Chapter
2
Mother Knows Best
"Have you really got everything ready? Think about it again to make sure…" Muffy told Haru while holding out her finger. Haru spun on her stool as she thought to herself.
"Dress… flowers… location…invitations…food..." She counted off the things on her fingers, scrutinizing her mind to try and think if she'd forgotten something vital.
"Think hard… the wedding is tomorrow, this is your last chance to correct anything."
"No… I'm pretty sure we got it all." Haru nodded her head with a sense of finality. She sighed deeply and sank down into the barstool.
"It has been one hell of a week. I didn't know getting married was so much work!" Haru sighed. Muffy giggled and gave her an understanding look.
"How about a drink? I'm good at making them now, you know! Even the regulars said so." Muffy assured her. Haru laughed a bit, feeling slightly nervous.
"Well, okay. As long as you use one of Griffin's recipes." She agreed, worried whether Muffy had become skilled in Griffin's absence or the customers were just being polite. Muffy began to haphazardly mix together several drinks while humming.
"Where is Griffin anyway? I haven't seen him for a while." Muffy asked as she sloshed a bottle's contents messily into a cup and shook it, small droplets of the beverage flying all around. Haru decided not to comment on this.
"He's moving in to my house today, remember? I was helping him before but then we had to go over the guest list one final time." Haru reminded Muffy.
"Ohh… that's right… tonight's his last night here…" She pondered as if the idea had just become a reality in her mind. "It's going to be weird living here alone. Who am I going to bother in my spare time now?" Muffy joked, presenting Haru with her drink. The top was oddly frothy and the mixture was still twirling in a sort of sluggish vortex. Haru took a careful sip and was surprised by the taste.
"Wow, you have gotten better! I can't believe it!" Haru remarked, pleasantly astonished.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Muffy started speaking as the door swung open and Griffin came inside.
"Hey, Griffin!" Both girls chorused in unison. He waved at them both silently with his usual hidden smile.
"Hello ladies." He took his spot behind the bar and sighed a bit. "All done, finally… I thought it would never end." He sounded tired, but had a shade of triumphant satisfaction in his voice.
"Want to check really fast to make sure you didn't leave anything?" Muffy offered kindly, "You know I can mix the drinks now!" She boasted for the tenth time that day.
"I am aware of this fact." Griffin told her with a slight tone of humor. "Yeah, might as well give it the once-over…"
"I'll go with you." Haru chirped as she slid off of her barstool and hopped up to Griffin's side. She grabbed his hand with energy and grinned as she tugged him into the backroom.
It was rather sparse inside Griffin's old room. Only the table, chairs, a small desk, and a bed remained.
"Wow… empty." Haru remarked as she stepped into the room and looked around.
"It's weird moving out after so many years of living here." Griffin told Haru in a voice he used when only she was around. It always made her smile.
"Don't be sad, you'll be back here every night…except Wednesdays of course…Oh, look you did forget something." Haru spotted a dust covered frame that was pushed up against the wall behind the desk. It was nearly blending in with the wall behind which made it very hard to see if you weren't looking very closely.
"What is that, anyway?" Griffin asked as she bent down to extract the frame from behind the desk. When he brought it out particles of dust and grime fluttered down all around and made Haru and Griffin cough. Griffin wiped off the glass on the frame and they both looked down onto a browning and cracked photograph.
"Ohh… look at that…" Haru stepped closer to see what was in the photo. It showed an older man with familiar eyes standing in front of a much newer looking Blue Bar. To his right stood a young woman dressed in a foreign frock. She had jagged and wild black hair that hung around her chin and her skin was a shade darker than the man she stood beside. At the ankles of the man clung a small boy with a reserved expression on his face.
"That looks like you… But older…" Haru pointed at the old man.
"That's my grandfather." Griffin told Haru, sounding nostalgic.
"And who's this?" Haru gestured at the young woman.
"Her name was Willow. She worked at the bar with my grandfather for a few seasons after I came to live here. She came from some town in the forests, or something."
"Oh, is that you?" Haru put her finger above the boy's image. Griffin laughed a little gruffly.
"Yeah, about a million years ago. Weird to think I was young once, eh?"
"Don't be so hard on yourself." Haru scolded Griffin. Suddenly she felt more like a wife than ever, and gave him a stern smile. Griffin gave a quiet laugh and handed Haru the picture gently.
"Do you mind taking this back home for me? Not that I don't trust Muffy, I just think it's better I should get to work finally." He told her.
"Oh, yeah! Of course." Haru obliged as they went back into the bar together, Haru holding the photograph in her hand.
"I guess I'll go home then and make sure everything's all right on the farm. Takakura's been taking over for me while I've been so busy and I feel so bad…" Haru told Muffy and Griffin as she moved towards the door.
"See ya later, Haru." Griffin said with affection.
"Enjoy your last night of being single!" Muffy teased.
"Do not be late tomorrow, either of you." She added with a solid determination. As she went to open the door it swung open with a rapid force. In front of her stood her older brother Akira, panting and puffing.
"Aki!" Haru shouted with joy, "You came down to the valley!" Akira held up his hand to let them know he was catching his breath. Muffy had a shocked and worried expression on her face as she looked over at Akira.
"Haru… She's coming…" Akira gasped out, his hands resting on his knees. "She'll be here any second." His face was red from running, but his jaunty brown hair and farmer's clothes still looked fresh and perky. His jaw, which was previously bandaged and broken seemed to have healed well. When Haru finally realized who Akira was talking about she froze and a wave of dread washed over her.
"Oh no… she's not supposed to be here until tomorrow…" Haru was stricken with fear. "Did you see her already?"
"Yeah… and she's not in a good mood, either. She-"
"HAAAARRUUUUUUUUKAAAAA!!" A shriek came ringing out through the clear and calm skies of the valley.
"Uh oh…" Haru knew that voice all too well. Akira looked frustrated with worry. Moments later a woman trotted into view. She was covered in make-up and fake eyelashes exaggerated her bright purple eyes. Hair the same chestnut color as both Akira's and Haru's was pulled up in an elaborate knot on her head and woven into an extravagant hat with a fake bird on it. She wore a rich purple dress with bows and frills that masked her voluptuous figure well. She carried about seven bags on her person which she dumped in a heap in front of the dusty bar front.
The woman reached the place where Akira and Haru stood and grasped them both into a bone crushing hug.
"OHH, my babies! My sweet little babies!" She cooed as she hugged both Akira and Haru to her massive chest. They were both desperately trying to breath. Muffy and Griffin were both paralyzed.
The woman broke fiercely away from the siblings and surveyed Haru.
"Oh, my dear darling. My baby daughter is all grown up! Getting married tomorrow! I'm so… so proud!" She squealed loudly, then turned to Muffy and Griffin.
"Oh, my goodness! You must be Griffin's parents!" She clasped her hands and took in the sight of them. Muffy looked thoroughly flustered and Griffin just stood with his mouth slightly open. The woman bustled forward and shook each of their hands with gusto. "My, you're a little young to be a mother, though. Well, no matter! I'm Fuyuko, but you can call me Yuko!" She flitted her fake eyelashes at them. Muffy tried to react.
"Um… Mrs. Yuko… I think you might be a little mistak-"
"So where is your groom, lovey-pie?" Yuko aimed at Haru, totally disregarding what Muffy was trying to say. Akira looked horrified as he turned to Haru. She urged him for help with her eyes but he shook his head vigorously.
"Whatever is the matter, dumplings? Is something wrong? Come now, tell your mommy…" Yuko cooed. Haru knew that this wasn't going to go smoothly.
"Um… Mom…. This is Griffin. And that's Muffy… she's my best friend and Akira's… um… girlfriend?" Haru said this as slowly as she could. Akira looked at his shoes. Yuko looked a little bit stunned as she turned back to look at Griffin once more. She grabbed a pair of spectacles from her pocket and squinted in Haru's fiancé's direction. She turned back towards Haru, her large mouth slack and rimmed with bright red lipstick.
"… Honey, that was supposed to be a joke, right?" She mumbled to her daughter, "You can't possibly be serious." Her voice was pinched. Haru nodded trying not to show any emotion whatsoever. She knew her mother was about to make a terrible scene…
"No, this cannot be, pumpkin… This man… he's…" Yuko was grasping for the right words as Haru madly shook her head, trying to get her mother to stop.
"Mom, Griffin's a great guy." Akira attempted to help, but Yuko was already turning back to Griffin.
"How old are you, sir?" She asked Griffin sharply. Griffin could barely speak and he began to blush a little.
"I-I'm… thirty-nine." It was as if he were admitting something shameful. Yuko cried out and grasped at her chest.
"NO, NO, NO!" Yuko shouted, "You may not marry my daughter, you filthy old man! How dare you even try to defile the innocence of my poor sweet daughter!" She raged in Griffin's direction. He shrunk back as she shouted at him, his face turning redder by the second.
"Mrs. Yuko, you shouldn't speak to Griffin like that!" Muffy rushed to Griffin's defense and put herself in the line of fire.
"Who are you to talk, you stringy little strumpet?"
"MOTHER!" Akira yelled in Yuko's direction, "Please refrain from using such derogatory phrases when speaking to Muffy!" Akira was suddenly very proper, "She is very dear to us all and comes from respectable stock."
"Aki, my dear! You were supposed to be protecting your sister from predators like this!" Yuko wailed at her son.
"Mommy, Griffin is a wonderful man… you don't even-" Haru tried to protest. Yuko burst into angry tears and scurried to the door.
"NO! I won't have it! Think of your linage, Haruka! I knew this would happen when you said you wanted to be a farmer!"
"Mother!" Haru tried to stop her as she burst out the door, sobbing madly to herself. Akira went out behind her, trying to get her to calm down. Griffin was looking crestfallen and ashamed in the corner.
"Griffin, I'm so sorry." Haru apologized and drew closer to her fiancé. "Don't listen to anything-"
An almighty wail erupted from outside and Haru froze.
"I'll be back, don't move." Haru told them as she spun on her heel and went outside to attend her mother. She was sitting in a messy heap outside the bar with her makeup running down her cheeks.
"Mommy, please. Try and stop crying." Haru asked her mother as she crouched beside her in the dust.
"Haru… for years our family has married into respectable families to keep our noble linage. Your father put these crazy ideas about farming into your head… but you should do what's right for your family! Break off the engagement immediately and come home. We need you to take up the family business!"
"Mother, no! I'm in love with Griffin, no matter what you think about him! And I NEVER want to be the president of that stupid cosmetics company!"
Yuko looked throughly violated.
"B-but I've trained you since birth." She uttered, horrified.
"I like it here. I have friends, a good farm, I'm in love, and I'm perfectly happy. Shouldn't you be pleased?" Haru responded.
"You just wait, Haruka! I'm going to invite Phillip and his father to the wedding, then we'll see who you really want!" Yuko said with finality. Haru blanched and Akira stood stiff and silent.
"No, mommy. Please, I don't want to see him." Haru protested.
"You two have been betrothed since birth." Yuko said with venom in every word. Haru frowned.
"We broke off the engagement, remember? I don't like him, anyway."
"We'll see about that, we'll see!" Yuko rose from where she sat in a puddle and took up all her bags.
"Mom! Wait!" Akira tried to go after her, but she was determined. Haru sighed deeply as she watched her mother go. This was really too much.
Thinking of Griffin, Haru went back into the bar quietly. Griffin was sitting dejectedly behind the bar with Muffy beside him. She was talking in a low, sympathetic voice.
"Haru…" She noticed Haru as she came in. Muffy rose from where she sat and drew close to Haru, "Say something to him." She whispered to Haru, then went out the door, looking around for Akira.
Haru tiptoed over to Griffin and sat beside him, putting a hand on his back.
"Hey, don't look so down." She told him tenderly, "Don't let a thing she says bother you."
Griffin looked up into Haru's eyes.
"Maybe she's right. Maybe I am too old for you. I mean, she's not the first to say it… My friends in Mineral Town… they're all being so cold to me… ever since I told them I was getting married." He admitted. Haru's heart stung with pain and fear.
"Do you… not want to marry me…?" She asked, fearing what his answer might be. He looked at her deeply his eyes swimming with pain.
"Haru, I want to marry you more than anything else in the world. Nothing would make me happier, honestly. But if it's going to ruin you life… I…"
"Griffin, I love you." She said strongly. "I wouldn't care if the whole world was against us, I'd still want to marry you. No sadness would be greater than a life without you by my side."
His expression turned serene and subtly joyful.
"Then let's do it, even if the world says 'no'. Let's get married tomorrow."
