A Pain Worth Bearing: Chapter Four

Thanks everyone who has reviewed. I'm really thankful that you took the time to read my story and had positive things to say about it. Don't worry I do plan to finish this story, so I won't leave you hanging or suddenly quit. Fic is about Rock/Lumina with some Jack/Muffy.

About this story: Its RATED R! Will have bad language and sexual situations later on. This story will not ever contain weird or gross stuff, that's not the kind of writer I am. Want some of that stuff? Then look for another story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or it's characters, only this story. Harvest Moon belongs to Natsume and all those other companies, NOT ME. On to the story!

=========================================================

"You see? My feelings for you aren't a lie."

"Rock... I really like you a lot too." Lumina blushed and leaned against him, feeling his warmth and taking in his seductive scent. "But... I'm scared that things won't work..."

"Don't jinx it. We can definitely make it work if we try."

"What about Grandma Romana? She'll get angry if she finds out."

"She doesn't have to find out."

"And if she does?"

"She won't." Rock looked around for anybody who might have been spying on them, and luckily he didn't see anyone around. It was very late after all, so they must have been asleep. "Lumina, I really want this to work between us. Promise me that no matter what... you'll never let anything or anybody break us apart okay?"

"I promise."

"Great, and I promise the same thing to you too."

"How long will we be together, Rock?" Lumina asked.

"What kind of a question is that?" he asked in shock. "We're going to be together for a very long time, even longer if we really do work out. Lumina, I'm not playing a game with you, this is for real... seriously. I don't want to use you and leave you... I want to be WITH you."

"Sorry... I'm sorry for asking that... it's just that..."

"Just that?"

"I've had my heart broken before... and I don't want it to happen again. The pain in my heart was just too much..."

"Who did that? Who broke your heart?"

"Someone... I can't tell you who, though."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to forget about it."

-----NEXT DAY-----

"Tee-hee good morning Darling, did you sleep well last night?" Muffy asked, bringing in a cup of coffee for Jack. "You seemed a bit disturbed when you went to bed."

"N-Nothing's wrong, thanks." Jack gladly took the cup of coffee Muffy offered and sipped it quietly. He just couldn't accept what he had witnessed yesterday. It was way too impossible for his mind to accept those kinds of things. Lumina, in his eyes, was nothing but a mere child. And Rock... well he was a teenager who was looking for a 'good time', or so he thought.

"Darling, something IS wrong. You look really... deep in thought." Muffy bent down to look at Jack's wondering face. "Tell me?"

"I'll tell you after I come back from Romana's house, okay?" Jack gave Muffy a peck on the lips and headed out the door. He greeted people he passed by as he power-walked over to Romana's mansion.

"Welcome Jack." Sebastian greeted. "It's so nice to see you. Miss Romana has been waiting for you, please come this way."

"Sebastian, why are you back so early?" Jack asked as he followed Sebastian to Romana's room. "I thought you were going to stay gone for a month?"

"Everything turned out for the best and I decided to return early to serve Miss Romana more properly." He opened the door and let Jack go in first.

"Good morning Jack." Romana greeted. "Please have a seat."

"Thanks."

"I want to have a talk with you." She smiled. "Since Sebastian is here early, I thought I'd let you know that I don't need you to clean anymore. Thanks for all your help and today is your last day. I want to give Sebastian a day to settle in and get comfortable before he starts to serve me again."

"Uh... okay." Jack nodded and opened the door. "I'll start cleaning now."

"Please." She nodded and snapped her fingers. Sebastian handed her the cane so she could step outside. "I'm taking a walk with Sebastian and I wont be back until late at night, okay Jack? Take care of Lumina till then."

"Okay Miss Romana." Jack nodded as he closed the door. That's right! Lumina! He had forgotten all about yesterday when he saw Sebastian early, which came as a shock. "I have to have a talk with her."

When he turned around from shutting the door he spotted Lumina at the tip of the stairs, staring at him with the usual expression on her face.

"Jack, good morning." She greeted, extending her arms for a hug, which wasn't responded by Jack. "What's wrong?"

"Lumina I saw you yesterday."

"I know, you came by my house..."

"No! Don't play dumb! You know what I'm talking about!" Jack's tone was getting serious and angry, which made her recoil from him a bit.

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw you kissing Rock!!!" he shouted. "What the hell was that!?"

"Jack...? What are you talking about?" Lumina turned around to run up the stairs, but Jack had caught her elbow and stopped her from leaving.

"Tell me Lumina. What's going on between you and Rock?"

"Nothing..."

"So then why were you two kissing?"

"I don't know..."

"Lumina!" Jack turned her around and kept a good grip on her. " Don't you know that Rock is older than you? He's a teenager... and you're just a child."

"Why do you say things like that Jack!???" Lumina shouted, batting his arm away and glaring up at him. "Why do you think of me as a child? Don't you see that I'm growing up? Rock sees me as an older girl and not a child like you do!!"

"Because that's what you are and I'm just trying to protect you. I don't want anything happening to you."

"Nothing will happen to me."

"Lumina, all guys are pigs and so is Rock. He only wants to... well... he wants you to sleep with him, and I don't want him to trick you that way." Jack said, lifting up her chin.

"Too late... I already did sleep with him..." Lumina mumbled.

"W-What!?" Jack gasped. "You did!?"

"Yes and he still said he loved me, so you're wrong about him."

"That pig..." Jack angrily thought. He marched out of Romana's mansion angrily and headed towards the bar. He wanted to beat the crap out of Rock for tricking Lumina's innocent mind into sleeping with him. He wouldn't get away with it... he'd pay for what he did.

"Welcome Jack, how are-

"Not now Griffin, where the hell is Rock at?"

"Uh, why he's over there." Griffin pointed to the corner where Rock was wiping some tables clean. "Is there a problem?"

Jack ignored him and walked over to Rock. He turned him around and slammed him up against the wall with force.

"What the hell is wrong with you Jack?" Rock asked, taken back by his sudden use of violence.

"What did you do to Lumina!??"

"Uh... did to Lumina? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to her!"

"You tricked her into sleeping with you... she told me!!!"

"Jack calm down, we're in the middle of a bar..." Griffin whispered.

"Stay out of this Griffin!!"

"I never slept with Lumina." Rock argued back, but remembered that one time when Lumina spent the night. She must have meant that and Jack had taken it the wrong way. "Well... there was this one time when she did sleep over... but we didn't do anything, I swear! I didn't want to leave her out in the cold so I said yes. The reason I did it though... is because I didn't want her grandma hurting her. She was sad... and I didn't know what to do... but I didn't touch her!"

"Are you sure? You're not lying to me?"

"No Jack, I'm not."

"Okay then." Jack let Rock go and stepped back. Of course Lumina didn't mean it that way... she didn't KNOW what he was implying earlier and she must have misunderstood. "Why were you two kissing yesterday?"

"Jack... I love Lumina and I was telling her that yesterday. I want to be with her-

"You can't be with her, she's a child."

"No she's not, she's growing up Jack. I know you want to protect her, but she's going to have to grow up sooner or later! She's almost a teen, and I promise you that I don't want to hurt or use her in that way."

"I don't trust you Rock."

"I'm sorry, but don't you think its Lumina who decides and not you?"

"I'm warning you Rock... if you don't stay away from Lumina... I'm going to have to take drastic measures to break you two apart. She's a child." Jack seriously said, ignoring Rock's last sentence. "Do I make myself clear?"

"But Jack-

"DO I!?"

"Y-Yeah... I suppose so..."

"Jack what are you... "Lumina barged into the bar and stopped when she saw Jack and Rock glaring at each other. "Stop! Leave Rock alone!!"

"Lumina!" Jack shouted, pulling her back away from Rock. "I'm taking you home."

"NO! I want to stay here with Rock!" she shouted back, standing behind Rock and grasping onto his sleeve.

"What the hell is going on?" Griffin asked. "I'm confused as hell, Rock you wanna explain yourself before I fire you for causing a scene in MY bar?"

"Sir, I'm sorry it's just that-

"Rock is being a child molester." Jack angrily said. "He's trying to date Lumina."

"Child molester!??? You take that back!!!"

"Rock... isn't Lumina a tad too young for you?" Griffin asked, holding Jack back. "She's twelve... you're almost sixteen, do you want your Mom and Dad to get in trouble with that witch Romana?"

"N-No." Rock sadly said, cupping Lumina's small hand with his own. " But I'm in love with her."

"Rock I want to stay here with you." Lumina whispered. "I don't want to leave... please let me stay with you..."

"Lumina, let's go." Jack grabbed Lumina's wrist and started pulling her away from Rock. Rock did nothing, he just stood there as Lumina was clutching onto him, not wanting to leave his side. If he had tried to help Lumina, he would get fired for sure. He didn't want to make things worse so he let Jack take her away from him... for now.

"No! Rock I don't wanna go!! Please!!!" Lumina shouted as she was dragged out of the bar. "Jack why are you doing this? Don't you want me to be happy?"

"I do Lumina, but not with him. You don't know what you're getting yourself into if you get with an older man." Jack said, knocking on a door. "You'll thank me one day when you mature."

"When... I mature...?" Lumina sobbed, wiping away the tears from her cheeks. "I thought... I thought I was already mature...?"

"Yes? Oh hi Jack!" Samantha greeted, giving him two light kisses on the cheek. "Did you come to pick up Kate?"

"Yeah you wanted me to take care of her today, right?"

"Of course, thank you so much." Samantha giggled, waving her hand for Kate to come to her. "Kate today Jack is going to take care of you. Have lots of fun and don't fight with Lumina, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Kate shrugged, batting away her Mother's hand from holding her own. "What's up Jack?"

"It's HELLO Jack." Samantha smacked the back of Kate's head and glared down at her. "Oh how I wish she was as mature and lady-like the way Lumina is. Kate is such a tomboy it's not even funny... Oh, speaking of which, what's wrong with Lumina?"

"She's just had a hard day, she needs a nap." Jack smiled. "Come on Kate, let's go."

"Okie dokie Sir!" Kate waved goodbye to her Mother Samantha and followed Jack up the hill to Romana's Mansion. "So what're we gonna do, huh Jack?"

"I'm going to clean while you keep Lumina's mind busy and off OLDER men."

"I don't understand... I thought you were my friend Jack...?" Lumina whispered. "I thought that you would understand me...?"

"I do Lumina, but Rock is somebody I just don't trust. He's always talking to me about partying and girls in bathingsuits and all this adult stuff. You're just a little girl who should still be playing with dolls and talking about becoming an artist, not dating older boys."

"But... I love him..."

"Hahaha, you're cute." Jack patted Lumina on the head and headed to the kitchen. "I'm going to clean up so you two have fun and play with your stuffed animals okay?"

"Alrighty then Jack!" Kate shouted. "C'mon Lumina let's go to your room and play okay?"

"Umm... okay..." Lumina was tempted to run away and be with Rock while Jack busied himself in the kitchen, but she knew that she'd get Rock in trouble and Jack would only come looking for her anyways. So instead she walked into her room and sat on the edge of her bed while Kate drooled all over her stuff.

"Cool, cool, cool! Wow Lumina, you've got lotsa stuff here. Mind if I play with that pretty doll over there?" Kate grabbed a black-haired doll from the top of a drawer and hugged it.

"No!" Lumina grabbed the doll from Kate and held it protectively. " Sorry... but this doll is the one that my Mommy gave me a long time ago... if my Mommy could give me another gift, I'd share this with you... but she can't... so I'm sorry..."

"She's dead or something?"

"Yes..."

"And your Dad?"

"Grandma says he's alive and he doesn't want me... but I know that... Daddy is dead too..." Lumina said as she stroked the doll's perfect raven hair. "Both of them... left me alone..."

"And my Momma wants me to be like you? Psh, she's crazy!" Kate laughed. "Get over it Lumina, if they're dead they're dead you can't do anything about it. What's more important is gossip! Now tell me who that older boyfriend Jack mentioned earlier today is!? I wanna know!!"

"Why...?"

"Cause I wanna know! Just tell me!!"

"It's... Rock..." Lumina said as she leaned against her bed. "He told me that he loved me... and I think I love him too..."

"Rock!? Really!? Wow how were you able to get such a hottie like him!?" Kate asked, impressed with Lumina. "You're lucky."

"Why?"

"He's cute! And to find interest in a girl like you... well you've gotta be lucky."

"Why?"

"Don't you know? I've been reading my Dad's grown-up books and what I've learned is that boys don't like you unless you have a certain thing."

"What is it?"

"Well for one, you have to have breasts. Boys like them, and they also like it when a girl has a nice butt too." Kate explained. "You have to have a slim waist and long hair is a plus!"

"That's not true... I don't have any of that and Rock still likes me."

"Maybe he's just using you then?"

"No... that can't be..."

"It's true, because my Dad only looks at girls with a hot body. Like Muffy! Dad likes to daydream about her and he's really jealous of Jack because he got to marry her." Kate giggled. "When I get older, I'm going to marry Hugh! Yup, he's my dream guy... but not until I can grow a great body."

"Isn't that being shallow, Kate...?"

"Uhhh... what's shallow mean?"

"Never mind..." Lumina sighed.

"Lumina! Kate! Come downstairs!" Jack shouted.

"Coming!!" Lumina and Kate joined Jack downstairs while he finished washing his hands. He dug deep inside his pockets and pulled out some spare change.

"We have enough to go get some ice-cream, how about it?"

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Kate happily said.

"... ... ... ... ..."

"Lumina? Don't you want some chocolate chip ice-cream?"

"If I have your permission... or is it too grown up to do?"

"Hey! Don't give me that attitude, I was just trying to protect you."

"You made me feel miserable...you have my thanks." She said, walking out the door and leaving Jack and Kate behind.

"Sheesh, what's Miss Perfect's problem anyway?" Kate asked.

"Nothing."

Kate and Jack had caught up to Lumina who didn't say a thing on the way over to Van's shop. Van greeted them with a hearty smile and served them some ice-cream in a cup.

"Sorry no cones today, I ran out." Van chuckled. "How's my little Princess Lumina, huh?"

"... ... ... "

"She's mad." Jack said.

"Why is that?"

"I wont let her date Rock..." Jack sighed. "But it's for her own good, he's older than her."

"Just by three and a half years."

"Four, he's almost sixteen and Lumina barely turned twelve." Jack corrected. "That's too much for me."

"If you'd like a boyfriend Lumina, my Chester is ALWAYS available for YOU." Van smiled, tapping her nose lightly. "What do you say?"

"No."

"She's adorable... in a snotty bratty way..." Van chuckled. "Well I tried."

"Van, I don't want Lumina going out with ANY boy not even your Chester. Sorry." Jack said.

"It's okay don't worry about it. She's a girl, you're supposed to protect her purity."

"Purity...?" Lumina wondered. "Hmmm... it must be important if Jack is THIS upset... but what is it...?"

"Shhhh! Not so loud, she's a kid you know."

"Sorry."

-----LATER THAT DAY-----

"I'm a bit sad that Jack isn't going to be working here anymore."

"Miss Romana can I get you another cup of tea?" Sebastian asked. " I'm sorry, I'll try to serve you better so that you wont miss Jack anymore."

"You're old Sebastian, it's forgivable." Romana sipped from her cup and rested her back on her rocking chair. "When is your nephew getting here?"

"In about five minutes. Miss Romana, my nephew is a famous well- respected pianist and I'm sure he'll be able to teach Lumina everything."

"He's going to test Lumina... she better pass for her life's sakes."

"Miss Romana, please do not be so harsh on Miss Lumina... she's a little girl."

"When is he getting here?"

"Soon Miss, soon."

"Tell Lumina to get dressed."

"Yes Miss." Sebastian left Romana's room and entered Lumina's. " Miss Lumina your grandmother has instructed me to... uhh... Miss Lumina? Where did you go!?"

"I can't believe we're doing this."

"Me neither." Lumina giggled. "Rock... whenever I'm with you... I don't hurt in my heart anymore..."

"That's because you're happy." He said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her soft lips. "I promised I wouldn't let anybody break us apart... and it still stands."

"I hate Jack... he doesn't want me to be happy..."

"He's just trying to protect you because he thinks I'm a pervert."

"Are you...?"

"Hell no! I really do love you."

"Rock what's a purity?"

"Purity?" He repeated. "Oh that means when nobody has touched you yet."

"Huh? I don't get it..."

"I'll explain it to you one day, or maybe SHOW you someday if you let me..." he whispered. "But I don't want to do anything you wouldn't want to."

"Show me...?" She wondered. "Well maybe one day we can."

"It's all up to you."

"I have to go home now..." Lumina sighed, watching the clock. " Grandma Romana will know I'm gone if I stay too late."

"Okay then let me walk you home."

"No! Jack might see you."

"But I can't let you walk home all by yourself."

"I'll be okay."

"No, it's way too dangerous. Let me just walk you halfway okay?" Rock argued, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Just to be safe?"

"Um... okay then..."

Rock and Lumina quietly snuck out of the Inn and walked in the shadows of the night, so they wouldn't get caught or spotted by nosy neighbors. Both walked in silence and didn't have much to say to each other since the incident this morning. Lumina wished she didn't have to sneak out to see him, but everybody was against them being together. She didn't see why it would matter since it wasn't any of anybody's business whom she was dating at what age.

"Goodnight." Lumina stood on the tip of her toes and pecked Rock's cheek lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow okay Rock?"

"Okay, goodnight then."

Lumina walked up the dark hill to her mansion when all of a sudden a hand covered her mouth tightly and wrapped an arm around her waist. She struggled to pull the hand away so that she could scream but when the hand did detach itself, it covered Lumina's nose and mouth with a wet towel that had a strong smell.

Slowly but surely she was losing her vision... everything was going black and her body was beginning to give in to the scent's command to let her body go numb. She looked up at her captor but couldn't see his face in the darkness, but it was a man for sure. He had strong hands and his voice was pretty deep.

He grinned above her as she slowly fell to the floor and closed her eyes...

==========================================================

SapphireDemon: Yep, that's all. It ends there, aren't you mad at me? Well don't be! I'm working my dang hardest to finish this up. Sorry it took so long to update though, I was having some trouble in school and my friends have been bugging me to go out with them, so no time for computer.

When will the next update be? Well I can't say for sure cause I don't know.

Actually I saw the most interesting thing while I was looking up Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life. I saw a drawing of Rock with Muffy, Jack, and Griffin. I think he was drinking alcohol... which means that he's MUCH older than I think he is. I don't know he looks about 15 to me in the game. I've only played 1 year and 1/3 or the game, so I don't know what happens. I also saw a picture of older Lumina with short brown hair. Damn, I've always envisioned her older self with long pretty brown hair, but oh well. I have no idea how old Lumina really is, so I'm guessing about 12 maybe? If anybody knows their real ages please tell me, I'd like to know. But even if I do find out, I'm still keeping everything MY WAY in my story... it's fiction so I get to do that.

Oh and reviews are GREATLY appreciated, believe it or not. I like getting them!

Next Chapter: Oh no!! Lumina gets kidnapped!! But by whom and why? Does she get saved? WILL she get saved? And if things don't turn out her way in the end... what will happen? Find out on the fifth chapter of this thing. (Yes, I call my stories 'things')