Chapter Text
You blink once before rereading the letter that you found in your mailbox, a gentle breeze dancing by that makes the leaves of your growing turnips rustle deliciously. The letter in your hand is from the mayor and he’s asking for you to join him, and a small few, on a trip to Purwo Woods for the Tree Planting Festival that’s happening tomorrow from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. The meet-up spot for the festival is at the ranch behind your farm.
You raise a curious eyebrow while your free hand scratches the back of your scalp. Should you go? How many people will be there? This is the first year they’re holding this festival? … Will Rafael be there?
The younger Sanchez brother caught your eye the minute you saw him for the first time. It was the nervous smile he wore while you introduced yourself, the way he stumbled on his words and stuttered shyly, the way his eyes couldn’t seem to meet yours after you asked him certain questions.
You wanted to get to know him, to give him gifts, and eventually date him. If you hadn’t run into Rafael then you might’ve tried for Mark or Scott, especially since Scott always seemed so grateful about the donations you’d bring to the museum.
You slide your hand down to cup the back of your neck before you tilt your head back with your eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the cool wind against your skin while you get lost in thought. Maybe the festival will have something you can buy and offer to the shrines. Since the Goddess of Flowers made herself known to you, you’ve been on the lookout for the items needed to make offerings.
“It’d be worth it then,” you mutter to yourself, folding the letter to stuff it in the back pocket of your overalls.
“I should gather as much as I can today; no telling how much the items at the shop’ll cost.”
You spend the rest of your day, after you water your crops, foraging and catching bugs. You even managed to fish a bit before the sun slowly got replaced by the moon, and it was time for you to head home to rest. You dropped the things in your bag in the shipment bin, but stopped when your fingers graced the smooth surface of the onyx you forgot you had. You found that in a mystery geode when you went mining in the Earth Shaft the other day (after you had your dream about the Goddess), a little shocked that you hadn’t donated it or sold it yet. Maybe it’s because of something Pablo told you while you watched him crack open the geode after you paid for it.
Rafael loves onyx.
You slowly blink as you observe the purple-ish gem that shined a bit in the moonlight. You haven’t given anyone a gift since you gave Miss Betty the bouquet you managed to put together your first week on the island.
You push your lips together slightly then huff when you come to a decision, leaving the gem in your bag while you tossed everything else in the shipping bin.
~
“Farmer y/n!” mayor Connor cheers after noticing you walking towards him, turning his body to fully face you. You give him a small smile before looking at everyone else. Looks like it’s only Sunny, Eleaner, Jack, Kira, Erika, Frank, Betty, Millie, Pablo, and Rafael. He’s here too… good. You’ll help plant some trees, and give a gift to your person of interest.
You check your pocket while Connor talks about how happy he is that enough people showed up for the event. You smile when you see the onyx resting snuggly in your overall’s compartment, lifting your gaze when you see everyone start to walk in the direction of the caverns.
~
You let out a soft puff of a laugh while smirking kindly, “You don’t need me to tell you how to plant things, miss Betty. You’ve been doing this way longer than me.”
She laughs softly, “I just wanted to get a farmer’s insight on my gardening skills, dear. You had such a serious look on your face a few minutes ago.”
“That was for a different reason,” you say mentally, looking over your shoulder at Rafael behind you. He’s talking with Millie like he was before you all got on the boat that took you to Purwo Woods. You were hoping to give him the onyx in your pocket before the start of the main event, but Connor wants you to watch over everyone to make sure they plant the trees properly. You told him that you hadn’t been a farmer that long, and most of the islanders had a better understanding of all this than you, but he still insisted on it. Before the planting can even begin, you’ll be split into groups to clear the leftover stumps and trash left behind.
“Something on your mind, y/n?”
You quickly look back at her, “Nothing! Just… a little distracted I guess.”
You lower your gaze to the planted tree saplings as your eyebrows furrowed together. This whole event’s going to take all day, and you’ll be busy building up funding the days after. You’ve got to upgrade your house to get a kitchen for cooking, you need to get a barn and coop, you need a silo for all the hay you’ve collected, and so many other things that’ve taken up your time since moving to Coral Island. You barely have time to socialize, let alone, give out gifts and make friends.
Betty gently touches the back of the hand you have tightly gripping your knee, “I’m here to listen if you need to talk, dear. No need to keep your thoughts all bottled up.”
You push your lips together then sigh, “I’m probably making a big deal out of nothing, but… there’s someone I want to give a gift to… but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
You smile tiredly, “I’m busy all the time, and today isn’t any different. I really wanted to give him this gem too.”
Betty smirks softly, “Rafael?”
You tilt your head, “How…?”
She laughs softly again while lifting her hand to hover in front her smile, “Dear, you've been staring at him since we got here.”
Blood rushes to your cheeks before you fall on your ass in shock, your hands bracing against the ground so you don’t fall back too far.
“I’m not that obvious, am I?!” you asked so loud that everyone turned to look at you in confusion. That made your blush take over your features, muttering a small apology while scooting closer to Betty in an attempt to hide. Rafael couldn’t stop himself from smiling softly at how shy you suddenly got, noticing the way your blush compliments your features.
“Cute,” he notes mentally, beginning to blush himself. Betty gently pats your back, “Since there aren't that many of us for this event, we’ll get plenty of time for breaks in between cleaning up and tilling the ground. You’ll be able to give him your gift before it’s time to head back home.”
Your blush calms down to your cheeks, “You really think so, miss Betty?”
She nods with a sweet smile, “Just relax, dear.”
~
The sun’s showing you no mercy, shining down on the area like it’s the middle of summer.
“Fuck,” you curse airily before taking a sip from the water bottle you got from Millie a few minutes ago. You just got done picking up trash and twigs before you started to handle the tree stumps.
“There’s a few more stumps this way!” Connor shouts in your direction as you unbuttoned the straps of your overalls (the belt around your waist preventing them from falling down your legs), the sentence meant for you specifically. You curse under your breath before walking in the mayor’s direction, unaware of Rafael turning to look at you. His eyes nearly bugle out of his head while you untuck your shirt to wipe off the sweat that gathered on your chin, exposing your torso. You don’t have much muscles, but all the foraging and farm work you have been and will be doing has given you a bit more shape than what you had back in Pokyo.
“Damn.” Pablo mused as he walked next to his younger brother, “Not only is y/n face cute, but his body’s not bad either.”
“Pa-Pablo!” Rafael yelled in a hushed tone, giving his brother a shocked/disapproving look. The older Sanchez grins innocently, “What? Nothing wrong with admiring beauty from afar!”
The younger huffs then shyly looks back at you, knitting his eyebrows together when he notices the tired expression on your face. Most days, since moving to Coral Island, you’ve gone to bed extremely late due to how focused you get while you’re doing farm work or other things to make money. You almost passed out the other night, barely making it to your bed before your body gave out.
Rafael can see the bags and black spots under your eyes, though, they aren’t that visible… yet.
Without realizing it until it was too late, he walks towards you.
“He-hey.”
You blink once then look behind you, blush staining your cheeks when you see Rafael stand very close to you. His large frame shadows over you, protecting you from the ruthless sun rays.
He cups the back of his neck, “Is it alright if I um… help you? We could take a break together afterwards too.”
“I-... sure,” you answer in a whisper, pushing your lips together while watching him move to stand next to you. The both of you work together to get rid of the remaining tree stumps before sitting under one of the tents that was set up, accepting the water bottles Millie hands you as she walked by.
“Did you have a hard time sleeping last night?”
You blink once again then look at Rafael with a confused expression, your confusion growing when you see the concern written on his face. When you don’t answer him right away, he timidly averts his gaze, “So-sorry for asking something like that out of the blue. It’s just um… you look tired.”
“Ah, really?” you bring your knees up to rest your cheek against them, “I feel like I’ve said this a lot today, but I’ve been busy since I moved here. My grandparents made running a farm look easy, back when I was a kid.”
Rafael looks back at you with a soft smile, “I’m not sure this’ll mean much to you, but um… I think you’re doing a good job so far. I mean, I haven’t had a chance to see your farm, but I’m sure you’re doing everything you can to keep it in order.”
The urge to kiss him rose suddenly, but you kept it under wraps. Instead, you give Raf a sweet (but tired) smile with your head still resting on your knees.
“Thank you, Rafael.”
The urge to kiss you suddenly pops in Rafael’s mind, but he gets confused instead of acting on instinct. While he questions his feelings, you move a hand to pull out the gift that’s been in your pocket all day.
“Here,” you say, “this is something I’ve been wanting to give you, since I got it.”
He knits his eyebrows together when he sees what’s in your hand, “Onyx? You… how did you know I loved onyx?”
“Your brother, Pablo, told me the other day.” you explained while placing the gift in his hands, “I figured, since this is the first one I found, I’d give it to you as a present. Well, now it’s kind of a thank you gift for helping me a few minutes ago.”
Rafael examines the onyx in his hand, the other slowly gliding along the smooth gem’s surface. He’s only gotten this a small amount of times for his birthday from Pablo. He was happy that his brother remembered one of his favorite things, but he’s even happier that you knew and remembered it. The only thing he wishes was that he was the one who told you he loved onyx.
“Thank you,” the younger blacksmith says softly, slipping the onyx into his pocket before he forgets. When you don’t say anything, he turns to look at you.
“Oh,” he exclaims when he notices that you fell asleep, looking around to see if anyone else noticed too. He pushes his lips together then blushes softly, staying as still as possible so you could rest.