Name

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She sat by my side, a comforting weight and wind block from the draft the ocean's currents could stir. Sometimes her hair would whip against me, gently though I could feel it through the thin fabric of my clothes; unnatural and alien. Eventually she spoke again, eager to tell me her story and be gone.

"For the island," she began. "It has been sustained since its birth." I felt a shudder grip me, knowing that her explanation was once again going to turn reality on its head and knowing that I didn't want to hear it. But I let her continue. "This place has always been a link of the human spirit and the earth. Life here is precious, both the people and the island itself have always wished to support each other."

"What changed?" I asked, as she expected me to. Her tale was only that, fictitious until she associated it to examples I could relate to. I wasn't born here, I didn't know the history, and I didn't feel that same sense of love for this rock I lived on that these people she referred to had once, but I knew that the townsfolk I lived with were also forgetting the truth, or they would have understood better when the tree had begun to fail.

"Time," She breathed like a sigh, sounding infinitely sad. "In the past there was always someone to answer the call. When a sapling had begun to wither there was someone who knew were to find her, and exchange."

"Exchange like this…" I motioned towards her wearing Angela's skin like the perfect disguise. She tried valiantly to avoid my eyes and their intense study.

"Not exactly," She looked sheepish, and it struck me.

"Did Angela know about this?" She appeared timid as her hair hid her face from me.

"She knew me and I tried to tell her, but our connection was fragile. Although she would have felt some things along the way... She didn't know for certain until she accepted it."

I grit my teeth. "Accepted it…" my fists clenched and released. "How could she. That girl didn't even have someone she could truly call friend thanks to this. She was lost and afraid despite whatever brave face she might have put on for you."

The goddess in the shape of the same girl looked alarmed by my rapidly simmering temper and maybe just as fearful but I was glad. I wanted to frighten her away. I stood at my tallest and bore down, taking her hands tightly in my own and staring deep into those unfamiliar eyes.

"You say it's for the island. You say it's for us and our prolonged survival, how noble," I spat, my voice bubbling with careful abhorrence that amazed even me. "But I know," I finished with barely a whisper to her unguarded ear and the crook of her elegant neck, "you stole her."

Gill would be furious with me, and I would regret the decision later, but in that moment I truly wanted her to run from me. As fast as her new human legs would take her. And that was just what she did.

When I finished telling Gill the whole thing we sat facing, each looking as bewildered and despondent as the other. I finally made tea as my guest considered the information, his pale fingers tracing thoughtful patterns against his temples. Eventually he ran the details by me again, confirming that he had heard it all.

"Harvest Goddess," He said opaquely. "Does she have a name?" I thumped his cup down in front of him.

"What does it matter what she's called? We need to figure out how to find Angela."

"You don't know that's possible, you scared her away without asking." He scoffed coarsely and my chest flared with guilt, but if he really felt that way he wouldn't be able to mock at all.

"There's more to it, I know. She said it's an exchange: that she and Angela were connected before. That means that wherever the goddess had been hiding for so long is where Angela is now."

"Yes, but where? You forget that the whole reason Angela was here restoring the rainbows was to revitalize the tree and bring the goddess back. If we knew where she had been then we wouldn't have struggled so desperately for a year and a half to fulfill the sprite's prerequisites."

We were at an impasse. I would have to find the goddess again and question her, but now that I was eating my words and wishing I had kept my cool she was going to be that much harder to find. What could we do in the meantime?

"In the meantime," said Gill, seeming to finish my thought, "we can research. If this has been going on as long as she says then there's got to be some records providing as such. Even if we need to dig so far back into church documents, it's not some kind of unaccountable cult it's a belief system; they would have something written."

The dark outside my windows seemed to become a little less imposing. For the first time since I knew Angela I felt wholly glad that Gill was the one supporting her in this. I almost wanted to shake his hand. Instead he ruined the moment by commenting on the size of the room and the telltale meagerness of my wages: I could never keep a wife under these conditions.

Well, that was fine by me. The only woman who could even in the slightest pass my marital requirements was a ghost and he wanted her too. I didn't think my wages was top on my list of worries.

The next few days passed as inexplicably as those before in that they were average everyday experiences. There was no sign of a goddess, Gill's probing through the town documentation had brought up nothing, and neither of us knew the secret to seeing and speaking with these 'sprites' for any clues. We kept up with our day jobs and spent the nights paging through musty boxes and books with frustratingly little result.

One such night found us in the hall, the lights dim in all rooms but one, a thermos of my strongest coffee growing cool, and a pool of old articles surrounding me on the floor magnificently. Gill worked at his tidy desk, a little plastic thimble over his finger as he skimmed a line, read a little, and then flipped forward to the next passage. The only sounds were from the clock and the shuffle of papers. I was terribly unsuited to the task. Finally I could take no more.

"This is ridiculous. What is this even about?" I flapped a selection that was just barely held together by ancient stapling at him energetically, urging him to check it. His blue eyes ran across the text easily even in the faint light of the evening.

"A law guarding against the adoption of a child under the age of sixteen while outside of wedlock on a Tuesday,"

I dropped my shoulders in disgust, "See, it's exactly this kind of pointless thing that makes me lose the will to live here. Why is this even amongst the stuff we are meant to be checking?"

"The filing system here is actually quite atrocious. Without a read-through of everything over a certain age we might miss what we're looking for. You could make yourself useful and mark the subject heading on the ones you check to better sort the cases for the next time." He made a point of showing that he was doing just that on the file that he held. I pinched the bridge of my nose a bit too strongly so that the motion cleared my tired and cloudy vision promptly.

"Trust me, there's not going to be a next time." I replied nasally, through the pinch.

"If you're tired you can just go. I work better on my own without any distraction any way." He set aside his headed file-folder and picked up the next one. "And you'll be happy to know that rule is no longer under jurisdiction."

"Why would I be happy!" I gathered up the papers I had scattered so thoroughly, agreeing with him for once that I was being more a nuisance than an aid. "Next time…lets put on the radio or something, I don't know. This is slowly but surely driving me insane." I brushed dust from my apron that I had neglected to take off after my shift and replaced the pile of filing back in its box before heading for the exit. Even though the days had passed almost amicably Gill couldn't resist driving one final reprimand into me as I left.

"Next time you might think twice before you run your mouth at our greatest source of information."

I was too exhausted to disagree, "Yeah, yeah."

Albeit paperwork was definitely not my forte I still wanted to sleep with the satisfaction of having at least tried to progress. I tool the long road home, winding through town once and climbing the hill past the church to gaze surreptitiously across the lake for any white-dressed figures dancing mysteriously. My efforts came to no avail but I collapsed into my bed feeling a little less discouraged than when I was perusing ridiculous and outdated laws.

Sleep came easily. Despite the consistent late nights I was still awake before nine each morning. My body was running on the fumes of my willpower. No matter how well I fed myself, soon the fumes would run out and I would need to rest. Jin would have a field-day with that. My fingers were still twisted in the folds of my forcefully removed work shirt as I drifted.

The dream I had was a memory and more.

I shook the thermometer once more to check its accuracy. Sure enough her temperature has shot above the norm.

"What's with you...? For a farmer you sure are sensitive to your surroundings." Her heat tolerance was incredibly feeble. Now that I knew, maybe it had something to do with the exchange?

She emitted weak cough, "I don't know. Maybe I'm not getting my 5 a day." She gave me a woeful look, full of candy-coated sweetness and teasing.

"Don't blame the cook, I use what you provide me with and once again might I reiterate that you are the farmer. Vegetables are your major." Her bird-like chuckles turned to coughs as she tittered and I covered my mouth with a hand. "Be a little considerate, I don't want your germs."

"Then you'd better go because I'm going to turn this hut into a verified sick-haven." I hesitated as I studied her watery eyes and flaming cheeks, feeling something I imagine was a shade off parental. I was getting caught up in the memory, I brought medicine and left for work, but the me now wanted to remain and watch over her, ask her not to go to the festival; to just continue this way in comfortable friendship.

"What's wrong?" She said; a new addition to my recall.

The problem was never with her, it was with me. "Nothing," I countered. "I was just thinking that I'd stay." I stroked the sweat tainted hair from her forehead and watched her cheeks redden further, grateful that I could still rouse such a reaction.

"Oh," she mused agreeably, looking like a child that has just received the attention they'd been seeking, "I'd like that."

The following morning was one of perfection. The air was warm and blessed with a cool breeze to keep the heat off. The sky was a crystalline blue and the birds were singing. I was never one to be moved by the weather, but it was Sunday; my day of rest, and Gill had asked that I meet him at the inn for some lunch. I felt the brilliant conditions were mocking me. I was uncomfortable with the idea both as it meant visiting my workplace when I didn't need to and that I would inevitably be required to make small talk with Gill whom I was fairly sure placed me on a high-level of dislike. Did I dislike him back? You could probably agree that we were acquaintances rather than friends. I had to commend his rituals though; eating at the inn and supporting its liveliness was so ingrained into his psyche that he'd even choose me as his woebegone partner. Another one to add to the growing list of admirable traits. It's a shame he hid them so well.

"I've ordered for you."

"I'm not hungry." I pulled the chair out and sat with a bored sigh. He shrugged and his gaze returned to his notebook where he had scribbled something down nonchalantly.

"Found something?" I questioned immediately.

"Marking down what you owe me."

I clicked my tongue and slouched back into my seat. I was a little too tired to be on my toes this early and he was either dancing around the subject expertly or he really didn't arrange this meeting to tell me anything of importance. I suppose I could at least enjoy a drink. I waved Maya over and she bounced to my command within seconds.

"Hi Chase! My, this is different." Her grin towards Gill was unmistakably greedy; gossip of my same-sex dinner date would soon reach the ears of our good friend Cathy. So long as it didn't hit Selena, I wasn't that concerned. "I mean," she flapped, realizing her poorly hidden intent, "you don't usually visit us on your days off."

"I must have missed you already." I smiled languidly, knowing that my sarcasm wouldn't escape Gill but Maya would definitely fall for it. Sure enough her cheeks grew to match her ribbons. Gill's eyes narrowed and flit between her and I momentarily.

"W-well, I made some pie today! Do you want me to bring you a slice?" She all but cuddled her tray to her chest, looking more girlish than ever. I bit back my automatic reply knowing that it was sure to be a blackened disaster made with salt instead of sugar or near enough. Maybe I could make use of this knowledge.

"Sounds nice, two please. Ask Yolanda to give it a splash of cream." Her face lit up prettily and she skipped into the kitchen.

"I don't want any," Gill returned once she was gone, his eyebrows knit deeply.

"You ordered for me and I've done the same, don't be rude to Maya now." My previous simper widened and doubtlessly became quite wicked. If Maya chose today to learn to cook properly I would eat my proverbial hat.

"You…"

But Maya cut him off with a brightly declared, "Ta da!" and set the plates in front of us. The pie looked edible almost lovely in presentation, but I had already prepared my way out. I saw the wall-clock and gave a quick flick of my wrist to suggest I was checking a watch.

"Ah, oh no. I'd forgotten that I need to check in with the doctor this afternoon, recent head injury and that, I'll have to take a rain-check on the pie alright, May?" I called to her affectionately so that she would be too caught up to see through my transparent ruse. Gill was rigidly floundering for words; anything he had to say could wait until we picked up our research again shortly- once I'd taught him this lesson. "I'll catch up with you both later!"

Amidst winking toward my dinner partner's staggered expression, enjoying the dessert called 'revenge' and heading for the door, I caught a glimpse of obvious white flutter past the window. Instantly, my reason to leave in a hurry became much more significant than skipping out on some of Maya's questionable cooking.

I don't think I need to clarify that I was amazed to see her in town and especially in broad daylight. Since the first meeting I had always imagined that she would while the hours away out of sight, in some mystical place that only goddesses could reach, but that was probably just my crude understanding of the metaphysical world at play. Nevertheless, shouldn't she have some concern about being seen by the other villagers? Other than myself and Gill, I didn't know anyone who even knew Angela was missing, let alone could comprehend the evident changes to her.

It wasn't long before I was allowed to catch up, how long she'd known I'd been pursuing her she didn't let on, but compared to the last chase rather than nervously trying to escape once we were upon the square alone she turned towards me and bravely squared her shoulders. If I had ever seen Angela wear that expression I might have apologized without knowing what I was apologizing for.

"What now?" She asked haughtily; as if he had any right to be haughty. But her aggressive advance had immediately thrown any conversation to come into adversity and that threw me briefly.

"Where have you been?" I said at last, stepping closer. Her eyes flickered with uncertainty. It had been easy enough to divulge her character even from our single short meeting; she was a goddess. She wouldn't lie, she was compassionate and devout, and if I managed to befriend her I'd have a better chance of getting information than with my previous approach of angry indignity.

"I am…visiting all the places I used to know." That surprised me as well. I had prepared myself for anything else; celestial magic I couldn't understand, but her answer was so human.

"Is that why you're here?" I asked, and she nodded demurely, her eyes drifting past me towards the buildings in town before her gaze firmed on me once more.

"It's changed so much, but I am still proud."

At that I realized belatedly that if this was a divine creature then opposing her might have gotten me smote on the spot; I was probably lucky that she was the merciful type. This woman had lived an incomprehensible amount of years nurturing and feeding this island with her devotion. It was only this mortal shell that stood as a link to associate us. I had never been a devout person and she had been trapped for a human lifespan, powerless to do anything but wait. If it had been anyone but Angela to free her we would never be standing here to measure each other up.

Nevertheless, this realization played out numbly in the back of my head and did little to humble me. "If you and Angela have exchanged then how long will you be here?"

"I can't stay." She seemed to glow with sudden sadness.

"Where is Angela?"

"I don't know."

"You owe me this much," I returned boldly.

"She's sleeping." She said plainly without any further hesitation.

"Can I find you again?" I was hatching a new theory. This connection she had with Angela wasn't severed yet. The only way to find her was through the goddess. The goddess had supremacy now but they were still one and the same, I could appeal to her and she would lead me to Angela. It might have been a dubious plan, but I didn't know how else to move forward and Gill wasn't here to guide me.

"Maybe."

I remembered something Gill had said. "What do I call you?" I folded my arms. When her watchfulness became suspicious I tried to smile reassuringly, "I can't just call you…'Harvest Goddess.'"

"Why not." She crossed her arms as well, the motion making the plumpness of her chest under the fine cloth of the white shift dress appealingly noticeable. I diverted my eyes.

"Okay then…" I ran a hand through my hair feeling strands pull free from pins and reluctant to drop the subject. There was a soft sigh, surprisingly not from my own lungs.

"Sephia," I trained my eyes on her again. Her dissatisfaction had melted away leaving only the faintest traces of tentative resolve. I was overrun with certainty that she had just imparted me with something old and secret, something she had no small difficulty in liberating. "My name is Sephia."

A/N: I tried my best to research Animal Parade's version of the Goddess -the one you can marry- but I had difficulty locating much script and I watched one poor-quality video and gave up. I've read Ignis' aka Harvest God's script and I imagine her to be the female alternative, overtly kind and caring and well...divine. I wanted to incorporate that as well as the struggle of mortality she must be facing. Although it's so precious to give up her name after declaring her love in marriage, this fictitious version is suddenly unbound by any rules of goddess-hood and able to live more freely, thus using her name and being a bit feistier.

I only mention this in hopes that those AP players don't feel as though I've robbed something sacred :)

Might be time for a story summary update… And does this still fall into the genre of Hurt/Comfort? Or should it be Supernatural/Mystery…