Thanks to BeautifulAuthor, supernae, and harvestmoonrox for your reviews! This story's been going on for a little over two months now, but now it's coming to an end! Thanks to everyone who's seen this, favorited it, and reviewed it up to this point! This is the final chapter before the conclusion, so please enjoy!

Chapter 16: I Love You

"Mary?"

The raven-haired librarian continued to look back in total confusion.

"Claire… I…"

"I know it's really strange. I don't really get it myself, but these how my feelings turned out…" Claire tried to explain.

"But… why?"

"I guess, because you've always been so kind. I know you're not always the most talkative person, but you're very kind and adorable and you like listening. I assumed I was just admiring what I liked about you as a friend but then something in me started to click. You're a really sweet person and…. Actually beautiful, too. I was a little jealous being a kiddy-like and everything at first…" she admitted.

"B-beautiful?!" Mary cried. "N-no way…. I'm not… I'm not so beautiful as to deeply attract anybody… not even enough to--"

"Calm down, I didn't say I was going hormone crazy about you!" Claire interrupted with a weak laugh. "But trust me, you are. You're beautiful and you carry it in a really grown-up way. If there weren't any feelings involved, then it'd be all the more envy and admiration from silly old me."

"Do you really think so?" Mary asked meaningfully.

"Yes, I do. With or without my feelings, my opinion on that wouldn't be any different. I'm sure Gray thinks so, too." Claire assured her.

"Gray…" Mary repeated softly.

The humbled librarian bowed her head, and tears came out why she laughed very uncomfortably.

"Th-thank you, Claire. I didn't know anyone really thought that way about me… friend or otherwise… but I'm really flattered. I… I'm glad you could finally tell me truth, but… I'm in love with Gray." Mary finally confessed. "I really wanted to tell you, but… I was afraid that you might like him too and it would put the two of us in a very awkward position. I wasn't expecting to be turning down my best girl friend instead…" confessed Mary.

"I wouldn't worry. I'm pretty sure he loves you, too." Claire smiled.

A gasp escaped the curious librarian's mouth.

"And I really didn't mind that much if you were going to return my feelings. I was just… I was really afraid you'd hate me and think I was some freak for having feelings for you."

"Don't be silly! I'd never see you that way! Ever since you arrived at Mineral Town, you were always a good friend to me! I'd never want to push you away over something like that!" Mary cried. "I've heard about situations like that before. I admit, I thought it was a little unusual, but then I've heard about how cruelly they'd be treated because of it, and I feel sorry for those people. So I can understand that you're really afraid… and I'm so sorry that I couldn't let you feel more comfortable about it sooner."

"No, I should feel sorry for not trusting you sooner. But… now I know for sure that you really are the kind and understanding person I thought you were." Claire replied in relief.

The two held each other in a tight hug with tears streaming in their eyes. Throughout so much doubt and confusion, the two best friends were finally letting out their joys and sorrows together.

"Claire!" a husky voice suddenly cried as the door burst open.

The girls immediately separated to face the panicked blacksmith at the front door.

"Gray?!" both girls cried.

"Oh, good… so you have gotten better. What a relief." Gray sighed.

"Yeah, I'm better now, and thanks for worrying about me the whole time. But I think I should tell you--"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU!" he interrupted. "Goddess, you made poor Mary worried sick when you got all sick for real and bedridden at the doctors! I don't understand why the doctor couldn't allow his patient's two best friends to be there for her, but I swear, if that happens again I'll--"

"Please don't blame him! It was my fault! I couldn't see you guys back then because I didn't want to see you two! I was afraid the both of you would just make it worse!" Claire pleaded.

The stunned blacksmith apprentice froze.

"Hold on, what? Where you really in that bad a condition? Where you contagious? Because the doctor--"

"I wasn't contagious, stupid! I was afraid and depressed!" Claire shouted.

Both Mary and Gray were completely stupefied at that moment. It was the first time either of them had heard her outright insulted someone.

"Stupid…?" Gray repeated. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Just please… what were you so scared about that it would make you ill?"

The gentle librarian held her friend closer and patted her head softly.

"See? You don't have to be afraid of him at all, too. He cares about you so much, I doubt he'll hate you for it, as well." Mary encouraged her.

Claire nodded back slowly, while Gray looked on in confusion.

"Umm… yeah, as strange as it is, I ended up doing some soul-searching stuff and found out along the way that I… was in love with Mary for awhile." Claire confessed.

The young blacksmith raised a single eyebrow and looked even more confused.

"Mary?" Gray repeated plainly. "Did I hear I right?"

Again, Claire nodded slowly with an anxious expression.

"Oh." Gray answered while retaining his plain tone. "I was pretty sure with all the time you spent with that doctor and laughing with him, you'd like him."

"Really?" Claire replied curiously.

"And there were a few odd instances that I felt you put me through everything you did because you may have… for some reason liked me, but I knew that something like that was pretty ridiculous." Gray stated with a confident.

"Yeah, no kidding." Claire agreed wholeheartedly with a lighthearted laugh.

At the same time, a particularly embarrassed librarian was laughing nervously to herself.

"So this whole time, the both of them thought that Claire falling for him was one big joke… great…" Mary thought to herself.

"But since I heard you right, does this mean what I think it means?" Gray asked.

Both girls stared blankly back in shock.

"Ah! N-no… I don't think… er, Mary was my first!" Claire babbled. "I wasn't crushing on other girls before I got to Mineral Town! It just sorta turned out this way! I mean, I could've sworn there was a time where I really did like guys! I don't get how my hormones work!"

"And I turned her town!" Mary joined in. "I-I mean, I'm not trying to push her away everything that happened! I don't want to be cruel! I… I just don't swing that way! N-not that I think there's anything wrong with her! Or me!"

"That's right! There's a very good reason she turned me down! Y-you see, there's this guy she actually likes and--"

The delirious duo continued stumbling over each other with nonsensical arguments about their obscure case, while Gray looked on in utter bewilderment.

"Okay, Okay! Stop!" Gray barked, effectively silencing the lovely ladies.

"Just, hear me out for a second! I care about you. The both of you. I've known Mary for a good chunk of my life, so I know she barely has a mean bone in her body. But even though I've only known Claire for nearly a season, I know can tell that everything you, you do so with the right intentions. So, even though there are times I just can't stand the blonde half the time, I don't think I could completely hate either of you. I only asked because I wanted to know. I'm not going to let some stupid prejudice over one's taste in genders get in the way of a meaningful friendship. Besides, if it actually turned out that both of you… felt that way about each other… I wouldn't mind so much. Heck, I'd actually support it… because there's no way I'd let some bigots hurt the two people I care about most." Gray ranted.

In lieu of her secret love's speech, poor Mary looked shaken, mortified, and feverish red. On the other hand, Claire looked simply amazed.

"G-Gray…" the blonde farmer uttered in a tender tone. "Does this mean…?"

The aforementioned man gave a single, confident man.

"…you're actually into THAT sort of thing?" Claire finished.

"…what?" Gray asked.

"You pervert!" Claire suddenly cried. "I'm touched you'd support an "unusual" relationship, but to think! Ogling us to fill your "needs"!"

"Huh?! W-w-w-wait a minute! I'm not like that! I'm not some stupid pervert! I'm just saying if you two decided to start a relationship, I'd stand by you! Simple as dad! Goddess, you think I'd try to use you to get into some crazy threesome?!" Gray shouted.

Just then, the accusing farmer stuck out her tongue and blinked with a silly expression.

"Just kidding…" Claire uttered quietly.

"H-HEY! DON'T MAKE LIGHT OF THE SITUATION! THIS IS SERIOUS!" Gray roared.

"S-sorry… I was just so relieved… and I couldn't resist." Claire cried.

"Excuse me, but as I was saying, I ended up turning her down, anyway." Mary reminded them. "But I'd still like to be friends with her."

"Oh, alright." Gray replied with a hint of relief.

"See? Isn't that alright? Now you can tell her about your feelings for her, too!" Claire exclaimed.

This time, it was Gray's turn to be shocked alongside Mary.

"What?! Where'd you come up with an idea like that?" Gray cried.

"Oh, come on! "Mayonnaise"? Did you really think I'd buy that?" said Claire.

"Yes…" Gray murmured awkwardly.

"Go ahead, show me proof of your mayonnaise fetish if you can." dared the amused blonde.

The provoked blacksmith clenched both his fists and clenched his teeth in mad frustration, but then his face became hotter and redder than any tempered metal in his workshop. The poor guy looked just about fizzled out. This animated scene caused Claire to giggle to herself as more tears poured from her eyes.

"I guess it can't be helped, can it?" the gentle librarian suddenly uttered. "Then, I suppose the decisive factor is all up to me…"

Both Claire and Gray turned to see the raven-haired girl with her grace and composure restored, along with a newly-gained confidence shining through. The blonde farmer looked on hopefully while the novice blacksmith stared back in total surprise. Mary then nodded back at the two of them reassuringly.

"Gray, I thank you for everything; for all the good times you've given me since the first time you stepped into the library; for listening to a silly bookworm who shackled herself here and thought she was alone, for looking out for me through thick and thin, and for accepting my new best friend and I for who we are. You've given me so much all this time, and if Claire was right about your feelings… and I really hope so… I couldn't be any happier, because you see Gray, the one I love is you."

Gray's jaw dropped completely as his mind tried to grasp what he was told, while Claire placed clenched hands by her chest. After a moment of hesitation, the rather surprised blacksmith turned toward his blonde friend once more.

"And you knew this?" he asked.

"She just told me, actually." Claire replied with a light laugh.

Gray then slowly turned his head towards Mary again, then lowered it humbly.

"No, Claire's not messing with you. I can't believe I slipped up so easily, but yes, I love you too." He told her with a chuckle. "I'm just so relieved you happened to feel the same way. I just wasn't sure. I mean, you're so smart and beautiful, I was sooner or later you'd be done with what little Mineral Town had to offer to you and you'd find new opportunities in the city. I always felt you were too good for me…"

"What?! Gray, there's no way… you were always very good to me, I don't know how I could ever leave you behind. And my friendship with Claire here only gives me another reason to stay. But honestly, do you truly see me that way? Beautiful… I mean, not too many people ever really notice me and--"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!!" Gray and Claire shouted at the same time.

"I already told you what I think…" the blonde farmer reminded her.

"And I'm not just trying to flatter you. I mean it. I just told you I love you, didn't I? You have a lot going for you, and that means beauty, too. It's strange to me of all the things you would feel desperately lacking in, it's that. What do you think is the first thing that always pops into my mind whenever I see you?" Gray said.

"That… that I'm a good friend you could always count on?" Mary replied reluctantly.

Instantly, the shy librarian was met with a secure, yet soft hug.

"No. That you're easy on the eyes." He corrected.

Claire's heart pounded wildly as she saw her two best friends in a tender embrace. What emotions filled her were most strange, neither entirely happy and relieved nor sad and deprived However, she knew what was going on was quite possibly the happiest moment of her friends' lives, and she could take some satisfaction out of that.

Her role in this meeting was not yet done, however, as she felt a hand yank her arm towards them.

"Hey you…"

The anxious blonde suddenly realized she was pulled a mere few inches towards Gray's face.

"Don't you still think you gave up too easily? I told you I would've supported you if she accepted you." He told her.

Mary gasped and Claire gulped at this strange announcement.

"H-hey! There's no contest! She clearly cares about you the most and--"

"She still deeply cared about you, Claire. She cried over the thought of loosing you. Honestly, if you think somewhere deep inside, you think you could actually make her happier, I'd rather we settle this fairly." Gray insisted.

"Gray, no, I just-- come on, these feelings... they're very new to me. But clearly you and Mary have been feeling it behind each other's backs for like forever! And… at this rate, I'd just stumble through feelings I don't completely get. Really, do you want me to get in the middle of something set up so perfectly, that it would make two of my best buddies around, just to fall flat on my face? She turned me down, Gray, for good reason, and I can see that you're the one that could make her the happiest because you're more sure about yourself." Claire replied.

"Fine." Gray replied gruffly. "Then as a friend, I'd rather you actually learn from this then walk away from nothing. Looking back now, I think I made a lot of mistakes in the past. I assumed too much that made me hesitate, and I didn't assume she'd do same, so… as thanks for bringing Mary and I together, know this: if you ever find someone really special to you, don't hesitate: try and fight for them. I wasted all this time not telling Mary how I felt, and we could've been together that much sooner…and I was the one that could make her happy this whole time…"

"Don't blame yourself, Gray. I hesitated too, and so did Claire. We all ended up hesitating about our feelings. Maybe it's a common mistake…" Mary said tenderly. "And Claire, I have no doubt in my mind that you're perfectly capable of making someone happy. You did a great job making me happy as a friend, who knows how happy you could make your special someone?"

"Gray… Mary…" Claire sniffled.. "You guys are really great…"

Suddenly, Claire felt two arms come at her back and pull her in for yet another infamous group hug.

"Even though I don't feel the same way Claire, that doesn't make you any less special to me. I suppose this may sound funny considering the circumstances, but I really do love you." Mary grinned.

"Eh, if it actually means anything, there are times when I think you're cute. And thanks, I guess…" Gray murmured.

"Thanks for accepting me you guys. I love you both." She replied warmly.

On that fateful day, the bond between the farmer's two friends proved to be resilient and stronger than ever. Although her confession was not rewarded with requited love, her faith rewarded her with compassion she cherished most of all.

Coming up next is… the last chapter of course! Prepare yourselves for some strange last-minute twists! And no, it's not a dream again. It's for real this time! What are Claire's plans for the future? Might she have a secret love interest lurking in the shadows? Why did I wait this long to give Epona an appearance in this fanfiction?! And… why is there a mysterious traveler coming into the story at the last minute?! What's SHE got to do with anything when the story's about to end? Find out in the mind-boggling conclusion, served with a teaspoon of sweet, sweet Grary!!