A/N: Hey readers! I don't have much to say, except for thank you so much for your reviews! I really appreciate them!! Hope you guys like this one!

Theme 64 - Multitasking

To put it simply, Alice was overwhelmed. There was to be a huge welcome party for Dan, Shun, and Marucho. Of course, Marucho's parents pulled a few strings. And a grand banquet was taking place in honor of them and Mira, Ace, and Baron. When the three Vestals revealed just who they were to the mayor of their city, he was awestruck. But they were soon officially welcomed to the city and plans were underway. Alice had flown in from Moscow and was staying with Runo for a week.

Somehow, she'd gotten roped into helping plan the big party by urging from not only Marucho's mother (who was a huge influence on his father who was a huge influence on the mayor) but from all the city's officials wives who happened to be her friends. Alice was supposed to be helping with the selecting of dinner courses, the music, and the decorations. She secretly thought they only wanted her to help because she was close to at least three of honorees that would be present. Thanks to lazy adults who were supposedly only asking for her input, she was now compiling a list of songs.

In between all of this, the head caterer kept asking about chicken or ribs, or which was best: dinner rolls or egg rolls? Frankly, Alice didn't really care; she was just glad everyone made it back safely. Especially Shun. She'd missed him the most. In the two years after Vestroia was saved the first time, she'd finally gotten a chance to get to know him, without all the pressure of brawling or Masquerade looming above their heads. Now, she was actually calling Shun for any particular music choices.

"Hello?" a voice was heard on the other end.

"Hi, Shun?"

"Hey, Alice." Ordinarily, she would take the time to enjoy his voice over the phone (which was always enjoyable to hear) but her current mood screamed annoyed all around.

"Hey. I need your input. I'm at the civic center and I'm helping the DJ pick music. Any songs you'd like to hear?"

"Alice, you don't sound so great," Shun commented. Whenever he and Alice spoke, she sounded cheery and at ease.

"Yeah, I'm not- I'm on the phone," Alice said curtly on her end. One of the caterers had just came up to her for the umpteenth time asking about what bowls did she want; blue flowered or jade green?

"I'm sorry Shun, I-"

"Be there in five." Shun hung up and immediately hurried off to the center in his grandfather's car. After asking a seemingly clueless waiter, he finally found Alice in an open office, slumped over a computer and talking aloud about Caesar salad or Cobb salad.

"Alice," he addressed her as he walked into the room.

"Oh, Shun, I didn't expect you to be here in five minutes exactly," she said, a weak smile on her face.

"You're stressed." He said this simple statement as he took in her slightly glazed eyes, frown, and ungraceful posture. He hadn't seen her quite like this since Runo had grown quiet and despondent for a week over something offensive Dan had said. And even then she hadn't looked this bad.

"I'm sorry Shun, I've been picking music all day, calling people I don't even know for that darn head caterer, trying to tell the difference between Egyptian blue or cerulean blue…"

"C'mon," he said, interrupting her small tirade.

"Where? I mean, I have so much to do," she replied, reluctantly standing from the chair.

"You've done far too much multitasking," he responded, and started making his way to the exit.

"But Shun…"

"You're tired, right?" With a nod, she confirmed his question.

"Then let's go relax," and with that he led her away by the hand from the stuffy office, the incompetent DJ, and the other clueless adults that so relied on her. After all, she'd helped save the world once, and he twice, so why not? All that multitasking could wait.