Tamaki nodded. "My mother was sad, too, when my father wasn't there," he agreed. "We only saw him when he was in France on business - when I lived with my mother, I mean. But...she knew why they couldn't be together. And they loved each other so much that it didn't matter. That they couldn't really be together, I mean. Sometimes...when you have something like that, being sad is part of it, because... nothing that wonderful and powerful can happen without some sort of trade off. And...unless you're so terribly sad when it's gone, how do you really know how much it really means to you? It's very beautiful, really, even if it's very sad."

And he wondered if his mother was still sad. Now not only had she lost the man she loved, but her son, too. But it was better that way. She had the health care she needed, and money, and a better life.

He frowned some, reaching for the shampoo.

"I miss my mother," he admitted. He couldn't remember ever saying the words out loud.