"Haa . . ." I sighed, wiping the sweat off my forehead. I looked up at the clear, blue sky, blocking the strong sunlight with my hand. "Why must Summer be so hot?" I glanced at Finn who was sunbathing on a rock. He had a large drink with a bendy straw in it. "Do you mind sharing that drink, Finn?" I asked him, walking over.
"No way." He said with no hesitation.
My shoulders sunk. "But I was the one who prepared that drink for you!"
Finn adjusted his sunglasses. "Your point?"
I sighed.
After a while, Finn spoke again. This time, not about the drink, but . . . "You're lonely, aren't you? You should go see Wizard." He pointed to my field which was practically filled with crops, each overlapping each other. Most of them were as big as my tree. "I mean, you've been spending too much time on your field. Usually you would go see Wizard at this time. Stop avoiding him."
Specifically, I told Finn to never bring up the subject about Wizard. But Finn's right. I've been making money ten times as much as I did last season, because every minute I spend was on my field. He's also right about me avoiding him. It's been three weeks since I last saw him ever since that incident. I think about how I should approach him when the time comes. But the question is, when? My heart trembles whenever I think about him and Witch. I should be a good friend and support his feelings! Not mine. Maybe I'm not so much of a good person, after all.
A small, dry tear rolled down my cheek. This is why I told Finn to never bring up any subject related to Wizard. I was taking my thoughts off him for a while!
"Finn! I'm going to the Carpenter's!" I screamed, already half way down the path to Garmon Mines. Maybe seeing happy-go-lucky Luke and Bo would cheer me up.
. . . . .
BAM!
I stumbled backwards, landing on the rocky terrain. My forehead was slightly bleeding, a large bump forming. On the other hand, I heard a large THUD. I looked up and saw Luke with an axe in his hand, and an expression I couldn't see within the shadows. The shiny, sharp axe and him right in front of me . . . He was going to . . . Murder me! I literally screamed at the top of my lungs.
"H-Hikari!!" He yelled loudly, trying to penetrate through my high pitch screaming. The axe was now on the floor and both his hands were on his ears. Soon enough, I stopped. "T-That was some . . . Some awesome screaming." He shook his head from the dizziness, and took my hand; bringing me into a standing position. "Sorry 'bout that, Hikari!"
I nodded, scratching my head. "No, I'm sorry. I thought you were going to kill me though!" I pointed to the axe which seemed longer than my body.
Taking a step back, Luke gasped. His jaw dropping, "Eh?! I'd never do such a thing! If I did, which I wouldn't, Dad would seriously kill ME!" He face turned blue, trembling at the horror.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Fugue Forest, huh? You should be careful! Wouldn't want you to get lost again." I warned him with a grin. There was a time I had to look for him at night since Dale told me that Luke had a bad sense of direction. Later, I found him nearly at the end of the forest, chopping wood.
Luke paused, scratching his chin as if he was thinking. "You . . . Are right!!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me down the path, heading back to the bridge. "I'll bring you along with me since you know more about this island than me!" I gawked.
"But--"
He cut me off, grinning happily. "This will be so fun! I'm exploding with excitement right now!~" I wished Bo was here, honestly. Then I glanced at Luke's hand which was gripping onto mine. Déjà vu? But now that I think about it, there was a similar time when I was holding hands with someone . . . !
My eyes widened. I could feel the tears, but I held back, somehow. There was that time . . . That time when Wizard and I were holding hands in the darkness of Fugue Forest, on the way to save Witch. Could this be a mere coincidence? I shook my head, trying to make that thought disappear.
"Hikari, are you okay?" Luke spoke, stopping in his tracks. A voice whispered in my mind, "Miss Hikari . . . You okay?" At that moment, I saw Luke slowly turning into Wizard, his hand still holding mine. It was a vivid, quick vision. I blinked a couple of times and Wizard disappeared, only leaving behind Luke who was staring at me anxiously. What just happened?
"O-Oh! Yes! Yes, I'm fine. Shall we continue?" I smiled, trying to be my usual happy self. Luke nodded and walked, never letting go of me. I thought about what happened earlier. That kind of scared me a little. But I realized . . . Forgetting Wizard and trying to remove him from my memories will never happen. Before I knew it, Luke and I were both standing in front of Fugue Forest already.
I gasped, "Wha. . . ?! How'd we get here so fast?!" My eyes wandered around.
Luke arched an eyebrow, looking at me with confusion. "What are you talking about? It took us about thirty minutes to get here." He flinched my forehead, his goofy smile taking place. "Is the heat getting to ya? Maybe I shouldn't have forced you to come with me."
My eyes blinked a couple of times, and then smiled. "You're right. I guess I was spacing out too much. Sorry, Luke. But I'm staying with you! Your dad will get pretty mad if you're not back by nighttime!" He patted my shoulder and walked ahead, bringing out the axe that was strapped behind his back. "Let's go, go, go!~" Luke started to rush from tree to tree like a little child, chopping everything as he went. It was hard to catch up to him, but it was worth it. Playing with Luke really made my day.
We started playing tag, which was hard. When I tried to tag him, he'd always swing or point the axe at me. But I finally got him when he slammed right into a tree. That's what you get for not looking forwards. Luke tagged me pretty easily since I always tripped over rocks and twigs on the forest floor. When I was 'it' again, he ran forward and forward and ended up falling into a river. I never learned how to swim so I stayed far away from the water as I could. Then, I saw him drowning so I was standing near the water, reaching my arm to him. He took my hand, but pulled me into the river. I was splashing him to let me back on the land, and of course, he did. We were both staring at each other and began to laugh.
Finally, we started walking further down the forest for no apparent reason. I guess since it was still afternoon, Luke had some time left to hang out with me.
He sighed, stretching his arms out. "That was so fun! But who would've thought that you were scared of water." He stuck his tongue out, along with his goofy smile. There, I elbowed Luke straight into the side of his chest.
I blushed with a pout. "I'm not scared of water! I just don't know how to swim."
Luke laughed, "Suuuuure." I elbowed him again, laughing as well.
"Oh yeah. Gill told me about this witch that was rumored to be deep in the forest. I wanted to check it out! To be honest . . . "He started looking away, his golden eyes squinting at his shirt."I was too scared to go by myself so I asked Bo, but he said that I was stupid to believe in that stuff. Dad said he had to watch over the shop. Also, Gill. . . Well he was kinda angry about giving him the wrong design for the table still." He mumbled, "Can't believe he's still not over that . . . "Then Luke looked back at me, grinning. "So I decided to take you with me!"
My cheeks turned pink towards the end. Even though it had no meaning, I couldn't help but blush. Then, I heard a DING ringing through my mind. Wait a minute . . . The Witch?! There was no way I'd--- Too late. Luke had already spotted a small house which was the center of a swamp. He looked around, spinning, examining every spec of this land.
"Wow!! This is so cool!" He said. "Even though I visited this forest ever since I was little . . . I never expected to be a small house here!! Hikari, is that the witch's house?! Let's go see!" I could tell that his eyes were sparkling with curiosity, and a tad bit of cuteness. There's no way I can say no to him. No way. So I sighed, walking towards Witch's house and knocking on her door cautiously. The door creaked open slightly, an eye popping from the darkness.
"Huh . . . ? Oh. I remember you." The voice said. Obviously Witch. "You're that human girl who was with that b*****d." What? Did I hear that clearly? I know she was mentioning Wizard, or I think she was. The first time I visited her was with Finn and Wizard. No one else. Maybe she was talking about Finn. Then again, Finn never met Witch until recently. So then why was she speaking about Wizard that way? Could it be her personality? Must be.
"Well?" I snapped back into reality. "What is it that you want?" She asked again.
My eyes glanced at Luke and at that moment, he disappeared. "What? M-My friend was here just a while ago." I panicked. Witch let out a sigh, opening the door all the way, signaling me to come inside.
"I erased his memories and sent him back to his home. I don't want anyone to know my whereabouts or that I exist." I looked at her, pointing at myself. "Oh, well. I feel like I can trust you, that's all."
I stepped inside, sitting on a stool, staring at a teacup that was already prepared for me. Witch sat at the other end of the wooden table and sipped on her tea. Also continuing on a book she was reading. We both were silent and I clearly had no idea what to say. After all, she kissed Wizard so of course I'd feel awkward. I began to stand up, excusing myself. "Sorry for bothering you . . . I have, um, work to do!"
She was still staring at the book, saying nothing. I was expecting her to say goodbye or something, but I just continued on my way.
"You. . ." I stopped dead in my tracks. "You like Wizard, don't you?" She suddenly asked. I could feel her piercing eyes staring down at me. Again, I was feeling pressure. Maybe I was annoying her and she was going to tell me to back off. Or . . . Maybe they're married!
I turned around to face her and bowed, sweat running down my face. "I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to!" I continued, "I'm sorry I took Wizard away from you! I'm sorry I came with him to help you back into your human form! I'm sorry I saw you kiss him---"
Witch stood and slammed her book onto the table. "Kiss?! Since when?!" I could tell she was angry as her face filled up with anger.
"A-After you went back to your human form . . ." I was still bowing, not daring to look at her irritated expression. "Wizard was covering his cheek and. . . And he was covering a red mark. Then your face was red . . . So . . ." My voice faded away as I prepared for a serious punishment from her. I shut my eyes tight, scared of what's going to happen next.
"Lift your head, human." She spoke, crossing her arms. "Obviously, you misunderstood! I slapped him like a whip! And my face was red because I was angry!" I could see her blush in embarrassment towards the last sentence. "Anyway, it's easy to tell that you have feelings for Wizard, after all. Also, you're the type to misunderstood things easily." She smirked.
My face reddened as I began shifting eyes across the room. "I guess so . . . ?"
Witch pointed at the door, motioning me to leave the house. "Go see Wizard. You got a lot of explaining to do, and one more thing, I. Hate. Him." Her teeth gritted, an angry vein revealed at the side of her forehead. Immediately, I dashed out and headed towards the forest. I was so stupid! I've been ignoring Wizard after all this time over a simple misunderstanding! To him, I must've been cruel! Now, I was running towards Harmonica Town like an ostrich at an animal race.
-- Wizard --
When was the last time I saw her smiling, innocent face? It's been too long. Ever since the day we went together in the forest, she never spoke to me again. I remembered the tears rolling down her eyes as she stared at me, saying goodbye as if it was the last time we were going to see each other. Did I do something wrong? My heart aches for her now and guilt was everywhere. But how was I supposed to see her? I'm frightened to think that she might burst into tears, creating a puddle right before my eyes. So I stayed in the shadows, as if I was waiting for her return.
. . . . .
I have risen from my slumber, a nightmare if you will. My hair was a mess and I found myself lying on the cold, hard floor. I sat up, fixing my braid. What happened and how did I end up on the cold? . . . I have no clue. But it seems like it's already past noon. I have never slept that long. . .
"What? No way!"
My head turned to the windows, an angered voice that could be heard beyond them. There seems to be two people. The second person seemed to have a mature-like voice with a hint of a southern accent.
"Mm-hmm. I saw Hikari and Luke walking through the forest, hand in hand."
. . . I felt my heart throb in pain.
"Do you think that . . . ?"
"No way!! Hikari is just too plain! . . . And nice!! There's no way my Lukey-poo can fall for her! Oh see? Seems like they didn't work out after all."
Hikari was falling for Luke . . . ? Was this the reason she was gone for so long? Maybe, when I was holding her hand in the forest . . . She didn't like it and couldn't admit that she was in love with Luke. In the end, she bursted into tears. But something doesn't seem right; however . . . I stood, looking through my crystal orb. Never have I used it for my personal reasons, but I had to check. There, within the crystal orb made a vivid image of Luke's thoughts and feelings. I searched; Luke's feelings for Hikari were . . . "Axing Buddy" and "Best Friend". . . . . . . . "Axing Buddy"?
Then the mysterious voices earlier vanished, a faint discussion about un-related matters. However, as soon as they disappeared, I heard fast footsteps and hard breathing. These footsteps had a sense of rhythm to them, almost familiar. Suddenly, the door burst open. It was Hikari, after all. She was sweating and panting as if she ran laps around the whole island. She stepped forward and dropped to the floor, sitting right in front of me. Her face . . . The face that signified her pure essence was looking straight at me, tired and weak. She opened her mouth, trying to make out the words she had to say.
"Wizard . . . Wizard . . ." Again, tears began to overflow. "I-I'm sorry!! I'm sorry for ignoring you after all this time . . . I thought . . . I thought you were in love with Witch so--" She stopped for a moment, wiping the large tears. However, she managed to speak even though her voice is broken from weeping too much. "Misunderstood! I misunderstood everything! I-I was jealous . . . I'm sorry, Wizard!!"
I reached my hand towards her wet, yet soft cheek, brushing away her tears. " . . . It's okay. We're both the same; as well . . . I'm sorry too." Even though I was confused to what she said, I understood of her feelings within her heart.
Both of our eyes met and we hugged as if we hadn't seen each other for years. Welcome back, Hikari. . . . I missed you.
A/N: The misunderstanding has been cleared! I would've added more to Wizard's point of view but I wasn't in the mood.
Just one little, tiny misunderstanding can make your mind go wild. But in the end, your heart is at ease and you are glad you're able to be with that special someone once again.
Anywho, I'm thinking about doing new stories while I'm doing this one. A Molly/Hikari and Chase, Molly/Hikari and Luke, maybe Molly/Hikari and Harvest God, and many more. :3