Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon. If I did, the spelling and grammar would be correct (okay, that was a cheap shot).

Chapter I: Rude Awakening

Jack wasn't exactly sure why, but those strange vibes he had occasionally felt run through his veins began to make him shudder. It was strange, he thought. He hadn't felt any in years, a decade even. But as with most people, he shrugged off his gut feeling with the hope that it might just have been a bad stomachache.

His girlfriend's cooking was improving, but only that. She still had a long way to go before she could keep Jack from spending hours in the bathroom after she left. And Jack still had to wait before he could tell her what to improve on and not take any more damage to the head.

Nami was her name. Red hair, shorts and a vest would make her seem like somebody simple to the ignorant. Simple she was not. She was cool-headed, calculating and far more intelligent than most of the people living in Forget-Me-Not valley. Many of the men simply adored her for her powerful mind and firm determination to keep the situation under control.

Jack had been absolutely positive that Nami was an angel. Of course, Nami's own cold attitude made her expect Jack to leave. But the more determined he became, the more appreciation, and eventually, love, she showed in return. She supposed that it, in its own way, made her beautiful. Jack found that about her, and everything else, beautiful as well.

So, that's the way it was. Jack had moved onto his farm property a few years post his father's passing. It was always his father's wish that it be a family farm, and Jack had absolutely no trouble dealing with the issue. He'd never really known his father very well, but Jack hoped that taking care of the place would help him learn more about the old man.

Jack was one of those believers of "love-at-first-sight", even though he was slightly sure of himself that Nami would have nothing of the hopeful garbage. Even so, the love was mutual, and Jack knew that he couldn't have been happier.

Jack had just stepped out of his shower and began combing his hair into the ridiculous fashion that seemed awkward to some. But he knew Nami liked it that way. It had been a while since he had seen himself; his partner, Takakura, had just installed the fixture earlier that day, and Jack couldn't be prouder of himself as he flexed and boasted his rather muscular arms to himself.

He reminisced about being that frail city boy at the beginning of his new life. Hell, he would sometimes collapse just while watering his plants.

He suddenly flash-backed to one of those times. The sun had just lowered beyond the horizon and Jack had just finished his daily, near-impossible task of watering his 200 crops. He felt invincible; it was as if the air were full of nothing but energizing goodness.

That came as no surprise, considering that Daryl (read: weird scientist) was busy filtering pure oxygen into the air as he conducting his generally pointless experiments. Does it really require oxidation processing to remove the rust from a coin? Why not just use a knife? Or one of those solvent cleaners?

As you may or may not be aware, air consists of oxygen, but only of a set amount of it combined with hydrogen, carbon dioxide and small amounts of other elements. Pure oxygen is lethal, but a greater concentration of the element in the air reduces the amount of pain people feel and makes them fell relaxed. So relaxed, in fact, that they don't realize when they're about to crash. It seemed like a scene from a cheap production value horror flick in which everybody in the valley fainted at exactly the same time.

Sans Nami; she's too strong willed for some lame chemical reaction.

Jack awoke, sprawled out along the dirt, and observed Nami giving him mouth-to-mouth for several seconds before he sprang five feet in the air and slapped himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. Nami laughed. She had laughed. The only time Nami ever laughed was, well, that was pretty much the only time that Jack could remember. And although rare and difficult to come by, he loved it when she even vaguely smiled.

It was about 4:30 in the afternoon that Nami knocked on Jack's door. Eager to greet his girlfriend, Jack rushed forwards, but stumbled over the loose end of his carpet. Funny, he'd never tripped over it before, but he had always noticed the dang thing. Maybe luck was just not on his side today? No, Jack thought. He shook it out of his head, got up, dusted himself off and opened the door. There stood Nami in, surprise, surprise, the same orange tank top and blue vest as always.

"Not going to dress up for your new boyfriend?"

"Jack, I honestly don't know why you bother trying to get me to fit into something so ridiculous. Only a tramp like Muffy would be pitiful enough to try and flirt with every guy in the restaurant."

"Hmm…I guess you're right…" Jack sighed

"Is there anything that I say that you disagree with?" Nami smirked.

"Perhaps not, maybe we were just destined for each other…"

Nami smiled, "Stop it."

"No really." Jack teased her.

"I mean it, stop," said Nami as she gently pushed him away and headed towards the path to Mineral Town.

Jack frowned; no matter how much he liked to joke around, Nami never seemed to smile unless it was at his own expense. But that was just the way he liked it: girls who played hard to get.

Jack wasn't much of an arrogant person. Overall he tended to prefer to watch others enjoy the limelight, and speak up to brighten the mood. Many found him a fun person to be around.

Perhaps that was more of a burden than a gift. Jack had always spent his entire adolescence searching for the one woman that would make him completely satisfied. One that would offer him a challenge, and still offer him a tad of affection and decency from time to time.

What Jack found was not the case. Young women would watch him pass, flutter up their skirts and get dangerously close, seemingly unaware of the fact that they were simply getting Jack into trouble. How you may ask? Most of these girls must have been conniving whores or ignorant fools, because quite more than the majority of these flirts passed Jack with their boyfriends, fathers or brothers.
Jack had many scars. You don't see them very well anymore, because as adverse Jack is to fighting, he loves to tease people, sometimes to the point of having them take a few swings at him before they become bored and/or content. Jack was a master of evasion.

He didn't like to brag, but he told those listening from time to time that he had once dodged a bullet. They sat in awe, wonder and shock, ignorant of the fact that the man who had fired the gun had been aiming at a man one foot from Jack's side. He missed Jack slightly, but both the gunman, the victim and the lying fool (okay, maybe that's a bit harsh, the proud fool) knew that it probably would have missed Jack anyway.

Witnesses saw otherwise; Jack leaning a bit to the side, a man with a gun in his hand, and another who stood with a rather blank expression and not much of care in the matter. Reporters screamed, cameras flashed and rolled, Jack had to put his evasion skills to the test. As he had turned around to flee the scene, he noticed the emotionless man had seemingly sunk into the shadows, unnoticed by everyone else, and the gunman sprawled along the pavement, unconscious.

But that was a rather silly story, he thought. However, it seemed that others had been quite impressed; but that only increased the number of attempted beatings. That may have been another reason why Jack loved Nami: she seemed to be able to sense the truth without much trouble. And she saw Jack for who he really was. She was able to see, understand and appreciate his emotions, active as they were.

"Table for two, please," said Jack calmly.

"Right this way." The waiter seemed to mumble something under his breath as Jack and Nami followed him a table nearby the deck facing the beach. Jack was exhausted from the walk over: It wasn't that Moonlight City was far from Forget-Me-Not Valley, but traveling through Mineral Town was rather difficult considering the fact that it contained many windy roads. Jack must have gotten lost four times before he found the right path.

Nami, however, had found it no trouble finding her way. But the third time that Jack had managed to find his way back from the forest at the opposite end of the direction he was supposed to have gone in, Nami had gotten fed up and tied a rope to his leg. And yet he still managed to end up at the hospital.

The waiter came by the table and set two glasses of water on the table, along with a candelabrum with an inferred incentive. Nami lazily blew out the candles, sighed and looked back out the window while resting her head in her palm. Jack shook his head. The waiter returned the candelabrum to his tray, turned on his heel and stomped back towards the kitchen, mumbling something along the lines of, "If they wanted one, they would've asked…stupid boss…"

"Nami," said Jack. Nami shifted her eyes towards him, not bothering to move her head.

"I…have something that I want to…AAGH!" Jack had stopped short because Muffy had pretty much tackled him. Celia stood behind him, blushing.

"HI JACK!" said the two in unison rather enthusiastically.

"Are you busy?" asked Muffy. Nami shook her head in disgust.

"If you'd let me breathe and take your arm off from around my neck, I'd tell you." Muffy let go and looked rather downtrodden. Celia had left to go eat with Vesta and Marlin, her family, if you will.

"Yes, I'm busy. As you can see, I'm on a date with Nami." Muffy didn't even look at Nami and pulled over a chair, knocking Nami out of her seat.

"I hope you don't mind if I sit here!" Muffy exclaimed.

"Actually…" before Jack could finish his sentence, Nami picked up Muffy by the collar of her coat and threw her on the floor. Muffy returned the favor by picking up a glass of water from a nearby table and pouring it all over Nami's shorts. Jack wasn't amused.

By this point, Muffy had her dressed ripped in three places, a black eye and her jacket was in two pieces. Nami hardly had a scratch.

Boy, this is really something new. But you know, things like this, as common as they are…CRASH…they seem to be leading up to something. Maybe this bad luck will turn around.

Jack continued to keep himself lost in thought as the restaurant staff struggled to keep Nami from wrecking anymore of Muffy's things. She had managed to turn Muffy's necklace into nothing more than several cracked shards of imitation silver.

Back at the farm in Forget-Me-Not-Valley, Jack's dog Uma was busy chewing on something small, soft and blue…

"OHMYGODDESSJACKSDOGISGONNAEATME!" While the Harvest Sprites Nak and Flak were running around in circles, waving their arms over their heads and screaming, Nic jumped out of Uma's mouth and fell on the ground, laughing.

The townspeople were busy with their usual chores and activities: Hugh and Wally racing laps around the valley. Marlin and Vesta tending to their crops. Flora and Carter digging up artifacts up Northeast.

Tim and Ruby were busy cooking up a storm for the upcoming festival. It was a secret festival that people only discovered if they were in the right place at the right time.

Griffin was polishing off glasses and serving a few drinks to Patrick, Kassey, Gustafa and Van.

Everything was quiet, normal, and just the way it should be. Not a cloud in the sky and everything seemed completely normal.

Takakura stood at the edge of the beach and sighed to himself, watching the water perform its gentle, majestic curves and dances as it slowly pulled and pushed against the loose Earth. And at this moment, Takakura was enticed to look towards the sky. It was as if the Earth were speaking to him. He did not understand, nor did he really even notice, but he looked lazily up towards the blue sky.

A few weeks after Jack and Nami's date incident, Jack proposed and only a few days post-question did their wedding occur. The village was quiet; all attention was currently up at the mansion where the couple eagerly stood in their rooms, waiting for their time.

It was a ways into the night. Numerous stars dotted the sky and the last bit of sunlight was just about to vanish and be enveloped by the navy blue sky.

Nami sat in Lumina's dressing room while Celia, the only bridesmaid, sat there watching Nami look at herself in the mirror.

"Oh, you look great! Jack's going to love it!" squealed Celia with delight.

Nami's wedding dress was rather simple: I came up to just under he shoulders, no sleeves. The bottom of the gown came up just below her ankles and Celia had gone through the village, asking people for flowers. She had managed to find eight variations and lay them out along the top of the dresser.

"Just one more touch! Pick one." Nami sat on the stool and looked over them carefully, picking a rather small trick blue and weaving it through the back of her hair. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Not sure if she looked good enough, Nami turned to Celia, but said nothing.

"Don't worry, you look beautiful." Celia leaned her head to the side and smiled.

"…" Nami began to cry.

"…? What's wrong, Nami?"

"Nobody's ever said that to me before…" Celia looked shocked.

"Not even Jack?"

Nami looked up, although she was not crying much, just a few tears streamed down her cheek, "He's said it lots of times, but I don't know if he was just saying it to make me feel better…" Celia came up and wrapped her arms around Nami.

"When he says it, he means it."

Nami looked in the mirror one last time, wiped her eyes and headed for the door. Celia couldn't help but smile as she followed her downstairs.

"You know, Jack, I really wish your father were here to see this." Takakura looked out the window sadly.

"You know, as strange as this sounds, I'm sure he's watching us right now. And I bet he felt great to hear you say that." Takakura looked back down at Jack, smiled and patted him on the back.

"Go on, my boy."

"You know, Tak, as much as I loved my father, I never really knew him very well, You're more of a father to me than anyone's ever been."

"…Glad I was of assistance, now go on. I'll catch up in a second." Jack nodded and headed towards the door. Takakura smiled again as he let a single tear stream down his face and hit the floor without so much as a sound.

Jack stood at the podium right in front of the double staircase. Celia was already at the bottom. Lumina sat at her piano, slowly playing the traditional wedding theme, but Jack tapped her on the shoulder, spoke with her for a few seconds and walked back to the stage just in time to see Nami slowly coming down the stairs. There was pure silence except for the melodic notes of "Tifa's Theme" created by Lumina's piano. It happened to be a song Nami had found in her travels and it was definitely one of her favorites.

Jack was hypnotized, as he watched Nami's slow descent, he could not stop staring and was unaware that his mouth was hanging open until she reached the bottom of the steps and lightly tapped the bottom of his jaw. Smiling, he took her hand and led her to the podium.

"Are you sure about this…Jack…?" Nami whispered as Minister Sebastian continued his duties. Jack simply smiled at her and slightly squeezed her hand.

"…Do you, Nami, take Jack to be your lawful wedded husband?"

Nami looked at Jack, and smiled, "I do."

"…And do you, Jack, take Nami to be your lawful wedded wife?"

Jack stood firm, smiling radiantly, "I do not." Nami's smile vanished and the entire crowds' expression shifted in an instant. Lumina's playing abruptly stopped.

"No, I take her to be much more than that. I take her to be my partner, my friend and my love. I take her to be my reason to live, my reason to rise, my reason to be significant." He turned to face Nami and continued to speak, "Nami, we've been there for each other, through thick and thin, and as this promise of my love, I will always, always, always be there for you through the best and the worst. Words cannot express the way I feel about you."

With that, Jack whistled loudly. The front doors swung open and Takakura, Patrick, Kassey, Marlin and Griffin carried in a very large bag. Jack turned to face the audience.

"My friends! This bag is what Nami used along her travels, it contains everything she owns." He reached inside and pulled out several items.

"Nami, you remember this don't you?"

She nodded, "That's the first thing you gave to me. A rather funny looking statuette that I find absolutely adorable."

"It was the first thing I found. Funny, I spent five hours digging in those minds, and I only found one thing. And when I pulled it up, I thought, 'what the heck is this?'" The entire crowd laughed.

Jack reached back into the bag and pulled out a strange looking fossil. Those in the crowd shifted uncomfortably and looked from side to side, but Nami almost giggled.

"That's another thing you offered me. I was absolutely fascinated by the complexity of it."

"Found this on the third day I was here. I was sure I had cracked it when my shovel came into contact with something hard, but it was still in good condition. And Finally…"

In through the doors came Jack's horse Reno, carrying a very large bouquet of trick blues. There must have been at least a hundred.

"My favorite…"

"Our favorite. And this." Jack got down on one knee and pulled out a tiny black box. Nami gasped, but the villagers, so used to the blue feather custom, whispered among themselves, unaware of what was going on.

"I know you know what this is. And I know it's a bit different than what this town is used to, but I feel that you deserve more. There were actually quite a few precious things in that mine that maybe Carter just didn't notice." Jack took a glance at Carter, who smiled and winked in return. Jack got down upon one knee once again and opened the box to reveal a large diamond studded ring made of platinum and decorated with a shining ruby on the top. At this instant, every housewife in the village shot glares at their husbands, who turned the other way in unison.

Nami was speechless. Jack couldn't stop beaming, at least until Nami punched him in the face, "That's for touching my luggage without my permission." Silence.

Nami's expression changed into the most sincere smile Jack had ever seen, "And this is for everything else."

Cheers filled the hall as the two kept their lips locked for well over several minutes. At last they parted, Jack picked Nami up, carried her to Reno and the two rode home. It was the greatest moment in their lives. Nami's face was flushed, staring at Jack eyes half-open with a never faltering smile. Jack couldn't stop smiling either, especially as he slowly slipped the ring around Nami's finger.

And just as they rounded the bend onto their farm, Jack noticed two dark figures in the distance towards the entrance to Mineral Town. He blinked and they had vanished. Before he could have the time to ponder this vision, Nami kissed him again as Reno halted right in front of the door.

The door swung open and Jack carried his new wife inside. Nami was so excited when Jack placed her down on the bed. But maybe placed is the wrong word, because Nami had to cushion her fall and stop giggling long enough to open her eyes and see her husband sprawled unconscious along the floor with eyes void of feeling. For the first time in her life, Nami screamed.