Dear Nanami,

Your uncle Frank has been keeping a close eye on how you've been doing as a farmer, he has been keeping me informed of all your actions and progress. From his updates, I have decided that I have heard all that I need to. There's a lot of things you're a novice at still. I'm unsure whether this will be improved through practice or if you're incapable of excelling in certain areas. However, your Uncle Frank tells me that you have promise and that he's impressed by your spirit. I will not accept Frank's word or that you're ready to be a farmer until you complete three lists of different tasks that I will be assigning you. If you complete them all I will allow you to continue living this life. If not, I insist you come home immediately.

From Dad.

As soon as I recognised my father's handwriting on the letter Wayne had delivered to me during his rounds one morning, I could feel my stomach doing summersaults. I hadn't heard directly from my father since I had left home to move to my farm, aside from the updates from my mother about how he was doing and the reassurances that he'd come around eventually, my contact with him had been very limited. Part of me was sad by the lack of contact I had had with my father and the way our relationship had drifted apart because of our conflicting desires, but not hearing from him also provided me with a sense of security that I could continue my new life without feeling judged or hopeless. Pretending I didn't have a father who was disappointed in me made it easier to go about my day, I suppose.

When a letter from my father arrived one morning, I wasn't sure what it'd be about. I knew Frank has been writing to my father about my progress and I was not expecting him to come around and accept me being a farmer so soon, yet I yearned for him to express feelings of pride and love towards me. To give reassurance, that I could have both things I valued in my life, being free to live my dream and having a family that supported me. Instead, his letter was blunt and straight-forward, if you replaced my name from the letter it might even be mistaken as a note to one of his employees. I wanted my father to miss me, to say he loved me and supported my dream. Instead, he insisted that I had more to improve.

How did it come to this? Was he always this way towards me? Was I just too young to notice this attitude that had been there all the time or had my actions caused him to be this way? I didn't really like the thought of either alternative.

I hesitantly took a smaller letter that had been folded up and placed into the same envelope my father's letter was in. I considered shoving it into the pocket of my dungarees and reading it at a later time when I thought more courageous, but I knew that if I didn't look at the letter now I don't think I'd ever feel brave enough to read it. Whatever tasks my father had assigned me, if I didn't complete them then I wouldn't get anywhere close to gaining his trust and approval.

"Aloha." Spoke a low voice from behind me that I'd never heard before.

Startled, I fell back into the dirt. I glanced up frantically, half expecting to see that one of the females that admired Wayne so much had trespassed into my farm again to this time confront me.

The owner of the voice was a young man, probably only a little older than me. He smiled apologetically and held out his hand.

"Sorry for scaring you." He chuckled. I took his hand shyly and allowed him to help pull me to my feet.

"We haven't met before. I'm Ludus, Lulukoko called me the village handyman." Ludus was an attractive looking man, there was no denying that. A long indigo mane framed the sharp features of his face. His muscular arms hinted at the physique of the rest of his body. I offered him a small smile, then asked out of confusion. "Sorry, what's Lulukoko?"

Ludus chuckled, "You must not have heard much about it since the roads have been blocked. Lulukoko is another town not far from here. The blocked roads meant that the other towns weren't able to get to us, but with the good weather we finally managed to clear the blockage."

My eyes widened slightly in realisation, "My Uncle Frank mentioned about that. It's nice to be able to finally meet you, I'm Nanami. I moved here to take over this farm at the beginning of Spring."

Ludus shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled apologetically, "I've been meaning to inspect this place. I heard it was really old but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad. E kala mai, I'm sorry. If you can collect enough lumber, then pop over to my shop Relacion and I'll get your house fixed up in no time. It's the least I can do."

I took in the man that stood before me. The kind stranger who has offered to fix one of my troubles just moments after meeting him. I felt giddiness forming inside of me as I imagine being able to finally live in somewhere better than a rundown shed. Perhaps I'd actually been able to get a kitchen installed. Perhaps I would be able to take more than a few steps before reaching the other side of the room.

"Thank you," I smiled gratefully, "I'd really appreciate the help. It's been quite rough at times living in essentially a shed."

Ludus chuckled softly, "It's my pleasure. My grandmother Tototara, the town elder of Lulukoko, wanted to stop by today to introduce herself but she's pulled a muscle. She'd love to meet you though, if you have time I could show you Lulukoko and introduce you to some of the residents there…"

I nodded shyly and proceeded to collect up the tools I had been using that morning, arranging them into a safe pile so that I wouldn't forget about them and trip over them later like I had done more times than I wanted to admit. "That sounds great, I'd love to see Lulukoko. It's been closed off since I arrived there so I've been really curious…"

Ludus grinned and offered his arm out for me to hold onto, "Great! E kala mai in advance, it's still a bit of a rocky journey."

Wind gusted from the ocean towards the beach I stood on, playfully tugging at my hair and threatening to pull my sunhat off. The sand shifted underfoot, coating my shoes. One of the first places Ludus had taken me after introducing me to the residents of Lulukoko village was the beach that surrounded the tropical town. It was beautiful, like a distant land I'd never imagine being able to see with my own eyes, yet it was just next door. It was vastly different to Westown, the juxtaposition of the greenery of this place compared to the dusty orange Western town that had become like home to me was something that I wasn't sure I could get my head around. They weren't that far away from each other, too close for it to be possible for the two towns to have a different climate and landscape… Yet here Lulukoko was. Perhaps an explanation wasn't needed, I was fine being carried away by what seemed like the work of magic.

Pausing, I slipped my heavy farming books off and continued across the hot, gritty sand towards the crystalline water, relieved that my sweating feet were finally able to breathe. I'd see the ocean before, a couple of times during the holidays we took as a family before my father's work became more demanding of his time. Although my memory of those oceans were foggy, I knew they were nothing in comparison to this. Not even close. The colour of the water ahead of me, that breath-taking aquamarine, was one of the most stunning things I had ever seen. I was already trying to think of how to fit daily visits here into my schedule when I felt Ludus' presence besides me.

"I'm sorry that Siluka and Iluka roped you into cleaning that dead squid off of their table, I though Siluka wouldn't act like the queen of the world towards a stranger but I was wrong." Ludus sighed and offered me a sheepish smile.

One of the last residents Ludus had introduced me to were two twins who owned a café that was raised on platforms by the beach. It was clear from the first moments of our introduction that Iluka was a lot more reserved than her sister Siluka, who commanded the conversation and insisted I'd help them to clean up the mess they had been discussion under the guise that it would solidify our friendship. I rubbed my hands together quickly, I could still feel the slime from the squid on my skin.

"That's okay, I'm just confused about how the squid got there in the first place."

Ludus chuckled, "It was probably one of the village children, they must have found it washed up on the beach and left it there as a gift. They're always being mischievous like that. Hopefully the girls didn't make too much of a bad impression, Siluka can be hard to handle for some but I grew up with the twins, they're like sisters to me. I'm sure once you see each other more you'll get along fine. They're the village priestesses so I'm sure they'll help you with any problems you have."

"Village priestesses…?"

"E kala mai, I bet you don't have anything like that in Westown. It's their job to conduct various ceremonies during our town's festivals. They can sense people's auras, I don't know how, but they're really responsive to the other's villagers here."

I nodded slowly, "Lulukoko seems completely different to Westown. I can't quite get my head around it."

Ludus smiled and stared towards the ocean, "Sometimes I have to go to Westown for work but I prefer the air here. The smell of the sand and salt just mean home for me."

Ludus had just left after insisting he walked me home when I was greeted by Dessie stroking Birdie.

"You took your time! I was worried I'd have to away aaaaalllll night for you to stop frolicking on the beach with that handyman." Dessie whined.

I sighed and began to approach her, "Frolicking? Dessie what are you talking about? And what are you doing with Birdie, can she actually see you?"

Dessie pouted, "Of course she can see me, silly! All animals can see folk like me, they're more kind-hearted than you people. Oh! Speaking of folk like me, did you get to meet my friend?"

"What friend?" I sighed tiredly as I sat beside her. "There's no one else like you here."

"Of course there is, silly! I know I'm one of a kind but all the towns here have a special spirit watching over them and since you have a gift you're going to help me wake Witchie up!"

It seemed that the tasks my father has assigned me wasn't the only tasks I would be occupied with from now on.