Once again, spoilers lurk beyond this point, especially in the story-specific sections. You've been warned.
On 'My Sister, My Strength'
- It's never really established in the game where Taka and Kana actually
live – just that it's too far from Tokyo to commute on a daily
basis. (Tomoki says this when he mentions he's going to study there.) I
think it's fairly safe to assume that Osaka is far enough away for Taka
and Kana to get a clean break.
- I don't know what Japanese train tickets look like. They probably don't
have the passenger's name printed on them... but hey, what the heck, right?
(I can always claim that Kana wrote their names on the tickets!)
=)
- I chose the name 'Ichida' pretty much at random, but I think it fits Kana
pretty well. (We never learn the names of Kana's parents in the game.)
- Suggested CD tracks:
'She Was Weeping Sadly' for Four days without Kana and Eight days without Kana.
'Our Album' for Five weeks without Kana.
'For You' (vocal version) from when Kana says, "I'm back."
And, of course, 'The White Season' when Kana asks, "Well? Are you ready?"
Rereading this story, it strikes me just how much Kana has grown up, even in just the short time since 'Differences'. It's not so much that she's become a stronger person over the course of my stories – because she actually did most of her growing over the years that she and Taka were apart.
It's that she's taking responsibility for her life, and her feelings.
"I love Taka," she's saying. "I don't care what the world thinks. I'll make it work."
In 'Differences', despite having all the trappings of an independent life, Kana still wanted Taka. She still wanted things 'the way they were'. She was used to being Taka's little sister, and she wanted that relationship back. That was wrong.
But I unwittingly stumbled across the key to their new relationship in 'Eyes of the Heart'. It was as simple as Taka asking her to call him by his name. It felt wrong to her, at the start. It felt wrong to me, too. But by the time I got around to writing this story, it was difficult for me to think of her calling him anything else but 'Taka'.
I think Kana realises it too. To love Taka properly, and to be confident in the value of her love, she had to stop being afraid. She had to stop being his little sister, and become his love. To be Kana Todo (or Ichida), not Kana imouto-chan.
They're no longer imouto and oniisan. She's his girlfriend. One day, she'll be his fiancee. And then...
But I'm not looking that far ahead. I'm happy (for now) to watch them walk off into the sunlight, relying on each other.
I wish them both the very best the world can give.