Summary: Mark decided to continue his study in a big city; leaving his town and his best friend, Chelsea. But, as long as memories stayed, maybe it would not be too hard to live the days.
Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness © 2008 by Marvelous Interactive, published by Natsume.
Notes: third person POV, AU, OC.
The universe, however, was huge.
There were million of stars in it, dancing in their own spaces between dream and reality; building magical constellations which would lead them into a parade of mist—and in the end, separating themselves into untouchable gravity: a long silence without any blink and kiss.
And time, however, was mysterious.
It was a circle.
A circle that was supposed to roll in the same direction. A circle that was supposed to return to an exact spot every time it finished its action. A circle that was not a circle.
A circle… that was magical.
Everyone had already known about it; that the magical circle would never stay the same. It kept progressing just like a game, with no one knowing when it would end. Just like the stars, which could never have a better talent than to shine. Because no matter how much they wanted to be as dark as the galaxy, the wind would not carry their wishes, not even a single line.
It was all set from the start.
That stars had to take chances and choose their own paths, strive to conclude what they had started even though there would be thousands of crashes. They should keep on going until they could sit calmly in the finish line, waiting for the flashbacks to reach the deck; as a sign whether the choices that they made earlier were wrong or right.
The journey, however, was long.
Time might play quick when the stars ignored its rhythm. It might also doze off when they were knocking on its door, wishing to be freed from their eternal boredom. In the end, there was nothing else that could be done except to accept commands from the king of the future, the past, and the present.
And, actually, journey was not fully about the time that had passed or wasted. It was about feelings; things that stars would experience in their long walk to the furthest distance.
Happiness, sadness, anger, disappointment, or else. All of them stood in a case.
A case that was, however, precious.
A treasure that no one would ever wish to lose.
No. Not a single star in this universe.
-(step 1: a new beginning)-
"Guess this means you're leaving already, huh?"
A young girl, dressed in yellow, talked in a sad notation. Her lower lip was bitten while a pair of blue diamond locked themselves to a pair of emerald just straight from the place they stood.
The owner of the emeralds—a boy with a blue cap resting on his blond hair—could not help but to mimic the girl's expression. It took a while until his lips turned into a simple curve.
"Cheer up, Chels! It's not like we won't see each other again. I will call you often… or maybe we could send letters!"
Even though his words were not magical, the alphabets sure danced really well and had done a pretty amusing attraction to the girl who now could not resist the urge to giggle. She even gave her friend a weak punch.
"You're thinking about sending letters? Silly! Seriously, Mark, have you forgotten that your handwriting is too beautiful that my eyes feel like burning every time I read it?"
Mark blushed for a moment. "Oh, thanks. My handwriting sure is beautiful that—" his expression changed in a sudden, "wait! Did you just tell me that my handwriting is bad? Oh! You'll regret it, Chels!"
His fingers moved quickly in a rhyme and teleported to the brunette's neck, giving several tickles to the music box so it could create a spoonful melody of laughter that kept on begging for a rest.
"Aha ha ha ha! Stop it!" cried the girl.
"Oh, I would like to. But my fingers couldn't stop just now," said the man, still enjoying his tickling activity.
"Alright… Stop it, you two. Mark, stop tickling Chelsea."
It was the voice of an old lady, the one with the kind expression. She wore a thick coat that matches the color of wood to cover her upper body, while grass colored pants and a pair of green slippers covered the parts below. A scarf—with the same color as her slippers—rolled around her neck, creating a beautiful pattern for the cold resistor and itself.
Despite the fact that she had dressed in warm clothes, her body seemed to shiver a bit. It seemed that the wind had blown too strongly and some of them managed to barge inside through the tiny holes that her scarf missed; building an amount of ice that she could not seem to resist. At the same time, her feet fought really hard to support their friends which they had to carry. If it was not because of the help from her third foot, she could have fallen anytime and sent everyone into a worry.
The woman had stood behind the two youngsters for long. And sure, she had also been watching their silly little fights in silence.
"Come on, Grandma. Just in minutes, I'll be leaving you all soon. I bet Chels will miss my tickles!" Mark explained as his poor target still tried to remove the tickling machine that was circling around her neck.
But, unlike what his words managed to do to the young girl, the older lady did not seem to be impressed at all. She made a little movement around her eyebrows and the man sure had known what to do.
"Fine," said him as he returned his hands to their normal position.
Chelsea, whose throat had been freed from the pain-giver belt, was dealing with her uncontrolled breath. Both of her palms were covering her knees; which were also covered by her dress, a simple yet pretty one to add.
Different flower ornaments—painted in soft orange—spread blurred around it, throwing effects just like an amazing artwork on a sheet. The sleeves could not reach even half the height of the shoulders they were covering, while the body of the dress ended up just a few centimeters below the spot where Chelsea's palms were resting.
It was not like that she loved to wear a dress, anyway. Usually, she would wear short pants instead, since she felt rather uncomfortable when she had to wear things such as skirts.
She would only wear dresses in days that were special.
Like days when she would be able to see couple of birds flying freely in the sky. Or maybe, days when she saw little birds hatched from their eggs, hoping to be able to join their parents one day; watching the years passing by from their homey bed, while feathers started to fill their wings one by one, not knowing how long they had waited for the time they could finally follow in their parents' footsteps.
And one of those special days… was today.
Her friend—no, her best friend, and probably the only one she had—would be leaving. Just as what she thought, she would wear the same dress to commemorate another event that would bring changes to her life.
The thing was… the changes that she was about to face today were different from those that she hoped for.
Departure.
It was not like she had never experienced it before.
She had.
And none of those tragic elements ever failed to make her magic shelter rained; whether painting a hundred dots of drizzle or even creating a huge storm that trembles.
She never wanted to feel like that, again.
But, at this moment, she felt the exact pain; rushing towards her imagination vines, spreading and crushing everything that stood inside, and leaving nothing but a darkened shine.
And the fact that the one who would be leaving was Mark had worsened it.
She never wanted him to leave.
All that she dreamed was to have him on her side forever. She wanted him to sit on her heart for long, being one of the pieces that prevented it to turn into broken puzzles. Together, both of them and her grandmother would live in an endless happiness—a happiness that no one could ever describe.
But, that was not possible, right?
In spite of something that everyone loves to call reality, somehow, she still believed there was still a small chance that everything would be as what she always wished. But, since hearing news about Mark who was going to continue his study in a new city, she knew that reality had declared its win.
He was her best friend. Even more, a figure of an older brother that she never had.
It would never be okay to just let him go, wouldn't it?
Just as tears about to fall from the sparkling sapphires, a shocking melody rolled into her ears, "Hey, Chels! Are you alright?"
Knocked out from her sorrowful thoughts, Chelsea opened her eyes quickly. A single shook followed and just when she was about to answer, Mark jumped.
"Oh, no! Grandma! Chels seems so pale! Tell me it isn't because of the tickles!" said Mark whose finger was pointing at his pale-looking friend. His feet were jumping in odd beats as if they were stepping on a burning heat.
The gray haired lady smiled. "Well… You do know that tickles can bring bad effects, don't you?"
"Wait! Wait! I… I didn't do it!" His gestures were weirder than ever. "It was just a tickle, er… two tickles! Okay, a lot of tickles. But, think of it, I had tickled her for many times and it couldn't be possible that her face becomes pale because of the tickles, right? I mean, if it was because of the tickles, her face would turn pale in a long time ago and—"
"I'm fine, silly!"
Chelsea shouted, half-giggling. Her finger was knocking her windows, absorbing all of the sadness liquid that spun there. After a few moments, she coughed her hand and continued, "But, the tickles did drain my stamina. I think I need a recharge."
The blond man was relieved and confused at the same time, an eyebrow stood taller than the other one. "What are you talking about? What is this recharge about?"
"Well…" the girl smiled as she took a few steps to the left, arms crossed, "I don't know. Maybe something like grandma's stew, a bar of chocolate… or, perhaps, an apology."
After saying that, she stopped moving as if her shoes had touched a land of sticky mud. Her hair danced with the wind; a reflection of million singing threads, manifestation of the feeling that you got when you saw a pretty moondrop in its vase.
She waited for a few seconds and decided to repeat her request, "Hmm… I expect an apology just now."
"I pick grandma's stew!" Mark exclaimed, lifting one of his arms into an empty space—his palm was covered in glove so the breeze could not stick its nose there.
"Grandma, is it fine for you to cook her a bowl of stew later? Pleaseee…" the blond man gazed innocently to the grandmother, hoping that a 'yes' would take part in her next audio letter. Chelsea, on the other side, was not expecting the answer and seemed to be completely lost in shock.
"Ho ho ho, I don't think that is what Chelsea means, Mark."
The brown-coated woman finally spoke, too thrilled after seeing the youngsters' hilarious talk which made her always consider them as her favorite comedy actors. And so, she continued, "Something saddens her, Mark. And, I think this something is a someone instead. You do know who is this someone, don't you?"
The blue cap's owner finally understood after a spark of lightning hit him. His hand reached for his friend's shoulder as he spoke, "I'm sorry, Chels. I promise I won't overdo anything again, especially tickling."
Chelsea could not help but to laugh, arms crossed around her belly. Her tears also exploded in the moment, might be a sort of complication that blurted out because of laughing in a high frequency.
But, actually, she was crying.
Just as he said that, she suddenly remembered one of Mark's statements back there: the one about her that would miss his tickles.
Well, Mark might seem to be overconfident; but, actually, he had always been that kind of person. Then again, his statement was true, after all.
She would definitely miss his tickles, miss his overconfidence, miss the smell of his hair—
Miss him.
And after laughing for a few seconds, while secretly thinking about those things, she answered his apology, "It's okay, Mark. It's just tickles. Well, it's annoying sometimes but it won't kill me, right?"
Mark sighed in relief. "So, you're fine now?"
"Sure. Better than ever," said the brunette as she nodded.
And right over there, she slipped her tongue, creating a big mistake that people love to call lie—or as what she likes to think: a little white lie.
She knew that it was not a good thing to do, but her mind kept asking her to. And so, she would repeat the same mistake, "Just don't worry about me. I'm fine. It's not like I can't handle myself—"
And right there, she stopped.
Right when she realized a mix of sad and disappointed look came from an old woman. Right when her eyes turned cold as if they were rotten. Right when an uneasy feeling visited without bringing a lantern.
Right over there.
When she finally understood, that maybe, just maybe, the pain that had been burdening her could be reduced by telling the truth.
"…Don't go."
Chelsea stared at the taller man while tears started to paint her face.
"…Don't ever go."
Mark was speechless by her words. He sighed and gazed at the morning sky, lost in thoughts for a moment before he reached for the young lady.
"Chels, I wish I could stay. But… I have to go. I need to continue my study so that I can reach my dream."
The girl sobbed even worse than before. There was a pause until she let part of her feelings to soar.
"…Then, ca-can I, we, at least… be… a pa-part… of your dream…?"
Mark was shocked by her question. He never thought that Chelsea would ask him to stay. All that he ever knew was that Chelsea is a strong and caring girl; just the way her grandmother was, just like a replica of an unbreakable statue that stood beyond massive dust.
Who would ever think that a girl like her was completely fragile in the inside?
Whoever those persons, Mark was not one of them. Instead, he was one of the groups that would just stare, or maybe, care to say some unthinkable words…?
"Chels… I…"
And she hugged him.
Hugged him so tightly as if she tried to trap him in the binding circle forever, silently wishing while desperately yelling inside the barrier, and felt comfortable after the uncontrolled feelings distinguished when a warm glove started to pat her.
The owner of the red glove, who was still in shock because of the hug, lowered his head and then whispered in a calm symphony, "Chels, you and Grandma 'are' a part of my dream. Even the biggest one."
And the thing that came out from the young lady was a look of disbelief.
"Come here, Chels," he continued, dragging his friend a few steps to the west; to the portal between the road and the ocean that was vast. After reaching the spot, they sat and let themselves to have a little chat.
"See the sky up there?" asked the boy, his finger moved as if it was pulled by a magnetic source somewhere between the clouds.
Chelsea stared at the amusing scenery and then replied with a nod, though the person that was holding her hand did not see it and kept continuing his speech—or maybe, questions.
"Do you know the name of the cloud over there?"
It was a cloud somewhere above the sea that he pointed at, the one that was shaped like a rabbit with three foot—one was longer than the other two—and a tail that connected to the other clouds, forming a flawless land. Then again, its ears were pointy and perfect, ready to listen to the longest complain.
And after looking at the hare, whose fur was white with a bit gray cottons stuck around its stomach, the lady beside him answered in an unsure tone, "…Mi-Miss Bunny?"
"Hmm… So, is this the first time you saw Miss Bunny?"
Another nod from the brunette.
The blond boy smiled and then talked with the same notation as his last three lines, "Do you think you can see her again?"
"…Si-silly! W-why do you keep asking me… these things? I… I don't get it," she cried in an emphasis.
Mark gave her a mysterious smile. "Just answer it."
Not knowing what her friend was up to, she looked at the yellow garden that slept over her dress and decided to give him his request.
"…I don't know."
The male youngster stared at an empty space as if he was reading the lady's quote that played around there. Then, he let go a spark of enthusiasm into the air; his cap sat still on its favorite chair.
"Do you know how the clouds are formed?"
Just as he asked that, Chelsea felt that there was a huge stone that hits her thinkable throne. She had no idea what was behind all of the questions that Mark gave to her. Her mind could hardly reach for even the shortest answer. But, before she was able to send the signal, his letters had already interrupted.
"As you know, the sun shines everyday. And by shining, it radiates its heat, evaporating parts of the ocean," his head tilted a bit, eyes framed at the white cottons, "these water then change into steam particles and rise to the sky."
The girl portrayed his explanations in her mind as he maintained his progress, "When they reach a certain level of height, they will return into liquid form due the temperature around, which indeed, is cold. After that, each and every of them will gather as a group and form a cloud, or clouds. Then, they will travel around the world, travel anywhere the wind blows them to."
"…It… It must be nice," Chelsea commented, a waterfall appeared on her face, "living freely… while having people that you love around…"
"But, Chels, they can't live like that forever," the green eyed man cut, not giving any sign of rudeness. "Along with their travel, they will meet a lot of gas from the land below. All of those gases will join them, creating heavy amounts for them to lift."
He petrified for a while, letting the birds' chirps painted the peaceful scene. Then, he looked at his friend with a little guilty grin. "Once they can't carry themselves anymore, they will fall to the ground, creating a phenomenon that we always know as rain."
"…So… they died?" asked the wood haired lady with slight fear and sympathy.
"Of course not!" Mark shouted and patted her shoulder.
"Don't you worry, Chels! Some of them will fall into the river and the stream will take them back to the ocean. And, once the rain ends and the sun takes back its spotlight, the same events will occur again. It's a never ending cycle," he added.
"…U-umm… So, that means… I can meet Miss Bunny again?"
"True," the smart man answered as he poked the innocent girl's back softly.
The victim of his action felt the pain and was about to do some kind of revenge; although ended up aborting the plan, which happened to be her favorite style to complain. It was, once again, because of the guy's unstoppable lines.
"Oh! But, remember this, Chels. You might not recognize her cause she will definitely have a new appearance. It's almost impossible that she and her friends can form the exact same shape of a hare again, isn't it?"
He then sighed heavily. "Our lives are indeed the same as them. Not just clouds, but everything. Every single thing in this world will face the same path: the path that will lead us into unfinished endings."
Both of his jewels closed, a pair of black boots finally could give the land a hold, and part of his blond hair—which failed to get a space inside the sea-colored cap—were running in mellow chords.
"And that's why… even if we are separated for now, we will meet again someday; whether we have changed or not."
Chelsea stared at him. Something was troubling her.
"…U-umm, Mark… If… u-umm… Suppose you have changed, ho-how will I recognize you?"
"You will, Chels." He removed the curtains that blocked his view. "Even when you don't know that it's me, you can feel it."
He turned and let the pale blue sky—with unstable diamonds covering its body—took part in his favorite clarify.
"It's the amazing mystery of memories."
Hmph.
In moment like this, Chelsea supposed to feel like he was getting further; that it would be almost impossible for her to see the same figure she used to see back when both of them were just two little children.
But, what she felt was the opposite, nothing like a chain or an ember. It was more of a feeling… that he would always be on her side, being her guide.
And she did not have to feel alone anymore.
…At least, not for now.
"You should go, Mark. You know about a lot of stuff: clouds, rain, and all. I think a silly smart guy like you should really keep studying. So, I support you."
And it was a smile that Mark shared after hearing her compliments.
"Anyway," the boy talked again; his hands—erm, red gloves—were sunk in the pocket of his jacket, "do you really think I will change?"
The young lady raised her eyebrow.
"Oh, Come on, Chels! I mean, I'm already smart. Why do I have to change if I already got this bright mind? And, just to add, I'm not only smart but also kind, friendly, and handso—"
NOOOOOOT! NOOOOOOT!
"The ship! You better hurry up, Mark!" Chelsea stood from the place she sat and Mark followed with a tiny sweatdrop.
It took only seconds until he realized something was odd.
"Wait! Where's my bag?" he touched his back and could not find his rucksack. "My bag! My bag! Where is my backpack? No… No! Don't tell me that I left it at home. There isn't enough time to get the bag. Oh, nooo!"
"I have your bag, Mark!" the grandmother shouted. Being unable to talk to anyone in a long moment seemed to turn her voice a bit burned; although it was actually because of the dryness level of her throat.
"Oh, thank you so much!" The teen ran in panic. "I can't believe I forgot that you have my bag, Grandma!" he commented, quickly wearing the tiny green case where he kept his belongings.
Grandmother chuckled, "Ho ho ho, Mark… When you're there, you will not have anyone to remind you about things again. Be careful and memorize things more carefully, alright?"
"Okay, Grandma! You take care of yourself, too," he exclaimed happily and turned to Chelsea.
"Hey, Chels…"
And there was an awkward silence.
A little moment that was surrounded by mystical attendance. A history in time when everyone just stopped from building sentences.
It was.
Until the man started a conversation, removing the rare situation; bringing back the world into an unsteady balance.
"Chels… It's hard to say this but I'm going now. Take care of yourself, okay?"
The little lass widened her lips and that was all.
As the boy ran and reached for the ship's entrance, as he waved his hand as a final goodbye, and as she closed her eyes and felt a twist of wind tickled her neck…
She knew that it was already an end.
End for a life where the three of them could knit unlimited threads into sweaters that would protect them from scratches. End for a life where they could celebrate the sacrifice of fire over the candles. End for a life with rushing happiness.
End for a life,
…which would open new days without tickles.
A little blink came from the furthest cosmic.
A little smile for the abandoned stick.
Jump into the hole, a comet just passes by,
though the sun had stolen it into the sky.
But, a glimpse of memory had made you blushed in shy.
Knowing… that there will never be a goodbye.
Author's notes:
It has been a long time since I deleted this fic and I've been thinking to rewrite it like from months ago. And now, I have finally finished the first chapter rewrite! Yeah! XD -spread colorful papers- I would like to thanks livina-senpai (LvNa-cHaN), april (chocobo86), and alice (Alice Love Cake) that had reviewed the deleted version of this fic. I can't make it without all of you, guys! Thanks so much for the support. :') I hope you can enjoy the rewrite. Some sort of 'sorry for deleting the fic', maybe? -smashed with a shovel-
English is actually not my first language and I had quite hard time to write this story since I had serious grammar and vocabulary issues. And I got help for some vocabularies from my friends and Microsoft Word did correct my grammar a few times. Thanks for helping! I hope I can keep improving my English by time.
Forgive me for lots of weirdness and mistakes here. It'd great to point me if you stumbled into them. :D And is the beginning a bit… odd? I don't know why did I end up writing something about stars. -_- As for the part about how clouds formed, I wrote things that I remembered from what I learned in seventh grade Geography -two to three years ago-. It's been a long time, so please correct me if there were mistakes. :)
Oh, in case you are wondering, I don't know how exactly a ship sounded like. I asked my brother and he said it was something like 'noot'. I typed Mark's quote after I typed the ship's sound. And I suddenly realized that it also could mean something like 'when Mark about to say that he was handsome, the ship could not agree'. lol. XD What a funny coincidence! -slapped-
About the OC, it is Chelsea's grandma. Well, she did not talk a lot but I guess since she was in the scene, I need to put notes that my story contained an OC which is her. -so unimportant- I don't know if she is going to be an important role here or not but maybe I will put her again in some of the next chapters. :) Yeah, I should.
Weird characterization, odd changes of emotions, grammar mistakes, poor vocabularies, etc.? Just tell me in the review. :) I hope I can do my best to edit and fix them. And I also hope I can keep on updating this story. Thanks for reading! Wish good luck for you all! edited. thanks for the comments.