It was an ordinary Spring day for Lillian. She was moving away from her family farm and starting a new life as a farmer. Although she had no idea how to own a farm, it was her father's wish before he passed away. In his youth, he was born and raised on a farm, and owned his own farm at the age of 25. He then married and shortly after, had Lillian. She could remember the early mornings and the late nights dedicated to helping her mom and dad on the farm, but she enjoyed every moment of it. The only thing she was worried about now, was finding a way to pay for everything. It seemed so simple when she was younger!
She traveled through the mountain on her horse, Kitsu, all of her belongings trailing behind them in an old cart. "It seems peaceful, I'm going to love this! I just need to be positive about things!" Before she could react, Kitsu swerved away from a fox that ran across the path. Lillian fell off of Kitsu, and soon heard her cart crash. She passed out.
Moments later, she awoke to someone shaking her softly. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then noticed that an older gentleman and a younger woman was standing right in front of her. Was she dreaming? Did they see everything that happened to her?
"Miss, are you alright? I heard you crash and came rushing to your aid!" The older gentleman bent down and helped Lillian up.
"You're insane, Rutger! I was the one that found her first!" The lady grabbed her other arm and pitched in the effort to help Lillian up.
"You're fibbing, Ina!" The gentleman slammed down his cane and tilted his bowler hat back on top of his head.
"I'm okay! Please don't fight!" Lillian stood up and brushed off her clothes. She looked towards her rescuers and noticed that the gentleman was dressed properly with a dark green jacket that was pressed to perfection. She noticed a green bowler hat on top of his head, and a black cane with a unique design for the handle. As for the lady, she was dressed in the most unusual outfit Lillian had ever seen! She wore a red rag tied to hide her hair, and a matching red dress with blue, white and yellow printed design. She wore a long necklace with a gold charm dangling from the end. 'Who.. are these people..' Lillian thought as she rubbed her head. She soon looked towards both individuals again, and noticed they were both smiling.
"You must be Lillian! I'm Ina, I'm the mayor of Konohana! Oh we have been waiting for you to choose our town and start your farm there! We have big growing space and a barn for all of your animals to live in!"
"Get real, Ina. Lillian, I am Rutger. I am the mayor of Bluebell, the most wonderful town with a huge barn to house many animals and a small growing space! Sure enough to suit your everyday needs!"
"No, Rutger! She wants to move to Konohana!"
"Shut your trap, Ina! She wants to move to Bluebell!"
Lillian sighed and looked at both of the mayors. "Can't I choose where I want to live?"
"Oh! But of course dear, where would YOU like to move?" Ina laced her fingers together and shot Lillian the brightest smile. Rutger stared at Ina with the dirtiest look anyone could produce.
"Well, I grew up on a farm, and we grew mostly crops. Although we did have animals.. I choose Konohana!"
"Great choice Lillian! Welcome to Konohana!" Ina hugged Lillian tight, almost tight enough to squeeze the life out of her. Rutger hung his head and sighed. "But.. Bluebell is so beautiful. Well, Lillian. If you ever get tired of Konohana, you're free to move to Bluebell, just come see me! Well, I bid you two farewell, I have a town to run." Without any hesitation, he made his way down the left side of the mountain towards Bluebell.
Lillian looked to Ina and shook her head. "He seems nice."
"Yeah. I guess so." Ina muttered to herself. "So, Lillian, how old are you."
"I'm 23. I turn 24 on the 31st of December."
"Fantastic! So you are looking to own your own farm, obviously. You are going to love Konohana! There are so many good people, and cute boys that are around your age." She nudged Lillian and noticed a blush form across the young girl's face. Lillian shook the blush off of her face and looked around. She noticed her horse Kitsu was unharmed, and grazing on the luscious mountain grass. However, her cart was damaged. "Aw, man.. That cart's been in our family for years! It's going to cost me a fortune to get it repaired." Lillian rubbed the side of her cart, wishing that she hadn't crashed. She grabbed onto the reins of Kitsu's harness, and looked over to Ina
"Well, there's a cart at your farm, a little gift from me. So you can use it just as you would your old cart!" Ina took her hand and started to lead her down the mountain path. Lillian glanced back at the wreck site, and then looked forward. 'It's going to get better, Lillian. Just keep your head up.' She thought to herself. She looked around at the scenery, and felt at ease, despite her wreck. "It's beautiful!" She spoke aloud.
"It's even more beautiful in Konohana! We're almost there. Over to the right is a small creek that you can hand fish! Ooh and you can find a lot of surprises all over the mountain from the Harvest Goddess herself!" Ina kept rambling on and on, while Lillian scanned the Mountain's beauty. After a few moments, Ina came to an abrupt stop. Lillian stopped quickly, Kitsu almost ran into her.
"This is the entrance to our town! Are you ready to see your new home?" She started walking again, leading her down a dirt path across a couple of houses, and a tunnel entrance.
"Hey, Ina… What's that over there?" she pointed to the entrance to the mountain tunnel.
"Oh, that's the tunnel that connects Bluebell to Konohana! It's blocked off, however. No one's made an effort to open it back up!"
"Ah, well, why not? I mean, why are you two rivals?"
"It's complicated. Too long of a story to tell you today. You'll find out soon enough! Ah, left of here is your farm!" Ina quickly changed the subject, as she made an abrupt turn left. She led her past some trees, and soon onto Lillian's new farm. "Here's your field! You can accept requests on the town's message board, and on Bluebell's message board, and after awhile you will be able to make your fields bigger! Oh, and here is your barn! I know it's kind of small, but hey, it will do for awhile!" She unlocked Lilllian's door, and led them inside. "You must be tired. Why don't you rest a bit and then come see me in town hall sometime?"
Lillian was silent, she was too busy looking around her new house. "Wow.." She whispered quietly. "Oh, I'm sorry Ina, I wasn't ignoring you! This place is great! Thank you so much for having me live here!"
"It's no problem, kiddo. Have fun getting adjusted! I'll be at the town hall!" She waved goodbye, and soon made her way out the door. The house was quiet, obviously. Lillian sat down on her bed, and looked around for a few moments. "I'll make you proud dad, I promise." She stood up and walked outside to take a closer look at everything. She walked to the barn and took a peek inside. It was quite dark, she would have to install lights as soon as she got some livestock.
"A little dusty.. but it's to be expected." She stepped back outside, and walked down the dirt path towards the town of Konohana. "Now, it's time for me to introduce myself to some of the townsfolk." She made her way to a small house, with a fence wrapping around it's small field and barn. She walked inside to notice a room full of dogs and cats playing with each other. She walked up to the counter and rang a small bell that was on the cash register. She heard some rustling in the other room, and thought twice about stepping out of the house, and going elsewhere. Then she heard someone call out to her.
"Wait right there, I'll be out there in a second!"
Lillian stood still, she felt the butterflies crowd her stomach. She was a very shy person, but wanted to make an effort to meet new friends. Soon, she saw a tall man with brown hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. He had a tribal tattoo across his left arm. He wore a sleeveless hoody that was a rusty red color, and green pants that didn't seem to match.
"Can I help you?" he said as he walked closer to Lillian.
"Oh, I'm new to Konohana. I thought I would stop by and introduce myself.." She blushed deeply and threw her hand towards him. "I'm Lillian.." The man took her hand and shook it.
"Oh, I heard you might be moving here! I'm Kana, It's nice to meet you, miss Lillian! So, what brings you here to Konohana?"
"Well, I was looking to start my own farm and someone suggested this place to me-"
"Oh, you'll love it here! It's so beautiful, and all of the townsfolk are super nice! Say, do you like horses?"
"Yeah, I do! I have a horse named Kitsu!"
"Nice. I sell horses and pets here at my shop! So If you ever need anything for your farm, let me know."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." She looked around and then back at Kana. "I'm sorry I don't mean to be so dull, I'm just kinda.. Well, shy."
"It's okay, I know how it feels to be new somewhere. Why don't I go with you into town and help you meet the people of Konohana?"
"I'd love that, thank you!"
Kana soon led her outside and down the same dirt path she traveled on earlier, except in a different direction. They soon came to the main entrance of the town, it was surrounded by beautiful buildings that were designed differently than the buildings at Lillian's old home.
"This is the town's doctor. Her name is Ayame. Oh, and she has an apprentice that happens to be a good friend of mine! His name is Hiro!" Kana opened the door to Ayame's clinic, and gestured Lillian inside. "Dr. Ayame? Hiro? I have someone I'd like you to meet!"
After a few moments, a tall, slender woman walked down the stairs and over to Kana and Lillian. Her smile was as bright as the sun, her hair was as dark as midnight. She seemed very kindhearted, and very intelligent, by the way she looked. Behind her trailed a boy a little shorter than Kana, with brown hair and a clean white scrub top.
"Hello, Kana! Who's this beautiful young lady?" Dr Ayame held out her hand to Lillian. Lillian grabbed it and shook it gently.
"I'm Lillian! I just moved here, and Kana was kind enough to show me around town!"
"Well, we are very happy to have you, Lillian! Say, how old are you, anyways? It's important for a doctor to know her patient's age!"
Lillian blushed and looked down "I'm 23..soon to be 24 in December."
"Hey, that's me and Hiro's age!" Kana called out, slightly patting her on the back. Lillian's blush grew deeper.
"Oh you're very young and radiant! This here is Hiro, my apprentice!" Hiro extended his hand and shook Lillian's hand.
"It's very nice to meet you! I hope we never have to see you in our clinic! But, I didn't mean that in a bad way."
"Oh, I know what you mean." Lillian let out a small laugh, noticing that Hiro was blushing softly. She looked back to Dr. Ayame to take the tenseness off of Hiro's shoulders.
"Well, I bet you two are very busy so we will let you get on your way. You two take it easy, and Lillian, it was very nice to meet you!"
"It was nice to meet you both, as well!" Lillian waved back to Ayame and Hiro as her and Kana were walking out the door. They walked towards the town hall and Kana stopped right in front.
"This is the town hall. So, anything you need will be here. It also has a library inside, too!"
"Hey, Kana.. Can I ask you something?" Ume said quietly, trying not to sound rude.
"What is it?"
"Well, Hiro, he seemed shy just like me. Is everyone like that?"
"Nope. He just thought you were cute. Just like me and a lot of the other townsfolk, we're single. So pretty girls catch our eye. So, are you looking for a special someone?" He nudged Lillian softly, noticing that she was blushing deeper.
"N-no. Not right now. I'm too focused on making sure my farm makes it."
"Ah, well I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. Well if you ever need help, I'm your guy! Consider me your friend as of right now!"
"Thanks Kana, I appreciate it." Lillian's mind began to wander. She had high hopes for her farm, but didn't want to be rude and turn down people's offers. She was very anxious, and worried at the same time about her farm. Kana seemed to notice, and he put his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry I didn't try to make you uncomfortable."
"Oh, no you didn't. I'm just.. tired, that's all. I think I should go home and rest."
"Oh, okay Lillian. I'll see you around!" He waved to her and watched her walk back to her farm.
'Well, at least I made the effort to meet new people. I need to be more open. But, I need to keep busy and take good care of my farm. I can't let dad down.' Lillian walked into her home and laid down in her bed. "It's been too much today, I need to sleep."