Chapter 6

Happy Birthday

Summer 3, 2005 (Friday)

After taking care of the animals for the day, Trei takes a trip to Mineral Town. Even though he has been to Mineral Town before, this will be the first time going there since he woke up last Spring. The trip to Mineral Town took longer than expected since he is not sure of the way to get there. He needed to ask for directions several times before he arrived.

Muffy and Trei has not yet seen each other since yesterday. He feels that she needs some space before he can talk to her. All he knows that he hopes that his plan works out the way he plans. Not only is his marriage at stake, but also his chance to return home.

Trei has no idea where he is going in Mineral Town. It felt even more complicated than when he first found himself in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Mineral Town is closer to a city than the vast village where he lives. Houses and shops are more crammed together, and villagers can be seen walking around more often.

He tries to look around, but he ends up walking in circles. Walking randomly is not getting him anywhere, so he decides to ask for directions. The first person he finds at that point is an orange haired young man with a cap.

“Excuse me,” he said to the orange haired man hoping to get some answers. “I'm sorry to bother you, but do you know how to get to the blacksmith shop?”

The orange haired stranger turns around and faces him. He smiles as he says, “Hi there Trei. I should have known that you'd be visiting around this time.”

Trei stares at him awkwardly surprised that he knows his name. “Err. . . Are you Saibara?”

The orange haired man laughs, and pats him on the shoulder. “Of course not! It's me, Grey! Don't tell me that you forgot about me already!?”

“Um, no! Of course not,” answered Trei with an awkward smile. “I was just kidding with you.”

Grey starts walking off saying, “you must be here for a gift for your wife. Come with me, I'll take you to the blacksmith shop.”

The diary only mentioned Saibara, Grey is an unexpected Surprise to Trei. He feels relieved that Grey did not ask any questions about why didn't he know the way to the blacksmith shop. After walking for several minutes, Trei finds himself in front of a shop next to a farm. They walk in to find a very elderly looking man with a huge white beard and green clothing.

The old man smiles and says, “why, hello there boy! You're a few days late this year!”

“Good afternoon. . . Saibara?” greeted Trei unsure if the old man was the correct person.

Saibara walks over to the tools labeled “Jewelry Crafting” and says, “so, I assume that you want another gift for your wife at home, eh?”

Trei lets out a sigh of relief knowing that he has found the right person. “Yes, but I have a special request in mind.”

“And what may that be?” asked Saibara.

“You see, Muffy and I are having some trouble in our relationship lately. I need something special to make it up to her. Especially since none of what happened is her fault.”

“I see,” said Saibara pacing around the shop thinking about the situation. “You two are a young couple after all. Disagreements are natural in a marriage. For a case like yours, I recommend a ring. Something to remind her of your everlasting love. Trust me, she'll listen to you.”

“Great! How much would that cost?” asked Trei.

Saibara fidgets with the tools. “Rings can be quite expensive. But I'll knock off half the price if you get the gold yourself. I'll just charge the forging fee.”

“Thanks!” cheered Trei. But after thinking for a moment, he realizes that he does not know the way to the mines. Asking for directions is not the best idea, but he doesn't have any choice but to do it anyway. His time is very limited after all. “Can you point me to the directions of the mines?”

Grey steps in and says, “I'll take you there. I have to do some mining anyway. Just follow me.”

Before they head out to the mines, they grab hoes and hammers. Trei has never mined before, so all he can do is hope for the best. Since Grey is with him, he can just follow by example. They walk through the local farm in order to get to the forest behind. Inside the forest, they find a lake next to an open air hot spring. They go underneath a nearby waterfall to find the hidden entrance of the mines. He feels lucky that Grey escorted him because he would have never found it on his own.

Grey starts tilling the ground looking for ores. Grey insructs Trei to start hammering some boulders. They spend a good five hours digging around and breaking stones. Trei becomes so tired that he is close to passing out. Just as he is about to give in, he hits a vein of gold. The vein has more than enough gold to make what he needs.

After collecting the gold, Trei decides it is time for him to head back to the shop to have the ring made. Grey decides to stay behind and mine some more. After thanking him for his help, Grey stops Trei. “Wait a second! I have something that will help you!” Grey pulls out a small clear crystal from his pocket and tosses it to Trei. He catches it, and stares at it for a moment. “It's a diamond. Ask Saibara to make a diamond ring instead of a plain one. After all, diamonds are a girl's best friend!”

“A DIAMOND!!!” screamed Trei. “Why are you just giving me one of these!?”

“To tell you the truth, I sometimes argue with my wife too. So I know what you're going through. I had Saibara make a diamond ring for her a while ago, and it made her very happy. Knowing your wife's little hobby, she'll be very happy with it, trust me.”

“Thank you very much,” bowed Trei. “You've been so helpful, how can I ever repay you?”

“It's no problem. You are our friend after all, and friends help each other.”

Trei feels lucky to have such good friends that he can rely on. When he first arrived in Forget-Me-Not Valley, he didn't know anyone. But Lumina gives him support when he needs it. Now he has Grey and Saibara who are helping him when he needs it the most.

Trei goes back to the shop and hands over the materials. Saibara nods and assures him that he can make the perfect ring for Muffy. He also says that he needs two days to be able to mold the gold into the ring shape and cut the diamond. Luckily, it will be done in time for Muffy's birthday.

Summer 5, 2005 (Sunday)

At 5:00pm, Grey delivers the ring to the ranch in Forget-Me-Not Valley. The house is completely set for the birthday party. Cooking all the food was hard for Trei, but he followed the recipe book to the best of his abilities. He wanted to ask for help, but he feels that he needed to do this alone. All he needs to do now is to get Muffy back.

He walks into the Blue Bar. Griffin looka at Trei sternly, but he is glad that he came to get her. He points him to the back where Muffy sat on the den alone. Muffy is surprised to see him, but hardly happy. She didn't even want to look at him.

“Hey Muffy, how are you feeling?” asked Trei. She remained quiet. He starts to feel nervous, he planned on getting her back, but never what to say to her. So he scratches the back of his head and says the first thing that came to mind. “So, where's Myo?”

“She's in my old bedroom playing with her toys,” answers Muffy.

“Oh, that's nice. She's really cute when she plays with her toys. I could just watch her for hours, and-”

Muffy interrupts his idle chit chat, and asks, “so, where have you been for the last few days? Having fun with that rich girl?”

Trei knows where she is going with this conversation. Instead of making excuses, he takes a deep breath and says, “I'm sorry about what happened between me and Lumina. I know what it looked like, bit I swear I'm not having an affair. She just tripped, and I caught her.”

Muffy finally looks at him, but with a frighteningly serious face. “Care to explain why were you with her in the first place? . . Alone?”

“Your birthday was coming up, so I needed some advice on a good gift,” he answered.

“That doesn't make any sense! She doesn't know me, so why would you go to her? Are you telling me you don't know your own wife well enough that you need to rely on other people?” Muffy turns away again and yells, “if you are going to lie to me, then just go away!”

Trei understands why she is acting the way she is. If he was in her shoes, he would most likely react the same way. Telling her the honest truth about traveling 5 years into the future is a bad idea. He thought about telling her the same story that he gave Lumina, but he feels that lying would just make things worse.

But he also knows that he can't just give up on her. He bravely walks up to her and grabs her hand. The same hand where her wedding ring is on. She tries to pull it away, but he is not going to let her go easily.

“Muffy, listen to me,” said Trei in a calming and brave voice. “On the first day of Spring, 2001, we made a promise to each other. We both promised that we would love each other forever. Do you remember that promise?”

Muffy tilts her head down and says, “yes, of course I do.”

Trei continues, “I want to keep that promise. Lumina is just a friend of mine. But I married you, not her. She can never replace you, ever.”

Tears start to drip from Muffy's emerald eyes. As she weeps, she admits, “Trei, I want to believe you. . . But I can't. Please, just leave me alone.” Old memories of her first heartbreak haunts her mind. She is confused at to what to do, her judgment is clouded. She fears that returning with him would just break her heart eventually.

Trei finally releases her hand. He is about to give up on her. He feels at that moment that he lost her for good, getting her trust back would be impossible. He begins to walk away, but stops from the past memories of his own. Plus what he remembers how he felt in his diary.

“Muffy, did you know that if I didn’t marry you, I would have never married at all?” asked Trei.

Muffy gasped at the shock of hearing his confession. She turned back at him and stared at her husband's back. She becomes very curious and asks, “what did you say? But why?”

“Before I met you, I never had a girlfriend or even a girl that I liked. After my parents divorced, I was so hurt that being involved in a relationship of any kind scared me. However, that changed when I met you. I don't know how it happened to tell you the truth. But when we met, we got along so well. Everything happened so suddenly, I fell in love with you so quickly. It was my first time, I even asked you to marry me that fall. But you turned me down.

“I. . . Had a chance to ask Lumina to marry instead. But I couldn't get you off my mind. I was so torn up, that I wanted to leave the ranch and forget that I was ever in love in the first place. But five days before I left, You came to me. I proposed to you a second time, and you said yes. If I had left, I would have gotten a job in the city like I wanted getting paid well. But if I did, I would have never known what it would be like to be loved by someone. Or to have a family of my own.

“Muffy, you gave me a life I never would have imagined having. I thought I would be single forever. Then you came into my life and changed all of that.”

Trei turns around and walks back to Muffy. His words comforted her enough to allow him to approach her. Tears continues to fall from her eyes as she watches him walk back to her. As soon as he got close enough, he takes out the small wrapped box from his pocket and gives it to her. She opens the box to find a beautifully crafted golden ring with a brilliant diamond bonded to it. That moment, Muffy is able to finally overcome her old painful memories, and remember why did she fall in love with him. She remembers that he is different, and he will not leave her.

Muffy hold the ring close to her chest and says, “Trei, I'm sorry. I let my old memories get the best of me, and jumped to the wrong conclusion. How can I call myself your wife if I can't even trust you?”

“Please don't take all the blame. This was mostly my fault. I have not been thinking straight either, and I made you upset so many times this year. I promise that I'll start acting more like a husband, and not a stranger.”

Overjoyed, Muffy jumps up and embraces Trei. They share a long tender kiss for the first time without Trei jumping out of the way. Afterwards, Muffy gets Myo, and all three of them returns home. Griffin smiles as he watches them leave as a happy family.

At home, Trei has another surprise just for Muffy. The house is fully decorated from the inside, and lots of food is prepared to celebrate Muffy's birthday. Touched by Trei's surprise, tears of joy continues to fall from her eyes.

“Happy birthday Muffy.” said Trei.

Muffy hugs Trei again and says, “Oh Trei. I'm so glad that I married you. I love you!”