All characters are property of Natsume.

Sunny Daze's Stormy Nights

Sunny Daze Farm, Summer 2

The morning was uneventful. With all the summer crops planted yesterday before she'd gone to the Beach Festival, and the Harvest Sprites hard at work to water them all, Claire knew this year's crop would be a profitable one. With nearly half her field sown with pineapples, there would be a lot of waiting for the really high income to roll in, but it would be well worth it. The animals were fed, brushed, and happy. Rick was fed, brushed, and happy. Their little daughter was fed, brushed, and happy. There was only one problem.

Claire was bored. Really bored. It wasn't that she lacked for anything to do; the opposite was true, in fact. Every day was full of activity and socialization. The problem wasn't sitting around with nothing to do.

The problem was, it was the same people, day after day, season after season... Year after year.

She loved her husband very much; after all, she'd worked long and hard to earn Rick's love. Sometimes she even thought he might love her back as much as he loved his chickens. She couldn't even begrudge him that. After all, he'd been the first person to give her a gift since she'd come to Mineral Town, other than the old fishing rod. That hadn't really counted, since it was just lying around uselessly. It was kind of Zack to think of her, but it wasn't really the same. Rick had shared his very favorite thing with her - a spa-boiled egg. The gesture had touched her deeply.

And their daughter was a constant joy, always well behaved. So her growth was a little stunted; it hardly seemed to matter, really, considering that nothing else ever changed around Mineral town... No one aged. No one died or moved in, or had children (except for her and Rick, all of the couples who'd been married in recent years seemed to be barren. Claire herself only seemed able to have one child.)

Life was SO BORING!

The one difference was in the summer, when Kai and Popuri came back to town. Rick had never liked his little sister's choice of husband, but he had resigned himself to it - mostly. Kai still claimed that Rick came to his room at the inn and harangued him in the evenings, but Rick refused to discuss the subject. Claire found the petty feud annoying, but had come to accept it as part of her husband's personality. Still, his resentment was not completely unfounded. Even Claire herself wasn't immune to the spirited young man's charms.

And he did make a mean pizza.

Even Rick would begrudgingly admit that Kai's Beach House added a little variety to the menu available at Doug's Inn. Though the tavern owner was an excellent cook, he only offered a few dishes. Kai's selection, though no more numerous, was different. Only in summer could spaghetti be had - real spaghetti! - and the shaved ices he served were wonderful in the heat.

Even as she put the last of the feed in the chickens' bins, Claire found herself wondering what Kai was up to. He'd often made veiled suggestions in the years since they'd both been married, about how marriage was not exactly what he'd expected. He'd said outright on many occasions, "There will be lots of things between you and me, but we'll be okay." It made Claire wonder more.

She still had his lucky charm. He'd given it to her before Rick had given up his father's watch to her safe-keeping, but then he'd left, and by the time he returned the following year, she'd been married to the chicken farmer.

How unromantic of her, Claire reprimanded herself. She really did love Rick, for all he was so fixated on those birds. He was practical, sensitive, funny, and responsible. He cared deeply for the three and a half women in his life - his mother, his sister, his wife, and their perennially youthful daughter - and would not hesitate to go to whatever extreme he deemed necessary to protect and help them.

But after 9 years of marriage... He'd gotten... Boring. Just like everything else in Mineral Town.

At last the chores were done. The Harvest Sprites were running around watering merrily away and all the wild grasses she could harvest, she had. Claire pulled the Teleport Stone out of the chest. Closing her eyes as she held it, she focused on the peak of Mother's Hill. Picturing the majestic mountain in her mind's eye, she spoke the trigger word that sent her spinning dizzily but instantaneously to the rugged brown summit.

Gratified to see no one was around, Claire ran to the highest point, looking out into the emptiness. Below, to her left and off a way, was Forget-Me-Not Valley. It looked as nice as Mineral Town. Probably as mundane, too, she sighed to herself.

"I AM SO BORED!" she screamed, listening to the echo off distant hills and cliffs.

"Admittedly, it's not the most exciting place in the world, but I rather like it," a gruff voice behind her said.

~Oh, Goddess, Gotz! I forgot he usually comes up here around now, and I didn't notice him!~ Claire panicked to herself. "Gotz! I didn't see you! I'm so sorry... I know... I must sound really ungrateful, after all these years. You've all always been so kind to me. I love it here. I really do."

"But nothing ever changes anymore. I understand. I remember when you first came here. It wasn't all that long after my wife and child... died. Here on this very peak. The beginning of that winter, in fact, just before you came... They loved to walk here, and gather flowers, or make snow forts."

"You don't have to talk about it. It's okay."

"You've been here ten years and more, Claire. It's time you know the story, too. You're one of us now. And it's long enough." Gotz leaned against an outcropping of rock and stared out into the distance, next to Claire at the tip of the rocky pinnacle. "It was snowing. The first good snow of the season. They both loved the snow. Snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels, snow forts, all of it. I came along with them, but I was down near the path, while they ran around. They were here at the top. Then my wife slipped. My daughter tried to catch her, but she wasn't much older than May. Instead, they both slipped over the edge, and I wasn't fast enough. It all happened at once."

"Goddess.. Gotz, I'm so sorry..." Claire reached out a hand to the burly man's shoulder. It was then that she saw the tears running silently, unacknowledged down his weathered features. The maternal instinct in her took over and Claire pulled him closer, rocking him back and forth slowly as he succumbed at last to the sobs held back for so long. Slowly, too, she moved them away from the edge of the mountain. The risk of him jumping - or, far more likely, falling - was not one she was in the mood to face.

But as she held him, she realized slowly how very... DIFFERENT he felt. Rick was in good shape, but he was slender. Gotz was a very solid mass of muscle. Strong as a woodcutter must be, and warm. Claire tried to suppress the guilt she felt at just hugging him - after all, he was a friend, and a friend who needed a hug, at that. She strongly suspected he hadn't let the tears out in all the time since it happened. Not while he was awake, anyway.

It wasn't so much that she was attracted to Gotz, she reasoned with herself, as she was to the thought of something new and different. Really, he was rather too hairy for her tastes. She really didn't like beards.

All these thoughts passed through her mind in a moment, and she dismissed them as rapidly. She was a married woman with a child. Right now, Gotz needed a friend more than he needed a woman. Although Claire knew he and Karen were friendly; more than once, the idea of trying to get them to settle down had passed through her mind, but it didn't seem to be in the cards. Wouldn't it be nice, though...

Gotz shifted in her cradling embrace, and she let him go. "I'm sorry. I..." He seemed to be at a complete loss for words.

"It's okay, Gotz. I do understand. It's a hard thing," Claire said, "and I know you don't open up easily to people. I'm honored that you could do so with me. Hey," she said, almost as an afterthought. "I brought some milk up with me, but I think you need it more," she said, pulling it out of her rucksack and handing it to him.

"Cool! It could use this!" Gotz smiled happily. If not for his tear-stained and bedraggled appearance, one might never know that he had so much pain inside, Claire mused to herself. Claire had always wondered what he meant when he said that. ~It?~

"Come on. Let's get out of here. Would you like to join us for dinner?" Claire smiled. "Don't worry. I'm cooking."

"Thanks! You're really nice," the woodcutter smiled. Together, they turned and walked down the mountain. "I'm just going to stop off and change, first... I have to have SOMETHING I don't work in!" Claire laughed with him as they walked.

"We'll see you at 6?"

"Absolutely!"

Once back on the farm, Claire took the teleport stone back out of her pocket. Since it was already 4:30, she figured she had just enough time to pop in on Rick and let him know. He'd be tending the chickens; she could tell him to come home instead of going to that bar again... As fond as she was of Doug, Claire wasn't so keen on her husband spending all evening, every single night at the bar. Especially when Karen was there... The girl had made no secret of her attachment to Rick. Even Claire's sweet, sensitive, and rather naive husband couldn't be totally unaware of her feelings. For all she knew, he had never gotten over his childhood crush on the market owner's daughter.

Lilia smiled at her daughter in law. "How is Raine? She must be getting big."

Claire smiled at the ritual greeting in turn. "Well, Mominlaw, you could come by once in a while... I could teleport you in, if you want."

Lilia shook her head. "You know that thing makes me nervous," she said, greeting Claire with a kiss on the cheek. "So what brings you in so suddenly?"

"Well, I actually came to tell my husband," she said, raising her voice a little, "that Gotz is joining us for dinner and I'd REALLY appreciate it if he came home instead of staying out all night at the bar."

"Yes dear. You know I don't go there to drink."

"Much."

"Children..." Lilia's voice had that edge.

"Sorry," the two replied in unison.

"Rick, please just come straight home tonight. I've got to start cooking." Kissing her mother in law again, Claire focused on the pink stone...

...and reappeared at her own front door. "Fortunately," she told the dog, "tomorrow's weather will be nice too so I can leave the animals outside."

Thunder just barked at her and went off after Lightning, who had grown into quite a fine stallion and was still in his prime.

Claire just sighed.

"Now. What to make for dinner..." Slipping inside, Claire perused her recipe book, standing in the kitchen.

"I don't want something too simple, but I know Gotz doesn't go much for the heavy dishes either... hmmm." As she stood at the kitchen, pondering what to make, there was a knock at the door.

~Hmm? I wonder who that could be,~ Claire turned to face the door in curiosity as it opened. ~Oh, Goddess, not now...~

It was Popuri. And behind her were the four other women of Mineral Town in their age group. The temptation to chase them out was strong...

Popuri smiled. "Claire, would you cook for us?" As Mary, Karen, Ellie, and Ann filed in behind her, each with a request to be fed, Claire sighed. She could no more turn them away than leave Gotz crying on the mountaintop. No matter that some of them were politer than others about it, either...

After standing like ducks in a row, they sat at her table and placed orders as if she was a waitress. Silly girls... Didn't they have anything better to do? But no, they each calmly sat there with requests... Eggs over Rice. Vegetable Latte. Sashimi. Salad. Cheese Fondue. Leaving Claire with a huge dent in her larder and very little time to clean the house.

Claire knew the smile on her face was strained as they all left. It wasn't that she minded cooking, but that was an hour down the tubes and Gotz would be there any minute! And where was her husband...?

"Pancakes!" she exclaimed happily. "Everyone likes pancakes." Raine gurgled happily. "Fine, I'll make you pancakes too, you little brat," Claire smiled indulgently and got to work.

She just had time to finish making the pancakes and put Raine to bed. Another knock on the door came as she was changing clothes. Fortunately, whoever it was didn't barge in as the girls had. "Coming!" ~And where IS that husband of mine? If he forgot... I don't know WHAT I'll do...~

Gotz smiled when she opened the door. "I brought some fresh flowers," he said almost shyly. His hostess thanked him as she beckoned him in, placing them in the vase near her bed.

"Thanks. I haven't had a chance to bring in this season yet," she said. "They're beautiful. Come, come in, sit, make yourself comfortable. Rick should be home any minute," ~I hope,~ "and we can eat. I made pancakes."

The grin that spread over the woodcutter's face at that was unmistakeable. "Cool! Would you mind if we sat outside for a while? It's a nice evening." Stepping back outside, Claire sat on the shipping box, and Gotz made himself comfortable next to her. It was a little narrow for the two of them, but surprisingly comfortable.

"You know what's kind of funny," Gotz continued, "is that I hardly ever visit anyone to eat. In fact, most of us in town never really eat at each other's houses. I don't know why I never thought of it. And I don't know why we don't visit the valley, either. Or why they don't visit here. I guess some of us go there for festivals, occasionally, but I can see why you'd get bored," he finished quietly.

Claire nodded. "Everything is so routine..."

"You should go to visit Forget-me-not Valley. There are some really nice people out that way, and it makes a nice day trip," Gotz said.

Claire nodded. "That does sound nice," she said. "Maybe I'll convince Rick to come with. And maybe you could show us around?" For the first time in years, Gotz noticed, the young blonde farmer looked hopeful.

He laughed at her youthful enthusiasm. "Of course!" It wasn't that he was so much older than she, as much as it was that she just seemed so young and naive in so many ways sometimes. He felt protective of her, had felt the same instinct for many years though they had never before been all that close.

"Speaking of Rick, I hope he didn't go to the Inn. I told him you were coming for dinner." Claire sighed. "And now it's going to get cold..."

"No offense, but I think we can eat without waiting for him." Gotz looked hesitant as he made the suggestion. "I, for one, am hungry, and I hate seeing you sad," he added more shyly.

Claire sighed. It seemed that no time had actually passed no matter how long they'd been talking. She wondered if Rick was going to bother coming home...

The pancakes slowly grew colder. Claire gave herself up to enjoying the evening with Gotz, but after a while she excused herself. "I'm just going to check outside and see if he's coming. I know you're hungry," she smiled apologetically. Gotz smiled and nodded, looking happy just to be there, not dining alone in an empty house.

No sooner was the stone in her hands than she stood in front of the Poultry Farm. No one was in the yard, which wasn't surprising. Rather than knock on the door, Claire 'ported herself to Doug's Inn. The usual evening sounds of laughter and conversation drifted out. Already, she knew she'd see him when she walked in. What hurt the most was the pint he kept in one hand, and the several empty mugs around the bar in front of his companion. Karen. Wordlessly, she turned and left; no one seemed to notice her.

Doug sighed and went back to polishing glasses. He'd tried, many times over the years, to explain to both Rick and Karen that Rick needed to spend some evenings with his wife, instead of at the bar. Not that Doug didn't appreciate their patronage, far from! Still, Rick was a husband and father now. He had obligations. Doug's own greatest regret was that he'd spent more time trying to make the business work than he'd devoted to his wife. It was one of the reasons he had so much trouble getting past her death, even though he only allowed himself the one day to mourn each year. And here was young Rick, not even working on the farm alongside his wife, not going home every night to his wife, but coming to Doug's Inn every night, meeting his childhood sweetheart once a week... He took a deep breath and tried not to get angry on Claire's behalf. It would do no one any good; it never had.

He wasn't alone. Several other denizens of the tiny town in the mountains were concerned about Claire and Rick's marriage. Not all of them, however, were concerned for the same reasons; many times Ann had stormed in from a walk, fuming over how "those dowdy old gossips" were picking apart the young couple she numbered among her friends.

Claire ran back to the farm, feeling bad about leaving Gotz alone for so long. It was after 9 o'clock already; the pancakes were doubtless inedible by now. Still, she needed to calm herself before returning; the hurt and anger had knotted so tightly in her throat that she couldn't breathe. A good run would help, if only a little, so that by the time she got back she could at least fake a smile.

Gotz, however, was no longer sitting on the shipping box. Quickly, she scanned the farm for him, but she didn't see him anywhere. Defeated on all fronts, she stepped back inside the grand farmhouse he'd built for her.

"I hope you don't mind," Gotz said from the kitchen, "but I thought I'd reheat dinner while you were gone. He smiled warmly, understanding in his eyes as he deftly handled the pan, flipping pancakes in the air.

Claire couldn't help but smile back, albeit weakly. "I was afraid you'd get annoyed and leave," she confessed. "I'm really sorry. But... Rick won't be joining us, after all."

The tall woodsman noted the way her features tightened as she spoke. "Well, that's just his loss, then, isn't it? Come on, let me serve you."

"But Gotz, you're my guest! I couldn't possibly-"

"Uh uh uh! I don't want to hear it! This is the only way I have left to show my appreciation. I've already built everything I could for you!" Now he grinned, as Claire seemed to relax a little. "Now, sit down and eat."

Well, she could hardly argue with that! Sitting at the table, she smiled weakly at the burly man. It was odd, she couldn't help thinking in the back of her mind, but her frilly apron somehow suited him...

After they ate, with Raine gurgling quietly in her sleep, Claire felt restless. She didn't want Gotz to leave, but sitting in the house made her feel trapped. "Do you mind if we sit outside again? It's such a nice night out," she said. Whether Gotz sensed her mood or not, he led the way back to the shipping box, "I know you must think I'm a terrible hostess," she said as she settled next to him. "All I've done is fret all night."

"Don't be silly! I'm having a great time, and you have every reason to be upset. I think you're actually doing quite well," her friend said. "If I were you, I'd probably have chased him around Doug's with an axe," he grinned unrepentantly.

"I almost did," she said wryly. Sighing, she looked up at the stars, gleaming brilliantly in the night sky over her farm. It was after 10 o'clock, and even the animals grazing in their outdoor pastures were asleep. Slowly, the stars grew hazy and indistinct, beginning to dance around each other like harvest sprites in some far off place.

"Claire... Claire?" A gruff voice woke her. Gotz's shoulder was warm against her cheek, and she sat up quickly, grateful for the darkness that hid her flaming face.

"I... Oh, Gotz, I'm so terribly sorry... I'm so embarrassed!" Claire slid down off the shipping box.

"Hush. There's nothing to be embarrassed. It's late, and you're tired. You work very hard, Claire. Sometimes I don't think we appreciate all the work you really do," Gotz said. He too got to his feet. "You go inside and sleep. I'll see you later," he said gruffly.

For a long moment, she was all too aware of his solid strength so close to her. In the distance, she heard a someone whistled a soft, off-key tune that slowly grew closer. Rick.

She gazed up at Gotz, warring internally. Spiting Rick would be wrong. But it was so very tempting...

Gotz solved the problem by hugging her and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Go get some rest."

Rick strolled through the fence and Gotz slipped away into the night, knowing that if he stayed to greet Claire's husband, he was at least as likely to run a fist through the nerdy little man's face. And no matter how upset Claire was with her husband, that wouldn't do any of them any good.

"Darling! I'm home!" Rick said, walking through the door. "Darling?"

Claire was still standing outside, looking at the now closed door of her own home with trepidation. "Sometimes, Rick, you are such an idiot." Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and went inside.

"Ah! There you are, Darling! You were working late tonight! Usually you're asleep by the time I get home," Rick said. Either he was a very good actor or he had no idea what was going on.

The blonde regarded her husband for a long moment. "Do you not remember me coming by your mother's house? I told you Gotz was coming for dinner." Rick looked at her blankly. "I told you I'd appreciate it if you came home instead of going to the inn. And yet, surprise of surprises, time passed and no Rick. I went to the inn. There was Rick." Her voice was shaking, reflecting the way her whole body trembled with anger. She couldn't keep the hurt from leaking into her expression.

"I... I don't remember," the chicken keeper replied. "I thought you said that was tomorrow," he added rather weakly.

"No, Rick. That was tonight." Claire picked up Thunder and carried the dog to bed. She wanted more than Raine between her and her husband that night.

"Claire, Darling, I'm so sorry. I really am."

Claire said nothing, crawling into bed. Thunder curled up at her feet and dropped off almost as soon as his mistress.