Music Box, a harvest moon fanfic

MERRY CHRISTMAS SHIMMERLEAF! xD;;

I'm super sorry this late. I'm sorry if you don't like the story either, but I really did try my hardest, so please enjoy your Secret Santa gift~

Music Box

Love is like listening to a music box; once wound up and let go, you will be in a swirling on going state of happiness. You want for it to never stop and keep dancing forever and ever.

The sad reality of it all is that it will stop eventually and when it stops, you will feel a sense of emptiness and loss. This feeling could last for seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, or even eternity.

But it all depends on whether or not you can gather the courage and strength to pick up the music box and start it up again.

"Leave me alone, asshole." Vaughn grunted, he then began chugging down a large glass of strong alcohol, not caring about the consequence.

He had lost count of how many he drank after the seventh one, or was it the fifth one? He couldn't remember. His concentration was sluggish and he had a hard time focusing on things and recognizing people. But that didn't stop him.

"Damn, Vaughn. Can't you just listen for one minute? There is no need to do this to yourself." Denny said. His little bird was, as always, up on his shoulder and trying to imitate his human friend. Vaughn always found it amazing that Denny was never covered in bird crap.

"Leave. Me. Alone." Vaughn replied flatly. He was having a hard time getting the alcohol in his mouth, some of it spilled on the Diner's counter. The noise around him began to intensify and gradually get louder. Vaughn began having trouble recognizing voices and faces.

A sudden womanly voice appeared and spoke right next to him. "Vaughn! What are you doing?!? Are you trying to kill yourself?!" The figure got closer to him and snatched the liquor right of his hands. Vaughn had a difficult time recognizing the figure. That is until he saw a certain large cleavage.

Vaughn violently snatched the alcohol back and hollered, "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE, JULIA. IT'S MY LIFE, MY BODY; I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT WITH IT."

At that moment, Vaughn was just about to storm out of the Diner, but before he could even fully turn around a sudden powerful force knocked him down and he fell down on the floor head first.

"CHELSEA, WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?!?" Julia screamed, or at least that's who Vaughn assumed it was. He could still hear the voices around him, but slowly he began to lose consciousness.

"Man, I didn't even hit him that hard though…what a pansy," was the last thing he heard before he blacked out completely.

The first thing Vaughn heard as he gained consciousness was a soft tune. It had a calming melody, almost like a lullaby. It was hard to say whether or not the music woke him up or not, but he was definitely awake and in pain. His head was hurting like hell.

Vaughn sat up and examined his surroundings. He was lying on one of the Inn's beds and in one of the rooms. The window curtains were pulled back and he saw the moon in the far distance. A few feet in front of him and the bed was a long haired red-head who was sitting in a chair, holding a medium sized black box.

"Oh, so you're finally up? Bought time, I was worried that something was wrong with you and I am in no position to pay medical bills or go to jail." The woman chuckled softly at the lame joke. The song or tune that Vaughn was listening to had suddenly stopped, but then turned back on after the red-haired woman finished turning the knob on the side of the black box.

"Who the hell are you?" Vaughn said sternly. His head was still pounding and hurting like hell.

"The name is Chelsea." The red-head said.

"Where am I and why the hell am I here, then?" Vaughn demanded.

"You're at the Inn and in one of the rooms; my room. I knocked you out and volunteered to watch over you and make sure you don't do anything stupid." Chelsea answered

"Why the hell did you knock me out in the first place?"

"You were drunk and started getting violent. I had to make sure you weren't going to do something you would regret later. Plus, I don't want anyone hurting my friends." She replied proudly. Chelsea took her friendships between others seriously and with intense loyalty.

"Who is this friend of yours?" Vaughn questioned out of curiosity. For someone who he assumed was new to the island (since he's never heard of them), he was surprised by the idea of her gaining a "friend" that fast.

"Julia."

"Oh." Vaughn murmured. After that, nothing was said for awhile. Chelsea seemed to be in deep thought while Vaughn just re-examined the room in more detail. He noticed a few bras and panties lying all around on the floor; a total mess.

Vaughn decided to not bother with the panties or bras for a second and disrupted the silence, "What's that?" he said, pointing to the black box sitting in Chelsea's lap.

"A music box." Chelsea simply said.

"A what?" he asked, totally confused.

"A music box. It's a box, usually with a little spinning ballerina, that plays a quick but cute little song. Never heard of it?" Chelsea was quite stunned that Vaughn hadn't ever heard or seen a music box before; it wasn't like music boxes were incredibly new or old.

"Nope." Vaughn replied flatly.

She nodded her head and said nothing. For about five minutes, the only thing that could be heard was the soft chatter of those outside the room. Vaughn assumed that it was most likely the people who ran the inn or maybe the staff. Same thing, really.

"Who's the girl?" Chelsea asked, pointing to the picture in one of Vaughn's shirt pockets. It was a small, cute but worn out picture of Sabrina, a woman he had loved before but…didn't feel the same way. Out of embarrassment, he quickly grabbed the picture, and crunched it into one of the pockets in his pants.

"None of your business." He said bluntly, trying to hide the embarrassment on his face. Carrying around that picture and it hanging out of his pocket probably made him look like a pathetic loser. Vaughn had too much pride for that.

"Old girlfriend, huh?" Chelsea said. "What'd she do? Break your heart? Abandon you? Cheat on you? Died in some accident? Suicide?" After she had said it, Chelsea kind of felt bad for saying it, since it was rude and un-called for…or at least how she worded it.

Vaughn said nothing, he was getting tired and annoyed by all of her questions and her getting up in his business. But somehow, his silent treatment didn't seem to phase or stop her.

"Well either way," she continued. "She is not worth getting drunk or dying for. There are plenty of fishes in the sea~" Chelsea smiled brightly at that.

"I know that." Vaughn replied, still annoyed by Chelsea and her constant nosiness.

"Then why are you trying to commit suicide? If you really want to, just go ahead and shoot yourself. It's a lot quicker."

"I'm not trying to commit suicide." He replied.

"Liar. Drowning yourself in alcohol is practically suicide. If you can't handle the agony of loss and pain when you're sober, why live at all? Plus, drinking too much alcohol in a short amount of time can kill you." Chelsea replied, examining and fidgeting the music box more closely.

"What do you know? You don't understand me or my situation at all." Vaughn pointed out.

"And that's where you are wrong, Mr. Cowboy." Chelsea stated, placing Vaughn's hat on top of her head. "I've been and still am in a situation just like yours, so I do understand you.

"I was crushed by someone, someone who I had trusted and loved so much." She continued. "For the longest time, I did so many terrible things to myself as a way to escape the reality of the situation. But in the end, I gave more pain to those who loved me versus the pain I received by the person I loved." Chelsea then closed the music box and the song abruptly stopped.

"Play the song one more time." Vaughn requested. It wasn't that he particularly liked that song…he just had gotten so used to the tune that he began to almost long for it.

"No, I'm going to go to bed. Here," Chelsea then tossed the music box towards Vaughn. "Keep it. You can play as many times as you want."

"You sure you don't want it? It's not like I need it or anything…" Vaughn informed her. He did like the tune, but it wasn't really necessary to give him the damn thing.

"Yeah, it's fine." she assured him. "I was meaning to get rid of that old thing anyway. Brings back unwanted memories, you could say." Chelsea then walked up on the other side of the bed, got in, and cuddle up right next to Vaughn.

"What the hell are you doing?" Vaughn demanded, shocked by the sudden closeness.

"Well you're super warm like a heater and you owe me for saving you from hurting someone and getting into trouble. So…deal with it." She smirked and didn't move an inch away from Vaughn.

"Whatever." Vaughn sighed and rubbed his forehead gently. His headache seemed to be only getting worse by the second. He just wanted sleep some more. He didn't care what the girl did at the moment.

He twisted the knob on the music box and opened it up to hear the music. Although it was tedious to twist the annoying thing, the song was worth it. Deep down, Vaughn was secretly hoping that the calming music would help his headache magically go away.

Vaughn then watched as Chelsea slept right next for a minute, totally confused and puzzled. The girl was just odd, quite frankly. She seemed like to either not understand or totally ignore the boundaries of others…and just did a lot of things…wrong. You aren't supposed to hit people, being nosey is just plain obnoxious and rude, and cuddling with someone you just met (and beat up no less) is just awkward.

But…she didn't appear to do these things in or with bad intentions. She was just…different. Whether or not that was a good or bad thing, Vaughn had no idea. He was honestly amazed about how the woman could just…easily attach herself to others. As if there wasn't a wall between one person and another. As if just randomly hugging or lying next to a complete stranger wasn't inappropriate or strange at all. In a way, he almost envied this factor about her.

In many ways, he was almost a little happy he met her today.

Almost a little happy that she knocked him out and stopped him from hurting anyone else.

Almost a little happy that she talked with him tonight and bothered him.

Almost a little happy of her presence and just the fact that she was with him by choice and didn't get angry or flustered and leave.

Almost a little happy that she gave him the music box, even though there was no reason for her to do it.

Almost.

The music box's tune suddenly stopped and all was quite for a moment. But no one bothered to play it again; they were too busy sleeping soundly.

Love is like listening to a music box; once wound up and let go, you will be in a swirling on going state of happiness. You want for it to never stop and keep dancing forever and ever.

But it all depends on whether or not you can gather the courage and strength to pick up the music box and start it up again.

So…when will you be able to start the song again?

Author's Note: The actual music/tune of the music box in the story was based on the music box version of Utada Hikaru's song, "Final Distance." You can easily find it on youtube and listen to it. I highly recommend it because it's such a sweet yet sad song, which is what I imagined the music box in the story. The original song and lyrics has nothing to do with the story though.

I hope you like it Shimmerleaf. I hate how it's so choppy, rushed, and totally pointless. But I'm going to be gone for a week (I'm leaving right now for it), so there is not much I can do with this right now. I really hope you like it and I didn't ruin your Secret Santa gift. ;o;