Harvest Moon and Other Obsessions

Fandom: Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar

Synopsis: In which Bhavya's efforts to propose to their beloved Jules overlap with Felix's latest efforts to expand the town's Starry Night festival. It may take some spritely magic to sort out the chaos...

Notes: written for @el-dritchknight for the 2025 Secret Santa event on the RanchStory server.

--------

“You want us to… what?”

“Well, it wasn’t what I wanted,” Kadyn chuckled, swirling his tea in his cup as Bhavya blinked in surprise, the half-wrapped piece of tinsel dangling between their hand and the Starry Night tree they were decorating. “I wouldn’t have asked if Felix hadn’t requested it. Now that the bazaar has expanded, the town has more funds for its Starry Night celebration. Naturally he wants to be extravagant. I’ve already donated several dozen gifts from my remaining money, and he’s still searching for more.”

“I understand that. He is Felix, after all. But he wants us to… be… sprites.” Bhavya readjusted the tinsel. “I understand Arata, he’s pretty jolly, I guess. Why on earth would he have selected me? Is he going for a bodyguard theme, or…”

“For a few reasons. First of all, the children seem to like you. I spoke with Claire and Nadine the other day—they simply adore your sparring lessons. When you first started, Nadine had to keep Sylvia and Kevin from starting wars in the town square! But they respect you a lot, and they’ve toned down their violence significantly since you warned them last week.”

Bhavya pressed their lips together. The tree looked a little crooked. Three months growing and pruning the pine, and it still had too many branches on one side…  “I see.”

“And, most importantly, we have access to a horse. Felix wants him to drive the sleigh.”

“The sleigh.” Bhavya sighed, considering the tree a lost cause, and turned back to Kadyn, relaxed and dignified in their nice upholstered chair. “But you haven’t signed me up yet. Right?”

“Bhav, you have free will. I may be your liege, but beyond your usual duties I don’t require you to manage extracurriculars. I understand you will want to attend dinner at the cafe, yes? With Jules and his family.”

Bhavya didn’t respond.

“Please, sit down, Bhavya. There’s no need to sink into a dark corner like that.”

“It’s not a dark corner. There’s lights on the tree.”

“Don’t be silly. Here, I made you a cup of peppermint tea. No honey. You’ll enjoy it.”

Grumbling softly to themself, Bhavya wandered back to the other large chair and let themself experience the comfort they didn’t deserve.

“Tell me, have you made any progress on proposing to your fine gentleman?”

Bhavya sighed. “Fine. It’s simply… challenging, to find the right moment. After the herb salad incident, it feels… wrong, to ask again.”

“Oh, Bhav…” Kadyn tsk-tsk’ed quietly, reaching across the coffee table to pat his best friend on the shoulder. “It’s nothing you should feel guilty about. Poor Jules simply ate his favorite salad a bit too fast. And anyway, your Heimlich maneuver rescued him in seconds flat. He was never in any real danger.” Kadyn took another sip of his tea and frowned. “You feel guilty again.”

“I’ve hurt those I want to protect before. When I saw the look in his eyes, when he couldn’t breathe…” Bhavya remembered magenta eyes wide in terror, a hand slipping over the edge of a mountain. “I can’t let it happen again.”

Kadyn knew. He always seemed to know. He brushed aside his long candy-blue hair and pressed his fingers together. “Bhav. Look. The best thing you can do in service to me--to anyone you love--is to focus on building a better future. Even if you had failed me, or Jules--which I don’t think you did, and trust, I would tell you-- it would do you no good to isolate yourself from us, and lock yourself away from love. There are always other chances.”

Bhavya glanced up, then away. They had to admit, Kadyn’s soothing voice did help a little. “Thank you, my liege.”

“Of course, Bhav.” 

“I must admit,” they said, straightening their back and cracking their knuckles, “it will be strange to celebrate apart this year. Of course, I want to give you and Samir privacy at the hotel, but…”

“Nothing to worry about. It will be different, I admit. But we’ll have plenty of time to enjoy a nice dinner of our own tomorrow. It’s good for us to have our own lives. It’s not as if we don’t live together, after all.” Kadyn’s eyes glinted slightly in the gentle glow of the Starry Night tree. He smacked his lips. “However, may I make a suggestion?”

“Hm?”

“I noticed that for many of your proposal ideas, you do like to make grand entrances.”

“Yeah.”

“If you do decide to take on the elven role… I do hear that it’s customary for Santa’s harvest sprites to travel down the chimney to deliver gifts.”

Bhavya’s face turned red the moment they realized what he was implying.

“That is… patently absurd.”

“You know it would delight Jules,” Kadyn said, tapping his feet on the floor in excitement. “He loved that old book, The Sprites Save Christmas, didn’t he? His parents used to read it to him and Derek every night…”

“Why do I tell you about our conversations?” Bhavya scoffed to themself.

“So I can come up with excellent ideas like this one.” Kadyn smiled smugly, gathering up his teacup and plate of cookies. “Of course, it’s up to you. You could simply go to the festival at the cafe. Or… you could make a grand entrance.”

Bhavya pondered quietly in their chair as Kadyn walked over to the sink; of course he couldn’t wait ten seconds for them to do the dishes for him. He was too much. Nonetheless, he was right, wasn’t he? Bhavya had certainly apologized to Jules (many, many times, in fact), but they hadn’t made up for the failed proposal. Or the time they’d tried to deliver the ring whilst hanging from Jules’s roof, and frightened the poor man so badly he locked himself in the house. On the other hand, for someone as fond of the literary as Jules, Bhavya’s proposal needed a narrative. An arc. Excitement. Romance. Perhaps, even, a bit of merriment.

“How do I tell Felix I’m interested?”

A joyful squeal emerged from the kitchen.

~~~~

“...anyway, that’s why I’ll be about an hour late,” Bhavya said. “It was by request of both Felix and his highness. And it’s for the children in town. And Arata.” They glanced up from their fingers tapping the copy of The Farmer and the Sea Jules had given them. “You… understand. Right?”

“Of course I understand,” Jules said cheerily. Bhavya was relieved that there didn’t seem to be any disappointment in Jules’s demeanor; if he had been disappointed, they would’ve drowned in guilt for the entire week leading up to the proposal. “Just as long as you aren’t late. I have a gift I want to give you when you arrive. Several, in fact.”

“Don’t overextend yourself. You’ve spent enough money on presents for Derek.”

“There’s never enough money to spend on people you love, violets.” Jules slipped his fingerless-gloved hand around Bhavya’s shoulders, twirling a strand of purple hair. “How are you enjoying it so far?”

“It’s not bad. It’s a little strange to read a book about the tropics during summer, but the story is good. I wonder if the farmer will be able to romance the Witch Princess. She seems… eccentric. And obsessed with frogs.” Bhavya reopened the book in the spot they’d stopped at. The couple did this often on Thursdays; they sat on their favorite bench and read together, or rather their own books separately. Lately they’d gotten into the habit of trading books that they liked. “Do you enjoy The Flowerbud Wars? It’s a bit dense, I do hope you’re not bored.”

“Darling, I’m an English teacher by trade. Of course I enjoy dense books.” Jules giggled to himself, pulling the massive Volume 1 of The Flowerbud Wars: A Brief History onto his lap. “I had no idea that the trade routes to the south of Zephyr Town played such a key role in the Battle of Mineral Town in 1066. It’s amazing, isn’t it? Once all of these farms and territories used to be sites of conflict, constant battles for land… and now, there’s been no war in this country for decades.” He snuggled up to Bhavya, pressing his cheek up against their jacket sleeve for warmth. “It’s not the same everywhere, I know. What you must’ve been through in the kingdom…”

Bhavya scoffed. “That was nothing. Mere politics. It would’ve turned out better if I had a real war to fight, then maybe I could’ve protected…” Bhavya caught themself. No self-loathing. Focus on being kind. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.” They opened their very large winter coat (one of the few things they’d saved from the kingdom and its frigid winters) and wrapped it around Jules for warmth. “Let’s see if we can get a few more pages--”

Before they could even settle in, Bhavya’s eyes caught Derek as he strode confidently from the cafe, a huge grin on his face and a letter sealed with Madeline’s wax symbol in his hands. “Heeey, Bhavvie! How’s it going? I got the stuff ready for the proposal you asked for!”

“The what?”

From Derek’s direction, Jules had been blocked from his sight by Bhavya and their large jacket. As Jules peeked his head out from inside Bhavya’s coat, Derek’s face went sheet-white.

“Oh, uh… the proposal for the cookies! The… extra cookies we’re giving all the kids.” 

Nice save, little man, Bhavya thought. “Thank you, Derek. His highness will be pleased.”

“How nice,” Jules said, smiling. “You two are getting along so well. This is for the party you’re hosting for the children, right?”

“Y-yep! And they’re super excited for it, too! It’s gonna be the most memorable event of the year… hah…” Derek smiled sheepishly at Bhavya. 

Bhavya nodded, but gave him a stern glare that they thought got across their point well--don’t do that again. They then shoved the piece of paper into their pocket. Glancing across the town square, trying not to make eye contact with Derek as he started chatting with Jules over what their present budget was and what time they had to be done with work on Starry Night’s eve, Bhavya’s eyes locked with those of a small observer atop the cafe roof. A winking observer.

“You will not tell the others anything,” they said, an hour later as they were walking home. “I have enough trouble keeping the proposal under wraps with humans.”

“No worries, boss! A sprite never shares her secrets… with humans, anyway.” Penny cheerfully dangled her feet over the chimney chute. “D’ya need anything from us, though? We’re always down to help on Starry Night’s Eve. We even cleaned the chimney for you so you won’t get covered in ash on the way down!”

“Er… thanks.” Bhavya hadn’t thought of that. (As a royal bodyguard? They ought to be ashamed of themself.) “Actually, there is something I was curious about.”

“Ooh, what?”

“Has delivering presents ever been part of your spritely duties? In our myths and legends, Santa Claus is always described as having an entourage of harvest sprites,delivering gifts to children…”

“Oh, we used to do that!” Penny chirped. A sad look clouded her eyes. “I used to love doing that. I would make them cute little windup butterflies and beetles every year. Seeing the children’s eyes glow with happiness…”

“Hm.” Bhavya stepped up to the roof and kneeled on its slopes, holding the chimney for support. “If it’s not too much to ask, why did you stop?”

“The world isn’t as magical as it used to be, and people get scared when they hear sounds they don’t understand outside. Or get presents from someone they don’t know,” Penny said somberly. “About a hundred years ago, this old man--he died long before your time--heard us rustling around outside his house and fired his shotgun at us. None of us were hurt, but that was the end of us delivering presents. Webby thought it was too dangerous.”

“Did you ever want to try again?”

“Oh, yes! Absolutely! But we’ve been so busy with our other work, there just hasn’t been time.” She perked up. “But now you’re here! So we can finally relax with all our happy energy. You’re the first person in Zephyr Town who can see us in almost two hundred years, since the first mayor was alive. Did you know that?”

“Wow.” Bhavya blew out a puff of breath, watching it spiral in the air. “I used to think the old stories were exaggerating about the importance of farmers. Since moving here, I won’t question it again.”

“Well, it’s not just farmers. Not all of them can see us, or else Felix’s mom woulda probably made us work on the farm.” Penny shuddered. “I’ve heard about them doing that in other towns where there’s goddess springs… scary. But you just have a natural sensitivity to magical energy. I think it’s cuz you’re just a really selfless person, yeah?”

Bhavya raised their eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”

“I dunno! Just that all the people who can see us, this far from the magic of the Harvest Goddess herself, are usually super nice and helpful.”

“Hm.” Bhavya looked down at their hands. “I don’t know for sure if I would describe myself that way.” The times I’ve failed…

“Well,” Penny said, preparing her leaf glider, “magic doesn’t lie. So maybe it’s trying to tell you you are a good person! And I’m not magic, but, well… I think you deserve to be able to see us. You’re cool!”

“Maybe,” Bhavya said, watching their spritely friend take off and sail through a few flakes of falling snow.

~~~~

The Starry Night festival rolled in with a cloudy morning, which, after worrying the townsfolk for the entire first half of the day, gave way to clearer skies in late afternoon, revealing a rich blanket of Zephyr Town stars as night fell. At Diana’s house, every room was covered in gifts, and she was furiously wrapping the last few in the living room while Harold piled the finished ones onto the sleigh just outside. Arata knocked on the door of the bedroom as Bhavya stared at their costumed self in the mirror.

“You almost ready, elf bro?”

Bhavya widened their stance, folding their arms over their chest as they looked into Diana’s full-length mirror. It wasn’t altogether terrible--they liked the blue elf jacket with its little silver buttons, and the hat with a bell was fine--but the lower half of the costume bothered them. Did they really need to go with shiny tights and pointy shoes? Pink pointy shoes? It did match their hair, but…

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Bhavya adjusted the knife in their pocket (thank God Sophie understood the importance of a bodyguard always needing to be prepared) and opened the door. They had to look away quickly to prevent laughter. Arata looked absolutely hilarious in his big yellow elf costume, covered in self-applied fur trim and pom poms that made him look like a children’s craft gone horribly wrong. 

“Dude. We are gonna rock these kid’s world tonight. They’re gonna think we’re the most badass gift givers ever!”

“Badass, that’s the word,” Bhavya said, once again trying not to laugh. “Are we just about ready to go?”

“Just getting the last one!” Diana called out from the living room. 

“Excellent. I shall go prepare the horse.” Bhavya strode to the exit, patting their pocket again to check for its other contents--a ring box, and a sheet of paper with the proposal’s contents written on it.

Just as they arrived, Harold threw open the door. He looked nervous; his gloved hands were folded over his chest. Behind him was Felix, decked out in an extremely detailed Santa suit. 

“WE’VE GOT A SITUATION!” Felix announced.

“It looks like we’ve got a lot more people than we expected,” Harold said. “I don’t know if we just made a mistake, or…”11

“Is it more than the extra gifts I wrapped?” Diana stood sharply; you could feel the poor woman’s blood pressure spiking from yards away. “It’s only half an hour away. Even if I could find adequate donations from someone so quickly--”

“Dozens more!” Felix quivered uproariously. “Why, there may be five hundred children lining up! Our preparations were horrendously insufficient! We’re swiftly approaching a Starry disaster!”

“I think it’s more like three hundred kids,” Harold said, massaging his brow. “But… yeah. It’s a lot of kids. We have about one hundred fifty gifts, right?”

“I bought fifty extra, but that still falls short.”

“Even if we can find some good presents, we might be out there for a while. Given that it’s a minute or so per kid…” Harold shook his head. “It’s gotta be all hands on deck.”

“Including finding gifts! Sophie and I might be able to collect some items from the house, but we must sort them by interest, gender…”

“I still don’t understand why we didn’t decide to get some bulk toy packages or something,” Diana said, rearranging presents seemingly at random as if it would do something.

“Why, Diana! Here at Zephyr Town, would never give the children anything less than the merriest of Starry Nights! Some of those children are homeless, parentless, orphans that I invited from a nearby town… er, I didn’t tell you about that, did I… well, it’s not as if I could have said no to the orphans, but…”

“Urrrrrgh.” Diana folded face-down into the pile of gifts before her. “Deep breaths, deep breaths,” she muttered to herself.

“I could get mushrooms or something,” Arata said. “Do kids like mushrooms?”

“Hm…”

Bhavya pressed their lips together. If there was ever anything that drew them to their finest work, it was a crisis. This could not go wrong--Jules was no doubt waiting for them to arrive at 9 PM, and they were going to arrive at 9 PM (albiet in a… slightly different way than Jules expected). They pondered Arata’s comment, then glanced again at the roof of the cafe. If some friends of theirs were willing…

“Leave it to me,” Bhavya said, patting the collapsed Diana on the shoulder. “Arata, you handle the first few gifts. I’ll come… with reinforcements.”

~~~

The children of Zephyr Town, the Sunnybrook Orphanage, and ten to fifteen surrounding towns waited in the cold weather, warming themselves over the small fire pits and torches that Sophie was attending to in her own elf costume. She was too busy to even think about shivering herself. Woofio, decked out in a large necklace of blinking lights, kept the children at the front of the line entertained with some coin tricks, but the kids back here were getting a bit cranky. Sophie handed out the cafe’s chocolate cookies and smiled at them.

“Is he almost ready?” June walked over with a thermos full of cocoa. She had refused to wear a costume, though Sophie had convinced her to wear a cute scarf covered in pom-poms.

“I don’t know for sure. We’re twelve minutes past six, and I haven’t heard anything from him.”

“He’d better have enough presents for all these kids,” June said, rubbing her hands against the thermos. “I’m not exactly good at comforting sad children.”

“Aw, I’m sure we won’t have to do that. They’ll think of something.”

And then, overhead, arrived a sprite. A very large one.

Sophie squinted through the slight fog to see Bhavya, decked out in a silly blue elf costume, soaring off of the cliffside with their arms full of gifts. And in their arms, with their little hands outstretched, carrying tiny parcels of their own…

No, no. Only children believed in such things. It was probably just dolls they were carrying, a trick of the light.

Nonetheless, Bhavya landed at the side of the sleigh just as Felix finally made his grand entrance, boisterously exclaiming “HO HO HOOOOOO!” as the children erupted into cheers.

“Good evening, children! (And parents as well, for being so patient.) The Starry Santa Gift Festival is now STARTING! Every child gets to sit on Santa’s lap and get a present, courtesy of our hardworking harvest sprites! Now… LET THE GIFTING…. BEGIN!!!”

It took all of Sophie’s best efforts to keep the children from cutting the cordoned-off line, but thankfully, nothing got too out of hand. She rushed around with cookies and asked the little ones what they wanted, and Felix Claus always obliged. Whoever had donated the gifts had outdone themselves this year. Princely fake shields and swords, tops and yoyos, building sets and paint kits, and a few of Sophie’s little crocheted alpaca plushies were opened and admired by scores of happy children, laughing with rosy cheeks as they made their way out of the line and back to their homes and teachers. There were even old-style mechanical bugs and fish, ones Sophie had only seen in the exhibitions in her father’s office. Whoever had decided on those must’ve known all about the town’s history, the times when sprites traveled the land long ago. They must’ve been from Bhavya. Who else but the town’s resident history buff?

“I’m so glad we have plenty for all the children!” Sophie said to Bhavya as they made their way away from the dwindling line, wiping their brow. “I was worried we weren’t going to get this all done before midnight, but it’s only nine thirty and we have five children left. It’s a true Starry Night miracle!”

“Nine thirty?” Bhavya’s eyes widened. “Did you say it was nine thirty?”

“...yes? We did have three hundred children to tend to…”

“No, no. I promised him…” Bhavya bolted over the stanchions and towards the cafe.

“Promised who? Bhavya?” Sophie said. Their elf’s hat flew off their head and landed at Sophie’s feet; she took it before it blew away, but it was too late to catch Bhavya. She watched helplessly as they scaled the mountainside, disappearing behind the rooftops.

“They dropped this, too,” June said, walking up behind her. “It looks like a… poem of some sort? I think it’s a love poem.” June put it back in her pocket. “I’ll give it back later. A few of the kids were asking for you, I think.”

“Hm. I never do know what they’re up to,” Sophie said to herself, turning back to the children just in time to miss Bhavya’s descent.

~~~~

“Derek? Why do you keep looking over there?”

“Hm? Oh, no reason,” Derek said, taking his eyes off the unburning hearth. “Just enjoying the nice holiday ambience. Man, these croquettes Mina made are delicious, aren’t they?”

“Yeah…” Jules glanced at the empty chair beside him. “You don’t think anything happened to them, do you? I do hope that they’re safe out there. There was a lot of black ice in the town square this morning…”

“Dude, relax. They’re probably just busy giving out presents to all the little kids.”

“They’re never late unless there’s a good--”

“Attention!” Freya clanked her glass with a spoon. She’d already had two glasses of cherry juice and was looking a bit tipsy as she raised a third. “I would like to propose a toast, to all of us! For making this year a great one, and for all the amazing things we’ve done. I would’ve never gotten my promotion at Lockheed Martin if it weren’t for all of you. I really can’t express my gratitude for everything you all have done for me. So let’s all get to our feet-- yes, you too, Jules, come on, have some fun-- and let’s cheer. Say, “Happy Starry Night!”

“Happy Starry Ni--”

FWOMP.

Jules, half out of his chair, was stunned to see, rolling with flawless technique from the hearth, Bhavya themself, in a sparkling blue costume. They came to a stop, quickly unravelling and repositioning themself into a kneeling position. The cafe was silent.

“Apologies for my lateness,” Bhavya said. “But I’m afraid I must pause the celebration for a moment. Thank you, Madeline and Derek, for your assistance in arranging this.”

“Is this supposed to be happening?” Freya mumbled to Mina in the background. 

“Yeah… sorry, we had a lot of dishes to make--”

“Jules.” Bhavya locked eyes with the stunned-looking gentleman before them, handsome as ever in the dim candlelight of the cafe. “I…” They checked their pocket and found, with some anxiety, that the paper must’ve slipped out. They took a deep breath. The ring box was still there. If tonight had taught them anything, it was the importance of improvisation.

“When I met you first, I was not my finest self. You know about my circumstances arriving in Zephyr Town, and I will not repeat them. I spent my days wracked with guilt, and nights sleepless, believing myself to be nothing more than a failure. A failure as a guardian, a farmer, and a human being.” 

Bhavya felt, suddenly, tears coming to their eyes, but swallowed them back quickly. “Yet, you always treated me as worthy. You would spend hours walking with me in town, discussing the books you’d read or the day you’d have, even when I had little to say. You accepted my dozens of gifts of herbal perfume, no matter how many you already had.” (Derek laughed audibly at this comment, and Jules smiled slightly, relaxing from his former surprise; this was good, keep talking). “And you listened, patiently, to my interests and my troubles, no matter how small and insignificant. It took me some time to allow myself to open my heart to you. To consider myself worthy to be your partner.”

Bhavya’s hand, quivering but sure, removed the ring box and opened it, revealing an amethyst flanked in emeralds, resembling a lavender flower, Jules’s favorite. “Now, I would like to be worthy of your hand in marriage. Jules, would you--”

There was no need for words. Jules knelt before Bhavya, embracing them with a long, passionate kiss. Derek began applauding loudly, cheering; the rest followed without needing to be asked.

“That was TOTALLY worth interrupting my toast!” Freya yelled joyously.

“I suppose that your answer is yes,” Bhavya said when they finally parted.

Jules laughed. “You would never get another answer.” He looked them up and down, getting to his feet and helping their now-fiance to join him. “Although, I do wish you had kept the hat. It would’ve completed the whole ensemble.”

Bhavya was never an all-smiles sort of person. But as they walked back to the table with Jules, arm in arm and ready to enjoy Madeline’s meal and their friends’ company, they felt the warm glow of a grin spreading across their face.

~~~

“…and that’s how your Bibi proposed to me.”

Lakshmi’s big golden eyes blinked up at Jules, reflecting the lights of the Starry Night tree next to her. “Because they pretended to be an elf?”

“Er… of sorts. It was more metaphorical than anything.” 

“Are you guys ready?” Kadyn said, exiting the duplex farmhouse from his door with his and Samir’s twins toddling in front of him. “We need to get down to the town square right away! Mayor Felix won’t start until all of us are there.”

“Hold on!” Samir called out, locking the door behind him with a large jar of cookies. “Don’t rush us, there’s still fifteen minutes before the flights start.”

Bhavya adjusted Lakshmi’s jacket and held her hand as they walked down the slope. “We started this tradition right before you were born,” they said to their child. “The sprites decided it was time to start giving presents, like they did in the old days.”

“I didn’t know they stopped giving presents for two hundred years. They must’ve been really scared of humans to do that, weren’t they?”

“Well, sometimes it’s hard to get over your fears.” Bhavya supposed they would know. “But they did, and now we can all celebrate together. It’s definitely easier than it was that first year.”

“When you had to deliver presents?”

“Yeah.”

“Was the ring a present, Daddy?”

Jules laughed. “I suppose it was, my little blossom.”

The little group arrived in the town square, where Sophie was handing around cookies, her daughter May dashing close behind, her blue pigtails bobbing in the snowy air. Bhavya, Jules, and Lakshmi found a spot to stand under the cafe awning, with Kadyn and his happy family parked just next door, chatting away. Jules and Bhavya looked down at their daughter with pride as she stepped out, just a little bit, to look at the sky. Jules took their hand, rubbing it in the cold. His ring sparkled gently.