"...Yes."
   lain nodded her head and quietly dunked a madeleine in her tea.
Feeling as if she were doing something a little ill mannered, she glanced at Yasuo.
He was just smiling and looking at her, with narrowed eyes.
Was he really this old? lain was trying to recall what he used to look like when he was her father.
Well, he still was, and he would remain her father in the future.
However, lain did not know if that was because she wanted him to be, or because Yasuo wished to be.
   Closing her eyes, she lifted the dunked madeleine to her mouth. The sweet smell tickled her nostrils.
With her eyes closed lain bit into it.
"Ah..."
   The sweetness and warmth of the tea flavored madeleine spread over her tongue.
The taste and warmth of it penetrated into her could hardened body and filled her with a gentle feeling.
   With her eyes closed, she thought she felt the golden light falling over them grow stronger.
She slowly opened her eyes. She had bathed in this golden light before, but she had no memory of it.
Yasuo was still there, sitting before lain.
"That is good, isn't it, lain?"
   His soft, low voice was very pleasant to her ears.
So gentle.

The warmth, different from what she had felt before, spread through her heart.
Feeling tears in her wide-open eyes, lain nodded and said
"Yes."
   lain recalled that she had always been afraid of his voice, for no reason.
She thought `Why was I so afraid of it? Such a gentle, pleasant voice.`
   The tears trickled down her cheeks. She felt pain even in her heart.
But she surely wished for this pain to last forever. She felt it because she was made of flesh and blood. -
She felt it because she had learned by suffering, as if her heart was being filed, stayed in her as a memory.
Because of this she appreciated affection. She clearly knew how great the affection was.
And this was not the only thing she had learned.