Disclaimer: Harvest Moon's not mine.

Note: Entry for the Village Square's Writing Contest, finished at the very last moment. I apologise in advance for any errors; I don't usually write in such a hurry! Haha. Anyway, the theme for this contest was "the long road home." Here's my interpretation...

To Know Home

There are times in life – you'll know when they arrive – when you've got no choice but to break your own rules. Take a U-turn. Take a risk. Move of out of that comfort zone, the safety net. It might be painful – more than likely even. But then again, that's the whole point, isn't it?

Kai shuddered; the wind was bitter, as cold as iron. And it was snowing, evidence that he was further out of his own personal comfort zone than ever before. It wasn't even the pretty, swirling snow you saw on Christmas cards. No, this stuff was merciless. He sat shivering on the deck, the snow whipping around him, stinging his tanned skin. For years, he had made this same journey to the pretty coastal village of Mineral Town, his chosen vacation destination. Technically, it was supposed to be something of a working holiday, but business at the Snack Shack was slow to the point of non-existence, and though he should care, it was hard to summon up the energy when he had blistering summer days and a beach on his doorstep to distract him. And fireworks. Food. Friends. Festivals. Her.

Memories flooded Kai's mind. He felt slightly warmer.

It was still sub-zero, though... Goddess. Was he a total idiot for not being to think about anything else? His obsession was starting to make him feel like a goddamn thermometer! Because while Kai had made this journey time and time again he had never headed for a wintery Mineral Town. He was used to balmy ferry rides across a bright turquoise ocean, not this icy hell!

Slight exaggeration? Well, not from where he was sitting – freezing his ass off, incidentally.

But then, this long, painful journey was not made on a mere whim. It was made on a promise. Kai's fist tightened around the letter she'd sent him. The thought of seeing her eased his shivering. Yeah, he was miserable. Yeah, he was certain the grey – grey! – waves were giving him some sort of seasonal depression. Despite all that, he wasn't going run out on her. Anyway, he'd be mad to.

They said Ann Lawson packed a hell of punch.

"D'you know," Kai said over a beer, "that the Snack Shack lock was almost frozen? It took me at least ten minutes to get it open!"

"Ooh, tragic." Gray snorted. "You need to get a grip, man." He took a swig of his own drink.

"That's rich," said Kai. He smirked at Gray's scowl.

Cliff, who was sat on Kai's left at the bar, piped up. "Well, he's kind of right though, isn't he? I mean, I know it can get depressing this time of year, but you could maybe... y'know... man up a little?"

Both Kai and Gray spluttered into their drinks; beer droplets sprayed the counter top. "That's even richer!" Kai laughed, while Cliff blushed.

Even the eternally grumpy Gray chuckled. He quickly adjusted his baseball cap, though, and returned to seriousness: "Cliff does have a point, mate..."

But by this point Kai's mind had wandered to something of a rather more appealing nature. Ann had reappeared behind the bar. She tipped him a quick wink as she leant across to mop up the counter and, no joke, he felt his legs turn to liquid. Girly feelings maybe, but he couldn't give a damn right now. The odd thing was, he'd always fantasised about dating a barmaid, yet with Ann that was just a detail, an afterthought. When she winked at him, he thought of flawless, blue summer skies. Her nose was still peppered with summer freckles. Giggling, knowing she'd struck him dumb, Ann swept away again.

"Ow!" Gray and Cliff elbowed him in perfect unison. "Thanks guys..."

"You looked like you needed a dose of reality," Gray muttered darkly. Kai wasn't sure whether his friend was joking or not, but he laughed anyway. A few beers shortly became many beers for the three roommates. The Inn regulars came and went, but they remained sitting faithfully at the bar. As Rick and his semi-conscious wife, Karen bid them farewell, Cliff, who was in danger of passing out himself, remarked, "Bet it's nice though, yeah?"

"Uhh... what?" Kai mumbled.

"To be home, I – I mean?"

Perhaps it would've helped if he hadn't laughed quite so derisively. "Home? Yeah, right. This is just – " But Kai never did get to explain what Mineral Town "was just". The crash of shattered crockery from behind roused them all. Kai spun around so quickly he nearly toppled from his stool. Ann was clearing away the tables and had dropped a bowl. She wasn't at all clumsy, normally. Suddenly, Kai felt sick. "Oh, Ann... I didn't mean – I never..."

She stormed past without even a fleeting glance; the remains of the bowl stayed on the floor. "Whatever," she said airily, and then as an afterthought, "Shut up."

Kai wished she'd just give him the slap he probably deserved. "Lethal, my daughter, when she's armed with a rolling pin," Doug had once told him. Now though... it was the offended tears in Ann' eyes that tortured him. And they were incomparably worse.

He was half-way through baking Ann the biggest ever, "I'm so SO sorry," cake, when she turned up outside the Snack Shack unannounced. A flash of flaming red caught his eye through the window. He paused, dumbfounded. Ann was staring straight back at him. Kai wasn't sure what was more amazing: the fact that she was grinning in his direction or that she wearing a vest top and shorts in a snowstorm.

Okay, definitely the latter.

Abandoning his mixing bowl, Kai flew outside. "Have you gone insane?" he demanded. In his haste to ensure his girlfriend's mental stability, the remnants of their argument seemed to fall away. This seemed more pressing. She was wearing sandals in the snow, for Goddess sake!

Ann just cackled. She had pulled her long red hair from its usually tight braid. It fell in crimson waves over her shoulders and down her back. "Just trying to make you feel at home that's all," she explained, a wicked glint in her eye. "Hence the summery attire!"

Kai gawked at her. "It's madness! You'll freeze to death. Ann, seriously, I'm sorry – really I am. There's no need to punish me with a bout of hypothermia."

"I'm not punishing you. I'm sorry too. Major overreaction, okay?"

"Why..." Kai struggled for the words. "Why this then? Sorry, I can't take it anymore." The sight of her goosepimply arms was driving him crazy and he yanked her into a tight, fierce hug. He threw his own jacket around her shoulders. "Warmer?"

"Hmm," she mumbled into his shoulder. "You smell of cake, by the way. And why? I just said, didn't I? To make you feel at home."

Kai drew back in surprise. He stared. "You are mad."

She laughed all the way to her electric blue eyes. "And you've only just noticed that? Come on! Very quick paddle in the sea?"

He gulped. The waves were murderous, steely. To anyone else, in any other circumstance, Kai would have a said "no", point blank. Why, he wondered, were things just different with Ann?

"This," she chattered, as she stepped up to her ankles in freezing water, "must be evidence of how much I love you, Kai Hunter."

"Likewise!" He shuddered as his shoes slowly filled up, but he held her close.

"Imagine dolphins and palm trees and sun loungers," Ann murmured, a mantra. It didn't exactly work. "Yeah," she admitted, "you were right. This is mad."

But suddenly Kai didn't care about the cold. Maybe this wasn't quite home yet... but he could feel it growing on him, that sense of belonging. He was kissing her before he realised it. The wind and ice and snow, they were barely noticed. Because he couldn't feel anything, except for her.