Author's Note: This was a challenge I accepted on a HM Forum here at FanFiction. It centers around Gill & Angela. As you can see, I go by the English names. So, on that note, Angela is the default girl character in Tree of Tranquility in the English version.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters.

Duties of the Mayor's Son

He wasn't at all pleased with being in charge of this particular event. But his father, Mayor Hamilton, had succeeded in laying the entire task at his doorstep. The aging man could grate on his very last nerve at times like these, especially when the event he was speaking of was none other than a beach party. However, when it came down to it all, he was simply the mature adult in the household and apparently knew how to handle things with much more efficiently than his father.

That did not mean, in the slightest bit, that he would come down to Waffle shores in a pair of swim trunks. He quite simply was just not that type of man, nor would he ever be. The expenses had given him a headache, but the hard part had been finding the right material to buy for such an event. Quite simply, he did not have any experience in the area and had been mortified when thinking of asking someone else for advice. Angela had come to mind, but he had immediately shot down the idea for just the mere thought had already brought up an image of her grinning in that infuriating way toward him. He would not be mocked!

That determination and unbreakable pride had faltered only today when he had realized yet another dilemma in all of this. After purchasing quite a large amount of beach supplies and decorations, the shipment had only arrived this morning, and three boxes full no less. He'd known then, quite clearly, that there would be no way he could set the whole thing up within the allotted time left before the beach activity was set to start. Of course, still loathe to ask for help, he had gone over many mathematical equations and solutions to try and figure out just how much he could set up in time for the event. When he had come to the conclusion that more than half the expense would be going to the trash bin, he'd sucked up his pride for once, picked up the phone at his desk, and rang Angela immediately.

Now he found himself down at the beach shores, sour faced and gloomy as he peered over at the light brunette and the way she was grinning from ear to ear, obviously more than thrilled he had lowered himself to such the extent of asking for her much needed help. His face only seemed to turn more dark when that tyrannical Neanderthal, Luke, came into view, laughing about something or another as he reached into the same box Angela was working in and hung up one of the beach ball shaped decorations. He felt rather furious that she not only felt the need to grin so positively but to further his humiliation by asking the carpenter's over hyper, if not slightly crazy, son. To make matters worse the local Tailor shop's youngest granddaughter, Luna, had insisted that she come along in her endless pursuit to annoy him.

Speaking of the small Lolita, she was currently standing beside him, invading his personal space. Her annoyance was quite clearly written on her pretty little face as she turned it up and peered over at Angela and Luke. "Who asked you to bring Luke along, farmer girl?" she complained saucily, and Gill paused for the barest of a moment when he realized she'd just asked the question that had been silently bothering him since they had arrived. "Nothing's broke and the last thing we need is him swinging that axe of his around like a mad man."

Luke, who had already forgotten he was supposed to be putting the decorations up instead of playing with them, stopped having the two fished-shaped balloons attack one another and glared over at the pink pigtailed girl. "I take offense to that!"

"I'm surprised your puny mind could comprehend it!"

"Are you calling me stupid!?"

Gill groaned heavily, lifting one of his hands to gently rub his now aching forehead. He could feel a headache swiftly approaching now that their constant bickering had decided to finally come into play. The blue-haired apprentice somehow always popped up out of nowhere whenever Angela and him ran into one another. And since Luna was constantly in the habit of stalking him, both Luke and Luna got into frequent squabbles with one another.

Angela decided to speak up then, holding her hands out before her in a defensive manner. "Come on, you two. We really need to focus on getting this stuff up before it's supposed to start." Although she was always like this, Gill found that it annoyed him exceedingly. Who cared if they fought? They could tear each other apart, for all he cared. Beside, it would allow him to break away from their constant idiocy and perhaps then him and Angela could enjoy their peace.

"Speaking of the beach party," Luke began, looking no more lost than he normally did. Gill inwardly twitched when he pointed at him and asked, "How come you're still in your work clothes?"

And, of course, at his inquiry, all three eyes came to rest on him and his choice of unusual attire. The three of them were all in swim wear. Angela in a rather orange two piece, Luna in a white one-piece with at least twenty different ruffles making a skirt, and then there was Luke with his outrageous Hawaiian themed swim trunks--he'd never seen something so colorful in all his life. Then there was the matter of him, standing there in his navy blue sweater vest, long-sleeved, crisp, and otherwise flawless white dress shirt, and business pants. Feeling all their stares, he cleared his throat and pulled somewhat discomfort ably at his collar.

"My Gill doesn't need to wear swimming attire," Luna came to his defense when he didn't bother replying, himself. She darted over to his side instantaneously, hugging him at the side as she glared over at Luke for insulting someone who was, more or less, perfect in her eyes. "It would destroy his perfect image."

Luke stared dumbly while Angela rubbed the back of her neck and laughed a little awkwardly. Gill remained completely impassive, his lips set in a firm straight line as he quickly and silently removed Luna from his body. Feeling more and more irritated by the moment, and now having had his personal space thoroughly invaded, he was on the verge of either bluntly telling them to all get the hell out or going home himself. But he decided to bite his tongue and instead took in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

Angela must of noticed his strive for control because she immediately decided to speak up and demand that they all get to work once more. From there on out, Gill was fairly thankful that things progressed rather smoothly. With the exception of a few simple minded questions from the idiot apprentice and a couple saucy comments from Luna, directed at Angela.

The townsfolk began to trickle in at about the time they were nearly complete. Gill was checking off the items on the checklist, feeling rather accomplished and not as humiliated as he had imagined himself to feel when he heard to the murmuring complements and awe on the set up as people began to show up.

A small smile slowly crept up onto his lips as he checked off the last item. It fell back into the disapproving frown he always wore when he spied Angela coming up to him. She was smiling, as usual, but he sensed something a little different about it this time. Stepping into place beside him, she linked her fingers together behind her back and stared out at the gathering crowd before them.

"It looks very nice, Gill," She complimented him earnestly. "You picked out just the right decorations."

"I'm not completely incompetent in this area of expertise," He replied, turning to give her a dark stare.

"No," she teased, her smile widening despite his disapproving tone. "You seem to be quite adept in all areas, aren't you?"

He looked uncomfortable for a long moment. Then he glanced away and they stood there in silence for a minute or two. He hesitated for a moment longer, and then finally said in a low voice, "…Thank you for today."

"You're welcome, Gill." She replied simply, and reached out to gently take his hand in her own.