June 4, Summer, Year 20

Oh my Goddess but it's been hot! Makes me more glad than ever that we had our beach festival these past two days. Getting the chance to swim in the ocean, and race was wonderful! Though I guess it's not technically a race, our riptide is a little too strong for us to get out to a buoy and back without being swept away…

Claire had thrown open all the windows the night before, and turned on several fans trying to move the air in the house. It was only the second day of summer, but it was already hot and muggy, and Takakura had commented that it was going to be a storm heavy season.

But for the next few days it was supposed to be sunny, which was good. It meant that the girls swimming event and guys swimming event—it was really a two-day long beach party—could go without a hitch.

If Muffy had gotten her way, Claire would probably be sporting the teeny bikini she'd seen in one of Lumina's magazines, but the farmer was a little more body-conscious than that. Instead, she pulled out the very simple one-piece that she had been using for the past couple of years, throwing her regular clothes over that.

Though in summer, her 'regular outfit' consisted of a pair of short-alls and a tanktop. Even her cats were protesting the heat, sprawled out across the floor in the coolest places they could find. Which were under her bed, and near the fridge respectively, and Claire couldn't help but give an amused smile.

She propped open the door of the bathroom, deliberately leaving the water dripping from both the tub faucet and the sink, then left the house barefoot. Honey made a soft wuffing noise from her place in the horse pen, but didn't seem overly agitated about being stuck there, for which Claire let out a slightly relieved sigh.

She'd almost been afraid that the horse would emulate Puppy whenever he was locked up and made a lot of noise, but thankfully, that didn't appear to be the case. It was bad enough that the dog could be heard across the valley, she didn't need a horse adding to it.

Though today both Pup and Dakota would be accompanying her to the beach, for the second half of the day was the Frisbee toss. In truth, both dogs would probably be in and out of the water as much as the girls.

Claire had planted some pineapples, them being her favorite summer fruit despite how long they took to grow, and spent a good two hours watering them, wishing she could make some sort of sprinkler system for the arable land outside the farm. It was something to look into at a later date however, as people started drifting across the valley.

The guys came to ogle the girls—which was only fair, since the girls did the reverse on the second day—and the older folks came to enjoy the beach's cooler breeze as well as participate in some of the less active festivities. Like the eating contests, or making sand castles with Kate or Hugh.

And inevitably, someone would bring their camera and insist on a picture. Claire hated that moment, but she had to admit that seeing the progression of pictures in her album as she grew up was kind of amusing.

Muffy waved at her from across the way, her other hand waved the beach bag that she was famous for. Claire waved back, hiding a grin at all the 'beach cosmetics' Muffy brought with her year in an year out.

"You're going to be late!" Muffy's voice echoed across the road. "Come on!"

Claire laughed, rubbed her already sweaty forehead, and dumped the remaining contents of the watering can over her head to cool herself off. Muffy laughed, then shrieked as Claire ran over and shook some water on her.

"You brat!" Muffy yelped, not meaning a word of it.

Claire laughingly ran ahead of her cousin, who was swatting at her with the beach bag.

Once on the beach, she caught up with Flora, and ducked around behind her. Flora blinked and looked down at Claire, who was grinning and still dripping, hen up at Muffy, who was clearly chasing her.

"I'm assuming you got her wet?" the purple-eyed woman asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What else?" Claire winked. "It's not like we're going to remain dry all day, y'know?"

Muffy puffed to a halt, dropping her bag under one of the already set up umbrellas. The busty green-eyed woman mockingly shook her fist in Claire's direction. Claire just stuck out her tongue.

"You're courting trouble, you know," Flora chuckled. "Remember last year?"

Last year, in retribution for Claire's pranks, Muffy had buried her in wet sand, and it had taken the blond almost three hours to struggle free. Claire just shrugged again, straightening now that Muffy wasn't going to come after her any longer.

"Where's the fun in playing on the beach if you don't test your luck?" She grinned.

She cast her blue eyes over the beach, noting that almost everyone was already in their suits, and the netting had been put into place. All that was left was for the colored balls to be put into the netting, which would keep both the players and the balls from getting pulled away by the strong riptide.

"Who's got the balls this time?" she asked after a minute. "Uncle T?"

"I think it was Sebastian, honestly," Flora tilted her head, rubbing her glasses on her shirt. "But I was so tired at the end of the games last year that I don't remember."

Claire chuckled, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"Yeah…"

The beach days usually left everyone exhausted, but happy, and Claire was looking forward to this happening again, even with work to do.

A few moments later, Takakura and Sebastian arrived on the beach, each carrying a box of multicolored balls that the girls would collect.

The basis of the game was simple. Each girl would collect four different colored balls, and the one who got her colors first was the winner for the year. Then it was just a free-for-all grab to rescue all the balls for the next day's game.

The girls piled into the water, laughing and teasing. Long hair was tied back, braided up, pigtailed… any way to keep hair out of the face, and way of the arms was appreciated.

"Ready girls?" Takakura called.

Six pairs of hands waved in excitement. Of the girls Lumina and Muffy were the only ones in bikini's, yellow and ruffled pink respectively. The rest were in simple, sensible one pieces, in various colors. Flora in green, Celia in purple, Nami in blue and Claire in her old blue-plaid.

With hair tied back, and trying not to fight the current, Takakura and Sebastian emptied the boxes into the water for the girls to gather.

The laughter, whistling and splashing started not much longer after that, as the girls chased their colors. From the safety of the beach, Rock made many comments that would have made the girls launch him into the water. As it was Marlin reached out and smacked him upside the head more than once, and he wasn't the only one.

Celia was the first to collect four colors, and stagger out of the water. Muffy and Nami followed soon after, and the three remaining in the water—Claire, Lumina and Flora—made mad grabs for the rest of the multicolored balls before the tide took them.

They dropped the balls in the boxes, as Celia claimed her prize, which was free food from Kai's stand. The rest of them flopped onto towels and caught their breath before starting with the rest of the games of the day.

Dakota and Puppy, both brought by Takakura, had the chance to chase Frisbee's and other toys down the beach against Carter's Chihuahua, and Cody's dogs. To Claire's glee, Dakota won the Frisbee toss, though Puppy ended up chasing the Chihuahua instead of the ball.

It seemed like all too soon, five pm arrived, and so did picture time. Worn out the girls piled into the frame, Muffy dragging Claire to lay across the front, her revenge for the watering-can fiasco at the beginning of the day.

"Alright girls, say cheese!"

Various types of smiles—excited, amused, tired, half, and so on—flashed across six faces, and the camera flashed six separate times.

"Hurray for instant pictures?" Claire yawned, taking her copy and waving it lightly in the air. "Phew, what a day…"

Chattering and laughing, everyone scattered into the Valley, some going home, most heading to the inn to get food. Takakura took the dogs back to the farm, and Claire headed up to the spring, just to get a little bit of peace and quiet. She continued to wave the still-developing picture, yawning a bit as she did so.

It was quiet at the spring, excluding the sound of the summer cicada's. She sat at the edge, just thinking, and wishing she could talk to the Goddess about nothing in particular.

Or maybe Winny, but she hadn't had the time to seek out the Witch Princess in a good long while. Which was a pity, because while she ranted a lot about the Goddess, she also had some pretty good advice.

Claire's head drooped, the exhaustion of both fighting tides, and playing a multitude of beach games on top of her farming chores finally taking its toll on her.

"Maybe… just a few minutes," she yawned, leaning back against one of the many trees that lined the pond. "A few minutes before going home…"

Her blue eyes drifted closed, and right there she fell fast asleep. Two hours later, Skye came wandering up the dirt path, wondering whether or not it was worth it to even come on such a night.

He'd heard the party still going strong at both the Inner Inn and the Blue Bar, so that shut down any plans he might have had for leaving a note for later thievery. And he hadn't seen Claire for a few weeks, which was actually somewhat… disappointing.

So when he saw a familiar head of blond hair from behind, he perked up quite a bit. He wondered if Claire had been waiting for him, and was tempted to surprise her with a hug. But when he approached her he realized that she was asleep.

Skye chuckled ruefully, and sat down next to her, shaking his head.

"Silly girl," he smiled. "You should spend more time sleeping, and not so much time waiting for a thief like me to show up."

And then he caught site of the picture held loosely in her hand. Curiosity piqued, he plucked it from her and took a glimpse.

Then promptly pocketed it, before taking out a notepad and scribbling Claire a letter. He placed it in her hand, then sat there, debating.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here," he decided. "I'll take you back to your farm."

Gently so as not to disturb the sleeping blond, the 'Prince of the Stars' slid his arms under Claire, and lifted her up. It took him a few moments to adjust, she was not as light as she looked, what with all her farming muscle, but once he had, he found himself liking the feel of her in his arms.

Quickly, he carried her back to her farmhouse. Thoughts like that were dangerous to the wandering thief, and even though he was staying in Mineral Town to steal from the Valley, he didn't want to become too… attached to people.

Thankfully it was late enough that no one saw him enter or leave the farmhouse, and Skye made his way back to Mineral Town, the swimsuit picture firmly in his pocket.

When Claire woke the next morning, she groaned, feeling as though her head was filled with sand. Blearily she glanced around, trying to figure out where she was. It took her a good ten minutes of blank confusion before she recognized the walls of her home, and the sound of Tux and Clara making their usual morning complaints.

"…Weird dream," she decided finally, rolling off of the bed. "Nice but… weird."

Dazedly, she fed the cats and did her chores, before heading down for day two of the beach festivities. She didn't notice the piece of paper that lay on her table flutter to the floor as she walked out.

The second day of the beach party was just as hot as the first day, but in Claire's mind, the guys made a better show in their swim trunks than the girls of the day before.

Though Rock in the Speedo made her laugh convulsively, as Lumina turned a brilliant shade of red.

The events were mostly the same, with an eating contest substituted for the Frisbee toss. It surprised everyone when Marlin won the 'race,' especially his older sister Vesta. Claire laughed, applauded, and ate with them, but her mind was clearly elsewhere in moments of lull.

At the end of the second day, people drifted away tired, but happy, to their homes and their beds. Claire was no exception, looking forward longingly to sinking into her pillows, even if the heat made it so muggy that she didn't need the blankets.

The animals greeted her almost convulsively, and she made her rounds to feed and water them all. Puppy and Dakota were panting in the heat, and she felt sorry for the long-haired older dog, making sure to fill the large water bowl with and abundance of cool water. She even turned on the sprinkler system for a bit, soaking bother herself and the dogs.

Honey made a noise of protest when Claire came to give her a brushing, shaking vigorously, and spraying the already saturated farmer with more water. Claire laughed a little sheepishly, having forgotten that the sprinklers were all over the farm, and not just in the grass fields.

"Sorry Honey," she apologized. "It's been a long couple of days."

The horse snorted again, then snuffed Claire over for treats.

Done at last, Claire finally entered her house, stripping off her wet clothes in the process with a grimace. This time, she saw the paper fluttering in the light breeze, as she walked from the living area to the bathroom to get some towels, and made a quick detour to retrieve it before Clara pounced.

She read it twice, and upon the second reading, certain that it wasn't a joke, she turned a very mortified shade of red.

My dear Claire,

So peaceful when you sleep, so happy when you swim. Perhaps we can have a beach date of our own, on a night when you're more awake to appreciate it.

Phantom Skye

P.S. I think I'll keep the picture. See you at the pond.

"It… wasn't… a dream," she said weakly, clinging to the dining table. "He… did carry me home last night."

Shock warred with anger, and eventually won. She just sank, dripping, into one of the kitchen chairs unable to think of anything for a good twenty minutes.

"I'm never going to live this down," Claire groaned.

I haven't dropped by the pond yet. I don't even know what I would say if I did. Guh, I feel like an idiot for falling asleep there! I had to ask Muffy if she could copy the picture for me, and she's been teasing me about giving it to some mystery guy all day!

If only she knew…