"I-it doesn't have to be like that, you know".
She's still stuttering, but she's getting better. I close my eyes for a few seconds, considering her words.
 
"I think you're right."
I open my eyes and look up, and I can see she's smiling. Her smiles are so rare, but they're probably my favorite thing about her. That, and her eyes. She looks great without her glasses, though she almost never takes them off. I close my eyes again, a feeling of contentment washing over me like sunlight, filtering through the clouds. We stay that way for a while, my head on her lap, a lazy breeze rustling the trees around us.
 
Life is good.
It seems a silly thought, a needlessly optimistic one, but it's true. A few months ago, if you'd ask me about life I would tell you about the imminent threats to it, how disorderly it is, how much of a challenge it is. I'd tell you I know all about life. I'd tell you some pessimistic jokes to get you around to my way of thinking, and then I would tell you life is only worth it if you can bear it. I'd tell you life is a harsh mistress, that life gives no quarter. I'd tell you the only thing that will always accept you is death, and maybe I'd look you in the eyes for extra effect.
 
No, life is good. Life is waking up after sleeping like a log. Life is your morning routine that you enjoy doing. Life is treating people well, and being repaid in kind. Life is a really good sandwich you know you'll always remember fondly.
 
Life is a lazy summer afternoon in a forest clearing, lying down on the grass and talking about absolutely nothing, and laughing about absolutely everything. Life is looking up and seeing the best person in the world above you, smiling with serene eyes. Life is reaching to her and feeling her hand grab yours, her lips meeting yours. Life is the sun above us, warm and invigorating and eternal. My eyes are closed and my glasses lie on the grass somewhere to my right, but I feel I can see clearly now.
 
In what feels like forever, I speak again.
"Hey, Yuuko?"
My eyes are still closed, but I know she's listening.
"I love you."