"Minori!" a blonde girl cried from the dock.
She'd finally reached her first destination: Mineral Town. One of her best friends, Claire, had been living here for the past 4 years. Minori practically knocked Claire over as she ran off the boat to hug her friend. They wove their fingers together and jumped around in circles, squealing.
"I have soooo much to tell you, Nori! Guess what?"
Minori took one look at Claire and knew instantly.
"You got married to Gray?"
"How'd you know?" Claire fake-pouted.
"It's like you guys were made for each other! You guys are great together!" Minori said happily (though really the only reason she knew Claire was married was because of the ring on her finger).
"But how could you be so sure that I wasn't in love with someone like…Rick?"
Both girls looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"Remind me to tease Karen about him, Claire." Minori said once the laughter had died down. "So, are you gonna show me your farm or what?"
"Oh, right!" Claire said as she grabbed one of Minori's bags, and they walked away from the beach.
Soon enough, they'd reached the farm, where Minori saw what appeared to be Gray playing with Claire's dog, Biscuit.
Minori's eyes grew wide as she looked around Claire's enormous farm; she certainly had done a lot of good work in the past 4 years that she'd lived there.
"Planning to have a bunch of children, are we?" Minori teased as both Gray and Claire turned red. Claire's house was wayyyy bigger than before, and looked like it'd be able to hold tons and tons of little blond-haired blue-eyed babies. The thought made Minori giggle.
"Oh, wow, Claire! Your tomatoes certainly are very red this year!" Minori broke out into a laugh as she squeezed Claire's crimson cheeks.
"Quit teasing us, Minori! I'm sure you have a special someone, too! I hear Oak Town is full of attractive young gents…" Claire winked as Gray scowled. "Don't worry, Gray. You're the only one for me!" She pecked Gray on the lips, to which he smiled and pulled his hat down.
"So…are we gonna go eat dinner?" Gray asked awkwardly.
"You can cook, Gray?" Minori's eyes widened in surprise.
"You can cook?" Claire questioned innocently while looking at Gray with teasing blue eyes, and Gray just rolled his eyes and smiled.
"You guys are legitimately the cutest couple I have ever seen. I can just imagine how adorable your babies will be!" Minori squealed. Claire and Gray were once again tomatoes.
They headed inside to enjoy Gray's supposedly delicious dinner and to catch up on all of the events in the previous years.
Minori couldn't sleep at all, despite the calm, quiet atmosphere around her. She'd tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, though she got no closer to slumber.
She got up off the couch quietly and walked over to the kitchen, where she poured herself a glass of water and sat down behind the counter.
"You know, when you can't fall asleep, it means someone's thinking about you…"
A gentle voice appeared from behind Minori, and she turned to see a pajama-clad Claire smiling gently at her.
"Wanna tell me about it, Nori?"
Minori nodded slightly and gestured for Claire to take a seat next to her.
"I'm going crazy over this one guy, Raeger. I've been afraid to confront him about my feelings, though I can feel the connection between us. We've done so much stuff together, it feels like I've known him forever. "
"Are you insane, Minori?! There's a cute guy who you've bonded with that you haven't claimed yet?! If you feel the connection, it must be there!"
"I guess so, but he's so popular amongst the ladies. They flock over to his restaurant and gawk at him constantly…plus, what if he just likes me as a friend?"
"Minori, you're just as shy and stubborn as ever. Worst case scenario, you'll find a man in Mineral Town. (wink, wink)"
"A man…like Rick?"
Both girls burst into laughter; Rick was not the most graceful nor attractive male, though Karen seemed to have a liking for him. Lucky Rick.
"Anyway, you're right, Claire. I'll tell him once I get back."
"Good decision. Now then, tell me the details of all the "stuff" you've done together."
Raeger can't help but think of all the encounters they've shared.
There was that time when Minori walked in craving something sweet, and Raeger had offered her his new strawberry cake. Minori had taken a careful bite before freezing and biting her lip. Raeger wondered if she had been poisoned before she just about jumped out of her seat saying that it needed lemon.
"Of course!" Raeger brought his hand to his forehead. "I forgot the lemon glaze!"
After the cake had been properly glazed, Minori had practically inhaled the whole thing, Raeger had complimented her ability to recognize tastes and her understanding of food.
"Glad to know you like my taste buds, Raeger!" She waved as she walked toward the door, and even stuck her tongue out as she left. "Thanks again for the cake!"
It's a sweet memory (ha, ha), and he doesn't realize he's already cleaned the entire kitchen.
"It was a really, really good cake, Claire. He's a really great chef..."
"He sounds dreamy. Is he handsome, too?"
"You betcha. He's got light chestnut hair that is constantly ruffled in a way that makes him absolutely marvelous, and green-blue eyes that sparkle like the sea, and he's tall, and he's smart, and he's caring, and he's just wow and-"
"Why. The. Heck. Is. He. Not. Your. Boyfriend. Yet."
Minori blushed, and it was Claire's turn to call her a tomato. Claire laughed for a bit, and the girls parted ways as they headed to sleep.
Minori's dreams were absolutely lovely that night.
Minori and Claire got to work on taking care of the farm early in the morning, despite Claire's complaints. Minori focused on the crops, while Claire tended to the animals. They were done rather quickly, so they decided to invite all the Mineral Town gals to the Inn, for a nice lunch.
Minori gave Karen, Popuri and Ann huge hugs. She didn't know Elli and Mary too well, so they greeted one another through handshakes. Of course, the topic that all the girls wanted to talk about was the crazy little thing called love. Karen spoke all about her dearest Rick, Popuri about her secret meetings with Kai when Karen had Rick distracted, and Ann about the nature-loving Cliff. Elli blushed at the mention of Doctor, and Mary was too caught up reading a book to say anything at all (though Minori suspected that Harris was her special someone).
When it came Minori's turn to talk about the Oak Town guys, she blushed and said she was still looking for the right guy. The Mineral Town girls were nice enough not to ask any further, though Karen whispered into Popuri's ear, and Popuri suddenly squealed.
"Minori, we're going to set you up on a blind date!"
Oh dear.