Author's Note: This is the story of Jack and Jenny, the characters who evolved from my love for Harvest Moon 64 and Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. Jack is the main character you play as in the earlier games known as "Pete" and Jenny is "Claire," the blonde main character that you play as in HM:BTN for Girl and MFoMT. The setting is in the BTN world but some of the relationships are altered to be like HM64 and might even include some characters from HM: A Wonderful Life. Every odd numbered chapter will be Jenny's POV and every even numbered chapter will be Jack's POV.

For those of you who have played or seen videos of HM:BTN for Girl Version for the PS1 (released only in Japan), you may remember this conversation happening to the main character when the story starts on the ship. Maybe it happens in MFoMT, not sure, but I hope you enjoy the direct dialogue from the game being in the story! I hope to keep including direct quotes from the games because it seems like the cool thing to do :D

While writing I usually am inspired by the music I am listening to or the music I'm playing happens to really fit with what I'm writing. I have added "Music Suggestions" to some of the chapters. Maybe you'll find that it adds to the story or maybe you'll just find a new song or band that you like! Either way, enjoy :)

Music Suggestion: "Into the Twilight" by Amethystium.

Chapter 1: The Strange Poet
(Jenny's POV)

The air was warm and the sea was endless. The lights extended only a short distance from the ship until they were absorbed by the unrelenting darkness of the ocean. I imagined the ship as a tiny speck of light amidst the vast darkness- much like a single, lonely star in the night sky. How silly we are, I thought to myself, as we dance and get drunk on this artificial little heaven floating like a dream on rough waters that could suck up this ship in an instant and subdue all the light. I likened it to the image I had of the Earth, spinning brightly in a vast darkness. Alone in space and dismissive of time. Yet, we rarely consider our fragile existence in such a way. I felt particularly melancholic that evening.

My friends were dancing on the deck but I was not in the mood to dance. Their laughter blended with the upbeat music, it seemed a fitting contrast to my mood. Though I had recently graduated from college I felt uneasy about my future. Unlike my friends, I had no job lined up and I was quickly running out of money. Realizing that we would all go our separate ways once our studies were over, I had started subconsciously distancing myself from them long before this trip. I thought of home often and the nostalgia that came with those memories had begun to override my wanderlust and curiosity of the world. Through fortunate circumstances, I had traveled extensively during those college years and fulfilled a lot of the fantasies which drove me to leave home six years prior. I leaned onto the railing of the cruise ship wishing for a sign when I saw a shooting star.

"A shooting star…What did you wish for?"

I was startled by a man who was standing near me. He gazed out at the ocean with a drink in hand. I watched him silently, not sure of what to say to the stranger. He turned to look at me; his features were strong and his face bore many wrinkles hinting at his age and many years of sun exposure.

"I wished for free meals and free drinks," he offered with a laugh. The band began to play a jazz ensemble that reminded me of the 1920s and he started to dance his way closer to me. He seemed drunk but then again maybe he was just strange; it was hard to say considering I had just met him.

"I wished for fame and fortune," I replied sarcastically. Throughout my travels I had met many people and naturally I loved talking and getting to know others, but that night I was not in the mood to entertain a drunk.

"Ah, then I guess there's no chance that I could borrow some money from you…" I was not sure if he was joking or not. "Never mind, me and you don't look like the type to have money…" I laughed at this because I did not know what else to do or say. I felt him look over at me as I turned my gaze back to the dark sea.
"You have a great smile…your eyes are even smiling. You're not shallow," He said with a bit of slur, it was obvious he was at least a little drunk. His gaze never left me and his face gained a more serious expression, "being shallow is not good."

"Well, thank you," I replied. Though I was a bit bothered by his presence, I did not want to be rude to him. I held my arms as a slightly chilled breeze gushed towards us and he continued on as if I had said nothing.

"I don't know where you came from…or where you're going, but your future is bright. Good smile…" he said as he leaned his elbows onto the railing, "I don't know what I'm talking about." I laughed and we fell silent for a few moments. The wind started to pick up and the breeze became cooler. I informed him that I was going inside to the bar and he followed me in. The bar, as with most of the ship's interior, was made to look old fashioned with varying types of wood and glass wall lamps.

"Are you by yourself?" he asked after he ordered me a drink, "I understand if you don't want to hang out with an old man like me. Nobody would want to…"

"I'm here aren't I?" I replied with a smile. Through the bar windows, I could see a few of my friends still dancing on the deck. We received our drinks and I toasted with him, "it's better than drinking alone."

"Being alone is not that bad," he replied, as if to deliberately go against what I had just said and correct me with his infinite wisdom. We talked about him a bit; where he was from, his family, and how he made his way onto this cruise ship. He then began to turn the questions around on me and the conversation became less lively as a result of my reluctance to answer. The vague answers I did give him were laced with a bitter tone.

"I don't know what happened to you, but just find a place where you can relax, ya know? Breathe easy, what is there to truly be upset about anyway? Sure the future is uncertain, everything is uncertain! The only thing certain is death- ha! But it isn't as bad as it seems. Really. Love will find you someday, just enjoy your life!" he rambled. Amused with his wise words he continued on, "life is like…a festival! Nothing is forever so let's enjoy our lives!"

I spent the rest of the evening with him. Though we exchanged names earlier that evening, I still cannot recall it. We ate dinner together and danced on deck as the crowd was dying down. "Some of the greatest things in the world are made from peoples' silly ideas. That's why they are fun," he added as he explained to me about ships and how they worked. He was a wealth of interesting knowledge and I had come to enjoy his company over the course of the evening.

"You seem more of a poet than an engineer," I replied.

"What? I'm poetic? I can't help myself. But I'm not a true poet, I don't write anything down."

We took a seat to rest our tired feet as the band began to pack up for the evening. In the far distance, lightening could be seen on the horizon.

"Looks like a storm is coming. It will be pretty bad but don't worry, your future is waiting for you," he said in a metaphorical tone, almost as if he were reciting a piece of literature he had memorized long ago, "you're still young and you don't owe anything to anybody. Live freely." I looked into his eyes as I mulled over his words in my mind.

"I may be young but I owe a lot to one person in particular. He's done more for me than anyone else in this world, but sometimes I can't help but feel trapped by that obligation. How do you live freely?" I asked earnestly as I had come to believe over the course of the evening that he may have all the answers to my questions.

"Me?" he pointed at himself with a newly lit cigarette in hand, "you mean…me? I owe myself a lot of things." He took a long drag off of the cigarette and looked up at the stars directly above us which were becoming hidden by clouds, "but I think I can pay my own dues."

Due to the amount of liquor I had consumed and my panicked reaction to the news that there was a family emergency back in my hometown, the rest of that evening is now a blur in my memory. I bid farewell to the man whom I had spent the last few hours of my former life with, never to return to that time or place again. Just like my life, the cruise ship abruptly diverted its course inland and I was led off of the glittering vessel onto a smaller boat which took me to the dark shore. From there, I took a taxi farther north and stared out of the window past the raindrops to see the familiar dock where a ferry would arrive soon to take me home. I watched the dark, now starless sky turn light gray to a hazy pink and orange as the sun began to rise behind the dense rain clouds. It was very early in the morning and the temperature had dropped immensely since I had gotten off of the cruise ship.

The passenger cabin of the ferry was open to the elements which added to my discomfort. I had spent the previous month in the southern isles to avoid the winter weather and had grown accustomed to the warmth so I was not dressed for the current weather there in the north. When the grueling ferry ride ended after a few hours of rough waters, I grabbed my bags in haste and struggled down the ramp of the ferry onto the dock, feeling increasingly worse as I made my way to the familiar beach of Mineral Town. Despite my weakened state, I turned down an offer from someone who offered to help me carry them. The wind cut through me and the last thing I remember was the fine grains of sand encompassing my hands as I succumbed to a familiar darkness.