Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon, Karen, or any related characters or
events; to the best of my knowledge, they're all owned by Natsume. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is purely
coincidental. This story is based primarily on the plot of Harvest Moon 64.
Wine Red no Kokoro
by flame mage
Part 19: The Sapfest You've All Been Waiting For
**********
And if I thought my birthday was good, the next night had to be even better. The town kinda splits up on New Year's Eve. The Mayor and his wife head up the ceremonies at the church, and most of the people who are musically--or religiously--inclined go there, too. The rest of us go to the bar. It's a pretty personal choice, and occasionally one of the bar regulars will go down to church one year or vice versa, just to see what it's like. For the most part, though, you're at the same place every year.
Obviously, I'm one of the bar set, and I was there early. I worked for an hour with Duke, getting everything set up, and sat down once the regulars started coming in. Kai always gets there first, sliding with anticipation into his regular seat. Ann always shows too. I never quite figured that one out--she's really good on the flute, and she's one of those people who's always so happy about life that she has no real need to drink. Eventually I figured she did it to hang out with me and gave up digging any deeper than that. Gray always comes too, mumbling that he has to watch Ann to make sure she doesn't "party too hardy." Like most of our regulars, though, he starts drinking and he loosens up pretty fast. Cliff was there this year too, chatting with Kent and Stu. This was the first year they came in, and they were the last people I expected to see. Duke just took it in stride, smiling and giving them grape juice, and they were happy.
Me, I was watching the door. I talked to everyone, and I spent a lot of time chatting with Kai at the corner table, but there was one person I was looking for, and I didn't know if he'd be there or not.
He was, which I probably should have figured on. He was the last one to come in. Jack was the only regular without a regular seat--he moved around every time he came in depending on who was there and who he wanted to talk to. Sometimes he didn't even bother sitting, but followed me around for an hour or two, maybe just to prove he could stay on his feet that long. Tonight he came in, saw me at the corner table, and dragged a stool from the bar over next to me.
I did a little work, but Duke and I had planned the night out smooth beforehand, and the bar was set up perfectly. Mostly we drank and talked and wished each other good luck in the New Year. The Mayor, who was next door at the church watching the ceremonies there, dropped in to leave a retrospective Maria had written about the ten most memorable things that had happened that year, and we all took turns getting up and reading from it. Jack made the list, the vineyard made the list, Ann and Cliff made the list.
Everyone was dropping in and out of the bar, cheering. After a couple drinks, Ann got everyone to sing Auld Lang Syne. It shouldn't have been as funny as it was, but hey, we were all drunk and content by that time.
Around eleven forty-five, we all started watching the clock at the back of the room. By the last minute, everyone was chanting, "fifty-five, fifty-four..." Finally we got down to "three...two...one..." and then the church bells started ringing. "Happy New Year!" the whole town shouted in unison, and Stu and Kent hopped up on the table and started dancing. Eventually we were all dancing, and Kai and I even managed to drag Duke out from behind the bar for a few minutes to dance with us.
We partied like that for an hour, and at one the entire village streamed out of the bar and the church to dance in the square. Then we all went back inside for more drinks, and then... well, you get the idea. It was a crazy night. It was a great night. Everyone was happy and singing and having the most fun I could ever remember having.
The party was still in full swing at five AM, when Jack sighed and stood up. "It's almost sunrise. I'd better get going. Happy New Year, everyone!"
"Happy New Year!" we all yelled back.
The door closed behind him. I stood there, looking at it, unsure of what to do.
Kai's eyes met mine, and I saw the same look he'd had when I'd told him I couldn't marry him.
"Go after him, Karen," he said quietly.
I nodded once, felt the pressure of his hand on my shoulder for an instant, and then I was running.
"Jack!" I burst out the door behind him.
He turned, smiling. "I was hoping you'd come."
"I'm going to go watch the sun rise on New Year's Day...would you come with me?"
"I'd love to," he answered, his fingers slipping into mine. We started toward Moon Mountain.
"I can't believe it's really been a whole year," Jack said. "It seems like everything's been happening so fast."
"So what do you think?" I asked. "The farm--do you like what you're doing?"
There was no hesitation. "Yes. It was hard at first, but I've kind of figured out the rhythm, the way things are supposed to go. And I love it. I love the the plantings, the harvests, the animals, the people I've met..."
"You're father's coming in a year," I reminded him.
"I know." He was looking straight ahead, out at the mountain. "I think about that every day. And--I think he'll be proud of me. I think Grandpa would be proud of me."
"So..." I looked at him. "Is this what you want to do the rest of your life?"
There was a moment of silence, and then he said, "I never thought about it before, but... yes. This is what I want to spend my life doing."
I nodded slowly, and he asked, "What about you? You still want to get away from here on the next ferry?"
I shook my head. "I just realized it the other day. Since the vineyard's been revived, I feel like I'm doing something. Heaven's Gate is back. This was Grandma's dream. Dad's starting to yell less, Mom's starting to smile more...things are finally working themselves out. This last year...I couldn't leave anymore. There's too much here for me now."
We were halfway up the mountain. "That's what you want to do, then?" he asked.
"I think so. Harvesting's in my blood, I guess."
"Mine, too," he grinned, and I found myself grinning back.
"Oh, good." I breathed a sigh of relief as we neared the summit. "We made it in time. The first sun of the new year is rising."
We reached the top of Moon Mountain and sat on the cold earth, waiting for spring to begin.
The first edges of dawn began to shade over the horizon. The pine trees, spreading out before us like an ocean, began to glisten in the slivers of light. As the sun broke, the snow would start to melt.
With a final burst, the sun hung fully over the mountains, warm and golden and beautiful.
"...I..." I whispered. The words were on the edge of my tongue. I could almost taste them. Only three words, three words that wouldn't come. "I..."
"I love you?" he whispered back. It was not a question.
I felt my face grow hot. Daaamn. "Well...you know..." I began. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked quietly.
"For everything. For what you've done for me, what you've done for my family, what you've done for our vineyard...you got here, Jack, and the whole place changed! Everyone's smiling more, working harder. I don't think you realize it, but you were the one who brought everyone back." I realized how animated I was. I'd never even consciously had these thoughts before, but I heard myself saying them and I knew they were true.
He was looking at me. "You were the only reason I stayed."
"What?"
"Sometimes it was just so frustrating! I'd be squatting up to my ears in turnips, desperately trying to get them all harvested by the end of the season, and I'd have three cows and a couple of sheep making a total racket out in the back forty, and I was about ready to hurl a pitchfork through the Mayor's hat and say, 'screw it.'"
"So why didn't you?" I wanted to know.
He grinned. "Because I remembered that you told me I'd never make it. At first it was about proving to you and my dad and everyone else that I was strong enough to be able to run a farm. And then...I realized that I couldn't leave you. And I started to love the farm, and then I couldn't leave."
I took his hand, and we sat in silence for a while, looking out toward the brilliant spring sun.
After a few minutes, he continued. "Living in the city...I don't know. There was nothing to care about, nothing to work for. After my mother died...there was nothing left for me there. I could never do the kind of work my dad does, nine to five behind a desk.
"Back there, I was more shallow. You saw me that first day, and I know now what I must've looked like to you, wearing a pair of designer overalls. But I got dumped here and I had to learn to fend for myself--cook, clean, take care of crops and livestock...I grew up fast. And--this is gonna sound really clichéd, but--I think I learned a lot about what's really important to me."
"What?" I asked.
"The farm. Working toward Grandpa's dream...for the first time, I really feel like I'm doing something! Just like you and the vineyard. I have more respect for myself now. That feeling of working hard is important to me. And there's one other thing."
"And that is...?"
He looked at me. "When I was five years old, I spent a summer on my grandfather's farm. I wandered around a lot, and somehow I found my way into a wine cellar in a vineyard." He paused a moment, and something flashed in my head. "There was a girl in there, crying because she was too afraid to go home. So we held hands and went home together.
"She gave me a music box and told me to come back and give it back to her someday. I buried it on the farm, promising myself that someday I'd return it to her. Fifteen years passed, and I didn't come back, but I never forgot the promise I made her--to come back to her someday."
He smiled. "I kept our promise, Karen."
"I know," I murmured.
"There's another promise I want to make you, too," he said.
Time seemed to stop as he raised his arms above our heads.
"KAAAAAAAAAREN!" Someone bellowed behind me. I was in such a daze, it took me a minute to register the voice as Ann's.
She came into view a few seconds later, barely out of breath although she must've run the whole way up the mountain. "Whaddaya doing? C'mon, it's New Year's! The whole town's standing in the square like a buncha morons, waiting for you two!"
Damn!
We looked at each other, knowing the moment was broken. There is no way you can have a romantic moment when your best friend's breathing down your neck shrieking at you to get downtown so everyone can get drunk.
Jack sighed and stood up, grabbing my hand to pull me up. "Let's go."
Wine Red no Kokoro
by flame mage
Part 19: The Sapfest You've All Been Waiting For
**********
And if I thought my birthday was good, the next night had to be even better. The town kinda splits up on New Year's Eve. The Mayor and his wife head up the ceremonies at the church, and most of the people who are musically--or religiously--inclined go there, too. The rest of us go to the bar. It's a pretty personal choice, and occasionally one of the bar regulars will go down to church one year or vice versa, just to see what it's like. For the most part, though, you're at the same place every year.
Obviously, I'm one of the bar set, and I was there early. I worked for an hour with Duke, getting everything set up, and sat down once the regulars started coming in. Kai always gets there first, sliding with anticipation into his regular seat. Ann always shows too. I never quite figured that one out--she's really good on the flute, and she's one of those people who's always so happy about life that she has no real need to drink. Eventually I figured she did it to hang out with me and gave up digging any deeper than that. Gray always comes too, mumbling that he has to watch Ann to make sure she doesn't "party too hardy." Like most of our regulars, though, he starts drinking and he loosens up pretty fast. Cliff was there this year too, chatting with Kent and Stu. This was the first year they came in, and they were the last people I expected to see. Duke just took it in stride, smiling and giving them grape juice, and they were happy.
Me, I was watching the door. I talked to everyone, and I spent a lot of time chatting with Kai at the corner table, but there was one person I was looking for, and I didn't know if he'd be there or not.
He was, which I probably should have figured on. He was the last one to come in. Jack was the only regular without a regular seat--he moved around every time he came in depending on who was there and who he wanted to talk to. Sometimes he didn't even bother sitting, but followed me around for an hour or two, maybe just to prove he could stay on his feet that long. Tonight he came in, saw me at the corner table, and dragged a stool from the bar over next to me.
I did a little work, but Duke and I had planned the night out smooth beforehand, and the bar was set up perfectly. Mostly we drank and talked and wished each other good luck in the New Year. The Mayor, who was next door at the church watching the ceremonies there, dropped in to leave a retrospective Maria had written about the ten most memorable things that had happened that year, and we all took turns getting up and reading from it. Jack made the list, the vineyard made the list, Ann and Cliff made the list.
Everyone was dropping in and out of the bar, cheering. After a couple drinks, Ann got everyone to sing Auld Lang Syne. It shouldn't have been as funny as it was, but hey, we were all drunk and content by that time.
Around eleven forty-five, we all started watching the clock at the back of the room. By the last minute, everyone was chanting, "fifty-five, fifty-four..." Finally we got down to "three...two...one..." and then the church bells started ringing. "Happy New Year!" the whole town shouted in unison, and Stu and Kent hopped up on the table and started dancing. Eventually we were all dancing, and Kai and I even managed to drag Duke out from behind the bar for a few minutes to dance with us.
We partied like that for an hour, and at one the entire village streamed out of the bar and the church to dance in the square. Then we all went back inside for more drinks, and then... well, you get the idea. It was a crazy night. It was a great night. Everyone was happy and singing and having the most fun I could ever remember having.
The party was still in full swing at five AM, when Jack sighed and stood up. "It's almost sunrise. I'd better get going. Happy New Year, everyone!"
"Happy New Year!" we all yelled back.
The door closed behind him. I stood there, looking at it, unsure of what to do.
Kai's eyes met mine, and I saw the same look he'd had when I'd told him I couldn't marry him.
"Go after him, Karen," he said quietly.
I nodded once, felt the pressure of his hand on my shoulder for an instant, and then I was running.
"Jack!" I burst out the door behind him.
He turned, smiling. "I was hoping you'd come."
"I'm going to go watch the sun rise on New Year's Day...would you come with me?"
"I'd love to," he answered, his fingers slipping into mine. We started toward Moon Mountain.
"I can't believe it's really been a whole year," Jack said. "It seems like everything's been happening so fast."
"So what do you think?" I asked. "The farm--do you like what you're doing?"
There was no hesitation. "Yes. It was hard at first, but I've kind of figured out the rhythm, the way things are supposed to go. And I love it. I love the the plantings, the harvests, the animals, the people I've met..."
"You're father's coming in a year," I reminded him.
"I know." He was looking straight ahead, out at the mountain. "I think about that every day. And--I think he'll be proud of me. I think Grandpa would be proud of me."
"So..." I looked at him. "Is this what you want to do the rest of your life?"
There was a moment of silence, and then he said, "I never thought about it before, but... yes. This is what I want to spend my life doing."
I nodded slowly, and he asked, "What about you? You still want to get away from here on the next ferry?"
I shook my head. "I just realized it the other day. Since the vineyard's been revived, I feel like I'm doing something. Heaven's Gate is back. This was Grandma's dream. Dad's starting to yell less, Mom's starting to smile more...things are finally working themselves out. This last year...I couldn't leave anymore. There's too much here for me now."
We were halfway up the mountain. "That's what you want to do, then?" he asked.
"I think so. Harvesting's in my blood, I guess."
"Mine, too," he grinned, and I found myself grinning back.
"Oh, good." I breathed a sigh of relief as we neared the summit. "We made it in time. The first sun of the new year is rising."
We reached the top of Moon Mountain and sat on the cold earth, waiting for spring to begin.
The first edges of dawn began to shade over the horizon. The pine trees, spreading out before us like an ocean, began to glisten in the slivers of light. As the sun broke, the snow would start to melt.
With a final burst, the sun hung fully over the mountains, warm and golden and beautiful.
"...I..." I whispered. The words were on the edge of my tongue. I could almost taste them. Only three words, three words that wouldn't come. "I..."
"I love you?" he whispered back. It was not a question.
I felt my face grow hot. Daaamn. "Well...you know..." I began. "Thank you."
"For what?" he asked quietly.
"For everything. For what you've done for me, what you've done for my family, what you've done for our vineyard...you got here, Jack, and the whole place changed! Everyone's smiling more, working harder. I don't think you realize it, but you were the one who brought everyone back." I realized how animated I was. I'd never even consciously had these thoughts before, but I heard myself saying them and I knew they were true.
He was looking at me. "You were the only reason I stayed."
"What?"
"Sometimes it was just so frustrating! I'd be squatting up to my ears in turnips, desperately trying to get them all harvested by the end of the season, and I'd have three cows and a couple of sheep making a total racket out in the back forty, and I was about ready to hurl a pitchfork through the Mayor's hat and say, 'screw it.'"
"So why didn't you?" I wanted to know.
He grinned. "Because I remembered that you told me I'd never make it. At first it was about proving to you and my dad and everyone else that I was strong enough to be able to run a farm. And then...I realized that I couldn't leave you. And I started to love the farm, and then I couldn't leave."
I took his hand, and we sat in silence for a while, looking out toward the brilliant spring sun.
After a few minutes, he continued. "Living in the city...I don't know. There was nothing to care about, nothing to work for. After my mother died...there was nothing left for me there. I could never do the kind of work my dad does, nine to five behind a desk.
"Back there, I was more shallow. You saw me that first day, and I know now what I must've looked like to you, wearing a pair of designer overalls. But I got dumped here and I had to learn to fend for myself--cook, clean, take care of crops and livestock...I grew up fast. And--this is gonna sound really clichéd, but--I think I learned a lot about what's really important to me."
"What?" I asked.
"The farm. Working toward Grandpa's dream...for the first time, I really feel like I'm doing something! Just like you and the vineyard. I have more respect for myself now. That feeling of working hard is important to me. And there's one other thing."
"And that is...?"
He looked at me. "When I was five years old, I spent a summer on my grandfather's farm. I wandered around a lot, and somehow I found my way into a wine cellar in a vineyard." He paused a moment, and something flashed in my head. "There was a girl in there, crying because she was too afraid to go home. So we held hands and went home together.
"She gave me a music box and told me to come back and give it back to her someday. I buried it on the farm, promising myself that someday I'd return it to her. Fifteen years passed, and I didn't come back, but I never forgot the promise I made her--to come back to her someday."
He smiled. "I kept our promise, Karen."
"I know," I murmured.
"There's another promise I want to make you, too," he said.
Time seemed to stop as he raised his arms above our heads.
"KAAAAAAAAAREN!" Someone bellowed behind me. I was in such a daze, it took me a minute to register the voice as Ann's.
She came into view a few seconds later, barely out of breath although she must've run the whole way up the mountain. "Whaddaya doing? C'mon, it's New Year's! The whole town's standing in the square like a buncha morons, waiting for you two!"
Damn!
We looked at each other, knowing the moment was broken. There is no way you can have a romantic moment when your best friend's breathing down your neck shrieking at you to get downtown so everyone can get drunk.
Jack sighed and stood up, grabbing my hand to pull me up. "Let's go."