Chapter 1: A Moonlit Talk

The mayor looked at his wristwatch and sighed. 2:25 in the morning. It had been at least 4 hours since Cless had sent Isabelle, his secretary, home for the night. Even after two years of being mayor of this town, it still astounded Cless the amount of dedication that his secretary showed to both him and his town. Airithan had grown quite a lot since he first took over the position as mayor, and that was what Cless was working on in the wee hours of the morning. Coming up with ideas to fund a new works project. Recently Whitney had come to him with the idea of having a hot spring built. Ideally it would give the villagers another way to spend time together while keeping warm in the cold winter when it came. Both Cless and the residents of Airithan loved the idea when it was presented at the last town hall meeting. It was a pricy project though. 98,000 bells including materials and labor. The residents had dug deep to help fund it as best as they could, but even with all the help Cless was still 10,000 bells short of the goal.

Cless stood up, stretched, and yawned. This would have to wait until he had gotten a few hours of sleep and could focus again. He took a quick look around the office, turned off the lights and walked out. Outside it was still too hot for Cless' liking. Even at 3 A.M. it was still over 90 degrees outside. He hated this time of year. Cless would be happy when autumn came around and the weather cooled off. He began the twenty minute walk to his house. Despite the heat, it was a beautiful night. Not a cloud in the sky; the stars and bright full moon lit up everything. The flowers seemed to glow in the brilliant moon light. Fireflies flitted around adding even more light to the night. A lone frog let out a croak from somewhere near one of the many pear trees.

Cless' house overlooked the large beach. He loved it. He could sit out front and watch as the villagers swam, or fished, or just enjoyed a walk in the sand. He looked down at the dark beach and saw something odd. The beach was not empty tonight. It was dark, but Cless could immediately tell who it was. He walked down to the long stretch of beach, hoping that nothing was wrong.

"Sable," Cless said as he walked up behind her.

Sable visibly flinched and turned around. She had obviously been lost in a deep thought. "Oh, mayor…I…I didn't hear you walk up."

Cless sat down next to her and Sable turned around to continue looking out to sea. "Is everything alright?" He asked her.

She looked back at him, "What? Oh, yes…yes, everything is fine." The way that she said it was not convincing. "I just did not feel like being home."

Cless could understand that. Sable lived in a small house with her two sisters. It had to feel cramped at times. He was on the verge of offering her one of his spare rooms for the night when Sable spoke first. "You are out very late mayor," She stated.

A smile formed at the corner of Cless' mouth. "I could say the same of you," He laughed and stifled a yawn. "And please Sable, just call me Cless. We have known each other for two years not after all."

Sable smiled for the first time since the morning before. "So we have Cless; and I must say what a wonderful two years that it has been." She took a deep breath; breathing in the warm, salty sea air. "This town has never flourished like this before. I mean don't get me wrong, Tortimer was a great mayor for many years; but you Cless, are what Airithan needs."

Cless looked down and felt his face blush red. "Sa…Sable…I'm speechless. Thank you."

Sable just smiled again. "I see the hard work that you do and the long hours that you put in." She took another deep breath, "You don't hear it enough, but I am sure that I can speak for everyone when I say how happy we all are." She yawned and looked at Cless, "I should get home."

Cless stood and offered Sable his hand. She took it and pulled herself up. "May I walk you home?" he asked. Sable only lived a few houses away from him, so it was not out of the way, and even if it was Cless did not care.

Cless went to release her hand, but Sable held fast to his. "Of course," she said, blushing ever so slightly. She pulled him towards the beach exit, still holding on to his hand.

They walked in silence towards Sable's house, just enjoying the night. Too soon for Sable's liking, they arrived at her front door. She let go of his hand, but her fingers kept brushing up against his. She turned and looked into his eyes, "Thank you," was all that she said.

"No, Sable, thank you," Cless responded. "You took my bad day and made it end on a great note. The things that you said, well they really made my night."

Sable smiled before quietly opening her door. "Goodnight," she whispered, walking inside, closing the door.

Cless made the short walk back to his house. It was almost 5 A.M. now. The sun would be up in just a few short hours. As he crawled into bed, his mind was completely at peace for the first time in days.

Sable: Ohhh, I think I like where this is going.

Cless: *Blushes* Sable! Keeneye! Can't you do something about her?

Keeneye: Hey, don't blame me. Sable wanted this

Sable: THANK YOU!