A/N: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters. Now that that's over with…There's just ONE chapter left everyone!!! One more after this and it's over! T^T
Amy ran through the cold air to her barn, her breath showing in front of her face in small puffs. She smiled when her cows each mooed in greeting, and patted them softly. Pulling her jacket tighter around her, she set to work.
After placing the last milk container in the shipping bin Amy looked up and blinked. Green sparkles symbolizing the appearance of a sprite were shimmering, and one quickly bounced in front of her, grinning and thanking Amy over and over. Amy just smiled and told him it was no trouble, and finally he left. Feeling rather proud of herself, Amy turned to leave, then suddenly turned back. There was more shimmering. Amy's eyes widened incredulously as the Harvest Goddess herself appeared.
"Dum-da-da-dah!! Thank you so much Amy! Come to the Spring sometime and make me an offering!" And with that, she gave one quick wink and left in a shower of sparkles.(Am I the only one who finds her return a bit rude? I mean I work my butt off to save her from another frickin' world, and she's just like "Oh hey thanks, now come and gimmee stuff!" WTH) Amy was silent for a moment, unsure of how to react, then she slowly smiled.
"YES! I did it!" she startled her cow by throwing her arms around her neck, and ran off into the valley(Never to be seen again. O_O I'll shut up now.), smiling and humming as she did. The cold still affected her however, so she quickly ran into the Inner Inn.
Immediately upon entering, Amy was greeted by Ruby. "Why hello. You came at a good time Amy." Ah jeez, I know what that means… "We just got a note from that thief."
"What a surprise…" Amy muttered.
"S'cuse me?" Ruby said.
"Oh nothing." Amy replied quickly. Suddenly Rock stormed in.
"A note from the thief?!" he yelled. He was quickly followed by Nami.
"Ruby! I heard you got a note from that thief!"
"Calm down" Ruby said, seeming amused by their frenzy. "Here's what it says." She picked up a small piece of paper "'I'm to waltz into the Inner Inn at 12 midnight. With love, Phantom Skye' Waltz huh? Sounds like a mighty bold thief." Oh you have no idea. Amy nearly said that out loud, but was able to hold it in.
Nami spoke then "Ruby, you're being way too casual about this!"
Rock immediately agreed "Yeah! I mean this is a thief we're dealing with! I say it's the perfect chance to catch him and get famous!" Amy and Nami both rolled their eyes.
"That's not what I meant."
"Maybe you're right." Ruby finally said "But how are we supposed to catch him?"
"We'll help you!" Rock said, surprising Amy. Well, I always thought of him as a lazy jerk. But I guess he's not such a bad guy. "And Amy just walked in!" … "You'll help us too, right Amy?" Bad guy, bad guy, bad guy…!
With a mental sigh, Amy agreed. "Of course."
Ruby smiled. "Will you sweetie? That means a lot to us."
"Okay. But do you think we should ask anyone else?" Rock asked, also smiling.
"A plan seems like it would be useful for this sort of thing." (Well duh. -_-)Nami said.
"Yeah. We've got until midnight, so let's come up with a good one." Ruby replied.
"That makes sense. Better take our time and mull this over." Rock said, exiting the Inn.
"Yes. Let's remember to think(…No shit Sherlock. Sorry! I'm done!)"Nami said, doing the same. Ruby nodded once to herself.
"And Amy? I hope you can make it here sometime between 10 and 12 tonight." Amy nodded.
"Sure.
By the time it Amy had arrived at the Inn that night, she could swear she had thought of a million different ideas to save Skye…but none of them seemed like they could work. In the end, she just decided to rely on her instincts, and use whatever means possible to keep him safe. With a sigh, Amy entered the Inn.
Amy looked around but saw no one. "Hello?" she called uncertainly. Suddenly she whipped her head around, hearing a shout from outside.
"It's the thief! It's Phantom Skye!"
Amy's heart missed a beat. No…
She immediately began sprinting outside, barely paying attention to anything but getting to where Skye was, so she accidentally ran headfirst into someone. They both stumbled, but the mystery person caught her and held them both up. "Owowow…" Amy muttered before looking up. Her eyes widened. "Skye!"
Skye looked down at her for a moment before saying "Hehe. I don't have much time tonight. Could you sort of look the other way?" Though his voice was as smooth as ever, Amy could see the worry playing on his face(Was my grammar right there???).
Amy blinked and automatically answered "I never saw you." Skye gazed down at her in surprise.
"Really? You'll cover for me? For a thief?" Amy smiled and nodded. Tears were threatening however. What if I never see him again…? She blinked in surprise when he blushed slightly. "Hehe. Much thanks, Amy. You are glowing with a vibrant beauty on this night." Amy blushed herself, laughing a bit.
"Once a flirt always a flirt." He smiled and then pulled her for a tight hug. Amy swallowed the tears that were now brimming close the surface, and hugged him back. They stood there for a moment before he pulled away, jogging past her. She watched him go, and blinked when he paused just a few feet away from her. He turned back to look at her, his eyes almost glowing in the darkness. He set his shoulders in a way as though he'd made a descision, and ran back to her. Before Amy could say anything, he took her by the arms, leaned down, and kissed her full on the mouth. Amy's eyes went wide for a moment, then she closed them and pressed upward, knowing this was a goodbye. At least for now. He quickly pulled her in for another hug. I want to run with him but…I can't…I have to stay here. I have a life here…But maybe one day he'll come back. He might not stay but…I'll make sure that by then I'm ready to leave if we have to.
Skye leaned his forehead against hers, kissed her one more time, and ran back down the path, vanishing into the darkness. Amy realized then that the tears had spilled over, and she quickly rubbed her face on her jacket as she heard the villagers running up behind her.
"Amy!" someone called, and she turned around, her eyebrows raising when she saw how many people were there. Ruby was in the front of everyone. "Vesta, Marlin, and Celia even came to help with the ambush! And then…"
"Phantom Skye slipped right by us!" Rock finished angrily for her. Amy repressed a smile, proud that Skye was so clever.
"We think he went this way. Uh…Did he?" Nami asked. Amy immediately shook her head.
"You didn't see him?" Rock said glumly.
"That thief's awfully slick…"Marlin muttered, and Amy tried not to smile again.
"But he couldn't have gotten too far." Celia said, her gaze full of questions and steady on Amy. She gave a slight gesture that meant she'd tell her later.
"Well maybe he went on over there!" Vesta said, deliberately leading everyone away from Amy. Rock nodded and the group headed off in that direction. Celia glanced back worriedly at Amy, who gave her a tired smile.
Amy ran to the Goddess Spring, and waited. For hours. But Skye never showed up. He's really gone…she realized.
No tears came. No emotion seemed able to reach Amy at that moment. In fact, everything inside her locked down, and she could feel the sleep-like state from the beginning of all of this rising like a wave from the ocean.
She sank into it gratefully.