Bianca awoke to the sound of birds chirping happily. Sunlight glared in her face, and a calm breeze drifted into her room. "Who opened that window?" she grumbled angrily. She marched over to the other side of the room and slammed the window shut. "Stupid birds. Don't they know it's too early for anyone to be awake?" The door to Bianca's room creaked and Tabatha poked her head in.

"Hello, Miss Bianca. A lovely morning, isn't it?"

Bianca rolled her eyes grouchily. Her hair lay in tangled tendrils about her shoulders, and her pink nightgown was as wrinkled as a ninety-year old's skin. "No! Those idiot birds woke me up! Nothing is 'lovely' this early in the morning! Nothing!" Tabatha sighed.

"Oh, Miss Bianca, it isn't all that bad, is it? Once you get dressed and I do your hair, things won't be so bad, will they? I mean, you could look at things a little more positively."

"Why should I bother? It's so much work to stop myself from complaining."

"Because people don't like to be around people who complain. Take what you said to our neighbor the other day, for example. You did nothing but complain to him. I think you hurt his feelings."

Guilt pricked at Bianca like a needle, but she ignored it.

"Pah! Well, what I said was true. His house is pathetic and dirty. I was only being honest." Tabatha just shook her head. "Well, anyway, I'll get dressed now. Come back in a few minutes so you can do my hair."

"Alright, Miss Bianca."

Within a few minutes Bianca was dressed in the same outfit she wore every day. Well, it wasn't actually the same one, she had hundreds of copies of that dress. She would never actually wear the same thing more than once. Once an outfit had been worn, then it was dirty. Even if it was washed, it could never retain it's original brilliance, so dresses were always discarded by her after being worn.

Bianca sat in front of a mirror, and Tabatha stood behind her, brush in hand. "How would you like your hair done?"

Bianca was confused. "Th-the same way it's always done, of course!"

"Oh. Well, I just thought that since it was your birthday, you might want to do something different with it today. You know, to make it feel…special."

Bianca stared at Tabatha, startled. How had she forgotten today was her birthday? It had completely slipped her mind. It was probably because normally, her father would make a big production out of it, getting the mansion cleaned extra-meticulously, setting up decorations, and making sure that there was food everywhere. People thought he set out all the food for his own benefit and that he was being selfish, but really, it was as much for Bianca's sake as for his. She ate like a bear. No one realized it, though, because she spread her eating out so it didn't seem like as much. Her faster metabolism helped in hiding her eating habits, too.

If she was honest with herself, Bianca kind of missed her dad. She'd never had a birthday without him.

Suddenly, Bianca really wanted today to feel different. To feel special. She decided maybe she would have her hair done differently, after all.

Tabatha had started doing her hair the normal way, but Bianca stopped her. "Actually…I guess I do want it done differently, just for today. Can you put it up in a bun?"

Tabatha smiled. "Sure, Bianca"

After Tabatha finished, she began to exit the room.

"Alright, Bianca. If you need anything else just call me. I'll go check the mailbox."

Bianca admired herself in the mirror. She did look different. She kind of liked it. There was something about this hairstyle that felt more mature. Suddenly Tabatha's voice interrupted her train of thought. "Bianca, I think you should see this." Bianca tore her eyes away from the mirror and made her way to the front door. What on earth did Tabatha want her to see?

When she opened the door and stepped outside, Tabatha pointed towards the mailbox. Bianca's eyes followed the path of Tabatha's finger.

There, sitting next to the mailbox, was a small, woven basket filled with strawberries. There was a small scrap of paper tied to the handle of the basket, which fluttered in the light morning breeze like a butterfly.

A confused Bianca tip-toed towards the basket, reached down, and grabbed the piece of paper. It had only two words written on it: Happy Birthday.

"What does it say?" A curious Tabatha questioned.

"Happy Birthday." Tabatha's eyes grew wide.

Bianca's mind raced. Who could have left this here? Her first guess was Raguna, the farmer next door who had been pestering her since they had met back in Kardia, the town she lived in. He seemed bound and determined to become friends with her. With everyone in the village, for that matter. How pathetic.

Tabatha chuckled a bit. "Miss Bianca…do you have a secret admirer?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Bianca said, with a sort of smirking confidence. "Although we really shouldn't assume things."

"Well, we can use these strawberries to make some cake. I need to go into town to buy some flour, though. Want to come with me?" Normally Bianca would have said no, but she was dying to know who had given her this gift, and the possibility of finding out lay in town, so she agreed.

They went to the Sunshine Inn, and when they got there they saw that Cinnamon, Candy, Melody and Danny were also there, sitting and talking at a table.

"I mean it! That Rosetta's stealing all my customers! She must be doing something underhanded! Maybe she's blackmailing them." Danny ranted. Melody shook her head.

"Or maybe you just have a lousy inventory so people go to her store instead."

"Hi guys!" Tabatha called. The group stopped arguing and turned their heads toward her.

"Oh, hey Tabatha. What's up?" Melody replied.

"Well, Miss Bianca and I came into town to buy some flour. It's her birthday today, so I'm going to bake her a cake."

"Oh! Happy Birthday, Bianca!" Melody said.

"Yeah, Happy Birthday!" Candy and Danny joined in.

"...and many more..." Cinnamon said with effort.

Bianca simply nodded. Tabatha smiled. "Something strange happened this morning, though. We found a basket of strawberries near the mailbox. There was a note that said 'Happy Birthday' on it, but it wasn't signed." Candy's eyes got wide, then she exchanged a look with her older sister Cinnamon.

"That's funny. On sis's birthday, we found a basket of potatoes near the front door. The next day, it was my birthday, and we found a basket of cucumbers."

Suddenly they all heard footsteps, and Turner came lumbering down the stairs. "Sorry about that, folks. My wife and I were discussing things and we lost track of time." Cinnamon smirked. She knew that most likely Turner and Rita had been arguing about how much alcohol Turner had been drinking. He and Rita both drank a lot, but it affected Turner much more than Rita. He acted ridiculous when he had been drinking a lot. It must be embarrassing for Rita.

Turner made his way to the desk and stood behind it. "So, what can I do for you folks?" Melody waved her hand.

"Cinnamon, Candy, Danny and I are just talking." Tabatha stepped up to the counter. "I'm just here to buy flour. I know you usually only sell it at night, but..." Turner smiled.

"Oh, don't worry, I'll sell you some now and save you the trouble. That'll be 130G."

Tabatha paid him. Then Danny spoke up. "You know, I think something similar happened to me. I found a basket of vegetables on my doorstep on my birthday." Turner looked up.

"Really? Me too!"

Tabatha was puzzled. Who was giving everyone birthday gifts? Cinnamon broke in. "Well...it really could be anyone in Trampoli...the calendars have everyone's birthdays printed on them, so..."

Tabatha thought this information over. It was true. Everyone's birthdays were printed on the calendar. It could be anyone. Then, suddenly she realized that everyone who had received a gift had a birthday after Spring 1st. Was it just a coincidence? Or maybe not? "Did Rita get a gift like that?" She asked Turner.

He frowned. "Actually, no." Bianca was puzzled too. Rita's birthday was in winter. So the gifts had started after spring started.

"Did anyone move in at the beginning of Spring?" Tabatha asked.

"Well, Raguna did, and one other person...oh, what was his name again? Oh, that dark-haired fellow who Anette thought was a ghost. He moved in just before Raguna did."

At that, Bianca started. He must be talking about Kross! Could it really be him? The one whose house and way of life she had criticized? Why would he be giving everyone gifts? Why would he give hera gift after what she had said?!

Her eyes met Tabatha's, and she knew Tabatha was thinking the same things. Tabatha's soft blue eyes almost seemed to be ablaze with anger. Tabatha didn't normally get angry, didn't normally reprimand Bianca, but the thought that the person Bianca had been cruel to was kind enough to give her a birthday gift anyway was too much. Without even speaking, Tabatha's eyes said, "You should be ashamed of yourself!" Bianca felt guilt stab at her again, and this time it was harder to dismiss.

"It might not have been him! It could have been Raguna!" She blurted out, then raced out of the Inn. Everyone stared at her, confused.

"What was that about? That girl's strange." Danny commented.

"You got that right." Cinnamon added. Tabatha just sighed.