In My Life

Thanks so much for the reviews I got! Believe me, it makes me happy to see that I've been entertaining people out there with this. So, reviews in the mailbox makes me a happy writer! (But, no reviews doesn't mean I'm discouraged from writing more…) Anyway, incessant chatter is reserved for after this rather short chapter. It's about dang time I updated anyway…

-----------

Makoto stood in an empty plane, clearly not amused as he looked for something to see. There was nothing to see. Makoto arched an eyebrow as he tried to discern something, anything! He spun around countless times, his world whirling around until the vision of lights came together and coalesced into something he had seen before.

The Harvest Goddess.

She stood there, and he stood across from her, not amused.

"What's with the dream sequence?" Makoto spilled abruptly. He stood, waiting for an immediate, terse answer.

But the Harvest Goddess gave Makoto a twisted smile that sent a morbid feeling down his to his heart. She waved her hand, taking Makoto's eyes and leading them to a beacon of white light far, far away.

"Head towards the light, Makoto," she said with a tone that carried a sense of wisdom. She gave Makoto another smile, the same smile that shocked him with another morbid, sinking feeling.

"I'm not walking into that light…" Makoto replied.

The Goddess smiled.

"Sure, well, you did hate your life. So, I'll play back the whole life flashback while you sit back and remind yourself about the life you hated so much." She gave Makoto a look directly into his cold, gray eyes. "When you're done, you'll probably want to walk into the light anyway."

With a snap of her fingers, the sepia-tone flashback began to roll. Makoto turned to watch as he saw himself being born, brooding in the corner as a child, getting shot in the stomach, being mistaken for a corpse by some soldiers, and being taken in under the soldiers' wings as they moved from station to station.

The flashback finally came to that one summer. Makoto wandered off, miles from the camp, and onto the old man's farm.

"Why, hello there, young man! What brings you here?" the old man asked in a hardy voice. He was a large man with a rough-and-tumble kind of body frame and an appearance close to being unkempt, his overalls and straw hat doing nothing to tame his wild air. Makoto, his body to scale of that of his seventeen-year-old one, looked up at the old man without a word. He simply nodded.

"Well, come check out my farm!" he said with a wave of his hand to the seemingly endless fields of red tomatoes, yellow corn, and gardens that went on forever.

Chasing chickens, eating corn, riding cows, petting sheep. The grand idyllic life.

Little Makoto wandered from the farm and found himself in the meadow of flowers on Mother's Hill. Staring up at the fiery, red afternoon sun lulled him into a drowsiness as he dozed off into another world.

"Hey…"

Little Makoto moaned a bit, turning in his sleep.

"Hey… wake up!"

Little Makoto's eyes fluttered open, the colors beginning to return to his view. The afternoon sun peeked into the meadow from over the treetops. As he turned his eyes to find the source of the voice, his vision gradually focused until a blurred face came into view.

This bothered Makoto from his hindsight prospective. He turned to the Goddess.

"Who is that?" he asked, his eyebrow hiking up on his forehead.

The Goddess put her finger to her chin, pretending to contemplate the question. She finally looked back at Makoto, and with a smile she responded.

"I'm not telling you," she smirked.

"Why?" Makoto asked, cocking his head.

The Goddess looked off again.

"Well… you hate people. So why should I tell you?"    

"I want to know."

The Goddess nodded.

"Well, that might be true…"

"Don't beat around the bush!" Makoto replied curtly.

Smiling slyly in response, the Goddess said:

"Well, you don't seem to care much about anyone else, but you're getting defensive when it comes to her!"

Makoto groaned.

"Makoto, you'll find out everything one day. For now, just head into the light."

"That doesn't make sense."

The Goddess put her finger to her cheek again, humming a bit to herself.

"Hmm… yeah, you're right. It doesn't make sense." She turned to watch the flashback. "Hmm… here's something that may jog your memory!" she said with the flick of a pointer finger.

Makoto followed into the flashback, watching as he and the girl stood by a serene little lake. The girl was in her bathing suit, jauntily kicking off a pair of flip flops. Little Makoto stood there, fully clothed, watching her as she took off for a bounce, and splashing through the water. It seemed as if she wouldn't surface, so little Makoto turned to wait for her.

Her plastered head finally popped out of the water, hair in her eyes. She flashed a quick smile, flicking her hair to the side of her face with of snap of her neck. Turning to face Makoto, her smile quickly turned into a look of concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked with falling intonation.

Makoto shook his head, still in his T-shirt. He hadn't even kicked off his sneakers.

"I just don't wanna swim."

And with that, the girl quickly emerged from the lake, her wet feet slapping onto the ground as she came up to Makoto. She stood in front of him, looking up at his gray eyes, full of pain.

"Why not?" she asked, her eyes looking to find more.

Sighing, Makoto pulled up his T-shirt in a slow motion. He held it in front of him for a moment before throwing it aside, revealing a horrifically fresh dead patch on his abdomen. The girl jumped back a bit, her hand subconsciously trembling as she slowly began reaching out.

"Does… does it hurt?" she asked, her eyes conveying the same pain as Makoto's as her hand hovered in empty space.

With a slow look in her eyes, Makoto shook his head out of grief.

"It hurts a bit… but you can touch it…"

The girl reached out, her small fingers a stretched. Slowly but surely, she steered her hand towards the torn flesh. Her soft fingers met the scars, and she let out a tense sigh as each of her fingers met on the flesh. Makoto cringed a bit, and the girl quickly shot her hand back.

"I'm sorry…" she blurted out, her eyes downcast.

Makoto came back quickly, his voice hushed and gentle.

"No, you don't have to be sorry." He looked up at her. "I feel fine with you."

Gazing into Makoto's gray eyes made the girl smile, her kindness slowly disintegrating into memories from so long ago. Big Makoto stood at his point, his hand suspended from an elusive thread. Breaking it, Makoto let his hand slowly sink back to his side. He turned to look at the Harvest Goddess, while she stood back at him with a sly smile.

"So, you can do as you wish," she announced to Makoto, motioning towards the white light.

A strong, yet small sound began to grow out of nothingness, grabbing Makoto's ear and taking him for a turn. He spun, looking for the source of what was beginning to shape into two voices. He turned and turned, his back to the Goddess.

"You know…" Makoto began, half muttering. "Someone's calling me." He stopped to contemplate it, letting out a quick huff. "Who'd do that?"

He turned to look at the Goddess, cocking his head with another quick huff.

-----------

Okay, I promised incessant chatter, but I don't like incessant chatter. Anyway, I'm getting lots of Makoto/(insert chick/divinity name here) coupling suggestions. I'm glad to see all that speculation, and let me say that… SOON, you all shall know. Hell, it's being written already.

Okay, okay, I'll give you another hint. The person is breathing.

Heh heh, thanks for reading everyone!