The sun rose above Mt. Moon, spreading its brilliant light across the peaceful Flower Bud Village. In this humble land, its inhabitants tend to be habitual early risers, especially one lively girl who sped out of the newly-built Chocolat Farm built next to the comparatively thriving Spring Farm.
She had brown hair in pig tails, and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a casual white t-shirt underneath a pink vest along with a red handkerchief around her neck, fairly short blue jean shorts, and a pair of red sneakers. Empowered with the speed of light, the young girl rushed all the way across Duck Bridge, and right past the big red doors of Blue Sky Ranch, towards a red brick house that happened to be part of the extremely successful Crimson Cock farm.
"Big Brother! Mr. Ray! Are you there! Please open up!" the young girl banged.
The door slowly opened, revealing a young woman with big pink hair with very squinty eyes and a perpetually bright smile wearing a blue apron-dress. She happened to be holding a tray of tea in her grasp.
"Oh, Good Morning Jill! I'm sorry, but your brother isn't here. Neither is Ray. But he did tell me the both of them are heading towards Mt. Moon along with Doctor Alex to pick some medicinal herbs." She explained.
The little girl named Jill paused and stared at the lady for a few moments, looking thoroughly confused until something came to mind. "Oh… you're my Brother's new wife, right? Wow… you're pretty!" she exclaimed.
The young woman nodded. "Right. I'm Lyla. We already met yesterday, but I guess you're still trying to remember everyone's names, right?"
Lyla giggled for a minute. "Well, except for Ray's, I suppose. You're really attached to him, aren't you?"
Jill nodded vigorously, and Lyla gave a simple nod in return. "I have a feeling it will take him awhile to get used to the idea, but I'm sure Ray will grow to appreciate you as a new friend." She voiced joyfully.
Jill brought her fists right below her neck and lowered her head with a slight blush. "Oh, right… Mr. Ray passed out when I hugged him the other day… I guess he's a little girl shy, but maybe I can help him get over it." She said with a sweet smile.
"With a kind attitude like yours, I'm sure you two will become fast friends." Lyla assured her. "Well, I happen to be preparing some Tea for when your brother returns. Do you want to stay and share a cup with me?" she offered.
Jill shook her head. "Sorry. I wanna meet up with Big Brother and Mr. Ray really soon! Sorry, but good bye!" she cried before leaving the house with her incredible speed.
"W-Wait! I'm not even sure those two are up there yet! They still might be busy---"
But Jill was already too far to hear Lyla's message.
"---at the mines." Lyla said with a sigh. She then placed her tray on a coffee t able before gazing outside with concern.
"I honestly hope Jill will be alright. She's undoubtedly a healthy young girl, but she can be a little careless…"
Harvest Moon: Magical Melody
Purple Heart
"Big Brother! Mr. Ray! "
The energetic young girl ran right towards a waterfall that was on the second highest level of Mt. Moon's hiking path, but could still not make out either of the people she saught. She then result to the questionable choice of running around in circles in case she somehow ran into them.
"Big Brother! Mr. Ray! I'm here!" she continued yelling.
She was able to keep up her blistering paces for a very long time, until…
CRASH!
The poor young farmer girl tripped on a weed and hard on her knees, with her face nearly meeting the same fate. In order to get up, she firmly placed her hands on the ground, and slowly tried to pick herself up. But she winced in pain. She tried this again, but a painful feeling in her knees ached terribly. Tears started to well up in her eyes, and, as most people would expect, she was on the verge of bawling those same eyes out.
However, this particular girl tried her best not to cry. She tried one more time to get up again, this time making some steps as she got up one knee, but she ended up falling hard, leaving her kneeling on a rough path with scrapped knees. The tears in her eyes increased, and she tried harder than ever to keep herself from crying.
Luckily, someone happened to be heading towards the nearby Goddess Spring as she suffered.
This particular stranger had an androgynous face with thick streaks of mauve hair and icy blue eyes. The stranger happened to be wearing a big cowboy hat and a poncho encompassing many shades of violet. Jill was too preoccupied with her pain and tears to notice this stoic-looking ranch person, but the little girl stood out clearly in the remote grove.
The stranger sighed before heading slowly towards the shaky girl.
"…And what exactly brings an outsider like you into the remote wilderness like this?" the stranger asked coolly.
Jill quickly raised her head to meet the stranger with teary eyes and a shaky closed mouth, still fairly distracted from her pain.
The rancher's icy gaze met the girl's watery eyes, which was a little confusion.
"…Am I really that intimidating?" the rancher thought curioiusly.
Then stranger then focused attention towards her scraped legs and quickly deduced that her expression was more of a pained face.
"Oh…" the stranger barely uttered out loud.
The stranger then let out another sigh before extending a hand to the girl.
"Alright, fine…" the stranger said in a gruff voice. "Let help you out for a minute. But I want some answers…"
"NO!" Jill shouted.
The stranger's head tilted sideways.
"…why?" the stranger asked dubiously.
"B-because… BECAUSE IT'LL HURT MORE WHEN I TRY TO GET UP!" she cried.
"Of course it will." The stranger said in a matter-of-fact voice. "But at least getting up will be better then staying here and letting your scrapes get dirty."
"So what?" the girl huffed. "At least I won't have to worry about crying…"
The stranger looked even more confused now.
"What? Are you serious? I've seen plenty of girls like you cry all the time without making a fuss about it. What makes you so special?" he asked.
"I came here to prove I'm grown-up now! Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother still won't believe me, but if someone hears me cry… I'll just be a little crybaby." She fused.
"…Wait. You came all the way to a mountain in the middle of nowhere just to prove you've grown up?" the stranger asked quizzically.
"Ugh, NO!" she shouted. "I came to Flower Bud Village to get a job and start my new grown-up life! I'm the new lady farmer!" she announced proudly.
The stranger nodded in confirmation, but felt pretty foolish. "I see… so you're the newest farmer." The stranger said with a groan.
"Yup!" Jill cried with even more pride.
"Great. I thought I had enough trouble dealing with an overly friendly cap guy, and now this. Still, I suppose it's safe to assume she knows nothing of the situation with the Harvest Goddess." The stranger thought.
"That's splendid news" the stranger said sarcastically, "Anyway, I think it would be a good idea to get you up and have that taken care of. You won't be much of a farmer like this."
The stranger then extended his arms, but the girl slapped it away.
"No! Stop it! I don't want to be a crybaby!" she complained.
"Don't be stingy!" the stranger shouted.
This time, the stranger snatched Jill's arms and quickly pulled her up.
"Owowowowowow! S-s-stop!" Jill cried.
Apparently, the process sped up beyond her pain capacity, and she could no longer hold back her tears. At the same time, her crying face flew straight into the stranger's chest.
The stranger blushed while at the same time gazing awkwardly at the sniffling little girl. After a long period of tears, the young girl removed her face and looked up at the stranger's face.
"….You're a guy…" Jill uttered softly.
Quickly overwhelmed by negative emotions ,the stranger pushed Jill back by her shoulders and glared at her with unimaginable fury.
"OF COURSE I'M A GUY!" the stranger shouted erratically. "WHY WOULD YOU THINK OTHER---"
"You're a really nice guy." Jill gently said as she wiped her tears away.
A slight redness developed in the stranger's cheeks as he was rendered momentarily frozen.
"…We're going to the Doctor's Clinc. Now." He ordered abruptly.
He then took her by the hand and carefully escorted her off Mt. Moon.
"Thank you." Jill said in a pleasant tone while being towed up.
The stranger sighed again.
"She seems a whole lot different when she's not being foolish…" he thought to himself.
Jill then lowered her head. "I wonder where Big Brother and Mr. Ray went off too. They aren't here." She groaned to herself.
The stranger looked at her curiously.
"Mr. Ray?"
Sometime later, the stranger brought Jill to a local clinic where she was checked on by a young man with messy black hair and a white lab coat. The man introduced himself as Doctor Alex, and he did a very quick job of cleaning and dressing the wound. After the simple procedure, the doctor had a few things left to take care of on his own, so he ended up leaving her and the stranger by themselves.
"…You know, crying out loud doesn't necessarily make you a child." The stranger informed her flatly.
"But my Mommy and Daddy always call me a baby when they see me cry! They say I'm just being childish!" she cried.
The stranger paused for a moment. "…Do you actually hurt yourself that often?" he asked with a hint of annoyance.
Jill started fiddling with his fingers. "… well, sometimes…" she confessed embarrassingly.
The stranger lowered his head ever so slowly.
"It shouldn't be THAT bad of a concern unless you're making a spectacle of it…" he said.
"BUT I'M NOT!!! IT JUST… comes out like that..." she refuted.
The stranger shrugged. "Do whatever you want then. If you really wanna cry, then go for it. That sort of thing isn't really worth being convicted over."
He then walked slowly towards the exit doors while tipping his head. "Anyway, I should probably leave you alone so you can heal in peace. I have a bunch of things to take care of, anyway…"
"But… Mr. Nice Guy! You haven't even told me your name yet!" Jill cried out.
The stranger stomped both his feet on the ground before turning right back at Jill with an agitated look.
"Fine. As long you don't call me "Mr. Nice Guy" again." He groaned.
Jill nodded vigorously.
The stranger then cleared his throat.
"Alright, listen up, because I hate repeating myself. My name is Jamie, and I own the Jamie Ranch that's just down the road from here, you got it?" he stated firmly.
Again, Jill nodded vigorously.
"Good. Then I trust you know what to call me from now on, then?"
"Yup! You're Jamie!" Jill called back with the enthusiasm of a toddler.
"And my name is Jill! I run the Chocolat Farm by the beach! And yes, I know it sounds strange, but it's supposed to be French for "chocolate"… I think. Anyway, nice to meet you!" she cheered.
Jamie sighed.
"She's acting strange again." She thought to herself.
Suddenly, Doctor Alex barged in with a sack in his hand.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?" he asked.
"Not really. I was about to leave, actually." Jamie answered quietly.
"Aww… are you really leaving, Jamie? But… but it's really good talking to you, because you're Mr. Nice Guy!" Jill cried out.
Jamie groaned. "I told you not to call me that!" he shouted back.
Jill retreated nervously. "…I'm sorry, Mr. Ni---- Jamie…"
Doctor Alex turned towards the disgruntled rancher with a curious face.
"…Really? That's quite some news there. Usually, if you weren't around Lyla or your own animals, you tend to keep to yourself a lot. And my friend Jack usually makes you irritable. Have you actually made friends with little Jill here?" he asked in a fascinated tone.
"…Don't expect this too often." He said to Doctor Alex rather coolly.
"Anyway, I'm off. Jill, don't cause any more trouble for me, you got that?" Jamie ordered.
"Okay, Jamie. And thank you again!" she cried back cheerfully before waving her hands in a flurry.
"BYE BYE!!!!" she cried at the top of her lungs.
And with that, Jamie closed the door behind him while his body quivered in utter embarrassment.
"I don't believe that girl…" he grumbled.
After taking a few more steps away from the Clinic, Jamie almost formed a smile on his face.
"Apparently, she has her way of rubbing off on people…" he thought to himself while once again making the hike back to the Goddess Spring.
Author's Notes: And That's how Jamie met Jill in my Harvest Moon Universe. Consider this a Prequel to "Charms of A Scarlet Lady" and "The Fire Festival". With this out, maybe you people can have hope that "Charms" will continue for sure. We'll just have to see…
Yes, Jamie is being kind! And a boy with a male Rival! Male Jamie is awesome! Besides, I happen to like Jamie X Jill!
… but Lyla's still my favorite Harvest Moon lover. :D Yay! I haven't written her in a story since forever!
