~Hey! So I'm very new to this side of FF, but I absolutely love this game! I don't know if there's an official story that goes with how Jack and Jill came to the Valley (I know they aren't siblings, but I thought, HEY! COOL IDEA! And went with it!) but this is my take on it! So please, enjoy! More to come on Jack and Jill's Valley adventures :)

Jack

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened," ~Dr. Seuss

From the moment my dad came into the world, he knew exactly what he wanted to be. He had it all figured out. The first time he sunk his toes in the soil, to the first time he rolled in the field, to the first time he breathed in the fresh country air. My father was destined to live the life of a farmer. He loved the animals, the smells, the tastes, even the work. He was that little boy who knew everyone in the valley. He was also the little boy who desperately tried to sell his own father's failing crops. He cried when they auctioned off the farm, and cried even harder when his mother passed away during their trek to Mineral Town. She had always been a frail woman, and the move was simply too much for her. Despite himself though, my grandfather blamed it on the "city air" until the day he died; even though they were miles outside of the small town.

My dad, Mark, became known as the "country boy" by all of his peers. He even showed up to his first day of class in work boots, and a rucksack slung over his shoulder while the rest of his classmates wore blazers and pointed shoes. Among the crowd, one person stuck out to him though. A little girl in the back of the class with lopsided braids on either side of her head. She would fidget in her seat, and color on the edges of her homework. Her name was Vivian. She would become my mother.

My parents' love story was brief and not very exciting. He was a picked on kid all though his education. He would come home every day to watch his own father drink away his miseries before he started working at a convenience store on the corner. The general store offered Dad's only safe haven from the outside world. But the best part? A little girl with lopsided braids would walk in every Saturday to buy milk for her parents. Eventually, he asked her to go with him to an annual festival. The Starry Night Festival was supposed to be romantic, and it meant the world to my mother. They walked with many other citizens of Mineral Town down to the Valley, a place my parents were going to for the very first time. They walked down the steep hill, passing a vast farm. My father pointed out all of the vegetables growing there. He apparently caught the notice of a broad shouldered red head who told him that he really knew his stuff before punching him playfully in the shoulder. Mark was embarrassed, but Vivian thought it was cute. They passed over a river, and down through the valley until they reached a beach. They sat in the cold sand, watching a pair of brothers light off fireworks.

"I could stay here forever," he had told her. "The air is cleaner, and the grass is greener."

"Forever?" she asked him, showing him her big green eyes.

He brushed a lock of blond hair behind her ear, blushing softly. "It's my dream," he admitted to her.

It must have been meant to be. Nearly a year after that night, my parents were saying their vows. Two days later, they buried my grandfather. Another two weeks passed, and my mother found out she was pregnant. This, she would tell me many years later, helped my father finally lift out of the gloom he had been trapped in.

But my father couldn't find any work. He practically fell to his knees at the cities farm and begged to work. The general store had a new boy to clean the store front and no one else was hiring. He would walk up to city hall and take his dole, simply to keep his family alive.

On such an occasion, my father met the man that would change his life forever. Takakura came into our lives almost as quickly as he left it. He admitted to my father in line for the dole that he had always dreamed of moving deep into the Valley, and starting up his own farm and living off the land. My father latched onto the idea like a leech. When he proposed it to his expecting wife though, she refused to bring her babies into such a rugged world. Eventually though, she came to terms after watching him for days; his head hanging over his crushed dream.

The migration down to the valley was long, and hard. My pregnant mother, leaning on my father for support, made her way towards the next step in her life. Everything my parents owned was on their backs, while the small amount of money they had was in a mason jar attached to my dad's hip. A few rundown buildings and a littered field was all they had to start with. While my mother found her harmony at the spring a little ways down the path, while my dad and Takakura worked on restoring the place to its former glory. I, along with my sister, was eventually born in a cabin on the corner of the property. I was named Jack, while my sister was Jill. Jill and I took to living on a farm right away. The time my father brought home our first cow was one of the happiest in all of my childhood. The cow would look down at me as I sat in the pasture, trying to grab the beast's nose. But she would just huff, blowing my brown hair back. I would giggle, chasing after her has she tried to escape. Jill was a little less adventurous, peaking behind corners as Dad and Takakura finished up the buildings. One of her first acts of mischief was scribbling all over the ledger in red marker. I loved every second of living out there in the country. Even though it felt like the middle of nowhere, I had a constant companion. Jill and I did everything together… I loved her, even though I would never admit that now. We would sneak into the chicken coop, flapping our arms and scaring all of the birds out of the small building. Then we would press our ears against the eggs left behind, checking for life.

My mother hated it though. She would scrub the floors, and then clean the dishes, complaining every second that nothing in the house could stay clean for even a moment. My father tried to reassure her, and have her relax. He took her out once; into the pasture and told her to breath in the wind. He took the clip out that held up her blond hair, and let it dance in the wind. For a second, my mom seemed completely content. But Jill and I had ruined the moment by sneaking up on our old cow, making her turn sharply towards us. With eyes wide, he ran for the fence, escaping with our lives before she rammed into the wood. My mother burst into tears right then, exclaiming that this life was just too dangerous for children to live in.

Later that night, she was still crying. Jill was asleep, but I peeked out of our room to watch the two of them sit on their bed. My mom leaned into his chest, covering her eyes with her dainty hands. "I just don't want them to get hurt Mark. They're my babies," she glanced up at him. "They're my everything."

"You just can't though," tears weld up in his own brown eyes. "You can't leave me Vivian." He gently placed his arms around his fragile frame and held tight. "Do you remember all those years ago, when I told you that owning a place like this would be my dream?" She nodded softly, still pressed against him. "Well," he chocked, his eyes squeezing shut, trying to avoid the coming tears. They fell anyways, onto her back. "I knew that I wanted to share that dream with you."

"Don't say that," she whispered back. "Please don't."

"It's true!" he finally cried. "I love you and I can't live without you! But this is where I belong," he took her at arm's length. "I belong with the animals, and with the crops, the fresh air, the soil," he look exasperated as he stared back at his wife. "Please," he whispered. "Don't leave."

A hand was placed on my shoulder, and I turned back to see my sister's brown eyes full of tears. I hugged her tightly, realizing that I was crying as well. We stayed like that most of the night, holding each other. I faintly remember my mother coming in later that night, holding back sobs as she tucked us both into my bed.

I wish it didn't happen the way it did.

We were packed up to go before noon. My father protested the whole while, pleading that he could at least keep me with him – a piece of her. She refused, taking my arm roughly before leading us both off of the only place we had ever known. My sister screamed, fighting my mother off and running towards my father. He took her into his arms, crying the hardest I had ever seen a man cry before. It broke my heart, but at this point, my mother's face was as hard as stone. "Are you leaving because you don't love him anymore?" I remember asking her. She looked at me once before taking Jill back and marching off of the farm and across the river. Worried villagers came out of their houses to watch the scene. Takakura had to hold him back, telling him it was for the better. I wish he would have let him follow us. I grew up needing a father like him.

We moved into Mineral Town, welcomed by my grandparents. We lived there for many years, hearing word from my father every so often. He always promised that he would come and visit us, but work must have taken him away. He loved what he did. He would write me about how we would inherit the farm, and more importantly, how much he loved and missed us.

My mother died shortly after my sister and I graduated from high school. She had bronchitis, that the doctor had, ironically, said that some country air would have done her some good. My mother had a grand funeral with all of the family there. My sister stood on the opposite side of the casket, refusing to meet my eyes. I wanted her to welcome me back into her life… she had shut me out ever since she had been ripped away from the father she never really knew.

What killed her was when we got an unexpected letter from Takakura. He wrote about how the farm was doing, just like Dad used to do. But in the end, he wrote that our father was gone. He didn't write that he had died or even that he passed away in his sleep. He was just gone. This tore Jill apart. Takakura said that he thought he went of a broken heart. He wanted us to know that he will love us until the stars burn out. All the way to the moon. But when he found out that our mother had passed, it was just too much for him to bear. He locked himself in his house, refusing to see anyone. He neglected the animals, and didn't bother to tend his crop. One day, Takakura barged in to get him out, only to find that he was gone. His body was resting in his old bed, his hand grasping an old wooden clip that my mother used to wear while she worked. The one he had pulled out so that she could breathe in the wind. Under the letter was the deed to the farm.

I put the letter aside, knowing that it was just too soon to pack up and move to the Valley. But we couldn't sell the place either. Not only would it leave Takakura homeless, but it would kill the dream my dad had so carefully tried to preserve.

I wake up with a start, watching the rain pound against the window pane of the old apartment. I turn over to watch my sister's sleeping form. Her shoulders shake against the cold, and I can't help but feel my heart string tug a little every time she lets out another breath. She's hurting, and I'm not fixing it. I crawl out of bed and along the floor. I sit up on her bed, watching her expressions change from ones of anger to complete hopelessness. I know she is having a nightmare. I tentatively place a hand on her head, brushing her brown hair away from her eyes. A tear escapes down her cheek, but I brush it away with my thumb. "Don't," I plead softly, feeling myself start to choke up. Her eyes slowly lift open.

"Jack?" she turns onto her back, taking both of my hands in hers. I just stare back at her, watching the tears roll down her cheeks and towards her ears. She sits up slowly. "Hold me?" she whispers. I don't take another moment of hesitation and wrap my arms securely around her. She sobs into my chest while I smooth her hair with my free hand. "You have to take me away from here," she tells me. "Write back to Takakura. Tell him that we'll take it," she says quickly. "I need to go back."

"You will," I promise her.

~Too dark? Please review! Their