Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or anything associated with it.

Author's Note: Fair warning: updates might start running off their every two days schedule as time wears on and I have less and less of a chance to get these chapters written out. I will always do my best to get updates out asap however, I hate when people put out a longfic and their updates are like once every forever and you have no clue what's going on when you pick it up haha. I'm also gonna try to get out another story soon, but that definitely won't factor into how this story is written out. I love writing this so much, it's tons of fun, and I love putting out new chapters. Thank you all for your kind words and for continuing to read this, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!


"This…isn't going so well."

Lillian winced at Ash's words, looking at the drinks she had before her that had yet to be purchased. A few people had trickled by, but nobody had seemed particularly interested so far. One woman brought a dog by and deposited it at Cam's station only to disappear. They hadn't seen her in hours, and Cam mumbled something about being a free dog sitting service. She held up Pomeranian Punch to Ash, who did his best not to laugh at her pathetic attempt to tie the animal theme to drinks, and then murmured, "I'm sorry. I put this whole thing together and…"

"I'll buy one!" The Oracle clapped her hands loudly to break up the conversation, gesturing to a cup of green juice. "Labrador Lime, right? Here's 300 G."

Lillian stared at her, stunned, and then hastened to take the money and pass the paper cup over. "What are you doing over here?" she asked, looking around hopefully for others. "I mean...how did you even know it was over here?"

"I saw a poster," the Oracle shrugged, looking at her friend as though that was the simplest and most obvious explanation ever. Lillian's questions, however, delved deeper. Why are you helping with our fundraiser? Shouldn't you be taking care of Konohana's? The girl laughed, flicking her fuchsia curls over her shoulder, and said, "We already finished at the elementary school. I actually knew about your fundraiser so much because Hiro told me a bit about it. So I wanted to see how it was going! It…doesn't seem to be doing too great so far…but how long have you been open?"

Ash sighed, muttering, "Two hours."

The Oracle narrowed her eyes, thoughtfully twirling a lock of pink hair around her index finger. "I see…" she noted. "Well…I have a preposition for you, Lillian! I can bring over a bunch of customers, but you have to do something in return for me."

"Ah…can't we consider that haphazardly put together plan I went through an exchange?" Lillian asked hopefully, not bothering to attempt denying the plan. It was clear that they needed help, and she couldn't see any benefit to letting her pride interfere with the exchange.

Ash put his hand questioningly on Lillian's shoulder, but she offered an apologetic shrug. Obviously she couldn't begin to fill him in on the circumstances, and hoped he would take it as another strange deal someone had to make with the Oracle, who was laughing. "Sorry, Lillian. We can't use that as bargaining until all the loose ends are tied up. Otherwise we don't know what kind of favor it's worth! But I don't want too much from you. Mostly I'm willing to do this because I think of you as a friend. But there is one thing I want you to do…and that is to make up with Dirk."

"Make…up…?"

"Apologize and be apologized to," the Oracle nodded.

"Ah," Lillian grumbled, looking away. "I don't know if I can do that…after how he acted when Konohana won the competition…it was really infuriating…"

The Oracle smiled, tilting her head to the side. "Dirk is difficult for reasons only he sees fit. I know he was a fool about winning, but I'm asking that you overlook that this one time."

"Why?" Ash asked, clearing his throat as he entered the conversation. "Sorry, it's just…I don't see why you want Lillian to make up with Dirk so much. How does that benefit you, or have anything to do with this particular situation?"

"I'm not as sensible as you," the Oracle replied calmly, laughing. "I don't see things as really having anything to do with the situation, only being fair exchanges. Dirk is someone I must rely on right now, and I hate to see him so wound up over something, especially when he and Lillian seemed to be getting along appropriately quite recently. All I want is for things between them to be smoothed over, and I'll consider that worth about half of the customers I'll bring to the festival. The other half is a free favor of friendship."

"I really don't understand," Ash murmured, raising his eyebrow.

Lillian smiled at him, shrugging. "I don't understand very much either, but…we do need people to come and pay for the raffle and drinks and everything, don't we?"

He met her smile with a reluctant one of his own. "We do, but…you don't have to bargain yourself away for it. Apologize to him if you feel like it. If you don't, I'll take care of things for you, alright?" He set his hand atop her head, his eyes gentle. "Don't push yourself too far for my benefit. You don't have to do everything by yourself."

Even the Oracle looked surprised. Lillian caught her breath and then smiled, nodding. "I'll keep that in mind," she whispered. "Thanks, Ash."

"Forget about it. I'm going to go hang out with Cam for a bit and see if that woman has come back for her dog yet. Thanks for coming," he tacked on politely to the Oracle, his hand sliding from Lillian and returning to his side as he walked off towards Cam, jogging once he was several feet away towards his friend. As hard as he was trying to hide it, however, Lillian could feel the frustration emanating from him.

"He wants to be the one to get you out of tight spots like this," the Oracle mused. "I'm impressed by him, you know. I really do like Ash very much. A lot of people I can predict, but Ash is hard to predict – to gauge where his head is, I have to know what you're doing. For example, I would have expected Ash to have a full-blown fight with Dirk after receiving such a nasty comment yesterday. He held his tongue perfectly, however, because you were there and upset. It's truly interesting. I won't say anything about you two liking each other, but I have to say this – your friendship is closer than anything I've ever seen. I certainly wouldn't go to such lengths for someone."

"We've been friends for a long time," Lillian replied softly. Still, she could sense what the Oracle was thinking – that Ash's actions often rested somewhere in the territory beyond friendship. It wasn't Cam or Laney, after all, who stuck by her side and ensured she knew they were there. They were too wrapped up in their own string of issues, which she didn't blame them for at all. Ash was wrapped up in perhaps more problems than any of them, and he still managed to make time to sympathize with Lillian and take care of her. I definitely need to do this. I want him to rely on me as much as I rely on him. "How can I get a hold of Dirk?"

The Oracle was surprised at the abrupt reply, smiling. "I have his cell phone number! I never call him, so he might think it's an emergency…but here you go!" Lillian accepted the cell phone thrust into her hands and watched as the Oracle deposited 500 G into the jar this time and took another cup of Labrador Lime. "Did you make this? It's really good."

"Laney did," Lillian replied with a grin.

"Impressive. Not the best name but since you're going with a domesticated animal theme I get it…a fair for children might be a better bet next time around, where you focus on wild animals. Lion Lime and such, you know? Cam made a good decision with a dog park, but it's definitely not the most popular park…hmm…I think I can pull some strings to make a lot of people interested, though."

Lillian, who had planned the entire festivity, winced in response. She's right. It's my fault that this is so lame. "I'll call right now!" she told the Oracle decisively, tapping on Dirk's name when she saw that it was already waiting for her on the phone's screen. The girl just smiled in reply as Lillian edged away, holding the phone eagerly to her ear.

"What is it?" Dirk's voice answered lazily on the other end.

Yes, he clearly thinks this is an emergency, Lillian thought to herself, rolling her eyes. However, she did not have time to dwell on her issues with Dirk any longer – she had already done her very best to ensure the fair would even come together. Now she had to do even more to make it a success. "It's me," she told him.

Several moments full of static made her wonder if she had been naïve enough to think that just because she easily recognized his voice he would recognize hers. He might just think this is the Oracle still and is waiting for her to explain herself, she fretted. Yet when that worry was about to be voiced, Dirk replied. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice lilting with carefully bridled concern.

"Nothing," she lied hurriedly. "I called to-"

"Just say it. What's wrong?"

Lillian let her eyes drop the ground, feeling shame rise up in her chest. "The fair isn't going so good. It's actually going pretty terribly. I don't know what to do. I really tried…"

"Me and her can fix it," Dirk answered easily enough. Lillian looked over her shoulder at the Oracle, who was inspecting the other cups of juice. "But you have to do something for me too."

"What?" Lillian snapped, her voice sharper than she had anticipated. If Dirk was going to ask her to do something, she really couldn't be too sure how terrible it would be. Surely it was something she would regret agreeing to in the future, though.

"What, did you think we were friends and I would just run in and save you? I'm not your boyfriend…though you do seem to be putting me in a situation he should be taking care of."

"I'm going to hang up now, okay?"

"Sorry," Dirk's voice sounded on the other line, thick with genuine remorse. "Just…do me a favor and pretend nothing has happened between us the past few weeks. Go back to treating me the way you used to…please."

The fists Lillian had clenched her hands into due to his earlier words uncurled themselves, her free hand hanging limply at her side. This was something Dirk had requested several different times, but had always been quick to retract. Now those words hung between them, separating them even further than the telephone line did. "I…" she drifted off, trying to pinpoint what she wanted to say. I don't want to do that, she told herself. It was all she was sure of in that instant. "I only called to apologize…I don't need your help if that's what you want."

He laughed on the other line, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. "You're really difficult, you know?" he replied. She pictured what he would do if was there – laugh in her face, flick her in the forehead once more. "I'll be there in a half hour. Think about what I said. I'm serious this time."

The phone clicked, and white noise filled her ear. Lillian pulled the cream colored phone from her ear, staring blankly at the black screen that greeted her. "What did he say?" the Oracle asked cheerfully. "Did he accept your apology?"

"No," Lillian mumbled, passing the phone over. "He said he'd be here in a half hour."

"What's wrong?" the Oracle asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Nothing. He can just do whatever he wants. It doesn't matter," Lillian retorted, her voice hot as she took her place behind the drink station once more, glaring out towards the stragglers drifting confusedly through the park. "I didn't ask for his help in the first place."

The Oracle stared at Lillian for a moment, brows furrowed in confusion and lips pursed. Finally she smiled, hugging her friend for a brief moment that still managed to surprise her. "I think I understand you some more today, Lillian! But I won't say what. You'll get mad at me." She winked, hopping around to the other side of the counter. "I'm going to go get things set up on my end. A deal is a deal! Prepare to see plenty more customers coming in."

Lillian watched her go, mirroring the girl's earlier confusion. Maybe she does understand me a little bit more, she figured, looking down at the multicolored juices untouched before her. But I don't think she understands as much as she thinks.


When a half hour had passed Ash returned to Lillian's side, looking around with a raised eyebrow. "Where's your friend?" he asked.

"She went to go get more customers or something," Lillian mumbled, staring at the Pomeranian Punch Laney had made. It does sound unappetizing, she thought with a grimace. I could have made it something with a more wild theme. Like Panther Punch, or Penguin Punch. Kids would have liked that. They don't even know how to say Pomeranian.

Ash watched her with a small smile, tapping her cheek. "What's wrong?" he asked, tapping the corner of her frown next. "That face isn't going to bring in customers."

Lillian's cheeks colored as she slapped his hand away. "Nothing's wrong."

"…Right."

Lillian wondered how she had managed to deceive him about her supplementary lessons for two weeks, considering he wore such a doubtful expression it would urge anyone to confess their secrets. "My conversation with Dirk didn't go very well, but he's still going to try to get customers too. I don't get him. At all."

"You really can't just be grateful, can you?"

Dirk stood before Lillian with a smug expression, holding a glass of Pomeranian Punch and extending 300 G. Behind him customers were trickling in; families with children who ran to the game booths, couples that migrated towards Mikhail's violin playing, random dog walkers dropping their pets off with Cam to explore. "How did you…?" she drifted off, smiling reluctantly as she held her hand out for the money. His fingertips brushed against her palm as he released the coins.

"The Oracle has her strange ways. I mostly helped out," he shrugged, turning his gaze towards Ash for a moment. "Don't you have a stand to run?"

"No," he replied firmly.

"Being president is a fantastic job."

"Dirk!" Lillian snapped. "You-"

"I need to talk to you." His answer was firm and immediate, silencing her impending words. His eyes were heavy when they held hers, and she frowned without knowing what to expect. "Can you give us a second?"

Ash glanced at Lillian, who didn't meet his eyes. She was too surprised by Dirk's words to even look over at her friend. Dirk's expression was more than victorious as Ash slipped his hands into his pockets, forcing himself to walk away. At the last minute Lillian realized what she had done, clapping her hands over her face in frustration. "What do you want?" she asked from between her fingers. "Is this supposed to be some apology?"

"No. I wanted to tell you that I meant what I said earlier." She peeled her hands from her face to see that Dirk was gazing straight into her eyes, completely serious. Not an ounce of amusement was wound into his set features. "Don't treat me so familiarly anymore."

"Why?" Lillian asked, her voice shaking. "And…I don't even get what you're saying. We haven't gotten any closer recently."

Dirk folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "You would never have attempted to call me or even speak so openly to me like this a few weeks ago. If you keep talking to me like this…all you're going to do is make things worse."

"Dirk," the Oracle sounded behind him, her voice dark. "That's not nice."

"It's the truth," he replied hotly, ignoring Lillian's stricken face. "If she wants Ash and I to buddy up and hang out again, then she should take a step back and realize all she's doing is making us hate each other even more. So, I did you a favor…do one for me too. Seriously. Leave me alone."

Lillian glanced at the Oracle, who was wearing a disapproving expression, and then looked off toward Ash, who was visible in the distance beside Cam. The harsh words she had spoken to Dirk the day before reiterated themselves in her head and she stared into the depths of a cup of Pomeranian Punch as she mumbled, "Fine." The thought of pretending that all this time she had spent with Dirk – Dirk, her childhood best friend, the boy she thought she had finally been patching up a relationship with – would go to waste hung heavily in her chest. The long breath she released after giving her reply stung. If that was what it took, however…if all she was doing was making things worse for him and Ash…

Dirk didn't bother replying to her. He nodded and then tossed his half-full cup into the trash can. Lillian listened to the punch slosh to the bottom of the wastebasket as he walked away. The Oracle looked between them both, finally saying, "I'm sorry Lillian, I've got to…"

"It's fine," Lillian muttered in reply. "Go ahead. He's your friend."

"Lillian…you're my friend too," the Oracle murmured, wearing a guilty expression. "I'm sorry…"

The Oracle waited for Lillian to say something else, but the brunette didn't have any more words to say. She simply nodded and then turned to a customer who approached with a plastered on smile, happily offering up a glass of Berry Bernard in exchange for his 300 G. The normally bubbly pink-haired girl watched, raising her hand and then letting it fall back to her side. "I mean it," she whispered. "You're my friend." But Lillian didn't hear these words, and Dirk was walking farther and farther away, so she spun around and hurried after him.

Georgia and Lillian sat together at lunch, waiting for their friends to join them. Cam and Mikhail had run off to find Laney, and Ash was in line, waiting to purchase his daily meal. The two girls were both locked in heavy thought, their feet tapping against the tiled floor.

"The fundraiser yesterday was pretty successful," Georgia noted. "I was impressed. You did a good job putting it together, and even though it was a slow start at first, we ended up making 60,000 G in one day. There were a lot of donations. But I'm not even sure what to start doing with that money. Money isn't going to fix our score right about now, anyways."

"Oh, right…it's zero," Lillian murmured, sighing as she slumped forward, resting her head heavily against the table. It was clear to all of her friends that she was in a less than peppy mood, but nobody had been able to find an exact answer. Of course Ash suspected he understood the cause, but found he lacked the courage to properly investigate. Sometimes people can only regret what they find out.

Georgia spun towards Lillian, making a face. "I wish the score was zero. Cam and Laney never told you? I have absolutely no clue what the idiots in our club did, but the buzzers docked us six points for it. I can't believe it! We're negative six points at the start of the semester and they're probably five points up! An eleven point difference is way too hard to overcome. We're screwed and the semester has barely started, let alone the entire year. If our club keeps doing whatever knocked us down in points…we'll never make up the difference."

"I'm sure it was a one-time thing," Cam's voice announced firmly as he sat down beside Lillian, glancing sideways towards her with a sympathetic expression. "Don't worry so much. We can make up the difference. We don't know for sure if they've been docked any points or not anyways…"

Lillian rose to her feet, collecting her things. "I've got to go take care of some errands. I'll meet up with you all during club block."

"Lillian…" Cam murmured, his voice gentle. "Don't worry about this too much. It's a difference that can be made up. Georgia is just getting overworked."

Georgia scoffed at this, but Lillian merely smiled and then walked away, hurrying out the door of the cafeteria. Guilt stung at her. Not only had they lost the competition and had to rely on further help from Konohana to make their first fundraiser successful, now she knew the club had been docked because of her actions, just as Mikhail had warned. Her footsteps quickened until she was nearly running down the hall, rushing away from the cafeteria until she rounded a corner and slammed into a body, falling roughly back and off her feet.

"Lillian!" Hiro cried out, lurching forward to heave her to her feet. "I'm terribly sorry, I should have watched where I was going…"

"No, it's my fault," she answered, hurriedly grabbing her things and leaning forward, allowing her hair to shield her face. "Don't worry about it! Thanks for helping me up."

Hiro frowned as her voice quivered, tilting his head to the side to try and catch her eyes. "Are you…crying?" he asked, wincing.

A half-hearted chuckle left Lillian's lips as she straightened up and faced him, her eyes streaked with tears. "I made a mess of my club and hurt my friends. And I didn't even talk to Dirk about being nicer to you! I'm sorry, Hiro. I really need to try harder. Right now…I'm just making more and more mistakes and letting other people fix them for me. Really…I'm sorry."

Hiro watched, his expression miserably sympathetic as he watched her wipe at her eyes. "Lillian…" he murmured, hesitating before each word. Lillian, who was usually optimistic and full of joy, was crying and admitting defeat. It was a tough notion to absorb. He pulled a tissue from his pocket, hurriedly offering it up. "Do you…want to talk about it?"

Lillian mumbled a thanks as she carefully dabbed at her eyes, struggling to maintain a forced smile and stop the flow of tears that slid down her cheeks. "It's fine, really. I've just done so many things wrong…starting with becoming vice president when there are so many other people better at it. I put my club in a troubled position, I lied to my best friends, I didn't properly plan the fundraiser, I had to rely on the same people who my reliance on caused points to be docked from my score before to save me, and…and I can't even make my friends happy. All I do is…I don't know," she admitted, tossing her hands up into the air with a wave of sudden frustration. "I don't know what I do, but it's not working out. I've managed to upset everyone, it seems, or at least made them suspicious or frustrated or confused ever since I moved back here. I wanted things to go back to how they were before but that was just so naïve."

It was a lot to take in, but Hiro followed well and pulled her into a hug when she finished speaking. "It's not naïve to want all of your friends to get along and to get along with them," he murmured, sympathetically patting her shoulder. "You're a good vice president. You had some problems with the first fundraiser, but it was only the first. You learned your lesson for the next ones, right? So there's nothing to worry about. How many points was your club docked?"

"Six," she mumbled, resting her head against his shoulder as she continued to wipe her eyes. Unfamiliar students passed by, shooting puzzled looks over their shoulders at her.

"So you started off negative six…well, you might think you're incredibly behind right now, but my club was docked even more points than yours – we were docked seven, actually. Someone found out that we were assisting the enemy club and ensuring that they had a successful run. So we're starting off in the negatives too – negative two points exactly, in fact. So you're only four points behind. If your club manages to beat ours in the next competition, you're in the lead."

Lillian pulled away, wearing a stunned expression. "You were docked points…because of me?"

"Don't feel guilty!" Hiro told her quickly, waving his hands frantically before her. "We're not upset. Dirk said he understood perfectly why he was docked points and he didn't blame whoever did it. He knew he would probably be docked points when he started helping you out, and so did the Oracle. So did I. I think friendship is a little more important than these silly scores when all is said and done, right?"

Georgia would have screamed at this suggestion – even Ash, who didn't seem to particularly care about the clubs, would have scoffed. But Lillian smiled, relieved to find someone who was able to see the larger picture. "Thanks, Hiro," she murmured, taking a deep breath and tucking the tissue into her pocket, right beside her map. "I'm sorry I caused your group to be docked points but…thank you for helping me out anyways, and thank you for helping me out now. You know…you're really nice."

He grinned, looking incredibly relieved to see a genuine expression on her face. "Thank you. And…you're welcome. And don't worry about the thing with Dirk. I took the blame for Reina knowing fully well that he would be angry with me. When he's ready to forgive me, he will. I have no doubt that that time will come. You should head back to the cafeteria and spend time with your friends – I've got to get back to the kitchen with these."

Hiro heaved a bag of potatoes he had rested against the lockers during their run-in back onto his shoulder. Lillian waved him off, calling one last thank you after his turned back. She did not head back to the lunchroom, however. She leaned against the wall outside her classroom, staring blankly at the silver sheen of the freshly washed lockers before her.

Did Dirk tell me he didn't want to talk anymore because of this? She wondered. He had to have known how many points his club was docked – they had been posted earlier in the day, and if Lillian hadn't been walking around in such a haze she knew she would have known too. Is he angry at me for making his club lose so many points when they had just won? She had to admit that it made sense. Dirk didn't seem to see anything wrong with the rivalry – when it pitted him against Ash he seemed to enjoy it, even. The brunette tapped her foot against the floor, sighing. The rivalry didn't mean much to her, but her friends…the look of disappointment on their faces when they had lost and when they looked around at Lillian's pathetic exaction of a plan she had worked on with all of them only to butcher made it clear that they wanted to win. So I want to win too, she decided, slamming her fist onto her upturned palm. I'm going to win the next competition and get us out of the negatives before them no matter what.


"Lillian?" the Oracle asked cautiously when she saw her friend staring blankly out the window. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Hmm? I'm fine," Lillian answered, not bothering to look away from the window. She was resting her head against her hand, gazing dully at a group of birds that flew in a V formation across the bright sky. Dirk glanced back at her, but turned to his desk without lingering on her clearly dejected form.

The Oracle wasn't believing a word of it. "I saw you leave the cafeteria today looking rather upset. Are you sure something didn't happen? Your fundraiser went well, right? Are your friends mad at you? Is it…?"

"Nothing," Lillian answered firmly, setting her hands atop her desk. She smiled at her friend, hurriedly shaking her head. She wanted to be bitter towards Konohana like so many members of Bluebell were, but she knew she didn't have it in her the moment she looked at the Oracle. I can't stop talking to her, or anyone else on the Konohana team. Her eyes drifted towards Dirk's turned back for a moment and she frowned. Except for him. I just have to make sure I don't help them when it comes to club matters or go to them for help again. "The fundraiser went great, thanks. Nothing bad has happened, I was just in a hurry when I left earlier. Really…don't worry about it."

Kana frowned, but it was his turn, apparently, to rescue Lillian rather than the other way around. He turned and asked about their project, which each was supposed to be finalizing their part on to turn in at the end of the week. Lillian launched gratefully into this discussion, cheerfully detailing her part of the assignment. The Oracle glanced towards Dirk, who was watching the brunette from the corner of his eye, grimacing.

"It could be you that's making her so upset, you know," the Oracle mumbled when she leaned towards him, wearing a freshly disapproving expression. "She was really upset when you left. You probably hurt her feelings. All she wanted to do was be your friend."

"She would have wanted more after that," Dirk replied, shrugging. "She would have wanted me to be friends with her friends – to be friends with Ash. 'Just like the good old days.' And I can't do that." He looked at Lillian once more and then murmured, "Even for her."

The Oracle leaned away, stunned as she watched him begin to write without another word. She murmured, "Dirk…" but he did not reply. Nobody seemed to see her shock. In the same way, she realized with a soft groan, she could not see what they were going through for the first time she could remember.