A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I really appreciate all the comments and they make me want to update this as soon as I possibly can. I was kind of shocked to find out this story is on a C2 community cause I didn't put it there. Then I saw who was running the C2: GeneralDragon :) Thank you so much for putting my story there. The more places where people can find it and read it the better. I wouldn't exactly call it a Karen and Jack fic, but it has some of that in here too. As always, read and review! Sorry if this update was a little slow to get up, I've been busy.

Chapter 12: Splat

"Can you tell me why I'm doing this again?"

The gruff voice echoed throughout the cave. Gray set his lantern down and wiped the sweat off his forehead. The cave was dark even though Gray had brought a lantern. Even so, Jack could still see the frown on Gray's face.

"Well your grandfather said that you could help me find some Orichalc." Jack leaned on his hammer. After digging for what felt like hours they were finally far enough down in the mine to get the ore he needed.

"What the hell do you need that type of ore for? We only use it to make jewelry around here." Gray groaned and started to hammer at the rocks again.

"Yeah, I wanted to buy a necklace for Popuri. I didn't realize that I would need to dig deep into the mine to get the ore for it."

"Any girl who expects you to buy expensive things for her isn't worth it," Gray huffed.

"Well in her defense, she doesn't expect me to buy it for her. It's just something I want to do." Jack began to hammer away at the rocks again.

"You must have done something to tick her off then. No sane man wastes that much money on jewelry 'just because'."

"Could we not talk about this anymore?" Jack sighed. All they had dug up so far was junk ore. He was starting to feel like they would never find any of the ore he wanted.

Gray stopped digging and moved up close to one of the rocks. "Come over here." Jack set his hammer to the side and walked over to where the young man was crouched down. "Sometimes you can tell where the good ore is buy looking at the way the rock was formed around it. See this here? It probably has some of that Orichalc you want."

With one swift strike of his hammer, the rock broke open to reveal shiny silver colored ore. "It looks like silver."

"To the untrained eye," Gray quickly replied. "It's much more dense." He broke off a piece with his hands. "It's heavier." He handed it over to Jack.

"Oh wow, this is nothing like silver."

"I believe my job here is done." Gray picked up his lantern and tools and started to head towards the ladder.

"Wait up!" Jack hammered off another piece of the ore and quickly gathered his things and followed Gray up.

"Young man, do you realize what you are asking of me?"

Saibara eyed Jack and tried to figure out his true intentions.

"I just want it to be perfect! It has to be perfect. That's why I'm asking for a custom made necklace. It has to have her name on it. She loves her name..."

The old man sighed. "I see now. You are in love."

Jack looked nervously around but didn't reply.

"Alright I'll do what you ask. You do understand that it's going to cost you more and take me longer to make?"

Jack nodded and put the gold on the counter. Saibara counted it quickly. "That'll do. Now get out of my shop! I need to concentrate!"

Jack hurried out the door and jumped as it slammed behind him. It was time to get back to work and wait patiently for the right moment to give Popuri her perfect gift.

A few days had passed since Jack and Gray dug deep into the mine to find the Orichalc. Jack couldn't wait patiently though, and could be seen peaking into the window of the blacksmiths' shop almost every day. And everyday he could be seen being chased away from the shop by the old blacksmith himself.

He had finally caught up all his work on the farm and had more free time. He was still busy most of the day, but now he could walk Popuri back to her house after their visit by the Goddess pond, instead of going straight back to the farm like he had been doing. He continued to go to the Inn most nights for a drink. He never got to have a drink with Karen though, which he thought was unfortunate. He guessed this was because Rick was showing up earlier and making sure she only sat with him. Jack thought he was a bit over protective.

On this day Jack had made sure that he finished his work early. It was the Tomato Festival and he wasn't going to miss it for anything. Any festival that celebrated what he was good at, growing crops, was something that he made sure not to miss.

The first thing that Jack noticed when he arrived at the Town Square was not his girlfriend off in the corner giggling with Kai, but the barrels and barrels full of tomatoes. He never bothered to ask anyone what happened at this festival and was confused by the tomatoes in the barrels. What were they going to do with those?

More barrels were set up in the middle of the square. It looked like three barrels on one side and another three on the other side. Behind them people were moving the barrels full of tomatoes.

Once Popuri noticed Jack had arrived she excused herself from Kai's side and went to greet him. She was smiling.

"Hey Popuri, what's up?"

"It's the tomato festival. It's a lot of fun!"

"Oh is it?" Jack looked around. People were forming into groups of three. "I don't quite get what is going on."

"The tomato festival is actually a competition. Everyone in the village who wants to participate will get two of their friends or relatives to join them. Once the teams are all formed then two at a time go throwing tomatoes at each other. I guess it would be like dodge ball. If you get hit you are out. The team who gets all three people out first wins. The winning team goes on to the next round and whoever is left standing at the very end is the winning team." Popuri explained in detail.

"What a waste of tomatoes," Jack mumbled to himself.

"What was that Jack?"

"Whose team are you on?" Jack looked around and noticed that Karen wasn't there. Rick was standing alone.

"Um Jack," Popuri looked down, "I already have a team set up. We are always on the same team every year so I don't want to break it up! It wouldn't be fair to kick someone off the team."

"Alright, that's fine." Jack then realized who was going to be on her team and he frowned. "You are on Kai's team aren't you?"

"Actually, it's team Chicken Lil's, and yeah... Kai is always on our team every year! I don't want to leave him out this year." She was pouting again.

Mary and Gray were standing close to where Jack was talking to Popuri. Mary overheard what was going on and gently tapped Jack on the shoulder. He turned around quickly, looking angry, but smiled when he noticed it was Mary trying to get his attention. "Jack, you can join our team. We only have two people."

"That sounds great Mary. I'd love to be on y our team." Jack turned back to Popuri, the anger returning to his face. "You better get with your team."

Popuri pouted. "Oh Jack you are so mean!" She ran over to where her brother was standing. Jack sighed and Gray raised his eyebrows. Jack looked back at the red haired man and Gray kept his mouth closed.

They stood around waiting for all the teams to get together. This year must have been a bit unbalanced since Jack had joined the festival. Elli was on a team with May and Stu. Ann was there with her father. Duke and Manna seemed to be trying to start a team unsuccessfully. Off in the corner was a young man with shaggy brunette hair. While everyone was waiting for the game to begin, Ann walked over to Jack and whispered something to him.

"Yeah I see that guy over there," he replied to her.

"Shhh! I don't want him to hear."

"Why not?"

Ann looked around nervously and pulled Jack away from his teammates. "He has been staying at the inn for about a season now and well..."

"Just spit it out Ann."

"I think he's cute!" She was blushing bright red and Jack let out a laugh.

"Ann the tomboy, who never wants to get married is interested in a boy!" Jack tapped her with his elbow teasingly.

"I'm just too nervous to ask him to join my team."

"Just do it. If he says no then it is no big deal. It's just a tomato throwing contest."

This remark made Ann laugh a little. "Yeah, I guess you are right. I'm going to go ask him now."

Jack watched as Ann walked off and talked to the young man. He only nodded his head in response and followed her over to where her father was standing.

The mayor stepped into the middle of the square and blew his whistle. Everyone quieted down quickly this time. "Now that we have all of our teams set we will begin the festival! First two teams to compete, Team Chicken Lil's and Team Mutant Ninja Turtle!"

"Oh yeah!" Stu yelled and ran to the center of the square.

Elli whipped her hands on her apron to get ready. "This is so embarrassing…" she mumbled to herself but Jack could just barely make out what she said. He laughed to himself.

Both teams got ready, each person hiding behind a barrel to try to not get hit. For Stu and May it wasn't hard to hide behind the barrel, they were shorter than it. In order for them to throw they were going to have to throw from the side.

Elli took the middle with Stu and May on either side of her. On Team Chicken Lil's, Rick took the center with Popuri and Kai on either side of him. Jack was surprised that he let Kai on his team. Jack frowned to himself; it should have been him up there instead of that Kai.

When both teams were set the mayor blew his whistle and the tomato throwing began. Stu and May were both out quickly; Kai had aimed for them first. Last was Elli, who took a shot at Popuri and hit her square in the face.

"Ow! That hurt!" Popuri began to cry and instinctively Jack started to run towards her, but was stopped by the mayor.

"Nobody who isn't competing can go near the barrels," he said sternly. Jack sighed.

After another minute or two of no action, Rick took aim and hit Elli on her dress. She laughed. "I guess you win."

The whistle blew again and the match was over. "And the winner is, Team Chicken Lil's!" Almost everyone in the square clapped for them. Stu started to cry so hard that Elli had to take him home.

"Next match will be Team Chicken Lil's vs… Team Mary!" The mayor blew his whistle again.

"That thing is starting to get annoying." Gray mumbled.

"Team Mary!" Jack looked over at the young woman and she adjusted her glasses.

"You weren't on the team when we told the mayor our name."

They moved to the center of the square and each took their place behind a barrel. Gray took the middle while Mary took the side that Popuri was on. That left Jack only one place, right across from Kai.

"Well if it isn't Jack." Kai said to Jack as he fixed his bandana. He had missed getting hit by all the tomatoes from the last round.

"That should be my spot," Jack grumbled to himself but Kai heard him anyways.

"What was that farmer boy? You think you should be here with your 'girlfriend'? Here's a hint for you: she picked me over you. She knows who the real winner is."

Rick groaned. "Shut the hell up Kai before I bean you with one of these tomatoes."

The mayor blew his whistle and the game began. Everyone in the fight quickly ducked behind their barrels and grabbed tomatoes. Jack looked over at Mary; she nodded at him and Gray. At the same time they all jumped up and threw their tomatoes. Jack's just barely missed the top of Kai's head. Mary's tomato must have hit Popuri square in the face because she cried out in shock and started to cry again.

Hearing this made Jack jump up. "Popuri! Are you okay?"

Kai took this moment to his advantage and quickly grabbed a tomato from the barrel and threw it. As if everything was happening in slow motion, Jack turned towards Kai and saw the tomato just as it smacked him in his face. He let out a cry of defeat.

The tomato guts dripped down the side of his face and onto his overalls. Why was he suddenly thinking of Karen?