Part 16 (Finale!)

Thanks for all the reviews! I'm sorry it took so long to put this up, but well….life happens. I think I also have a problem with endings… I wont watch the season finale of my favorite show if it's not coming back on the next year. I still haven't read the last Harry Potter book even though I have read all the other ones… And I didn't finish the last Twilight book…but that's for a completely different reason. I decided I didn't like Twilight. Haha. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter and have enjoyed the entire story.

This means WAR!

Peace Treaty

Akari sat at the bar drinking a lemonade talking with Chihaya. He actually was the one talking, technically, while the brunette absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair with a silly grin on her face.

"Akari were you listening to me?" The tall waiter asked with his hands on his hips.

"Hmmm…?" She mused, blinking back to reality. "Listening? Of course I was listening."

Chihaya raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Really? What did I say?"

She puckered her lips and stared at the ceiling as if the answer was somewhere above his head. "Er…you said that…"

"That…" Chihaya echoed, his eyebrow rising even higher. "That…what?"

"That you…had a…brownie…?" She then glanced at him inquiringly hoping she guessed right.

"A brownie?" He said in disbelief. "That's the best you can com up with?"

Her eyes flickered back to the ceiling. "No….What I meant was you had a…taco…?"

Chihaya sighed. "No, Akari. I said, do you want to go hang out later?"

She shrugged. " Oh. Well, I think I might have plans…" Her voice drifted off as the bell above the door rang, announcing Gill as he walked in wearing a suspicious face. Akari watched him out of the corner of her eye, the silly grin spreading across her lips. "Look at that idiot." She said as the blond boy walked past them and down a hallway with a sideways look at Akari.

"Yeah." Chihaya chimed in, eager for a Gill bashing party. "Who wears sweater vests!?"

"Come on, Chihaya." Akari said rolling her eyes at him. "You can do better then that."

He grinned, accepting the challenge. "Alright. How about, the reason his pants are too short is because he stole them from a midget!"

She laughed. "No, he stole them from his father."

"Come on, Akari, you know that is impossible. If he had stolen them from his father then they would be…you know, larger around the middle…"

"Oh that's low…" Akari said with a grin. "You can do better."

He thought for a moment. "His mood is so sour because he drinks spoiled milk!"

"No, he only drinks tomato juice, you know that." She cocked her head to the side then slid off her seat. "Is that all you've got?"

He bit his lip desperately thinking up another insult as she slowly walked backwards toward the hall. "Hold on!" He exclaimed.

"Tick, tock, tick, tock!" She sang, slinking further down the hallway.

"Gah!" He yelled, nearly pulling out his hair in frustration. "I can think of one! Just give me a minute!"

"Time's up!" She announced, disappearing from view. He slammed the counter in defeat but smiled as he rested his head on his hand.

"Yeah,…I know…my time is up…" He whispered under his breath.

---

Akari walked down the hallway in the direction Gill had headed. She walked slowly, careful to not let any floorboards creak, and controlled her breathing so that it was nearly inaudible. But that didn't stop him from knowing she was there.

She gasped as she was suddenly grabbed around the middle and pulled into a closet. She caught sight of two arms before the door was slammed behind her and everything went pitch black. She was coughing on dust bunnies and fumbling for a light switch and then was smothered in a bone crushing hug shortly followed by little kisses all over her face.

She felt the body holding her, squeeze her even tighter, if that was possible. Then hands held her face as he tipped it right and left so he could kiss every inch of it. She started laughing when he kissed the tip of her nose so he kissed it again, which only made her laugh harder. As his lips explored her face she stayed very still with her eyes closed, a thrilling feeling in her chest.

Finally his lips found the corner of her mouth. They lingered there a little as he felt them curl into a smile before he roamed back over her face. Her hands went up then and grabbed his arms, pulling them away from her face and then behind her back in an embrace. His kisses became slower and lingered longer where they landed until he hit her lips again, and this time he stayed there. She kissed him back and felt his lips form a smile in return before he quickly went back to kissing her face.

"Hey, hey, stop it." She whispered with false annoyance in her voice. "You're mauling me."

She felt his chest shake in a low chuckle. "I'm sorry, I cant help it." Gill said silkily, his words broken up as he kissed her eyelids. "You taste so good."

"Really?" She asked him skeptically. "I bet I just taste like human…maybe a little like dirt."

"No." He breathed, kissing her chin. "You taste like tomatoes."

She scoffed. "That's ridiculous! How could I taste like tomatoes!?"

He grinned against her cheek. "I don't know, all I know is that you taste better then the best thing in the world, which is tomatoes."

"So I taste better then tomatoes…?" She inquired.

"Uh-huh…"He mused as he kissed her lips, this time she didn't kiss back.

"That's a horrible comparison." She complained against his mouth.

He laughed at that and pulled her closer to him, resting his head on top of hers. "You are my cute little tomato."

She made a gagging noise. "Please tell me you did not just say that! That is the most pathetic cheesy nickname I have ever heard!"

She felt his hands cup her face as he pulled her toward him. "What do you want me to call you?" He whispered, his lips fluttering against hers.

Butterflies exploded in her stomach. How does he do this to me? She marveled as she felt his breath against her cheek. "Well, I don't know…Most guys call their girlfriends 'Honey' or 'Sugar' or 'Cupcake'…but of course those are all too sweet for me!"

She could feel his eyes on her even though she couldn't see him. "What do you want me to call you?" He asked again, kissing her softly on the forehead.

"What do you want to call me?" She asked, her heart beating fast.

He paused for a moment, playing with a lock of her hair. "I've got a good one…" He whispered mischievously.

"What is it?"

She could hear him smiling. "It's a secret."

She slugged him hard in the shoulder just as the door to the closet was opened revealing a smirking Chihaya.

"You didn't fool me." He said matter-of-factly. "Not this time…not last time…" He shook his head. "Must you always make out in this closet?"

Akari looked up and saw Gill smiling at her partner in crime before he wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her into his side. "I apologize." He said to the waiter. "I simply cant help myself."

Chihaya rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…but Akari! I would have expected more from you! Sneaking into a closet is so unlike you!" He teased. "Look, get out of here before someone else finds you when they are looking for a broom or something."

---

It had been a month since Gill told Akari that he loved her, and a few days later she realized she loved him too. It was strange and completely illogical for her to be in love with the one person she had devoted so much time into torturing. But at the same time it made so much sense.

Telling Chihaya had been the hardest part. Of course him being her best friend, he promised to be supportive even if she was in love with the ogre. But it took him a while to actually trust Gill to be near her all the time. Now everything seemed to run smoothly, Akari would spend time hanging out with Chihaya after she finished her chores and then Gill would stop by the bar to pick her up and take her on a date.

When the new couple first started walking around town together they got a couple of strange reactions. Luke ran up to Akari and grabbed her arm, telling her to run for her life because Gill was right behind her. She laughed and explained that they were now going out and the young carpenter had stumbled away wide-eyed. Luna and Candace on the other hand were thrilled and boasted that they knew it all along. All the boasting was done by Luna of course.

It was also really awkward telling Hamilton…

The mayor was so joyful that he wrapped Akari into a death grip of a hug and welcomed her into the family. Once he released her he turned to Gill and asked when the wedding date was, which promptly caused the blond to blush and hold up his hands explaining that they were just dating.

And Akari and Gill? They were happy of course. Gill had changed so much from the first time they met that he now seemed like a completely different person. He was kind and loving toward his new girlfriend, that he completely adored. He simply couldn't get enough of seeing her smile and would do anything to make her laugh, and she loved that about him. He also took her up on her offer of teaching him to farm. Now the two of them worked side by side in Akari's field planting various vegetables with the majority of them being tomatoes. He was constantly slacking off at first, stopping and starring at her with a silly grin. But she would quickly set him back to work when she threatened to hit him with her sickle, though she secretly loved catching him gaze at her and would blush fiercely.

---

After one such occasion where the two of them were working in the fields, Gill looked up and saw the sun was setting.

"How about we call it a day." He said slinging the hoe over his shoulder casually. "It's getting late."

Akari glanced up at the sun then turned to him with a smirk. "What's wrong? You tired?"

He scoffed. "No. I thought you might be."

"Well I'm not! I could work all day and all night!" She poked him in the chest playfully. "So don't you worry about me."

"But I do worry." He said with all seriousness.

"You do?" The smirk slid from her face and a small blush appeared there.

"Of course I do. I love you, Akari, that means I care about you a lot, which in turn means I worry."

She still got chills every time he said that. "I can take care of myself." She said matter-of-factly, turning away from him only to be spun around and caught in a hug. She froze, amazed that he could still turn her stomach into knots, as he rested his head on top of hers.

"I know you can." He breathed against her forehead. "But I want to take care of you." She smiled into his collar as he spoke again. "Will you let me?"

"Well, I suppose. Within reason, of course." She said with laughter in her voice.

"Yes, of course." He said with a chuckle, tightening his hug slightly.

There was a few seconds of silence as they just hugged each other when finally Akari said, "I love you, Gill."

He smiled, then looked down into her soft brown eyes and said, "I love you too."

The End

---

So its over. I hope the ending was satisfactory to all of you. I know it was for me, lol!

I had problems writing this. I couldn't decide whether to start where I left off in the last chapter or to do this little glimpse into the future thing. I finally chose this little glimpse thing because whenever I tried to write Akari telling Chihaya it ended up being so incredibly sad and I don't want to remember Chihaya as some pitiful guy, but a guy who is an amazing friend. I also decided Chihaya needs more lovin, and so I will write a story just for him. So stay tuned, haha!

Please tell me what you think about the ending, loved it…hated it. I want to know your opinions.

To all the readers: Thanks for reading, and thanks all the fantastic reviews I have gotten over the length of this story! You guys are the best and have given me so much more confidence in my writing. Although I know I have tons I can improve upon. Thanks again for everything and just being fantastic people!

P.S. If you liked this story and want to read more Harvest Moon stories by me, I currently have one other called Truth or Dare with Akari and the gang in it.