Here is chapter one! This fic started in the Ushi No Tane forums and is complete, I just have to edit the chapters before I post them all! I put alot of soul and hard work into this fanfic, so I really hope you enjoy it!

It's going to be 23 chapters long : )

Oh, yes... please don't judge it by the first chapter... it's gets ALOT darker and more mature as it goes along... there is lots of violence, suggestive material and really bad words. :D You have been warned.

Please review and tell me what you think! 3

Drown Me in Amber

Chapter 1 - Vestige

Professor Carter was hanging onto the doorknob, swinging back and forth with a huge smile on his broad red face. Griffin watched him from across the bar, smiling slightly.

"And…. Hic… I STILL think that this place… erp… Tops them all, old boy!" Carter shouted from across the room, his spectacles dangling from one ear. The professor had stayed late tonight and consumed a total of thirteen drinks. Griffin had counted. He was still waiting for someone to top the record of fifty drinks in a single night.

"Thanks, Carter. Sure you don't need any help gettin' home tonight?" Griffin offered. His voice was mild and low with a somewhat husky tone. Carter smiled and waved messily, still hanging on the doorknob and teetering back and forth. Beside Griffin, Muffy was watched the drunken Professor with a furrowed brow. Her long and healthy blonde hair spilled over her shoulders as she polished a shot glass while leaning against the wall.

Carter slammed the door and everything became silent at once. Griffin stroked his mustache for a moment and then set about cleaning up the bar.

"I hate it when customers get plastered and stay past closing hours." Muffy said exasperatedly as she stepped over to the front door and locked it with a sense of finality. Griffin laughed quietly.

"I've owned this place for thirteen years now… I'm used to that kinda thing…" He murmured, placing the newly cleaned glasses below the bar. Muffy flashed him a half smile and put her hands on her hips.

"You make yourself sound older than you are with that tone." Her green eyes sparkled with humor. Griffin laughed again and looked up at her.

"News flash, Muffy. I am old." He moved past her and opened the door to the back room.

"Thirty-eight isn't that old." She remarked, walking through the open door. Griffin shut off the lights behind him. He looked back at his bar.

The dark lavender light had cast the dusty bottles in a murky glow. Beyond the dark walls, pale moonlight shone in from the naked window. He looked over everything once more, then shut the door behind him.

The room in which they both entered was Griffin's bedroom. The room was sparse, and had two windows against the back wall. There was an old wooden table with two chairs around it, a bed, on top of which Muffy had taken a seat, and a bedside table. On top of the bedside table there was an old radio and a few old photographs in cracked frames. There was a door leading to the bathroom and a ladder leading to the loft, which served as Muffy's room. In the corner of the room, nearly forgotten and covered in dust was a sleepy old guitar.

"Are you gonna take a bath first?" Muffy flopped down on Griffin's bed and turned the radio on. Static coughed out of the old speakers, followed up by the garble of various radio signals spinning by as Muffy turned the knob. She settled on a station and put the radio back down on the desk.

"I think I'll wait until tomorrow morning." He spoke, not really thinking about what he said. He was staring over at his old guitar. It had been awhile since he'd last played it… and it was most likely painfully out of tune. Muffy caught him staring at the guitar.

"Ooh, are you gonna play?" She said, rolling over onto her stomach and propping herself up onto her elbows. He didn't look up but raised an eyebrow. He considered the thought.
The radio chattered away from across the room and Griffin suddenly became aware of it. The announcer's ridiculously fast voice blared out.

"Well, that was 'I just gotta dance' by Ruby Rhapsody we just heard. Up next we got an oldie, but a goody! It's 'Drown me in Amber' from Marine Jazz."

Griffin's heart skipped a beat as he heard what the announcer said. He sprang up from his chair and walked hurriedly across the room as the all too familiar intro cut into the air.

"Hey my love, it's you and me, the wanderin' dark and the salty sea…"

Griffin switched the radio off with a snap. Muffy frowned.

"Heey! I like that song! Why'd you turn it off?" Griffin shooed her off his bed gently.

"I don't like that song, that's why." He retorted, plucking her long blonde hairs off of his coverlet. Muffy looked ruffled.

"You don't even remember what today is, do you?" She crossed her arms and looked away. Griffin froze for a moment and scrutinized his memory for what today could possibly mark.

"Uhhh…. The day before the cooking festival?" He guessed. Muffy scoffed.

"Well, yeah, but that's not what I was thinking of." She continued on. "I started working here a year ago today, don't you remember?"

The memory snapped back into his head with a sudden vividness.

"Oh, of course!" He recalled. He looked up at her and gave a weak smile. "It's already been that long?"

The image of a skinny blonde girl dripping with rain water dragging herself into his bar late one night came back clearly into his mind. He remembered serving her a drink or two. She couldn't hold her liquor at all. After only a few minutes she was crying all over herself.

"How could he just dump me like that!?" She had wailed. The silly little girl had run away from her problems and her heartbreak in search of a new life and only made it to his bar, soaking wet and coming down with a cold. Griffin's sense of morality would not allow an innocent girl to go out on her own, weak and distraught into the night.

"I've been where you are, Muffy." He'd said to her. "I understand…" He wasn't lying, either.

So he'd put her up for the night. Just one night.

"And here she is a year later." He laughed softly to himself. Muffy watched Griffin thinking.

"Hey, I'm trying to reminiscence, here!" She tried to get his attention for a few moments, then waved him off. "Well, I'm going to go take a bath if you're not going to." She walked away and disappeared into the bathroom.

"I'm not complaining…" Griffin said to himself. "Muffy's a good worker. Little bit silly, yeah. But all women are a little bit silly." He lay back on his bed and stared intently at the ceiling. His whole body felt heavy and worn out.

Day after day was the same.
You'll be here until you die, Griffin. You might even die in this bed. The darker part of his mind whispered. You're gonna die alone in this musty old bed

He sighed deeply. This is what it is to get older. Eventually his eyes got heavy and he began to drift off.

"Stupid guitar…" He yawned. "Stupid… Radio…"

--

"I don't see why we have to go." Griffin protested, fixing his appearance in the mirror.

"Because it's gonna be fun… and free food, come on!" Muffy teased her silky hair with her brush.

"Oh, so you want to eat Karen's delicious cooking, do you?" Griffin playfully posed. Muffy looked momentarily sick.

"We can always avoid what she enters." She shrugged. "Come on, let's goooo!" She yanked on Griffin's wrist.

"Ok, Ok." He conceded. The two stepped out into the brilliant spring sunlight. The fragrant smell of flowers hung on the air. Griffin saw people assembling at the beach in the distance. It had been a while since he'd been out in such nice weather. He locked the door and followed behind Muffy who was bouncing along and chattering away.

"You just want to go to see if you can meet a guy who can cook." Griffin teased her. She didn't meet his eye but smiled.

"That's not true." She chirped. They made their way down the sunny slope and past a very odd house. It was fenced off and a huge conductor was radiating electricity. Test tubes and wild looking plants in vats surrounded the metal building. The mad scientist Daryl lived there. He always came into the bar very late at night and muttered to himself while he drank his drink.

The two passed by deep, clear Turtle Pond. Fish darted beneath the cool surface and several trees shaded it. The sun was high and sparkling in the vast blue sky.

"It's hot…" Muffy fanned herself as they neared the shore. "Oh, they've already started setting up."

Down in the sand there were kitchen stations set up. The Mayor Thomas was setting mats and markers on a long table that was reserved for the entrant's dishes. Flags, advertisements and signs were posted up all around the beach area and the bustling villagers were all chatting merrily and looking excitable. As Griffin and Muffy stepped into the sand and towards the collection of villagers Griffin saw the Gourmet, a corpulent blonde man who was to be the judge, talking with a worried look to Karen, a girl from the neighboring town. She was looking very concerned. Soon after he'd finished speaking her expression turned rageful.

"What do you mean, 'makes people sick!?'" Griffin heard her shout at the Gourmet, who cringed. Griffin laughed and turned away, looking around at the scenery. He saw some people who often came into the bar and waved amiably in their direction. Suddenly he felt Muffy grasp his arm and breathed in a bit sharply.

"Who is that?" She breathed, enraptured. Griffin followed her pointed finger and saw a pretty girl with brown hair chatting animatedly to someone. She wore a stylish orange and white shirt with a small green apron around her hips. He stared at her for a moment.

"I don't know… I've never seen her around here before." He told her. Muffy looked up at him.

"What? Who're you talking about? I'm talking about that cute guy! Can't you see him, talking to that girl over there?"

Griffin looked back towards the girl and noticed that she had been talking to a man that resembled her slightly. He had a very clear and honest face. Muffy was pointing at him with a jubiliant smile on her face.

"I haven't ever seen him eith-" Muffy grabbed his arm again and started pulling Griffin towards the boy and girl. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Let's go talk to them!" She sounded thrilled. Griffin had no choice but to comply. He regained control of his own arm and walked a few paces behind Muffy, who was nearly sprinting.

"Hi!" She greeted the boy in her most cheerful voice. He stopped talking to the girl beside him and looked over to see Muffy. "I've never seen you around here before, Mr…" She gestured, waiting for his name.

"Oh, Akira. I'm Akira." The boy turned to face Muffy. The girl he'd been speaking with looked Muffy over for a second, smiling. Griffin could hear Akira and Muffy talking, but he couldn't really focus on what they were saying. She turned to face Griffin and gave him another smile. Griffin felt a little awkward.

"Hey." He raised his hand in a small wave.

"We come from Mineral Town." He heard Akira tell Muffy. "We own a farm there."

The girl grinned again and held out her hand with confidence.

"I'm Haru." She told him as he took her hand and gave it a shake.

"Name's Griffin." He followed up.

"So, how long have you and your wife been farmers?" Muffy questioned Akira. Griffin nearly laughed and wondered if Muffy knew how obvious she was being. Luckily, Akira laughed a bit as well.

"Oh, this is my sister, not my wife. We've been at it for… oh… nearly a year now, I think. It's a busy life." Akira explained.

"Pleasure to meet you!" Muffy shook Haru's hand. Griffin knew Muffy would be sweet to her now that she knew Haru wasn't a threat to her man-hunting prospects.

As the two girls began to chat away, a voice rang out across the noisy beach. The short mayor, with megaphone in hand had stood up on a chair and was speaking to the crowd.

"Hello, everyone!! Hello! Welcome, to the Forget-Me-Not Valley annual cooking festival!" There was a rippling of cheers across the crowd followed by some half-hearted applause. "This contest is going to be graciously judged by the world famous Gourmet!"

There was another round of weak applause in which the Gourmet looked smug and lifted his hands to show everyone where he stood. "And as you all know, any leftover food will be available for sampling after the contest is over. The time to begin is almost upon us, but first I have a bit of bad news. One of our contestants has decided to forfeit for today, leaving an open space for anyone who wishes to compete last minute. If you wish to join at anytime, please say so!" He waited for a moment. Griffin could see Karen looking teary-eyed and spiteful and wondered if she had forfeited or if it had been a safety issue that caused her to step down.

"Well... now the Gourmet will announce this year's theme…" The Mayor handed the megaphone over to the bulging Gourmet. With what looked like a lot of struggle, the Gourmet eventually stood up on the chair and cleared his throat.

"Today's theme will be mixer foods! Please, everyone do you best to make delicious drinks for me, today!" The Gourmet licked his lips with gusto and beamed out across the crowds. "Okay… Begin!" He shouted. Ruby, the owner of the Inner Inn which neighbored Griffin's bar, shot forward to her station. Behind her, Celia the young woman who worked at the vegetable farm was in a flurry to get cooking. Ann, the daughter of the inn at Mineral Town and Flora, Carter's frizzy haired and bespectacled assistant, were working furiously chopping up ingredients.

Muffy turned to Griffin.

"Hey, Griffin, you should enter! You could beat all these guys with your eyes closed." Muffy encouraged him. She turned to Haru and Akira. "He's really fantastic at making drinks. He owns the 'Blue Bar' here in the valley." She assured them. They looked impressed. "That's where I work." She added on a side note while looking at Akira.

"You should go for it, Griffin." Akira egged him on. Griffin shrugged and looked hesitant.

"Ehh, I don't think that's such a…"

"Hey, Thomas!!" Muffy yelled at the Mayor who turned in her direction, looking a bit perturbed. He hated when people called him by his first name, rather than 'mayor'.

"Can I do something for you, young lady?" He asked dryly.

"Griffin wants to enter the contest!" She grabbed Griffin's arm once again and lifted it into the air. Griffin immediately wrenched it away from her.

"Hey, I don't want to enter! Hey, wait-" Thomas pushed him in front to one of the cooking stations and began wishing him luck. Griffin scowled a bit and felt everyone's eyes upon him. He glared over at Muffy, who waved and wished him luck loudly over the low roar of the crowd. He saw Haru watching him intently and immediately turned away.

In front of him were a myriad of ingredients for making all types of beverages. Beside him Ruby was working up a storm. Mixers and blenders were whizzing away all around the cooking area. He soon set to work, pulling up things from the huge pile of ingredients to make his signature "Springtime" beverage. His bartender's hands did all the work and he was done before he even knew it.

At the table up front Flora was standing next to a jar of dark colored liquid that was steaming slightly. It was thick and viscous and looked to have bits of vegetables floating in it.

She smiled dazedly at Griffin and blinked in the light. Beside her Ann was proudly showing her jar of bright colored Pineapple juice. As Griffin placed his entry on the last entry marker, a farm girl called Celia came trotting up with a fine looking Vegetable latte. She was slightly out of breath and wiped her brow, looking satisfied. She had long, sleek dark hair and a modest green dress. Ruby was showing the mayor her fruit juice mixture.

One by one the Gourmet sipped samples of everyone's concoctions. Griffin could hear people calling out various names behind. He was surprised and a little embarrassed to hear his own every now and then. When the Gourmet stepped in front of Griffin the sunlight seemed to lose a little of its strength. He dipped a silver spoon beneath the surface of Griffin's drink and brought it back up to his lips.

He looked very pleased.

"Mmmmmmmm." He rumbled, his great tongue slipping out of his mouth and licking his lips again. He smacked several times and beamed. "Very nice, Mr. Griffin. Very good blend of flavors…" Griffin smiled in spite of himself.

"Thanks." He replied shortly. He watched as the Gourmet went down the line tasting Ruby's and Ann's. When he got to Flora's he stopped short.

"What… IS this…?" His jaw hung open a little. Flora looked dreamily up at him.

"Well… Celia was making somehing called 'vegetable latte' because her specialty is vegetables. So I thought, if my specialty is curry, I should make a 'curry latte', then…" She smiled a bit, encouraging the Gourmet with her look. The Gourmet grudgingly took a sample of the acrid looking mixture. He smiled painfully and nodded slightly, his face turning puce. He stepped away quickly and coughed with his back to the spectators.

"I've made my decision…" He announced, still facing away. He turned slowly, still looking a bit put off. "It was a tough choice between Ruby's fruit blend and Griffin's 'Springtime'…. But I'll have to say the winner is…" He surveyed the contestants once more.
"Griffin!" The Gourmet shouted across the crowd. They all cheered for him. Griffin stroked his mustache and looked at the ground. He felt his face get a little hot and he stepped back into the crowd towards Muffy.

"See, I knew you would win!" She congratulated him. Griffin rumpled her hair a little and she looked annoyed. "Heyy! I spent a long time fixing my hair!" Akira and Haru looked impressed.

"That's pretty cool, Griffin!" Akira patted him on the arm. "I really want to come and have a drink at your bar now." Everyone around the beach area had begun to migrate back towards their homes in the valley.

"Can we walk you back up?" Muffy offered to Akira. He agreed and the four of them started to make their way up the slope. The temperature was dropping as midday was giving way to evening. The sky took on a delicate orange tinge above the horizon.

"Hey, Haru, you've gotta try a drink at Griffin's place and tell me how it is, okay?" Akira spoke to his sister.

"You don't have to ask me twice!" She nodded. Muffy looked over to Akira with a bit of concern.

"Why won't you come in together, Akira?" She seemed a bit upset.

"Oh, it's not that I wouldn't love to. It's just Mineral town is far away and I've got the ranch to attend all by myself now that Haru is leaving. She's moving to the ranch here in the Valley next week, so she'll be really nearby." He pointed off into the distance in the direction of the ranch where an old man called Takakura lived and worked that was a little ways off from the Blue Bar. The ranch's liveliness had been dwindling with every year Takakura aged. Haru nodded again, confirming what Akira had said.

"That Takakura was a friend of our father's. It was always their dream to work that farm together, but dad never got the chance. So I decided I'd do it for him." She sounded confident. Muffy looked quite inspired.

"That's great of you, Haru! We can be friends! Please come drop in the bar after work. If you can get Griffin to like you, he might even give you free drinks!" She joked. Griffin sighed and bit sheepishly.

After a bit more friendly chatting the four of them parted ways. Muffy was still talking in a bubbly tone as they stepped up to the Blue Bar's door.

"Isn't that Akira a cutie!?" She trotted up to the door. "I want to go down to Mineral town this Wednesday and-" She suddenly stopped as if something had just got caught in her throat. It got Griffin's attention. Upon seeing her face he noted that she looked quite alarmed.
She was looking fixedly at the ground with an expression of sickened anxiety. At her feet, laid on the doorstep of the Blue Bar was a letter with her name written delicately in cursive on the front. She then snapped out of her stupor and seized it from its position and proceeded to shred it up as furiously as she could. She looked teary and red faced after it had been thoroughly torn to bits. Griffin just stared at her.

"Do you… want to explain…?"

"NO!" She snapped and turned away from him, breathing deeply. Griffin shrugged, a bit stunned, and unlocked the door. Muffy blustered in and retreated to the back room. Griffin sighed. It was gonna be another long night.