Disclaimer: A mentioned piece in this short fic is the property of Brian Jacques. That means the title is a real life work.

Harvest Moon:

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Once upon a Winter Day, a young maiden with black hair and clear grey eyes sat at her circulation disk in the Mineral Town Library.

Her clothing consisted of modest clothing: a turqouise sweater vest with matching skirt over a clean white dress shirt, and a pair of angular glasses. Her long, dark hair was even braided.

At this time, the Library was devoid of any presence, save for this lone woman. Although a typical case regardless, this particular day had the reasonable excuse that it was actually closed that day. In fact, what actually kept the young girl's attention at that moment was a rectangular object gift wrapped in violet.

"Hey Mary, are you in there?! I'm looking for you right now, and I happen to notice the lights are on!" A loud voice cried from outside.

The librarian quickly snapped out of her distraction and turned towards the door.

"Oh! Come on in, the door's unlocked!" she replied.

"Alright then…"

The door immediately swung open to reveal a young man with short, jet black hair and sharp, yet shining sapphire eyes. He wore a thick, deep crimson coat and a pair of indigo sweatpants.

"Hey, Mary!" the young man greeted.

"Ah, Mitchel. I suppose it had to be you from the sound of your voice." Mary greeted back.

Immediatley, curious sapphire eyes shifted to the violet giftbox.

"Say, what's with the present? Is there a holiday I forgot about today?" the young man called Mitchel asked.

Mary shook her head.

"N-no, simply a gesture of friendship..." Mary uttered in an awkward tone.

"Is it from Gray?" Mitchel smirked.

The poor librarian became flustered, but desperately worked to calm herself.

"N-n-n-n-no! Karen! It was Karen!" Mary stammered. "Ah… I ran into her earlier today on my day off and she… actually bopped me on the head with it."

Mitchel's grin dropped abruptly as he heard the story.

"That… certainly sounds like her." He muttered.

He then took careful note of the color of the wrapping.

"Phft… Purple. It figures. Yeah, it's Karen's alright. If something in Mineral Town is slapped with this color, it has to be Karen's work… of course, I blame my sister Gina for her fascination, so I'm not sure who rightfully deserves the credit." He ranted.

"Your sister? Really? You mean, it was because of her that Karen likes the color purple so much?" Mary asked curiously.

The young guest turned his head momentarily to reflect.

"Actually, I noticed Karen had a taste for it from the beginning, but it was pretty much Gina who sealed the deal for her. My sister somehow rubbed off on her in a number of odd ways, but the whole "Purple Obsession Deal" is a silly story we can save for another day." Mitchel explained.

"…I see…" Mary nodded.

Once again, Mary eyed her new gift in curiosity, with her friend joining in.

"Say, shouldn't you have opened that thing by now?" Mitchel suggested.

"Oh. Um… actually, I wasn't sure. I was considering saving it until the Eve of the Starry Night Festival to be more courteous, and--"

"What did Karen tell you to do?"

"…actually, she told me to see for myself once I got home, but--"

"Then go ahead and let er' rip! If she told you can, you might as well enjoy the wealth!" Mitchel encouraged.

The librarian reluctantly placed her hands on the wrapping in preparation.

"Alright… if you insist, but… I still feel that rushing it isn't so prudent…" Mary uttered.

"Nah, you're fine! That girl and I don't really care about formalities all that much!" Mitchel nodded.

Mary nodded back slowly, then begun the gradual process of unwrapping the gift. By her side, Mitchel stood there while restlessly tapping his leg to a rhythm in is head.

"Do you really need to take so much time?" Mitchel groaned.

"I believe in at least show my respect by preserving the giftwrap." Mary insisted while she kept unraveling the gift.

"Hey, I'm just saying. I tear my presents without a care in the world."

"It's not your gift!" Mary argued.

Eventually, the girl with glasses succesfuly unwrapped her present to reveal a hardback book featuring an image of a robbed mouse with sword and shield in hand.

"Ho schythe! Redwall?!" Mitchel exclaimed.

"Oh? You know of this novel?" Mary inquired.

"Well, yeah! This is the book that actually got me into reading! Karen recommended this to me back in the day! It's got this amazing fantasy world with a really cool medieval setting, and a little bit of romance worked into it, so it's got a lot for you to enjoy!" Mitchel replied.

The lady bibliophile further inspected the contents in her hand.

"Hmm….? An anthropomorphic mouse in medieval attire? How… unique." Mary uttered to herself curiously.

"Yo, guys! Do you have a party going on in here or something?" Another voice chimed.

Both inhabitants of the librarian turned to see another young woman. This one had long, flowing brunette hair with two bleached bangs, and bright emerald eyes. She wore a thick, violet coat with a deep indigo scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Karen!" the duo exclaimed at the same nice.

"Hey Mitch. Mary." The spirited girl greeted back.

Her eyes then shot directly towards Mary's new book.

"Ah, I see you finally decided to open up your gift! Good!" Karen grinned.

"You're serious? They don't even have a classic like this in Mineral Town's Local Library?" Mitchel cried while pointing a thumb at the book.

Mary shook her head as Karen stepped in.

"Nope. I even checked the place myself while you guys weren't looking. I figured if she hadn't seen it yet, Mary would be able to have to same pleasure from this you did when I showed it to you." Karen said with a wink.

Mitchel and Mary looked at her in disbelief.

"…is…she really a ninja or something?" Mitchel pondered.

"So… was this a personal favorite of yours, too?" Karen asked.

Karen nodded.

"Back when I was living in the city, I was a pretty big lover of high-fantasy action and stuff. I really didn't read all that often, but one of the earlier books that stood out to me is the one in your very hands. I ended up enjoying it so much, and since Mitch and I shared a few interests, I figured I should tell him about it." She explained.

"I was a little reluctant at first. Like I said, I didn't like reading all that much as a kid. Actually, I really hated reading and all that literature junk. But I COULD read… and it was a bit of curse that I was so skillful at it." Mitchel continued.

"You see, between the two of us, my buddy Mitch here was always the regular scholar. While I went on my merry way to goof off and earn myself one way trips to detention, Mitch was the weirdo goody-goody who would behave himself and do well in school. Knowing that, I was a bit surprised to find out he wasn't much of a reader." Karen added.

"I see…" Mary replied. "…so then, how did you finally get him to take your recommendation?"

At that moment, the emerald-eyed girl flashed a devious smirk.

"Oh, that was simple actually: I merely looked at him in the eye, shoved a copy in his grasp, and told him, "Read it. Now." "

Mitchel's body trembled upon recalling the memory.

"Goddess, you didn't have to threaten me into reading the darn thing…" he uttered under his breath.

"So, yeah… Karen shoved her will down my throat, and I decided to take a look. To my luck, instead of being a wasted three weeks of my life, I got a good adventure out of it! Don't even knock the reading level, because it falls under that convenient "all ages" category." Mitchel concluded.

Upon hearing that, Mary formed a small, warm smile.

"So, books hold that sort of value…even among friends, huh?" she thought to yourself.

"Say, now that I think about it… if it weren't for me getting Mitch in reading, I'm thinking he wouldn't have even bothered stopping at some "shabby library" on the first day to become friends our little four-eyed princess here! You two owe me some props!" Karen insisted.

"Hey, no way, pal! I would've found a way to meet Mary eventually while sticking around this place! Why would I pass up a chance to befriend a cute friend like her? She's a whole big breath of fresh air compared to all the crap you put me through back in the day!" Mitchel argued.

"Heh. Oh really?" Karen chuckled.

Immediately, the "four-eyed princess" blushed a deep red as the childhood friends bickered, but experienced an aftereffect of deep gratitude.

"Oh, say… speaking of friends, that reminds me. Mary, I came here to invite you to join me at Popupri's place for a hot cup of cocoa or two. But at this point, I'm pretty sure now Karen's tagging along for obvious reasons…" Mitchel brought up.

"Yep. Free cocoa sounds like an obvious enough reason! I suggest you take up that offer, too!" Karen joined in.

Mitchel and Mary rolled their eyes in response, then the two faced each other once more.

"Well?" Mitchel uttered.

After a brief pause, Mary faced her dear friend with a bright smile.

"Sure! Just give me some time to dress up for the weather, okay?" Mary requested.

"Right, right…" Mitchel uttered.

"Make sure to bring along that bona fide classic with you, then! Maybe we could use it to put on our own mini production and read it aloud! I'm sure Mitch here could pull off reading the part of our main man, Matthias!" Karen suggested.

"Wait… what?!" Mitchel blurted out.

"And maybe Popuri could read the part of "Cornflower". It'd be perfect, seeing how well you two play house together with Stu and May." Karen teased as she elbowed Mitchel in the gut.

"H-hold on! That's just our way of babysitting those two! That has nothing to do with the respectable undertaking of a genuine thespian!" he defended.

"Alright then… if you don't think she's up to the part, how about our good pal, Mary?" Karen continued.

"Um… who's this "Cornflower" you speak of?" Mary quietly asked while pulling her arm through the left sleeve of a big, green coat.

"I'm glad you asked! Cornflower happens to be the Main Character's--"

Immediately, Mitchel cut her off via the covering of the mouth.

"Ah, good! You're ready! We can head out now!" he cried under shaky composure.

Mary quickly glanced at the brunette trying to speak through Mitchel's defense, then noticed just how uncomfortable he was with the subject material.

"LET'S GO!!" Mitchel proclaimed.

Mary quickly scurried over to Mtichel and Karen's side dressed completely in winter attire. Mitchel then released his hold on Karen's speech device.

"Geez, Killjoy…" Karen muttered.

"No… Spoilers…Please…" Mitchel growled furiously under his breath.

All the while, Mary could not help but laugh at the scene taking place before her.

"The power of literature is an amazing thing, indeed." She thought to herself with pleasure.

And so, the uncanny trio closed the door behind them as they headed towards the Poultry Farm to spend the remainder of the day with Popuri.

Author's Note: And who'd think I'd get all of this just by seeing a fanart called "Mary's Special Day" on deviantart?

Apparently, that work was in turn inspired by a fanfic from a writer on this site called pvc. It's a small world after all.

And if you were wondering, yes, Mitchel is one of my many OCs and THE Farmer of Mineral Town in this case. And is a childhood friend of Karen.

If you were wondering who he's paired up with, read one of my earlier works featuring Farmer Mitchel. But I'll help narrow it down for you: It's not Ann, and it's not Karen.

...I'm glad I'm seeing more Mary fanfics around here, especially ones that are portraying her in a more pleasant light. The recent horde of Claire x Gray fics is making me a little nervous, but they have been merciful, and for that you have my thanks.

And just because two people are childhood friends, that doesn't necessarily mean they're destined for a romantic future. An with the weird-ass, masculine relationship between Karen and Mitchel I've established… I'd doubt the passion here. Which is also a refreshing thing to me. I'm considering doing a future fic where Mitchel and Karen have a laugh at Karen's portrayal of the "angsty, yet consummate beauty"… with your guys' permission, of course. And if I have time. Maybe If I get to it, we can all have a laugh on it.

In any case, thanks for taking a look. It's been a while since I've been writing this stuff, huh?