October 25, Fall, year 36

You know.. I don't think I expected this when Skye mentioned there was going to be a Harvest Festival…

Claire had to admit that it felt good to be working in a field again after so many months of idling about the palace. But it was a very odd thing to be… well, working alongside royalty who clearly didn't know what they were doing.

Well, alright, they knew a little bit, but not a whole lot.

"No, Daisuke, that's a weed," she said patiently. "You don't harvest weeds you pull them and toss them in the compost pile."

Skye was the most functional of the lot. Had it not been so bizarre, it probably would have been hilarious.

The Harvest Festival was tithe day. Basically the day when the regular Moon People carted a quarter of their vegetables to their land's palace. It was also the day when the royalty got to try their hand at old fashioned manual labor.

Claire was having a very hard time not getting frustrated. Instructing children was fairly easy. Even if they were just beginning, somehow the children held more patience than the adults. You could show them what to do, which plants to harvest and usually things worked out.

Holding adult hands… was not her favorite thing in the world, figuratively speaking.

"You people need to spend more time in gardens and less time in your fancy palaces," she finally huffed, sitting back on her heels. "Really now…"

Daisuke's grin was sheepish, and for once even Tsukiko seemed to be at something of a loss. It was nice to see them all elbow deep in dirt though. It made them almost seem human.

"This," she pointed at the weed again, "does not belong in a garden. The roots will take up the space needed for other plants such as the ones we're trying to harvest. It wouldn't go in the basket on the right, it would go in the small bin that the farmers handed to each of you. Later that bin gets emptied into the compost piles."

Said weed was an innocent looking thing with slim, spade shaped leaves. It looked almost like a mint plant, but it lacked the distinctive smell that mint, especially fresh mint, produced. Obediently Daisuke picked it, then set it gingerly in the small canister that was sitting next to his knee.

"I cannot wait for this to be over," Claire muttered.

She was starting to get a headache.

Her kids weren't having much better luck in their attempts at instructing their aunts and uncles. Lauren was a bit farther along than her mother on the irritation scale, but as she was trying to deal with Toshihiro—who wasn't listening in the slightest—it was forgivable. She also had two of the Princesses that Daisuke was supposed to decide between, Suiren of the Moisture Palace and Tsuyu of the Dew Palace. Of the two, she much preferred Tsuyu, who was willing to listen and learn.

Jamie had Hotaru and Kimiko listening. Also with him were Arashi of the Storms Palace and Reiko of the Sleep Palace. All four of them were listening attentively, and he was actually starting to feel like he'd gotten the better end of the deal.

Skye was dealing with the last two Princesses, Hatoko of the Seething Palace and Ameko of the Rainbow Palace, as well as his brother Akio and Akio's wife Haruka. The latter were working quite well, clearly Haruka had a little experience regarding such matters and had taught Akio what was safe to pick and what was a weed and not to be eaten.

Claire had drawn the short stick and was dealing with Tsukiko and Daisuke, both of whom were complete fumble fingers in the aspect of gardening. It made her wish for Kaemon, even if all he would have been able to do was observe. But he and his wife Akahari were at their home Palace. Lucky for them…

No one would listen to the younger children except their age mates, and truthfully Yue, Hoshiko, Meri, Alan and Mirei were off playing with the other Moon Children. They weren't expected to help, though they were expected to keep out of the way of those working in the fields.

Still, with genuine farmers mingling with the royalty—something the PoM farmers were surprised to discover, though that surprise quickly turned to delight once they realized Claire and her children had experience—the gathering of the vegetables wasn't nearly as arduous as it usually was, at least according to Daisuke.

"You mean it usually takes longer?" Claire popped her back automatically, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "You people either need to get into the fields more, or out of them entirely. Speaking as another farmer, I'd say the latter would be appropriate."

Daisuke chuckled, and wiped some sweat from his forehead

"Yes well.. it's got many years of tradition behind it," he replied. "And most of us get better every year."

"How many years have you been doing this?" she countered, raising her other eyebrow.

"…You don't want to know."

Claire laughed.

"Alright maybe some of you shouldn't be in the fields," she teased. "Now, do I smell food or am I imagining it?"

"It's food," Skye grinned, leaning backwards so that he lightly bumped his wife. "And it always tastes the best when you make it yourself, hmm?"

She giggled, and elbowed him lightly. He over-acted, flinging himself—carefully so as to not squish the newly replanted seeds—forward into the row he'd been working on. Laughter echoed into the air as Claire feigned surprise and innocence.

Only Tsukiko seemed displeased by the clear show of affection between her eldest and her reluctant daughter-in-law. (The reluctance was all on the Queen's side.) If he connected so deeply to this woman now, how would she ever convince him to remarry once she had lived out her pitifully short life-span?

"If we can smell the soup that means we're almost done," Haruka smiled warmly, waving muddy fingers in her husband's face to tease him. "Better plant the last of those seeds!"

"I hear that!" Claire laughed again, and bent with a will to the project.

Maybe, if she got lucky, she could come out here again soon and offer help. Working out in a farm would sooth her until they could leave, and it would break up the monotony of the never-ending days…

For the supper, Tsukiko had arranged it so that Daisuke was sitting between Tsuyu and Ameko. The other Princesses would get their turns to chat with him shortly, since as the courses changed so did their seating.

"Well, at least she had the foresight not to put Arashi and Hatoko next to each other," Claire murmured to her husband. "I don't think a fight would be good."

"It could be entertaining," he pointed out with a faintly mischievous smirk.

"And dangerous," she shot back, kicking his ankle lightly under the table. "Children present…."

He just chuckled and kissed her forehead lightly.

"Don't worry, Mother is more perceptive than that."

"Could've fooled me," was the muttered reply.

Skye chuckled again, this time a little ruefully. Trying to get his mother and his wife to get along was still… not possible. They could cordially snipe at each other, that was about where it stopped.

"At least this last bit is like home," the farmer said after a minute, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I can hardly wait for December."

"Late December," Skye nodded. "The coronation is set for the Solstice. After that we're free to return home."

"At last!"

The serving of food halted most conversation, and once the meal was over there was a contented, temporary lull. Then Claire, Jamie and Lauren were pulled one way by the PoM farmers, while Skye was drawn into a conversation with Reiko.

Phew… It was a good day though! I'm really glad that I finally found a place where I can dig in the dirt. I don't even have to teleport to get there, just ask Skye to call me a cloud and I can be off as easy as that!

Mmmm… I ate a lot. But I still don't feel quite full. I wonder…