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Summer Storms

Dull. Dull. Dull.

Ann's mind echoed that one word, completely focused on the empty Inn and its, well, dullness.

The Inn was quiet, excluding the soft splashes from the kitchen behind her where her father so dutifully washed dishes. Ann sighed in boredom and practically faceplanted onto the counter, welcoming the cold grainy sensation of the wood touch her skin. With Cliff gone to the winery, Gray apprenticing at the blacksmith's for the afternoon, and Kai out and about at his snack bar, Ann had no one to talk to. And with no one to bug, life at the Inn was utterly… Dull.

"Ann?" Her father, Doug, called. "Ann! Wake up!"

"I'm not asleep…" Ann moaned into the counter, not moving an inch. He didn't seem to hear her.

"Ann Bertha Keeper, wake up." The graying redhead came out of the kitchen, drying a plate.

Ann shot up, giving her father a fierce scowl. "DON'T call me by my full name! You know I hate that!"

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, not this again…" He knew exactly what she was referring to. "Be proud of your middle name. Your great-great-grandmother Bertha was a very wonderful woman-"

"With a wart on her forehead so big, she was asked repeatedly to join traveling circuses as the 'Cyclops Woman'." Ann finished. Doug had nothing to say about that; that bit of information was true.

Doug sighed. "Well, how about you go do something useful? Did you make the beds upstairs?"

"Yes."

"Do the laundry?"

"Finished last night."

"How about dusting?"

"Dad…" She moaned. He gave her a stern look, and she snorted, "Yeah, did that. An hour ago."

"Well…" He began, brushing his mustache. "Why don't you just take the day off? It'll probably be a slow day today. I could handle it myself."

"Pass."

His eyebrows shot up. "What? I thought you would have jumped at the chance!"

She shrugged. "I know, but no one else is out. No point."

"Why not see that Jack fella down the way?"

Ann snorted again. "Yeah right. That hermit won't ever come out."

"Ann…" Doug warned.

"Oh, c'mon Dad! He hasn't come into town for a year and a half!" Ann rolled her eyes.

It was true, Jack Harvest moved into Mineral Town's Fruitful Farm on Spring 2nd. He only came out once, on Spring 19th, and that was to let the general store know that he would be ordering seeds and such over the phone from then on. It was strange, the new farmer being a hermit. And especially at such a young age. Ann had never met him, but Karen had seen him on the 19th and she had put him to be about in his early twenties. Way too young to be a hermit.

Doug pursed his lips under his mustache and then shook his head. "Doesn't matter, doesn't matter. You're off for the day, go wherever you want to."

Ann thought a moment and then said, "I guess I'll go see Karen… I bet it's as slow there as it is here."

Doug nodded and smiled at his daughter. "Alright, you have fun, then. Tell Karen and the fam I say hi."

Ann ran around the counter, giving her father a quick wave. "Will do! Love ya, dad! See ya!"

"Love you, too!"

When Ann came outside, the fresh scent of summer air hit her face. It was warm, but not as much as usual. Autumn was fast approaching, threatening Kai's stay. Ann looked up, thinking about autumn, and noticed that the skies were beginning to cloud. A summer storm was beginning to brew. Ann quickened her pace to the General Store.

As she came to the corner of the cobblestone street, she looked down south, where Fruitful Farm lay. Even from this far, a hint of green was colored between the small barn and the teeny abode. From this angle, it seemed as average as any farm. The only strange thing about it was the farmer itself. Maybe if she just walked down there right now and said a friendly hello… Ann shook her head, clearing it from the thoughts of the farmer. Nah, he could wait to another day.

When Ann walked down the street of the General Store, she noticed two things: One, she would not be seeing Karen that day. And two, it definitely was not as dull as the Inn. There was a line outside of the store, all grumbling and huffing about some sort of forecast. Ann crammed her way inside and found a very frazzled Karen at the counter, taking money, giving change, and thanking customers. Ann pushed her way to the counter and stood next to it as Duke and Manna began to place their items on the tabletop for purchasing.

Karen began to tally up the costs as she spoke, "Hey, Ann, I can't talk right now, kay? -That's three hundred fifty gold, Duke, for the wild grape wine, not two hundred.- I'm kinda swamped right now." Karen's hair was slightly frizzy from the humidity in the air. "There was just a forecast over the weather channel about a hurricane that might last for three whole days."

Ann's eyebrows rose. "Jeez, seriously? I just thought it would be a quick one, y'know? Summer storm?"

Karen shook her head, placing cans of food into a brown paper bag for the mid-aged couple. Manna was taking out gold to pay as Karen said, "This is crazy… I still have deliveries, too! My dad suddenly took to a 'stomach ache' as soon as he saw how many people started mobbing." She snorted and then sighed.

Ann pursed her lips. "Hey, whatever you need done, I'm here. What about those deliveries?"

Karen gave her redhead friend a huge smile. "You'd do that for me, Ann? Really?" Once handing the bags off to Duke and taking the money from Manna, Karen turned to Ann and gave her a hug. "Aw, you're awesome! I totally need that! The deliveries are on that table right there!"

The brunette turned back to her duties as Ann went to the directed tabletop. On it were three small bags of seeds, all different colors. She picked them up, giving them small weird looks and then turned back to Karen. "Just these?"

"Yeah!" Karen answered, tallying costs of food that Elli handed her. "That's them!"

"Hmmm…" Ann mused, grabbing a basket and dumping them inside. "Where to?"

"You know Jack? At the farm?"

Ah, crap.

"Yeaaaaah…?" Ann drawled, dreading the answer that came next.

"Well, he ordered them. Go to his place and drop them off."

And it all comes crawling back to Jack. "Sure." Ann said, starting to head out of the crowded store. "I'll be back before the storm hits!"

"Kay! Be careful! And hurry!" Karen called, and then was immediately drowned out by the sound of stressed customers and the low grumbling of thunder. Far off thunder, though. But it made the customers get into a bigger tizzy.

Ann jogged down the road, her eyes firmly set on the small farm. She hadn't been on the farm in years, back when it was a dump and had been deserted by brown-thumb (that's what she called farmers who talented enough to grow dead plants). And as she walked the path to Fruitful Farm, she couldn't help but sweat a bit.

"Wait a minute…" Ann stopped walking and then gave herself a good shake of the head. "What am I thinking? Why would I be scared of a stupid farm? And who knows? Maybe I won't even meet Jack."

But when she said that, she realized she didn't mean it. She wanted to meet Jack Harvest, the loner of a year and a half. She wanted to see the farm. She wanted to see his face. She wanted to meet the young man. She wanted to befriend him.

Yes. That's it. Ann puffed out her chest with regained confidence. He will have a friend, dammit, so help her Goddess! And that friend will be her.

Then, before she knew it, she was at the door. She knocked loudly, and then felt a little guilty. Hey, the poor guy was probably sleeping or something…

But then no answer came. She knocked again, this time, just a tad softer.

No answer.

A knock.

No answer.

Ann's hand magnetically attracted to her hip and she gave the door a stern Keeper look. "Jack!" She cried. "Open up, boy! I got you your order! From the General Store!"

"Y-Yes…?"

Ann shrieked and practically fainted from fright. Jack Harvest was standing right behind her.

"What the Holy Harvest Sprites were you doin'? Trying to scare the heebie-jeebies outta me?" Ann snapped. The young man shrunk back and a flush covered his cheeks. She instantly felt a little guilty again. "Err… I mean, sorry. Uh, here's yer order, I guess…"

She handed him the basket, and he stared at it a few second before snatching it out of her hands. She noted how his fingers brushed against hers momentarily.

Jack was tall, and very muscular. Not huge, but not scrawny. He had tufts of chestnut hair poking out of his old hat and deep brown eyes. Despite the very manly face and body, Ann couldn't help but find his mousy. How he held himself was probably the reason why; shoulders a little too forward out, back hunched, knees slightly bent… And it suddenly hit her: Jack wasn't a hermit, he was just plain shy. Well, shy enough to not talk to anyone.

Ann realized she was staring at him. She flushed out of embarrassment and began to rub the back of her neck. "Ehehe… sorry bout that, fella. I kinda spaced out there for a moment…"

He was looking at the ground, then letting his gaze slowly drift up to her, and when he finally made eye contact, his gaze would quickly go back to the ground and then he would repeat the process again. Ann noticed the blush on his cheeks remaining. The same one was still on her face.

"So, uh, I like what you did with the farm." Ann started, walking out to get a better view of the field. And she was amazed again. Crops grew out of the ground as though the soil couldn't contain the over abundance and sturdy fences that held tens of cows and sheep and at least five horses, all whom seemed to be extremely happy, strong, and healthy. Ann gaped. "I… I take that back. This is amazing…"

Jack didn't say a word, but did manage to keep his eyes up this time, looking out on his farm. He smiled a little.

She turned to him and grinned. "Wow! In only a year and a half? This place used to be a dump! Now look at it!" She opened her arms wide at the farm. "It's beautiful!"

Jack smiled a little more, and his blush deepened. Ann smiled at him. "You must be a really hard worker." He looked down at the ground, but continued smiling.

She began to walk around the field, and then stopped, looking back at Jack. "Oh. Hey, I'm sorry. I'm Ann." She dashed back to him and held out her hand. "I kinda knew about from Karen, so… ehehe, yeah." She laughed nervously. "Nothing bad, all good!"

Jack stared at her hand and she took it back, blushing furiously. She gave a sheepish smile. "Err, sorry…" She looked at the fields a moment before asking, "Can… Can I look around? It's been so long since I've been here, I kinda miss it."

The seemingly mute man nodded, keeping his gaze low. Ann brightened. "Yes!"

She ran to the barn, which was extremely well built and seemed to be made of brick, which was extremely extremely expensive. Jack followed behind. She pointed to the doors, which were made of heavy, dark wood. "Can we go in? I mean, if it's okay?"

Suddenly, Jack looked up and gave her a shy smile. "Y-Yeah…" His voice was soft, but low and sort of gravelly. Ann liked it. "T-There's… something i-in there…"

"Animals?" Ann joked. "I should hope so!"

Jack blushed, but shook his head. Ann was surprised that he continued, but didn't show it. "…b-better…"

"Better?" Ann asked, smirking. "You're a mysterious one, boy…" His blush deepened. "Alright, lead the way!"

He opened the doors with ease, a feat Ann noted she could have never done. Inside looked like any other well-built, sturdy barn. Stalls, hay on the ground, feed in troughs. Only one thing stood lone and out of place. In a corner, completely built and ready-to-go, was a small hot air balloon. Ann stared at it, her mouth hanging open.

The balloon part wasn't inflated, but was a beautiful rainbow of blues, reds, yellows, and oranges. The teeny wicker basket was just big enough to fit two people, maybe three if they were smaller. Jack looked at it lovingly and Ann gasped, "That's… that's a hot air balloon…!"

Jack looked proud. "I-I made it m-myself…"

Ann turned to him. "No way." He nodded. "Wow!" Ann gasped and smiled. "That's too cool!"

His face began to turn bright red. "W-Would you… uh, l-like to…"

Ann stopped smiling, knowing where this was going. "Ride?" Ann finished, looking at him with disbelief. He nodded, avoiding eye contact. "Right here?" Nod. "Right now?" Nod.

She gave the basket a weary glance. "Oh, I don't know, Jack…" His whole frame seemed to droop and Ann heart almost sank to her gut. "There's a hurricane coming, and I don't want us to get hurt…"

Did I just say 'us'? Ann thought to herself.

"H-Hurricane?" Jack sounded surprised. "N-No… N-No, t-there's n-no h-hurricane coming… I-I c-checked."

Ann glanced over to the balloon one more time, and then finally gave in. "Well… well, maybe one ride wouldn't hurt."

Jack's whole face brightened and he ran over to the hot air balloon, and began to light the flame to make the balloon inflate. Ann sweated the entire time as the big dome blew up bigger and bigger. But the entire time, Ann couldn't help but smile when she noticed how Jack's eyes lit up and his face broke into a gigantic grin. And somehow, that made her actually stay the entire twenty minutes it took to take him to ready the balloon.

Jack looked over to Ann and smiled at her, giving her a small nod. Before she could stop herself, she ran over to him. She couldn't stop herself from noting that when she stood next to him, he smelled of wheat and grains, not of sweat and grime. She hoped she didn't smell of the latter.

In fact, she didn't know he had already noted that she smelled of shampoo and spices.

They both crammed into the basket, closing the teeny door behind them. Ann looked up at the closed roof and then gave Jack a smirk. "So what? We're going to sail a whole ten feet above the floor?" She laughed lightly, a little hopeful.

Jack blushed and then shook his head, taking out a tiny remote and pressing a large, white button. To Ann's utter amazement, she was rendered speechless as the roof began to open, revealing a very cloudy and heavy sky. With one swift, mastered yank of the rope from Jack, the hot air balloon began to drift upwards, into the sky. Ann held tight to the basket as the barn's walls began to disappear, leaving no comfort of familiarity. From her lips, a tiny, tiny scream peeped.

Jack gave her a worried glance, to which she returned with a nervous smile.

His back was straighter and his shoulders a little broader. He stood tall in the small, wicker basket. Ann realized how much of a young man he appeared to be. She blushed after a few minutes of staring.

They soared over the town, and Ann pointed out places that she knew, namely, all of them. Jack listened to her talk about the stores and homes with interest. She wasn't as animated as she normally was, but she was hundreds of feet over the town, so she was a little shaky.

When Ann finally quieted down, Jack spoke up again. "I-I've w-worked on t-this b-balloon e-ever s-since I-I came h-here…" He admitted, blushing.

"Yeah…?" Ann asked, looking over the edge, her knuckles turning white as they braced the basket tighter. "Why?"

He was quiet, thoughtful for a few moments. A low grumble shook the basket. Ann began to sit on the floor, curling up. Her head was touching his pants leg. Both wore a blush. Another grumble of thunder.

Before he had answered her question, Ann peeped, "Jack, I think we should go back down… My dad is going to worry and it might…" She didn't want to jinx the storm into coming faster.

Jack shook his head, putting his hand down and holding out for her. The amazement didn't stop. "I-It's n-not g-going t-to b-be a h-hurricane… J-Just s-some r-rain…" She finally picked her own hand up and put it in his. He pulled her up with amazing strength. They were very close to each other. Blushes deepened on their cheeks. "A-Ann…?"

She looked up at his face and found that he was looking into her eyes. Chocolate met aquamarine.

"T-The f-first day I-I came here… I s-saw you o-out, t-talking w-with K-Karen." He smiled. "Y-You were the most beautiful girl I had e-ever seen." Ann's mouth hung open, but no words came out. "I-I knew… I knew I wanted to d-do something special for you- with you." Jack, with hesitant and unsure hands, took Ann's hands in his own. "T-That's why I built this…"

Ann laughed and looked over the edge. "I-I was kinda scared of heights… well, I am afraid."

He smiled. "A l-lot of people are. But that's why I did it… It'd b-be special."

Ann smiled. Jack chewed his lower lip for a moment, and Ann thought he had run out of things to say. She was about to ask him what was the matter, when he suddenly leaned down, kissing her. She didn't just feel his lips brush against hers, but touch them so kindly, so harmoniously.

Thunder rumbled and sweet summer rain poured down. She pulled herself closer to him, suddenly finding that being held by him was so much more of a need than a want. He touched her face lightly with his fingers, rain drops soaking their clothes and flesh. A wind blew by, and as Ann reached her hands up through his hair, his old, worn hat flew off into the storm.

They pulled apart and watched the hat fly off. Ann stuttered an apology and Jack only smiled and shook his head, chuckling. They both held each other in the summer storm, and Ann realized she had done so much more than befriend the new farmer.

And he had done so much more than befriend her.

Miss Rouge Apple~ Whew... two updates in one night... I'm beat... Hope you all enjoyed this one-shot! I know I enjoyed writing it! Have a nice day/night/whatever! C:

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