Author's Note: I rewrote it more than once. Toned it down. You'll know what I'm referring to when you get there. Time for a chapter I had a really fun time thinking up~! I wonder what everybody will think about the events about to take place. ^_~
I immediately rode over to the barn and got Levi inside. No sooner than I was done taking care of her and making sure all of my other animals were accounted for, I marched back out into the rain. Lightning crackled above me and thunder boomed. Kana had apparently stayed put because I found him right in front of my house.
"Hey, Lillian, I. . ."
"You have your nerve," I said in a surprisingly quiet voice.
"I can't hear you. What was that?" he asked, trying to hear over the downpour.
"I said you have your nerve!" I yelled at him as I pushed him out of my way so I could get into my own house.
The floor was immediately soaked as I stomped in and my pets must have sensed how mad I was because they cleared all the way over to the other side of the room. Not even Rufus was making a move toward me. Kana filed in after me and shut the door.
"Lillian, what has gotten into you?" he asked as I rounded on him.
"Maybe it's slipped your mind since this morning. I'll jog your memory. You took yourself a little trip over to Bluebell, right?"
"Oh," was all he said.
"Oh? Oh? Is that all you have to say for yourself?" I certainly couldn't believe my ears.
"I bet he just couldn't wait to tell you all about that," Kana said angrily, clenching his wet fists at his sides.
"Actually, he really didn't want to since he's such a decent guy and all. I had to pry it out of him. Where do you get off, Kana, trying to dictate who can and can't see me?!"
"Leave it alone, Lillian," he said as he struggled to keep his temper in check.
Too bad that I couldn't keep my own in check. "You don't have any say in who I can and can't be friends with. How could you traipse over there and bother Cam at his place of work?" True, I'd done that before on Flower Day, but that was entirely different.
Kana had nothing to say, which only made me angrier.
"And what is this nonsense about you telling him I'm your girl? Because the last time I checked, Kana, I'm a single woman and. . ."
The next thing I knew, Kana was directly in front of me. He pulled me toward him before crushing my mouth under his. It was like my mind shut off and instinct took over. It was like I was suddenly disconnected from my body yet still present at the same time. I wasn't present enough to think, only feel. He ran his hands down my back and I grasped his arms, exploring the muscles there. He broke the kiss and nudged my head to the side before trailing kisses down my neck, across my shoulder, and back again. The ability to think was still eluding me.
Kana's mouth returned to mine and he kissed me with such intensity and such fervor. It was like he wanted to do so much all at once and wanted to pack as much as he could into a single second. The day had been just warm enough for me to get away with long sleeves without a light jacket. He started pulling up the bottom of my shirt and that snapped me out of whatever this was I was suddenly in. I quickly came back to my senses and pushed him back. He stumbled, but immediately caught his footing. And that wasn't easily done considering the floor was slippery from the rain we'd brought in. "Kana, what? I. . .You. . .No."
"Lillian, I. . ." he said, as breathless as I was.
"No," I said far more firmly than before. "No. Listen. You're my friend and I care about you. And. . .I'll admit that you're an attractive guy, Kana. You definitely are." I took a deep breath as I tried not to think about the way his lips had felt against mine and how great his hands had felt. . . Because as good as that had felt. . .at the same time, it had felt wrong. Just. . .wrong. "I'm sorry, but. . .this can't happen."
Kana stared down at me with the same intensity I'd felt in his kiss. It was this strange frustration mixed with anger and now with disappointment. He finally broke eye contact and went to my door. He threw it open so hard that it slammed against the wall as he stomped back out into the rain.
The next day I felt kind of numb. I woke up. I brushed my teeth. I fed my pets. I skipped breakfast because I definitely did not have an appetite. At least I hadn't caught a cold from being soaked the previous day. I went about my chores on my farm. The entire time, I was trying to replay things in my head. I tried to figure it out. Kana, he. . .And then I shut the book on those thoughts. No, I would not think about that. When I was done seeing to my livestock and harvesting my crops, I got my sickle and went to work on clearing my field like I always did toward the end of the season. After that, I went back inside my house.
It was Ayame's birthday and whether I felt numb and angry and confused inside or not, I was going to proceed with this part of my day as I had planned. Hiro had mentioned to me that Ayame's favorite food was quiche. We'd talked about it one day when we were hanging out in his room talking about cooking.
Putting the nice hot quiche inside a container, I closed it up in my rucksack and headed out. I saddled up Levi and left my farm, galloping straight past Kana's house and not even sparing it a glance. If I did, I'd probably get more mad and confused than I already was.
"You behave yourself," I told Levi as I left her near the hedges in front of the clinic. I strolled inside and put on a smile for the good doctor's benefit. "Good morning!"
"Lillian," Hiro said, looking at the clock on the wall. "It's after noon."
"Oh, I. . ." I followed his gaze and frowned. "I guess you're right. I suppose I lost track of the time."
"Lillian, you look awful," Ayame said as she came out from behind the counter and pressed her hand against my forehead. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," I said as she frowned with concern.
"Well, you don't seem to have a fever, so. . ."
"Hey, I hear it's somebody's birthday today." I took off my rucksack and pulled the food out. "Here you go."
She took it and opened the lid curiously. Her face lit up when she saw what it was. "It's quiche!" she said excitedly. "And it's a birthday present? Thank you, Lillian!"
The smile I gave her then was genuine. "You're welcome. I'm glad you like it!"
"I'm going to eat this right now," she informed me as she headed toward the stairs. "This can be my lunch!"
Hiro was still watching me as I closed my rucksack and put it back on. "Are you positively certain you are fine, Lillian? Please, do not neglect your health. Might you take the day to go home and rest?"
"Don't worry about it," I told him as I headed toward the door. "I'm fine. I just have some stuff on my mind." I paused at the door. "Hey, listen. I'm gonna go see Ina and ask to move back to Bluebell."
"What?! Lillian, this is indeed a sudden decision," he exclaimed, closing the book he'd had open in front of him.
"No it's not. I'd planned on spending winter in Bluebell before I even came here for autumn. But don't worry, I'll still be around like I was in summer. So we'll still see each other."
He sadly looked down at the closed book. "Is there nothing to be said to change your mind?"
"I'm afraid not. Don't be sad, though. I promise I'll be around." I left the doorway and he met me in front of the counter for a hug. "You know, someday the tunnel will be open again. And then it won't matter who lives in what town. Everybody will be able to see each other whenever they want."
"I will do my utmost to be patient until then," he said as we pulled away.
After I left the clinic, I went to Town Hall and told Ina my plans. She hadn't been entirely surprised since we'd been through this before, but she was just as kind as she'd been the previous time, assuring me I could come back whenever I wanted.
As she went to contact Rutger and let him know we were coming, I got started on saying my goodbyes. Rahi was bummed out, but I promised him I'd come back to play with him and Ying soon. Aside from Hiro, Nori probably took the news the hardest. I couldn't hold out on Nori, I figured out, so we'd stood outside Gombe's shop and I relayed the story of what happened with me and Cam and Kana to her. She clucked her tongue and shook her head in disapproval of Kana's actions. But she understood that me moving back to Bluebell had absolutely nothing to do with him. Well, mostly nothing to do with him. It was something that had been decided long before what happened had happened. So she accepted that. She also promised she wasn't going to let Kana know that she knew. The thing with Kana was my mess to deal with and I wasn't ready to deal with it yet.
When I was done saying my farewells to everybody in town, well, with the exception of Kana. . .I hurried back to my house and packed my stuff up. This time, I actually managed to have everything done before the mayor showed up to escort me across the mountain. In fact, I was just getting Aram put inside his cage when Ina showed up at my door.
"Well, are you all ready to go, Lillian?" she asked me as I closed the door of Aram's cage. All the rest of my animals were ready to go. Aram was the last one.
"Uh-huh. Everything's ready," I assured her. "Let's go."
Once I loaded Aram up, we climbed onto the cart and started on our way.
"You know," Ina ventured after a little while. "You're a really hard worker, Lillian. And everybody in Konohana loves you. You're a good role model for Rahi. I think that you're somebody he can definitely look up to."
I glanced over at her. "Wow, really? I mean, I'm honored you'd say something like that, Ina. Rahi's a great kid. Thank you."
This time, when the mayors met up outside of Bluebell, I could see what Reina was talking about. Maybe they were better than they had previously been the last season. And maybe they were better than they'd been throughout the years when I didn't know them. There was hope for the two towns being connected again someday after all.
Rutger and I headed back to my Bluebell farm and he helped me get everything unpacked and settled, welcoming me back with open arms. When he left, though, I felt relieved. I wanted to be alone. Rummaging through my storage to locate a bottle of fruit wine I had, I changed into my pajamas and stared at the bottle. I shook my head and put it back. No, I wouldn't be turning to the wine to deal with the stress Kana had put on me. Instead, I was going to. . .to. . .stuff my face full of food until I couldn't fit into my pants the next day!
Yeah, that's right. My appetite had come back and it'd come back with a vengeance. I went into the kitchen and cooked whatever I thought would make me feel better and I sat down at my table to stuff my face. That ended up being macaroni and cheese, spring rolls, and a large plate of chocolate cookies. An odd combination, I know, but it hit the spot. I was finishing off my last cookie when I heard a knock on my door. Night barked just in case I hadn't heard.
"I'm going, I'm going," I told him as I shuffled off toward the door and opened it up.
"Hello, Lillian! Rutger told us you were moving back so we made you some. . .Oh my," Laney wasn't sure what to say when she got a look at me.
"Dear goddess," Georgia drawled with a hand on her chest.
"Thank you," I said as I took the basket holding the cheesecake from Laney.
Georgia closed the door and they followed me into the dining room as I sat the cake on the table and grabbed a knife to cut a piece. "Lillian, are you alright?"
"Yep. Sure. Just dandy. Why ever would you ask that?" I asked, feigning ignorance as I shoved the piece of cake into my mouth whole.
"Well, you, errr. . ."
"Lillian. Why don't you just. . .finish your piece of cake and then go take a bath. Georgia and I will clean those dishes up for you and when you get out, you can tell us what's bothering you?"
I swallowed the rest of that piece of cheesecake and looked down at the crumbs that had fallen onto the front of my shirt. I also suspected I had chocolate somewhere on my face. With a sigh, I stood up from the table and grabbed another set of pajamas before stalking off to the bathroom. I soaked in there for quite a while before I felt like coming out. It was the realization that I was kind of being a drama queen at the moment and way too mopey over the entire ordeal that prompted me to get out the tub, get my clothes on, and see what Laney and Georgia were up to. They were at my dining room table, both of them enjoying some tea. It didn't escape my notice that somebody, most likely Laney, had fixed me a cup of coffee.
I sat down at the table with them and wrapped my hands around the cup before taking a sip. Laney really did make the best coffee. I certainly wasn't going to tell Howard that, though.
"Sooooo," Georgia began after I took a few more sips. "Care to tell us what's got you in such a conundrum?"
I sat my cup down and frowned as I thought back on what had happened. "Okay, so this is how it started, I guess," I told them as I began my strange, strange story. The two of them sat there and listened intently, giving me nothing less than their full attention.
"I'm sorry, what? He came all the way to Bluebell just to accost Cam?" Laney asked, instantly upset on Cam's behalf once my little tale had come to an end. "Sweet dumplings," she said angrily, coming up with another substitute for a worse phrase.
"Yeah. And it makes no sense because no matter how it is Kana feels about me, Cam and I are friends. I mean, what's next? Is he going to go to the clinic in Konohana and tell Hiro we can't hang out anymore either?!" I groaned.
"So Kana just up and kissed you?" Georgia chipped in, shaking her head with an angry sigh. Her and Laney were obviously digesting two different parts of my story at the moment. "That fool."
"Did you like it?" Laney asked, seemingly catching up to where the conversation was now.
"I. . .I. . .I don't know. I mean, I was already fired up from yelling at him and the next thing I knew, he was kissing me. It's like my mind took a vacation and my body just responded to him on its own accord. . ."
"That doesn't really answer the question, though," Laney pressed. "Did you like it?"
I stared down at the contents of my cup as I considered that. "Kana. . .he's generally a nice guy. He's funny. He tends to be easy to be around. And he's easy on the eyes." I took a drink of my coffee before I finished my train of thought. "He is a good kisser, too. It's just. . .However it is he feels about me, I can't say that I feel the same way about him. So, Laney, no. It was a good kiss, but I didn't like it."
"Then I reckon," Georgia said as she cut me another piece of cheesecake and put it on a plate with a fork, sitting it down in front of me. "Sooner or later you're gonna have to stop avoiding that fella and let him know that."