The Racoon

"Akari? Akari are you in here?" Luke walked into the barn and looked around uncertainty for his wife. "Akari?"

"Back here!"

Luke gave a small sigh of relief and made his way back to where he had heard her shouting from. As he approached the back corner of the bar he saw her kneeling on the ground, peering around the yarn maker, mining hammer in hand. He stopped where he was and took a small step back, just in case Akari was still mad at him for lighting the kitchen on fire three days prior.

"Hey Luke, can you come over here?"

"Uh... Why?"

"There's a hole in going under the barn and I want to know if you can see anything." She turned and looked at him expectantly. "You have better night vision than I do, and I really don't want to stick my head in there."

"So I should?"

"Yep. It will work in your favor faster than carving my knife holder will."

"It was an accident!"

"That could have been prevented if you hadn't put the olive oil right next to the stove!" Akari pointed her hammer at him threateningly. "Now look down there and tell me what you see!"

Luke grumbled but traded spaces with Akari and stuck his head into the hole and peered around. "What am I looking for exactly?"

"A racoon."

Luke thumped his head against the floorboards as he yanked his head out of the hole. "Ow! you couldn't have told me that first!"

"You didn't ask!" Luke opened his mouth to retort, but closed it a little abashed. "A racoon got into my shipping bin and I followed the wrecked to the barn and found that," she waved at the hole angrily, "here. I'm sure that's its hidey-hole and probably where the rascal stashed my stuff!"

"I don't think the crops will be worth getting back."

"No but the gems and ores I dug up are." Luke groaned when she said that.

"Not the vacation money!" He sighed and rubbed his neck. "We'll we need to get the sucker out before either of us go in there. Any ideas?"

Akari smiled deviantly at Luke and he involuntarily took a step back. "As a matter of fact," she said pointing to the other side of the barn, "I do." Luke followed her gaze and tried not to groan as he saw exactly what she was pointing at.


***hey Look!* I'm a break line!* Aren't I a swell break line?* Am I not a pretty break line?* Conjera really likes saying break line!***


Hikari came back outside from her sister's house looking worried. "no one is in there Gale, I looked everywhere!"

"... Did you check the upstairs? Or the kids room?"

"They don't have a kids room." Gale gulped a little as Hikari looked at him suspiciously. "But I did check out the spare room. No one was there."

"I see." Gale looked around the landscape of the small farm frowning. "Did they know we where coming?"

"Yes, I had talked with Akari earlier today. She wanted to make sure you liked spinach and she wasn't going to poison you again."

"... I don't like squid."

Hikari shock her head a little and gave her boyfriend a small smile. "I know Gale it's just.. We didn't know at the time." He smiled back a little sheepishly and Hikari glanced around the farm land. "Nothing was on in the kitchen and it looks like she didn't have the table ready... and..." Hikari frowned as she noticed a goat casually walk around from the other side of the small patch of fruit trees Akari had planted. "What? I-I know I put you back in the barn this afternoon..."

Gale followed her gaze and frowned. "...There is also... a sheep... and horse?"

"What in the world?" Hikari began to walk over and noticed as they got closer that most of the animals seemed to be out of the barn. a small goat kid came racing over when Hikari walked up and when she went to pet it she pulled back. "He's wet!"

"Wet?"

"Wet!"

"...But... why would he be wet?"Gale looked over at his girlfriend bewildered and Hikari turned and immediately made her way to the barn. Gale rushed after her and when the got to the door both paused and looked at the scene that greeted them.

The feeding trough running the middle of the room was filled with water, as was the shipping bin near by. One of the machines in the back was on its side and another appeared to be smoking. In the middle of the wreckage, Akari was sitting on a box, looking rather victorious, and Luke was sitting on the ground, holding something black.

"Hey Sis!" Akari called out happily as she the two tentatively made their way into the barn. "I got the racoon!"

"...You got the... racoon?"

"Yep! The one that got into my bin, I found it!" She smiled and pointed at the box she was sitting on. "I'm going to take it to the forest tomorrow and release it."

"This... You got the racoon?"

"Yeah, Luke and I managed to corner him a few minutes ago." She smiled at her husband, who was sitting silently with a blank look on his face. "It all went according to the plan."

Luke blinked and then shook his head a little as if coming out of a daze. Then he glared at his wife and held up the small black bundle in his arms. "I am holding a rabbit." He stated angrily.

"Um... Almost according to plan?"