Disclaimer: Zis lady over here doez not own 'Arvezt Mun (and is in fact too hyper to be rezponsible for it anyway).

Chapter 5: Slipped Away

He was holding her hand...but she wasn't holding his.

There was even another boy behind her. He was around his age...

"Luke...you have to let me go..."

Her hand slipped away.

Akari bent her neck from side-to-side, cracked her knuckles and shook her hands. She then stood up from her bed and stretched before saying, "let's go!"

After this morning routine, she went to her silvery grey fridge at the left side of her bungalow-type home to drink some of her deliciously fresh goat milk.

"Ah," she said. She went to check the mirror above her dresser and smiled with her "milk moustache". "Thanks Laurie!" she thought.

Grabbing her gloves and watering can, she headed out the door. It was a refreshing spring day. It has been 12 days since her accident, and it was also her first day of "independence". She would have to do all her chores alone that morning since both Anissa and Renee had to stay in their respective homes and help their parents prepare for tomorrow's Flower Festival.

She learned that taking care of both a farm and a ranch could be tedious. It was definitely not as easy as it seemed from an outsider's point of view. Sure, one just had to scatter seeds in order to plant, pick out the ripe crops and pour water over the plants. However, there was also the matter of organizing and planning where to put which crop, the part where you need to choose the crops wisely, and the actual process of watering the plants and bringing the watering can back and forth. She was on her second-to-the-last trip back to the area where she drew water when she heard a rustle in the bushes a few feet beside her barn.

Wondering if one of her animals was on the loose, she slowly approached the bushes.

"Boo!"

Akari blinked in surprise when she caught a pair of golden eyes.

"Do you remember me now?" Luke grinned.

Akari smiled and said, "of course I remember you! You're Luke, 'the bravest, the strongest' and the most awesome guy in the island!"

Luke looked like a puppy that was just given a reward. "Yes! It worked! You remember everything!" He punched the air.

"Oh uh, Luke, not exactly..."

The puppy's reward has just been snatched away from his eyes. "Darn. Chloe swore it would work..."

"Aww," Akari cooed. She pinched his cheeks. "You're so cute!"

Luke felt a stream of happiness flow through his body and up to his cheeks. "You're cute too."

Akari smiled and said, "so...any other things you wanna try out?"

"Huh?"

Akari cocked her head to one side in her confusion. "Um, things to make me remember?"

"Oh! Well we can go to Toucan Island and then I can climb up a coconut tree to, you know..."

Akari's eyes widened. "I think I'll pass."

After that, Luke offered to help AKari with the rest of her chores. He started by watering the rest of the crops while she went to take care of the animals in the coop. Since they both finished on time, they wound up in front of the barn again.

"You up for helping me in the barn?" Akari asked.

"Uh, sure?" Luke said. "But...be warned. I don't really have that much experience with animals. I mean, yeah I haven't really helped out at Brownie Ranch since I was 10. Just so you know..."

"Oh, it's alright," she said.

They both looked at the barn and then headed in.

"I'll start with the sheep," Akari said.

"I'll...milk then?" Luke said.

"Okay." She handed him the milker.

Akari took off her gloves. She never wore them when taking care of her animals firstly because she loved the texture of wool, fur and feathers. It also gave her the feeling of having some sort of connection with them. She decided to walk over to her season-old sheep, Ram, first. She named him Ram because his pastime was ramming his head into her.

"Oh hey there!" Luke suddenly said. "Haha! I forgot that Sunshine just had a baby! Hey Akari, what's the name of this little fella?"

"He's Sonny!" she chirped. She looked over her shoulder and found Luke on the floor with legs spread out and Sonny crawling towards him.

"Why, this guy's awesome! Hey!" Sonny started nuzzling Luke's stomach. "St-stop! That tickles!"

Akari giggled and started to walk towards the two. "Hey Sonny, come here..."

Getting the young calf to move away from Luke proved to be a challenge. Luke tried pushing while Akari tried pulling, but Sonny proved to be heavier than he looked.

Akari panted. "Okay. Trying out another method!"

She stood up, took out a bell from her rucksack and then pulled a pail of milk towards her along with a small pile of hay.

Ringing the bell, she said, "come here, you little rascal. Come on!"

Its attention caught, the said animal turned its head. After what seemed like an eternity, it finally started moving towards Akari.

"Whew, thanks!" Luke said. He got up. "Lesson one: do not sit down beside a calf unless you want to be tortured with tickles."

Akari chuckled as she coaxed Sonny to go to his mother. "Lesson two: asking Luke to help out in the farm will not end with anything being set on fire."

"Ouch," Luke said, dramatically clutching at his chest. A rain of hay and giggles showered him.

"Thank you so much for helping me back there," Akari said. They were now closing the door of the barn. "Ouch!"

"You okay?" Luke said, immediately alert.

"Yeah...it's just my finger..."

"Here, let me take a look."

He took off his gloves and then both of her hands in his and then examined them. "Ah. It's just a splinter. I get that a lot."

After taking it out, he reached into his pocket and took out a band aid. "There! Good as new."

"I'm...impressed. Were you some sort of boy scout or something?"

"Nah, I just always have a pocketful of that since, well as you have seen, I get into a lot of accidents."

Akari widened her eyes in mock horror. "Oh no! You must have passed it to me!"

They both chuckled. Luke then said, "I missed this so much. Akari, I really can't believe you forgot all of our adventures! You know what, there was one time when you wanted to go to the mines. You've just arrived, but on that day, Owen was out horseback riding with Kathy, so I went with you into the mines instead. We kept on falling into pitfalls and running into geysers, and then we got lost in the seventh floor! It was so hilarious!"

His eyes twinkled. He continued, "well of course, we made in out in one piece in the end. We always do! Like a while ago. We'd get into a problem, and both of us don't really know half of what we're doing, but we rush in anyway! Then we find some solution and work together, and we fix everything out."

Akari looked down and smiled, missing the look of longing that flashed in Luke's eyes. "Wish I remember..."

"Hey guys," a third voice called. The two of them looked towards the direction where the voice came from and they saw the owner walk towards them.

"Hey Chase," Akari said, somehow breathless.

"Hey," he said. "Luke, can I borrow Akari for a while? Kathy and Yolanda need her for some reason I don't know. Girls..."

"Sure, I'll go!" she immediate replied. "See you soon, Luke!"

Chase held out his arm and commented, "wouldn't want you to fall on the way."

"Hmph," Akari said. "I'm not that weak or clumsy..."

It was only when she reached for Chase's arm that she realized Luke hadn't let go of her hand up to that moment.

He was holding her hand...but she wasn't holding his.

There was ever another boy behind her. He was around his age too.

He stared at the face of the woman whom he had looked up to ever since he was born. His golden eyes were reflected in hers, up to the tears they were both ready to shed.

"Luke, I have to go," she gently told him.

"But...but why?" he asked. He looked at the other child. Who was this other boy? Why was Mama going with him?

"Luke..." she said. She kneeled down and kissed his forehead. "You be a big boy, okay? You tell Bo that I love him, everyday. And...you tell...you tell your father that I..."

She stopped. Luke had wiped off her tears.

"Mama, stay," he begged. He squeezed her hand harder.

"Luke, I love you. But this is for the best, okay? I have to go. You have to let me go. So that everyone will be happy."

Not everyone. He wasn't happy. He won't be happy.

"Mama?" the other boy said.

His Mama held the other boy's hand.

"I love you, Luke," she said. "Goodbye."

Her hand slipped away.