Chapter 6

As Hiro continues to do his job around the farm and through the valley, Pony and Lumina stay at the house all day scheming up a plan to get him to notice Lumina’s feelings. Pony paces back and forth through the living room, while Lumina sits patiently wondering what is going on in Pony’s head. This makes her nervous, Lumina is entrusting her love life with someone she barely knows. Even so, she knows that nobody understands Hiro better than his own sister. She will trust her gut feeling, and let Pony take the lead on this.

Pony then stops pacing, then points at Lumina in a dramatic fashion. She grins confidently as she says, “so my future sister in law, you wish to marry my brother? So far, you haven’t gotten him to fall in love with you. You have been living in this house since Spring, but nothing has happened yet. But never fear, I Pony will help you win over my own brother.”

Lumina nods. Pony then pulls up a seat, and takes a seat in front of Lumina. “So hit me, tell me everything about you. Don’t you dare hold back on me.”

Lumina nods once again, then begins to tell Pony everything about herself. She begins by telling Pony about her family, especially about Romana. The then continues with her schooling, hobbies, interests and skills. Pony also asks about Lumina’s previous relationships, she only talks about her ex-boyfriend Rock. She finishes by telling Pony how she met Hiro and why she fell in love and chose him to be her husband.

Pony falls back stressfully, it was a lot of information to process. She has been listening to Lumina’s story for hours, but she can’t find any reason why Hiro wouldn’t be interested in her. As far as she is concerned, Hiro is a great match for Lumina. She knows that there has to be some reason why they are not dating at least.

“I don’t get it. You are a very smart girl, and you have the grace of an aristocrat. You love to paint, and know how to play the piano. You may be an egg or two short of a dozen, but I can tell that you have a good heart. On top of that, you are very pretty. Any guy would be lucky to have you, but my brother only sees you as a roommate? What gives?”

“I think I may have an idea,” said Lumina nervously. “You see. . . All the things I have told you. . . I haven’t told Hiro just yet.”

“Hold on a sec,” shouted Pony. “You mean to tell me that you and Hiro has been living together all this time, and he still doesn’t know you that well?

Lumina fidgets with her dress nervously as she realizes how silly what she is about to say is going to sound. “Well you see. . . Hiro is always busy around the farm. I just stay here in the house cleaning and making his meals. When he does get home, there is a brief amount of time for us to talk. I would ask him a few questions about him and the farm, but we never got too personal.” She then laughs sheepishly as she admits, “you know, now that I think about it. . . I’ve spent so much time getting to know Hiro, that I never thought about letting him get to know me.”

Pony gives Lumina an irritated frown. She then flicks her fingers against Lumina’s forehead to vent her frustration. Lumina covers her forehead as she cries, “hey, why did you do that?”

“That right there is your problem,” answered Pony. “You’re too much of a sheltered girl. You’ve spent so much time cooped up at that villa, that you never learned proper social skills.”

Pony then stands up and poses dramatically as she says, “if you want to impress my brother, then you will have to do more than live in separate rooms. You’re going to have to get a bit more aggressive, challenge yourself and take risks! Do something unexpected, like sneak into his room in the middle of the night and show him how much you love him!”

Lumina’s face slowly turns red with embarrassment as she is starting to understand what Pony is implying. “Be more aggressive? Sneak into his room?” she thought to herself. Her imagination begins to run wild as she imagines herself doing something like that. She then covers her face as she shouts, “I can’t! I must remain pure until I get married!”

Pony sighs. After seeing her reaction, she figures that maybe a direct approach isn’t such a good idea. She then pats Lumina on her head saying, “just forget what I said, it was a bad idea anyway.”

Lumina moves her hands away from her face to look at Pony. She then whines, “then what shall I do then?”

“What do you think?” asked Pony cheerfully. “You must let Hiro know who you really are! You are not a roommate, you are a girl in love!” Once again, Pony begins to pace around the room, thinking about a way to get Hiro to open his eyes and see Lumina for the woman she is. She then tilts her head up and says, “I got it! The easiest way for him to get to know you is to let him see you do things you love to do.”

Lumina thinks for a moment, then answers, “I could try that, but all of my belongings are still at the villa.”

“Just leave that to me! Meanwhile, I can talk to my brother. You know, get him to notice you a bit more,” cheered Pony. She then takes a look around and continues, “you know, I think I’m going to stick around the valley for a bit. I need a place to stay if I am going to be helping you out. There isn’t enough room in the house for the three of us.”

“I have an idea,” cheered Lumina. She then takes Pony to Ruby’s Inn so she can get a room to stay in. Coincidentally, the room Pony gets is the very same room Lumina stayed at before meeting Hiro. After checking in, they spent the whole day hanging out in the room exchanging stories. Pony shared stories of her life back in Flowerbud Village and silly tales of Hiro’s childhood. Lumina talked about all the good times she had growing up with her family. They quickly bond as they get to know one another better. They hope that Hiro will fall for Lumina soon so that they can become a real family soon.

That evening, Hiro is walking back to the farm with his bag filled with flowers and other foraged items around the valley. He wanted to stay away from the house to avoid his sister at any cost, but he knows he will need to come home and face the music sooner than later. He imagines her waiting angrily at the farm’s entrance ready to drag him back to Flowerbud Village. He knows that Pony has a point and maybe he should return home, but he has been dealing with a lot between the drama back in Leaf Valley and Lumina in Forget-Me-Not Valley.

“Oh big brother,” sang Pony as she sneaks up on Hiro. He looks up at her cheerful smile, which he finds odd considering what happened earlier.

Hiro looks away as he says, “what do you want Pony? I am not in the mood.”

Pony then pokes him on the swollen cheek, which causes him to wince in pain as he hops away. “Does that still hurt? I’m sorry.”

“Of course it still hurts! Why do you have to be so violent? Just hit first, then ask questions later,” answered Hiro.

“You know I got that from mom. But you know, that was your fault too. If you would have called or write back to mom and dad, I wouldn’t have been so mad. You have no idea how hard it was to find you.”

Hiro grunts, but remains quiet. He knows that she has a point, but he will never admit it. They continue to walk back to the farm together peacefully. But the closer they get to the farm, the more Hiro begins to suspect something. He is wondering why she isn’t telling him to pack his things and go back to Flowerbud Village with her. So he runs in front of her and says, “well, what’s going on? You are not going to tell me to go back home?”

“Geez, chill! After spending the day here, I’m starting to like Forget-Me-Not Valley! It’s quiet and peaceful. Kinda reminds me of Waffle Town where uncle Gray lives now. Don’t worry, I already called mom and dad. I told them everything, and that you are okay.”

Hiro is stunned. Pony then casually walks past Hiro, but stops to say, “by the way, Lumina told me everything. You know, what’s going on between you two.”

Hiro sighs stressfully, “what did she tell you?”

“That’s not important. But what I want to know is, how do you feel about her? Be honest.” The sudden question catches Hiro by surprise. He looks down, not sure how to answer. They have been living together for some time, that he just got used to the idea that she is just there. He has not given any thoughts about his own feelings towards her. Ever since they met, all she talks about is getting married. Nothing about love.

“It’s complicated,” admits Hiro. “I mean, I do like her. . . But she wants to get married because she feels like she has to do it. She doesn’t like me for who I am, let alone love me. And I have been so busy with the farm, that I never really got to know her outside of that.”

“I really think you should give her a chance! I know things were awkward between you and her in the beginning, but I think that you will feel differently if you opened yourself up a bit.” She then walks towards the inn saying, “I’m going to be sticking around for a while. I already got a room a the inn. Take your time and talk to her. Just so you know, I am rooting for you two!”

Hiro is speechless as he watches his sister walk away. He has no idea what just happened, or why is Pony so interested in his love life all of the sudden. He then takes a moment to think about Lumina and their relationship. The day they met, Hiro was definitely attracted to her. He found her very attractive and refined. If things didn’t get so crazy all of the sudden, he wonders if maybe things could have been different between them? He then wonders, how does Lumina feel about him? Is she only after marriage, or maybe more?

As soon as Hiro enters the house, he smells the delicious cooking coming from the kitchen. He enters the kitchen and finds Lumina serving a warm meal for them to eat. Even though he came home later than usual, Lumina kept dinner warm and waited for him. He smiles as he looks into her pretty face.

As they sit and eat, Hiro wonders if maybe he should ask Lumina about her feelings. If she was living in the villa, would she still be interested in him? But halfway through the meal, Hiro begins to doubt himself. He looks at his half eaten plate of well made food and wonders, is he even worthy of Lumina’s love? He has nothing to offer her except the farm. If they did get married, will they leave the farm and live in the villa? Or will she leave everything behind and be a farmer’s wife? Either way, will he be able to make her truly happy?

After dinner is over, Hiro marches to his room to lay on his bed. He takes a sad sigh as he remembers what happened last time he fell in love with a wealthy woman. If he is not careful, he could get hurt all over again. He asks himself, what should he do? He wants a sign, something to tell him that maybe he should give Lumina a chance. He then yawns and turns to his side to go to sleep. Tomorrow is another day at the farm.