CHAPTER 11 - Winter Thanksgiving

Disclaimer: I do NOT own rights over Harvest Moon or any of the characters mentioned in this fanfic.

I did make up some of the characters though (like Grayson).

Please forgive any spelling mistakes. My native language is not english, as you can see.

...

The next day was a Friday, and Takakura had already returned from his trip to the city. He walked in on Jill while she was feeding her cows, and she was surprised to see him there so early.

It turns out Takakura's daughter was not sick at all. In fact, the doctor found out she was one month and a half pregnant! Takakura was thrilled to know he would become a grandfather, of course. Jill congratulated him, and he left to unpack.

That night, the young farmer decided she would pay a visit to her best friend Muffy and her husband at the Blue Bar. She quickly took a shower and put on some jeans, white sneakers, a brown turtleneck top and one long black coat over it all and left the house.

Muffy was very happy to see her friend that night, and they chatted happily while the blonde worked behind the bar. They were so caught up in their gossiping that no one noticed Marlin sulking in a corner at the counter, drinking whisky as usual.

Once their conversation about how Gustafa and Nami had finally gone official as a couple was over, the barmaid leaned slowly towards the brunette and gently tucked a strand of brown hair behind one of Jill's ears. She turned towards Marlin, aware how he was trying to pass by unnoticed by the locals, and grinned. "Say, Marlin, doesn't Jill look lovely tonight?"

Marlin cocked his head towards the annoying girl and furrowed his brows. He didn't seem to understand her point. Jill, however, got worked up and slapped her friend's hand away, narrowing her gaze at her. "Muffy!"

"What? You do.", she laughed, quickly retracting her poor hand. She really loved to tease Jill, as she was like a little sister to her. "Dear, Winter Thanksgiving is so close and you need to get yourself some male attention! Even if it comes from cold hearted Marlin here."

The blue eyed man scoffed at her, turning his head away as he decided not to take part in this ridiculously conversation. The brunette eyed him for a moment, then shot a questioning look at Muffy.

"Winter Thanksgiving?", Jill said, placing a finger to her bottom lip. "Isn't that the holiday when girls give the boys they like chocolate and all that?"

"Yes, and I know you enough to assume you are not giving anyone any chocolate this year.", the blonde replied, crossing her arms in front of her ample chest. "Your love life is so boring, Jill."

"Well, duh.", Jill rolled her eyes, her head now resting on her hands. "Anyway, I thought only schoolgirls did that."

"In the city, maybe.", the barmaid said as she grabbed a glass from the counter and began cleaning it with some white tissue. "But in Forget-Me-Not-Valley everyone does it. You don't even have to give it just to your romantic interest, you can also give it to your friends and family just to let them know you carry them in your heart."

Jill watched as her friend happily began to mumble a song to herself. Muffy turned around, starting to arrange some bottles on the shelves, but she kept humming. "This year, however, I'm only giving chocolate to my dear Griffin!"

The brunette smiled at her friend, glad to see her marriage was working out. She lightly tapped her fingers against the wooden counter and lost herself in her thoughts, her eyes shifting through the many colored bottles. "I might make some chocolate this year, then...", she thought aloud, then glanced towards Marlin from the corner of her eyes. He wasn't looking back at her, but he's definetly been listening. "Marlin, do you like chocolate?"

He gave her a side look and traced the whisky glass with his fingers. "I'm not a fan."

"Hmm..", she simply nodded, and like that she was lost in her own mind again. Thankful to see she was not going to drag this subject any further, he put some money on the counter and took off in silence.

Muffy turned around only to notice he was gone, and allowed her gaze to meet her best friend once more. Jill had snapped out of whatever she had in mind and frowned slightly as the blonde shot her a mischievous grin. "What now?"

"I have a recipe book you can borrow.", Muffy said, winking at her friend.

...

The next day, a Saturday, was already Winter 14 and all the girls walked around town in order to give their family, friends and possible lovers some home cooked chocolate. Jill decided to go for some nice truffles she learned to make by reading Muffy's recipe book. She gave them to all the male villagers she knew and thanked them for being so amazing to her on her first year at Forget-Me-Not-Valley.

Despite of what Marlin had told her the past night, she insisted on dropping by Vesta's and give him some too. They were friends after all, he said it himself, and she wasn't going to let his stubornness keep her from including him in her Thanksgiving day.

Vesta and Celia sat outside in a bench, enjoying the beautiful winter scenery. Vesta was reading the newspaper, while the younger girl knitted something patiently.

"Hi Jill!", Celia brightened up as the farmer approached the two of them. Jill waved at them and stopped close to the bench.

"Hey Celia, hey Vesta.", Jill smiled. "I've been running around town to give some friends their chocolate. Is Marlin home?"

"You're out of luck, dear.", Vesta said. "He left a while ago, and I don't know where he went."

"By the way, Marlin is not that crazy about chocolate.", Celia added, raising whatever she was knitting in order to show her friend what she was doing. "I knit for him every year because I know he'll leave the chocolate I give in rotting on the fridge for months."

Jill sighed, impressed by how inconsiderate he could be sometimes. "Yeah, so I've been told. But I'm trying to get into the whole Thanksgiving spirit thing, and it's the intention that counts, isn't it?"

"I guess you are right.", Celia smiled innocently, then began knitting again.

"I think I know where he is, so I'll go search for him. Talk to you guys later!", the young farmer said as she walked away.

Celia frowned sadly as she watched Jill run off somewhere else. She placed the sweater she was knitting down on her lap and looked up at Vesta with concern in her chocolate brown eyes. "I know that they are just friends, but why does she care so much?", she said softly, trying not to sound so obviously upset.

"Who knows?", Vesta shrugged. "But I know one thing, dear..." The bulky woman entwined her fingers with Celia's silky brown locks, like a mother grooming her child's hair. She put on a serene expression, and Celia looked down at the floor. "You need to move on. You are so young, Celia... you can get any guy you want."

"But why not him?", Celia protested, clenching her fists tightly against against her skirt. "Why does he not want me?"

"You don't choose who you give your heart to, darling.", Vesta chuckled, patting her head lightly. "I'm sure if he could Marlin would go for you, because the last thing he wants is to make you upset. But he's not interested, and it's about time you go after someone else. Someone who really appreciates your love."

Celia fell silent, taking in Vesta's wise words. She knew it was true, she needed to stop obsessing over this man so much, but it's not like some silly schoolgirl crush you can easily get over. She had been in love with Marlin for years, and it wasn't going to go away like that.

"I guess you are right.", Celia sighed, taking the sweater in hands once more.

...

Once out of Vesta's property, Jill had decided to go straight towards the forest area, west of the village. She was almost sure Marlin was in his usual hang out spot, and she was determined to make him accept her god damn chocolates. If they really were friends, he would have to suck his pride up and take it, wouldn't he?

She took a deep breath as she entered the place were the Goddess Pound was located, and found herself surrounded by the mystic area it held. The pound itself, however, was frozen because of the weather. Marlin laid down in one large rock by the water, while reading some book. He closed it once his eyes met her amethyst ones, and he quickly sat up.

"I had a feeling you would not let me off the hook.", he grumbled, clearly not pleased, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

She rolled her eyes at him and smirked, taking a seat on the same rock. Both shifted uncomfortably so there was enough personal space for the two of them. Jill reached inside her pocked, taking out a small plastic bag tied up with a cute purple bow. He didn't have to look to close to know what was inside.

"Here.", she handed the bag over to him, but he waved her off dismissively.

"I told you before, I'm not that much into chocolate.", Marlin scoffed as he shot her his cold, signature gaze.

"You are my friend, yes?", she asked, and he nodded hesitantly. "So shut up and please take my chocolate."

"Geez, if you are asking me so nicely..", he mumbled, snatching the bag from her gloved hands.

"Eat one.", Jill demanded abruptly, before he could place it inside his pocket. He growled in frustation, but decided to cooperate.

Marlin took of the bow and scanned the contents of the bag. There were about five chocolate truffles, and they didn't look so bad considering Jill was not the best cook around. He took one out and placed it inside his mouth, chewing on it slowly. Jill watched him anxiously as he gulped it down. A small grin formed upon his lips, and she knew she had done something right. "Wine filled truffles? How unusual."

"I know, right?", she chuckled. "Muffy taught me this recipe, so I decided to give it a try."

"That woman is full of tricks up her sleeves.", he said, eating another truffle. He definetly was not that much into sweets, but whatever contained wine in its recipe earned certain points with him.

"I used your favourite wine for these truffles, too.", she added, taking pride in her gift. "For every different person I used a different recipe. Not everyone shares the same taste, of course."

"You are very considerate.", Marlin let out a compliment, too caught up in the delicious taste of his favourite wine that he did not notice he had loosened up.

"I know. I'm awesome.", she laughed, pretending to be cocky, but he could sense her sarcasm.

"Thank you for the chocolate. Next year I'll return the favor, for sure.", he smiled softly, tying the bag once again and carefully placing it inside his coat's pocked.

Jill jumped off the rock and looked at him from behind her shoulder. She winked playfully. "Don't worry about it."

And with that, she was gone.

...

A/N:

I've had lots of free time lately, which is why the chapters keep coming up so fast. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, because I sure do enjoy writing it!

xoxo