Well, here's the next chapter, late as usual. You'll have to forgive me for that, though, as working full-time really does drain a lot out of me. Plus, a full-time job has given me something that I didn't have as a poor part-timer… expendable money! ..Which, of course, leads to many games that I still need to finish. Life is so difficult. Wink wink.

Anyway, I won't bore you with details and, hopefully, the next chapter will be pushed out sometime before Harvest Moon DS comes out. Of course, I don't own the game or the characters—I just own single copies! Have fun reading!

Chapter Seven: Transgressions Forgiven

"Romana, it would be best if you'd just give me a list of things to buy. The weather is nice, but—"

"You're just trying to win by making me so bored that I wither away."

"I'm not trying to win anything."

"So you say."

The woman named Romana, an elderly woman with white hair tied neatly up and a sharp nose, on which spectacles sat precariously, seated herself in a rocking chair, looking annoyed at the man, Doctor Hardy, who seemed bent on forcing her to sit back and die peacefully in her sleep or something of the sort.

Hardy could only be described by others as terrifying beyond all reason, yet once one spoke with him, that same person that described him as fearsome would call him kind and considerate. He was bald and had a round face and his right eye was black and beady. His left, however, was unlike most people had ever seen. At first glance, it looked like a big, black eye patch covered it, but upon further inspection, one could see that it was a mechanical creation that whirred as the red dot in the center widened and shrunk much like a real eye. To further disfigure this man, a long, white scar stretched from the left side of his jaw, across his mechanical eye, up to the center of his forehead.

Romana peered at him critically and Hardy frowned. "Romana, you are not young."

"I am young enough," Romana said with an insulted tone, forcing herself out of her chair onto trembling legs. She took hold of a bright pink and frilly umbrella that leaned against her equally pink and frilly bed and leaned on it like a cane for support. "I'm going and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Hardy could only sigh and absently rub his scar. Though he still was still ten years younger than Romana, he could feel age creeping up on him slowly, yet too quickly. He doubted that he would be able to make the journey from Mineral Town to Forget-Me-Not so easily much longer.

Romana, who was already halfway outside the door, looked back at him. "Come along now, I don't trust you in my room alone. I know how you are when you are left alone with a beautiful woman's undergarments." She said this seriously, yet a vague smirk was on her lips. Hardy only sighed again and followed her out, shaking his head.

"One of these days, Romana, you will overexert yourself and have a heart attack," Hardy said warningly, but Romana laughed harshly.

"While that may be so, it won't be for years—and since I will outlive you, you won't be around to gloat."

"Your idea of a game concerns me."

The next week passed too slowly for Jack. He had still yet to speak with Celia, though he saw her on occasion on Vesta's farm. His heart sunk every time he saw her go into a fit of coughs, but he never went over to the farm. He wanted to believe it was because of Marlin that he didn't go, but he knew his true reason was simply because he was too much of a coward to confront Celia.

Of course, I couldn't have been a coward when I got that stupid idea to kiss her, now could I have? he thought bitterly.

And then, on top of the loss of Celia, some other of the villagers seemed to be giving him a cold shoulder. Though no one said anything to him, Jack could see their glances over at him and his farm while they thought he couldn't see and knew what their quiet mutters to each other contained. Of course it would travel around such a small village quickly that he, the new guy—the city guy—had violated poor Celia. And while most villagers were still courteous enough, Jack found that his numerous visitors were reduced to the occasional visit and that a small number of them had taken to pretending they didn't see him when passing him on the road.

In fact, it was ironic to Jack that the one villager that ignored him before the incident with Celia now visited him more than anyone else. Nami was often at Jack's farm while he worked, never staying too long and rarely actually speaking much with him—she seemed more interested in his animals than Jack himself. However, Jack appreciated the company and no longer paid attention to her consistent insults, shrugging her harshness off as a personality quirk and not a personal attack. In doing so, he found that she was much more tolerable and even a laugh.

"Are you ever going to finish? I come here because I'm bored, not because I want to be bored."

She was a laugh sometimes, anyway.

"Well, if you want to go stand in line for Van's shop with all the other villagers…" Jack said sharply, looking away from Schala's udders and back at her.

"I'll pass. If I'm mistaken one more time for a man…"

"Well, perhaps if you acted a bit more like a—"

"Don't finish that sentence."

Jack fell silent and a small smirk was on his lips. For another minute there was silence before he stood up with his pail of milk in his hands. He patted the top of Schala's head and she wasted no time in going over to the spot in the field where the grass grew larger than anywhere else and began to eat.

"What's in that shack?" Nami asked, looking back at the tiny, downtrodden shack beside Jack's empty chicken coop.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. It's a lot sturdier than it looks and neither Takakura nor I can get the dumb door to budge. I ignore it, most of the time." Jack headed towards the food storage building.

"Maybe it's the place where some murderer stowed the remains of his victim's bodies. This village could use some excitement like that," Nami said with a smirk.

"I think that's exactly what most people came here to escape."

"Hmm, you're right."

Jack went inside the food storage room and placed the pail neatly into the refrigerator. He would worry about bottling it up later and walked back outside, only to find Nami leaning against its wall, Miles halfway across the farm, chasing a rabbit that had been stupid enough to venture into his territory.

"Well, come on," Jack said, nodding in the direction of his farm's exit. Nami pushed away from the wall and walked towards the exit, Jack moving up to walk beside her.

Once off the farm, Jack found that, once again, people were milling around the tree that Van set up shop in front of. Near the front of the line, Jack gave a start to see Vesta, Marlin, and Celia. For a short moment, Jack caught Celia's eyes before she looked away. He sighed and followed Nami to the back of the line, where an odd group of people was standing. One of which (Jack had to do a double-take for this one), was a bald man wearing a white suit coat, red and white striped shorts, and bright blue sandals.

The man looked at Jack and he nearly yelled out in surprise, now seeing the scar that stretched from the man's jaw to his forehead and the strange mechanical eye. Jack's face must have shown his shock because Nami began to chuckle derisively.

"Ahh, Nami, keeping well, I expect?"

"As well as always," Nami said with a nod. She turned to Jack after a moment. "This is Doctor Hardy. He lives up in Mineral Town, but he passes through every once in a while."

"Oh, uh, hi," Jack said a bit timidly. He held out his hand and Hardy shook it firmly.

"Don't be put off by my menacing appearance," Hardy said gently. "I've just had a few accidents in the past."

Just a few? Jack thought to himself. He didn't voice this opinion, though, and nodded. A teenage girl with light brown hair pulled back by a yellow headband, dressed in a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and an orange scarf around her neck, looked back at Jack. She looked a few years younger than he was and was nearly an entire head shorter than Jack.

Jack smiled at her and she smiled back shyly, her cheeks turning a bit red. "Ahh, yes, let me introduce you," Hardy said, noticing Jack looking at the girl. "This is Lumina." Jack held out his hand and Lumina shook it. "Sebastian." He motioned to a tall, elderly man with white hair that was parted down the middle and curled at the sides of his head. "And Romana—Romana, stop making faces at that child."

Romana turned around, blinking, and spotted Jack. "Oh, hello! I'm Romana—I live at the mansion at the top of that hill over there. This is my granddaughter, Lumina, and my butler Sebastian. And Hardy is my doctor. You are…?"

"Oh, uhm, Jack. I'm Jack Todd. I'm running the farm." He pointed at the farm and then shook Romana's hand, the owner of which was grinning widely. A smell that smelled a lot like cat litter wafted over to Jack and he resisted the urge to crinkle his nose.

"Good! How are your crops coming along?"

Jack was a bit taken aback by the sudden questions and hesitated for a moment. "Well, they're growing fast. I'm about to plant a second wave of crops now too, so in about a month or so…"

"When they grow, bring a whole lot up to the manor. I'll buy them off you and then you can stay for dinner too!"

Jack smiled a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. However, before he had the chance to reply to Romana, the line in front of them shifted and she hurriedly turned to speak with Van. Since he was right behind her, Jack could hear every word.

"Ahh, Van, how are you?"

"Oh, Romana, you know…" Van tapped his rotund belly. "Getting hard to move around, you know."

"Oh, well, I have good news!" said Romana, grinning. "I just heard of this wonderful new diet called Matkins."

Jack listened as Romana explained perhaps the most absurd diet plan that he had ever heard, listing steps such as running into walls eight times a day and juggling fruit. Jack felt that there was no way this diet was legitimate and the way Sebastian and Lumina both tended to look away blushing seemed to confirm that. To Jack's horror, however, Van seemed to soak it all in, taking rapid notes.

"Romana is one of the most mischievous woman I have ever met," Doctor Hardy said quietly as Romana exclaimed, "Make sure to add plenty of vinegar to the bowl!" He shook his head and sighed. "There is no end to her practical jokes."

"I, uh, see," Jack said, smiling a bit wryly. He looked at Nami, whose lips were curled into a smirk.

A strange look crossed Nami's eyes and she regarded Jack quietly for a moment. "Do you have a fishing pole, Jack?"

"What?"

"Do you fish?" Nami said, looking annoyed.

Jack hesitated for a moment. Did he fish? Hardly. In fact, he more often than not avoided water at all costs. "No," he said slowly.

"Well, you're going to buy a fishing pole and I'm going to teach you how," Nami said, nodding.

"I, uh, Nami, I-I don't…"

"What? It's not as boring as people think it is and it's a good way to relax."

Not wanting to let half the village know that he'd rather live as a desert nomad rather than touch water, he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. Nami gave him a bit of a half smile and stepped up to Van, buying a small notepad and a package of pencils.

After buying the fishing pole and other items, which they deposited at Jack's house, Jack and Nami made their way up to the meadow that Jack and Celia had been only a few nights before.

"Here's my favorite spot," Nami said, pushing aside some grass and weeds, making her way down to the shallow bank of the river. Jack stood rooted to his spot, suddenly finding his heart pounding painfully in his chest. She was awfully close to the water—if she slipped, she would fall right in. But surely Nami knew this—she knew how to swim. But Jack, however, did not know how to swim, wanted nothing to do with water, and was certain beyond anything that if he went into the water, he would never come out.

"Jack?" Nami's voice pierced his thoughts and he looked at her. She was looking back at him, her arms crossed. "What are you doing?"

"I-I… You know, Nami, I'm pretty tired; maybe we should do this another time," Jack stammered, shuffling his feet.

"What is it?" Nami's voice grew stern and even demanding. Jack thought for a moment to say nothing or to lie, yet in the end he decided not to.

"I… I'm not so good with water."

Nami regarded him for a moment, as if she wasn't sure how to reply to that. "What? Are you allergic? Do you not know how to swim?"

"Well, yes." Jack proceeded to tell her the story of how his sister died. For a long moment, Nami stayed silent, mulling this over in her head, her eyebrows creased into a frown. Finally, she walked up off the bank and stood in front of Jack, looking him in the eyes. He braced himself for what would surely come—the sarcasm and half-serious insults that came with the package that was Nami.

Yet… it never came. Nami continued to watch him closely, her face not sympathetic, but strangely hard. "Do you blame yourself?" she asked without warning. Jack frowned deeply and looked back at Nami. This was the second time he'd been asked that since coming to Forget-Me-Not and it bothered him more than he'd like to admit.

He forced a smile on his face and looked Nami in the eyes. "Nah, I'm not stupid! It was a freak accident, you know?"

"Yeah, it was," she said, her face softening slightly. Her eyes seemed to gloss for a moment and she turned around. "Sometimes, things way beyond our control just… happen."

"No kidding."

A loud silence stretched between them. Finally, Nami shook her head, crossed her arms, and turned to face him. "Well, I'm not going to force you to do any fishing. I'm tired, anyway, so I think I'll go home and take a nap."

"Well, all right," Jack said, frowning at the sudden shift.

"Later." Nami turned, grabbed her fishing gear, and headed down the hill towards the town, leaving Jack standing still in the meadow. Jack looked back at the river and felt his heart sink. He heard a splash and looked around, but a moment later he realized that he never heard a splash at all. Memories flooded his mind's eye and he shook his head, trying not to remember the screams of his parents as he, much younger, was washed away with the current.

He looked at the river once more and noted that its surface was oddly murky and muddy—usually it was crystal clear. He stared at it once more and saw the shadow of a fish beneath its surface darting about, undoubtedly searching for food. He shook his head once more and turned, heading down the hill.

Celia, however, was going in the opposite direction, walking up the hill, towards Jack. Jack's heart seemed to jump into his throat and he stopped walking, his arms at his sides, watching Celia. She, looking at a book nestled snugly in her arms, hadn't noticed him yet.

He looked towards the nearby entrance of his farm, realizing that, if he hurried, he could reach it before even crossing paths with her. He nodded inwardly and took a step forward, his boot coming down on a twig in the path. It cracked and Celia looked up. Their eyes met and neither moved. The silence between them grew and Jack could have sworn he heard his heart thumping heavily in his chest. Or perhaps it was in his throat—that would explain why he found himself unable to breathe, much less speak.

And then Celia's lips seemed to twitch, form a small, barely visible smile. "Hi, Jack," she said and Jack thought her voice was beautiful: a wonderful sound created in Heaven, placed on the earth to bring happiness and joy to all that heard it. It loosened his throat and he took a deep breath, the loud thumping in his ears subsiding.

"Celia…" he croaked, frowning. He cleared his throat, speaking a bit louder and clearer. "Celia, I…"

"It's okay." Jack blinked and gazed into her eyes—those beautiful gray eyes—again. "I'm not upset and you shouldn't be either."

"I-I shouldn't have."

Celia shrugged and smiled a bit more. "Maybe so, but it's part my fault too."

"No, it isn't!" Jack said, a bit too loudly. Celia winced a tad and he frowned.

"I gave you the wrong idea. I like you, Jack, I really do! You're a really nice guy—"

"Don't…"

"You are. And a lot of fun to be friends with too! I just…" her voice trailed off and she broke eye contact, looking at the murky river. "I'm not in a place for a relationship."

"W-what do you mean?"

Celia looked at him and smiled. It was amazing how something as beautiful as a smile could hurt so badly. "I'm not looking for a relationship with anyone right now."

"Oh…" Jack said softly, wondering vaguely how long it would take him to get to his front door from here. He could probably reach the barn a bit quicker and hide out in there.

"But I'd like to be friends!" Celia said quickly, taking a few steps forward. Jack looked back at her and blinked when he saw she was only a couple of feet from him. His right hand felt warm and he looked down at them, seeing both of Celia's cupping it. He looked back at her face. "That will be all right, won't it?"

And, somehow, looking into her face, alight with hope and joy, Jack didn't feel his heart shatter. Instead, that was all right, indeed. Friends. He smiled at her and placed his left hand on hers, forming an awkward ball with all four of their hands. "Yeah. Friends."

In Mineral Town, the ferry pulled into the harbor, lowering its small drawbridge to the dock below. A man in his twenties, a blue baseball cap with a yellow brim twisted backwards on his head, a lock of long brown hair hanging loosely out the front of it, stepped down onto the dock. His brown eyes scanned the beach, finding it deserted.

"Strange," he said softly. A sense of foreboding fell in the pit of his stomach and he held the rucksack slung over his shoulder a bit tighter, walking down the length of the dock and onto the sand. He headed for the entrance to the town.

The man made his way through the town, looking around with a frown. It seemed much too quiet for the late afternoon. The sun was out, making the land warm, yet not too hot. It was the perfect day yet Mineral Town seemed like a ghost town. He found it unnerving.

He passed the Yodel Ranch and neared the poultry farm, hearing the clucking of chickens and a small smile appeared on his lips. He eyed the large barn-house, seeing that nothing had truly changed since he last visited a few years ago. Of course, he hadn't truly expected it to. Mineral Town was the sort of place that rarely changed and, when it did, it was small changes—barely noticeable.

His destination finally came into view and he froze, a lump forming in his throat. Old Louis' farm—the very farm he used to play on as a child—was destroyed. He stumbled a bit and sped up his pace, breaking into a run as he neared the gate. He rushed through it and over to the old house, which he already knew was empty. Some of the windows were broken and the roof had seen better days. The wooden walls were rotting. Regardless of this, though, he pounded hard on the door, waiting—hoping for a sound from within.

Yet no sound came. The man sighed and turned, surveying the farm with wide eyes. It wasn't possible… was it? Louis hadn't returned his letter for a month or so now, but he figured that it was simply because Louis had been so busy with planting and such. But how long would it take the farm to deteriorate like this? It wouldn't take even a month—it would take years! The buildings we dilapidated and the field overrun. Even the few trees on the farm looked dead and gray.

"This isn't possible…" he said softly, leaning against the house. Someone cleared his throat and the man looked towards the farm's entrance, where the short Thomas was standing. Thomas eyed him suspiciously and inched forward a bit.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, uhm, my name's Kipp. Kipp Narik," the man, Kipp, replied. Thomas' eyes widened and a look of recognition ran over his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kipp cut him off. "Where's Louis? Is he all right?" Thomas' face fell.

"Louis… you don't know, then?"

"Know what?"

"He… died about a week ago." Kipp's heart sank to his feet.

"Oh." For a few awkward moments, nothing was said, Kipp not wanting to speak and Thomas not desiring to intrude on Kipp's thoughts. Finally, though, he felt the need to say that which rested heavily on his heart.

"He… Louis mentioned you in his will, you know."