Wow.

Hi.

It's been a while, neh?

I've been here and there, lurking around, but this is the first time in a long while that I've been compelled to write someting. It wasn't until I read Rhiawen's 1sentence: A Mineral Town Collection, that I wanted to start my own claim with my most beloved couple that brought me into fanfiction in the first place. I know I have a number of fics that need to be finished/continued, but I'm still at a blank. So I figured, if I can't continue writing whole stories, I'll write small ones, until it comes back to me.

Fandom: Harvest Moon N64

Pairing: Jack/Elli

Theme Set: Alpha

Rating: PG

#01 – Comfort

She couldn't say whether she looked forward to his daily afternoon visits, for when the young man from Twilight Farm stepped into the bakery and sometimes stood close to her, too close, much too close, her heart quickened and sometimes, she forgot to breathe.

#02 – Kiss

Their first kiss wasn't anything that came from fairy tales or romance novels, brief, awkward, unintentional and rough with the accidental clash of teeth, but it didn't stop them from trying a second time.

#03 – Soft

For a man who spent his days in the fields, consisting of scrapes and calluses, Elli was surprised at how soft and fine Jack's hair was, as she ran her fingers through the dark strands after he rested his head on her lap (despite several protests) for an impromptu nap.

#04 – Pain

Although she insisted that she was okay and that it was common to get burns while working in a bakery, it doesn't stop the rise of panic he feels in his chest as he rushes over to the sink and places her hand under the running water as he searches for the first aid kit.

#05 – Potatoes

Elli is initially disgusted when Jack rushes in, mud-caked and soaked, and presses two equally mud-caked and soaked brown, round things in her hands, but ignores the feeling after noticing the slight shake and excitement in his voice when he tells her that he grew his first successful crop of potatoes and is giving her some so she can make her mashed potatoes he likes so much.

#06 - Rain

As if just realizing that he ran out into the pouring rain in his pajamas and hastily pulled on boots, Jack sneezed; Elli laughed and pulled him into the back, telling him to wash up and get dry while she made him some hot coffee and breakfast.

#07 – Chocolate

"Jack!" Elli chided, lightly smacking the wrist with her spatula when she caught him dipping his finger in the bowl of chocolate cake batter; "You can lick the bowl when I'm finished," she relented after seeing the pout on his face.

#08 – Happiness

Sitting on the picnic blanket spread across the grass, her head in his lap, his fingers intertwined with hers, gave him more happiness than the affluence and security his familial home could provide.

#09 – Telephone

Rumors in a small town tend to spread quite quickly and get out of hand, so when the game of telephone made its way to the assistant baker, one could imagine her embarrassment when her pink-haired best friend asked (rather offhandedly) about the nature of her relationship with the new farmer.

#10 – Ears

Elli secretly enjoyed how red Jack's ears would turn when she would sometimes (when no one was looking of course) place a small kiss on the back of his neck (which was quite a feat since he was considerably taller than she was).

#11 – Name

"I don't know what they're called, they're just something I made up," Elli confessed when Jack asked her the name of the cookies she brought him, blushing faintly when he told her that they were the best things he ever tasted.

#12 – Sensual

"Can I have a bite?" Before she could agree or protest (or take the damn cookie out of her mouth) Jack leaned over and bit off a piece, his nose brushing lightly against hers; Elli didn't know whether she was amused or annoyed that Jack could turn the most harmless, more innocent thing into something that was – not.

#13 – Death

She experienced death at a young age when her parents died in a car accident; but it didn't make it less terrible, less horrifying when it came for Granny Ellen of old age on the first day of spring.

#14 – Sex

When he saw Elli for the first time in nearly more than a decade, Jack became fully aware than she was no longer the little girl that flung mud pies at his face and very much a lovely young woman.

#15 – Touch

After they laid Granny Ellen into the earth, Elli shut herself in her room; when Jack opened the door and began pulling her out of the darkness, not even his touch could quell the rage, the frustration, and the fear storming within her.

#16 – Weakness

Jack, after doing a great deal of research (begging, pleading, bribes investing large quantities of cake), learned about a particular weakness of his favorite brunette, promptly presenting it to her in a neatly wrapped box on the first of Fall.

#17 – Tears

"No, you idiot," Elli said between a laugh and a hiccup as she wiped her eyes, wanting to throw the adorable, gorgeous, highly impractical (She did live in a village consisting mostly of dirt and cobblestone) stiletto heels Jack gave her at his thick skull to stop his rambling apologies for making her cry on her birthday.

#18 – Speed

Elli gave a shriek of laughter, holding onto the reins of Batman (Batman, of all things to call a horse), Jack's arms secure around her waist, as they raced through the fields of Twilight Farm, preparing for the upcoming Fall races.

#19 – Wind

It were moments like these when he thought she was most beautiful as he helped her dismount; hair unkempt, face flushed, a smile that reached her eyes, bright and laughing with a look of something akin to rapture appearing on her face.

#20 – Freedom

"If you could have gone anywhere, why come here?" Elli asked after listening to the story of the life he had before he moved to Flowerbud; "Because…I felt needed here."

#21 – Life

Basil and Doug commented how life seemed to spring from his hands, in his crops, with his animals, but it wasn't until he first saw those big brown eyes and that smile, oh that smile, that he felt alive in such a long time.

#22 – Jealousy

Jack scowls, his usual spot taken by a bunch of pretty city boys who were making eyes at his girl, completely ignoring the fact, Cliff points out to him, that it wasn't too long ago that he was a city boy himself.

#23 – Hands

Upon seeing brown eyes pleading not to cause a scene, Jack does what he can to restrain himself from chopping off their wandering limbs with the axe conveniently stashed in his rucksack.

#24 – Taste

"C'mon pretty lady, just a taste," one of her customers from earlier slurs, breath hot and laden with the smell of liquor, slinging his arm around her neck; she was having a girls' night out and wanted to step outside for some fresh air...

#25 – Devotion

They're not sure which was more surprising; the waitress at the bakery who threw their friend into several wooden crates; or when they were forced out of town by the other villagers, who don't take kindly to strangers.

#26 – Forever

Maybe, just maybe, Elli thought as she laid awake, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, this is a kind of forever.

#27 – Blood

Then she sees the drops of blood appearing on the handkerchief she gave him for his birthday when he bends over from a fit of violent coughs.

#28 – Sickness

Then she learns from the Potions Master out that he's been sick for a very long time.

#29 – Melody

They sit together in the front church pews, practicing for the Starry Night Festival, he on ocarina, Maria on piano, and Ann and Elli on flute.

#30 – Star

Sitting on a bench in the village square, they look heavenward, both hoping for the same wish; another year, another starry night together.

#31 – Home

"I spend so much time here, I might as well move in," she remarks while helping him unpack (more boxes?) and arrange things around the room.

#32 – Confusion

"So why don't you?" He grinned upon seeing the baffled look on her face as he pulled out a significantly smaller box out of one of the large packing boxes.

#33 – Fear

"How much longer?" Eyes downcast, well aware of his condition, "Until…"

#34 - Lightning/Thunder

They didn't come often, but this argument, of life, of death, would last long after the storm had passed.

#35 – Bonds

"Not until you're cured," Elli said, giving a resolute nod, "I won't be a farmer's widow."

#36 – Market

He relents and takes her to the city market on the first available boat, taking up every whim and indulgence that comes to her mind; Try these, they're delicious; There go my life savings; A baby carriage?; Hush.

#37 – Technology

It wasn't quite as hopeless as was when he was small and spent most of his days in the hospital: new methods, new treatments, a cure.

#38 – Gift

The best gift she brought back to the village after their five week vacation: her husband's life.

#39 – Smile

"Well, not yet anyway," Elli gave a wicked smile at the shock on the faces surrounding her, including her husband's.

#40 – Innocence

It was difficult, keeping a straight face while a red-faced Jeff tried to explain that Elli was still a fairly innocent girl…

#41 – Completion

It would take close observation, and most importantly, time, before he made a full recovery, but knowing that a day would come when there would be no blood, no illness, was more than enough for both of them.

#42 – Clouds

The wedding guests, sans the bride and groom, warily eyed the approaching storm clouds as they entered the church.

#43 – Sky

The wedding party rushed towards the village square where a large white tent was quickly set up to keep out the summer storm, which wouldn't clear until later on that night.

#44 – Heaven

There are times when the days are warm, the cakes are perfect, laughter is abundant, the milk is fresh, his heart is full, and everything seems beautiful.

#45 – Hell

There are times when it's dark, and she's running her hands up and down his back while he's doing his best trying not to succumb to the violent attacks that threaten to shorten his life.

#46 – Sun

When he opened his eyes, quarter to 6, just before the sun rose, he nearly jumped out of bed in panic and scrambled for the telephone upon hearing his wife's labored breathing and gasps of pain.

#47 – Moon

And it wasn't until nightfall that he was allowed to see his new family or leave his farm (not that he wanted to).

#48 – Waves

"Sweethearts, look at the camera," Elli cooed to the twins, Ellen and Joe, while Jack shook a stuffed toy to catch their attention.

#49 – Hair

"Babe, it's longer than mine," Elli tugged at the auburn locks, a pair of clippers in her other hand.

#50 - Supernova

"Wow," the twins gaped in awe at the bursts of lights, sitting on the steps of the log terrace with their dad, while Mom, carrying slices of watermelon (and looking like one too, the twins giggled) waddled over to them.

N64, I wonder if anyone remembers this version of HM, it's real old school, haha. I adored the N64 version, if they ever remade it for DS or Wii, I'd die happy. It's still my favorite out of all the HM installments. I'll be going back and forth between Flowerbud Village Elli and Mineral Village Elli, both incredibly adorable (N64 just a little more in my opinion ( ). Hopefully, I'll be able to finish all five sets crosses fingers. Wish me luck!