Chapter 225: It was a wonderful feeling… Being loved!
Narrator POV
The moon goddess lowered her head, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Does it matter?" she whispered.
"It does to me," Kragen said woodenly. "Why did you really come here?"
"I...I missed you, Kragen," she smiled through the tears that rolled down her cheeks, "I missed our fights, and having you barge into my office several times a day to make unrealistic demands," she chuckled. "Above all, I truly missed you. Is that so hard to believe?" she asked when she saw uncertainty flicker in Kragen’s features. "You’re my son, Kragen... despite our differences... I love you!".
A lump formed in Kragen’s throat as he stared at his mother. How many times had he longed to hear those words? And yet, now that he had, they felt hollow. As a child, he had to put up with living with a father who didn’t remember birthdays or give compliments. He knew he had a mother somewhere but he refused to give up hope that one day his mom would come and ruffle his hair and look at him with smiling eyes finally professing how much she loved him.
It happened nearly 10 centuries later...But it felt so unwanted.
"Love?" he said bitterly. "What good is the love of a goddess who stands by and watches her subjects die?"
Exasperation flashed in her eyes as she stared at Kragen "For once, can we not talk about anything but us?" she bristled "I love you, Kragen... that’s what I’m trying to say. Maybe if you just listened to me for a moment, you’d see that...".
"Your love means nothing to me, Mother," Kragen interrupted her with a cold expression. "The only reason why you’re battling with the FATES, trying to defend me before them and constantly defiling ethereal principles is because I am your child. These people too... they have parents who want to grow old with their children still by their side but not everyone is like the moon goddess. They only have a little say in the existence of their children,".
Pain flashed in the Moon Goddess’s eyes. "You don’t understand the burden I bear, Kragen. The choices I must make for the greater good. I do not have time to be sentimental,".
"Yet you’re sentimental for your son?" Kragen fired back "That’s double standards, Mom... and it’s fine because I’m going to give my life for Noah. If there’s no way to heal him, I’d have to make a deal with the FATES, I think they’re more agreeable than you’d ever be,".