Hey, drchix here. We hope you like this chapter. It might be a little confusing at first to see how the prologue fits into everything, but that's ok. Everything will get explained... eventually. R&R!
Disclaimer: We don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters or places. The plot is mostly our own, but w/e, just give it to Natsume to be safe.
Thanks to shippostail, Princess of the Al Bhed, and Royal Expectations for your reviews of the prologue! They were encouraging. And Royal Expectations, you'll see how the prologue has to do with HM in this chapter, though it will make more sense later.
Lauren: This chapter was co-written, so if you don't like something... Liz probably wrote it! J/K J/K!
Liz: Not True!!!!! I write fine. Btw, We need to do our profile page!!!
Lauren: Yeah, I know, but we're lazy... anyway, let's just get this chapter up!
Note: 'Words like this, that are italicized and with apostrophe's on the ends, are thoughts'
"Word like this, not italicized and with quotation marks on the ends, are speech."
Word in bold are emphasized.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Celia opened her eyes to a brilliantly bright new day. Celia sat up and stretched. Yawning, she looked at the alarm clock. '7:00!! I slept in! I thought I set the alarm for 6:30!!!!!!! Ack, Vesta must have changed it after I went to sleep! A good woman, just a little too meddlesome!' Celia got up and made her bed. Her room was always tidy. She knew exactly where everything was.
Unlike her best friend, Nami. 'I don't know how Nami survives in that room! An organized mess, as Nami always called it.' Celia went to her dresser drawer and pulled out her hairbrush. She brushed her hair out and thought about Nami. 'Nami always says I have perfect hair, but what she doesn't know is I have split ends!'
Celia went downstairs for breakfast. Marlin and Vesta were already at the table.
"Hey, what's for breakfast?" 'Please not fruit salad!'
Vesta set a bowl on the table. "Fruit Salad," Vesta grinned, "Come on, and sit down."
"Again." Marlin frowned.
Celia giggled. 'That's just like Marlin, grumpy and always in a rotten mood. Actually, he and Nami might make a pretty good couple...' "Vesta, Did you reset my alarm clock last night?"
"Yeah, I thought you could use some extra sleep," Vesta smiled," Plus, it was only a half an hour difference."
'That was a half an hour I needed!' "Well, Thank you," Celia smiled, "I feel extremely rested." 'Why can't I speak my mind?!'
Marlin watched Celia's reaction closely. He could tell she was unhappy, even though she smiled. 'Why can't she see that... ... ...Never Mind, No use thinking it.'
Vesta started clearing the table. "Celia, We have some new neighbors in town."
"Really, Who?"
Marlin spoke up. "The River Brothers, over at River Crossing Ranch. Probably stuck up rich boys."
"Really?" Celia's face shined with excitement. "How old?"
"23, I believe." Marlin mumbled. 'Oh great, that's all I need. Competition!'
Celia looked over at Marlin. His face was full of annoyance. 'What's with Marlin? Oh well, I gotta go tell Nami!!! Boys! Yay!!!!' Celia got up and headed out the door in a hurry.
Vesta rolled her eyes. 'That child moves fast! She's a hard worker, though. She'll make someone a good wife. Speaking of, I gotta call that guy at the Callaway Ranch'
Celia rushed out the door. She lives a small distance from Nami's house. 'Nami doesn't actually have a house. Just a room at the Inn. She could live with me, That might be fun.'
Celia walked across the bridge. She glanced to her right and saw two young men unloading a truck. 'Oh my! they are so hot! I need face soap! Wow, that was random.'
Celia watched them unload furniture and other such things. 'Wow. They're strong! Just to be able to lift a bed frame on their own... I wonder if they have girlfriends...Maybe I could...Whoa, wait Celia, You don't even know them yet! I mean, come on...'
Just then Celia tripped and fell flat on her face. 'Oh, smart Celia. Stare at people and not watch where you're walking!'
Celia started to get up. she opened her eyes and she saw a someone's leg. She looked up to see one of the guys standing next to her. He bent down at her side.
"Are you ok?"
Celia just stared at him. 'Oh, great! Say Something! Celia, Prove your not a Mute!'
"Um, I'm Shane."
"..." 'My name is Celia. Why can't I say that?!'
Shane grabbed Celia's arm and helped her up. Celia blushed. She could feel her whole face turning beet red. 'Oh my gosh, This is so embarrassing!! Celia turned and ran away. I've got to tell Nami!'
She ran in the Inn and a said a rapid hello to Tim as she ran up the stairs. Tim didn't even have time to reply.
xxx
"Nami, Nami!!!" shouted Celia as she pounded on the bedroom door. Her normally serene face showed a mixture of excitement and aggravation. 'How can Nami sleep so long? How late does she even sleep to? I always hang out with her in the afternoons…' "I have something to tell you! WAKE UP!!!"
"I'm afraid it's no use, she never wakes up before 9:00." Celia jumped at Ruby's gentle voice and spun around to face her. 'I've never seen Celia look so annoyed'thought Ruby. "Would you like to leave her a message with me?"
"Um, no thanks… I think Nami is going to wake up early this morning. Never say never." Celia whirled around, ready to storm into Nami's room. The doorknob twisted slowly just as she began to reach for it. "Ack!" She jumped back slightly and watched as the door creaked open. There stood Nami, her short red hair sticking out in every direction, wearing only her underclothes.
"What is going on? I'm trying to slee…" Nami yawned loudly. 'Are these people insane? Who can be that… happy in the morning? On that note, who can be that happy at all? Well Ruby looks happy, I can't say the same for Celia… but she looks fully awake at least.' "Can't you read?" she asked, pointing to the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door.
"I was just telling Celia that you –" A brief look of annoyance passed over Ruby's face when she was interrupted.
"Celia? What are you doing?" Nami had just noticed that Celia's back was turned. Her coffee colored hair looked perfect, even at this time in the morning. 'I hate morning people. Well not really, I don't think I could hate my best friend, but still, I'm not even dressed yet!' "Celia?"
"Why don't you have any clothes on?" 'She probably couldn't find anything in that messy room.' Celia both shuddered and smiled at that thought. "I need to tell you something. Get dressed!" Celia heard Nami sigh and begin to shut the door.
"I do have clothes on. Good grief." Nami rolled her eyes as she shut the door. "Come back later, I'm going back to bed." The door was almost shut when it stopped abruptly. Celia had put her foot there, blocking it and Nami's blissful sleep. "CELIA!" Nami whined.
"Let. Me. In." Nami laughed a little at Celia's scrunched up face. "You are getting dressed whether you want to or not. If you don't behave, I might even give you a manicure!" Nami rolled her eyes and walked over to her dresser. She pulled out a pair of denim shorts, a white t-shirt, and a denim vest. Celia walked in tentatively, trying to find a free space on the floor for her feet. "Do you have any variety at all in your wardrobe?"
"Aren't you nice today. Is it almost 'that time of the month' for you? And yes, my wardrobe varies --- some of my t-shirts are colored," Nami spoke as she pulled her clothes on. She searched around on the dresser until she found her hairbrush behind that old broken radio. 'I really need to get rid of that thing.' She pulled the brush through her unruly hair a few times then glanced into the full-length mirror at the other end of the room. 'I'm glad I don't have to do much to my hair as long as I keep it short. I don't see how Celia can deal with that hair everyday, even if it is gorgeous.'
"Sorry… I didn't mean to act like that. It's just that I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!!!" Nami was a great friend, and Celia didn't like to yell, but honestly, Nami could be so aggravating sometimes!
"SO TELL ME!" Nami yelled back, digging around for her ash-colored eyeliner. 'Maybe I left it in my purse… maybe not. Where is it?' She finally saw it sticking out from under the dresser, and she found her peach lip-gloss as well. 'Ok, just these few touch-ups, and I'm good to go.' She turned her attention to Celia's words. The makeup was applied automatically, the result of several years of practice.
'Finally!' "There is some new people moving in at River Crossing Ranch!" Celia jumped up a little and squealed as the spoke.
'Honestly, sometimes this girl is just way too happy' thought Nami. "You woke me up and threatened to give me a manicure for that!" Nami looked down at her hands. They weren't spectacular, but they were groomed. "They are just people. Won't they still be there in two hours?" She flopped back on the bed and closed her eyes. "Goodnight. Goodbye."
"Nami get up! They aren't just any people." A smile pulled at Celia's mouth. "They are guys. Twin guys. Hot twin guys! Hot 23-year old twin guys! Let's go!!!" She squealed, then grabbed Nami's hand and pulled her up. "Come on!"
"Go where? If you've already met them, then they must be morning people. As if I don't already have enough of those bothering me today." Nami shot a teasing grin at Celia then dodged the pillow thrown her way. "Seriously though, doesn't that guy Takawakalaka live at that farm? I always knew he was strange. I guess I just didn't know how strange." Nami wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"It's Takakura. And um, no, it's nothing like that. If you were a little more sociable and interested in people's lives, you would know that Takakura was once married and had a child, around 20 years ago. Sarah, his wife, took their 1-year old daughter to the spring to pick flowers and a giant storm came up. Sarah started running home and tripped on a fallen log. The child fell into the river and before Sarah could get up and try to grab the baby, it was already too far away. She jumped into the river after it and… well some people from Flower Bud Village brought back the body. The baby was never found." Big tears welled up in Celia's eyes.
"How do you know that? You would've been to young to remember anything." 'Man she gets emotional.' Nami fought against rolling her eyes at Celia's crying.
"My parents are the ones who found the body. I used to live in Flower Bud, remember? Vesta and my mom were good friends before… before she went to go live with Marlin. Since they knew that it was no one from Flower Bud, my parents brought Sarah's body to the next town up the river, in Forget-me-not Valley."
'Before what? What isn't she telling me?' thought Nami. She could see that her friend was drying her tears but still looked a little depressed. 'Where's the happy girl I know?' "Hey, it's almost 9:00. We better go check out those hot guys pretty quickly. Once Lumina hears about them her piano skills will suffer, Muffy will be giving out free drinks like she did when Gustafa moved here, and I know Flora gets tired of Carter sometimes. We better go show those guys that there are some normal girls in this town."
Celia was laughing by the time Nami finished her speech. "Us, normal?" 'I'm happy, and Nami is always depressed. We balance each other out. That's why we are such good friends. But are we normal? Never!' "All right, let's go!" Celia laughed all the way down the stairs, and even Nami let out a few giggles as she reflected on the pep talk.
We hope you liked it! The second chapter is still being written. It's all floating up there in our heads somewhere, it's just a matter of writing it down. Please R&R, no flames since they are totally pointless... and mean.
Lauren:We want at least 10 reviews before we put up the next chapter, and since it's not written yet, there should be plenty of time to get those reviews...
Liz: Oh My Gosh, It's Lauren, aka. Help, I'm talking and I can't shut up!!!!!
Lauren: Oh my gosh, it's Liz, aka: I'm so blonde that I bug Lauren about talking, and yet I just have to type something so nobody will forget about me!
Liz: ...: ( ...Not Fair...Just Post The Story!!!!!!!!!!
Lauren: Alright, alright... blondie
