Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.

Third Wheel

Popuri

Even when I was younger I dreamed of something more than this humble little town. I dreamed of such wonderful places, where the women were beautiful and the men were handsome, places that you could do whatever you wanted without worrying about the whole town judging you or thinking you're childish.

I longed for that freedom… and when I met you, I felt that it was finally in my grasp.

It became so vivid and real when I was with you since you always painted such beautiful and colorful pictures of what the world was like outside of Mineral Town. There were towns where women wore bright clothing and no one questioned them, and places where men and women kissed in public and no one began whispering about it.

I was jealous of you and your ability to come and go whenever you wanted.

And you could cook! Better than me, of course. I loved eating at your restaurant. I probably ran my allowance dry on eating there alone!

"Your food is so delicious, Kai!"

"Thanks."

"You have so many different kinds of flavors! Where do you learn to cook like this?"

"Well, when you travel as much as I do, you tend to pick up a few things." You said with such assurance in your voice.

"Do you ever get homesick?"

You scoffed, "Of course not. I don't get along with my family, anyway." After you said this, it really made me think. How did you not get along with your family? Were you liked me and Rick, clashing at times, but in the end we still love each other because we're family… but, you dislike your family so much that you don't even spend time with them?

I wondered briefly what my life would be like if I were like you… it would probably break my mother's heart.

But every year, you left every summer, promising to come back next year, promising to write. You sent me pictures, do you remember? I still have them. Postcards of beautiful places, those soon became my most treasured belonging. I could dream of a place away from this tiny town, where people didn't care if you're hair was black, or blonde, or brown, or red, or pink. Because they have their own problems to worry about, and you're business is your business, not anyone else's.

One year, it was spring, I remember… Claire moved in. She seemed really different from me, and we didn't cross paths often, so I didn't talk to her much. The first time I really spoke to her was the day Sweetie got loose.

"Sweetie! Sweetie, come here girl!" That crazy hen was running toward the road and I had to get to her before she got out of the yard. "Sweetie!" Suddenly someone lifted Sweetie up.

It was the blonde girl from the farm. I greeted her. "Thanks so much for catching Sweetie for me… Do you like chickens?" She made a remark about not being a real farmer if she didn't. I laughed at that. "Well, if you ever have any chicken questions, just ask my mom, okay?"

It wasn't for a few days that I even saw her again. We ran into each other at the spring. She was actually collecting some grasses that apparently grow in that area when I said hello.

"I didn't know you came here, Claire." She turned around, a little startled and made a similar remark. We sat and chatted for a while before she decided it was time to get back to work.

It was then that I decided it. I liked Claire. She was different from the other girls around here… she reminded me a little of Karen, and I liked Karen. I started spending more time around her, when she wasn't busy that is, and I didn't even realize it was summer until I noticed Rick in a bad mood. I ran out to the docks to see if I could greet you, but apparently I was too late. I figured I would see you tomorrow if I missed you today.

"Hi, Popuri!" May called out and I smiled at her. "I'm so glad it's summer again! I wonder if Kai's here yet." May was so young and even she liked you. It was cute.

We began walking in the same direction and it was then that we saw you. "Kai!" May and I cried at the same time and ran up to you, then I noticed you were talking to someone… Claire?

She had something in her arms that you seemed all kinds of happy about.

"Is that your dog, Claire?" She nodded happily and I felt nervous. I don't like dogs, mostly because they're mean to chickens... But seeing you so happy over the little thing, grinning like that... I wanted to like them too.

May ran up to the pup and began petting it, giggling every time it licked her face. I kneeled down slowly and moved to pet it, when it barked. I screamed and fell down on my rear.

I was so embarrassed.

"Gee, Popuri. You okay?" You asked, your face both confused and concerned at the same time. I blushed and watched as Claire gathered her dog back up in her arms. Claire began walking away and you called out to her. "Hey, Claire! See you tomorrow right? Beach day, don't forget!" She waved her hand in the air almost dismissively and I tilted my head. That seemed a little rude, but why were you grinning like an idiot?

"She's new around here, huh?" You asked me and I nodded. May, I suppose, ended up following Claire onto her farm to see her cows or something. So you and I walked to the beach and we talked for hours...

About Claire.

"How long ago did she move in? I don't remember her last summer..." You kept asking me all these questions about Claire, Where is she from? What does she do for fun? Is she a good friend of mine? Do I like her? Why do I like her? Does she hang around anyone else much? What foods does she like?

"Food? I don't know. It's never come up." I asked, genuinely confused as to why you were just so interested in Claire.

"Oh. Maybe I can find out tomorrow." It was silent for a while as we both watched the sun set from the dock, everything painted golden in its withering light.

Finally I turned to you, "What... What do you want to know her favorite foods for?"

"Hmm?" You gave me a look, as if you hadn't heard me and I repeated myself. "Oh. Just curious I guess. I wonder if she'll stop by often this summer. I could use the customers." I gave you a sympathetic smile for that. Yeah, you really did need more customers...

I muttered, "Maybe if you stayed for longer than just one season a year, people would learn that your food's amazing!"

"Popuri, what are you talking about?" My mother asked that evening. I blushed.

"Sorry, Mom. Just talking to myself!" She smiled and nodded. After our talk at the beach I had to walk home alone because Rick was bound to be rude and say something if you dropped me off...

The next day was Beach Day, the day where you served food all day long for no cost. Your way of drawing in customers, giving them a taste so they would come back for more... Nobody ever came back for more. A lot of people showed up, except for Rick and a few other men from town didn't show up, but that was okay. Why didn't you look happy about it? "Kai, is something wrong? Do you need me to go get something?"

You hesitated, "Um... No. No. Nevermind." You smiled, but as you turned away I heard you mutter, "She's probably just still busy."

She? Who? I wanted to ask, but that would have been nosy of me, so I didn't.

I found out later when "she" showed up. You couldn't stop grinning. "Claire, do you like hot sauce? Sweet sauce? I have some of that, too. What about snow cones? Have you ever had one of those? Have you tried pizza?" Claire laughed and you grinned even wider. "You probably have, huh?" She nodded, "You're from the city after all. Where did you live before Mineral Town?"

You guys talked for the longest time about Claire's background and how she came here and why. I... guess I was a little jealous.

Because she had something in common with you. She's lived in the city and she knows what you're talking about. She's tried all the foods you have and she's been to other cities before that. I've lived in Mineral Town my whole life. My. Whole. Life.

So, yeah. I think it's normal for me to feel a little jealous. But that's okay. Because it would all go away after today, when she had to get back to work, and it would just be you and me again.

It didn't go away.

Even though Summer is a fairly difficult season, Claire still found time to stop by every other day to say hello and get some lunch. And even though she was only in there for no more than an hour, every time, for that hour, you ignored me.

It wasn't fair at all! I've known you forever Kai! Forever! How could you just pushed me aside so you could fl-flirt! With Claire!

I didn't like it. That tiny little jealousy was starting to turn into a big, black, and ugly sore over my heart. I tried even harder for your attention. I wanted you to like me. I wanted you to notice me. But... above all, even though I didn't want to admit it at the time...

I wanted you to ignore Claire. I didn't like sharing your attention with another person, another female. I didn't like it at all. So, I was both happy and sad when the summer ended because it meant two things: One, you wouldn't be paying more attention to Claire than me anymore, and two, I could go back to being comfortable around Claire again. I didn't like seeing her as a rival, honestly. I wanted to be her friend.

So when the day came for you to leave, Claire and I went to dinner afterward and had a good conversation about anything we could think of. And pretty soon I forgot about those harsh thoughts I had about Claire. Pretty soon Claire was one of my best friends. She would let me come over and visit her and she never told me I was a bother. I could complain to her about how my family treated me like a child, or how Rick makes me so mad sometimes, or how I miss my dad...

And she did the same. She told me that her mother died when she was young and that her father was an alcoholic growing up so she didn't get to live with him either. Instead she lived with her Grandmother who was a friend of the old man who owned this farm previously. Go figure. It really is a small world after all.

I saw Claire every day. She was my best friend and ate over at our house often. Because the rest of my family liked her, too. I was kind of waiting for Rick to take a special liking to her, but I think he's always had his heart set on Karen.

I was having such a great time with Claire that summer snuck up on me again. I didn't know it was that time until you walked up onto Claire's farm one day. I ran to greet you, "Kai!" You and I embraced and I felt special for that.

"What, no hug from you, Claire? Popuri gave me a hug." She laughed and shook her head, waving her hand to dismiss his flirtations and got right back to work. Early that summer, Claire was too busy to visit. She was trying to grow twice the amount of crops she had the year before because she was feeling confident in herself. She had also upgraded a lot of her stuff and was caring for more animals now too.

As we walked on the beach you put your arm comfortably around me and grinned, "So, how have you been, Popuri?"

It was like it was just us again.

We talked for hours on the beach, in your shack, about your travels, about the small amount of happenings here in Mineral Town. I didn't feel threatened by Claire, or anyone else, for that matter. It was simply bliss.

Until one day you just could not stop talking about Claire.

"Why doesn't she come around any more?" I explained her situation and you nodded, then after a few seconds you spoke up again. "You know, I really admire Claire. She's such an amazing person, really. Can you believe how hard she works? A lot harder than me, that's for sure." You laughed happily at that and it took me a while to figure out if you were happy about it or not.

Eventually, things calmed down a little bit around Claire's farm, apparently and she came looking for me.

"Claire! What brings you here? How's your farm?" It happened again.

You were paying more attention to Claire than me.

It was only for a little bit though, since Claire had to get right back to work.

I started to notice that you were always talking about how Claire worked so much harder than you did. And you always had that bittersweet kind of smile when you said it. So I decided to do something about it.

The next day I didn't go visit you right away. I had other plans that needed taking care of...

Yes, big plans! I was so excited that evening when I went to show you what I had been doing all day.

When I walked into your shop, I admit I was surprised to see Claire there, but nonetheless pleased with myself for what I had done.

"Kai! Guess what!"

"What is it, Popuri?" You asked and I smiled prettily.

"I brought you customers!"

"That's great Popuri! Bring them in!" I happily went outside and told everyone to come sit and eat... I didn't really think about there not being enough room for all of them. "Popuri! I appreciate what you did, but that's way too many people! Claire, could you help me with this?" She nodded seriously and of course I volunteered as well.

We worked great together, I thought. I acted as the waitress as Claire washed dishes in the kitchen with you. I could tell the two of you were talking while you were working, but I couldn't hear what it was about above the noise of your cooking, Claire's washing and all the other chatter.

Finally it all died down...

"Whew. Thanks Popuri, that was great and all, but I don't think I could handle it if my restaurant were like that every day." I smiled sheepishly. You were reclining in a chair at a table, wiping your forehead with a cloth, with Claire leaning against the counter looking quite exhausted. I supposed she was. "Well, I should get you two ladies home."

I blushed, "Kai! You're really going to walk us home? But Rick-!"

"I'll just say I needed to walk Claire home and you were going the same way. That'll work, right?" You were so clever, Kai.

You didn't even walk me to my door, but I suppose it was a little foolish of me to expect you to.

"Well, see ya later, Popuri." You and Claire waved goodbye as you walked off together. Before I shut the door, I saw you take Claire's hand... and I saw how she didn't pull away.

The next summer, Claire was a lot less busy since she was used to farming and had everything in nice neat little schedules. And she always made sure to have visiting time in her schedules. She was there every day with me when I visited you. Not that I didn't like hanging out with Claire, I just suppose I was being... a little possessive of you.

You were my friend first. You were my dream.

But... that summer my mother's illness suddenly took a turn for the worst. She got so ill she couldn't even manage getting out of bed. Rick and I were heartbroken. Kai offered to help, but stubborn Rick told him we didn't need him. Claire offered to help, but I told her she had her own work to tend to. So it fell on us.

Summer time is our busiest time, mainly because we have to not only take care of the chickens, raising and breeding them, but we have to harvest enough corn to feed all these chicken throughout the year, and seeing as how corn only grows in the summer season, there was a lot of work to be done.

Rick stopped drinking at the inn at night, spending that time by my mother's side instead. I stayed at home, taking over my mothers job, I couldn't believe how much work it was! I never knew it was so hard until this responsibility was suddenly forced on me by my mother's illness. It scared me. Karen practically moved in with us to help out with Rick and my mother and it made things a little easier, but I still couldn't leave the house unless it was to run an errand for my mother, or to tell the doctor to come see her. She wasn't getting better for the longest time and I was so afraid I was going to lose my mommy. Claire stopped by almost daily, to see how things were and to tell us that she and Kai are both praying for my mother's return... but she couldn't stay much longer to chat because we were all just so busy.

Then, my mother's strange sickness left as suddenly as it had come and she was back on her feet just a few weeks before summer ended. She was sorry for being such a burden to all of us. How could I blame her for that though?

Come time for the fireworks fesitval, my mother was encouraging us to go, saying that Rick and I deserved a night off. So we did.

I was looking forward to seeing you again. I was looking forward to telling Claire that my mother had gotten better. I was looking forward to things being normal.

When we arrived at the beach Rick wandered to stand next to Karen while I moved to where you and I normally watched the fireworks together. I waited for you to show up... and waited... and waited...

The fireworks were starting.

And there was still no sign of you... or Claire for that matter. Did you not come this year? Because you thought I wouldn't be here? Was that it?

Aww, you how sweet. I would have to make it up to you guys somehow... later. Now the fireworks were starting and my mother would be disappointed if I missed them.

...After the fireworks were over couples began moving away from the beach, but for reasons unknown I lingered, enjoying the cool night air. It was then that I noticed something.

...You did come to the fireworks after all! You and Claire were sitting at the edge of the dock, talking. I began to approach you, only catching snippets of your conversation, the waves were drowning out the rest of it. All I really caught was a few snippets about this or that, but I heard you say this clearly...

"You know, Claire... sometimes I really do wish I could stay here and be with you." My heart stopped for a second... I saw you lean over and kiss her on the mouth... and I saw how she kissed you back.

I ran from the beach, not caring if the two of you heard me, not caring about anything at the moment. I ran into the house and up the stairs, ignoring my family's calls of concern.

You... never said those things to me. You never once said, "I wish I could stay here with you."

It was always, "See you next year, Popuri!" or "I'll be back next summer, Popuri!"

You made me wait for you for a whole year before I saw you again, but with Claire its, "I want to stay with you."

Why didn't you ever want to stay with me? How was Claire better than me? I knew you longer! I wanted to be with you! How could you do that to me? I hated you and I hated Claire. After realizing that...

I guess I withdrew... I didn't go out unless I had to, and took up helping my mother around the house instead. My mother was fine with it... not that I told her the real reason behind my sudden interest in the family business.

Days turned into weeks of me ignoring Claire. You didn't stay. I vaguely wondered why. Had she rejected you after all? Did you run away?

One day Rick approached me. "You need to stop being a brat, Popuri." Just out of the blue, he said that. I wanted to slap him.

"What are you talking about?" He glared at me hard.

"You can't keep treating Claire this way. She doesn't even know why you're acting like this. She doesn't deserve it." Why was Rick standing up for Claire?

Why was he acting like it was his business? Rick knew nothing.

"Leave me alone, Rick! You're not Dad!" That made he even angrier and we continued shouting at each other until my mother stepped in and told us to both go to our rooms and think.

Yeah. Just think. Think about what? She didn't specify. So I thought about the rude things Rick said about me being a brat. Honestly, he didn't know what was going on in my life! He didn't know anything! Unless...

Rick put Claire up to stealing you away from me!

...No, Rick wouldn't bother with something that elaborate if it concerned you. What else could it be? And how does he even know Claire's feelings, anyway?

Well, I guess he does see her more often than I do these days considering I've been at home for the past who knows how long... And Claire used to come by all the time, even a little while after I started ignoring her... I guess Rick sees it that Claire and I were such great friends... so why am I treating her like this?

But really, why?

Claire was my best friend for the longest time when you weren't around, she was there for me and my family when you couldn't be, she listened to my problems, my hopes, my dreams, and she didn't laugh or call me a silly child, a little dreamer.

I couldn't let you come between us. as much as I liked you, it just wasn't right. I ran down the steps, getting ready to explain to my mom where I was going but before I could even explain, she simply smiled and told me to put my coat on, it was cold outside. I thanked her and ran out the door straight to Claire's farm. She wasn't working, but since it was Winter, I suppose she didn't have much to do. I looked through her window to find that she wasn't at home either. So I would have to wait...

That was fine. I was used to waiting.

So I waited and waited for Claire to show up. I guess I fell asleep on her doorstep and when Claire did finally come home and saw me, it was dark out. Claire called out to me. She looked cold, in her thin looking sweater and a raggedy scarf hanging on her neck. I remembered the time she told me the city was always warm so she was still getting used to this cold weather. She helped me up and into the house, and as soon as she was facing me I embraced her. She panicked, asking if my mother was okay and I laughed, telling her that my mother was fine. I apologized for treating her the way I did, for being a selfish brat, and explained why I felt that way. She seemed a little stunted. She didn't know.

I noticed the modest ring on her finger.

She explained to me that after the night of the fireworks, you proposed, but you had to take care of your other shops first if you were going to stay in Mineral Town forever.

"Oh." Was all I could say. You were supposed to be getting back any day now... the two of you would marry in the chapel. Claire asked me if I would attend. "I would love to."

And true to her word, you showed up before the week was over, looking silly in your parka. I had only seen you in summer clothes, after all. I remember you telling me, "I hate the cold." but looking at you standing there, smiling so happily with Claire in the snow, I figured the cold didn't bother you quite as much any more.

The two of you married in the chapel, just a few days later. The wedding was sweet and simple, which was just fine with everyone who attended. I always thought of you as the flashy kind of person, but Claire was more simple and modest. I sighed the second you guys kissed and Rick, sitting next to me, grabbed my hand and smiled at me. He was telling me I did the right thing. I smiled back. The two of you rushed down the aisle, but you looked directly at me, a grin on your face.

I guess you never knew how I felt about you... Oh well. I would get over it eventually...

So I smiled back.

Author's Note: Ugh! This chapter is ridiculously long! I didn't mean for it to go on so long! I just... Oh well. Sigh. I'm not 100% happy with the way this came out. It seems... I don't know. I just don't think it flowed well. It's hard because Kai only shows up once a year, and I had to find some way to work with that without making it seem like he fell in love with Claire in just one season, you know?

Popuri was a challenge. I think Karen will be a challenge too. And I need to think of something for Mary… So, I'll let you decide. Who should I write next?

Thanks for reading, please vote in a review: Karen or Mary.