Okay, there's a funny story behind the creation of this fanfic. First off, I, like most of my friends, choose which bachelor I want to marry before I even start a new game of Harvest Moon. When I got Tree of Tranquility, I chose Gill. Secondly, when I first started playing ToT, my brother and sister were watching me as I played, so I decided to entertain them and act really funny. When I first woke up from that storm thing at the beginning, I kept bumping into walls and yelling at the screen that I didn't know where to go. And when I found Gill, I made my character run in little circles around him (are you understanding what kind of person I am yet? Hehehe). When I saw Hamilton for the first time, I jumped up, pointed, and cried, "HE'S GONNA BE MY FATHER-IN-LAW! YEAH!" While my siblings laughed, the concept for this story began to form in my head. By the end of the day, I had a clear picture of it in my mind. So...I wrote it and uploaded it and here we are now! Enjoy!

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Never Could Have Guessed

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A few months after they married, Hamilton's wife bore a serious-faced little boy.

He would never forget those years. Just as any proud parent would, he savored every moment of his son's life. The boy, called Gill, had been known to toddle around the house, searching intently for new things to learn about. He had always been a very studious child, believing education to be as important as oxygen. In first grade he was caught and punished for skipping class to read a book, but of course he was later praised, as the book he had been reading was a third grade textbook.

By the time he was ten years old Gill was already reciting mathematical equations that Hamilton himself seldom understood. Naturally, the gifted child skipped a grade and proceeded to graduate from school early. With this intelligence came a high level of poise, and Gill seemed to skip the awkward phase of budding adolescence as if it was a grade as well. Hamilton felt thrilled that such a composed young boy was his very own son.

However, even Gill was not without his flaws. His smarts and elegance brought on a large degree of arrogance that most people could live without. But since he advanced so quickly—becoming a respected employee at the town hall before he was seventeen years old—no one dared to scold him. This only fueled the boy's somewhat pompous behavior, but luckily his own moral standards kept him in check. Arguably, the mayor's son was more or less perfect.

One day, as Hamilton surveyed the underpopulated town, the idea came to him to advertise. He casually put together a brochure on the computer and sent it out to a few newspapers in some neighboring cities. This action was no secret and was never intended to be, so obviously he showed the brochure to his ever-critical son.

"You blew everything out of proportion," Gill remarked as he read it. "It all seems so unrealistic. Nobody is going to fall for this."

"Just you wait," said Hamilton confidently. "You're wrong. Someone will come."

And, indeed, Gill was wrong for once. Just a few weeks after the advertisement went out, a cheerful young woman appeared on the island and introduced herself as Angela Moon. ((A/N: Such a creative last name, eh?)) As quickly as she had appeared, soon she was eagerly plowing away at a newly-purchased farm near Waffle Town. Everything she did was so refreshingly enthusiastic that Hamilton couldn't help but think of her as a friend. So, curious, he asked Gill what he thought of her as well.

"She's...nice," Gill muttered halfheartedly without looking up from his oh-so-important work.

"Is that all?" said Hamilton dryly.

Since this was code for "say more or you're grounded for life," Gill sighed and continued: "Isn't she a bit skinny for her to be working on a farm?"

"I thought she was perfectly fit," Hamilton argued in her defense. "And besides, she's got more than enough spunk to be running that ranch. She'll be a hit before you know it."

The child shrugged. "I'm still surprised that someone was actually tricked by that brochure. Whatever...as long as she doesn't get in my way I'm fine with her."

Hamilton shrugged, but decided that it was useless to ask his son for the umpteenth time to be less cynical. Life went on as usual, and, in contrast to Gill's negative predictions, Angela did become a fairly successful rancher. Imagine Hamilton's surprise when this busy worker bee suddenly appeared at the town hall at ten AM!

"Oh, Angela, don't you have work?" he asked. For the past few weeks that she had lived on Waffle Island, the girl had rarely made an appearance in town before at least five PM.

"Finished!" she said brightly. "I think I'm getting good at this!"

Secretly, the triumphant Hamilton shot an imaginary smirk at Gill. "Well, is there anything you'd like me to help you with?" he went on. "Would you, perhaps, like to buy more land for more crops?"

She laughed and shook her head. "Nah, I'm not that good yet. I was actually wondering—Anissa told me about this—if I could maybe get a part-time job here today?"

"Well, aren't you the ambitious one? Hold on for a second; I'll speak to Elli about it."

At the end of the day, Angela collected her pay, thanked her employers with a deep bow, and returned to her farm cheerfully. Hamilton couldn't help but feel amused when he noticed his son wandering around as if he was lost. The boy was not used to having all of his precious work done so early, and yet at the same time he seemed impressed at what Angela could do.

"I guess she's not so weak after all," Hamilton teased, referring to Gill's previous thoughts on her.

"I never said she was 'weak,'" Gill replied indignantly. And then, too disoriented to continue the argument, he gave in and agreed with his father for once. "Perhaps you were right, though. She may be a useful person after all."

Although Hamilton didn't quite appreciate Gill talking about her almost like she was a tool, he did feel satisfied with the boy's grudging accept of defeat. From that day forth he looked forward to Angela's frequent visits, as she quickly became a regular at the town hall. It was a wonder why she didn't just apply for a full-time employment.

It was during this period that Hamilton happily noticed Gill actually beginning to hold up full conversations with the young farmer. When he commented on this, the boy casually brushed it off, saying that Angela was simply a valued employee.

"Is she an employee," Hamilton asked, "or a friend?"

"Honestly, you can be so nosy at times," said Gill, dodging the question in an attempt to keep his definition of dignity intact.

But Hamilton knew that, despite his son's mask of haughtiness, he actually anticipated Angela's arrivals. Oftentimes, Hamilton would tap him on the shoulder and tease him, saying, "Face it, kid, you actually have a friend now." At one point Elli even joined in and went so far as to jokingly infer something more; to which Gill just rolled his eyes and announced that everyone around him was going crazy. Hamilton laughed along, knowing that Gill was probably right.

A few weeks later, Gill seemed horridly worrisome. Instead of calmly sitting at his desk to begin his work, he entered the town hall while enveloped in a dark cloud of muttering and fretfulness. When asked, he simply shook his head and said that it was no big deal. But, evidently, it was a big deal, and his gloom affected even the ever-happy Angela so much that she wouldn't leave him alone about it. Hamilton overheard their conversation—if you could call it that—as he was passing by Gill's small office.

"Tell me."

"It's nothing."

"Tell me."

"Really."

"I said tell me."

"I told you, it's nothing."

"Nothing doesn't make you so jittery."

"Well, nothing is none of your business."

"Please tell me?"

"No!"

"If it's a secret, I can keep it."

"There's no secret. I'm fine!"

It continued on like that for several minutes, and Hamilton quickly lost interest. It seemed that poor Angela was due to learn the hard way of Gill's stubbornness. And since he had been expecting her to eventually drop it, Hamilton felt a surge of shock when she returned, hours later, with a gleeful expression on her face.

"I found it, Gill! I found it! Aren't I great?" she cried proudly.

Her loud exclamations caused Gill a reaction similar to a seizure. "Don't be so loud!" he hissed, his cheeks pink with humiliation. Apparently, he had somehow accepted Angela's offer to help.

"Sorry," she said, quieter this time. Hamilton discreetly peered over to see her handing Gill a book that he recognized as his son's journal.

Gill sighed, tucked the diary under his arm, and rewarded her—startlingly—with a genuine smile. "Thanks, Angela. I don't know what I'd do without you."

The praise had a visibly dizzying effect on the farmer girl, who, like most people, was not accustomed to hearing kind words from him. "No problem!" she said, almost breathlessly. "Any time you need help, just come to me!"

Hamilton grinned and returned to his work. It was good to know that his son was finally getting a positive influence that actually seemed to be working.

After this incident, Gill became noticeably more friendly towards Angela. Sometimes neither of them would get any work done at all for certain periods of time simply because they were locked in conversation. Such would not be so unusual if it had been anyone but the mayor's single-minded son. More incredible still, the next time Hamilton joked about Angela becoming the child's friend, Gill made no attempt to deny it.

Hamilton, although at the time he had judged it to be an unimportant event, would never forget the day that the farm girl came in bearing a gift. He was instructing her as usual about her upcoming work for the day when Gill happened to pass by.

"Oh, wait, before I forget," Angela said with comical urgency, catching Gill's arm to stop him. She reached into her small bag and pulled out a jar of red liquid. "Here; this is for you!"

"For me?" he echoed as if he didn't quite believe it. "What's the occasion?"

She smiled shyly. "No occasion. But you said that tomatoes were your favorite...so I just thought I..." Her voice trailed off.

Much to Hamilton's amusement, his son's face suddenly went from confused to shocked. Gill's eyes flickered over to his father for a moment, who was watching the entire exchange. "Oh...th-thank you," he said, his face as red as the juice. Hamilton couldn't help but laugh slightly as the embarrassed Gill accepted the gift and hurried off.

Angela seemed stricken with guilt by her act. Perhaps she was contemplating as to whether it was something that shouldn't have been witnessed by Gill's father. Hamilton, seeing this, quickly returned to his instructions in order to distract her. After that, the situation returned to normal and the day progressed as it always would. Hamilton never gave it a second thought.

Time passed quickly. It soon became a habit of Angela's to bring small gifts to Gill, oftentimes a food item cooked with tomatoes. (How he wasn't sick of vegetables by now was a wonder.) Hamilton was reminded of his own childhood days in school, when he and his friends would go out and have fun. Although working at the town hall was a far cry from the fishing trips and such that he had taken, the mood seemed the same. And, over time, it became common for Gill to even wander off with Angela on Sundays when they had no work.

On one average morning, Hamilton happened to be going to work early. As he passed through the town square, he caught sight of the familiar tree up on the small hill nearby. There, to his surprise, were Gill and Angela. He wondered briefly what they were doing up there so early; at this hour, Angela was always still at her farm and Gill could be found at either his house or the town hall. Stranger still, they seemed to be talking about something very important. Something very good, it seemed.

Gill was talking animatedly about something Hamilton couldn't hear. Angela, in response, had her hands clasped tightly together in delight, and swayed ever so slightly—like she was dancing inwardly—as she listened intently. When Gill finished, she giggled and said something that made him laugh as well.

Although he had a small qualm about interrupting their heartfelt conversation, it was time for work, so Hamilton called, "Hey, Gill! Come on down—we need you over here!"

The two of them jumped in surprise and looked down to see Hamilton waiting. Gill seemed hesitant, but Angela patted his shoulder comfortingly and told him something, perhaps a promise to come back later. He nodded and came down to greet his father.

"Oh my!" Hamilton couldn't help but say. His son was smiling in a way that he had never seen before, the boy's entire face aglow with sheer joy. "What has you so happy?"

"Let's say...personal matters," Gill replied vaguely, and breezed past his father towards the town hall without any further explanation.

When Hamilton finally discovered what his son had been talking about, days later, he couldn't help but feel a little dense. The clues had been splayed out in front of him all along; but it took just one jarring sight to be set in motion. It was Sunday, so Gill, like usual, was visiting Angela at her house. Hamilton was lounging around the town square when Anissa meandered her way over to him.

"Mr. Hamilton, could you do me a favor, please?" asked the young woman.

"Sure, sure. What is it?"

Anissa held up a small bag of seeds. "This is for Angela. My mother wanted me to give them to her as a thank you for helping us with our weeds the other day. But I have to meet Jin soon, so I'm afraid I won't have much time. Could you please take them to her for me?"

The mayor agreed, naturally. It was a simple task, and he would be able to say hello to his son at the same time. So he took the seeds and made his way down the path towards Angela's small farm. He trotted along cheerfully, totally carefree, and entered the Caramel River District. Just a few meters away was her house. There were Gill and Angela, sitting on the grass in front of her house, talking casually about something he couldn't make out.

Hamilton slowly closed the distance between him and the two of them. Just as he was about to call out, Gill shifted his weight suddenly and slung his arm around Angela's narrow shoulders. She smiled and craned her neck to reach his face.

What in the world...?

They kissed.

Without breaking apart, they both moved so that their arms were around each other, holding on tightly as if they were about to be whisked away by a storm. Several seconds passed before the severe shock allowed Hamilton to move again, and, finally, he took a few steps forward and caught their attention.

"I always wondered what you two were up to over here."

They snapped apart automatically and turned to face him. Then, simultaneously, they started laughing as though this was a usual occurrence. Hamilton realized that they had expected him to already know. He suppressed a sigh at his own obliviousness. Of course the they were like this—how else could he explain his son's recent constant state of...of, well, bliss?

Gill stood up first to speak. "Hey there," he said brightly. "Is there something you need?" He smiled as he spoke, with an unfamiliar liveliness in his usually cold blue eyes.

"This"—Hamilton held up the bag of seeds—"is for Angela. It's from Anissa's family; they wanted me to bring it to her."

"Ah! Thank you." Angela took the seeds from him. "Tell Ruth and Craig and Anissa that I said thanks, also."

"Alright." Hamilton waved goodbye and started to leave. "You two have fun now," he teased as he walked away, inspiring another duo of laughter from them.

From then on, as if they no longer needed to hide it (although that clearly wasn't the case), Hamilton began to notice the couple's behavior. Whenever they were together, they always stood with their fingers intertwined, and when they were apart they always grinned whenever the other's name was mentioned in conversation. Evidently, Hamilton's son was in love.

This was why it was so strange when, after Gill had been missing for hours, Angela tapped Hamilton's shoulder and asked him where his son was.

"You mean he's not with you?"

Angela's face was pinched with mild worry and confusion. "No. I haven't seen him all day. Do you have any idea where he could of gone?"

"Sorry, I don't."

As if on cue, right then none other than Gill appeared behind them. Angela jumped a little and grabbed his hand, almost possessively. "I was just looking for you," she said with a sweet smile. "Where were you?"

He flushed lightly. "Well...I was doing you a favor." He glanced at his father nervously; it didn't take a genius to figure out that he wanted to be alone right then. So Hamilton obediently nodded, said a casual goodbye, and turned to leave. He didn't get much further than a couple of yards before he heard a shriek of delight from Angela. Automatically, he whirled around and ran right back to investigate.

She had thrown her arms around Gill's neck with such gleeful force that he was presently leaning against a nearby bench just to stay upright. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" she cried over and over. "Thank you, thank you, YES!"

"Angela, could you perhaps be a bit quieter...?"

Under normal circumstances, that comment would have made her instantly lower her voice. But this time, it had no effect. "Why? I'm so happy! I love you, Gill!" Her laugh was absolutely golden.

"What on Earth is going on?" Hamilton interrupted, utterly confused.

Once again, Gill blushed darkly because of the presence of his father. Angela, however, remained oblivious. She removed one arm from her embrace to happily brandish a Blue Feather. A Blue Feather! "Look, Mr. Hamilton, look!" she gushed. "He proposed! Gill proposed!"

"Although I wasn't planning for you to find out so quickly..."

Angela was beaming so brightly that her face almost seemed to give off its own light. "Come on, Gill, let's go tell everyone!" Before Gill could react, she seized his hand and raced off to spread the news, leaving Hamilton standing, dumbfounded, where they had once been.

"Wow..." was all he could say.

They waited such a short time that Hamilton couldn't help but feel a bit rushed. But the couple, on the other hand, seemed to want it to be done as soon as possible, for obvious reasons. In a matter of weeks nearly the entire town had gathered at the church on the big day.

Amidst this sea of faces emerged a new one that resembled Angela. Not only were their brown hair and eyes the same, but this boy also wore the same happy-go-lucky smile and walked in the same bubbly manner, which could only mean that the two were somehow related. When asked, he cheerfully introduced himself as Angela's younger brother, Kevin.

"I haven't seen Angie in forever," he said, feigning a sad sigh. "But there was no way that I was going to miss this!" He laughed and added, "But it's really funny. Last I heard from her she was talking about how her first week on the island was, then some generic 'I'm fine, how are you' stuff, and the next thing I know, I'm opening a letter that says, 'I'm getting married!'"

Hamilton chuckled. "And how did your parents react?"

Without a single flicker on his happy face, Kevin explained casually, "Oh, we don't know how our parents react to anything anymore. Not since the accident." Hamilton gasped, but Kevin quickly shrugged it off and went on: "But it's okay, really. Angie and I both know that they're still watching right now. I wonder how they feel?" He tapped on his lower lip, deep in thought. "Are they super-super happy for her like me, or are they all sad, like, 'Oh, she's all grown up now, boo-hoo...'?"

He laughed silverly and went off to talk to his sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law, completely unaware that he had left Hamilton with the feeling of swallowing a live falcon—and not because of the story of his parents.

For the first time, Hamilton saw what had been running through his mind for the past several months. Of course he couldn't have been happier, and yet he had never felt more lonely. He watched helplessly as his only son recited the vows that would change so many lives, and, when it was over, leaned in to kiss this complete stranger purposefully on the lips.

When everyone cheered, Hamilton didn't hesitate to do the same. He wasn't sad at all, and yet, this was still among the worst days he'd ever experienced. The time had come to realize that Gill was no longer the toddling little boy who skipped classes to read textbooks—he was, all of a sudden, the most important person in someone else's life. A "someone else" whose name was now Angela Hamilton.

After the ceremony, the mayor somehow wove his way through the masses of congratulating friends and made it to the couple—no, they were "newlyweds" now, weren't they? Whatever you called them, there was no doubting that this was the best moment of their lives. Kevin buzzed around them, laughing about how close they were standing. He observed, jokingly, that they seemed to be trying to squeeze each others' hands off. And they just laughed along because nothing could obstruct their euphoria now.

"It's funny, Angela," Hamilton told his son's wife in a soft voice. "When I first met you, I never could have guessed that you would be my daughter-in-law one day."

She smiled and nestled herself in Gill's chest. "Well, when I first met you, Mr. Hamilton, I never thought that your son was the man of my dreams." Then she laughed at the red she inspired on her new husband's face. Hamilton wondered if she realized how incredible it was that she was the only one who could make the formerly-cold-hearted Gill blush so easily.

When the mayor returned home, he started to cry.

He cried and cried, and, at the same time, he laughed. Before he knew it, the tears had run out, and all he could do was laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh until there wasn't a single breath left in either of his lungs. When finally he finished, he placed his hands on his face and sighed deeply. Then he uttered the classic words, the one sentence that no parent realizes that they will, inevitably, be forced to eventually say:

"He grew up so fast."

...

A few months after they married, Gill's wife bore a serious-faced little girl.

XXX

And that's it! *clap-clap-clap* Woo-hoo! I love-love-love-love this pairing! Angela and Gill are the new Claire and Skye. :) Expect several more fanfics concerning them in the future.

I have to say, this was understandably difficult to write, since I've obviously never been a parent before. But I thought it would be cool to tell a love story from a father's point of view, so I challenged myself. I hope you liked it. It's certainly a change, isn't it?

Oh, by the way, mentioning her at the beginning makes me wonder whatever happened to Gill's mother. Huh. Did she die or something? Do they tell you about here later in the game and I just haven't gotten there yet, or is she never explained? Hmmm... Did Hamilton...sort of...do it himself? O_o (GAH I HAVE THE SICKEST SENSE OF HUMOR EVER! xDDD) Also, I'm sure you noticed that I changed some stuff around (like which tree the "Confession of Love" heart event happened under), but if I didn't, then it wouldn't be a fanfic, now would it? Yeah...