dragging him, only to be rebutted with something along the lines of him being too slow. They made it to the edge of the fountain to continue throwing in the coins.

Sumiko looked on solemnly as she continued to pen her letter.

My wish is that you will forgive me.

Sumiko's hand froze after ending the sentence. The guilt she hid once again crept back into the forefront of her already buzzing mind. She tried to will the pen to write what has been begging to come out, but her mind would not allow it. She looked back up to the children playing by the crane fountain. Her daughter was giving her friend a tight hug, with the recipient trying to wiggle his way out. His bright green eyes seemed to bulge from his head as he struggled to break free. Sumiko stifled a second laugh, only for it to be cut short by that same creeping guilt.

"In through the nose," She guided herself quietly. "Out through the mouth."

She placed the pen back to the paper as the words flowed through the ink.

As much as I love you, you are not mine. As much as I love you, you will never truly be my daughter. My reasoning for bringing you into my life was selfish. My decision was made with a broken heart, and in doing so, I broke the heart of the innocent woman who gave you life. I do not regret what I did, and for that I could be called evil. However, this evil heart is full of genuine love for you, and it always will be.

A single tear fell from Sumiko's brown eyes, unbeknownst to her until the droplet splashed off the paper. Sumiko quickly wiped away all other falling tears and those begging to fall from her eyes with her forearm, similar to what her daughter did not too long before.

"Goodness," She said quietly to herself. "I'm crying."

Gathering what little resolve she had left, she took the pen to the paper again.

As temporary as it will be, I have enjoyed these moments of bliss. You have blessed me more than I deserve. I hope that, when this facade crumbles, you will still be able to see the life we shared as a beautiful one that was full of unconditional love.

She looked up to the sound of running footsteps only to see both her daughter and her friend completely soaked. Her eyes widened in confusion as to how it happened.

Both children stopped in front of her laughing loudly. Sumiko's confused face turned to that of disapproval. "May I ask how you both got wet?"

The laughing stopped immediately. The two children looked at each other as if looking for the other to give the right answer. They both looked back at Sumiko with scared faces. The story was probably funny, but Sumiko maintained her serious facade. She was particular about how to address all situations pertaining to her daughter. She felt that her reactions would determine Ayame's future decision making.

"Well?"

"Well…" Ayame started as she nervously rubbed her shoe's sole into the ground.

"Aunt Saki, it was my fault!" Ryuji yelled out, catching both Sumiko's and Ayame's attention. He started trembling as he gathered up every ounce of strength in his body. "I was throwing my coins… and I slipped on the water on the ground…"

Ayame started sniffling, guilt written all over her face.

"I grabbed her hand and… and…"

"He only slipped because I was splashing him with water! That's why the ground was wet! It was my fault, Mommy…"

Sumiko looked sympathetically at the children. She weakly smiled, but was filled with a sense of pride at the fact that the children, especially her daughter, were telling the truth and taking responsibility for their actions. She glanced back down to her letter. This is more than I deserve.

"It's okay, children," She said with a sincere smile. "Thank you for telling me the truth. That was very big of both of you."

Ayame sniffled. "You're… you're not mad?"

Sumiko shook her head. "No, dear, I'm not."

Ayame continued to sniffle as she wiped her face. Ryuji looked to his feet feeling ashamed. She closed her book on her pen to save the page and laid both it and her purse on the bench. She walked up to the two children and bent down to their level. She placed a hand on Ryuji's shoulder causing him to flinch, a reaction he developed to prepare for punishments… not that Sumiko knew about that. She smiled at him and nodded. "I'm especially proud of you, Ryuji. Thank you for defending Ayame. You're a good friend."

Ryuji's chest puffed out slightly in pride. "She's my best friend!"

Sumiko maintained her smile, "I know."

She stood back up and clapped her hands together. "Okay, you two, time to leave. We still have dinner to prepare and a cake to pick up."

"Make your wish first, Mommy!" Ayame exclaimed.

Sumiko nodded as she fished the coin out of her purse. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

The two children nodded and took their seats on the bench Sumiko sat on for the duration of their visit. Sumiko picked up her purse and notebook and walked over to the fountain. She looked back to see the children trying to wring the excess water from their shirts. Smiling, she turned her attention back to the fountain. She closed her eyes and made her wish.

"I wish for you to one day forgive me," She whispered to herself as she tossed the coin into the fountain. She looked up to the eyes of the concrete crane situated in the center of the fountain. Its lifeless gaze did nothing to reassure the woman that her wish would indeed come true. She chalked it up to becoming jaded to the idea of wishing on money. She turned her gaze down to the ripples in the fountain formed by her coin's entrance. The one-hundred yen coin's distorted image quickly became unrecognizable as the fountain's ripples overtook the coin's. Sumiko let out a sigh.

She opened her notebook one last time. With the click of her pen, she finished her letter.

Thank you for the love and memories, Maya Hirata.

With all my love,

Sumiko Hara

"Mommy! Ryuji said to hurry up because he's hungry!" Ayame yelled, snapping Sumiko out of her writing focus.

"Hey! Why'd you tell her that?!" Ryuji yelled back with a betrayed tone in his voice.

"Because that's what you said!"

"I didn't say to tell her!"

"But you're hungry!"

Sumiko smiled and shook her head in disapproval as she walked back to the bickering children. She approached them and gently pushed the two of them apart. Ayame and Ryuji glared at each other, then proceeded to look away with a "hmph."

"Come, children, let's finish the birthday celebrations."

In that moment, Sumiko accepted her grim future… but for now, she was happy.