Welcome to Gaia! ::

The house in the mountains stood isolated, approximately two miles from the nearest town...far enough away to effectively block out the majority of modern distractions. So it was that Gaston left his rented vehicle in town and strode easily up to the mountain path.

The familiar buzz of a nearby Immortal told Gaston that the occupant still lived there. as he rounded a final bend, Gaston found the other man patiently tending a small garden frame by two cherry trees. Seemingly unbothered in the least by the approach of another of his kind, the gardener calls out. "Greetings, stranger. You have come a long way to see me."

"Greetings to you as well, Futaba Mao. It has been a long time." Gaston responded, stopping just inside the garden's borders.

Mao's eyes looked up from his gardening briefly to respond. "Hokori Wu...I had not thought to see you again. You have lived two other lives since last we spoke...I am surprised to see you returning to the facets of one past."

Gaston nodded. "Yes, I do tend to wander aimlessly a bit from decade to decade, but I need your help...I want to rediscover the life I lived here all those years ago. It brought me to a level of peace I have not been able to duplicate since."

Mao chuckled. "You amuse me, Wu. I have lived but one life...the life I continue to live...for twelve hundred years. I have peace and tranquility, and what few material trappings I require are close at hand. All your wanderings have done was dilute your spirit and confuse you along your life's path."

"Perhaps." Gaston said. "All the more reason to find a guide."

"We shall see." Mao responded. He stood, bowing in greeting. "Nonetheless, welcome to my home. You may stay as you like, though any rediscovery will be your own...I will continue tolive my life...train, work the garden, revel in the world around me. As I do so, I would be honored to share your company."

Gaston, known here as Hokori Wu, sat cross legged next to Futaba Mao, both meditating quietly in the center of the older Immortal's immaculately tended garden. The two men had sat like this in silent contemplation for the better part of two hours now. Gaston had only been here a little over a day, but he was already getting a handle on his rage and rediscovering his center...he still had a ways to go, but all in all the visit was doing Gaston a world of good.

At the conclusion of his meditative cycle, Mao's eyes slowly opened to regard that of his companion. "You are making progress, Wu. The frenetic pace of your chosen life is slowing...things are steadily becoming more clear to you, I think."

Gaston nodded quietly. "They are. My time here has already been well spent. When I first came to Japan all those years ago, it led to the most calm period in my life. It feels good to be getting that back."