There you go, chapter 17! I said I'd try to get another chapter out either a little bit before or after Christmas, and here it is. Happy Almost-New-Year, everyone! Please review so I know what you think of this chapter. Speaking of reviews, thanks to everyone that has reviewed, both with the last chapter and any chapter at all! I love getting reviews from you guys, and they help keep me motivated to continue the story. Enjoy!

A Harvest Sprite's POV

"Goddess, did you just see what happened?" I said as I scampered out from my hiding place behind the Hot Springs. "Those humans admitted their feelings to each other! And not just any humans -- the wrong humans!" I couldn't believe she was letting this happen. The last time I talked with her, it sounded like she was going to make it the red head's destiny to end up with the traveler. And now she was allowing her to fall in love with the farmer? I shook my head as I waddled over to the Goddess' Spring. Maybe she just hadn't seen it happen. Maybe she was asleep or not paying attention. Of course I knew I was just making up excuses for her not intervening in the situation. The Goddess never missed anything that went on in this hum-drum town. It was somewhat calming to my overactive mind, though, if I told myself she merely hadn't been paying attention. She would fix it anyway, right?

"I saw it, Nappy," the Goddess said as she rose out of the pond, deciding to omit the customary flash of light that usually happens when she makes an appearance in the physical world.

"You … saw it?" I said, my ears drooping slightly. "So, you let it happen?" The Goddess didn't respond right away, so I kept talking. "They can't have made it far, Goddess!" I said, pointing my finger, though it was cloaked by my sleeve, in the direction that the red head and the farmer had taken. "Why don't you make the girl break it off or something? Or make her realize her true feelings for the traveler?"

"You're getting ahead of yourself, Nappy," the Goddess replied. "Everything that happens, happens for a reason. I know what I'm doing."

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked in another direction so the Goddess wouldn't see me roll my eyes. She thought she had control, didn't she? Well how come she didn't have control before, when the farmer and his cousin got involved in the first place?

"You disagree with me, Nappy?" the Goddess asked, looking in my direction. I winced, realizing that it's kind of hard to conceal one's true thoughts and feelings when in the presence of the Harvest Goddess.

"I just …" I said, looking for a way to justify my feelings. "I guess I'm just not following you. I have no idea where you're going with this."

She smiled gently, though I detected a hint of mischief, as she replied, "That's why I'm the Goddess, and you're my sprite."

Jill's POV

I woke up early the next morning, a little bit before 6 a.m. to be exact. Stretching as I sat up on the cot that I had been using as a bed, I glanced across the room to see Jack, still sound asleep in his bed. Figures, I thought as I climbed out and slid my feet into my slippers. He was probably still used to the city life, where he didn't have to get up until at least 7 a.m. Oh well, I decided I would make breakfast this morning and leave some for him if he wasn't up by 7:30.

As I walked across the room to go to the kitchen, I stopped and looked quietly at Jack. He looked really peaceful laying there, and he had a smile on his face. It made me want to laugh, the way he had that mushy expression carved in his countenance. I could only wonder, though, when I saw that he had a baseball bat propped up against his bed.

Humming quietly to myself as I scrambled some eggs and buttered some toast, I silently went over the "Make Cliff Jealous" plan that Jack and I had come up with last night before I went to bed. He seemed to be doing a pretty good job of making Ann jealous. Now all I had to do was motivate Cliff to win her back. Even the tomboyish type like Ann couldn't resist a guy who came riding in on a noble steed in order to rescue her. Hopefully any feelings that she did still harbor for Cliff, as small as they might be, would be fully realized when he fought for, and won, Ann.

Today Jack was going to casually ask Ann if she wanted to go to the beach with him to go fishing. If she wondered why, he was going to reply that they should continue their cooking lessons, and he wanted to learn how to make sushi. Then all I had to do was come up with some pointless job for Cliff to do that involved him going to the beach. As I mused the possibilities over, I decided to send him over to Zack's cabin so he could buy some seeds from Won and deliver them back to me. That way it would look like I was helping Jack out on the farm by getting him started with some crops, and Cliff would have to pass by Ann and Jack fishing on the dock. I smiled to myself as I threw the completed medley of eggs and toast onto a large plate. My plan was going to work perfectly.

After I ate my share of the breakfast, I placed the leftovers on the table where Jack could clearly see them, and left a note saying that I was headed over to the Inn to meet up with Ann and Cliff after I checked on the animals in the barn.

I sauntered outside, breathing in deeply as I took in the fresh air. Today was going to be a good day, I could just feel it. Opening the barn doors, I delightedly called out to the calf and the lamb. "Shelby!" I said, and the calf looked up at me. I paused as I tried to remember the lamb's name, but then realized that Jack hadn't named it yet; he was going to leave that up to Ann. I didn't know if she had named it yet or not, but if she did, she hadn't told me. So I just walked over to the lamb myself and took the brush in my hand, combing through her soft wool.

I was in the middle of brushing Shelby when the barn door suddenly opened behind me. Since I was expecting it to be Jack, I couldn't help but gasp a little when I saw Cliff walk through the doors.

"Cliff?" I said. "What are you doing here?" I looked into his eyes as he approached me. They were full of worry and I started to wonder what was going on. I didn't need to ask, though, because he started talking right away.

"It's Ann," he replied, stopping to lean against Shelby's feeding box. "When I woke up this morning and she served me breakfast, I asked if she wanted to do something fun today … like go on a picnic for lunch or something. She looked at me, all confused, and said, 'You mean, as a foursome? With Jack and Jill?' I said, 'No, I was thinking it could be just the two of us.'"

I nodded as I listened, wondering why this was such a bad thing. He'd just gotten up the courage to ask Ann out, after all!

"Then she looked all nervous and said, 'Well, sorry Cliff, but I can't. Me and Jack were going fishing today.'"

I continued to nod, but faltered slightly. Jack wasn't supposed to ask Ann to go fishing until later today. Unless he somehow asked her last night after I went to sleep. Well, it didn't really matter now. At least Cliff knew and seemed agitated … if not jealous.

"So I said, 'Oh. Maybe we can do something tomorrow then?' She only looked away and said, 'Actually, that won't work either.' And before I could say anything else, she kept talking. 'No other day will work for me. I'm kind of … kind of going out with Jack now. Like, we're a couple.'"

I could have sworn my heart stopped when he said those words. They weren't supposed to be an actual couple in order to get Cliff jealous. Just a couple flirtatious moments and dates would have worked well enough. And not even dates; more like half-dates, or quarter-dates or something. But Ann said they were a couple? Maybe Jack was trying to make sure that Cliff really got jealous. He was an over-achiever … or maybe Ann's mind was overreacting and she assumed that a simple fishing date meant they were a couple. There was another reason, I realized, but I didn't want to think about it. Maybe … the voice in my head said, for I couldn't stop it from speaking its opinion. Maybe Jack and Ann really are going out now. Maybe he doesn't have the intention of giving her up to Cliff.

I heard Cliff sigh as I snapped out of my thoughts and started paying attention to him again. "I don't know what I'm going to do, Jill," he said worriedly. "I'd always hoped that maybe Ann liked me the way I liked her," his face reddened a little bit as he spoke. "I - I don't know if you could tell. But I kind of like her a lot. And it took a lot of courage for me to ask her out like that. But now…" he sat down dejectedly on the stable's floor. "Now she's going out with Jack." I didn't say anything, because I was still trying to process in my mind why in the world Jack had done that. This caused Cliff to keep talking in order to break the awkward silence. He looked up at me with big, brown eyes, and said, "You gotta help me get her back somehow, Jill." He paused, and then said, "… Actually I never really had her in the first place. Maybe I should just move on…"

"No, don't do that, Cliff!" I said, leaning down to look at him. "Jack's the flirty type. He might just be messing with Ann, you know? I think you deserve her more."

Cliff gave me a strange look, obviously wondering why I was bad-mouthing Jack like that when he was my own cousin and all. "Well, if she really likes Jack, then why should I break them up? I don't even know if she likes me that way, anyway."

I decided leaning down was very uncomfortable, so I sat down next to Cliff and started talking. "I have a hunch that Ann likes you back. Just call it a woman's intuition." I paused, smiling as I saw the expression he made. But I continued talking before he could interrupt. "I'll help you get Ann back, don't worry. As long as I'm here, I'm on your side."

He smiled slightly, turning to look at me. "Thanks," he said. "But there's only one problem."

"What's that?"

"We only have until the end of the season. Ann's dad gave me a discount on my room so that I could stay for about a year, but the expenses are a little more than I had anticipated … if I don't get a job, I'll have to move on to another town, because there'd be nowhere else for me to stay here in Mineral Town."

"Well," I said, trying to sound optimistic. "I doubt it'll take that long. And if need be, we can find you a job during that time frame. Besides, I said you could help out on Jack's farm, remember?"

"Uh," he said, hesitating. "No offense to your cousin, Jill, but I don't think it'll be anything less than awkward for me to work on Jack's farm with him if I'm trying to steal his girlfriend."

I paused, realizing that what he said was very true. "Okay, you have a point on that one. But didn't Ann say you could work at the Inn?"

"She did," he said, "But I thought about that afterwards and realized that working at the Inn would only pay my rent off. I'd still need money to cover other personal expenses."

Wow, Cliff was smart, I thought to myself. Why in the world would Ann choose Jack over Cliff? The traveler was kind, intelligent, good with animals, caring, protective, loving … wait! Stop it, Jill! I told myself silently. We can't have you thinking about Cliff like that. We're still trying to get Ann back with him, remember?

"Well, Cliff," I said, standing up as he stood up as well. "I'm definitely going to help you out. For now, why don't you go back to the Inn for a little bit? You can come over to the farm while Jack and Ann go fishing, and we'll think of something then."

"Okay," he agreed. "Thanks a lot, Jill."

"No problem," I said as I watched him walk out of the barn door. Once he was gone, I muffled a scream as I stomped my feet angrily on the floor of the stable. No doubt Shelby and the lamb thought I was crazy when my face turned an unattractive shade of purple. Though I didn't say anything out loud, I was screaming in my mind.

Jack you idiot! Why did you ask Ann out like that? What do you think you're doing? Are you forgetting the plan we had? Newsflash, Jack! Cliff isn't that dense! You don't need to go and make Ann your girlfriend to get Cliff jealous! It's not like he won't notice some shameless flirting!

I calmed down as I tried breathing in and out to de-stress myself. It worked fairly well, and I walked over to the little lamb and ran my fingers through her smooth wool.

"Oh, Fluffy," I said, knowing that wasn't her name, and it wasn't a very creative one, either. But I felt the little critter needed something for me to call her by, and that was the first thing that came to mind. "What do you think Jack's up to, eh? Is he just trying extra hard to make Cliff jealous? Or do you think he's trying to make Ann his?"

Fluffy baa-ed in response, and gave me an inquisitive look. I smiled gently at her, and continued to run my fingers through her wool.

"If only you really could talk, girl. I'm sure you'd have all the answers to problems like this."