So, these are a bunch of old one-shots that I wrote back when I started playing Island of Happiness, based on my development in the game. I had all these other stories planned based on cut-scenes and events, and little things that I just thought would make cute scenes to add in as kind of filler between events and such. Naturally, I didn't get very far with them, but I thought the ones I had were still cute and have decided to post them up.

These are mostly centered around Vaughn, though, as he was the bachelor that I chose to marry in my game. But since I'm playing as Chelsea and could've pretty much done whatever I wanted from her point of view, I decided to try focusing on Vaughn instead. It was fun trying to get in his head and see what he'd think, but I might have characterized him a little differently than what most people might think of him. Still, I hope people like reading these anyway.

This is based on the event in Year 1, when Vaughn first arrives on Sunny Island and introduces himself. Enjoy!

Tipping his cowboy hat back, Vaughn sighed as he gained a better view of the run-down ranch. He wasn't much of a farmer, but he figured the field littered with weeds, boulders, and tree stumps would make growing crops a little difficult. And the shabby buildings around this region meant no place to raise animals.

Even so, the plants growing in a small area close to the house seemed to be developing well enough. Plus, given that the inhabitants have only been on the island for a few weeks, this ranch couldn't be any worse off than the rest of the place.

In fact, the newly-established island was the whole reason he was here in the first place. He recently received a letter from Mirabelle, who had been the one to introduce him to the animal business in the first place, telling him how she and her daughter, Julia, had finally found a place to settle down and open a new animal shop. She then asked for his assistance with her store; since he was an animal trader, he could bring animals and any necessary supplies to the island so they could do business.

As a trader, however, he constantly had to travel to different cities and towns in order to do his job, and he couldn't settle on the island as Mirabelle wished he would. The only available days he had were Wednesdays and Thursdays, so he would designate those the days he came to the island.

Today, though, his prior business had been canceled, which gave him the opportunity to come to the island ahead of schedule and survey the place. There wasn't really much to the island, though, and it was far less impressive than the way Mirabelle made it out in her letter, but he wrote it off as excitement for starting up the new store.

When he visited Mirabelle and Julia in their new store, he greeted them politely as he always did, and they replied in kind. Then, as he ate breakfast with them, they began discussing how they would conduct business, with them remaining on the island and him conducting trades and such elsewhere. It was during this time that Julia brought up the farmer to the north of the island.

xxx

"Who?" Vaughn asked.

"Chelsea," Julia replied, taking the empty dishes and placing them in the sink. "She's the one who owns the ranch up north. She's the reason we heard about Sunny Island in the first place."

A questioning brow rose as Vaughn watched the younger store owner. "What's so special about her?"

"Well, she's working on the farm that started the trades to this island. She started making money by some of the things she shipped from the island, and we heard from one of the business dealers that people were starting to set up a town here. So Mom thought it would be a good idea to come here before anyone else could set up an Animal Store. I'm sure more people will come here when Chelsea really gets things rolling."

Vaughn shook his head. "Seems like a lot of commotion over one person…"

Julia frowned, but it suddenly became a smirk. "Well, why don't you see for yourself and meet her?"

xxx

That was how he found himself standing in front of the small house where the girl farmer lived. It wasn't so much that he agreed with Julia to meet this girl; in fact, he would have preferred not to be here right now. He wasn't really much of a people person. However, Mirabelle approved of the idea, and mentioned how this girl could be a potential customer and it could help to meet her.

So, gathering his resolve, Vaughn gently tapped the door. "Can I come in?" he said. If the girl was awake, she would hear him; if she was still asleep, then he wouldn't wake her.

"C'mon in, door's open!" a voice from the other side called. Well…she wasn't asleep.

Hesitating for just a second, Vaughn slowly opened the door and stepped inside. As he did so, he blinked.

The girl was much younger than he expected her to be: He had anticipated that a female farmer on her own would be middle-aged – an elder woman who gained experience farming from her husband. But as he looked at her, he felt she couldn't be any older than Julia.

She sat on her bed dressed simply in a light yellow long-sleeved shirt and jean shorts, struggling to put on a pair of calf-high red boots and completely unaware of his presence. It wasn't until she grabbed an orange vest lying on the covers next to her and stood did she notice him. "Oh!" she exclaimed softly, her sapphire eyes wide. "Um…good morning."

Vaughn frowned slightly, puzzled as he carefully looked over this girl. She wasn't what he expected of a farmer living on her own. There didn't seem to be anything noteworthy about her, and seemed much too inexperienced to own as much land as she did, let alone to be responsible for the progress of the entire island. He didn't understand how Julia could put so much trust in such an ordinary girl like this. But, remembering what Mirabelle said about doing possible business with her, he simply tipped his hat politely in response.

The girl laughed softly, slipping on her vest. "Sorry," she said, recovering from her initial surprise, "I thought you were Taro." Looking over him quickly, she smiled and held out her hand. "Welcome to Rakuen Ranch. My name's Chelsea."

He slowly reached out and grasped her hand in a light handshake. "The name's Vaughn," he said. "I bring animals from town to the island."

She grinned, pulling out a red bandanna from her pocket and tying it over her chestnut hair. "Cool! So are you settling down here too?"

Vaughn cringed at the thought, but luckily his hat concealed his reaction. Shaking his head, he added, "I'm only here a few days a week."

"Oh…" Her smile slowly faded, disappointment clouding her expression. But she tried to shrug it off. "Well, I guess that's okay, too."

To him, it wasn't really a good or a bad thing…it was just work. But deciding not to express his opinion, he said instead, "Anyhow, I just came to say hello."

Chelsea giggled softly and nodded. "Okay. I'll see you around!"

"See you around…" he repeated as he turned away from her. The last thing he saw before he closed the door was the girl cheerfully waving him goodbye.

Vaughn paused at the door, inhaling deeply as the whole encounter replayed in his mind. He shook his head slightly, not sure why it persisted. But that girl…there was something about her…

Shrugging it off, he started to head back into town. He stopped for a moment, however, to look back over the ranch. It was still a messy place, run-down and in poor condition.

But as a gentle breeze blew by, the growing plants seemed to wave at him, and he smirked a little. It wasn't much now, but he had a feeling she'd work hard on it.

Didn't really matter to him, though. That was her business after all, not his.