Alice arrived at Yuna's door two days later. It was early morning, with the sun peering over the cliff side into the tired town, and Alice had had to hastily brush the dew drops off of the gold-wrapped package in her hands before knocking.

Before Yuna had the door completely open, Alice raised a hand and stuttered an explanation. "Before you get the wrong idea, I'd already had this ready and wrapped before, you know, our chat the other night."

Yuna, who was more concerned with rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, nodded and stepped aside to invite Alice inside. She went straight to the coffee pot in the corner of the den. Alice sat down on the pale blue couch in the middle of the room and clutched the present in her lap. Bouncing her legs, Alice couldn't remember ever being this anxious.

Yuna cleared her throat, and Alice looked up from the floor to the mug held in front of her face.

"You still take milk and sugar, right?" Yuna asked when Alice hesitated.

"Uh, yeah, I do. Thanks." Alice took the coffee, and Yuna sat down next to her and pulled the gift off of her lap.

Yuna untied the red ribbon and pull a wide-brimmed lavender hat out of the wrapping. She turned it over in her hands a few times before trying it on.

"It's lovely," she admitted. "Thank you."

Alice tilted her head in response. Yuna took the hat off, set it on the table across from them, and looked expectantly at Alice.

"It's just, there's been no one else like me here, so when you came I got all excited and, I don't know," Alice groaned. "I haven't had any kind of romance in my life for years, and he showered me in gifts like this, so I guess I took that cue. I don't know."

Yuna raised her eyebrows. "You had a boyfriend?"

"Once upon a time."

"What happened?"

"Have you ever heard of bisexuals?"

"No, I mean-" Yuna rolled her eyes. "I mean, with that relationship?"

"Oh, it ended kind of..." Alice looked away, "suddenly. We couldn't see each other anymore. That was when I moved here."

"I see."

Alice looked around. Yuna's home was much bigger than it had been last time Alice was there, which had admittedly been a while, but all the same, Alice was impressed; her house hadn't been nearly this large in the same time Yuna's was. She could barely make out a staircase leading up, and a room to the north must have been a recent addition. The wood smelled fresh.

"You've really worked hard on expanding this place," Alice said.

Yuna smiled and her skin flushed. "Thanks. You know, with the stuff you taught me, making money here is pretty easy. I figure once I have the full size I can start decorating."

"When you get there, don't worry about the Academy too much," Alice said. "Your initial scores will be pretty low when you first start out, but you'll get there eventually."

"I just wish Lyle would stay out of my house," Yuna sighed. "He's so fucking weird."

Alice laughed, then quickly covered her mouth to smother the sound. "You'll get used to him. He used to sell insurance, and that was a mess and a half."

"I'd believe that."

Yuna brought her mug to her mouth, and silence settled. Alice fidgeted, checked the wall clock, rubbed the handle of her mug like a worry stone; Yuna tucked her legs underneath her and leaned back against the sofa.

"You've come a long way since you first came here," Alice said, the sentence tumbling out of her mouth like river water.

Yuna put her mug down in her lap. "How so?"

"You're much more comfortable, I guess," Alice replied. "You were a scared little mouse when you arrived."

"I wasn't used to moving to towns full of talking animals by myself. Were you?"

Alice shook her head and chuckled. "I guess not."

"You know, if you really wanted to make it up to me," Yuna purred, "you could take me out again. That night at the club was wonderful."

"Well, I could take you to the island," Alice said. "It's only a thousand bells per round trip, so it's not too expensive. There's all sorts of shit to do out there."

Yuna laughed, make Alice's chest rise. "As long as it's warm, I'd love to."

xxxx

"Kapp'n? Kapp'n, wake up." Alice kicked the side of Kapp'n's tiny boat, rocking him awake. Once he'd cleared the sea water out of his ears, Alice tossed a bag of two-thousand bells onto his deck and hopped into a seat.

"Lass, ye needn't be so impatient," Kapp'n scolded. "I'll get ye there."

"Not if you're asleep." Alice reached up to the dock for Yuna's hand and helped her ease into the boat. "If you're going to whine about it, I can leave you a tip for the trouble."

Kapp'n grumbled and started the boat. The sudden sound and sensation startled Yuna a little, but one quick look at Alice's smile and her panic eased.

"Hey, Kapp," Alice called over her shoulder. "You should sing one of those sailor songs."

Kapp'n complied immediately. Compared to his surly speaking voice, his singing was smooth and sweet. Yuna shivered from the ocean wind and leaned against Alice's shoulder.

"You'll be warm once we get to the island," Alice said under the wind.

They arrived at the docks much sooner than Yuna anticipated. Kapp'n stopped his boat and motioned for them to get off. Alice lept up over the boat's edge onto the dock and gave Yuna a hand.

"Welcome."

In front of the dock was a large clay hut, decorated with red paint and sea shells. Alice pushed through the bamboo doors with Yuna right behind her.

Alice looked over her shoulder and smiled. Before Yuna could get her bearings inside, Alice pulled her by the hand out the other door. Sharp sunlight assaulted her eyes and forced her arms over her face.

Laughing, Alice gently pulled Yuna's arms away. "You won't be able to see the view like that."

The view Alice revealed choked a startled breath from Yuna's throat, then left her in silence. Vibrant cerulean waves, green grass with bright hibiscus flowers, strong palm trees dripping with bananas and coconuts. As the warm wind blew against Yuna's skin, she turned to Alice.

"This was well worth the one-thousand bells."

xxxx

a/n: hello i'm trash and this took me like a decade

i actually had it done for quite a while but never got around to finishing it and uploading it. that being said, there was no beta involved so forgive any little mistakes. i'll try to make something more eventful next time. thanks lovies