As usual, I don't own Harvest Moon. Natsume does.

The days following Chelsea's arrival into Mark's life weren't as quiet as he had hoped for.

One particular day came to mind. It was a windy day, with a few dark clouds. Not that bad he thought. There was a few rumors of a storm approaching which could possibly lengthen the time it takes to get to Castanet. It didn't seem to bother him at the time; The longer it took, the better.

Chelsea had decided they were going swimming, no questions asked. "Come on! It'll be fun, and no one will see you if you're embarrassed that you can't swim as good as me,"she said while she was literally dragging him towards the pool. Of course, she just had to boast about her swimming talents.

After convincing her he wouldn't run away, Mark confessed something that most people, excluding his parents and siblings, didn't know about him. "I can't swim, Chelsea. Never could, never will. Now can we go back?" That just excited her even more, her blue eyes lighting up. "I could teach you! I totally can! I swear I will!" He sighed. What did I just get into?

And teach him she would. Chelsea started off with the most basic of things - Staying underwater for as long as you can. "Just dunk your face in until you can't breath! It's easy," she said, pushing Mark towards a sad excuse for a pool. "Are you kidding me? I'm not putting my fa-" Chelsea interrupted him with a swift move of her hand, causing him to fall into the pool. Despite her dainty exterior, she was really strong.

He came up almost immediately, grabbing onto the sides. She looked at him disapprovingly. "Too short," was all she said before diving in. Mark flinched at the splash. "Can't you at least use a ladder?" No reply. "Chelsea?" Again, nothing. Oh no.

Mark waited for another minute before looking in the water. It was hard at first and he came up at least three times before he could finally see clearly. No one's at the bottom.. He felt a sharp grab on his shoulder. Mark began to struggle as the hand pulled him up.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" yelled a familiar voice behind him. Mark turned around. Auburn hair, blue eyes. Rage exploded inside of him while a mischievous smile appeared on Chelsea's face. "It's the only way I could have taught you to swim AND go underwater for so long! A record 5 minutes, compared to the 1 and a half second from earlier." He sighed. It was pretty clever, in a stupid way. At least he kind of knew how to swim. Better than nothing.

"Let's just get dried off," he said, trying to sound as ungrateful as he could. For a few minutes, Mark actually felt happy that he met Chelsea and was her "very best friend," as she put it. No more threats of drowning, he thought to himself, with a tiny smile on his lips. Take that, Claire.

It was what happened somewhere around midnight that would put him into Chelsea's debt until they died. Something that was there for days, but nobody payed much mind to it.

Mark was dreaming about the horrors he would have to face on his new farm, like the animals kicking and hurting him until he was black and blue. The worst part was his wife and 13 kids, who kept saying, "Wake up, Mark. You need to get up right now, before we die. Please, Mark."

BANG!

"GODDESS, MARK! GET! BANG! UP! BANG!"

His dream had a whole new meaning.

"I'm up! Now stop beating me with that pan!" he yelled at Chelsea, who was holding a cooking pan he bought for protection. Her eyes were narrowed, which was unusual for her due to her cheerful nature. "It's the middle of the night. Oh, wait, is it something important, like, oh I don't know, throwing your stupid feathers off the deck for the fun of it?" Mark asked angrily, referring to the night before.

Chelsea shook her head, seriously. "We're sinking."

"What?"

"You heard me. The ship is S-I-N-K-I-N-G."

"You're not pulling my leg again, are you?"

"No. Let's go." It seemed like her personality, more likely her identity, changed more than anything.
-

A/N - Looks like we've gotten to the infamous ship sinking! Let's hope Chelsea's training will help them get through this.

(Spoiler - Of course it will. Why do you think I'm writing this whole story?)

(Also, by the time you've seen this update, you'll notice I've decided on a naming theme for the chapters - All of them will start with "Let's" and then whatever happens in that chapter.