Chapter 4: A way
*Author's notes: Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I was suffering from an acute case of writers block. Anywho, you know the drill. I don't own Harvest Moon, Lunar, or their characters, that honor belongs to Natsume and Working Designs. If I did, I would have made sure HM: Save the homeland was never made. In my opinion, that was a mistake to have made it, but what can you do?*
It has been almost two seasons since Luna left Jack to return to her duties as goddess of the moon. And he had not been taking it well.
...Actually, that has been an understatement, he has continued to stay locked up in his house, never coming out. Both Barley and Lillia began to worry about his animals, and then decided to take them and care for them until Jack was back in shape. The whole Village was very understanding about Jack's feelings (Except for Rick, who always seemed to go over to Jack's house only to tease him through the door, until Ann, Popuri, Mary, Elli and Karen all beat the tar out of him for being so insensitive). But even though the whole village tried, no one could get him to come out of the house, and because of this, his farm began to suffer. Weeds were growing everywhere, and the Barn and Coop were falling apart. All in all, the farm was in ruins.
But even with this knowledge, Jack refused to leave his cabin. He was in a constant cloud of sadness. He was also in denial, telling himself that she would come walking through the door any minute, even though in his heart he knew that it was impossible. That she wouldn't return, and this knowledge just pushed him further into depression. For many weeks, he contemplated about taking his life, and even attempted it. Only to stop himself when he realized that this would only cause more pain for the villagers.
Finally, after about three months, he finally came out of his house and began to fix up his farm, removing all the weeds and debris, along with repairing all his buildings, after that he went over to the chicken farm, and claimed back his chickens. After apologizing to Lillia and Popuri for his behavior, along with giving them some money as thanks, he returned them to his farm, deciding to get his cows and sheep back later. Soon, he had his house and farm back in top shape, and he began to talk to the other villagers (except for Rick, now that he was out, he got a few licks in on the jerk). Even though things seemed to have returned to normal, many people could see that he was still very sad, not smiling nearly as much as he used to, and when he did it seemed forced.
*about 6 years later*
Things finally have gotten back to normal, Jack still is single, since all the girls had gotten married, but he seemed to live with it. His farm had become the finest the whole village had ever seen, with many new plants and animals that they had never seen grown. Watermelon, oranges, lemons, cherries, and beets were some of the new plants that Jack grew. Pigs, Turkeys, Ducks, and Goats were the new animals around his farm. But the best improvement the villagers noticed was the fact that Jack finally seemed to be happy, his smile no longer forced, he was very joyful and friendly, getting along with all his old friends and their kids.
One day, while he was watching the kids of his friends, he let them wander around his farm. They decided to play hide and seek.
Blossom: (daughter of Popuri and Kai age 5) "I want to be it, let me be it, please."
Sam: (son of Karen and Rick, age 6) "No way, if your it we'll be hiding forever." he said while sticking out his tongue.
Guy: (son of Elli and the doc, age 4) "Sam, stop being a meanie, just because you're the oldest."
Hope: (daughter of Mary and Gray, age 5 1/2) *looking at him with his tongue still out* "Well, he might be the oldest, but he certainly isn't the most mature of us."
Amy&Stan (twins of Ann and Cliff age 4 1/2) *in unison* "Ma...ture.... what's that?"
Hope: It means he doesn't act like he's the oldest
Amy&Stan: "Ohhhhhhhhhh......"
Hope: ".... you still don't get it, do you?"
A&S "....... Nope.... anyway, let Blossom be it Sam."
Sam: "FINE..... she can be it, ok, count to twenty and then come look for us.... If you can count that high." He said as he ran off laughing.
"Blossom, don't worry about him, he's a jerk." Guy said as he patted her shoulder when he saw that she was going to cry, the others quickly agreed and went to hide. Determined to win, Blossom counted and then went to look. Soon, she had found Hope, who had hidden under the shipping basket, Guy, who had hid in one of the lemon trees, and Stan and Amy, who both his in the straw in the chicken coop, but after about ten minutes, she still couldn't find Sam. Finally, she had to give up, and He dropped down from the tallest apple tree, the one that Jack started with.
"Wow, you got all the way up there?" Guy said in awe and Sam landed and bowed at his ability to stick the landing. When he landed though, he dug up a lot of dirt, and something blue poked out of the ground.
"Hey... there's something here." Sam said as he began do dig it up. Soon, all six of them where digging up the item, when it was dug up and cleaned, they examined it with awe.
"Wow.... it's a flute!"Blossom said as she stared at the blue instrument.
"Actually, it's called an Ocarina." Hope said as she studied it.
"And it has some initials in it......one of them is a "J"" Stan said. "And the other is..... a "L"" Amy finished.
"The J must be .... uncle Jack, but the L, I can't figure out." said Guy
"Well then, lets go ask him." They all agreed as they went to search for him, they located him at his pond, feeding his fish.
"Hey uncle Jack?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Why did you bury this cool Orca-Fina?" said Stan
"It's Ocarina." Hope corrected him.
".... Where did you find this?"
"We found it under the tall apple tree Uncle Jack."
".... Oh.... *smiling gently* This was a gift from my wife."
"You mean you were married uncle Jack?" Blossom said wide-eyed
"Yes.... her name was Luna and.."
"So that was the L"
*cough*
"Oh, I'm sorry uncle Jack."
"It's ok Sam.... yes, Luna, I loved her so much."
"Then where is she?"
".... She had... to go back home... far, far away." Jack said, light tears coming down his face.
Blossom noticed this and quickly gave him a hug. "It's ok Uncle Jack, you miss her... but that doesn't mean you got to bury her memory... you should hold on to her memory."
*looking at her in awe* She is absolutely right... I need to remember Luna, not forget her Jack thought as he hugged her back. "Thank you Blossom... you are absolutely right.... are you sure you're only 5?" He joked as he tickled her.
"Yes.... I'm sure" She giggled at being tickled.
Once he stopped, he noticed that they were all staring at him They want me to play.... well can't let them down he thought as he brought it up to his lips and began to play The song. While he played, the kids were totally silent, totally absorbed by the song, when he finished, the kids just stared in awe.
"Wow.... that was beautiful!" the three girls exclaimed in delight.
"But... it seemed so sad." Sam said "It also needs some words, like it should be sung along to the playing. I know, we can write some songs for you uncle Jack. Would you like that?"
".... Yes... yes I would." Jack said as he gave them all a big hug.
*Author's notes: Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I was suffering from an acute case of writers block. Anywho, you know the drill. I don't own Harvest Moon, Lunar, or their characters, that honor belongs to Natsume and Working Designs. If I did, I would have made sure HM: Save the homeland was never made. In my opinion, that was a mistake to have made it, but what can you do?*
It has been almost two seasons since Luna left Jack to return to her duties as goddess of the moon. And he had not been taking it well.
...Actually, that has been an understatement, he has continued to stay locked up in his house, never coming out. Both Barley and Lillia began to worry about his animals, and then decided to take them and care for them until Jack was back in shape. The whole Village was very understanding about Jack's feelings (Except for Rick, who always seemed to go over to Jack's house only to tease him through the door, until Ann, Popuri, Mary, Elli and Karen all beat the tar out of him for being so insensitive). But even though the whole village tried, no one could get him to come out of the house, and because of this, his farm began to suffer. Weeds were growing everywhere, and the Barn and Coop were falling apart. All in all, the farm was in ruins.
But even with this knowledge, Jack refused to leave his cabin. He was in a constant cloud of sadness. He was also in denial, telling himself that she would come walking through the door any minute, even though in his heart he knew that it was impossible. That she wouldn't return, and this knowledge just pushed him further into depression. For many weeks, he contemplated about taking his life, and even attempted it. Only to stop himself when he realized that this would only cause more pain for the villagers.
Finally, after about three months, he finally came out of his house and began to fix up his farm, removing all the weeds and debris, along with repairing all his buildings, after that he went over to the chicken farm, and claimed back his chickens. After apologizing to Lillia and Popuri for his behavior, along with giving them some money as thanks, he returned them to his farm, deciding to get his cows and sheep back later. Soon, he had his house and farm back in top shape, and he began to talk to the other villagers (except for Rick, now that he was out, he got a few licks in on the jerk). Even though things seemed to have returned to normal, many people could see that he was still very sad, not smiling nearly as much as he used to, and when he did it seemed forced.
*about 6 years later*
Things finally have gotten back to normal, Jack still is single, since all the girls had gotten married, but he seemed to live with it. His farm had become the finest the whole village had ever seen, with many new plants and animals that they had never seen grown. Watermelon, oranges, lemons, cherries, and beets were some of the new plants that Jack grew. Pigs, Turkeys, Ducks, and Goats were the new animals around his farm. But the best improvement the villagers noticed was the fact that Jack finally seemed to be happy, his smile no longer forced, he was very joyful and friendly, getting along with all his old friends and their kids.
One day, while he was watching the kids of his friends, he let them wander around his farm. They decided to play hide and seek.
Blossom: (daughter of Popuri and Kai age 5) "I want to be it, let me be it, please."
Sam: (son of Karen and Rick, age 6) "No way, if your it we'll be hiding forever." he said while sticking out his tongue.
Guy: (son of Elli and the doc, age 4) "Sam, stop being a meanie, just because you're the oldest."
Hope: (daughter of Mary and Gray, age 5 1/2) *looking at him with his tongue still out* "Well, he might be the oldest, but he certainly isn't the most mature of us."
Amy&Stan (twins of Ann and Cliff age 4 1/2) *in unison* "Ma...ture.... what's that?"
Hope: It means he doesn't act like he's the oldest
Amy&Stan: "Ohhhhhhhhhh......"
Hope: ".... you still don't get it, do you?"
A&S "....... Nope.... anyway, let Blossom be it Sam."
Sam: "FINE..... she can be it, ok, count to twenty and then come look for us.... If you can count that high." He said as he ran off laughing.
"Blossom, don't worry about him, he's a jerk." Guy said as he patted her shoulder when he saw that she was going to cry, the others quickly agreed and went to hide. Determined to win, Blossom counted and then went to look. Soon, she had found Hope, who had hidden under the shipping basket, Guy, who had hid in one of the lemon trees, and Stan and Amy, who both his in the straw in the chicken coop, but after about ten minutes, she still couldn't find Sam. Finally, she had to give up, and He dropped down from the tallest apple tree, the one that Jack started with.
"Wow, you got all the way up there?" Guy said in awe and Sam landed and bowed at his ability to stick the landing. When he landed though, he dug up a lot of dirt, and something blue poked out of the ground.
"Hey... there's something here." Sam said as he began do dig it up. Soon, all six of them where digging up the item, when it was dug up and cleaned, they examined it with awe.
"Wow.... it's a flute!"Blossom said as she stared at the blue instrument.
"Actually, it's called an Ocarina." Hope said as she studied it.
"And it has some initials in it......one of them is a "J"" Stan said. "And the other is..... a "L"" Amy finished.
"The J must be .... uncle Jack, but the L, I can't figure out." said Guy
"Well then, lets go ask him." They all agreed as they went to search for him, they located him at his pond, feeding his fish.
"Hey uncle Jack?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"Why did you bury this cool Orca-Fina?" said Stan
"It's Ocarina." Hope corrected him.
".... Where did you find this?"
"We found it under the tall apple tree Uncle Jack."
".... Oh.... *smiling gently* This was a gift from my wife."
"You mean you were married uncle Jack?" Blossom said wide-eyed
"Yes.... her name was Luna and.."
"So that was the L"
*cough*
"Oh, I'm sorry uncle Jack."
"It's ok Sam.... yes, Luna, I loved her so much."
"Then where is she?"
".... She had... to go back home... far, far away." Jack said, light tears coming down his face.
Blossom noticed this and quickly gave him a hug. "It's ok Uncle Jack, you miss her... but that doesn't mean you got to bury her memory... you should hold on to her memory."
*looking at her in awe* She is absolutely right... I need to remember Luna, not forget her Jack thought as he hugged her back. "Thank you Blossom... you are absolutely right.... are you sure you're only 5?" He joked as he tickled her.
"Yes.... I'm sure" She giggled at being tickled.
Once he stopped, he noticed that they were all staring at him They want me to play.... well can't let them down he thought as he brought it up to his lips and began to play The song. While he played, the kids were totally silent, totally absorbed by the song, when he finished, the kids just stared in awe.
"Wow.... that was beautiful!" the three girls exclaimed in delight.
"But... it seemed so sad." Sam said "It also needs some words, like it should be sung along to the playing. I know, we can write some songs for you uncle Jack. Would you like that?"
".... Yes... yes I would." Jack said as he gave them all a big hug.