Title: Awkward Grace

Pairing(s): Akari/Luke, All other Canon pairings for Tree of Tranquility (Sorry Selena!)

Genre: Romance/General

Status: Chapter Fic~ IN-PROGRESS

Rating: T+ (subject to change)

Author: ChibiRaccoon

Summary: Falling in Love with your Best Friend is never Easy.

Disclaimer: None of the characters or any of Harvest Moon belong to me. That's Natsume's property. But if they did belong to me, Luke, Gray, Vaughn, and Kurt would all be tied up in my room as my slaves. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!


~AWKWARD GRACE~


Chapter 2: Not As Easy As She Thought

"Awww... Come on!"

"No."

"Pleeeeaaase?"

"Lemme think."

"Really?"

"No."

"But you gotta say yes!"

"And your reasoning for that is?

"Oh come on! Who's my bestest buddy in the whole wide Waffle Town?"

"Owen."

"What? No! I mean yes! I mean-... Wait. Don't laugh."

"Sorry. That was fun."

"AKAAAAAAAAAAARIIIIIIIIIII! PLEEEEEEEAAASE!"

"No."

"I'll use the look!"

"You wouldn't dare..."

"I would too! Look!"

"Oh fine! Geez! No fair. Using the puppy dog look..."

"YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS! THAAAAANK YOOOU!"

Akari scowled at her best friend as he bounced up with a cheer. The young carpenter couldn't stop his excitement from bursting out and Akari had to admit that it was even contagious when you were around him long enough.

She was excited as well, although probably not nearly as much as Luke. Her joy was filled with an inner sorrow.

Luke was really looking forward to the upcoming celebration known as Summer Fest. It was a holiday smack dab in the middle of Summer, complete with sweltering heat and mosquitos. It was held at the beach and featured half a dozen races and competitions that included swimming, sand-castle building, watermelon eating, and various others. The quirk to it was that you were required to have a partner. The partner assisted in the competitions and the winners were usually the team that had the best teamwork.

Akari wasn't sure what kind of team Luke and her would make but she figured it could be fun. The only problem was the increasing pressure she felt in the pit of her stomach. It was hard to keep her feelings for Luke buried and neutral when he was always popping up, overly happy and hugging her six times a day. Not much had really changed. She still spent every moment with him, laughing, playing, and silently wishing.

'Dammit. I'm not giving in!' She thought fiercely. When she had promised herself that she wouldn't look for a relationship for Luke, she meant it. She knew she couldn't just dismiss her feelings but she would not let them control her decisions and behavior. They could be present as the dim aches in her heart but nothing more.

Luke, ever unobservant, was loudly proclaiming in the workshop where he and his father and Bo were working before Akari had shown up about how he was going to beat Owen for sure this year. Bo tried half-heartedly to shush him a bit but as expected, the blue-haired young man took no notice. As for Akari, her eyes were glued to Dale's mustache. Already she could see the tell-tale signs of Dale's temper in the twitches at the corners of his mouth. Ever so discreetly she tried to inch to the door.

Luke just chattered on, flexing, shadow-boxing, and gradually gaining volume and vigor. Akari caught Bo sneaking away from his position beside Luke.

Dale's eyebrows came down.

'Uh-oh...' Akari grimaced.

"LUUUKE! DAMMIT! ENOUGH!"

Akari, Bo, and Luke all clapped their hands to their ears at Dale's bellow. Luke had actually fallen over.

'Jeez.' Akari winced with pain. 'I see why Lukes so loud. No way could his mom have had lungs like that.'

Luke adjusted his bandanna and looked up at his fuming father, confused. "Hey Pops. What's up?

'Oh good goddess.' Akari face-palmed at the same time that Dale groaned.

"Luke," he barked. "Outside."

"But Pops-"

"Outside."

"But-"

"Outside Luke!"

"Yeah but-"

"OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW LUKE!" He finally scampered.

All three teenagers jumped up in fright and scampered out the front door in a flurry, tangling in the doorway, screeching.

"Luke! MOVE!"

"It's Bo's fault!"

"Wha-? Don't blame me Luke!"

Somehow they managed to pop out just as Dale slammed the door shut on them.

Luke rubbed his knee as he got up from the ground and dusted his torn jeans. He offered Akari a hand up. Bo whimpered when he saw a shallow cut on his arm from tumbling down the stairs.

The carpenters son rolled his eyes at the shop before turning to look at his friends. He was met with a pair of glares.

"Uh...Hi?"

Bo simply shook his head before heading to the wood pile and grabbing an axe. He left for praline woods, grumbling words beneath his breath, freckled cheeks flushed in annoyance.

Luke turned a sheepish grin to his best friend.

Akari met him with her arms folded, her hair in slight disarray from their tumble. Luke secretly liked it when her hair was like that. He remembered showing up at her farm once really early. She had answered the door in harvest sprite printed tank top and shorts and a haystack for a hairstyle. He had commented on it to a sleepy Akari and she had squeaked and shut the door on his nose (adding another three weeks of nose bandages in supply) so she could brush her hair.

He liked it when Akari didn't worry about her appearence. Usually she was rolling through leaves and climbing trees with him. By the end of the day they were covered in dirt, sap, and everything else from the forest. And she would always smile at him and laugh about how fun it was whenever she got back to the farm.

"Luke." Akari called, breaking through his thinking.

"Huh?" He stared at her.

Akari sighed. "You know Luke, you really should think about toning it down around your dad."

"Awww why?"

'WHY DOES HE ALWAYS HAVE TO POUT WITH SUCH A CUTE FACE?' Her mind screamed. 'IT'S PRACTICALLY CRIMINAL!'

"Because your dad gets upset." She managed to choke out, avoiding the full power behind his eyes.

He startled her by laughing. "Ah it's okay 'Kari! Dad still loves me!"

"Surprisingly." She muttered darkly.

"Huh?"

"Nothing! Nothing!"

Luke cocked his head to her. Akari kept the blush from her face with great difficulty. She turned away from him.

Deciding that maybe she was suffering from an overabundance of Luke, Akari made to leave with the excuse of farmwork.

"Well, try not to get into anymore trouble!" She called out from down the path to Caramel River District.

It was late afternoon and she was a bit annoyed to notice in the distance that her cows had wandered to another pasture closer to town. How did they remember to get down the cliff? Last time she'd found them wandering, they had only gotten as far as the edge of the small cliff that her pasture resided on.

Crickets played lullabys. Frogs croaked greetings. Akari scraped her worn boots against the dusty makeshift road. Only the town itself had streets made of beautiful brick and stone cemented in a pattern that often reminded her of the cherry blossoms of spring.

She yawned. It wouldn't take long to round up her two cows and five prissy hens into the barn and coop. Though she did remind herself with chagrin that she had been neglecting cutting the grass. Fodder was expensive for her and her meager profits. It was easier to just cut her own until she got ahold of more animals.

Akari as practically to her wandering cows when she realized she heard footsteps behind her. She spun to see Luke hurrying towards her.

"Luke?" She asked. "Why are you following me?"

A big grin flitted onto his face. "To help out!" He told her as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And to him it probably was. "I'm bored!"

"Luke go home." She tiredly replied.

"But I wanna help." He pouted.

'But I left to give myself a break from you!' She mentally countered. She shook her head at him.

"I'll see you tomorrow Luke." She responded mildly. She was met with silence.

She looked at him. "Luke?"

The handsome young man was standing there, in the light of the evening sun with his bowed down and his hands at his sides limply. He was quiet, uncharacteristically so, with no sign of his usual cheer.

Akari's eyes were glued to him in shock. Her lips quivered as she tried to call his name again.

She gasped when his cat-like pupils rose to her. They were sad. The shimmer that defined Luke's upbeat personality was absent, replaced by a dull gold. His mouth was set in a frown and his whole outward appearence seemed to darken. But what bothered Akari the most were the shadows on his face The sun was at his back, gilding him with a sunburst aura, but it put a shadown on his face that Akari didn't like seeing. Half his face was hidden and it made her feel as if there was a part of him that she couldn't see. Couldn't reach.

It made her feel somewhat small.

"Do you.." She flinched. His voice was an uncertain waver, much like a childs. She had never heard Luke sound like that. "Do you really want me to go?" He asked miserably. "Did I make you mad Akari?"

The brunette farmer felt the pangs of hurt that rocked her to her core. Hurt over Luke's present disposition. Hurt for herself because of the guilt she felt for being so insensitive to him. Hurt for her heart itself because now mor than ever she wanted to act on the feelings she had hidden inside. So strongly she wanted to reach to him. To take him into her arms. To feel his body against hers. The feel of his skin beneath her hands. To take in the scent of sawdust and varnish that clung to him like a perfume. To feel calloused hands clad in fingerless gloves take her face and gently tug her face to his. She'd feel his breath against her lips before he'd ever so slightly press them together with his own. And then they'd-

'WHAT AM I THINKING AT A TIME LIKE THIS?' She screeched to herself. She knew Luke probably thought her mental; undoubtly she was making some strange faces. But she was in an uproar. Who told her mind to go off in that direction?

'No more of that!' She demanded mentally. 'I mean it!'

She bit her lip in shame and glanced at Luke. He was watching her with a worried look, his brows scrunched. She felt so bad. She was distressing him with her silence.

Luke was an innocent guy. Inside and out. He saw the good in people no matter how harsh they may be. He even considered Gill, the town snob, as a friend and even the haughty exotic dancer Selena was fond of him.

Luke thought of everyone as his friend. Akari didn't think she was much different from the rest. No matter how much she liked him, Luke wouldn't reciproate. He was happy with the way things were. Akari wasn't willing to break the status quo by saying anything and ruining their friendship.

Because if she did tell him and he rejected her, Luke would never be able to get over it. He'd feel bad about it and it would make hanging out together hard on both parties. Akari didn't want that.

She did have to admit though that it was getting increasingly harder to force down emotions that with each passing day, they continued to grow ever stronger.

'Figures I'd have to leave the city and move into some way off island to find a guy I actually want to be with.'

She was able to keep down the blush this time but as her mind reminded her it probably wouldn't matter. Luke was sure not to notice.

Instead she deadbolted the door on her heart and feelings, and offered Luke a benign smile, startling him.

"Don't be silly Luke." She laughed, sticking out her tongue. "How could I ever get mad at you? You're too much of a marshmallow."

Luke blinked at her, signs of his usual cluelessness returning.

"Oh right. Drat." Akari threw her hands up. "You have to be the only hyper guy I've ever met who actually likes healthy food. Well, except for mayonnaise." She added with disgust.

"Hey!" He shot back defensively, almost out of habit. "Mayonnaise is plenty healthy!"

"Not the way you eat it." She argued.

Luke's mouth clapped shut and Akari fought the giggle in her throat. She knew he was trying his hardest to think of a comeback. Normally she would have waited him out but she found his speechlessness too hilarious to take pity on him.

"Ain't got anything against me, do ya?" She questioned smugly. He grinned in response.

"You just got lucky." He told her.

She laughed. He liked hearing it.

They bickered and teased each other mercilessly as they rounded up her animals. They didn't stop until Akari made it to her front door to pick up her tools. She was about to go inside when a hand on her wrist made her look back.

"I'll see you later okay?" Luke told her kindly wearing an expression Akari couldn't figure out.

"I-I thought you wanted to help." She reminded him breathlessly.

Luke shrugged. "I did help." He chuckled when he heard her mutter, "Smartass."

"So see ya later?"

"Yeah. See ya Luke."

And so, as he'd done everyday for the last couple of months, Luke gave Akari his signature bone-crushing, mildly suffocating, bear hugs before letting go in the breath of a second and bolting.

She watched him run up the ridge that led home, saw him trip, and laughed as he scrambled up and out of sight.


When Luke made it home that evening, he noticed that no one was home. He figured his father was probably out with Ramsey or drinking at the bar and talking to Hayden. Bo was most likely at the library. Luke didn't have the patience for books. He had to have his hands occupied.

He was working on a lovely ebony dresser that his dad had wanted to finish tomorrow. Luke figured he could make up for upsetting his dad by doing some extra work.

An hour or so later Dale walked through the door. He grumbled to himself when he entered the workshop.

Luke had finished the dresser. He had started work on what looked like bookshelves. At the moment he was sleeping at the workbench, hand curled around a screwdriver and drool pooling over the wood. His hair was unkempt and flowing freely from the bandanna he'd jammed into a back pocket.

Rare moments like these hardly existed for Dale anymore. Luke had grown up into an interesting young man and though he was somewhat hard on him, Dale was proud of his son. There were times when he missed the little boy that Luke had once been.

He didn"t want to bother trying to carry Luke. The boy was a kicker when he was asleep. Best to wake him up.

"Luke. Wake up. You're ruining the wood boy."

It took almost ten minutes of shaking and talking, which quickly became yelling, before Luke's head popped up.

"Whuzza?" He yawned.

Dale gazed at his son sternly. "What are you doing? I told you before that it's dangerous to sleep in the shop."

"Huh? Oh." Luke looked around him. "I forgot."

"A bit early for sleeping isn't it?"

"What time is it?"

"7:30. I have to admit I'm surprised boy."

Luke blinked up at his father while trying to wipe the saliva from his cheek. "Why?"

"I thought you were with that girl Akari." Dale answered leaving to go to his room. Luke followed him.

"I was with her."

"I don't usually expect you home until about 9 at the earliest. You usually spend more time with her."

"I know."

Dale glanced at him. "Did you upset the poor girl?" He asked slowly.

Luke's head shot up indignantly. His brows furrowed and his mouth formed a perfect 'o'. He stared at his father. "What? No way! Why would you say that?"

Dale grunted, smoothing his mustache thoughtfully. "If you say so son. I'm just surprised. Like I said, you haven't been home by 7 since you and that girl got joined at the hip."

"Joined at the hip?"

"An expression boy. It means you're always together."

"Oh."

The master carpenter decided that he would just stop trying to use analogies altogether when he was talking to Luke. The boy wasn't an idiot, but he wasn't the brightest thing in town either.

He watched as his son turned to get back to the shop and to the shelves he'd been working on. The boy had been carving a design onto the front side with careful precision. He had talent. There was no doubt about that. He could be rushing, pulling his hair out of his skull, or half-asleep, it never affected his craftmanship. He was truly good at what he did. A genius.

Dale just found it slightly ironic that his son was so clueless to everything else.

"Hey Pops..."

"Hmm?" The older man looked up from his musing. He hadn't noticed that Luke had still been standing there or that he had been looking at his father for some time.

"Do...Do I really spend a lot of time with Akari?"

Dales couldn't stop himself from raising his eyebrows but he was able to keep himself from smiling knowingly by covering his mustache with his hand. He coughed, clearing his throat.

"Yes." He told him simply. Simple was usually the best way to go with Luke.

He left his son to his thinking, noticing that an unusual expression of concentration had come over Luke. Dale already could see the signs. Already had a clue. But it was up to Luke to figure out for himself. To put the pieces together himself. He only hoped that he wouldn't be too late.


Akari was all set up for bed with her favorite pajamas (green ostrich-print button up and shorts) and her stuffed sheep doll, Neggi. She had the tv set to the wildlife program she'd grown obsessed over. She already had decided she wanted a raccoon. A panda too! The show featured the blacksmith's granddaughter, Chloe, who was an energetic host and had a gift for capturing animals on video. Akari loved watching nature shows, even more so than cooking shows.

She was snug under the covers, lights out, tv going on about the habitats of penguins when she first thought she heard something. She muted the television, thinking perhaps that her animals were chatting in the night.

She heard nothing.

Akari looked around her small home in fear. She knew it was possible that she merely had just imagined it. The light of the tv set cast all manner of shadows across the room, doing nothing to assuage her consience.

She returned to watching her show, clutching Neggi tighter.

Chloe was busy tripping over her feet with the camera when Akari heard it again. A quiet creak that managed to echo in the space. Akari shut the tv off completely and turned on her tableside lamp. She slowly got up.

There it was again! Another creak.

"Oh goddess..." Akari whimpered. "It's a burglar!"

She grabbed the closest tool she could find, in this case, it was her sickle. She grabbed it with both hands, palms sweaty against the aging wood.

The creaking sounded again, this time accompanied by a knock. Akari screamed as she looked to her right, at the window in the corner by the bath.

"I-is-is s-someone there?" She stuttered. Her teeth worried her lower lip and hazelnut eyes were fearful.

It was quiet before her window pane suddenly shot up.

"EEEEEEEEEE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Akari's eyes popped wide. Luke breathed heavily, eyes bulging at the sight of the sickle embedded into the frame, scant inches from the top of his head. He gulped. Akari lowered her hands from her face. She hadn't even noticed when they'd gotten up there.

"A-are you alright?" She squeaked.

"Yeah, I think so." Luke answered, eyes still glued to the weapon. "Just...sorta surprised that my bandanna didn't run for cover."

"I am so sorry."

Luke chuckled nervously. "Anyone ever tell you that you're terrifying?"

"Luke!" She puffed out her cheeks. "Why are you here? In my house? At 10 o clock in the night?"

He gave her a cheeky grin. "Because I'm awesome like that!"

"LUKE!"

She watched in awe as he laughed and launched the rest of himself through the window. He stepped in with dusty boots. Akari couldn't help but stare.

Luke was wearing a navy blue muscle shirt that left nothing to the imagination as far as his chest and stomach were concerned. Perhaps it was the abscense of his vest that made her think that he looked far muscular than she'd thought. He wore black pajama pants with flaming blue spirals on them. His bandanna was still present atop is head.

Akari stared.

For some reason, Luke found himself flushing. He wasn't used to such attention. He scratched the back of his head, pulling his bandanna off.

This did nothing to help Akari's predicament as his long hair tumbled down around his face. She felt her brain shut-down.

'O-overload...'

Her best friend watched her uncertaintly. "Uh...Akari?"

She felt herself snap out of it. "Uh..Yeah?"

The grin. "I know." Cat-like irises danced. "I'm just that hot."

"Oh shut-up." She grumbled, turning away from him.

She wanted to know why he was there. In her house. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!

'It's like he doesn't realize how crazy it is for your best friend to come waltzing through your window at night like its no problem.' She paused. 'Then again, attacking your best friend with a sickle probably isn't all that sane either.'

Akari suddenly realized she was in pajamas. Luke was in pajamas. It was past bedtime. Her mind pieced this all together.

"L-luke..." She gasped. He looked up from where he was watching Wildlife Friends on tv. He beamed at her.

"Akari! You gotta see this penguin on tv! It's HUGE!"

Akari took a breath in an attempt to calm herself, but all she could think about was how she should have worn her nicer, newer, more attractive pj's over the old, simple ones she'd thrown on.

"Luke, why are you here?" Even to herself, her voice sounded odd.

Her best friend apparantly didn't notice any of this. In fact, he gave her such a warm friendly smile that he obviously found nothing wrong with the situation.

Yet his answer was what snapped Akari's hold over her control.

"We're having a slumber party!"


To be continued...


I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

I really really really really apologize for the wait everyone! This chapter would have been up much sooner but I realized that the chapter I wrote for this was not what I wanted so I scrapped the whole thing and wrote a completely new chapter! And it would have been up two days ago but I kept rewriting stuff. Personally I do like this chapter because with the next chapter is when the plot starts becoming a little more apparant. Plus I'm a little surprised (and disgruntled in a way) because I absolutely LOVE writing Luke's character. I honestly thought I'd enjoy Gray a little more. Haha.

Just to put out there btw: Both Elli and Gray make appearences in Harvest Moon Tree of Tranquility, therefore, I will have them in the story. But I've decided not to include other Harvest Moon characters except by mention. Just to forwarn: GRAY BELONGS TO MARY. So any mention from Gray will be about Mary. NOT CLAIRE. I got a request from someone for it and I felt bad when I informed them about how against that pairing I am.

Anyways THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE! I cried when I saw the reviews and I cried even more when I noticed how many people had put this story on their author alerts list. I've never been good with making chapter fics so I was nervous when I put this up. But what authors say about reviews really is true. It inspires you to write for the readers and I appreciate all the support guys! Hope I don't dissapoint! We'll meet again for the next chapter!

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

-ChibiRaccoon