Author's Note:

Ahah, hey again! It's tolkienlover again, and well, I've got a very cheesy, very gooey, very pointless drabble here. Harvest Moon has always been one of my favorite games ever, so I couldn't help but write a few bits about the Wizard from Harvest Moon: Animal Parade. He's just adorable, to be honest, and pairing him with the main character is just too cute not to write about. Hikari is the default name (in the Japanese version; I didn't like Molly, which is the English version, ahah.) for the female avatar, so I have decided to characterize her...sort of. I guess you'll just have to find out...

Sorry for the extreme cheesiness of it all. I though it was cute, ahah.

Disclaimer: Everything written below includes places, characters, and plots from Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, and I have no right to call it my own. Only the short story and dialogue is mine. All rights go to Natsume.

Winter was upon the small population of Harmonica Town, which brought many cold fronts and freezing rains that dispirited a few of the townsfolk. But besides those few, there were many who were inside by a fireplace, enjoying the warmth of their hearths and each other's company, and the few who were relaxing in a state of complete and utter silence that wouldn't be disturbed thanks to the cold winds of Jack Frost.

So, he did not expect to see her at all that week—if at all during the season—and was greatly upset by the sense in his words. The man was ambivalent on the entire subject; he couldn't decide if he wanted her to visit and risk pneumonia or stay at home and ignore him for the next 28 days within the season. Wizard sighed irritably, scratching angrily at the back of his head, and then leant forward on his fortune table. Sat in the center was a smooth, polished crystal ball that radiated in the dim light of his desk lamp and continued to call him in a tempting voice. Maybe he could take a short peek at Hikari. This idea only brought on more ambivalence, as the man had sworn never to spy on the woman he called a friend, nor search for anything in her future under her own request. She did not wish to know her future, an odd trait among humans. The man finally sighed once more and took a hurried sip from his coffee mug before placing his hands around the large sphere and closing his eyes.

Wisps of images filled his head, floating past his consciousness with the strange feeling his crystal ball always brought. Yet, in a normal peek, the silver-haired man could see the person and their future, could grasp onto the image and reel it in. Hikari's images floated wildly around him, drifting just out of his reach, just out of reach…

He jumped, his hands flying off the ball and his heart racing as there was a soft knock on his door. Instantly, Wizard's hand was on the brass doorknob. The door flew open and standing there in a full-blown blizzard, was Hikari.

Her soft lips were nearly blue, and the teeth behind them chattered uncontrollably as she tried to smile at him. Thin strands of her cropped hair curved around her delicate face, escaping from the knitted hat that ended with a fuzzy pom-pom. The farmer was bundled in a large jacket and a scarf that was wrapped up to the tip of her throat.

"G-g-good morning, Wizard-d." Her teeth kept anything from coming out clearly and she batted her eyelashes, attempting to keep them from clumping together. The man quickly ushered her in, locking the door behind her to keep the wind out of his cozy home. She shuddered as the warmth touched the skin of her face, and wiggled her nose to resume the blood flow to it.

He stared at her in shock as she removed the scarf wrapped around her neck and placed it on his desk, smiling while her teeth continued to chatter and her lips remained blue. She turned to face him, and they stared at each other for a moment before Wizard came to his senses. "Hikari?" His voice was close to being hysterical, something that was odd for a magical creature.

She laughed softly at his tone and moved closer, her eyes looking up into his, "Y-yes, Wizard?"

His eyes grew wide while she shivered, her fingers shoved in her coat pocket, and his face grew abruptly angry. "What are you doing in this weather, Hikari? It's…dangerous. Beyond dangerous. The Harvest King is angry…and this storm won't let up until he's satisfied. You could have been killed." As he was speaking, the man moved to place his hands on her skin, using them to check for serious loss of blood-flow or frostbite. His fingers skimmed along the smooth part of her cheeks, then her nose, and ended on the sides of her face, holding it gently in his hands. His words were quiet when he spoke again; "Hikari, what were you thinking?"

The farmer's face was no longer frozen; her lips were regaining color and her teeth were slowly ending their endless chatter. "I-I hadn't seen you in nearly six days," Her words were soft, yet laced with humor, and he narrowed his eyes at her tricky play on them. His face quickly returned to normal though as the woman looked down at his hands, blush creeping up her cheeks. "I m-missed you, Wizard."

A sigh poured from his lips, blowing lightly across the woman's forehead as he moved to press a gentle kiss on her skin there. "I missed you too. But this was risky, and you know it."

"I know."

There was a sweet moment of silence, his nose pressed in her hair, as she tried to calculate how angry he was. His muscles were slightly tense, but not enough to be furious with her. She sighed in relief. Then, his voice came abruptly, and his request surprised Hikari. "Give me your hands."

The brown-haired girl looked up, confusion filling her eyes, and silently complied, pulling her still cold hands from her toasty pockets. Pulling his fingers from her face, he took her hands in his, wrapping his large ones over her rough, calloused ones and rubbed them together. The friction caused her hands to warm over a short period of time, and she smiled when a light pink appeared on his cheeks.

He had an idea—one that made a growing warmth spread in his stomach—that caused his face to turn a darker shade of red. Hikari looked at him with more confusion, and he sheepishly grinned at her, and while keeping her hands in his, moved to place his lips on her cheek.

The warmth of his skin made hers grow instantly warm—hot even—and she stayed still as stone as he continued his motions. Wizard's lips continued to press soft kisses up her cheek, brushing along her freezing skin as he moved away slightly each time, and came to rest upon her nose. She could feel his soothing breath blow across her face, and she laughed when he pulled away, only to be bright as a tomato in the summer.

Her face was hot now, and she could almost smile if it wasn't for the frozen lips that kept it behind. Wizard, silent as he was before, moved slowly towards her once more, his nose rubbing past hers, and hesitated. The silky strands of his hair that fell down in front of one eye tickled the side of her face but she couldn't move, not while he was so close. He wouldn't look her in the eye, not yet, and his breathing was very calm and still. Until he pressed his lips to hers.

She had never kissed Wizard before—it was never something she brought up—but the feeling of him so close to her drove her mad. It was but a short show of affection, and the sorcerer pulled away before Hikari was ready. She sighed, brushing a piece of her hair back and moved away, pulling her hands from his. "Thank you."

He simply nodded.

To him, it wasn't a show of affection; merely a way to warm her up. Slowly the woman removed the heavy coat that engulfed her body, and hung it on the back of Wizard's chair tidily. Next to go was her hat—it joined her scarf on the desk—and the red rain boots on her feet were soon to follow. Once she turned to face Wizard once more, his face was impossibly darker and his eyes were wide as dinner plates.

When she asked him what was wrong, he didn't answer.

He merely let her warm, knowing smile bring him the warmth he had wanted to feel the last empty week without her.

End note:

Aw aw aw, Wizard and Hikari are just too cute, if I do say so myself. Okay, well, sorry for that fluffiness. This is one of my all time favorite pairings from this series (besides Jill and Skye & Chelsea and Vaughn bc otp otp otp), so there might be quite a few of these little drabbles. Hope you enjoyed!

-tolkienlover