Chase sighed as the crisp autumn air nipped at his skin. Sure enough he was back home there was no doubt about that. Waffle Island was always cold during the fall; never lukewarm like the other places he had been too.

He pulled up the collar of his sweater as another gust of wind whipped through the air.

The boat's deck which he stood on groaned loudly with protest as it sailed onwards towards shore.

"Hang in there Chase" Pascal called out from the steering wheel of the boat "were almost there." Chase flinched as the old man's voice pierced through the sound of the crushing waves. He had never known somebody could be louder than the howling wind until he met Pascal. "That's great." He muttered as he blew warm air onto his numb fingers.

Today was defiantly going to be a troublesome one. He hadn't been back to the Island in years. And surely his arrive would be the talk of the town for months.

Huge events were rare for such a boring place like Waffle Island; barely anything interesting happened there. It seemed that something simple as an apple falling off a tree would stir the town's gossip. It annoyed Chase.

"What am I doing back here?" Chase leaned his back against the boats railing his hands digging themselves into his pockets in a sad attempt to be sheltered from the wind.

"Because this is where you belong."

He smiled to himself.

Yolanda.

He was here to see Yolanda; the woman that practically raised him. The last time he had seen the old woman she was teasing him about how his cooking was nothing compared to hers; her ego was as big as her heart was. Yolanda was the reason why he had pushed himself in becoming a better chef. Whether he wanted to admit it or not she was like a mother to him.

"LAND HO!" Pascal shouted joyously making Chase practically jump out of his skin. Chase whipped his head to the side and sure enough he was home again.

"Ooh Chase It's so good to see you again!" Colleen cried out as soon as Chase walked off the boat and onto the dock. Chase couldn't help but smile at the woman that stood before him. It seemed as if he had never left in the first place. Colleen was still the same beautiful woman that he remembered. Her hair was still a soft orange color, and her face was still warm and inviting.

"It's good to see you too Colleen" Chase smiled.

"Look at you all grown up at handsome." Colleen playfully teased as she pinched one of his cheeks "My I barely recognized you when you walked off the boat!" Chase suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He hadn't been gone for that long…

Colleen giggled as she grabbed Chases arm and began leading him off the dock and towards the Sundae Inn. "Nothing's Changed" She said as she opened the front door to the inn. And she was right. The moment he walked through the front door he was immediately greeted with the inns familiar surroundings. The kitchen for the inn and the bar at night was still warm and cozy in the far right corner of the inn.

He recognized Yolanda's cookware that was waiting to be used on the oven. There was still a check out counter for the inn's guests, and a nice wooden table in the middle of the room for them to dine on.

Yep nothing had changed…

KABOOM!

"You stupid girl how are you ever going to learn how to cook if you don't listen to a word I say!?" Yolanda's angry voice yelled from the kitchen.

Colleen sighed from besides Chase "Not again." She mumbled.

"I'll get it right this time I promise Grandma!" Came Maya's determined voice "We Just need to add some more Vinegar that's all."

"Wait stop-"

CRASH!!!

Chase flinched at the sound. "Maya's still trying to learn how to cook?" he guessed out loud. Colleen nodded with a frown. "But she'll never learn at this rate." Colleen let out a sigh and proceeded to lead Chase up the stairs and to his room. "I'll have to help clean things up dear." She said as they finally reached his room. "Can you handle unpacking yourself?"

What kind of question was that? Chase thought.

"I'll manage." He said twisting the door knob and stepping inside. Colleen smiled sweetly at him. "Dinner will be ready in about 2 hours." I'll have Maya come and get you when it's ready. You two have a lot of catching up to do."

Chase almost groaned, Sure he and Maya got along okay but Colleen seemed to have wanted there relationship to always be more than what it would be. Colleen was just a little too pushy when it came to Maya and him. He smiled back a false smile a waved "I'll be seeing you."

As soon as the door was shut Chase let out and exasperated sigh, and turned towards his room. "So troublesome" he muttered as set down his luggage. Barely 5 minutes on the island and he was already feeling the familiar irritation that this place brought up within him. All that he was really looking forward too was telling Yolanda about his travels. But he knew that a dinner with Colleen and Maya present that wasn't going to happen…

"I guess it'll have to wait." He muttered. He ran his fingers through his golden orange hair and cringed. He felt gross after being on a boat all day. A bath sounded like heaven right about now.

He headed towards the bathroom pulling his shirt off as he did. He was just about to open the bathroom door when it all of a sudden swung open by itself and slammed into his face. The last thing Chase saw was startled brown eyes before he slipped into unconsciousness.