DISCLAIMER: I do not own/am not affiliated with Stardew Valley.

To Have Courage

The day began as any other. Harvey awoke to find himself alone in the bed. Ella's place on the mattress was still warm. He lay still for a moment and listened to the quiet sounds coming from the kitchen. He could smell the coffee she was making and smiled, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Harvey's life had always contained a steady routine, and he liked it that way. Even his marriage was relatively predictable, and the couple had fallen into common, yet comfortable dialogue for mornings.

"Oh, I didn't wake you, did I?" She asked, as she did every day when he entered the kitchen.

"No." He replied softly.

"Good." She handed him his coffee with a slightly bemused smile. "Here you are."

"Thank you, Dear." He said, leaning down to peck her quickly on the cheek. He brought the coffee to his lips and immediately jerked back. "W-what is this?"

Ella respected his need for routine, loved it even. She herself had a need for it every day on the farm. Still, she found it deeply entertaining to throw him off occasionally. That particular morning, it was by tampering with his coffee.

"I put a little bit of hazelnut in there. I picked it fresh yesterday. What do you think?"

As much as he hated any variation, Harvey had to admit he enjoyed the additional flavor. "It's not bad." He grumbled, and was rewarded with her laughter. It was infectious, and he found himself grinning down at her.

"What's the plan today?" He asked, as he did every morning.

"Well, the typical things on the farm. I have to tend to the animals and make sure the sprinklers watered the plants enough. I was going to buy a heater for the chickens today, but Marnie's will be closed. So I think I'll go down in the mines instead."

At that last bit, a tiny little knot formed in the pit of Harvey's stomach. It rolled and twisted painfully, and made his next question come out whinier than he'd intended. "The mines? Do you have to?"

She gave a knowing smile. "Harvey," She said, as though speaking to a child that had misbehaved, "We could really use the money. Winter's on its way, and we always lose a little income when we don't have the crops."

"We won't lose that much. It's only the two of us to the house, how much do we really need?"

She shifted uncomfortably at his words. "R-right. I've actually got to talk to you about something."

He glanced at his watch. "Shoot, can it wait? I don't want to be late for clinic, I have an appointment with George today." Ella nodded, biting her lip as he grabbed his coat off the wall. He kissed her goodbye and paused on the way out. "I've not talked you out of going down that mine at all, have I?"

"Nope." She fixed him with her sweetest possible smile. "I've almost reached the bottom, and I'm not giving up."

Harvey shook his head and closed the door behind him. No matter what she was doing, Ella would throw herself into things. She had a certain pulse for life that Harvey secretly admired and envied. On that morning as he walked to work, he thought only of her, as he did every other day.

It was still a marvel to him as to how he'd been so lucky. When she'd arrived two years ago he'd honestly found her quite intimidating.

The first time he saw her she was walking into town with the sort of purpose and confidence Harvey had never possessed once in his life. She was beautiful, obviously, and beautiful women were typically very hard to talk to, except she had marched right up to him. Her pale blonde hair was tied back in a simple ponytail and as she approached Harvey found himself counting the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose.

"Hello." She said, smiling and sticking out her hand. "I'm Ella."

"Harvey." He'd replied, taking her hand in his own trembling one. "I-I'm the town Doctor. You should wash your hands after shaking hands. Germs." He had wanted to slap himself in the face for that one, but she'd laughed.

"I'll remember that. Although you're probably in more danger, I've been digging around on the property all morning. That reminds me, where would I go to buy seeds?"

"Pierre's." He'd said, without hesitation. "It's cheaper to go to the JojaMart, but Pierre runs his own business and"-

"Say no more. I'd rather support a local than go anywhere near a JojaMart." She chuckled, as though it was her own private joke. It was before he was aware she had worked there. "Thank you. Harvey, right?"

He swallowed thickly. "Y-yeah."

Ella smiled, her blue eyes lighting up. "I hope to see you around."

Harvey had watched her go, entranced. In the following months he did everything he could to see her more. He would go to the Saloon as often as possible, he would walk by her property early in the morning. Every time they spoke she was kind and generous, and she listened attentively to everything he had to say.

She gave her opinion honestly, but gently. Somehow she had managed to gain George's trust, and encouraged him to work harder on his health. Even Shane had warmed enough to her that she convinced him to help see a therapist. Everyone loved her, and Harvey was privately smitten.

He was slightly older than the other bachelors around the valley, and excruciatingly dull. He was not athletic like Alex, articulate like Elliot, musical like Sam, mysterious like Sebastian or interesting like Shane. Still, he couldn't help himself from being totally head-over-heels for her. He knew he was deluding himself.

But then she'd showed up for a check-up.

He'd sat her down and gone over everything. She seemed healthy and normal, and he got out his stethoscope. She unbuttoned her denim work shirt enough for him to place it just under her collarbone. He tried to relax, his own heartbeat was going wild at their proximity, but then he realized hers was awfully quick.

"Y-your pulse is a bit high." He said, drawing back to survey her face. She averted her gaze as quickly as possible, odd for Ella.

"I'm just a bit nervous." That had thrown him. He didn't think she was scared of anything.

"Oh! Hospitals make you nervous huh? Just try and relax. I'm here to help."

"I know you are. It's not that I don't like hospitals. I"- She looked at him, and he noticed her pupils were dilated slightly, her face flushed. "I should go." She grabbed her things and dashed out of his office. He initially tried to brush the whole incident off, but it kept bothering him. She'd been in the clinic many times before that and had been fine. She had acted totally normal up until he got so close to her. Whereas before that day he had been convinced any idea of her loving him back was a delusion, Harvey allowed himself to hope.

After that they only grew closer. They watched planes pass through the sky outside his apartment and talked about their dreams. He realized that it was good to have new dreams, and maybe she was his.

The hot air balloon gesture was the most frightening thing that he had ever done, but it had paid off. He had not been brave, but she had enough courage for the two of them. They got married in the fall of her second year in Stardew Valley. He still couldn't believe it.

"Good morning Harvey!" Maru greeted him as he entered the clinic. "How are you?"

"Excellent. How's the invention coming along?"

"Slowly." She sighed. "Better than nothing I suppose."

"Of course! Progress is progress, no matter how small."

Harvey went into his office and sat at the desk. The knot in his stomach was persistent and swollen in size. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Every time the door opened he jumped, expecting some kind of emergency. However, the day passed normally in the clinic. He had a few patients, including George. The old man was doing more for his health since Ella's intervention two years ago, and his vitals had shot up.

"Well, I have to say you're doing great George. How are you feeling?" He immediately regretted the question.

"It's that blasted cold that's coming in, Doc. It'll get me long before my age does."

"Yes, well a little cold won't kill you. How's Evelyn? She hasn't been in for some time."

"Oh always outdoors, that woman. Happy to tend to every little living thing."

"You two are so opposite, sometimes I wonder how you got together in the first place."

George actually laughed at that, a loud and dry sound that shocked the Doctor. "Me too, Doc. Marriage is about sacrifice. Evelyn must have made millions for me over the years, and I try hard to repay her every day."

Harvey smiled, thinking again of his own wife. His stomach lurched and he winced.

"You okay, Doc?"

"Yes George, thank you. I'm just feeling a little off today."

He wheeled George out of the clinic and was headed back to his office when the phone rang. Harvey jumped at the sound. Why was he so nervous? He heard Maru's voice, frantic from the waiting room.

"Harvey, come quick! Grab your medical bag."

"Oh God, what's happened?" The knot in Harvey's stomach grew considerably, weighing heavily against his gut. His hands shook as he grabbed the bag from under his desk and walked quickly back out to the waiting room.

"That was Mayor Lewis. There's been an accident. I don't know the severity of the situation, but I'll track down Ella and let her know where you are."

"Don't bother, I doubt you'll be able to locate her. She went down the mines today."

"What?" Maru paled. "She-she's in the mines? She went down in her condition?"

"Yes. What's wrong? What condition?"

"Harvey. Mayor Lewis called because Marlon got a distress signal from the mines. Someone is in trouble down there. Really, really far down." It was like the ground went out from underneath him. Harvey was so light with frantic fear, that he felt he might float away. "And Harvey, she came to see me a few days ago. She asked for a pregnancy test. He turned and rushed from the clinic. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he had moved so fast. Trees whipped past him as he followed the river towards the mine.

"I've actually got to talk to you about something." Why hadn't he just listened? If he'd known, he never would have let her down there. The dark entrance to the mine came into view and Mayor Lewis rushed up to meet him.

"Harvey! Someone's down the mine"-

"It's Ella." He couldn't hide the tremble in his voice. "What's wrong?"

"Ella?" Harvey nodded. "JojaCorp was doing some drilling nearby, I think it may have caused a cave-in. The read came from somewhere near a hundred floors down. The elevator won't go any lower than the 115th. It gets caught on some debris or something."

"Okay. I've got my medical bag. Who's going down there to get her?"

Marlon shuffled uneasily next to him. "We don't know."

"You don't know?"

"She's down further than I've ever been." He said quietly. Harvey took a look at the man's eye patch, bad leg and general old age and gave him a pass.

"And I don't know how safe it is to send more than one person down." Lewis added.

Harvey looked at the small crowd that had gathered. Alex was surely strong enough to fight off any monsters, but he had no medical experience. What if she needed immediate treatment? Haley was quite frankly useless, as was Elliot. No one seemed to be particularly eager to go either.

"Okay." Harvey heard himself say. "I'm going to need a weapon."

"You're going?" Alex snickered. "Surely we can do better than that."

"She's my wife." Harvey snapped, surprising everyone. "I'm the only one here with medical experience and something far too valuable to lose. I don't see any of you volunteering, do I?"

Alex nodded. "Someone get him a weapon."

Marlon offered up his sword. It was an old blade, but sharp and – according to Marlon – reliable in a fight. Harvey gripped the helm tightly in one hand, the medical bag in the other, and stepped into the cave. Already he was shaking, and stepping into the elevator as it rattled and groaned just about made him faint. He shut the elevator door so he couldn't see the others anymore. Then he closed his eyes and thought about the best day of his life.

"My God, you look like you're about to pass out." A voice sounded from behind him. His eyes shot open and he turned to see Ella, wearing her white wedding dress. She looked stunning, her hair fell in smooth curls. Someone had braided daisies into it.

"Isn't it bad luck to see you in that before the wedding?"

"I don't believe in bad luck." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek affectionately. "You seem awfully nervous though, and that has me nervous."

"It's good nervous." He smiled fleetingly. "I love you."

"I love you too, so why do you look like you're about to walk through the gates of hell and not down the aisle?"

"It's a big thing, marriage." He sighed. "I guess I'm just afraid to let you down. You know I'm not the youngest man in this valley by a long-shot. I'm not the most handsome, or the most interesting"-

"Harvey. I love you. You will never let me down, I know that. It's why I'm marrying you. Don't be afraid of failing me. You've got to"-

"Have courage." He said, finishing her words and jolting out of his memory. "You've got to have courage." He took a deep breath and set the medical bag and the sword on the floor. He unlocked the lever that held the elevator in place started to crank the whole thing downwards.

Almost immediately, there was darkness. He couldn't see anything inside the cramped space. He could hear it rattling, and the sounds of his own fearful breathing. He was a man that had wanted desperately for most of his life to take to the skies, and now he was going in the opposite direction. The entire way down, all he did was crank the lever and pray that he found her alive down there. The elevator jerked to a halt and the doors screeched and sprung open.

He took a tentative step forwards. The level was dimly lit with torches. There wasn't much to it but a few stray boulders and a giant scary hole in the middle. From what he knew of Ella's time in the mines, the hole meant she'd been there, and she had gone lower. He could see down into the next level. Harvey tossed the sword and the medical bag through the floor ahead of him and grabbed hold of the shaky rope ladder. It squeaked and groaned in protest as he clumsily made his way down. The rope was old and worn and bit through his hands. He winced as he let go, surveying the tiny cuts on his palms.

When he looked up he noticed a pair of eyes glowering at him through the darkness. There was a wet, slopping sound and the creature emerged. It was a slime, he knew. Ella had often complained about them.

He scrambled to pick the sword up off the ground as the creature drew near to him. In one movement, it lunged, knocking him backwards as his fingers curled around the helm and he swung. The creature shrieked and Harvey realized he'd hit it. It leapt away, dripping slime as it did, shrinking in size until there was nothing remaining.

"Ella?" He called. Not a sound. He climbed to his feet and made his way through the dim cavern. He rounded a corner that was blocked off with dirt and rocks. The dust was unsettled, like the blockage had happened recently. It had been a cave-in then. JojaCorp was responsible for it. Their damn drilling operations. He turned back and found another passageway. There was no hole in the ground that he could see. It must have been behind the area that was walled up. He came across the elevator shaft.

Leaning carefully over the edge he called down. "Ella, are you there?"

Still, no sound came. He looked up, he couldn't see what was blocking the elevator. The shaft was too dark. He had an idea, and pulled a torch off the wall. At the shaft again, he lifted it to examine the area above him. The elevator was blocked off by some pieces of wood. It looked like it had once been a box or a barrel. It was surrounded by loose stones and gravel. If that was what was jamming it in place, he might be able to get it free.

How was he going to get that old chunk of wood out of the way? His eyes flickered to the torch in his hands. Gingerly he reached up and watched he flame lick at the edge of the wood. He was just tall enough to allow the flame to catch, but the wood must have been wet. All it did was smoke and spit at him. He needed an accelerant.

He knelt and dug through his medical bag until he produced hydrogen peroxide. Reaching up, he splashed as much of it on the wood as he could. He put the flame against it, and that time it caught.

"Yes!" He cried, watching the flame as it bore through the piece of wood. It gave him an oddly satisfied feeling. The elevator started to creak a bit, dirt shifted and rained down. It was as the final pieces fell away that Harvey remembered he hadn't put the lock down on the lever. He jolted away from the elevator shaft as the elevator itself went careening past him. He heard it smash to a halt down below. It hadn't gone too far. He was close to the bottom of the mine.

If the bottom was nearby, Ella must be too. Trailing behind the elevator was the strong length of cord that carried it safely up and down. Harvey tucked the sword and medical bag carefully under his arm, and reached out to grab the cord. He took a deep breath. She was close.

He stepped off the ground and, taking the cord in both hands, slid down. Immediately his hands started burning. He was clumsy, and slid in short uneven bursts until his feet hit the top of the metal elevator. It felt strong, still intact under his feet. Harvey knelt and felt around for a panel. He lifted the top of the elevator away and dropped down, going over on his ankle.

"Damn." He muttered, falling momentarily to his knees. When he looked up, he gasped. The entire floor was covered in dirt and debris. The 119th floor had fallen down on top of the 120th one by the look of things.

"Ella?" He called. No answer. The mounds of dirt and rock were so high in some places that he used one to climb up to a passage way that would have been on the 119th floor. She wasn't under the debris, he refused to believe it. His wife was clever enough to find a safe spot if everything started to fall in on itself. He followed the dark passage until it opened up into a bigger room. There were torches on the walls, and in the dim light he could make out a familiar pair of combat boots behind a pile of rocks.

"Ella!" He raced over, ignoring the pain in his ankle and knelt next to her. She wasn't moving. There was a trail of blood down the side of her face, still wet. He grabbed at her wrist and blinked back tears of relief when he found a pulse there, strong and steady. He reached into the medical bag and pulled out a bottle of water. Twisting it open with trembling hands, he poured it over her face. Her eyes flickered open.

"Harvey?" She blinked a few times in confusion and then her expression turned to panic. "Oh my God. Harvey, what are you doing down here? You have to get out"-

He practically crushed her against him in a fierce hug. She was still for a moment before wrapping her arms around him and returning it. "Thank God you're okay." He muttered. "What the hell happened?"

"I was on the 116th floor when the whole mine shook. The debris started raining down on me, I got knocked down and a few heavier things landed on my leg." She pulled up her jeans and revealed purple bruising around her ankle. "Marlon is constantly monitoring the mines from the Adventurer's Guild but I knew they couldn't get me from where I was. I had no choice but to keep going down further and further."

He checked her quickly for signs of concussion and found none. He wanted to ask if she'd received any blows to the abdomen, but decided against it. She seemed stressed enough. "When did you hit your head?"

"My head?" She reached up, feeling along her scalp. Her hands came away with blood. "Oh. I-I tripped and hit my head. I was moving as quickly as possible I"- Her hand shot out and grabbed his.

"What? What is it?"

"I was running from something. Harvey, we have to go. Now!"

At that moment Harvey heard something coming from the darkness. It had powerful, heavy footsteps. He got to his feet, Marlon's sword rattling in his hands. From the shadows emerged a black figure, huge and towering. It moved quickly towards him. Harvey lashed out, expecting the thing to fall back like the slime had, but the creature surged forwards. It swiped at him, catching his shoulder and sending him backwards into the ground. He heard Ella scream his name. The creature came forward and moved to slice at him again, but another sword caught the thing in the belly. It screeched and lunged for Ella. She limped backwards, brandishing her obsidian blade. She hit it twice more, but it was backing her into a corner. Harvey climbed to his feet, grabbed Marlon's sword and slashed at the creature again. It froze for a moment before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Harvey swore under his breath. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A Brute." Ella panted, rushing over to him. "Are you hurt?"

His shoulder stung, blood leaking from a gash there. "A little. It's not bad. Did he get you at all?"

She shook her head, leaning against him. "No. I don't think I can stand on this leg much longer, Harvey."

"Okay. That's okay. We can get our things and go."

He gathered up their bags and helped her limp back the way he'd come. When they came to the pile of debris he'd used to access the passageway, he handed her the bags and weapons and lifted her gently into his arms. He made his way down with excessive care, as though he was carrying a bunch of eggshells.

"Is that the elevator?"

"Yes."

"Are we at the last floor?"

"Yes."

She laughed at that. "You made it before I did."

"Not on purpose." He chuckled.

When they got in the elevator he set her down. He said a silent prayer to whoever might be listening that the elevator was still functional. It hadn't fallen that far, and they had both gone through enough. He turned the crank and the elevator shuddered and started upwards. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe you came all this way for me." She spoke so quietly Harvey hardly heard her. "I can't believe you did that. Weren't you afraid?"

"My Dear, I was absolutely petrified. I don't think I've been so afraid all my life."

"Me neither." She admitted. "I feel like I let you down today. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry?"

"I made you come all this way for me. You don't have any experience; you could have died! And all I could think about down there was that I was going to die and leave you all alone and I wouldn't have even gotten to tell you that"- Her voice broke and Harvey nearly broke with it. "Harvey"-

"You're pregnant. Maru told me when we got the call."

"I was." Ella sobbed. "I don't know anymore."

"Do you have any abdominal pain?" He asked, heart racing.

"No."

"Did you get a rush of blood down there, anything like that?"

"No."

"Then the baby might still be okay."

"But what if it isn't? Harvey I was so stupid and reckless today, what if I lost our baby?"

He frowned, locking the elevator in place and kneeling in front of her. "Losing that baby would not be letting me down. You came down here today to provide for it, and if I had just listened to you this morning, you wouldn't have been in this situation." He fought tears. "And as for me coming down here after you; Yes, it was terrifying and I was definitely in miles over my head. I probably would have died had you not been through first and killed off most of the monsters."

She laughed a little at that.

"But you are my wife and I would follow you anywhere. I could not have lived without you, it's as simple as that." She nodded. He kissed her forehead and stood, returning to the crank again. Soon, it ground to a halt and the doors sprung open. He gathered her up in his arms and stepped out into the night air. By then the entire town had gathered outside the mines, and the two were greeted with cheering and applause.

He carried her all the way back to the clinic. By the time he set her gently on the examining table he thought his arms were going to fall off.

"I need to work out some more." He muttered. "I'm wiped."

"Better up the aerobics classes." She teased.

He looked around, panicked.

"Relax, Maru didn't hear." She giggled. He gave a sigh of relief and started to treat her properly. Her ankle was badly bruised, but miraculously no worse than that. The cut on her head wasn't deep enough to need stitches. There wasn't really much to be done except check on the baby, they both knew that.

Still, in an attempt to prolong it he had Maru come and stitch up his shoulder. His own ankle was fine, sore, but nothing major. His hands were pretty scraped up, but the best she could do was offer him some ointment and bandages. He was surprised when Marnie appeared outside the door.

"Okay." Maru said, waving Marnie in. "Out you go, Doctor."

"What? Why?"

"Because we're taking care of your wife."

"But"-

"Don't you worry." Said Marnie, essentially forcing him out with her heavy-set frame. "We'll take excellent care of her."

Harvey plunked down tiredly in his own waiting room. He had prayed for a lot of things that day, and he'd received a lot of miracles, but he had to hope for one more. He had never even wanted to be a father. Well, it wasn't as though he didn't want to, he hadn't really given it much thought. Ella had brought it up a few times, he knew that she wanted kids. They were so early on into their marriage he hadn't bothered to discuss it thoroughly with her.

Truthfully, the idea of having kids scared him. He wasn't sure he was ready, but when he closed his eyes and pictured their children, an image sprung up immediately. A girl with Ella's blonde hair, a boy with his eyes. He pictured them running around the farm. He could see Ella, being so gentle and patient. He even saw himself teaching them to fly kites and use his radio. He wanted them so suddenly and so badly his head had started to ache.

His eyes were still squeezed shut when Ella took his hand. He looked up and searched her face. She was crying, and his heart sank for a moment. She took a deep breath, and smiled down at him.

"You ready to be a Dad?"

A/N: And that's it! I sat down and wrote this with the intention of it being a one-shot, but if you guys like it enough and ask enough I might be persuaded to do a short epilogue or another chapter.

I was suddenly inspired to do this story and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I tried not to make it too sappy but these things happen sometimes.

I've been having a bit of writer's block so being able to crank out SOMETHING in one sitting was incredibly uplifting for me. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review!