Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.

Author's Notes: I wrote this within two hours, and I am actually quite proud of this one for the short amount of time put into it. It's one of my better spur-of-the-moment fics, in my opinion.

She hated him, she hated him, she absolutely and utterly hated him!

…Right? The answer was yes, she did, right?

Vivi had always been confused about her conflicting emotions towards the Wizard of Castanet, or as only she knew, Gale. When she first came there, she had found him attractive, of course, but never voiced that. They visited sometimes, as they were both outsiders on the island and the only two magical beings. They would talk for hours on end of different potions that they had learned over their years, and in turn would teach each other new ones. The Wizard even made the meticulously tedious journey through Fugue Forest just to see her, even sometimes bringing that infamous Fugue Mushroom as a gift. And as much as Vivi would never admit it, she appreciated all of his kind and unselfish deeds to her, to which he took no heed in asking for anything in return.

Over time, the Wizard came to trust her very much with his deepest secrets, one of them in particular. His name. He told her one day, and when she questioned his motives (because, as all Wizards and Witches should know, one only reveals one's name to another if they love them, and, as far as Vivi was concerned, the Wizard did not love her), he silenced her with a finger before disappearing into the night. The temperamental Witch was left flabbergasted for many days, as he did not visit for a long while afterwards. Eventually, she confronted him, early morning on a Winter day. When she asked him again, he still would not answer. And the Witch knew she had been defeated - that he would not give in. So as a gift of her own to him, she told him her own, and left very much like he had when he told her. He did not understand why, either, but did not pry as Vivi had.

He even took her to the Starry Night Festival with him, and they talked about their mutual fascination with stars. They shared a special moment, but never spoke of it.

But a few months later, when he proved to be better at magic than she ever had been, was when an immense dislike for him started to form. It grew and grew as he constantly one-upped her, blissfully oblivious to way he was hurting her and their friendship. But more than that, he began to very blatantly favour his studies and potions over the Witch completely, however accidental it was that he was doing so. He was only trying to help the island, after all. But Vivi didn't see this, and so didn't understand his sudden disinterest in her. She began to isolate herself from him on purpose, and when he did manage to find a way to visit, she was bitter and rude. And altogether, one day, it just stopped. All of it: any interaction the two magic-casters had with each other. Gale sensed he was unwanted, and so left the Witch be.

Years, five to be exact, passed, and the two said little if anything to each other. Dislike turned into contempt, and contempt to hatred. The friendship deteriorated day by day, but neither did anything to save it, especially Vivi herself. When the two did interact now, it was either fighting or insulting each other, as if they had forgotten of the times they shared together. The Wizard reverted back to calling her the 'Witch', not even 'Witch Princess' as he sometimes fondly used to call her, just to make her blush. She, though, began to just straight-out call him an idiot any chance she got to humiliate him.

One day, the two met in the Fugue Forest, both looking for a Fugue Mushroom - their shared favourite. And both found one. One. They fought verbally, physically, and magically for hours on end on who would get it. Vivi relied more on verbal insults than magic or trickery, but the Wizard's quick wit proved to match, if not surpass, her sharp tongue. However, after six hours, with the moon high in the Fugue Forest sky, the Wizard gave up, and left with a downcast face directed at his realization of his loss of Vivi, not at the loss of the Mushroom. He finally discovered just how much the two had drifted apart at that moment, and left it at that. He knew she was stubborn and narrow-minded, and that she would not listen to his sorrys, however much he tried. So, with eyes to the ground, hands in his pockets and a shaking, hooded head, he left the forest empty-handed and empty-hearted.

Not long after the cold reunion of the Vivi and Gale, did a farmer girl by the name of Molly move to the island. Immediately, the Wizard seemed infatuated and intrigued by her. Molly, in turn, seemed to show equal interest in the star-gazer. And that was the first instance of Vivi's jealousy. Vivi tried to personally split the two apart, but every one of her attempts failed and only seemed to bring them closer together. The Witch would cry for hours in her little hut in Fugue Forest every time she failed to drive them away from each other. And on top of that, apparently Molly was supposed to save the entire land by reviving the Goddess Tree. This only attracted the attention of the Wizard more, too Vivi's immense distress.

As Molly and Gale grew closer, Vivi grew more and more frustrated with herself. She was the only one who was supposed to interact with the Wizard - be it good or bad - and she was going to save the land, not this farmer girl! The Wizard had warned her, however, that she was not yet skilled enough to do so. But, Vivi being Vivi, she didn't listen to a word he had to say. And one night, during a temper tantrum (after discovering that Gale and Molly had gone on a date), the Witch incorrectly brewed a spell, causing her to transform into an unresponsive frog. She sat for days and days on end on her table, impatiently waiting for someone - anyone, even Molly or the Wizard - to come and save her.

Thank goodness for the Witch, Molly had learned that she had possession of the Green Bell, and so the farmer made her way to her hut in the Fugue Forest. But what she was presented with was nothing but a pink frog staring into space. Confused, Molly confronted her new boyfriend, who, with much pleading on Molly's part, agreed to heal the Witch in order to find and hopefully receive the long-lost Bell. Molly followed the Wizard's potion requests, and in no time at all, he had his concoction made, and, again with Molly's pleading, the Wizard reluctantly tagged along to the Witch's house. He healed her, and had to had to admit, even to himself, that he was relieved to see that she was all right and that the spell was not permanent as he had secretly feared.

Vivi was relieved to see she was well and human again, too, but when she saw who her rescuers were, she almost instantaneously starting yelling at them and forced them out of her house. Molly, however, still needed the Bell. Gale tried to reason with Vivi through her door for hours (she only ignored him), before he resorted to annoying her, which was something he did not enjoy doing in the least. The Witch, despite herself, broke into tears for no apparent reason not long after, and had thrown the Green Bell at them and begged for them to leave her alone. Despite his better judgement, Gale left with Molly, leaving the distraught Witch be.

Vivi came to terms with her final feelings for Gale after a long bout of personal struggle. Whereas she thought she hated him, she was actually in love with him! Where had these newfound feelings for him arisen? When they first met, over their bonding together, or as they drifted apart? Or had they always been there? Vivi was plagued with questions that she didn't know how to answer. She figured that maybe she should talk to him, in the least, now that she knew how she truly felt about him. And so, the night of his birthday (something only she knew, along with his name), Winter 21, did she conjure up some Shining Coffee Beans and was off to town, ready to be an adult about their complex relationship.

When she arrived, she was surprised that Molly was not there. Surely the Wizard had told Molly his birthday and name, as he loved her, didn't he? The thought made her blood boil and jealousy rise within her. She entered his house unannounced, something she had done regularly when they had still been friends. It was something Gale had come to love about her, her unpredictability, her spunky outlook on life. The house was dark and eerily quiet, just the way he liked it. He was at the top of his staircase, his astronomy lab, with his telescope and books keeping him company in the lonely house. Specifically, he was peering through said telescope with a pen in his mouth, which he removed every once in a while to write notes down in the notebook that sat on an end table before him. He was aware of the Witch's presence, but could not decipher for the good of him why she was there in his home. Despite this, though, he presented himself as unaffected and indifferent to her presence.

"Hi," she whispered, clutching the bag of coffee beans tightly in both of her hands, crinkling the blue bow on top slightly.

He said nothing and paid no attention to her, only acknowledging the stars in the sky. Vivi held back a deep sigh, and took off her snow-covered jacket, placing it on one of the Wizard's many desks. "Happy birthday, Wizard." Her big orange eyes looked up at him nervously, awaiting one of his infamous dignified and wordy responses.

He still paid her no attention, but eventually gave way to the tugging in his heart, and he set his pen town and turned away from the telescope. "Hello…" he looked down at her, his gaze unwavering. He eyed the coffee beans. "You remembered my birthday… and my favourite, no less."

"Why wouldn't I?" Vivi looked offended. Had he really expected her not to remember?

"It's been almost… seven years… and we haven't had the… best relationship, now have we?" he pulled his hooded jacket over his shoulders before standing up. The moon shone in through one of his huge surrounding windows, casting an eerie light around him, making him even more irresistible to Vivi.

"That doesn't mean I would forget just like that, Ga- Wizard," she choked out softly, averting her eyes from his. He then slowly, one step at a time, began to make his way down the curved staircase, all the while his eyes fixed on her. Vivi asked the question that he been ripping at her heartstrings since she had first thought of doing all of this. "Where's Molly? Shouldn't you two be celebrating this occasion together?"

"She… doesn't know it's my birthday," the Wizard informed Vivi simply.

"B-but you love her… so-" the Wizard cut the Witch off, something he would rarely do to anyone with his refined manner of social etiquette.

"I do not," he stated. He repeated himself. "I do not love Molly, Vivi."

It took everything the Witch had not to fling herself at him at the sound of him saying her name. "But you have to, you're a couple and…" he stepped forward, closer to her, making the Witch's stomach lurch violently in anticipation. "…and so you have to love her! You're… you're obligated to!" She felt the ever-familiar sting of tears in her eyes as she said this - something she had come to expect of herself within the last few months she had spent mostly beside herself.

"I am not obligated to love anyone… but it is, at the same time, something I cannot… control," he told her simply.

His simplicity of the situation was killing her. Regretfully, Vivi felt a tear fall from her eye. "But, Wizard…" she trailed piteously.

He stepped even closer at that, and placed a finger to her lips, preventing her from speaking any further. "That's Gale, to you, Vivi," he smiled at her, and she swore her heart was about to burst at sight of the face that hadn't shown her a smile in seven long years.

The Witch looked into his amber and green eyes, which were glowing intensely at her. She took a shallow breath in. It was now or never.

"Gale, I-" the Wizard removed his finger, and uncharacteristically interrupted her again, but this time, with a kiss. The woman was shocked by his sudden showcase of raw affection towards her, but nonetheless proceeded join herself wholly in the kiss.

The experience was indescribable for the young Witch Princess. His kiss was gentle and loving, but at the same time fiery and passionate. When he pulled back, he had a small smile on his face which caused Vivi to blush. "I've been... waiting to do that for... a long time now... Vivi," he told her. This only made her blush intensify.

He led her over to his bed, now completely absorbed in her and forgetting about his studies above. He even forgot about the coffee beans she had placed on his crystal ball table. He sat her down, before taking a seat beside her. The two sat awkwardly for a long moment. Gale knew what he wanted to do, but he was an honourable man, and did not want to take it that far when he was still in an official relationship with Molly. Instead, he would just have to settle for kissing.

Turning to Vivi, he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her to him. He leaned in once again, but Vivi took full initiative this time. She seized his face in her hands and kissed him deeply, causing the usually thoughtful Wizard's mind to go blank. Against his mouth, Vivi absentmindedly spoke her own mind, which was in overdrive compared to Gale's. "I love you, Gale." When it hit her of what she had just said, she pulled away with a start.

He only chuckled at her nervousness, before taking her in his arms and kissing her softly. They stayed like that – together - for almost the entire night. When the sun began to rise through Gale's window, hitting the Witch's sleeping face, she knew it was time to leave. She left in a whirlwind, leaving the coffee beans from the night before in her original place, in her new lover's arms. Pecking Gale on the cheek one final time, she chanted some magic words of hers and spun around, and with that, she was gone, back to her Fugue Forest home.

Later that week, Gale and Molly broke up. Molly understood his motives as to why, and the split was amiable, to say the least. The two are still friends to this very day, in fact. She never learned his real name, though.

Not too long after, Gale made his way to Vivi's Fugue Forest abode. With a Fugue Mushroom, not a Blue Feather, in hand, he confessed his love, but knew that their relationship with each other was still too fresh, too new, and too fragile to just jump into the commitment of marriage so recklessly. She understood, and even agreed. Truth be told, she hadn't wanted a marriage proposal out of her confession, she just wanted a mutual reciprocation, at the least, if not an official relationship. And that just what she got out of it. All of her waiting and pondering had paid off, didn't she know it!

The new couple made love for the first time later that night. It had been amazing, much more so than both would have ever thought. Gale was just such an emotional lover, with the tender touch of a Harvest Sprite, but the same fire that the Harvest King himself displayed so passionately. Gale, personally, had never found Vivi so breathtaking in his all of his years of knowing her. No star or constellation he had ever seen could match her beauty as he lay beside her, playing with long, silky strands of silvery white hair as she slept. He smiled down at her, the biggest smile the Wizard would ever muster. And it was all because of his ever-growing love for this annoying, stubborn Witch that he had the immense fortune of meeting.

And as the two began their new life together as boyfriend and girlfriend, but more importantly as friends once again, Vivi officially decided, that no, yes was definitely not the answer.

The Magical End!

Author's Notes: I love the Witch and Wizard on Animal Parade. On my newest girl file, I think I'm going to marry the Wizard. I'm still debating if on my boy file whether I should marry Luna or the Witch...

'Til next time!

Fooboo24