~*Hey guys, this is my first fanfic, although I've been writing for a long time now :) Let me know what you think! It'll probably have a BUNCH of chapters and i'll update as soon has possible for me :P Review please*~ btw, I do not own harvest moon, nor the characters, just borrowin them cause they're pretty much great. ;D thank you nice programmers/designers at Natsume for letting me do this :)

The boat rocked back and forth on the waves as I stared out at the ocean. Off in the distance I could see the silhouette of the small island I was about to make my new home. I sighed and leaded hard into the guardrail, totally defeated.

"This sucks." I said, putting my head on my arms and sighing heavily

"Don't much care for traveling by Boat do yah missy?" The captain asked me in a light tone. I looked up at him; he stood beside me, reveling at the beauty of the ocean.

"It's not so much traveling I don't like: I'm kinda freaked out to be trying to do something like this on my own" I admitted.

"So what's this big thing you're going to do?"

"I'm… starting a farm" I tried to smile,

"That's great!" he said enthusiastically

"Yeah" I sighed.

"Well, my name is Pascal. I make frequent runs to land and so forth" he took his pipe out of his mouth and studied it,

"Hikari." I said smiling at him

"Lovely to meet you Hikari" he smiled down at me encouragingly, "Well, we're almost there!"

I looked up to see the silhouette of the island now very large, the journey was a lot shorter than I had thought it would be. This notion shot a spurt of fear down my spine. I shivered. That means I'm not as far away as I had hoped. I quickly brushed that thought away. No… this was far enough. No one would know I was here. Not even… him. I closed my eyes tightly and lay my head back down on my arms.

I stood at the end of the pier, suitcase in hand, staring at the island sign, "Castanet." I said aloud. It had a nice ring to it; I smiled to myself, suddenly filled with inspiration and hope. I spun around triumphantly and slammed right into something, my bags flew into the air and landed in a heap with me underneath them

"Ow, Ow, Ow…" I said trying to push my way out from beneath them,

"Oh man, I'm sorry!" I looked up to see a large, muscular boy with red hair. His hair was styled to stay up, I assumed so it wouldn't get in my way. It resembled the hairstyle his hairstyle. I suddenly felt sick. I came here to forget… The boy in front of me picked up my bags with one hand, balancing them nicely on his arm he offered me is other hand, "Are you okay? That was pretty… uh…" he stifled a laugh, "graceful" his laugh slightly escaped his lips as I took his hand, blushing deeply,

"I know," I said standing up, "I'm the picture of grace and balance" I brushed myself off while the boy boomed with laughter, it was a comforting sound: his loud personality was nothing like what… or who… I had left behind. I couldn't help but smile.

"Well, at least you're aware of this. Hey I'm Owen by the way, I work at the blacksmith's place" He smiled a big goofy smile down at me.

"I'm Hikari," I smiled back, "I'm… well, I guess I'm going to start a farm here" I said shyly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean… farming: tools, sharp objects, large animals… you've just proved to me your level of control" he teased.

"I know I'm a clutz, get over it," I laughed, "don't worry, I grew up on a farm. I know that's hard to imagine, but I'll be fine" He smiled broadly at me and I stared up at him

"What…?" he said suddenly self-conscience.

"My luggage," I pointed to it still delicately being held on one arm, "you're kinda… jacked." I giggled

"Oh!" he said putting it down, "sorry about that!" He blushed but laughed loudly anyway,

"Hey Owen, could you tell me where the town hall is? I really need to sort everything out."

"Of course! Actually, I'll go with you, carrying your stuff is the least I could do after knocking you over like that" He beamed

"Oh, you don't have to do a—"But he had already picked them up and was walking down the pier, "w-wait!" I shouted after him

"I'm going to leave you behind if you don't hurry it up!" he called back laughing loudly.

We chatted lightly on the way over to city hall; his strides were much bigger than mine so I had to run a little to keep up. He definitely noticed this as every so often he'd watch me stumble out of the corner of his eye and laugh quietly. I would blush and he would chuckle to himself,

"you're cute" he said, cocking his head to one side, I flushed deep pink, "I mean, in a little kid way" he laughed, "Tripping over yourself, always seeing if I noticed, I could just hug you!" he boomed and grinned widely

"Well maybe if you didn't walk so fast" I mumbled.

"But then you wouldn't get the chance to be cute!" he laughed loudly and I blushed deeper. Although he wasn't what I was expecting, Owen made me feel like this whole farm thing might really work out. Maybe everyone on Castanet would be this welcoming! I smiled to myself as he opened the door to City Hall for me.

"Hamilton!" Owen shouted into the empty front room. The volume of his voice startled me a little, but there was no reply. "Hamilton!" he shouted again this time walking deeper into the main lobby, approaching the front desk. Still no answer "HAM-"

"Do you mind" a very angry boy, walking swiftly out from a back room, scowled sternly. He was holding a notebook in one hand and was glowering at Owen. Despite the look on his face I couldn't help but notice his good looks. I was peeking around Owen to stare at him when he spoke again,

"Owen, I know it's hard for you to understand, but some people do work that involves concentration, not just brute strength" the boy said sardonically.

"Ooh, mayor's kid wants to fight does he?" Owen growled, advancing on him, "All that brute strength sure could come in handy right about now, huh Gill?" he was now standing only inches away from the boy named Gill, looking down at him,

"Is there a reason you're here Owen, besides to show off?" Gill smirked at him confidently. I couldn't understand why, Owen was much bigger than him. Maybe it was because of who is father was, and knew Owen wouldn't do anything. It didn't matter how good looking Gill was, he was a jerk: simple as that.

"Nope." Owen said lightly backing away from him, "Just wanted to escort my new friend to see your father" He looked back at me and smiled his big goofy smile again. His face still had a definite red tint to it: he was still angry at Gill.

"I see," Gill looked over at me, "And you are?"

"Oh um… I'm… Hikari… I wanted to um… start a farm here?" I ended up making it sound a lot more like a question than I wanted to.

"Well I—" Gill started but was interrupted by a large BANG

"A FARM YOU SAY?" a little man in a waistcoat burst through the door, it slammed against the wall causing the large noise.

"Well y-yes" I stammered

"That's WONDERFUL!" the little man said rushing towards me, grabbing my hands in his, "I will set up a house for you immediately!"

"R-really?" was all I could manage to say before the little man started again,

"Of course! Oh dear me, where are my manners, I'm Hamilton, the mayor of this beautiful Island. I actually already have a house built…" he stopped and pondered for a moment, before shouting, "YES! It's the PERFECT place!"

"Okay," I smiled, "how much will I owe you for it?"

The mayor looked at me for a moment, a concerned look upon his face, "I don't want to scare you away…" he said slowly, "But is 5000 a fair price?" He then started talking in a rushed manner, trying to soften the blow, "I mean, you don't have to pay it all at once, you can give it whenever you want! A year from now even! I mean I really don't—"

"That sounds great!" I cut him off as I reached into my rucksack and handed him a large roll of bills. Thanks mom and dad, I thought to myself, suddenly grief stricken. The mayor's eyes looked like dinner plates and I soon realized the three men in the room were staring at me, mouths hanging open. I blushed and cleared my throat, "is something wrong?" I asked timidly

"No… no this is fine… Say…" the mayor asked nervously, "you're not a… criminal or something are you?" I couldn't help but giggle, but then suddenly remembered the topic…

"No, it's my inheritance" I said grimly.

"Who died?" Owen asked

"Owen! That's not—" Gill was interrupted before he could finish his scolding,

"Crap, I'm sorry!" Owen realized he had crossed the line and measured my expression, "I didn't mean to pry…"

"It's okay," I lied; "The death wasn't a big deal" I tried to smile but knew it looked as fake as it really was. Owen frowned and hung his head a little

"Well, if that's that then" the mayor said, placing the money on the front desk and clapping his hands together, "Gill, will you show Hikari to her new home? Tell her about Yuuki on the way too won't you?" Gill glared at his father and then sighed,

"Fine." He said dully, "Let's get going"

Owen looked at me suddenly concerned, "Hamilton? I could take Hikari there if you want?" he said quickly.

"That's very considerate Owen, but I'd like Gill to tell her about the town some more"

"But I—"

"Hadn't you got some work to be doing anyway?" the mayor inquired, interrupting him

"Yeah I guess I should get back…" Owen looked over at me, I could he concern in his eyes.

"Don't worry" I smiled at him encouragingly, "I'll be fine, I'm tough remember?" I flexed and winked at him.

He smiled back and handed my bags to Gill, when Gill was close enough Owen grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him closer to him, "You better be polite" he growled before letting him go, "See yah around Hikari!" he waved enthusiastically at me, shot a dirty look at Gill, and then marched out of the Hall.

"Well," Gill sighed, "Want to get going?"

"S-sure"

As we left, the Mayor leaned in and whispered something into his son's ear. Gill blushed deeply and pushed his father away cursing under his breath. I could have sworn a heard a "Go get em tiger" …

~*First chapter done, I'm nearly done the second, Hope you all like it so far! :D Don't forget to review!*~