Disclaimer: Harvest Moon does not belong to me.

Of Fairytales

He had loved fairytales for as long as he could remember.

When he was young, he would beg his parents to buy new stories for him whenever they passed the book store. Each night, he would carefully take out the books from a box and flip through the pages. It didn't matter that he couldn't read yet because he had memorized each story his parents told him.

He loved all the fairytales that his parents read him, but his favourite stories were ones with princes.

One day, he too would become a beautiful prince. When he did, he would save his princess and they would live together happily ever after.

"What would you like me to read you tonight?" the silver-haired man asked as he ran a finger across the small row of books on the shelf.

"I've heard all of them," Camilla whined. Wrinkles formed on the immaculately tucked blankets as the tiny girl twisted around in her small bed to glance at her father. "It's boring hearing the same thing again."

"Stories are different each time you hear them."

The girl scrunched her face, pondering the meaning of her father's words. Chuckling softly, the man glided over to his daughter and gently tucked the blankets into the bed once again.

Pouting, the young girl pulled her stuffed bear closer to her body, having given up on understanding how a story can be different each time.

"Make up a story for me... Please?"

Wide brown eyes gazed pleadingly at the former thief.

A smile tugged on Skye's lips upon seeing his daughter's antics.

"As my princess wishes."

Skye leaned on the wooden chair beside the bed. Running a hand through his hair, the man gazed thoughtfully out the window. His lips formed a reminiscent smile as his eyes fell upon the radiant full moon hanging in the sky.

"Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful, but lonely thief..."

The thief lived alone and often moved from town to town so that no one could catch him. One day, he arrived at a peacefully valley. There, he met a beautiful princess and fell in love at first sight.

"Hehe. Hello, beautiful. Walking alone at night?"

Though the thief believed in love and happy endings, he knew that these were things he could never claim. Even if he was able to capture the attention of every maiden in the world, he would never find a girl that would be willing to spend the rest of her life with him. They may be fascinated with him for a short time, but in the end, they all would realize that such a relationship wouldn't work and leave; for who would ever love a thief?

Despite these thoughts, the thief continued to visit the valley. Whenever the princess saw him, she would smile and give him gifts. Once, she asked him about his choice of lifestyle, but he didn't give much away, fearing that she would stop talking to him once she lost her interest.

"But if I simply tell you, it'll take the mystique out of our relationship."

Though the princess knew that he was a thief, she never looked at him with hate like the rest of the villagers. He fell more and more in love with her after each passing day. Yet he knew that their worlds were completely different.

"I'd like to walk you back, but a nice girl like you shouldn't be caught out with a thief."

Though he loved the princess, he knew, deep down, that she couldn't spend the rest of her life with him. She would eventually realize that a relationship with a thief was a tiring and futile one. Their story would eventually end.

She didn't leave him, even as he continued to steal. It seemed that as time passed, she cared for him more and more.

"Please stop stealing!"

"Hehe. Are you worried about me? Well, don't be. It's not my time to be caught."

He was happy that the princess cared for him but when she continued to act kindly to him season after season, he began to wonder why she hadn't given up on the relationship. She was a princess –kind, strong, honest and admired by everyone in the valley. And he... he was a thief.

Appearing in the valley was becoming more and more dangerous but the thief couldn't bear the thought of leaving the princess just yet. So he continued to steal from the villagers.

Eventually, she began to lie to the villagers for him whenever he stole.

"You'll cover for me? For a thief?"

It pained him to see her do so. If the villagers found out, she would lose everything she had. At the same time, it made him love her even more.

That was why his world crashed down on him when she showed him a blue feather.

"Are you gonna give your love to someone else?"

He had expected this, though for some reason, he felt extremely upset. He reminded himself that a princess could never marry a thief but nonetheless, he couldn't stop the pain in his heart.

It was then that he realized how much he loved the princess –how much it would hurt to lose her. Though he knew that it was futile, the thief decided to try to steal the one thing that he knew that he could never take by force: love.

"Tonight I'm going to steal your heart away."

He knew he was being foolish, but at this point, he had no other choice. He visited her the next night, in an attempt to steal her blue feather. To his surprise, she willingly handed it over to him. Looking at her smile, he immediately knew her intentions.

The thief was elated, having been given what he thought he could never own. Though he wasn't a beautiful prince, he had found his princess and as long as they were together, they would live happily ever after.

"I want to spend the rest of my life by your side."

Camilla yawned and gazed tiredly at Skye.

"That's an odd story," she mumbled, her lips forming a frown.

"Why do you think so?"

"The thief is bad right? Bad guys shouldn't get a happy ending," she protested, her brown eyes firm.

"Hehe..." Skye scratched his cheek, unsure of how he should reply to such a statement. Though he had believed the same thing long ago, it was still a surprise to hear the words from Camilla. He wondered where she had gotten such a strong sense of justice.

"No one is completely bad though."

Both occupants of the room turned to find Jill leaning by the door, a brilliant smile on her face.

"The thief cared about the princess, didn't he?"

Camilla furrowed her brow, considering the question.

"I guess he did," she noted.

"I'll tell you a secret," Jill said softly, capturing all of Camilla's attention. "People are like puzzles. You may find a puzzle piece that you think looks bad or one that is very pretty. When you take the time to put the entire puzzle together though, you'll find that the puzzle is made of both good and bad pieces. Even the prettiest puzzle will have a few bad pieces but... it takes both types of pieces to make the beautiful puzzle."

"Huh, I think I understand," the child murmured as she tried to visualize a puzzle. Camilla yawned sleepily, her mind tired after trying to figure out how the strange adult mind works.

Silently rising to his feet, Skye crossed the room and pulled the curtains closed, enveloping the room in comforting darkness. His eyes were thoughtful as he turned to gaze at the innocent face of his daughter. The two adults silently listened to Camilla's gentle breathing as sleep overtook her.

"You tell beautiful stories," Jill commented as the former thief quietly closed the bedroom door.

Skye's lips curved into a playful smile as he met her brilliant amethyst-coloured eyes.

"A puzzle, am I?" Skye whispered as he wrapped his arms around Jill's waist. "Have you managed to put all the pieces together?"

"I have," she murmured.

And she is still here with me.

"What did you find?" Skye asked, slowly leaning down.

She smiled beautifully as she tilted her head upwards.

"A beautiful prince..."