I'm sorry that I'm so slow to update stories....

Anyhow, here's chapter one

The Ranch

With a few minutes of searching and help from the other residents of Waffle Town, Akari had somehow found her way into the town hall, where she was told she would find the mayor. But instead, she found two cold, blue eyes staring into her own. "Um.... Do y-you know where I can find Mayor... Hamilton?" She asked softly, placing her arms in front of her, clutching her hands. She began to fidget under his gaze.

"Oh." The cold eyed gaze softened a bit, and Akari found herself sighing of relief. " He should be in town square, just outside of here by now... or maybe he's looking for you. You don't look familiar. Are you that new girl?" Akari nodded, and thanked him. "Thank you, I'll talk to you later!"

She headed out of the building quickly. When she was outside, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. You can do this, Akari. Not everyone is the friendliest... maybe that's just how he looks...

Akari had calmed down a bit, and opened her eyes to look for the mayor. He was no where to be seen. She was about to walk down the steps to go look for him again, but the chubby man was running up the stairs before she could descend them. He walked up to her and huffed, sweat dripping from his forehead. "Are you Mayor Hamilton?" She asked, and he nodded. The man wore a light blue suit and wore his balding hair up with some sort of gel. It made him look kind of silly, but the hairstyle seemed to match him pretty good...

The short mayor had caught his breath after a couple of moments, and looked up at Akari. "Are you ready to be shown to your new home?" He asked, looked into her caramel colored eyes. A jolt of happiness and excitement shot through her. "U-um, yes! I'd love to." The mayor chuckled at her eagerness, and turned to the stairs.

"Let's go, then... but I'd appreciate it if you could go a little slowly... I'm getting old and I'm kind of chubby... can't keep up with young people these days." Akari nodded and smiled, and together, they walked down the stone steps, talking about things like the animals she could have at the ranch or the types of crops she could grow on each season. Then, all of a sudden, the mayor asked "How was the city?"

Akari stared at him a moment, and gave a wary smile. "It was okay, I guess... I kind of miss the air there.... it's so fresh and clean here, I'm not used to it."

Seeing that she wasn't really comfortable with talking of her old life, the mayor changed the subject.

The walk seemed so short for Akari, because she had such a good time talking with the mayor. As soon as she had rested her voice for a moment, they had ended up at the ranch. It was kind of little. The roof of the house she was to live in was a little beat up. There was a small chicken coop to the side that was to hold her chickens, but it was a little beat-up looking as well.

"Here's your new ranch," The mayor said cheerfully. Akari nodded and looked the place over, not too sure of her new residence. "You can take a look inside, if you want... then, let's go meet the other people living here. They're excited to see you."

Akari nodded again, and headed inside. She glanced around the room. In the right corner, there was an old, dusty television with a calendar too many years behind next to it. On the left corner, there was a small counter that was supposed to hold her kitchen utensils, but she didn't think she had any. In the room, closest to the door, sat a wooden table. Some of the edges on the corners of the table were chipped off. Finally, she looked at the bed. It walked up to it, and sat down. Surprisingly, it was smooth. Like a cloud. She sighed of contentment and fell backwards, pulling the covers over her body, her skin savoring the soft feel of the cotton, and her body enjoying the heat. Wisps of short, chocolate hair lay across the bed as she enjoyed her moment of comfort.

Sadly, the moment ended all to soon. She was awakened by the sound of a knock on the door. With a sigh, she forced herself, smoothing down the covers as best as she could, before heading outside.

"I'm sorry I took so long," Akari said quietly. "We can go meet the people now."

"Not we, just you. I'm sorry, Akari... something came up. I'm needed in the town hall."

"Okay, see you l-later then," Akari mumbled. The mayor nodded and ran off, disappearing down the little bridge that was by her ranch.

Looks like it's time to go greet everyone, she thought, and a few minutes later, headed down the bridge as well, feet making "Clunk! Clunk!" noises as she crossed it.