I got this idea randomly when Kurt gave me an aquamarine brooch on the day of the Cow Festival. The idea of him giving an aquamarine brooch to Nala and her totally clueless to why slowly grew into this story. I get so many ideas from the smallest things that happen in MM, it's scary.
Disclaimer: I own Harvest Moon as much as I own a million dollars. All the same, I still wish I owned them...
"Ugh, just five more minutes…"
The newest rancher to Flowerbud Village, Nala, moaned as she lay in bed. She pulled the covers over her head, not in the mood to wake up. She still hadn't gotten used to the fact she had to wake up so early every morning.
Her puppy, Simba, frowned as he tried to awaken his master. He stood on top of her bed and barked loudly to try and awaken Nala, as he had done many times before.
With nothing still working, the brown puppy walked over to Nala's head and pulled back the covers with his mouth. He then proceeded to lick her face repeatedly.
"Gah!" Nala shouted, and sat up with a start. She glared at Simba, who grinned innocently.
Frowning in defeat, the rancher got out of bed, rubbing the dog slobber off of her cheek. She turned on the television to see what the weather was and then rummaged through the fridge, looking for something to eat.
She began to pull out a green herb, when she blinked and shook her head. She returned to the herb to its place in the fridge and closed the door.
"That's right, today's the Cow Festival," Nala reminded herself. "I won't have the chance to give Kurt some herb tea."
Ever since learning at the Spring Horse Race Kurt liked to drink her tea, she had been giving him some every day. Kurt was probably her best guy friend in Flowerbud, so she thought it was a good idea.
She shook her head and then went to her dresser, pulling out her daily wear. She slipped on the dark green shirt and the black overalls, and quickly ran a brush through her dirty blonde hair.
"Well, I'm off to the Cow Festival!" Nala said to Simba, petting him on the head before standing up and walking towards the door. "Bye, Simba!"
The girl pushed open the door, only to jump back in surprise. Kurt was standing outside, looking a little bashful.
"Oh, hi Kurt!" Nala greeted, still a little surprised by Kurt's unexpected visit. "I was just on my way to the Cow Festival."
"Yeah, me too," Kurt said. "But, I made this the other day…I think it turned out pretty good. It's for you. Here."
Nala gasped in surprise at the gift Kurt handed her. It was an aquamarine brooch, probably not easy to make either.
"Wow, Kurt! It's…it's…beautiful!" Nala said, awe and appreciation obvious in her voice. "Thank you! But, um…why are you giving me this?"
"Oh, um…I shouldn't really say…" Kurt mumbled, his cheeks turning a little red. He seemed a bit flustered.
"Oh…well, um, thank you," Nala said, blushing a little now too. "I'll…see you at the festival, then."
She watched Kurt go off, still a little bit flustered looking. She blinked and stared at the brooch in her hands.
'What was that about? I mean…surely not…'
Nala stared at the brooch for a moment more, before walking back inside the house. She thought about putting it on her dresser, so she could see it, but then decided to wear it to the festival. It would look nice, and perhaps Kurt would be happy she had liked it.
"That was very nice of Kurt to do," Nala said to Simba, fumbling with the brooch as she tried to put it on. "I guess it's because we're such good friends."
She turned to look at Simba and crossed her arms. He seemed to be laughing at her previous words, giving her an amused look.
"What? I don't see what's so funny!" Nala said, glaring at Simba. "What I said was true!"
She shook her head and headed to the door again. "Well, I'm going now…again. Don't get into any trouble, Simba!"
She shut the door, leaving Simba alone. He shook his head, a humorous look glowing in his eyes. His master was so clueless…
Nala bounded into Rose Square, grinning as she looked around at the cows that were going to be entered in the competition. She herself didn't have a cow, so she couldn't enter, but it was still fun to come and watch the competition.
"Hi, Nala!"
Nala turned her head to see her friend, Ellen, waving at her over a ways. She smiled and walked over to her friend.
"Hey, Ellen!" she said with a smile.
"Oh, wow, what a pretty brooch!" Ellen said, admiring the aquamarine brooch Nala was wearing.
"Yeah, Kurt gave it to me this morning!" Nala chirped with a smile. "Wasn't that nice of him?"
Ellen giggled. "How sweet of him," she said with a giddy look on her face. "And, what was the special occasion?"
"I dunno," Nala said, shrugging her shoulders. She pouted. "He wouldn't tell me!"
"Oh, he wouldn't?" Ellen asked, eyes lighting up a bit. She giggled. "I wonder why…"
"Yeah, me too," Nala agreed. "Wait…are you not telling me something?" She crossed her arms and gave Ellen a hard glare.
"Oh, no, not at ALL!" Ellen said, putting a hand to her mouth to stop the flow of giggles that were dying to burst out.
"Fine then, DON'T tell me!" Nala grumbled, storming off angrily. She sighed in exasperation, wondering what Ellen knew that she didn't. It puzzled her to no end…
She looked around, and her eyes lit up when she spotted Joe, Kurt's brother, and the exact opposite of Kurt as well. He was Kurt's brother; maybe he could tell her what all this was about.
"Hey, Joe!" she shouted, running over to Joe.
"Hey, Nala," Joe greeted with a smile. He smirked when his eyes landed on the brooch Nala wore. "I see you're wearing the brooch my brother gave you."
"Yeah," Nala said, nodding her head. "Actually, I've got a question for you. Um, Kurt wouldn't tell me WHY he gave it to me, and I feel like I need to know and since you're his brother…"
"Oh, yeah, I know why," Joe said simply. "But that doesn't mean I'll tell you."
Nala's face lit up, only to harden at his later words. She frowned and crossed her arms, tapping her foot on the bricks of Rose Square in an angry manner.
"Joooooeeee…" she growled angrily. But the apprentice carpenter had already shot off laughing.
"Isn't ANYONE going to tell me!" Nala growled to herself, eyes on the ground as she moved forward. Off in her own little world, she bumped into a poncho-wearing cowboy.
"Hey, watch- oh, it's you," Jamie grumbled, sending a glare in Nala's direction, which she returned.
"And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Nala asked; her golden-brown eyes narrowed.
"What's that THING on you?" Jamie asked, ignoring Nala's previous question. His eyes were glaring at the aquamarine brooch on her shirt.
"It's an aquamarine brooch," Nala informed him. "If you didn't know that, you really need to get out more. Kurt made it for me."
"It's stupid, and so was the gesture," Jamie said simply. "Why would someone give anyone something like THAT?"
Nala gaped and crossed her arms, trying not to slap the living daylights out of the cowboy standing in front of her.
"Well, I think it was really nice of him to do it!" she growled. She added in a whisper, "Even if he won't tell me why…"
"Why do you care why?" Jamie asked her, eyebrow raised. He sighed tiredly when Nala simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, isn't it very INTERESTING that out of the blue, he gives you JEWELERY, like boys give to people they LIKE?" he said, 'trying' not to make it too obvious for her.
"You mean…he…likes me?" Nala asked. "More than a friend?" Jamie didn't answer the question.
"Like I said, the gesture was stupid," he said, walking off.
"I think he's jealous."
Nala spun around in surprise to see Ellen, who had been eavesdropping on the two ranchers' conversation. She giggled at Nala's look of surprise.
"Ha, Jamie jealous, of ME?" Nala asked, rolling her eyes. "There'd be a better chance of me being jealous of him!"
Nala's eyes widened and she put a hand to her mouth, but the words had already slipped out, and she wasn't going to be able to take them back. Ellen looked like she was about to fall to the ground laughing, tears falling down her face from laughing so hard.
"Wait, NO, I didn't mean it like that, I mean I think inside he really IS a nice guy, wait, no, not like that either! Besides, I'd rather be with Kurt and…oh no, I didn't mean it that way either!"
Ellen was leaning up against a rack that carried milk, trying to keep herself from falling to the ground. She wiped the tears from her eyes, a wide grin plastered on her face.
"I'll never let you forget this, you know," Ellen giggled. She began walking off, as they were about to finish the judging and announce the winner.
"Yeah, I know…" Nala sighed glumly. She began following after her friend to listen to the winner, which ended up to be Jamie, though that seemed to be no surprise among the villagers.
She turned around and took the aquamarine brooch off of her shirt. She lifted it in the air to study it, though what she saw didn't help her much. On one side was the reflection of Kurt and on the other was the reflection of Jamie.
'Who's the one?' Nala thought, sighing out loud. 'Who's the one I like?'