Chronicles of the Selphia Plains [Rune Factory 4]

Three Little Words Part I

Story summary: This short story takes place during chapter 29 of The Winds of the Past. I've always been intrigued that Barrett's friendship levels go up so quickly, and that in combination with various conversations in the game led me to write this. There are a few things that are briefly mentioned here that are from the main fanfiction, such as Dylas being out of favor with Avani (Frey), so I recommend reading at least up to chapter 29 in The Winds of the Past first. This story is rated Mature for some adult situations.

Attribution: The photo used for the story image is by Daniel Stark https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielstark/4430687876/ and is available through the Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/. I have modified it from the original.

**************

Barrett had never imagined that three little words could change his life so much.

"I'm leaving you," Yue had said, flatly, early that morning as she packed her clothing. "It's over. I'm taking the kids and going back to my home town. It's for the best."

"For the best?" he'd asked, dazed and confused. "Best for who?"

"For everyone," she replied, then turned and faced him, eyes blazing. "You're hardly ever home anymore. You're always working—or so I had thought. Now I'm not even sure about that."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't bother to lie to me, Barrett. You're wasting your time and mine. I stopped by the school yesterday to say hello, and you weren't there. Not only that, but they told me that you'd been on a leave of absence for the past few weeks! Then, as if that wasn't enough, I also heard you'd been seen over in Selphia a lot lately—and even spotted going off 'monster hunting' with some green-haired lass."

She turned her back on him, resuming her packing. "Let's be honest, for once. You never loved me. I was just a rebound fling after Dorothy up and left you for Kyle. You'd never even have married me if not for Leonel.  You hardly even touched me after we got married, except once when you were drunk. And I bet even then it was Dorothy you were thinking of, not me." She sighed heavily. "I'm tired of the lies, Barrett. Tired of pretending everything's fine, when it isn't. So I'm leaving. The kids and I will be happier not always wondering where you are or when you'll come home to us, and you'll have your freedom again."

Barrett watched her, too numb to try to stop her. Or perhaps he just recognized the truth of her words. He'd never really gotten over Dorothy—his first and only love. And she was right, too, that he wouldn't have married her if she hadn't gotten pregnant. He'd have ended the fling and moved on before long. Instead he'd found himself a family man. He did love his kids, though, and froze at the thought of never seeing them again. Finally, he said in a low voice, "If this is what you want, I won't try to stop you. But I'd like to see our kids from time to time. I'll send you money to help with their expenses. Just send me word where you're living once you're settled." And he turned and left.

When he returned to his house that evening, after another day of research in Selphia, he found it was empty. His wife—ex-wife, he supposed, or would be soon—had taken everything that was hers or the kids' with her. She had taken most of the furniture, too. Fair enough, he thought. She'd picked it all out herself, and probably had paid for at least half of it with her own income. He wandered through the lonely rooms, cringing a little at the emptiness of the kids' rooms and wishing he'd woken them to tell them goodbye. He was relieved, though, that the charade was over and he didn't have to pretend anymore.

He locked up and returned to Selphia by a late-night airship, preferring the inevitable airsickness to the desolation of the silent house. Luckily, there was a room available on the top floor of the inn. The two rooms on either side of him were also occupied by long-term lodgers. To the west was the reticent red-haired young woman called Raven, who was there in search of rare ores and who peddled smithing materials. The room to the east was occupied by the mysterious and intelligent man with a fox's tail and ears called Leon. He was the one that Avani had rescued, at great personal risk, from the tall tower of Leon Karnak, that mystical tower that had merged with the alien Forest of Beginnings. He'd played a small part in that rescue by providing  the unique artifact that had summoned a return portal to Selphia.