so here is another chapter of jet pack blues! i posted it all together because i figured there will be a slight wait for the next chapter!

here is molly papen, previously known as molly harmon when she was gill's imaginary friend!

i hope you enjoy this chapter! tell me what you think/feel about it ~

disclaimer: i don't own harvest moon or its characters

It was overly complicated to explain her job to people that weren't in the same line of work, there was only so much information she could give out without making herself look like a totally loon in the process. Who would believe someone if they said they worked as an "Imaginary Friend?" They wouldn't, they'd laugh right in her face and say she was crazy for even saying such a thing. Many believed that she worked for one of the big newspaper firms under a pseudonym, and that's why she was gone so often and for so long; she was off having adventures and living her life to the fullest. She did nothing to dispel these rumors, just smiled and nodded along with whatever they said when she was back in town after one of her many assignments. It almost came naturally, like a second nature, to lie to everyone around you and conjure up stories to please them so it seemed like she was doing more than just breaking the hearts of children when she had to leave them. Of course, they didn't have to deal with the pain for more than a day, they always forgot her by morning. They would wake up and not remember a thing and they would go on with life like nothing ever happened. It was all in the contract, every Imaginary Friend had one, and it was what she regretted the most. It was the life that she had wanted all those years ago, and she was finally reaping what she had sowed.

There were always perks to possessing magic and immortality, but there was nothing to compare to the flaws that they had. You would watch the people that you held dear die and the process would keep repeating itself, you would never be able to stop it. The Wizard had warned her of this as did the Witch, they had looked out for the girl together, putting aside their mutual distaste for one another. They wrote often and she replied, telling them of her latest assignments, and how being an "Imaginary Friend" was and the couple of things that she did on her sabbaticals. They were both genuinely interested in her life as she was with theirs, and she missed them dearly. She figured that no other magical being could possibly understand her as well as the Witch and Wizard of Castanet did. A sigh, a sad one at that, passed her lips as she looked over the contents of the letters from the most recent to years ago that were scattered across her dingy dining room table. Her sabbaticals were getting longer, others had noticed the growing change in their schedules as well, and they had been called together less than a week ago by the organization to discuss what was going on. It was like they were getting laid off, this was the only thing that they were good at, and they had been told to carry on with their lives until they were called upon again.

It was necessary to find a way to fill her time, there just wasn't anything that she wanted to do around the city, none of the jobs called to her like they should and she didn't actually want to go and work for a newspaper firm like her friends believed she already did. She had left the room, leaving the scattered letters on the table to sit outside on the balcony, lighting a cigarette and looking out onto the city. Autumn had finally settled in here, a cool breeze gusting through the busy streets of the city, it was a place that lacked the vibrancy that Castanet had during this season. It wasn't that the city wasn't vibrant; no, it was a beautiful city and as colorful as ever, but the landscape didn't match the beauty that autumn had. She should have been able to see everything changing, the plants dying and preparing for their season long hibernation, so they could sprout again in the spring and the animals doing the exact same thing. The people would be roaming about, following roads that weren't paved once you left Harmonica Town, but well-known like the back of their hands. They'd be getting things ready for winter as well, engaging in all the festivities that they had to offer, and having a grand old time. It brought tears to her eyes as nostalgia pierced her heart, if only she could go back.

The more she thought about, chain smoking on her balcony, the clearer that it became that she could go back and set things right even though he wouldn't be able to remember who she was and how they had known each other. That was how things worked for for an Imaginary Friend. Gill Hamilton, her lovely white-blonde haired, baby-blue eyed boy was an adult now and would no longer remember her. He was like all children before and after him. A sad smile graced her face, tears finally escaping past her eyelids and she let herself sob, letting go of all the built up emotions. Molly Papen let herself calm down first, her chest heaving against her sweater before she hopped up and onto her feet, putting her cigarette out in the ashtry because determination was in her heart and mind. It'd be a bit hard, finding an ad for any plot of land - Castanet wasn't a particularly well known place and she doubted to an extent that Mayor Hamilton would have put out an ad or brochure to draw in new residents.

She was right; of course, it took her a good four hours to finally find an ad in one of the many papers that were scattered throughout the city. It must've been years old, the paper was brown and easy to tear. The town hall phone number was listed along with an email address, something that made her laugh immediately because she couldn't picture Hamilton using a computer. Molly didn't allow herself to waste her time, her mind was set on going back, and living on the island that she had come to love when she had lived there with Gill, with everyone, she told herself half-heartedly as she made the phone call.

It felt like an eternity before someone answered, "Hello? This is Mayor Hamilton speaking, you've reached the town hall."

She could have blown it right there, she had to suppress a giggle by the older man's joyous sing-song voice as she answered, "Yes, hello, I'm Molly Papen. I just saw an ad in the paper about a plot of land for sale, and I was wondering if it had been bought yet?"

Hamilton must have been surprised; it took him a minute to sputter out a reply about her inquiry. He seemed genuinely happy, relieved even by the sounds of it that she was even interested in the plot of land. "No one has lived there in ages, it's a bit… Dilapidated… But we can fix that before you get here!" he assured, his voice cracking slightly as she jot down the information onto a notepad.

"Alright, I'll fax you the papers and pay the down payment now," she replied, chuckling along with Hamilton, who seemed all too grateful to her - a complete stranger for taking this disheveled plot off his hands.

It was responsibility that the older man probably didn't want any longer, she knew that the house was probably in ruins and there would be a lot of work put into the land. No one had taken care of it while she and her family were away or at least, that was what she suspected. The call ended on a high note, a new feeling filled her chest as she began to roam around her apartment, looking over her things and deciding what would stay here and what would go with her. A new set of luggage would be bought, update her actual passport and possibly even get a whole new look for this new lifestyle that she was about to take up. It was decided, decreed that nothing could get any better than this for the young woman. Everything in her life was finally going in the right direction and she wasn't about to screw it up, not again.