I do not own Harvest Moon if I did it wouldn't be as cool.

Laney was 9 years old and knew that she shouldn't be out on her own. It was getting pretty late. But Ash told her that there were a lot of cool and different things that she could use in desserts on the side of the mountain range closer to Konahana. She just had to find some new ingredients.

So far she found some flowers she had never seen before. Content with what she had found, she decided that it was about time to be getting home. But Laney had never been this far away from Bluebell, she was lost.

By looking at the sky it was most likely around 7:30 PM. Her father was probably worried since dinner would already be done by now, plus she left around 4:00 that afternoon. Laney looked around for some signs to lead her back home. But the only sign she found said 'WARNING: Wild animals roam. Don't get too close!'

She was lost, with nothing to lead her back home. It was dark out, and it was getting harder and harder to see. And there was no one else around to save her. Or so she thought.

Little did Laney know that there was a dark headed, 10 year old boy in the mountain range himself.

That little boy was Hiro, he was looking for plants to use for medicine and lost track of time. It was getting late; he knew Ayame would get worried.

The sun had almost set. He didn't have to worry though. Even though it was dark out he knew his way around the mountain range. Hiro thought to himself that he should be getting back, but then he heard something. He heard what sounded like someone crying and-being a curious little doctor in training- he went to find the source.

Hiro followed his ears to find a little girl about his age crying, looking very frightened and lost. Her hair was blonde and pulled up into a bun; her tear filled eyes were a soft green. He had never seen her before so he assumed that she was from Bluebell. She was shaking and her arms were hugging her knees. Finally she spoke-though she stuttered when she did-"W-who are y-y-you?"

Hiro didn't know exactly what to do-he had never had to deal with a crying girl before. "Um…, hi. Are you lost?" She nodded her head silently. Slowly, she stood up still shaking. "M-my names' Laney, I'll guess that you're from Konahana." She said calmer than the last time she spoke. "Um…yeah, then I'll guess that you're from Bluebell. Oh and, my names' Hiro by the way, are you okay?" She nodded.

There was an awkward silence; there was a big rivalry between the two villages so the two children didn't know what to do. Hiro decided to break the silence "I know that our villages hate each other….." Hiro scratched his head conflicted on what to do. But then he exhaled out, giving a sign he's made up his mind. "But I'll lead you back to your town anyway!" Hiro finished, sounding very determined. He knew people would ask where he went when he got back-and since he's a horrific liar-he would have to tell them. He knew that he might get looked down upon-especially by the mayor- for helping 'the enemy' but he didn't care, he knew it was wrong to leave her here.

Laney's head shot up and the tears from her eyes seemed to vanish. "Really?!" She gave him her warm, loving smile; making Hiro blush slightly. Laney continued on to thank him "Thank you, I really appreciate it." Hiro smiled back, that slight blush still on his face "No problem, I enjoy helping people so I should be the one thanking you for giving me this chance."

And on that note, Hiro held out his hand and Laney-hesitantly-took hold of it. Her face was flushed completely as they made their way back to Bluebell; Hiro was holding her hand the whole time! She knew that he probably just didn't want to lose sight of her. As they walked they would occasionally talk; though they talked mostly to avoid another awkward silence.

They made it to entrance of the town and Hiro suddenly stopped. "Are you sure that it's okay for me to be here?" Laney wasn't very shocked to hear him say this; she wondered herself what her father would say about this."I…don't know, but I'm sure it'll be fine once I explain!" she answered. Hiro let go of Laney's hand. "You lead the way. Naturally you would know your way around better than me." Laney nodded.

They walked through the town passing a church and a shipping box. Hiro couldn't believe how different it looked! From the buildings to the trees it was definitely different from Konahana. There were a lot of cool looking plants and flowers. Reina would love this place! Hiro thought silently.

They found themselves in front of restaurant."This is my house; my dad runs the café inside." Laney said before grabbing Hiro's hand and going inside. Hiro was a bit taken back on how big the café was; and she lived there? Though then again, he lived at the clinic and that place was pretty big too.

As they walked in Hiro saw a-flamboyant-man, he looked rather worried. His worried expression disappeared when he saw Laney though.

"LANEY!" The man tackled his daughter. Laney didn't seem very surprised at this."Yeah it's me Dad, I'm home. Though the only reason I got home was because of Hiro." Laney gestured towards Hiro."Um….hi." Hiro said weakly.

"I haven't seen you before…" Laney's dad looked puzzled, and then it hit him."You're from Konahana, aren't you?" Hiro nodded.

With yet another silence Laney decided to but in."Hiro may be from the other town but I never could have gotten here without him!" Laney's dad slightly smiled "Though you're from Konahana, you did help my daughter." He held out his hand "My name's Howard and as you've already guessed, I'm Laney's father."

Hiro shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." Answered Hiro, not feeling so shy anymore. "Well it's getting pretty late; I should probably be getting back…" Hiro started to say when Howard interrupted him. "Nonsense! Do you see how dark it is out there?! It's already past 10:00 PM! You're not going to travel alone on a mountain at this hour are you?" He had a point he would probably get more scolding for traveling so late than for staying in Bluebell.

"We have a spare room right over there." Howard pointed to a room on the right side of the house/café. "Don't worry; I'll contact your parents you'll just have to tell me where you live." Hiro was a little taken back at hearing this but he cooperated. "I live at Konahana Clinic, the doctor there isn't my mother though, she's my teacher. My parents are living in the city at the moment." Hiro said still a bit shocked at the situation that he got himself into.

Howard called the clinic and Ayame was just relieved that he was alright. She said that she would pick him up in the morning.

In the guest room, Hiro had no problem falling asleep; there were flowers everywhere in the room which made it relaxing. Soon he was drifting off, peacefully.

He felt a finger poking at his forehead. "Hiro? You awake?"

Hiro's eyes opened sleepily to see Laney waking him up. He got up slowly and saw Ayame was there as well, "You ready to go home, Hiro?" Hiro nodded; though leaving this soft bed didn't sound very nice at the moment.

He was about to go out the door when Laney pulled him into a hug; Hiro blushed a bit. "I still really can't thank you enough, Hiro!" She said cheerfully, she ended the hug. "Maybe I'll see you at the next Cooking Festival!" she said with a smile. Hiro smiled back "I'll make sure I attend this time."

And with that Ayame and Hiro went on their way back to Konahana. Ayame grinned playfully. "So we have a crush do we?" She said with her matchmaker attitude. "Whatever do you mean?" Hiro denied with a blush on his face.

A crush on a girl from Bluebell, huh? This might be a problem. Ayame thought to herself. Just another thing to torment Hiro about!