All I See is the Sea
Summary: [A Biography of Nami] The sea… it's not always beautiful. Sure it is when it's calm. But when it rages in anger or sadness, it can kill like a monster. Life isn't a beautiful flower that's always perfect. Life is exactly like a sea. It's not always beautiful. It scars and hurts and causes tears and sorrow. If you're lucky, happiness will find you from time to time. But the sea's calm doesn't last forever. Neither does happiness. Maybe it would have if…
Authoress's Note: Wow…I've been intending on doing this fic for a couple of years now….Lately I've realized how lazy of a writer I am. Haha. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it once I actually begin writing them, but for some reason I procrastinate starting them…lol. Well, I've been really inspired lately. Still, I guess this is why I'm an artist…I don't procrastinate with drawing…Oh well! I'm not procrastinating with writing anymore!
All italicized words are pretty much all flashbacks.
Chapter One: That Spiky Haired Boy
"A new girl has just arrived in town; a farmer, she is. After Celia's marriage, Vesta's been short on help you know, even with Marlin. It appears that they needed another 'flower' on the farm. Celia is so sweet and kind. I know they hated to lose her, even if she lives just across town! Of course, Vesta was awfully happy to see her get married, none the less."
This memory from years ago played itself over once again in Nami's mind. She was upstairs in her room at the Inner Inn at the time. She could easily hear Ruby's voice chattering on the first floor of the hotel as she discussed the new farmer in town on that day. Not that she was eavesdropping. She really wasn't interested in the slightest. Not about the new farmer at least. Nami herself was a drifter. She accepted fact without question that inevitably people would come and go. She felt no remorse over it. Not any more…
Nami heard the door shut and Vesta's voice boomed even more loudly, "Meet our new fellow farmer! Ruby, this is Scarlet."
"It's nice to meet you, Scarlet! Come on in! Make yourself at home! Have a seat, Vesta."
"It's nice to meet you too, Ruby," Scarlet replied, a bit more soft-spoken than the others. Nami heard everything in her upstairs room, however.
"Well, Ruby, you know I'd stay, but I'm showing Scarlet all around town and introducing her to everyone. We've still got quite a few more stops to make. Oh, and before I forget, Scarlet, a woman named Nami lives upstairs in the hotel room. I doubt you'll ever see her though. She's not very friendly, and I don't think she wants to be here in Forget-Me-Not anyway. She comes and goes…Often she's not in town at all."
"Now Vesta, Nami is my guest and I've grown to know her over the years! You are a dear friend, but I will not stand here and listen to you try to give Scarlet a bad impression of Nami! Especially after all that she's been through!"
Vesta sighed. "I'm sorry, Ruby. I know that she began to let people in and warmed up to them, but whatever happened caused her to become icier than ever. I know you've got to notice! Scarlet, don't pay me any attention…I don't really understand Nami at all nowadays…That doesn't mean that she's a bad person. Honestly, I've never understood her much to begin with. My choice of words was a bit too judgmental I'm afraid."
"Vesta, I don't know what happened to her either. I'll admit that she is icier, and she certainly seemed to be getting consistently happier only months before, but she obviously went through something that was very hard on her. I don't know what it was, but I know it happened."
"It must be so, Ruby. You know her much better than I do anyhow. I hope she'll perk up again. Well, as perky as Nami can get without it being disturbingly….well…. 'Un-Nami.' You know what I mean…I'll see you later. I've got to finish showing Scarlet around."
"Goodbye, Vesta. It was nice meeting you, Scarlet."
The door closed and Ruby sighed heavily.
"Tch." Did they not realize that she could hear every word? Nami was well aware that she was unhappy. Depressed is the word, actually. Unlike the two women, she knew why she was too. There was nothing she could do. She tried to fool herself into thinking it didn't bother her before. She didn't need anyone. But maybe she really was icier…It was all too clear too that it bothered her so much she couldn't live with herself any more. Why did she ever let someone into her shell? If she would have stayed closed up, she now believed that she wouldn't feel this depression.
At the time she thought that. Nami snapped that particular memory out of her head. She was sitting in the sand, staring out into the sea. Six years had passed since that memory was reality, but she still didn't want to think of what caused it. Even so, her mind disagreed, and won. It took her back to what started it all….And she couldn't stop the scenes from flashing back in her head. Truly, the cause of her misery appeared seven years ago…
She looked down upon a spiky haired boy standing outside the door of the Inner Inn. He looked back up at her, as he had caught a glimpse of her red hair within the shadows of her room. She scowled to herself. The boy was accompanied by Takakura, who was apparently his new farmhand. Ruby and Tim were also standing outside, friendlily introducing themselves, as was their nature. But even so, curious eyes led to trouble. Curiosity killed the cat after all. He had no business peering into her room. They'd never even met; she didn't know his name. However, she did know that he was moving into town in order to try and revive this old, run-down farm. She rolled her eyes at the thought. That spiky haired boy was a fool and he needed to wake up before it was too late. Nami knew all too well how dreams never prospered in a small town like Forget-Me-Not. Even if his farm did thrive, his entire life would revolve around it. Forget-Me-Not was too dull and small. He would never find interesting sights and sounds here. His life was already damned to be uneventful and it was only beginning.
Just like hers was. Nami was a few years older than this boy at twenty eight, but she was still undeniably young. Very young, that is. And in her perspective, her life was over before it had the chance to really begin when she was forced to move to Forget-Me-Not two years ago. Nami always wanted to live in the city and travel the world. It had been her dream ever since she was a little girl.
However she became stuck in a small town with no way out. After she got her degree in weather forecasting, she couldn't find a job in the field. It was simply overflowed. All of the people that already lived in the city were the ones who got the jobs, of course. It was impossible for a small town girl like Nami to come by a job like that. Her dreams already went down the tube as living in the city was quite expensive. Traveling was even more so. She couldn't do either one without having a better paying job. Nami ended up living in an Inn after her situation forced her to move from her small hometown, to the even smaller town of Forget-Me-Not. 'At least my hometown was big enough to have a college….' she would always remark bitterly in her head.
She was still in the same boat as the spiky haired boy, none the less. It was the difference in their reasoning for being in Forget-Me-Not that made Nami so sour. This boy was here by choice. He grew up in the city; he had so many opportunities awaiting him there! What did he throw them away for? Did he do it all on account of a stupid run-down farm in a dying ghost town? He was both foolish and naïve. After all, she, on the other hand was only landed in this town due to the misfortune of being born in a small town to begin with. What she wouldn't have traded for his birthrights…. He was so unappreciative of them anyway! That's what really irked her.
Finally he was gone, for she could no longer see him standing down below at the doorway to the Inner Inn. She had never even officially met him, but what she'd already seen and heard was enough. She absolutely despised and hated him. He took everything she ever wanted for granted and tossed it away so carelessly. How could she not hate him?
She stayed in her room for all of the morning, only leaving at noon. She walked down the wooden stairs of the Inn, her shoes 'clunking' along the way.
"Hello, Nami," Ruby greeted her cheerfully. "I've packed your lunch to go. You are going to the mines today, right?"
She nodded. "Thanks." She then walked out of the inn and set out on the footpath to the dig site.
When she arrived, Carter was just outside the digging area, taking a break. "It's nice to see you, Nami. You've come to dig today?" He usually didn't make too much conversation, much to Nami's relief.
She nodded. Nami didn't work at the site, but she loved many of the artifacts that could be found there. They were interesting…They had character unlike the rest of the quaint town and all its boring flowers and wilderness. The many hours she spent sifting through the soil could partially account for her pale skin. She stepped down the ladder and into the underground once more. The magic was still there.
"Hello again," Flora greeted her. Now she talked a little too much for Nami's taste at times, but fortunately she was a pretty quiet person also.
Nami just nodded and kept to herself, as usual. With as much time as the two girls spent digging together, they could have become great friends by now, but Nami didn't bother. Everyone in Forget-Me-Not was just as boring as the town itself. Why would she even put out any effort to socialize? She still believed that she was better off on her own, and began to dig.
Throughout the past hour or so of digging, she found plenty of bones as usual. She still was slightly fascinated with them, but accustomed to finding them at this point. She also found old coins here and there. She read what she could of their inscriptions and tossed them to the side along with the bones. She would take them up to Carter when she was finished. She sifted through pieces of broken pottery and sharpened rocks. Same old, same old. It was then that her shovel hit something that felt quite different. It didn't feel exactly hard or soft. She excitedly but cautiously dug around the item, her eyes widening as it was exposed.
Today she was lucky enough to find an ancient stone intricately carved and painted with images such as the moon and sun. Some of the stone was cracked, but it was mostly intact. Her eyes darted all over it, taking in every detail.
"Whatcha got there?" Flora noticed Nami's change of composure. She dropped her shovel and walked over.
"I think it's a… calendar."
Flora raised her eyebrows at the sight.
Carter's reaction was similar. He was clearly astounded at the precise details; usually so many finds such as this one were so faded with time. There was no doubt that this was a very old artifact, but for some reason it had been preserved so much more.
"I want to study this Nami. Photographs will need to be taken." Noticing her attachment to the artifact for whatever reason, he added, "But if I am able to, once I am finished I will return it."
Her usually reserved and distant stare sparked into a gleam. She didn't really know what it was, but something about the item tugged at her own nature. It gave her a very slight hope. It wasn't enough to lift her spirits, but it was something to keep her human nature intact. It was something more to think about; it had sparked her curiosity. She nodded in thanks and left the site with a spring in her step that was completely unusual.
Carter's aging skin around his eyes wrinkled as he smiled a faint smile. Maybe she would come out of her shell at last.
….His thoughts would unravel more quickly than he ever expected.
Nami was racing home, the wheels in her head turning faster than those of any city car.
It was then, under that starry night that a certain dog ran into her path. Her typically coordinated footing was nearly lost.
She was pulled back into her miserable reality as she laid eyes on the scraggly dog and that accursed spiky haired boy that was chasing it. She scowled.
He stopped in his tracks and faced her. "Oh, I'm sorry about that! This new pup's full of energy! It just keeps running everywhere. I don't want it to stray too far."
He whistled and it came bounding back to him, licking the boy's legs and hands. The boy laughed with a kind of delight that was almost uncommon to find in one who had reached an age of maturity. It was untainted with complex worries or loaded down with responsibility.
Despite Nami's sour look, that same laughter of his rung about her ears once again. It was like he was oblivious to her cold attitude towards him. He didn't even notice. He wouldn't let her ostracize herself. He wasn't even aware that she wanted to live within solitude's grip. He flashed a childish smile that glowed on his adult face.
"My name's Ashton. It's an honor to meet you."
An honor? Why did he speak in such a way? What was he, a British noble? Nami's grew more irritated as he started to turn, looking after his dog as it nosed astray once again.
She started to just walk right past him while his head was turned and retreat to the Inner Inn, but her curiosity stopped her. She had to know why. What was wrong with this boy? She grabbed his arm, and his head whipped back around.
"How can you possibly be happy here?"
His expression grew puzzled. "How could I not be?"
She shot him another look of hatred, appalled at his answer. She tore right past him and disappeared in the door of the Inner Inn. If she would have cared to look back, she would have seen that he was gazing after her, even more confused than before. He was secure and confident, so her attitude didn't bother him, but he wanted to know why he sensed so strongly that something horrible had seized her in its grip. He shrugged, and trudged back to his farm with his dog at his heels.
Lying in her bed that night, Nami silently fumed. She didn't understand him at all. He was by no means an uneducated boy. She expected him to be a dim-witted city boy who could only make a living rough necking it. That was the only logical explanation for why he came here. But it wasn't so. The way he said "honor"… The way he spoke in general… No, he was undeniably educated and the fact that he was an old city boy was confirmed time and time again by others. "How could… [he]…not be… [happy here]?" He looked at her with that puzzled façade at her question. She was serious. How could he possibly be? Only one other explanation for his reasoning was possible; he must be claustrophobic in cities…or afraid of traffic…Most definitely, a fool.
She couldn't lie there anymore. With a final grunt of frustration, she heaved herself out of bed and snuck out of the inn and into the sheet of night.
Authoress's Note: Ok, so I'm really not sure about the whole Marlin/Celia relationship thing in the actual game. I can't remember if they're brother/sister, or if he's the guy she marries if you don't marry her, or if they're not related and she just marries someone else entirely! I don't know, but I'm not a big fan of Marlin, and I do like Celia, so in this fic (in the very least to keep it a bit simpler on the terms of why Ashelia [OC] shows up) I just paired Celia with someone else entirely who I'll probably never have a reason to name. I really haven't even decided who, to be honest. Marlin's okay… But anyway, moving on.
Then, of course, Ashton in the character you play through in the game. Ashelia's the one I "stole" from Mineral Town.
So I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. I've enjoyed writing it, at long last. I've finally buckled down on writing! Woo hoo! I've matured enough at this point! Haha. I'm not an elementary kid any more. I tried to make it as interesting as possible; the beginning of stories is usually sort of boring, I know. Hopefully I've caught your interest by now.
Finally, I like to dedicate my chapters to people. So once again, I'd like to commend Chicken Yuki who inspired me to start writing my first fics, and finally I've made it to my Harvest Moon chapter fic as he suggested long ago. (I'm sorry it's been so long! I've been really distracted with things for a while, but fortunately things have fallen into place and I'm happy with myself now. So I can get the things done that I've wanted to do and just enjoy life from here on out. ^_^) I hope to dedicate the next chapter to a new reader.
Yours always,
-Ninja Fox of the Fire