Yes; I put another Harvest Moon Story. Yes; I need to stop adding so many stories unless I'm done with it. No; that doesn't mean I'll stop doing that though LOL. This one is a lot longer than my other two Harvest Moon stories and takes place in Save the Homeland instead of Mineral Town. I just had sudden urge to do a fanfiction on Save the Homeland. Just so I don't get sued though, I do NOT own Harvest Moon in any sort of way. If I did, it would be a anime by now. Man I wish that could happen. Just so you know ahead of time, The farmer's name is Alex and it's summer already. And when ever you see words like "This" it means a character is thinking. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and the reason I added this was also because I barely see Save the Homeland fanfics and I don't see many that pair Gwen and the Main character

Moving Forward without Regrets

Chapter 1: Alex meets Snowball

"AAAHHH! SAVE US!"

At this point Alex knew Nic, Nak, and Flak were in his room; AGAIN. But this time it was obviously not to give him another Power Berry; it seemed like something had scared them into running inside his house. It wasn't like Alex hated having them around. These Sprites were actually fun to be with; they always told silly stories to him as he would water the crops and whenever Alex was in trouble, they gave really good advice. Not to mention it was nice to have some company on the lonely farm Alex decided to work on. But when the Sprites had to come so early in the morning, he wondered what was so scary that they had to come and shout like maniacs? Then again, when you are even smaller than a full grown chicken, everything would be scary to you. "Now guys, I told you all before; Heero and Flip are very friendly dogs. If they're chasing after you it means they want to play; not eat you all alive," Alex said with a yawn, thinking this had to do with his two dogs trying to play with the Harvest Sprites again. He attempted to go back to sleep but the sprites were now jumping on his bad, trying to get him up again.

"That's not it, Alex! We need you to help us get rid of the wild monster," Nic shouted and landed right on Alex's face.

"It's been attacking us for days! We don't know what to do," Nak whined as he landed right on his stomach. Alex slightly flinched; for little guys, they were sure heavy.

"We can't go back to the springs! It's too dangerous now; please help us out," Flak said and accidentally landed on…..well, let's just say that Alex was DEFINATLY fully awake and in agony by that time…

"Oh Goddess, this hurts," Alex groaned quietly as he kept the ice pack on the place that Flak pretty much body slammed on. He looked up to the three sprites, who gave him very sheepish looks, and asked them coolly, "Okay; I'm awake now. But can one of you explain more SLOWLY what the problem is?"

All three took a deep breathe in and out. Flak was the first to calm down and spoke. "There's some kind of monster that's been chasing us around. We haven't been near the springs in days because of it. Can't you stop it please," Flak begged.

Alex thought about this for a while. "It probably just an animal that's curious about the three. This should only take a while if that's the case." He smiled to the three and nodded his head. "Okay, I'll help; let's go get whatever it is that's chasing you." He tried to get up, but the 'spot' still hurt; he quickly sat back down in pain. "You know, why don't we wait a few more minutes," He managed to say to the sprites as he held the ice pack closer. They all nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later at the Harvest Goddess Springs

"You see; you see? Isn't it terrifying," Nic asked Alex. He couldn't bring himself to answer; if he did, he would just end up laughing at the sprites. The 'scary' monster was definitely an animal; a white weasel to be exact. Problem was, there wasn't anything scary about it; it was actually pretty cute. He looked at it from afar and had to admit, it did look like quite the little wild thing, but not in a dangerous way. "Alex, what are you doing," Nak whispered in alarm as the Harvest Sprites watched him go up to the white weasel. Alex didn't answer and continued to take slow, careful approaches to the animal. He didn't want to startle the weasel into going away; he just wanted to take a closer look at the little guy. The weasel spotted him but didn't run away, though it went a little rigid in uncertainty. Alex saw this and stooped walking, standing a few feet away from the animal. He bent down and held his hand out toward the weasel. "It's okay, little guy; see, I'm as harmless as they come," He whispered soothingly, remaining motionless as the weasel came to him. It sniffed his fingertips for a few minutes and then began to lick them with its sandpaper tongue. "C-C'mon, s-stop; t-that t-tickles," Alex lightly laughed. The weasel looked up at him and nimbly climbed up his arm and wrapped its sleek body around his neck, this time licking his cheek. "Sorry; I'm against using animal fur for fashion," He joked good-naturedly. The weasel looked at him for a moment and all of a sudden ran back to the trees. It caught Alex off guard and he just went back to the Sprites in confusion. But the shout in the distance told him the reason.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing to Snowball?!"

"Oh crap." Alex watched nervously as Gwen made her way to him in a very ANGRY run. He didn't really know Gwen on a friendship level; they were merely just acquaintances that knew each others name. It wasn't that he didn't want to get to know her, but it was just a little difficult. The moment they met, the first thing she said was, "So you're the city guy trying to take over the farm, huh? Oh well; it's not like you're gonna be here for long. My name's Gwen by the way." Alex didn't mind this; he got that from a lot of people. Then there was the time he was chatting with Louis while they were feeding some birds and that other day he and Joe were talking as they fished with each other. Both times Gwen had came and told Alex in a disapproving way, "So you have time to play around, but not enough time to work? Some farmer you are." Now that was plain insulting to Alex; the only reason he was hanging around with both of his friends was because he was not only done with his work, but it was also Thursday. And the Brown Ranch was always closed on Thursdays. He had no animals of his own at the time and work actually went quickly, so he had to rely on gathering stuff around the spring to get food and money. Other than that, he always did part time work with Bob, who became fast friends with new guy and, thankfully, was always there to help him out. Both times he was going to tell Gwen this, but both times she went on her way before he could get a word out of his mouth. If he thought it couldn't get any worse between two of them, it did. One day Bob actually came to his barn with a black and white stallion, one of horses that Alex had been taking care. That was the day he got his first animal; apparently, Bob saw that he was ready to take care of a barn animal of his own. And what better animal than the horse that was not only Alex's favorite, but also the one that had a friendly bond with the new farmer? That was the greatest day of his life when Alex finally had another animal he could take care of besides the two stray dogs that decided to stay with him. But then Gwen came. She seemed a little angry when she saw him with the horse and told him, "You think just because you have your own horse, it means you're getting better as a farmer? Well here's a news flash for you; you don't have any other animals AND it's going to take you a long time before you can actually get that horse to let you ride it." It got even worse when she had seen Alex riding Shade, his horse. This not only happen a few days after she had said that, but Shade was also running at top speed, just for his owner. Ever since then, Gwen seemed to see him as an unwanted person in the small town and a rival when it came to animals. Alex could barely go near her grandfather's place without having to be careful and check if Gwen was around. Now it looked like he did something else to get her angry, and it involved someone called Snowball. Alex watched her finally come up to him and let loose a stream of remarks. "Why are you finding behind this bush?! Are you after Snowball!? You better have a good reason for being here!"

As Alex tried to find an excuse for the reason he was at the Harvest Goddess Springs in the first place, The Sprites talked among themselves. "Oh, so that's Big sister's animal," Nic said thoughtfully.

"No wonder it's violent," Flak exclaimed."

That made Alex lightly chuckle; that actually made some sense. Animals were a lot like their owners, after all. And Gwen did seem a little violent.

"What are you laughing about," Gwen snapped sourly.

"Nothing," He quickly responded. Unlike Alex, Gwen couldn't see or hear the Harvest Sprites. Alex guessed that it was because you were either born with this ability or not, but the Sprites said there was another way for people to see them. Though they never told him how.

Gwen looked at him for a moment and sighed for some reason. She, along with Alex, looked at the white weasel that was running back into the shelter of the forest. "Her name is Snowball; isn't she cute?" She didn't notice Alex look at her in surprise. This was the first time he had heard her speak so gently. "She's an endangered species, so I have to make sure no one goes after her. If anyone even knows that she's around here, poachers might come and try to hunt her." She turned back to Alex and glared as she placed her hands on her hips. "So don't you even think about going after her!"

"Don't worry, I wouldn't even think about doing that." Alex a charming, gentle smile. "I wouldn't want Snowball to mistrust you; you two seem like good friends. I'll even take that secret to my grave if I need to."

Gwen looked away from him and huffed. "Don't be a moron; mostly everyone knows about Snowball! Some just don't know she's an endangered species!"

Alex frowned slightly. "Oh," was all he managed to say.

She ran a little off into the distance and called back. "Remember; no ideas with Snowball!" At these words she went off.

"Of course! I know a way to stop people from building here!"

Alex, along with the Harvest Sprites, turned to see the Goddess herself. When he had first came to this place, Alex ended up learning from the Goddess that the town was going to be replaced with a resort if they didn't do anything. Alex was just as much against this as the Goddess; this farm, along with the town, had many of his precious childhood memories. Not to mention a lot of people would lose their homes if he let this happen. So Alex decided to help the Goddess find a way to protect this place. But now it seemed like she had a plan. "What? You got an idea now Goddess," Nak asked.

She smiled ever so motherly at the three sprites and the farmer who had already been here for a full month. "Why don't we make everyone aware of Snowball's presence in this town? Since she's an endangered species, they'll want to reserve this homeland to protect her."

Nic groaned. "You mean we have to catch her?"

Alex ran his fingers though his russet hair from under his cap; this was his way of thinking about something lightly. Then he turned and smiled at the Sprites. "I think we can just try to get a picture of Snowball; we don't have to capture her for real. That way she can be left alone AND we'll have proof she lives around her."

The Goddess clasped her hands together in excitement. "That would work out well for both Snowball and Gwen; she did say not to bother Snowball…But you will need more help; Snowball mainly only seems to trust Gwen. She may have gone up to you, but you should try and get Gwen to help. An animal is most likely to come out if the person they trust is there. Even if you're not sure Gwen will help you, you'll need her permission anyway; Snowball IS technically her animal, after all." She smiled pleasantly as Alex nodded in agreement. "Okay, now all of you get to work! You should see what Gwen thinks of the idea after you're done with your work. Toodles!" With the last goodbyes, the Goddess went back into her springs. "Well, we don't envy your situation, Alex. Good luck, though," The sprites told him all together as they left on their way as well. Alex went on his way back to the farm and, in spite of himself, chuckled very uneasily. The Sprites were right; Gwen completely hated his guts. How was he gonna get her to actually go along with this idea at all? Alex took out his handkerchief and wiped some sweat off his face as he sighed; something told him this was going to be a LONG, LONG, day…

That's the first chapter for you! Hope I didn't push it too much. But this story is also supposed be shorter than my other ones. A LOT sorter. That's the main reason I added it too. But I could use some writers' opinions on it. And what you all think about the story and Alex so far. Well, until next time!