Anyway, I don't own HM or any of its video game characters! I don't own the Bible, any scriptures, Jesus, God, or anything supernatural EITHER!

Chapter 15: Passion

Gray grit his teeth as he slapped Cliffgard once to get him running. It was like he had just been strapped to a rocket

Immediately it felt like the wind was trying to force Gray off the speeding horse. So, in turn, Gray leaned low and held onto the reigns tightly. He held onto them so tightly that he was sure that if he didn't wear gloves, he would see his knuckles turning white.

Just like the last three years, Cliffgard began lagging behind. "Come on! You can do it!" Gray yelled although he knew that the horse couldn't understand him.

Whether Cliffgard could understand Gray or not didn't matter though as Cliffgard sped up and ended up in the middle of the pack.

"Come on!" Gray yelled once more.

Ann watched in awe as Cliffgard, with Gray on his back, began moving up the pack and nearing the leader.

"A surprise it is, folks! Cliffgard is catching up to Sweetie!" The announcer yelled frantically.

Karen's mouth dropped. "I just… I just… threw away my…" Jack grinned and pulled a rumpled betting receipt out of his pocket. "No, you didn't. You just dropped it!" Karen grinned and reached for the ticket in Jack's hand, but instead of taking the ticket, she interlinked Jack's outstretched hand with her own.

Jack smiled and turned red before they both turned back to watch the race.

Gray grit his teeth once more and silently willed Cliffgard to go a little bit faster. Come on… just a little bit more… Gray leaned forward a little bit or as to cut down on wind resistance. It didn't do much to Cliffgard's speed, but just the feeling of being closer to Cliffgard brought Gray some satisfaction.

Gray took a few seconds to look up and nearly fell off when he saw where he was… right beside Sweetie, the leader!

Karen gripped Jack's hand so hard that her knuckles were turning white. Jack was trying not to wince as her grip forced the blood in his hand to disappear. Then, just to top it all off, Jack lost all feeling in it.

Popuri stood, her entire body tense, as the race went on. Come on, Gray… you can do it… just a little bit faster… Her heart beat so loudly that she was sure that Gray could hear it even in the midst of the thundering hooves of the horses. Come on…

Gray held his breath as Cliffgard and Sweetie rounded the last corner and onto the final stretch of track before the finish line.

Come on! Gray cried in his mind. God… please!

That's when the most amazing thing happened… Cliffgard went faster…

Cliffgard surpassed Sweetie in speed and pulled ahead. After Gray had passed the other rider, he closed his eyes tightly and held onto that moment for what seemed to be the longest moment in time.

He kept his eyes shut until he heard one amazing sound… a quick SWISH. It was a sound he knew well… it was the sound of passing the finish line at high speeds…

Gray pulled Cliffgard to a stop, but he didn't open his eyes until he heard the crowd roaring.

The sight was something that Gray would never forget again… it was the sight of victory.

Mayor Thomas was already heading towards Gray with the trophy and the blue ribbon. Gray's father was heading towards Gray with a large smile on his face. The crowd roared and roared until the sound was burned into Gray's memory. But all of this meant nothing to Gray compared to the last sight…

…and that was the sight of Popuri running to Gray, arms outstretched. "GRAAAAAAAY!!!" She screamed as she ran.

Gray practically jumped off Cliffgard and, without thinking, accepted Popuri's embrace, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around in a classic fashion.

The two held each other long after Gray stopped spinning and let Popuri down on the ground. Tears splashed down Popuri's face as she kept Gray in the death grip that she currently had him in.

Their elation was cut short though as the Mayor cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but…" He didn't say anything else. Gray and Popuri had already pulled apart, their faces both equally red.

Karen didn't speak for a while after the race. I… won? She looked down at the crumpled ticket in her hand. She immediately began thinking about what she could buy with the extra cash, but soon her thoughts were drawn to Jack, who was just smiling at her warmly.

It's because of him that I won… if he didn't pick up the ticket… Karen fought with herself for a few more moments until she finally decided what to do. The ticket slammed down into Jack's hand, much to his surprise. Jack looked up at Karen quizzically. "What's this for?" Karen shrugged, "You won. If it wasn't for you…" She trailed off, knowing that she didn't have to say any more.

Jack tried to resist, but Karen shook her head. Jack sighed, "How about this. We split it fifty-fifty. You take a hundred and I take a hundred." Karen finally shrugged. At least I get something out of this…

Less than an hour later, the after-race party at the Green ranch was in full swing. There were fewer people there as there was at the actual race mainly because only people from Flowerbud village were Even then, only about half of them showed. That's just because Doug had outlawed alcohol for this party.

Jack grinned as a burger was slapped onto the bottom half of the bun on his plate. "It's been too long since I had one of these…" Jack said, a hungry glimmer in his eyes. Immediately, he began devouring his hot hamburger, earning himself some laughs from people around him.

Cliff groaned as familiar folk music filled the air. "Do they have dancing at every festival?" He wondered out loud. "Nope! Only at our really special ones!" Cliff jumped at the cheery voice behind him.

He whirled around to find Ann standing behind him, a devilish grin on her face. Cliff knew that grin. "Ann, you aren't going to…"

"Yep!" Ann interrupted. "Let's dance!" Cliff groaned, his fears had come true. "But I haven't finished eating!" He cried in a desperate attempt to get out of embarrassing himself on the dance floor, which was just a patch of grass. Ann rolled her eyes, "You can eat later!" After she said that, she grabbed his arm and, much to his dismay, dragged him out to where the others danced.

"Jack! Let's dance!" Karen said with a huge grin plastered on her face. Jack looked up from his burger, "Wha?" He mumbled, a piece of the bun hanging out of his mouth. Karen's grin widened, "Come on! You know I love dancing!" She demanded happily. Jack swallowed his food, sighed, and let himself be dragged out onto the dance 'floor'.

Jack, remembering the steps of the dance, began dancing well but not without mistakes. Karen, on the other hand, danced like she had been dancing like she had been dancing all her life, which wasn't far from true.

An hour or so later, the party began winding down, and the music changed from upbeat folk dancing to slow dancing. The result was chaos for the four friends. Or, at least for Jack and Cliff.

"Ooh… I love this song!" Ann cried when the first slow song began. Cliff's heart nearly stopped when Ann looked up at him, her eyes silently asking Cliff.

At first, Cliff wanted to resist, to finish his food, but he was captured by Ann's eyes. They're so blue, like the ocean… Cliff mentally kicked himself for that 'poetic' thought, but he wasn't able to tear his eyes away from Ann's.

Then, before he realized what he was doing, Ann and him were uncomfortably close to each other and they were swaying to the slow beat of the song…

"But Jack…" Karen whined as Jack tried to walk off the dance floor. Jack froze at the familiarity of that voice. She sounds like… Popuri… He thought with a shudder. Great, he thought. Now I have to do it. I can resist it from Popuri, but Karen… Jack turned around slowly and sighed. "One song." He stated adamantly. Karen grinned and grabbed Jack's arm to pull him back to the dance floor.

The one song turned into two songs and those two turned to seven. By the time the music stopped, everybody was plain exhausted.

Jack and Cliff plopped down onto some lawn chairs beside each other. Comically, they managed to sigh heavily at the same time.

"So, what'd you think about that race today?" Cliff asked. Jack shrugged, "What about it? Gray won. I got my money back." Cliff groaned, "You don't know anything, do you?" Jack frowned and looked at Cliff quizzically. "What?" Cliff sighed and shook his head. "A few years ago, Gray was involved in a horse accident. It was during the fall horse race. Something spooked Cliffgard and Gray got thrown off. He seriously hurt his back and, for a while, lost all movement in his legs for a few weeks.

"It wasn't permanent, but to Gray it might as well have been. It destroyed him inside and he was afraid to put himself out there again because of it. Well, then Popuri came along. She had an amazing effect on Gray, and, soon, he was ready to race again.

"Well, the day before the race that Gray was going to be in, Popuri showed her formerly true form and she slept with a man from the city. Somehow, Gray managed to walk in on them while they were…"

"What are you guys talking about?" Cliff jumped at Popuri's high-pitched voice. "We… uh… we're… talking about…" Popuri waved Cliff off. "I know what you too were talking about, and don't worry about it. I made a mistake. A serious one at that. I don't deny it. I was a really bad person back then. I still am now, but I've been forgiven by—" Jack cleared his throat. "I've heard." His tone of voice obviously showed that he didn't need to hear anymore. Popuri shrugged and grinned, "Well, I'm going to find Elli. I know she's around here somewhere, and I'm determined to find her!" Popuri walked off in search of her friend leaving Jack and Cliff alone.

"That was very rude, Jack." Cliff stated with a grim look on his face. Jack sighed but didn't answer.

Cliff leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes, leaving Jack virtually alone in his thoughts. She was so… different. It's as if she was a complete different person. Could Christianity change her so radically in such a short amount of time? If so, how? It's just a bunch of lies… right?

The party finally ended half an hour later, although, by then, most everybody had already gone home to bed, including Cliff and Ann.

Jack and Karen walked silently on the beach under the moon and stars. "What a day, huh?" She said after an awkward silence. Jack didn't answer, but instead found himself looking up into the night sky. So many stars… how did they just appear? He wondered. The Big Bang. He tried to reason, but the answer just didn't satisfy his curiosity. The Big Bang doesn't explain anything… like the beginning of time.

"Jack!" Jack startled at looked at Karen, who was fuming. "Here I am talking to you and you're just looking at the stars!" Jack turned red. "I… uh… I'm sorry?" He sounded very unsure of his reply, but Karen accepted it anyway.

She began speaking again, but, once again, Jack found himself captivated by something. This time it was the ocean. It's so big… so… unbelievable. How could anything but an all-powerful creator make it? How could that possibly be made from chance? What about the sand? Bacteria? Atoms? The idea of that stuff just coming from nowhere violates all natural laws that we have!

"Jack!" Jack jumped at Karen's shrill voice. When he looked at her, she was tapping her bare foot in the wet sand, making a squishing sound each time. "If you're not going to listen to me, I'd like to just go home." She meant it as a threat, but that all changed at the fact that Jack was, once again, no longer listening, but just staring at her with a look of curiosity and wonder on his features.

Karen roared in frustration and stormed off the beach, a confused Jack trailing after her.

Karen finally stopped in front of the door to the guesthouse and waited for Jack to catch up. She wasn't done being angry with him, but she was just interested about what he was thinking about and why it was so important for him to completely ignore him.

When he did catch up, Karen didn't say anything, but, instead, she just sent him a lethal glare. Jack sighed, "I'm sorry… I'm just… well, I'm tired. Having trouble focusing." He lied. Karen sighed, "You could have told me that, you know." Jack nodded. "Well, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to head on home." He said, slightly afraid of Karen's next reply.

He found that he had nothing to be afraid of Karen's reply as he thought. Instead of a sharp reply or glare, she just said, "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." Jack smiled and leaned forward to kiss Karen. Karen gladly accepted the goodnight kiss and soon it turned to a passionate experience.

When they separated, Jack just flashed her a smile and turned to leave. "Wait." He stopped at Karen's voice and turned back to her. "Would you… like to… come in?" She wondered aloud. At first, the question threw ########. Why would I want to… That's when it clicked. She's asking if I want to… she's asking… He immediately stopped all thoughts that flew through his head and looked into Karen's eyes. "Are you sure?"

Instead of answering verbally, Karen just opened the front door and stepped aside to let Jack through.

Jack looked at her for a moment before stepping through the doorway and into the dark house.

The two immediately became locked in another passionate kiss while traveling, slowly, towards the door that led into Karen's room. They broke apart at the door and Karen stepped into the room, beckoning for Jack to follow. Jack hesitated only for a moment, and that was just because he was wondering what Cliff would think. "It's none of his business." Jack said quietly enough so that Karen wouldn't hear him and stepped into Karen's room, closing the door quietly behind him.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Jack nearly jumped out of the unfamiliar bed at the sound of Karen's door being pounded on by someone. "Karen! Get up! We have things to do! People to see! Activities to attend to!" Ann said loudly enough for her voice to carry her voice throughout the house. It didn't need to be that loud though. No, even if it was quiet and calm, it still would have nearly given Jack a heart attack.

Jack immediately rolled out of bed, gathered his clothes, and put them on… then he heard the door handle twist slowly and he noticed that last night, in their heated passion, Jack and Karen had forgotten to lock the door.

Jack's eyes widened and he immediately dropped to the floor and managed to roll under Karen's bed right as Ann opened the door. He would have still been caught by Ann if it weren't for the fact that he was on the side of the bed opposite the door.

"Karen! Get up!" Ann cried loudly when she saw that Karen still slept soundly in bed. Karen's eyes shot open and she rose from the bed and into a sitting position. The sheet that covered her fell down to her midsection, causing Ann to look away in embarrassment at the sight of her bare-chested friend.

"Do you always sleep naked?" Ann asked while keeping her eyes focused on the floor. "N-no. I usually… don't. I must have conked out last night before getting dressed. Big day yesterday." Karen said shakily. Ann frowned at the tone in Karen's voice. It was a tone of fear and apprehension. After pondering it a moment longer, Ann shook herself out of her stupor and stepped out of Karen's room letting her get dressed alone.

"Jack?" Karen whispered. Jack rolled out from underneath the bed and found himself staring at Karen. The night before it had been dark and Jack hadn't seen much. Now… He diverted his eyes toward the ground. "How am I going to get out of here now?" He wondered out loud. Karen sighed as he got out of bed and began putting on her fallen clothes, not wanting to prolong her nakedness any longer.

After getting dressed she walked over to the single window in the room, pulled open the drapes, and opened the window. "How else?" It was more of an order than a question.

Jack climbed, painfully, out of the small window and made a mad dash across the length of the house, only pausing at the windows and then at the edge of the house.

When Jack saw that the coast was clear, he ran across the lawn, jumped over the fence, and dashed down the pathway toward his farm and his own bed.

Gray watched in confusion as he saw Jack run from the side of the guesthouse. "What was he doing here?" He wondered out loud. That's when it hit him.

Gray ran around to the side of the guesthouse and headed toward Karen's window. He groaned out loud when he saw that it was left wide open. "Cliff's not going to like hearing about this…" Gray muttered quietly knowing that he had to tell his friend what had happened.

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Well? Quite a surprise, huh? Weren't expecting that to happen, eh?

Review please!!!

God Bless!

--Ben