Conflicting Loves

Chapter 8: Who Do You Love?

A/N: Dedicated to the loving memory of Mage. This is so much fun! It feels so good to jerk around with somebody's emotions and watch how they react. I've had a bad case of writer's block recently, but I think I figured out what to do with this chapter. Thanks for reading.

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"What happened to Jack?" That was the topic of conversation throughout the entire town. Nobody had seen the young farmer in four days, ever since his date with Nami. To make matters worse, Nami refused to speak on the subject, which made speculations run wild. "Do you think Nami killed Jack?" A worried Muffy asked during her shift.

Doctor Hardy shook his head in disagreement. "Suicide is a more likely probability." His tone was so serious that Muffy gasped in horror.

"Chances are, Jack screwed up and pissed off Nami." Griffin suggested.

This suggestion perked Muffy right up. "So Jack's single!" The blond haired girl made for the door, but Griffin stopped her. "You're still on shift." He reminded Muffy, pulling her back behind the counter.

"The work on the farm is still getting done, and we know that Takakura is too old to do any of it himself. That only could mean that Jack's still doing his part." Rock explained as he sipped from his drink.

"Moi. Jack works at night." Murray explained.

"Then what does he do during the day?" Muffy asked. Everybody fell silent, trying to think up of something.

"Sleep?"

"That would only account for a few hours. Unlike you, Rock, Jack is the kind of person who tries to do something productive with his life." Hardy replied.

"Cook?" This suggestion from Muffy caused everybody to burst out into a fit of laughter. "What? He can't be that bad of a cook!"

Griffin stopped chuckling for a few seconds, long enough to explain, "Jack walks around eating herbs. He sells all of his eggs, milk, and crops for profit. Even Murray here manages to get in a decent meal of fish every once in a while." The homeless wanderer gave a big smile which could hardly be seen through his thick shaggy beard.

Meanwhile, Jack could be found inside his house, engaging in his daily activity. A and B were seated on Jack's bed while the farmer was glued to the television set. "Now, I can relate to this guy." Jack was explaining, pointing to the TV as he scratched at the stubble on his chin. "He's a farmer, just like me. But, that's where the similarities end, except for those familiar looking Harvest Sprites… Well, first off, this lucky guy doesn't have to worry about women. It's impossible to get married in this game. Plus, he doesn't need to do a single bit of farming to actually save the homeland. There are so many endings that you can get without even planting a single crop. It's almost like this game is part of a series and the company that made it was hoping to ride the coattails of an earlier game of the same name. Hey, come to think of it, the farm back in Mineral Town would make a good game for this series…"

Back at the Blue Bar, the occupants had come to agree that Jack had angered Nami, but this began another argument. "I think that Jack became really lecherous and tried something funny on Nami." Muffy suggested.

"No, that would be your fantasy speaking," Griffin retorted, "Nami probably was too shy."

"That wouldn't explain why he's being so anti-social. Nami must have said something that offended Jack." Hardy guessed.

"Then why is Nami refusing to say anything? She's acting like Jack called her by a different girl's name." Even though Rock had only been joking, he had managed to guess correctly. Everybody nodded their head in understanding, knowing that such an event easily explained everything. "I hope he said my name." Muffy silently wished.

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"Nami, do you want to talk about it?" A worried Ruby was asking on the opposite side of Nami's door. "Go away." Nami replied from inside, her voice filled with enough anger to scare even the evilest of creatures. Ruby made the wise decision and headed back downstairs.

Nami was seated on her bed, her head hung low. The more she thought about that night, the more she began to question if her relationship with Jack would work out. Jack clearly still loved Elli, but was also ready to move on. He had partially given up on the woman that had broken his heart, but if given the chance, would go back to her. Nami had decided that men were just puppy dogs willing to follow whoever paid attention to them.

The funny thing about Nami's situation was that she didn't want to give up on Jack. The entire idea of settling down and raising a family was growing on her. For every passing day she spent in Forget-Me-Not Valley, the more she became attached to it. Despite her rather silent nature, she was still managing to make friends. The people here were all just so friendly and carefree.

Nami's thoughts were interrupted by a sharp ringing sound. Ever since she had began traveling, she had never received a call on her cell phone. In fact, she had almost forgotten where she had last put it. Nami began scrambling through her belongings as the phone rang a second time. On the third ring she remembered where she had put the phone, in her jacket pocket. "Hello?" She managed to ask, right before her voicemail kicked in.

"Hi Nami." A familiar soft voice replied on the other end. "It's Elli."

It had been almost eleven years since the two cousins had last talked, so it was extremely strange that Elli would be calling Nami's cell. Wait, how did Elli find this number? She must have called Nami's parents and learned it from them. "What's the matter, Elli? You sound pretty bummed out."

Elli let out a large sigh, "The last couple of seasons have been pretty rough on me. My boyfriend and I had a disagreement and he ended up leaving me. I lost my job. Grandma passed away a few weeks ago. And Stu was forced to live in a foster home because I couldn't provide for him."

"Wow… that's harsh. What are you going to do?" Nami asked, genuinely concerned. Elli was family, after all. The two girls had never been close, but at the moment, Nami must have been the closest thing to family that Elli had left. Elli always was such a cheerful girl, and to have hit rock bottom must have been horrible.

"I don't know. I'm not really welcome around here any more, so I'm thinking about taking a page out of your book and running away."

"Hey now, you don't want to do anything that you'll regret. Are you sure that you want to do this?"

Somebody on the other side must have been bothering Elli, "I'm almost finished Doug, so buzz off! Sorry about that, the Innkeeper is being frigid. Yes, I'm sure. I've already got the ticket for the cruise ship booked. The first place I was going to is a town called Forget-Me-Not Valley."

Nami felt herself smile, thinking that she was going to meet up with her cousin again. "That's where I'm at! It's a nice little town, you'll like it."

Elli chuckled lightly, "I guess I'll visit you after I talk to Jack. Well, I've got to go, Doug's getting impatient. See you somewhere around Fall first."

"Jack! You're coming here to see Jack!" Nami practically screamed out, but it was too late. Elli had already hung up. "This is going to be great." Nami whispered sarcastically as she fell back onto her bed. Elli was obviously coming back to rekindle her relationship with Jack. That meant that Nami had two options. One was to leave Jack alone and let Elli have him. Two was to forgive Jack and make Elli's life even more miserable when she arrived to find her cousin with her ex-boyfriend. Nami still had that dream of settling down with a family, so maybe…

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"Now this guy here, Link, he's somebody I should be taking advice from. Throughout this entire game, he has the chance to hook up with what, six different girls? But no, he ignores the women and concentrates on carrying out his destiny. If only I had followed his advice, then I wouldn't have pissed off both Elli and Nami. Then there's Link, because he ignored those people when he had the chance, he loses so many of them. Saria, Nabouru, Ruto, Impa; they're all sages. When he's done, all he has left is Malon and Zelda, but neither remember him. That's pretty harsh. Maybe women aren't worth the trouble after all. They don't understand one simple mistake."

"Jack?" A voice called from outside.

"Nami?" Jack called back, jumping up to his feet. The farmer ran over to the door and burst outside. Sure enough, there was Nami. She was slowly approaching his house, almost like she was still unsure as to why she was here. "What are you here for?" Jack asked coldly, leaning up against his house.

Nami looked down in shame, stopping in her tracks. "All I want is to apologize for slapping you. I overreacted. I already knew about the entire situation between you and my cousin, so I shouldn't have been surprised to learn that you still love her."

Jack was caught off guard. He had been expecting that Nami had come here to tell him that she was leaving for another town. Actually, an apology was the last thing that he expected. He found himself drawing closer to Nami. "I should be the one apologizing to you." Jack and Nami were now only a few steps apart.

Nami lifted her head to see Jack's sincere face. She knew that it was an honest mistake on his part, and yet he was apologizing. That was one of the things that she loved about Jack. "Jack…" Jack silenced Nami by holding his finger up to her lips. "Don't want to say anything to wreck this." Jack whispered, pulling Nami close against his chest. Nami felt her eyes close as Jack tilted her head. His breath felt warm against her neck, making her flustered.

But, Jack stopped. He let go of Nami and began to back away. Nami opened up her eyes in alarmed shock. Jack seemed angry. "Why can't we be alone? Are your lives so boring that you have nothing better to do than spy on others?" Jack yelled out.

"Jack, what are you talking about?" Nami asked, worried that Jack was no longer sane.

Nami's question was answered mere seconds later. The bushes began to rustle as a few villagers snuck away. Somebody climbed down from a tree behind Jack's house. The door to the barn slammed shut as the people in there ran off through the pasture. In total, there had to be at least a dozen people watching them.

Jack turned back to Nami, smiling apologetically. "Let's go somewhere a little more private." Jack suggested, motioning towards the tool shed on the side of the barn. Nami hastily agreed. The couple ducked into the shed, despite the obvious groans of disappointment from the remaining observers. "Now, where were we?" Jack smiled as he kissed Nami.

The kiss lasted for a few seconds before Nami broke it. Something had caught her eye as she entered the tool shed. Nami released Jack and walked over to a shelf, her eyes on a tiny blue feather. She had heard this feather mentioned many times in romance novels, and fully understood its purpose. She turned back to Jack and smiled slyly, "Is this for me?"

Jack was fidgeting nervously. He must not have wanted her to find this feather. He was saving it for later. Nami could only imagine what was running through his head. Then she realized the position she had put herself into. She had just forced Jack to propose on the spot or to risk ruining the relationship again. Was she ready to deal with the consequences of either situation? "Wait, before you say anything, answer one question for me. Who do you love, me or Elli?"

This question was even worse on Jack than the previous question. It took the farmer a few moments to figure out exactly what he was going to say. "I'm not going to lie to you. I love both of you. Elli was that first relationship, the one that you wish could have gone perfectly. I still wish that and if I ever saw her again I would try to fix my mistakes. I don't want you to think that you are a rebound girl or something like that. I love you just as much as Elli and I wish that I could have met you first so I wouldn't have the memories of Elli to bother me. But, as it is, I have to deal with my memories and live for the here and now. I'm not quite ready to ask you to marry me, but I'm sure that I will. I just need more time."

Nami carefully thought over Jack's response. "I guess that's good enough for me. Just promise me one thing. Make up your mind before Summer is over, ok?"

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A/N: I can't wait until next chapter. Elli's going to show up and Jack is under pressure to propose to Nami. But, which will happen first? Just so everyone knows, this fic will be over by the end of the month. I'm going to work really hard these next few weeks to finish as many chapters as possible.