Hook, Line, and Sinker

by JIN'n'GUICE

Angela thinks back on her life, wondering when things had become so good. And almost instantly, the silver haired man she was proud to call her husband, came to mind. Rated M for possible future lemon DISCONTINUED: For now. While I work on another piece, I hope to regain some form of inspiration to finish this one

2. The Moon and Ocean

As promised, this chapter is longer than the first one. Read, review, and enjoy! :)

-JnG

Before she knew it, Angela and the silver haired fisherman she met by the river saw each other on a regular basis. He would fish in the lake on her farmland in the mornings, and greet her when she started her farm chores for the day. She would always stop by the river on her way to Marimba Farm to see if her odd friend was fishing in his usual spot. Looking for the man almost became second nature. And when he wasn't fishing, he would sit against the walls of her barn and chat with her as she tended to her flourishing crops. He was soft spoken at times, but liked to smile and laugh a lot. He was so carefree. A truly free spirit. It was almost maddening how someone could take life so lightly. But, as soon as the fingers of annoyance would crawl up her chest, they were quickly washed away with one of his dazzling smiles. How could someone have such a gorgeous smile? She had even surprised him for his birthday, bringing him lots of shining sushi. He smiled then, and twirled her around before setting her down to attack his present. "Hey Angela," Toby said, twiddling a blade of grass between his thumb and pointer finger as he watched (or what she assumed he was doing behind his closed eyes) his farming friend water her cosmos. She hmm'd unintelligibly, tending to her flowers carefully. "Want to go to the Inn for lunch today?" he asked, closed eyes still looking at the skittering figure. She stopped in her tracks, looking back at her silver haired friend, who only smiled a small smile at her. She looked to the sky, wiping her brow. By the sun, it should be around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Her farm could wait a little until she got back. And besides, she was getting hungry. The weeds could certainly hold tight until she put some food into her body. "Sure!" She chirped, before putting her watering can away and walking with her friend into town.

The silence that settled between them was comfortable, a small breeze playing with their hair. It was such a gorgeous day for a walk, and being with a good friend just made the farmer smile even wider. They talked for a while, before they reached the door of the Inn. Colleen greeted them both with a smile. "Good afternoon you two." She piped her mellowed tone much more tolerable than her daughter's high-pitched squeak. Angela and Toby sat down at a table next to a window, and continued to chat softly. "I've always loved to fish. Ever since I can remember, I've always loved the thrill of a fish on the line!" He said, his whole face coming alive as he told his favorite fishing stories. And Angela listened intently to every one of them. They both laughed, and Toby blushed in embarrassment. "My uncle can be so harsh sometimes, but he didn't have to hit me with a fish in public." He said, as their mirth died down. Angela smiled at him. "You have such an interesting past. A lot more interesting than mine." She commented, smiling at Colleen when she sat their plates in front of them. Angela took a nibble of her Sashimi and almost fell over. Her cheeks tinted red as she munched on the delicious fish. "It's amazing!" She said dreamily, eagerly taking another bite. Toby laughed at her reaction. "Yeah, the food here is pretty good. I didn't know you liked food this much." He commented, taking a piece of his sushi and popping it into his mouth. Angela blinked at him. "I adore food. I love tasting new dishes. New flavors. It's all so exciting!" She said, taking a sip of her water. Toby smiled. "Well, if you feel that strongly about it, I can cook you fish when you want. I'm not as great as Chase, but I can hold my own." He said, bragging jokingly. Angela's eyes lit up. "Really? You would? Thank you Toby!" She said happily, finishing her meal. After they were both done eating, Angela reached to take some money out of her pocket. Toby shook his head, before handing some cash to Colleen, thanking her for the meal. The brunette looked at the boy, who only smiled at her. "It's fine. My treat!" He said, reassuringly. She hesitated a little bit, but all he did was smile at her and walked with her out of the Inn. He walked her back to her home as the sun began to set farther behind the horizon. She hadn't realized they'd sat there and talked for the better part of the afternoon. Those weeds will just have to wait a little while longer she concluded. "I had a great time with you today Angela." Toby said, smiling down at his smaller friend. The farmer beamed up at him. "So did I! You should come over tomorrow. I'll cook us some lunch to pay you back for the meal." She said, smiling sweetly. He cracked his eyes open slightly, and grinned down at her. "I would love to." He said, before sliding his eyes closed. 'Yep, they were definitely some shade of green.' Angela thought to herself, blushing lightly. She couldn't help by wonder how many people Toby showed his eyes to, excluding his uncle and cousin of course. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Angela." Toby said, waving at his friend as he turned towards the path back to town. "Goodnight!" She called after him, watching him as he walked back into town for a short while. She sighed, opening her door and barely taking off her shoes before she plopped into bed, a goofy smile on her face. He was just so intriguing. How could one person love to fish that much would forever boggle her mind. And the fact that he used to get in trouble often as a child surprised her as well. There was so much to this one man. It made him seem so mysterious, even though he claims to be the average fisherman. His talent for popping up out of nowhere said otherwise as well. She slipped into sleep happily, thinking about the silver haired boy.

The next morning, Angela grabbed a shower before heading out to her field. Her flowers were coming along nicely, and her strawberry plants were thriving. She smiled at her handy work before filling her watering pale and setting to work. After working in the fields for a while, she put her hands on her hips and admired her work. There wasn't a weed in sight, and her cherry tree's looked mighty fetching with their pink blossoms. She loved it when everything was organized. She set some of the strawberries into the shipping bin and headed on over to her coop and barn. Her favorite little chick, Harriet, chirped at her and rushed to her feet, pecking lightly at her work boots. "It's nice to see you too Harriet." Angela said, placing feed in front of the bird and walked over to her barn. Her calf was growing slowly, but nicely. She petted the cow lightly before taking out her brush. "Good morning Bessy. I hope you had a good night." Angela said to the cow, who moo'ed in delight as she was being brushed. Angela sometimes felt silly for talking to her animals. But, she dismissed the thought and set some food in the bin in front of her calf and walked back to her house. She took another shower, and put on a tee-shirt and shorts, with a mint green tank top over her shirt. As a last minute idea before she started to cook, she went out back to her field and gathered a few cosmos. She heard the distant sound of someone whistling, and she turned to see her silver haired fisherman walking up the path to her house. "Good afternoon Angela." Toby said, smiling at his friend. "Hi Toby! Come on in, I was just starting to cook lunch." She said, walking back over to her house with the flowers and Toby in tow. She sat the flowers down onto her counter, and took a bag of rice down from the cabinet. "Make yourself at home." She said cheerfully before she put the rice on to cook. She took a vase from the cabinet under the sink and filled with water, setting the cosmos down into the liquid before putting the vase in the middle of the table. "Mmh, Cosmos. They're my favorite." Toby commented, admiring the pink flowers.

Angela looked over at him as he toyed with a soft pink petal. "I didn't know you liked flowers. I thought they weren't manly." Angela said, trying to make her voice sound gruff as she said the "manly" part of her comment. Toby laughed, looking over to his friend. "I don't really care about things like that. I like what makes me happy. Cosmos are just so peaceful." He said, the light smile still on his face. Angela admired his confidence. They chatted for a little while as she started to sauté 2 of the prettier Char that she had caught earlier that week. "I remembered something you said while we were at the Inn." Toby said, now standing behind her leaning against the counter as he watched her cook. Angela looked at him confused. She couldn't remember her saying something very interesting, or interesting enough to remember. "Oh? And what did I say?" Angela asked confusion evident in her tone. Toby folded his arms over his chest, looking down at his sandaled feet. "You said that my past was much more interesting than yours. Why is that, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked carefully. Angela stopped momentarily. She had never really talked about her past before. "Well," she started, plating up the fish with the rice she had steaming on the stove. "My father passed away when I was younger. After that, my mother got really sick, and she had a nanny look after me. My nanny was really strict. She didn't let me play outside on nice days. And after my mother passed away, the woman took all of the money and left. I haven't seen her nor heard from her sense. I was young at the time, so I didn't know what to do. I didn't know of any other family, and a 12 year old wouldn't make it on the streets. But, with the money my mother left me, I made it out okay. And when I was finally 18, I moved here." She said, setting the plates onto the table. Toby stood in his spot. He was ashamed at the way he complained about his life just yesterday. "I'm sorry to hear that." Toby said, speaking softly. Angela just looked at him, and shook her head with a sad smile. "Don't even worry about it. Now, come and eat before the food gets cold." She said playfully.

They ate until they had their fill, and sat on her couch chatting away. She could see the sun setting through her window and gasped. "Oh Toby, it's getting late. I hope I didn't keep you from doing anything important." Angela said, rubbing the back of her head. Toby just shook his head, smiling at her. "No worries. Business was slow at the shop today, so my uncle told me I could take the rest of the day off." He said cheerfully. The farmer sighed in relief. She absolutely hated feeling like she was being a burden. Toby looked back over to the window, and shot up from the couch. "Come on Angela! I wanna show you something." He said excitedly before grabbing her wrist and dragged her out of her house. She giggled lightly, trying to keep up with the taller figure's long strides. Streaks of pink and orange and twinges of the remaining blue littered the sky as he drug her past Town Hall and over towards the Fishery. "Toby, what is it?" Angela asked, blinking up at the taller figure. "You'll see!" he said excitedly. By the time they made it to the lighthouse, the sun had set more behind the horizon and the night sky started to chase the traces of dusk away. Toby led the girl into the darkened building, and up the flight of stairs that was once blocked off. "Toby, are we supposed to be in here?" Angela asked in a hushed tone, covering her nose in fear of all of the dust. He shrugged. "Probably not. But since the light house isn't working right now, I'm sure it'll be fine." He said, his carefree tone ringing through the stairwell. Once they finally made it to the top, Toby opened the door that awaited them at the top of the staircase. It led out onto a balcony like structure, where the once lit light of the light house sat at the very top of the building. Toby walked them over to a side where they could look over the moonlit ocean and the night sky. Angela's breath hitched. She had never seen a view quite like this before. In the city, you could never see any stars because of all of the bright lights. But here, you can see nothing but the vast expanse of the midnight blue heavens. The oceans waves kicked up a gentle, salty breeze that chilled her skin and she shivered lightly. Toby pulled her closer to his body, rubbing a hand up and down her arm. They sat in silence, admiring the view. "Thank you Toby, for bringing me here." Angela said softly, afraid that if she took her eyes from the ocean it would all melt into nothingness. Toby looked down at her and smiled. "I'm glad you like it." He said, pulling her even closer. Angela looked up at him, and immediately, her face was as red as a tomato. His eyes were fully opened. The orbs were bright green, and almond shaped, just like she thought they would be. Before she knew it, their faces where inches apart, and rich emerald gems were staring deeply into pools of chocolate. Her breath caught in her throat, and if it were even possible, she was sure that her face darkened in color. "U-um, Toby?" she asked nervously. He didn't acknowledge her, and brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. "You're cute when you blush." He said, his voice a few octaves lower than his usual smooth tone. And he brought their lips together in a gentle, sweet kiss.