Hello again, fellow fanfiction writers and readers! Okay, I lied. This is not an all Ryuu chapter. I decided to move that chapter back one so don't worry, it'll be all Ryuu next time I swear! Sorry if anyone read my little after-note and was looking forward to that. This chapter is almost entirely from my imagination. There isn't any cutscene or special event with the pyrotechnic twins, as all you die-hard fans know, I'm sure. There should have been though and that is my prompt for this chapter. Zomg, it's disclaimer time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its spiffy plots, character, places, etc.

Oops, I almost forgot. Thank you oodles to Hay Lin rox, Phoenix Avenger IV, roxas-kh, and lostladyknight who were all super nice and reviewed my last chapter. I love you guys!

Spring 8, Year 1

Lumina

-Flashback- It was a typically hot, summer day in Forget-Me-Not Valley. With no clouds to cover it, the sun was beating unmercifully down upon the valley and all of its inhabitants. Nearly everyone was inside, the exception being a teenage girl who was resting, sweaty and panting, in the shade of a large tree just beyond Daryl, the resident mad scientist's, house. When she had recovered, a slightly younger Lumina lifted her head and observed her surroundings peacefully. It really had been an excellent idea to take a walk around and see the sights, even if she could have chosen a better day. The scenery was truly lovely in a very simple, natural way. It was definitely a nice contrast between the ornamental, dusty mansion that she had endured all spring. A lazy quiet was resting over the town. Then-

Bang! An echoing explosion shook the sleepy valley roughly awake. Several people sitting inside their houses screamed. Lumina jumped and looked about frantically, trying to find the source of the disturbance. Her eyes fell upon the remnants of a shocking, green firework as it faded into the sky over the ocean. Momentarily forgetting the heat, Lumina leapt from the shadow of the tree and dashed to the beach. There she found two, identical, rather stout men, each boasting overalls and gray mustaches.

That was how I met and befriended Patrick and Kassey, the pyrotechnic twins. I started to visit them every day and soon it became part of my daily schedule. After being stuck indoor with Sebastian and my grandmother all spring, they were a breath of fresh air. They were and still are my best friends. –End Flashback-

Almost a year later, on a Van day, I found myself walking down the stone path that leads away from my grandma's mansion, eager as always to visit the pyrotechnic twins, my insane, utterly eccentric friends. In all honesty, I think they might be the second most unusual people I've ever met (the first would be Daryll of course. Mad scientists always seem to steal that title). They're a hoot; they always seem to know just what to do and say to cheer me up.

But somehow, part of me felt slightly down, not something that normally happens when I'm on my way to see the twins. Ryuu hadn't come to visit me today. I kept telling myself that I shouldn't be disappointed; it was silly to think he would come every day, even if he had thus far. He had a lot of things to do, especially on a Van day, and was likely to forget about me every now and then. But I expected him to come anyway. I liked seeing him. I liked the way he listened to me and always seemed to say the right thing. I liked how his smile would always make me grin and giggle along with him. I liked the perfect chocolate color of his hair and-

I came to a halt and shook my head vigorously to dislodge my daydreams. I had to pay attention to where I was walking or I'd trip or run into a tree. Sighing, I peered around to see where my feet had taken me while I wasn't watching.

As it turned out, I was at the point in the pathway where the main road that ran all the way from Vesta's farm intersected it. From where I was standing I could see all the way down to where the mountain pass Chris took every morning to get to work began. So I could easily distinguish Van, but that wasn't hard. He was as large and red-clad as I remembered. Though it was hard to tell from here, he appeared to be chatting idly with someone. Someone who seemed very, very familiar to me.

Almost before I knew what was happening, I was running toward him.

"Ryuu!" I called, waving as I jogged over. He looked up from the fishing rod Van was showing him.

He trotted forward to meet me halfway. "Lumina!" he exclaimed, grinning. "I didn't think I'd see you here. Are you buying something from Van?" he indicated the plump, rather annoyed man standing a few feet away.

"Not today," I said breathlessly. "Actually, I was on my way to see Patrick and Kassey."

His expression was blank, confused. "I don't think I've met them yet."

"Really?" he shook his head. "Oh, they're great! They live just down the hill from the Villa. They make fireworks. You should come with me sometimes- you'd like them."

"How about now?" He cocked his head slightly to the side and smiled.

I blinked, caught off guard as usual. "A-are you sure? You don't have anything to do?" I eyed him suspiciously before glancing at Van over Ryuu's shoulder. He was giving me a dirty look that actually made me feel kind of bad for diverting Ryuu's attention from the polished, bamboo fishing rod still clutched in the traveling salesman's pudgy fingers.

Ryuu turned his head, following my gaze. When he saw Van, he actually laughed. "Hey, don't worry about him," he assured me. "That fishing rod will still be here next time Van comes. And besides, I can't fish to save my life."

I nodded slightly and tried to smile, not at all reassured. "Come on, let's go."

We started walking. Ryuu fell into step beside me perfectly. I was overjoyed to see him, definitely happier than I had a right to be, and I was touched that he was skipping out on work to come with me but it was making me guilty. Ryuu had spoken like he was done for the day but I was skeptical. I guess it must have shown on my face.

"Okay, what's with that look? I told you not to worry about it, remember?"

I peered up into his face. His expression was stern but his brown eyes were sparkling with laughter. The tension and anxiety I'd felt evaporated. "What look?" I said innocently.

"That look on your face," he said. "Your tortured with guilt face. It's driving me crazy."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied with a dignity that was ruined by the smirk creeping across my features.

He rolled his eyes. "Give me a break!" He said and gave me a light shove on the shoulder. It had hardly enough force to make me wobble slightly.

We argued all the way down the hill to the low stone wall that surrounded the twins' property. Not real, serious arguing. It was more like brother and sister nothing-better-to-do-than-bicker arguing. I could have sworn that I was glowing. I couldn't remember feeling this happy and content in a long time.

I only felt more elated when I sighted the twins waiting for me- us. I broke away from Ryuu and jogged over to greet my friends and introduce Ryuu. I barely noticed that they were eyeing Ryuu and me carefully and muttering conspiratorially.

"Patrick, Kassey," I gushed, hugging them both in turn. "How are you two?"

Patrick spoke first. "Fine, fine. Same as yesterday, surprisingly."

I beamed and Kassey cleared his throat. "Who's your friend, Lu?"

"Oh, right," I blushed slightly. I'd almost forgotten that Ryuu was here. "Patrick, Kassey, this is my friend Ryuu. He just moved into the old farm."

"Yeah, we heard of you," Kassey shook Ryuu's hand; Patrick mimicked him.

Ryuu smiled good-naturedly. "Nice to meet you. I'm sorry we didn't meet earlier."

"Agreed," Patrick said cheerfully. By now both twins had purged the dark looks from their features. "Say, how would you like to play a little game with us?"

Kassey spoke up now. "That would be fun. I'm not as good as Pat so you should start by playing me. Sound good?" Ryuu nodded. "Right-o. I'll go get the board."

Kassey scurried off to the strange on-stilts home he shared with his brother leaving Patrick, Ryuu, and me alone together. The following minutes were awkward in the extreme. I realized for the first time that Patrick and Kassey might not appreciate me bringing another friend to our get togethers, which had, until now, been reserved only for the three of us. I scuffed my tennis shoes in the dirt and waited impatiently for the firework twin's return.

Time crawled by. Finally, Kassey returned laden with all the essential gaming materials. I hurried to help him and before long we had the game board and pieces set up and ready for play. Kassey flopped down on the ground and motioned for Ryuu to do the same. The game started. Both men were immediately caught up in the strategy of the twins' signature territory capture game.

I smiled happily. I was immensely thankful that everyone seemed to be getting along well.

Quite unusually, however, Patrick didn't seem at all interested in the contest. He scratched his head and I gave him a questioning glance. Surreptitiously, Patrick pulled me aside, a little away from Ryuu and Kassey.

"What's wrong?" I whispered. His face was serious, not something that normally happened.

He glanced back at Ryuu before letting his eyes flick back to my concerned face. "He seems nice," he said. I glared at him, silently telling him to get on with it. "Do you like him Lumina?"

I didn't stop to ponder that there might be a deeper meaning to this otherwise casual question. "Of course I like him. Why, don't you?"

"Lu," he said, chuckling. "I don't think you got what I was saying. I meant, well," he looked sheepish. "Are you, you know, in love with him?"

I was stunned, which seemed to be happening to me a lot lately. I opened and closed my mouth but no sound escaped. Where had that come from? I wasn't in love with anyone, was I? I thought briefly of Ryuu's charming smile whenever I accepted one of his presents. My cheeks turned pink.

Patrick seemed to take my silence and slight blush as assent. "Kassey and I wondered when we saw you two walking so close together," I blushed again. "And we were curious too. As your friends, Kassey and I like to approve of your choice of men. We wouldn't want you running off to be a bride with just anyone, you see."

"Patrick!" I yelped, my face going scarlet. Ryuu and Kassey paused their game to look over at us with raised eyebrows.

"Everything all right?" Kassey called.

"Yes, yes, we're fine," Patrick replied loudly, though that did not entirely mask the significant look that he sent his twin. Patrick grabbed my wrist and tugged me swiftly back over to where Ryuu and Kassey still had their game paused.

"Alright, then. Where were we?" Patrick said genially, peering down at the now colorful game board. "Would you look at that? Young Ryuu's not doing half as bad as I expected him to. Come on then, start the timer up again. Whose turn is it?"

Ryuu

When the game finally ended the sun was beginning to sink into the ocean. As it turned out, the game was much closer than I'd expected it to be. After a long, heated discussion, Patrick ruled that Kassey was the winner. I shook his hand.

"Anytime you wanna play with us," Kassey said, grinning. "Come on by. We're usually up in our house."

I grinned back. "I'll do that. I'm going to win next time though; you can count on it." We all laughed. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Lumina beaming at us.

Kassey clapped me on the back. "You're a good kid."

"Thanks," I replied.

"I have to go," Lumina said, speaking for the first time since she'd shouted at Patrick. "Auntie Romana will worry if I don't get home soon."

Automatically, I piped up, "I'll walk with you."

Lumina smiled sweetly and nodded. I started towards her; Patrick caught me by the shoulder. "Hey," he said, his voice so low that I almost couldn't hear him. "Take good care of her."

I looked down at him seriously. "I'll do my best," I mutter, my voice just as low as his. He nodded.

"Ryuu. Are you coming?" Lumina was already heading up the treacherous hill that lead to the Villa. I jogged to catch up with her and fell easily into step beside her.

I wanted to fill the dead air that stretched out between us as we began the ascent, but I couldn't think of anything to say. Patrick's words were still ringing in my ears. Take good care of her. The tension, the weight of my new responsibility, must have shown on my face becauseLumina seemed to notice the abrupt change in atmosphere and peered up at me anxiously.

I refused to look straight at her. Slowly her look of concern turned to one of amusement. "Let me guess," she said smiling cutely again. "You're probably worried about all the work you missed while you were goofing off with me," I blinked in surprise and turned to her. We were at the gates to the Villa's courtyard.

"So tell me," she said, her amber eyes dancing teasingly. "About how late will you have to stay up to finish all of the work that you skipped out on?"

My sullen mood crumbled away; I couldn't be worried with Lumina standing next to me smiling and joking. I pretended to think. I put my hands behind my head and sighed. "I dunno. Maybe midnight, one in the morning- around then."

She giggled and pushed me gently. I ruffled her hair and began walking down the hill. Lumina fixed her headband before calling after me. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"

I halted and looked back at her. "What do you think?"

She smiled and skipped gracefully to the mansions large, oaken doors.

I waited until the polished doors were closed behind her before setting off again. As I walked, I raised my wrist to eye level and squinted at my watch. 5:47. I swore lightly and sprinted the rest of the way down the hill, hoping to catch Van before he closed shop at six.

Okay, so I know that took a really long time to write and all and I'm very sorry. I've been super busy with end of the school year crap. I'm out of school now, though so you can be expecting more chapters soon. If there's anyone left out in cyberspace who's still reading this story, then know that your reviews are all read and appreciated. Tune in next time for the all Ryuu chapter: The Blue Feather (don't worry, he's not proposing)! Yay, summer!