I'm sorry that I haven't updated lately. You'll just have to wait a while for the next chapter in SoL, sorry! Keep those reviews coming!

CHAPTER THREE: Delicious Pyromaniacality

Chris was on her way back from work. Today had been an especially stressing day. She had been ordered to make well over ninety calls to her client's various contacts. It was amazing how many nasty tempers could be found through the office phone. Mr. Crant had even had the nerve to slam the phone down…Chris's ears were still ringing.

She passed Jack's farm on her way home. The boy had been here for over a week now and was adjusting very well. His pasture had begun to grow thick with farm grass, and his large field was sporting a lone peach tree. Of course, this didn't even remotely interest the women of Forget-Me-Not. Both Chris and Samantha, the local housewives, were far too excited to see which of the feminine gender would be chosen by the new farmer-boy.

This was the next to last day of autumn, which meant that Celia, Vesta and Marlin would be busy uprooting the old plants from this season, making ready for winter's potatoes. Pulling the hardy vegetables from the soil wasn't the most pleasant of tasks. Muffy would have been horrified at the dirt accumulating under Celia's fingernails at this very moment. Marlin was yanking at the stalks furiously, often leaving substantial roots in the field; he would be scolded for that later.

Muffy herself was completely absorbed in switching her wardrobe over to winter. She held up one floor length skirt after another, scrunching up her face and comparing the different colors to her skin. While she might have been appalled at the mud-spattered Celia, Celia would have died of boredom by now. It was hard to believe that the two were really best friends.

Lumina was composing her third song of the week on the piano. Her mood had been angelic for reasons that Romana could only wonder at. Lumina's hair had been combed to shiny perfection, (even by her grandma's standards), her dress had actually been ironed and her nails had been filed with a careful hand. Yes, my friends, this was indeed the dastardly effects of that little trick called love. Her puppy-dog feelings toward Rock were nothing as compared to the new bewilderment that the spiky-haired farmer invoked every time he smiled at her.

Her girlish heart fluttered as she recalled the day that he had walked into the Villa.

"I heard some beautiful music from down the hill!" He had announced. "Was that you?" Lumina had blushed and nodded.

"Would you like to hear some?" She asked meekly. Jack smiled a warm smile and nodded emphatically. She stretched her hands, flipped to a song of her own composition and played like she had never played before. Her fingers danced and skimmed across the yellowed keys, producing a sweet sound that thrilled Jack. The boy had a weakness for piano music. Ever since that afternoon, Lumina might occasionally be surprised by a drop-in from him.

The same Jack was in fact, plotting in his dark shed at that time. His house was not very comfortable, as far as houses go. There was no kitchen, no bed, no bathroom and no living room. He had been forced to sleep on a few discarded bags of mulch, not a very cozy or delicious smelling bed. Jack was drawing lines down on a large sheet of paper. If we look closely under the bend of his arm, we can see that it resembles a child's drawing of strangely connected squares.

A spider dropped down onto the paper. He marked another slash on a tiny graph to the side of the paper. This particular bug brought the score up to…twenty-four creepies that had fallen somewhere on his person. He had this feeling that there were at least three hundred more in the rafters, all lining up to take a jump. He slashed one more line on his paper and then stood up. Plotting time was over.

Nami was standing slightly inside the door to her balcony, listening to Gustafa strum on his guitar. The chords were handled masterfully, flowing from one note to another, unlike some she had heard, who were choppy when they played. She inched out a bit further onto the balcony. Gustafa's love of nature…attracted her for some reason. She would find herself thinking about him at random times of the day. This was confusing. Nami had never even had a crush, not when she was a child and not when she was an adult. Such feelings were foreign to the redhead. And what was she to do about that pesky farmer? He kept…oh…looking at her! How terrible of him.

Chris was in the midst of scolding both Wally and Hugh over the cleanliness of the house, when a strange smell crossed their noses. Why, it smelled like…smoke! What could be burning? Wally poked his head out the door, (glad to steal away from the nagging Chris) and brought it back in.

"Oh, it's only that new boy's house burning. It's nothing big." Chris began to continue scolding, but stopped abruptly.

"What? His house is burning?!?!? Oh, gosh!" She re-opened the door and dashed out of it. Wally followed reluctantly, thinking wistfully of the sports magazine lying on the table. He knew that he should have dated Janet…

Jack eyed his handiwork, a bright, lively blaze. There is nothing like a fire to bring the town running. Of course, he would have to stay at the Inn while his new house was being built…and who was staying at the Inn but Nami? What a perk. He gets a new house, a room near Nami, a sympathy vote and lots of fun burning things down! Jack liked Forget-Me-Not Valley more every day.

As it was, Celia reached Jack's farm first. She started to tote water, but was stopped by a falsely somber farmer.

"It's no use. We'll just have to let it burn. Thanks anyway, though." She nodded and dropped the bucket. Muffy skidded into his land, panting. She had forgotten to take off the six skirts and three blouses that she had been trying on. All the layers made her look like a fat scarecrow. She ran up to the pair and cried,

"Is this ash going to stain my hair?" Both Celia and Jack gave her a look, which she completely did not understand. "Well?" She reiterated.

"No, Muff. It will not stain your precious hair." Celia said dryly. Muffy looked relieved.

"Oh, okay. No harm done then." Celia again gave Muffy that look.

"What? No harm done? His house burnt down!" She shouted, while Jack innocently tossed in some of the mulch sacks that had been piled around the shack. He hoped it would keep the fire burning. He wanted absolutely nothing left of his shack.

Nami, Lumina, Chris, Wally and half a dozen others were now making their way into his property. The older adults chattered amongst themselves, while Nami pushed her way to the flames. Jack watched curiously while she rooted around in her backpack, finally coming up with a squashy package. He peeked over her shoulder and saw…

"Marshmallows. Would you like one?" She offered cordially. Hugh snatched it off of her stick before Jack could reply.

"Oooh…marshmallows. I love marshmallows, but mom says that I'm not allowed to eat 'em. I can't think why, though. She says that I'm too hyper when I eat sugar. I disagree. I'm not hyper. Do you think I'm hyper? Boy, these marshmallows are really good. They're sweet and sticky and chewy and yummy. One time I had this, like, marshmallow flavored cake and it tasted more like plain old vanilla cake to me. It didn't taste like marshmallows at all. Those people were liars. I bet they didn't even use marshmallows! Do you like how marshmallow sounds? I could say it all day—marshmallow, marshmallow, marshmallow. How do you think it would sound backwards? Wollamhsram. That sounds weird. Thanks for the marshmallow, though, Nami. Can I have another one?" This monologue was said at super-high speed, while jumping up and down and chewing a mouthful of mallow. Nami denied the boy more and he ran away, disappointed. She did, however, toast another one for Jack, whose first mallow had been stolen by the sugar-obsessed Hugh.

While calmly holding the sweet next to the flames, she asked him over her shoulder,

"So, why'd you burn down your own house?" Jack colored slightly.

"Did you call that old thing a house? It was like a torture cell. One day I counted exactly seventy-nine bugs that fell on me while I was trying to sweep it out. I had to sleep on mulch sacks." Nami shrugged.

"I wasn't blaming you. The bugs were nice to do experiments on, though." Jack backed away carefully from her. That girl scared him more and more often.

If Jack had known what he was getting himself into when he asked for a room at the Inn, he never would have done it. No, he did not get to room with Nami. No, no and no. Instead, he was compelled to share a space with the ever-charming Rock.

Rock's room had mirrors hung up from every angle, so that at any one place, the blonde boy could see how the back of his hair looked. When Jack brought his suitcase into the reflective area, Rock insisted that he store them in the attic, so as not to obstruct any of Rock's field of vision. Jack grudgingly agreed, earning even more bugs in his already infested bag. The Narcissistic Rock also needed fashion advice.

"Tell me, does this strand of hair look better tucked behind my ear in a tidy way, hanging loose like a free spirit, or hanging in my eyes, kind of like…a rebel hair? I'm thinking that if I put this strand here, and that strand there…I'll look like a hott loner who just goes with the flow. Agreed? Man, how can this mirror stand the sight of my ultimate manliness? My good looks are too dashing for any mortal mirror to withstand." This sort of talk went on and on and on until Jack was forced to run back to his barn and hide. Even then, Rock still pursued him, calling,

"Wait! I want to know what you think of the length of my pants!" Jack huddled deeper in the corner. Betsy eyed him distrustfully and swished her tail in a very concerning kind of way. All at once, she trotted over and placed her hoof decidedly on the farmer's outstretched fingers. He gave a wild yelp and withdrew his bruised hand sharply. That cow was out to kill him!

Another not-too-well known fact was that Rock talked in his sleep, saying things like,

"…I'm way too gorgeous…can't stand it…" until Jack was ready to beat him over the head with a pillow.

Winter was underway before his house was ever finished. Muffy had finally decided on which selection of outfits to dress herself in, much to Celia's relief. Changes of seasons were heartaches to her. Muffy second-guessed every decision made by her friend, finally doing exactly what she wanted and not paying any attention to Celia's critiques. But she still insisted that the fashion-challenged farm hand assist the supermodel wanna-be.

It was now the middle of winter. Jack's house was almost ready to be moved in, but still needed some polishing. As for Jack himself, he didn't care whether or not it was ready to be lived in. He just wanted to get away from Rock, who had appointed the unwilling farmer as his "Gorgeousness Consultant". Nami spent a good thirty minutes every day sitting with Gustafa next his yurt, playing in harmony on a miniature harp that the hippie possessed.

Jack had been rolling around an idea in his mind. What would Nami say if he…oh, say…asked her if she'd like to take a walk with him? Would she say yes, or would she shoot him down?

"I'll never know if I don't try." He said to himself. He combed his hair in one of Rock's many mirrors and exited the Inn, heart thumping. Now where was he to find Nami? She was hard to keep tabs on, she took walks here and there and never told anyone where she was going to be, not even Lumina. The sound of stringed instruments floated past him in the frosty breeze. Jack peeked around the side of the Inn…and was greeted with the sight of Nami and Gustafa playing "Silent Night" in perfect harmony, Gustafa on guitar and Nami on harp. The redheaded traveler was looking happier than Jack had ever seen her…and every now and then she'd look up and smile at Gustafa. What a smile it was, too. Jack knew that smile and he knew what it meant.

Nami loved Gustafa.

Bewildered, he brought his head back around the Inn wall and walked casually in the direction of the Springs. That was certainly not what he had hoped to see.

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Oooh...what will happen???? What experiments did Nami perform on those unfortunate bugs? R and R please!