Roy and Elli returned shortly to the inn as it was getting late. They entered the lobby to find Rock working at the front desk. He looked up and greeted Roy, but when he saw Elli he gave a cry and ran upstairs. "What's his problem?" Elli wondered aloud. Ruby came out of the kitchen and into the lobby and apologized for his behavior.

"I am sorry. Rock can be a bit skittish around girls. Especially you Elli. I don't have the faintest idea why."

"I bet he just isn't used to having beautiful women around," Elli replied flipping her hair.

"Oh, by the way you have a letter, Elli. I am sorry I couldn't read who it was from, but the hand writing was too messy. Maybe you can read it." Ruby handed her the letter. Elli opened it and smiled at the familiar writing. She folded it again and ran upstairs to the room, leaving Roy sitting in the lobby, still absorbed with his Game Boy.

Elli reached her room and sat on the bed and began to read the letter from her little brother, Stu. The writing was almost illegible, but Elli was used to it.

Dear Elli,

I am so worried about Grandma, she is really sick. The mayor thinks that you should come back and help take care of her. Grandma says that Doctor should come too, but like you always say, he is dry as toast.

The door opened and Elli looked up from her letter. It was Roy who hadn't noticed she had gone up to the room five minutes ago. He sat down on the bed next to her and looked over her shoulder. The misspelled words and messy handwriting told Roy who it was from. "How the heck can you read that? His C's all look R's and everything is all smudged like he had a runny nose or something."

"When you have lived with him for eight years, you get used to it." Elli continued the letter out loud so Roy could understand.

We really need you to come back right now, so step on it. By the way, I caught some bugs for you. One stopped moving though.

Love, Stu

Elli suddenly looked very serious and slightly frightened. "I'd better go. I guess I'll have to tell Doctor to come too." Elli got up and started to find her belongings.

"Wait, you can't just go now! We're getting married in less than a week!"

"Roy, this is serious. My Grandma needs me and so does Stu."

"Then I should go with you."

"No. You can't."

"Well, why the heck not?"

"Because, because," Elli stammered. "Because my grandma hates you! She doesn't even know I am marrying you! I can't let her see you with me, at least not now while she is so ill."

Roy seemed offended and a little hurt. "You didn't even tell your own grandma that we are getting married? Elli, that is kind of wrong."

"She will come to the wedding, I promise. But I just think we should wait, wait until she cannot do anything about it."

"Elli, I am going with you!"

"I don't want us to be together on this trip." There was an awkward pause.

"Really?" Roy asked.

"No, I didn't mean it that way," Elli said apologetically.

"Fine, go. I understand that you don't want me to come. I wouldn't want to make you look bad in front of your relatives," Roy answered ignoring Elli. He stood up and walked towards the door.

"I will go tell Doctor," he said quietly. He left, leaving Elli all alone hoping that this was not a sign of things to come. However, she had no idea of what was to soon happen.

Roy awoke the next morning alone in his bed. He yawned sleepily and looked at the clock. It was now 6:34 and the sky was barely gray. Roy got out of bed and trudged along into the bathroom. His mouth curved downward into a slight frown, as though it was too tired to smile. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and saw a face he barely recognized. Of course, he wasn't wearing his baseball cap and his eyes were almost closed.

A quick splash of water on his face, and Roy soon regained his full vision. He wiped of his face with a wash cloth hanging on the wall. When he removed the towel from his face, he noticed a piece of paper sitting on the top of the toilet. Quickly, he stumbled over to the toilet, tripping on the cord of a hair dryer and knocking down cosmetics off of the sink. Roy just sighed and read the letter.

By the time you get this note, I will be on the boat to Mineral Town. Doctor and I left at 4 am this morning and I didn't want to wake you. I am sorry the bathroom is such a mess; would you please clean it for me?

Yours Truly, Elli

Roy's heart sank. He was hoping that she would be down at the docks, waiting for him to come and say goodbye before she could leave. The letter seemed so unlike his loving and playful Elli, it was so cold and formal, as if Doctor had written it instead.

He sat down on his bed with his head in his hands. Could she have really left without saying goodbye? He read the letter again and again. There was no trace of an "I will be missing you and I am sorry I have to go" or an "I want you to know that I love you so much, and I can't wait to see you again when I get back". Not even a Love, Elli at the end of the letter. Was she upset? They had had a fight, but Roy didn't think it was that important. Maybe she is mad at him for being so rude to her the day before.

Roy collapsed on the bed. He was still tired and now hungry. Now was not the time to think about why his fiancée hated him. Roy sighed again and slowly got up to get dressed. Now clothed in his everyday work clothes he set off to try and enjoy his pre-wedding holiday without his beloved Elli.

This proved to be a rather difficult task. Roy had entered the kitchen, his stomach anticipating some of Ruby's great cooking, only to find Rock preparing to open the oven, fire extinguisher at the ready. He was wearing three oven mitts on each hand and he was having trouble grasping on to the oven door's handle as he attempted to open it to retrieve his so called "breakfast".

"Taking extra precaution I see," Roy said aloud.

Rock looked up and noticed him for the first time. "Oh hello, Roy. Ruby has gone out to do some shopping, so I am in charge of breakfast for now. I have this great recipe for scrambled eggs. I hope they turn out okay," Rock replied as though it was common for a chef to expect his meal to start a fire.

"Are eggs usually cooked in the oven?" Roy eyed the oven suspiciously.

Using both arms, Rock managed to get the oven open. Smoke filled the room. "Aaaaaaaah!" Rock yelled and immediately picked up the extinguisher and began to spray. Now the room was not only filled with smoke, but a white cloud now covered the room. Roy could barely see Rock's head in all the mess, but he managed to get close enough to him to grab the extinguisher before he could spray any more.

Eventually the smoke died down and Roy could now see Rock holding a pan and looking disappointed. The contents of the pan were burnt black and unrecognizable. Rock sighed. "Cereal it is then."

He got out a bowl of 'Organic Panda Puffs' from the cupboard and began to pour it into a bowl. On the cover was a rather dazed panda with his mouth slightly open. "Nothing like Organic Panda Puffs," Rock chimed. "Fifty percent less flavor than the leading brand." Something fell out of the box and landed into the bowl. "Oh boy, a prize! Looks like a dinosaur with its head chewed off. Neat!" he put the dinosaur in his pocket and looked in the fridge. "Hmm, looks like we are out of milk. I guess you'll have to use orange juice instead."

"Um… I think I will get a bite to eat at the Blue Bar." Roy said as he slowly backed out of the room.

"Suit yourself. More for me, I guess." He grabbed a spoon and began to dig in.

"Now that is an interesting after taste!" Roy overheard Rock comment as he left the inn.

Roy made it to the bar safely away from Rocks cooking, he settled down at a table to try and think of a way to spend the rest of his day. He had no work to do, no friends to visit, and there wasn't an arcade anywhere in this lame valley. He sighed and ordered a drink. One thing he did not want do with his life was waste it drinking, and after he finished his first drink, he left the bar in search of something to do.

He walked along the dirt road and noticed one of the many fields of forget-me-nots. He cried out in frustration. Everything reminded him of Elli.

"Can I help you?"

Roy turned to see a man about his age running a vegetable stand. He did not wear a hat, but instead had messy brown hair. He wore a white buttoned-up shirt and pants with suspenders.

"Oh, I am sorry. No it's just this one-"

"Girl trouble, huh? Lemme guess, you have a crush on Nami, but she won't notice you because you are just a dumb farmer."

"What?"

"Darn, I was hoping I wasn't the only one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but my name is Roy and I am a farmer as well."

"Well, we may not have the same problem, but we don't seem that different! The name's Jack. I own the farm just east of here." He pointed in that direction. "I haven't been doing to well today with the stand, so why don't I close up and you can come over to my farm."

Roy was quick to accept the invitation, thankful that he now had something to do. The two left for the farm, and Roy didn't come back till late that day. He liked the farmer and maybe, just maybe, he would make this time away from Elli bearable.

Roy's hope had come true, and the days passed by with a little more speed. It was in the afternoon of his third day away from Elli when he received a letter from the Mineral Town clinic. He quickly ran upstairs to his room in the inn and tore open the envelope.

His eyes glazed over the letter and his mouth dropped open.