"Miss Mayor?"

Alice looked up from the lighthouse blueprint at Isabelle, who was poised, paws folded respectfully, in front of her desk. Alice dipped Tortimer's old fountain pen into its ink pot. "Yes?"

"The last fireworks show is tonight," Isabelle said. "I was wondering if you were going to join us."

Alice looked back down to her work. "Maybe. I need to get this blueprint revised; the current draft is too large for any of the cliffs, and the villagers have been asking about this lighthouse for months."

"It wouldn't hurt to take a break," Isabelle said. Alice smiled to herself at the note of sheepishness in her secretary's voice. "I mean, ever Brewster and I are taking the evening off to celebrate," Isabelle paused, "and I'm sure the townsfolk would be happy to see you out and about. Especially Yuna and Lopez."

Alice stopped scribbling, set the pen down, and glanced out the window. The rain clouds from the previous evening before had begun to clear. The air outside was heavy and pungent with mist and the scent of earth. Alice had spent a few moments with Serena at the fountain this morning to savor it. I wonder if Yuna likes this kind of weather.

"You know what, I think I'll come out tonight." Alice shuffled the papers in front of her into a neat shape and stood up from the desk. "Tell Redd he can start selling sparklers an hour early. I'd like to get everyone together before the show starts, instead of stumbling outside at the noise."

Isabelle flashed a proud smile and nodded. "I'll do that right away, Mayor."

"Thanks lovely." Alice slipped past the front desk and grabbed her bag from the coat hanger. "I'll see you tonight, Belle."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Alice smirked and went outside. A handful of mosquitoes swarmed around her face in excitement, only to be swatted away by a stern and impatient hand. She wouldn't miss these whiny little bastards this autumn. The atlas beetles and golden stags, well, those were different. But then there was always the island.

I should take Yuna with me next time. Alice made her way home, pausing frequently to make sure the azaleas and hydrangeas were properly trimmed and that no one had taken any of the perfect apples in her orchard without her permission. Her townspeople were trustworthy, generally, but sometimes the allure of perfect fruit was too much for them to resist. Since Paradise had no formal written law, delivering her mail and running her errands was Alice's punishment for stealing. Although, her disappointment and frustration was punishment enough, that much Alice knew.

Sometimes Alice would remember the day she first arrived in Paradise, a little drowsy and very concerned and suddenly faced with a group of excited faces calling her 'mayor.' For the first time in her life, Alice's words failed her, and she couldn't talk her way out of the position. A few days later a letter of apology arrived from the actual expected mayor, who said that "a human hand is needed, anyways."

And then after she finished remembering her arrival Alice would stop herself abruptly and brushed the first weeks or so of life in Paradise, which were filled with both excitement and horror, under the proverbial mat and focus on the now. She was respected, honored, admired, successful and well-loved. That was the important part.

Alice missed her house somewhere along the way and walked across the train tracks to Main Street. She waved hello to Digby as she walked past him, then did the same to the Nook twins and Leif as she skipped the Emporium. She stopped at the Able Sister's first door and entered, ringing their bell.

Sable glanced up from her sewing. She turned back to her work before realizing who'd come in, then stood up and scurried up to Alice and threw her arms around her neck.

"Alice! We haven't seen you in so long," Sable greeted. "How have you been? How's Isabelle?"

Alice laughed a little as she followed Sable back to the usual post. If only the other villagers could see their shy seamstress now. "I'm just fine, thank you, and so is Isabelle. I hope all of the Able sisters will be attending the last show tonight."

"We wouldn't miss it," said Mabel from behind the dress section. "Right, Sable?"

Sable sighed. "Of course not."

Alice patted Sable's quills in consolation. "Don't worry, all your work will be here when you get back. By the way," Alice stood up and faced Mabel, "do you have any new dresses in? I'd like to have a look."

"Oh, yes!" Mabel trotted up to Alice and pressed her paws together, smile wide. "What kind would you like to look at?"

"I've never thought of you as a dress person, Al," Sable commented.

"I'm not," Alice said, "I'm shopping for someone else. What do you have that would look good on a blonde?"

"Oh, are you shopping for Yuna?" Mabel asked, delight heavy in her voice. "She's such a sweetheart, and looks fabulous in dresses. Even if she does just cycle through a few. She spends all her money on expanding her house."

Alice nodded. "I'm here to fix that."

"Well, let me see." Mabel traipsed down the aisle for a few minutes, then returned triumphant with a long-sleeved, green dress accented with white and yellow. "This should do it."

Alice grinned and took it into her hands. "How much do I owe you?"

"That one comes out to 225 Bells."

"Perfect." Alice handed the money over and waved good bye before running over to the Emporium, where she picked up wrapping paper and stationery, all while dodging the very insistent Timmy, who was hell bent on being more helpful than his brother.

Alice wrapped up the dress and wrote her note sitting in the alleyway outside Club LOL. Once she finished she went to the post office, where she gave Pelly a few hundred bells extra for Pete to get the package express mailed. It had to arrive before the sun set. Pelly gave Alice her money back, saying that she'd done enough favors for them, they could do one for her. Alice gave a thankful smile, then left to go home.

Lopez had taken a great liking to dropping in at Yuna's house for bubble tea and persimmons, which he provided, on a daily basis. This wore down the element of pleasant surprise, but Yuna didn't have the heart to tell him that. And she liked having him around, anyways. Yuna hung around his house every once in a while, if her house was under construction, but she had more places to sit and the view was better, according to Lopez.

"We should get a spot at the plaza earlier this time," said Lopez, "so that giant tree isn't in the way. It's the last weekend, I want a good view."

"That's fine, man," Yuna laughed. "I wouldn't be doing anything else with that time, anyways. Do you think Alice will be there?"

Lopez shook his head. "She doesn't usually go to events like this. She used to, when she first came, but I think her work has really taken over her life."

"Oh." Yuna looked down at her lap. "I haven't seen her since the first of the month when we went and saw KK, so I just thought, maybe..."

"Well, we'll see!" Lopez exclaimed, waving his hoofs in front of him in a motion of assurance. "You never know. Maybe she cleared up her schedule for the last show of the year."

"I hope so."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Yuna stood up from her chair and went over.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Yuna," said Pete. He gave her a tiny salute. "Sorry to drop in outside of my work hours, but I have a special package for you. From the mayor herself."

"From Alice?" Yuna took a white, red-wrapped package from Pete and stared at it, eyebrows raised.

"That's what I was told."

Yuna shook herself out of her reverie and thanked Pete before he left. She brought the package back to her tea table, where Lopez had stood up, wagging his tail like an excited dog.

"What are you waiting for?" Lopez barked. "Open it!"

Yuna untied the ribbon and opened the box. Inside was a neatly folded, flower-printed note and a bundle of green fabric. The note read:

Happy end-of-summer. This dress should be warm enough for the upcoming autumn. I'd be delighted to see you in it at the fireworks tonight.

Alice

Yuna handed the note to Lopez and pulled the dress out of the box. She held it in front of her, fingered the embroidery, fondled the soft fabric in her fingers. 'It's lovely.'

"That was nice of her," Lopez mumbled.

"You don't sound like you mean that," Yuna replied, still pouring over the dress.

"I mean, it's cool that she's thinking of you and stuff," Lopez sighed, "but why can't she come and actually see you? First there was the bed-"

"The bed was a housewarming gift," said Yuna defensively.

"An 80,000 Bell housewarming gift," Lopez retorted. "Not to mention the clock. These are Gracie's designs; that piece has to be at least 200,000."

"There's no way that's true," Yuna gasped. She skittered over to her wall clock, positioned over her western window, and peered at the bottom of it for a price.

Yuna didn't speak for a minute. "You're right. 200k."

"I'm just saying, I feel like she's trying to buy you," Lopez said. "You can talk to about it tonight, I guess."

Yuna glanced at the dress in her arms. "Yeah, I think I will. I'm going to go change, give me a minute?"

"Of course."

a/n: hi. it's been awhile. i'm just here to apologize in advance for any errors. have a nice day.