Chapter 9

(Chelsea)

"Ahh! Morning Hachi. Time to get to work boy." Chelsea yawned. She pulled on some new work clothes, same style, but different colors. Except for her red bandanna, which she would never change.

She looked at the calendar and dropped her brush in shock. Today was spring 20th,Thursday. Her eyes began to water as old memories from years past came rushing back to her at gale force. Her mother. A car. The funeral. All her fault. That fateful day when she lost her mother when she was only 6, this was the ten year mark.

Chelsea calmed herself down and put on a brave face and started her daily work, though her heart just wasn't in it today. She picked the last of the strawberries and turnips and hacked the rest with her Scythe. Beth mooed unhappily when Chelsea brushed her, as if sensing her master's distress. Chelsea smiled sadly.

She sent Hachi to watch Beth and threw the produce in the shipping bin. Chelsea made her way to the town and instantly ran into Julia.

"Chelsea! Just the person I wanted to see." Julia said with a smile. "Morning Julia, what's up?" She said cheerfully.

"I heard you and Vaughn did the K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Is it truuueee?" She pestered. Chelsea turned red, "What? We did not "kiss"! I just gave him a little peck on the cheek to thank him for helping me when I was unconscious."

Julia laughed, "I know, I know. That wasn't the reason I wanted to see you, I already knew you kissed him on the cheek, hey Chels...do you like Vaughn?"

Chelsea smiled, "Of course! I like him, and you, and Pierre, and Mirabelle, and Natalie..." Julia cut her off with an irritated wave of her hand, "Never mind. Anyway, can you come to the animal shop? Vaughn's' been acting crabby all morning."

Chelsea's smile faltered and she shook her head, "No. I'm not in the mood today...ok?" But Julia was persistent, "But, why?"

She was losing her patience, "I just don't want to talk about it, ok?"

"But Chels..."

"I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Chelsea screamed. She was so loud that Vaughn walked out from the animal shop to see what all the commotion was about.

"Can you keep it down? Some people are trying to work-" He trailed off when he saw the angry expression Chelsea had glued on her face and Julia's' slightly hurt one. Chelsea whipped around, fighting to keep her tears at bay.

"Umm, I have to go." She said, as she started walking towards the forest. "Chelsea, wait!" Vaughn shouted, but it was too late, she was already racing towards the forest, the canopy of trees was already enveloping her.

She bumped into the native Shea who was hanging around a tree. "Hello Chelsea. Day good for you?" He said kindly. Chelsea just shook her head and ran farther away, leaving a confused Shea in the dust.

She came to a wide opening, which contained a lake bigger than the one at the church. In her anger she picked up a Moondrop flower and tossed it in the lake, it made a loud *Ker plunk!*.

Chelsea sank to her knees and still fought her waves of misery. Bits and pieces of her memory kept coming back to her.

A little girl on the phone, 'Mommy! I miss you, can you please come home early? I wanna see you.' The girl whimpered. The voice on the phone sounded tired,' Honey, you know Mommy works on the weekdays, I'll see you this weekend.'

'But, Mommy! I want to see you...I'm lonely and Daddy is busy with the house!' The girl continued to whine. The voice on the phone sighed, 'Ok, sweetie, I'll come home today...just for you, my special little Chelsea.'

Little Chelsea beamed, 'Yay! Bye, bye Mommy! I love you!' Her mother laughed, 'I love you too Chelsea, Bye, bye. *Click'

Flash forward and the memory of a car crash filled her mind. The smell of gasoline, the scattered grease stained pieces of machinery, the body of her mother... 'MOMMY! WAKE UP! Don't leave me! MOMMY!' Chelsea had wailed, trying to break away from her father's restraining hold on her. The police declared it a hit and run. Her mother's body was being lifted into an ambulance.

'Chelsea...she's' gone.' Her father said, trying to let her down gently. 'Nooo! She can't be dead, she just c-can't be! It's my entire fault! MOMMY! I WANT MY MOTHER!' She had screamed while she cried desperately for her mother.

Her father's face was streaked with tears, 'Chelsea...'they both collapsed in tears together.

A funeral was planned a few days later, murmurings that people thought were silent enough that a six year old wouldn't hear filled the air.

'Her daughter just wanted her mother home...but not like this.'

'That little girl should have just waited, Sophia would have LIVED!'

'Shh, she'll hear you.'

'Poor thing...she probably blames herself.'

'She should, it's all her fault that her mother is dead.'

Chelsea finally gasped, back to the present. Someone was tapping her shoulder. She looked in front of her and saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, well maybe besides her mother.

She had warm rich brown eyes and full lashes. Her hair was in plaits and was the color of a field in summer. Skin like marble and a dress that flowed around her ankles in a sort of see through fabric that still covered the woman up.

The woman grinned, "Finally, I got your attention. Now let's see(ahem.) Dum dada Daaaa! I'm the Harvest Goddess! Thank you so much for giving me that offering of moonflower and rescuing my dear Harvest Sprite Ben! He's such a trouble maker. Always trying to find ways to cause mischief, but often getting caught in the act.

"Uh...Um..." Chelsea said brilliantly. The goddess patted Chelsea like she was a startled animal.

"It's alright, I just wanted to thank you, I must leave now. Tata." The goddess disappeared, leaving Chelsea all alone again.

Chelsea sighed and sat on the cool earth, she would never forget how her mothers' death was all her fault.

"Chelsea? What are you doing here?" Said a familiar and gruff voice.

She turned around to see Vaughn, looking at her with his usual sneer in place. "Nothing..." She said and sat with her back to him again.

"And why did you ignore me when I called out to you in the animal shop earlier? Now THAT made me pissed off." Vaughn said nonchalantly.

She stood, her back still to him, "Excuse me?" She said, her teeth grinding. Vaughn repeated himself, "You ignored me and made me pissed, what don't you get? Jeez."

Chelsea pivoted on her left foot and glared at him right in his purple iris, "I made YOU pissed? Well EXCUSSSSE Me! I'm just not having the best frickin day of my life so, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screeched. His eyes widened in surprise.

Chelsea gasped, her hands were clenched and shaking at her sides, "I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." Tears began trickling down her face and she ran from him so he wouldn't her her cry.

"Chelsea!" Vaughn shouted, but Chelsea just kept running, trying to keep her tearstained face out of sight. She was suddenly grabbed by the back of her jacket and nearly slammed into a tree, her back aching from the harsh throw against bark.

Vaughn was glaring down at her, his eyes filled to the brim with rage. "What the hell was that?" Chelsea couldn't hold it in any longer, her tears broke free, a strangled sob escaped her throat. Vaughn released his hold and she sank to the ground, her heart wrenching sobs echoed.

"I'm sorry, I just...(sob) I'm so sorry I yelled at you, Vaughn! I didn't mean it!" Vaughn knelt down, a worried expression in his eyes.

"Chelsea...what happened?" He asked softly, Chelsea sniffled, those three words were the first things he said to her that wasn't full of anger, hate, confusion, or boredom.

She soon found herself spilling everything to him, her mother's death day, how she was to blame, how everyone in her family besides her father and step mom hated her, and how she felt like she had been abandoned by her mother.

Vaughn just nodded through it all, listening with full interest. He had scooted beside Chelsea and allowed her to lean her head on his shoulder, as he absently stroked her hair to calm her down.

"You're not alone...my mom abandoned me to Mirabelle when my dad died...I was only eight. And...I'm sure you weren't to blame, it was just some freak accident that killed your mother, not you, Chelsea." Vaughn said quietly once Chelsea's sobs subsided and turned into quiet hiccups.

They just sat there, talking about how each of them weren't at fault. Each of them calming the other down. Chelsea felt better and told Vaughn that she was.

He nodded gruffly and stood, helping her up. When their hands touched, a shock of electricity shocked her, coursing through her entire being. Vaughn blushed and cleared his throat.

Chelsea wondered if he felt the electricity that surged between them just now.

They walked back to the village in silence. Charlie and Eliza were playing tag, and Eliza was throwing a tantrum on how she didn't want to be it. Chen and Gannon were going over plans on how to renovate the general store.

"Um, hey listen, Chelsea...when you kissed me on the cheek the other day, what was that for?" Vaughn asked innocently. Chelsea smiled, "OH that was for helping me when I was unconscious, I don't remember anything besides passing out."

Vaughn let out a relieved breath of air, "Oh. Ok." She glanced at him and saw that his face was light pink. Chelsea felt the urge to giggle but restrained herself.

They came to her house. "Well, here we are." She said, "Thanks for walking me home, Vaughn!"

Vaughn slammed a hand on one side of her, and the other hand on her other side, which made their faces inches apart.

Chelsea blushed, "Wha? Vaughn are...are you ok?" Vaughn's face was full of an intense hunger.

His eyes were slightly dilated, like he had a strong cup of coffee recently. His breath filled her nose, surprisingly sweet, like rich honey and fodder. Their eyes locked and Chelsea found herself being swept away by the warmth in his eyes.

He looked like he would do something, but he pulled away from her, his face was red, and his eyes were wild.

He tipped his hat low over his blushing face, "Bye, see you next week, Chelsea..." Chelsea waved to him as Vaughn wiped his nose and walked away, muttering something incoherently under his breath.

Chelsea brought Hachi in and changed for bed. She flopped on the fluffy mattress with a sigh.

She took off her bandanna and looked at it fondly, this was the last gift she had ever received from her mother before her death.

Chelsea gently tucked it under her pillow. She fell asleep soon afterwards. Her dream was vivid and confusing. It showed her and Vaughn sitting under a full moon, the night was speckled with stars.

Vaughn looked at her with a smile on his lips, something she had never seen before. "Beautiful night...Beautiful girl." Chelsea looked around, seeing no one her face flamed, he was talking about her! A comet shot across the sky. Vaughn looked at her with the same longing that she saw in his face a few hours earlier.

He brushed some hair from her face and leaned in close, his lips barely touching hers as he whispered, "I love you."

-one minute later-

Chelsea shot up, her face was still warm to the touch. "What the..." Hachi growled in his sleep and twitched his leg. She shakily touched her lips, the dream seemed so real.

She shook her head. No, Vaughn hardly liked her, much less loved her...right? She thought about it, and wondered how she felt about Vaughn herself.

She sighed, dismissing the dream as a weird occurrence and tried to banish the dream from her restless dreaming.