July 18, Summer, year 20
It's begun to heat up again. Man… Still, it's rained quite a bit since the first storm, so I guess I can't complain too much. Sure did a number on my crops though. I lost about half of everything, so along with fixing up the house I've had to do mad replanting to get the profits of the season regrown.
I found the recipes! I had a hard time trying to decide whether I needed to make Ultimate or Finest, but I went for Finest in the end, since it sounds… better.
I've been working hard to make the curry just right! I don't normally make curry, it's not my thing… but I hope he likes it at least. My kitchen looks like a tornado hit!
Claire looked over to the pot of simmering curry that she'd made using her Dad's recipe, and bit her lip nervously. She couldn't accurately judge the taste of curry, having rarely eaten it herself, but it looked and smelled like… well, curry.
And it wasn't just any curry either, she had spent the past six days laboring over what the recipe had called Finest Curry, in hopes that it would accurately express her gratitude.
According to Pony—who'd called her back the very same day she'd asked about Skye—the thief had spent the day in bed, with a cold. So this curry was as much guilt for making him ill as it was gratitude for finding her cats.
Puppy let out a disconsolate bark as the farmer nearly pushed her chair into him. For reasons she hadn't been able to fathom, he'd started following her into the house every night, and back out again in the morning.
She poured the curry into another container, trying not to spill it, as her eyes kept looking over at the clock, then back down at her work. It was almost midnight, and she still looked like a mess from cooking.
Colored curry stained her hands a rainbow webwork, and she'd ended up both burning herself and cutting herself with a knife while trying to cook. Multiple times. She grinned a little ruefully.
"I'm really not meant to make complicated dishes," she chuckled to herself. "Maybe if I hurry I can at least look… presentable."
And hurry she did, traded stained overalls for clean, and trying—in vain—to wash the stains and marks from her hands. At midnight, she headed out the door, being sure to lock it closed behind her—a habit that she was slowly becoming used to. She cradled the curry carefully in her band-aid covered hands, and made her way to the Goddess Pond.
Skye watched the pond, sea-green eyes reflective. With no Goddess there, he could neither send, nor receive messages from his family. He assumed that some of them were watching him—they always were when he was on the earth—but being unable to communicate with them was starting to become a bit of a problem.
Sure, he could go to the spring in Mineral Town, but there was something about the Valley… Or maybe it was someone in the Valley. He grinned to himself, and shook his head.
For all his intentions, he hadn't gotten really anything out of Claire. And he probably never would… Not anything related to thievery anyways.
Feet along the path made him blink and turn. As if summoned by his thoughts—if only he knew—there was the little blond farmer trotting up the path, blue eyes lighting up at the sight of the silver-haired male. She was carrying something in a container.
His curiosity piqued, Skye turned around fully and waited for her to come within hearing range.
"Normally, I don't approve of women being up so late," he scolded mildly, "but I'm glad you came to see me."
"I… I made this for you," she said, pushing the container at him abruptly, clearly nervous. "You… you said you liked curry, and I found this recipe in my Dad's cookbook…"
He smiled warmly at her, and accepted it with a flourish, taking note of the band-aids on her hands. Skye lifted the lid, and his mouth dropped open in shock and delight. Claire bit her lip nervously, uncertainly, until he looked back up at her with a beaming smile.
"Finest Curry!" he exclaimed. "You are a wonderfully talented woman!"
She blushed and smiled shyly, one hand coming up to play with her hair.
"I was trying to think of a way to thank you after what happened last week," she said bashfully. "And I remembered that you said you liked curry. I'm sure it's not as good as something you could make… I don't really make curry too often."
She trailed off, noticing that Skye was already eating. This made her more than a touch anxious, because she was absolutely certain that she hadn't been able to make it perfect the way she'd wanted to…
He had to be honest, some of the rice was burnt, and the flavor wasn't truly worthy of a Finest Curry label. But the smell was exact, and it was clear that she had spent a good deal of time on it. And there was something else that was tying it all together, more than just the curry flavoring.
So… this was what curry made with love tasted like. He smiled faintly, fondly. Claire felt her heart jumping in her chest as he finished, and set the container down.
"It was wonderful," he said. "Completely worthy of being called Finest Curry."
Claire let out a long sigh of relief, and smiled in pleasure. All that effort, the burns and cuts, they'd all been worth it. She'd made a good dish of Finest Curry. She had to sit abruptly, as relief poured over her in a rush. Skye chuckled and sat next to her.
"Weren't expecting that?" he asked as she rested her chin on her knees.
"No, not really," and she smiled sheepishly. "You said you wanted to make the best curry ever, and that you'd tasted the best curry from all around the world. And I know I'm not the best at cooking such complicated things. But I…"
Uncertainty made her trail off again, and she locked her hands together in front of her legs.
"You're welcome," he said gently. "I'm glad that I was able to come to the aid of such a beautiful maiden."
A blush crossed her cheeks again, but the smile on her face didn't quite reach her eyes. And slowly, worry filled them.
"Why would he do such a thing?" Skye asked quietly. "There are vindictive people, but to threaten something so loved…"
"He wants me to come back to the city and back to him," she replied sourly. "But I don't want that. At one point… yeah, at one point I used to. He used to be the reason I went into the city."
She went silent for a long moment, and for a few seconds Skye wondered if she'd fallen asleep again.
"What changed your mind?" he asked at last.
"Hmm?" And Claire looked up at him smiling faintly, almost painfully. "My parents died. And suddenly, I had the farm to care for. I… resented it over the winter, and did a lot of stupid things, but the more I work the place, the more I realize why Mom and Dad wanted me to have this farm, and why my siblings needed to go to the other two family farms."
And then she chuckled. As she did, the painful feeling bled away and she relaxed a little more.
"Holy run on sentences Batman," she quipped. "But yeah… It started out as being unwilling to leave Uncle Takakura and disappoint my sibs, turned into me needing to do a rescue job, and is still turning into a lifetime. I think anyways."
"Rescue job?"
Claire blinked, and flushed a little, not realizing that she had alluded to the banishment of the Harvest Goddess by the Harvest King. There was almost half an hour of silence before she decided that he would understand. She was actually a little surprised that Skye hadn't spoken, but one look at him clearly pointed out that he was waiting for her to answer.
"Well… because I wasn't working over the winter… and sold off all of the animals my parents had raised, the Harvest King punished the Harvest Goddess, and the Harvest Sprites. He sent them all to another world, then left me cryptic information about how to rescue them!"
Claire tried to keep the whine out of her voice. Really, she did. But it was so very aggravating to have no real idea about how to save the Sprites and Goddess and just pray that whatever was done was good enough.
Skye frowned thoughtfully.
"Not a very sporting thing to do," he commented at last. "Even for a God."
And Claire smiled wryly, nodding.
"But I guess I'm doing alright," she stretched her arms over her head, stifling a yawn. "I mean, I've almost gotten back half the Harvest Sprites, which has to count for something. I mostly wish I knew how many I'd have to save before the Goddess comes back though… Even if she was a little pushy at times, and nosey, she was nice And Win misses her too."
"Win?" Skye blinked, and Claire giggled.
"Winny. The Witch Princess," she explained. "I've been calling her that for years, she's sort of given up on making me say anything else. It's just easier. And," Claire lowered her voice conspiratorially, grinning, "she told me that before she started studying magic, her name was Winifred. So…"
Skye snorted his amusement.
"They have a weird relationship," Claire continued, "but they really are good friends. So I want to get the Goddess back for her as well as the Sprites. And I do have to admit that I.. worry."
"About?"
"Well, the Goddess handles all the prayers of the people here in the Valley," she gestured expansively, "and with no Goddess… people have been a little more cranky. One of Vesta's crop patches developed rot, for example, and she normally makes the best produce in the Valley. She's been having the worst sort of luck, and she's not the only one… just the most vocal about it.
"So I have to bring her back for them too. They shouldn't have to suffer for my stupidity, yeah?"
Her smile was rueful, and again the thief smiled. It was a little bemused.
"You are a very kind person," he said after a minute. "Didn't you ever have dreams of your own?"
"Well…" Claire stifled another yawn, and rubbed at her eyes quickly, wanting to stay awake. "I used to dream that I was going to breed a new type of rose someday, and bring back the legendary Swallowtail butterflies. I've seen pictures, apparently there's one for each color of the rainbow! According to Grampa Max, they used to swarm the island in the summertime because of a special type of rose."
Skye blinked. Those butterflies had swarmed the roses his people had planted, before the flowers had lived out their lifespans… She wanted to see that?
"But," and her face fell slightly, "I don't know what that rose was, or even where to find some seeds so that I can grow them myself. Every time Uncle Takakura goes into the City with my stuff he looks for anything that might be it, but so far, no luck… And I don't have the time to devote to keeping meticulous track of which rose I pollinated with which other rose."
And she sighed wistfully.
"Is that the other reason for your tattoo?" he asked quickly, sensing that she was beginning to get a touch restless. For some reason, he didn't want the conversation to end just yet.
"Mmhm," she smiled. "My two loves, roses and butterflies. It took me a while to decide on, and even though… even though following it there was tragedy, I still like it."
Silence descended, and then the yawns Claire had been suppressing broke through. She blushed a little sheepishly, and slowly got to her feet.
"Thanks again Skye," she scooped up the empty container. "For.. talking with me as well as the other stuff."
"You were full of interesting things to say," the silver-haired male smiled warmly. "I hope we get to do this again very soon."
I did good. And we talked. It was nice to talk to someone unrelated to the chaos of the Valley. And he believed me about the Harvest Goddess too, which was kind of surprising. I mean, the Mineral Town bunch have regular contact with their goddess, same with the people over in Flowerbd, but here… Well, not so much. Here we only call on the Goddess if we really need her. And hardly anyone can see her, or the Sprites. My family and.. Vesta's, really. Celia can't see them at all, she's not really blood-related to Vesta and Marlin. She's the most dutiful Goddess worshiper though.
Not too many people actually believe that she exists, even though it's called the Goddess Pond. Kind of sad, really.
Oh well… It's late. I need to get myself some decent sleep. Uncle T will tease me if I end up sleeping in.