The Palm of a Small Hand
| File:Clannad-after-story-episode-22-1.jpg | |
| Clannad After Story episode | |
|---|---|
| Episode Name | The Palm of a Small Hand / Chiisana Tenohira (小さな手のひら) |
| Episode No. | 22 [Final] |
| Original Airdate | March 12, 2009 |
| Director | Tatsuya Ishihara |
| Studio | Kyoto Animation |
The Palm of a Small Hand is the 22nd episode of Clannad After Story, and the final episode of the series proper.
Plot
Following the death of Ushio in the previous episode, Tomoya thinks back to his first meeting with Nagisa, and concludes (just as he did in episode 17, following her death) that it would have been better had he never spoken to her. Therefore, this time in the flashback (which is presented in muted colours), he says nothing, and she turns and walks past him.
Meanwhile, the girl in the Illusionary World lies lifeless in the snow, as her robot friend tries to pull her to the warm world which they were journeying to, lamenting that he ever tried to take her on this journey through the snow (akin to the regrettable trip Tomoya took through the snow with Ushio). The girl stirs, and reveals that she now understands that she can never leave the Illusionary World, as she is the Illusionary World. The girl is finally able to hear the robot's voice, and tells him that they once existed in the other, warm world. The robot is revealed to be Tomoya, and the girl Ushio, and she tells him that the lights which they see floating in their world are the feelings of the people from the other world (the orbs of light which Tomoya and Ushio have seen appear at happy moments). In a heart-wrenching scene, as the snow stops the girl faintly hums 'Dango Daikazoku', and the Illusionary World collapses, sweeping the robot/Tomoya back to the other world, with the girl's last words being "Goodbye, Daddy" (Sayonara, Papa).
Tomoya suddenly awakens in the flashback (which shifts to full colour), turns and runs after Nagisa, catching catching up to her and hugging her. As he promises Nagisa that he will not regret their having met, the world shifts, and Tomoya is suddenly back home, five years previously, with Nagisa having just given birth to Ushio. This time, however, she miraculously survives, and as Tomoya speaks to his wife and bathes his daughter, the whole five year period seems as though a strange dream. Nagisa draws his attention to outside the window, where hundreds of orbs of light are floating into the sky.
As Tomoya and Nagisa sing 'Dango Daikazoku' to Ushio, a montage plays showing them happily raising her together as a family over the next five years, whilst the rest of the characters continue with their lives.
In the epilogue, Fuko (now out of her coma), is taken for a check-up by her sister, and runs off to find a girl she knows is under a tree. The girl from the Illusionary World lies sleeping under a tree, and becomes the Ushio of this world as Fuko approaches. The last words of the episode are Fuko saying "All the fun things start now".