Okay, so this is what I did for my (not so short) story for English. I was too lazy to think of my own story so I used this one. BUT I did get the "OK" from my teacher and gave credit for the story and characters to Key, CLANNAD's owners :D So no plagarism(?)~!! I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it :) aaaand not all the details are correct. Psh, I'm not gonna be that accurate :P

It took place in a small town in Japan; a quiet little town with a few schools, a few shops, and a newly built hospital. This town had a legend; it’s said that if you see a ball of light floating upwards to the sky, you can make a wish. And that wish, is guaranteed to come true. This magical ball of light only appears when there’s pure happiness in a person. I once saw this ball of light, and I experienced something beyond a miracle.
It was around early spring when my wife, Nagisa, and I went to her parent’s house. Nagisa is a shy girl I had met in my senior year of high school. She was a repeating student. It wasn’t because she had bad grades; she was just a sickly child. Every year, she becomes so horribly sick that she couldn’t attend enough days to pass school. She had to attend the 12th grade three times until she graduated. Nagisa’s dad, Akio, and I were ordered to do some “bonding time” by Nagisa’s mom, Sanae. We only went out to play some baseball for about ten minutes before returning inside. But it was to our surprise that we found Sanae greeting us at the bathroom door. I looked in and saw Nagisa standing by the toilet, looking extremely fatigue and sick. I instantly panicked.
“Is Nagisa okay?” I said worriedly.
“Yes, she’s perfectly fine.” Sanae said, beaming me a smile, “In fact, we’re having another member in the family!”
Akio stared at her dumfounded, “We’re getting a puppy?”
“Nope,” Sanae said still smiling, “It’s a baby.”
Akio stared blankly at her, “Our baby?”
“Nope, it’s our lovely daughter, Nagisa’s, baby.” She then turned to me (still smiling), “Congratulations, Tomoya!”
“W-Wait, wait, wait,” Akio stuttered, “T-The stork brought it and left it on the porch, right? O-Or was it the Easter Bunny?”
“Dad…” Nagisa said facing him, “M-me and Tomoya…. We slept together last night!!”
The room fell silent; you could only hear the birds chirping the afternoon away. I turned to look at Nagisa, “She’s so bold.” I thought. Sanae; she still had that beautiful smile on her young face. Akio; he looked like he was going to brutally murder me. His veins were sticking out, his face was red, and he was so mad, I think the cigarette that hung out his mouth lit up from the steam he released. And to my surprise, a smile formed; a painfully forced smile, “Congratulations.” He said. Those words killed him. Akio shook- no squeezed my hand.
“O-Ow… Thanks.” I replied.
Nagisa was about seven to eight months pregnant around the time she told me what she wanted to name our baby. We sat on the benches at the beach and conversed a bit.
“I want to name our child Ushio (wave).” She said suddenly in her timid voice. “Since it can be both a girl and boy name.” she smiled and looked at me with her soft brown eyes.
“Ushio…” I repeated.
She looked back at me, “I also want a home birth.”
I glanced at her, “Okay…” I replied.
It wasn’t too long after that when Sanae called to eat lunch with me. Her usual glowing smile was on her face as we walked to the restaurant but as we were seated, she looked very concerned and serious.
“Nagisa might not make it through the birth of Ushio.” She said, “Since her body is so weak…” Her face tensed, and her true age began to show. I felt the tears in my eyes but I fought to hold them back.
“Does she know?” I choked.
“The doctor said it’s probably best that we don’t tell her.” Sanae looked out the window; she looked strong, but scared for Nagisa at the same time,
Snow; almost like a snow storm. Nagisa entered labor as the Sanae and the nurse came in to check on her. She looked like she was in deep, deep, pain. My heart raced, my hearing blocked out, and it felt as if everything was moving in slow-motion. The nurse was doing breathing exercises with Nagisa. Sanae looked happy, yet worried; but she was full of hope. Nagisa was red and sweaty, like she was on the verge of breaking out in tears. Minutes felt like hours. It was only until I hear the cry of a baby when my senses finally returned to me. Just as I was going to check on Nagisa, the nurse said, “Would you like to give the baby her first bath?”
Once I gave Ushio her bath, I held her. She was precious to me; it was an immediate connection. “Nagisa… Nagisa look! It’s Ushio, our baby.” Nagisa nodded weakly, “She’s all red. She looks like a monkey.” I teased, “Would you like to hold her?” I didn’t hear any response from her. I shook her, “N-Nagisa?” She was pale and she felt cold. I checked her pulse; none.
After Nagisa passed away, I lost myself into a world of depression. I was always out past midnight; I always came home drunk and smelling like cigarettes. There was hardly a time when I was actually sober. I knew this kind of environment shouldn’t be exposed to Ushio, so I allowed my mother-in-law and father-in-law to care for her until I got my life in the right direction. Who knew it would take five years.
One day, I received a phone call from Sanae, “Ushio, Akio, and I are going on a short trip for the weekend. We would like you to take care of our house for us.”
I knew I owed them for taking care of my baby so I accepted, packed some clothes, and headed to their house.
“Hello?” I said as I walked in. There wasn’t any response so I figured that no one was home. I left my bag by the guest room and sat down. As all the memories I had in this house flowed back, I heard the pitter patter of a child’s feet. Quickly, I got up and followed the sound. In and out of rooms, up and down the stairs; I thought I was going crazy. Slowly, I peered into the kitchen. There was a little girl looking up at me with big brown eyes. She had light brown shoulder length hair, and she was wearing a blue sailor hat and a sailor uniform.
“Are you my daddy?” she asked innocently. I squatted and looked at her almost eye to eye. She looked a lot like Nagisa. Maybe this is Ushio?
“Are you Ushio?”
“Yes.” She sounded sort of like a boy.
“Then yes, I am your father.” I said as I stood up. She then ran away. Not like she was scared but more like she had something else to do. I went back into the guest room and watched some TV. The patter of Ushio’s feet drew close and faded multiple times. A few hours later, I figured Ushio might have gotten hungry so I got up and fixed us some fried rice and began to eat. Ushio ran passed and stared into the room.
“Is that lunch?” she asked with a turtle toy in her hand.
“Yes, it’s fried rice. Come and eat.” Ushio came in and sat down. She scooped the rice up with her fork, opened her mouth big and wide, and then most of the rice fell off her fork. I fed her until both of us were done our meals.
“So you’re five?” I asked her.
“Yup,” She said busily playing with her turtle toy.
Over the weekend, Ushio and I bonded more and more. Sanae recommended that I should take back custody of Ushio. Once Ushio moved in, I got my life back together almost instantly. Ushio seemed happy, too. One day at work, my boss asked me if his sister-in-law could come and play with Ushio. Perhaps this would be a good time for her so I allowed it. That weekend, a short, childish looking girl appeared at the door. She had long brown hair, big gold eyes, and was carrying a yellow starfish purse.
“My name is Fuko!” she said proudly, “I’m here to play with your daughter!” she seemed really childish.
“And exactly how old are you?” I asked.
“I’m twenty five!” She said proudly.
“You’re lying.” I said dumbfounded. Truth is, she was telling the truth. When she was in High School, she got into a terribly accident that send her into a coma that lasted for years. Her family’s hope allowed her to survive. This stunted her maturity; so she is only as mature as she was before the accident. I looked back at Fuko, and found myself looking at a grown woman wearing Ushio’s dumpling pillow on her head. I sighed as I started lunch.
After lunch, the three of us played a game of cards. I imagined what it would be like if it were just me, Nagisa, and Ushio playing. The three of us were happy; like a completed family. Before I knew it, my eyes were dripping tears.
“Tomoya, is there something wrong?” Fuko asked.
“N-No,” I said as I wiped my tears, “I was just thinking of my wife, sorry…”
“Do I remind you of her?” Fuko asked again.
“Not even one bit.” I quickly responded.
“You’re lying, I can tell. Is it my maturity that reminds you of her?”
“Not at all,” I sighed. The afternoon began to disappear as the evening drew. We soon had to say our goodbyes to Fuko.
“C’mon, let’s go Ushio.” Fuko said as she tried to pull Ushio out the apartment with her.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” I said frustrated.
Ushio, by my side, looked up at me, “I had fun.” She smiled.
It was when Ushio’s sports festival drew near when she became extremely ill. Akio and Sanae were at my apartment, the three of us talking about how Akio and I are going to beat each other in the patent-staff race. The carefree atmosphere soon disappeared when Ushio walked in, extremely exhausted.
“I couldn’t make it to the toilet…” She said weakly. Ushio lost balanced and collapsed into my arms. I rushed Ushio into her room. Over the weeks, I tried to nurse her back to health, hoping that her condition wasn’t as bad as Nagisa’s. One snowy day, Ushio was lying in bed.
“Sit up,” I said softly, “I got you some water.” I helped her up as she sipped the water. Her face was red and warm. After she swallowed the water, she looked up at me.
“It’s good.” She said.
“Isn’t it?” I said.
“Papa,” she said, “I wanna go on a trip…”
“Maybe when you get better,” I said, “Where do you want to go? Do you want to go see the flowers? But if we go now it’s going to be cold, huh? Well we can go in the spring, when you’re all healthy again.”
“I wanna go now.” Ushio said determined.
I looked at her, “I said when you get better, and you might get sicker if you go now.” I said calmly.
“I… I really want to go now.”
“Ushio…” I whispered.
“No other time will do… It has to be now,” she said as I looked at her, “I wanna go with you, Papa.” She said.
I looked at her as I held her in my arm, “I understand, let’s go.” I packed the picture of Nagisa; we dressed in our warmest clothes, and headed out, “Alright, let’s go and have fun, okay?”
“Ohhh~…!” Ushio cheered weakly.
“Come on, I’ll carry you.” I said as I squatted on the sidewalk.
“No, I can walk by myself.” Ushio refused, “I wanna walk by you, Papa.”
“Okay, but when you get tired, I’ll carry you, okay?”
Ushio nodded in response.
I held her hand while walking, “If you start to feel sick, just tell me, okay?”
“Okay,” she replied. Ushio’s pace grew slower with every step. She seemed like she had a hard time walking, until she tripped. I picked her up by hand and she got up. As we walked more, her breathing grew slower, too. I got worried, but did nothing. Just then, snow began to fall. We both looked up in awe.
“Do you like the snow, Ushio?”
“Yeah, do you like it too, Papa?”
“I…” I hesitated; Nagisa died on a snowy day like this, “Y-Yeah, I like the snow too.” Ushio smiled at me, “Shall we get going?”
“Yeah,” Ushio said as she led me. Her pace continued to slow and her breathing became heavy. Her tiny hand held my hand tightly as we walked. One step, two steps, three steps, collapse.
“U-Ushio!” I panicked. I swung my body across to hold her fall; luckily, I caught her in my arms. I held her head as her eyes opened.
She looked at me with her eyes barely opened, “Papa… Where are we? Are we on the train?”
“Y-yeah, we’re on the train.” I lied as I held her close to me.
“It’s dark… Is it night?”
“Yes… It’s night time, Ushio…”
“Papa… I love you…”
“I-I love you too, Ushio.” She smiled as her eyes closed and her small hands fell to her sides. I looked at her, tears in my eyes, “Ushio… Ushio?” I said as I shook her. She lied there, without moving. “USHIO!!” I screamed, “T-this can’t be happening… Someone… please save my daughter… Nagisa, please…”

If I had never met Nagisa she wouldn’t have died. Ushio wouldn’t have died. Nagisa would probably be living a long, happy life. I closed my eyes, and wished that I could’ve undone everything. And when I opened my eyes, I was back to the day when I first met Nagisa. It was the first day of school and there were pink cherry blossoms surrounding us on the hill. “Do you like this school?” she was talking to herself, “I really, really like it here. But nothing can stay unchanged. Sad things, happy things… They all have to go someday. Even so, can you keep on loving this place?” She then glanced at me; her brown eyes looked like Ushio’s. Her brown hair flowed as she turned; shoulder-length like Ushio’s too. I looked down and let her walk pass me.
“She’d be happier if she never met me,” I mentally repeated to myself. But at the same time, I still loved her, I couldn’t let her go. I turned around, took a deep breath, and yelled, “NAGISA!!!”
She continued to walk, as if she didn’t hear me. I dropped my bag and ran towards her, calling her name over and over. She turned around as I embraced her with big hug.
“Oh,” she said surprised.
“Nagisa, I’m right here!”
“T-Tomoya…” she said surprised. I released her from the hug, “I’m glad you stopped me. I was really worried that you really wish that you never met me. I’m glad that I met you. I had a wonderful life. No matter what may await me, please don’t regret meeting me.”
I smiled at her and held her cute button face, “You’re right.” I said as I kissed her hands. I hugged her again, “Thank you.”
I opened my eyes again and saw that I was at the scene of Ushio’s birth. Sanae was watching Nagisa. The nurse was doing breathing exercises with her. Nagisa was red and in pain. The sound of Ushio’s cry arrived. The nurse allowed me to wash her, and the scene of the dead Nagisa entered my mind. I turned to Nagisa, “N-Nagisa?” I shook her arm.
“Tomoya,” she said as she smiled weakly, “We did it.”
“Congratulations you two,” the nurse said, “Nagisa has successfully given birth to a baby girl.”
“Ushio…” Nagisa said as she took the baby. I’m happy that Nagisa made it. She looked up, “Ah… Is that snow?” I got up and looked out the window; golden orbs of light, floating upwards.
“No…” I said slowly in awe, “its lights.” It was a beautiful scene, hundreds of golden, twinkling lights floating up into the night sky. I looked back at my family; pure happiness.