fantasyanimegirl283: your requests answered here ^^

Peachie: yep I know, just decided to change things a bit in this story

Raelyn watered her newly planted seeds quietly. Her watering can had already been upgraded twice, but at the core of it, it was still the same watering can Eda had given her. It was the same with the rest of her farming equipment, save for her clippers.

Moreover, she found herself glancing at Eda's—now Ibuki's—farm now and then.

Should I check on him? Should I not?

Of course the words he had thrown at her during the funeral weren't forgotten; she doubted she could ever do that. However, he was Granny's grandson and a part of this town as well… not to mention that he had a similar scent with Granny's. She knew that he wasn't a complete greenhorn in farming, but how many years had passed since he last held a watering can in his hand or brushing an unfamiliar, distressed cow?

But, could she step onto that plot without thinking about Eda?

This wouldn't do, she thought.

Packing away her watering can, Raelyn walked towards the fruit orchard which she had acquired recently from Elise. She quickly finished her work there and for once in a blue moon, she felt like going to the town. Perhaps she could do something there—meaningless chattering she usually dreaded became something more desirable now.

She wanted to, she needed to get away from the farm—from any kind of remembrance of Eda.

When she reached the town, Raeger was carrying his shopping bags from the Trade Depot and they met just when Raeger was about to enter his place. "Wow, I didn't expect to see you here this early," he told her. "I thought there are a lot to be done in farms early in the season?"

Raelyn shrugged. "We can always choose not to do it."

Raeger looked at her for a moment sympathetically. "Well, I might need an extra pair of hands for prep work, feeling up to it?"

Raelyn blinked in surprise. "Really? You'd trust me?"

The young man laughed lightly. "You've been taking lessons for quite some time. I need to check your progress as well."

Perhaps this'd be better… at least I have some non-farming things to do, she told herself.

"What are you going to make?" Raelyn asked as Raeger put down his shopping on the counter.

"Kimchi," he replied. "I heard it's a popular winter salad in the eastern countries."

She looked at the spread of ingredients that Raeger brought to the counter: chili pepper, napa cabbages, and some more seasonings. "What do you need me to do?"

The chef put out a cutting board, a knife, and a large bowl. "Cut the cabbages."

Raelyn put on the plastic gloves and began cutting and Raeger put the seasoning into a mixing bowl. Soon, they settled into the rhythm set by the beating on the knife against the cutting board. Cutting was one of the first things Raeger taught her; he said cutting was the first step to cooking.

"Looking good,"

"I learned from the master."

Raeger chuckled at her comment while continuing to mix the sauce. Raelyn kept cutting; she had a whole basket full of cabbages to be cut.

"I told you that before going to a culinary school, it was my grandfather who taught me how to cook, right?"

She remembered that story; it was the one he told her while carefully introducing her to spices. "When he passed away and this place was passed down to me, it didn't open for a week or so."

"Really?" she asked. Looking at how workaholic Raeger could be, it seemed so unbelievable that he would take such a long break.

"I didn't even cook. Maurice always invited me to the inn and I'd eat there," he said. "I couldn't cook, because it simply reminded me of my grandpa."

Raelyn sighed long. She could relate to that feeling well. She glanced

"But in the end I realized that I shouldn't stay that way. True, I'm reminded of him every now and then while I cook, but that's not a bad thing."

She put the cut cabbages to the prepared bowl, gradually filling it with neatly cut napa cabbages, but her ears were on Raeger and he knew it. "You can come to help me prep for as long as you need to, but think about what Madam Eda would feel if you stay this way."

She let his words sank and found that there was truth in them. It wasn't a bad thing to remember Granny; perhaps, it was even better. Where else would she stay now if not in her heart… in her memories of her?

Raelyn walked over to Eda's—now Ibuki's—place with a tray in her hands. As she reached the property, she found him at the distance sitting on the field with watering can in his hand. Looking at the newly watered plots, Raelyn could tell that he had just finished his work.

She carefully walked over to him. He looked up at her, but seemed to tired to stand—not that it wasn't expected.

"I brought some warm lemonade," she told him. "And some pain relief patches. I think you'd need it."

The blond man smiled gratefully. As strange as it might sound, his smile looked similar to Eda's. Raelyn moved to sit beside him on the field and put the tray between them. She poured some lemonade to the glass she had brought and gave it to him. He took it and took a sip.

"I heard Gran was the one teaching you how to farm."

"Yes and no," she replied. "I came from a farmer's family, so it's not a new thing… but Granny was the one teaching me how to manage a whole farm on my own."

Ibuki nodded comprehendingly. "And the lemonade…?"

"She taught me how," Raelyn admitted. "Thought that you might like it that way as well."

He laughed. "You're very kind," he said. "For someone who had been accused of being a gold digger, you have a heart of gold yourself."

Raelyn poured a glass of lemonade for herself and sipped it. "Flattery's not going to get you anywhere far."

"I didn't mean it to be a full flattery," he quipped. "I meant it as an apology."

"Hm?"

"My words to you at the funeral…" he said. "It was uncalled for. I'm sorry."

Raelyn turned at Ibuki and looked at his clear blue eyes. For once she could see something of him that didn't really remind her of Eda. The young man stretched out his hand to her. "Let's start over, shall we?" he offered. "Let's be friends. I'm Ibuki."

She hesitated. This was the person who seemed to abhor her the moment they met and now he offered an armistice—no, peace agreement—over a glass of warm lemonade and some pain relief patches.

Then again, what's so wrong in having a new friend, especially the one who went through the same pain as her?

Raelyn took his hand and squeezed it gently as she lowered her snood so he could see her face. "Raelyn."

Stay tuned for the next chapter!

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