Summer Pockets

Umi-chan...

Well, it's time.

I don't think there's anything left for me to do.

I managed to help you.

I got to see you again and say what I needed to.

And I got to hear you call my name.

I'm really... so very happy.

Huh?

I think I'm getting kinda tired...

Umi-chan!

I'm resting in Mom's lap.

It's been a long time...

Umi-chan, I just wanted you to find happiness.

That's all.

Because... I'm your mother.

Yeah.

You're my mom.

And I'm your daughter.

That's why I got this far.

You're right.

You did good, Umi-chan.

You did great.

You did so much for me, but I still can't thank you for it.

I want to keep being your mom.

I want you to be my little girl.

Mom...

I don't want this!

Don't go anywhere.

I want you to stay with me!

There's still so much I want to do together!

Cooking together, going shopping together,

traveling and taking pictures,

making lots of memories,

looking back on them and reminiscing,

and spending our summers together...

I don't want a summer without you.

And it's not just summer.

I want to be with you all year.

You sound more like a child than me.

This is painful...

I was going to hold it in.

I want to stay with you too.

I want to call you "Mom" more.

I want you to teach me to cook more.

I want to play with you more.

I still want to be with you more.

Mom... Mom... Mom...

I love you.

Umi-chan!

Umi-chan...

Mom, can you do something for me?

What is it?

You can ask me anything.

I want you to sing to me.

I still remember your voice.

I heard it way before that summer.

I was listening the whole time.

I was so loved...

It was so warm and happy.

I want to go back there one more time.

I want to fall asleep in your arms.

No...

Please.

Please don't say that.

You'll be gone if you fall asleep!

I don't think I can stay.

Umi-chan...

Mom.

Mom...

It's all right.

I'm right here.

I wanted to fall asleep in her arms just like this.

Back when I didn't know Mom, on nights when Dad was away for work...

I'd go to sleep by myself and remember.

Before even my very first memories, someone held me gently in their arms.

I saw with my eyes, which couldn't fully open yet, someone's blurry figure.

I remember that sensation, that warmth.

Sleeping contentedly under a bright sky...

I still remember it hazily.

In that gleaming light, she held me with a smile.

And she was singing to me.

I've traveled through so many summers and I've finally realized...

I finally get it.

This is what loss is.

I'm about to lose the past.

I'm losing my existence.

Everything is going to be as if it never happened.

I'll never be born.

I'll never see them again.

Not Dad, not Mom.

But it's okay.

I still got to do what I wanted to do.

I got to see Mom and spend lots of fun summers with her.

And in the end, we were together.

Mom...

bye-bye.

Umi-chan...

You had so, so many fun summers.

You got a lifetime's worth of summer breaks.

And you told me about all of them.

You told me how beautiful summer memories are.

I'll never get that summer back, will I?

But I'm not supposed to want that, am I?

I get it.

I shouldn't be stuck in the past, right?

Still... But still... I remember it.

That was the best summer break I've ever had.

You made me a mother, Umi-chan.

I remember everything.

I don't want to forget any of it.

Umi-chan!

Long, long ago, there was no color in the world,

but there was a butterfly with beautiful wings.

Its wings were all sorts of colors.

The butterfly traveled all over the world,

sharing the beautiful hues of its wings

with everyone it met along the way.

Soon, the beautiful butterfly had gone white.

But still, the butterfly continued its journey.

Even with its wings in tatters, it flew on.

No one recognized it as the beautiful butterfly anymore,

but the world was filled with color.

The world was now beautiful.

When it returned to its homeland, the butterfly came to rest atop a flower.

The butterfly was content to have met so many others.

Thus it fell into a silent slumber.

And the sadness everyone felt became the rain.

Huh? There's more to it.

That's the end of the story just based on what Umi gave us.

But it was kind of a sad ending, so I tried adding to it.

I see.

Yeah, I like it.

After the rain passed, the butterfly had turned into a big rainbow.

A big, beautiful bridge to span the entire world.

Everyone looked up and said, "Thank you."

We will now be arriving at Torishirojima Fishing Port, Torishirojima Island.

We may experience a strong impact upon docking.

"Want to come to Torishirojima Island?"

So read the letter I received just before summer break.

It was from my aunt, my mother's sister, whom I've never met.

There was a photo in the envelope.

It was strangely nostalgic.

Which is why I ended up coming.

You're cleaning up Grandma's stuff?

That's right.

This is all stuff she was holding on to for people.

She was storing all this?

And we don't need to give it back?

Most of the owners have already passed away or aren't replying.

I wonder why they left stuff with her in the first place.

Have you ever had an experience where...

As a kid, you were playing outside and you'd find something,

so you put it in your pocket. Ever do that?

Sure I did. A long time ago.

Didn't we all?

You close the zipper, you make sure it doesn't fall out,

and you tuck it away carefully.

And yet, before you know it, it's gone.

But then one day, it comes to mind,

so you look inside your pocket

and a fragment of it is still there.

Just a fragment?

Yeah.

Just a really tiny piece.

But by then, you can't remember what it was.

I think that's what this place is.

A place to store things that mattered to someone...

and that were then forgotten.

So this place is like a pocket, huh?