I'M. NOT. DEAD!!!!!!!

Err, hi. It's me Kuruk! Just a little something to show that I'm not dead... just tormented my writer's block... Well, to get my creative juices flowing again, an to give you guys a Christmas present (belated... sorry...) I'm making this series of Christmas oneshots on the canon pairings of Harvest Moon! Hope you like! The first chapter is on Mary/Gray! Grary! My absolute favorite! Hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, would I be writing here? No! I'd be writing all these oneshots as nice cutscenes! So, unfortunately... don't own.

Chapter One: Hats and Cocoa

Pairing: Mary/Gray (Grary)

Mary loved Christmastime…

In her opinion in most certainly was the most wonderful time of the year.

Well, people were much friendlier than they usually were and she was able to share her time with the friends and family that she loved so much. Plus, the snow, so pure and whimsical as it fell upon the land always seemed to serve as wonderful inspiration for the authoress.

And bundling up was always fun; breaking out the sweaters and scarves still bearing that magical scent. Mary loved reaching into the back of her closet and pulling out the sweaters that smelled like cocoa and pine…

And the festivals… were breathtaking.

But Mary hated Christmastime for one very important reason…

Sometimes it snowed so hard that she would be trapped alone in the library; apart from her family. Normally Mary didn't mind; on days like those she would have a trusty thermos filled with hot cocoa she prepared every morning. She would also take care to have her favorite novel on her person at all times, so that no matter she may be trapped by the snow she could pull the book out and read a bit.

But she still hated it.

And it had to do with Gray.

The blacksmith would come to her library everyday. Now, Mary couldn't pretend that she and Gray always had stimulating and constant conversation. No, at times Gray would just sit at his table and read and she would just write a bit, flustered by his mere presence in her midst.

But…

It was nice, having someone there with her.

Claire and the Doctor dropped around sometimes, but there was something about Gray that made Mary all too happy to deal with a frustrating case of writer's block as her mind constantly flitted to him.

But, on unpredictable winter days like this, a snowstorm could ruin those precious afternoons in the blink of an eye… and Mary hated that.

But Christmastime's good qualities certainly outweighed the bad.

Mary loved shopping for her loved ones. Yes, she was a woman and that was predictable… but Mary loved the thrill and anticipation she got while she imagined the receiver of her gift's reaction when he or she opened it and saw the item that the librarian had meticulously picked out from the catalogues her mother ordered from the city.

Yes, Mary was very happy with this year's presents…

She had purchased a power berry for Claire, a book on medicine for Tim, a recipe book each for Elli and Ann, some cookies for Stu and May and she'd gotten her mother a beautiful dress Mary knew she'd wear to the Christmas gathering at the Inn. And she knew her father would go crazy over the specimen of that rare flower he'd just been dying to get his hands on.

But, for the first time, Mary had trouble picking out a gift…

For Gray… of course.

Now, Mary had known Gray for quite a few years and the matter of choosing him a gift had never been such trouble before…

Usually she'd asked Claire to accompany her into the mine to get some ore for the blacksmith. Then, a very dirty Mary would go to the Supermarket and have Karen wrap the gift.

That was what Mary's gifts to Gray usually consisted of…

But now… Oh my, it was so hard for the librarian to pick out a gift this year.

No, and it wasn't because Gray had invited her to the Fireworks Festival that summer, no it most certainly not…

But, back to the matter of Gray's gift.

Now, Mary had been thorough as she scanned the catalogues from the big city stores. She'd checked them twice… but in all her searches she had found nothing to give to Gray. And ore was out of the question! How could she give such a common gift to such a good… friend?

Yes… friend… that was all he was.

But then, twelve days till Christmas, no less, a very special item had caught Mary's eye in one of the catalogues Elli forced the Doctor to keep in his office for the patients while they waited. When she saw it she knew that it was the perfect gift for Gray; somehow she just knew that he would love it… at least she hoped he did.

Well, Zack certainly had not been happy when Mary had ordered it. "So close to Christmas," he'd grumbled irritably as he jotted down the specifics, "Do you know how long it'll take to get here? How much trouble it is to put in an order so close to Christmas?"

Yes, Mary was full aware that Mineral Town was out in the middle of nowhere and that it would take a long time and a lot of work on Zack's part to get the item to Mineral Town by Christmas… but Mary was determined to get the gift.

"I can't guarantee it'll be here by Christmas," Zack had said, brow knotted with frustration, "It'll be a miracle if it even gets here before spring."

"Please, Zack… It's for someone… special. Could you please try and get it here?" Mary had said.

One look into those big dark eyes and Zack had submitted; they looked too much like Popuri's and Zack missed the pink haired girl now that she was married and was running around the world with Kai. And, well… Zack missed being the father figure susceptible to those puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," Zack sighed, "Christmas Eve. That's the best I can do, Mary."

"Thank you so much!" the librarian had exclaimed ecstatically.

Well, the days had passed slowly and everyday Mary worried about the item. Would it get to Mineral on time like Zack said? Would it be a couple sizes too big? A couple of sizes too small? Would Gray like it at all?

Mary could hardly contain the jitters as Christmas crept closer. She'd almost fallen face first into the snow as the whole town gathered at Mother's Hill to pick a suitable pine tree to display in Rose Square. She'd almost dropped a ton of spices in the stuffing Ann was preparing for Christmas dinner. Had almost caused a domino affect with her library with her bookcases when Gray had walked in.

And then Christmas Eve came… and Mary hurried to the beach blanketed with white snow. When she entered Zack's house she was met by the disgruntled shipper himself, who all too happily gave Mary the package. Mary had been so happy that she had hugged both a proud Zack and a startled and rather annoyed Won.

In fact, Mary had been so happy that she had not noticed the heavy snow that was beginning to fall… but what she did notice was the unmistakable figure of Gray walking into the Snack Shop.

Now, that was odd… Kai wasn't here, Popuri wasn't here and since when did Gray have a key to the Snack Shack? Yes, Mary knew that curiosity killed the cat, but she also knew that Gray could not cook for the life of him and that it would be like unleashing Karen at a kitchen for an all you can eat buffet to release Gray into any kitchen… It would be very bad… for the kitchen.

So Mary followed Gray into the Snack Shack and watched from the doorway as he ducked behind the counter and began searching through its contents. Mary felt like a super spy, spying on Gray like this… but her super-cool image of herself was destroyed when she sneezed because of the dust that was floating around that had stacked up since Summer.

And she blew her cover…

Gray jumped up from the counter and laid eyes upon a flushed, runny-nosed Mary. "W-what!?" Gray exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing here, Mary!?"

The poor librarian could hardly speak; what with all the dust floating around triggering her allergies like crazy. "I… I… wanted… to… know… what you were…. doing… in here…"

The angry blacksmith relaxed, a bit of pity in his eyes as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a grimy handkerchief… which Mary had no choice but to take. She blew her nose into it, and Gray ruffled his ginger hair, a blush creeping on his cheeks as he watched her do so.

Yes, blowing snot out of your nose is pretty disgusting. Gray most definitely did not find this to be a turn on… But Mary did look cute, all, vulnerable because of the dust.

After a few more sneezes the poor librarian stopped when Gray took her by the arm. "Okay, Mary…" he said, "I should take you home… Your allergies are getting really… bad."

No objection from the librarian's part…

But just as they were about to leave…

A fierce howling came from outside. And Gray ran over to the window only to be met by a fierce snowstorm raging outside. So fierce, in fact, that there was no way that they could leave.

It took Mary and Gray a few minutes to realize this, and when they did… Mary sneezed yet again. "U-um…" Gray said over the librarian's loud sneezes, "It's too dangerous to get out of here… so… we're going to have to wait the storm out…"

Just her luck. The place was a dust sanctuary and she was stuck there for an indefinite period of time… with Gray… with Gray's present… on Christmas Eve!!!

When the blacksmith saw that Mary couldn't stop sneezing, he unwrapped the handkerchief he wore around his neck and, blushing a cute shade of pink, wrapped the clean material around the librarian's face, mainly over her nose.

After a few more sneezes (at which Gray grimaced since she was sneezing into his favorite red hanky) she finally stopped. "Th-th-thank you. G-Gray…" Mary said, voice muffled through the cloth.

"You're welcome…" Gray replied.

…-…

After thirty minutes, Gray had successfully made them a cozy makeshift bed out of all the table cloths Kai kept in storage in the backroom of the shack… Well, at least one for Mary. She was a maiden after all; a respectable young lady. She couldn't sleep in the same bed as Gray, makeshift or not. He would sleep behind the counter, all the way on the others side of the restaurant.

It was late, Mary reflected as she sat herself down, hiding Gray's gift underneath all the table cloths so that he wouldn't see… Ah! The bed was cozy, and soft and nice! So delicate! Gray had gone through so much trouble to make her this and he was stuck behind the counter; cold and lonely.

Biting her lip, Mary spoke up. "G-Gray…?"

"Yes, Mary?" came the reply.

"I-I… have cocoa. W-would you like some?"

There was a short pause. "Um… okay."

Mary rolled her thermos towards where Gray was. When it disappeared behind the counter Mary waited anxiously for Gray to try it… Would he like it? Oh he probably wouldn't!

"This is… really good." Gray said, sounding satisfied and happy.

Mary almost jumped up for joy. "R-r-really!?"

"Y-yeah… It's better than the one Ann and Doug make at the Inn, at least…"

Mary couldn't believe that Gray had compared her cooking (cocoa making skills, at least) to Ann's and Doug's! They were professional cooks! She was just… well, Mary. Gray liked her cooking better than theirs! Well, at least her cocoa… but that… that was one of the best compliments Mary had ever gotten in her life.

The spectacled librarian blushed the deepest shade of crimson she ever had, beaming at the counter. "Th-thank you… Gray…" she said, hating herself when she heard her voice break a little and when the tears welled up in her eyes.

Gray said nothing. Mary already knew that he meant it, and that, well… emotions weren't his strong point.

Ecstatic, Mary nestled into the bed and touched the gift box as if for reassurance, a smile on her face.

Ten minutes later Gray's hesitant voice called through the darkness. "…Mary…?"

"Y-yes?"

Gray hesitated, Mary's breath was held as she waited. "C-can… you tell me a story? It's just that… on nights like these I always read something to… calm down when there's a storm outside…"

A story!?

Mary was astonished; so much in fact that she was shocked into silence. She waited too long in answering because she heard Gray's sigh. "S-sorry… that was stupid… I shouldn't have asked-,"

"N-not at all!" Mary exclaimed, sitting up in bed, "I'd be happy to, Gray."

There was an awkward silence. Mary hoped that Gray had not shied away or had thought her offer false. "O-okay…" came the almost whispered reply.

Mary tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "Okay…" she smiled, despite herself, "Once upon a time…"

In minutes, they were both asleep despite the sound of the chaos outside…

…-…

It was daylight that woke Mary up. The smell of the forge filled her nostrils, and when she opened her eyes she almost panicked. But then she remembered… and a blush crept to her cheek.

Gray's red hanky was still wrapped around her face, his smell was what she smelled… and Mary decided that she did like that smell…

"Good morning…" Gray said.

Mary jumped at his voice, only now noticing that he was standing in the doorway, a rare smile on his face. Her hair was a mess! How could she let Gray see her this way!? She was a mess! He would laugh at her, she knew he would-,

Wait! The door! It was open! The snowstorm was over!

"Oh my!" Mary exclaimed, getting up and primping at her hair, "Good morning Gray…"

"Actually," the blacksmith said with a grin, "It's Merry Christmas, Mary."

Oh my! It was Christmas!

Mary noticed the piles of wrapped gifts in front of Gray. As if reading her mind, the blacksmith answered her unasked question. "They were the reason I came in," Gray explained, "Kai and Popuri asked me to take these presents to Rick and Lilia since they couldn't be here… and, well… that's when you saw me."

Mary's mouth formed a small 'o'. Gray's grin grew wider. "I'm… going to take these to them now, okay?" Mary nodded dumbly, not sure what to say. Gray began picking up the gifts, and then Mary remembered.

"Oh! Gray! Wait!" she cried, rushing over back to the 'bed' and pulling out the package. The blacksmith paused in the doorway, surprise in his face as Mary marched over to him, looked down at the floor, and thrust out the package to him. "M-m-merry C-C-Christmas… Gray…" she said weakly.

Gray, surprise and a blush already on his face, set the gifts down and took Mary's. "Th-thank you…" he said, and proceeded to open the package… all the while Mary fidgeted uncomfortable, hoping he wouldn't hate it.

When Gray finally got the package open, his eyes found a blue hat with the letters 'UMA' emblazoned on it. He looked up at Mary, then back at the hat, unsure of what to say. "UMA is… the university mentioned in that… n-novel you l-loved… r-r-remember?"

Yes, Gray remembered.

"I… love it," he said, touching the hat ever so gently.

"You do!?" Mary squeaked.

"I do," Gray confirmed, "I-I… this is really… the… err… umm… most thoughtful gift I've ever received… thank you, Mary…"

Mary was overjoyed, especially when Gray put the hat on over his carrot hair. It suited him. "Merry Christmas, Gray…" Mary said, blushing at the sight of him.

"I… got you a gift… But… I don't have it with me-,"

"It's quite alright, Gray!" Mary interjected.

"Yeah," Gray said, walking over to Mary, "But… I don't like that gift for you that much anymore…"

"O-o-oh?" Mary stuttered as Gray stopped right in front of her; so close she could smell that scent of the forge she loved.

"Yes…" Gray said, looking happier than Mary had ever seen him, "I think this," his rough hand went to her chin. Mary shivered as he tilted it up, "Is a much better gift."

And then he leaned in, and just like that, gave the librarian the true love's first kiss that she had read so much about.

And that too, was the best gift anyone had ever given to her. Christmas or otherwise.

Yay! Grary fluff! My absolute favorite! Liked it? Please show you love by reviewing! Next chapter will be Kai/Popuri (Kaipuri). So, stay tuned!