The woman approached the spring reverently, as she always had. She walked slowly to the spot right in front of the spring where she knelt down and bowed her head, her eyes closed.
"Goddess," she began, somewhat quietly. "I know I haven't been here in a while. I've been really busy, but I'm sure you know about that." She smiled slightly. "I wanted to thank you… for everything. You have truly blessed me, though sometimes I'm not sure I deserve it." She paused, thinking. "Please tell Luke that I miss him. I think I understand now why he apologized before he died. But it's not my place to forgive him for such a thing. Tell him… tell him I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't mean for any of it… and tell him that I still wear the pendant. I'm sure he'd be happy to know it.
"Thank you again for everything, Goddess. I'll try and visit more often." The girl remained where she was for a moment before standing. She didn't move, but instead looked over the spring, admiring its beauty even though she'd been there many, many times before. Especially one winter six years ago…
"Mommy! Mommy!" a child said, running up to the woman from behind. He was about as high as her knee, perhaps a little taller, and had light brown hair. He looked up at his mother with violet eyes, genuinely happy to have found her. He hugged her leg and grabbed her hand. "Daddy! I found Mommy!" he yelled. A man appeared from the same direction the boy had, though he was panting from the climb.
"I don't know how you manage to hike up that mountain so much," he said breathlessly to his wife. She smiled lovingly at him in response.
"C'mon, c'mon! I wanna ride the horsey!" the boy said, jumping up and down excitedly. His father looked exasperated, not liking the idea of having to climb down the mountain so soon. He ran a hand through his strawberry blonde hair and sighed.
"Only if it's alright with Mommy," he said, forcing a smile. His wife stifled a laugh.
"Can I, Mommy? Can I?" the boy pleaded. His mother smiled.
"Of course you can," she said. "Let's go right now so we can be done before it gets dark."
"Yay!" the kid squealed happily before running off down the path. Both parents looked after him for a moment before the man sighed.
"He's such a handful," he said. Then he turned and looked at the spring for a moment before kissing his wife on the forehead. "Shall we go before he hurts himself?" he suggested. The woman nodded.
"Luke! Wait for Mommy and Daddy!" the woman said beginning to chase after her son.
"Pah, all this talking in third person… chasing around an obnoxiously loud kid… it really gets to me sometimes, Ange," the man said. He shook his head, smiling despite his words. She looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a huge grin before gesturing for him to follow. He sighed, looked back at the spring, and then ran after them.
A few minutes after the family left, two figures appeared, hovering over the spring. One was a very tall woman with long green hair and a flowing dress that seemed to move with a life of its own; the other a man with blue hair, a bandana, and an axe, wearing a shark's tooth around his neck.
"Well wouldya look at that!" the man said, leaning on his axe, though it didn't touch the ground as they floated above the spring. "She named her kid after me!" The woman next to him looked at him for a moment before looking ahead at the path again.
"She finally understood…" the Harvest Goddess said. Luke looked up at her nervously.
"Uh-huh…" Luke said, waiting for her to continue.
"That means you can pass to the afterlife now. You won't be tied here anymore… you can finally meet your mother again." Luke paused, looking torn for a moment. He knew that once he went, there would be no coming back. He'd never see Angie again. Well, at least, not for a while, yet. He frowned, thinking. After a minute or so he looked up decisively.
"Alright. I'm ready." The Harvest Goddess smiled and gestured with her hand, and a beautiful rainbow appeared, leading up over the mountain from the spring. Luke studied it for a second, hesitating, before nodding. It was time that he left this world and stopped wishing for things he couldn't have. She was happy, and that was all that mattered. He started to climb the rainbow and then stopped and looked at the Harvest Goddess, who had been watching with a pleasant smile on her face.
"Yes, Luke?" she asked.
"Thank you, Goddess. For everything." With that, he walked up the rainbow, and the Goddess watched until he passed into the world beyond. Once he was out of sight, she gestured again and the rainbow disappeared. Then she started to laugh. He'd used the same words that Angie had…
Shaking her head, the Goddess slowly began to fade, returning to her own realm, leaving the spring in silence once again.