Title: Lovely Discovery

Pairing: Owen x Angela

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon is not mine and I claim no rights to anything besides the fanfiction itself.

Rating: T

Author's Note: I'm playing through Animal Parade again and I'm actually on this exact day on my New Game Plus file. Oh, Owen's birthday. Poor Angela is suffering so much.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the newest chapter!

-START-

"Open you left and open your right! Then lift your head with all of your might!"

Finn looked down to see if his cheerful chant had made Angela feel better. He'd been trying to rouse the distressed woman from bed and had used almost every little rhyme or song he knew to restore her chipper personality. Of course, nothing had worked. Her face was still pressed against the comforter and her limp body refused to budge. The fairy drooped in disappointment and got to work thinking up a new melody.

Finn opened his mouth to sing again when Angela turned over and away from him, grabbing the nearest pillow and using it as a shield against the noise.

Finn huffed in annoyance at her pessimism and went to go and care for the animals. The farmer had fed and petted them earlier that morning, but she'd gone right back to bed. They were lonely and confused as to why their normally peppy owner was so sad and melancholy. Angela was never mean to them, but it was easy to see that the animals could sense the falseness behind her smile as she brushed and embraced them every morning. Finn felt bad, but hopefully, the next three days would go by fast. Then maybe she could fall in love with someone else and recover from her humiliation.

Finn stopped just outside of the front door and looked at the ground gloomily. No, that wasn't right. She was in love with Owen, and from what Finn had seen from the miner last night he had legitimate reasons to believe that the miner had feeling for her in return.

Suddenly, Finn remembered something else from the night before. He remembered seeing that Owen had put something in Angela's mailbox. He'd completely forgotten about it. The sprite made his way to the box gracefully and opened the flap. As it fell open, Finn could clearly see a small a small, thick envelope tucked in the back. Mustering all of the strength in his tiny body, the sprite grabbed the folds of the letter and gradually worked it free from the mailbox. He then pulled it out and went back inside. He dropped the letter onto the bed and, since it seemed heavier than usual, Angela actually felt the envelope hit the bed. She twitched and looked up, rubbing her sore eyes looking at it briefly. When she saw Owen's name on the front, she attempted to shove it away. Finn shook his head and pleaded that she read it. Angela opposed and declared that she was too humiliated to even think of the man. In order to convince her otherwise, Finn told her of Owen's behavior from the night before and how he'd looked so sad and desperate when he dropped off the letter in her mailbox. Angela hesitated and sighed deeply.

Then Finn voiced his opinion that he felt Owen might love her back, despite all that had happened. That seemed to do the trick. She frantically scrambled up and snatched the envelope from the bed. Nervously running her fingers through her hair, Angela paced around the room for a solid minute before she actually took a seat at her kitchen table. With shaky hands, she tore a slit in the envelope and opened the letter. There was a large piece of parchment folded up and stuffed unevenly into the pocket of the envelope. Angela unfolded the paper and saw a few brief sentences. In Owen's signature, manly flourish, the letter made a simple demand.

"Please don't ask questions. Just trust me and give me a call. You know the number.

"Owen."

Angela blinked away her tears. She briefly glanced at her phone and stood up.

"S-Should I do it?" the farmer asked with teary hesitation as she reached for the receiver.

"I think you should!" Finn said, urging her onward with the flapping from his arms. "After all…things couldn't get any worse. If you don't call him on his birthday, you'll regret it!"

"His birthday?" she said slowly, blinking her eyes and looking off towards the calendar. Sure enough, it was the 18th of summer. That was Owen's birthday, which was always the day right after the Summer Festival. "It is…oh, Finn. I…have to call him."

"Do it," he encouraged again. "To told you not to ask questions in the letter! Maybe he wants to talk about last night."

"What if he hates me?"

"Then why would he ask you to call?"

Angela smiled and allowed herself the pleasure of laughing. The brown-haired woman swallowed her pride. She picked up the phone and decided to call the miner. He already had his number on speed dial. With the push of one button, her phone began to ring. Seconds later, she heard his beautiful voice over the line.

"Angela?"

"H-Hello," she gasped out, turning red. As long as it was just his voice, she seemed to be fine. It was so alluring and masculine that she actually had to carry the phone over to the table just to sit down. "I saw…your letter in the mailbox. Was there…something we needed to talk about?"

"Angela…today is my birthday," he said slowly. "As a present, I wanted to hear your voice. Not the voice of the woman who was with me last night…but the voice of the Angela who moved to Castanet Island and saved the land from ruin. I want to hear…your voice right now."

Angela swallowed hard and felt her entire body tense. What was he trying to say? Fighting a shaking tone, she nodded surely and muttered loudly enough for him to hear, "O-Owen…happy birthday."

"Thank you," he heaved with an exhale. "I…love the sound of your voice. It's a little high, but it sounds sweet and romantic. It's especially cute now…you sound a little sleepy."

Angela pursed her lips and stomped her foot. Oh, how she wanted to believe what he was saying so badly. She wanted to tell him how much he loved the sound of his voice. How rhythmic and smooth it was, like a velvety dessert. However, she couldn't. Not while she was still under the effects of the fumes. Then, realization crashed through her like a bolt of lightning.

"Owen…just now, you said something about how you liked the 'real me'…and not 'the woman from the night before'…what do you mean by that?" she asked him curiously. Angela clenched the phone tightly and asked in a pitched squeak, "What…happened last night?"

Owen became deadly quiet for a few seconds. Angela clenched her fists and prepared for the worst. Surprisingly, she heard him laugh. That was an immediate cause for perplexity. After all that had happened, why was he laughing?

"What's funny?" she asked, finding herself laughing with him. "You're making me laugh! What is it?"

"Angela…nothing happened."

"Nothing? Really?"

"You tried to kiss me…and then I stopped you," he said almost indifferently.

Angela didn't know why, but she was overjoyed and strung at the same time. She was incredibly happy that Owen hadn't taken advantage of her, but it hurt that he had shoved her away. Was it because he knew something was wrong? Or was it because he didn't return her feelings? There were so many questions buzzing around din her mind that it was almost impossible to think straight.

"Why did you stop me?"

"Because I knew that I wasn't being kissed by Angela," he said. Angela told him that she didn't understand. He clarified in an almost dream-like voice, "You just asked me what happened last night…so that proves you don't remember. I knew you weren't drunk because, when you got close to me, I didn't smell any alcohol. I knew you weren't drunk. You've been acting strange ever since you woke up from fainting near the mine."

Angela didn't know what to say. All she could do at that moment was wait for Owen's next question.

"What's going on?"

"If you really want to know, call Dr. Jin," Angela said with a small smile. Finn stared at her from across the room with his mouth gaping open. She mouthed out a brief apology to the sprite and insisted that if Owen really wanted to know what was wrong, he'd call him. If Jin didn't want to tell him, she told him to call her and she'd give official permission. "He'll tell you everything. Owen, I just want to let you know that there's a reason I'm acting so strange. There really is!"

"I don't…want to invade your privacy," he said slowly, swallowing. "Still, I believe you, Angela. I'm not going to call. Not yet. I'll only call if I become really concerned. You're my best friend. If you really felt comfortable with what was happening, I'd like to think you would have come to me for help."

"I would have," Angela replied desperately, sensing a small trace of depression in his voice. "Owen, you mean everything to me!"

She wanted the week to be over. Angela didn't want to be talking with him over the phone. The farmer longed to be right beside him so that he could hold her tightly as she cried into his lap. Finally, she'd fallen in love. She wanted to show Owen how much she adored him. She loved him like no other woman would be able to, and she wanted to reach out, touch his face, kiss his lips and whisper those words to him as they lay entwined in his bed, both of them venting their frustrations through passionate kisses and desperate clinging.

"Will you always be my friend? I'll be fine by the end of this week. Will you…wait for me?"

"I'll always wait," he said kindly. "Can…I not see you until the end of the week?"

"It would be best if we didn't…" Angela said slowly. She could tell that she sounded sad and stopped herself before her emotions became obvious. "Still, we can't let that get us down! Are you going to have a drink tonight at the Brass Bar? It's your birthday, you know!"

"I just might, but it wouldn't be the same if you didn't bring it to me!"

"Owen, stop it!" Angela laughed, blushing crazily. "Don't…make me lose myself again."

The two found themselves talking for hours after that. Everything from mining to cocktails to even favorite recipes was discussed openly. They even brought up the occasional topic of romance. Surprisingly, it was not awkward. Both were incredibly open-minded and chatted like true adults about the matter. Both of them wanted to get married and have kids. It seemed so perfect. Angela had to wonder about what marrying Owen would be like. It seemed like they'd be so perfect with each other.

"Owen…can I ask you one more question before I go to bed?"

"Sure. Go right ahead."

"Earlier…you said that you didn't kiss me on the night of the Summer Festival because I wasn't myself," he began twirling her hair nervously and looking towards the floor. "Well…if I was myself, would you have still pushed me away?"

It seemed like years before Owen finally gave an answer.

"…No, probably not," he stammered, sounding a little embarrassed. "Goodnight, Angela."

Angela didn't reply. She was so stunned that all she could to was hand up the phone and stare at the wall in complete silence. Finn, who'd been trying to listen the entire time, soared over to her side and pleaded to know what had happened.

"I think…I think Owen just told me he liked me," the farmer stammered, still in disbelief. She didn't think she'd misunderstood him. So, it had to be true. It wasn't as if she'd make it up. She'd heard the man with her own ears. "He likes me! Even after all this, he likes me! He likes me!"

The sprite was so overjoyed that both of them did a cheerful dance that involved spinning in asymmetrical circles and falling to the floor in a dizzy frenzy.

"Hey, I'm going to get dressed and hang out with Candace and Luna," she decided, reaching for her sporty outfit and removing her ragged pajamas. "I'm in such a good mood! After that, I'm going to play with all the animals until we're too tired to stand! Finn, come with us! It'll be so much fun!"

The emerald-haired fairy managed to nod through his surprise.

Owen had made her so happy and raised her from a pit of despair that even he, her most loyal comrade, couldn't free her from.

Maybe falling in love with the fiery miner wasn't such a bad thing.

-END-

Yay, a happy chapter! We needed this! Woo…finally, Angela catches a break!

R&R, and thanks to all my readers! I'd love if we could bust 10 reviews by the end of the story. I might even do a bonus chapter if enough people would like it. :D
Thanks again!