Disclaimer- I do not own Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life or any of it's characters. I'm simply borrowing Jill (Jo here), and using my imagination. The prompts themselves are given by 100_situations on livejournal.

Title: New
Rating: PG/K
Notes: The time when this prompt occurs is pretty self-explanatory. :D


Jo scratched her head sheepishly as Takakura introduced her to Vesta, the owner of the farm on the other side of the river. In the city, all newcomers were typically lost in the larger working community, disappearing through the cracks and avoiding any of the embarrassment. This was unfortunately a small town, and she was feeling more like a parade float than a person at the moment.

This sudden bout of shyness also had a lot to do with who she was being introduced to. Vesta's farm was stunning. Fruits and vegetables appeared to grow from every corner, and one could almost sense the care and effort that went into maintaining such crops. Her own property hardly fit the definition of farm when compared to this.

Adding to that, was Vesta herself. Takakura had tried to reassure Jo that Vesta was kind and easy to deal with, but she wasn't matching Jo's expected mental image at all. Standing at least a head taller than her, Vesta's stocky build reflected her years of hard work and labor. Her fiery red hair and stature made her almost impossible to ignore, and her current expression made Jo's stomach curl in awful ways. If only she had picked the weeds decorating her property sooner...

Shoving that idea aside, she stood up straight and put a bright smile on her face, holding out her hand for a handshake. "...Hi!"

With my luck I'll make some form of subconscious insult and have us become enemies for the rest of our lives-

The warm smile and the hearty laugh that followed left her dumbstruck.

"Nice to meet you, Jo!" Vesta walked right on over and slapped her on the shoulder, the shock of the motion nearly throwing her to the ground. Jo recovered in time to shake Vesta's hand and clearly felt the hidden force behind the motion.

"Good grip you got there! Anyway, it's good to see family working the farm up there instead of some random suit from the city. It's hard nowadays to find anyone your age willing to do the work needed to keep places like this going, but I'm sure you'll make your old man proud."

Vesta let go of Jo's hand, thankfully not noticing her faltering smile, and gestured towards the building behind her. "We've got all the seeds and supplies that you could ever need. All it takes is one visit to our stockroom back here. Just make sure you don't run us out of business someday."

"Trust me, I have to grow something first. I think the last plant I tried to raise was a cactus." Jo joked, beginning to relax.

"Psh, nonsense. Celia!" Vesta motioned for the brown-haired girl working by the tomatos to come over. "Come meet Jo! She's the new owner of the farm up there. She's taking over for her father."

Celia wandered over, a serene smile on her friendly face, and a basket of vegetables in her hands. "That's wonderful! It would've been sad if no one was able to properly look after it. It's nice to meet you. I work here on Vesta's farm, and stay with her and her brother."

Jo raised her hand for a handshake, but thought twice about it seeing that Celia's hands were already busy holding the basket. Celia giggled at the motion, but smiled when Jo chose to wave instead. "If you have any questions about crops or planting, definitely come to us!"

Jo nodded. "I know I'll need advice, especially on seasonal crops, but I'll do my best not to bug either of you too much."

Vesta waved her off, shaking her head. "Hardly. You'll have to tell me when to shut up!" She laughed again, and Jo joined her, feeling immensely relieved at their friendliness.

This was her "competitition", and in the city they would have already chewed her up and spit her out. They really had no idea how clueless she could be when it came to farming, and hopefully would never find out. Her experiences with the others in the valley had been equally positive as well. The whole experience was almost mind-boggling.

This valley must have the nicest people on earth.

"Hey, Celia?"

Celia looked towards Vesta, not flinching or reacting to the annoyed look on the redhead's face. "Yes?"

"Where's Marlin?"

Celia shook her head, absently poking at the lone tomato in her basket. "He was looking at boxes not that long ago. Maybe he decided to visit Muffy and Griffin?"

"No, the Blue Bar isn't even open right now. Huh. I told him that we were going to have to introduce ourselves sometime, but instead he's run off somewhere." Vesta sighed.

Jo shrugged, her feelings not hurt in the slightest. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not going anywhere, so I'll meet him at some point. He's your brother, right? Should I look for someone with red hair like yours?"

"Red?" Vesta shook her head again, looking amused this time around. "No, you'll never find him if you do that! Marlin's got dark hair, and you'll always see him working around here. I'm warning you though, he's not a talker, but he means well."

Jo looked back towards Takakura and he nodded in agreement. "He's a good man, Jo. Came from the city much like you."

"Really?" she remarked, smiling at the coincidence. "Maybe I can trade some stories with him sometime-"

"Marlin!"

Jo glanced towards Celia first, noticing her happy expression, then shifted her attention to the man heading out of the open door of the stockroom. With unruly dark hair, blue eyes, and his hands in his pockets, this had to be Marlin. Vesta and Celia's reaction to his appearance definitely confirmed that.

"About time!" Vesta exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "Marlin, this is Jo the new ranch owner! Say hi to her!"

He froze briefly, caught entirely off guard by Jo's presence. She had seen many deer with the same exact look when regarding an oncoming car, but it was something else to see that expression directed at her.

Marlin's face twitched a little, before settling into a look of indifference. "Hi." he responded flatly.

The door slammed shut soon after. She stared at it for a couple of seconds, hand raised mid-wave, and marveled at how quickly he had retreated. It wasn't until after that that she took note of how Celia was beginning to slowly back away from her and Vesta.

She had a good reason to. Vesta was practically radiating fury, and Jo could feel herself shrinking away from her on principle. She didn't have to do so for long, however, because Vesta's anger disappeared just as rapidly as it had appeared. All that was left was a single disappointed sigh.

"He...does that. Don't mind him."

Jo simply flashed her an awkward smile. "So much for story-swapping."