Disclaimer: The song featured here was performed, and possibly written by Frank Sinatra, so I'm assuming it's his property. Thank you...

The next day, Mineral Town apparently decided to hold a special Singing celebration for the return of their old friend and newly appointed Craftlord of Iron at the church. The Captain that took Mitchel over to Mineral Town apparently returned with a Karaoke Machine in turn, which had the townsfolk very excited over the many possibilities given to them.

Inside the church, many of the townsfolk, along with the hearty sailor, sat in anticipation while Mitchel prepared his opening number with a few of the girls.

"Uh, man… I'm still having a hard time that I was dressed like some gaudy bimbo yesterday. "Karen groaned with a red face. She then glared at Mitchel in a panic.

"Ah… Mitch, Are you SURE there isn't anything else you wanted to tell me when I was acting all… self-absorbed?" she asked reluctantly.

Mitchel momentarily thought back about the time she tried to seduce him, but immediately struck it out of his memory.

"No, nothing!" Mitchel replied with a nervous grin.

Karen nodded slowly. "Alright, if you say so. I just had the strangest feeling about it. Anyway, I think I better do something about the outfit and all that jewelry just in case I loose my mind again and get the sudden urge to dress up like a Christmas tree." She groaned.

"Oh, I don't know about the dress. You actually looked great in it." Mitchel replied with a straight face.

Karen gave Mitchel a funny look.

"You're just saying that as a friend, right? No side motivation of getting your kicks in on a hot look?" Karen asked in agitated voice.

"Of course. I'm pretty sure you've known me long enough to get that I'm not into that sort of thing. I'm just saying… If you ever wanted to please someone special, the dress'll do it. You have the right idea about the blingy stuff, though." Mitchel grinned.

Karen smiled back. "Got it."

She then casually sauntered closer to her childhood friend with an even wider grin on her face.

"You know, that girl you really seem to like has been making the occasional fuss since you left for Lyndbaum. This looks like the perfect chance to make your move, in my opinion." She whispered in Mitchel's ear.

The surprised Craftknight was left a little red in the face until a certain red-head approached him.

"You little sword-wielding creep!" Ann growled.

He and Ann exchanged resentful stares.

"I'm still not sure what happened yesterday, but I saw a hole in the Inn door for some reason, and I know you had to be responsible for it! You WERE here yesterday, after all!" She cried.

Mitchel shrugged. "I don't know why you have to resort to blaming me for everything, but I'm neither desperate nor stupid enough to pay you back that way." He replied coldly.

"Oh no… you're paying alright! And if you're not paying for damages by cash, I'll have to do a little equivalent exchange! An eye for an eye, right?" She threatened.

Mitchel shined a twisted grin on his face.

"Oh, I agree. An eye for putting my love of chickens when you happened to have a friend with a similar interest, and another eye for every damn time you try to tried to use me for your crazy pleasures." He replied.

Ann was about to jump in and rearrange Mitchel's face until something caught her ear.

"Come on. Just admit that you're still mad over being the guy chucking you into the Goddess Pond that time harassed him at the Hot Spring." Kai grinned.

"UGH! SHOVE IT!" Ann exclaimed when she nailed Kai in jaw.

She then turned towards Mitchel with a vengeful look. A showdown between these two bitter acquaintances seemed inevitable until a mutual friend stepped in.

"Ann! I thought you promised you would lay off Mitchel when he returned!" Popuri cried.

"WHAT?! It's been four whole years and you STILL hold me to something like that? I thought you would've grown up and realized by now what kind of jerk your fellow "Chicken lover" is!" Ann fumed, pointing a shaky finger at Mitchel.

"I told you! He's not a jerk! You… you were just… a little too rough on him!" Popuri tried to say in his defense.

Ann's eyes were still fixed on Mitchel like a rabid beast, but she decided to turn away for now.

"…Fine. Just… take care of yourself, okay?" Ann growled before she stepped down.

"Thanks, Ann." Popuri said gratefully.

Ann merely grumbled back when she took her seat, while Popuri went to Mitchel's side.

"I'm sorry, Mitchel. I really hoped things between you two would cool down when you went away. Both of you are my friends, after all." Popuri apologized with a weak smile.

"It's alright. You don't have to apologize for things that aren't your fault." Mitchel sighed.

The two of them exchanged smiles, but an odd feeling stirred up Popuri. She suddenly brought both arms behind her back. She started swaying her body around in a childish manner, but her faced was a little flustered.

"Say… Mitchel…" Popuri uttered with her face slightly pink.

"Yeah?" Mitchel asked curiously.

Thoughts both pleasant and unpleasant filled the anxious girl's mind. She tried very hard to force some words she had in mind after the aspiring Craftknight left, but then she laid eyes upon her sword and felt upset.

"Uh… you made such a great deal out of "Lady Lynn" yesterday! You were living with her when you were training to be a Craftknight, right? And she loaned you a material for your favorite sword?" she asked.

Mitchel nodded his head hesitantly and slowly.

"….does any of that really make her so special?" Popuri fumed. "You could've had any other mentor, right? I bet all the others could've done the same for you, yet you were stuck with her! But still… I know you like her a lot, right? I heard you said she had a really nice body, too!"

Mitchel turned red with completely mixed emotions.

"Hey! Karen and Cliff forced that out of me! B-besides… Lady Lynn was more like a Big Sister and Teacher to me than anything else! Why? Is there something else you felt like talking to me about?" Mitchel defended himself.

Then it was Popuri's turn to have a red face. Apparently, she was left speechless.

Her body had to do the talking by holding onto Mitchel tight.

"… I swear that isn't the normal reaction for anyone when I saw something wrong…" Mitchel uttered aloud.

"…wh-why do you still talk to me so casually? Everybody else around here grew up just fine, but they all still see me as a child! And… I guess they're right. I really don't feel any more grown up all this time. And I...can tell you've grown up so much since last time! Wh…why aren't you treating me the same? Why aren't you with girls more grown-up like you are?" She cried.

Mitchel responded with a serene smile and stroked her hair gently, which stirred an eerily familiar feeling to the pink-haired girl.

"I'm sure you'll find that out for yourself." He assured her.

For awhile, Popuri gazed up at the young Craftlord fondly. But eventually, Mitchel removed his hand and took out something from his pocket. It appeared to be a rectangle shape with fancy wrapping.

"By the way. I owe you this. Just… don't ask." Mitchel said with a playful grin as he handed her the gift.

Popuri immediately wafted in a chocolate scent. She was a bit confused, but wasn't about to complain and left it in her designated seat. Chocolate was one of her favorite treats anyway.

"Alright. Let's all get into positions!" Mitchel ordered.

Immediately, Mary headed towards the pipe organ while Elli, Karen, and Popuri got behind Mitchel.

"Everybody, thank you for holding this special Singing Karaoke night! I wasn't sure if everyone was willing to agree to, but I'm glad to have the support of my favorite town!" He announced.

Everyone in the church seats applauded.

"I'm also thankful for Captain Maverick Bison for providing us with the Karaoke Machine!

The surly Captain stood up and waved at the audience while they gave him a special round of applause before taking his seat again.

"Well, with that done, how about we get this started? The first song of the day is a personal favorite of mine. It's a bit of an oldie, actually, but I'm sure you'll all recognize it to be a classic."

Mitchel then cleared his throat while Karen, Ann, and Popuri prepared join in as backup.

"Okay, Mary. Go ahead and start us off!"

Mary gave a simple nod and hit the Karaoke remote. Afterwards, she played a little introduction as Mitchel and the other girls held up their microphones.

That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.

I said that's life, and as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks,
Stompin' on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down,
'Cause this fine ol' world it keeps spinning around

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king.
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing:
Each time I find myself, flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race.

That's life
I tell ya, I can't deny it,
I thought of quitting baby,
But my heart just ain't gonna buy it.
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try,
I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king.
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing:
Each time I find myself laying flat on my face,
I just pick myself up and get back in the race

That's life
That's life and I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out
But my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shakin' come this here July
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die
My, My…

After Mitchel finished holding the last note, the entire townsfolk applauded.

"Frank Sinatra, huh? Interesting choice, coming from you." Karen remarked from behind.

Mitchel shrugged. "Hey, when you get around quite a bit, you're bound to develop an appreciation for some the oldies." He replied.

After the performance group gave one last bow, an excited Ann rushed the stage.

"Okay, now it's my turn!" Ann exclaimed when she reached for the lead mic.

Mitchel decided to leave the stage quickly while the other girls took their time.

"Alright! I'm ready to begin!" Ann cheered.

Mary looked up Ann's selection on the list and prepared the appropriate music for her performance.

Mitchel took his position in a corner and watched everyone joined in as Ann begun her peculiar rendition of "Men in Tights", which she managed to get most of the audience into participating. He felt somewhat disturbed by her choice of song, but was nonetheless glad to see everyone in high spirits. He then nodded to himself, recognizing the happy occasion going on around him.

"It's good to finally be back." Mitchel said to himself.

Author's Notes: For those planning to review who haven't done so for Chapter Three, you better put in a word about that Chapter because this was more of a random wrap-up. Seriously.

Anyway, I had fun with this bit of crazy batchelorette malforming. I feel guilty for doing it, but it was an essential part of the plot along good old Corena "Claire" Artwaltz, the scheming Witch Princess posing as their new farmer.

Oddly enough, while I was listening to music from a certain famous Video Game Franchise of the 90's and writing in Karen's lines, I realized I didn't go in too deep with the childhood relationship between Mitchel and Karen in "The Differences Between Love and Hatred". That deserves some attention… along with more obscure video game references! That's right! Mitchel and Karen! No romance or anything like that (because he's clearly in love with Popuri, for crying out loud…), just good old fun with blazing blue fireballs, dragon punches, and childhood memories!

…Yeah, you're confused already, aren't you? Well, just wait for the next fic. (Sorry, "Cinder Gina" fans…)

Reminder: Skimping Readers PLEASE comment on Chapter 3 if you haven't done so already! Well, I'm done…