"that's a difficult question," she said,  "thus the answer will be difficult. for both of us. it isn't a matter of loving or not loving. does the sun love the tree? assuredly, the tree needs the sun, but does it love it? without the sun the tree would die, but without the tree the sun would continue shining. continue pulling satellites around it,  continue burning.
someday the sun well begin the process of dying. it will switch from fusing hydrogen for fuel to fusing helium. it will expand. it will enter its red giant phase. it will grow so large that it will envelop and vaporize the earth, tree and all.
so does the tree love the sun?"
I didn't know what to say. after staring into my eyes for a moment she walked off. it was so strange. dreamlike. I had never met that woman before. now she was gone.