Merry Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza/Winter Solstice/Boxing Day/New Years/Festivus/any other holiday I may have forgotten. Anyway, this story is written for the lovely harvestmoongirl987 who I'm playing Secret Santa for this year in the Village Square's Secret Santa event. Lucky for me, I had a plot bunny involving Luke, and I figured that you'd enjoy it. I hope that you do.

Where the Pine Needles Fall

December had just arrived, and already, there was a foot and a half of snow on the ground. Castanet Island had a simple beauty in the winter time once the snow settled in, covering the ground, houses, and trees, like a fluffy, white blanket. The snow was so beautiful in fact, that just about all of the villagers stayed indoors, as if they didn't want to disturb the gift that the Harvest Goddess had given to them.

All except Luke.

Even though it was his day off, the young, blue-haired carpenter was enjoying the crisp outdoor air within the Fugue Forest. Though the temperature was somewhere below 20 degrees Fahrenheit, the energetic young man was kept warm by his worn jeans, green jacket, and the bandana that he was wearing, covered in a flame print that was as blue as his hair. Another thing that kept Luke warm was his spirit. Many people in Harmonica town would describe him as being "hyperactive," but those who knew him better would say that he had the warmest personality of anybody they knew on the island, which matched with the confidence that he showed in everything he did…or so it seemed.

As of late, the young carpenter had a lot on his mind, but a walk through the forest always soothed his nerves and his mind. Since it was his day off, he decided to look for the witch that supposedly lived in the woods, but like all the other times he had searched for her, she was nowhere in sight. Of course, he doubted that the witch would just reveal herself if she did exist, but he was growing weary of getting the same search results as always.

Well shoot, I've been out here for three hours, and I've found nothing! Maybe next time… He turned around and began to follow his footprints back to the entrance of the forest (it was the only reliable way to find one's way out of the maze of trees,) but as he began his return to the forest's entrance, he heard a crunching sound nearby from another being in the woods. Given the pattern of the crunching sound, he assumed that whatever was making the noise was a human, but who else would be outside in the forest at that hour?

"Yo, anybody there!" Luke shouted in the direction that the sound of the footsteps came from.

"Luke, is that you?" shouted the other person. "I'm over here!" Luke immediately recognized that the voice belonged to Molly, the rancher who moved to Castanet island earlier that year, and one of Luke's closer friends. After a few seconds of walking, he found the young woman in a nearby clearing. She was bundled up in more clothing than he was, wearing a thick blue coat and a white winter hat that covered most of her short brown hair. To top it all off, she was carrying her axe, which made her that much more adorable to Luke.

"Hiya, what you doing out here?" Luke asked cheerfully when he saw Molly. "Nobody seems to be going outside today. They just can't handle this extreme wind chill!"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Molly commented in an equally cheerful voice. "Isn't it your day off? What are you doing out here if you're not cutting down trees?"

"What? I can't go for a walk without raising suspicion?" he asked in a chuckle.

"Well, if it were my day off, I would be spending my day with my friends or with my family if I had any family members here."

"Yeah… well I just needed to get away…" Luke answered in an uncharacteristically quiet voice. In truth, his home was never a good place for him to think. "If you must know, I was looking for the witch again."

Molly just smiled and shook her head. "Really Luke? Wow, you're so weird."

"I'm weird now?" he laughed. "Well, what are YOU doing out here, Miss Molly!"

"Well, I finished my work early, so I'm out here looking for a small pine tree I can bring home."

"Wait, why the heck do you need a pine tree?" the young carpenter asked in a confused tone.

"Duh, it's December! I wanted a Christmas tree!" she replied as if her reasoning was completely obvious, which it wasn't obvious to Luke at first.

"Christmas- Oh, a Christmas tree! That's cool," he said enthusiastically.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" she asked. "Do people here not decorate Christmas trees?"

"No, people here don't normally do that," he admitted sadly. "I wanted to get one when I was younger, but Dad told me that it was just a waste of a good tree, especially since all are lumber comes from this island and all."

"Oh, I see," she said. "Well, do you want to help me look for a tree? I'm looking for a seven footer or so."

"Sure, but you don't have to search any further. I know where you can get a good tree. This way!" He took Molly by the wrist and started leading her deeper into the woods. Truthfully, he wasn't exactly sure where the place he was taking Molly to was in relation to where they were standing, but like always, Luke was just trying to live in the moment. He was lucky though, as the location with the reasonably sized pine trees wasn't that far off at all.

Upon reaching the spot with the pine trees, Luke saw Molly's eyes light up like Christmas lights. "Wow, they're all so pretty."

"Well, just point at the one you want and I'll cut it down for you," he offered as he referenced the small pines that stood around them, but Molly shook her head.

"Luke, I'm perfectly capable of cutting down a tree by myself you know."

"I know, but I'm just trying to be chivalrous."

"Luke-"

"And I have a new cutting technique I want to show off!" he added. This was a lie, but it was just a white lie. Luke just felt good doing things for others, especially for a friend Molly. The rancher smiled and nodded at his plea.

"Fine, fine, you win," she sighed, "there's just no arguing with you." Molly looked at all the trees carefully before choosing the one she liked best, and then she handed Luke the axe. "All yours, Luke. Now show me that new technique you were telling me about."

"No problemo. I call this the… uhh… the ring-splitter! Yeah, the ring-splitter!" Since the technique wasn't one that he had actually created yet, he just stomped his foot closest too the tree down as hard as he could before slamming the sharp side of the axe against the trunk of the pine tree. Even after the hundreds, if not thousands of trees that Luke had cut down in his life, he still felt an exhilarating rush every time he was chopping another one down, and this pine tree was no exception. In fact, this tree even made him feel better since he was cutting it down for a friend. It almost made him forget about the pains that were on his mind… almost.

"One more oughta do it!" Luke shouted, scaring a bird out of a pine tree next to the one he was cutting. With one final slicing motion, broke the last piece of the tree that held it up, and the coniferous tree fell to the earth with a crash. "Yes!"

"Wow, thanks Luke," Molly said as she knelt down to look at the tree that Luke just fell. "Do you think you could help me carry it back to my house? We can have some hot cocoa or something afterward if you want."

"Sure, that sounds great," he agreed. He reached down and picked up the end of the tree closest to him. After all the time he had been spending alone in the woods, it would be nice to spend time with one of his remaining friends.

With the combined effort of both young people, it didn't take much time or effort to carry the tree back to Molly's house. Once there, the two set up the tree in a stand before Molly went to make hot cocoa. While she was heating up the chocolaty drink, Luke used the extra time to make a fire in the fireplace in order to heat up the cold little house. Luke always liked being at Molly's house, not only because he had a hand in expanding the dwelling, but also because it had a quiet, comfy feel about it. An atmosphere that would only be enhanced once the little house warmed up.

"I have the cocoa!" Molly exclaimed as she sat down on the couch near the fireplace, putting the piping hot mugs on the little coffee table in front of her. "You need help with the fire, Luke?"

"Nah, I'm practically done here," he replied. After he got a strong fire burning, he joined Molly on the couch. "So do you want my help decorating the tree too?" he asked, his voice now calming down in the relaxing environment.

"Sure, if you want," she said in a happy, but soft voice. "But not right now. It's still too cold in here. Maybe when the fire warms up the house, okay?"

"Okay, that sounds cool," Luke agreed. He took a sip of the hot cocoa that Molly prepared, but he couldn't drink anymore at the moment because it was too hot.

"Too hot?" the rancher asked.

"Yeah, a little, but it's all good," Luke complimented. "It's been awhile since I've drank any cocoa. Did you grow the beans on your farm?"

"Yep, in the spring and summer," she told him. "I shipped most of it, but I did keep some of the crop just for this season, you know." "Yeah… The whole farming thing is working out for you then?" he asked. Molly and him never talked about work much with each other, but he did know that the ranch was doing well. He just didn't know how well.

"Yeah, for my first year, I did pretty well. How about you? Work going well for you and your family?" she asked.

"Yeah, we did well this year. Better than normal with all the building projects we received. Along with that, the year was pretty good. My axe technique has improved a lot and I met you and Se-" He made an unnatural pause in the sentence as his face fell. He had already said to much. "Yeah, things have been great." By now, the cocoa had cooled off, and Luke took a sip. Anything to distract him from his thoughts and the conversation.

"Luke, is everything alright?" Molly asked as she put her hand on his knee. The concern in her voice matched the expression on her face. "You seem really distracted."

"I just have a lot on my mind, but it's not a big deal," he responded, but he could tell that Molly wasn't buying it.

"Luke, I know something is up. I've barely seen you at all in the past month. You've been spending so much of your time away from everybody else."

"Yeah, well I just needed some time to myself. It's no big deal," Luke answered in a slightly perturbed voice. He knew that Molly was only asking these questions because she cared, but he wanted to keep holding his secrets inside himself.

"Luke, it is a big deal," she stated. "I know you. You don't seem as happy as you normally are. Can you-" Just then, Molly's face lit up with insight, "This is about Selena, isn't it?"

At the very mention of the name, Luke's cheeks reddened at an alarming speed. "No, it's-"

"Oh, I should have known," she sighed, shaking her head. Molly herself was never that close with Selena, but she new that Luke was. Selena had always kept to herself, but Luke was one of the only people that she had ever talked with. "You shouldn't be bottling up your emotions like this, you know. Why are you even upset? It's been a month since she left and-"

"Yeah, yeah, it's not just that," Luke interrupted. At this rate, he figured that he might as well tell Molly the truth since she already knew half of it. "Thing is… most people don't take me seriously, you know? Selena did though when I wanted her to. She always said that I was one of those people who never had anything to hide, because I'm honest. Someone who always said what was on his mind without caring so much about what others thought of him, you know? It was totally cool to have somebody who appreciated me for that."

"Wow… so you really miss her?" Molly asked sensitively.

"It's not just that," Luke admitted. "I really cared about her… like… really, really cared about her."

"You mean you liked her?" Molly translated.

"Yes, but… when she finally made enough money to leave for the city to truly start her career as a dancer, I couldn't tell her how I felt," Luke said in a regretful tone. "I didn't want to sound stupid around her, and even if she did feel the same way about me, I wouldn't want to hurt her chances of accomplishing her dream. But I feel a lot of regret that I never said anything…" Luke let out a soft groan and rested his head on the back of the couch in frustration. "I've been so confused over this. It's completely stupid."

"It's not stupid to feel that way if you really care about somebody," Molly said, squeezing his hand in order to comfort him. "Why haven't you talked to me about this earlier? Or anybody else for that matter, like your family?"

"Look, I didn't want to trouble anybody over it, especially my dad. He's a good man, but he never likes to talk about stuff like that after Mom died." He placed his hands under the back of his head and stared at the ceiling. "Besides, I've had a month to think about this, and I'm feeling a little better, but the sting is still there, I guess."

"You still seem pretty upset about it though," Molly pointed out, concerned.

"I'll deal with it," he sighed. "I did the right thing, I guess. What do you think, Molly?"

Molly sighed. "Luke, I can't tell you if what you did was the right thing or not. That's up for you to decide. But I will say that what you did definitely proves that you're a caring and loving person. The fact that you were willing to let Selena go, despite how you felt about her, really shows that you cared deeply for her."

"You make it sound like I'm some sort of hero," Luke groaned. He appreciated what Molly said, but it just didn't feel right to him. "Remember, another reason why I didn't tell her how I felt was because I was to afraid to see her reaction… I'm a coward. Even if what I did was good, I'm still a coward."

At first, Molly didn't know what to say. Seeing the normally confident Luke in a state of insecurity seemed almost unnatural. But she new she had to say something. Luke was one of her closest friends on the island, and she couldn't bare to see him struggling with such a conflict.

"Luke… you're not a coward. You're just human. Fear is something that we all have from time to time," Molly said in another attempt to comfort him. "And maybe you're right. Maybe you should have said something. But whatever the case, you'll be stronger because of what you've experienced. Time heals all wounds, so sooner or later, you'll be alright."

"Hmm, you really believe that?" Luke asked. He already understood everything Molly said, but hearing her vocalize her faith in him made him feel better.

"Of course I do!" Molly replied as if what he said was absolutely ridiculous. "Everything will be alright. I promise." She drew Luke in close for a tight hug. Even though she had hugged him many times before, this hug felt especially warm, and it wasn't because of the hot cocoa in his belly or the hot fire burning in front of him. "You're going to make some girl very happy someday."

"Ha, thanks," Luke said with a small inflection of humor in his voice. The line that Molly had just used was extremely cheesy, but it was still a nice thing to hear.

"And remember Luke," she whispered, "if you're ever struggling with anything, you have people that care about you. And I care about you. I really do." In the continuing moments of their embrace, Luke caught a whiff of her hair. It smelled like some sort of fruit that he was unable to identify at the moment. But what really stuck out was the feeling of her cheek against his. It felt even warmer than the rest of her body that was in contact with his.

"Thank you, Molly. You're totally awesome," he whispered into her ear and the heat of the moment, he kissed her on the cheek.

Molly blushed from the kiss that she received and she only replied with a soft smile before leaning back against the sofa again, her body still touch his. Luke felt a familiar tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach, but he wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet.

"Hey Molly?" he began, quietly.

"Yes?" she asked.

He was about to tell her what he was feeling, but he suddenly realized why he was feeling so fuzzy. "Um… never mind. I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Sure thing," she whispered back to him, letting out a small, content sigh. Well Luke, when you're ready to talk, I'll be ready to listen.

Well harvestmoongirl987, I hope you enjoyed the story. Happy holidays to you and all the readers, and have a spectacular New Year!