Actions speak louder than words.

Yeah that's what they always say. But what do my parents do?

*flashback*

"But mom, I can do this! If you'll just give me a cha—"

"No more chances, Rio. You've had enough."

"Enough? How can I have enough? You haven't even given me any!"

"How dare you speak to your mother like that? Is this how we raised you, Rio?"

"YES! I wouldn't be so much of a baby if you have actually let me prove myself to you. Mom, Dad, I'm 19 years old for glob's sake, and you wouldn't even let a single fly land on my skin! And you say that I've had enough chances? UGH!"

"Rio? RIO!"

I slammed my door shut.

*back to reality*

You see now? How can they be so oblivious? They think they raised a good child? Well they didn't do a great job at parenting, now, did they?

All my life I've been locked up in the house for FREAKING SAFETY REASONS!

DO THEY HONESTLY THINK IT'S SAFE TO ISOLATE A CHILD IN A MANSION?!

Breathing heavily as tears rolled down my cheeks furiously, I screamed as loud as I can into my pillow.

I've had enough of their bull poop.

I don't hate them, but I also can't say I love them.

Okay, fine. Let's just face the fact that I've always held a grudge to my parents. When I was 6, I asked Mom why can't I go outside and play with other children. You know what she said?

"No, honey, you might get germs from them."

Now seriously…. GERMS?! Scientifically speaking, even if we like it or not, we've all got germs in our bodies. She's really taking the "Safety Reasons" thing way too far.

And when I was 13, I asked Dad why I never went to public schools or even a private school to study stuff and why I was always hooked up with homeschool teachers. Y'know what he said?

"Because kids in school are distracted by the other kids and never really focused on their studies."

Then why in the world would there be a valedictorian? A cum laude? They were in school with a lot of other kids, yet they were there the highest of honor.

When I was 15, I asked them if I could have a phone. I guess you would already know what they said….

"NO! Rio, you are too young for phones and phones can cause severe brain damage! No parent would want a child whose brain is damaged…."

Yep. If I could write a sign over their foreheads I'd write : "Caution: Too much contact with these human beings could damage your brain and hurt your feelings." It was just too much.

I kept on crying and crying to the point that I realized that there was no point in crying. What will it bring you? Thrice the pain you already have, that's what.

I took the pillow off of my face and wiped my wet and sore eyes from tears with the sleeve of my blouse. It took me a good 2 minutes to actually stop crying and moaning, when a knock came from my white wooden door. I stood up and made my way to the mirror to see if there were any traces of tears and emotions in my face. Nothing, I confirmed. I finally walked to the door and opened it just to see my two parents standing right in front of me.

Great. Now what?

So, considering the two options I have which are:

1. Turn away and slam the door

2. Conceal, don't feel don't let them know

Crossing out option numero uno, I'm obviously left out with only option number two. I would love to slam the door right then and there but I'd rather not face the consequences of doing so. So I did my best to be polite as possible but horribly failed at it because instead of saying "may I help you?", only a grunt came out of my mouth.

My mother miraculously ignored my impolite greeting and held me to her chest. She freaking hugged me. Is this…. How a "hug" feels like? Wow…. I never thought it would feel so warm and comforting.

I've never had one in years. But that still hasn't changed the way I looked at my Mom.

She pulled away with tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. I gave her a blank stare.

She finally spoke up and said "Rio, honey, you were right. We should've just let you be your own woman, living life and all…. But it's just that…. I—we wanted to protect you."

Am I really hearing this?

My father laid his right hand on my shoulder and I almost cringed at the gesture but thank God I didn't.

He spoke up and said "Yes. Your mother and I have been talking about…. Letting you go."

REALLY?! Yesyesyesyesyesyes finally I can get out of this hell of a house.

My dad removed his hand from my shoulder and directed me to come with him to his office.

He sat on his desk and I sat on one of the chairs that were across the table and so did my mother. I looked around the room with wandering eyes because I've never been to this part of the freakishly huge mansion before. Whenever I tried to sneak in when I was little, it was always locked and there was a sign that said "Mr. Woodridge's Office. OFF LIMITS."

I snapped out of my amazement in the never-before-seen room when my dad slapped a piece—no, pieces of paperwork into his desk. I looked at them with hopeful eyes as if they were my key to freedom because I don't want to stay longer in this house longer than I should. It took him 10 seconds and a heavy sigh before actually opening his mouth to say something.

"Rio, these papers you see here are the documents about our family's properties around the world, and I found one that is perfect for you." My Dad started. I looked at him with expectant eyes. He started rummaging through the papers and grabbed a piece and handed it to me. I studied it intently.

After a few minutes of studying the piece, I finally spoke.

"Th-this is a farm. And it's…." I stuttered with mixed emotions of shock, happiness, joy, and a pinch of freedom. "It's perfect." I whispered in awe.

Have I already told you that I've always been fascinated about farms? Although I only see some in pictures, but how difficult could it be? And I know that's going to be a lot of work and judging by the date written on the piece of paper that's in my hand, the last owner of the farm in "Echo Village" was my grandfather. I've always loved my grandfather's stories about the farm and how life is out in the open and often argued with my Dad about not letting me go to experience the "real life". But going back, since the last owner of it was my granddad, I assumed that the farm is not really in a good state. In other words, it's been neglected.

But out of nowhere, I suddenly have the urge to bring the farm back to life. And miraculously enough, I've got a newfound respect for my parents. It all feels…. Good.

"Well, Rio? What do you think? "My Mom asked.

"I think I'm going for a trip of a lifetime." I answered. I want to go to this place, soon. Both of my parents nodded and Dad said that I should pack up all my necessities and prepare myself as he takes care of the documents. My Mother told me to go and follow her to talk about some things that needed to be cleared up.

We sat down on a couch and guess what she did?

She apologized to me. She apologized about their mistakes and how they've treated me for all of those years and explained her—their reasons for being so ridiculously overprotective.

"Rio…. I think it's about time you know about my 'condition'." My Mom began. I looked down.

"You see, I have a disease called Eclampsia. It's when a woman can only give birth to one child with a possibility of the baby having complications. And when she gets pregnant again, the second baby will live but the mother will die.

"We were trying and trying for several years and yet nothing came, until that very faithful moment when I was confirmed positive about being pregnant with you. So putting everything up in a nutshell, you're a very special kid, Rio." She said it with so much emotion that I'm starting to think if she was serious or nah. But it still didn't answer my question why I had to be locked in for the past years.

I gathered up all the confidence left in me and asked my Mom, "But why must you keep me inside this mansion for all those years?"

"Because we love you." her answer was fast. Love? Never felt it.

Yet, that didn't satisfy me. I needed more than just that. Something more elaborate, maybe? But that day wasn't today. I wasn't getting all the answers to my questions so I just shrugged the issue off. For now.

I let her slip and just said "Okay" dumbly.

Moving on, I stood up and asked my Mom's permission to go to my room and pack up. She said yes then I moved along.

Long story short I packed all of my casual and simple clothes (like big t-shirts, sweatpants, jeans, etc.) and brought along with me my overalls and boots. Even if I only see farms and farmers in pictures, I know how they dress. Or at least I do.

To make the long story shorter, I went off the very next day to "Echo Village."

As I sat on the bus, I made a decision to renew myself. To show who I really am, and accept the fact that this is all going to be hard work that's going to pay off in the future.

I wanted a new beginning.

A new beginning as a new person, no longer the Rio who's been isolated in a mansion for 19 years.

The bus ride took almost 10 hours.

I woke up from my sleep with the driver calling out for his passengers to get down. I straightened up and picked up my luggage and went down the bus.

As I set foot on the territory of "Echo Village", I felt something I've never felt before.

Is this what you call…. "freedom"?

Freedom, huh? Well it tasted great.

That is, until this man who was sprawled on the ground came across my field of vision who looked about to be around his 50's. He had a funny styled mustache curling upwards which I thought was creative enough. I ran to him and knelt down then poked him with my index finger. Almost immediately, he opened his eyes and said "Rio Woodridge! It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dunhill, the mayor of Echo Town. I have received a letter from your parents saying that you were coming here to 'prove yourself' to them. Well, fear no more because old man Dunhill here will help you!" And he stood up to take both of my hands and shake them with eagerness. I shook back feeling eager of more human contact too.

Oh, so this was a town? Not to be offensive, but it doesn't look like one. Really, it looked more like a ghost town.

Anyway, he lead me to Echo Town to introduce me to the people there. As we walked, he told me about how my parents and he were friends way back and how the history of this barren town goes. He said that there were a lot of people here back then, and how my grandfather has done a great job at producing crops. Until that one day, my granddad passed away. The town had no more source of income and food was scarce.

He introduced me to two people.

One was an elderly woman with a wide-brimmed hat and a cane. Her name was Hana, and she runs the general store. The other was a woman, too, who looks about in her early 40's. her name is Emma and she's the one who ships stuff.

"Are there others?" I suddenly asked. Is it just me or this town is dreadfully underpopulated?

"Well, actually, yes. There is one more resident his name is Neil. He's not yet here today but should be back the day after tomorrow. He's around your age so I hope you two get along well." Dunhill answered.

Around my age? Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes! I finally get to actually interact with someone around my age!

My heart skipped with joy at the thought of socializing but I was suddenly cut off with another thought coming in.

What if he doesn't like me? What'll I do? Isolate myself again? No! I've had enough of that.

Actually, my subconscious is right.

I was interrupted with Dunhill saying some things but I couldn't make them out because I was dazed with the thought of this "Neil" guy.

Anyway, I waved goodbye to Hana and Emma as Dunhill lead me to the land where my grandfather once stepped on. I looked around the place and somehow, it made my heart ache. How can something that used to be so full of life be deprived of it?

"Y'know, your old man's old man was really a great guy. Heh, even I am amazed everytime I see him water his crops or take care of his animals. He's got passion for everything he does." Dunhill lamented.

I smiled at his words.

He patted my shoulder and said "Well Rio, I'll leave you to it now, aye? Explore the whole place and make yourself at home." Then walked away.

I studied the farmland and crouched down to pick up some soil. At my amazement, I thought to myself, "Unbelievable, this land is so fertile! After all these years…." yep, I'm officially determined to bring this barren land back to life!

I went to the stable, the barn, and the chicken coop. they all still seemed usable and no need for repairing. After that, I went to the house. The place is a mess, and everything else was…. Well, a mess.

I went to the bed and sat down then set my luggage into the floor. The bed seemed clean and comfortable so without hesitation, I laid my body down and made myself comfy.

Finally, I can actually do my actions and prove my words to my parents. Moreover, I can prove myself to them.

I grinned at the thought and dozed off to sleep.

Hi! I'm back with another NeilxRio fanfic. I just wanted to say that this is kind of a prologue-ish kind of chapter, but yeah you get the point. thanks for reading and leave a review! kind criticism is accepted. lemme know what you guys think. :3

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN HARVEST MOON.