Here's the next chapter, late as usual, but the plot is beginning to come underway. If you're interested at all, this should be the last of the slower, introduction chapters. The actual plot should kick it up a few dozen notches within the next few chapters!

Disclaimer: As, hopefully, you all know, I don't own Harvest Moon or anything HM related. Enough with the small talk—this is an important chapter!

Chapter 4: Light of the World

It's refreshing, Jack thought as he watered his tiny tomato sprouts. It is such a cool little town. "I like it here," he said.

"Well, good!" said a voice behind him and he yelped, whirling around, water still trickling out of his watering can. Celia received a spray of water to her face and Jack's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry!" he said, dropping the can. "I'm so sorry…" Celia shook her head, wiping her face.

"It's all right," she said, smiling at him. "It's been a warm day—a bit of water never hurt anyone on a day like this." Jack smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling softly. "Are you ready?"

Jack frowned slightly and blinked in confusion. "Ready for wh—oh!" He blushed deeply, having completely forgotten about the fact that Celia wanted to show him something. Celia's smile faded just a bit and Jack felt his heart rate increase. "No, no, I remember! Yeah, I'm ready!"

"We don't have to go if you don't want to," Celia said, giving Jack what he saw to be a forced smile. "I mean, it's been a hard day of work and if you're too tired…"

"No, let's go. I could use a break." Celia seemed to brighten a bit more at this and she smiled.

"Follow me, then." With that, she turned around and walked out of Jack's farm. Jack quickly followed and found himself trekking up the wooden steps beside his farm. Upon reaching the top, they entered a small glade, the stream churning along violently to their right, spurred on by a tall waterfall that poured over a cliff. It was in the shadow of this cliff that the glade prospered, flowers and trees and grass growing everywhere. To their left was a small, clear pond, so still that it seemed to be made more of glass than water. At the far end of the glade was a large, very old and majestic tree that looked to be a haven for many different animals.

However, the most interesting thing of the meadow, Jack thought, were the two lines of large flowers that formed a bit of a row on either side of the path that led through it. Each flower was easily as tall as he, growing on a large, green stem, large leaves extending from it. It drooped over a bit so that the flower bud at the tip faced the ground. The bud itself was a brilliant blue color and beautiful in its own right. However, Jack was curious as to what the flowers were like when they bloomed. Unfortunately, he saw, the flowers had not yet bloomed when they arrived. But he was curious, nonetheless, as to why Celia had to bring him here.

"Have you ever seen these?" Celia asked, going over to one of the huge flowers that were even taller than she was.

"I've seen them a few times," Jack replied, smiling at her. Celia's face fell slightly.

"Have you ever seen them at night…?" she wondered aloud, her voice betraying her hope that Jack hadn't. Thankfully for her, Jack hadn't and he told her so. Her face lit up again. "Great! You'll be in for a treat!"

"What are they called?" Jack asked while he looked up at the sky, seeing it get gradually darker as night approached.

"They're called Gaia's Lights." When Jack gave her a curious look, she shook her head. "You'll just have to see when nightfall comes!"

Thankfully, it would seem that nightfall had just arrived, for only a few moments later, the meadow grew very dark. However, Jack could still see enough to see why the Gaia's Lights never bloomed when he came—they only bloomed when it was night. He watched the one nearest to him as it began to open up. At first it seemed normal, the petals—five in all—spread out. Inside the flower was a small, round bulb that seemed to glow dimly in the evening light.

Jack moved a bit closer to the bulb to inspect it, but let out a cry when the dimly glowing bulb suddenly lit up with a brilliant white light. All at once, every one of Gaia's Lights lit up like street lamps, bathing the meadow in a blue-tinted brilliance. Jack's eyes were wide and his breath caught.

"Oh, my…" he said softly, staring at the flower. "Is this a real flower?"

"Yes, it is! It's definitely native to this area, though. Almost no one outside of Forget-Me-Not even knows about it."

"How does it light up?"

"Well…" Celia said, moving closer to one. Jack looked at her and his wide eyes softened. There was no doubt about it now. Biting her lip, her eyes wide with excitement, the bluish-white haze that surrounded her—she was beautiful. "Some people think the petals gather sunlight during the day and the bulb in the middle stores it for when the flower blooms." Jack had to admit that it sounded possible… "But I think it's because this meadow's magical."

"Why would you say that?"

Celia blushed a bit, but looked at the pond. "In Mineral Town, there's a waterfall like the one over there. A lot of people claim that the Harvest Goddess lives in the pool of water below the fall. Some people also think the Mineral Town waterfall and this pond are connected by an underground river. That's why the pond never runs dry."

"Why do you think it's magical, though? I mean, if the Goddess lives somewhere else…"

Celia grinned at him. "Watch this." She picked up a small stone from the ground and walked over to the still pond. She held the rock above it and dropped it. The rock dropped to the surface and slipped down into its depths without so much as a splash. A single ripple extended out from the impact point, but it disappeared within seconds, the pond growing eerily still and glassy once again.

Jack frowned deeply and moved closer, peering into the pond. For a pond full of stagnant water, it was clean. It looked more than clean—it looked pure. Regardless of the dirt around it, he simply couldn't see any dirt floating around in the water itself. He reached out slowly and dipped his finger in it. Jack wrenched his hand away from the pond, cradling his finger.

"What's wrong?" Celia asked, looking at him and frowning.

"It's freezing," Jack hissed, placing his numb finger in his mouth. He shivered and felt Goosebumps form all over his arms. The cold had been so frigid that it was painful—and he felt that he would have surely gotten frostbite had he left it in there any longer.

"That's strange," Celia said softly. "I've seen other people touch it before and they said it was scalding."

"Yeah, well, it's cold now," Jack snapped. Celia frowned and Jack felt a pang of guilt. "Sorry, it's just… my finger's really cold."

"Here." Celia reached out and took his hand, and holding it between her hands tightly. For a moment, Jack felt nothing, but soon her hands' warmth had begun to do its trick. He felt his face get hot as his finger warmed up and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed when she let go of his hand.

Celia stood up and walked over to one of the brightly shining flowers and reached up, stroking one of the petals gently. "I love coming here at night," she said softly. "It helps me think. I love nature, but nature grows dark when night falls, you know? But here, it only grows brighter."

Jack nodded thoughtfully and stood. He walked past her and looked around, his eyes settling on the large tree at the far edge of the meadow. It was brightly lit, its old bark gray and probably dead, he figured. The tree looked many years old, hundreds, he'd have to guess with how vast it was. Near the bottom of the tree was a small hole, a naturally made archway and, for a moment, he was sure that he saw a flicker of orange in it.

He bent down and inched closer, not really sure why he was trying to be so quiet. Whispers, he thought he could hear whispers… Whispers that asked him what he was doing. Whispers from behind him. Whispers that weren't really whispers.

"Jack?" Jack startled and looked back at Celia, smiling.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. Celia smiled back at him and shook her head.

"I was saying that it looked like it might rain soon. We should head on back."

"Oh, right." Jack stood up straight and felt a bit of disappointment. He would have enjoyed staying there with Celia a bit—or a lot—longer. Regardless, though, she was right. Threatening clouds were covering up the stars above, and Jack felt a breeze kick up. He thought for a moment that he heard a low rumble of thunder in the distance.

"Head back?" Celia asked and Jack nodded. They walked down the wooden steps that led back into the village and, once they reached the side entrance to Jack's farm, Celia looked at him. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Jack nodded, but then a thought occurred to him. "How about I walk you home?" he said abruptly as Celia turned to leave. She looked back at him, a bit surprised, and looked as though she was going to say no at first, but then she nodded.

"That'd be nice."

And so they continued back down the stairs. "What's working at the plantation like, Celia?" Jack asked.

"It's fun," Celia said, looking over at him. "Vesta is really nice and fair—she never gives anyone too much work and she works just as hard if not harder than anyone else. She's really good at what she does, but, oh, when she feels that someone's trying to rip her off…" Celia trailed off, looking ahead with a half-smile. "Well, it's kind of scary."

"Who's that other man that works there?" Jack said, referring to the man with thick, bushy black hair that he had seen stalking around the plantation before.

"Oh, that's Vesta's brother, Marlin. He's… well, he's Marlin!" Celia laughed a bit. "He's nice, though, but quiet and kind of moody. But he's like Vesta when he thinks he's been wronged—which happens a lot between Vesta and him, anyway. He can be really loud when he wants to."

Jack nodded. "That's normal between siblings."

"I figure, but I'm an only child, so I really don't know from experience." After a moment, she looked at him. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I used to have an older sister," Jack said, his voice growing softer.

"Used too?" Celia asked, but then her eyes widened as it dawned on her.

"She died about eight years ago. Drowned on a rafting trip my family was taking. I was really excited and was bouncing around like an idiot. He hit some rapids and, of course, I went right over the side of the raft. Amber jumped in after me.

"We were both wearing life jackets and tried to swim to shore, but the current was too strong. We hit some rapids and all hell broke loose. I got thrown around for a while and breathed in enough water to nearly drown myself. I lost sight of Amber somewhere in the chaos."

Celia was watching him with wide eyes and her mouth was open slightly. "I finally ended up washing up on shore. Amber's lifejacket was found much further downstream, snagged on a tree branch. She was found on a shore a few miles down. They think that she must have gotten snagged and, when she couldn't get free, she began to panic and unbuckled the jacket, thinking she could swim to shore—the branch was right next to the river's edge—not even five feet away.

"She must have misjudged the current, though. Mom divorced Dad shortly after that. She still loved him, I think, but it was his idea to go on that rafting trip. She preferred Disneyworld. She was never really able to forget that—and I can't blame her. The only reason I didn't blame Dad was because I blamed myself."

"You don't still think…"

"No. No, that was a long time ago. I've grown up since then. Wasn't Dad's fault and wasn't my fault—it was a freak accident. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to go drown myself in beer or anything. I accepted her death a long time ago."

Celia watched him closely as they stopped in front of the plantation, but Jack smiled at her, being accustomed to this reaction by now. Finally, she accepted that he was telling the truth and returned his smile.

"I had fun tonight," she said softly and Jack could tell that she still wanted to say something about his story.

"So did I. We should do it again sometime."

"I agree." There was a pause, and then, "Jack, I'm sorry about your sister."

Jack nodded slowly and looked at her eyes. They were full of concern and worry and he felt his heart lift. With that lifting of his heart, he felt a strange boldness empower him, urge him, push him to take a risk. So he leaned forward and kissed her. There were no fireworks nor did his mind get hazy. The kiss was brief, for they both jerked backwards moments after their lips first met. Jack turned red. Celia turned redder.

"Celia, I-I'm so—" Jack said quickly, his eyes wide. He noticed with annoyance that the boldness that had urged him to take the risk had now fled for the hills.

"It's okay…" Celia said, obviously very surprised at Jack's actions. Why shouldn't she be? Jack acted like a jerk, an idiot—a man with no respect whatsoever.

"No, no, it isn't. That was really… really rude of me. I don't know what came over me! I just… it crossed my mind and I…"

"I-I'd better go inside," Celia said softly.

"Celia…"

"It's all right! I'm not angry." But she wasn't happy either, Jack saw, as she hurried into her house without a good-bye.

Jack walked back towards his house, cursing himself multiple times under his breath. "Stupid. What were you thinking? Barely know her… .not even a date…" He continued to mutter until he had crossed the bridge that passed over the stream, when he realized with a start that he had just crossed the said bridge twice without a single thought about it.

"Huh. Maybe I'm getting over that stupid fear," he said, staring at the bridge. However, not wanting to find out if he was right or not, he hurried along to the entrance to his farm. At the entrance, though, he changed his mind about going home immediately, and, instead, headed towards the bar. While he may not drown himself in beer, he never promised he wouldn't attempt to do it with a soda.

When Jack pushed the door to the bar open, he was greeted with the sounds of a guitar being strummed, glasses clinking and sliding along the counter, laughter and talking, as well as the strong smells of alcohol and sweaty men after a hard day's work.

"Hi, Jack!" Muffy said, waving at him from behind the bar. Jack smiled at her and sat down in an empty stool, being greeted and greeting in turn the others there. Across the counter, while Muffy served the drinks, Griffin sat on a stool, one leg propped up on a higher rung, his guitar in his lap.

Jack looked around at the bar's patrons, finding that most of them he knew, even if it were only by seeing them around the town. To his right was the older man he saw earlier at Van's shop, still dressed in the blue, smiley overalls, and to his left was the dark-skinned artist Jack recognized as Cody.

He was a large man with beefy arms and legs, an enormous neck, and eyes that seemed much colder and meaner than he actually was. Cody had a bleached blond Mohawk that ended in a small ponytail, and what looked like native war paint had been smeared onto his cheeks. He always seemed to be deep in thought and Jack observed him pacing around in front of his metal trailer at the bottom of the hill that the village was built on for hours at a time. In fact, Jack was surprised that he ever even ventured away from his trailer.

"How's it going, Cody?" Jack asked and Cody blinked, looking at him. He grunted and Jack smiled.

"I was hoping something to drink might loosen me up and give me inspiration, but it did nothing." Cody stood and left some money on the counter. "I'll see you around, Jack."

"See you later, Cody." Cody turned and walked out, the door shutting behind him. The older man belched beside Jack and he grimaced, smelling a very strong whiff of alcohol on the man's breath. Deciding that he didn't want to run the risk of the man passing out and falling on Jack's shoulder, Jack moved into Cody's old seat.

"Never seen you in the bar."

Jack tensed in surprise at the voice and looked to his left, seeing Nami sitting next to him, her elbows on the counter, a drink held in one hand, the contents half-finished already. Another glass sat empty on the bar in front of her. Her hair was messy and it covered one of her eyes while her other eye stared, unfocused, at the liquid in her glass.

"I don't come often," Jack said, his voice hesitant, unsure of how to react to this side of Nami—a side which he didn't really think existed. "I don't drink."

"Then what can I get you?" Muffy said, smiling at Jack from across the counter and holding a notepad in her hands,

"Oh, sorry, I'll just have a coke. Cherry flavoring, please." Muffy nodded and hurried off to get the drink for him.

"What's the point in coming to a bar if not to drink?" Nami said thoughtfully before sipping at her drink again.

"To socialize?"

"I'm flattered," she said flatly, setting her glass down.

"Obviously, I didn't realize you would be here."

Silence fell between them and Muffy brought Jack his drink, looking eager to talk, but other customers drew her away before she could get even a word in. Jack drank a bit of his coke and glanced at Nami, whose hair hindered him from seeing her face. She was leaning forward over her drink, though, her head bowed slightly, her eyes, he was certain, staring blankly at what was left of her beverage.

"Why did you even come to a backwater place like this, anyway?" she said finally, after a few minutes and another drink. Her voice was softer now, the typical harsh edge all but evaporated.

"Why did you?" Jack shot back, remembering how she lived at the inn. Nami was silent for a few moments, finally replying even more quietly.

"I don't know." Jack looked at her again. "I've traveled around a lot and somehow ended up here. I only planned to stay for a few days, but that just didn't happen."

"Why were you traveling?" Nami took a drink and didn't answer this question. After another moment of silence, Jack frowned slightly and took a drink himself. "My father was going to take over the farm with Takakura, but he died really unexpectedly. Tak came to his funeral and found me—Dad wanted me to take over the farm in his place. Obviously, I decided to do it."

"Obviously."

"Is there something about me that just ticks you off?" Jack asked, a bit annoyed now. Nami finished off her drink and chuckled softly.

"I'm just like that." She stood up and Jack caught a glance of her face, which was still strangely emotionless. "Few things don't annoy me." She turned and walked out of the bar, her hands shoved deep into her pockets.

Jack sighed and looked back at his coke. There was a gasp in front of him and he looked up to see Muffy staring at the empty glasses. "She... she didn't pay for her drinks!"

He shook his head and sighed again. "I'll cover it, Muffy. I think I got her mad or something."

"You don't have to—I can always get a hold of her tomorrow or…"

"Don't worry about it." Jack placed enough gold on the counter to cover both his drink and Nami's and stood. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Jack. Thanks."

Jack nodded and walked out, not really feeling any better than when he first went into the bar.

Once outside, he took a deep breath and sighed. The inn's door shut and he assumed it was Nami heading in to bed. He walked slowly and thoughtfully back towards his farm, glancing up at the inn as Nami's room's light clicked on. Muffy had mentioned that, when she relaxed and drank, she seemed sad. At the time, Jack found that difficult to believe, but now he saw what she meant. There was something about Nami, while aloof, rude, and cruel, that he couldn't place his finger on. He was curious about her.

And then there was Celia. He sighed and looked towards Vesta's farm, serene and silent in the night. Undoubtedly, she was lying in bed, sleeping soundly, her dreams happily away from Jack and his rudeness. Jack rubbed his forehead. He was such an idiot. Why did he kiss her? Why did he bend to his own stupidity? Jack shook his head and walked onto his farm.

There was a flash of lightning high above and he twitched in surprise. The lightning lit up his farm in a blinding light, revealing things that would otherwise be invisible in the darkness. For example, the small figure standing over Jack's budding crops.

Jack released a cry and took a step back, partially in surprise and partly in fear of the figure that was again shrouded in darkness. "W-who's there?" he asked, praying that he would hear Takakura's voice answer back, all the while realizing that the figure was much small than Tak.

When no sound came in reply, Jack took a deep breath, grabbing a stick—not much bigger than a twig—off the ground. Miles was barking wildly from inside the house and Jack cursed himself for not noticing it sooner. He moved closer and heard a familiar buzzing noise. In fact, when a trio of flies began buzzing around him, undoubtedly smelling the sugary coke on his breath, his fear evaporated.

"Get away from there, Murrey! Geez, you scared me half to death…"

"Moi. Y-your plants haven't g-grown."

"No kidding. It'll be a few more months."

"C-can I have your cow? Sh-she looks delicious."

"No! Murrey, get off my farm or I'll sic my dog on you!"

"Moi. I-I'm hungry…"

Jack sighed and shook his head. "Go talk to Ruby. I'm sure she'll give you some food."

"M-moi." Without another word, Murrey—and his insect friends—headed off his farm. Jack sighed, and his already pitiful evening grew worse when he felt a misty breeze hit his face. Without warning, he was caught in a downpour that rendered him dripping by the time he shuffled into his house, pushing Miles back with his foot. He walked over to his bed and sat down, taking off his soaked shirt and throwing it into a corner where he kept various dirty clothes. He took off his pants and threw them into the same pile. Lying back on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling. The day's events soon grew hard to remember and his eyelids drooped.

"Shouldn't have kissed Nami… no…. no, Celia… she seems so sad… Nami… Nami seems sad… Shouldn't have…" His eyes closed and his mouth was left slightly open. Outside, the rain continued to poor, thunder shook the house, and lightning lit up the sky. In Forget-Me-Not, all was quiet outside. A blonde headed woman served drinks to eager customers, the redhead solemnly wrote in her journal, and the brunette slept soundly, curled up in blankets to keep warm.

In Mineral Town, children slept and elders lied awake. A doctor watched his patient's monitors with care, hoping but doubting the patient's ability to survive the night. A mayor paced in his house and a fisherman enjoyed the catch of the day. Parents sat by their windows, peering into the darkness, hoping to soon wake up from this nightmare. Rain splashed down onto the streets, on houses, on crops, on a river, and on a lake.

Well, there's the chapter. Some good, preliminary romance to start off the plot with a bang. Anyway, I've already started writing on the next chapter and I expect it to draw me in very soon again—I've been waiting for this one since this story was in its very first planning stages. As I said earlier, the introductory chapters are really over. In my own mind, the first part of the first part of the story has passed. The next chapter will start off with a bang and explain something that I've always wondered about while playing Harvest Moon…

Anyway, hopefully, you will see my story at the top of the update list again very soon!

God bless!