Well, I have returned from the grave! Well not really, hehe. Anyways, I have been playing a lot of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life and am currently planning to marry Celia and have a boy named Cecil and have him grow up to become a scholar. Unfortunately, I have bought the game twice and it keeps saying that "an error has occurred" so I may have to buy the Special Edition for the PS2. Anyways, that's not important. Since I couldn't complete my dream of having Celia's scholarly child, this idea came into my head.

Also, I take some liberties here and there. For instance, Flora is actually much younger than she actually is in game. So please forgive me for any strange occurrences, not that Natsume (or excuse me, Natume) ever makes any mistakes.

Title: Ambition
Game: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Theme: Dreams
Couples: Cecil x Flora, Jack x Celia

Dreams are quite an intriguing subject.

Dreams can be realized with a sudden spark of passion. The most miniscule hint of interest. And some dreams can be fulfilled just as easily as they are made. Certain people can easily acquire their deepest desires merely by wishing on a shooting star or winning the lottery.

But for most, the journey is filled with many bumps and bruises.

Many of the world's population live their lives deprived of what some take for granted. Women can have their hearts ripped to shreds and tossed aside, like a used napkin that has served it's purpose, and now, it's master is finished with it. For others, they may be told that they do not possess the skills needed to succeed in their lives- that they are worthless and should merely give up on ever attaining their dreams.

For Cecil, life was never quite easy.

Cecil was an overachiever. He strived to become the best at anything he could. He studied hard at Forget-Me-Not Academy and graduated as class valedictorian. He worked part-time at his parent's farm and had his own field of crops and his own share of livestock and poultry. He exercised with Hugh in his free time, studied with Kate after school and learned the different talents of everyone in town whenever a lesson was in order. He was, in essence, a jack of all trades.

But he could never do what his heart yearned for. He was forbidden from the fruit that seemed to be the sweetest. For he loved something and someone, no one would understand. For he loved science and Flora, but he knew he could never have both.

He had been raised by his parents, Celia and Jack. His father had inherited this farm from his father and Jack had his heart set on keeping the tradition going. His mother had been a farmer as well, at a farm across the bride owned by her godmother, Vesta and her brother Marlin. She was vastly more lenient than her spouse ever could be, but he still felt like he was confined to the life of farming.

Like his mother had been, Cecil's parents had set up an arranged marriage for him. He had been planned to wed a girl from Mineral Town. She was also raised on a ranch, caring for chickens. She was quite an attractive young woman with sakura blossom pink hair and a crimson dress that complimented her curved figure. She was upbeat and generous, but Cecil was strangely bored with her. They were friends but he knew that was all they would ever be.

He loved science. The thrill of experimenting and discovering something that no one has ever even thought of making before. The excitement of learning something new and different every single day of your entire life. Ancient civilizations, alternate power sources or medicinal potions to cure even the most disease ridden of patients.

He loved Flora. His heart leapt when her melodic laugh echoed across the walls of the mine. His cheeks blushed a deep crimson when he spoke to her in that singsong speech. Her golden locks that fell gracefully across her shoulders matched her heart of gold. But the most exquisite of her features were her stunning violet eyes that captivated Cecil's every move. He adored her heart and he loved her.

But he knew, deep down in his heart, that he would be eternally forced to leave both behind. For his parents had decided his every move. Their were the king and queen and he was their pawn. They the master puppeteers and him the marionette in their twisted scheme.

Cecil was currently hunched against the wall of the mine. Midnight moonlight was slowly creeping through the entryway of the cavern. Flora was sitting cross-legged across from Cecil, listening intently to the youth prattle on about his troubles.

"And it's like they won't even listen to me Flora!" The brunette shouted. His ice blue eyes sparked with fury and he stopped to sigh and brush back his brown bangs. "Why can't they just accept me for how I am? Am I that strange?"

Flora rested a petite gloved hand on the brunette's shoulder. "Cecil, you can't blame yourself for everything. Sometimes, parents expect too much from their children and are disappointed with themselves and take it out on their offspring." Her violet eyes shone with concern.

"I know I shouldn't, but I can't help it! It's just... who I am. And I can't change that." He brought his knees closer to his chest and hugged them tight- his defense mechanism.

Flora narrowed her eyes. "Stop! Cecil, you're doing it again!"

Cecil glanced up at her with confusion. "Huh? I'm doing what again, exactly?

Flora pointed at him with a slim finger. "That. When you get emotional, you always go into that fetal position. You're trying to close me out. But I don't want to be closed out. I want to help you, Cecil, in any way that I physically can." She smiled softly, her lips slowly curving upwards at the ends.

Cecil shook his head. "Do I? I haven't even noticed. I wonder what else I do that I don't know about. Flora do I have any other quirks?" He asked, his stare returning downward at the ground. He couldn't bear to stare directly into her amethyst eyes. They always appeared as if they could stare right through you, into your very core. It chilled him to the bone, yet it made his heart go atwitter in a way he didn't totally understand.

"Well, to be frank, you do exactly what you did right there. You changed the subject and attempted to distract me by answering another one of your questions. You know you can't trick me, Cecil. We're too close for that." Flora tugged on his arm and brought him to a standing position, where he crossed his arms and pressed them against his chest.

A smile slowly pulled at his lips, and a pink blush slowly crept up on his cheeks. "Flora, do you think we are clo-"

"CECIL!!!" A voice boomed throughout the cave and shook the duo. It was deep and loud and the boy knew without a shadow of a doubt to whom the voice belonged to.

The conflicted youth sighed heavily and turned to Flora again. "Sorry, Flora. Looks like I gotta go- that sounds like my dad. I guess I'll talk to you later then." He stated with a weak grin.

As he turned to go, the blonde caught his hand. "I'll walk you out." She responded and winked at him with a giggle. Cecil could feel his cheeks heat up on the spot but he merely swallowed and nodded dumbly.

As the pair exited the excavation site, they found Jack tapping his foot impatiently with an anxious looking Celia at his side. As soon as she saw him, Celia swung her arms around her son. "Oh, sweetie, where have you been? You should've been home hours ago! Are you alright?"

"Oh, hush Celia! He probably just ignored our curfew to spend time with his girlfriend here!" Jack spat with rage. Celia spun around, anger apparent in her cloudy brown eyes.

"Jack, do not speak to our son in that manner! He's a young man now, he could stand to stay out a little late!" She shouted, and then added, "and she's not your girlfriend, is she?"

Cecil and Flora both blushed profusely at this question and shook their heads vigorously spewing things such as, "No!" "Of course not!" "Definitely NOT a couple!"

"Besides, how late did I stay out, exactly?" Cecil asked with a huff. His father stared him down and answered without withdrawing his gaze,

"It's 1:30 in the morning, Cecil. You were supposed to be home at 11:00 o' clock P.M. That means you are exactly two and a half hours late. Now what were you doing with this, this-" Jack stumbled, finding the precise word to describe the young woman.

"Flora. You can call me Flora, Mr. Jack." Flora replied as politely as she could. Cecil stifled a chuckle- man, she's a good actress.

Jack seemed a bit surprised at the blonde's polite tone, but continued on with his son. He gripped the boy's hand and began dragging him home, leaving Celia and Flora behind.

Celia turned to a disgruntled Flora. "I'm sorry about that, dear. My husband has been quite exasperated lately. I guess since our daughter, Alice, never minded following what we... what he wanted, he figured Cecil would be the same way. I guess not."

Flora smiled sympathetically- she could tell she meant no harm, and she would never do anything to hurt her child. "Miss Celia, if you don't mind me asking, could you explain to me more about Cecil? He talks to me about his life very often, but he leaves out very big gaps in his explanations and it makes it hard to offer advice to him."

Celia nodded and hesitantly answered, "alright then. You seem to be a very sensible and level headed girl, so I'll tell you everything I can. Well let's see, at first..."

A day had passed since the incident. Celia had returned home to a scolding husband and a rebelling adolescent. Jack had been screaming at his "worthless excuse of an irresponsible son" and Cecil had been screeching back at him about how he "should let me live my own life!" It soon ended with Cecil finally speaking the forbidden words-

"I hate you."

Cecil had ran away from home. Celia wanted to follow her runaway son but Jack told her to "let him do whatever he wants to." She reluctantly agreed.

Oh, Cecil, please come home! Please, Harvest Goddess, protect him.

The brunette boy awoke to find himself on a small beige couch. A fuzzy emerald blanket covered his shivering body and he examined his current location. A house with various blinking machines flowing with electricity. Test tubes and beakers with multi-colored liquids covered the various tables scattered across the household.

A single figure stood across the opposite side of the room. A dirty, torn white lab coat covered his body and a mat of unruly raven black hair coated his head. He turned to stare at the boy with bloodshot onyx eyes and a pair of dented glasses. "Oh, Cecil, you have awoken! I was just in the middle of an experiment. Are you feeling well?"

Cecil rubbed his misty aqua eyes and stretched back out on the couch. "I guess so. Thanks for letting me stay at your place for a bit, Daryll."

Daryll chuckled. "It was no trouble. You always are helping me with my experiments so I knew it was only fair to lend you some of my humble home to use when you would like to."

The runaway seemed hesitant to ask something, but the scientist could immediately see that something was troubling him. "Cecil, is something the matter? You seem distraught."

The adolescent nodded. "Well, I have been thinking of leaving my parent's house for a while. I never truly knew what I would do, where I would go, but I knew I wanted to leave. Now I know exactly what I want to do. What I need to do."

The scholar raised an eyebrow at the young man. He knew this would happen sooner or later, and he was secretly proud that he finally had he courage to 'leave the nest', in a sense. "And what is that exactly?"

The boy sighed and then continued. "I want to become a scientist or an architect or even a doctor. I'll stay here in the valley, live with either you or Carter, if that's alright. I'll help out at the excavation site Mondays and Tuesdays, assist Dr. Hardy on Wednesdays and Thursdays and work here on Fridays and Saturdays. At least, I want it to work that way."

The researcher was about to say something when he found Cecil wasn't finished. The youth was searching for something in his rucksack. When he pulled it out, Daryll's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. A cerulean feather lay in his palms.

"Finally, I want to propose... to Flora." He stared at Daryll with hope-filled eyes. The scientist rubbed his chin. On one hand, he loved the archaeologist but he knew he could never have her. And Cecil was his closest friend and he saw the look in their eyes when they were together. They were in love, fully and completely head over heels. Reluctantly, he nodded.

"Cecil, I think that's a wonderful plan."

Flora was consumed in her work the next day. Carter had insisted that they work through the next day, as he had recently found evidence of an ancient civilization that he believed his necklace was from. The blonde girl, however couldn't honestly care less at this point in time. Her thoughts were elsewhere.

She was staring aimlessly into space when she felt a cold, smooth hand press against her exposed shoulder. She spun around to find her face directly next to Cecil's. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment and she clumsily stuttered, "Oh!! C-cecil, I didn't, uh, notice you were here! Erm, did you need something?"

He held out his hand and smirked at her. His eyes were different somehow- almost asking her to accept, pleading silently with her to say yes. "I asked Carter if you could come talk a walk with me. He said it was fine since it was such a beautiful night for a walk. Would you care to join me?"

Flora nodded and beamed. Her heart was tapping against her chest, but she tried to dismiss it. Tonight, she would focus solely on Cecil.

The two walked hand in hand down the pathways of the valley. They remained silent, but the two enjoyed it. They merely admired the beauty of nature that appeared all around them. The duo soon found themselves at the Harvest Goddess Spring.

The lemony scent of Mist Moons wafted through the air and beautiful sage leaves fell to the ground, dancing through the springtime breeze. The adolescents took a seat, sprawled at the foot of the spring. Their hands remained clasped in the other's and they stared at the twinkling stars of the sky.

"Wow, how beautiful." Cecil was the first to break the silence. Flora nodded. She loved astronomy almost as much as she loved archaeology. Stars that glistened, looming just over their heads- it completely fascinated her.

"Yes, stars are quite gorgeous. They sparkle in the moonlight and cast down a wonderful luminous glow. It's strange, but that nursery rhyme- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star- is quite a true representation of what I think of stars. Just where are they exactly, and how did they get there?"

Cecil chuckled. "No, I meant you." Flora's head shot towards him. Their cheeks were a matching crimson, the color of roses on Valentine's Day.

"Wh-what? I mean, um, thank you. That's such a bold statement coming from you. " Flora stumbled over her words and cursed her klutzy wordplay. Why can't I at least come up with something- anything- witty to say back? Just flirt the tiniest bit with him. Make this moment last...

"I've changed a lot, Flora. I have you thank for that. You changed me." Flora merely gazed into his eyes, wanting an explanation. " Before, I was shy and didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. But you helped me through the toughest of times, you listened to my doubts and complaints when no one else cared and you guided me to find my purpose. Flora..."

At this, Cecil got down on one knee and pulled something out of his pocket. An indigo feather the color of the ocean. Flora shot up off the ground and gasped in amazement. "Flora... I love you. Will you marry me?"

Warm tears of joy fell down her heated face. Her heart thumped rapidly against her chest and she knew exactly what her answer would be. "Yes. Yes, Cecil, yes!! I've always wanted to stay by your side! I love you too!!"

She leaped at him with open arms, and with a passionate kiss fell into the freezing depths of the pond. Their fingers intertwined together and their lips stayed pressed against each other. They couldn't even think about the fact they were underwater. All they could think about was the fact that they were finally together forever.

As they surfaced, they gasped for air but never left each other's eyes. Everything felt right. The mood. The atmosphere. The feeling of the other's lips. "One more time?" Cecil asked hopefully.

Flora smirked gleefully, "I've got all the time in the world."

I am actually extremely proud of this fanfiction. It's the longest oneshot I've ever written (3000+ words) and it's something that personally happened to me with a twist. I've always loved Flora and felt she needed a bit more respect. My friends (one of which is a fellow author here) and I always joked that if we could add another bachelor/bachelorette, I would have "Flora and Takakura", Chrissy would have "Chris and Murrey" and Cynthia would have "Lumina and Cody" and then Harvest Moon DS came out and we were like "Oh my gosh, Flora and Lumina are marriageable!" Chrissy was made she couldn't marry Chris, but we told her that would be an illegal scandal, hehe.

Anyways, enough of reminiscing. I hope you guys enjoyed my oneshot and please review as it helps me learn what I did well and what I need to improve on. I normally would ask for at least one compliment and at least one suggestion- I always want to become a better author! I need it because it's what I want as a fallback career (am I too young to have that?), or even a side job. I want to be an actor (and already have gotten a few jobs!).

-DivineJudgment