A/N: This is my first attempt at a Harvest Moon Fanfic, so let's hope it goes well. Last night it was storming and I couldn't get to sleep because every time I was close to it some lighting would flash and wake me back up. Then I started thinking of the beginning of IoH and all of a sudden I had this story in my head. I hope you like my version.

~~~Kat

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or its characters. I do not work for Natsume.

Stranded

She had nothing. Her mother, a single woman, had died in childbirth. She was taken to an orphanage and grew up with no last name. She was simply known as Chelsea. Kids weren't often adopted from that orphanage and Chelsea was stuck there until she was too old. Then she was simply kicked out and given a handful of money to help her start out.

From the minute she stepped out onto the street she knew she had to get away from that place. She had lived there all her life and knew there was nothing for her in that town. Her only option was to leave. So she took the money she was given and bought a boat ticket. The boat was headed for a place called Mineral Town. Chelsea had never heard of it before, but it sounded like the perfect place to start fresh.

While waiting for her boat to board she did the only thing she could think of. She walked down to the docks, sat on a bench and watched the waves roll in. The ocean had been her companion all her life. She loved the sound of the waves and the soft breeze that always came to greet her. Put simply, the ocean was her only friend.

As she sat there Chelsea couldn't help but overhear a conversation between a ship captain and a silver haired cowboy.

"Sorry," said the ship captain, "I'm not setting off tonight."

"You mean I'm stuck in this hellhole another night?" the cowboy grumbled. Chelsea smirked, understanding what he meant.

"I'm not riskin' it in those storms, so ya." Replied the captain gruffly.

"Hmph." Was the cowboy's only answer before he turned to walk off. However, his gaze was caught by Chelsea, giggling behind her hand at the cowboy's loss of words. "What're you laughing at?" he accused.

"Oh… n-nothing." The girl replied as she met his gaze only to notice his violet colored eyes. She blinked in surprise and could have sworn she saw a smile dance across his lips before he stalked off. Then she saw her boat was boarding.

Chelsea was pleased to find out her ticket came with a private cabin for the night. She sat on the bed and looked out the porthole style window to watch the water go by. Then she saw a flash of lightning. "What was it that captain said about storms?" She thought to herself worriedly. Soon the boat began rocking violently from sudden, powerful gusts of wind and she heard rain hitting the deck above her.

Chelsea gathered up her courage and went up on deck to hear what was going on, what needed to be done and if she could help. When she reached the top of the stairs a clap of thunder sounded and Chelsea was being drowned in a torrential rain. She saw a large, dark wave rise above the boat, and then everything went black.

Chelsea woke up lying on a beach of clean, gold colored sand. It was day and the sun was bright and warm. She sat up, a bit too quickly, she realized when she became very dizzy, and looked out at the deep blue ocean before her. Where was she?

"Hello?" she heard someone say behind her. "Miss?" she turned to see an old man standing behind her. "Were you on the boat too?" she slowly nodded her head. The short old man looked at her. "I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Taro."

"I'm Chelsea." She answered, standing up to shake his hand.

"Well, Chelsea, how about you come and meet my family." He suggested and led her to what looked like an abandoned town. Three people were standing in a group. "Chelsea, I would like you to meet my daughter, Felicia." Taro announced pointing to a pink haired woman. "Hello." She said with a kind smile. "And these are my grandkids, Natalie and Elliot." He said gesturing to a girl and boy, both of whom also had pink hair. They were about the same age as Chelsea. They both kindly greeted her. "It seems we all have been shipwrecked on this abandoned island. Since we're stuck here we're going to have to learn to live here." Taro finished.

"We think we found an abandoned ranch over there." Elliot announced pointing to the upper side of the island.

"And it seems that we could repair this old house." Felicia said looking at the building they were standing in front of.

"Sounds good." Said Taro as Natalie gave an unhappy sigh. "Elliot, did you say a ranch?"

"Yep." The boy answered.

Taro looked at Chelsea. "Do you think you could take it on? Become a rancher?"

"…Maybe." Chelsea was beginning to feel that Taro was a bit senile. Her, run a ranch? How? "I have no experience."

"I have some. I could teach you. What do you say?"

"Alright, I'll do it." She replied as they all walked to the abandoned ranch. The house wasn't in too bad of shape. There was a wood shed, stable and acres of fields.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning to teach you a few things." Taro told Chelsea as they said their goodnights.

That night Chelsea lay in the old bed in the house wondering how all this had happened so fast. One day she was leaving an orphanage and the next she owned her own ranch. She fell asleep happy, if not a bit scared.

Chelsea was awoken the next morning by Taro banging on her door. "Chelsea!" he called, "Are you up yet?"

Chelsea wrenched open the door. "I am now."

"Sorry." Taro said, looking a bit sheepish. "You're going to have to get used to waking up early from now on." Chelsea sighed but followed him out into the fields.

After Taro had finished teaching her about how to plant and grow crops Chelsea was horribly tired. She trudged her way down to the beach she had woken up on and sat down where sand meets water. The waves washed up around her feet as if in apology. "It's alright." Chelsea said quietly, feeling a bit crazy for talking to water. "I think everything will work out." And so she spent her first sane evening on the island gazing out at the most beautiful spring sunset while the waves lovingly rolled in around her ankles.

A/N: That was chapter one! How did you like how I threw Vaughn in there already? I'm pretty proud of myself. Chapter two is rolling around in my head and will be coming soon… hopefully. I am leaving on Saturday and will be gone for three weeks, but I should have a lot of down time in the last two weeks. So, expect more soon. Thanks for reading!