Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley doesn't have much of a fan following. Being a Harvest Moon fan from way back when, I can understand why. It's just not Harvest Moon. It's Minecraft with farming. That being said, Tony, the blacksmith's son is totally adorable and deserves some love. This was written for the Bumblebee Equinox prompt. Enjoy!
Spring had finally returned to the lost valley. The birds were singing brightly and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Tulips in hues of orange, red, and yellow spread along the the farm field appearing as a raging inferno blazing in the sun.
Baby animals could be seen prancing around the pens near the local farmer's barn. The newly born lamb bleated happily as it bounded and played in the slowly warming valley. Chicks could be heard chirping as they emerged from their shells.
Love was also in the air as it often is in spring or at least it was for Tony, the blacksmith's son. In the short time he had known her, he had become completely smitten with the local farmer who was working to save this valley.
She was hardworking, dedicated, and never complained about her work. Kindness seemed to exude from her very being. She also always had a smile on her face. A very beautiful smile that caused her deep brown eyes to sparkle like the copper he would gather from the mines.
Everyday he was in the valley he would look for new places to find ore, cutting as close to her farm as possible just to get a glimpse of that smile. He would receive that smile quite often. Whenever he found her working her fields or tending to her animals he would wave and greet her shyly and would be rewarded with that smile again.
This day started out as it normally did. Tony and his family arrived in the valley. He told his dad that he was going to look for ore deposits. Brutus would criticize him and he would go in search of the ore deposits he had said he would. First, however, he wanted to find the object of his affection.
Katrina, or Kat, as she insisted he call her, didn't have a particularly large farm but it was big enough to be amazing that she managed to care for it all alone.
It was fairly late in the afternoon when Tony was finally able to venture out into the valley. Resting his hammer on his shoulder he made his usual U shaped trek to get close enough to her fields to see whether she was tending her flowers. He whistled happily as he walked around the edge of the fields.
Not finding her, he decided it wouldn't hurt to circle around and look in the barn and chicken coop. Releasing a sigh he continued toward the mine to look for the ores for his dad. He took a final glance to the entrance of the valley thinking that he might have missed her.
As he was walking toward the mine, his eyes were drawn to a cherry tree near the entrance. The blossoming branches swayed lazily in the spring breeze. Delicate pink petals drifted slowly to rest on the ground below.
Tony followed one of the petals with his onyx eyes, entranced by the gentle movement. The tumbled slowly to its final resting place, which quickly caught Tony's eye. There, beneath the cherry tree, the petal nestled itself in a patch of thick brown hair fanning out on the ground from a messy ponytail. His eyes traced the long tresses and found their way to the face of the woman he adored.
He walked closer to the tree, his eyes never leaving the face of the sleeping woman. When he got closer, he observed the rest of her, noting how beautiful she truly was. The afternoon sun shown on her giving her an ethereal glow and petals from the cherry blossoms as well as whole blossoms were strewn through her hair. She looked very much like a wood nymph asleep amongst the blossoms.
Leaning his hammer against the tree, Tony decided to take a seat next to this beautiful nymph. Not wanting to disturb her, he was content to merely watch her sleep. He wanted to tell her how he felt. More than anything, he wanted to tell her and have her return his feelings.
He scanned her sleeping face, his eyes stopping temporarily on her slightly parted lips. How he longed to feel those soft pink lips pressed warmly against his. He blushed slightly at these thoughts and rested his head against the tree.
His mind began to wander to thoughts of holding her hand as they walked the valley together. This thought shifted to having picnics near the goddess spring. His mind finally slowed at fantasies of kissing her beneath this very cherry tree.
He sighed softly and glanced back at the woman's sleeping form, her lips parted slightly in a soft contented sigh. Trying to keep his thoughts mostly innocent, he tried forcing his eyes to focus on her face but he soon found his eyes drifting to rhythmic rising and falling of her chest. He forced his gaze away, and sighed a breath of frustration almost positive that nothing would come of his feelings.
Resting his head back against the tree, his mind started to wander again but to thoughts of her being happy with someone else. He wanted to be the one to make her happy, to be the one to hold her hand and to kiss her lips but the fact of the matter is, he was a coward.
"TONY!" a high pitched childlike voice suddenly came seemingly from nowhere.
Tony jumped to his feet and looked around frantically for the source of the voice.
"Tony!" there was his little brother, Jimmy, "Dad's mad as hell at you! He said that you better bring back a hell of a lot ore or he will beat your ass.
"Dammit Jimmy!" Tony hissed at him. "Kat's asleep over here so shut up!"
"Dude, what are you doing watching her sleep like some kind of creeper?"
Tony glared at his brother, "Just shut up and go away. Tell dad I'll be back later."
"Your funeral," the younger of the two said as he walked away.
Tony let out a frustrated groan of irritation. He circled around the tree to retrieve his hammer but froze when his eyes caught a glimpse of that smile. The smile that he went out of his way to see every time he visited this valley. There Kat was, looking at him with those big sparkling copper eyes.
"Um...Hi!" Tony greeted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.
"Hi," she responded, sleep still evident in her voice.
He plopped down on the ground next to her, hoping against hope that she hadn't heard Jimmy.
"So is it true?" she asked.
He cursed slightly beneath his breath. "Is what true?" he chose to make an attempt to pretend that the conversation hadn't happened.
"That you were watching me sleep?" she said.
He cursed to himself again and sighed irritably. Looking away from her to try to hide his blush, he couldn't even voice any kind of response to her. The sound of rustling behind him caught his attention and he suddenly felt her arms wrap around his waist.
"You know, you could tell me how you feel?"
He tensed at her words, his breathing becoming shallow and raspy. "What do you mean?" he managed to croak back at her.
"I might feel the same way," she responded simply.
He glanced over his shoulder at her, finding her face mere inches from his. Her breath was warm against his flushed skin. She smiled at him sweetly and her eyes seemed to encourage him. He took a deep breath before turning toward her fully. She sat back on her heels, waiting patiently for him to say what was on his mind.
"I like you," he said quietly. His face started to feel hot and he avoided looking at her directly.
"I like you too Tony," she responded confidently.
"No, I mean I like you a lot." he clarified, his face burning more vividly.
"I know, I like you a lot too," she retorted sincerely.
"I mean, I like you like a guy likes his-"
His words were suddenly cut off as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"-girlfriend..." he finished his statement.
"I knew what you meant silly," she said, shoving his arm playfully.
His face felt like it was going to catch fire. Words completely failed him as he looked at the woman in front of him. There she was, sitting on her heels, waiting patiently for him to say or do something in response to her words. Her copper eyes bore into him almost like they were reading the flustered joy that was erupting inside him.
"Just kiss her already! Idiot..." Jimmy's voice came from nowhere again.
"Stop listening to our conversation!" Tony yelled at his younger brother, wherever he may be.
He grumbled to himself and turned back to Kat who was still waiting expectantly. Delicate pink petals still clung to her hair still giving her that nymph-like appearance. She really was beautiful, too beautiful to ever want to be with him but here she was, saying that she liked him in the same way that he liked her.
Smiling at her shyly, he leaned forward brushing her lips with his. She sighed softly and deepened the kiss slightly. Her arms wound around his neck and his around her waist. The kiss ended sooner than either of them would have liked. They held each other for a while longer, not wanting to let go.
"So, does this mean that you want to be my girlfriend?" Tony asked bashfully.
Kat giggled in response, "What do you think? Of course I do silly!"
Tony smiled brightly and kissed her again.
"Now you have to tell dad!" Jimmy's voice was heard again.
Tony grimaced at that comment taking a second or two to register that Jimmy was still listening to their conversation.
"What they hell are you still doing here?! Go away!" Tony yelled at his brother.
Kat giggled and kissed him on the cheek gently. She stood up and brushed off the back of her pants.
"Come on," she said, holding her hand out to him. "We'll tell your dad together."
With that, they walked hand in hand back to Moon Valley to tell Brutus the good news. If they could beat Jimmy to it.