Flavor of Life
Author's Note: Yes, this is the last chapter. This combines both Chelsea and Vaughn's Point of Views. This is also based off of the song 'If We Ever Meet Again' by Timbaland featuring Katy Perry and 'Boku wa Kimi ni Koi Suru' by Ken Hirai. They're really good songs! And, yes, there will be an epilogue, so don't freak out about the ending just yet!
Anyways! I would like to thank everyone for reviewing especially: thygreenthing, hahahahahahaha, HaloFan4Ever, Fk306 animelover, awesomeness777, Anime Girl 593, CanYouSeexILHARVESTMOON, Yami's Girl 117, Ezzaria26, Jimy and Steph the book lovers, SpringBorn, ShadetheEchida666, Azelf1717, and Starlight Lone Wolf.
If I forgot you, then suuuuuper huge apology from me.
Disclaimer: I, KawaiiTenshiCeres, does not own Harvest Moon, nor Flavor of Life by Utada Hikaru.
TWENTY-ONE ~ If We Ever Meet Again
-Chelsea's Point of View-
I realized over time how much I needed him.
Each memory I had with him, I had cherished without knowing it.
That strong gaze that he had.
The warm touch when he held me close.
The rare smile that would melt away the bad feelings.
Once I knew something went wrong with him...
...I never knew losing him was the most painful thing that will ever happen.
"Hey, Mama. Hurry up! I wanna go home already! This place is scary!"
A large pout formed on a smaller girl's face, as she gently gripped my hand with her tiny fingers. We were both in the city where a grave was before us. It was filled with flowers and incense. I knelt down to the girl's level, and shown her how to pray, by clapping her hands together. She reluctantly prayed, as I stood up straight, and began to pay my respects.
My eyes felt like watering at the moment, seeing the grave and the girl besides me. Her hair was a shiny silver up in a pair of high pigtails, her eyes filled with slight arrogance underneath her green eyes. She reminded me so much of him that it was painful. I tried holding back the tears, as I quietly looked down at the small child. She gazed up at me questionably, as she tilted her head.
"Mama? What's wrong?" she questioned.
"N-Nothing's wrong, Alice!" I said nervously. "Anyways, this grave is important to me... The person buried down here had an impact on my life, possibly yours too!" I said.
"Eh...?" Alice had tilted her head. "Who is that...?"
I gently smiled to her and looked away. "I'll tell you at a different day, sweetie. Come on, we need to head back so I get your dinner ready."
"Come on! Mama! Pleaaaaaase?" she complained, as I smiled to her.
That day, I couldn't tell her. It was already too painful to reflect on the past. I had to keep my head held high and with a smile. It's what he wanted after all. A smile. He would've scolded me and kept jabbing me in the forehead for all I know. My days would've been happier if he was there, holding Alice's other tiny hand. We would've been a happy, quaint family that I envied Jill and Skye for having. Now, I had to feel the loneliness that tore me up deep inside.
That night. I couldn't sleep. Why? I dreamt I was Vaughn at the very moments of what had happened back when I was pregnant. He and Will got into an arguement...And when I got there...I remembered hearing a gunshot.
-Vaughn's Point of View-
I felt...warm.
My body was enshrouded in light.
I glanced around, before seeing a familar face gazing at me, with a smirk.
Long black hair, large brown eyes, I couldn't believe who it was. She wore all white, not like the girl I was used to see who normally wore crimson red. I knew something wrong was with this picture. Obviously, Chelsea wasn't around here than I thought. The woman approached me and kissed me gently on the forehead. She grinned, and sat next to me, leaning on me. I wasn't too surprised by who it was, already the touch made me realize who the woman was.
"Misaki...why...am I seeing you?" I muttered.
"You idiot. I've been watching you this whole time and you get hurt over that?" she openly scolded. "Come on! I swear, you're a bigger tough guy than that!" Misaki yelled.
I furrowed my eyebrows and gazed at her. "Oh really?" I muttered, watching her look away in embarassment.
"Oh shut up!" she snapped. "You never change, you freaking jerk."
I smiled to her. "Remember when we were kids, you always made a fuss whenever I did something better than you." I smirked.
"UGH! WHY MUST YOU HAVE TO BRING THAT UP?" Misaki shouted, messing up her hair in anger. "C'MON! I'M TRYING TO PROVE MY POINT HERE!" she yelled.
I sighed, and felt quite defeated when dealing with her. "Fine, fine. Okay, go."
"That girl...Chelsea...She's waitin' for you pal." she said. "Don't think seein' me here is a good thing. You need to get back to your wife. I'll watch your back like I've been doing for the past ten years. So...wake up. Not for me, for her. I'm no longer the love of your life. She is. So please...Let her be the one that you should worry about the most."
A smile formed on her face. Her voice slowly faded away. She was no longer in my dreams. She only gave me a casual wink, turned around and walked off into a different light...It was hard to describe what happened next. It was simply dark. I was floating in an empty space of some sort. I thought it wasn't going to turn out as good as I thought. Was I on the verge between life or death...?
Something had made me return to the reality I was in.
'Tears...?'
I slowly awoke with Chelsea hovering over me. Her eyes watering, her hands on my abdomen, trying to desperately wake me. With a hand, I gently placed a hand on her cheek. Her eyes widened as she began to cry even more at the moment. By the looks of things, I was in a hospital of some sort. She was sobbing endlessly, as I tried to figure out where exactly I was at.
"Where am I...?" I muttered.
"You're in Mineral Town." Elli had smiled, opening the curtain, before noticing my wife crying. "Luckily, you weren't bleeding to the point that you were dying, but we couldn't remove the bullet at the island, so we had brought you here!"
"Jeez. You jerk.." Chelsea muttered, wiping the tears away. "If you were gone...I didn't know what to do anymore.."
"It's recommended that you should stay put Vaughn." Doctor Trent stated, approaching me. "You got hit in a vital area."
I nodded, as the nurse and doctor had left me and Chelsea alone. My wife held my hand tightly, as I forced myself to sit up, wincing at my bandaged abdomen. I brought her close and gently kissed her on the lips. She wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me gently. I sighed, and lightly brushed my hand through her long locks for a small bit.
"Okay, okay." I smiled to her. "Don't cry so much. I'm still here aren't I?"
Chelsea moved away and smiled. Julia had rushed in with a panicked look on her face, along with Skye.
"Thank goodness! You're okay!" Julia said. "You scared the living daylights out of everyone! Your parents were surprised by this, and Mom was crying!" she rambled, on the verge of tears.
Skye gently patted Julia and my wife, trying to reassure the ladies. Obviously, he never lost his annoying charm, even after marriage...
"Hey Julia. Can you bring Chelsea outside? I need to talk to Vaughn alone." Skye questioned with a tiny smile.
As Julia hesitantly nodded and helped Chelsea outside the clinic, Skye sighed, and soon gazed at me with a concerned look on his face. "Listen. The reason why you ended up like this, was because you were with her...If you had distanced yourself from her earlier, then you wouldn't get hurt like this."
I slammed my fist on the bed, and gave my cousin, a cold, hard glare. "Are you insane? You should know by now, I'm not going to abandon my wife like that, just because something like this happened!"
"I want you to settle this whole affair without involving your wife!" Skye had shouted. "If you involve Chelsea in this, then how will your child will grow up to be, when they are thrusted into a world filled with so much drama? I had to break off all my ties with my family, with the exception of you and Julia, just so my kids wouldn't have to feel the pain I did! Realize that this isn't just some political game that our family plays!"
I gazed down in thought. My eyes closed, as I slowly opened it and gazed at my cousin. "You're right...but how long will it even take to even settle this matter?"
"Dunno. Your family, along with Will and Sabrina's needs to reach a compromise somehow." he muttered, calming down. "If you don't, we don't know how far Will's willing to do to try and force you two apart."
Skye sounded more serious than I thought. He wasn't the typical flirt like he always was. Ever since he settled down with Jill, he felt more down-to-earth. Frankly, I thought he was being a bit scary when he yelled at me. Well, at least he still had a more human side to him, despite the fact he rejected becoming the next heir and ran off looking for curry recipes.
"I hope you can somehow settle this, okay? Though...remember, Chelsea can't at all be involved. If she needs help, me or Jill can do something about it." he winked at me, which I found disgusting.
"Skye...Are you sure you don't swing that way...?" I questioned furrowing my eyebrows.
He smacked me in the arm with a bright smile. "Don't worry." he shrugged. "I have two kids already, and I want at least four to maybe eight with Jill. If I even had enough time between babysitting and making one, that still wouldn't happen."
As I casually rolled my eyes, Skye had walked out, and had Chelsea being brought back in. She sat next to me as we were talking for the time being. Even though I didn't feel as much pain from the wound...The pain of having to leave her was much more harder on me.
That's why...
The next morning I had to leave without a word.
-Chelsea's Point of View-
It was...
...Four years since I've last seen Vaughn.
Nobody told me anything since then.
They all smiled and said 'I would be fine'...
Even though it was impossible for me to be 'fine'.
"Hey Mama! There was a strange man who was here earlier, and he had a really, super evil look in his eye!"
Alice looked at me with an amazed look as I tilted my head in confusion, while preparing her lunch. She was doing weird gestures, as I sighed and allowed it to be played off. She seemingly was shocked about this sudden stranger. I turned off the gas of the stove, and knelt to her level with a bright smile on my face. She had a cute pout on her face, as I gently patted her head.
"So, describe to me again, who this 'strange man with the evil look' looked like?" I questioned.
"He was like a cowboy, Mama! He was wearing all black and a hat!" she explained waving her arms around. "He was all saying, 'She's not here...' or 'Wonder where's she at?'. He looked at me weirdly, before running out!"
My eyes battered for a moment. She couldn't have been describing him, could she? I took off my apron and grabbed Alice's hand. I carried her in my arms for a bit, as I stormed out of my house. My daughter gave a questionable look on her face, as she desperately clung onto me. I had to run into town and search each building, asking where he might be...though, they kept telling me either, "I didn't see him." or "You just missed him.".
I placed Alice down in the sand of the beach. Frankly, I didn't want to bring her here, but she loved this place way too much. I gazed up to see a boat that had people coming in and out of it. My body froze at the sight of a certain man. I couldn't help, but feel tears forming in my eyes.
"Vaughn!" I shouted. "VAUGHN!"
A black attire. Black hat. Silver hair. He turned and gazed at me. His eyes widened in shock, before dropping his luggage and quickly grabbed me and held me tight. He looked at me with soft eyes, something different had gotten into him, but I couldn't decode it. When he saw me again...it looked like he regained something more than what he had lost before.
"Chelsea...I've...found you..." he said softly.
"Why did you have to leave?" I quickly questioned him, feeling the tears flowing down my face. "You don't know how much I was crying...I sound pathetic right now..."
Vaughn sighed before looking up at his daughter. "At least you had a beautiful daughter with you. Shoot. She had auntie's green-eyed genes." he muttered in suspicion.
"That doesn't matter right now!" I argued.
"I left to deal with problems involving Will and Sabrina's family, okay? They were willing to leave you and our daughter alone if I worked for their stupid company for five years." he yelled back at me.
Alice gently smacked Vaughn's leg, as she glared at him. "Hey you meanie! Mama didn't do anything bad to you!" she shouted.
"Alice...This is Papa..." I said, wiping up my tears. "D-Don't bully him, okay? He came to visit, so he isn't hurting me..." I added.
My daughter looked away. "Papa...You're such an idiot!"
I battered my eyes in bewilderment, watching my daughter quickly run off. Vaughn sighed, as he gazed at me. While I realized he looked the same, he was a bit surprised at my appearance. I didn't actually wear my bandanna, and instead of my farm clothes, I had a cute dress on with matching flats, making me look more like a mother. I probably looked more feminine than I did before I gave birth...Or so what most people told me.
"She probably ran off, because she's scared of me?" Vaughn questioned eyeing me.
"No...It isn't that...It's because she hates the fact that you left me..." I muttered. "Even I hate the fact you left without a word. No matter what happens, I promise, I will always be by your side."
His eyes gazed at me, as a forced smile formed on his face. He gently hugged me, as I looked up at him. He looked like he was about to cry himself, before hearing the ship captain shout, 'ALL ABOARD!'. He had given me something, before turning around and walking inside the boat. As soon as they took off the ramp, I opened the note, and looked at it.
'Please Smile.
Don't cry.
Don't be mad.
Missing you is painful enough as it is...
Though it won't stop me from falling in love with you again and again. '
As the boat left the pier, I felt tears forming in my eyes. I quickly ran onto the pier as I watched Vaughn standing there, watching me. His gloved hand tipped his hat, as I quietly bit my lip. My hands clenched tightly into a fist, as I gazed out to him. I kept telling myself to not cry. Though, I did manage to force a smile upon my face, and a gentle wave to my husband.
"...Don't go..." I said softly. "...Only one more year...What will happen when we meet again..?"
Ever since then...
I thought when we meet again, it would just resume to our happy lives...
Though...
Just that one year can change everything for better or for worse.
And obviously...
It was for worse.