Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Author's Note: It seems I'm not done with this group just yet. I've got a rather complex story planned out for you all, haha. :P I adore Bluebell's characters and I wanted to showcase all of them a bit more than I did during Admiration, so here's something that focuses greatly on Ash, Cam, Lillian AND Georgia, Laney, and a bunch of others, including a couple Konohana residents – mainly Kana. I'm looking forward to writing this story because it's probably going to be one of the tougher things I write, but I'm hoping it comes out nicely for you all to read. Please note that this is only the prologue~ of sorts and the first chapter might take anywhere up to a week just because tomorrow, the 19th, is my birthday and my friends and family have some stuff planned. I will do my best to get it out asap, though. Thanks for reading!

"Human lives are not pieces of string that can be separated out from a knot of others and laid straight. They are webs. Impossible to touch one part of it without setting the rest vibrating. Impossible to understand one part without having a sense of the whole."
-Diane Setterfield

Lillian had resided in Bluebell for no more than one week when she marched up to Rutger and asked what it would take to end the pointless rivalry between Konohana and Bluebell.

Ash, Cam, Laney and Georgia had all looked up from their little group with stunned expressions that perfectly mirrored the rest of their town. Rutger had initially thought Lillian was only joking and had erupted into laughter, which faded out as he stared at her determined face. For what it was worth, Lillian did not back down despite his yelling or the sudden flare of the word "traitor" that drifted from her fellow villager's mouths. Her brown hair had cascaded over her shoulders, drifting behind her like a veil in the wind, and her violet eyes flashed with courage amidst fear. Cam's cheeks reddened despite the situation.

"This is ridiculous!" Georgia erupted. She was looking over at Konohana's residents – many were smirking, but Kana was staring at Lillian with a bewildered expression before he met Georgia's eyes. She snapped her gaze back to her quartet and continued, anger evident on her face. "Lillian is right. It's not like anybody in this town actually remembers why we started fighting in the first place, right? So why bother continuing fighting when you have no idea what started it in the first place? I think we should put an end to this rivalry. We're only going to tear apart our own town if we refuse to get over ourselves."

She was speaking so quickly it was hard to intake every word she had said, but Ash had no trouble at all. He grinned and nodded, opening his mouth to speak right when Laney prepared to. His words drowned hers out as he said, "I agree completely with Georgia. All the girl is saying is that we should stop making these stupid Cooking Festivals so unnecessarily awkward and start learning how to befriend people – you know, like the toddlers everyone is acting like. It's not like she said we should revolt against the mayors or something. She said we should stop fighting. What's wrong with that?"

The gourmet Pierre was struggling to calm down Rutger, who was now belligerent and rather unintelligible as he roared at Lillian, who didn't move an inch or even flinch. Ina giggled and told her townspeople how rough it must be to have even your own town point out your foolishness. Laney looked once again at the outraged expressions of the town she had grown up with and the smug smiles on Konohana's many faces and spun back to her friends, her eyes wide. "Look what's happening, though! It's only causing more fighting. I don't mind if Lillian sets her mind to making a change, but wouldn't she be better off doing it in private? She's embarrassing Rutger and the whole town! I just think she should have been more careful about where and when she chose to start these things, because right now she's making it worse."

She turned hopefully to Cam – Cam, who had always agreed with her, always listened to her, and always took her words very seriously. Her desperation was rising at the annoyed look Ash and Georgia exchanged. But Cam's eyes were trained on the farmer, a hint of admiration and something even deeper gleaming in them. "I don't know, Laney," he murmured, glancing at her apologetically. "I think she's being brave. Everything has to start somewhere, right? So maybe it's causing problems now, but that's necessary. If she told Rutger in private he would react the same way and tell her to put the idea away. This way everyone starts to hear and think about it. She's not trying to hurt anyone. She's trying to help us."

"I know that," Laney whispered, her voice fading out with the need to be understood. She knew Lillian wasn't a bad person, and the goal was admirable enough on its own. But still – this was her town that was being looked down on by Konohana now for the actions of one girl. She couldn't stand the idea that everyone was now silently mocking Bluebell just because Lillian decided to do this so openly.

Georgia gently punched the girl in the shoulder, laughing. "Laney, you need a nap. The poor girl is just trying to help out, just like Cam said. All you need to do is put yourself in her shoes. We need someone like her – someone not tainted by all these years of rivalry. We can't just exile her for doing something we've all been too afraid to do."

Ash nodded his agreement and glanced at Cam, who shrugged and looked back towards Lillian. She was murmuring a gentle apology, telling Rutger that she never intended to seem ungrateful, but wouldn't change her position. Laney folded her arms and stared down at the trampled grass of the hilltop. She heard Ash tell her not to mope but ignored him. Even Georgia, her best friend in the entire world, was disagreeing with her. And still, that didn't hurt as much as knowing that Cam didn't agree with her. For a moment it was hard to separate her feelings of anger from hatred of this girl, but she forced herself to do so. They're right. Lillian is just trying her best.

But deep down, Laney felt an anger that couldn't be cooled by the playful turn her friends' conversation took. She ignored everything that was going on until Bluebell and Konohana started to return to their respective sides of the mountain and the farmer herself eased through the crowd to join the four.

"Hello Laney, Georgia, Cam, Ash," she smiled brightly, nodding to each one. They all replied in like, but before they could continue she bowed her head and said, "I'm really sorry! I feel terrible for getting everyone so upset. I wanted to apologize to everyone but nobody seemed like they wanted to hear me out. I'm sorry if I ruined your time at the Cooking Festival."

Cam and Ash exchanged a smile and Georgia patted the girl's back. "Don't feel bad," she told her. "It's okay. We all agreed with you…er, right Laney?"

Laney hesitated and then offered Lillian a smile. "Don't worry about it, Lillian. The rest of the town will get over their anger soon enough. You don't have to apologize to us." She couldn't help but feel bad for the sullen farmer, who was soaking in these words with a hopeful expression. Truth be told, Laney wasn't sure when the rest of her town would get over their anger, but she didn't really think it would be any time soon.

Lillian smiled, looking a little bit better. "Thanks, you two. That means a lot coming from you. You guys are so…"

Before she could explain herself, a hand landed on her and Georgia's heads, surprising them both. Kana grinned at Lillian and said, "You were great! I was really impressed. Please ignore my town's smart ass comments – I thought it was really cool of you."

Lillian's cheeks reddened slightly. "You think so?" she asked, fussing with her hair suddenly.

He nodded and lifted his hand from her head, putting it back into his pocket. His other remained on Georgia's, however, which led to her stamping as hard as she could on his foot. "That wasn't even the slightest bit lady-like," he criticized, folding his arms and winking at her.

"Oh, shut up. Shouldn't you be going back to Konohana with the rest of your town?" she demanded, avoiding his eyes. Ash looked away, staring blankly over towards the Goddess pond, rolling his eyes. Being around Kana and Georgia could be excruciating. Being around two people who were so ignorant only hurt. Or maybe it just hurt him.

Kana just smiled and shrugged. "For someone who was defending Lillian so much, I thought you'd be less obstinate about me doing what the town is doing. But okay, Georgia. I'll head back to Konohana now 'with the rest of my town.' It was nice seeing you again. You too, Lillian," he tacked on, waving as he started to walk away. Only one of the girls replied to him – the farmer smiled and waved excitedly even when his back was turned.

The other huffed instead, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "That boy…he really gets my goat," she snapped, fidgeting with her shirt buttons, shaking her head even though nobody had said anything else.

Ash smiled and playfully offered his arm to her. "Allow me to escort you back to Bluebell, where today's villain will not be able to reach you."

Georgia smiled at him and pretended to curtsy before she looped her arm with him the same way she would with Laney, laughing. "You're something else, Ash. You know, that boy has been bothering me ever since I moved here. He seems to think we should be friends just because we both like horses. Ha! Like Rutger and Ina are friends just because they're mayors, or Cheryl and Ying just because they're both kids – hmph, he just doesn't understand that to be a friend, both have to want to be friends, and I certainly do not want to be his friend!"

Ash pulled her along towards the exit, chuckling softly and glancing out over Konohana. "What a shame," he murmured, his voice half-hearted as they disappeared around the corner.

Laney turned to Cam and Lillian, but Cam was already talking privately to the farmer. "We should get on back too. It gets dangerous at night, you know – all the animals come out. I'll walk you back to your farm."

Lillian followed him as he walked out the same way his friend had exited, giggling. "I think you're being a little overcautious. I've been out here pretty late before and the worst I've come across is – oh…well, I did come across a bear, and she definitely wasn't very happy to see me…"

The florist laughed, surprising Laney with the absence of hesitation. He hadn't smiled so assuredly before her before. "See? I'll make sure you get home safe just for tonight, then."

Laney watched as Lillian laughed with him, agreeing to his conditions as they too left around the corner. Ash, Georgia…Cam…she hung her head for a moment and then wrapped her jacket tighter around her shoulders. It wasn't like they meant to snub me, she told herself. Ash was just trying to calm Georgia down and she was just too bothered by Kana to pay attention. Cam was just…trying to be friendly to the newcomer in town. Offering to walk someone home didn't mean anything more than that, and trying to say it did would be over-analyzing the situation.

But as the blonde started the lonely walk herself, watching the couples walk together far before her, she felt that she was already starting to be forgotten.