Author's Note: Claire's back! But I still have lots of work ahead of me. I still haven't fully decided which bachelor will have her heart! Originally some months ago I began this chapter with a few dream sequences, one ClairexMarlin and another ClairexJack, but decided they'd just be distracting and confusing. I do fully intend to complete this story if none other on FF. Life gets in the way and this will take time, but my heart is in it. I promise you.

Also - I took some liberties and twisted a character or two around, like Natsume did with the character relations when "Back to Nature" came out. The fisherman Greg, as we saw in the beginning, is Claire's uncle. Sasha is her mother. Her brother is Mark (Island of Happiness).

Something smelled like brown sugar, and by this time, Claire's mouth was nearly filled with a pool of saliva. Whatever was cooking, there were raisins, too.

She lifted her head from the pillow and realized at long last where she was. Her hair was standing up on one side and her nightgown was tangled. A flowered wallpaper pattern surrounded her, reminding her of peppermint candy stripes. After all this time, she knew to look for the blue heart-shaped clock on the right wall. It read 10:12 a.m.

It was Winter 11th, and she was miles away, in Flower Bud Village.

She was home. This was her room.

And she had been having the craziest dreams about people she would never have had anything to do with, if she'd never left this town.

Only one thing was more crushing than the headache she got from sleeping too much. And that was remembering. The hazing, the drama, the broken relationships, and the fire. The supernatural creatures that seemed more like hallucinations now that she was so far away. The stupid farm that brought her there in the first place.

A suitcase lay strewn on the mint-green, freshly-vacuumed carpet. Winter garments were scattered about, and they still smelled of the farm. But her thick, soft canopy bed was here, and it had a mattress that contoured to every curve of her body. And here were her stuffed animals, her closet full of feminine clothes, her dresser and mirror. Last but not least, a picture of her and her brother, framed and glossy on the nightstand.

That's right. Last night she had come home to her gushing, affectionate mother.

"Mommy…."

"Claire! You're home! And you're freezing! Come in and have some pie…." Tears clung to the corners of her mother's eyes, and Claire could see traces of her own smile. Petite and meticulous, Sasha was a perfect reminder of the charming, dream-like life Claire had had when she was home.

She also served as a glimpse of the future. Sasha had her golden-blond hair pulled into an elegant bun at all times, her makeup was modest and complemented her flawless complexion, and she strolled about their home in dresses suitably styled for her age group, but with her waist cinched. An exemplary picture of mature, adult femininity.

While the youth tied her fuzzy pink robe, she smiled for what felt like the first time in ages. Her mother just knew what she needed, always - and this morning, it was a glorious breakfast of steaming brown-sugar oatmeal, lightly sprinkled with raisins.

'Today', she resolved, 'I am not going to think about problems.'

"Is the snow piling up badly on your farm, too?" Sasha asked her, gingerly stirring spoonfuls of sugar into her tea. Her rose-dusted fingernails contrasted with the white doilies on the dining table, and she blinked patiently as the cute cat clock ticked on, its tail swinging to mark off the seconds.

Claire used her napkin to dab at the corner of her mouth, out of which oatmeal had begun leaking generously. The sky was furiously dark today, and the snow pelted down forcefully like bullets. This all still felt quite surreal - Mother's heavenly face, the smells of a warm kitchen, the clean comfort of real furniture on a soft carpeted floor.

"Mm-hmm," she replied hastily with her mouth full.

"It must be very hard."

"Mm-hmm."

"The college has been closed down nearly all winter so far. But before that it's been just as quiet as before you left on your sabbatical. I'm sure you've learned a whole lot with your practical experience, probably more than you would from books in school."

Claire could feel her face gradually coloring pink. She was trying so hard to forget all about that failed experiment. Nobody wanted her there, and she wished she'd never gone there.

"It's cool," she said, choking back her anxiety.

Sasha leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands, tilting her head slightly so as to study her daughter's eyes.

"Did something bad happen, baby? I mean besides the fire."

"It's just been a little rough," she replied with a hollowness in her voice. "Not used to farming. Y'know."

"You know you're welcome to stay as long as you want. There's a card on the counter over there from your father. For your birthday."

"Oh! That's nice."

"And your brother's missed you so."

"How is Mark?" Claire inquired, using her tongue to pick at a raisin lodged in her teeth.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon. He's helping with the shoveling outside. He's been working very hard, you know. Earning lots of extra cash to save for school. He's even got a little girlfriend now, and he adores her so much…. I'll see if he'll bring her by for dinner while you're staying."

"Sounds good."

"I'm so happy you're home…." Sasha sighed contentedly, her worries well-disguised as she took her empty teacup and saucer to the sink.