Well, hello again, Harvest Moon fanfiction community! :D Super Grape Pie here with a Waku Waku Animal March fanfic that I hope you'll all like…

Um, just in case you don't know, Waku Waku Animal March is the Harvest Moon game that was recently released in Japan! It's super-fun, too! If you have a Japanese Wii and have a sort-of-okay knowledge of Japanese like I do, I'd say go import it, because it will ROCK YOUR SOCKS because it's like a hundred times the awesomeness of Tree of Tranquility. Yeah. I said it. XD

Aaanyways, this story'll follow the Wizard, one of the new characters introduced in WakuAni, our heroine, Wakuko, and her little harvest sprite sidekick, Fin! (I forget how many times I've had to explain this, but the real name for the main heroine in WakuAni is actually Hikari but I really don't like that name at all—before the game's release, the Japanese fan community had been calling the main girl Wakuko since they weren't sure about her real default name. I liked that quirky little name way better, so I gave 'Wakuko' a quirky little personality when I wrote her, and it stuck! :D)

Also, I'm using Japanese names for the cast in general, so, like…yeah. D:

…I should stop talking now and just let you read. Yeah! I'mma do that!

-But just a little note, Wakuko mentions her parents a lot in the story. It's my crack theory that she's actually Gil and Akari's kid from ToT, so…yeah. It's also the reason why she wears glasses. :P

Enjoy! :3 Reviews are like…super appreciated and I would love you forever if you left one. :D

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EVERYDAY MAGIC

Auuuugh, it's so dark outside...I've lived in Castanet Valley for almost a year, now, and yet I'm still not used to waking up at six in the morning! ...My mom would kill me if she were to hear that from her own flesh and blood, though, heehee. As I throw myself out of my polka-dot covers, I rub my eyes; I gotta stay awake today! (I almost fell asleep yesterday at the Tailor Shop when I was talking with Kotomi and Roomi...They had to give me some coffee to wake me up...)

"Waaaaakukoooo~! C'mon, c'mon! It's a beautiful day today~!" a high-pitched voice calls out.

Then again, staying awake kind of shouldn't be a problem with Finny around. Heehee, he's always so cute when he's got that determined little look on his face every morning. Being a Harvest Sprite must be loads of fun~. 'Specially with Finny...he gets to wear these cute little yellow footie pajamas all the time!

"Mmm...Okay, okay..." I tell him drowsily. I'm not really looking forward to today...it's all cold out this time of year, you know? It's that time when it's not really fall anymore, but it's not quite winter yet. I can't help but feel a little sad when days like those come around!

"Yay!" the little guy cheered as he hovered toward the little kitchen in the corner of my run-down house, "You get changed, okay? I'm gonna try to make breakfast today!"

I stopped what I was doing.

"Fin...Um, I dunno if you should cook..." I try to explain to him nicely. I'm not having my little sprite buddy get all burned to a crisp on me, now!

"Aww, please?! All I gotta do is crack an egg on the frying pan and scramble it around a little, right? That's what you do, anyways! A-and I watch you do it all the time!"

"I'm telling you, little guy, if you get burned, the Goddess is gonna kill me..."

"Naw," Finny began, "It should be a-okay! Besides, you're always burning stuff when you cook, so I want to make today's breakfast unburned!"

...Gee, Fin, thanks for totally encouraging my cooking skill right there.

"Okay, okay..." I say, shrugging, "Just stop giving me those cute little sprite-eyes of yours, will you?"

"Heehee, okay! Off I go~!" Aaaand...off he goes, fluttering over to the kitchen. Guess that's my cue to get out of my jammies, huh? Off to the clothes drawer with me...

Uhh, let's see what's in here...Oh! Geez, I need to get to do my wash...there's hardly anything in here! Just that pretty red Gothic Lolita dress I bought at the tailor shop forever ago. I hope it still fits me...

Okay, sleeves on, aaaannd...head through! Yay, I still fit in this! Ooh, and it's all cozy on the inside! I need to wear this more often...I think it's warmer than my usual winter jacket.

"Okay, Wakuko, I'm almost done!" Fin cries out across the room.

"A-already?! You sure you're cooking everything through, Finny...?" I ask as I scratch my head.

"Yes, ma'am! I even checked it, too!"

...Note to self: make Fin cook more often.

Before I forget, I gotta slip on my glasses before I eat, or I'm gonna forget 'em. They're really nice glasses, too! I've always had this one pair since I was a kid, but recently Pat gave me her old red frames! And they're really awesome! I always keep them on the windowsill by my bed so I don't forget them, now, but I end up leaving them behind a lot, anyway...And then I trip and fall all the time because I can't see anything. But, um, I guess that's my fault, huh?

As soon as I sit down at the table, Fin carefully drags a plate full of scrambled eggs and some silverware to my usual place at the table. Sometimes I wonder how he carries that much.

"All righty, Wakuko! Eat up; you're gonna need your strength today!"

"Um, thanks!" I say as I grab a fork and start eating, "But how come you're being so nice today?"

"Who, me?" Finny asks, smiling his usual adorable smile, "I dunno! I just have this feeling that you're just gonna need lots of brain food and stuff today!"

I pat him on the head gently and thank him. He's always a bright ray of sunshine, that Fin; I can talk to him about lots of things, and we help each other out like a family! He's like the little brother I never had! Um, well, except he's small...and...fairy-like...

"You know," I begin as Fin takes a little spoonful of egg from my plate, "I've been thinking."

"Ooh! About what?"

"Ah, um...I don't really know, exactly. Promise you won't tell anyone or anything, Finny...?"

Finny chuckles, "Of course not, silly! Sprites' honor!"

"Oh, neat! Okay...um, well, you know how when we always go into Harmonica Town every day, you keep telling me to visit the Wizard--and then I don't?"

"Ooh! Yeah!" Finny nods vehemently as he says that, but pouts a little, "Why do you do that, Wakuko...?"

"Well, why do you?"

"Um...Oh! I know! 'Cause, um, when we visited him in the summer, you were always really happy to talk to him! And then you always looked really silly when we left 'cause your face was all red!"

"O-oh," is all I can say. I think I'm blushing right now...Stupid Fin and his...um...stupid-ness.

"But it wasn't just for me to laugh at your silly red face or anything, you know!" Oh, sure, Fin, you say that now, but I know what you're really thinking, you silly goose.

"Then...what?" I ask as I tilt my head a little to the side.

"Because you were happy! That's the keyword! When you're with friends, you're always really happy, Wakuko! Um, the Goddess would always say...'Happiness brings prosperity, company, and community!' Er, wait, was that it...?" I think he trailed off, but by the time he was too quiet to hear, I butted in.

"I dunno, Fin, that Wizard's a little scary...I don't think he even considers me as a friend. I don't even know if he even considers anyone a friend! I mean, even Roomi and Mai told me to stay away from his house because when he's not telling fortunes, he's actually--"

"You're silly, Wakuko! You shouldn't just believe what everyone else is saying~. You have to have your own thoughts of stuff, too! If people told you everything, you'd probably end up being back trapped in your old home!"

Whenever I try to even remember my old home, my head hurts...Mommy was just crazy, back at home, but Daddy was the exact opposite...sometimes it's hard to remember them both. But I dunno if Finny's right about what he's saying; Daddy would've kicked me outta the house if I got too old, anyways.

"So you're saying you want me to go and visit him?" I ask, furrowing my brow a little.

Jackpot.

"Yay, you got it!" Finny claps, "Can we go, pleeaaaasssee? It makes me happy to see you all happy like that!"

"Um, I'm still not sure if--"

"If you go, I can make hot cocoa when we get home~."

Ooh, dang, he got me there...As I take my last bite of my breakfast, I can say only this:

"Heat the coffee pot up while I go feed the animals and stuff, Finny...I guess we should at least bring him a gift or something if we're gonna just come in uninvited."

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So! Once my morning stretches were out of the way, I rush out the door--AAUUGH, HOLY HARVEST GODDESSS, IT'S FREEZING OUT HERE! Must...run...to barn...before...I freeze to death...

Whew, okay, it's a little warmer in here. Albeit a little smelly, but, um, beggars can't be choosers, right?

"All righty, guys!" I cheer to my animals as they stare at me as though I were out of my mind, "Who's up for a great day today?!"

...No answer.

"Okay...um, how about some breakfast, then?"

The cows moo, the goats bleat, yadda yadda yadda.

...I think my animals only love me 'cause I feed them. I have this weird feeling they'd totally team up to kick my butt if I didn't. (I guess I don't blame them...)

Okay, done with that! Off to the chicken coop!

Augh, coldcoldcold....I really want it to be Spring agaaaaiiiin, gosh darn it!

Oookay, I'm in--ooh, hey, the chickens are still sleeping, sweet! They're always making a huge fuss whenever I take their eggs, so I can finally just take the stupid eggs in peace without a fight, thank the Goddess...

Let's see~. One, two, three, aaaannnd, four! Okay!

...Ack, now I gotta do all that crop watering...

Oh, you know what?! Screw it; I'll do it when it's warmer out today. I'm not standing out there in the cold with some water that's gonna end up freezing before it reaches the soil, anyway...

Out of the chicken coop I go, and at the most perfect time, too! Fin's already out, holding a little tiny mug of coffee with all of his strength, the poor thing...I guess I should just run and take it before he drops it.

"Waaakkkuuukooo! C'mon, this is really heavy coffee..."

I start running faster, I get this feeling that if I don't, Finny's gonna end up dropping it even faster.

Whew, got it! AUGH, GEEZ, THIS IS HOT! Oww...I, uh...need to go to the clinic after I visit the Wizard...I think I just got, like...second degree burns.

But, hey, at least the hot coffee in my hands just makes me run faster towards Harmonica Town.

"Let's go, Finny!" I yell back as I run towards the path to town, "If we don't get there soon enough, my burns are gonna have burns!"

"Okaaaaayyy!" he seems to yell as he tries to flutter his way to catch up to me. I kinda wish he could fly a little faster sometimes.

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Aaah, Harmonica Town~. The sea breeze, the colorful buildings, the friendly atmosphere...Dang, I could make an advertisement about this place! Too bad Mayor Herbal's not hiring right now...

As Fin catches up to me, I can somehow stuff the coffee in a slot on my secret tool belt while he does. I shake my hands out a little...Never ever touch a cup of steaming coffee, ever. It's like manslaughter for your hands...

"So," I begin, "Um, which way do we go to get to the Wizard's place, anyways?"

Fin stares at me a little and asks, "You really don't remember?!"

"Wait, um, maybe I do..."

C'mon...sense of direction. Help out poor Wakuko for a change...Think, think~

"Er, no, never mind. My mind went kinda blank."

"Well, um, let's see..." Fin says to himself as he takes a thorough look at Harmonica Town. He checks around Flute Tailoring, nope, not there; Armonica Bar? Nuh-uh, not there, he just moved his gaze to Harp Clinic. Then a little bit upwards to the Water Cave, and...

"Aha! Found it!" he cheers, "It's nestled right at the top left corner of town, remember?"

"Ohh, yeah! Gotcha!" I say as I have one of those, uh...what are they called...epiphanies? Yeah, those! Well, after I had one of those, the two of us ran up the main road in town. It's really cool, you know! That road connects to everything! (Apparently even the Wizard's house!) It's also a really fun road to run up!

...Though, um, it's not quite fun when you trip yourself and fall flat on the road like I just did...Ouch...Urgh, I hope my glasses didn't break...

"Waaahh!" I hear little Fin cry as I try getting up, "Wakuko, are you okay?!" Though I was still really out of it, I managed a nod and slowly tried to get myself up. Oh, geez, I hope nobody saw me face plant...

"Wakuko! You all right over there?"

Ohh, Goddess, I knew it was gonna get worse! Then again, it's all right, I guess; it's my buddy Cathy calling out behind me! She's really patient, so she's always kinda nice to me even if I accidentally chew her ear off with all of the weird farm-type stories I tell her at the Armonica Bar...(She's a waitress there, you know!)

"Oh, um, yeah!" I say as I turn around to greet the blonde with a thumbs-up, "No bruises or anything, as far as I can tell!"

"Good to hear!" she smiles, "But what's the big hurry? You ran into town so fast, it almost looked like something was chasing you!"

I chuckle, "Heehee, naw...If I were being chased by someone, I'd be all screaming and stuff...Oh! But, um, what brings you out and about town so early, anyways? I usually don't see anyone around town at this hour."

Fin sighs as soon as I ask; I think he knew that I was sorta kinda stalling in the back of my mind.

"Oh, me?" she asks, pointing to herself for emphasis, I guess, "It's Ose again. He's been challenging me for another horse race."

"Ohh, but you're gonna win!" I cheer, "You'll beat Ose to a pulp!" Cathy shrugs a little and explains as I listen intently:

"I dunno about that...He may be hard to beat from what Leena's been telling me; apparently he's been practicing all season just to train his horse to beat mine."

"Whoa!" I say, a little astonished, "Isn't that kinda much, though? I mean, it's not like you guys are racing for a prize, right?"

"Yeah," Cathy nods, "I dunno what the heck he's trying to prove..."

There was a silence for a few seconds, but then Cathy spoke up again:

"By the way, where were you headed?"

"Oh, me?" I ask, pointing to myself like Cathy did. I think she chuckled when she realized I was accidentally mimicking her, "Um, well, I was actually gonna go to the wizard's house, to, um..."

When I trailed off, Cathy tried to finish the sentence for me as she said, "To get your fortune told, right?"

"Um, sure!" I smiled, "Let's go with that!" My buddy looked a little concerned when I said that...I think she was gonna say something else, but before she could, we start to hear these really heavy footsteps coming from the top of the road! It's Ose, of course! As he runs down the road and passes Cathy and me, he yells only one thing:

"C'mon, Cathy! Race you to Caval Meadow!"

Heehee, Cathy looks really silly when she hears that; her face gets all red as she says, "Why, you...! C'mere and say that, you cheater! You got a head start!"

She runs off to go and catch him, she tells me, and waves goodbye to me while she dashes off to chase after the big guy. I sure hope she wins that race...

"Wakuko!" I hear Fin say; he already flitted up ahead of me while I wasn't looking! "C'mon! We should get going, too!"

I sigh quietly to myself, but I slowly walk towards Fin as he begins to hover towards the dead end where the Wizard's house is...When we get closer, my heartbeat kinda speeds up and I feel really lightheaded...

It's so weird how I feel like I'm gonna get sick every time I come here; It's been going since this summer! Maybe it's like...one of the Wizard's magic spells to keep people away from his house...But then again, if I don't go in, Finny's gonna get kinda mad at me, huh?

"Here we are~!" Fin yelps happily as we finally make it to the little black door with the tiny black star sign above the door...Yeah, this is definitely it...I'm, uh, gonna go in now, I guess...One little step at a time, there...Almost got my hand on the door, I think...!

"Well, Wakuko? Are we going in or not? You're just standing there, silly!"

"Shush!" I told the little guy, "I'm, um...almost there!"

Okay, fine, I'll open the door...Uahh, my chest is hurting a little from all of this adrenaline!

Gulp...Okay, here goes...I'm turning the knob, aaannnd...Oh, hey, it's fully open! I guess I should, uh, go in, right? That's usually what people do when they open doors, I'm pretty sure. Yup, in I go...!

Oh! It's a little dark in here compared to most of the other places in town...But it smells really nice in here today for some reason! Like jasmine tea! Ooh, I love that kind! Anyways, I guess I'd better close the door...slowly...so he doesn't notice...

Phew, okay, I'm in! Now all I gotta do is--

"...Who's there...?" I hear a kind of deep (not to mention kind of scary!) voice ask from around the big white telescope in the house. I knew it was the Wizard, but I couldn't help but jump.

"U-uaaahh!" I yelped. I think I was saying things faster and faster along with my heart rate, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to barge inoranythingIjust--"

"...Hmm?" the wizard turned to see wimpy little me, clutching the doorknob for dear life. There's a smug little smile on that cute little face of Fin's...I know he wants to laugh at me again, as usual...

"Um, sorry for just barging in..." I begin, trying to regain my composure, "Well, um, it's me. Wakuko."

For a few seconds, the Wizard just stood by the telescope, staring me right in the eye...It was a little uncomfortable, but, um, I try to let go of the doorknob so he didn't think I was crazy.

When he finally comes down the stairs, he takes one last stare at me with that creepy yellow eye of his, almost like he wants to make sure I am who I am.

"Ah...it's you..." he says with kind of a gentler voice, "It's...been a while since I've seen you..."

"Yeah," I try to say without flinching or anything that would tell him I was scared, "I, uh...I would have come here sooner, but, ah, I've been kind of occupied with the farm this season. Lots of crops in fall!"

"Yes..." he nods cordially, (how gentlemanly!)"...I've heard that crops are plentiful...in fall...You must have...been very busy."

"Heehee, a little!" I laugh a little, thinking that it might kill my nerves, "But Fall crops are great and stuff! In fact, um...I grow some coffee beans on my farm! They don't grow very fast, but, ah..."

I reach into my secret belt compartment and take out the little mug of coffee, still packed up and warm from this morning.

"He-Here you go!" I say, slowly handing him the mug, "I made it fresh this morning! So, um, I hope you enjoy it..." (U-uahh! I think I'm blushing! Oh, Goddess, I must be crazy or sick or something!)

He takes the mug with care, but then looks back up at me and smiles kindly...His smile's so calm...It reminds me of--Whoa, wait a sec! This guy can smile?!

"Ah...T-this is...wonderful...T-Thank you..." He's practically astonished with happiness by the little mug! Wow! I guess he really likes coffee~! (I don't blame him; it's good for when you're staying up late to do some late-night planting! Or, uh, in his case, studying, I guess?)

"Oh, no problem at all!" I smile; his smile is kind of welcoming, so it makes me feel a little better and calms my crazy-fast heartbeat down to just regular-fast, "I remember you mentioning you stayed up late studying a lot, so I figured you could use it!"

"Yes..." he nods in agreement, "It's a little bit of a nuisance, trying to find these for sale...Especially when it's out of season..."

"Really?" I ask, (seriously, I didn't know! I grow all of this stuff, too...), "They never tell me any of that stuff when I ship it! I guess that's why I get a lot of money when I sell it..."

He nods quietly again, but this time it's kind of dismal. Aww, man! I liked it better when he was happy...Maybe I'll, um...give him coffee every day. Y-yeah! I could do that! Maybe, that way, he'd always be happy!

Er, then again, that's kind of weird. I'd be like a milkmaid. Except with coffee. Ew. Then again...Oh, heck, I'd better just ask to get it over with.

"Um, if you like it so much..." I begin, failing miserably at making contact with those different colored eyes, "I could make you some and bring it to you when the beans are ready, if you'd like! Oh! I mean, uh, if that's okay...I don't wanna seem like...weird, or anything."

Ohh, geez, that was bad. That was so bad...I think I'm feeling my self-esteem take a huge nosedive...Auuugh, Goddess, why did Fin drag me into this?!

"Y-you would...do that...for me...?" I hear him ask real quiet-like. His eyes get kind of wide...

"Er, sure thing!" I nod, but try to add something in, "We coffee lovers gotta stick together, right?"

...Wait, what did I just say?! Holy cow pies, I'm sucking at this whole conversation thing!

"Yes...I suppose so..." he agrees, smiling a little (yay!), "You...ah..." I think he was gonna say something, but he kind of trailed off; his eyes moved more to the side of the room. But I understand completely and stuff! Making eye contact is really hard sometimes...

"Hmm?" I tilt my head, "Were you gonna say something, Mr. Wizard?"

He looks me back in the eyes, "You're...very kind to me, Wakuko..."

Er, uh...oh. That was, um, nice of him...I think--AUGH, MY FACE IS GETTING RED! I can just feel it...Fin's staring at me and everything. Why is it that I blush at every little thing he says to me?!

"Psst! Wakuko!" I hear little Finny whisper through tiny chuckles, unheard and unseen by the Wizard, "Say 'thank you'!"

"Um, thank you!" I manage to throw out even though my mind was totally jumbled, "I, uh...you're, um, really nice, too, you know!"

...I need to tape my mouth shut when I get home...I...I don't deserve to talk anymo--Whoa, wait a sec! Um, I think the Wizard's blushing...Augh, no! That's bad! I didn't mean to do that! I, um...Ohhh, geez...

"...Not really...I...don't think I'm a very kind person..." he says, but he's still blushing a little. He shouldn't think that!

"Well, um, you should!" I said, coming off kinda forceful at first, but added, "Er, I mean...You shouldn't think that you're not a nice person! In fact, you're a really great person! Um, because...you tell fortunes to everyone~! And everyone in town is always glad you're here to tell them! Uh...you know?"

It takes him time to process what I said...Actually, I'm kind of processing it, too...uh, I didn't say anything stupid, did I? Finally, he looks me back in the eye, and, all of sudden, he's chuckling! Whoa! ...Where'd that come from?

"...You're a little strange...sometimes..." he says, still chuckling a little, "But...I think that's good..."

"Heehee," I laugh, "Yeah, I get that a lot!" ...Okay, sure, I'm laughing and all, but I'm also totally spazzing out on the inside because I...uh, I'm not really sure which way I should take the whole 'being strange' thing...

"Wakuko...Would it be all right if you stayed...for tea?"

Oh, phew! I think that means I'm good~. (And hooray, tea time! I sure hope he has that nice-smelling jasmine tea still around!)

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...Okay, so it was actually jasmine green tea. But I was close, you know! And I don't even specialize in tea or anything, so take that!

Oh! But, um, yeah, back to the matter at hand and stuff.

The Wizard's actually a really neat person! He tells me all of this neat stuff that he learns! He knows all kinds of languages, and studies all kinds of really hard subjects like physics and astronomy and even silly stuff like botany! (That's kind of unexpected...) He never told me any of this stuff when I went to visit him back in the summer...

He has this whole library of different books, too! I was really amazed by how many old books there were! Some were fantasy, some were nonfiction, some were ginormous textbooks that I could hardly hold, and some were about ancient civilizations, even! (I wonder if Mr. Calvin would like those...) Mr. Wizard says he's read a good chunk of them, too! I told him that was really amazing; there must be like...over a thousand books in there! Finny was really impressed, too! (Mr. Wizard got all embarrassed, though; he told me it wasn't really a huge deal, but, uh, if I could read, like...at least a hundred ginormous books in my lifetime I'd be proud, so...)

I slurp my last little bit of tea as Mr. Wizard skims the contents of his super-huge bookshelf. I wonder what he's looking for...

Before I try to ask, though, he turns his sights from the bookshelf to me and the now empty teacup.

"...Would you like any more...?"

...I was aiming for six cups today, but, uh, I guess I'll curb it at four today... (Best tea ever, by the way!)

"Nah, I'm good~!" I say, smiling, "Thanks, though! It was really really good!"

He nods and turns back to the bookshelf, "...I'm...glad you like it..." I ask him if I should put our empty mugs somewhere, but he just says he'll take care of it once I'm gone. (I guess that's good, though; Finny was taking a liking to using the little saucer as a warm little pillow for himself.) I dunno what the point of waiting 'till we're gone is, but maybe it's one of those silly habits. Everyone has 'em, though, so it's normal, I think!

All of a sudden, though, through the sounds of scrambling through books, I hear the Wizard ask, "...Wakuko...do you...have a favorite book?"

Ooh, neato! I like where this is going!

"Well, sure!" I begin to explain, "It's this fantasy novel called 'The Magic Ring of Light'! ...Er, I think that's what it was called. I read it when I was really little; my daddy gave it to me for my eighth birthday~." Yeah, um, I guess he could have been spared the details, but they kinda just come out when I talk about stuff that has history to me! Y'know?

The Wizard kind of turns and looks at me for a second; he stops what he's doing when he hears the book title.

"...You...you read that book...as a child?" he asks.

"Uh-huh! It was really great! Have you read it, by chance, Mr. Wizard?"

He turns and smiles, (hooray!), "...Th-that's my favorite book..."

Whoa! Uncanny stuff right there!

"R-really?!" I ask; my heart rate's kind of speeding up again, "I'm so glad I found someone else who likes it! Whenever I used to talk about it, my friend Van would tell me that fiction was silly, though...But he was more of a nonfiction guy, I think~.

"...I'm surprised...Most children...wouldn't be able to comprehend such a book..."

"Yup! I was a smarty-pants back when I was a kid~." I boast a little, pushing my glasses up for emphasis. Heehee, not many people know it, but I'm kinda geeky...Books are my favorite thing in the world! (Next to tea and pajamas, anyways!)

"You know..." the Wizard begins, "...Even though the book was written over eighty years ago...The author's daughter...recently wrote a sequel to the story...It was very well-written, as well..."

I gasped. My favorite book in the entire world had a sequel?! And I didn't even know it?! ...Geez, I'm really out with the times, huh?

"N-no way!" I cry, (careful, I think my inner geek is showing...), "I'd only heard rumors about a sequel being in the works when I was little, but...!"

"...Yes," the Wizard nods, "It's called 'Open the Door of Light'..."

"Oh, wow! That's amazing!" I say with geeky wonder, "I really need to see if I can find that book...There isn't really much of a library here like there was at home, so it'll be kind of hard to find it, but--"

"...I have the book...if you'd like to--"

"You do?!" As soon as I say that, I practically jump out of my chair. I think I may have scared the Wizard a little in the process...

"A-ah...yes..." he nods, a bit frightened, "If you'd like...I can let you borrow it..."

I think my jaw could reach the floor from the sheer happiness of hearing that...

"Y-You'd really let me borrow it?! For serious, Mr. Wizard?!"

He nods to me and tells me he's going to try to find the book. I jump for joy (He probably thinks I'm some crazy loser...) and I wait patiently as he searches. As he does, I try to wake Finny up from his little nap on the saucer; he asks me how everything went. I figure I would just tell him about the highs of everything so he'd be happy. (He's adorable when he's happy, little Finny~.)

When he finally finds the book, I'm in awe at even the cover: it's a simple purple cover, yeah, but it has the same ring of light that was illustrated on the cover of the first book, along with a door made of light inside the ring. Just the sight of that little cover brought back all of these memories of my daddy reading the book to me before bedtime...

Before I get totally wrapped up in my own silly memories, though, I throw myself back into the present as the Wizard carefully hands the book to me; it must be really special to him, too!

"Please..." he began, "...Take good care of this book, if you can...It's...very special to me..." Just then I kinda felt this wave of responsibility go over me; I gotta get this thing back safe and sound!

"I promise I will!" I cheer, "Heehee, I have a feeling I might even get this whole thing done by tomorrow...This author's writing style just keeps you reading until the end!"

The Wizard nods and smiles a bit in agreement as I place the book carefully in my rucksack where it'll stay safe. After a few more last-minute chats, I realize it's almost ten o' clock! (Ehe...I'm prone to losing track of the time...) I politely let him know that I wanted to water my crops later in the day and do some errands before sundown. He understands; he says he's got stuff he wants to do, too! (...Wait, really? But he's in his house all day!)

Before Fin and I leave, though, I'm surprised to hear Mr. Wizard say something more after we say our goodbyes.

"...Wakuko..." he begins, "If it's all right...would you...be able to come back tomorrow...?"

...My chest feels like it's all stuffed with butterflies when he says that...Probably just the caffeine from the tea.

"Sure, I'd love to!" I agree, beaming, "That's what friends are for, right?"

He tilts his head a little, "...Friends...?"

Oh, nuh-uh. He didn't just say that, did he?! A-auugh! Maybe I shouldn't have said that...After all, I mean, maybe we're only just acquaintances! Er, wait, no, isn't that for someone you hardly know? I don't hardly know him! I mean, er, I dunno, maybe I do, b-but...

"Er, you know!" I try to spit out, "Um, like buddies! Friends 'till the end! ...That kind of thing..."

Er, okay, now I'm just embarrassing myself...

"...I see..." he ponders carefully as he says this, "Then I suppose so...that's...what friends are for..."

W-wait, he just said that? He's my friend!? ...He's my friend! I'm his friend! We're both friends! Best buddies! Yayy! I'm so glad...For a while I thought he thought I was just some silly farmer...

...Wait a second...Why does that matter, anyways?! I'm so silly...Even the slightest thing like making a new friend shouldn't make my face all red!

A-anyways! I leave the house after we say our goodbyes (again), and when Fin and I finally get out, we're glad to see the bright end-of-autumn sun back out today! And the nice thing is that there's not a cloud in the sky, so it got a little warmer from this morning, yay!

"Well, Wakuko," Fin asks in his usual high-pitched question tone, "Where to next?"

I think about it for a while, and I can only think of one thing right now:

"All righty, Finny! We're off to water some crops and read that book! You with me?!" I ask energetically.

...Okay, fine, two things.

"Yayyyy! Off we go!" Fin cries happily, but slyly adds in, "I told you you'd be happy, Wakuko!"

I just run back towards Caval Meadow as Fin trails behind me.

...Since I'm in a good mood, I guess I can let that slide, Fin~.

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Well, that was chapter one! I do hope you all enjoyed the first part of the 'fic! I'll try to post the second part as soon as I can~! (This story was originally meant to be a oneshot for the Ushi no Tane fan community, but it ended up being like…40 pages total and was like an eight-shot on the forums there. But it'll be a three-shot here once I edit it, I guess…? o.o )

Anyways! Didja like the story? Hate it? Thought it was okay? Have some critique for yours truly? (Which I would eternally appreciate you for, by the way!) Then let me know in a review! They really make my day, and if I'm actually not being lazy I'll try to do my best to reply if your review is awesome enough!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope to see you again for chapter two! :D

-SGP