disclaimer: i don't own harvest moon ^^
for those that waited and anyone who is new to this...it's for you!
The Princess and the Cowboy
~Go~
It's a funny thing, running.
Sometimes you're running because you're sad and you want to get away from it all - even if getting away means running in any random direction till your mind is convinced you've gone far enough.
Sometimes you're running because you're happy and you've seen something or someone you like - you want to get closer, to share this extreme happiness, the kind that, if you don't share it, you're likely to explode, probably into little rainbow sparkles.
Sometimes you're running because you don't have a choice - you have to.
My running had a combination of all three. I had two locations to choose from. If I picked the wrong one, Vaughn could be anywhere…and then I'd be randomly running.
From the second, I wanted to see him again. He was the someone I was running towards. I wanted to make everything between us right once more.
I had to run to find him. I couldn't lose him. It hurt too much. I had got my best friends back, and now I wanted him back too, to complete the jigsaw that was my life. When I got him back, I'd be able to sort out the mess I'd created.
I guess it was a little bit selfish in a way, expecting to be able to slot things back together, but I'm determined, and stubborn. I was going to try my damn hardest, that was for sure.
The ground crunched under my feet, and I pulled out the pins and grips and ties in my hair as I went, roughly wiping my face on the back of my hand too. The bun the millions-of-not-Felicia's had created would get tangled anyway and I was bound to be a mess if I caught up to him. It didn't matter how I looked, really.
"Momma, look, she's dressed funny…A white dress and boots!"
"Darling, come away from the gate, I don't want you getting lost…"
It was funny…I used to be told that a long time ago. Don't get lost…but I didn't listen and I strayed from the path my parents wanted me to go down. I found my own way and met some crazy characters along the way. And then…what do you know? I screwed that up a bit too, and I threw myself back onto the 'right' path…And now I was fighting my way back towards the other one again-
I shook my head. I was zoning out, sounding all depressing, repeating the problem but with different analogies. But on the plus side, when/if I had kids and if they had issues, I had some awesome ways to put solutions across to them.
I didn't realise how fast I'd been running until I reached the beach in record-fast time - well, for me, and considering I'm clumsy and whatnot, I was very proud of myself - and then I began whipping my head around wildly. I couldn't see the silver-haired cowboy anywhere, even when I checked twice by the sea weed rock - hey, doesn't harm to be thorough, right?
Anyhoo, I couldn't see him on the beach or in the area surrounding it, and this is when my emotions decided to make an appearance. I'd had…well maybe not the worst weeks in the history of the world, but suffice to say, they'd sucked. However, rather than crying, I got angry. As in, kicking the snow covered sand and screeching at how unfair it was. I'm sure I looked utterly deranged - more so than normal, and if you consider than normal me trips over anything and everything whilst managing to babble on about nonsense pretty much all the time, then you can imagine just how insane I was right then.
"Chelsea. Chelsea. FOR GODDESS' SAKE, CHELSEA! STOP!" I was interrupted in my little rage/pity party by a voice shouting louder than me. "Calm down!"
"Lanna, you should probably calm down too," a male voice said reproachfully, though there was a smile present, I could tell.
I took a breath and tried to steady myself. "W-what's up?"
Denny shrugged and gave me an easy going grin, his little bird companion peering curiously over his owner's shoulder at me. "Nothing much, just enjoying a lunch date with Lanna - quiet, the perfect atmosphere for it, y'know? But then suddenly we hear screaming and see you lookin' like…" He broke off and swept me up and down quickly, in a gesture probably meant to say, 'Well, like that'.
I held onto the one part of his talk that I was prepared to handle - my burst of madness could wait for, um, as long as I could hold it off - mirroring the fisherman's grin and throwing it across to the blushing ex-popstar. "Date, hmm?"
"I-it wasn't really a date, it was more…umm…" If she was trying to think of an excuse, she was doing a terrible job. Though I guessed Denny winking at her really didn't help her concentration. "A-anyway, enough about our…hanging out…What was that show for Chelsea?"
"Show? I don't-" She raised pop-star perfect eyebrows at me. My entire frame sagged slightly and my voice was low. "I couldn't find him."
Immediately she took on the 'teacher-Lanna' persona, frowning, her eyes narrowing. "So you're gonna have a tantrum?"
"I just-"
"You managed to do all the rest perfectly, yet you checked…let me guess, you've checked one location, which would be here, for the guy you claim to be in love with, and you didn't find him, so you gave in?"
"H-hey! I never said I gave in!"
"Prove it!" She shot back, and I saw a glint in her eyes that gave me what I needed to straighten up and nod tightly.
"Alright, I will!" I declared, the smile back on my face. "Thanks Lanna, Denny…I'd stick around to tease- ah, support you guys on your…'hang out' but I've got a cowboy to catch!"
Lanna giggled. "Yea you do! Good luck Chels…I know you'll find him!"
"Hey, I know I said he was grumpy but seems like you guys are…I dunno, destined. So good luck too," Denny added, the bird flying up to sit on his head and giving a contented expression, the only way a bird can know how.
Their faith - and the fact that I'd essentially been caught acting childish and being told to fix up - gave me enough confidence to continue my search. There was an entire village to search, and then the forest after that…
I left the Goddess Pond for last. In way, I suppose that was weird of me. It would have been logical to go there, say a prayer and let her wisdom guide me…and I wouldn't even have to have done that if Vaughn happened to be there. Instead, I rushed around the entire village, checking any possible place he could be - the diner, the café, Mirabelle's shop, even the local builder. After that, I went to Taro's farm, where the old man eyed me suspiciously - apparently a wedding dress and boots combo aren't accepted attire anywhere, geez - before informing me that Vaughn had not been there at any point that day. As I thanked him and ran away, I heard him shout something about how my resilience would pay off in the end, because resilience always does.
I tackled the forest after that. I don't know exactly how long it took me, though it was no swift search; the woods were bigger than I ever remembered. Funny how things like that happen.
He was not at the site where we met the wild dogs. He was not down any of the winding, twisting path ways, or at any of the clearings I discovered. He was not near the Witch Princess' home. He was not inside the church, or behind it, no matter how many times I walked around it, in case I somehow managed to miss him.
Eventually I collapsed in near-enough a heap in front of the Goddess Pond, right in front of where she'd appeared before. I was so tired and achy and I was even more of a mess than I had been to start off with, because the trees and bushes had tangled my hair even more and snagged at my dress, causing some of the material to tear and hang off. It really didn't look anything a wedding dress anymore, so I didn't look like remotely like a bride anymore, particularly not a royal one.
A glance into the water - miraculously not frozen - proved me right. Staring back at me was a girl, a girl with brown hair sticking up every which way. There was no crown on her head, but there was no bandana either. This girl had skin that had been touched by the cold - pale, with red cheeks and lips pink from being bitten in hope to get feeling somewhere. Her eyes were blue, not innocent, but not mischievous or curious. They stared back at me in bewilderment and confusion and sadness.
"What am I doing?"
It was dark, it was cold, it was Winter.
"What have I done?"
Wasn't it every girl's dream to get married? I bet my parents were thinking the same thing underneath the shame and embarrassment and rage.
"Oh no…" I moaned, hid my head in my hands, thought about everything for a little bit.
I was at the Goddess Pond. Even if she herself didn't appear, surely the Goddess could hear me, right? Would she even want to listen to the whining of an idiot princess who had screwed up everything she'd wanted?
…It was worth a shot, wasn't it?
"Ahh Goddess I've really messed up big time…"
I don't even know if everything I said was coherent, but hell, what does it matter? The Goddess should've been able to understand, I bet she had weirdo-chicks exactly like me doing this to her all the time!
I started from the beginning, with the guards chasing me and only having the stables and my friends to keep me grounded whilst embowered within the castle's walls, and then my escapes showing me just what I wanted and could never have, ever.
And then Vaughn happened, and boy oh boy did that change me. Suddenly there was someone new, someone challenging, someone who for some reason I had to get to the bottom of, and that was another thing that drove me through all of this.
So for a while, everything was great - had my beautiful, amazing, talented and yet so ordinary friends, my double-ish life and there was a…mystery, a mystery in a cowboy hat…
From there it got plain awesome. Not only were my friends falling for the guys best suited for them, I was slowly falling for Vaughn…and we got each other! At that point, I had them all!
"But I am a princess…" My happiness trailed off into this one statement. "I should've known I couldn't keep things this way, shouldn't I Goddess?
"My parents made sure I had to mess things up and I lost them all - even Pierre, who was in this mess with me managed to deal with it better than I did, and I don't think he liked me either. I was hated, I think, by them all…
"And now…I don't know, Goddess, I just don't know!" I was now bent over the pond, kneeling in the snow, my hands gripping to the edge. "My friends have forgiven me and they had faith in me to fix this and I've looked everywhere and I've tried and in the end I guess I lost him! I lost him…
"My stubborn, cold, sarcastic, scowling, surly, amazing, wonderful, handsome, protective, strong, unique, accepting cowboy. My Vaughn." I hiccupped. "Even though I was so stupid, I want to be selfish. I miss him. I want him back." I sniffed and closed my eyes. I think I'd said everything I could now, and that felt odd. A tear rolled down my cheek and into the pond.
"It's freezing, and if you lean over the pond like that, you'll fall in."
My eyelids snapped open. The reflection behind me in the water showed a guy, a tall guy wearing his normal attire of dark clothing. He didn't wear a hat but his face was shadowed, so I couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling.
"V-Vaughn…"
end of chapter
on chapter: well, it took me a while to write this one…depressed chelsea is almost over now guys ^.^
on other stuff: i am so, so sorry. i let life get in my way completely. i've been so busy with school and exams, as well as the breakdown of my relationship, getting a doggy plus other assorted goods and bads that i haven't been able to write for so long…forgive me.
thanks to: PurpleSweets13, SunnyElla16, Random Person 3, DontEatThatt, XxStarZephunaSakuraxX and SaturnWolf 3. i hope you guys enjoy this if you even stuck around this long…i'm so sorry again T_T
please review! this story is almost over so i hope you enjoy the last few chapters! and i promise i'll get back into this!