As Sora pulled me closer to him and I sat, staring into his eyes, all the fear and nervousness I felt disappeared. At that moment it felt as if he and I were the only one's that existed and everything around us faded away. As we stared into each other's eyes taking in each other's warmth I felt as if there was no other place that I wanted to be.

"Eh, hem"

Sora and I were startled by the sound of someone coughing and we immediately pulled back from each other but still I couldn't let go of his arm.

"Sora, Fumiko, it seems you both are looking bright today."

Sora and I looked at each other and for a moment it seemed as if we could both understand what the other was thinking.

How is it that I didn't hear any footsteps approaching us?

It seemed that we were so lost in each other's world that nothing else fell through.

"Um, Mr. Saito -"

"Fumiko, I'm glad to see that you're here!"

"Oh, Mrs. Saito, it's nice to see you again. " I conveyed coming to a stand as she gave me a hug.

"Oh, I hope that I didn't interrupt anything because you two seemed so caught up with each other." She said while giggling quiet sweetly.

"What!" Sora and I said instantly.

"M-Mr. Saito, we were just -"

"No need for explanations Sora, we were just teasing you both!" Mr. Saito laughed warmly at our expressions and we both immediately threw our gazes to the ground as our cheeks lit up.

"Oh, Fumiko, I need to ask you something, did you make it home alright? We left so soon, so we didn't have the chance to see you off and I'm was worried that you might have stumbled on your way back home because after sunset it gets so dark."

"Don't worry Mrs. Saito" I said smiling "I made it home okay, I always do."

"Oh, thank heavens, that's good to hear!" She remarked while running her hands over her pretty dress.

Talking about departing from Sora drew my mind back to the moment we had last separated. Still it brought sadness to my heart as I recalled the way his arms were wrapped around me and the look he had on his face that seemed as if he didn't want me to go.

"Fumiko, are you alright? You look a little down?" Mrs. Saito asked after a moment as I had become quiet.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess I'm just a little tired." I sighed but still keeping up a warm smile.

"I guess, we're all a bit tired...well in my case it's mostly because it's near harvesting time and we still have a bunch of work to get done." Mrs. Saito sighed also as we both took a seat on the porch.

"Speaking of work, Sora I see that you've done quite a lot of work on your crops since this morning."

"Yeah, I guess I did do quite a lot this morning but I still do have a bit left to do but I know it will be worth it once they're harvested." Sora said smiling warmly.

"I know, you are the best farmer of your age. You've always had the best crops, well you and your father that is of course."

"Yeah, I know." As Sora said this I saw a distant look in his eyes but this time his face was glowing with pride.

"Hey, since we both have a bit of unfinished work left, how about we go out and finish it." Mr. Saito said looking out into the distance.

"Oh, okay" Sora agreed before grabbing his hoe off the porch.

"Yeah, you two go along! Fumiko and I will just wait here!" Mrs. Saito called at them as they walked away while pouting her lips with a look of displeasure.

"What's wrong?" I asked turning to her.

"Well it's just that they spend almost all day working on their plots, and in this heat I don't think it's good for their health but they don't listen to me." She sighed. "Don't get me wrong, I know my husband can do the work but still I'm afraid he'll over work himself one day then he'll drop dead suddenly."

I couldn't help but blink back at her words.

That's the same thing I said

"Fumiko, what's wrong? Your mind seems to be far away." Mrs. Saito asked placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh, it's nothing" I said smiling to her. "Mrs. Saito can I ask you something?"

"What is it Fumiko?"

"Well," I said rubbing my hands together, "Mrs. Saito, Sora's father, did you know him well? - What I mean is what was he like?"

She looked a little surprised by my question but she smiled non the less, "Sora's father was a lot like Sora but also he was very different from him."

"What?" I asked a bit confused.

"Well to be more specific, they both had a strong liking for farming and they were both very good at it but -"

"But what?" I asked a little impatiently as I was dying to know more about him.

"Sora and his father were opposites. Sora has always been kind and friendly while his father wasn't really a nice person; always grouchy and he didn't say much and always kept to him himself."

"I don't see how that makes him a bad person -" I stopped in mid sentence as I noticed that she had a saddened look.

"Sora was such a nice child but the way he treated him..." She then sighed again and shook her head.

"Wait... Did he beat Sora when he was a child?" I asked almost fearful of her answer.

"No I don't think so, but he would always shout at Sora and tell him he was worthless, saying that he couldn't do anything, disregarding his hard work without thinking even once about what Sora felt. To this day I don't understand why he would always treat Sora like dirt. "

I was so shocked by her words that all I could utter was, "But Sora...how is it that he went through all this, yet he always seems so happy?"

"Don't worry, I understand why Sora wouldn't have told you about it. These things hurt him a lot and even now I'm not sure if he has forgotten anything. I can still recall the day my husband and I had stopped by to say hello to him when we found him sitting on the porch crying. When he saw us he tried so badly to smile for me that it broke my heart."

At her words my heart sunk, just imagining Sora going through all that brought pain to my chest.

"I didn't know that Sora had gone through so much." I said feeling guilty for all the times I had hurt Sora by trying to get him to talk about his past.

Mrs. Saito sighed then a light smile came to her face, "I'm not surprised that you wouldn't realize it. Sora will always smile no matter what he's going through because that's the way he is - he values others happiness before his own."

In that moment I began to understand who Sora really was and what I really felt for him. He was truly unlike anyone I had ever met and what I felt for him was more than admiration and like, I was drawn to him because he knew what pain was and he saw mine and helped me to smile again. At that moment being able to stop feeling the way I did for him began feeling like an impossible task.

***

"Sora, I guess we still have quite a lot of work left to do."

"Yeah, I know." I said to Mr. Saito as we were walking along my field.

"It will be quite late by the time we finish working."

"Maybe"

"So, I guess you'll want to hurry back to say goodbye to that girl?"

"Probably"

"And I suppose she will be here again tomorrow right?"

"Possibly"

"I guess you two have grown quite close then?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Oh cut the crap Sora!"

"What!?" I asked shocked by his response.

"Sora, I know that you have fallen for that girl!" Mr. Saito said coming to a stop.

"H- How long have you known?" I asked almost in disbelief.

"I've known right from the beginning. The way you look at her, the way you act, it's obvious."

"I- I didn't realize... But I don't think I can help the way I feel about her." I confessed feeling a bit ashamed.

"Sora, you do realize that she's still a child?"

"Don't worry Mr. Saito, nothing is going to happen between us. I won't ever hurt Fumiko, she's everything to me."