A/N: Hello pancakes and waffles! So, I just finished chapter 20 and will be continuing on to chapter 21! I'm pretty excited, and as such I don't have much to say this time around. Enjoy!

!

Claire walked down the street the day after her rather loud speech. Again, she made a point of making certain people saw her as she walked to Kai's shack in the hopes that people would stop their nonsense. As she walked by the Poultry Farm, she saw Rick appear out from one of the coops. She sped up, hoping he wouldn't see her; however, he quickly began to run after her. Claire began to jog forward, hearing Rick's yells and pleas for her to slow down.

Reaching her boiling point, she whipped around to see Rick breathlessly catch up to her. The two stopped running as Claire, bordering on politeness, allowed Rick enough time to string together a coherent sentence.

"Wow, you are fast," he panted.

"What do you want?" Claire asked in a dry tone.

"I wanted to walk with you—"

"And do you think I'd allow that to happen? After how much you were trying to convince me to not do this yesterday?" Claire asked him incredulously.

"No, Claire, I'm not going to convince you out of it. If you'd allow me a moment to finish speaking, I was about to say that I wanted to partake in your…quest," he told her. Claire blinked before her mouth dropped open.

"Am I dreaming?"

"No, you aren't. I don't really want to talk about it right now, as I might change my mind. But I wanted to come with you to go to Kai's shack, Claire."

Claire remained unmoving, still shocked at this sudden shift from Rick.

"So, are we gonna go or not? I've gotta take care of the chickens, you know," Rick told her impatiently. Claire bit her lower lip before beginning to resuming her walk with Rick by her said. Some of the townsfolk watched in surprise at the two walking together in relative harmony; however, the pair didn't notice.

They continued to walk down the street, through the plaza, and into the beach area, where Kai stood. He leaned against the outside of the shack, waiting for Claire. Upon seeing Rick with her, though, he immediately pushed away from it and stiffened up. A small crowd of people followed Rick and Claire up to the point of the steps where they stopped to watch them enter the shack.

The two of them finally reached the Snack Shack, where Kai awkwardly gestured for them to enter. Claire gave a small smile before entering, and after some hesitation Rick entered through the doorway, to the shock of the observing audience.

"Wow, you really drew in a crowd this time," Kai observed as he began to whip up some pineapple punch for the three of them. "And—uh—welcome back, Rick," Kai said, throwing a glance at the boy. Rick didn't know how to act, though he managed a quick nod of acknowledgement. Claire didn't say anything, uncertain as to how she could reduce the awkwardness between the two boys.

Claire took a moment to study the both of them individually as they avoided eye contact with one another. If they were ever to mend things with one another, then they would need some time alone.

"Excuse me, Kai? Could I go into the back for a minute?" Claire asked, breaking the silence. Both Rick and Kai looked over at her with startled expressions.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess," Kai said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"Thanks!" She said, hopping off of the stool in the shack and rushing into the back. Claire quickly closed the door, immediately leaning against it so she could eavesdrop on the two boys.

At first, the two continued their silent charade, seemingly ignoring one another's existence. However, finally, Kai broke the silence.

"Um, so, Rick, how are you doing?" He asked with that uncertain tone in his voice. Claire heard a quiet shuffle from the other side of the door before Rick spoke.

"Oh, I'm…alright, I guess," he replied with reluctance.

"…So…um…I guess I need to ask the obvious question: what in the Harvest Goddess' name are you doing here? I figured you'd be the last person to ever walk into here, seeing as you've shown a particular disdain for me."

A moment of silence passed as Claire assumed Rick was thinking things over. "Claire can be quite…persuasive at times. I don't want you to assume that my being here is a sign of forgiveness," he stated clearly. A cough of understanding could be heard from Kai. "But…for now, I think I'd like to call for a truce," Rick continued slowly, obviously in deep thought. "It's not easy being angry all the time, and I've realized that it's only led me to make some rather brash decisions. Like I said, I haven't forgiven you. I still think we have a lot to discuss before that ever happens, but I'd like to think that we could at least be civil toward each other."

"I'd like to point out that on my end, other than sending that letter, I've always been the one who has been civil toward you," Kai responded dryly.

"Well, you have a way of instigating frustration from people," Rick retorted lightly. Claire could hear a cluck from Kai as refuted the point internally. "Whatever your thoughts are on that, it doesn't matter. What's important is this: do we have a deal?"

Claire held her breath as she heard nothing on the other side of the door. Finally, the soft clap of hands caused her to swing the door open to see Rick and Kai shaking hands.

Never did Claire think she would see the day that this would happen. But, she knew her eyes were not deceiving her; she was, in fact, seeing Rick become civil toward what once was his worst enemy, now turned acquaintance.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Kai asked, turning to look at Claire. She only flipped her hair and feigned innocence.

"Don't give me so much credit for being an evil mastermind Kai, it's not like you." Kai grinned at her words wryly, obviously grateful for her part in coaxing Rick to call a truce.

"Well, it looks like everyone has gone," Rick observed, taking a close look out the window. "We should probably get going, since I've got some stuff to do, and I'm certain you have some chores as well, Claire."

"Yes. I've gotta go and look after some of the chickens. It was nice seeing you, Kai," Claire waved as she walked out of the shack with Rick. Upon Rick shutting the door, she immediately ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"WAH! What was that Claire?" He shouted in surprise.

"I know this might be a bit dramatic, but thank you for doing this," Claire said in gratitude. "I know it's hard to put your own anger aside, but I'm proud of you for doing so."

Rick rubbed the back of his nervously, similar to Kai, blushing slightly. "It's not that big of a deal, but thanks all the same."

At that, Claire gave him a wide smile before waving goodbye and jogging back to her farm, leaving Rick behind to watch her longingly.

!

"Ah, Claire. It's good that I found you. I have a letter for you," Harris said to Claire. Claire turned around in surprise, as she normally was inside taking care of the animals when Harris did his rounds, so she was unaccustomed to seeing him in the morning.

"Oh, thank you, Harris!" She said politely, grabbing the letter in his hand. Claire glanced at the sender to see it was from her brother. Her face flushed as she realized she hadn't written to him in a while. She quickly put the letter in her pocket and began to go about her morning chores, albeit a bit more quickly than usual so she could read the letter.

With a sigh, she wiped her forehead, plopping into the chair that sat at the table her newly upgraded house. She quickly fumbled to open the letter, and soon enough she splayed it out before her to read it.

Dear Claire,

Well, since you haven't written back in a while, I just sent this letter to check up on you and send you some updates about some of the goings on in Forget-Me-Not.

So, to the surprise of everyone in the town, Muffy and Griffin got married, despite them being old in age. I'm pretty happy for the two of them, as I always thought they'd make a nice match. Their wedding was scheduled to be in a couple days, so by the time you get this letter it may have happened already.

For other news, the kids are doing great. Mark Jr. misses you and sends you lots of hugs and kisses. He seems to really like life on the farm. Since he's old enough, we've given him the responsibility of feeding the chickens, which he seems to enjoy immensely. Actually, Lumina and I have been talking about which one will inherit the farm. Of course, we can't make any decisions yet since Chelsea is so young, and we can't know if Mark Jr. would want to inherit the farm once he's older. However, I know realize the hardship that Mom and Dad must have gone through in choosing who would. It's a really difficult decision. I know that you have your own farm now and all, but I wanted to say that because I thought it might be a comfort to you, if you still haven't come to peace with that yet.

And finally, Dad is doing well. He misses you and sends his love as well. He actually talked to me about coming up to see you sometime soon. I think all of us would love to do that, if you're alright with it? Obviously, we'll have to work out who would take care of the farm while we're gone, since Takakura couldn't take care of it all on his own. We'll eagerly await your thoughts on whether we could come or not.

With lots of love from your favorite brother,

Mark

Claire grinned upon finishing the letter, folding it up and putting it in her spot in the bookshelf dedicated to all of the letters that Mark had sent. She quickly pulled out some paper and a pen to begin writing her own.

Dear Mark,

Tell congratulations to Griffin and Muffy for me! I'm really happy for them both to have finally found love. Truly, they're both sweeties!

Send my love to Lumina, Chelsea, Mark Jr., and Dad for me! I do miss you guys a lot! And, as for having you guys come and visit me: of course, you can come! I'd love to have you guys stay on the farm with me, but unfortunately, I don't think there'll be enough space or beds for everyone to sleep comfortably. Especially since you have a newborn, you should consider staying at the inn. Anyway, I'll excitedly await for a date that you guys can come!

With much love,

Claire

Claire shuffled around her home and managed to find an envelope, where she quickly tucked the letter inside and went outside to take it to Harris to deliver. However, as Claire passed by her mailbox, she noticed a letter sticking out of it.

Curious, she pulled it out and unfolded it quickly to see that the letter was from Rick. "Hm, that really is curious. I wonder what he wants?" She opened the letter to read it quickly.

Dear Clair,

I sent you this letter as I have something for you at my home. Please come whenever you have the time.

From,

Rick

With raised eyebrows, Claire tucked the letter into her back pocket and began the trek to the Poultry Farm. She arrived fairly quickly, entering the shop to see that Rick was sitting at the table.

"Oh, Claire, there you are! I'm glad you could come!" Rick greeted excitedly. Claire smiled in greeting, walking up to the table. "I know you're busy, but I have something that I thought you might find useful. I was cleaning out the upstairs and I found my father's old watch," he explained to her, holding up the watch with the blue wrist band. "It's a treasured possession of mine, actually. Since it was my father's, I often am reminded of him when I look at it."

"Where is he, exactly? I haven't seen him around anywhere since I arrived here," Claire observed quietly. Rick's expression dampened at the inquiry, causing Claire to feel guilty for asking the question.

"He left us to go look for a plant that could cure my mother. He read about it in a book somewhere. Since it's so rare, there are very few accounts of where it could be," he explained to Claire quietly, becoming distant. He shook his head, snapping back to reality. "I'm sorry if I bored you with my story."

Claire rapidly shook her head. "No, not at all! I'm sorry for asking. I had no idea about your father leaving."

Rick nodded and held out the watch to her. "I want you to have the watch. After all, as a farmer it's nice to have one to keep the time."

Claire felt reluctant to accept. However, upon looking at the pleading look in Rick's eyes, she blushed and nodded. He gestured for her to reach out her arm, and she did so. Rick gently placed the watch on her wrist and carefully threaded the hook to keep it in place. He looked up at her upon finishing, the two of them locking eyes with one another.

Time suddenly appeared to stop existing altogether as the two became lost in one another's eyes. Claire quickly realized that the two of them were standing very close to one another, enough so that she could feel their breath becoming synced with the other's.

And then…without warning, she felt herself begin to lean forward at the same time Rick began to as well. Closer and closer and closer…

"Rick!" Popuri yelled from upstairs. Claire and Rick froze as their lips were about half an inch apart. The two of them blushed in embarrassment as they quickly stepped away from one another as Popuri rushed down the stairs. "Can you please help me move the stuff in the attic?! I've been calling you for the last 10 minutes!" Popuri yelled at him, obviously livid.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you!" Rick called back in frustration. "I'm so sorry, Claire," Rick told her with sincerity. Claire shook her head, keeping her gaze down slightly as to not show her disappointment. After quickly looking back at Claire, Rick hurried up the stairs as to not infuriate his sister further, leaving Claire downstairs to dream about what could have been.