A/N: I'm taking a leap with mixing two HM games together, but I believe it will be fine. I'm using Animal Parade and Sunshine Islands (mostly taking place in the latter).

Now, of course I had to change some aspects so it fits in my story, such as adding in more characters so they seem like actual TOWNS, but I will try to keep it as close to the original games as possible.

Thanks and please enjoy!

"One magic mushroom, diced… three and a half cups of pure spring water… a sprinkle of gold ore dust…" The muttering came from the silver haired girl leaning over a simmering copper pot. Her tanned hands were busily working, from tossing in ingredients to stirring the odd concoction with a ladle.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she leaned in closer, "Hmm… why isn't it-" she yelped in surprise and jumped back as the liquid exploded out of the pot, splattering all over the country style kitchen. There was a long pause before the realization steeled on what just happened. The girl slowly lowered her arms shielding her face until they fell to her sides, staring at the mess.

"Sophia?" She gasped as a voice emanated from the hallway, quick footsteps following. "What was-" The girl turned to see her mother, who halted at the entrance of the kitchen, mouth agape. The mixture that had been previously in the pot attracted the older woman's attention. Sophia, too, gave a quick look to the room and cringed as she realized the mess she'd created was greater than she had originally anticipated. Transparent blue splatters were splashed everywhere; the table and cushioned chairs, the once spotless wooden counter tops, and some even found its way onto the ceiling above the pot.

Sophia's cringed look became a strained smile as she looked back to the figure standing speechless in the doorway. "Hi, Mom."

"Sophia… how-" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw the liquid had started to permeate thin tendrils of mist. She threw her hands up in defeat with a tired sigh, "Just clean it up."

Sophia exclaimed an apology to her mother's disappearing figure into the hallway. She heard her mumble something along the lines of, "I swear…between her and her father, the house will be in ruin."

Sophia turned to her disastrous experiment and ran a hand though hair, expelling a huff of air through the side of her mouth, "I'm going to have to start all over…again." She proceeded to clean the poor kitchen, which consisted of scrubbing, soaping, more scrubbing, and drying. Though it only took half an hour, to her, it seemed twice as long.

There was one last stain that Sophia was furiously washing out on the floor when she heard a stampede of footsteps that grew louder and louder along with, she noted, the jangle of dog tags. Before she had any time to identify who was making the racket, a throng of collie puppies-muddy collie puppies- ran into the room, slipping and sliding on the hard wooden floor. Their rambunctious presence made Sophia fall back on her rear.

"No, no, no! Come back!" a small preteen with short wavy hair, her sister Anna, came running in with a disheveled and breathless presence to her. Sophia quickly stood up as to not get any mud on her white vee neck and dark jean capris. The preteen stopped and made eye contact with the largest puppy, who seemed to be the leader of the canine quartet. "No, don't you dare…"

The said puppies stood at the open kitchen door, which led outside. They wagged their tails and squirmed fervently. Not breaking eye contact, Anna lowered herself to her knees, beckoning them with a sweet voice, "Come here, it's okay," The leader gave a yip, which Sophia noticed, almost sounded defiant, especially now that the dog was slowly backing towards the doorway. Sophia watched this odd fiasco with interest. That is, until she looked down at the floor.

The mischievous puppies finally made a break for it, sprinting away on their chubby legs, "NO, WAIT!" Anna scrambled to her feet started to chase after them, but before she could get to the other side of the kitchen, Sophia yanked her by the shirt collar, and agitated frown tugging her features, "Hold up," Anna mirrored her expression with add confusion. "What? You're gonna let them get away!"

"They're fine, but I can't say the same about the floor."

"Oh…"

Mud smeared across the floor, along with multiple trails of small paw prints. Sophia would have found the scene laughable if she didn't just scrub the whole kitchen.

"I'm not cleaning that up," she said pointedly and flicked her hand over to the side cabinet, where a mop floated over to her awaiting palm. It was almost as if a phantom was carrying it to her.

The snared girl leaned her head back and groaned, "But it wasn't even my fault! They squeezed through the fence!"

"I just finished cleaning in here. I'm not doing it again."

Anna's thin brows rose, "You had to clean earlier?" Her face adopted a cheeky smirk, "Were you trying to make that 'tidy-up' potion again? Ironic isn't? The potion that's supposed to help with cleaning always makes the biggest mess."

A brief silence was met as both sisters stared at each other, the elder having a muscle in her jaw jump in annoyance. Sophia thrust the mop into the other's hand.

"Bye." She said tersely.

Anna's mouth dropped open in surprise, "Hey, you're not even gonna help me? I-I was just kidding about the potion thing!" She exclaimed to her sister's retreating back.

Sophia was already walking down the dirt path when she heard, "Ewwww…This is not mud!"

The walk to the town on Castanet Island was laden with waves of heat, though the summers were always amazingly hot. Humidity clung to Sophia's skin as did her clothes. A symphony of cicadas was heard in the trees, along with the soft clash of the ocean against the sand. Comforting sounds she had grown up with.

Even in the heat of the day, the townspeople were out and about, minding their shops, fishing on the weathered docks, or just visiting neighbors. The weather wouldn't stop the turning wheels of a productive afternoon though, of course, it wasn't without a few complaints.

"Oy…" Despite her usual fondness of the warm season, this particular summer day was a little overwhelming even to Sophia. The humidity sticking to her mingled with the perspiration dotting her olive skin.

"Hey, Soph!" From the docks, Sophia could see a young girl around her age. In one hand, she held a fishing rod; the other was waving to her.

"Angie," Sophia greeted, walking towards her. She sat down on the edge of the pier next to the lavender haired girl, minding the barnacles that inhabited the legs of the wooden structure. The chilled breeze from the sea water lashing against the dock cooled Sophia's legs, for which she was grateful. She leaned back, a contented sigh escaping her lips. "Ahh… now I know why you're over here."

"I know, right? It feels amazing," Angie reeled in her line and set the fishing pole next to her. She grimaced and plucked at the side of her pale pink tank top, showing small spots of sweat that seeped into it. "Though my upper body is still sweating like crazy.Blegh."

Sophia smiled softly at her friend. Though their personalities were not that similar and they didn't share many of the same interests, Angie was the only person who seemed to enjoy her company. As a result, the two girls spent a lot of time together. "How did it go with David yesterday?"

At the sound of her crush's name, Angie's deep blue eyes lit up and a childish smile graced her face. Excitement seemed to pour from her as she turned her whole body toward her companion, now sitting on her knees, "Oh Sophia, I was so nervous yesterday that I almost backed out. But, then he walked into my mom's tailor shop. He looked so handsome… Blonde hair… blue eyes…"

"…And?"

The delighted girl snapped out of her mini day dream, faint color rising to her cheeks. "Anyway, I just pulled myself together and said to myself, 'Angie! Quit being such a damn wimp and get over there!' So I marched right up to him and asked if he would go out with me. And you know what he said?"

"No, that's why I am asking you."

Ignoring Sophia's answer to her rhetorical question, Angie leaned forward, getting close to her. "He said yes!" She leaned back and started bouncing on her knees, oblivious to the rough planks beneath that were rubbing them red. "Isn't this great?!"

As if Angie's own elation was contagious, Sophia found herself grinning widely. "That is great! I would hug you, but it's really too hot."

The tailor's daughter laughed, a chorus of delicate bells, "You can hug me once we go to your dad's place. That's where you were going, right?"

"Yeah, but I was going to go to Ocarina Inn for lunch." Sophia peered up at the glaring sun, more aware of the heat than ever, "Speaking of which, let's go now."

"Agreed."