Hi! In case you don't know who we are let this be your very first introduction to us as a team.

We have individual profiles on this site; Ekoaleko, The Scarlet Sky and Kuruk! We decided to team-up to combine our greatest strengths and make great fics with them!!!

This particular fic is our first, so bear with us as we try and find an equilibrium between our writing styles although we are already working really well together!

Disclaimer: We do not own Harvest Moon... unless one of us is holding out on the others... which I doubt :).


Prologue

"Let's try this again… shall we, Sheryl?"

Sheryl crossed her legs and fidgeted uncomfortably in the spacious, supposedly comforting office, refusing the older woman's offer to lay down in one of those inclined couches you expected to see in the shrink's office.

That was a laugh… the shrink's office made her feel more like a freak than she ever had before in her life. It was cold, and Sheryl shivered and hugged herself tightly; something she never allowed herself to do, ever. Those kinds of things were signs of weakness-- something that twenty-seven year old defense attorney Sheryl Austen never allowed herself to expose.

To do that showed your opponent that you were weak, and that meant that they had the upper hand. Never ever show your weakness or any emotion when staring down your opponent, because if you did, they'll know exactly where to press the witness, when to object, when to tear your whole case apart.

Indeed, Sheryl was the stereotypical personification of a young, feminist lawyer. She lived for work: ate, drank, slept and breathed it. And because of it Sheryl had been rewarded with a perfect record: a spotless 100 acquittal rate.

She showed no emotion except when she was in front of the cameras, showing her outrage at the 'unjust persecution' the State was resorting to or how happy she and her client were when she eventually won the case.

Other than the occasional dry laugh at a witness's joke or the boredom she felt while the D.A. presented its case, those were all the emotions Sheryl felt.

That was all she needed to feel.

And yet, here she was. Hotshot young defense attorney prodigy, top of her class at Harvard Law, Miss 100 Acquittal Queen…

Not in a courtroom, but in a shrink's office. And why was that? Why was the dragon lady not gobbling up the poor, hapless prosecutors twice her age?

It was quite simple: Miss 100 Acquittal Queen Sheryl Austen... had been raped.

And that, she couldn't deal with.

"Miss Austen," Sheryl corrected, feeling suddenly very defensive.

The shrink pushed up at her glasses, looking quite flustered like the D.A. did when she shot a hole in his case. "Miss Austen… why don't you tell me why you're here?"

Sheryl inspected her nails casually, trying to hide the agony of being violated in such a way within her. That is, deep within where not even she could hear its screams for release... for vengeance... for justice.

"I don't even know why I'm here…" Sheryl told her finally, avoiding eye contact.

The shrink sighed impatiently and wrote something down on her legal pad. "Try very hard. Miss Austen."

Sheryl sighed in resignation. "I can't get back into the courtroom…" she admitted reluctantly, embarrassed by her predicament.

The shrink actually smirked in victory and, rightly so, this was the first time she'd gotten Sheryl to speak about her problems in two weeks. "And why is that, Sheryl? Why can't you get back to work?"

"Miss Austen," Sheryl corrected again before replying, "I… I… don't know exactly--"

The shrink crossed her legs and doodled on her pad again-- a daunting gesture. "Alright, Miss Austen," she said in exasperation, "I'll do the talking, if that's alright with you." She looked at Sheryl as if she expected her to reply. When she did not, the shrink continued, "You were the victim of a rape..."

Sheryl hid a twitch at the word without knowing why she'd done so. She'd defended enough guilty rapists to be familiar with the word. Plus, she was so deep in thought and analyzing her mind's doings that she barely heard the woman's next few words.

"...And because the rapist was one of your clients, you're afraid that when you go back in there you'll be targeted again."

Sheryl winced noticeably, squirming under the glare of the shrink. She'd gotten that right, but that wasn't all of it. There were other reasons why Sheryl didn't want to step into the courtroom…

But the thing was that she still wanted to go back in. She wanted to shout 'Objection!' and press witnesses and convince the jury of her client's 'innocence.' Sheryl loved it; loved her life…

Or at least she had.

Suddenly it was very uncomfortable for Sheryl to be in this lady's office, to be asked questions. She was much too used to asking the questions herself and she hated not being in control…

She needed out.

Now.

Sheryl rose and headed for the door.

"The session's not over yet!" the shrink called shrilly.

Sheryl didn't stop.

"Miss Austen…" she persisted dejectedly, "Just hear me out, okay?"

Sheryl paused but did not turn around, so the shrink took this as her cue to start talking. "I can't help you… Only you can help you… Staying here in New York isn't going to do you any good. There are too many ghosts of your life here. You need peace, quiet and lots of love and understanding if you are to recover." She sighed, humble for once. "I suggest that you take a vacation for a month or two... put the pieces back together."

When Sheryl was sure that she'd finished, she walked out of the office.

A vacation? Sheryl hadn't gone on a vacation since she was twenty-one and her friends in law school persuaded her to go with them to Miami for Spring Break. The new Sheryl was too busy defending her many clients to even consider taking a day off.

Vacation. That was rich.

But she wasn't working-- the firm had told her to take as long as she needed before getting back to work, meaning that they didn't want an attorney with a phobia of courtrooms representing any of their clients any time soon. Also, she had nothing else to do with herself. She had no friends she could spend time with, no family she could stay with for a while, no boyfriend to let hug her until all her fears went away.

Sheryl Austen was very much... alone.

And it was only now that she realized how much she hated it.

Sheryl was in her apartment later that day, feeling like it was the most alien place on earth to her. She had never been one to just spend a day at home, relaxing on the couch with a good book and a mug of coffee. But even though she hadn't exactly made her apartment really 'homey,' she had always felt that it was home…

Before the incident.

But this was now. A man that had been no stranger to her had broken into her house, stained its walls with his vile presence, stenched the air with his breath. If that were not enough, he had violated Sheryl within these walls. He had destroyed her...

She no longer felt at home.

Instead, she felt the apartment to be the site of great, painful memories that rushed back to her every time she lay awake in bed and each time she walked through her front door. Each time she opened her eyes, each time she closed them...

Sheryl wanted those memories buried and burned, not brought back to her every time she came home.

She reached into her drawer and pulled out an old album that had been doing nothing but collecting dust. Smiling faintly, she opened the old album and looked at the old pictures.

There she was, five years old, standing beside her best friend and cousin Mary, standing behind her shyly when she was four.

"Come by anytime!" her aunt Anna had yelled at her as she left town nine years ago. "I mean it, Sherry! You're like my daughter!"

...How long had it been?

Did the offer still stand? Was she still like her daughter... was she still... wanted?

The word pinched at her chest. Sheryl shook her head and stood up, determined. Vacation, huh? More like a homecoming… finally…

Someone in the world, no matter how far away, no matter how far across any ocean... cared about her. Wanted her. She couldn't let this chance fade away...

So it was decided.

Sheryl Austen was going to Mineral Town.

She was going... home.


Like? Please review and show your love! I think we can all agree that the three of us love reviews!!!

Hoped you enjoyed it!

-Eko, Scarlet and Kuruk