Author's Note: Ahhhhh! Sorry to have been away so long but I'm glad to be back. I had a lot of uni work to do and I got caught up in life, and returned to this wonderful little piece that I had planned. Basically, I have come back by fixing up the errors in this chapter (thank you lovely reviewer!) and by updating some details in the chapter. I would just like to point out a few things as a bit of context:

1. Kat is my name for Jill as it's what I called her in the DS game. Note that for practical reasons, she will not always be wearing the typical ponytail and overalls, as I just don't think we should wear the same thing everyday lol. Also, she isn't a farmer in this version!

2. This story has an elaborate backstory with many twists, turns and pairings. I don't want to tag any because while I do have it planned out, I am open to responses and am working as I go along also. Any backstory that I have changed has been for practical reasons also (Celia being Marlin's niece, e.g - I prefer that they are the supportive family of friends for Kat, and that's why they have a bit of backstory here.)

3. If there's a particular character you'd like written in, from Mineral Town for example, don't be afraid to ask! Pairings, backstories, anything you want me to put together let me know. While this story has a trajectory, a story and a mystery embroiled into it already, with plenty of plot twists (and no love triangles, contrary to popular belief) but I would always love to see more layers.

4. I also doodle! I'll be changing my profile pictures to become spoilers for the oncoming chapters. My PP at the minute is a doodle of Marlin from Chapter 2, wherein Kat first meets him as a fully grown adult and he is not as welcoming as she might have hoped. In fact, the first words he utters are, "another rich kid coming to see if she can make it out in the sticks?" That's the moment depicted. More soon!

Enjoy my lovelies xxxxx

The Pain of Trains

Trains, I find, are a phenomena in themselves. I'm really not sure what it is about them, but every time I get on one I get the distinct feeling of being unwelcome. Take a bus, for example. You get on and buy a ticket and before you're even sitting down there's a lady nattering in your ear about the weather and how soon the next holiday is and how the year is flying by and do you want to see a picture of her grandson? Gorgeous, isn't he-

Ahem. Trains, on the other hand, are silent, judgemental and a little intimidating for a five foot seven lady struggling with two suitcases and a bag. Which is where I am at this very moment in time, lugging my belongings up a tight aisle and trying desperately not to make eye contact with the people whose feet I'm rolling over. The carriage is packed with large families and women who feel the need to seat their bags in a separate seat to themselves and yet it's the last economy carriage in the whole train and the only train in the whole if Celeste City Train Station that runs out into the country. It comes once a week, stops at twenty five different stops and chugs on into the night, arriving at Mineral Way station at approximately 6:15AM. The struggle is that I haven't brought an alarm clock and Mineral Way "station" looks more like a bus shelter, so if I don't wake up in time for the stop I'll end up on my way back home and another 200G train ticket to pay for. Of course, if I had to stand for the whole journey I probably wouldn't do much sleeping anyway.

"It's alright, no need to all jump at once and help," I muttered to myself as I yanked my luggage past a man tutting and sighing at my very existence. The carriage seemed to go on forever, each seat I passed just as full as the last. To make matters worse the sun had begun to set, wedged neatly between the distant rolling hills and blinding me as it illuminated the carriage in a calming orange glow. The opposite, I thought, of the storm of anxiety raging inside me as I realised I was at the end of the carriage. I wiped my sweat-slicked hands down the front of my blouse and took stock. There was enough room for my bags in the overhead lockers; I supposed I could stand until a seat freed up. But with everyone staring at me, I wasn't sure how long I'd last without experiencing a full blown panic attack.

The moment of anxiety was followed by some sort of relief as I heard the carriage door slide open to reveal a young porter, who had obviously seen me struggling and had come to my rescue. He smiled at me, a flick of black hair concealing most of his forehead and one of his eyes, and I smiled back dumbly, wondering if he'd have to upgrade me to first class to save me from my plight. Plush chairs, free drinks, all the space in the world...

"Excuse me miss, can I get past? I have a food cart to get through this carriage." Of course.

"Sorry, I just...there's nowhere..." I faltered as he turned away from me, clearly on the 16th hour of a shitty paid job. Alrighty then, mister porter. I'll just wave my magic wand and accommodate everyone on this stupid sardine packed train by flying out the window and never returning! I was seriously considering squeezing out the window and living along the railway for the rest of my life when someone spoke from behind me.

"Oh! Excuse me. I didn't see you there. I have spare room once I move my things..." I turned around and connected the soft voice to a gentle looking nurse hurriedly moving her things out of the way. She was a dainty little thing and all her movements were precise, graceful. Inviting, even. The only show of kindness I had received since I waved my mother goodbye at Celeste Train Station and got on this godforsaken train twenty minutes ago, I almost collapsed on top of the seats she had cleared for me . She had commandeered a window seat with a table, and spread across it were an array of diagrams and documents. She quickly cleared these away while I reached to open the hold space. Empty!

By the time I had shoved my luggage in and sat down she had cleared the papers into one neat pile and was studying me curiously with wide eyes.

"I don't think I've seen you on this train before. I'm Elli." She extended a petite hand which I took with obvious surprise. Her laugh was a musical tinkle. "Sorry, I forgot the city is a lot less formal than Mineral Town. Is that where you're headed? I don't think I caught your name."

"Kat," I said, slightly flustered by the grace that accompanied her presence. She was effortlessly kind, and the day's last sunshine had enveloped her and framed her face in a warm glow. "I'm just moving out actually. My relatives owned a ranch out there and it's still in the family-"

"A farmer!"

"Not exactly," I said sheepishly. "I, uh, decided to do a few bits of research out in the sticks. Lots of opportunities to learn and discover. I'm being funded to come out here and study astrophysics." For the past eight years, this was exactly what I had been studying to do – History and Astrophysics, and this final year would complete my doctorate and make me officially qualified to do whatever I wanted. The complete other end from farming, I know, and Elli thought the same.

"You're kidding with me now!" She let out a giggle and I found it contagious, laughing along with her. "You must be terribly interested in astronomy to be so far out. Stargazing is a favourite pastime for a lot of people in the Valley and Mineral Town – remind me to send you up to the mountain on a clear night!"

"I might just have to take you up on that offer," I said with a small smile. It was the first time in a long time I'd felt a real sense of accomplishment. I was happy that my move had started out so positively. Triumphant to have made a friend.

Dinner came and went in that stupid cart with the bored porter and we ate in companionable silence for a while. As the lights inside the train came on coinciding with the growing darkness outside, the spotlights illuminated the stack of paper beside her, and I motioned to it with my napkin.

"Say, what are those for? Did you go to the city to visit, or to study?"

"I'm a nurse in Mineral Town. Small as we may be, Dr Trent insists I attend the annual conference in Celeste." I nodded my understanding – the Waterside Hall was always crawling with doctors at this time of year. "Do you have everything you need to get settled?"

I sat back, wiping my mouth and nodding. The food had filled the hole in my stomach and I remembered my last meal - this morning with my mother. She had packed my personal belonging suitcase carefully while I'd eaten my last breakfast with her, and she'd asked me if I had everything for the fiftieth time. This memory almost made me laugh. Celeste had been my home for the last 26 years and leaving it had been painful, but a year was only a fractional slice in the grand scheme. Besides, after a year I'd be out of this backwater valley and back to the city with the reputation of a kickass thesis. I motioned to the far hills and farms that were just visible in the fading light.

"I spoke to Gotz on the phone and we worked out a price for the house upgrade, a shed for my observatory and a room to work in..." My smile faded as the realisation of the debt I was now in became a reality. I had literally just about sold my dignity to get him out to the ranch. Elli nodded knowingly.

"Gotz makes you dig deep, but he builds well. You won't have to build anything again and repair work will be minimum and free." She reached into her bag to remove the folded blanket she'd packed on top, dropping her bag to the floor and spreading out on the seats before her. "I take it you know Takakura?"

"Uncle Tak," I say cautiously, not wanting to expand, "is a close family friend. He knew my dad a long time ago. They grew up together on the ranch." My dad has always been a touchy subject, but Elli was smarter than to prod at the issue even though I knew she had caught on to my uneasiness. Eager to move away from the subject, I began rummaging through my own bag for my own blanket and pillow.

"Say, would you know Celia? She's an old friend of mine; we went to school together. She lives out in the valley too."

"Celia was quite a sickly child, so yes, unfortunately I know her better than most." Elli's eyes crinkled with a hint of sadness, and I felt the pang in my chest from the memories of spending rainy days indoors, praying that Celia would stop coughing.

My relationship with Celia was one of the reasons that convinced me to move out to the Valley in the first place. I had lived there for the first few years of my life when I was very young, and she would often visit her aunt Vesta during the summer. We were more or less the same age, so my mother would often take Celia so that Vesta could get on with her work, and we'd play on the ranch together. Even on those summer visits with the warming weather she would often fall ill, and I was the only child in the valley patient enough to wait for her to get better. In the end, we kept in touch despite her being a few years younger, and when I was looking for somewhere accessible to complete my research, Celia had suggested I return. It made sense: we already owned the land and I already knew her. I knew she'd moved out to the Valley again after school, but I could never really comprehend why. "Dr Hardy takes care of she and Marlin now, but he updates us yearly on their progress. It's something of a pleasure to watch her grow."I yawned, settling down across the seats, and realised that I hadn't fully registered what she'd told me.

"Marlin?" I had completely forgotten about Celia's uncle. Her grandparents had had him just a few years before their son had Celia, so when I was younger I could never understand how he was Celia's uncle. He was even more sickly than she was, so I hadn't actually met him more than a few times. "How are they all holding up?"

"Vesta, I suppose, is like Mr Takakura to you, and took Celia in for a job. She and Marlin have been helping out for a few years now. But enough about that, I'm sure you'll figure it all out tomorrow. You look exhausted. I'll wake you when we get to out stop." The overhead lights had dimmed down to a golden pool in the middle of the table, and there was a discernible shift of tiredness in the air as the whole carriage rolled over to go to sleep. I hoped the Valley hadn't changed in the 20 years I hadn't been there, and if it had, they were all as kind to me as Elli had been. My eyes were already closing when I saw her place her watch on the table, ticking until it's 6AM alarm. I smiled sleepily at her.

Note to self: find an Elli to buddy with next time you get on a train.