Raye's Magical Melody

Chapter 1

Springtime Flashbacks

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Okay, so this is my first actual real story that I've written in a long time. So my writing might be a little rusty, but I do hope that you read it and enjoy it and leave a review if you want to. So here's my new story.

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"Another day of work," Raye said as she refilled her watering can.

Sitting it down, she smiled as she moved further into her garden and carefully removed a turnip. Glancing to her right, she didn't see Alex standing outside of his clinic. It was Wednesday, his only day off the entire week. Well, if he wasn't there then there were only a few other places he would be. It was funny, how well she'd come to know him since she'd moved to this village. It was a nice, warm day.

If Alex wasn't around the clinic then surely he must be standing by the river. That was his favorite place to be on a day like this. Moving away from the fence, she started walking down the stone path that led to the river. As she walked, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it hit her skin.

Opening her eyes, she saw him. Standing by the river with a serene look on his face. His dark eyes were staring out over the water, looking at nothing in particular yet at everything at the same time. She saw the wind run it's fingers through his hair and longed to do the same. Her heart began to beat erratically. What was it about this man that always seemed to make her weak at the knees?

She saw him look at her out of the corner of his eye before smiling brightly and turning to face her. "Raye," he said cheerfully. "Good morning!"

"Hello Alex," she said as she approached him. "How are you?"

"I'm good. What about you?"

"I'm good. It's a nice day today, isn't it?"

"It is. So what have you got there?"

She glanced down at the turnip she was holding and smiled. "Oh, I brought this for you. I got it from my field this morning."

Extending it to him, she shivered as his fingers brushed over hers. What was it about his touch? Every single time he touched her, she felt even more alive.

"Thank you," he said with a blush. "You shouldn't have. I really love these."

She smiled again. She knew that he loved turnips. Other than veggie juice, it seemed to be his favorite.

"I know you do. That's why I brought it," she said, surprised by the boldness of her own words. "I knew you'd be happy."

She wasn't a shy person, really. Alex was the only person who ever made her feel this way. It was something different, something. . .beautiful. Usually, however, she was able to keep her cool on the outside even though she felt so unraveled on the inside.

"Well I know it's your day off so I don't want to disturb you. Besides, I have work of my own to do," she said suddenly. "So I'll see you later."

"Okay, later," he said.

With one last smile, she turned and walked away.

Alex watched her walk away and smiled. Why was it that since the day he first met her, his life suddenly seemed so much brighter?

From where he stood, he could see her ranch quite clearly. He could probably stand there and watch her working in her fields, tending to the crops that she loved and nurtured. Sometimes he'd stand at the window of his clinic and just watch her work. He'd watch the smile she'd get on her face as she watered her plants, the sadness when a typhoon hit and blew away some of those plants. And he'd see the happiness she'd get when she could harvest those plants and ship them off.

She was really something, wasn't she? He always had to struggle to keep himself together whenever she was around. For some reason, whenever he saw her, his mind would go blank and he'd be at a sudden loss for words. Today was no exception. He'd been looking out at the river, deep in thought when he'd noticed her standing there. He could see it all, the way the light hit her skin, the way her eyes shone in the early morning, the way the breeze tousled her hair.

And while he stood there and pondered the beauty of her, some part of his brain seemed to be able to function and talk to her. The other part? It had turned to mush, yet again. And he had to wonder yet again how it was that one woman could have such power over him. She had since the very first moment he saw her.

He could remember that day clearly. He'd been staring out of the window of his clinic when he'd noticed her come out of the house across the street. Nobody had lived there for a while and the land definitely showed it. As he stood there, he wondered if she remembered their first meeting. He sighed and took one last long look at her as she watered her crops before he looked back over the river. He had a feeling that she did.

Raye finished watering the strawberries and glanced over toward the river. In the distance, she could still see Alex looking out at the river. He wasn't looking at her, but she had a feeling that he had been only a moment ago. She smiled as she remembered the fist time she'd met him. She still felt a little embarrassed every time she thought about it, though.

It was her second day in Flower Bud Village. She'd just left her house to go outside and look at the work she'd need to do to make her land something to be proud of.

"This is going to take some work," she mumbled as she took notice of the weeds that had grown and the fence that needed so definite repairs.

Walking around the fence, she made mental notes to herself about what needed to be done. The problem with that was that she wasn't really paying attention to where she was walking and she tripped over a weed. She tried to catch herself, but it was too late. She fell to the ground and her knee collided with the earth.

"Ow!" she hissed as rolled off her knee and wrapped her arms around it. "I can't believe this happened!"

It was throbbing and it was stinging and she felt really clumsy and stupid right about now.

"Are you okay?" she heard a soothing voice say. She looked up and saw a man standing there. Her eyes met his, those dark yet warm eyes. What was it about those eyes that momentarily made her forget the pain in her knee? His hair was long and black and she had the strangest urge to run her fingers through it. He really was a handsome man. She shook her head to clear the haze that had engulfed her mind the second she'd seen him. As she looked at his clothes, she noticed that he was wearing a white lab coat. Could he be the doctor who lived across the street?"

"Miss? Are you okay?"

She shook her head again. "Oh? Um. . .Uh I-I'm fine," she said as embarrassed color flooded her face.

"Well can I help you up?" he asked as he extended his hand to her. She looked at that hand, looked into those eyes, and she took it. As he helped her to her feet, she felt a jolt of pain in her knee and groaned.

"Ow," she said as she shifted her weight to just one leg.

"It doesn't look like you are okay," he said, concern evident in his face, his voice. "Can you walk on it?"

When she tried to walk, however, she stumbled. This time, however, she didn't fall. Instead, she felt a strong pair of arms reach out and catch her. The man had caught her just in time.

"I guess I can't," she admitted as she looked down at the ground.

"Here, let me help you out," he said as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Raye wasn't heavy or anything, but this man seemed to be strong. He'd picked her up with such ease, as if she were nothing more than a child. She blushed right away, but for some reason she felt so safe in his arms. He carried her over to the clinic and took her inside. Sitting her down on one of the beds, she watched him hurry off to get something.

He came back with some kind of cream, a bandage, and some green concoction in a jar with a teaspoon. He sat down on the bed next to her.

"I-I hope you don't mind," he said with a blush as he gently pulled her leg onto his lap and dabbed some of the cream on her scraped knee before rubbing it in. After that, he put the bandage on it and smiled shyly at her. Next, he opened the jar and poured some of the green stuff out onto the teaspoon.

"What is that?" she asked him as he sat the jar down and put one hand under the hand holding the spoon in case some of the green stuff spilled out of the spoon.

"This is a medicine made out of herbs. It should stop the pain you feel in your leg, but I must warn you, it won't taste good. It's actually pretty bitter."

She opened her mouth and let him stick the plastic teaspoon inside. He was right, that stuff was bitter. But the second she swallowed it, she did feel the pain in her knee reside.

"Wow," she said. "It really works."

She watched the man put the lid back on the jar. She stood up and followed him as he put this stuff away. He wandered over towards his desk and turned around. "Where are my manners?" he said. "Well, hello. You're the new farmer."

"Oh, hello. I'm Raye. I moved to this village yesterday. I live next door, but I think you already knew that. And who are you?"

"I'm Alex," he said. "Everyone in the village calls me 'Doctor'. I'm new to this town like you, but I already love it here."

"I know what you mean. I think I already love it here, too," she said as she smiled shyly at the handsome doctor.

"You should really stay on top of your health. Since you're here, let me have a quick look."

"Well, might as well since you've already gotten a look at me knee," she said.

He laughed, but conducted a quick examination. It didn't take him much time at all to examine her. There was something about this man, she noticed, that she liked very much. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew it was there. When he was done, he smiled at her and nodded.

"As far as I can tell, you look healthy. Good for you! That's right, if you find some herbs in the mountains, can you ship them? Unless herbs are at the market, medicine can't be made. I'll be counting on you," Alex said.

"Of course I'll help you out," she said with a nod. "Besides, it's the least I can do after you've done so much for me already. Well, I have to get out there and work now."

"Well, I think doing things slowly, at your own pace is good," he said. "There's no point in rushing things."

"You're right," she said.

"You try to take it easy for today, okay?" he said.

"I'll try. I'll see you again soon, Doctor," she said.

"Hopefully it won't be because you're injured. Well, bye," he said with a smile.

"Bye!" she said with a laugh.

That man's smile. . .It was so warm, so welcoming. And while she was sure he'd given the same smile to all of his patients, for some reason she liked to think that maybe that smile right then was just for her. She shook her head at her own silly thoughts. She hadn't been in town for more than a day and she was already crushing on some guy. She had to stay focused because she had work to do.

Now Raye shook her head as the memory faded. She hadn't realized that she'd been staring at Alex the entire time, but he had noticed and he was looking straight at her. She waved at him and saw him wave back. Now she really felt stupid. She'd been staring, hadn't she? And he'd seen her. He must've thought she was some weirdo now. How could he not? How long had she been staring and how long did it take him to notice?

Raye got back to work and finished watering the crops in this field. She still had another field nearby that she had to work on. And she also had to feed her animals. She was running low on a few groceries so she thought she might as well stop by the Blue Sky Ranch on her way there.

As she walked by, Alex turned and waved at her yet again. She waved back of course and gave him a bright smile. She wasn't usually like this around him. Raye was usually able to keep it together around him and act normal. Today, however, was an exception. It didn't take her long to walk down the road and reach the Blue Sky Ranch. She saw Blue working out in the nearby fields and waved at him. He had his usual scowl on his face, but she knew better. Under that tough exterior was actually a nice guy.

And he showed when he actually decided to wave back for once before going back to work. As she opened the door, she smelled something nice coming from the kitchen.

"Hey Hank," Raye said as she walked inside.

"Oh, Raye. Good morning."

"Is Ellen baking something today?" she asked as she walked over and grabbed a few groceries.

"Yes, she is. You know she loves to bake. And I love to eat whatever she bakes so I'm not going to stop her," he said as she sat her stuff down on the counter.

She laughed. "Yes, I know. Last Thanksgiving I think her cake was one of the best ones I received. It made me feel kind of inferior when I thought about the cake I'd given to her."

He nodded as he totaled up the things she'd sat in front of him. "Okay, that'll be 1000G," he told her. She handed him the money and grabbed the bag he extended to her.

"Talk to you later, Hank," she said. "I'm sure you'll be at the Moonlight Cafe, right?"

"I usually am, aren't I?"

She laughed. "Bye."

She should have waited to buy this stuff until after she was doing working for the day. That would've saved some time. But now she was walking back to her house to put these groceries away before she went to finish watering her crops and to feed her animals. Today was just an off day she supposed. She was completely off of her normal routine. But she supposed that it didn't matter too much. As she opened her door, she wasn't surprised to see her puppy, Edward, running around her feet and wagging his tail.

Raye reached down to rub his head before she hurried upstairs to put her groceries away. As she came back down the stairs, Edward continued to run around and try to gain her attention.

"I'm sorry," she said as she went over to her tool box and made sure she wasn't out of seeds. "But I have to finish working, Edward. I'll play with you later."

The dog seemed to understand since he calmed down and watched her leave. Alex wasn't at the river anymore, she noticed as she ran past that way to another of her fields. He might have been in the mines digging up pontata roots. When she arrived at her field, she refilled her watering can and got back to work. Some of her cabbages were ready to be shipped. She'd ship them off when she reached her barn. Right now, though, she just worked. And she enjoyed yet another lovely day.

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Disclaimer: While it is true that I love Harvest Moon, I don't own the game or any of the characters in it. However, I am the owner of this Harvest Moon fanfic. This disclaimer applies to all of the chapters of this story.

Edward'sTrueAngel

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