AN: Sorry for any heart attacks I may have inadvertently caused with the previous chapter! I hope this one is easier on everyone's health. Thanks for reading, and I'd love to hear how you're liking the story! ;)


I sat in Mikhail's room, still shivering despite having exchanged my cold, wet clothing for a dry robe, and despite the hot milk I was drinking and the crackling fire in the fireplace. Mikhail sat on a chair opposite me, watching me with concern as I shivered and sipped my drink.

When I had announced that I wanted a divorce, Ina and Mikhail both had just stared at me, open-mouthed with shock. Ina recovered first, saying, "Alice, are you quite sure about that? It's only been two weeks—surely you can't have any problems already that you can't work out?"

Then Mikhail spoke up, saying, "While I admit that I would be delighted to see you free of him, at the same time, I beg of you to stop and think and not rush into anything. Think about how long you took to decide you wanted to marry him in the first place—don't hastily divorce him in a fit of pique, because you may change your mind and find it's too late."

"It's not a fit of pique—it's that… I've discovered that he isn't at all who I thought he was, and I can't even stand to be in the same room as him right now. Ina, I'm quite sure this is what I want, so what do I need to do?"

Reluctantly, she pulled out some forms from a file cabinet and passed them over to me with a sigh. "If you're absolutely certain…. First, you need to file for a trial separation. You can do that on your own—you don't need anything from Cam for that. The requirements for divorce are: complete a trial separation of not less than two weeks, complete a minimum of four one-hour sessions of marriage counseling from a qualified counselor, and finally, both of you have to fill in and sign the petition to have your marriage dissolved. The qualified counselors in the two towns are myself, Rutger, and Dr. Ayame. The sessions need to all be with the same counselor, but you can choose any one of the three of us. But before you fill in the paperwork for a trial separation, why don't you first get out of your wet things, warm up, and rest? I must say, whatever it is that has happened seems to have taken its toll on you—you look bone-weary."

So she'd taken me up to her apartment, found a thick, warm bathrobe for me to borrow, and while I changed, she made me a large mug of hot milk. She brought me back downstairs and handed me over to Mikhail, asking him to keep an eye on me while I rested.

Back in his room, after several minutes of sitting and watching me, he spoke up. "Alice, what's this all about? What happened? Why do you think you want to divorce Cam?"

At his questions, I began to shake harder and harder, until I could barely keep from spilling the cup. Seeing my distress, he came over and sat next to me, taking the cup from my hands and holding it to my lips. After a few more swallows, I began to relax a little, and the trembling subsided somewhat. He set the cup down and leaned back, waiting for an explanation.

After another few minutes passed in silence, he leaned forward slightly, saying, "Well, Alice?"

I felt my face crumple as the tears began again. Sobbing I turned towards him and threw my arms around his neck. He tensed up, startled, then awkwardly began to pat my shoulder. As soon as I could speak again, I told him what had happened—about falling ill so suddenly, the doctor's visit and the result of her examination, then about Cam's shocking response to the news and his venomous accusations.

When I looked at him, he appeared incensed—staring straight ahead at nothing, his jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed. "That brainless son-of-a-bitch," he hissed. He blinked and his eyes came into focus as he turned to look at me. He forced his face to relax, then smiled reassuringly at me. "It'll be okay, Alice. Don't worry. I'll go talk to him."

I pulled back in alarm. "Are… are you sure about that? I mean… it's not like the two of you got along all that well in the best of times. And now… wouldn't that just confirm all his accusations in his mind?"

"Not if I break his neck, it won't," he muttered. I must have looked as panicked as I felt, because he smiled again, then patting me on my shoulder, said, "Don't worry, I won't break him… not much, anyway. Stay here and warm up. I'll be back in a while."

It felt like he was gone for hours and hours. After I finished my hot milk, I got up and paced back and forth before the fireplace, restless with nervous energy, and cold with something deeper than a mere chill. After I while, I became sleepy, so I lay down on the side of Mikhail's bed nearest to the fire, pulled his blankets up, and quickly fell asleep.

I dreamed of a day on our honeymoon that we'd spent at the river—the same river that flowed past my parents' farm. The sky was a deep blue with only a few puffy white clouds. The leaves from the maples and oaks and poplars had changed color and begun to drop, and colorful leaves floated downstream on the river like a flotilla of tiny boats. We just sat by the river, sometimes talking and sometimes kissing, watching the river and the leaves. It had been a lovely afternoon.

But in my dream, something was different… wrong. I sensed it, but I couldn't see what was amiss. Cam leaned in to kiss me, and for a moment I forgot my worries, just melting into his embrace. But when I pulled back, it was no longer Cam I was kissing—it was Henry, grinning evilly at me. "You're mine, now—no one will save you this time. No one can save you from yourself," he hissed as he pulled out his large hunting knife and slid the cold metal up my chest, resting the point against my throat for a moment. Then he grabbed my arm and began to shake me, angrily. "I'm back, Alice—do you hear me? I'm back!" he shouted, and with a scream I sat bolt upright in bed.

Mikhail had his hand on my arm and was shaking me gently to wake me. "It's okay, Alice, I'm back now. Do you hear me? Wake up, Alice! You're having a nightmare!"

I looked around, still dazed, confused first that I was no longer in my dream, then that I wasn't in my own bed, in my own home. Then it all came flooding back to me: I was pregnant, my husband thought I was unfaithful and a liar, and I'd fallen asleep in Mikhail's bed while he went to try to talk sense into my husband. I looked up at him, fighting back tears.

He sighed and stroked my hair, his look and gesture answering my unspoken question better than any words. I looked away, unable to stop the tears then. "So… what happened?" I asked, dully. I was surprised that my earlier fury had left, only to be replaced with a sort of cold ache in the pit of my stomach.

"I found him working at his stall, as I'd expected. He wasn't terribly pleased to see me, I must say, but he put a sign up on his stall and we walked outside of town. I told him that he was a fool and an idiot, and he punched me." I looked quickly back over to him, and that's when I saw the slowly darkening spot on his jaw. I gasped, but he waved away my concern and continued. "He asked me how dare I speak to him that way, after what I'd done, and I replied that I'd done nothing and he was an ass to think that I had. I said to him, 'Do you honestly think that if I'd made love to Alice, that she would have returned to marry you? Do you honestly believe that I would sit back and let my child be raised by another man, when I could simply marry the one love of my life so that we could raise our child together?'" He shook his head in irritation. "Then I told him, 'Alice never deceived you. The only one deceiving you is yourself. Furthermore, if Alice ever does decide to leave your boneheaded self, know that I will always be there waiting for her. And I, for one, would never willingly let her go—let alone drive her away.' Then I left him to think over what I'd said."

I saw then that he was also favoring his hand. I reached out and grabbed it, then turned it over. His knuckles were bloodied and raw, and again I gasped. "What… what happened to you? Did you hit him back? How did you hurt your hand so badly?"

"Ah, well, that. When he punched me, I punched back—but only into the tree he was leaning against. I didn't punch him in the face like I so badly wanted to do. But at least it got his attention."

I snorted—I bet it had. I slid out of his bed and straightened the covers. "I don't know how to thank you for all you've done—for listening to me and giving me a place to dry off and warm up… not to mention calm down. Thanks, Mikhail. But now I'd better get out of your hair."

He grabbed my hand and held it, looking concerned. "What will you do now?"

"Oh, I'm not really going to just let him take the farm. That's my farm, dammit—the product of a lot of sweat and tears and even a little blood. Not just mine, but my ancestors', too. And I'm certainly not going to just throw all that aside just because my husband is being a prick."

"And are you still intending to file for divorce?"

"Yes. It looks as though he doesn't really trust me after all, doesn't it? And he's certainly damaged my trust for him. Trust is the foundation for a good marriage—or at least, that's what my parents always said, and they've sure had a long, happy marriage. If we don't trust each other, there's not a lot of point in continuing on. I'll manage somehow—I always do, you know." I gave him a halfhearted smile.

I gathered my dried clothing from where they'd been draped near the fire, then I started out the door to change in Ina's apartment and return her robe to her. As I opened the door, Mikhail called to me. "Alice?" I turned and looked at him. "I meant what I told Cam. If you ever do leave him—ever, no matter how much time has passed—I will be waiting for you. I… just want you to know that."

I felt my heart skip a beat, and I walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," I whispered, then I left.


Disclaimer: Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns, and most locations and characters in this story belong to Natsume Inc. and MarvelousAQL Inc. The story's plot and some characters & locations are my own invention.