Hope you enjoy!

Lillian was speeding down the mountain on her stallion, trying to finish all of her errands for the day. She was speeding down the mountain towards Bluebell, when she suddenly noticed someone walking down the mountain directly in her path! She pulled on the reins, screaming "Watch out!" The villager looked around and barely avoided being hit by her horse, albeit, he was hit by the cart, causing him to land on top of and smash his violin. Lillian, having hit the villager, veered to the right, causing her horse to whiney and rear up on its hind legs. Lillian was then thrown sideways off the horse, rolling down the mountain, and finally stopping when she landed in a bush. Her horse kept whinnying, then eventually grew quiet.

Dazed, Lillian opened her eyes, mentally assessing any damage. She didn't seem to be hurt, probably just a few scratches and bruises. Suddenly, an inhuman cry rang throughout the mountain, causing her horse to whiney again. She jumped up and ran towards her horse, trying to calm him down. Her eyes fell on the villager she hit, kneeling next to a pile of wood. He whipped around to face her, his green eyes blazing. She flinched.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" he screamed at her.

"A-Are you ok?" she asked meekly. He seemed uninjured. His short, white hair had a couple of leaves in it, and his glasses were crooked on his face.

Her question seemed to anger him further though.

"Am I ok?! AM I OK?! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" he stood up to his full height of over six feet. She flinched again, paling. He quickly walked over to her, grabbed her arm, and roughly pulled her over to the wood pile. She winced at his grip. He fiercely pointed his finger at the pile.

"That was my violin! An heirloom, over 90 years old! And you've ruined it!"

"I-I'm sorry, I c-can pay-"

"THAT WAS A PRICELESS HEIRLOOM, YOU IDIOT!" he shouted again, causing her to jump. He roughly shoved her aside in disgust, causing her to fall and roll a little on the mountain. He ran over to the wood pile and gathered it up in his arms.

"You stay away from me, you hear?! Don't ever come near me again!" and with that, he ran down the mountain towards Bluebell, presumably trying to fix his violin at Eileen's. Lillian could only stare after him, fighting tears. Her horse put his head on her shoulder and she stroked it lightly. After a while, she got back on her horse and slowly made her way down the hill. She'd missed some deadlines now for deliveries, so she shipped her superfluous items.

When she made her way into town, she parked her horse next to the fountain, got off, and made her way to Ash, who was outside taking care of livestock.

"Hey, Ash!" she called, trying to sound cheery. He looked over, waved and smiled, but then he looked startled.

"Lillian? What happened to you? You have a million scratches!"

"I just fell a little in the mountain, nothing to worry about," she explained as she hopped over the fence.

"I have the items you requested!" His face lightened.

"Really? Great!" he exclaimed as she pulled them out of her bag. He took them, went into the barn, and came out a few minutes later with a bell.

"Here you go! Now you can herd your livestock!"

"Thanks, Ash, you're the best!" She gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder.

"Ash? ASH! Come play with me!" Cheryl called out in her sing-song voice, skipping over the fence and grabbing her brother's hand. He looked embarrassed.

"Um, but Cheryl-"

"No, it's ok, Ash, I have other errands to do today anyway. See you guys!" she said, smiling and waving goodbye as she hopped over the fence again. She walked towards Howard's Café and saw him talking excitedly to Rose. She then spotted Cam behind his stand.

"Hey, Cam!" she called, running up to him. He smiled at her.

"Good morning, Lillian, how are you today?"

"I'm doing well, what are you selling today?"

Cam examined her. "You look a little pale and banged up. What happened?"

She sighed. Cam, quiet and observant, could always see right through her.

"I fell in the mountains today. I'm feeling a little sad now."

He studied her again. Then he smiled a little. From behind his back, he produced a daisy.

"For you," he said. Lillian's expression brightened and she gratefully took it.

"Thanks so much, Cam!"

He was silent again.

"Would you like to go on a date? They always make me feel better."

"Sure! Where do you want to go?"

"By the river. It's nice and peaceful there."

"Sounds good! But I need to bring my horse, so I don't have to go back again."

"All right, let me get some food from the café first." He went inside. Lillian took off her bandana from her work outfit and put the daisy in her hair. She then went over to her horse and took his reins.

"Boo."

Lillian jumped, turned around, and laughed. It was only Cam, holding a picnic basket, smiling at her.

"Cam!" she exclaimed, laughing. He laughed with her.

"Shall we go?" They started walking, Lillian leading her horse next to her. They went to the river at Bluebell Lower Mountain. Lillian parked her horse, Cam set up the blanket, and they had a nice afternoon eating, talking, laughing, and simply being friendly. When the sun started to set, they started to pack up. Lillian stretched.

"Thanks for a great day, Cam! I feel better now!"

"I'm glad," he said, laughing a little, "I had fun too. Maybe we can do this again sometime."

"Yeah, that'd be fun!"

He smiled. "Well, see you Lillian." They waved goodbye, leaving in opposite directions. She mounted her horse and slowly rode back towards Konohana, still smiling.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

A few days later, after she was done her chores and visiting a few Konohana villagers, Lillian walked up towards the mountain summit, and had her owl fly her down towards Bluebell. When she landed near the fountain, Ash jumped in surprise.

"Wow! I didn't know you could have your owl fly you places!"

"Yeah! It's great!" she said as her owl flew away, "It makes coming here so much easier."

"Well," he began, hopping over the fence, "I'd sure like that. I don't get out of Bluebell much." He sat down on the bench near the fountain and she sat next to him.

"I hope that sometime soon the tunnel can be repaired, so you can visit there more. It's fun, travelling to different villages!"

They quickly got caught up in their conversation, when, eventually, Cheryl skipped over.

"Brother! Come play with me!"

"Not right now, Cheryl. I'm talking to Lillian. Let's play later."

Cheryl looked like she was going to cry. "Is she so much better than me? Why do you spend so much time with her?"

"Cheryl, she's my friend! You have to understand-"

"I hate you!" she yelled at him, running off towards the mountain.

"Cheryl!" he called after her. He looked at Lillian.

"I have to go after her. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry! I'll come with her! Let's go find her!" and with that, they ran towards the mountain, eventually splitting up in different directions, calling out her name. After a while, Lillian eventually found her on top of one of the cliffs, near the bridge and the Konohana waterfall. She quickly made her way up to her.

"Cheryl! Please, get down! You could get hurt!" She was now on the same cliff as her, and the roar of the waterfall was deafening.

"I hate you!" Cheryl yelled at her, "Why are you stealing my brother away? He's mine! Not yours!"

"I'm sorry, Cheryl! We were just talking! Please, just step away from the waterfall!"

"Why does my brother never play with me anymore! He's always with you and other girls! I hate it!"

Lillian began slowly walking towards her, reaching out to her, "Cheryl, please-"

"I hate you! Don't touch me!" she yelled as Lillian put her hand on her arm. She wriggled out of her grasp and with a lot of struggle, causing them to switch places. Now Lillian was in more danger.

"Get off of me!" she yelled, pushing her, trying to break her grip. The force of her push did break her grip, but Lillian stumbled backwards, trying to regain her balance. But she was already close to the edge, so she stumbled off the cliff. She didn't scream. It felt like slow motion to her. Her mouth and eyes were open in surprise and her arms were still reaching out and she grabbed the air, Cheryl's cry of "Lillian!" echoing. She flipped around and tried to dive, plunging and smacking into the water. Most of her breath was knocked out of her, as she was tossed back and forth in the cold Fall water. Lucky for her, the river was deeper than it looked, so she didn't smack into many rocks, but now, she didn't know which way was up and which way was down. Her lungs were burning.

She tried to open her eyes, but that was hardly better. She groped her way towards the river's edge, slowly trying to raise her head, which felt weighed down by her disorientation. Black spots were appearing in front of her eyes, but she had to keep lifting her head.

Suddenly, she was roughly pulled up onto the river's edge by a hand on the back of her shirt. Her head broke the surface and he gasped in the air gratefully, but too quickly; she began to feel lightheaded.

She put her head down and began coughing. Someone's hand was smacking her back and she spit out water. Something was thrown on top of her. A blanket? She blinked and opened her eyes, realizing over the sound of the waterfall and the water coming out of her ears that people were talking. Why were they talking so loudly? She wanted to sleep now.

Someone was crying. A little girl. She blinked again, trying to focus. Cheryl was there, crying next to someone.

"-and make sure there isn't a next time! Have better control of her! She's your sister!" Why did that voice sound familiar. The blond girl was a sister to someone? Oh, right! Ash! She blinked again, river water stinging her eyes.

"She ran off!...mbled and then she just fell!" The water was finally draining a little. She tried to push herself off the ground, but she felt like her head was full of water. She didn't feel concussed though. It must have been from smacking the water. She groaned slightly, closing her eyes. The conversation stopped abruptly.

"Lillian!" Cheryl cried.

"Don't go near her!" that other voice yelled, "She's very disoriented!"

"I'm fine," she croaked out. She felt like she'd swallowed sandpaper. She groaned again as tried to push herself onto her knees, breathing deeply. Someone put kneeled down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Lillian, you're hurt, you shouldn't move," the voice said, softly. It was a man's voice, definitely. But where had she heard it before? She opened her eyes and turned her head. The man's face was close to hers, green eyes laced with concern. She gasped.

"Oh, Goddess! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed hoarsely, trying to move away, but his hand held her there. What was she sitting on? She gasped again. His coat!

"Lillian!" another voice yelled. She looked away from the man and towards the other voice. It was Ash, looking pale and terrified as his sister clung to him, still crying.

"Take her back to your house," the man said, not taking his eyes off of Lillian, "she's probably traumatized."

For no reason that Lillian could see, Ash took offense to this, standing up straighter.

"Who do you think-!"

The man whipped around, now standing and at his full height. Ash flinched a little. She imagined he was giving Ash the same look he'd given her when she broke his violin.

"Your friend just fell off a cliff! If it had been your sister, she could have been killed! Don't argue with me! Go back to your village!"

"But Lillian-!"

"She'll be alright! I'll take care of her! Besides, there's a doctor in Konohana anyway! Now, go!"

Ash glared at him, then ran and kneeled down next to Lillian.

"Lillian, I'm so sorry!"

"Yeah, me too! I don't hate you!" Cheryl cried.

Lillian smiled, "Thanks, guys, I'll be fine. Why don't you have a nice glass of warm milk, Cheryl?"

Cheryl smiled a little. Ash gave Lillian a bone-crushing hug.

"I'm sorry," his voice was softer now, "I'm so sorry."

"Hey, it's ok," she said, softly.

He let go of her, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking at her directly.

"Feel better."

"Of course," she replied, smiling.

With some reluctance, Ash stood up, took Cheryl's hand, mumbled a "thank you" to the man, and, with one last apologetic glance at her, began the hike back to Bluebell. She and the man watched them go, then he turned back to her and knelt next to her again.

"Can you stand?"

"Pshaw! Of course!" she said, as she struggled to her feet. He gripped her with both hands, trying to help her up and keep the coat on her.

"We need to get you to the doctor."

"Wait!" she yelled, voice cracking. She forgot she was hoarse. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes?"

"I don't know your name."

His expression softened slightly, "It's Mikhail."

"You saved me."

"No, I just helped you out. You would've gotten out eventually. Your friend was too shaken up to do anything useful!"

"You hate me, though. I smashed your violin."

He looked guilty. He gestured behind him and Lillian saw a violin case.

"When I ran off and left you on the mountain, I found the carpenter. She's a miracle worker, that woman! Managed to fix it like new! But, I was angrily explaining to her what had happened and she was speaking in your defense, kept talking to me until I'd calmed down, and then it was fixed. She said it really was an accident, and she was right. I'm sorry."

She blinked in surprise. "No problem. "

"C'mon, we can talk as we walk." He gingerly gripped her arm, leading her to his violin case, picked it up, and they began walking towards the village. A breeze blew and she drew the coat tighter around herself, shivering.

"Oh, man, this is a nice coat, and I'm getting it dirty!" She began to take it off, but he stopped her.

"Don't worry, I can wash it. That's not what's important here."

"Aren't you cold?"

He smiled and waved her off, "I'm not the one who fell in the river."

Then he frowned, "You should've been more careful."

"Like I should've been more careful when we first met?"

He sighed.

"I wasn't going to leave her up there," she continued, "She's a little girl!"

"And what about you?" he argued, "If that river had been shallower, you could've been seriously injured!"

"Could've. But I didn't."

"What's wrong with you?!" he yelled, stepping in front of her. She bumped into him and looked up. He was at least a head taller than her. She glared at him.

"You are so critical. Not everyone thinks the same way you do. You're just feeling guilty over that incident on the mountain! Like, if I would've died, you would've had to live with guilt!"

"Oh, for the love of-!" he exclaimed, raising his hands in frustration and dropping his violin case. Lillian stared at it, but he bent down at eye level and she had to look at him.

"Lillian, there are some things in this world more important than material objects! You, for example! Everyone in these villages knows you're a great part of the community! Look how popular you are! Selfless, brave! And yet so stupid! Do you not realize how you've changed lives?!"

"And how would you know?" she asked him, surprised. He sure is one for giving speeches.

He sighed, trying to calm himself down. "Never mind." He then picked her up in his right arm, disregarding her protests, and gripped his violin case in his left hand. He began walking again.

"Hey! Wait! I can walk!"

"Sometimes, it's ok to be taken care of," he said, softly. She looked up at him. He had a determined look on his face. But, she didn't know what to say, so she just let him take care of her, secretly grateful for it.