Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.

Lions and Shields

"Why are you here again?" The apathetic voice was almost too soft to hear.

"Aw, don't say that Molly," Luke grinned, throwing his arm over the farmer's shoulders. Despite her cold reception, Luke was undeterred. He pulled her small body closer to his as they both continued up the hill towards her farm. "You look stressed. Let's do something fun!"

"I'm tired. If you wish to do something fun, you can surely do it without me." The brunette shrugged off Luke's arm and continued walking towards her house.

"Molllllyyy," Luke whined, making sure to drag out her name. He started jogging to catch up to the farmer. "You should have more fun! Don't you want to do exciting things? Don't you want more out of life?"

"I want many things out of life," she answered dryly.

For a moment, Luke saw her eyes narrow and her lips thin. Then, her face returned to the perfectly emotionless mask she wore around the villagers.

"Well, let's go find those things!" he announced.

She didn't reply until they had reached the door. "I'm really tired."

"But Mollllyyyy…"

"Please don't come back tomorrow," she requested, pushing the door open.

Before Molly could enter her house, Luke grabbed onto her wrist. As he gazed at her gloved hand, he was momentarily at a loss as to what to do. He gazed into her unwavering eyes and finally made up his mind to ask the question that had been bothering him all day. "Why… did you reject my invitation yesterday?"

There was no sympathy in her voice as she answered, "I do not share your feelings."

"Why not?" he demanded. "I'm an awesome guy!"

"I suppose you are," she said, freeing her wrist from his grip. "You're not what I want though."

He crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brows. "What do you want in a guy then?"

"Many things," she answered emotionlessly. Her eyes flickered to his determined golden orbs. "I want a fairy tale prince. He needs to be courageous, caring, romantic, intelligent, diligent, handsome, faithful…"

"I can be all that." Luke confidently pointed at himself and grinned broadly. Seeing the skepticism in her eyes, Luke frowned. "I'm brave. I work in Fugue Forest nearly every day!"

Molly turned around and entered her house. "It's not bravery if you can do it so easily."

With that said, the farmer closed the door, leaving Luke standing alone outside. "Just watch, I'll prove that I can be your prince!"

Molly didn't make any reply. The carpenter turned back around to head home. As he kicked a stone down the dirt road, he wondered about Molly's words. He had been told by Renee that he was courageous for going fearlessly into the forest every day but Molly didn't seem to agree.

Going into the forest hadn't always been easy. He remembered thinking there were monsters inside when he was younger and spent weeks practicing swinging his axe menacingly before finally venturing into the forest alone. After years of wandering in the maze of boulders and trees without actually meeting any monsters, he supposed that the task had become something he didn't think much about anymore.

In that case, he'd just have to find something super difficult to do! He wanted to impress Molly so he would have to think of something that even she couldn't perform! His smile faded slightly as he tried to figure what that would be. Molly was one of the most capable humans on Castanet.

The sweet scent of freshly cut wood filled his senses once he opened the door to the carpentry. Mixed in with the woody smell was the faint aroma of yams and rice. Luke's stomach growled and he settled casually onto the kitchen chair. He barely noticed when his father settled in the chair across from him and Bo handed them each a bowl of yam rice. He would need to think of something really amazing to impress Molly. What would that be though?

"Er, Luke."

The carpenter blinked and turned to look owlishly at Bo, who was sitting next to him.

"You're unusually silent today. What are you thinking about?"

"Doing something brave."

The other apprentice rubbed the back of his head and cast a fleeting glance in Dale's direction. Turning to focus on Luke again, he sighed and asked, "Er, what do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking about eating Maya's cooking," he replied thoughtfully. A wide grin formed on his face upon seeing the stunned expressions on the other two's faces. "You're impressed, aren't you? It sounds like the perfect brave thing to do!"

"That would be more foolish than brave," Dale grunted. "You are not going to lie in bed for days just to make a point."

"Aw… but I can't think of anything else!" Luke whined.

Dale sent a meaningful look in Bo's direction before grabbing his bowl and heading towards the sink. The other apprentice pinched the bridge of his nose as he warily observed Luke.

"Alright, so why do you want to do something brave?" Bo asked.

"To impress Molly," Luke grinned, bouncing in his chair in excitement. He was glad that Bo was interested in this. He could use all the help he could get.

"You're talking about the person that didn't blink when she refused expensive gemstones offered to her by Calvin and Gill," Bo reminded. "It's impossible to impress her."

"I can do it if I do something brave!" Luke argued passionately. "She said so herself."

Bo's irritated expression shifted to something sadder.

Luke frowned. "It's not hopeless, Bo. Even if it was, I would still be able to win her heart!"

"I understand that she is highly successfully and an overall impressive person, but all this effort doesn't seem to be leading you anywhere."

Luke appeared slightly disheartened for a moment before pulling himself together. This wasn't the first time he had been told this. He wasn't going to give up yet!

Seeing the determination in Luke's eyes, Bo crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. After a moment, he finally said, "Try asking the fortune teller. He might be able to help."

"That's a great idea! Thanks Bo!" He had never considered looking for the fortune teller. In fact, he had completely forgotten about said person's existence. He smacked the younger male on the shoulder and started gobbling down his previously untouched meal. With his problem nearly solved, he was ready to finish the day.

"Luke, please don't do anything that will worry us," Bo called to the carpenter after the meal as Luke headed towards his room.

Luke turned his head to look back at Bo. "Hey, don't worry."

"That means not doing anything that might land you in the clinic," Bo clarified. "Bravery isn't limited to confronting injuries and death."

The older apprentice frowned and tapped his foot against the wooden floor. "I can't impress Molly if there isn't the chance that I'll get injured."

"She won't be impressed if you end up in the clinic either."

"I won't!" Luke grinned confidently.

Bo sighed and slumped onto the table, hoping that the fortune teller doesn't tell Luke to do anything stupid.

The first thing Luke did the following day was visit Harmonica Town. It was a Thursday and the carpentry was closed, so he was free to do whatever he wanted.

Despite never having seen the man that ran the shop, the outside of the building was well kept. Luke scratched his head, wondering if the fortune teller only came out during the middle of the night or something. The door was unlocked so Luke decided that it was fine to venture inside.

"Yo! Anyone here?" Luke called as he casually strolled into the quiet building. His voice echoed back in the spacious building.

He stopped by the round table displaying the crystal ball and glanced around. The air was stuffy, carrying the heavy scent of various dried herbs and aged paper. As a person that liked the outdoors, the atmosphere in the building was slightly suffocating. Luke rubbed his nose.

"HEEEYYYY!"

"What… do you want?"

Luke turned to his right to find the fortune teller descending the staircase. Grinning sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his head and confessed, "I want to find out how to make a girl fall in love with me. You can help me with that, right?"

The older male gracefully stopped behind the table, his clothes whispering softly as he turned to look his guest in the eyes. Luke fidgeted slightly, disliking the perfectly blank expression on the fortune teller's face. He found that the other man's presence was even more distant than Molly's.

"You wish… to impress Miss Molly… is that correct?"

Luke's eyes widened. "Wow, how did you know that?"

The fortune teller thoughtfully observed Luke, making shivers crawl up the carpenter's spine. At length, he replied, "It is unfortunate… but I cannot assist you in this matter."

Luke blinked. "What? Why not?"

"Miss Molly… had performed a great service for me…" he answered. "In return, I agreed not to use my powers… to peer into her heart."

It took a moment for Luke to digest this information.

"Oh…" Luke's shoulders slumped. He understood the importance of keeping promises so he did not hold that against the man in front of him. Sadly, he was back to square one. "Well, thanks anyway."

Turning around, Luke trudged towards the exit.

"She will not… allow herself to be impressed," the fortune teller stated, causing Luke to stop. "You should understand… humans better than I do. Ponder over it."

"Wha—" Luke turned around to ask what the man meant, but found empty space in the place the fortune teller once was. Standing motionlessly, Luke repeated the man's words but couldn't make any sense out of it. The answer seemed to tease him, dangling just out of his reach. The entire thing was becoming even more frustrating than he imagined. As he stepped outside, Luke decided to think about that particular puzzle later. It was too good of a day to stress himself out trying to figure out Molly's complex mind.

Still, with nothing interesting to distract him, his mind wondered to other mysteries. He stuck out his tongue in thought as he strolled through Harmonica Town, thinking about the enigmatic person he just met. The theories he could think of regarding the fortune teller was much more fun to think about. "Maybe he's a ghost."

"Who's a ghost?"

The carpenter grinned when he saw Maya. Maybe she could help with his troubling problem. "I'll tell you… but you need to tell me a reason why someone can't be impressed by something."

"Hm…" Maya chewed on the inside of her cheek as she mulled over the question. After a moment, her face brightened. "Because they are mean!"

"Huh?"

"No matter what I do, I can't impress Chase with my cooking!" Maya said, nodding firmly. "I've decided that it's because he's mean. I mean, he said that all one thousand of my dishes that he had tried were terrible! I don't believe that not even one of them was good!"

Luke nodded sagely, seeing Maya's point. There was just one problem. "Molly's not a mean person though."

Maya tilted her head to the side. "I don't know about that. She almost never smiles."

Luke opened his mouth to protest but was interrupted.

"Maya! Your break is over," Yolanda called, her voice cutting through the air like a sharp knife.

Pouting, the waitress turned to look back at the inn. Her bright blue eyes flickered to Luke's face. "Tell me who the ghost is later, 'kay?"

Spinning around, the young woman hurried back to work, her braids bouncing as she ran. Scratching his head, Luke tore his eyes away from her and continued walking. Multicolored leaves covered the cobblestone road and tumbled over one another as winds swept through the area. Tilting his head upwards, Luke found fluffy white clouds casually drifting by. He found autumn to be a good season to think about things.

Luke allowed his feet to lead the way as his mind drifted to the farmer once again. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't figure out the puzzle that was Molly. He ruffled his hair in irritation. "I should just ask her."

Luke unlinked the hands behind his head and decided maybe that would be the best choice. He blinked as he took in his surroundings and realized he was standing outside of Fugue Forest. Even on his day off, he still managed to find his way here.

"So, did you manage to find a way to impress Molly?" Owen approached him, seeming to have just left Horn Ranch, which was north-east of the forest entrance.

"I guess I'm trying to figure out why Molly can't be impressed."

"Maybe she doesn't like guys," Owen said with a shrug.

"You really think so?" Luke questioned, his eyes wide with shock.

"It could also be because you're really bad at courting," Owen added. He slapped Luke's shoulder. "You should quit while you're still ahead."

Luke silently watched Owen walk away, mulling over the blacksmith's words. If Molly was not unkind, then the reason she never accepted any gifts or invitations was most likely because she didn't want to for some reason. Owen's guess fit with this realization though there was a feeling that told Luke that Molly did indeed like males.

"Ah! This is so confusing!" Luke shouted, causing a few sparrows to scatter into the air from inside the forest. His voice echoed back at him, frustrating the carpenter even more. Taking in a deep breath, Luke sat down cross-legged on the grassy ground. Had all his work been done in vain?

He blinked as he remembered Molly clearly telling him she wanted a fairy tale prince. That line disproved Owen's theory though his happiness was short lived. Did that mean that he was just really bad at courting? It was an appalling thought. If he gave up now, he could avoid any more embarrassment. He eventually pushed the notion aside though. He thought that this particular adventure was too enjoyable, and the treasure too valuable to let go of.

The carpenter smiled as he regarded the towering forest in front of him.

He was also in Fugue Forest collecting wood the first time he had a glimpse of the other side of the apathetic farmer. It was fairly late during the day, so he was surprised to hear a young woman speaking softly. Following the hypnotically comforting murmurs, he found Molly holding a small rabbit in her arms. Once the shaking animal eventually calmed, Molly reached for her scarf and using her axe, ripped the expensive material to make a bandage to tie around the open wound. As he walked away, he was unsure if he was dreaming or not.

After that, he decided to pay more attention to the farmer's actions. When he walked passed her farm on his morning journeys to Fugue Forest, he would see things he never noticed before, such as her tenderly brushing her animals while speaking to them. Other times he saw her petting and feeding some of the local animals. It didn't matter whether the animals were cute or dangerous; Molly cared for them all from the stray cats that lived in Harmonica Town to the large bears near Garmon Mine.

At first, he couldn't believe that the cold but highly successful farmer could be soft and kind hearted. It wasn't that he viewed her as a person without a heart. A person that could produce such high quality products had to have put in a lot of heart into her work. It was just that she gave the impression that she only cared about herself. The villagers respected her, but Molly's attitude kept them at a distance.

Did she not like people?

Was that why she didn't want to be impressed by any humans?

This explanation made perfect sense. Luke excitedly tried to find any flaws in it and after a few seconds, deemed his guess to be flawless.

People weren't that scary though. Sure, some of them could be mean but no one would actually harm Molly. He would show her that. Nodding firmly, Luke turned around and started to head towards Molly's farm. As he walked up the hill her house sat on, he saw Molly making her way up as well, just having finished her business in Harmonica Town. Luke's face brightened.

"Hey, Mollllly!"

She didn't spare him a glance.

Still smiling, Luke trotted up to her. "I've figured it out!"

She continued walking.

"The fortune teller was telling me that you won't allow yourself to be impressed," Luke began. "So I figured that it's because you're afraid."

The farmer's perfectly rhythmic steps faltered for a second. After another few seconds, she said in a tone that was colder than usual, "If you've figured that out, then please leave me alone."

"Molllyyy," Luke whined. He couldn't allow her to spend all her time on her farm. He had to convince her to overcome her fears and approach the other villagers. "How can you have adventures with your prince if you're not brave as well?"

"I won't. A prince that perfect does not exist," she stated. Seeing the protest forming on Luke's lips, she raised her hand to silence him. "Even if you manage to prove yourself to be ideal in almost every way, I still won't accept your feelings."

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Luke insisted, not understanding how after living on Castanet for so long, Molly still couldn't see that all the people here were nice. Even if someone were to bully her, he would protect her! "Give us a chance!"

Seeing that Molly wasn't budging, Luke grabbed onto her arm and started dragging her towards the Garmon Mine district. "I'll show you!"

He would bring her to his friends and family. They were among some of the most patient people he knew. Molly would be touched by their kindness, understand that people weren't all that bad and then accept the feelings he felt for her! Luke enthusiastically explained his plan to the farmer. "I'll prove to you that humans aren't that scary. You just need to show them your kinder side!"

"I think… we're not on the same page."

"I know, my awesome plan is awesome!" he continued, too caught up to hear her words.

"Luke, you don't understand."

"Don't worry, I'll be there."

"Luke, I'm not afraid of humans!"

"Huh?" he blinked, turning to look at the slightly flustered brunette.

She pulled her arm from his grasp and turned away to collect herself. Her eyes shifted to focus on the vast, sparkling ocean.

"It's not humans that I'm afraid of," she said quietly. Her eyes seemed softer than usual, making her appear vulnerable. She had finally allowed her mask to disappear –at least for a moment.

Luke furrowed his brow, not understanding. He had been so sure that his guess was right.

"The reason my ideal person has so many requirements is because I want to make it impossible for such a person to exist," Molly explained. She stuffed her hands into her pockets. Before Luke could ask, the farmer said, "If he doesn't exist, he can't leave me."

"Wait, you're afraid of people leaving you?" Luke questioned. He supposed that being left behind by someone was a very sad thing but he didn't think anyone should avoid others because of such a fear. He scratched his head. "All the people here like Castanet. They won't leave unless they have to."

A long silence followed Luke's statement. Finally, Molly closed her eyes and sighed. However, her reply seemed completely unrelated to their conversation. "Even though I disagreed with your argument yesterday, I really think that you're actually one of the most courageous people on the island."

Luke gazed down at Molly, wondering what was going through her mind.

"I admire those that are able to wear their hearts on their sleeves," Molly said softly. "I think the people that reveal their true selves for others to see are truly courageous."

Letting their previous conversation slide to the back of his mind, Luke pondered over the farmer's last statement. He tried to wrap his mind around the concept, but the carpenter didn't exactly understand Molly's point of view. Seeing the confusion on his face, the farmer asked, "A while ago, when you asked your friends for gift ideas, were you not afraid of what they would think? I'm not the easiest person to get along with."

"A little," Luke admitted. He brushed a couple locks of hair off his face as he thoughtfully considered the question. "They told me that trying to win your heart was a bad idea. But, I really like you. Even if… the terrible results they told me were true, I still wanted to try."

"And each time you visited me, weren't you afraid of getting rejected?"

"Yes," Luke said, "but I wanted to try anyway! I don't want to hide what I want!"

He didn't think much of those actions at that time. When he thought of bravery, he thought of wrestling bears and meeting the witch that was rumored to live deep in Fugue Forest. It was surprising realizing that bravery could be linked to small actions like those.

Molly smiled. "I can't do the same."

The carpenter scratched his head. It wasn't difficult for him to be himself so he was unable to understand the difficulty. It took a lot for Molly to be impressed though. Was it that difficult for everyone else? Molly… she hid a lot of herself. Luke finally began to see how the two conversations were linked.

"I've seen your true self," Luke said. "You don't need to be afraid of showing others what you're really like. People will like you! I like you! We won't leave you!"

The farmer took in a deep breath and hesitantly said, "I had a boyfriend many years ago. He promised a lot of things. He said he would be by my side for as long as he lived. He broke up with me not long after."

"Why would he do that?"

The brunette shrugged halfheartedly, her eyes still focused on the ocean. "I didn't meet his expectations."

He was unused to seeing the strong farmer appear so weak. Sadness momentarily gripped him. He shook his head to clear his mind. Smiling, Luke stepped in front of Molly, cutting off her view of the ocean. His eyes shimmered excitedly as he announced, "I'll teach you how to be brave."

The farmer arched an eyebrow. "I don't think it works like that."

"Trust me, okay? I can do it! After all, I'm an amazing guy!"

"It's not in my nature," she stated clearly.

"But you want to be courageous, don't you?" Luke pressed. "It'll be an adventure! I'll be by your side during the entire time, no matter what happens!"

Irritation flickered across her face. The farmer lightly punched Luke's arm and stated. "I don't want to hear that."

"I will be!" Luke insisted. "Weeks after! Months after! Seasons after! Years after! Two hundred years after! Oh, I guess I won't be here, but I'll still be there for you."

Molly tilted her head to the side, her lips forming a hesitant smile. "Those words are impractical… but I guess we'll see."