AN: Both chapter 11 and 12 are a little short, which is why I posted three chapters today instead of two. Hope you enjoy, thanks for reading!
The next morning I awoke feeling vaguely apprehensive, then remembered it was the day I planned to talk to Mikhail. I quickly dressed and took care of my farm chores, then I made the rounds of the village as usual. I hurried back to my farm as soon as I was done, tossed together a nice herb salad to take him and packed it up in a tightly sealed container to keep it fresh. I packed up, saddled Nubium, and headed off towards the mountain. It was a little while before noon, so I knew I'd reach the mountaintop shortly after him if I foraged along the path as planned.
As expected, I arrived just in time to see him climbing up his usual perch on a large rock to sit and contemplate the view. I tied Nubium to a tree and grabbed the salad I'd made. I climbed up next to him, and after we exchanged greetings, I wished him a happy birthday and gave him the salad. He smiled, saying "You remembered the kind of foods I like. Thank you, Alice, it's very nice." He hesitated for a minute, then said, "So… would you like to stay and chat with me for a while?"
Taking a deep breath, I replied, "Yes, I would like that. I really want to talk with you. But it's a little hot up here today… how about we go over to the spring where it's shadier?" I suggested. He smiled in agreement and climbed down, then held out his hand to help me down. We strolled over to the spring and sat in the shade of a tall tree. I told him to please go ahead and eat while it was fresh. He offered to share, but I declined, saying I wasn't hungry. He looked skeptical, but he opened the container and began to eat. I'd forgotten how daintily he ate, how fastidious he was in his personal habits. He ate slowly and tidily, savoring each small bite as if it was the last he would ever taste.
After a few minutes, I cleared my throat. He set his fork down and looked at me expectantly. "No, please, go ahead and keep eating. I do want to talk to you, though, so if you don't mind me talking while you eat… ?"
"By all means, then," he said, picking his fork up again and taking another delicate bite.
I looked off towards the mountain peaks in the distance, then I said, "Mikhail, this… isn't working. I can't take it anymore. The strain is driving me out of my mind. I don't know if you are doing it intentionally… " he looked up and raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, "… or not. But either way, something needs to change."
"What is it that I'm doing that is so devastating?" he interrupted to ask.
"You…. Oh, how can I explain without sounding like an idiot? You do all these little things: a look here, a suggestive phrase there, an innuendo here. Nothing especially concrete or substantial, and nothing that anyone besides me would notice or understand. Using the language of flowers to convey messages, like we used to do… and, well, like at the music festival, when you played our old songs and looked me right in the eyes when you talked about them being important to you. Little things like that. Since we're meant to be keeping our history secret, it makes it really hard to have you constantly alluding to it in some sort of code. I'm getting so that I'm almost unwilling to leave my farm for fear of bumping into you and enduring more of the same. Yet it's so nebulous that it's hard to pinpoint. So… I've decided that I no longer want to keep our history a secret. I don't mean we have to stand at the village gates shouting our story out to any and all passersby. But… when an opening comes up in conversation, I intend to take the opportunity to come clean. I've… I've already told a few people. People who are especially dear to me, and that I wanted to be sure heard it from me, not through the rumor mill. I hope you don't object, but… but even if you don't like it, I plan to do it anyway. It's the only way I can see to salvage my sanity without becoming a total hermit."
I looked over at him, flushed with embarrassment and uncertainty. He had finished his salad and put the container and fork aside, and he was gazing at the spring. After a minute, he looked over at me, a tender, regretful look in his eyes, and said, "I'm sorry. I admit… I enjoyed our secret. Perhaps I toyed with it too much, because it was the only bond remaining between us. And now I'm losing that, too. But I do understand, and I won't stop you or deny the truth if anyone asks. Neither will I bring it up myself, though. I still hope that someday... Anyway, I didn't mean to cause you pain or distress, and for that, I sincerely apologize."
He stood up, returned the dishes to me, and brushed the grass from his trousers, saying, "Well. I think I'll head back to town now. I'll see you soon, I hope? And thanks for the birthday present. It's nice to be remembered." He held out a hand to pull me up, then he turned and headed down the path back to the village. I watched him go, then mounted Nubium and headed slowly down to Bluebell to finish my day's duties before finally returning home.
A week or so afterwards came the Flower Festival in Konohana. It was a day to show appreciation and affection to others with gifts of flowers. With the language of flowers ever present in my thoughts, I had set aside a good crop of pink roses, symbolizing friendship, for the people of Konohana. I knew that few, if any, would understand the symbolism—but it pleased my fancy anyway to use it. I decided, however, that I'd give different flowers to Mikhail, and although he didn't live in Konohana, I decided to give some to Cam anyway. He always appreciated flowers, and I hoped that he would understand the hidden meaning. So for both of them, I carefully assembled small nosegays of heart's ease ("think of me"), forget-me-nots ("remember me"), and ferns ("sincerity") with a single dark pink rose ("thankful") in the center.
I gathered up my flowers and made my rounds of the village, handing them out as I stopped to say hi to each villager. While all were delighted with my gifts, as expected none seemed to realize the symbolism—except Mikhail. When I caught up to him on the way to the mountain peak and handed him the pretty little bouquet, he looked carefully at it, then looked me in the eyes and said, "Never fear, I will never forget you, dear Alice, and I think of you without ceasing." I blushed, then he kissed my hand and continued on his way without another word.
I continued on to Bluebell, and found Cam at his shop. I presented him with the flowers and explained that although he didn't live in Konohana and so didn't celebrate our festivals, I wanted to give him flowers, anyway. He looked at them, gave me a curious look, then smiled. "Thank you, Alice," he responded. "They're lovely. And… fitting." Then he turned back to his business, and I knew he, too, had understood the message.
I returned home after finishing my rounds there, and to my surprise, I found a single gorgeous rose mallow left at my door. The only note that accompanied it was a simple musical notation—a few bars from Mikhail's composition that he had debuted at the music festival. So I knew who the giver was, and I understood his message: "consumed by love."
Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, and most locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and MarvelousAQL Inc. The story's plot and some characters & locations are my own invention.