A/N: Ahh, I'm SO sorry about how slowly I'm cranking out this story. Just...life, you know? D: And I promise that I'll get back to you all individually for all your AWESOME reviews when I have more time! SO sorry that I haven't been giving this enough attention. Also, I have a teensy tiny request...

I haven't had time to get very far at all in this game. (Still in early Summer, year 1, LOL. Sad right? Haha!) So I was wondering if someone more ToTT-savvy would be willing to help me out a bit? I'd just want to bounce a few ideas off of you, or ask you a few questions about the characters/events that I'm clueless about to see if you think they would be out of character or unrealistic or whatever. :) If anyone's up for this, please leave an answer in a review or PM me! Thank you! ^^

/failauthorcan'tdoherownresearch

Anyway, long A/N is long. Anyone still awake? -pokes readers-

.:.:::.:.

They sat on the fence wrapped around the honey blonde rancher's pasture and swung their legs, kicking up glistening beads of dew from the blades of unruly grass as they basked in the early-morning sunrise. He occasionally brushed a hand over hers, murmured something low—made her blush and duck her head down shyly. Then, for a brief moment, her head would find its place nestled into the curve of his neck and they would sit oh so still.

She knew she would find them there, from the moment she woke up and found Ash's bed empty; she knew what she was in for, too, by spying on them. But even as she hurried away through the knee-high farm grass, Cheryl wondered if they noticed the sun was rising at all.

Ash was sighing. "Lilly."

"Hmm?" The girl at his side peered up at him sleepily through her eyelashes.

"Tell me how yesterday really went. You told me it was fine, but I know Cheryl better than that." He smiled ruefully, running his thumb lightly over the ridge of her knuckles. "You don't have to sugarcoat it. I'm a big boy, I can take it, I promise."

Lillian hummed sleepily again and then fell silent. Just as Ash was about to nudge her, she finally spoke. "It…I mean, I'm not going to take it back, it was…fine. Not terrible, not great."

"Not terrible?" Ash repeated. Lillian grinned at his tone of surprise and snuggled closer to him.

"Not terrible. She was…you know, snippy and whiny and stubborn. And mouthy…she was on the verge of ticking off one of my friends—you know, trying to start an argument with him—when she finally agreed to go check the town out. And I think—"

"Wait," Ash interrupted. Lillian felt him shift slightly to face her more. "You're close with people in Konohana?" Boys in Konohana…?

Puzzled, she paused for a minute. "…Yes?"

"How close?"

Lillian was quiet for another long moment—too long, for Ash—before she finally figured out what his concern was. She pulled away from his loose embrace, grinning wickedly, and leaned flirtatiously into his face. "Is someone….jealous, Ashy?"

A light pink blush instantly dusted his nose and cheeks as he straightened, mumbling something embarrassedly. Lillian full-out laughed; she loved seeing her casual, easygoing boyfriend blush—especially when she was the cause of it. She snuggled in closer to him again, smiling contentedly, and finally decided to ease his fears. "Aww, Aaaaashhhh. Not this close, mmkay?"

He wrapped an arm around her waist, securing her to him, and rested his forehead against her temple. "Okay, good. Keep it that way."

Lillian smirked. "I plan to."

Ash let another few seconds pass in peaceful silence before bringing up that other thing he wanted to talk about. Clearing his throat, he began slowly, "So…is it really okay that Cheryl goes with you again today?"

Lillian stared down at her pasture, watching the light catch in the orbs of dew still clinging to sprouts of grass. "Yeah, it's fine. I think she actually made a friend."

"That's good. Both Mom and I thought she seemed more mellow when you guys got back."

Laughing, Lillian slid off the fence and twirled around to face Ash from inside the pasture. "Did I mention that the little friend is a cute young boy by the name of Rahi?"

"A boy?" Ash's eyebrow quirked. "Rahi? Isn't that Mayor What's-her-name's son?"

"Yep," Lillian grinned, leaning on the fence. "And I think she's excited to see him again."

.:.:::.:.

Cheryl looked at herself in the mirror. She wound a finger around a stray, rogue curl and tried to reposition it in a pigtail, then ran a hand along her hairline to flatten any flyaways. Narrowing her eyes at her springy tartan ribbons, she tightened them and pressed them flat against her head. Good.

Now, the outfit! It also had to be perfect. She tightened the white ribbon at her neck and fluffed it to appropriate poofiness before smoothing out her apron and tugging at the hemline of the dress. After adjusting her vest, she straightened her crisp white socks and finally held completely still to examine herself in the mirror.

I look….

…Clean.

Lillian was more than just clean-looking; Lillian was decidedly pretty. For possibly the first time in her life, Cheryl wondered if she was cute—or pretty, even. Her hair was a fairly nice colour, (kind of a roasted-honey, she thought), and she liked her eyes. Her eyelashes were rather long, too… Experimentally, she batted them at herself in the mirror to see if it made any difference.

It didn't. If anything, Cheryl decided it made her look dumb.

"Cheeerryllll? Did you find it yet?"

Startled, the little girl leapt away from the mirror guiltily, grabbing the book sitting innocently on Howard's bed as she made her way towards the stairs. "O-Oh! Um….yep! I'll be right down!"

Laney stood at the bottom of the stairs and smiled at Cheryl as she squeezed by. "Please tell your brother that Cam and I say thanks for lending us his novel! We really enjoyed it!"

"Okay! Bye," Cheryl called over her shoulder. She hurried out the front door, clutching the pink Bedazzled hardcover under her arm and speed-walking back to her house—that was close!

But worth it, she thought smugly. Laney's father Howard owned the one and only mirror in the entire village, and showing up at the café claiming Ash wanted his book back from Cam in order to gain access to the upper floor to use it was the best, most cunning plan Cheryl had ever devised!

…Granted, there weren't many opportunities to devise cunning plans in Bluebell. In any case, Cheryl felt quite content with herself. She pushed the front door to the house open with her shoulder and skipped inside to where Ash was sitting at the kitchen table, reading. Jessica stood at the window to the pasture and stared out of it pensively. She glanced up as her daughter dropped the pink book on the table with a heavy whump.

"Laney and Cam finished with your book, Ash!" she chirped, tugging at the bows in her hair to repair any damage the wind had done.

"Oh," her brother replied, sounding slightly surprised. "Um…thanks for bringing it back, Cher..." He paused. "Is that where you were?"

"Uh…yeah. They said they were done, sooo…I went to pick it up for you."

"Back just in time," Jessica cut in, glancing at her watch. "Lillian will be here any minute to pick you up. And do not fight me on this, young lady," she added sternly, frowning down at her daughter. "We already decided this and I am not backing down, no matter how much you cry. It's good for you."

"Okay," Cheryl said indifferently. Jessica blinked, then crossed her arms.

"Don't give me the sad puppy routine; it won't work either."

"Fine." The little girl went to sit next to her brother. Her mother could only stare.

Cheryl fidgeted, bored, in her seat, before rising and moving to stand directly in front of Jessica. The older woman turned back towards her and towered over her, hands on her hips, ready to fight—but only a simple question fell from her daughter's lips.

"Mom, am I pretty?"

Jessica stared, stunned, for only a heartbeat, before leaning down to the pigtailed girl's height to feather her smooth brow with a flurry of light butterfly kisses. "What a shameful day when a mother has to reassure her daughter she looks beautiful. Of course, darling, you are pretty as a magnolia in May—why the fuss?"

"Oh, no reason," Cheryl replied distantly. She moved back over to rest her chin on her brother's shoulder, who didn't react. "Just wondering."

Jessica frowned in puzzlement, and would normally have pressed the matter had a sharp knocking sound not come suddenly from the direction of the front door. "That'll be Lillian to pick you up," she said to her daughter as she hurried to answer. "Get your stuff ready!"

Cheryl obediently raised her chin from Ash's shoulder and went to grab her lunch from the counter. "Ash, can I borrow your book now? It's a reeeaaallly reeeeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyy boring ride and Lillian is sooo—"

"Yeah," Ash interrupted, not turning to look at his sister as he and his girlfriend exchanged a smile. "Take whatever you want. Hey, Lil."

"Hey, Ash," the honey-blonde grinned back. Before she could continue a conversation, Cheryl popped up beside her, pink book in hand, and began nudging her out the door.

"Don't just stand there, Lillian! I thought you had such important deliveries to make," the little girl sniffed.

Lillian placed a hand over her heart and staggered back slightly, feigning shock. "Ch-Cheryl? Is that you? Are you…actually excited to go?"

"That can't be her," chortled Ash. "Someone kidnapped her and replaced her with a nicer clone."

"Aliens, probably," Lillian agreed, nodding her head solemnly. "Though I can't imagine what kind of aliens could put up with her."

"Shut up you guys!" Cheryl complained.

"I've heard Martians are fairly patient," Ash answered, stroking an imaginary beard. "I thought they only came on alternate Thursdays, though."

"No, that would be the Saturnites," Jessica corrected.

"Ah, right."

"Augh! Adults," Cheryl grumbled, storming out the door. "SO. IMMATURE."

.::.:::.::.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they crossed the mountain path, and greyish clouds were beginning to gather and knit together in blended smears in the sky above. They reminded Cheryl of a spread-out mush of mashed potatoes and made her wonder how thick they really were.

They looked soft, though…

"'Kay. You have two choices." Lillian's no-nonsense tone came seemingly out of nowhere to the sky-focused girl. "You can either stay with me as I make deliveries—or—" She paused to frown at Cheryl's loud groan. "Or, you can go off on your own as long as you stay in the town and are back at the carriage by 4pm sharp, because it looks like it's going to rain. Deal?"

"Sure, whatever," Cheryl sniffed, hopping off the carriage. She tried her best to look nonchalant as she wandered off into the village, acting like she was already bored, as she could feel Lillian's eyes still resting on her—when really, her palms were starting to sweat and her heart felt like it was trying to thump out of her chest.

Am I…nervous?

About what? Seeing Rahi again? Nervous about a boy? Don't be stupid. He's just a boy.

As soon as she was out of the farmer's sight, Cheryl stopped in the middle of the Oriental village and looked around helplessly. She had absolutely no idea where to look for her new friend—last time, he'd found her. Which house was his? Where did he usually hang out?

She didn't have the foggiest idea.

So, instead, Cheryl wandered along the winding path of the river, idly glancing up every now and then to see if he was near. A horrible, uncomfortable feeling of loneliness and despair settled in the pit of her stomach; what if she never found him? Was she doomed to wander along the banks of the cold, forlorn river for eternity….?

"U-um…excuse me…do you need help? You…look like you lost something."

Cheryl's head snapped up. What was with these Konohana types and sneaking up on you? Was that the only way they greeted each other? A hand on her hip, Cheryl turned around to give her mysterious accoster a lesson on manners, but the speech quickly died on her lips at the sight of the other little girl.

She looked delicate, fragile. Breakable. Wide-eyed and porcelain-skinned, she gave the impression of a timid china doll in a world much too big. Something to only be looked at and never handled roughly; something that would shatter easily if she were to fall. And instantly, any bitterness in Cheryl evaporated, because she used to see that face reflected back at her in the river every morning.

"HEY! Cheryl, is that you?"

Aha! That voice she recognized.

The pigtailed girl's face lit up at the sight of Rahi running down the path towards her, arms flailing all over the place and a goofy grin stretched from ear to ear. By the time he arrived in front of Cheryl, panting heavily and barely able to speak, she was doubled over in breathless laughter.

Rahi straightened. "What's—so—funny?" he wheezed, half-smiling already.

"Y-You," Cheryl squealed. "You looked sooooooooo ridiculous!"

"Thank you, thank you," Rahi said breathlessly, sweeping her a low, exaggerated bow. "Be here till next—Wednesday."

"You mean the rest of your life," the dark-haired mystery girl corrected softly, smiling into the stuffed panda bear that Cheryl hadn't noticed before.

The little boy finally regained his breath and nodded towards the girl. "Yeah, that too! Oh. Have you two…met?" he asked, gesturing between them. Cheryl shook her head.

"Um…not really, we just sort of started talking."

Rahi beamed happily. "Great!" he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around the dark-haired girl's fragile shoulders. Cheryl felt a strange twinge in her gut as he continued. "Cheryl, this is Ying and she's my best friend!"

A shy, genuine smiled bloomed cautiously across Ying's face. Cheryl smiled at her and murmured a hello.

"And this, Ying," Rahi continued, gesturing at Cheryl, "is Cheryl! She's from Bluebell and I met her yesterday and she's really nice. Ying, she helped me look for your panda!"

Ying surprised Cheryl by pulling slightly away from Rahi to give a small, grateful bow. "Thank you," she said softly, hugging the panda.

"No problem. Um…where was it after all?" Cheryl asked awkwardly. Rahi burst out laughing as Ying's cheeks flushed a light pink colour.

"It washed up on the riverbank near Mako's orchard and he was using it as a scarecrow!" the little boy snickered. "Best part is, it worked pretty well!"

Cheryl snorted. "Maybe he should just pay that panda man to stand there all day…"

"…Master Sheng…has a job…" Ying murmured. Rahi cracked a crooked smile at Cheryl.

"Maybe, but with this job, he'd be…." Here, the doe-eyed boy paused dramatically. "…Outstanding in his field. Get it?"

Cheryl's eyes widened. "AAH! Hahahaha!" she shrieked, doubling over. Yes…Cheryl had a thing for puns. (Unless Lillian made them.)

"Welp…" Rahi continued, smirking as he cheerfully draped an arm over each girl's shoulder. "What do you guys wanna do? We've got the whole day ahead of us!"

"Only till four, for me," Cheryl corrected him with a grumble.

The boy shifted to look at her, eyebrows raised. "Oh. Well…gotta make the most of it then!"

"Let's…show her around," Ying suggested, almost timidly. Rahi nodded.

"Good idea. C'mon Cher, come see the sights! We have farms and restaurants and rivers—well, I guess only one—half a mountain…horses and dogs and cats, and the best hiding spots in the whole world!"

Cheryl didn't know it, but she was smiling as she let Rahi and Ying pull her off towards some bridge, and for a rare moment, Ash and Lillian were far from her mind.

.:.:::.:.

Panting breathlessly, Cheryl lay on her back in the grass and stared dizzily up at the circling sky, lazily raising a hand to wipe a bead of sweat from her forehead. She gave a happy, contended sigh as another form landed with a heavy thud in the grass beside her, and was then joined by a third form—landing more softly so as not to dirty its dress too much.

The farmgirl turned her head to grin at Rahi, who smirked back, and then turned to beam at Ying beside him as she smoothed out her dress. "This was a good day," he declared to the sky, resettling his head against the ground.

Cheryl made an incoherent noise of agreement. "Yeah," Ying giggled.

"Did you have fun, Ying?" Cheryl asked, closing her eyes. All day they'd raced around and climbed all over everything; while Cheryl had had a blast, she wasn't sure if those activities were really Ying's cup of tea. And despite Rahi's attachment to the gentle, raven-haired girl, Cheryl also felt a fondness for her growing. She could easily see why he liked her so much.

"Lots!" the panda-loving girl returned reassuringly. "But…now I'm hungry and ready for dinner…"

"…Dinner!" Suddenly, Rahi sat bolt-upright. "What time is it?"

Cheryl's heart skipped a painful, painful beat as she quickly shot upwards. "Oh, nooo! Lillian!"

"Come on!" Rahi grabbed ahold of her sleeve and pulled her to her feet as he leapt to his. "Ying, are you coming?"

"..Yes!"

Together, the three adolescents raced across the town, raising the eyebrows of many a passing villager. They ground to a stop in front of Lillian's wagon, which was:

Thankfully still there, and

Mercifully Lillian-free.

"Oh, thank the Goddess," Cheryl exhaled.

Rahi frowned. "Do you think she'd actually leave without you?"

"Um…" To be truthful, Cheryl wasn't sure. It wouldn't be like the farmer to abandon her, yet at the same time, the pigtailed girl couldn't help but feel that Lillian must hate her to some degree. She'd been nothing but a thorn in her side ever since she starting hanging around Ash, after all. How could she still have the capacity to not despise Cheryl, even just a tiny bit? "I guess not…but…"

"Speak of the devil," Rahi said suddenly, grinning. Cheryl followed his gaze to see Lillian exiting Kana's house, carrying a cardboard box. They watched from behind the wagon as the farmer tossed the box inside, dusted off her hands, and turned away again.

"Well," Cheryl sighed, "I guess I should load myself up, then."

"..'Bye, Cheryl," Ying said quietly. "It was fun…meeting you."

"You too," the caramel-haired girl returned warmly. Rahi crossed his arms.

"I'm kind of jealous," he announced. "I wanna see Bluebell for myself."

"Oh, well—" Cheryl began, and then abruptly stopped short as a very, very evil plan began to cook in her mind. Rahi raised an eyebrow as he watched a wicked smirk crawl gleefully across her features.

"Uh….Cher?"

"Rahi!" she blurted. "You should hide in the wagon and come back with me!"

"W-What?" the boy exclaimed as Ying let out an audible gasp of surprise. The pigtailed girl turned earnest eyes on the other.

"You too, Ying!" she continued. "Really! It's not like they'll send you back right away. You can stay the night and meet my mom and see the town and—and you can wear my clothes and Rahi can wear my brother's old stuff and—"

"N-no." Ying shook her head and took a few steps back. "I…c-can't."

Cheryl's heart sank. If Ying refused, then that meant that Rahi—

"I'm so in," the dark-haired boy declared, interrupting her thoughts.

Score.

"Really? Okay! Get in, quick, before Lillian comes back!"

.:.:::.:.

A/N: O:! Rahi is a rebel stowaway, hehehe.

Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review if you have the time. (Oh, and don't forget to volunteer as my assistant if you're interested! I'll credit you, no worries. :D)

'Bye!