Before my eyes like a fairy was an old friend. Magic. She seemed to have a halo. Tall, too skinny, a boy's haircut. Older and frailer now, but still the same.

"Oh- Sakura-chan! You're awake!" She gasped, her hands going to my side rail.

"Mom, he's Sana now. Not Sakura. Please be respectful."

"I'm sorry. Oh... Oh, Sana-chan. You're going to be okay. I'm so glad to see you after so long. I want to give you a hug. Hey, when this is all over, please come to our house again. You know Astro, our dog? Of course you remember her. Well, we have her grandchild now. You can meet her. I'll make you something nice to eat, and you can tell me all about your marriage. Please come to my house." She was smiling at me. I had to be dreaming.

Yami's mom turned to her son. She ruffled his hair and he struggled under her touch. She laughed.

"Hey, Sana-chan," she said. "I always thought you would marry my son. But, I'm glad you found happiness with this nice young man here. We were talking earlier. I want to know him, too. You are my child, too, so to me he is like my own. You can call me more. I'm a lonely old woman, because my good for nothing son never calls me."

"Hey," Yami muttered.

Her smile increased. "I heard you all have been fighting. I guarantee it's all my son's fault. You know how he is. Always getting into fights. You must forgive him. His character is too strong, too proud. You know that. Ah, you two balance each other out. That's why I thought you were perfect for him, but you are perfect as a friend. Please continue to be there for him. He needs someone to watch out for him and make him see things another way. Especially after I am gone some day."

"Mom..." Yami sighed.

Hearing her strong Osaka-ben was warming my heart. Memories were floating to the surface, because of it. Me, in my high school uniform. Yami, also in his uniform. We were sitting at her small kitchen table eating an after school snack. His mom was wearing an apron over her jeans and men's cut t-shirt. She was going through the cabinets, looking for some kind of sauce for us. Astro, their golden retriever, was laid under the table.

Another memory. Us being driven to school by her. We were in the back seat, drilling math problems for a test that morning. I wasn't good at math, so Yami was scolding me. "You know this. I know that you know this. Your mom will be mad if you get a bad grade. Let that be a motivator. Now, think really hard. Remember the formula that we studied. What is the answer?" I told him the wrong answer, and he hit me softly on the head with his pencil, smiling. I giggled. "Make it into a song," he said. Then he started to sing the formula as a song, and it all clicked, filling my heart with warmness at the same time. Music and math. Genius. This I could understand.

More memories. Us in the theater before school, in the wings. Me, sitting in the corner next to some ropes hanging down. I was covering my face. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and Yami was there with a curious face, seen through my fingers. I began crying, and he peeled my fingers away. He saw my bruised eye, and kissed my forehead so sweetly. My first kiss from a boy. "Don't cry. Even if your mom hits you, you can't cry. You have to show her you are brave. That her hits can't hurt you." I just cried, and he hugged me against the wall. "I'll take you to my house after school so you don't have to see her. You can stay over. My mom loves you, she'll let you. You know that. I wish you could just live with us, but laws are laws. Some day, you can come live with us. I promise. Ah, my Sakura, don't cry. Don't cry."

Another day. Us in the evening, Astro laid in front of us on the floor. Yami and I on the floor playing video games, his Playstation 2 that I got for his birthday, playing Soul Calibur II. His mom was on the couch behind us, rooting for me. "Yeah! Kick his ass!" She was shouting. Yami was scandalized. "Mom! You should be rooting for me! I'm your son!" His mom just laughed. "Well, she's my daughter! Who am I going to defend first? Daughter comes first!" Yami didn't argue with that.

Another night. A violin competition. Yami and his mom were in the front row next to my mother. They'd bought tickets even though it was so expensive, just to come see me play. I didn't play my best. My mom was unimpressed, I could see it all over her face. I was so scared on stage, watching her. So worried about after, if I played badly. As soon as I finished, to my mom's horror, Yami's mom stood up from her seat. She started clapping and cheering so loudly that it echoed in the silent auditorium. You aren't supposed to clap until it's all completely over. "Yeeeeah!" She shouted, turning to the audience while still clapping, "that's Sakura Morita! Don't you know who she is?! She's the best violinist in the world! She's my son's best friend! Yeeeeah! Sakura-chan! You played so beautifully! Yaaaay!" The happiest feeling in the world filled me up from my toes to my head. I wished so badly that she was my mother. Yami sat in his seat, pulling at her dress, sixteen years old and in full swing of embarrassment to be related to her, but I was so proud that she wanted to be my mom. Her antics almost got me disqualified, but I didn't care. She made me feel so proud of myself that I could cry.

Another evening. Sitting at the dining table with my mother. "Don't you know what class of people they are?" She was saying to me. "They are low class people. His mother is a cashier at a 100 yen store. She divorced her husband. They wear clothing from thrift stores. I don't know why you keep making friends like this. They aren't like us. You need to make better friends. You don't want to associate with friends like that, trust me. You are too naïve, I guess. Don't you know what your friend wants? No, you know what he wants. Don't play with me. He sees who your family is. They are horrible people. They will only drag you down." Mocking me now. "Do you want to live like them? Why don't you go shop at a thrift store with them? Why don't you go eat some dog food that they have for dinner?" I stood up from the table. "His mom cooks delicious food for me all the time. I wish I could live with them instead." My mom slapped me so hard that I saw stars. I just ached to hit her back. All I heard was Yami's mom's voice in my head, saying I was the best daughter in the world and that gave me all the strength I ever needed.

Another night, staying over at their apartment. A song by Meiko Nakahara was playing in the tape deck, and Yami's mom started singing along while combing my long, black hair for bed. I was smiling. I'd heard this tape so many times, it was one of her favorites. I began singing along with her and she was overjoyed. We sang together. The balcony door was open, and we could hear cicadas outside. The stars were out and beautiful.

"I think he's asleep now," Yami said. "It's okay, mom. Mom, don't cry. It's going to be okay. It's okay."

"I want to take care of him. He's my son. I have to stay and take care of him. Is there anything I can do for him? Tetsu-chan, do you need anything? I don't know what to do."

"Sawai-san, you're too kind. I'm fine. Please sit down." Tetsu's kind voice, so formal.

"I'm so sorry. I wish I could take more time off of work. I want to be here for him. I want you two to come visit me when he is better. Let's visit together, okay? There's so much to talk about. I haven't seen him in so long. I didn't know he was so sick. When did this happen? I know he had a heart attack in November, but I heard he got better? Is that not true? My Yami told me he got better."

"He got better, but not all the way. He had some challenges," Tetsu tried to explain.

"Ow, mom, don't punch me," Yami complained.

"You told me he got all the way better! You dare lie to your mom? I swear-"

"I did it so you wouldn't worry!" Yami said, clearly frustrated. "Did I want you to worry?!"

She sighed deeply. "In any case. I apologize for my son causing you trouble. I heard he made a big problem for you and Sana-chan. Sometimes adult children still need their mom to set them straight, am I right? He's still acting like a teenager at thirty-four years old."

"It's okay now. He apologized before you arrived. I believe his apology."

"He needs to apologize to Lyra next, set this all straight. It pains me to see all of my children fighting. They used to practice in my living room, you know."

"No, I didn't know!" Tetsu gasped. It sounded like his hands clapped together.

"Oh, yes! Tangles of wires! Yami wanted to be X Japan!"

"MOM! OH MY GOD!"

Tetsu and Keitaro burst into laughter.

"Wah, Sana would sing so beautifully," she said chuckling with them. "I was his number one fan. I still am. He's half the reason I let them take over my living room. I wanted to hear them play and hear Sana sing. I still believe in them two-hundred percent. We put all the flyers for their live performances in my shop's window. I'd say to every customer, 'have you heard of the band Lyra? They're playing tomorrow night at this and that place'. I still have their flyers. I kept them all. They mean so much to me."

"I want to see the flyers," Tetsu said, so enchanted.

"You will! Come to my home! I'll show you everything."

"Sawai-san, you're so kind."

"Well, Tetsu-chan, I really feel like you are part of my family now. You're Sana-chan's husband. Forget that wicked witch of a mother Sana-chan has. That's not his mother. I'm his mother. So, even though I am not your mother-in-law legally, please think of me that way. I'm sure Sana-chan would say the same. He is my son. I only didn't adopt him, because I really did think he would marry my son. But, I'm so glad he married you. You seem like such a nice young man, and it's obvious you care for my Sana-chan so much. I would be honored."

"Ohhh. Ohhh, yes. I would like that very much."

"I'm so glad. Then that means you and my son are brothers, so my son had better apologize even more. This feud has got to end. I will not have fighting in my family."

"Mo-om, I already apologized, I swear."

"Well, whatever you said, it wasn't enough."

"You don't even know the full story," Yami sighed, deeply frustrated.

"Well, I've got all day. I took the whole day off. Start telling me, then."

"I want to know it, too." Keitaro's voice.

Yami let out a loud groan and everyone laughed.