Holy cow, already at chapter 10? Wow. Well here it is! Sorry about the length... The characters just got talking and there was no stopping them once that happened ;D Hope you enjoy it! Don't forget to review! They cause me to leap joyously while singing melodies of sunshine and rainbows and baby dinosaurs! :D Anyway...
After my run-in with Gill I slept surprisingly easy. I figured it was mostly because I had worn myself out trying to deal with him. Everyone at the Inn waved me off in the morning; Kathy hugged me and reminded me,
"Don't fall asleep in the rain again," to which I snorted I sarcastic laugh.
I walked home and checked on all my crops. Renee and Yuuki did a great job, I was really thankful they could help me out. I couldn't help but giggle as I imagined the two of them working together, or Yuuki trying to work. I fetched my watering can and made sure each plant was fully taken care of. I put it away and headed to my barn. The little calf mooed happily when I entered; she butted me with her head playfully as I asked her,
"Want to go outside today?" I led her to the pasture and watched her trot happily through the grass. Once she was content munching on it, I sat down and peered into her black eyes, "You know, it really shouldn't be this hard to name you," I said aloud. She looked up at me, confused, but then went back to eating. I sighed heavily, standing up,
"Hikari! Hey Hikari!" Luke was running towards me, grinning hugely and waving enthusiastically,
"Hey Luke," I smiled at him, "What's up?" He stopped in front of me and leaned his hands on his knees catching his breath,
"I said I was going to visit you remember?" He huffed,
"Oh right," The conversation seemed so far away, though it was only yesterday that it took place.
"Yeah! I'm going to protect you from now on!" He jumped into the air suddenly, his fatigue apparently gone.
"That's thoughtful," I blushed, "But it's okay, I'm pretty good at protecting myself," I smiled. He had a blank look on his face for a moment before he stepped closer to me,
"It's better this way," he breathed, "I don't want to worry about you," He grinned widely at me, "If I'm the one keeping you safe I don't have to worry!"
"But I don't—" I tried to say before he cut me off, clearly uninterested in my excuses,
"COOL! A COW!" he said running over to it, "Awesome! Wow! Look at it!" He made grand gestures around her, acting like he'd never seen one before,
"Um… Don't you live on an island where Cows are a pretty common thing?" I teased,
"Yeah but, this one is going to be amazing! I can tell." He knelt down and looked into its eyes, "What's her name?" He asked intensely,
"Oh, I don't know yet…" Not this subject again…
"Name it after someone!" He suggested,
"Uh, sure, I'll name it after my mom. I'm sure it was her dying wish for me to keep her memory close in the form of a cow," I laughed quietly to myself,
"What did you say?" Luke said, slowly walking over to me. The enthusiasm and awe for my calf completely gone. I didn't know what to say to him, I couldn't believe I had just said something to that effect. You told Kathy, not the world. I reminded myself staring at the ground. I thought of something, but when I looked up Luke was much closer to me than I thought he would be, "Your mom…?" he said slowly,
"I… she…" I sputtered. Luke just looked down at me, an understanding in his eyes that I never thought I'd get from someone like him. His fingers slowly threaded through mine and he pulled me close to him, his other arm wrapped around my shoulders and he held me tightly,
"Yeah," he breathed, "Mine too,"
I sat in the grass with my calf, and Luke lay beside me, his eyes closed as he basked in the sunlight. We had been talking for about an hour I had guessed, I ended up telling him my story: but I only cried once this time. Luke was easy to talk to… Even so, I couldn't bring myself to tell him about Kurt.
"So…" I started, and he opened one of his eyes, "Yours too…" I looked down at my hand, pulling at the grass,
"Hmm," he sighed, "Yeah, she got sick a while back. I was little though, it's been a while. Dad thinks she's with the Goddess or something, I don't know if I believe that but I know she's still watching over me," he smiled, "So I gotta keep doing my best," He leaned up on his elbows and grinned. I couldn't help but smile along,
"Wait, your dad said she's with the Goddess?" I blinked,
"Yeah, some of the people around here seem to think this island is watched over by a harvest Goddess? I mean, it makes some kind of sense to me, but at other times: not at all," He lay back down and closed his eyes, "But, I think she exists,"
"My parents used to talk about one too," I smiled remembering our conversations, "I think it's a nice thought, a Goddess looking out for everyone."
"Yuuki has apparently met her. He says he's trying to bring her back. It's kinda weird really, Castanet was doing really badly before he showed up, but then he says he's going to bring her back: starts ringing these bells and stuff, and I dono, it seemed to work. That sounds crazy," He laughed loudly, "But it's what happened," I smiled,
"It doesn't sound that crazy to me," I admitted. I believed in the harvest Goddess, even on my first island I had.
"So," Luke said, peering over at my cow, "Thought of a name yet?"
"Yeah, how about… Bezimen?" I smirked,
"Busy men?" Luke looked up at me, incredulous, "That's weird and a terrible name," He laughed his loud laugh and fell back into the grass,
"No," I laughed, "It means 'nameless' in Croatian," he stared at me some more, "It's my attempt at humor," I sighed,
"Ooh," he chuckled, "You should stick with walking into trees, it's a way better bit," he roared with laughter again,
"Okay, okay, I'll just name it Betty," I said sarcastically
"Much better, that's a good name for a cow!" He sat up smiling at me, but it suddenly faded, "Hikari," he said softly,
"Y-yes?" I was taken aback by his sudden mood change,
"I really am going to protect you," he placed his hand on mine. It didn't feel right, I didn't want it there. I looked down at it,
"I already told you," I said pulling my hand away, "I'm fine,"
"No, you don't understand," he was now kneeling, "I don't want this island to lose someone else," He was so intense I couldn't help but get lost in his green-yellow eyes,
"W-what are you talking about?"
"Don't tell me you haven't noticed," He almost shouted, "My mom, Gill's mom, Kathy's mom, Owen and his little sister Chloe live with their grandpa, Lena and Candace; the tailors: they live with their grandmother, Jin's first wife is dead, I don't even know what happened to Toby's family," He fell back again, "When I say this island was doing badly, I mean badly," he sighed and stared at the sky, "I love the Goddess, I believe she'll fix the island, I'm so happy Yuuki is bringing it back… But I mean there are some things you can't bring back. There are a lot of mother-less, or just plain orphans living here," We were silent for a moment,
"Luke, I—" I didn't know what I wanted to say, but I knew I had to say something,
"It's okay," He smiled up at me, "Things are so much better now: everyone is happy, and since you've shown up, people have been much happier than usual," He grinned, "And I know that everyone needs someone, and some people already have that. I mean, Owen and Kathy have grown up together: they're practically married, even if neither of them will admit their feelings. And Jin and Anissa, I think they're into each other. And Gill, him and Luna will probably end up hooking up," My stomach tightened into a knot. Gill and Luna…
"Luna?" I said quietly,
"Yeah, the girl who works at the tailor? They've been hitting on each other forever; it's just a matter of time. I actually saw them chatting yesterday: they're cute." He laughed but I couldn't even fake it. Who cares if Gill and Luna are together? I'm only upset because he was angry that he thought I was with Luke.
"Huh," I said quietly,
"So! I heard I missed all the fun last night," Luke pouted dramatically, "Owen sang?"
"Did he ever," I chuckled, trying to forget about Gill, "Hayden said they needed to hire better entertainment. I wonder if he'll follow through with that," I thought aloud,
"Maybe it'll be some hot dancer," Luke mused. I hit him,
"Gross! Hopefully not!" We laughed together,
"Whatever, you're just jealous," he joked
"Pfft, you wish," I laughed
"Yeah… I do," From the way he said it I knew he wasn't kidding. He looked at me, expecting something that wasn't there; I pretended not to notice,
"Well, it's been really great hanging out with you Luke," I smiled and tried to make it look sincere, "But I think I've slacked off long enough now," I winked at him and stood up, he followed me,
"Yeah for sure! Today was really great!" He punched the air: nothing brought this guy down, "I like hanging out with you!" He laughed loudly,
"Thanks… you know, for talking to me about… everything," I grinned at him encouragingly,
"Anytime! See you later!" He then grabbed me and crushed me in a bear hug, "Bye!" he released me and ran off waving and laughing. I waved and then sighed: Luke was tiring.
I decided the rest of the day would be best spent fishing, as I hadn't really done much of that since I had arrived. I led Betty back into the barn and brushed her a few more times before heading out. I ended up at the beach and caught very little, the sun was starting to set so I figured I should head home. I walked through Harmonica town on the way back and introduced myself to the general store owners Barbara and her daughter Phoebe. Phoebe was around my age, with green hair like her mom,
"Have you been down to the mines yet?" She raved,
"Nope, not yet," I smiled, "But I hope to soon!"
"Oh you have to! It's positively spectacular! You can find all sorts of things!" She explained the finer details of mining and finding things that were worth your while to head down for the day, "And if you get lost Calvin will help you out, you know Calvin right?"
"No," I blinked, "Sorry I haven't had the pleasure of meeting him yet I supposed," I scratched the back of my head,
"Oh," She paused, "Well when you do, I'm sure you'll be less worried about mining," She smiled encouraging and I waved as I left.
"Are you Hikari?" I heard almost the second I left the building,
"Y-yes," I stammered,
"Wow… Really? I mean, I expected more I guess," A little pink haired girl stood in front of me, her arms crossed and an arrogant, stern look on her face,
"What do you mean?"
"I mean Gill starts ignoring me, and then I see him yesterday and all he can talk about is the new farm girl, Hee-car-ee," She mocked my name in a shrill, whiney voice,
"Sorry…" What's her problem? Then I remembered what Luke had told me… "And Gill, him and Luna will probably end up hooking up," My stomach twisted into a familiar knot.
"Whatever, I'm not really one for threats but I'm going to tell you something," She leaned in, a smile spreading across her face, "Gill and I are together, so don't get any cute ideas," she laughed harshly, "Poor girl, I understand your feelings: Gill is amazing, but he of all people wouldn't be one to go for the," She paused and looked me up and down scowling, "Physical labor types,"
"Ooh," I said, "So what you're saying is he's more for the girls who are like you, right?"
"Obviously," She scoffed,
"Hmm," I paused, trying to look pensive, "Well then! That's perfectly okay with me," I grinned, "I would rather have friends and people around me who help me out then turn into some," I paused and mocked the way she looked me up and down, "Well, you know, you types," she gaped at me,
"Excuse me?"
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to be in your way, have a good day Luna!" I waved as I ran back to my ranch, a grin plastered on my face. When I knew she couldn't see me anymore I slowed, and dragged my feet, "Gill and I are together, so don't get any cute ideas," Was that true? If it was… oh who cares, I don't even like Gill, I felt myself blush, and even if I did, like she said, someone like him would never like someone like me. I sighed, as a rounded the corner to my house
"Finally you're back," My head shot up, and a blinked dramatically: was my mind playing tricks on me? Leaning on my doorframe was Gill, his usual bored look was on his face, but I saw something else there too, "You made me wait long enough," I gaped at him, "Well," he teased, "Aren't you going to invite me inside?"
I couldn't help myself with the bit about the 'hot dancer' peehee! Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Look forward to the next one ;D hopefully it'll be up to par ;P Don't forget to review! Love you guys!