Hey there everyone, I'm finally back with a new fanfic!! I've had this planned for ages so I figured I'd finally submit it... yay!

I don't own harvest moon, or any of the characters that you would see in the game, I only own the character that I make up... if that isn't obvious...

Well anyway... cheerio.

1. Parting

Lumina knew she would never forget that night, the night her world fell apart at the rich seams of silky fabric. The morning was dark and crisp, like that of a winter's day in Forget-Me-Not valley, yet it was mid autumn. The only giveaway as to the true season was the ruffled coat of golden leaves that Mother Nature garbed; rich in its shining glory. The clouds raged over the valley huffing and puffing angrily, threatening to drop cold bullets of rain onto the golden ground. Lumina was gazing out of her bedroom window at the angry outside, her golden brown eyes surveying the likewise coloured ground. Her breath was tickling the cold glass leaving a misty trail of condensation behind.

The brown trees swayed in the wind, their branches seemed to beckon to her, calling her outside. She remained on her perch, debating whether to obey the persistent trees or to remain in the warmth of the inside. The sense of adventure of the storm was overwhelming and so she submitted to the trees and hurried outdoors.

The wind was howling and whistling, as though trying to taunt her into venturing further away from the house and at the same time the trees and flowers swayed, enticing her to go nearer. She obediently obeyed until she found herself opposite the pond in which the old turtle lived – the village pet. Her eyes darted towards the icy water, which waved unevenly like silky blue material. On the edge of the pool lay a red neckerchief, the exact same one that usually claimed the wild turtle as belonging. The flowers continued to sway, blue and ed coloured flowers dancing gracefully, she was mesmerized. She suddenly felt a firm hand on her shoulder and turned to see the intruder into her private world – it was Hardy, the Doctor.

"You'll catch your death out here." He rasped, his voice dim compared to the roaring wind that was determined to be noticed above all. She nodded and greeted him with a shy smile. Her eyes as usual fell straight towards his strange metal eye with the red light in the middle, how that eye could possibly see anything was beyond her. At first glance he was terrifying, yet it was known that he was one of the best Doctors around – there were two Doctors nearby, Dr. Tim of Mineral town and Hardy, so the statement wasn't saying much. But regardless, he served the Valley well.

"Good morning Dr. Hardy," Lumina quickly switched her glance from his eye to the ground – the safest spot to focus on as far as she was concerned. "I was just getting some fresh air."

"Mind you don't catch anything, you could give it to your Grandmother, as if she isn't unwell enough!" He chided her before walking off and mumbling to himself. Lumina bit her lip, she hadn't meant any harm, but she hadn't considered the possibility of falling ill. With one last look at the pond she hurried inside.

The first thing Lumina noticed as she stepped up into the house was how unusually dark it was; she had not left it so. Every curtain was drawn and every light was off, the mansion looked quite eerie, almost haunted. Upon stepping further into the mansion she realised appearances were not all that was askew, there was an eerie silence upon the house, like a veil of hush. She sensed immediately something was wrong, something was so terribly wrong. She wanted to cry out and she didn't know why, fear crawled down her back sinking it's claws in and leaving a trail of goose bumps down her arms, her hair standing on end.

"Hello?" She called cautiously into the silent mansion, her voice seemed to ring out harshly. When no one answered she swallowed hard, she could almost feel tears coming to her eyes. Her instinct told her to run and find company, to save her from her fear, and she immediately obeyed. She ran to her Grandmother's room, but there a sight more terrible than the fear fell before her.

Her Grandmother lay face down on the bed, her eyes staring, almost accusingly, there was no peace. Lumina did what her reactions told her, she screamed a loud, piercing scream. Sebastian came running, followed minutes later by Dr. Hardy. Lumina was quickly ushered outside, the sight not deemed fit for a child's eyes; they were right, but it was too late. She sat on a small wooden stool outside the room, clutching her arms, her whole body was numb. Nothing seemed real and she knew, falsely, that this could not happen to her. But she could still hear the voices of Hardy and Sebastian inside the room.

"Is she...?" Sebastian's voice came out shaky; he was obviously as shocked as she had been. There was a period of silence, which Lumina assumed was filled by a nod.

"Oh god," came Sebastian's voice again, more quietly. "What will the girl do?"

"We don't have time to worry about that now. We need to get her away and get the body out." Hardy told him, his voice remained strictly professional, as though Romana truly was just a patient and not a close friend.

"Oh but she's so young," Sebastian protested.

"Romana was quite of a weak enough age... oh you mean the girl."

"Of course," there was a long pause, and eventually a sigh.

"Take her over to Vesta's farm, tell them... just tell them to look after the girl. Don't tell them why yet, they'll only upset her."

"Right, right. How are you going to... you know... remove the body?" Sebastian asked, he sounded nervous and apprehensive.

"I'll tell everyone in town, you just deal with the girl."

A few minutes later Sebastian emerged, a forced smile printed onto his wrinkled face. He seemed somehow older to Lumina now, his usually perfectly permed hair was out of place and his little red bow tie was wonky.

"I'm... I'm going to take you over to Vesta's, just while we sort some things out here, okay Lumina?" He asked. She nodded and followed him quietly; there was nothing to say.

They arrived outside the farm and after Sebastian had asked Vesta if Lumina could stay he stood opposite the young girl. He placed his wrinkled hands gently on her shoulders and then pulled her into a hug; the hug held a promise that later they would weep together, after all they were as good as family. Lumina sat quietly on a chair inside the kitchen, with Vesta booming on about seeds. She would usually have been lively in the discussion, whether interested or not, but now she barely heard. More than once Vesta had commented on how quiet the girl was.

"Sis, leave her alone, she doesn't feel like talking." Marlin told her. Lumina felt grateful towards him and offered him a small smile, which he returned.

"Alright, but I usually feel that if there's something wrong you should talk about it." Vesta countered, placing her butch arms on her equally huge hips. Lumina choked, trying hard to find her voice, but it seemed lost forever, instead she smiled apologetically.

"What'sa matter kid? Cat gotchyer tongue?" She asked again, determined to get something out of the girl. However she remained mute, her large eyes fixed sadly onto the floor.

"Just leave her be, she's not in the mood." Marlin warned, sitting casually on a chair and leaning right back. Lumina looked up from the floor to survey the room; it was small and obviously rather old, probably built by Vesta's own hands. Wooden stairs led up to another room which to her knowledge belonged to Celia, but she had never bothered to look. A large oak table took up most of the space in the small room with the two beds belonging to Marlin and Vesta, but there was also a small array of cupboards, most likely containing yet more seeds. The floor was of dusty pink tiles, pointing even more to the idea that Vesta had built the farmhouse.

"Marlin, sometimes people need to talk, unlike you. We're not all dead inside." Vesta joked, rather too harshly. He turned away, fixing his blue stare on the wooden wall furthest from the friendly giant.

"Awww, Mar, I didn't mean nothing by it," she stated, clapping her hand down hard on his back and sending him flying forward off his chair. "Come now, why don't you take Lumina for a walk? I reckon she'd like that."

Lumina gazed up at the giant woman; she was about three times the size of her she'd guess. Yet she wasn't at all terrifying, with an amiable smile and small, yet kind green eyes. She studied her for a moment and decided she definitely put a lot of effort in to appear friendly, and she succeeded. She had tamed her fiery red hair into a tight ponytail behind her large head and she wore sunshine yellow overalls with pictures of fat vegetables sown in. Although it had to be said that no effort could make her by any means pretty, with her large upturned nose and overly thick eyebrows; yet friendly she could appear.

Lumina shifted her gaze to Marlin, what a difference! He and Vesta were complete opposites, he was very small in comparison, with jet black hair contrasting against her fiery red tangle. He had far sharper features than her, making him look that bit darker and more dangerous, yet if one was to look closely, they would see soft eyes of calm ocean blue. Somehow she was soothed by these eyes at that point in time, she found focussing on them helped to ease her fear.

"Lumina, would you care to go for a walk?" Marlin asked, the cool blue eyes suddenly shining on her. She gazed right into them with her golden orbs and nodded. He smiled slightly and had she blinked she was sure she would have missed it. He placed a gentle hand on her arm and led her outside, he then stepped ahead and she followed him.

They remained in silence for a while and she preferred it that way, she had no wish to speak. She was just content to walk and try her hardest to block out what had happened.

"So what's up?" Marlin finally interrupted her thoughts, deciding the silence had gone on long enough. She glanced to the ground and inhaled a deep breath of cool air into her lungs, easing slightly the ache in her heart.

"I think... I... I..." She stuttered, trying her very hardest to tell him, but she couldn't. The words were not yet real to her, so instead she closed her mouth again and bit her lip until she could taste irony blood. She then felt warm tears trickling from her eyes and dripping down her cheeks and before she could control it a sob tumbled from her lips. Marlin was obviously taking aback, shock visible in his features, he was unsure of what to do.

"Hey... shhhh..." He whispered in a soothing voice, hushing her cries slightly. He placed a comforting hand on her back, rubbing circles in an attempt to soothe her. "What's wrong?"

Lumina shook her head and he accepted that she could not yet tell him, quelling his curiosity. He pulled her into a tight hug and continued to run his hand over her back comfortingly as she cried. She didn't know how long she remained in his comforting embrace but was immediately aware of the cold of leaving it.

"We'd better take you back to the farm, eh? I'll erm..." He finished his sentence, in truth he had no idea what to do, he barely spoke if he could help it and now he was trying to comfort Lumina. She glanced up at him with big, bright eyes shining with fresh tears. He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her back to the house, whilst she tried to suppress her tears.

When they arrived Sebastian was already waiting for her, sitting on one of the wooden chairs, his back was hunched over and he seemed so much smaller.

"You may all want to sit down." He warned as he accepted a mug of warm, herbal tea from Vesta.

"Just tell us the damned news." Vesta rushed, collapsing onto a chair, which protested with a loud creak.

"There's been a death," he began, pausing as he heard the gasp from Vesta and Marlin. But Lumina remained still, looking at the ground, she already knew. "Romana passed away today... in... in her sleep."

Lumina knew this was true, if Sebastian said it then it had to be, and yet a niggling voice in her head wouldn't leave her alone. It whispered to her, a voice of her own mind. "Who sleeps face down into a pillow?" It asked, "She was fine this morning."

"Oh my, oh that's awful." Vesta broke the silence, glancing nervously over at Lumina, who remained absorbed in her thoughts.

"I... I have to go and alert everyone else, could you... could you just keep an eye on Lumina?" Sebastian asked, watching her with twinkling blue eyes.

"Of course, don't worry about her." Vesta replied softly, small tears shining in her green eyes.

"Thank you..." He murmured and with one last glance at Lumina he left.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Vesta asked quickly, Lumina shook her head. "How about something to eat?" Lumina shook her head again. "No, of course you're not hungry how silly of me... how about some tea... no you already said you didn't want anything..."

"I'd... like to be alone... if that's okay..." Lumina said softly, finally finding her voice.

"Are you sure? I mean Celia will be back from the market soon and... you can talk... no you don't want to talk... of course not..." She mumbled, continually shooting worried glances at her. "Why don't you go on up, you can lie down."

Lumina nodded and walked up the creaking stairs, she then immediately sank into the soft bed. She closed her eyes and blinked away tears, letting them drip onto the sheets. She could hear the voices clearly below as she listened, softening her breathing to hear.

"Oh that poor, poor girl, first she loses her parents and now her last living relative, her Grandmother." Vesta said sadly, her voice was hushed and she had to strain her ears to hear.

"Shame both her parents had no siblings, but at least she'll have the fortune left in the will." Marlin said gruffly.

"Yes... but no fortune compares to living relatives... she's so young."

"She has all of us in the valley, she'll be fine."

"Not everyone's heart is made of stone like yours, Marlin. It will take time for her to get over this."

"Of course, but she will get over it." There was a brief period of silence and Lumina listened hard.

"I'm glad I have you Marlin." Vesta said softly, she sounded so much younger and more childlike when she spoke.

Marlin was silent for a while but finally he spoke, his voice filled with emotion. "Likewise, sis." Once again there was silence and Lumina closed her eyes tightly, breathing hard. Eventually the room darkened and she was lulled into a rough sleep by her ragged breathing.

Her sleep was not at all peaceful, her mind was plagued with nightmares that heavily featured Romana. Her nightmare featured Romana being murdered in many different ways, and Lumina was there to witness each one. But when she finally awoke she found herself in her own bed.

"Please have all been a nightmare." She pleaded any powerful god-like creature that would hear her. She dressed quickly and hurried to her Grandmother's room, her heart beating hopefully. She pushed open the glossy, oak door and surveyed the room. It was empty and her heart sank.

"No." She moaned and fell onto the bed, fresh tears poured from her eyes. She sobbed into the pillow, before leaping up, realising that the sheets had not been washed since her Grandmother had died on them. The door opened behind her and she jumped, and saw Sebastian watching her sadly.

"It's... it's hard to believe she's... gone." He said, he seemed disbelieving, just as numb as Lumina felt. She turned to gaze at him, her bottom lip quivering and her eyes innocent.

"You won't leave me will you? You'll stay right." She begged, clinging on to the last hope she had.

"Oh god Lumina," he said, pulling her into a tight hug. "I couldn't leave you, I could never leave you." His promise eased some of her anxious pain, but very little.

"I... I thought she would live forever... I mean I knew she was old, but I just thought... why now? I'm only eighteen..." She cried, breathing in his familiar smell, musty and ever so slightly spicy.

"My dear, you've had to deal with so much for your age, first your parents were murder... killed... by this cruel world and now your Grandmother is dead." He said, pity and sorrow croaking his voice.

"Promise you won't ever leave, I need you. You're all I have left... we're not related but... but you're my grandfather and I love you." She told him, her voice coming out in a squeal.

"And I love you like my granddaughter. We are family, no matter what." He promised, kissing the top of her glossy chestnut hair softly. She smiled, despite her overwhelming sadness and sense of loss.

Later they sat in the kitchen and Sebastian made her a warm mug of hot chocolate, while they reminisced over the good times.

"Do you remember when we walked in the woods and you both swore that there was a goddess in the pond... and that she would grant any wish I asked." Lumina recalled, smiling at the happy memory. He made a soft sound like a chuckle, it was as close as he could manage with the hole in his heart. "I wished everyday for a pony, but it never worked. Then again I told everyone what I had wished for!"

"Yes, I remember."

"Do you think if we both wished... if we wished really hard the goddess... do you think she'd bring her back?" She asked innocently. Sebastian smiled sadly and shook his head.

"Even the goddess doesn't have that power, it was Romana's time and nothing can change that."

"But it wasn't the right time, she was taken too early!" She protested, tears that had never really dried were forming in her eyes again. Sebastian sighed and the room fell silent.

Lumina looked around the room that was so familiar, clean white plates sat contentedly on racks on the walls. The oak table sat in the middle, glossy and polished to absolute perfection that would make even live oaks turn red with envy. The floor was tiled in light pink tiles, the beautiful colour of a summer sunrise over the ocean of the valley. She hoped desperately that Romana had left her the house in the will, for it would pain her greatly to leave it, after all it was almost all she had of her Grandmother's.

"When will the funeral be?" She asked eventually.

"In about a week, once the valley has gotten over the initial shock." He said softly, Lumina nodded. She dreaded the funeral with everything in her, she just couldn't say goodbye for the last time. Pictures of her Grandmother's cold body were imprinted in her mind, haunting her vision almost spitefully. She could still see the ghostly white, near transparent skin of her Grandmother, she looked like a cold marble statue. Her once sparkling brown eyes that were so full of life had been dull and staring accusingly. Lumina still shuddered at the image in her mind.

"I'll miss her so much." Lumina stated to break the silence, the silence now frightened her.

"Me too. I loved her you know, really loved her, as though she were my own wife." He told Lumina, who smiled softly.

"I know, I could see it in your eyes. I know she felt the same, I could see it whenever she spoke to you." Lumina told him with a small smile, her golden eyes shining warmly on his blue ones, like the sun sending glittering beams over the ocean waves.

"You're a good girl Lumina, you know I would give anything to take this pain from you." He promised her, his mouth formed into a serious "n" shape.

"I know," she said, reaching over and squeezing his hand. "But you share my pain, it's enough."

"You're so bright for such a young girl, you'll go far in this world, I guarantee it. Romana would be so proud of you if she could see you now." Lumina smiled, trying to prevent the tears from falling, she had to be brave.

"I'm gonna miss her."