Conflicting Loves

Chapter 7: Slip of the Tongue

A/N: Dedicated to the loving memory of Mage. Sorry for the wait for this chapter. I lost my internet privileges, so I had to resort to using the computers at the local library. Mother, damn her, and I had a disagreement. She said something along the lines of "You're never going to amount to anything other than a pathetic loser." So I threatened to leave for Toronto (other side of the country).

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Summer had begun in Forget-Me-Not Valley and Jack couldn't be any happier than he was at that exact moment. Not only was the warmer here than it was during the Summer in Mineral Town, but the natural beauty of this town might exceed his former home. The waterfall, the beach, even the trees along the Valley, they all were slightly better than Mineral Town. He had thought it to be impossible, but now he was witnessing it first hand. Everything about the Valley was better than Mineral Town, but there was one thing yet to be judged. Could Nami equal what Elli had and still meant to him?

That task would be a difficult one to decide. Jack's relationship with Elli had evolved over two years. But, with Nami, it took only one season to get to the same point that had taken Elli a full year. Maybe, just maybe, he had been mistaken about Elli, having considered her his true love only because he did not know about Nami. Plus there was that song… Although he couldn't remember what the girl had even looked like, he was positive that it had to be either Nami or Elli. As far as he had known, Nami had never been to Mineral Town, so that partially gave Elli the edge. But, there was the here and now, so Nami's actions could sway things in her favor.

Jack knew that Nami was a very unique girl, but he was basically trying to stick with the same course of actions that he had with Elli. The only problem was that, here, there were no festivals that could assist Jack in creating those memorable moments that had proven so handy with Elli.

Thinking back now, there were so many great memories with Elli. Of course, there was that very first date for the Harvest Goddess Festival. The next great memory came at the Local Horse Races, where Jack was racing his Grandfather's horse. Jack bet tons of his own money, winning Elli a brilliant necklace. The pair exchanged gifts on their birthdays, the Winter Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Festivals. Jack teamed up with Elli and Stu to win the Tomato Festival. Then there were those romantic based festivals made to help young lovers, such as the Fireworks Display, Moon Viewing Day, and the Star Night Festival. Each one left a special memory with Jack and most likely Elli still remembered those memories as well.

Well, today marked the official beginning of the dating stage of his relationship with Nami. Sure, there had already been two kisses between the pair, but nothing had become official yet. That would all change tonight. But, Jack was faced with a problem. He had absolutely no idea where to take Nami for their date.

Even though there were plenty of options in Forget-Me-Not Valley, nearly every good one had already been the site of one of the important events of their early relationship stages. The beach had the first kiss. The waterfall served as the backdrop to the second kiss and the agreement to this date. There was the Blue Bar… Wait, Muffy. No good. Wait… he did have an idea, but he would need a little help with this one in order for it to work.

"I'm off Takakura!" Jack called out as he rushed out of his house and into town.

Takakura merely smiled after the young man. "Go get 'er, tiger." He whispered.

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"Yeah, sure thing, man. That's totally righteous. You know that love will conquer all and you need my help if you want to achieve victory. In that case, count me in, my friend."

"Thanks, Gustafa, I knew I can count on you. Just wait for my signal." Jack patted the easy-going man with the purple tinted glasses on the back. Now, his plan was all ready. He just needed to get Nami and then operation "shock and wow" would be underway. "This is going to be great." He whispered, wringing his hands in anticipation.

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"This is going to be horrible!" Nami cried out in despair.

"What's wrong, Nami?" Ruby called up the stairs.

"Nothing!" Nami quickly replied. A lie. Nami had just run into a huge problem. Up until the last five minutes, she hadn't been thinking of this "date" as an actual date. Now, she was in a rush to prepare herself and appear presentable.

"Well, hurry up. Jack's waiting!" Ruby called back. Nami could tell from the tone of Ruby's voice that she was smiling. It was a natural reaction for any kind hearted motherly figure to be proud of their child when something good happens to them.

Nami frantically tugged at the brush that had gotten stuck in her chair, all the while trying to tug on her pants with her other hand. Nami gave an extra hard tug on the brush, which finally untangled itself from her hair. Suddenly, a huge tearing sound filled the room. Nami looked down to see a large hole in her pants. Frantically, she tossed the pants across the room as she stumbled over to her closet. "What to wear?" She growled as she flipped through the various outfits.

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Downstairs, Jack and Tim were deep in conversation. "… with that slight tinge of exotic Asian flavor, what more can I guy ask for?" Jack was saying as Ruby stepped down from the staircase after yelling at Nami.

Tim was about to reply when he caught the glare that Ruby was sending him. "What? We're talking about food!"

"Exotic Asian flavor?" Ruby twitched.

Tim quickly nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, Jack was just telling me a recipe he learned from a girl back in Mineral Town. It calls for lots of seasoning and beer."

"Men!" Ruby huffed as she headed into the back room. "Yup, that's how you make Karen's Beer Stir Fry." Jack finished saying once Ruby left the room.

"Am I interrupting something?" Nami's voice whispered into Jack's ear. Jack turned to face his date, his jaw striking the floor seconds after. Nami was standing before him, wearing a dress. "A dress? On Nami?" Jack thought to himself, "But wait… why do I have this feeling that I saw that very same dress before?"

Nami saw Jack's intrigued gaze and smiled. "This? It was my favorite dress as a child, so I had another one remade to fit me now. Do you like it?" Jack nodded his head in obedient agreement. He had seen that dress before, but where? He would have to figure that out later, right now, he had a date to deal with.

The sun was just about to set as Jack and Nami seated themselves on the bridge that crossed the stream. The couple was looking out at the ocean, the very same one that they had crossed to get to Forget-Me-Not Valley. Out there, very far away, was Elli, probably looking out at the ocean as well, remembering what she had lost. Jack shook the thought out of his head, focusing instead on the here and now. "Do you like it here?" Jack asked Nami.

Behind them, the street lamps clicked on. Gustafa passed by, strolling along the riverbank. The minstrel seated himself on one of the benches nearby and cast a ready signal to Jack. The signal went unnoticed by Nami, who was too busy trying to think of a reply to Jack's question. "I guess it's ok." Nami finally said after a lengthy pause.

"Only ok? You mean that you've been to better places?" Jack prodded. This might be a good opportunity to learn more about Nami's background.

Nami nodded in response to Jack's question, "Forget-Me-Not Valley is an alright place. Friendly people, nice weather, the normal stuff. But, it's missing that personal tie to it. You have an entire farm that belongs to your family, so you are connected to this place, while I have nothing like that."
"Well, then what kind of personal tie does your favorite place have to you?" Jack asked, pushing his luck. He already knew that Nami was a hard person to get into a conversation with, but once she started talking, she had so much wisdom and knowledge that it was hard to get her to stop.

"There was this one town, I have a cousin there. Every time I visited that town, my cousin made me feel like I was just like any other citizen. I think that you may know her."

Jack was slightly confused. He had only been to three towns in his entire life: Mineral Town, Forget-Me-Not Valley, and his hometown. So, who could Nami's cousin possibly be? "I don't know who you're talking about." Jack stated.

Nami shook her head in disbelief. "Sometimes, I worry about you. You already forgot about Elli and Mineral Town?"

"You mean that you and Elli are cousins!" Jack almost shouted out in surprise.

The red haired girl nodded her head, "Yes. Hit it Gustafa." Gustafa nodded and began strumming along a peaceful melody, the very one that Jack had been humming a few days ago. The same one that the mysterious little girl had taught him years ago. "Do you remember this song? The one I taught you?" Nami asked.

"You? You're that girl?" Jack's head was about to explode with the information that he was being bombarded with. He had been thinking that it had been Elli for two full years and now he knew the truth. But wait… If Nami and Elli are cousins, why was Nami moving in on Elli's territory so quickly after the breakup? Jack's head was really beginning to hurt.

Once again, Nami nodded in agreement to Jack's comment. "Elli's been telling me about this wonderful guy that she met for the last couple of years. I was becoming somewhat jealous, because I knew that it was you who she was talking about, the boy I had a childhood crush on. So, when I heard over the radio that she had broken up with you, I felt both happy and sad. Elli was heartbroken, but you were now free for me. I just needed to see if you were still the same kind of person as you were as a child."

Jack was unsure whether to be ecstatic or afraid. He was seated beside the girl of his destiny. But, Nami was almost like a vicious vulture, swooping in on her prey. Wait, what was he complaining about? Here was a girl that he loved and she was obviously committed to him, having waited her entire life to be with him again. Maybe he should have kept that Blue Feather…

"I feel like a great burden was just lifted off my chest!" Nami exclaimed, hugging onto Jack. "Now that you know how I feel, why don't you tell me how you feel?"

"Nami, I…" A loud clasp of thunder cut Jack off. From out of nowhere, a storm had gathered overhead of Forget-Me-Not Valley and had just released its anger on the village. Heavy rain pounded Jack and Nami as lightning and thunder exploded all around them.

Jack quickly got up to his feet and helped Nami get up off the bridge. "We should get inside!" He shouted over the tormenting rain. Nami nodded her soaked head in agreement and the two of them broke into a run towards the Inner Inn.

"What were you going to say?" Nami shouted out as they ploughed through the rain and mud. They were only steps away from the Inner Inn. Ruby was waiting with the door open, urging the pair to hurry up. Nami reached the door shortly before Jack did and turned towards Jack.

"I love you too, Elli!" Jack finally managed to say as he stopped right outside the front door of the Inn. It was too late before Jack realized what he had said. There was already the stinging palm print on his cheek and the door slammed shut in front of him. He had just ruined another relationship…

Jack turned and began the sullen trip back towards his farm. Gustafa had changed his music selection, appropriately, to "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head." "So evil triumphs today, but we live to fight again tomorrow." The guitarist called out as Jack turned to go to his farm. Gustafa chuckled to himself, not seeming to mind the storm as he continued to play his music.

Just as soon as it had begun, the storm subsided. Jack shook his head, shaking loose the water from his hair. One word. That was all that he had said wrong. Now, all he could think of was how much Nami hated him. It was an honest mistake. They had been talking about Elli, so why shouldn't she be on his mind?

Takakura was waiting at the door of the tool shed for Jack. He had a tiny blue object grasped in his hand. Takakura held out the object towards Jack and commented, "I found a Blue Feather in there. Do you know how rare those things are around here?"

"Take it and burn it." Jack commented callously as he walked past the elder farmer. Jack said nothing else, just walking straight into his house and shutting off all the lights after him.

"Youth these days," Takakura shook his head, "They just don't do romance like they used to."

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A/N: And you guys thought that I was going to make it easy? Poor Jack, I hop he has fun trying to figure out a way to woo back Nami. She isn't one whose heart you can break and sew back together so easily. Wait… That means that I have to figure out a way to get them back together… What did I do?