//------------------------------//
// Meeting the Family - A Reunion (Feat. Applejack X Pinkie Pie) 
// Story: A Full house of Ships 
// by Midnight Crescent 
//------------------------------//

AJ wiped the sweat from her brow, before placing the barrel at her feet on the table. The family reunion was in full swing now, and the cider had been disappearing faster than she could replace the barrels. Finally gaining a moment of respite, she leant back on the table, looking out over busy farmyard.

A wave of lights was flowing across the sea of tables, as each of their small lanterns were lit to fight the failing light. A lone fiddler played, the music wafting through the storm of chatter.

And, dancing through the chaos, was Diane, her brilliant smile never wavering. AJ's eyes struggled to keep up with her as she weaved her way through the tables with platters of fritters balanced precariously across her arms, but never once even threatening to fall. 

Just as she turned to grab another mug of cider, she felt a tap on her shoulder. A quick glance over a shoulder revealed Diane, smile still beaming, with a platter of fritters held in her outstretched arms. "Thought you might want a snack."

"Well thanks, sugar," AJ replied, clearing space on the table beside her. "Jus' put 'em down here, an' pull up a chair..." a smirk started to spread across her face. "If ya can sit still that long, that is..." Diane just stook her tongue out at the farmgirl, before the pair burst out laughing. They attacked the food in silence. Once the platter was cleared, it was AJ who spoke first. "So, how ya likin' everything so far?"

It took a few seconds before she responded. "This is the best family reunion I've been to," she said, with a beaming grin, which rapidly shrank as she continued. "Mine are all really small and quiet..." 

AJ raised a shocked eyebrow at that. "That so?"

Diane barely nodded before she leant her head back, eyes closed. A few seconds later, her fingers started tapping against the table in rhythm with the fiddler. "Say, AJ, you wanna dance?"

"Depends," AJ said as she began to stretch out her shoulders. "Ya know how ta square dance?"

Diane just put on an over the top expression of shock, before jumping down from the table, heading for the dance floor in her usual animated fashion.

AJ just shook her head and rolled her eyes as she walked behind the skipping baker. A chuckle escaped her lips as she watched Diane spin once she reached the centre of the makeshift dance floor. She watched Diane curtsy, before sweeping her hat off her head as she dipped into a low bow.

AJ wasn't sure when Granny started calling, or Mac and Blossom joined them. She wasn't sure how long she danced, or how many times she switched partners, but she knew Diane was still going long after she took a seat. She didn't mind too much, though. Watching her friend on the dance floor, she knew one thing.

The other girl was at home.

***

Just as the sun finally dropped below the horizon, the guests finally began to filter out from the Acres. AJ pulled back in from leaning through the hayloft's window, before slumping back against the barn's wall, panting for breath.

Diane giggled as she sat down at beside her, before putting on an over the top pout. "You're not tired already are you? The party's just begun..."

"As appealin' as that sounds..." AJ said, chuckling as she fanned herself with her hat. "Ah doubt this here hayloft's gonna be good fer a roll in the hay..." The farmer stopped talking to wince at her own unintentional pun.

The energetic girl's laughter also slowly died off. When she did speak, her voice was much more subdued. "...AJ, can we talk?"

"Sure we can," AJ smiled softly as she wrapped an arm around her. "What ya thinkin' 'bout?"

"We need to talk about us..."

AJ dipped the brim of her hat down past her eyes. "Well, that don't sound too good," she said to herself, before turning back to Diane. "What's wrong?"

"We keep putting this off, AJ, but I can't do it anymore..." Diane brought her knees to her chest, hugging them tight. "After what we found out, are we... still together?"

"Well, first thing Ah gotta say is we didn't find out nothin', sugar..." AJ said, squeezing her slightly. "Them books were mighty smudged... "

Diane shrank even smaller. "AJ, don't..." she managed to choke out, biting her lip.

Turning Diane round to face her, she could see the tears Diane was barely holding back. She closed her eyes, resting her temple against her girlfriend's. "This is really gettin' to ya, ain't it?"

Diane waited a few seconds, wiping her eyes, before nodding. AJ hugged her a little tighter.

"I don't want this to be over, but..." Diane started, until she found one of AJ's fingers pressed over her lips.

"Don't ya worry none 'bout that, alrigh'? Just come here..." AJ said, smiling at the other girl. Diane sidled up, before laying her head on AJ's lap, smiling up at her. AJ chuckled at her girlfriend's antics. "Now, Ah don't rightly know what people are gonna say or think..." she continued as she started stroking the baker's hair absent-mindedly. "But Ah know Ah don't care," AJ paused to lean down and kiss the other girl lightly on the lips. "Ah still lo-"

Her words were quickly cut off by Diane pulling her down into a much deeper kiss. Both were so wrapped up with their kiss that they didn't hear the steps on the ladder until it was too late.

"AJ? Granny told me ta see if Diane wants ta stay fer di..." Blossom started, before her mouth started to hang open. The other's eyes opened wide, turning to stare at the younger girl, their lips only parting as Blossom started to slowly descend the ladder.

"...Dinner's gonna be awkward..." Diane said, biting her lip.

"Eeyup..." AJ agreed, rising to her feet, and heading for the ladder.

***

When the pair walked into the kitchen, they weren't shocked to see the rest of the resident Apple's already sat around the dinner table.

Granny Smith didn't look up from the table before speaking. "Sit down."

AJ folded her arms, not budging from the doorway. "Why? So ya can yell at us?" 

Granny Smith sighed, massaging her temples. "Abigail, Ah could holler up a storm if'n Ah wanted..." she said with her eyes glued shut. "An' last time Ah tried doin' that, all it did was end up with ya runnin' off ta Manhattan. So before ya get a bee in ya bonnet, an' go an' elope or summat else just as durned foolish, can ya at least sit down an' try ta talk it out?" 

AJ sat down, refusing to look at the rest of the family. Diane sat down beside her, the usually vibrant girl trying to make herself as small as possible.

"Now," Granny Smith continued, her voice softening slightly. "How long has this been goin' on?"

"...Since the Rodeo Nationals..." Diane answered, after an uncomfortably long silence.

Granny Smith groaned at the answer. "Land's sake, Abigail, that was nearly a year ago. Why didn't ya tell us?"

AJ glared across the table. "'Cause Ah knew this'd happen! Ah knew y'all wouldn't understand..." she finished, her head slumping onto her folded arms.

"...Yer right. Ah don't understand," The elderly matriarch rose slowly from her chair, shuffling over to the stove, moving the now whistling tea kettle away from the flames. "But Ah also don't understand why plantin' Rome Beauty's gets us Granny Smith's, or how Blossom can go swimmin' in th' lake, and come home wit' sap-coated overalls..."

Blossom's attention suddenly returned to the conversation. "Hey, why ya bringin' me into this?"

"...But Ah don't have ta understand them ta accept them. An' if ya don't try ta help me, then Ah'll never understand, Abigail." 

"...Can ya blame me fer bein' scared," AJ said, pushing herself up from the table. "When Ah said Ah didn't wanna stay at the farm..."

"Abby, the three of ya are all I got now..." Granny Smith sighed, bringing her Granddaughter into a tight hug. "Ah wasn't lookin' ta chase ya off then, an' Ah ain't plannin' on startin' now neither. Ah just wish ya'd come ta me before this here reunion."

"That..." Diane gulped after she spoke. "That was my idea. I wanted it be a big announcement, but I wasn't in town for the last one and then I found that book and everything got weird so we didn't know what to do... and... and..." she paused as she dissolved into a coughing fit.

"Breathe, sugar," AJ rubbed the spluttering girls back, until she'd calmed down. "Better?"

Diane nodded, laughing sheepishly. Granny Smith sat back in her chair, a warm smile finally on her face. "Now, Diane, how closely are ya related ta Abby again?"

"We're fourth cousins twice removed by a fifth cousin," Diane reeled off on reflex. "If we're reading the books right, at least..."

"So, we ain't sure if yer kin, an' it's not really close if'n ya are," Granny Smith summed up. "Diane, Ah'll let ya in on a little secret..." she said, inching closer to the girl, before whispering in her ear. "Ya go back far enough, and everyone's related to everyone else somehow." 

"Wait, are ya sayin' what Ah think yer sayin', Granny..." AJ asked, turning to face the pair.

"Ain't mah place ta judge ya, Abby," Granny Smith replied, returning to her seat. "An since we ain't sure none bout that family tree, Ah ain't gonna stop ya neither. But there's somethin' ya shoulda done before ya even thought about tellin' us, an' Ah know ya know what Ah mean..."

"...Yeah Granny, Ah know..." AJ said under her breath after a long pause, biting her lip as she did. "Diane, are ya workin' tomorrow?"

"I can get the day off, I've got a few holidays saved up..." Diane smiled as she practically leapt from her chair, bouncing on her tiptoes. "Why, are we going somewhere?"

"...Somethin' like that..."

***

AJ and Diane walked through the Orchards, out towards the northern edge of the Acres. 

"Alrigh'," AJ said as she stood infront of a fenced off section of the Orchards. "We're here..."

"What is it?"

"I guess ya could call it a memorial..." she said, swinging open the weather-beaten gate. 

"Memorial," Diane asked, her face screwing up in bewilderment as she followed AJ through the gateway. "AJ, I don't get it..."

"All our family's Orchards an' Groves have one." AJ slowly walked through the trees, eyes glued to the grass beneath her feet. "When ya pass on, first tree ya planted gets taken home, and put in their memorial. An' ya don't just let anyone in..."

The farmhand stopped in front of two trees planted so close together, that their roots were almost intertwined. Her hands brushed across the two plaques, as tears started to slowly fall down her face. "Hey ma, pa..." she struggled to say, before walking back over to Diane. Placing one hand around her girlfriend's back, she walked them a few steps closer to the trees. "There's someone I'd like y'all ta meet..."