Author's Note

It's Incross again here. Skip this chapter if you don't want to read for the short explanations I have here. Okay, I just want to tell you:

::o:: This is a fan fiction for Harvest Moon: Back to Nature, so I won't put in characters out of the title. Oh well, I guess you know about it already ^_^ -slapped-

::o:: Although I'm not good at making a review for the next chapter, I'll put it at the end of each chapter just to tell you what's going on and to "make" me keep writing the story.

::o:: Sometimes I'll put an extra story at the end of some chapters, and titled it: "Harvest N. G."; it's actually a slight comedy I made from a piece of scene in the same chapter.

::o:: English is not my mother tongue, you see. So if you ever find mistakes on the grammars just tell me so I can fix it ^_^

.

I guess that's all, and I hope that you'll enjoy the story.

Have a nice day!

.

-Incross-

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon series, okay.

Harvest Moon~Two Lives

Record 1 : The Meetings

Jack put down the stray puppy he had found before, and started to take a good look of his past grandfather's farm. It was a total mess, something he had expected before. He had just arrived at that remote town some hours ago, and had the town's Mayor to show him around the neighborhood. He must admit that the town seemed to shrink; it looked even smaller than he had remembered. He didn't expect much, though. Even, he felt he kinda wanted it to be like that.

He moved from his peaceful and rich city not only because he was bored of that sparkling and noisy hometown, but also because he wanted to heir his grandfather's last treasure; his farm. He remembered the times when he had spent his holiday in that same farm. It had not been a long holiday, though, but it had been enough for him to grow his curiosity for his grandfather.

A simple question, yet he still couldn't find the answer.

Jack released a slight sigh and encouraged himself. It had been him who decided to run the farm into its best shape, so he shouldn't complain much. He let the stray dog played around the bushes and walked out his new farm through the north gate.

---

Jack walked back to his farm. Some minutes ago he had had arrived at the front door of the supermarket but soon realized that he had forgotten to bring his payment card. "Silly me," he muttered.

A payment card. That's what people in the town use to pay things, instead of cash money. It was a rule made by the previous Mayor to prevent robberies, it seemed. No one would accept cash for payment, but the public services usually had the special tool to do the payment through card. Jack had been informed that the payment for his harvest things would be transferred to his card right after Zack the buyer brought his crops and reported it. Jack himself had just made his own card some days ago, and seemed that he still hadn't used to it.

He opened the house's door and was stunned when he saw someone sleeping on his bed. Feeling confused, he walked out and closed the door. He was sure that was his new farm, so that meant that the house was his, too. He took a peek again inside, and the stranger was still there. He must have had forgot to lock his door, then.

But the stranger didn't budge, even after the creaking sound of the door. Jack bravely walked inside and stopped right beside his bed, only to see a blonde young girl sleeping there. She was wet, a little; and her breathing was very slow.

Jack noticed that the girl didn't seem like any harm at all, instead, she was quite pale. Jack bent down and took a good look of the girl's face. That was when the girl opened her eyes weakly. Jack quickly walked some steps backwards, feeling a little bit surprised.

The girl blinked a few times, her eyes weren't really open for her eyelids felt heavy. Jack swallowed and said with a clear voice, "Are you awake now?"

The girl turned her head slowly to Jack's direction. "Where… am I?" she asked. She sounded hoarse.

Jack pulled a wooden box which had already been there since he first came, and sat on it. "This is Mineral Town. And this is my house. Oh, I'm Jack, by the way."

The girl blinked again, and turned her head to face the ceiling. "Your house…" she paused. Jack waited. "Why am I in your house…?"

That's what I want to know, Jack thought. He decided not to answer, for he didn't know how come the girl came into his house. She seemed too weak, even she might not be able to stand on her own.

Suddenly the door opened and two people rushed toward the bed. Jack only needed a few seconds before he realized that they were Thomas the Mayor, and Zack.

"Thank goodness! You're awake!" said Thomas. He was breathing fast and sweat rolled down on his round cheeks. "How are you feeling right now?"

The girl seemed confused. She seemed hesitated just to answer the simple question. Jack coughed, and managed to bring Thomas' attention to him. Thomas turned at him and said, "Oh."

"Mind telling me what's going on?" Jack asked. The Mayor nodded his chubby cheeks and wiped his face with a white handkerchief. Meanwhile, Zack checked the temperature of the girl, who seemed very anxious.

Thomas started. "So, actually…"

---

Jack hummed when Thomas finished his story. It was not very clear; Jack assumed that was because the Mayor was still surprised by the sudden appearance of the girl, but he could summarize it well enough.

It seemed that Zack had found the girl on the shore that morning when he was back from the supermarket, and gone to tell the Mayor about the news. He had carried her to a safe place, which is Jack's house, and after laying the girl on the bed, the two of them ran back to Thomas' house to take some medicines that might help. When they arrived, Jack had already sitting there and the girl had regained her consciousness.

Thomas said that the clinic had been closed when they had arrived there, so they brought the girl to Jack's house instead. Your place was the only thing that went into my mind, was what Thomas said.

Jack glanced at the girl, who was finally able to sit. The girl seemed to notice this and turned her head to face Jack. Her blue eyes were clear, and her cheeks had its color back. Jack quickly averted his eyes and looked back at Thomas.

Thomas turned to the girl and said, "But, what happened actually? We were very surprised when we found you lying unconscious on the shore…"

The girl seemed lost in her thoughts for a moment. She gazed at the empty spot on the blanket which was still covering her laps, and slowly widened her eyes. Her right hand reached her forehead, as she narrowed her eyes; squeezing it as though she'd get something by doing so. Zack noticed this and asked her if she was feeling alright, but she shook her head in reply. She sighed, and then looked the three men with disappointment. "I can't remember."

"You mean, you lost your memory?" Jack asked. She nodded. The young man, feeling slightly curious, asked again, "All of them?"

This time, the girl shook again. "I do remember some things, but those are very limited and I—"

She stopped, and blinked. "I remember it now! I think I fell from this large ship into the ocean, and…" she held her breath and paused. "…and then I was awake in this room."

Jack loosened his shoulders. So she had been thrown out to the ocean, it seemed. Mayor Thomas asked some questions again about her hometown, her family, her past… but none of those were answered. She kept shaking her head for reply.

"But this is a problem…" Thomas curled his eyebrows, seemingly worried. He put his handkerchief back into his pocket. "Where should you stay? I didn't recall this town to have any empty house for you to live."

"Why don't just stay here with Jack?" Zack asked. Jack opened his mouth in shock even before Zack could finish his line. A young man lives together with a young girl, under the same roof? That would be a trouble, to both of them. He could imagine the townsfolk gossiping about Jack spreading the bad habit of a big city in their small and peaceful town. Jack quickly shook his head in disagreement and voiced his opinion. Mayor Thomas nodded, and Zack tried to figure another way.

"She could stay at the inn!" Zack exclaimed quickly. But Mayor Thomas shook his head again, this time slower. "I don't know… I suppose that she doesn't have any payment card for the rent."

And so, the three of them went silent, busy thinking of another alternative; when suddenly a soft voice broke their thoughts. "I'm sorry."

Jack turned his face to hers, and saw the young girl smiling wearily. "I guess I've been making nothing but trouble to you all," she said softly. "I'll recover soon, so I would be really happy if you could just let me stay until I'm able to walk and I'll leave this place right away."

None of them spoke a word. Both the Mayor and Jack seemed to regret what they had said before, while Zack seemed flustered. They should have had known that it wasn't very polite of them, to talk as if she hadn't been there. The girl looked again at the empty spot on her laps, expressionless. The room was filled with an awkward silence, for none of them knew what to tell her; but not with Jack. He had been silent because he wanted to figure something out for her, but he wondered why no one encouraged her. He watched the situations and finally knew that it should be himself, or no one would.

"If the problem's just about paying the rent for a room at the inn, I guess I still could mend for that, though," Jack said, breaking the icy tense. Everyone in the room turned their heads to him. Jack was fluttered. He really didn't mean to brag about his wealth or something, in fact, he only deposited a little money enough to make a standard living in the town. He didn't want them to misunderstand, so he added some more sentences. "I mean, I have a farm here, you see. It may seem abandoned right now, but I'm sure it will improve gradually if I work hard. I will share some of the payments to you, so you could still live here. How's that?"

The girl slightly opened her mouth as a response; she seemed surprised. On the other hand, Mayor Thomas found his spirit back and quickly exclaimed, "That's a brilliant idea, Jack!"

Jack smiled, feeling a little bit embarrassed. The girl swallowed and found her voice in her throat again. "Using your payments?" she asked, sounded as if she has had won a lottery.

"But I guess Jack's alone won't be enough…" said Zack. Mayor Thomas laughed at this and tapped on the big guy's hand. "That's fine! We'll ask everyone in the town to help, too!"

"Everyone in the town??" the girl's voice rose as she opened her mouth in a total shock. "I can't let you do that! It's like I'm… No, they would be troubled if they do so! Please don't, I don't want to—"

"Naah," Mayor Thomas giggled and looked at the girl gently. "I'm sure they'd understand. We are a nice people, you see." And then he laughed again. The girl bit her lips and seemed troubled. After Mayor Thomas managed to control his breath, she spoke again.

"If that's the case, then please let me do the work, too," she looked at their eyes with full of determinations. "I can't just accept your kindness. I want to return it too."

She then smiled; this time it was truly from her heart. Zack giggled, so did Thomas. Jack himself smiled; he soon felt the warmth came over them and also in his heart. Later, Jack asked the girl to come with him. He wanted the owner (whom he recalled named Doug) to see the girl and talk to her so he might consider to let her stay. The blonde girl nodded in agreement and joined him soon after Mayor Thomas and Zack had left the house. Along the way, Jack showed and pointed some houses just like Mayor Thomas done to him. She repeated every each of the names and processed the new information in her head; it almost seemed as if she was preventing another memory-loss by doing so.

A breezing wind blew softly on them, and Jack inhaled as much as he could; filling his lungs with the fresh air he had rarely got back when he had still in the city. Jack told her a little about the differences between the city he had used to live and the town they currently in. The girl said that she really didn't understand about the city things; but she voiced that if what Jack had told her was true then she would chose to live in Mineral Town, too.

As if something rang a bell in his head, Jack remembered something and asked whether the girl remembered her name. She smiled again and answered with her usual clear voice, "It's Claire."

Finally, Jack pointed a large building not so far away from them. A big signboard was placed above the main door, and the writing says: "INN". Jack carefully opened the door and the two of them went in.

---x:o:x---

To be continued.

Next on Two Lives:

"I'm Karen. Pleased to meet you," she greeted. They spent the day, even the night, together. For the first time, Claire will observe the town all by herself, with Jack's card in her pocket. Some new meetings and Jack will hang his mouth open when he sees the girl on his farm.

"Two Lives Record 2: A Place to Stay". Read and review, please!