Here we go... the last chapter of Walking in the Devasted Area :'(At least there's going to be a sequel XD It may or may not be as long as this story and Ruins so... Hey, did you guys realize that Walking in the Devasted Area has the same amount of chapters as Ruins? o.O Not intended... Anywho, the sequel will be called Rebuilding, and I'll have it up as soon as possible :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.

Trusting Me

Jill and I looked at each other, then back to Vaughn and Jonathon.

"What do you mean we're free?" I asked, fixing my hat which had nearly slipped off my head.

Jonathon waved the paper he was holding in front of face. I realized it was from a newspaper, and snatched it from him. It read:

Regison Declares Innocence

My heart skipped a beat as I read it.

Back in Spring, Regis Regison caught three people, Chelsea Smith, Vaughn Anderson, and Jonathon Anderson, in his library attempting to steal jewels from a box. The threesome managed to escape and stay clear of Regison's hired agents and police officers. Smith and Vaughn Anderson were last spotted in Forget-Me-Not Valley, where they were hiding with Smith's sister, Jill Smith. Jonathon Anderson has managed to hide under the radar, and no one knows where the man is. Jill Smith is now wanted along with her sister and the two men for hiding criminals. Police have reported that the four have left Forget-Me-Not Valley, and rumours are emerging that they are now hiding in the small mountain village of Zephyr Town.

Well, they now have no reason to hide. At least, Jill and Chelsea Smith and Vaughn Anderson don't. Regis Regison announced this morning that he has proclaimed the three of them innocent of any crime involving his stolen property. Why the sudden change of heart?

Regison says that early in the summer, while he was looking through some papers concerning his mining business, his daughter, Sabrina Regison, and nephew, William Regison, walk in carrying a disk. They told him to watch it, and when he asks what it is about, they deny to answer. The multi-millionaire puts the disk in his office's TV set and finds it's a surveillance video of the library, filmed on the night of the robbery.

It clearly shows one man sneaking into the library with a sack, which he begins filling with jewels. A few seconds later, two more figures, which appear to be Smith and Vaughn Anderson, walk in and begin speaking to the thief, who turns out to be Jonathon Anderson. While they speak to him about how dangerous and risky his crime is, the box of jewels clatters to the floor and Regison and his daughter and nephew come rushing in.

After watching and re-watching the video, Regison finally decides to make Chelsea and Jill Smith and Vaughn Anderson innocent, while Jonathon Anderson remains guilty of the crime.

I stopped reading here, and looked up at the two gleeful men in front of me.

"Did you guys actually read this?" I asked.

The brothers looked at each, and then shook their heads.

"Well you should have," I said. "Jonathon's still wanted."

"What?" Jonathon cried, and snatched the paper from my hands. He quickly scanned through it, and his face turned pale. "W-What...?" he muttered softly.

"You're still wanted," I repeated, even though I knew he understood perfectly well. "Regis saw you stealing the gems on video, but he saw Vaughn and I come in and try to stop you."

Jonathon collapsed onto the grass like a lifeless doll, all the joy from the last minute gone in the blink of an eye. I sat down beside him, and was mimicked by Vaughn and Jill.

"Don't worry," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It'll all be fixed soon. Vaughn and I will go find the Witch Princess, and she'll fix it all."

Jonathon looked at me, doubt and hopefulness mixed into his eyes.

"I promise," I told him, as if to reassure him.

"But what about me?" Jill asked. "What will I do?"

"You'll go back to Forget-Me-Not Valley," I said, wagging a finger at my little sister. "I don't want you to get more involved in this than you already are."

Jill crossed her arms and glared angrily at me. "This is so unfair..." she murmured.

"It is not unfair," I said sternly. Turning back to Vaughn and Jonathon, I asked, "So, what do we do now?"

"I guess we leave," Vaughn said, shrugging slightly. "Jill goes back to Forget-Me-Not Valley... You and I go back to Sunny Island... Jonathon goes back into hiding..."

"Wait, Jonathon?" Jill piped up, just then realized we had been calling "Skye" Jonathon this whole time. "I thought his name was Skye!"

"No," Jonathon sighed. "It's Jonathon."

"Then why'd you tell me it was Skye?" Jill pouted as Jonathon shrugged. She then got up, and walked away, calling quietly over her shoulder, "I'm going to go pack... and change into more comfy clothes..."

I got up off the grass and began packing up the unfinished picnic. Vaughn and Jonathon helped me, and together we walked back to the hotel.

Once inside, we went to our separate rooms to begin getting ready to leave. I found Jill sitting on her bed, staring angrily at the floor.

"Jill..." I called softly, putting the picnic basket on the floor. "Pouting will you get you nowhere."

"So?" Jill snapped, and crossed her arms.

I sighed, and sat down beside her, putting my arm around her shoulders.

"Why are you so mad?" I asked. "There's nothing to be mad at."

"Yes there is!" Jill cried. "You guys are treating me like a baby!"

"No we're not," I told her, trying to stay calm. "I'm doing what I think is best for you, which is going back to your farm."

"Why can't I just go with you?"

"Because you've already risked enough," I explained. "I don't want you to risk more."

Jill looked up at me, her eyes wide, all the anger vanished. "But what if something bad happens to you?" she asked.

"Nothing bad will happen to me," I said, stroking her hair. "Trust me."

At 2:43 am the next morning, a knock sounded on the hotel room door, telling Jill and I it was time to go. We quickly got dressed and hauled the bags carrying our few possessions out into the hallway, where Vaughn and Jonathon were standing.

We silently walked downstairs, and out the door. A wagon was waiting for us at the empty bazaar, and we climbed into it. It rolled down the mountain to the city, where we would get on different boats and go our separate ways.

Jill's boat was ready to board first. She was one her way back to Forget-Me-Not Valley, back to her farm. I hugged her tightly, and she waved to Vaughn and Jonathon as she walked towards her waiting ferry. I smiled slightly as she got on, and leaned over the rail, and waved until the boat disappeared.

Jonathon was next to go. He wouldn't tell us where he was going, just that we'd probably never heard of the place. I hugged him just I did with Jill, and he shook hands with his older brother. He boarded his ship, only turning back to wave once before going below decks.

Vaughn and I were left alone. I grabbed his hand and intertwined my fingers with his, and we stood there, waiting for our own ship to arrive.

Once it did, we grabbed our bags and hurried on board.

"I can't wait to see Sunny Island again!" I said, smiling. "Do you think Julia's had her baby yet?"

"I doubt it," Vaughn said, sitting himself down on one of the seats. "It's still early in Summer."

I sat down beside him, still smiling. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway!" I said. "We're going to find the Witch Princess, and she'll turn everything around!"

Vaughn nodded quietly. "Until then, we'll just have to make do with what we've got."

Me: TT_TT It's all over... This story wasn't half as romantic as the last, but the next one will be 'cause it will only be Vaughn and Chelsea, no annoying little siblings XD I'm thinking I should get a DeviantART account so I can draw pictures for these stories :3 I've already drawn one; the first chapter in Ruins, where Chelsea's on the ship going to Sunny Island. I also started drawing the one where Chelsea falls in the river and nearly gets drowned by a fish :D I'm not the BEST drawer, so they'll be pretty crappy. Oh, and I don't really have access to a scanner so I'll just have to take pictures of the drawings with my camera (once I find it O_O) So yeah :)

Bye!