Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Saya has been here for a week now, managing to earn a bit of money from the parsnips Mayor Lewis gave her the day of her arrival.

She was still shocked at the state of the place.

Well ten years was a long time... She looked around at the hardly cleared land beyond her front porch, she had barely made a dint in the over grown mess! 

The more she looked, the lighter her head started to feel, she had saved up enough..not like that coop would be going anyway anytime soon.

She could go to the saloon for a short break, she needed to introduce herself anyway...Friday afternoon was happy hour, it was the perfect opportunity.

She showered and dressed nicely, combing her short brown hair out of her face. Fixing it into place with a small light blue bow and changing into a dress with knee high socks to match.

She had to make a good first impression on the townspeople, “you can do this...say hello...stay calm and remember to breathe...” she looked herself down in the mirror before rushing out towards the saloon.

She could hear the laughter from the town square, the smell the fresh food being made. She gently pushed the door open just a crack to peer inside, the place was filling to the brim with smiling faces of new and friendly looking townsfolk.

She could see robin dancing with who she assumed was her husband, while also spotting out of the corner of her eye, mayor Lewis. Beside the entry having a drink while talking to a friendly looking woman.

Saya slowly stepped in, heading straight towards the bar to order something. Before being bombarded by multiple different people at a time, eager to met her.

“hey saya! Nice to see you taking a break!” She flung around to face Lewis standing there with a wide smile plastered on his face, while the lady he was talking to earlier from the entrance stood by his side.

“Hello my name is marnie, I sell livestock just below your farm” she smiled warmly.“Lewis has told me all about you, it’s nice to see that old farm come back to life again after so many years” Saya smiled back at her with excitement in her eyes.

“yeah, I hope I can live up to my family’s name and restore the farm to it’s former glory”

“haha that will be wonderful to see but remember... don’t work yourself too hard and try to take time to relax as well...”

Saya laughed lightly, before catching the attention of other townspeople, eager to learn more about their new addition....

Saya’s attention turned from the crowd as she was called by Gus for her order, she started to move toward the only empty seats left towards the fireplace.

Passing a young man with purple hair drinking a beer, and thought she’d introduce herself.

“hello there, my nam-..”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are so leave me alone.” The stranger snapped back at her. Saya stared straight at the stranger...in that moment she felt the confidence she had just had drain from her body.

His figure was lit by the fireplace he stood next too, he hadn’t made eye contact with her at all yet. He seemed to be staring at her shoes.

She noticed a free stool next to him and slowly took a seat there, waving down Emily to order a beer, a cup of black tea and water.

She offering the tray of pizza in his direction, offering him a slice before continuing on with her sentence.

”I’m Saya...what’s your name?” The stranger took his time answering her question but gladly took the slice she offered before giving her his name.

“Shane”

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Saya had been working yet another week straight until it began to rain that Wednesday, Pierre’s was closed on Wednesday’s so that was out, but she decided to walk there anyway ‘I mean what’s the harm taking a relaxing stroll in the rain while the towns asleep’ she put on a comfy red hoodie and sweat pants because she figured no one would be awake at that time, it was 7:20 in the morning on a weekend... people weren’t even up at this time on week-days as far as she was concerned, she walked down the cobble stone path leading to the town square pant the bus stop slowly slipping her hands into the pockets on her hoodie as the rain feel gently..”I guess it won’t be raining heavily till later on, maybe I could head to the mines or do some fishing....” she slowly came to a complete stop as she saw someone slowly walking up the path beside Emily and Haley’s house... who was up at this hour...it was only 8, she slowly began to recognise the baggy Joja work hoodie...even tho he was looking straight at the ground she recognised who it was. Before long she began to start and the droplets ran through her hair and gently down her soft features, at this point shane had noticed her staring at him and gently flipped his face up to meet a girl he could hardly recognise from the saloon a few days before, but he could recall those big brown eyes staring right though his soul, she didn’t look disgusted like other people and she never seemed to have the pity in her eyes that everyone but Jas seemed to...he could tell she realised she was staring because as soon as their faces met she went beat red and did a full 180 turn towards the bulletin board infront of Pierre’s shop, but he didn’t care he just kept walking like a zombie on the same track he had done everyday before on his way too work he had to get there before Morris was at his throat again for showing up a min later then supposed to but he didn’t even care about that at this point, just go to work, get paid, head to the saloon, then the cycle repeats again. Saya slowly watched as he continued down the path and felt a instant slash of guilt hit her ‘why didn’t you say hi?!’ She pondered on the thought for a second before a note on the bulletin board caught her eye, it was a request...people could make those and post them here for others too help out with...”maybe this can be a good way to make some extra money and fill in the spare time I have today...” she glanced back at the road where Shane had headed off too, before looking back at the paper in her hand gently turning it over and storing it into a small journal she carried with her that her father had given her “I’ll make it up to him later...” she started to head back to the farm to make a list. Saya made a small list of requests people had made and made sure to get exactly everything on the list before delivering it to the person who posted the request, by the time she had finished it was 8:10 pm... she slowly looked around and slowly lent under the cover on Pierre’s store from the rain flipping through the journal checking off everything she made a list of and adding up all the money to see if she had enough to blow at the saloon. “450 g...pretty good for a days work of errands if I do say so myself” she gently flipped through the pages before finding a small letter from robin she had gotten a while back, she gently unfolded the letter and looking it over “guess I missed one....she wants me to find her axe....I could of swore I saw a old axe near the sewer gate yesterday, should of picked it up...” she stood under the shelter as the rain started to lighten up before she burst running headed for the path past marnies barn “I hope it’s still there if it is I can pick it up and wait till tomorrow to drop it off at robins hut it’s better then it being out in the rain another-“ her running gently came to a stop as she saw a small glowing light off of the water in the distance, she calmed her panting before he slowly headed towards the glow, as she stepped closer she noticed a figure hunched over the docks edge she took a wild guess when she saw the case of bear beside the figure before slowly lifting her gently voice to speak “Shane?” The figure slowly turned to face her “up late huh?...” “yea....busy day...what about you? Shouldn’t u be at the saloon at this time?” She slowly looked down at him before slowly sitting herself beside him waiting for his reply “yea....I just needed some air.....” he slowly cracked a can of beer out of the pack and gently handed it to her “here have a cold one...” she gently took it with both hands before slowly opening it still not realising she doesn’t drink beer...”buh....life...” Shane took a huge swig of beer before turning back to face the lake... “Do you ever feel like no matter how hard you try your gonna fail?.....” she gently looked up to face him as he continued to look out over the water before continuing to speak...”like your stuck in a abyss and you can’t even see the light of day?....I just feel like....no matter how hard I try.....I’m always gonna fall...” “I understand......” he turned to look at her in also complete shock hearing those words...she began to take her turn at speaking before he realised it wasn’t a joke...”I know that abyss all too well.....more like a black hole that’s constantly pulling you in.....” she slowly pulled her knees up to cuddle them againest her chest as she spoke “it.....was like....nothing mattered anymore.....like I was worthless....and I started to think I deserved everything bad that ever happened to me....” she slowly looked up at him to meet his emerald green eyes staring back at her....”that’s why you drink isn’t it?....” he slowly nodded preparing himself for a speak just like the ones marnie gave him when he woke up hung over before he saw a smile slowly appear on Saya’s face “I’m more addicted to candy before of it.......sugar helped me calm down and cope, least I’m not alone” saya took a small swig of beer before her face winced up at the bitter taste “ewww! That’s nasty!” There was the disgusted face Shane was waiting for to be aimed on him for saying to much, he slowly let out a light laugh at her while trying hard not to be too let it show “hahah well guess I can’t call you a fast drinker....” she looked at him with a firm glare before beginning to scull the beer while trying not to let her gage reflex kick in, Shane couldn’t help but laugh as she looked so tipsy and about to throw up after one beer “don’t make that a habit....” “definitely not, that stuff is terrible.....” he let out a genuine smile before offering to help her get up before they both headed back home for the night.

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The bathroom was full of steam from the hot shower, she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling she had known way to well...as old memories flew through her head of a place she once called “home”...she slowly opened the old yellow door, before hearing a thump behind the door before hearing the small one year old crying behind it... before she had time to react she was thrown at the wall from where she was standing, before being lifted from the ground by grown hands...before hearing a low growled voice tell her to open her fucking eyes, her eyes burst open to be back in the shower where she once was, she tried to catch her breath before gently laying against the tiled wall of her shower letting the water run down her face as she calmed her breath while gently stroking the place of where the grown hands once were around her neck... she turned off the shower and got out.

She needed help and Saya knew this....she knew their was a local doctor that ran the clinic next to Pierre’s small shop in the centre of town...she had free time today....the ran had only gotten heavier throughout the night so the crops were watered finely....she put on some comfy clothes and slipped on her hoodie that she used the day before , before heading out she packed a lunch just in case if it took as long as it did in the hospitals in the city.
She wanted down the muddy dirt road heading to town... it was around 12 already on a Sunday...it was a pretty quiet day today yet very beautiful but saya didn’t seem to care at this point, she slowly pushed open the door of the clinic and she looked like a zombie while stepping in, but the room was pretty empty beside a few noticeable faces, Harvey was talking to marnie and was holding Jas’s hand and over in the corner of the waiting room was shane looking like he was going crazy from the boredom....she gently pulled her hoodie over her face hiding the tear marks that made her eyes and nose bright red.

Marnie didn’t seem to notice her at first, looked like someone was having a check up today....Marnie slowly moved aside into the back room with jas as Shane remained seated in the waiting room before Harvey greeted her with a smile “hello here for a-“ he stopped mid sentence which caught the attention of Shane, she hid her face in her hoodie as tears slowly hit the counter top...she tried to hold them back but she couldn’t control it....”hey Harvey....do u happen to have any therapy sessions open Rn?”...she tried to say it as calmly as possible but ended up sounding like she was about to have a breakdown...”y-yea if u could just b seated in the waiting room for a moment I got another patient Rn” “that’s ok...” she slowly headed towards the waiting room sitting across from Shane but still managing to hide her face under her hoodie...she put her backpack on the floor and gently hugged her knees....Shane hadn’t moved his eyes from her the whole way she was seating herself...’was that the farmer?....’ he thought to himself as she sat there....

A few mins pass before she begins to have memories again.....she gently slide her hands up to her hair and gripped it tightly....”stop it....” she gently cried to herself....Shane noticed this but thought he should mind his own business how could he make it any better...she the stood up crying before running out of the clinic.

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‘What you did was kinda stupid ya know’ “yea I understand it was pretty stupid” saya managed to finally pull out the weeds surrounding the parsnip garden, ‘do you think rumours have spread already?..’ “yea...might have to lay low for a while...” after finally pulling out the last weed she turned around to an empty garden...”again talking to myself...pathetic” she slowly picked up the basket and bucket with the weeds and parsnips and gently placed the bucket next to the bin and she washed and checked over the parsnips from the basket, she gently rolled the parsnip in her fingers.

She slowly glanced round the large room that seemed pretty dull and empty, she had recently got renovations done with the money she had made while working on the farm and doing favours from the bulletin board...she liked all the extra space it gave her and she liked the kitchen to...robin even let her custom design it and put a set of windows above the sink so there was a lot of natural light flowing into the kitchen...maybe she should do some redesigning...Saya slowly placed the parsnips back into the basket before taking it out to the shipping box.

Saya then gently twirled her chestnut brown hair between her fingers feeling how long it had grown, saya had always had a thick head of hair since she was a child and she hated it...the brushing the washing...the comments she got...no matter how nice they were she still hated it ‘you have been looking for a reason to see Emily... maybe you could get a hair cut and have a small look around town’ “I do need a hair cut....and maybe a meal at the saloon would be nice....” she slowly went inside and showered before putting on some comfy clothes and making her way into town.

By the time she made it too the saloon she could already hear the laughter beaming through the door and she could smell the freshly made pizza inside...at this point in time she didn’t even mind the rumours....not one bit...she let out a gently sigh before slowly opening the front door to the saloon and stepping into its bright light.

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The sound of the first summer ran was starting to fall, Saya lied there in bed, calmly listening to the tip-tap of the rain on the roof listening to all the farm chores wash away with them...nothing needed to be harvested....summer crops planted yesterday...and now they were watered..’today would probably be a nice day to go into town ya’know...’ she let out a gently sigh and let a small grin paint her face while it was followed by a lighthearted chuckle, “yeah....” she had arranged to have her hair cut by Emily today because it was her day off but it seemed Saya got a day off too...she looked around the room before getting up slowly as her bare feet touched the cold floor sending a small shiver up her spine...’haha don’t orgasm right there...’ “haha shut up....” she let out another deep sigh and closed her eyes as she stood there....”I could fall asleep standing up...it’s so relaxing when it rains...” she opened her eyes and grabbed some folded clothes she had set aside the night before, and headed for the bathroom.

She slowly stepped outside showered and dressed before gently seating herself on the stair of the old front porch overlooking the small garden beds of vegetables, she took a long sip from her tea before slipping on her boots, she was wearing one of her favourite yellow shirts and pale blue pants to match while wearing the sun hat she had brought from home, she grabbed her umbrella and slowly made her way into town leaving her empty tea cup by the door on the porch.

The streets seemed pretty empty by the time she had gotten into town, she slowly made a stop at the bulletin board Because she was a bit early for her haircut from Emily, pretty sure Emily wouldn’t even be awake at 8:05 on a Saturday morning, especially if it was pouring down rain...Saya slowly heard footsteps in the distance through the tapping of the rain on the cobblestone paths...the figure wasn’t very visible but she could make it out pretty quickly when she show his head looking down while holding his old joja hoodie over his head as a attempt to stay somewhat dry...she quickly jogged over holding the umbrella over the figure she saw from the distance giving him a warm smile without saying any words....”thank you....” he looked up at her with what seemed to be a confused yet somewhat happy smile....by Shane’s standards at least, she just gently gave a nod in agreement while smiling with her big brown eyes with small droplets in her hair while Shane was nearly soaked.

She had slowly begun to walk with him to his work place without saying a word, surprisingly she couldn’t bring herself to say much....her paranoia had kicked in and she was too distracted by the conversations she could say to him in her head Shane seemed to notice she seemed uncomfortable because he broke the silence, “this weather makes me thirsty....” she gently looked up at him while walking her eyes a bit wide in surprise while her cheeks gently turning red, obviously she had gotten the wrong message from what he had just said but she was stuck on what to say...she turned her attention to the ground while grinning a lighthearted grin while trying not to stutter or chock on her laughter while trying to find the courage to speak “I-it actually makes me kinda sleepy...” he looked at her slowly switching his gaze from the path ahead, and letting out a gentle huff and a small chuckle “that makes two of us....” she gently looked back up at him and smiled and let out a small rush of laughter she had seemed to be holding back, before even realising it they were both standing outside Joja mart, Shane slowly stepped out from under the umbrella and under the cover turning back to his glum self again before entering the shop...the doors opened and he was gone, but you could hear That his boss had noticed he was 2 mins late.

Saya stood there in the rain staring at the doors of Joja mart gripping to the handle of the umbrella while feeling her heart racing like it was about to burst out of her chest, she could feel her face was burning but she didn’t care...to her it seemed like all time had stopped around her for what seemed to last forever....inside her chest seemed to hurt now that he was gone....she felt this strange longing to step inside just to see him but she managed to snap herself back into reality “his busy working.....”.

She began heading back to the square towards Emily and Haley’s house while mumbling excuses under her breath of why she couldn’t go into joja mart, before she knew it she was inside of Emily’s house having her hair cut “do you know what kind of style you would like?” She had managed to say that with a huge grin on her face, saya couldn’t imagine holding a grin like that for as long as her....didn’t it hurt?....”just a Japanese style bomb with a fringe please....” “hahaha coming right up” it didn’t take long for Emily to start, she seemed to be enjoying herself more than saya, she had heard Emily loved fashion and design and knew a bit of hairdressing but she really seemed to know what she was doing better then what she had originally expected, “hey Emily....thank you so much for accepting to do this...” “hey it’s really ok it’s a good chance to try out some new things” she looked at Emily reflection in the mirror before asking “how much do I owe u” Emily slowly tilted her head upwards to face the reflection in the mirror “you have to help me model some of my clothing designs...deal?” “Deal”.

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It might sound weird and it pretty much defines the reason that Saya left the city, it was just getting a bit too lonely...she kept remembering back to the day she glanced around the room of her pretty much filled house, it seemed something was missing from her somewhat of nearly perfect farm lifestyle...sure she could always get some animals for her farm or she could adopt a pet or something but it wasn’t really the company she was longing for...

The thought of this swirled around in Saya’s head since that day and it hadn’t stopped no matter what she was doing and even if it did it always came back again...she was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice until she tripped and heard and “OOF” sound come from underneath her feet ,she had knocked straight into penny who was sitting underneath the tree in her usual reading spot...”OH Yoba!, I’m so sorry penny! Are you ok?!” “Yeah I’m fine....” saya looked down to look at the poor woman she had just tripped over while mindlessly walking to who knows where before realising all the paper she had made Penny drop, “I’m so so sorry penny..., let me help u”.

Whilst picking up one of the sheets of paper Saya seemed to notice Jas’s name on the top right hand corner, she gently placed it on top of the pile of papers pushing aside her curiosity until she had picked up all the sheets and gently handed them back to Penny, “thank you...” Penny was pretty quiet and seemed to be somewhat of a book worm and surprisingly Saya hadn’t talked to her much since moving to the town, all she really knew was that she was the daughter of Pam...Saya gently looked at penny’s face which seemed lost for words, “I’m so sorry this was all my fault-“ penny stopped her before she could say anything else,”haha it’s ok you don’t need to keep apologising...” saya kinda felt a bit stunned with a mix between embarrassed and confused on what to do next.

So she did the only thing that came to her mind and changed the subject back to the sheet she saw “why does one of those sheets have Jas’s name on it?....” Penny looked up at Saya and then at the stack of paper she held in her hand before pulling out the sheet of paper “well you see...I’m Jas’s tutor...” “tutor?...” penny slowly handed the sheet to saya, she took it gently with both hands and glanced over it “yeah...because the town doesn’t exactly have a school or a place where the children can be properly educated...” “oh...that makes sense....” she took her gaze off the sheet of paper and pointed it back to penny’s face which seemed someone...sad...”are you ok?....” the words seemed to snap penny out of the train of thought she was in before she politely just nodded to as a answer “just thinking....the kids don’t really get to experience anything other then what I’m teaching and it can be pretty stressful to organise other projects because of the lack of supports and me having to organise it alone....”

Once penny had finished her sentence Saya’s eyes turned to pure gleam, “hey what about if I help u out with a lil...arts project?...” “arts project?...”.

The afternoon came as passed in the blink of an eye as saya and penny chatted back and forth about the plan, and as soon as Friday rolled around it was ready...saya got up and got dressed like she usual did but this time put on a casual but nice looking set of clothes, today she was going to be helping penny with the kids and helping make and art project that she had set up herself, she had got robin to make a lil extension off the corner of her house which had extra storage space and inside they had set it up to look like a small school room which she had payed Completely out of pocket of her own savings, wasn’t like that coop robin was offering to build was going anywhere soon...so why not?, she and cornered off the land that she had the small building on and made a friendly lil garden...it was finally ready.

Penny picked up Jas and Vincent and started heading over to Saya’s farm where Saya was setting up the last decorations, she had sent a letter home to Vincent’s parents and had given a letter to Jas to both inform the caregivers to pick them up at 5 pm, saya had even set it up just like a classroom with a blackboard, toys , books and had even set up a table which was set up with arts and crafts which made the children light up for sure.

Saya helped Jas with a painting off a beautiful purple fairy and it seemed that Jas was becoming more comfortable being around her, her and Jas ended up painting and talking most of the day about their favourite colours, fairies and just the usual child stuff but amazingly this...made saya feel...like it was a good day..that afternoon came but Shane didn’t seem to show up at 5 so Saya waited with Jas whilst penny took Vincent home which she usually did and the only real reason why Jas had wanted to get picked up was before she wanted to show uncle Shane around the lil school area, after 20 mins saya invites Jas inside and makes her a snack with some apple juice, her and Jas continue to talk.

After another 20 mins they hear heavy foot steps running up to the front porch which was followed by the sound of a middle aged man who sounded exhausted...Saya went and opened the door to find Shane leaning over to catch his breath while holding onto his knees in what seemed to be for dear life...”s-so....Ry...*pant* I-I...” he raised his head to look up at the woman standing in front of him which he expected to have a absolutely horrified expression plated across her face but instead there was a look he had never EVER seen before....she seemed to be staring at him with this look in her eye which was neither disgust or pity, didn’t even seem like a form of ‘sad’ at all....it looked like she even seemed...pleased to see him.

Saya greeted him with a smile and gently whispered to him while holding the door with one hand...”she has really worn herself out today....” she smiled at him and gently looked back to see a small girl that had fallen asleep on the lounge next to a colouring book and a bunch of rainbow crayons before looking back at him with the same smile she gave Jas and in a soft voice “work ran late at joja?...” in which he gently nodded after the time he took to catch his breath, “would you like something to drink?...” Shane nodded again before standing up and going inside.

Shane gently sat down at the table as Saya turned on the kettle to boil and rinsed the plate that had the snacks Jas ate on it, Shane gently gazed around the room and looked back at the small child sleeping peacefully on the lounge “she was really excited to show you around the area I set up for today....” Shane looked at her as she was starting to make a cup of tea “coffee or tea?...” “coffee....” Shane still seemed to be in shock that he wasn’t getting a huge speech from her or that she hadn’t made a huge deal out of the whole mess...saya turned around and beamed a huge smile towards him as she gently handed him his coffee and sat down in the chair across from him...”I understand you couldn’t make it here any earlier...so if u have a day off feel free to come back and Jas can show u around the small building...” He knew there would be a catch to it....there always is...not like he didn’t see this coming but....,she gently drank her tea and handed him the painting off the fairy Jas had made today....”your a really good uncle you know.....”...

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Finally...a day off, it had been blazing hot all week but finally it rained....her chores were down and she finally had some down time, least that’s what she thought until Lewis showed up on her front porch begging her to do him a huge favour, “I’ve notice recently you’ve been taking up requests from the bulletin board...wanted to know if u could do me a favour...I’ll pay well”, he had asked her to kill 20 slimes, 7 was the usual and sometimes 10 on bad days but 20?! Woah that was asking a lot, he offered to double the price but when she demanded triple she could see his face drop....and he brought out the guilt trips.

So what else was there to do...she dressed in something she’d be cool but comfortable to run in and packed her pickaxe, sword and scythe, weirdly Saya had recently taken a liking to how it moved swiftly through her hand as she could spin it in between her fingers...and she was set and headed off the the cave beside robins house near the river...alone of course...who else could she of asked.

But today shane had to help marnie fix the fence the cows had recently knocked out of place down by the ranch, because it was raining the cows had headed inside the barn to avoid the rain so he had a chance to fix it while they were in the barn, Jas even volunteered to help him get the supplies from robins shop so they took the path through town...took a lot longer then Shane had hoped but they made it there in pretty good time, Jas was wearing a yellow raincoat with a matching hat and Rain boots but Shane, Shane didn’t care too much...he knocked on the door of carpenters but there was no answer, and the door was locked, Shane looked at the time on his watch...5:47pm...maybe it was closed...it was really cutting into his drinking time plus it was getting dark, marnie and Jas had to wait until he finished work this afternoon so no wonder it was so late by the time they got there...he looked at Jas and gently took her hand and started heading back on the track towards home, before Jas stopped dead in her tracks.

Shane stopped and looked down at her but she was looking towards the car near the cliff, inside was dimly lit by a torch...”uncle Shane, did you hear that?...” Jas gently gripped his hand a lil tighter and began to shake a lil...Shane didn’t hear anything...but he stayed quiet for a second before shrugging and turning his direction back onto the path they had followed to get here “probably nothing...” even though his curiosity was a bit spiked he didn’t wanna risk Jas’s safety, he had heard stories about those mines ever since he was a child, there were dangerous monsters and very unstable structures down there, even though he didn’t believe the monsters part anymore....before a loud female screen came from the mines that Jas seemed to have recognised...”THE FARMER!...” she said with a gasp of fear and concern before letting go of Shane’s hand and running towards where the scream came from... Shane began running after her trying to call her back but he had her the scream that time, what if it was an emergency?!

She had gotten into the mine way before he could and even managed to get in the elevator before he had gotten to the entrance of the cave, she had already taken it down to what seemed to b lvl 20?! He looked at the empty elevator before hoping in and pressing the button...the elevator was a lot faster then he had expected because by the time it took him to get the old rusty door closed he was already at the mine floor of 20....looking out in horror at what he saw....there was Jas laying on the ground terrified and unable to run away and the farmed, covered in soars and what he could only assume was her blood, trying to hold back a huge slime ball?! Before he could say anything he ran to Saya’s side and picked up a old piece of wood laying on the ground which managed to knock the slime back, Saya looked at him panting as she slowly wiped what seemed to be blood off her lip... she looked like she had had the shit beaten out of her, she looked like she wanted to say something but she stopped herself and just helped up Jas and grabbed her belongings while Shane kept the slime at bay.

Saya gently put Jas into the elevator with her supplies before turning back to shane with a sword, “Get to the elevator....” she said with what sounded like a long grunt of pain, he ran to the elevator and pulled Saya in, the elevator made a large creaking sound, as soon as it did Saya had jumped back out....”it’s too heavy....u take Jas and get out of here....” “but-“ she looked at him with a stern face before pressing the elevator button which sent them upwards before Shane could get out another word, but when they were at the top Shane told Jas to run and get anyone and tell them to get dr Harvey and tell them it was an emergency, Jas ran as fast as she could back into town while the ran fell....Shane took the elevator back down still holding the piece of wood in her hand ready to fight, by the time he got to the floor once again, Saya was the one laying on the ground, she seemed to be unconscious....Shane ran to her yelling and calling for her to wake up as he picked her up and got her into the elevator and took her back to the surface where they were met by Harvey, Lewis and marnie....

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The light shown brightly in her eyes as her head faced the sealing, “what happened?, where am I?” Saya gently tried to shield her eyes from the light with her hands, but had no such success. But once her eyes adjusted she noticed the bandages wrapped around her hands, her hands slowly shaking as pain sherged through her body.

Saya let out a small grown of discomfort at the pain, and squinted her eyes as if it would numb the pain she felt, as she moved her arms she noticed a small plastic wire/tube attached to her arm which seemed to be INSIDE HER ARM?! Saya yanked it out with a loud groan and sat up in the bed, she was dressed in a white gown she had never known of owning, she was attached to a weird machine, her hair seemed to reach her shoulders now....and she couldn’t remember where she was....who she was.

There were curtains that seperate her from seeing where she was, but something else caught her eye, a blue jumper resting upon the arm of the chair beside her bed, tattered a bit from wear and tear, but it seemed, familiar to her.....she slowly picked it up and stretched it out, it seemed to be to big to be hers.....she gently held it against her cheek feeling the soft fabric against her skin, Saya knew that feeling, it made her feel safe and loved..... and the smell.....

Who ever’s jumper it was, she knew she had to be close to them, she slowly slipped on the jumper and cradled her knees against her chest hugging them, she left a calm release from this, and she felt at ease for the first moment since she had woken up in this strange place.

The sound of a door opening and two people talking broke her from her comfortable state, it sounded like two men, one sounded tired while the other sounded concerned about the first voice, “how is she doing?....is she ok?....” “there hasn’t really been any improvement since you last checked in” “is there anything we could do more?” “I’m afraid not, all we can really do is wait.....” she heard a loud groan of annoyance from the first voice before it let out a groggy sigh... ‘he sounds exhausted....’ “Shane....why don’t you just head home for the night....” and check up on her again tomorrow....” the first voice seemed to groan but reluctantly gave in, “sure.....just let me say one last goodbye for the night then I’ll head out.....” “ok I’ll give you some privacy, call if anything changes, I’ll be at the front desk”

The sound of the door in the distance reopening was a sign the second voice had left, but the first one.... ‘was he talking about me?’ Saya held her legs tighter against her chest still wearing the jumper as the footsteps approached from behind the curtain, Saya was a lil shaky but not too much, the voice also seemed familiar......in a way.....

Shane gently pulled back the curtain to reveal Saya sitting there on the bed, hugging her knees against her chest, wearing HIS jumper, wide awake and staring back at him, her big eyes stared directly back at him....he could feel his eyes widening so much he believed they were gonna fall right out of his head... “S-Saya?.....” he choked on his words unable to get a proper sentence out, he just stood in aw as he saw the girl who was just in a coma staring right back at him as if she was waiting for him to come back, “Shane?....” she slowly tilted her head to the side and looked him up and down, he looked exhausted, his face washed with concern mixed with relief....something about him.....

Shane nodded slowly and stepped forward as his mouth was still agape at the situation, Saya slowly stepped off the bed her legs unstable underneath her, she fell forward only to be caught by him, he hugged her tightly holding her close to his chest, hoping this wasn’t just another dream, he held her as if she would disappear any second if he didn’t hold her tight enough, Saya could slowly hear his heart racing in his chest as her ear was pressed against it, she couldn’t see his face but by the sounds of it it sounded like he was crying, Saya slowly held herself against him using him as a brace to stand.

Saya slowly pushed herself off his chest enough to see his face, he was crying.....real tears, she had felt this feeling before, with this man, and she could slowly remember fragments of emotions flowing back to her.... ‘is this who I think this is?~’ she looked him in the eyes slowly wiping away his tears with her thumb, “please don’t cry.....I’m here now~” a small smile appeared on his face through the sobbing and the tears.

She slowly leaned in towards his face and pressed her lips softly against his, closing her eyes slowly as she did and she stroked his hair, even not knowing who he was she knew this was someone she loved dearly....who wasn’t a family member or a friend, he seemed so much more important than that....Saya gently pulled away from the kiss to see a next to paralysed Shane, his eyes stared at her as his lips slowly parted as if he was going to say something, his face looked a bit happy along with confused and shocked at what just happened, she slowly gripped his back and snuggled into him ignoring his reaction,

“I missed you....

....my dear Shane~”

Chapter Text

After what had just happened, Shane hadn’t spoken a word, he only stared at the floor with his face a bit red while a lil short of breath like he had just been missed by a passing car but was still processing the situation, but Saya didn’t seem as fazed as him, she seemed pretty happy despite the situation...that she was apart of but not aware of.

Shane had brought her some clean clothes and she had showered and changed in Dr Harvey’s home just upstairs of the clinic, her hair had definitely grown a lot, her once short bob that only reached to tip of where her hairline met the top of her neck had now grown past her shoulders, while her bangs had began to get so long she had to sweep them to the side, to prevent it from attacking her eyes.

Harvey was busy helping Shane organise Sayas hospital papers and sorting out any medications that she might have to take to make a full recovery, she even had to stay back 24 hours after she woke up to make sure she was stable enough to go home, besides her being a lil malnourished and too weak to walk or lift much Shane had offered to care for her until she made a full recovery.

Her bodies state meant that she would have to sit down a lot and get back into the habit of eating solid foods, but that’s what Shane was for, he offered to help take time off instead of heading to the bar of an afternoon and would care for Saya for the most part of his time off, on his way to work he would water the plants and help feed her animals, then when he got back from work he would care for her for most of the afternoon and run errands for her.

As they left the clinic Shane and Marnie began talking about the living arrangements for the time being, but from behind Marnies back appeared a small girl who ran up to Saya who was sitting in a wheelchair that Dr Harvey had lent to her to help keep her off her feet, the small girl hugged Saya tightly, she hugged back matching the child’s intensity of the hug while still being gently enough not to squeeze her too tight.

“I really missed you....” the girl whispered while clearly trying to hold back tears, Saya slowly loosened the hug and turned to face the girl, gently wiping the tears from her eyes as they slipped down her rosy cheeks.

She couldn’t remember who this little girl was but she could see the resemblance between her and Shane, was he her father?...and if he was the father, would that make her the...mother? The young child resembled her but only in the slightest, she couldn’t of been hers but they did share some features if you looked hard enough, like their big eyes and large lashes.

The grown ups had seemed to finish their conversation, the young girl ran up to Shane and they started talking before he gave her a massive hug, “I’m going to miss you uncle Shane” uncle? “I’ll be back soon Jas, plus I’ll only be north of aunt Marnies ranch, so don’t worry, I’ll come visit”
Jas? So that’s what the girls name was.... Marnie and Shane said their goodbyes just as he had done with Jas, Shane then stepped behind Saya to start moving the wheel chair, as he did Saya smiled and looked at Jas and Marnie, “bye Jas. Bye Marnie, visit anytime!~” while waving happily at both of them.

Chapter Text

Soft chuckles filled the soft summer breeze, as the over grown grass swayed. Kids laughter filled the air and they ran through the over grown fields, past the decaying fences.

“HEY GET BACK HERE!” The boy yelled as he held his short strawberry blonde hair out of his eyes as he chased. Following the clucks of a very distressed chicken. “VINCENT YOUR SCARING HER!” A voice called in pursuit.

The sound of hammering on wood echoed in the distance, Shane planted a new wooden fence post in the ground, cornering off the chicken coop. “There…” he huffed as he finished nailing the last nail. “I think we’re done here…”

Saya giggled from the porch as she watched the sweaty man approach her. “Don’t you go expecting stare treatment…” he grumbled “I know I know, just until I recover..~” she teased back.

Flicking her head back raising her hand to it as she arched herself into a overdramatised pose, “cuz how could I have ever done it myself! We this damned sprain! That I’ve been walking on fine for the past 3 weeks!”

Shane rolled his eyes and her sarcastic remark, “Marnie wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if anything were to happen to you…” moving his gaze off into the distance, “especially after what happened in the mine… with you… and Jas…”

He than went quiet, slowly sitting himself down next to her, “it may not be much… but their the only real family I’ve got…” his tone then turned to a quiet mumble “never had much of one growing up…”

Saya silently just looked upon him, without saying anything she could already read and understand every single emotion he was feeling, “I honestly don’t know what I’d do without her….”

Leaning his chin upon his hand he watched the kids off in the distance, but by his gaze you could tell, he was somewhere else..

“Thank you for coming Shane… I really do appreciate the help…”

…

“I know…”

“How about I get us some drinks?..~”

“Sure…”

Slowly lifting herself off the porch step she limps towards the front door, once inside she head into the kitchen to check the contents of the fridge.

“Juice…milk…uh here we are.” Pulling out the lemonade jug she pours the lemonade in, grabbing a few glasses from the top shelf.

*SMASH*

The sound makes her jump as she turns back, one of the glasses had fell and shattered on the floor.
Saya slowly leans down to pick up the broken shards, collecting them in the cup she made using her hand.

“Ow!..”

As she said this a small red dot appeared on the floor, followed by another… than another… Saya stared, eyes full of fear, as if she was paralysed by the sight of it…

Her vision began to blur and she began to hear the noises…

Glass shattering…

Plates breaking…

The pained screams of her mother, as she watched the red dots, tip tap like the rain onto the wooden floor…

Hearing the yells of her stepfather…

Her body shuttered as the tears stung her eyes, but felt cool on the skin…

“P-please….d-don’t hurt me….”

Chapter Text

The glass shattered as it hit the raw wood of the floor boards. Tiny shards graze Saya’s skin, a freezing chill runs up her legs stunning her in position…

She could hear him coming.

Her step father didn’t approve of glasses in bedrooms, especially hers, he always made it clear that she was the black sheep of the family as well as his personal punching bag.

There was no where to hide, too stiff to even try to resist or fend back. The only words that are uttered from her mouth as she hears the anger of her “fathers” footsteps was a wimpy, panicked sorry.

Before she could look him in the eyes her 9 year old feet were already off the floor, hands pathetically attempted to prey her neck from this grown man’s hands.

It was not the first time he’d laid hands on her,
And it wouldn’t be the last. For something as simple as missing a chore, taking out the garbage you be bent over the counter held by your neck as he slammed the back of your head into the counter as your siblings witnessed. Not to mention the time the bowl of the kids popcorn was left out, dragged from the kitchen by your hair, across the cold tiled floor to the dining table on the other side of the lounge room just to make you look at your disgusting sin against humanity.

No point in telling… he was a well known security guard with a great reputation, the same guy who helped old ladies with their shopping bags out of the story. No one would believe a timid bastard child… when she finally confided in her mother at age 11, her mother told her that because she couldn’t get dates and times straight it wouldn’t stand up in court, she than proceeded to forward this confession back to “father” to deal with accordingly.

By age 14 she was out of home spending her first time in the suicide ward… one too many sleeping pills after countless attempts foiled by fear of the unknown.

The voices in her head told her she was better off anywhere but here… no one wanted her and she was nothing but a burden in this world to anyone sorry enough to take pity on her… the girl laying next to her promised the pain would go away as she fell swiftly to sleep… it was better than the darkness outside in which her night terrors of the hooded man dressed in all black coming for her… no one else could see them…

She could…

She turned into a snotty blubbering mess… slowly picking up the glass shard as they cut through the delicate skin on her hand.

“I..I-I’m sorry….”