Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands
7: Leaving
The very next day, I was numb inside. But I was determined to go to Witch Princess's house and tell her that I respected her decision, that if she didn't want the same thing I wanted then it was okay.
It wasn't like I could force her to do anything. Everything I would tell her was a lie, of course, and she would probably know it, but it had to be said. I would tell her that we could carry on being friends, though I very well knew that after last night, nothing would be the same again and we would drift apart, getting to the point where I barely every saw her.
Nathan, Alisa and the Harvest Goddess would probably be happy about this, and I would despise them all for it. I mechanically went through my morning chores, putting the chickens in their pen and letting the dog out. I thought that maybe, sometime in the future, I would get over this, get on with raising islands and building a successful farm.
I pictured myself marrying someone, but every time I did, no matter whom the bride was, the image in my head morphed without my permission and the bride became Witch Princess.
I sighed, knowing this would torment for years to come until I forced myself to stop altogether. I walked robotically to the boat. I finally remembered that the driver's name was Kirk.
"Morning, Mark," he said nicely, "Beautiful day, isn't it?"
My expression must have silenced him again, because he looked away as I climbed in.
"Mystic, Kirk," I mumbled.
We were there far sooner than I wanted to be. I stepped onto the dock and started heading to Tianna's house. The door stood open, but I didn't have the energy to wonder why. Witchkin stepped through the door before I could go in, and she looked up at me with an annoyed expression.
"You really screwed things up this time, guy. Especially for me. How will I defeat the old bag if she's never around for me to challenge?" she whined.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She snorted and gestured inside. "Go on and see."
Hesitantly, I did as she said. I gaped at what I saw. Boxes were everywhere, stacked and labeled neatly. The shelves on the back wall were bare. The beds were no longer in the corners. And the beard and frogs no longer littered the ground. The table was gone, the chairs . . . everything.
There was nothing but boxes.
Tianna stood in front of one, a large black marker in her hand. She wrote something on it, and over her shoulder I read Biggest Bear.
"Hello, Mark," she said to me without looking away. Of course she knew I was here. Her voice was almost business-like, like we barely knew each other.
"Hello," I answered, my voice curiously dead, "What's with the boxes?"
She sighed and turned slowly to face me.
"Mark," she sighed, "My presence here if obviously going to be awful for you now. I think I should just go." I blinked at her, uncomprehending.
"You mean move? Somewhere else?" I said.
She nodded. "Yes. It's too complicated for me here. And besides, the Harvest Goddess won't be so close anymore."
My mouth hung open, and suddenly I was panicking. "Where are you going?" I sounded like I was choking.
She shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted, "Anywhere where I find solitude."
"You can have it here," I said desperately, "I'll leave you alone, I swear! We don't have to be friends, and you can send Witchkin home! Don't go, Witch Princess. Just don't." I was begging, and I didn't even care.
"I'm really just an awful distraction for you here. You haven't raised one island since we've met, or gathered any sunstones, aside from the one I gave you. And it's clear to me you want something I cannot give. So it's best if I go."
"No," I said.
"I've heard from the villagers that they expected you to marry someone named Sabrina. Go on and do that," she encouraged, hiding her expression from me as she looked away.
I reached up and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at me. "Never," I snapped angrily, "I won't. Why are you doing this? You're being such a . . . a . . ."
Her eyes narrowed at me. "Go ahead – say it," she dared. The skull had a reddish tinge.
"A witch," I spat, letting go of her chin and stepping back.
The boxes around her began to disappear, leaving the house bare, and if no one had ever lived there.
"Don't go," I begged once more, forgetting my anger, my insult. "I love you."
She crossed her arms and her expression became unfathomable. "I'm everything everyone says I am, Mark. I don't know what love is."
"You do," I said defiantly, "I know you do."
She shook her head. "No," she said, "I don't." Her voice was so firm, I almost believed her.
"Fine," I said, forgetting my hopes. "Go."
And on that note, she began to disappear, very, very slowly. I didn't even try to stop it. I didn't even care.
But, just before she faded away completely, the mask fell away from her face and she looked just as sad and hopeless as I felt, and I knew what she had told me was a lie.
***
Three weeks. That was how long ago Tianna left, taking all her things and my happiness with her. Witchkin left just a day after her Aunt, stopped by to say goodbye and that she was going home. I had asked, without much hope, if she had any idea where Witch Princess had gone.
"Not a clue," Witchkin admitted, "But at any rate, I'll find her eventually." She smirked and disappeared almost instantly.
After that, I felt like all emotion had left me and I became something of a human robot. The animals could sense my mood, and they grew nervous and uncomfortable.
I didn't water the crops as often as I should have, so a lot of them withered and I had nothing to enter when Felicia came by to invite me to the end-of-the-month crop Festival.
"See you tomorrow, dear," she said sweetly before she left.
People complained the next day about how I had nothing, and someone from Mineral Town won. But their words fell on deaf ears. Taro walked over and scowled at me.
"You're slacking off, boy. What's got you so distracted?" he barked.
I sighed and stared at the sea. "Nothing," I lied.
Why should I talk about it? I didn't want to – all I wanted was to be alone with my misery. I left long before anyone else did, and as was my new hobby, sat down in a wooden chair and stared blankly at the wall.
Sometimes I would try and sort through everything I was thinking, but it got all tangled and unruly in my head.
Did she miss me as much as I missed her? Of course not.
But did she miss me at all? Just a little?
The idea that the separation meant nothing to her was nothing short of painful. But then I remembered her expression the day she had gone, just before she disappeared. In that moment, she looked just as tormented as I did.
But then why should she go?
It didn't make any sense.
Fall became winter, so at least there wasn't anything else to water. One of my chickens got sick, and, even in this state I cared, so I bought some medicine from Mirabelle for her. Spot had grown used to my depression, and I took good care of her, so she was rapidly becoming a fat happy cow. But besides my caretaking, I was lifeless.
And the villagers noticed, too.
"Hey, man, what's wrong?" Denny finally asked after many days of me ignoring everyone. What hurt the worst about not talking to anybody was that none of them had any clue as to why I was so melancholy. It wasn't their fault, of course, so it was awful of me to feel this way, but it couldn't be helped.
"I . . . nothing's wrong," I lied.
His eyes narrowed. "Fine, Mark, don't tell me." He stormed off in the direction of his shabby home.
Taro pestered me more and more about what was wrong, why I acted like this, and every time I told him it was nothing, absolutely nothing.
"Then why are you acting like this? Moping around all the time?" he snapped.
"I'm fine," I replied curtly, not even bothering to answer his question.
I worked robotically until a bit after mid-winter, until it became apparent to me that this wasn't going to work anymore. I had started a farm one year ago because it had been my life's dream, my goal.
When I had washed up here on this Island, it was nothing short of a miracle. But Tianna had robbed me of my joy for this. The whole idea of farming was almost dull to me now. But that's how everything was.
Dull.
Meaningless.
Boring.
It took me until a few days before winter's end to make up my mind. Of course I was far too young to retire, but this farm deserved someone who would take care of it because they wanted to, and I didn't.
Not anymore. I could go back to the city and get some kind of job there. I could sell my land and get a nice price for it . . . I knew how Taro was going to react. He would be angry, no doubt, and sad, but wouldn't everyone here?
It didn't matter to me. I trudged through the snow, thinking only about my task. I raised one fist and knocked on Taro's door. Natalie answered it, a blanket around her shoulders. When I came in, I saw Pierre there, too, sitting at the table with a box of note cards, presumably recipes.
"Mark, hi," Natalie said nicely. Her tone was a bit wary. It was like that with everyone now, though; they spoke to me as if I was a walking time bomb, just waiting to go off.
"Hi," I said dully, "Is your grandfather around?"
Natalie nodded slowly and jabbed a finger over her shoulder. I shut the door and went into the back room, where the beds were.
"Do you think he'll ever stop this?" I heard Pierre mutter.
Natalie's reply was too soft for me to hear. Taro sat on one of the beds, turning his walking stick over in his hands. He looked up when I entered the room, wary like his granddaughter had been.
"Mark." He nodded, "What can I do for you?"
I hesitated for a moment, wondering how to put this news that would be devastating for him. I really did care for him, and everyone else on this Island, though they might not know it from how I've been acting.
I'd apologize before I left. "I . . . I don't think I want this anymore," I whispered brokenly, "I want to go back to the city."
Taro gaped at me for several minutes. A lot of emotions flickered across his face before he settled on being annoyed. "You're talking nonsense, boy," he said finally.
"No," I said defiantly, "I'm not. Chelsea can buy my farm – you can teach her how to run it. She'll probably marry Vaughn eventually, and they can run it together."
Taro blinked and was silent again. "Fine," he said, "If…that's what you want, boy. I'll go find her for you." He rose and began walking towards the door.
I put a hand on his shoulder as he passed. "No, that's not necessary. I can do it."
"Alright, then. I have to go tell the others." Taro sounded a bit robotic himself as he said this, maybe disguising his sadness.
We left the house, passing a confused-looking Natalie and Pierre. Taro went into Chen's Shop first. I found Chelsea at the beach, fishing. I walked up to her and stared out into the waves.
"Mark, hi," she said cautiously.
"Hey, Chelsea," I replied in a friendly way. I wasted no time getting to the point. "I'm leaving. Would you like to buy my farm?"
She blinked at me and the silence that followed was awkward. "Leaving? Mark, why? You love that farm; I know you do. I couldn't take it from you," she said kindly.
"I did love it. But it's different now. Would you buy it? I know you'd like it," I murmured.
She sighed, her expression an odd mixture of sadness, longing and concern.
"I . . . if you're honestly sure. I will buy it." I nodded and led her back to my land.
***
I packed by the end of the week, and the boat was set to pick me up and take me back to the city sometime this evening. I had said goodbye to most everyone, and they all had looked concerned, sad and disappointed.
It honestly hurt to say goodbye to them; I loved them all, in a way. Denny had been the hardest.
"This is crazy, man," he'd said.
I didn't see Denny angry very often; it was difficult to get him riled up. But my news had sparked the anger. "It's what I want, Den," I mumbled.
He whirled and scowled at me. "No, it's not. I know you, and I know you're doing this for some crazy reason I'm not aware of. But whatever, Mark. Come back when you've come to your senses." He'd stormed out of the farmhouse without truly saying goodbye.
I watched the waves crash against the shore as I waited on the dock. I'd said my goodbyes to this Island. I would miss it, in so many ways. I happened to glance over my shoulder and saw a figure approaching in the distance.
I got to my feet and squinted. Taro walked out of the evening fog, his expression gloomy. He walked up to me and nodded once.
"Bye, Mark. We'll all miss you. Come back when you change your mind, boy. Chelsea will give the farm back to you, cause that's the kind of gal she is."
I smiled slightly. "I know she would. But I'm" –
He held up one hand to stop me from speaking. "Don't want to hear it," he said, "Just promise to come back if…if you want to."
I nodded, but I was sad inside. They all honestly expected me to come back – the idea of Sunshine Islands' farmer leaving them forever was surreal.
But sooner or later they would have to realize that I wasn't coming back.
