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Restoring Faith	By : Lady_Kae Category: +G through L > Harvest Moon Views: 2535 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used from the game Harvest Moon: ToT. All characters ,game related material, and lyrics, save for original content is property of their respective owners and no money is being made from this fiction.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
A/N: Holy sweet mother of Dhov. This chapter had me stumped for a while. I didn't like the first iteration that I wrote for it, then I hated the second one, but I took bits from both and FINALLY made it work! I am terribly sorry this one took as long as it did, and I am pleased as punch to finally be posting it. Please be sure to let me know how you guys are enjoying it. I would love to see some feedback on this. Thanks a million for reading and enjoy!
~Kae

Chapter 10: Finally...
Restoring Faith
A Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility Fanfiction

Kohri was grinning broadly as she walked into Ashemore Carpentry the following Friday morning, as she had commissioned a gorgeous wooden mantle to go above the fireplace around the same time Ramsey and Owen had started working on it. “ Morning, Dale.” she said chipperly.
Dale’s mustache turned up at the corners as he returned the smile. “ Good morning, Kohri. I was just getting ready to call you to let you know that Luke, Bo, and I would be by to install the new mantle tomorrow seeing as how Ramsey and Owen are nearly finished. I already borrowed one of Cane’s long, flat carts for the transfer.”
“ Sounds great to me Dale. I’ll probably be working over in Craig’s fields by that point so just let yourselves in.” Kohri replied. She looked out the window at the large root blocking the road and she sighed heavily. “ If only the root weren’t in the way, that’d probably cut a considerable amount of time off your trip.”
Dale’s brow furrowed a little at that statement. “ Luke and I had some words on that very issue this morning. Gill’s been pressuring me to cut the root, but…” the elder Ashemore sighed in his melancholy as he looked up towards the now hollowed trunk of what used to be the Mother Tree. “...I just can’t bring myself to do it Kohri. I understand that that root has been blocking a main thoroughfare, but it’s still part of the Mother Tree. What if something happens with the Harvest Goddess because we cut it?”
Kohri’s gaze was sympathetic as she crossed the room and she rubbed Dale’s shoulder in an effort to comfort him. “ Honestly Dale, I don’t know if I have an answer for that, but…” she began, only to be interrupted when the door to the shop swung open so fast the smack of it against the wall made them both jump.
Their shocked gazes fell on Bo who was standing in the entryway with a wild, worried look in his eyes, his skin pale, and his chest heaving.
“ Master! It’s...it’s Luke!” he gasped out, clearly still struggling for breath.
“ What happened Bo? What’s going on with Luke?” Dale exclaimed worriedly. “ Kohri, grab him a glass of water! Quick!” Dale rushed Bo to a chair as Kohri grabbed the carafe on the desk and she handed it right to Bo who began drinking straight from it like a man parched.
Bo set the carafe down a minute later, having drained it completely, and he took a deep breath in. “ Master! Luke’s getting to cut the root from the mother tree! He was doing his pre-strike routine when I started running for the shop!”
Dale’s color drained faster than Kohri could blink. “ How long did it take you to run here?” he asked quietly.
Bo gulped down air again before looking up at Dale. “ Six minutes tops.” he said, only to smile weakly after a second. “ Currently the fastest mile I’ve ever run to date.” Finally, it felt as if he were starting to catch his breath a little easier now and he was trying to find some means to lighten the mood.
Kohri gasped sharply even as she broke into a full on run out the door with Dale not far behind her. Even though she had been on the island a relatively short time, she knew exactly what Bo had meant.
If given enough time to focus themselves, anyone was capable of insane feats of dexterity or strength. In Luke’s case, when he started mastering the highest level of his pre strike routine, that meant being able to split a stump four ways with a single chop. Now he was going to use it on the root?!
As apprehensive as she was about the rift it could cause between him and Dale, that was one thing she knew she had to witness Luke do first hand.
It takes him roughly twelve minutes to focus himself enough to make that particular strike. I should make it just in time to see it...she thought as she skidded down the hill into the Maple Lake district. Kohri began pouring on the speed again, taking the little used short cut towards her property to shave some time off.
When she got there, Luke was just getting to his feet and Kohri slid to a halt in an effort to keep a good ways back. He needed space for this swing after all.
His movements were unhurried, precise even as he started swinging the ax back and forth a little bit. Dust from the road kicked up with each swing, revealing a small divot every time it cleared. Each step brought Lucy up higher as Luke drew closer to the tree root until he broke into a short run. With a loud bellow, Luke raised his lucky ax high above his head as he jumped up as far as he could, only to bring her down in an instant. “ BREAK!” he let out at the top of his lungs.
The cry raised the hair on Kohri’s neck to stand on end and she felt goosebumps raise on her arms. It had looked like one strike, but she had counted two, if not three swings despite that they had been faster than the blink of an eye. She held her breath as she waited anxiously to see what would happen next.
A small crack was heard at first and without warning, a section of the root the width of the road began to crumble down into a large pile. Kohri was held in awe of the strength Luke had shown with the swing, but she could see it had taken many more swings that the few that she knew she had seen. But how? When? There was no possible way that Luke had shortened his pre strike routine to mere minutes!
“ Phew!” Luke breathed out as he lugged his ax onto his shoulder. He turned around, and he beamed the second he saw everyone gathered behind him. Pride and accomplishment were written all over his face. “ Hey pops. Impressive right?”
Dale looked horrified at the mess that was now the ruined root and then back to his son. “ What were you thinking Luke?! What in the world have you done?!” he demanded.
Luke’s demeanor changed in an instant. “ It’s been in the way for a long, long time. Not only that, Kohri could have hurt herself sometime ago when she tried to climb over it. Everyone, everyone, has complained about always having to go the long way around. Gill was right that it was time to cut the root, dad. We need this road open.” He argued. Luke had known that his father had been holding off on purpose, and he was pretty sure that Hamilton had asked him to not to do it either. It was the one issue where the older generation butted heads with the younger one, even though they did just as much complaining when it came time to have to take nearly an hour getting to their little corner of the island.
Luke wasn’t going to let there be any more excuses, any more hesitation. He had made the point moot.
Dale shook his head in disbelief at Luke’s well thought out reply. It wasn’t like his son to be so mature after all. “ You know what this is. It’s part of the Mother Tree! What if the Harvest Goddess gets upset?!” his voice was panicked, almost shrill for a man.
Luke couldn’t help but grin even as he shook his head in the negative. “ C’mon pops, the Harvest Goddess would never hold a grudge like that.” His grin dissipated a little as he laid a hand against the now smooth inner wood. It was as dry as a bone. “ There’s no use in taking care of the tree anymore. Seriously, the roots have dried up, the trunk is hollowed out. There’s nothing we can do to bring it back to life dad. It’s work is done.” He looked up the root and towards the trunk forlornly, but in the end Luke smiled. He could see his dad trying to form some sort of rebuttal and he gave Dale an enthusiastic thumbs up. “ Besides, if she’s really that pissed with me, she can come and spank me!”
Kohri couldn’t help herself. Her hand rose of it’s own volition to pinch the bridge of her nose at that exuberant exclamation. “ Sweet goddess…” she muttered, unable to fathom how Luke could go between supremely mature and ridiculously childish in an instant. It was a phenomena that baffled everyone on the island after all.
Luke just shrugged after a moment when he saw how at a loss for words everyone was. His dad was gaping like a fish out of water because of it. “ I’ll catch ya later Kohri. If anyone needs me, I’ll be bringing the cart over so we can haul off all this extra wood and disperse it around town.” he announced with a wave over his shoulder as he began making way through the newly opened passage.
Dale finally sighed heavily as he shook his head. Luke was right that all this wood left over couldn’t go to waste. Not only that, it was as dry as he had claimed it to be. There was no sap or anything left in the tree. Sadly, it was truly beyond their ability to restore. “ Oh Luke…” he finally whispered. The resignation in his voice was nearly palpable as he began following his son. “ C’mon Bo. Let’s help him get this cleaned up.”
Kohri watched the two men for a moment before she began walking back to her home. She was no different than Dale to a certain respect. She was torn between wanting to keep the status quo of the friendship between she and Gill and taking the leap of faith of possibly becoming something more. She needed to make a decision, once and for all, on where she stood. Kohri paused at her front door as she looked in the direction of where Waffle Town was. Decisions like this were never easy, because it was more than just her life that would be affected by it.
And what of the future that Angela showed me? The Gill in my dream mentioned twin children? Do I go for it or just let it all lie? Sure there have been a few moments here and there, but it’s not like he’s in love with me...Kohri’s jaw tightened as she fought to stave off the pain she felt in her heart at that thought and her eyes narrowed as she grew upset. I’m such a fucking pancake when it comes to this. I don’t want a relationship, but I’m still falling in love with him. This isn’t fucking fair! Anger began to fill her at that thought. White hot, it began souring in her belly. It wasn’t anger at Gill, or even Wren; despite the fact that the bastard had all but ruined her life.
It was a deep seated anger at herself. At her cowardice, at her hesitation, but most of all at her heart for behaving so damnably traitorous.
Kohri stalked to her office, where her school books and coursework sat, mostly finished. Her scowl deepened further. She was taking a break from her studies for the winter so that she could focus on gathering everything that she would need to start planting in spring. Not just planting...she thought with a gleam in her eyes.
Kohri also intended to fully stock her lab downstairs and finally put it to use in testing soil samples over the winter months when she wouldn’t be able to plant as much. There were about ten to fifteen large boxes in the basement already with some of the equipment that she had ordered and Kohri grinned to herself out of sheer joy. She knew that she had mentioned at least once that one of her goals since moving to Waffle Island was to make a customized fertilizer for all the farms here. It was needless to say that she couldn’t wait.
Kohri sighed a little more as she looked at her coursework. She definitely needed to start focusing on it; more than she had in recent weeks, so she could finish out this semester at the top of her class. Both of them had exams coming up soon as it was. That meant having to put their debate nights on hold. The realization brought another scowl to her face and Kohri grumbled as she began straightening up her papers. She sat down for a few minutes, as she had about an hour before she had to go over to Souffle Farm to help Craig and Ruth with their fields.
Poor Craig. He had broken his leg right above the ankle after falling into a gopher hole, and he wouldn’t be able to get out into the fields properly for about a month. Kohri was being compensated for her time, but it was still detracting her from both her own work and her studies.
As much as she hated the thought, it would be best if she kept Gill at a distance for now. Amelia had yet to contact her about how the case was progressing, but Kohri was not going to put anyone here at risk. She cared about Gill far too much to put him in the crosshairs like that. Owen and Luke were also at risk, but they refused to leave Kohri to her own devices over something that may or may not happen.
She waited for the biting guilt that normally came when her thoughts turned to how Wren had attacked her and Kohri was surprised to feel anything but. Instead there was only righteous indignation, and fury aimed at the pathetic excuse of space that had stolen her parents lives. She thought back to the dream she had on her birthday, although she was starting to feel more and more that it had been anything but. Kohri, for the first time since their deaths, felt completely absolved of any guilt pertaining to what she had felt to be her part in their murders.
Kohri bought the memory of what her parents had told her to the fore. It was odd that it was a memory, as dreams faded after time. If she put truck into the belief that she had indeed spoken to them, then she had a hell of an undertaking before her. Kohri needed to find the sprites, as the Harvest Goddess wasn’wasn’t able to return because of the death of the Mother Tree. They had the means of possibly restoring her, and quite possibly the island as well. Everything that she had learned recently flashed through her mind and she steepled her fingers in front of her face, clearly deep in thought. Jillian Tamelin had been able to see the sprites because she had been pure of heart and purpose. Gill had been able to see them as a child as well. Her father had told her that she was one of the only people on the island that would be able to see them. There weren’t any children here for now. Anissa’s little brother Taylor was staying with family on the mainland for school for now, and he would be home next summer.
Had her father been hinting that Gill could still see them? If so, did that mean that he might know where them could be?
Kohri battled with herself for a while. She could only do so much on her own but she needed her space. Gill had also promised her that he would never abandon her, more than once in fact and he probably didn’didn’t even know what was going on with her. He wanted to help her, and Kohri believed him.
She made up her mind, though it had the potential to come back and bite her in the ass. She would still suspend their debate nights for now, but when Gill came over Friday, she’d be sure to finally ask him for help.

Gill knocked on the door at his normal time and he cleared his throat a little as he waited. It felt as if it had taken the days far too long to pass by just to get to Friday. He had come to honestly enjoy the weekly get-togethers with Kohri. It kept his mind sharp, and he had someone here with whom he could actually connect to.
Now if he could just get past his own hesitancy and kiss her, everything would be perfect!
Gill smiled roguishly as Kohri opened the door and she waved him inside. “ What’s on the menu tonight?” he asked. He instantly crossed over to the shelves to place a few books back into place and he looked over his shoulder as Kohri stirred a pot. “ I’m returning the books I borrowed by the way.”
“ Pan seared tuna, topped with wilted greens and served alongside tomato risotto. I had an excellent yield from my rice paddy earlier this week.” Kohri replied chipperly. She killed the heat on the stove as Gill crossed over to the cabinets to grab the plates and silverware for them. “ Thank you by the way. Did you get everything you needed? Time wasn’t of any object to return them. I know where you sleep after all. All I have to do is sneak in.”
Gill chuckled quietly at that and he set the table as he looked up to Kohri. “ I believe the line from Archer is ‘Phrasing’.” he retorted.
Kohri’s laughter sputtered out of her so quickly that she nearly dropped the platter in her hands and she sat down heavily the moment that she touched it to the table. A long, loud belly laugh rolled out of her as she buried her head in her arms to hide the blush on her cheeks and the tears of mirth already streaming down her face. She hadn’t been expecting Gill, of all people, to quote one of her favorite comedy serials, much less allude to the other connotations her statement could have held.
“ I’ll get the rest of the food, Kohri.” Gill laughed. He knew he had gotten her good after all.
“ That was payback for three weeks ago!” she said accusingly, though the effect was nullified from the giggle still evident in her voice.
Gill smirked as he placed the other two dishes down and he looked at Kohri with a gleam in his eyes. “ That’s why they say revenge is a dish best served cold.” he purred, looking all the human manifestation of the cheshire cat all the while. He grabbed some napkins while Kohri managed to calm herself enough to grab some glasses and a pitcher of homemade raspberry tea. “ So how’s everything going with your courses?”
Kohri shrugged lightly as she joined him at the table once more. “ I have yet to be told I’m failing, even though I’ve got a lot on my plate right now considering that I have to handle both my own fields and the ones at Souffle Farm. The crux of the matter is that I keep getting distracted with the extra duties. I was hoping that we could agree to put a pause on our debate nights for a bit, at least until I know all my work is caught up and Craig’s back in his element. Besides, with the weather cooling down, I have another project that I need to start putting my focus into so that come the end of winter I’ll be ready.”
Gill’s brow raised curiously as he took his normal seat across from her. “ Is this about the soil samples you spoke of when you first arrived?” he inquired carefully. Kohri was already serving up a generous portion of tuna to his plate as he reached for the risotto.
Kohri nodded with a genuine smile. “ Yep. I had Dale put in a basement downstairs when I commissioned him and the boys to expand the house and I’m in the process of stocking it with everything I need for a lab. I have roughly quarter of what I need at the moment, and quite a bit will be in next week when Pascal comes in with the delivery.” She squeezed the tongs in her hand to dole out a healthy portion of the greens she had prepared and Gill chortled softly.
“ I would love to see it when all the preparations are complete. As for putting a pause on debate night though. We started this up so that you wouldn’t be holed up in the library all the time.” he countered gently. Gill’s gaze was worried as he leveled it on Kohri and she nodded in agreement.
“ You’re not wrong, but you’ll be glad to know that I won’t need to visit the library all that much at the moment. I found a book that helped to shed some light on what I’m looking for. Right now though, with midterms coming, both of us need to put in a decent amount of cramming so that we ace our courses. I fully intend to keep at the top of my class, even though all of it is through correspondence. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed with me coming to Waffle Island.” Kohri returned with a grin. “ There’s something else I need to talk to you about before you leave for that matter, but enough of that for now. Where were we last week?”
“ Supermassive black holes. We were debating which formula in Newton’s Principia would be best used to calculate the force needed to escape one. We got on the topic because of Cosmos.” Gill replied with a grin as he leaned over his plate, almost as if readying himself for a rebuttal already. “ We may want to eat first, though. I would hate for the food to go cold because we’re going back and forth too much.”

Gill was barely paying attention to a word she was saying. They had truly gotten started after they had finished their supper and he was certain that he had never seen anything quite this enrapturing before. Kohri looked magnificent in her current ire, pacing agitatedly, gesticulating wildly with her free hand while the other held her copy of Isaac Newton’s Principia. It was rare to see her sable colored locks out of their normal french braid; albeit pinned back so that it didn’t get in her face or in the way while she had been cooking, but it was a very welcome sight. They were ebbing and flowing with every graceful movement she made, like the tresses themselves were alive and showing their own ire at every rebuttal made Kohri’s way.
It was almost as if she turned into someone completely different when they were alone like this, but Gill knew that Kohri’s real persona had multiple layers to it much like his own. He liked to think that this was her true self that she allowed him to see, even if it was only for a few hours at a time. What he wanted was for her to be this comfortable showing this side of herself all the time, not just for their debate nights. Gill wanted everyone to find a way to appreciate Kohri for exactly how she was, just like this, despite the fact that he knew it was a pipedream at best. The whole of the island didn’t appreciate intelligence the same way they did. Gill offered up another half assed rebuttal that he knew would keep her agitated, and he hid his smile as Kohri nearly snapped in her ire. Her fingers were holding the book closed and for a moment he wondered if she’d actually hit him with it this time. Last time she had said that she would do it in the vain hope of him absorbing some of the information from the blow.
Sweet goddess above though, Kohri truly was magnificent to behold when she got pissed off like this.
They argued back and forth for a little longer before Kohri had Gill on the ropes again and one particular verbal parry had Gill on his feet in an instant. He closed the distance between them in only a few steps, and he got nose to nose with Kohri. Both of them were breathing heavily from the verbal exhaustion, and Kohri’s cheeks held an excited flush that Gill couldn’t help but adore. Her gaze was locked to his expectantly, searching, and hungry for more all at once. A self assured smile was on her face the longer he kept quiet and Gill’s eyes flickered to her lips for a brief moment.
“ Kohri…” he whispered hoarsely. He committed everything about this moment to memory. Goddess above, Gill never wanted this time spent together to end. He could see the ensuing pattern, as their debates were getting longer and longer. There were some nights that Gill didn’t make it home until just before sunrise. Kohri had done so much to bring him back from such a bleak, miserable existence. She had been the one person Gill hadn’t realized he needed in his life until that exact moment.
Gill’s heart nearly stilled for a solid minute at that epiphany. There’s someone who has the potential to give you more than I ever did...Angela’s words rang through his mind as Gill looked down into Kohri’s eyes as if seeing her for the first time. She was the only woman he had been able to connect to on an intellectual level. Kohri had unknowingly guided him through his own grief at losing Angela as tragically as he had, only to work her way into his heart without realizing it. She had him feeling things that he had never felt with Angela, and it had bothered him until he had accepted the fact that he was fiercely attracted to the island’s newest rancher. It was more than a physical attraction, it was everything about her that called to him, more so than it ever had for the woman he had loved and lost. Gill knew in that instant that she was the one, even if she was terrified to take it past what they had now. Every single nerve was blazing for more contact with her, for more than the friendship they had. Yet, he also understood her fears; the ones of that bastard hurting anyone else she cared about, and they held him at bay. “ Kohri, I…”
There just had to be a point where those misgivings couldn’t be allowed to continue to dictate not just her happiness now, but their potential happiness down the line.
Kohri’s blush deepened when she realized just how close Gill was to her and she swallowed thickly as her excitement gave way to trepidation and longing. She hadn’t moved an inch, though her breathing was still just as labored as it had been while they had been going back and forth. Images of what could happen kept flashing in her mind’s eye, and as much as she wanted them to happen, Kohri had to stop this before things went too far. “ Gill, we...I...I don’t want you to get hurt…” she pleaded weakly. “ What if he does…I can’t handle that kind of grief again and I doubt you could either.”
Gill’s hands came up to rest on her shoulders and his forehead pressed to hers. “ This is why you want to suspend our debate nights…” he whispered, finally seeing things through her point of view. Things were absolutely electrified between them, and only stood to get even more charged if they kept going on this course. “ Granted both of us do have exams coming up, but it’s a weak excuse at best Kohri. Even now, you’re letting him control your life, because you’re terrified of what if’s. Fear is a healthy emotion to have, but this isn’t. Even if he knew you were still alive, he doesn’t know where you are and he’d be a fool to seek you out to try to finish the job.” Gill was desperately trying to get through to her. He was despondent to help her see that despite the fact that she was bringing life and hope back to everything around her, she wasn’t living herself. Gill had done almost just that for five years after losing Angela.
Kohri was silent as Gill spoke. She couldn’t be anything but. There was so much feeling in his voice, more than she was used to hearing from him. Her gaze was full of trepidation as he continued, his eyes stern but gentle at the same time.
“ As for him taking out the people he could feel are too close to you, that would put Owen, Luke, and myself in danger. All he would see is three men showering you with attention and thus taking you further from him in his mind. I’ve been in danger this entire time, as have Luke and Owen. I’m sure you’ve tried to warn them off in your own way and they wouldn’t have it. For the record, Kohri...I won’t either.” Gill all but growled out that last statement and he moved to close the distance between them. Both of his hands came up to cradle both sides of her neck and Kohri gasped prettily in surprise as his breath fanned gently over her lips.
Without warning, pain flared through his foot and Gill recoiled in an instant with a groan of dismay. It was official, he was cursed to not kiss her. Something kept coming between them every single time.
Both of them looked down to the floor between them and Kohri’s bottom lip trembled in mirth when they both saw her copy of the Principia there. Without warning, her laughter burst out and Kohri leaned against the table as tears of mirth streamed from her eyes. “ I’ve never heard of a woman being her own cock block!” she stuttered out between peels of laughter.
Gill couldn’t help laughing with her. It was true, every other time, someone else had interrupted right at the most opportune moment. This time, Kohri had unconsciously stopped him when her grip loosened on the heavy physics tome.
It took a while for them to calm themselves and they made sure to stay on separate sides of the house. They needed distance for the moment, though Gill wanted; very much in fact, to pick up where they had left off before Kohri had accidentally smashed his foot. Kohri was in the midst of putting the dinner dishes away and he found himself staring at her.
It was like he was seeing her in an entirely new light.
On the same note, Gill now knew that this attraction wasn’t nearly as one sided as he had thought before. Kohri, he was positive in fact, felt the same way he did and she was holding them both back because of the specter from her past. “ I meant what I said Kohri…” he finally got out after a moment and he walked over to her in the kitchen. “ I won’t let that bastard stop whatever it is that we have between us. It’s more than friendship, and we both know it. I don’t want to continue on this way, now that I know that you feel the same way that I do. I lived my life in darkness for five years, I didn’t live because of the guilt I carried. Now you’re doing the same thing to yourself. I can’t just stand idly by and watch you extinguish that light.”
Kohri was mesmerized by the timbre of his voice as he spoke gently, slowly gathering her in his arms all the while.
“ I can’t let you snuff out that light, not when you have so much to offer the world and to someone else. I would be that person if you would let me.” Gill finished. He felt free, finally having gotten that out of his system, but there was still one more thing that he couldn’t leave undone.

Having finally said what he had been needing to say for a long time, Gill finally leaned in and pressed his lips to Kohri’s.
A/N: Relatively short chapter I know, but the next one will hopefully make up for that. Please be sure to leave comments, reviews, or critiques for me!
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Restoring Faith