*laughs evilly* …O-oh God, I just sounded like my 13 year old self. I blame Tales of Symphonia! In other news, this chapter will be... well, just read it already!

IMPORTANT: This chapter can be a bit confusing in terms of who's talking! As per usual, Jamie's thoughts are indicated by a single * ' * mark and italicized text like this. However, the other source of internal speaking (which will remain unnamed but is probably obvious anyway but whatever) will be indicated by the regular speaking, double * " * mark and italicized text as well. These are, however, separate entities, so I hope you don't get too confused!

Somewhere Between Summer 15th and Summer 16th

A loud sigh sounded through the bedroom in Jamie's house as the young man flung himself down onto the bed. Completely prepared for it or not, dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane was nothing to sneeze at. And it seemed, unfortunately, that his prize sheep was coming down with something. He scowled and tossed onto his side, far too preoccupied with his thoughts to actually get ready for bed or slip himself under the blankets. Would his problems never end? Running a farm, working to revive a deity, fighting against nature and human beings with all his might… If it were anyone less perfect trying to do such a job, they'd fail. Miserably.

A sudden image flooded his mind, one of girlish pink and bouncing pigtails and a coy, infuriating smile. Tina. Even her name sounded inferior and disgusting. The more he spoke with her, the more irritating her very existence became. She just breezed right into town, trying to steal his business and take his destiny all in one fell swoop! Just who did she think she was?! Well, it had barely been a season and a half; not enough time to see just how she would fail in the end (which she would. She had to.) He began to go over the possible scenarios in his mind, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. But that was to be expected, right? You couldn't very well take a rival down without a plan. Perfectly normal.

And yet, when he tried to think of a plan, nothing came. Unconsciously, his knees drew themselves up just a bit, his arms crossing anxiously over his torso. Time was marching on, and ever so slowly, Tina—no, his rival's—farm was picking up. On the one hand, he was certain she would eventually give up and go back to wherever she came from (which Jamie strongly suspected was another dimension), but on the other hand… On the other hand, even though it made him feel slightly nauseous just to acknowledge it, there was a slight chance that just maybe, she might end up staying in Flower Bud somehow. He scoffed to himself.

'Humph. Maybe she can just marry Alex and live happily ever after!'

Shuddering, he chastised himself for conjuring up such a vile idea. The last thing he wanted to think about was those two idiots being all lovey-dovey and… having kids. Ugh!

Still, there was the possibility that he could slip. Time was moving for him, too, after all. Time that he was supposed to be using to save the Goddess. And if the way to save the Goddess was to collect notes, but the way to collect notes was to best his rival, then that meant he was back at square one. What was he supposed to do? What if, no matter how hard he tried… he would be too late? All his life, answers came to him so easily. Predicting the actions of others, and even his own future, had always been effortless. But something about that girl just stumped him. No matter how hard he tried, he got nothing. Zip. Zilch. But why? She wasn't special or anything. Was it because she was a trial sent by the Goddess? Was that why? But if he didn't solve things soon, then the Harvest Goddess was the one who would suffer… all because of his failure! The young man curled further into himself, pleading silently.

'Damn it! I need to know what's going to happen. I need to know what I should be preparing for. I can't afford to make a mistake here!'

His thoughts swirled around his head, darting and spinning this way and that, and his mind grew heavy with haze. 'I just need to close my eyes for a minute and concentrate,' he rationalized. He blinked; once, twice… The blackness took over his senses, quiet and calming. Three times. …Four times. So relaxing…What was he thinking about, again? That's right, he was on his bed, and he was tired. Yes, sleeping sounded very nice. He would do that.

There he stood at once, atop the vantage point near Sunny Lake, peering out into the valley below. That's funny, why was he here all of a sudden? It seemed like there was a reason—a very important reason—but he just couldn't remember. Jamie had never been one to be forgetful, and he especially wouldn't suddenly forget everything he'd been doing the whole day up until that moment, so suffice to say this was a little frightening. Before he could dwell on his situation a little more, a noise to the side caught him off guard. Who was that? Without even thinking about it, his vision immediately swiveled toward the sound.

There, standing underneath an almost impossibly bright sea of stars, was Tina at his side. A strange mix of emotions settled in that he struggled to figure out. He was affronted and wanted to know what she was doing there, especially so close to him, but even stranger still it felt like she was supposed to be there. For a moment, it felt like something was going according to plan. Almost like…

"Relief."

'What the hell?!'

Try as he may to resist it, some part of him was telling him that she was meant to be there with him. Not quite a voice, as there was no sound to be heard, but just an instinct. Like his own thought. His usual bravado wavered; something was seriously wrong here. This feeling… it felt like what many described as an out of body experience. Like his consciousness was in someone else. But he was in his own body, so why…? He felt detached from himself, his memory was suddenly blank, and there was some kind of thing telling him that he needed to stick around his rival. The entire ordeal was quickly turning into something terrifying. Where was he? Okay, he was at Starry Hill, but still… something about it felt off. Secondly, what had happened that lead him here? Why couldn't he remember? This didn't feel right. He needed to leave, now.

To his horror, he found that he couldn't. His legs were rooted to the spot, his body not obeying his mind. He paled; or at least, he would have if he could have.

'This is bad. Very bad. Move, damn it! Let's get out of here!'

Finally, there was movement, but not from his feet. Multi-colored arms, draped in his trademark poncho, folded themselves atop his chest. Jamie's attempts to regain control of his body were thwarted when the girl beside him piped up.

"So, um… What are you doing here? I-I mean… You know what tonight is, right?"

His head, which had been staring at Tina for what felt like 20 minutes so far, tossed itself to the side. Before he could think of anything to say, he felt himself scoff.

"Of course I know what tonight is, you simpleton!" he cried, the words coming automatically. "And it's none of your business, but I have reasons for being here."

Now he was confusing even himself. His voice had sounded so sure of itself, but honestly, Jamie had no idea what he was doing. Could he not even control his own mouth? As his gaze lowered itself back onto his rival, she looked away, apparently embarrassed about something.

"Oh! Wow, I didn't think you… I mean, who is she?" she stammered.

The answer flew from his lips, "What?! Th-that's not what I meant, you idiot! I'm not waiting for anyone, okay? So just leave me alone."

His arms had woven themselves tighter against his body, and he felt his breathing start to become uneven. Upon further concentration, he also noticed his heart was beating at a steady flutter. Tina laughed, a hand drawn up to half-heartedly hide a grin, and he felt himself flush.

"Gosh, Jamie, I always knew you were in love with yourself, but this just takes it to a whole new—"

"Shut it already!"

"Okay, I get it! Regular, mean, old Jamie likes his "me" time."

"Humph," he intoned, turning his head back to the stars above.

Several beats passed, and Jamie waited for either her or his body to make another move. The girl had mentioned something about that day being significant, and asked if he was waiting for someone. Now that he thought about it, that did sound familiar, though he honestly couldn't figure who he could be waiting for or why.

"Of course it's her, who else is here?"

There it was again, that strange presence, whispering notions into his head. He had been waiting there for her; that's why he had felt relief when she showed up. …Or at least, that's what the "voice" was saying. Giving himself a good mental shake, he forced his mind to find a more reasonable explanation for what was going on.

'Huh? Waiting for her? But there's nothing she could give me or do for me. And even if I did want something from her, I would've told her. Makes no sense to just go stand somewhere and hope she'd show up. What could I have possibly—'

An abrupt movement, or an attempt at a movement, halted his thoughts. Though currently still in their same position, his leg muscles had tightened themselves. Almost as though he was debating on moving or not. His lungs let out a strained sigh, heart still throbbing. Jamie quieted his inner ramblings and waited to see what his body would do. Stiffly, and with no small amount of haste, Jamie twisted his head back over to glance at his rival. For once, his body did exactly what it would have done, had he been in control of it—he drew in a sharp breath of air.

Illuminated by shining stars above, Tina leaned against the oak railing bathed in a silvery, moonlit glow. It draped over her delicately, curving over her features in a shower of ethereal night. Warm, russet eyes twinkled up at the cosmos with a light not unlike the very stars she gazed upon. Looking perfectly content and at peace, a small smile stretched across her flushed cheeks.

An overwhelming urge to run as fast as he could overtook him, but he was rooted in place. Oh no. No, this couldn't be happening. Something was brewing; some conflicting, alien inclination in the back of his mind that kept him in limbo and kept his eyes glued to the girl in front of him. This impossible, frustrating, incomprehensible,—

"Beautiful."

'Wait, what?!' he cried to himself. 'W-why did I just think she was-?!'

"She's… beautiful."

'Sh-she's not—She isn't— The-there's no way that I-'

The young woman stirred slightly, letting out a soft chuckle. Maybe she was laughing at something funny she'd heard, or a joke she thought of, or maybe she was laughing just to throw him off. Jamie didn't know, and he found he didn't really care. All he did care about was the way her nose crinkled up just a little bit when she laughed, and how there were small clusters of freckles right under each eye. Had those always been there? Had she always looked this way? He'd never noticed before how peculiar she looked, these minute specifics that somehow just fell perfectly into place with how he viewed her. She couldn't be—she shouldn't be-

…But she really was beautiful, in her own, weird way. Which doesn't really bode well at all when he's supposed to hate her.

'Aaaaahhhh! What am I thinking?! What's WRONG with me?!'

He was going insane. Prolonged exposure to this twisted other dimension was warping his psyche and driving him nuts. That had to be it. Really, why else would he ever let himself be weak enough to entertain the notion that she was appealing—in any way?!

"But that will just make things easier… I think."

'Pardon me?' he deadpanned, though it was becoming apparent that this "voice" could not hear him the way he could hear it.

'Make what easier?'

His body swayed slightly, muscles tensed in apprehension once more. It seemed he was about to move again. Why, he didn't know. The heart inside his chest still was still beating a mile a minute, and a flare of heat flushed his face unbidden. His stomach coiled in on itself, twisting into hard knots.

'Make what easier?!' he repeated. Hey, you couldn't blame a guy for trying!

"T-Tina!" Came the sudden yell, clearly a mite louder than it should have been for such close proximity. The smile on her face dissolved within a second. Gasping, she turned to the self-proclaimed rival next to her, eyes widened from being suddenly pulled from her star-gazing trance.

"Huh? What is—"

A sunset-clad arm shot out suddenly, grabbing the petite rancher's forearm with an iron grip. Jamie's other arm flew out soon after, his hand firmly clamped down on a soft, pink shoulder. He was shaking all over; the whole thing was one big, awkward mess, but none of that mattered right now. With a lightning fast, almighty yank, Jamie pulled Tina to his chest—

'H-hey! Stop, what in the hell are you-?!'

— and kissed her.

Kissing her. He was kissing her, it felt disgusting! Her thin, warm body smashed against his chest, her lips melting into his— Those pink… soft lips— it felt…

'Oh Goddess!' he realized with horror.

It felt—!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Followed by a bloodcurdling scream that could wake the dead was a cacophony of clattering and thumps, as Jamie flailed out of bed and onto the floor, taking various objects from his nightstand with him.

"Ugh!" he grunted, as his side whammed into the carpet, alarm clock bouncing away to his left. It took him a few minutes of laying like that, sprawled out next to his bed, to get his thoughts back into order and his heartbeat back into a range that wasn't life-threatening. He collected himself, albeit shaking, and set about putting his things back up onto the nightstand. Nothing to freak out about; it was just a weird dream. No, scratch that, a nightmare. That's all it was. Just a phantom of the world of the night, one that couldn't hurt him in the daytime as long as he didn't think about it.

The morning marched on, and he readied himself for another day of work. He let himself get lost in the systematic cycle he'd repeated almost thoughtlessly for years. Milking cows, watering crops, checking on the chickens; the dream was far behind him. It wasn't even real, so why worry?

But around noon, when he was just about to head out for the mountain, who else came racing down the road and stopped to say hello except for the very bane of his existence? Chattering away about things going on in town, this and that, someone's house got damaged—he wasn't really listening. She should know better than to expect him to care. But he did catch the way she looked when she laughed. That unmistakable crinkle around her nose, and, as he looked closer for the first time, faint little clouds of freckles underneath those muddy eyes.

The dream wasn't supposed to be real, not by any accounts. And yet here it was, here she was, right before his eyes— that very same girl, who had so suddenly become completely new and frightening and beautiful all at once. There was no fixing it, even if he tried. They were one and the same now.

And because of that, it felt like his whole world was flipping upside down.

I know, I know! It's short. But hopefully, the content makes up for it. *wink*

The ending of this chapter was somehow influenced by both The Swan Princess and Doctor Who! Weird.