Hello, world! So, I've loved the Harvest Moon games since I was young, and I've been reading the fanfiction for quite some time, but this will be my first story for this fandom. (Huzzah!) I sort of mashed the worlds from Tree of Tranquility and Animal Parade together in this one, but I'm not sure if that counts as an AU or not…

Oh, I should not be starting another chapter story… But this idea has stuck with me for so long, before I even had Animal Parade (which is why the worlds are a little mixed). So I figured I might as well get the start of this out, anyway. Be prepared for slow updates though. I'm trying to keep up with everything else as well. Hopefully, updates for everything will pick up a little once summer break starts.

Chapter One: The Visitor

"Dakota, would you please give it a rest?"

"But, Daddy, I didn't tell you what Van said yet!"

Maya smiled from where she sat. As soon as she'd brought her daughter into the Brass Bar she'd begun her usual spiel, repeating anything and everything she'd heard that day, peppering her parents with questions. The bar may not have been busy, but Chase was working, and he couldn't give one hundred percent of his attention to both his cooking and his daughter. They were his two greatest prides, and Maya knew her husband didn't like to settle when it came to either.

"Why don't you go down to the pier and see if Matt's still at the fishery," she suggested now, knowing this was very probable. Ozzie may choose to close shop early, but Toby and Renee often stayed behind well into the night. Maya herself had never seen the joy in fishing, but hey, whatever floats your boat, right?

It was possible that Dakota knew she was being blown off, but she pranced out the door without complaint. Having just turned five, their daughter was the youngest of the island children, but she was also the most spirited.

Chase pointedly turned back to the stove, but this time it was Maya approaching him from behind, wrapping her arms around him as far as they would go in an embrace. He started, already so focused on his cooking that he'd blocked out the rest of the world.

"Forget about me already?" she teased.

"Maya, I'm trying to work," he complained. But she could hear the flustered quality in his voice, see the way he averted his eyes and the blush that lit up his cheeks. There was a reason their daughter was he youngest of all the island children- Chase, not unlike many of the other post-bachelors, was fairly inept at expressing his romantic interests. Or just about any of his other feelings, really.

At that moment, the bar was empty of all but the two of them and Hayden, who had remained conspicuously silent this whole time. Kathy, Selena, and many of their regular customers wouldn't arrive until later, but Maya obliged all the same and removed her arms from her husband.

She supposed she could return to the inn, but the only jobs in need of service this time of night would be housekeeping ones, and her grandmother had forbidden her from even doing those tasks "in light of her condition." Just thinking of this phrase, she rolled her eyes.

But, while she may not have been as hard-working as some of the other islanders, she couldn't just do nothing. So Maya turned to help Hayden clean the wineglasses. However, she hadn't so much as touched the first one when Chase glanced over his shoulder and said, "Don't even think about it."

She looked at him indignantly, her hands on her hips. "Chase, I am eight, almost nine months pregnant. I'm not about to go and get boozed up."

As she'd predicted, he flushed again. "That's not what I meant," he protested, muttering, "And you're starting to sound like Akari."

"Well, in that case, it's not going to kill me to wash a few dishes. And maybe it's not such a bad thing to be a little blunt."

In this sense, Maya envied Anissa. She was sure the doctor hadn't panicked over every little thing when the other girl had been pregnant with Van. That said, Jin was too calculating and passive. She wouldn't trade Chase's passion and determination for the world.

Chase smirked. "No? Tell your grandmother that."

Maya rolled her eyes again, returning to her seat, albeit slowly. Yolanda was a loved and respected woman, but her ideas of what was proper probably hadn't changed since she was a teenager.

"You know I love her to death, but she's so old-fashioned. I'm sure she thinks I've gotten myself into quite a mess, having another baby."

Chase had now turned from the stove completely. He looked at her carefully. "I'm sure your grandmother will love you no matter what you do." He chuckled. "I'm not sure how she feels about her protégé knocking up her granddaughter, though."

She looked at him with exaggerated surprise. "Chase! I could've sworn I just heard you reprimand me for being crude!"

He just smiled and turned back to his work, and she noticed Hayden was smiling as well. She wondered how entertaining they were for the older man- he certainly enjoyed watching them.

There was a fair amount of neighborly goodwill amongst the islanders- the place was certainly small enough for everyone to know each and every aspect of the other islanders' private lives. Though she used the word 'private' loosely. So it hadn't come as much of a surprise when the news that she and Chase were expecting another baby had spread like wildfire.

The island of Castanet being so secluded allowed the perfect conditions for its residents being old-fashioned. They rarely got news of the outside world unless they went searching for it, and that usually required getting off of Castanet all together. Traditions on the island were practically considered sacred, and the one in question was no exception.

Maya wasn't sure how it had started, or why for that matter, considering the island's population was already alarmingly low. But each family only had one child. There were exceptions, of course, but very few. Candace and Luna had been born and spent much of their lives on the mainland. When Anissa's parents had had Taylor, the entire island had been thrown into a scandal. And then there was Akari…

The door to the bar opened and its three occupants all glanced up. An old woman had just walked in, but she wasn't a resident of Castanet. Her wispy gray hair curled down past her bright blue eyes to her maroon shawl. Amidst her wrinkles, her smile was set in a face fit for nobility.

"Evening," greeted Hayden.

She nodded to him before sitting herself down across from Maya. The younger woman was a little surprised- every other table in the place was empty- but she wasn't about to chase away their only customer.

"Where are you from?" Maya asked at last when the woman made no move to order anything.

"I live on the mainland," the woman answered vaguely. "I thought I'd spend a weekend or so on Castanet."

"Funny," Maya commented. "Usually it's Toucan Island that gets all the tourists."

It was impossible to tell what their guest was thinking behind her wan smile. Just then, their attention was caught by a shriek. Even Chase looked over his shoulder to glance out the window. Outside the bar, three children were generally roughhousing about in the street. The two blond boys were twins. It wasn't quite so obvious, however, that the third boy was their elder brother. Not from this far away, anyway. After watching for a moment or so, it became clear that the oldest boy was chasing after, trying to contain his younger siblings as opposed to joining in the fun. He seemed to be yelling at them to stay away from the edge by the ocean. The twins responded by running closer and jumping up to balance on the guardrails, taunts spewing from their mouths.

The old woman smiled. "They're quite wild, even for children. I'd love to meet their parents."

Chase and Maya looked at each other and began to laugh. At the woman's questioning look, Maya launched into the take of perhaps the only love story that was rockier than her own.

Review please!

I don't own Harvest Moon. (Any of them…)

And so you have the first chapter slash prologue of sorts… I hope you liked it! I pretty much know where I want the next chapter to go… I'm just working out some of the final details, and then I'll hopefully get it out soon.

Also, the other oddity that I figure I might as well address... I realize that I'm using the English names for everyone except for Angela... But, well, I just like Akari better.

Thank you for reading!