The next morning, I was determined to witness the flower's blooming. After quickly preparing my breakfast, I made my way to the mountain path and, because of my marguerite, I was in such a good mood that I even said good morning to Kana and hummed along to Sheng's silly song. Once I reached my spot, I greeted the shy bud with enthusiasm.

"Good morning. Are you feeling like blooming today? The sun is out and the weather is nice and warm. It's a perfect day to bloom." I lowered myself so that I was lying on my stomach; my reason being that the bud might be intimidated if she saw me hovering above her. As I patiently waited for the flower, I smiled as I hummed a soft melody. If pregnant women listened to classic music for their babies, why not plants too?

Not long after, I felt a rumble on the ground and I heard the galloping of a horse. 'Kana?' I thought to myself as my brows furrowed. I knew that he had lessened his time riding Hayate ever since he found out that she was getting sick with age. However, I could think of no one else that would be riding a horse across the mountain. Kana was known to get carried away.

The speed was too fast for comfort so I grumpily pushed myself up and jumped closer to the mountain path to yell at Kana only to see Lilian mounting a white pony. Her hair was pushed back by the wind and, despite the speed, her violet eyes was busy looking around presumably searching for something instead of watching where she was going. When she saw me, she called out my name with such volume that I flinched.

"Reina!" Without stopping properly, she jumped off her horse and darted towards me. I had to admire her overflowing energy but I was not at all impressed by her carelessness.

"...Going somewhere?" I asked her with my hands folded in front of my chest.

"I had a feeling you'd be here." She said as she breathed heavily; cheeks flushed. "I brought my horse with me so it'll be easier for us to hike up the mountain."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I know it's too early to visit his shop but I thought we'd catch him before he's too busy with his customers."

As I slowly blinked my eyes again, I began to understand what she was implying. The thought of barging into Bluebell on a horse did not sit well with my breakfast. It would probably not sit well with the people in Bluebell either. "Ah... I think I'll pass."

She pouted. "But the horse... it's faster and..."

"Reckless. You could get into an accident."

"Well...that's just...hahaha..." Lilian let out a guilty laughter that led me to suspect she had been in one recently. I eyed her and she cleared her throat to appear serious again.

"Um, since you ruined my plan to visit Cam, then let's just eat breakfast here then."

Lilian continued to surprise me when she walked back to her old cart and pulled out two bowls of turnip salad. She handed one to me and sat down on the edge of mountain path. "I hope you don't mind turnip salad. I harvested these recently. They taste pretty good."

Dumbstruck, I sat next to Lilian and looked down at my bowl. The cut wasn't perfect. The quality was probably of a 2 star rank. Pierre would probably think this was okay but the fact that she made this for me made the salad taste much better than the ones I've had, ever.

"...thanks for this..." I mumbled. Lilian flashed me her smile and we both sat there in silence except for the crunchy turnip noises in our mouth. Despite having had breakfast, the lightness of the salad allowed me to finish the dish without any problem. It felt a bit awkward that we weren't talking so I racked my brain for anything that would be a common interest between us and since she was new to the farming business, I thought I'd give her tips she would need.

"Did you know that you could find all sorts of things in the mountain? If you know where to look, you can find useful plants that you can use for cooking or gifting people." I explained as I pointed to a crack between rocks behind the waterfalls below. "If you look over there, you can find plants like mints or flowers. Though you'd most likely find nothing but rocks and branches, they're pretty useful for research too. Who knows what type of organism that sticks to rocks that are found only in certain locations."

"Really? I never knew that." Lilian listened with interest. She put back the now empty bowls in the cart while still looking to my direction.

"Yeah. Some flower and nuts can be found in tree stumps too. Whenever you find a place that you think you can forage, go close to it and perhaps you'll find some useful materials. I personally love mushrooms. They seem so soft and weak yet they can survive in places that doesn't need a lot of sunlight."

"I'll give that a try. Thanks, Reina."

Lilian patted her bottom clean from the grass that were stuck to it and continued on her journey to Bluebell. She told me to visit there before she had to go back to Konohana so she could show me around the place. I told her it would depend on the progress of my research.

To be honest, I didn't really mind going to Bluebell. I always thought that the whole competition between towns was stupid. Though I had never gone deep into Bluebell mountain area, I noticed a couple of new plants growing there during the cooking festival I would occasionally attend.

'Ah! Cam... yes, I remember now.' Speaking of cooking festivals, I recalled someone from Bluebell with that name that attended. He didn't talk a lot but that was probably because the large man he was with was constantly praising his cooking that he felt too embarrassed to say anything. I didn't know that he was a florist. I thought they were all into animals and cheese.

I was starting to feel curious and as I turned to the little bud, I announced to her that I would take a little unplanned trip to Bluebell mountain area - for research purpose, of course. From the first step downhill, I was already amazed by the diversity of plants that were all around me. I could see a few budding Gerbera; some of them were yellow, some were orange.

As I felt my heart pounding with excitement, I walked even further down to see more plants. I made sure I took a sample for each flower species that I saw. They even had mint growing around too and I was always fond of mint to be eaten with my herb salad.

Soon I reached an open area with a shallow river much like the entrance of Konohana mountain area and on the other side of the river, I saw a man standing there. Speak of the devil. I didn't get a good look at him during the competition but now that no one was around, I took this as a chance for me to study him. He was wearing a purple hat that matched his vest. His shirt was accompanied with a pale yellow tie that was slanted and uneven. I wasn't able to look at his eyes since it was hidden behind his golden hair so I took a step closer.

The faint noise from the grass below me caused him to look up and my eyes caught the sight of the most beautiful green topaz eyes I'd ever seen. My body froze and I couldn't move or look away from his gaze. I knew it was too late to run away and I wouldn't be able to justify my action if I had done so. So I did nothing. I kept on staring back.

So did he.

I wasn't sure what kept him from looking away, but as I began to feel my face heating up I hoped someone would pop in and break the awkward silence between us. Who better to do that than the cheerful Lilian herself.

"Reina!" Perhaps I was too entranced by Cam's eyes, but I certainly did not hear Lilian or her horse approaching me. Suddenly she was already running towards me. I tore away my gaze from Cam and was about to excuse myself when Lilian began to drag me closer to him. Her strength was surprising, considering that she was quite small. Perhaps being a farmer wasn't a bad choice for her after all.

"Cam, this is the girl I was telling you about." Lilian placed me in front of Cam so unexpectedly I didn't have time to process what to do. Even Cam was shocked at Lilian's sudden shove that he took a step backwards before gentlemanly offered his hand for a quick shake.

Hastily, I shook his hand. I tried to concern myself with the plant sample that I was holding. "I'm Reina. I'm a botanist." I said, keeping my introduction short and curt so I could get out of there fast.

"So I heard." Cam replied, his voice sounded amused. "I'm Cam. A florist."

"I ... heard." I replied, still busying myself with the plants.

"It's a good thing you came, it's Cam's day off today so he's completely free to talk. I told Cam how excited you were when I gave you the margite flower yesterday-"

"Marguerite." I absently corrected her midsentence. This brought a slight interested smile in Cam's face.

"-and he was saying that the next time you're here, he'll give you a flower for free because he appreciates people that love flower."

It was clear that both Cam and I weren't good with people because - once Lilian finished talking - none of us uttered a word. I was too busy being embarrassed by what Lilian revealed about myself and Cam was probably too busy trying not to laugh at me. He gave a nod that I copied back when I dared to look at him.

"That's... weird." Lilian's voice disappointed. "I imagined that you two would start chatting about flowers right away... Where did it go wrong?"

Cam laughed a handsome sounding laugh showing a warmer expression that added another red shade to my face. "Not everyone is open to meeting new people like you, Lilian. Some people need time." He sent an apologetic smile at me and I awkwardly smiled back.

"I guess you're right... well... I'm heading back to Konohana. See ya, Cam."

I opened my mouth to stop her but Lilian was already walking towards her carriage. Being left alone with Cam like that erased all sorts of proper conversation skills I'd learned. I looked at Cam while desperately searching for something to say. He seemed to notice my discomfort.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I'm fine by myself."

Without saying anything else, I gave him a short bow before chasing Lilian who was already mounting her horse.

Lilian allowed me to ride her carriage all the way to Mako's house and I soon busied myself with self-inflicting pain to punish myself for being stupid. My forehead soon became red from the repeating impact against the table surface.

"It's so much easier talking to plants." I sighed.

I couldn't figure out why I had problems talking to Cam. He was a florist for Harvest Goddess' sake! Surely he would appreciate my passion and I even had questions prepared in my head regarding the Marguerite. I would start off by complimenting him on his meticulous care for the flower and would ask how he'd done so. I laughed at myself, "Oh now I can have a perfectly decent conversation with him in my head."

He wasn't the first stranger I encountered. Usually I would be able to introduce myself pretty easily to people. Even with Lilian I was able to pull myself together after screaming like a weirdo. I could talk normally to Kana and Hiro, or even the musicians that came by during Fall festival. Why not Cam?

I decided to take a test and walked to Yun's Tea House. It was a Friday so Kana was likely to be there to spend most of his afternoon. Sure enough, after greeting Yun and her granddaughter, I noticed Kana eating some type of curry.

"Hey Kana." I said. No problem there.

"Whoah! What's up Reina? That's rare for you to be here. Got something you need from me?" Kana asked with his mouth full of curry.

"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you. I'm ... testing something."

"One of your research, huh? Awesome!" He grinned. This ponytailed man somehow reminded me of Lilian for being always full of energy no matter what time of day it was.

"Something like that. Can I ask you something?" I slowly put my words together, calculating how direct I should ask Kana about my problem.

"Shoot."

"Have you ever...have you ever been nervous around someone? A complete stranger, not someone you know."

At this question, I noticed how Kana blushed and scratched the back of his head. "I've been nervous, but with someone I know."

"Really?" That was a new discovery. I never knew Kana, a man full of confidence, would be lost for words around someone.

"Yeah. I end up saying things I didn't mean so we fight a lot when we meet. So uncool, huh?" Kana grinned with his cheeks still red.

"Interesting." I pondered. "So nervousness leads to doing the exact opposite of what we want to."

"Yup. Totally."

"What this?" A woman's voice chipped in and the chair next to me was pulled to have Dr. Ayame sit on it. She was munching on a dumpling while her eyes stared at me intensely. Dr. Ayame was known to be a teaser from the stories that Hiro told people so I knew how dangerous it would be if she was to be part of this conversation.

"Reina's doing a research." Kana answered.

"Interesting. About what?" She turned towards me and I could see her eyes sparkling with glee. I blushed at the sudden feeling of self-conscious.

"It's nothing. I have it all figured out already." I was about to leave the chair when Dr. Ayame took my hand and leaned closer as if to beg me not to go.

"Are you sure? I may be able to give advice as a doctor." She winked. "I can read you like a book, you know. I know what you're thinking."

Flustered, I struggled to find words to reply but Kana took this time to be generous with explanation.

"She was asking about whether or not I've been nervous around a stranger. Told her I have. What about you, Ayame?"

"I see." Dr. Ayame was looking at me with a knowing look as she began to rub her chin in order to think. "I know my adorable apprentice gets nervous a lot and he ends up making wrong diagnoses. He'd get all depressed soon afterwards and starts wallowing with guilt and low self-esteem. But that's just Hiro! Who, may I ask, is causing you to be nervous, Reina?"

Without the help of Dr. Ayame, Kana probably wouldn't have realized that there was another intention behind this question, but now he too was interested to know. I tried to remain professional.

"It's not me..." I tried saying but the two eager Konohanians were not convinced by it. "It's... well, I was nervous ...because..."

"Good afternoon Yun!" Lilian's voice suddenly filled the whole tea house that nearly made me jump. Again, she saved me from another pickled radish situation that I was in. "Lilian..." I completed my sentence without a second thought.

"Hmm..." Now both of my listeners were studying Lilian. I let out a sigh of relief.

"She does have a way of making you feel something. Usually joy, but I can see how you can get nervous around her. Perhaps it's the energy of youth?"

"She's just ALWAYS stoked! I connect with her pretty easily."

"Aw, I can see you two making a sweet couple. Always full of energy."

"Wh-what?! Naw, we're just friends." It was Kana's turn to be the victim of Dr. Ayame's teasing. I took this opportunity to excuse myself from the tea house and looked for save haven which, to me, was Nori's house.

"It sounds like you have feelings for someone." Nori giggled after I explained my situation to her.

"W-what?" I was in Nori's dinning room almost choking on the matcha tea she served for me. "How did you reach to that conclusion?!"

"Because it happens to everyone. My grandfather, for example, always tries to pull a prank on Yun but that's because he secretly likes her."

"How..."

"I heard him mumble when he works and he would pretend to be asking Yun out for a date. It's really a sweet thing." We both smiled at the thought of Gombe stuttering with embarrassment. I always thought that if there was someone who could ask a person out with no problem whatsoever, it would've been Gombe seeing that he would always challenge people to have races with him.

"Love just changes people. You'd be surprised."

"I am...," I said as my head slowly process what she said, "...but! No! I don't love him! We never spend long enough time for me to start liking him. Even when I saw him in the cooking festival, I didn't think much of him so... this nervousness, I'm sure it's because of something else."

Nori sat quiet for a bit before she smiled her sweet smile. "So, he's from Bluebell, huh?"

"..." I realized that I had given her too much information.

"Why don't you visit him again? If, as you claim, you don't have feelings for him, then everything should go well. Perhaps you were nervous because you were put on the spot at the time."

"...That makes sense."

"Treat this as one of your experiments. You'll find the answer soon enough."

Nori encouraged me by patting me on the head. She always treated me like a younger sister even though our age wasn't that far away. I didn't really mind though because she had a certain maturity about her. After finishing our tea, I chatted a bit about how I should approach this new experiment and parted ways in search for Lilian. Apparently Lilian was just done talking with Hiro outside of Nori's house.

"So, when did you say is Cam's day off?" I asked Lilian; determined to start over.

Note:

Here's the second chapter for Dandelion. (You'll figure out why it's called dandelion in later chapter...s)

I wanted to take things slow with Reina's relationship with Cam but for sure, there will be more Cam and Reina interaction in the next chapter. I'm excited to write that!

I also tried to add other villagers in the story so they won't be left behind. I put in rival pairings within the story and some hinted pairings between other villagers by the game itself. Hopefully the characters are not that far off because despite being a fanfic, I still want to stay true with most of the details within the game. I may have to bend that rule later on in some chapters if needed... hmm...

Anyway, I hope you like the story so far. Let me know what you think, please?

I'll update soon!