A/N: We're winding down1 First, I want to apologize for taking two whole months to post this. I lost all of the motivation to finish this after school ended, although now that I've graduated I have more time to work on stuff. All I can say is that I know this fanfic will be finished before summer's over. I promise I'll try to write faster, although with family visiting soon I don't know if I'll have all the time in the world.
Chapter 26: Working Towards a Resolution, the Twelveth Rose
"Hey Todd, beautiful day, isn't it? Check it?" Colton greeted the boy cheerfully, giving him a tiny wave.
"Yeah, it's gorgeous." Todd nodded with a tiny smile. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"Oh! I have to go to the post office to mail something." Colton pulled out a letter with sloppy handwriting on it.
Then he looked surprised. "That reminds me! It's Valentine's Day, check it. Are you doing anything with the mayor?"
His cheeks flushed pink and he laughed nervously. "Well, I don't know if you'd call it anything special..."
"Aww, you two are adorable." Colton ignored his statement and cooed at him, squishing his own cheeks with his hooves.
"I- it's not like that!" Todd insisted. "I was planning on finishing my stuff for today and then doing whatever!"
"Oho? Then what's that 'whatever'?" Colton asked, tilting his head.
"You guys will just have to see."
With a secretive smirk, the human bade Colton farewell and went on.
As he got near to the cherry trees, he spotted Catelin.
"Hey! Cate!" He called, waving her over.
She whirled around, and with a beaming smile, raced to him. "Todd, hi!"
"For you," he began, giving her a pretty white rose. "Fresh from 'Line's garden," he added with a wink.
She giggled, putting it in her hair. "She's not gonna be happy when she figures it out."
"She can learn to deal," he shrugged. "I'll get her some rose seeds for a holiday gift or something."
Catelin laughed, lightly nudging him with her shoulder. "You're insufferable! How does she do it?"
"Somehow, she does," he dramatically sighed, causing her to laugh harder.
"But for real, is she okay with you giving her roses to me?"
"Relax, Cate, I planted these." He gave her a smile. "She told me not to touch the red ones... but she never said anything about the white ones."
He opened the door to The Roost and allowed her to go in first. He shut the door behind himself and followed her to the counter.
They both took a seat at the bar, ignoring a couple of the more cynical villagers sending Todd uncomfortable looks.
They ordered their coffees and sat there, talking.
"Your community service seems like it's going well!" Catelin mentioned, taking a hesitant sip of her brew. "How're you holding up?"
"Pretty well, I guess." He shrugged. "It's nothing that would've done me in before."
"That's good, that's good."
He gulped his down, setting the cup back on the table with a satisfied sigh. "I actually like delivering stuff. I don't know, I guess it's just always been a thing."
"I understand that." She nodded eagerly. "I've always liked organizing things either by name or by number."
Todd chuckled, giving her a joking nudge. "Does this mean I'm getting closer to being forgiven?"
"I don't know, maybe you have a higher chance now." She teased with a wink.
"That's good, because then I can do this." He slipped off the stool and got in front of her, holding his hands out while he got down on his knees. "This seem familiar yet?"
The smile slipped off her face and she looked mildly affronted. "Don't even joke about that, Todd! That was easily one of the worst days of my life!"
"I'm not joking," he replied, shaking his head. "Will you be my girlfriend?" Then, adding as a joking afterthought, "For the third time now, I guess."
She blinked rapidly, wiping her eye on her sleeve. "... Yeah, I'd love to."
He beamed at her, standing up.
"Can I hug you?" She asked.
"Go right ahead."
She embraced him tightly, hiding her face in his shoulder. A couple of the patrons clapped, others looked away at the scene.
"Are you awake yet?" Isabelle teased him the next day when he came in for work. "You seem a lot more distracted today, I hope you don't mind me saying."
He waved it off with a faint smile. "You should be lucky I'm in early for once."
"That's why!" She laughed. "Honestly, though, congratulations on finally asking her. Poor thing's been in the office twice since yesterday gushing about you."
"It's only been a month!" He protested weakly.
The secretary only giggled at his reaction, teasing him about his red face.
When Aceline walked in, the first thing she did when she saw him was smile slyly, slapping a palm down on the counter to startle him. "So! The lucky guy finally shows up."
"Not you too, Aceline," he groaned, but when she rolled her eyes he smiled at her. "Hey, Isabelle, what's my first assignment?"
"Delivering this to the Nooklings," she replied, handing him a rather heavy package. He nodded, giving them both a 'see you later' on his way out.
As soon as the door closed, Aceline propped herself up on the desk. "That boy... I honestly don't know whether to congratulate him or to say 'it's about time'."
"I know for the mayor, she's been hung up on him for quite a while now." Isabelle sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I still remember her coming in to work a week after you two moved in, all mopey about how much she felt for him and how she wanted to know if she was in love again. Well, guess we know how that turned out."
"Indeed we do." The girl agreed. "She's been in love before?"
"Only once, before I replaced Pelly as the secretary." She nodded. "There was another human living in town way before you two came, and they seemed to have quite a thing going on. But... unfortunately, immediately after she was announced as mayor, he left. Quite suddenly, too. Nobody really knows why he left, but she seemed to really take it to heart."
Aceline hummed in thought. "What a jerk. I'd have given him a piece of my mind if he ever came to visit."
"Yes, well." Isabelle shrugged. "Now we can focus on her and your brother."
"I, for one, am ecstatic they're together, no matter what the others say," The girl nodded in agreement, folding her arms across her chest.
"Yes, definitely." The dog had a cheerful smile on her face as she went through the forms on her desk. "The mayor seems much more cheerful than she's been in quite a while. I think finally having someone to care for is just the thing she needs."
"Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen Todd this happy in my life." Aceline commented. "Nor have I ever remembered him being so calm about someone touching him. Not in years, anyway."
The secretary nodded rapidly. "Yes. Oh, what a beautiful romance! Young love is so amazing. Her depression has really lessened ever since she got close to him."
Swooning, she sighed and rested her chin in her hands. "Oh, what I would give for something like theirs!"
Aceline shrugged. "As long as the guy isn't interested in the physical part of married life, I think I'd be down for it."
That seemed to startle Isabelle out of her fantasy, and she flinched as if burned, gaping at the human girl. "You- you mean you'd never consider children? Ever?"
"Like I said, as long as I have someone I care for, I don't really care about anything else." She gave a wry grin. "Why else do you think I have the nickname 'Ace'?"
Isabelle grew uncomfortable. "I- I always thought it was because of your name..."
"Nah, not totally." She turned her gaze towards the window. "Let's just say it has a malicious intent."
"... How long have you known for, if you don't mind me asking?" Isabelle finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Thirteen," Aceline replied with a smile. "It's not a big deal unless you decide to blacklist me because of it."
"No, I just- I think it's interesting to have another perspective." The dog now sounded genuinely interested, leaning forward on her elbows. "Would you mind telling me more?"
The girl seemed surprised, but she oblidged, hopping off of the desk and grabbing a chair.
A/N: Please, before anyone accuses me of pandering (because I just so happened to complete this during Pride Month), I've been planning Aceline to be asexual ever since conception of her character. With that said, I hope this gives you a bit more of a perspective about her history with her nickname and why she hates it so much.
I'll see you guys in the next chapter... whenever that'll be posted. Let me know what you thought of this one.