Author's Note: Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to leave feedback on my story. Your words are terribly encouraging, and they mean so much to me! I do take your comments as a chance to improve my writing as well, so thank you once again! Without further ado, there's the next chapter!

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Claire walked nervously into town, gripping the handle of her axe in both hands. Her hands were sore from holding the tool; she had been chopping wood well into the night until it was too dark to see. Karen, who was on her way to the spring, caught sight of her and waved.

"You look like a woman on a mission," Karen's eyes pored over her friend. The farmer looked, in a word, ragged. Claire had bags under her eyes, her cheeks were still rosy with exertion, and her pale locks were disheveled. It was likely the blonde had been taking advice from the book she got at the library a few days ago and had started some big projects on her property. The brunette pantomimed swinging an invisible axe with a giggle. "You also look kind of scary carrying that thing around."

Claire realized she probably looked like an axe murderer in a horror film and laughed; she shifted the tool so that it rested on her shoulder and she found it was much more comfortable. Her arms ached. "My axe is pretty dull," she explained, "I'm going to get it sharpened."

Karen looked over at the forge. "Ah, I see why you look so anxious now," she smirked. The old blacksmith wasn't exactly known for his cordial behavior, especially around the younger generation. "Saibara doesn't bite; I promise."

"He's not the one I'm worried about," Claire frowned.

The young woman wondered if the farmer was afraid the apprentice would make a snarky remark or ignore her completely. Karen had a feeling that this second reason was more likely her friend's fear. As far as she was concerned, Claire worried far too much about what Gray thought of her. "Ah, I see. You'll be fine," Karen laughed it off, patting her arm as she headed off to her destination.

Claire recalled the first time she had visited the smithy; it was the first day she moved into town. The handsome young man quickly stole her heart despite the fact that he had been in a bad mood that day and had taken it out on her. She had surprised herself when she stood her ground instead of getting upset and fleeing from the shop. Perhaps it was the way Gray was trying so hard to get his grandfather's approval that her heart went out to him.

Since then, she had visited him regularly at his room at the inn. She had forgotten about her debate over whether or not it was proper for her to call on a young man by herself in the evenings. Claire tried her best to visit only when she knew Gray would be alone, but when his roommate happened to be there as well, she exchanged a few words with Cliff about her farm in lieu of a gift. The brunette would give her a polite smile; he seemed satisfied enough with a few moments of her company, however short and formal the young woman forced the conversation into being. After all, Claire reminded herself, she didn't want to give Gray the wrong idea.

Claire had only visited Gray a few times at work after that fateful day when he not-so-subtly asked her to leave the shop and mind her own business. He had apologized to her a couple of times after the incident, but she quickly saw that Saibara was a trigger for his angry outbursts. Gray still seemed a bit embarrassed about their initial meeting; he didn't talk to her much while he worked. Claire was content watching his strong arms swing his hammer for a few minutes while she talked with Saibara, not really listening to the words the old man was saying. She noticed that when he saw that she had her eyes on him, he picked up his pace and swung harder. The young woman blushed at the very thought.

She was standing in front of the door to the forge. She slowed down her breathing and stepped inside.

Claire was immediately greeted by the scent of smoldering metal and oil; it was the fragrance she associated with Gray. The apprentice was in his usual spot, tending to the forge.

"Good morning," the old man greeted her, not impolitely. He had picked up on the young woman's behavior when she came to shop, and, quite frankly, he was a little disgusted that she didn't seem all that interested in what he had to sell, especially considering she was the one in town who would benefit the most from his wares. Today she seemed to have a different demeanor, he noticed.

The farmer set her axe on the counter.

"Looks very dull," Saibara commented without even picking it up to inspect it.

Claire nodded. "It's not really doing much anymore."

"Well, you can't work well without good tools," Saibara replied. He looked at the blade; it had definitely seen better days. "You must be cleaning up the farm."

"Yes." Claire noticed the old man rarely had any sort of expression on his face, and she was hesitant to say anything more than she needed to. She didn't feel that it was necessary to explain the techniques that the library book had suggested; she needed to clear more land to create some of the plots the book described.

"I can have it ready by tomorrow," he replied, taking the axe and propping it against the wall. "I'll sharpen it for you for free today, but if you bring me some ore next time, I can make it last longer for you. Gray will drop it by your farm tomorrow morning."

"Thank you very much," she bowed her head; she was surprised the old blacksmith would go out of his way to do anything for her. But there was another reason why she came to the shop; she had seen an advertisement in her mailbox for the livestock products the old man sold. "I also came to make a purchase."

"Oh?" Maybe Saibara had been wrong about Claire after all.

Claire hesitated; she had an honest interest in buying a product, but she had also hoped to garner a particular young apprentice's attention. "Yes. I was given a horse recently…"

Gray whirled around from the forge, suddenly very interested. "Was it the colt that Barley had? He wasn't doing too well."

Claire nodded. "Barley put him into my care. I want to give him extra attention, and I was told you might have some grooming tools."

"That we do," Saibara produced a comb and set it on the counter.

"Thank you," Claire handed him her money. She picked up the comb and looked at it curiously; it didn't seem to really have bristles…

"W-why don't I come to your farm and show you how to use it?" Gray's sudden voice startled the young woman. The old man gave his grandson a nod of approval.

"A-alright," Claire could feel the color creeping into her cheeks. The best she had been hoping for was an interested glance from Gray at the mention of the horse, but she wasn't about to complain about this fortunate turn of events.

Gray swiftly removed his work gloves, and in a flurry of movements he grabbed a couple of items from a drawer, threw them in a paper sack, and opened the door for Claire.

It was a short and silent walk to the farm. Claire wasn't quite sure what to say. She knew that the young man liked horses, but she found she was nervous about actually starting a conversation on them; she had next to no knowledge on caring for the creatures. Koro saw the pair approaching the farm and began to run up to greet Claire, but the puppy shied away when he saw the stranger.

"Koro, you're such a goof!" The young woman laughed at her dog. "Sorry, Gray, don't take it personally."

The blacksmith shrugged; he knew that his cold manner put a lot of people off, and it looked like the dog wasn't an exception to this, either. He wasn't particularly fond of dogs, anyway, and didn't take offense to this at all. "I heard what he did to Thomas, so I'll take what he just did as a compliment."

The farmer turned a bright shade of red. "Well, I'll take you to the stable."

"Yeah, let's see the little guy." His voice wasn't as gruff as it usually was and his steps sounded less like stomps as he followed her.

Claire opened the door and Tucker looked up at them. Gray's eyes immediately softened as he walked up and stroked the colt's back, exhaling deeply. "Ah, he looks much better already… You've been taking good care of him."

"Th-thank you," Claire reddened; he had a much different demeanor around the horse than he did around his grandfather.

Gray studied the horse's face and brushed the brown forelocks out of the creature's eyes as he let out a sigh. He was no stranger to horses, but he was always left breathless at how majestic and beautiful the creatures were, even at a young age. "What do you call him?"

Claire saw the apprentice's facial expressions and her heart raced. If only he would look at her like that someday… Perhaps this horse could be the catalyst for such a dream to come true. "Tucker."

The blacksmith smiled warmly at the horse, and his voice was gentle. "Tucker… I like it; it's a good name." He studied the colt for a few moments, running his calloused hands along the animal's back with a tenderness the farmer had never seen before. He turned back toward Claire and held out his hand. "Give me the brush; I'll show you how to use it. Let's just do the basics today."

"O-okay." For a brief moment, she thought he wanted her to take his hand; her heart hammered in her chest. Claire blushed as she handed him her purchase from Saibara.

"This is called a curry comb," Gray explained. He began making circular motions with the brush and clouds of dust puffed up. He smiled. "Looks like he needs it. Watch out for his sensitive areas or he might nip or kick," Gray motioned with his free hand and was pleased to see Claire was watching with great interest. "You're going to use it to break up dried sweat and dirt." Gray unstrapped the brush from his hand and gave it back to the farmer. "Now you try."

"Alright." She began to imitate the motions she saw Gray use. The young woman wanted to show the apprentice that she loved the horse as well and could be a responsible, hard worker when it came to livestock.

"You have to press harder," he instructed.

She was taken aback; surely gentleness was the key. She had seen the kind motions Gray used on Tucker and wanted to be able to replicate them. "B-but I don't want to hurt him…"

Gray sighed; despite her interest, the farmer had much to learn. "Here… Feel the pressure I'm using." He covered Claire's hand with his own and guided the brush. "See? You're not hurting him."

Even though she knew that he was simply instructing her, Claire found that she had to focus the most on keeping her breathing steady; she was so happy she could hardly stand it. The young man's hand was a little rougher than she imagined it in her mind, and it wasn't quite as warm, but it was real.

The apprentice caught the look on the blonde's face and swiftly he removed his hand from hers. "There. You have a feel for it now. Give it a try yourself." The young man folded his arms and watched her, his face reddening a bit.

Claire debated about whether or not to brush lightly on purpose in the hopes of getting another lesson. She quickly shook the idea out of her head and brushed the horse the way she was instructed; she wanted to impress him.

"Good. Next we have a body brush," Gray took another brush out of his paper sack and gave it to Claire. "Use it to brush off the loose hair and dirt; this one's easy."

The farmer brushed Tucker and could tell he was enjoying it; she grinned. "I'm going to have the prettiest horse in Mineral Town," She ventured, quickly focusing her ears on any comment the apprentice may make in response to this statement.

Claire wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she didn't get any sort of vocal reply. She looked back over at the young man, though, and he had a genuine smile on his face as he gazed into Tucker's eyes.

They combed out the colt's mane and tail, and Gray rolled his eyes and grinned when Claire began french braiding the horse's mane.

"One more thing," Gray pulled a metal hook from the bag. "You'll need to clean his hooves regularly." He briefly demonstrated the hoof pick to Claire and let her practice on a couple of hooves. "Once he needs to get shod, take him over to Barley's. I'll come over to pull and reset him. He'll need it done regularly."

"Alright." Claire was slowly realizing what a responsibility Barley had placed on her when he brought Tucker to her farm. She would probably need to borrow a book on horse care as well. She was reminded for the millionth time how overwhelming managing a farm all by herself was proving to be.

Gray noticed Claire's expression. "Everything will be fine," he reassured her, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder. She was trying, and he could appreciate that. Gray could see why his roommate had mentioned the blonde farmer several times in the past few days; she was pretty inspiring, whether she realized it or not. After all, she was just a clumsy city girl attempting to revive a massive piece of overgrown property, but she was still attempting to make it work. The apprentice supposed he needed to keep trying, too, with his job… "I'll stop by and remind you if it's been too long, okay?"

Her heart leapt at his touch. "Okay… Thank you for all of your help, Gray." Claire was grateful.

He tugged on the bill of his hat. "I'll come back over to help you train him a bit if you like. It will be a while before he's big enough to ride, but he needs to get used to being around you and learn some vocal commands well before you get into the saddle."

"Oh, I would really appreciate that!" She replied a little too quickly. Claire wanted to say he could come over every day if he wanted to, but she stopped herself.

"You can keep the brush and hoof pick. Consider it a welcoming gift," Gray shrugged, but his cheeks had a hint of color to them. He didn't want to come across as too desperate about wanting to spend time in the stable.

Claire turned a bright shade of red in response. She had just gone in to town to sharpen her axe and buy a brush, but the afternoon had already gone much better than she could have ever hoped for. "Th-thank you."

"Okay… See you, Claire." His eyes were focused on the colt as he left.

"Bye…"

He left the stable and headed back to work. Claire spent the next few minutes stroking Tucker's back, reliving the last hour or so in her mind. She snapped back to reality and silently cursed herself for not seeing Gray to the exit of the farm.

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Author's Note: I've been told in the past that I've channeled a bit of the N64 character personas into my Mineral Town folks. I always liked the idea of Gray living and working at the ranch, and I felt that his blacksmithing apprenticeship was a natural way for him to get to spend some time with the horses.

Side note: I went to a summer camp for a couple of summers as a teenager, learning, caring for, and riding horses. Awesome experience.