Chapter 6 – Family Tie
It was very early when Pete decided to visit Romana as he heard from Claire about a thief whom she met there. He wanted to ask old Romana about any information about him to help them catch the thief. As he entered the mansion…
"I won't take it, Lumina!" yelled Romana.
"Just take it, grandma!" scolded Lumina.
Pete approached them just as Sebastian went to him. "Greetings, Mr. Pete. If it's not a burden to you, may I ask you a favour? Ms. Romana and Ms. Lumina are having an argument and I was not able to do anything. May I ask for your help?" asked Sebastian politely.
"Sure thing."
Just as Pete tried to get near them, both of them yelled. "We don't need your help!" He stopped right on his track and looked very troubled.
Upon realizing Pete's concern, Lumina apologized. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Pete. Maybe Pete can solve this problem, grandma."
"You might be right," said Romana.
"So, what's the problem?" asked Pete.
"Actually, I'm getting worried about grandma's health, so I made her a present. When I gave her the present, everyone was happy, until she opened the gift. She did not like it," said Lumina.
"She gave me a belly warmer!" yelled Romana.
"I spent so much time making it for you…"
"Only old people use belly warmer! I'm not old!"
Lumina looked as if she's gonna explode, but she held back. "So, Pete, whose fault is this?"
Pete stared at the three for a while before making his mind up. "…Sebastian. It's his fault…"
Romana and Lumina were both shocked but Sebastian chuckled. "Haha, you might be right. I'm in the wrong."
"…I guess, we'll just being silly, right, grandma?" asked Lumina.
"You're right. I'm sorry for being rude and… Thank you for the belly warmer, Lumina," said Romana.
Pete was grateful that everything was solved. He then proceeded to ask them about the thief, but they're clueless, so they're not much of help. As he exited the mansion, he recalled his fight with Claire last night. He scolded Claire for having Elli look after him and treating him like a little child. He claimed that he could take care of himself. Claire told him that she's only worried about him and she didn't want bad things to happen to him while she's away. His stupid pride had hurt Claire. He remembered the moment he regretted his harsh words, it was too late. As he leant against Claire's door, he heard her choked sobs.
Claire entered the excavation site, but Carter and Flora were not there.
"Hey Claire…"
She saw Gray. "Hey Gray. Where're Carter and Flora?"
"They're in the mine. You're here to dig?"
"Emm… Yeah… Not really…" Claire scratched her head.
Gray laughed. "Hey, what's wrong? You seem like you can't make a decision right now. Are you okay?" He said as he held her shoulders in concern.
Claire looked away, blushing slightly. "I'm fine. Maybe I'm just a little tired."
"I see." The Uma-printed-cap-wearing boy let go of Claire. "My grandpa presses me to work every day and it's hard on me, seriously. It's a very tough work, I mean, right? I mean, farming." Claire nodded. "Blacksmithing is tough too. But I won't give up 'cos grandpa used to have his hard times too. So, why not me? I should feel the same pain he underwent to be the best blacksmith ever. If I wanna be his successor, I need to undergo his every training. You seem to be able to go through you difficulties, so I guess, I can do it to, right?" Again, Claire nodded. "Ah… Sorry… I talked too much."
"No no no… It's okay. I mean, it's great to be able to talk to you. You know, you're a good example to me, apart from Pete. I should work harder to keep up with you guys."
Both of them laughed when Carter and Flora came out of the mine. Since the two eyed Gray and Claire cheekily, the girl farmer decided to continue her work and left.
Claire walked around the valley and decided to make a quick stop at the Inner Inn. As she entered the inn, nobody was there so she rang the bell enough times to annoy a certain red-haired girl.
"Hey! I'm busy cooking here!" Yelled Nami who came out of the kitchen.
"Where's Ruby?"
"She's got something to do. Hey, I can't chat with you too long. What is it do you want?"
"I wanna stay here…" said Claire with a straight face.
"Ffhhstay here…?!" Nami burst into laughter. "Ehem… You're joking right? You're already staying in the valley!" She smiled. "Ha! That truly made my day, Claire. Come in. Maybe I can fix you something."
"Thanks." The girls walked into the kitchen. "You don't mind watching over the inn?" asked Claire.
"Nope. I'm indebted to Ruby for having me here, so helping her is some sort of a way for me to repay her, no matter how small it is. Though, guests don't appear so often. Here, have a drink."
"Thanks."
The door opened and revealed Ruby carrying a bag of groceries. "I'm back. Hey there, Claire!"
"Yo! Ruby!"
"Hmm… Why are you looking upset?" asked Ruby.
"Upset? No I'm not!" Claire tried to deny it, but, her expression and her eyes looking away obviously told Ruby otherwise. What a pathetic liar…
"I thought she looks upset too, so I invited her inside to talk about it," said Nami. "She even said she wanna stay here!"
Ruby's eyes widened. "Really?! Oh dear… What happened?"
Let's recall what happened last night…
"I'm home!" The blonde farmer went to Pete's bed straight away. "Hey big brother! Are you getting better?"
"…" He looked pissed off.
"What's wrong? Did Elli give you the wrong medicine? You're not feeling any better?" asked Claire innocently.
"…I'm burning…" Pete clenched the mattress, but Claire did not notice it.
"Burning? Let me feel…" She put her hand on Pete's forehead.
"I'm burning… with RAGE!" The boy yelled at Claire's face as he slapped her hand away. The girl's face went bloodless. "Why did you send Elli to take care of me?! Why did you act as if I can't take care of myself?! Why are you treating me like a child?! I'm not a little kid that needs to be pampered by YOU!" Pete shouted as he pointed his index finger towards Claire.
"B-B-But, I'm worried… about you…" Claire cowered in fear.
"I don't care, Claire! I don't need your concern! I'm old enough to take care of myself! I don't need you to babysit me! You should look after yourself! You can't even solve your own problems!"
"…I don't want… anything bad… happen to you, Pete…" Claire's body was shaking slightly, as well as her voice.
"I don't need your concern, Claire! Nothing bad will happen to me if you just stay out of MY business!"
The younger one fought the urge to cry. "If that's what you want, then… I'll leave!" She ran to her room and locked herself in there. Stupid Pete… Stupid! Idiot! I'm just trying to be a good little sister and this is how you repay me! Stupid Pete! As she sat on the floor, leaning against the door, she pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them. She buried her face in her arms and wept.
"I don't even know what to say…" commented Nami.
"That's terrible. You both seem to fight really badly last night." Ruby put her hands on both Claire's shoulders. "…However, that what siblings do, Claire…" She said motherly.
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes, fighting is a way to enhance love, you know. I'm sure Pete feels bad about last night. When that feeling comes, you become more appreciative to one another. You become more attached to one another and more loving to one another. No fighting, no argument, no quarrel, makes a relationship dull. Sometimes, it can limit your love because you never try to cross the border. You only play safe and never try something new. Fighting with your sibling means, you cross the border and get out of the safe zone to explore the depth of your relationship. As you fight, you'll instil the feelings of mutual understanding and affection to the other. Pete… He wants you to understand that he doesn't want to be babysat. And Claire… You want him to understand that you're concerned about him, right?" Claire nodded. "By the time both of you recall and feel bad about the fight, both of you will understand each other and come to respect your respective desires more."
"But, why must he yell at me? Why must he throw all those words to me?"
"Men… They have pride," said Nami.
"Pride…?"
"Yes. Pride. All of us have our own pride. You do have your pride, right, Claire?" asked Ruby.
"Yes. My pride is… my brother… He's the most important person in my life." Claire got up. "I… I gotta go. I really have to go. Umm… Bye, and thanks, Ruby, Nami."
Ruby and Nami smiled.
It started pouring. Pete who was on his way home decided to stop by at Vesta's while waiting for the rain to stop.
"…Hey, it's you."
"Marlin, sorry for entering just like that. It's raining all of sudden," said Pete as he took of his cap.
"…No problem."
"Where's Vesta?"
"…Upstairs. Celia's not feeling well."
"I see… So, care to talk?" asked Pete, sitting on a chair at the table.
"…I don't wanna talk."
"Okay…" They just sat there, silently. Marlin gazed at the kitchen, Pete gazed at the raindrops, until Vesta came.
"Oh, hello Pete! I didn't know you came!" greeted the loud farmer.
"It's raining out there, so I decided to make a stop. How's Celia?"
"She's just tired. How's Claire?" Vesta got herself seated next to Marlin.
At that question, Pete stuttered. "Umm… Well… You see… Claire… Umm… I… Umm… She's… She's fine… I think…?"
"Why are you stuttering, boy?"
Pete patted his head. "Stuttering? No I'm not!" Yes, he looked away.
"…What's up?" asked Marlin.
"Did something happen?" asked Vesta, serious.
Pete sighed. "We fought and I hurt her feelings."
"Ah… Men's pride…!" Vesta smirked as she glanced at Marlin.
"…What?"
"Nothing." She laughed. "You must've said something like, 'I can take care of myself,' am I right?"
"You really are right, Vesta. What should I do? She said she's leaving the house! Damn my stupid pride!"
"Ahah! Pete, why don't you tell her your true feelings?"
"My true feelings?"
"Yeah. You must be carried away by emotions that time, so you could barely think straight," said Vesta.
"…Yeah… Sort you feelings first…" said Marlin.
Pete thought over the last night incident. That moment, he was ashamed, because Elli looked after him. She was a little bit clumsy and the way she treated him was… motherly. She made him feel like a small kid, and it's not a good feeling. He's used to Claire's treatment, bittersweet. She understood him, even if he never expressed his feelings openly, she understood him. So, when Claire made Elli take care of him, he could not tolerate it considering that Claire could've just left her work and cared for him by herself. After all, she dumped work for years before HG vanished, so why couldn't she dump a day of work for her dear brother? When he yelled at her, his train of thoughts brought him to Elli and sometimes, it shifted to Claire. That's it! He's not angry because Claire was worried about him and sent Elli to watch over him, but he's upset because Claire did not take care of him!
"I'm going home!" exclaimed Pete. "See ya!"
Marlin looked puzzled, but Vesta put up her hands and rested her chin on them. "That boy sure gets it fast, just like the little girl."
"Claire!" Pete saw Claire heading towards the ranch.
The young girl who was standing in front of the path leading to their home smiled and dashed towards the running boy. "Pete! I've been looking all over the place for you!"
They reached each other physically and emotionally, and they hugged in the rain.
"Claire, I…"
"Shh… No need for words, big brother. No need for words…"
an: I wanna make it more sentimental, but I just can't go further. T.T
Pretty long chapter. Next chapter should be shorter!
