Wow, two chapters in one day! It has got to be a record for me! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Reviews are very much welcome!

Disclaimer : I do not own Harvest Moon!

Chapter 5 - Our past

Claire's P.O.V

I wonder how Cliff is going to tell me tonight. Coming here is out of the question as the guards won't let anyone pass after night-time, and he said that phones or any other means of communication is not needed. Guess I have to wait and see.

After dinner, I bid goodnight to my mum and dad and went to my room. I looked outside for a while in the balcony, as usual, gazing at the stars. After a while, I decided to go inside as it was starting to feel cold, but before I went inside, I heard something rustling towards the bushes near the brick walls. That piqued my interest and I bent down on the railings to get a closer look towards the bushes, then, out of nowhere, Cliff popped out! I fell back to the balcony as I was surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Cliff? What-? How-?", I couldn't piece together words anymore, how did he enter the estate without the guards noticing?

"Relax, I came in through the secret passage." he answered, as he smiled.

"But how could you know the secret passage? Only my childhood friend and I know where it is!" I said, it was true, no one, not even my parents nor our servants know about the existence of the secret passage.

His smile grew wider as he said, "Why shouldn't I know? We made that secret passage together remember?".

Huh? Cliff was that childhood friend of mine? "You're kidding!"

"Nope, its true."

"Then why didn't you say so when we met at the school?"

"Sorry, but I really didn't want to draw unwanted attention."

"Unwanted attention?"

He looked at me with a confused look in his eyes, "Wait, you mean you don't know about our families' history?" he asked.

Family history? My parents never talk about our history to me, except the fact that we're a descendant of the late Kings and Queens. "What history?" I asked back.

"Wait there." he said, then he climbed a tree whose branch was near my room's balcony. Soon, he jumped down and we were face to face.

"About the Reisons and Alexanders." he said.

"No, I never heard my parents mention that before." I replied. What history did our families have?

Cliff leaned on the railings and said,

"I don't really know about it much myself, but from what my mother used to tell me, our families were once really close, but because of another family, we became enemies. My mother also said that we, the Alexanders, realized the lie that the interfering family made to break our ties, so we've been trying to rekindle our ties up till now.".

I never knew we had such a relationship going on. Why didn't my parents tell me about this?

"Then, back at that time when dad threw you out of the mansion, was it because he knew you were an Alexander?" I asked.

"Yes, your mother also knew, but she kept it a secret from your father. She told me to never mention my true family name towards your father, but I forgot and said I was an Alexander. Your father, out of rage, threw me out of the mansion and told me to never come here again." Cliff replied, as he sighed.

"I never knew about that." I said, I didn't know what to say, I was sad that he had to suffer because of my father hating his family, but also happy that we got to meet again. That's it, I made up my mind, I'm going to do my best to make father like the Alexanders again! I fist pumped.

"Cliff, I want to rekindle our families' ties!" I exclaimed.

"By yourself? How?" he asked, a bit shocked at my statement.

"Well, I'll convince dad to try and make up with your family!"

"You do know that we've been tying to do that for a long time, and he won't budge." he stated.

I paused for a while, it was true that dad can be as stubborn as a mule, and if I do mention about him and his family if I ever talk to him about this, he'd quickly transfer me to another school so I can't be near him. Then I remembered, the interfering family!

"Then Cliff, do you perhaps know the family that broke the Regisons and Alexanders tie?" I asked.

"Hm... I'm not too sure now, but I think they were the Saibaras." he said, putting a finger on his chin as he thought about it.

"The Saibaras... Okay, I'll ask my mother tomorrow! You said my mother knew about you and that sh kept it a secret from dad, that means she's alright with your family!" I pointed out.

"That's a good idea, just make sure your dad doesn't find out." he said.

"I'll be careful!" I reassured, he smiled at me.

"Good. It's getting late, and princesses need their beauty sleep, so I say goodbye for now. See you at school tomorrow." he said, then hoped down.

"Hey, you know that I hate to be called that by you from way back!" I exclaimed, as I bent down to glare at him. He gave me a mischievous smile as he waved me goodbye and went towards the secret passage. Well, I guess I can forgive him, just this once.

-The next day, Regison mansion-

"Good morning mum, did dad went for work already?" I asked mum, as I went towards the dining table.

"Yes, he just left a while ago. Good morning to you as well." mum answered.

"Say, mum, can we talk for a minute?"

"Of course, it's rare for you to suggest talking alone."

"Well, you see, you know about our family history with the Alexanders-"

"How did you know about that?" mum asked, as she looked at me in shock.

"Uh, do you remember the boy I used to come home with?"

"Yes, I do."

"He's Cliff, and he's an Alexander, you also know it. He came last night and told me about it."

"So, you finally got to meet him again." mum said, having a happy face.

I smiled, "Yeah, I'm really happy too! Back to the topic, he said that the family that broke out ties with the Alexanders were the Saibaras, so I was wondering if you know where these Saibaras are, or what they did for our families to be like this.", I looked at mum expectantly, hoping that she'd knew what happened.

Mum sighed and shook her head and said, "I'm really sorry, but I don't know what happened, nor who they are to help you, since I'm guessing, you're trying to fix our relationship.".

I made a sigh of defeat, then said, "That's okay, I'm sure one of my friends know at least one of the members of that family. I'll be going now, bye!", I waved my hand as I exit the dining room.

My mum waved goodbye, "Take care!".

-Spring Dale School-

"Good morning guys!" I greeted, as usual.

"Good morning!" Chelsea greeted back.

I spotted Cliff and went towards him and whispered,

"Cliff, do you think we should tell the others about our families? They might help." I suggested.

He stayed silent for a while before agreeing to my request.

Then I went over to the others, who were busy talking to each other. I caught their attention and I said,

"Guys, there's something I-... We want to tell you.", as I looked over to Cliff.

"Wait, don't tell me, you two are dating?! Kyaaaa!" Chelsea exclaimed, as she ran over to hug me.

"Cliff! I never knew you had it in you!" Jack exclaimed, as he went towards Cliff and put an arm around his shoulder.

Vaughn smirked, and Mary and Jill cheered.

"STOP! No, that's not what we want to tell you!" I shouted, that was the first time I shouted in years!

"Really? Why didn't you say so! Got our hopes up for nothing!" Chelsea pouted.

"We-", but before I could say anything more, the teacher came inside the class, depicting that it was the start of the first period. We went to our respective seats and wished the teacher good morning.

"Good morning, students. Today, you will have a new classmate, she transferred here from another school, I hope you all get along well!"

Oh no, I hope its not-

The doors opened and Lumina came inside. She smiled and introduced herself,

"I'm Lumina Romana, a pleasure to be your acquaintance!".

Phew, I know, I know, its a short chapter, but things will get interesting from here on, so bear with me. I hope you guys continue to read this story of mine, and I'll do my best to upload new chapters for you all to read! See ya!