I LOVE YOU

Note: This has no relations to any of my stories. Just a oneshot I decided to do.

- Rio Salaz -

The scene shifts towards Rio Salaz. It was a quiet day here in this ghost town. Over at the road, we could see Kera practicing with her Dragon Sword, trying to keep and calm and quiet to herself. She wanted to relax while trying not to be disturbed.

Inside the Saloon, we could see Samson doing his usual business of cleaning a mug while Larcen sat down on one of the stools enjoying a steak sandwich. Louise Harmon was also there, but she was near the side-winder doors. For what reason though?

"Mom, I'm ready!" A familiar voice called from upstairs.

Louise smiled as she saw her daughter, Marisa Harmon, walking down the stairs wearing her usual attire. Marisa had a smile on her face as she approached her mother.

"It's about time." Louise said. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'm ready." Marisa nodded in reply.

"Where are you two going?" Samson asked.

"We're going to hang out together. Just us girls." Louise said as she wrapped her arm around her daughter.

"Isn't Kera going with you?" Larcen wondered.

"No. Just me and my Mom. We haven't spent time together for so long, and I really want to make up for some of the time we lost together." Marisa answered.

"That sounds like a good idea." Samson thought. "I hope you two have fun."

"We will." Louise replied. "We'll be back!"

"Bye guys!" Marisa waved.

After saying their good-byes, the two mages walked out from the Saloon and made their way towards the exit of town. Back inside the place, Samson got back to his regular routine while Larcen only watched the outside.

"What is it, senor Larcen?" Samson asked.

"Nothing." Larcen felt a little emotional inside, but kept a cool face. "It's just been a long time since Marisa was able to spend time with her mother alone. I wonder how she feels?"

"She probably feels really happy, knowing that she can be with her Mom again." Samson replied.

Larcen felt the same way. He could only wonder if Marisa was thinking the same thing he was.

- Station Square -

It had been an hour until the girls got to Station Square. The girls decided to go grab some lunch while exploring the town. It wasn't a big fancy lunch, though. It was a couple of nice snacks representing ice cream cones. Marisa had a chocolate sundae while Louise had the same thing with a cherry on top.

"Mmm..." Marisa said with a smile. "I love this stuff."

"Me too." Louise replied, as she licked some of her chocolate sundae. "I haven't had one of these in years."

Marisa nodded. "It's been so long since we've had ice cream together."

"I remember." Louise said. "When you were little, you were always begging for ice cream every time we passed a parlor."

"Yeah..." Marisa was a little embarrassed to hear this memory. "I'm sorry about that."

"Nah, don't feel sorry for yourself." Louise said reassuringly. "I always felt sorry whenever you didn't get your way. You were always whining until I eventually gave in."

Marisa wasn't really liking hearing these events again. "Mom, please don't bring that up again..."

"OK, all right..." Louise giggled a little. "Let's hurry and finish these before they melt."

"Right." Marisa nodded, as she quickly began to lick her ice cream.

Louise was a little surprised to see this happening in front of her eyes. "Slow down, Marisa. I don't want you to get a brain freeze."

Marisa listened to what she said and she eventually slowed down. "Sorry. I just felt like rushing there for a second."

"It's all right, Marisa. We have all day." Louise reassured her with a smile.

Marisa nodded, as she and her Mom enjoyed their ice creams while enjoying the nice day.

Sometime after they were done eating their ice cream, the two mages decided to hang out at the beach as they sat down on the sand while sun-tanning themselves. It was a pleasant day over here, too. Other humans and animals were there, enjoying themselves like the two mages.

"Ah, the sun feels nice." Louise said gently.

"Yeah..." Marisa said quietly. "It's very peaceful and warm."

"Do you remember the last time we came here?" Louise asked.

"Hmm..." Marisa was trying to remember when she and her Mom came here last. "I think I was about seven. You and me always liked coming here."

"That's right." Louise said happily. "On hot days, we usually would come here and go sun-tanning and enjoy the nice breeze that usually passes by us."

With those words said, a stray breeze blew past the two girls very calmly.

"Mmm..." Marisa said relaxingly. "This feels nice...I really do miss this place. It brings back a lot of memories."

Louise looked over at Marisa, whom was relaxing with a smile while her eyes were closed. She loved seeing her daughter happy. And spending time with her was one of the best things Louise would do for Marisa. It was just like back in the day when the two would use to do this together back when Marisa was younger. Now they were doing it again, only this time, it was just like before.

Marisa opened her eyes and looked at her Mom, whom seemed to be frowning to herself. "Mom?"

Louise didn't answer her. It was as if she didn't hear her, seeing as she was thinking about something else.

"Mom? Are you OK?" Marisa asked.

"Hm?" Louise snapped out of her trance and looked at Marisa. "Oh, I'm fine. I was just daydreaming, is all."

"Daydreaming?" Marisa wondered. "About what?"

"Um..." Louise hummed to herself. "...Nothing. It's nothing, really."

Marisa smiled at Louise. "Come on, Mom. I know you better than that. We always share stuff with each other."

"Really. It's nothing." Louise shook her head defensively. "It was just something silly."

"Silly?" Marisa was now anxious to hear what she was going to say. "What kind of silly?"

"Well..." Louise had her index finger on her chin while in thought. Then a dark smile started to form her face. "The kind where your mother makes you laugh."

"Huh?" Marisa was confused. Before should react, Louise started to tickle Marisa's shoulders. The red-haired started to laugh while she laid on her back while her Mom continued to make her laugh.

"M-Mom..." Marisa tried to speak, but her Mom continued her way as she continued what she started, as Marisa laughed again.

As Louise continued to tickle Marisa, the older sage smiled to herself. She hadn't seen Marisa this happy in years. Before she even left her, she always had a fun time with Marisa, whether it would be the good times or bad. This tickle assault of hers kept going until Louise finally stopped her assault. Marisa managed to catch her breath while she slowly started to relax.

"Wow..." Marisa sighed deeply. "I didn't know you were that good."

"Mothers can surprise you, sometimes." Louise retorted with a wave of her finger.

The two women laughed as they looked on at the ocean. The beautiful blue waves were lapping on the sandy ground. The sun was shining brightly and everything was peaceful.

Louise turned to her daughter. "Marisa?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Let's go to the one place that you and I always hanged out at." Louise whispered to her.

Marisa's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Louise nodded. "Let's go."

Marisa nodded as she and her mother stood back up and made their way back towards the city and headed towards their destination.

The two mages were not too far away from the city as they made it to a nice green field with a large tree standing tall. Marisa smiled happily when she saw it. She quickly made her way towards it and sat underneath the shadows of the leaves. Louise followed afterwards and sat comfortably one the ground, next to her daughter.

"This is so great." Marisa said with a smile. "How long has it been since we last visited this place?"

"Who knows?" Louise thought. "Too long, perhaps."

Marisa and Louise both stared at the view of Station Square together. "The view of the city looks really beautiful from here. So serene..."

Louise nodded in reply with a smile. "This spot was always our quite place. Just you and me, staring at Station Square from afar."

"You could paint a picture of this view if we were artists." Marisa said.

"True." Louise replied. "We just need some paper and some coloring pencils to do that."

Marisa smiled at that comment. "You know, it's odd. You and I never really talked about any of this when we here before."

Louise slowly frowned as her eyes darted towards the ground. Marisa turned to see this.

"Mom? Is something wrong? You have that frown again." Marisa noticed.

Louise didn't say anything. She just stared at the ground. From what Marisa could tell, something was on her mother's mind.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" Marisa asked.

Louise turned her eyes to her daughter. "Marisa, have you ever thought about...your father?"

Marisa's eyes widened a bit. "M-Mom?"

Louise smiled a little again. "Have you ever mentioned anything about your father before?"

"Well..." Marisa turned her head away from her Mom. "I never mentioned him, because I had no idea who he was. What kind of man he was. You never mentioned him much either." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "What was he like? What was my Dad like?"

Louise turned her head back to the city and smiled again. "I first met him when I was in my Junior year at Station Square High School. I was 16 at the time. Your father was training to become a GUN Agent. He and I met each other after I was out for the Summer. We got to talking and soon afterwards, we began dating, and it turned out we had a lot in common with each other. We liked a lot of the same things, and he was very interesting man in my eyes."

"Wow, you two seemed like you were really into each other." Marisa thought with a smile.

Louise continued on. "When I was close to my eighteenth, I found out I was pregnant. I rejoiced in happiness when I heard the news. Your father wasn't there because he had gotten into GUN. He became a commanding officer and was sent on a mission to invade Dr. Eggman's base." She then frowned again. This time, in sadness. "Then one day, when I was seven months pregnant, I got a call from the GUN Commander. He said that my soon-to-be husband was killed by one of Dr. Eggman's robots. That was when...my life had crumbled."

Marisa saw Louise closed her eyes, trying to take in that horrible memory she had endured. "Mom...?"

Louise barely managed to get a hold of herself and continued on. "Your father and I were to engaged to be married when he returned from his mission. But...it never happened. Which left me to take care of you on my own. At first I thought that raising a child on my own would be difficult, but I promised myself that I would always take care of you as my own, no matter what."

Marisa was in shock to hear this. "I...I had no idea."

Louise opened her eyes. "It's not your fault. I just didn't want to tell you about this because I thought it would be too horrible for you to live with..."

Marisa looked on as Louise started to grow tears in her eyes. "M-Mom?"

Louise tried to hold it in, but she couldn't any longer. She broke down and started to cry. She covered her eyes while she did this. Marisa was feeling heartbroken seeing her Mom like this. It had been so long since Louise had ever cried.

"I-I miss him so much..." Louise said between sobs. She wiped away some tears, but it turned out to be useless as more tears started to flow from her eyes. She started to cry again while covering her eyes.

Marisa looked on at her crying mother. Then slowly, she placed a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Mom. Please don't cry." She smiled a little. "You'll only make me cry."

Louise stopped crying for a moment to see Marisa's face. "Marisa...your the one who guides me through my life. Your my rock. Your my pride and joy. I love you without end because you are my daughter. I love you because your my only child. I love you because I want to share my skills and my magic with you. I want you to become a strong sage, just like me. I love you because your my friend. I love you just because I do. Without you...life would be terrible."

Marisa grew a little teary eyed, but she wiped it away and stared at her. "Mom, I love you too. And I don't ever want you to go away again. Do you promise?"

Louise smiled again. "I promise."

The two raised their pinky's and crossed them with each other, signalling friendship. The two smiled together as they wrapped each others arm in a big, warm hug. They stayed like this as if it were hours and hours without end.

Louise had her eyes closed as a tear rolled down her cheek while she smiled. She leaned her head towards Marisa as she kissed her on the cheek. "I love you, Marisa Harmon. My young, beautiful daughter."

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