Final Chapter

The next morning, Pony spends all day plotting out a new idea on how to get Hiro to fall in love with Lumina. She paces back and forth coming up with ideas that will not work. Hiro’s previous love life with Dia has thrown a wrench in anything she can come up. She knows that getting Hiro to drop his guard and open his heart will be a challenge. But she is worried that if the next plan fails, things will be hopeless. So she will need to plan out her next plan very carefully. After some time, Pony just lays on the bed and stares at the ceiling. She just needs a solid idea to get Hiro to notice Lumina without reminding him of that girl from Leaf Valley.

She closes her eyes and begins to recall the day Hiro left home to pursue his career as a farmer in Leaf Valley. He just came back from gathering things from Gus’ farm, then he announced that he will be taking it over. It was a shock to the entire family. Pony and their parent’s didn’t approve of him running the farm in Leaf Valley since the village was getting demolished anyway. But saving the village was Hiro’s passion, so they let him be an adult and choose his own life.

As she continues to remember what happened that day, she recalls watching him pack his things to start his life in Leaf Valley. As he packed, she wonders what will happen to the family and their farm once Hiro left. Their parents are getting older, and they were counting on him to take over the farm in Flowerbud Village. He was packing all of his favorite items, so she knew he never planned to come back home. Her eyes spring open as soon as she remembers him packing something that gives her an idea.

After the wheels in her head start to turn, Pony rushes out of the inn and into the farm. She bursts through the door slamming it open. Hiro already left to care for the farm, but Lumina jumps out of shock. Pony breathes heavily just before she asks, “Lumina, where is my brother’s room?”

Lumina points at the door to the master bedroom. Without explaining herself, Pony rushes into his room and starts rummaging through Hiro’s possessions. All Lumina does is watch Pony go through Hiro’s stuff wondering how will she explain it once he comes back home. She wants to ask what is Pony looking for, but she also feels that this may be something only Hiro and Pony understands.

“I found it! I knew he’d still have it,” yelled Pony holding up a record. After putting away the rest of Hiro’s belongings, she moves herself to the living room to find an old record player. It is dusty and unused for a long time, but Pony feels that it might still work. She places the record on the turntable, then rests the needle on it. As soon as she turns the power on, music begins to play.

Lumina listens to the beautiful melody playing from the record. She closes her eyes and imagines herself in a tall pasture in a warm sunny day. The collection of instruments playing that includes an electric piano, flutes and drums are perfectly in harmony. She has never heard this melody before, but it fills her with peace and warmth. Music which is perfect to play while working on a nice summer day.

As soon as the music stops, Pony nods cheerfully as she says, “‘Mid-Summer Memories’. He has always loved this record ever since we were kids.”

“It is a beautiful melody. But why did you feel the need to find it all of the sudden?” asked Lumina.

Pony grins as she explains, “I noticed that this old record player hasn’t been used. I can only imagine that the last time he played any of his records was when he lived in Leaf Valley.” She then looks at Lumina with determination before asking, “do you still know how to play the piano?”

“It has been a while, but I am confident that I still can,” answered Lumina.

“Well, I need you to play ‘Mid-Summer Memories’ for him. This is his favorite record, something he loved before that other girl came into his life. If you can play it for him, then he will open up to you. You’ll get a vulnerable moment to tell him how you feel,” announced Pony.

Lumina gasps, then asks, “but I don’t have my piano. It is still in the villa, how are we going to get another one?”

“Let me handle that part,” answered Pony. She then thinks for a minute before she continues, “just simply telling him won’t be enough. My brother can be a bit stubborn, so you will need to do something special for him. It’s a long shot, but I do have an idea.” She then points at Lumina and announces, “you must sing to him!”

“You want me to sing?” asked Lumina in shock. “But I have never done that before, are you sure this is going to work?”

“What are you talking about? You have such a pretty voice, and you already know how to play the piano. It’ll be a piece of cake for you!” She then poses dramatically as she continues to explain, “you must write a song just for him. If you sing him a love song while he is remembering a time before he met that girl in Leaf Valley, his heart will respond. You must express the melody that is in your heart. Than and only then will his heart respond to yours!”

“The melody that is in my heart?” asked Lumina. She then imagines herself playing a romantic melody inspired by his favorite record called “Mid-Summer Memories”. She then tells him how she feels in song form. She doesn’t have to sing well, she only needs to do her best as she tells him that she loves him. “‘Melody of the Heart’, I think that’s what I’ll call the song. All right, I’ll do it!”

Pony nods happily, then says, “that’s my future sister in law, I knew you can do it. Luckily for us, we have all the time in the world. But even so, I’d rather if we do it sooner than later. Back in my hometown, we celebrate a festival in winter called the Spirit Festival. If we do it on that day, we can break my brother’s walls down. Are you with me?”

Lumina nods cheerfully. From that moment, the race to write the song called “Melody of the Heart” has begun. The first thing they need to figure out is how to get a piano for Lumina to play. Pony keeps her idea a secret for now. In the meantime, Pony is able to get an electric piano for Lumina to practice on. The sound quality is different, but at least it’s portable and easy to put away before Hiro gets home from work everyday.

The first part of the plan is for Lumina to recreate “Mid-Summer Memories” on the piano. As soon as Hiro leaves the house to work everyday, Lumina takes the record and listens to it over and over until she can memorize the entire melody in her head. She then uses her memory to replay the song on the piano. Once she gets a good recreation, she writes down the score on a sheet and saves it for later.

She takes care to keep the volume low so Hiro doesn’t find out what she’s doing. She hides the piano in her room and practices daily when she knows that Hiro can’t hear her. As she replicates the melody as good as she can using only one instrument, she begins to write a completely new melody inspired by “Mid-Summer Memories”. Something that feels like summer, but has a slower romantic feel to it. Pony checks daily to see how Lumina is doing.

As Lumina practices, Pony takes over the daily chores so Hiro doesn’t suspect a thing. As she works hard around the house, Pony watches Lumina write her song and smiles. She is impressed at how hard Lumina is working so that the man she loves could understand her feelings. As she gets to know Lumina more and more, she knows that Lumina will make a great wife for her brother. She is glad that she decided to stay in Forget-Me-Not Valley.

Pony returns to the inn before Hiro comes home. This gives Lumina a chance to cook and resume her normal behavior. Lumina and Hiro eat, talk, and go to sleep like nothing special is happening. Lumina and Pony decided to not speak a word of their plan to Hiro or anyone else in the valley until the very last day. Hiro does ask about Lumina’s husband search, but Lumina acts casually and tells him that everything is going to be fine. Luckily, Pony has coached Lumina into steering the conversation away so that Lumina doesn’t have to lie. Until the day of the festival, everyone intends to keep things peaceful.

Soon, Lumina is finally able to play “Mid-Summer Memories” perfectly. Winter has already arrived, and time is starting to run out. She has written the lyrics to her song “Melody of the Heart”, but she won’t be able to finish the music in time. Based on the time she has left, she can write a score for a song that is about two minutes long. This means she will need to cut her lyrics down quite a bit to fit the music. As she rewrites the song, she keep all the main feeling she has of Hiro. She writes about his smile, his kindness, and how her love blossoms like a flower blooming in the summer.

As the Spirit Festival approaches near, Lumina’s song comes out beautifully. Forget-Me-Not Valley is covered in snow, the days are getting dark quicker, and everyone is in need of a new festival. Hiro is home more often for the winter, which cuts into Lumina’s time to make any final adjustments to her song. The song may be short, but she spent a lot of time putting everything she feels in it. On the 27th day of Winter, Pony prepares the valley for the performance of everyone’s life.

Pony convinces Griffin to hold the ceremony in the Blue Bar. The setting is perfect; most of the valley is in the bar sipping on warm drinks, the children are asleep, and Lumina finds her grand Piano waiting for her in the bar. The only thing that is missing is Hiro who is still out working in the valley.

Lumina runs her fingers over the ivory keys of the piano. She has a hard time believing it, but this is the very piano she left behind in the villa. She looks at Pony to ask, “this is my piano, how did you get this here?”

Pony laughs sheepishly as she imagines Sebastian back at the villa pounding on the closet door that he is locked in demanding to be let out. Luckily she wore a mask so nobody can identify her dragging the piano out of the villa. Pony never told anyone how she found the Piano outside the villa. She then shoves Lumina on the seat saying, “we’ll worry about the details later. Right now you have a song to play for the crowd. Just start playing while I go get my brother.”

Lumina nods. She then pulls out the sheet music she wrote for “Mid-Summer Memories”, then places it on the piano. She is nervous, but she practiced so hard to get to this point. Even though she has butterflies in her stomach, the thought of her finally getting Hiro to understand her feelings keeps her brave. She takes a deep breath and starts to play the melody.

The villagers of Forget-Me-Not crowd around Lumina and start to enjoy the music. The sweet warm melody causes all the villagers to forget about winter’s chill, and takes them back to a nice warm summer day. As everyone enjoys the music, Pony takes this moment to slip away and go find her brother.

After a few minutes, she finds Hiro coming back from the beach after a night of fishing in the ocean. He will need to pass near the Blue Bar to get home, which fits perfectly into her plans. She hides behind a bush and waits for him to get close. As soon as he does, she casually walks out of her hiding place and pretends to run into him.

“Hey Brother, what’cha doing?” asked Pony acting cute and innocent.

“I’m going home, what does it look like?” answered Hiro.

Pony then places her hands into her pockets as she looks up into the winter stars. “You know, they must have started the Spirit Festival back at home. Remember that one time you played the ocarina for the whole village?”

Hiro chuckles as he admits, “yeah. I was pretty nervous that night. I do miss the festivals back in Flowerbud Village. They don’t really celebrate any festivals around here or back in Leaf Valley either.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could hold the Spirit Festival here in Forget-Me-Not Valley too?” asked Pony.

“That would be nice, but this village is way too small.” answered Hiro.

They both keep walking towards the farm as they continue to chat about their old lives back in their hometown. As soon as they get near the Blue Bar, Hiro stops at the sound of the piano coming from inside. The melody is familiar, which causes him to wander into the bar. Pony roots for herself as her plan is a success so far.

As soon as they enter, they find the villagers surrounding Lumina as she plays a piano version of “Mid-Summer Memories” on loop. Hiro stands there amazed and shocked as he watches her play. The melody soothes him as he recalls a time when he was a child. He closes his eyes and imagines himself in the pasture back in Flowerbud Village. He smiles as he imagines himself relaxing in a warm summer day. A time when he was innocent without a care in the world. In his mind, there is no drama or worries. Only memories of summer time back at home.

Pony signals Lumina, letting her know that she has Hiro’s full attention. She nods, knowing that it is now time to finish the melody and play her song. As soon as she finishes playing “Mid-Summer Memories”, she stands up and bows for the crowd of people who has been enjoying the music so far. She is very nervous, but she worked so hard that she can’t turn back now. She needs to do one last thing before the night is over. Tell Hiro her feeling using her song.

“Good evening everyone. I am glad that you all have been enjoying the music tonight. In Flowerbud Village, there is a festival where the people play music to ward off evil spirits. Everyone plays an instrument and sing together as a community. It brings me so much joy to play tonight, and I hope that maybe we can all decide to start a new tradition here in Forget-Me-Not Valley to play music together as a community on this night every year. If things go well, we can pass this tradition down to our children for generations to come.

“But I also have another reason to play tonight. You see, someone has been on my mind and in my heart for quite some time. Someone who I care deeply about, and I hope that he can return my feelings. We have known each other for a fair amount of time, and we have been though our fair share of memories here in the valley. So I will dedicate this song I will play to that special person so my feelings can be understood clearly. I shall call this song, ‘Melody of the Heart’!”

She takes a seat and begins to play immediately. She has the whole song memorized in her head, and she has no need to put a musical score to read. All the hard work she put in since fall, everything for this one moment. Soon enough, she begins to sing the lyrics to her song. A beautiful song expressing all the wonderful memories she has made with Hiro since spring.

Lumina’s song puts Hiro into a trance. He imagines himself in a warm sunny day; not in Flowerbud Village, but in Forget-Me-Not Valley. He is standing in the middle of the road in front of the farm. It is just the two of them, Hiro and Lumina standing in the middle of the road looking deep into each other’s eyes. Their hearts beat as one as summer flower petals rain from the sky. As he continues to listen to her song, he imagines her walk to him and fall into his arms embracing him tenderly. At that moment, he finally realizes it. He loves her. Ever since he laid eyes on Lumina that spring day for the first time, he thought Lumina was the most beautiful girl in the world. His past relationship has clouded his mind, but Lumina’s song cleared his head. Dia’s memory fades away, and only thoughts of Lumina fills his mind. A talented young woman who wants to spend her life with him. He wants the same thing.

As soon as the music ends in a dramatic yet sweet note, everyone claps and cheers for Lumina’s stunning performance. Pony cheers for her loudly, feeling that their plan was a huge success. She looks at her brother and thinks that if that won’t make him understand Lumina’s true feelings, nothing will. Hiro smiles and claps for Lumina.

It takes some time for the crowd to calm down and go back home for the evening. Pony goes back to the inn by herself to give Hiro and Lumina a chance to talk. She hopes that they can talk to each other and express how they feel about what happened tonight. Lumina and Hiro walks back to the farm together. They don’t say anything as they walk, but they are happy.

As soon as they get home, they hang their coats and prepare to rest. Lumina says goodnight to Hiro and begins to walk back to her room. But Hiro doesn’t want things to end like that. Lumina worked so hard to say how she felt, it is now Hiro’s turn.

“Wait,” called Hiro.

Lumina turns around and asks, “yes? Is everything okay?”

Hiro takes a deep breath as he asks, “your song, it’s about us. You never said who the person you care about was, but I can tell that it was for me. Did you mean everything that you sang about?”

Lumina nods and answers, “with all my heart. I know that things were a bit strange when we first met. But as I got to know you, I cannot imagine my life with anyone else but you. Hiro, I love you.”

“I’m sorry,” responded Hiro. Lumina gasps, thinking that he has rejected the feelings she has worked so hard to express. But her mood quickly changes as Hiro holds her hand and continues, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t say how I felt earlier. I was too afraid to admit my true feeling, even to myself. But I am not afraid anymore. Lumina, I love you too! Will you marry me?”

Lumina gasps once again. This time, tears of joy quickly begin to well in her eyes as her wishes came true. She jumps into his arms and embraces him answering, “yes! Please make me your wife! Not for my family, but for us!”

Hiro then tilts her chin up and kisses her tenderly, vowing to never let her go. Lumina happily kisses him back. They then rest their foreheads against each other and stare into each other’s eyes for a while. They giggle, then decide to retire to their rooms. They have so much to plan and discuss in the morning.

The next day, Pony leaves the inn to check on Lumina. Her fingers cross hoping that Hiro has finally accepted Lumina’s feelings. Everything went according to plan the night before, she is expecting good news. If not, she’ll have to drag Hiro back to Flowerbud Village in case of the worst scenario.

As she approaches the farm house, she hears Hiro and Lumina’s voice chatting and giggling from inside. She cheers as she feels that her plan worked. Hiro is normally working at the farm at this hour. If he is in the house enjoying time with Lumina, that means he has accepted her feelings.

“Hello, how are my two favorite people doing today?” said Pony pretending to be casual as she walks through the door.

Lumina smiles as she says, “you will never believe this! Hiro asked me to marry him!”

Pony gasps, “congratulations!”

“We are holding the ceremony at Mineral Town church come spring. I already told mom and dad. They are so excited,” said Hiro.

Pony rests her hands on her hips as she says, “well, that means we all should be packing very soon. When are we all moving into the villa?”

“Actually, we’ve decided that we are going to live in the farm,” answered Hiro.

“What?” shouted Pony shocked and confused.

“Don’t get me wrong, the villa will always be my home. But as Hiro’s wife, my place is here in the farm. I will be working on my family’s business in the villa during the day, but I will live here in the farm with my husband. After all, we made so many memories here,” said Lumina.

“But what about me?” cried Pony. “I want to live here in Forget-Me-Not Valley too! I can’t live in the inn forever!”

Hiro and Lumina laugh cheerfully together. They already knew that Pony will want to stay in the valley as well. Luckily, they already have a plan for her. “You can live in the villa,” said Lumina.

“Really?” gasped Pony.

“I already informed my butler Sebastian. He is expecting you so you can discuss your living arrangements,” answered Lumina.

Pony rushes to Lumina and gives her a big strong sister hug. “Thank you! I know that you are going to marry my brother, but I love you so much!”

“I love you too,” replied Lumina cheerfully. And from that moment forward, Lumina, Hiro, and Pony live together as a family in Forget-Me-Not Valley. Hiro and Lumina get happily married. Pony helps Lumina with her family business and never has to work in a farm ever again. Hiro and Pony’s parents get all the help to run the farm back in Flowerbud village while keeping the farm in the family. And everyone lives happily ever after.

The End.