Chapter Text
Isabelle gazed out the island town hall window, sighing happily. The little silver jingle bells tying up the poofy fur on her head glinted as the morning sun shined through. It was worth it to get up at 5 am just to see the sunrise.
Isabelle jumped as the back door of the island hall opened, and she immediately got out her spray bottle to water the potted roses on the counter in front of her.
“Hello Isabelle,” Tom Nook, the leader and developer of the island, greeted as he walked in.
Excitement bubbled in Isabelle’s chest. “Are you ready for another day, Mr. Tom Nook?”
Tom Nook didn’t answer immediately, closing the door, then sitting at their computer desk.
“I suppose I am. And you?” Tom Nook smiled softly.
“I am so ready! Is the Resident Representative coming today?” Isabelle asked, her personality the epitome of hope.
“No, no, we already know that they don’t come during the week. It’s very rare,” Tom Nook replied, shaking his head.
Laughing sheepishly, Isabelle replied, “Yeah, I know.” Something stirred inside of her, but she ignored it, fixing her eyes on the world outside the window once more.
“No need to worry, fireworks will begin soon in August, and you will be able to roam outside,” Tom Nook reassured, reading Isabelle like a book.
Isabelle quickly turned away from the window, her eyes widening in surprise. “Oh! How did you know?”
“You are not quite as subtle as you think. Ah yes, I can see you searching outside the window, wondering what is to come,” speculated Tom Nook, slowly struggling out of his chair due to his big round stomach. “I do remember the days when I used to be a bit skinnier,” he remarked.
Isabelle laughed.
As Tom Nook walked up to her, he said, “If you ever need anything, I am here.”
“Oh I’m fine, don’t worry about me! Everything is amazing on the island,” Isabelle responded sweetly.
“And you’ve made that possible. You’ve kept everything in documents, told the villagers what to do, held cleaning events, even donated your own money to bridges and inclines. You make the biggest difference.”
Isabelle tilted her head to the side, smiling with endearment. Slightly blushing, she replied, “Thank you, Mr. Nook. It’s good to be reminded of how much I do for this island.”
“Indeed. As well as everything you did for the last town we lived in.”
“Oh, how I miss that town,” Isabelle sighed. Especially before the mayor moved in…
Tom Nook nodded sympathetically. “Yes, yes. I, however, like this place much better, especially since I’m in charge of it. You too, yes?”
Isabelle smiled brightly. “You’re doing a great job creating your own island community. And, at least some others we’ve met in previous towns are here too!”
Tom Nook nodded. “Yes. We can always count on you for optimism, and that is a great gift.”
“Yup,” Isabelle agreed. “I still wish I could make a direct difference, but we both know-”
“Don’t step outside the building unless it’s a holiday or we are called to be of assistance,” the two recited in unison.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll be going back in my room. Come find me if you need anything, or if someone comes.”
“Okay!”
Tom Nook walked to the back door, his bushy tail bobbing up and down.
As she heard the door close, Isabelle breathed out a long sigh. She sat at the computer desk and tried to find something to do, looking at her planner.
“Watch sunrise, water flowers, make coffee,” she read. “Well, I guess I could make coffee. For me and Nook.”
Walking over to a small brown desk in the corner, she grabbed the coffee pot and opened the back door. She made her way to a small table in the living room, plugging in a coffeemaker and placing the coffee pot in its place. She listened to the soft pouring noise of the coffee and the water, smiling contently as she did each step.
Tom Nook suddenly entered the living room, presumably smelling the coffee as it was made.
“Thank you for the coffee, Isabelle. I wanted to tell you that more documents have to be written. Island status documents.”
Isabelle’s smile faltered. “Oh, again? Didn’t I do that just two days ago?”
“Yes, but unfortunately the pilots lost it when going to their destination.”
“Oh…well, i-it’s okay, I’ll just do it, again.” Isabelle smiled and chuckled softly.
Tom Nook stared at Isabelle for a few moments, then nodded and went back to his room.
Isabelle left the back room, figuring Nook would get the coffee himself, and went into the main room, looking out the window again. She started to laugh once more, emotions taking over like an ocean wave, one of them being confusion. She didn’t understand why she suddenly felt like everything was crumbling, her sanity losing its grasp on her. As her estranged laughter receded, tears formed in her eyes, a single drop falling down her face.
She drew closer to the window, a million thoughts going through her head.
I can’t go out there, if I do then the world will end, all because of the curse of the human. Unless it won’t? No one’s tried. I hate confrontation, I shouldn’t do anything.
But how long have I been a servant to the human’s curse, and a servant to my work, and a servant to Tom Nook? What does Tom Nook even do all the time?
I’m always trapped here, and it completely goes against my nature. My heart is beating so hard that it’s going to escape from my chest, just like I want to escape from these chains.
The Resident Representative never comes anymore, and that’s the only time I really get to see someone from the outside. They never come…do I not matter? Am I not important?
Isabelle’s eyes watered again, and she turned her gaze to the gate built into the counter in front of her.
All I do is sit here, making no true difference and never being able to adventure like I used to.
Sobbing softly, she put her paw on the gate and opened it, walking to the entrance of the building as quietly as she could. Heart beating a million miles an hour, she placed her paw on the tall double doors, closing her eyes for a moment as she made her final decision.
I’m done waiting.
She aggressively pushed open the doors, indifferent to the fact that Tom Nook would hear the chimes of the door opening. As soon as the fresh morning air hit her, she fell and burst out sobbing, equal happiness and desperation in her heart.
Is the world ending? Isabelle recalled, looking up to check if something was going wrong. Everything seemed normal, and in her euphoria she jumped back to her hind paws and ran into the forest, spinning around in circles as she laughed.
“At last, all my sufferings are gone! I’m free!”
Not caring if she was seen by anybody, she did everything she had dreamed of doing. She fished, caught bugs, climbed cliffs, observed the beauty of the island, and best of all, walked along the shore of the beach to collect seashells. She had always loved seashells.
Nothing could stop her ecstasy, except…the thought of Tom Nook.
Tom Nook was all-knowing, it seemed, and she knew that he was the one that knew the consequences of exiting the building.
“He tricked me,” Isabelle realized in a flood of revelations. Her eyes widened. “He knew nothing would happen! He just wanted me to stay stuck in there and do everything for him!” For once, she frowned, her heart breaking in two at his betrayal.
“Well I’m done trying to be sweet all the time,” she said as she started to walk back to the island hall. “This isn’t me; I have just a bit of spark!”
She began to sprint towards the grandiose building, hatred burning in her veins. She didn’t have to run far, because Tom Nook was walking towards her.
“Isabelle,” Tom Nook said speechlessly, his tired, droopy eyes more prominent than usual.
Dread filled Isabelle from head to toe at the presence of Tom Nook, completely aware of her own betrayal to him.
“You…you can stop talking, M-Mr. Nook.” In a flash, her mood changed back to rage as Nook’s familiar, lazy stature got on her nerves. “You lied! You only wanted me to do your work for you, you obese raccoon!!”
“I-Isabelle, that is not the case.”
“Yes, it is.” Isabelle closed in on Tom Nook. “And I am done with you. All this time I shoved my dreams down the drain, thinking it was the only way. I never realized how much I was breaking inside until I had to do another super long status document. And so, I am done.”
“Isabelle- nothing does happen when the representative is not here, but in case the representative ever does come, we must stay inside at all costs. We never know when…”
“We’re always informed when the representative does come!”
“That’s not how the human’s curse works.”
Conflicted, Isabelle clutched her head between her paws. “I can’t go back there. I need a life, it’s been long enough. This isn’t me. This isn’t me, this isn’t me…” Tears fell once again.
Distracting her from her sobs, a small, resounding beep came from the island hall speakers. The Resident Representative Beep.
Isabelle and Tom Nook gazed at each other with wide, anxious eyes. Without warning, Tom Nook embraced Isabelle tightly, and she reciprocated, as the world turned black.
. . .
Maybe it was only just a few seconds, maybe it was hours. Time seemed nonexistent as nothing stirred and no one had conscious thought. Everything was nothing.
A light yellow dog and a brown raccoon began to feel themselves breathing, hearts beginning to pulse, feeling coming back to their paws. They felt warmth radiating between them, their arms still wrapped around each other.
At last, their minds returned, thoughts formulating in their heads.
What? I’m alive? Isabelle popped her eyes open. All she saw was black, but then she remembered Tom Nook. Her arms were still around him, her head resting next to his.
She gasped, releasing her grasp from him and standing back. She could see him clearly, but everything around was pitch black.
Tom Nook looked equally struck, staring wide-eyed at her, his droopy eyelids slightly lifting.
“M-Mr. Nook?” Isabelle spoke hesitantly, wondering if she still had a voice. She was relieved when she heard herself.
“Isabelle,” Tom Nook replied.
Isabelle couldn’t help but smile, then giggle with joy. “We’re alive!” She placed her paws on her chest and closed her eyes, overwhelmingly relieved.
Tom Nook smiled. “I guess we are, hm?”
Isabelle opened her eyes. “Yes, but…where are we?”
They looked around, seeing nothing but a void.
Isabelle inspected more; she wasn’t going to give up. In the distance, she saw a small speck of light.
“There!” Isabelle exclaimed, pointing towards the speck. “What is that?”
Tom Nook looked in the same direction. “I don’t know, but let’s take a look.”
They walked in the direction of the mysterious speck, and somehow with just a few steps, it grew bigger as if they were already next to it.
“It’s almost like time and distance don’t exist here,” Tom Nook marveled.
The speck of light was not a speck, but instead a single palm tree on a small patch of land standing in the dark abyss. The bright green leaves and beige trunk gave a sense of familiarity to both of them, and they felt a pang in their hearts for the home that was no longer there.
“I wonder why this is here,” Nook thought out loud.
Isabelle tried to reach out and touch the palm tree, but Tom Nook stopped her paw midway.
“We don’t know what will happen if we touch it.”
“We don’t really have any other option,” Isabelle said gently, aware of the high stakes at hand.
Nook glanced down and took his paw away from Isabelle’s arm, realizing she was right.
Isabelle stretched her paw out to the tree again, but Tom Nook interrupted a second time.
“Wait,” he said, “if you’re gonna do it, we should both do it at the same time. I’m not letting anything bad happen only to you.”
Isabelle turned to look at Nook and saw the loyalty in his eyes. She smiled, and together, they reached out their paws and touched the tree.