(Unless otherwise specified the story will be in third-person point of view)


Lillian's P.O.V.

The next Monday I sat in Konohana's tea house with Nori, Eileen and Reina. I didn't get a chance to cross the mountain too often especially with Eileen. I ensured that I got my work done early so I could hang out with the girls.

"What can I get you girls?" The elderly owner asked.

"Egg rice ma'am." Eileen spoke first.

"Mixed rice please." Nori requested politely.

"Tofu salad Yun." Said Reina.

I thought for a moment as the woman turned to me. "Kitsune Udon sounds interesting. I'd like to try that." I smiled at her.

"I'll bring your order out when it's ready." We thanked her before she left for the kitchen.

I sat there peacefully sipping my tea. I felt eyes staring. "You're skin looks lovely today Lillian." Nori said.

"Thank you." I said with a laugh, unsure of what brought that on. I wasn't against a random compliment but it just felt a little out of the blue.

"Did you use a mud mask recently?" Eileen said wryly. I coughed on the tea I had started to swallow.

"Who told you?" I asked, brows knit the Konohana girls looked at us, clearly confused.

"Howard naturally." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Howard was the biggest blabbermouth I've ever known, making the ever talkative Dirk seem reserved. And as well meaning as Howard's openness seemed to be he seemed to lack a filter for the most part.

"What happened?" Reina questioned.

"Yes tell us." Nori pleaded much more innocently then Reina seemed.

"Nothing." I said hoping to stop the questioning. "I slipped and fell in the rain." The carpenter snickered.

"That' not what I heard." Eileen said in a sing-song tone that was grating to listen to. The other two looked on expectedly.

"I won't tell it." I muttered, refusing to partake in the gossip.

"I will then." She said quickly. "So, Howard told me that Cam came home covered in mud without his hat. And this is after he spent the day with missy here." She pointed at me with her thumb.

"You spent the day with him?" Reina asked.

"What's so wrong with that?" I asked more defensively than I intended.

"I must agree with Reina. Why are you hanging out with him?" Nori added, her voice as sweet as it usually was. The judgement, though less obvious than Reina's, was still there.

"Why not?" As much as I could tell Cam seemed like a very likable and sweet person, very similar to Vaughn.

"Well it's just . . ." Nori started, unable allow herself to be outright rude.

"He's anti-social, rude, and just seems boring." Reina said, saying what Nori was thinking.

"I agree, somewhat." Eileen chimed, not quite sharing the same distaste as the others.

"You guys make it sound like he's some huge jerk." I didn't get it. Every time we talked he didn't come off as boring or rude.

"Well he isn't exactly a jerk but he doesn't really like anyone other than Ash, Laney, and Howard." Eileen said.

"Yeah. He's never super social at gatherings, if he even comes. And if he does decide to talk things always get awkward and he walks away." The botanist added.

"He's not like that with me." I thought aloud. "I mean he's moody sometimes but generally he's polite. I don't think he's rude per-say, he's just shy and awkward." I shrugged, finishing off my oolong tea.

"Why are you so . . . good at dealing with him?" I looked over at a curious Nori, who looked at me from under her thick lashes.

"Well he's kinda like my friend, Vaughn. It took a long time for him to warm up to others but eventually my friend Chelsea got through, and to a lesser extent I did too. He's really reserved and awkward around people but he's such a good guy." I remembered how cold he was when he first came to the islands and how determined Chelsea was to become friends. "When Cam helped me home the first night we met I could see he was trying and I wanted to make as many friends as possible." I smiled and continued. "Vaughn was the same way and we became great friends eventually." I stopped when Yun came over to serve us our food.

"Enjoy girls." She bowed slightly and we thanked her before I continued.

"As far as the mud goes," I thought about what exactly I wanted to share. "I fell in a large mud puddle, then he laughed. I thought I'd let him see how funny it was first hand." I decided to keep the time in the field to myself. "A bit childish I'll admit but his laughter was uncalled for." I ate a large mouthful of my udon, the spice stung my tongue and sent a warm sensation through my body.

"He laughed?" Eileen asked, surprised. "Well, I'll be damned." She smirked and started to eat.

"So how's mission Dirk going?" I asked Nori, desperately trying to change the topic again. This made the young woman flush and turn her attention the bowl below her.

"Not well. I was hoping he'd ask me out at the festival but I had no such luck." She sighed, sounding defeated.

"Why not ask him out?" I suggested.

"I could never do that." She gasped, her cheeks becoming a vibrant pink.

"My Nori is a delicate little cherry blossom, such a stressful situation would be bad for her health." Reina hugged the woman protectively. "Besides Dirk should-"

"Speaking of the festival," Eileen interjected, knowing Reina would rant for a while. "What was with that dance with Ash?" I groaned, I didn't like talking about me.

"Can't talk; eating." I stuffed more food in my mouth.

"Aww come on, you can tell us." I shook my head 'no'. "Fine." The carpenter pouted. She turned her attention back to Nori's issue. "I think I have an idea."

"What's that?" She asked, face still pink.

"Your birthday." Eileen grinned. "We tell him you just wanted a small gathering with friends, but we ask him to come an hour or two early, and presto alone time."

"Eileen! That's deceitful."

"Besides," I chimed in. ", he could just leave and come back later." I watched Nori pick at her food delicately. "It'll happen soon enough. You can't force these things." Nori gave me a grateful smile as I spoke.


Before I left Konohana I had one last thing I needed to get Yun to cook one last thing; doria. It was a difficult ride back to Bluebell since I didn't want to spill the food. It made Duke move slowly, as I held the reigns with one hand. Instead of heading home I went to Jessica's to see if Ash was there. No luck, so I decided to swing by the café hoping that's where he'd be. I didn't want to leave the gift at his home because I wanted him to eat it while it was still warm. Besides, who wants to miss the look of surprise on a friends face?

"Hi Lillian!" Howard greeted from his counter when I entered the café. "Cam isn't here today."

"Hello Howard." I said dryly not amused by the joke. "I'm looking for someone else." I turned to my right to see Ash sitting with Laney. "There you are!" I rushed over to the table and took a seat.

"Lillian, what do you need?" Laney asked.

"I came by to give the birthday boy his gift." I smiled at Ash. "Here." I shoved the dish so it now sat in front of him.

"Thank you." He avoided eye contact with me but still smiled politely. "May I ask what it is?"

"Doria. A little birdie told me it was your favorite." I could see happiness wash over his face.

"Did you make this for me?"

"Sadly I'm a terrible chef, so to avoid giving you food poisoning I had Yun make an extra special batch just for you." He laughed and opened the box's lid to take a whiff.

"It smells delicious. Thank you again."

"Any time." I gave him a hug. "I have to go and get back to work now. But I hope to see you again soon." I pulled away from the hug and saw Laney glaring at me. I did my best to ignore it.

"I'd like that. Let me know when you're free." Part of me could tell that it was just him being polite.

"I will." I waved goodbye and went over to my horse. As I left the main part of town I remembered something that was sitting in my rucksack. Immediately I turned Duke around and headed back to the café.


Cam's P.O.V.

I returned home from the city later than I anticipated. It was close to midnight when I got back to Howard's. It was too late to give Ash his present tonight. I entered my room as quietly as possible, trying to not wake Laney or Howard, and flicked the lights on. Sitting on my bed I spotted my purple hat and a note. I picked up the folded piece of paper and read the small handwriting.

"Sorry it took so long to get this back to you. I wanted to make sure it was as clean as possible before I returned it. I kept it by a bouquet of wildflowers while it dried so it would smell good when you got it back.

-Lillian"

I lifted up the hat and sniffed it. Lavender. I smiled a little and tossed the hat on my dresser.