Rainbow: Wow! I actually remembered Valentine's Day in time to write something!
Star: So what are we going to do? You're not really the greatest at writing romance…
Wings: Yeah and isn't Silver getting to be more active this time of year? You can't just go writing whatever you like all willy-nilly.
Rainbow: Who even uses that term anymore?
Wings: I'm just saying be careful, alright? I don't really want to deal with explaining middle school over again to him.
Rainbow: Hey! This won't be that kind of fic! Just a bunch of fluff, y'know cute stuff for Valentine's! Wait! you think my writing is at a middle school level?!
Star: Ummm… Moving on, why are we doing this about Rune Factory? This is a little out of the blue.
Rainbow: I mean, it's not like we have a huge variety of fandoms on this profile…
Star: Point taken, but still.
Rainbow: I dunno. I was rooting around that section and just felt like it needed a little love.
Star: It does have more fics than the Witch's House, or Cuticle Detective Inaba.
Rainbow: Whatever! I just felt like it alright? I'm a Harvest Moon girl, remember?
Wings: Whatever, just get on with it while I keep an eye on Silver.
Rainbow: You heard it, Star! Roll the fic.
Laura and Felicity
Laura smiled. Well, there was really no use in delaying the inevitable…
She picked up the chocolates on the desk and walked into Felicity's room. "Hey there, you lucky girl. Looks like someone want you to be their Valentine." Laura jabbed at the brunette in bed.
Felicity blushed and looked down at her hands.
Laura frowned a little. Well, at least a little color came up to her cheeks. She had been looking paler than usual. It certainly wasn't normal for Felicity to be in the ward this frequently, especially after it seemed like she was making progress.
"Heh…" Felicity gave a small chuckle. "I guess I'll have to disappoint them. I'm not really in any shape to go out with anyone today…"
"Hey now," Laura put the chocolates in Felicity's lap and sat on the bed next to her, "you should feel lucky. I've been feeling kinda down since nobody got me any chocolates…"
"Oh?" Felicity arched an eyebrow. "Really now?"
"Mhmm. It seems like everyone is already settled down, and I'll have to die all alone!" Laura threw her arms up in mock despair.
"Hey, cmon… If you really that desperate-" Felicity opened the box and offered it to Laura, "-why don't you try one?"
"Oh?" Laura smiled and leaned in close to Felicity. "Isn't it bad manners to eat gifts you buy for others?"
Felicity blushed and turned away.
Laura's grin widened, and she popped a chocolate into her mouth. "Love you too."
Godwin
Godwin let the curtain slide back into place and walked out of the clinic with a wan smile on his face. Yes, it was that time of year again.
Right, left, right, left.
He walked down the street, right into the plaza.
It was a beautiful day. Blue sky, a far cry from the rain most had been expecting. It looked like the ten-year streak was finally broken.
Another smile. Godwin sat under the tree and looked up into the branches. Gorgeous pink buds beginning to peep out from their winter homes.
Ah, to be young.
Godwin chuckled and shook his head.
"You'll be glad to know, won't you? I think I daughter might be in love."
Tabatha and Bianca
Just down the avenue, Tabatha was waking up. It was a rare off day. Not much, other than the usual chores, was going to take place. Valentine's was one of those rare holidays that was deeply personal. No large gatherings, no giant festivals, no flashy speeches. Just a couple together, enjoying the day.
Tabatha sighed and cast around for her clothes. She was still wearing her pajamas, long wool pants and a button up shirt. Functionality before pretentiousness. The maids had to make up for their masters. Really though, she shouldn't be complaining. Tabatha remembered her childhood. The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she got. Had she really acted like that? Well, that was a different time and a different place.
Tabatha was in the middle up untangling herself from the sheets when the knocking started. "In a minute!" She started to struggle more, which only made the scene more convoluted. Tabatha began to sweat. Who was she making wait this long? It was certainly rude to make them stand there wondering if the maid would ever get up.
She finally managed to flail out of her covers and crash into the floor. "Oof." Tabatha picked herself up and ran to the door. Hopefully, whoever was there wouldn't be too annoyed.
"Sorry, sorry!" Tabatha opened the door.
Bianca had her hand in the air, as if she was getting ready to knock again. She immediately jumped at the sight of Tabatha and started to blush in embarrassment.
"Sorry, mistress. I was just getting out of bed. Sorry for the wait." Tabatha was acutely aware of how underdressed she was. She didn't even have her hair done and her ears were poking out.
"N-no, that's fine. You just scared me a little is all…" A silence assumed its presence over the pair. Tabatha didn't really know what to say after that. "T-this is just for helping me earlier. Thanks for teaching me!" Bianca thrust out a small pink bag into Tabatha's chest.
"Hm?" Tabatha looked down at the paper bag. It was pretty light, but still. "Really, mistress, there's no need to-"
"Have a nice holiday today!" Bianca swiftly turned on her heels and started to march away.
"Hey now…" Tabatha placed a hand on Bianca's shoulder. "You could at least wait for me to open it, so I can thank you properly."
Tabatha never knew human faces could attain such a red shade. "Uh, uh-uh…"
Tabatha shrugged, placed her hand into the bag, and brought out a bar of chocolate.
"I-it's just because you taught me how to make it! That's just the first batch!"
Tabatha raised an eyebrow. "Even then…" and kissed Bianca's forehead. "Thank you, Bianca."
Bianca tensed. "Y-you better eat it all!" And this time she succeeded in marching off. "Don't forget to clean my room!"
Tabatha smiled and shook her head. Really now…
She took a bite out of the bar and grimaced a little. She'd have to teach Bianca to add more sugar.
Camus and Russell
The bell attached to the library door rang out. Russell's left eye twitched. He really should have removed that. When it was ringing all the time, it was hard to get work done.
"What's going on, Russell?"
Russell glanced up. "Camus? What're you doing here? Isn't it Valentine's Day? Shouldn't you be off wooing some girl?"
"Is it wrong to come see my best friend?" Camus leaned over onto the desk.
"Whatever." Russell rolled his eyes.
"Besides," Camus continued like Russell hadn't even spoken. "I'm going to the city someday, what's the point of getting together with a girl here?"
Russell sighed. "It's people like you that are the reason Kardia is so small to begin with." Russell was greeted with a blank stare. "Look, how do you think Kardia still even exists? Most of the residents are already married and have kids, and then those kids, like you and Zavier, always want to go off to find adventure. The population of this town is pretty much unsustainable." Russell pushed his glasses up. "Also, I'm pretty sure that most of the bachelorettes here are gay."
Camus shrugged. "Not my problem. I'm moving remember? Besides, there always seem to be people like Raguna and my dad that seem to think this place is great and settle down. They'll keep it up. Isn't Leo not native too?"
"I hate to admit it, but you're probably right. I've been looking at records here, and the town's pretty much always been sustained by strangers moving in. In fact, I'm almost certain that the only family that's been around here for more than three generations is Godwin's."
"So are you lookin' to extend that to four?" Camus nudged Russell.
Russell rolled his eyes. "As if."
"C'mon, it's Valentines."
"Yeah, I don't see you courting anybody!"
"…"
"…"
"The truth is we both couldn't find dates, isn't it?"
"Yeah…"
Cecilia and Nicholas
Nicholas wasn't in a very good mood today. Raguna was busy and couldn't spend any time with him. Nicholas huffed. That wasn't the end of it! Zavier was busy messing around too, and everyone in the whole town seemed to be in on some giant event they were keeping secret from him!
Nicholas huffed again and tugged at his fishing pole to see if he had caught anything yet. As with the day, nothing happened.
"Hey, Nicholas!" Nicholas blinked and turned around to see a streak of red hair flash up the bank. "Whatcha doin'?"
"Nothing, Ceci. You?" Nicholas turned back to the ocean.
"Hm? Really?" Ceci sat down next to Nicholas and dangled her feet over the pier. "Have you just been here all day?"
"Yeah, everybody is out having fun without me! Nobody wants to play!"
Ceci giggled.
"What?!" Nicholas huffed again and glared out at the horizon. "I'm feel lonely, alright?"
"Ah, I'm sure it's just because they want to spend time planning out their day with their special someone!"
"What about me? I'm pretty special!"
"Not that kind of special, Nicholas. Y'know, the kind that get all lovey-dovey and give gifts and stuff!" Ceci flashed her best smile and looked at Nicholas expectantly.
"What?"
"Well…" Ceci glanced away and then decided to lock her gaze with Nicholas'.
"…Did I get a gift for you?"
Ceci nodded.
Nicholas snorted. "No, why would I do that?"
Ceci pouted. "You meanie!" And pushed Nicholas off the dock.
Sabrina and Neumann
Sabrina was watching Nicholas chase Ceci around the beach. Well at least he wasn't moping around anymore, though she would have to wash his clothes again. Honestly, that kid…
"Hello there!" Sabrina glanced up at the intruding figure.
"Oh, figures you'd be about."
Neumann frowned. "Hey now, is that anyway to greet your husband? I even brought something special this time." He hefted a green glass bottle. "Emmet said it would be perfect for a candle-lit dinner." The sound of glass tinkering chimed out as Neumann lifted the bottle.
Sabrina smiled and rolled her eyes. "You stashed some whisky under you coat, didn't you? You really want to have a drinking contest, don't you?"
Neumann sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Well… It's what usually happened before… I thought I might come prepared for once…"
Sabrina shook her head and grinned. "Honestly…" She gestured for him to sit down.
"So?..." Neumann sat and placed the bottle by the register.
Sabrina glanced at the bottle then out of the window at the pair racing around. "Best not today." She nodded her head at the pane of glass.
"Ah," Neumann sighed. "Good, you always beat me."
Sabrina smirked. "Yeah, it's no fun with a light weight like you.
Another sigh.
"Dinner sounds nice though…"
Raguna and Zavier
"Here you go!" Raguna shoved the bag of chocolates into Zavier's chest.
"Uh…" Zavier glanced down at the bag and then into Raguna's beaming face. "What's this for?"
"Aren't you supposed to give candy to someone you like in Kardia?" Raguna replied blankly.
Zavier flushed. "Yeah, to a girl! Y'know someone you like!"
Raguna tilted his head in confusion. "But I like you, so what's wrong with giving you chocolate?"
Zavier stuck his palm to his forehead and sighed. "No, not that kind of like! Y'know, like-like , like you want to marry them or like live with the for the rest of your life kind of like!"
Raguna still seemed confused.
"Look, you should really be handing these out to Mist or Rosetta. Someone cute!"
Raguna laughed. "You're cute, Zavier."
Zavier's face started to burn. "You…" He thrust the chocolates out. "Just take them already!"
"C'mon," Raguna pushed the bag back into Zavier's hands. "I worked really hard on those!"
Zavier just stared at Raguna. Then, "Fine." He pocketed the chocolates. "But only because you're too dense to know when to give up."
Raguna winked and ruffled Zavier's hair. "I love you too."
Sharron and Mei
"It seems that the town is engaging in some sort of relationship ritual." Mei suddenly broke the silence. She was standing outside the ruins with Sharron. It was another boring day, though the clear water and the blossom petals that were caught were giving it their all to add to the scenery. Mei could appreciate that.
Sharron smiled softly. "Yes, every year on this date they go around and pass candy out to those they like. It's quite fun, I'm told."
"Hmm…"
Blossoms continued to fall. It was quite remarkable. The ruins must have been incredibly fertile. The trees around always seemed to bloom earlier and longer than the ones in town, Mei noted.
"Are you envious?" Sharron's question suddenly snapped Mei out of her reverie.
Mei blinked. "Well, I guess I wouldn't mind it."
Sharron smiled softly. "Of course."
Mist and Rosetta
Rosetta glanced at the door again. When was she coming back? Rosetta bit her lip. Every year was like this. She tapped her fingers on the table. They made a sort of odd beat.
Hard, soft, hard, soft, double tap.
Her fingers landed next to her gift. Just a plain bar of chocolate.
Rosetta tensed again and stopped tapping. It was getting late, and Mist still wasn't back yet.
Probably out having fun… Rosetta glanced down miserably at her fingers. They were pale and thin and in this light, looked almost like ghostly spiders. She brought them up to her mouth to blow on them. It was cold out.
Currently, she was waiting inside Mist's house. Her Dad was on another trip to a partner in the South, so she had decided to move in with Mist and Lynette for the time. Now though, she was the only one in the house. Lynette had gone out to the bar to "observe the festivities" as she had put it.
Rosetta bit her lip. Mist was probably out there with Lynette having fun. At this rate, Rosetta figured she might start drawing blood.
A few moments passed by. Rosetta started tapping again. It was dark out.
"I'm home!" Mist opened the door.
"Welcome back," Rosetta replied automatically.
Mist walked into the room. "Made out like a bandit again this year?" Rosetta eyed the bags and boxes that Mist seemed to be struggling with.
"Yep, even with all that match-making I've been trying to help with, people keep handing them to me." Mist laid out the gifts onto the table in front of Rosetta.
"Maybe they're thank yous." Rosetta glanced at the growing pile and tried to shake the thoughts gathering at the edge of her mind away.
"Maybe… Still, I really don't think it's necessary…" Mist took off her coat and hung it up.
"It must be nice to be so popular." Rosetta almost winced at her comment. She hadn't expected the comment to come out, or her voice to be as steely.
"Oh? Didn't you get a bunch too?" At least Mist didn't seem to register the tone.
"No, I spent most of the day…" Rosetta paused. Mist probably wouldn't care what she had spent the day doing. Rosetta glanced at the kitchen and bit her lip before turning to face Mist again. "…hiding inside from everyone."
Mist laughed.
That hurt a little… Rosetta knew it wasn't meant like that, but…
She glanced down at her hands to see them balled up. Her bar should have been right by them, but it seemed like it was buried under the rest of Mist's haul.
Mist stopped chuckling and caught Rosetta's eye. "Sorry about that, but if you're trying to avoid getting chocolate, I don't know why it'd be surprising if you find out others are getting more!"
"Sorry, it's nothing. Some stupid comment. I'm just a tired today." Well, that was true, though Rosetta doubted she'd ever tell Mist why that was.
"Hey, now…" Mist walked over to where Rosetta was sitting, bent down, and hugged her. "Don't worry," Mist pressed her forehead against Rosetta's and tried to smile as gently as possible. "I made sure to save room for the most important one."
Rainbow: And that's a wrap! Whew! That took a little longer than expected. Still, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! Some romantic ones, some cute ones, and a whole lot of other interactions that I always wanted to write!
Wings: Is it over? Can I let Silver out now?
Star: Wait, I thought you were just watching over him, you actually locked him up?
Wings: Hey, it's pretty tiring watching over a kid, y'know!
Star: But, but… Why? Isn't he literally a part of us? Won't this cause traumatic suppression or something?
Wings: I'll worry about that, besides he's fine, see?
Silver: What'd I miss?
Star: Honestly…
Rainbow: Anyways guys, thanks so much for reading! I know it's a bit unusual, but I wanted to try something different since I finally remembered a holiday! Leave your thoughts in a review if want to say something, criticism and support is always welcome!
Star: Mostly criticism.
Rainbow: Shut it. And we'll see you guys in the next fic!
Rainbow's Notes: A quick rundown on how I feel about what I've just written about:
Laura and Felicity: Kind of a cute pairing. I think they've probably spent a lot of time with Felicity being so sick, but I also kind of doubt that their actual interactions are like this. Writing a more assertive Laura was fun though.
Godwin: It's a little weird to be writing about this guy on Valentines, but I just kept thinking about how he would react to his daughter in a relationship. I at first thought it might be a little negative, due to Kardia's population problem and not being able to have kids, and then maybe because he was just a protective dad that doesn't want to see his daughter drift away… And then I remembered he didn't have a wife in game... I really glad I wrote him the way I did, hopefully people take it as a someone whose remembering early days and being happy that his kid can experience that same kind of happiness.
Bianca and Tabatha: Augh! I love these guys so much! They're too cute together! It's a real shame Tabatha's an elf and the whole living longer than your significant other thing. Still the idea of them is way too cute. Tabatha would be way too protective and Bianca way too flustered.
Camus and Russell: Now here's one I've been wanting to write about. It's not really romantic at all, just a couple of friends talking about Kardia. I honestly find Camus to be pretty interesting, he's got a wish that I'm sure hits home with a lot of people, but I'm kind of a home body, and also I think Kardia is the coolest setting out of any of the RF games, and I've played them all. Russell's cool too, but in kind of a "big brother" way. Still, I bet both of them are completely hopeless in the romance department.
Cecilia and Nicholas: I like these two in game quite a lot. I think it was pretty smart to include children as unique characters. No real romance here, but writing kids (even if it's writing it badly) is pretty fun. Also in RF2, Cecilia is the best. Sorry Mana fans.
Sabrina and Neumann: This was actually pretty hard to write. I'm not that great at getting these guys (or anyone) down, but kind of a more relaxed romance was the goal. A couple being comfortable together and just enjoying the day without too much hassle.
Raguna and Zavier: I'm not sure how I feel about this pairing. I kind of think it's just the token gay couple… Still, I think with better writing than mine, someone could really make a case for this pair. I mean there's got to be a reason Zavier's chasing Raguna through the caves, and Raguna has to save his bacon plenty of times too.
Sharron and Mei: This is another odd one. I'm not sure how I came to this, considering Sharron is probably closer to Melody… Oh well, it was pretty fun to portray two outsiders' views on Valentines. I hope it's a good counterpoint to Camus' and Russell's discussion. A little romantic is certain light and kind of comedic in another, hopefully.
Mist and Rosetta: …I like this pairing… A lot… Like a lot, a lot… They're my favorite pairing in all the games… I just feel like they're a good match. I dunno, Rosetta and her whole "rivalry" (Which probably is just a pure rivalry) and Mist's detachment seem to mesh for me. Opposites attract or something like that. For some reason though, I always want to make the situation around them so sad… Like Mist is in some other relationship, and Rosetta is hopelessly trying to struggle with her own pride and with getting Mist's attention. Maybe I'll write another fic… Oh well, at least here they got a moment together in the end!