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Chapter Text

The bus ride was bumpy and long. Daisy's headphones and died and all she had to listen to was the rumble of the bus and the wind blowing her long dark hair in the wind. Moving back to her grandpa's old farm had always been a dream. she always thought it would be just that, a dream. Then one day an angel, dressed in a sharp black suite, walked into her cubical at Joja Corp. and handed her the letter that would change her life.

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"Congratulations Ms. Daisy, you are officially the proud owner of Honey Blossom Farm." He had her sign a few papers, shook her hand and was on his way. Along with the deed to the farm was a sealed envelope, on the front was just her name, wrote in the flowy cursive writing she knew to be her grandpa's. As she sat in her grey and blue cubical she held her breath and opened the letter.

Hello Bean Sprout,
 
If you are reading this, then I have passed. I am so sorry for the way things turned out and I am sorry for the things your mother put you though. I did not do enough for you in life, so hopefully I will be able make up for that in death. I am leaving the farm to you. I know this will ruffle some fathers, but if anyone in this family deserves it, it's you. Show that mother of yours how strong you are. You have your my determination and your grandma's kind sole. I know you will do great things. 
 
Happy Eighteenth Birthday Bean Sprout,
Love Grandpa Al. 

A tear formed in the corner of her eye, 'better late than never I suppose' She thought to her self. It was actually her twenty fourth birthday. The only hint that such a day existed was a generic blue and yellow card from JoJo Corp wishing employee 24601 a Happy Day of Birth. Seeing her grandpa's letter  had given her just the confidence she need to make some changes. That same day she quite her job, packed her bags, and made the move back to the only place that ever truly felt like home, Pelican Town. 

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As the bus came to a slow stop she felt nervous for the first time. She knew nothing about farming or raising animals. She didn't even know what the farm would look like. Last she saw the place she was only fifteen or sixteen and it was starting to fall apart then. It didn't matter, this was her chance at the life she always wanted. A life away from her mother, away from the noise of the city and the horrible people that walked the streets. Away from the boring life she created for herself in order to escape the life she came from. 

Getting off the bus, with a duffle bag over her shoulder, she was greeted by a red haired women with the large welcoming smile.
"Hello! Daisy right? Goodness I haven't seen you since you were waist high" and she pulled Daisy into a big hug. Normally Daisy preferred not to engage in physical touch, but she could make an exception for Robin. 

"Robin Hi! I have missed you so much! You have no idea how happy I am to be back." This was the happiest Daisy had felt in years. A combination of the clean crisp air and the warm arms of a familiar face made all her fears wash away. 

"Come, I'll walk you to the farm. Mayor Lewis is meeting us there he wanted a chance to say hello when you got here." 

The two women started walking towards the farm, catching up with each other, trying to make up for lost time.

"By the way, I tried to keep the house in best shape as I could since Al's passing. I knew had planed on giving it to you one day and wanted to make sure you still had a house to move back to."

As they walked into the clearing Daisy could see the house for the first time in years. It had not changed much, a simple one bedroom farm house, built by her Grandpa Al.

"I haven't done much to it over the years, just basic maintenance."

"Robin you didn't have to go to the trouble!" Daisy exclaimed, she was not use to others being kind to her, and she could not help but feel unworthy of the trouble.

"Oh nonsense, it was nothing. Took no time out of my day over the years. Plus it keeps Al from haunting me for not looking after his favorite grandkid." Robin chuckled, her red bangs falling into her face. 

Just then an older man with grey hair wearing a newsboy hat and a thick grey mustache walked down from the front porch of the house.

"Welcome! You must be our new farmer Daisy! I cannot tell you how happy I am to see someone take over Honey Blossom Farm. It was always a staple of the community. I am Lewis, Mayor of Pelican Town." and he reach out and hand to shake Daisy's. 

"Oh, uh hello," She reached out and returned the gesture. "I just hope I can fill my Grandpa's shoes." She wanted to sound confident but knew they could hear the nervousness in her voice. 

"Yes, yes, I am sure you will do great things," Lewis continued "The land will need some work as you can see, it has gotten, over grown with Al not around. Oh would you look at the time. So many Mayor related things to take care of, very nice to meet you." and he hurried off south of the farm. 

"Well I will get out of your hair so you can get settled in, I'm sure your tired after your ride in. Oh, and before I forget, If you need repairs done on the house or barns built feel free to reach out. I'm just up the way still in the mountains." Robin's smile was warm and inviting as she gestured towards the mountain pass north of the farm. 

"Thank you so much, by the way, um does Sebastian know that, that I am back in town?" Daisy's voice trembled a bit asking. Her and Sebastian were so close at one point, surely he was as excited to see her as she was him, right?

"Oh, well, yeah he knows." Robin's answer was slow and calculated. Something was wrong and she was trying not to let Daisy in on what it was.

"Oh ok, well  can you give him my number then? Have him shoot me a text, I would love to catch up." She dug around in the bag over her shoulder and found a crumpled piece of paper and a pen and scribbled down her number and nervously handed it to the older red haired women in front of her.

"Sure thing dear." Her demeanor changed from warm and inviting, to more reserved and worried with just one little question. Her smile once big and bright, was suddenly soft and filled with empathy. As she watched the carpenter walk home she could not help by think about the last time she talked to Sebastian. They were so close back then, did she do something to make him mad, maybe he just got sick of waiting around for a childhood friend to show back up. Daisy had tried to reach out to him over the years, writing letter after letter. What if he was lying and never wanted to stay in touch in the first place. Maybe, maybe her mother was right. She shook her head and told herself 'no, not here, she will not control me her.' and made her was to the front door. There was more pressing matters to attend too. 

The small farm house was filled with a mixture of old furniture and books, as well as a mountain of cardboard boxes. Most of Daisy's belongings were shipped to the house before she arrived, only carrying the essentials on the bus. As she looked around the house and stared to inspect the boxes for the more import items she noticed one box that did not look like the others. It was smaller, with a return address she did not immediately recognize, that was until she saw the name above the address, Mommy. 'really? not even going to put your name?' Daisy rolled her eyes and found a dark corner to throw the box into. Nope, not today. Today was about escaping, it was about starting new. No amount of her mother pretending to be worlds best mom was going to make her acknowledge her existence. 

Daisy turned to the bag she had tossed inside, carefully taking out the few things she owned that considered important. Sitting on top was a framed photo her grandpa had taken the last summer she spent at the farm. On one side was was a ten year old Daisy sitting near the farm pond with a small red haired boy holding a frog. Both had smiles  plastered across their faces, with a tooth missing from Daisy's mouth, on the other a photo of her Grandpa Al all smile and covered in dirt. She sat the frame on the mantel above the fireplace and let a small smile escape. The last summer she remember being truly happy, the last summer she saw her grandpa. She sat down on her dusty sofa grabbing a old stuffed rabbit out of her bag, clutching it, as a single tear ran down her face.

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The following days were more work that Daisy had anticipated. Before she could even think about planting she had lots up cleaning up to do, trees had taken over most of the farm, and what had not been touch by a tree was covered in weeds, tall overgrown grass, and branches. The work was hard but nothing she could not handle. Daisy found the work therapeutic in a way. Once she had a large enough space for crops she planted her first handful off parsnip seeds she received as a welcome gift. 

After a few days of boots on the ground work on the farm, she made her way into town to buy a few more seeds. She did not have a lot of money to spend, but knew she had to spend before she could make. The walk into Pelican Town was a peaceful one, it was a walk she did with her Grandpa more times then she could remember. Past the bus stop through the clearing, nothing had changed over the last fifteen years. Pierre's General store sat on the east side of town sitting next to a small clinic. The saloon she was never able to go into as a kid sat center, while a cluster of small quaint houses sat around it. 

A Bell rang as she entered the general store. It was an older storefront with wooden floors and paneled walls. Perched at the counter at the back was the store owner, Pierre. 

"Hello, welcome you must be our new farmer!" Pierre was a matured looking man with dark red hair. His glasses hid his shifty eyes and his grin was that of a man whom knew if he played his cards right, the farms success could mean his own success. "It is so nice to finally meet you, and I cannot express how happy I am to see you in my humble store."

"Oh uh hello, nice to meet you to," She was pretty sure she remembered the store owner from here summers with Grandpa Al, and if memory served her correct, Grandpa never fully trusted Pierre quit like he did the previous owner of the store. "I would have stopped in earlier but getting things cleaned up has been more work than I anticipated. I was hoping to take a look at what seeds you had available." 

"Of course, of course, best seeds in the valley! Wont find anything this high quality over at Joja." He gave her a wink and slid a box full of organized seed packets across the counter.

As she studied the seeds and pulled out the ones she wanted, she heard the chime of the door bell, and a set of foot steps walk up behind her.

"Hey, just here to pick up mom's order." a man said as he walked up to the counter and off to Daisy's side. She looked over and beside her was a tall man with dark, black hair. It covered one side of his face, but so much it  cover his blue grey eyes and the piercing in his lower lip. He was slim and was wearing mostly black with tight, dark wash jeans and a slim fit hoodie. She did not know who he was, but fuck was he hot. It was Pierre's words that pulled Daisy back to planet earth. 

"Got it right here Sebastian, tell Robin  I will put it on her tab and we can sort it all out when I see her next."

Daisy froze, how could the man standing in front of her be the small red haired kid she knew from her childhood. This man looked like he was carved by Yoba themself. The Sebastian she remembered was small and almost too thin, he was geeky and full of smiles and sunshine. The man standing next to her was none of that. He was a good eight inches taller then her and looked like he was followed by a rain cloud, not a smile in sight.

"Seb-Sebastian?" His name fell out of her mouth before her brain could think of anything else to say. He looked down at her, confused at first then a small spark of recognition ran across his face. 

"Hey, umm long time no see? It's good to see you again, would have never recognized you to be honest."

"Do I know you?" His response was cold and eyes bore into her sole like icy daggers. His once baby blue eyes had turned a cold steel blue and his face no longer showed any sign that her knew the small woman standing next to him.

"Its Daisy, remember? we use to be-" she began but was quickly cut off. 

"Got the wrong guy. Got to go, got work to do. thanks Pierre" and he turned without hesitating, leaving the store. As the Ding of the bell chimed, Daisy could feel her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. She was right, something was wrong, something was very wrong.

Chapter Text

Over the next few weeks Daisy did her best to keep her mind busy. That meant long days in the field, and even longer days cleaning up the mess that had built up over the years. Sebastian's words should not have hurt her as much as they did, she told herself this over and over. But the fact remained, they did hurt, a lot. She had know Sebastian since they were three and four years old. He had just moved to the valley, and Robin was freshly married with a baby on the way. It was an instant friendship from day one, and stayed that way every summer to follow. That was until her mother came along to ruin everything, just like she always did when Daisy found something that made her happy.

She often found hard work wasn't enough to keep her mind from wondering and occasionally found herself spending her nights as the Stardrop Saloon. It was a warm, welcoming little place ran by a portly man, Gus, that always wore a big smile under his mustache. Everyone that walked in the door was greeted with a booming "Welcome!" Most nights he was accompanied by Emily, who was not much older than Daisy. She worked part time as a barmaid. Daisy faintly remembered Emily from her childhood, she had always been a bit eccentric. Even as a kid she remembered Emily talking about crystals and auras. Emily was quirky, but Daisy liked having someone to make small talk with.

Nights at the saloon were also the perfect way to acquaint herself with everyone in town. On any given night a number of people from the tiny town would be there, ready to gossip and unwind after the long day. Everyone was always friendly, it was a stark difference from living in Zuzu city. Daisy began to develop a routine, say hi to Emily and buy a beer, make her rounds chatting, then back to the bar to sit by herself while she finished her second beer.

This night had been no different.  She was sitting at the bar, listening to Emily talk about an article she saw recently that discussed the healing properties of amethyst, when familiar *ding* of the door bell rang out. A tired man wearing a old blue Joja jacket walked in and sat in his usual corner.

"Hold on to that thought," Emily said holding up a finger at Daisy while making her way over to pour a beer and hand it to the man.

"Here you go Shane, nice and cold for ya." she smiled at him, he grunted back.

"Wait, that's Shane?" Daisy said quietly to the blue hair barmaid as she walked back over. 

Shane was one of the few people she remembered sending time with that was not Sebastian. He was older than her and lived just south of the farm with his aunt Marnie. The Shane he remembered was athletic built and full of hope. Even at fifteen he talked about how someday he was going to move to Zuzu city and play professional gridball. "I'm gonna make it on to the Tunnelers you just wait!" he would say while tossing the ball to Daisy in her grandpa's field. She liked spending time with Shane, he never made her feel like a little kid, or a dumb girl like other teens did, she was always just Daisy. 

"Yep," Emily replied her, face was soft an apathetic at her mention of Shane, quickly switched over to a sly grin, directed straight at Daisy, "You should go say hi, oh and take this with you. Tell him its from you, no charge to you of coarse." she winked and handed Daisy a fresh poured beer. She knew Emily was up to something but was honestly to tired to try and figure out what, instead took the beer and walked towards Shane.

"Hey, been a while huh?" She tried to make the hello as casual as possible, but his cold soulless stare made it hard. 'why was he so scary, what happened to him?' she thought.

"Do I know you." It was more of a statement than a question. His voice was gruff and tired sounding. 

"Umm, its Daisy, I moved into the old Farm? We use to talk as kids." nervously she handed him the beer, "I come bearing gifts!" 

"Right..." he took the beer and gave her a apprehensive look, "What do you want?" his face was sour and confused.

"Well, just to say Hi I guess. Its been a long time, thought it might be nice to catch up."

"Yeah not happening, I don't do small talk. Go away." and he shooed her away finishing one beer to start on the next. Daisy walked back over to her spot at the bar and looked at Emily. 

"Hey Em, did I say something wrong?" She was confused. Why was it that every person she was close at one point now seemly wants nothing to do with her? Her mothers words rang in the back of her head 'Why would anyone want to be your friend...'

"Don't worry about Shane. Give him a chance to get to know you. Promise he really is not as prickly as he comes off." Emily's smile made it hard to not trust her words, and Daisy shoved her mother's voice back into a box in the back of her mind.

"What happened? The Shane I remember was so happy. I figured by now he would be playing gridball off in Zuzu City or something." Emily gave her an empathic smile and took a breath.

"Life delt Shane a bad hand, but that his story to tell, not mine." the barmaid gave Daisy a look that made her feel like she knew Daisy could relate. She wasn't sure how, probably due to her aura or some shit.

"I can relate to that." was all the farmer was able to muster up.

"You know, He may not know it, but I think you might be exactly what Shane needs. Someone that can relate." An there it was again. Emily was defiantly up to something.

 The more she watched Shane, sitting in the corner by himself, drinking beer after beer, the more she saw herself. She saw her first night alone, no mother or shitty stepdad to yell at her, but also no friend to tell her she made the right choice. No one to share take-out with or share bad jokes to forget everything. Just Daisy, alone in an empty apartment with a case of beer and her old stuffed rabbit Grandpa Al had given her all those years ago. She thought to herself for a moment then looked up at Emily.

"You might be right," She said looking at Emily, "Maybe I'll just give it a try."

The next few nights at the saloon, she began to change her routine a bit. She ended her normal trip around the room in the seat next to Shane. Some nights she gave him a simple hello, others she would just buy his next round of beer. The first time she claimed her new spot, Shane looked at her, confused and annoyed that someone dare sit on his side of the bar.

"Can I help you?" He asked, sounding gruffer and more annoyed than he probably meant to.

"No just wanted to see what this side of the bar was all about, you seem to like it over here, thought I might as well." She responded casually taking a sip of her drink.

"Well could you cut it out, people are going to get the idea that I'm sociable." Never looking up from his drink. 

Daisy could hear Emily let out a quite giggle at Shane's protest to company. The farmer didn't move, instead just assured him she wasn't there for small talk and would make sure not to bother him to much. Normally she would have left well enough alone, but Emily kept insisting that she not give up, 'You need to trust me on this.' she would say. Daisy was starting to loose hope in Emily's pleas to keep it up, until one afternoon after a long and particularly exhausting day in the field. She choose to just sit down this particular night, to tired talk to anyone and feeling a bit defeated after finding crows had eaten a large portion of her crops. 

"You ever feel trapped?" the question startled her a bit. Shane's voice was no longer gruff and annoyed, but tired and somewhat lonely sounding.

"All the time. I thought moving back would make that feeling go away. Guess some trauma you can't run from." Daisy huffed and took a big drink. She glanced over at Shane who was looking back at her for the first time. 

"I think this is the first time I have seen you that you're not all sunshine and rainbows," Shane smirked and continued, "Guess you're human after all."

"Sorry to break it to you, you're not the only broken person in the town anymore, one of us is just better at hiding it." and she gave him a wink, finished her beer, and ordered another.

"Careful, that stuff can be dangerous you know. Wouldn't want you to form any bad habits."  his tone slowly became playful as he ordered another beer himself, "Take it from an expert." The night went on and they both sat making small talk and poking fun at one another. It wasn't until Gus made last call that Daisy realized how late it had gotten.

"Oh geez, I better head home, got an early morning ahead of me tomorrow," She looked and Shane and smiled, "and sorry for breaking my no small talk promise."

"It's whatever." Shane shrugged, "just don't expect this every night, got it?" He was fumbling in his pocket to pay off his tab but she could see the faint line of a smile hidden behind his five o'clock shadow. 

"Wouldn't dream of it." She gave Emily and Gus a wave and started home. 

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Fridays was the only night Daisy tried to avoid the Saloon. Nearly everyone in town was there and it became crowded fast. Those were the nights she preferred to stay home and cuddle up with a good book. Emily had been begging her to some out on a Friday night, saying how fun and lively the place was and that it  wasn't just a bunch of old people like most nights. Trying to please her new friend she decided to risk it just this once, exchanging her book for a sundress and sandals. She had to admit, it was nice to get dressed up. Since moving to the farm she had traded most of her dresses and sandals for jeans and dirt. Tonight she took a little extra time to put some loose curls in the long brown hair and just a little natural looking makeup. 

The Stardrop was already busy when she walked in. It was unusual for her to see the place this lively. Walking in she gave a wave to Emily who started pouring her a glass of her favorite ale. She was barely able to pay for the drink before she heard someone yell.

"Hey! Farm girl!" She turned to see the voice came from a blond hair man about the same age as her. She knew his name was Sam but other than that had not yet got the chance to properly introduce herself. Watching him run up, he reminded her more of a golden retriever than man. 

"Oh, Hi, sorry I haven't had a chance to meet you yet, I'm Daisy." She met him halfway across the room and gave him a big smile. 

"Names Sam, I have been trying to catch you for weeks, but your hard to track down!" He barley took a breath as he continued to talk. 
"Mom has been talking about how great the new farmer is and I had to check for myself." he paused for a second, "but I see she left out the part about how pretty you are." he gave her a wink and a faint blush rushed across his cheeks.

"Ugg Sam, stop flirting and get our drinks already" a shorter girl with purple hair yelled from the corner of the bar. She sat on a small sofa near the pool table. 

"I'm going, geez!" He yelled back at her "Sorry about her, Abby can be a bit much sometimes. Hey You should come hang with us, I don't normally see you in here on Fridays." Sam had a smile and a glint in his eye, she could tell how excited he was to get to know her, so how could she refuse?

"ok yeah sounds fun." she waited for the blond and they walked over to the pool table together.

 She reintroduced herself to Abigail and took a seat on the adjacent loveseat. She knew Abigail as a kid but they never spent much time together. Pierre had always been overprotective of his baby girl and normally did not let her roam around with the other kids in town. They sat and talked for for awhile, talking about their interests and hobbies. To Daisy's surprise, she had a lot in common with Sam and Abigail. Sam talked about his band, and how he was trying to get Abigail to join as a drummer. Abigail bragged about how good she was at her favorite video game.

"You should totally come over and play sometime. It would be so much more fun with four people." Abigail said excitedly

"I would love that, but what do you mean by four exactly?" Before she could full finish her sentence she heard a familiar deep voice coming from behind her.

"That would be me." Sebastian's sudden appearance took Daisy by surprise.

Of coarse she was talking about Sebastian, who else would the fourth person be. She had seen the three of them around town together before, but for some reason had let it slip her mind that spending time with Sam and Abigail would mean having to face Sebastian. 

His gaze was dark and unforgiving, as he spoke again, "And we are fine just the three of us." and he turned and walked over to grab a pool stick. 

 Daisy was use to her peers not wanting her around, that was her entire childhood after all. This hurt more though. Her mind raced with the distant memories of her and Sebastian as kids playing hind and seek in the fields and catching frogs in the pond in Cindersap Forest south of the farm. This wasn't right, things were suppose to be different here, he was supposes to be different.

"Seb! be nice, my house my rules and I say she is invited." Abby yelled at him from across the pool table. 

"Yeah Seb, No need to be a dick about it." Sam echoed her protest. 

"Its fine really, I don't want to cause any problems-" She started to respond but was cut short when Sam walked over and threw his arm over her shoulder.

"Ignore him, he is not always like this, Sebby jus gets a little shy sometimes, don't yeah" His tone was mocking as he elbow jabbed Sebastian in the side and let out a laugh.

"Nope, just don't like being friends with liars." His tone was even and dark and his eyes pierced Daisy like two icy daggers.

She was speechless at his remark and Sam and Abigail looked on in confusion. How could he say that? She hadn't even seen him in near fifteen years, how could he ever consider her a liar. What pissed her off even more was how fucking hot he looked with those ice blue eyes and the way he flexed his tone muscles slightly as he crossed his arm over his chest. 'fuck' she thought.

"Do you, do you two know each other?" Sam looked at Sebastian puzzled. Clearly he had never spoke about her.

"Something like that, we gonna play or what?" He made a quick change in conversation moving his stare from Daisy back to his confused puppy dog of a friend. 

Daisy chanced a glance back at Abigail, who was sitting in the same spot just as speechless. She simply rolled her eyes 

"Whatever, can I get your number anyways? Maybe Seb can pull the stick out of his ass long enough to have a game night." and she handed her phone to Daisy. 

Daisy had barley typed out her number when she felt a hand on her shoulder. The unexpected contact made her jump and swing around.

"It just me jeez," Shane stood in front her her holding a two beers extending his arm out to give her one, "Was hoping you'd join me?" 

"I-I would love too," She let out a sigh and handed back Abigail's phone, "I will catch you guys later." and with a small wave and and nervous smile she walked away, following Shane over to the bar, back to his little corned by the fire place.

"Thank you." She whispered over to Shane 

"Whatever, Just don't get use to it ok." she kept quite, even though she could see the smallest bit of red run across Shane's face.