Prologue

My life has taken a turn that I never could have expected... I mean, when I look back on the events that happened almost two whole years ago... All I can think is "Wow!"

Apparently, it was never meant to be that I was to stay in Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Apparently, it was never meant to be that I owned my own farm.

And apparently, it was never meant to be that I was married to Skye.

Yes, kiddies, it's true, I divorced him last year.

He...he...well, one night, he had crossed the line...so I left. I packed up my things, and I left. I had stayed with Lumina at the mansion for about a month, but then I decided that he was trying to apologize too many times, so I actually decided to leave the valley entirely. I wanted nothing more to do with that thief.

I said good-bye to my friends in the valley, threw a rock at Rock's window (as a joke of course! You know, his name is Rock, and I threw a rock... Oh, forget it.), and hopped on the next boat out of there.

Sunshine Island. That's where I was headed. I heard that the island was thriving, so that was where I was going.

I don't know what Skye's been up to since I left...Well, except for when we had to meet in court for the official official divorce.

Anyway, I arrived on the island free and full of hope. I knew I'd be able to have a great time there... Mostly because it was one place Skye didn't know about.

Chapter 1

"Well, hello there!" A pleasant woman greeted me as I stepped off the boat and onto the wooden boarding docks.

"Hi! I'm here to work on the farm. I'm Jill." I said, gratefully handing my luggage to a man who was offering to take them.

"Oh, yes, Chelsea is very excited to meet you, as is her husband. He's the charming young fellow who just took your bags." she explained, smiling at me.

I immediately decided I liked this lady.

"Oops! I forgot to introduce you to my family and myself! My name is Felicia, and this is my daughter Natalie and my son Elliot." A girl and boy around my age were standing next to their mother. I shook their hands excitedly.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Jill!" I said .

They mumbled a reply, all while staring at their feet.

"And this," continued Felicia, unaware of her children's hostility, "is my father, Taro."

An old man stood next to Elliot, looking at my face as though inspecting me. Eventually he reached an opinion and said with a slight gruffness in his vioce, "You seem alright, kid. Welcome to the island." He bowed slightly, probably unable to go any farther due to old age.

I bowed back hastily and leaned back on my heels, looking around.

"Well," started Natalie, breaking the silence, "why don't I show you to the farm?"

"Oh, thanks!" I said happily, glad that she wasn't acting gloomy anymore.

We walked up the beautifully paved roads and I could suddenly see why this place thrived. It had very pretty buildings, amazing scenery, and polite residents-who wouldn't want to live here?

"This is the farm." Natalie muttered to me, pointing to a very big farmhouse, a cute little doghouse, and a lot of buildings. It made my old farm seem like a trash heap...

I thanked Natalie, starightened myself up, and knocked on the wooden door. "Yes?" A brunette with a bandana answered, and once she saw me, gave a big smile and swept me into a brief hug.

"You must be Jill! My gosh, I've been so excited to have you here!" she exclaimed, ushering me inside. "My husband Vaughn has already brought your bags and stuff in your room, so you can settle in right away! VAUGHN! Come here and say hi!" she babbled on and on, and sort of left me feeling very tired.

"You...must be Chelsea." I said in a weak reply.

"Yup! That's me!" she replied brightly.

Soon after, Vaughn traipsed into the room, and gave me a slight smile. "Hey."

"Oh! Why don't I give you a tour of Sunshine Island?" chirped Chelsea, her eyes full of determination.

I was still feeling a bit overwhelmed, but I said "Sure" nonetheless.

A childish gleam in her eyes, she grabbed my arm and dashed out the front door. Before it slammed shut, I could've sworn that Vaughn rolled his eyes and chuckled a bit.

***

Chelsea literally showed me everything on the island...Every room in every building...including the washrooms and broom closets.

However, the most memorable inroductions were at Pierre and Lanna's houses.

***

"This is Pierre, master chef and food extraordinaire."

Pierre, the short blonde dude with a purple suit and tophat bowed in mock triumph, then grinned widely. However, when he jerked his head downward, his purple hat fell to the ground with a surprisingly loud thunk.

He hastily gathered up his hat and attempted to place it back on his mess of blonde curls, but as he set it there, countless packages of fugashi tumbled out of it.

Chelsea gave me a wink, then inconspicuously snatched up one of the packages and stuffed it in her pocket.

Once Pierre had crammed the snacks into a random drawer, he offered for me to try on his hat.

Peering inside, I noticed that parts of the purple cloth were stained yellow and blue...

Forcing a smile, I shook my head no and handed it back to him.

***

When we arrived in the bright green house in the farthest part of East Town, I met the biggest blabber-mouth in history (yes, even including Chelsea.)

"Ohmigosh, hi! My name is Lanna and I'm like, a pop-star and I love to fish! Oh, no! Dang it! I keep forgetting! You have to ask who the other person is first! Okay, okay, I'm gonns start over, 'kay? What's your name? Wait, lemme guess! Your name is...Jenna! You look totally like a Jenna! No, no... it's Heather! Am I right? Aw, darn! It was Jenna, wasn't it? No... Hmm... So I like, give up. What is your name?" Finally, she took a breath and waited for me to reply.

"It's, um, Jill."

"Ohhhh! Right! You so look more like a Jill than a Heather! What was I thinking? Gawsh! Anyway, do you like fishing? If you don't, then you are sooooo missing out! It's like so fun! Also, I love to sing, but I'm a bit rusty at it now 'cuz I don't sing that much anymore."

After about five more minutes of motor-mouth, she was still talking!

"So there was this one guy who came here on vacation for a month, and on Spring Thanks-Fest he gave me chocolate, 'cuz it's a custom, and I looooove chocolate, so I was all, 'Thanks, Mark! I love you!' but he like, toooooootally took it the wrong way! I mean, I'd say the same thing to Gannon if he gave me chocolate, and have you seen the guy? Like, wow, what an over-reaction, right? And then he says-"

"Okay, Lanna, we should be going now!" Chelsea cut in, grabbing my elbow and making for the door.

"Okay!" Lanna replied cheerfully, waving furiously at our retreating backs. "Bye-bye!!! See you laters!!!"

Thankful to finally be out of there, I sighed an closed my eyes for a moment. Seeing people with so much energy just makes me so tired!

***

And thus completed my tour of the island that, starting today, would be my new home!

Author's Note: Yaaay! It's true, I finally started the sequel to Heart of a Thief, and yes, I know, you all hate me now... Please feel free to pelt me with random things you can find... But please bear with me as long as you can, people! Things will get better, but in what way, I won't say... Please review and stay tuned for next chapter!!!

-Pyoko