Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.

Regardless

Witch frowned at Kasey as their son tore off the colorful wrapping paper to reveal a thick book. Not that their son wasn't intelligent, but she doubted that he would actually enjoy such a gift. Actually, just looking at the book was disheartening.

"What kind of birthday present is that?" she hissed quietly to the man sitting beside her as Silas flipped through the pages of the book.

"I could ask you the same," her husband whispered back, gesturing to the jar of pickled salamanders sitting beside the half eaten cake. "What do you expect our son to do with those?"

Witch rolled her eyes, knowing he was thinking about how her last attempt in using salamanders had resulted in half the house being blown apart. Needless to say, she was not allowed to brew potions on her husband's property any longer.

"I was experimenting," she repeated for the hundredth time. "Besides, I was thinking that he could use it for things like love potions. Those are fun."

"He is six years old, Vivi," her husband replied.

"And he should enjoy life," she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. "Which also raises the question of why you're giving him that book."

"Mama, Papa… I love these," Silas interrupted, grinning widely and appearing like the happiest child in the world. "Thank you."

The farmer's face was a light shade of pink, abashed at having been so caught up with the argument in front of Silas. He cleared his throat and quickly recovered. "That's good. Why don't you get ready for bed? I'll read you the book after I'm finished out here."

Nodding excitedly, Silas gathered the presents in his arms and scampered off to his room, his small feet thumping lightly against the floorboards. Witch affectionately watched her son disappear behind the bedroom door and wondered if it was possible for him to be even more adorable. Of course, the son of the Witch Princess would grow up to be a handsome young man –she had no doubts about that.

Kasey began picking up the dirty dishes, balancing them easily in his hands. Witch watched for a moment before joining him by the sink.

"I'm fine with some of the more harmless potions, Vivi," Kasey began kindly, "but I don't want him messing with love potions. Hearts shouldn't be treated like that."

"It doesn't create love if that's what you're so prickly about," Vivi replied as she leaned casually against the counter. Despite her irritated tone of voice, a small smile had formed on her lips upon hearing the reverent manner her husband felt towards hearts. She continued her argument in a milder voice. "Humans misname a lot of things. It's harmless and you can get a good laugh for a few hours watching the victim embarrass themselves trying to impress the object of their infatuation."

"I don't think Silas' humor is the same as yours," he replied after brief consideration.

Witch sighed dramatically. "Fine, we'll stick with more harmless things."

Kasey grinned. "Thanks, Vivi."

The relief in her husband's voice was almost tangible. Vivi played quietly with a lock of hair, occasionally casting her gaze on the farmer beside her. Had her idea really been that bad? She couldn't imagine it creating lasting harm. She let the lock of hair she was examining drift down to her shoulder and tried to think of a different topic. "What is the book about?"

"It's a book of fairy tales," Kasey answered. "My parents used to read stories to me each night before I slept when I was around Silas' age. I enjoyed it and hoped that I could do the same for my child."

"Hm." Personally, she had never been one for fairy tales. They were full of messages telling people what to and not to do. Life wasn't fun if one stayed within all the boundaries. She had to admit that she hadn't heard many fairy tales though. Perhaps some were not as nonsensical.

"Would you like to join us?" Kasey asked, drying his hands and heading towards Silas' room.

Vivi followed. It would be interesting to hear the stories Kasey grew up hearing. If he enjoyed them that much, perhaps she hadn't given them a good chance. The room was slightly darker than the kitchen, with only a lamp on the bedside table providing all the illumination. The atmosphere was comforting.

Silas was grinning broadly as Kasey tucked him in and picked up the book from the bedside table. Meanwhile, Vivi sat on the end of Silas' bed, trying not to appear too interested. Seeing both his parents joining him in his room before he slept, he clapped his hands together happily. "Mama, sit closer to us!"

Vivi slid over until her knees were almost touching Kasey's, who was sitting backwards on the wooden chair by the bed. Resting his chin on the top of the chair's back, Kasey smiled teasingly in his wife's direction. "You could sit with me."

"Aw, I want Mama to sit with me though," Silas pouted.

"I'm going to listen to adorable Silas," Witch smirked, ruffling the boy's dark silver hair.

"Alright, alright," Kasey laughed.

Silas' enthusiasm seemed contagious since Vivi found herself listening raptly to her husband's words as he began the story. There seemed to be a magical quality to Kasey's voice. She was momentarily brought to a world of heroic princes and beautiful princesses. While he read the story, Kasey's eyes occasionally drifted to Vivi's face. He smirked when he caught the interest in her eyes. She scowled, reading his unspoken words: And you asked what kind of present this was?

She still maintained that it wasn't better than her present. Vivi gazed down at Silas' enamored expression. Still, she wouldn't mind if storytelling became a regular event.

Her opinion took a turn approximately halfway through the story. She glared at the book, wondering what the two males beside her found so interesting about the plot. By the end of the story, she could swear Kasey could feel the fury radiating from her body as he had decided to stop looking in her direction.

"And so they defeated the evil witch. The entire kingdom was overjoyed. The villagers celebrated. The lords and ladies held great feasts…" Kasey trailed off as he felt her fury intensify tenfold. He hastily skimmed through the remaining paragraph, took one look in Vivi's direction and snapped the book shut. "And they all lived happily ever after!"

Silas clapped. "That was an amazing story. Tell me another one tomorrow?"

He beamed and placed the book on the table. "Of course. You should get some sleep now."

The young child nodded and closed his eyes. When the couple closed the door behind them, Vivi stomped her foot and glared up at Kasey. "I knew fairy tales were bad all along. Oh, I am so burning that book!"

"Now, what would Silas say about you burning his beloved book?"

The witch crossed her arms over her chest, her eyebrows twitching. "I would be doing him a favor. I mean… the there will be no point in time where doing a maple tree a favor would result in the tree helping you later on –in fact, I don't even see how the maple tree can even ask for a favor. Fairy tales are pointless."

"Oh?" Kasey grinned and casually leaned against the wall, watching Vivi through amused eyes. "Are you jealous of the princess?"

His wife stuck her nose in the air. "Jealous of the idiot that had to stop every time something asked for help? You have to be kidding."

Kasey chuckled and shook his head. "I find that fairy tales are quite useful though. They teach morals and inspire readers. That… and Silas really seemed to enjoy the activity."

Vivi still wasn't satisfied but for the moment, she allowed the book to remain intact for her beloved son.

"I'll skip over the stories with witches in them then," Kasey said, running his fingers through his hair. "You shouldn't take them that seriously though."

"That's easy for you to say," Witch exhaled.

"Hey, farmers aren't portrayed that greatly in fairy tales either," Kasey laughed. "We're usually dirt poor and have to send our kids away so that they could find food for themselves. That, or we're being robbed blind by forest animals and tricksters."

"And you still enjoy these fairy tales?" Vivi questioned incredulously.

He shrugged and headed towards the bathroom to prepare for bed. "It's the meaning you take away from it that's important. At least, that's how I look at it."

Before she could think of a reply, the bathroom door clicked closed behind her husband. She glared at the door, wondering if he had done that on purpose; they both liked having the last word in any argument. Shaking her head, Vivi turned around and headed outside while grumbling about how he could be so childish sometimes.

The area was dark, with only the lights from the house to illuminate her surroundings. She left the door open as she sat down on the doorstep. The spring air smelled faintly like lavenders, a nice change from the aroma that lingered around the swamp she had lived in before.

Vivi picked up a stick and absentmindedly scribbled designs on the ground. Fairy tales… were they that important to this world? She drew a stick figure with a flowing dress and a crown. Beside the princess, she drew another human –a prince with a sword held gallantly in his hands. She wondered if Kasey had wanted to be just like the princes he heard about in the stories while he was growing up. She could tell from the gleam in Silas' eyes that he greatly admired the prince character in the story he was just told. Children grew up hearing these stories, being heavily influenced by its contents. She wondered what lessons they took away from them. In the background, she drew the witch lying on the ground with a sword sticking through the stick person's chest.

"Stupid," she muttered. She blinked when she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist and a chin rest lightly on her head. The calming scent of lime mixed with sandalwood tickled her nose.

"Hm, what are you doing outside?" Kasey lazily purred.

"Plotting," she replied casually. "I was thinking of creating a spell that would make the book flop away each time you try to open it. While Silas can't hear any fairy tales, I think the entertainment of watching you chase the book around would make up for the disappointment."

Kasey was silent. After a moment, Vivi furrowed her brow. It was unusual for her husband to be quiet as he always had dozens of comebacks ready for each sentence she said. Before she could ask him what was wrong, his voice cut through the silence.

"Vivi… are you bothered by something?"

She arched an eyebrow, even though she knew he couldn't see. Then again, he knew her well enough that he could probably imagine her expression. Smirking, she asked, "Besides the fact that the entire kingdom wanted to kill the witch?"

"It's a fictional kingdom, sweetie," Kasey sighed, his breath brushing against locks of hair on top of her head. "You're bothered by something other than that."

Vivi shrugged and began doodling on the ground again. "Witches are always portrayed poorly in fairy tales. I was wondering how that would influence the minds of the children that read them."

"You know Silas loves you no matter what," her husband replied. Kasey pulled her closer to his chest as a cold wind brushed through the area. "That's not the main point in fairy tales though."

"I know. You're referring to the morals. Kindness, generosity, patience, tolerance…" She lowered her head and started playing with the ends of her hair once again. "Would you prefer it if I were more like the princess?"

Kasey snorted. "Somehow, I can't imagine that."

"Kasey," she frowned.

"I married you, didn't I?"

Vivi shrugged, trying to appear uninterested. "You speak so highly of all those lessons you learned from reading fairy tales. I'm not at all like the heroes and heroines. I'm not kind, generous, patient, or tolerant. I don't even know why making a love potion for Silas is all that wrong! Doesn't that bother you?"

The farmer shifted slightly as he sorted through his thoughts. "Firstly, even though you occasionally cross the line with your acts, I know your intentions aren't evil. Secondly, while the lessons learned from fairy tales are important, it is impossible to embody all those virtues."

"But it would be nice if a person had many of those virtues, right?" Vivi huffed.

Vivi felt one of his arms slide away from her waist. A moment later, Kasey's large hand covered hers. Guiding the tree branch in her grasp, Kasey scratched out the figure of the witch lying pathetically on the ground. His head was now resting on her shoulder, his breath brushing against her cheek. "You're not like the princess, but I'm fine with that."

The sincerity in his voice soothed the resentment she felt like water dousing a fire. Vivi silently watched as he deliberately scratched lines into the dirt. The image of two figures holding hands took shape. Kasey's stick figures were rougher than hers, but she found that them to be charming all the same. She could hear the smile in his voice when he stated, "I'm not a prince either."

She would have protested (he had saved the Harvest Goddess and restored the land to its former strength after all) if she wasn't so entranced by the softness of his voice. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, Kasey etched out a witch's hat on one person and then a baseball cap on the other. Though he hadn't drawn in the expressions, Vivi could imagine the smiles on the figures' faces.

Pressing a kiss to her temple, Kasey whispered, "Even so, we can still have a happy ending."