The silver moonbeams shone down on Wumpa Island upon the Bandicoot household.
Inside the house, everyone, but Coco, was asleep. When the moonshine kissed her face, she quietly got herself out of bed.
"Meow?"
Turning, she saw her tiger cub had awoken.
"It's okay, Pura." She whispered. "Go back to sleep."
Pura licked his paws then curled back up to sleep.
Coco gently rubbed his head before pulling her hair into its signature ponytail and, sneaking past Polar and Baby T., -why did her brother insist on bringing home a DINOSAUR?- went outside her house.
She squinted at the sky until she saw a beam of light heading towards her. As it got closer, the light revealed itself to be a giant space shuttle.
Coco jumped back as the shuttle hit the ground and the door opened. Out stepped a tiny, redhead man with a missile sticking out of his head.
"Coco!" The man began.
"N. Gin..." Coco replied, then ran towards him.
When she reached N. Gin, instead of attacking him, or running past him to go find back up, she tackled him into a tight hug.
"I missed you." She whispered in his ear.
"I missed you too." He replied. "How were you in our last battle? I was so nervous I hurt you."
"I'm alright." Coco replied. "How about you? Technically I made your spaceship crash."
N. Gin laughed. "All smoke and mirrors, my dear bandicoot." With that, he let her go. "Now, the night doesn't last forever. Shall we?"
Coco smiled and took N. Gin's hand. "I've been looking forward to this all day."
Back when Coco was in Doctor Cortex's lab, her and N. Gin had spent a lot of time together, sure it was with him experimenting on her, but Coco noticed N. Gin wasn't as... cruel about it as Cortex and Brio were. Eventually, the two of them struck up a friendship of sorts.
One day, After Crash and Tawna escaped, N. Gin went over to Coco's cage.
"Doctor Cortex is going to be... absent for a while." He began.
Coco looked at him curiously. N. Gin slipped a key in between her bars.
"This never happened." He said before turning around and leaving.
After unlocking her cage and escaping, Coco ran off where she reunited with her brother.
Ever since then, she always felt a sort of... gratitude towards him, which, the more they met up, turned into a form of attraction. It wasn't long before the two of them began to secretly see each other, while pretending to loath each other.
"We're here." N. Gin replied.
Coco's eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth. N. Gin had set up a nice little candlelight dinner for two.
"I hope you're hungry." He began.
"Oh, N. Gin!" Coco exclaimed. "I didn't know you could cook."
N. Gin laughed. "I can't. This is all store bought."
Coco laughed.
"Anyway, Milady." N. Gin added, pulling out her chair.
Coco nervously sat down in front of a dome lid, wondering what her boyfriend had got for dinner.
N. Gin proudly lifted up the dome revealing grilled wumpa fruit and a glass of wumpa whip.
"Enjoy." He replied, before sitting down in front of his own dome, revealing an animal of some sort.
"What you got?" Coco asked, slicing off a piece of wumpa fruit.
"Fried bandicoot." N. Gin replied.
Coco gasped and jumped back.
"I'm kidding, my dear." N. Gin replied. "It's a T-Bone steak."
Coco went back to eating. "That wasn't funny." She huffed.
N. Gin shrugged. "Sorry, Coco. You know my sense of humour is a little... warped."
Coco smiled, and with that, the conversation was killed to make room for their dinners.
Once they were done, N. Gin reached under the table and pulled up a radio. He fiddled with the dial for a bit before a nice slow song began.
"I know you can pirouette well, but how good are you at ballroom dancing?" He asked, holding out his hand.
Coco shyly took his hand, and in no time, the two of them were dancing, a little awkwardly, around the island.
Coco was in pure bliss. After letting N. Gin spin her around, she rested her head against his chest.
"What are you thinking about?" N. Gin asked, gently stroking her hair.
"How overdue this is." Coco replied.
"Yeah..." N. Gin replied, kissing the top of her head. "You look so beautiful tonight." He added.
Coco blushed. Even though he called her beautiful before, she still wasn't used to it. She was always cute, but never beautiful.
Once the radio fizzled out, N. Gin looked up.
"Sun's coming up soon..." he began. "I should take you home before everyone notices your absence."
Coco hung her head. "Yeah... I hate that we're like this... don't you ever wish things could be different?"
N. Gin nodded. "I do."
He took her hand and gently kissed the young bandicoot. "You have no idea how much I do."
With that, the scientist and the bandicoot began to make their long journey back to Coco's house.
As they walked, Coco noticed N. Gin was extra grim.
"What's on your mind, N. Gin?" She asked.
N. Gin lowered his head. "Coco, I need to tell you something very important. But I don't want you to cry or panic."
"Are you breaking up with me?" Coco asked, alarmed.
"No!" N. Gin exclaimed. "Do you think I would take you on a date like that if I was planning on ending it? No no, I definitely don't want to break up with you. But I do need to tell you this."
Coco nodded, found an old log and sat down. N. Gin sat next to her and pulled her close to him. Coco rested her head on his shoulder and N. Gin wrapped his arms around her.
"Coco... you know I love you, right?"
"I do." Coco replied.
"Well... as much as this really hurts me to say, I fear one day, through no fault of our own, our dates are going to have to end."
Coco looked up, eyes wide. "Why?" She asked, feeling her heart crack.
N. Gin held her tighter to him. "It's this missile!" He began. "Lately, I've had a few... neurological problems. After some exams, I discovered that this missile is starting to sink deeper into my head, the deeper it goes, the more I lose myself."
"I can help you remove it." Coco replied.
"No, my dear! You mustn't! That missile is the only thing keeping me alive. I can't modify it in any way or I'll die!"
Coco felt her heart break. She wrapped her arms around N. Gin, holding him close.
"I'm worried that this condition will make me forget you and how much you mean to me." N. Gin replied, his voice cracking slightly. "But I want you to know, no matter how distant I become, please understand that there is a huge part of me that does and always will love you."
"And I will always love you too." Coco choked out, tears slipping out. "I'm sorry..." she began, "I know you told me..."
"No, I'm sorry." N. Gin replied. "I'm sorry that this condition is affecting you too."
Upon saying that, a tiny drop of moisture hit her head. Looking up, Coco realized, to her surprise, N. Gin was crying too!
Leaning in, They kissed. This kiss was different than the others. Instead of being slightly playful, this one was filled with love and sorrow.
Breaking apart, N. Gin rested his forehead against Coco's.
"There's one last thing I need you to know." He replied, gently stroking her cheek.
"What's that?" Coco asked.
"My name. Everyone only knows me as N. Gin. I want someone to know what the N means before I forget myself. I trust you enough with this information."
"I won't betray your trust." Coco whispered.
"I know." He replied. "My true name, is Nitro. Nitro Gin."
"Nitro..." Coco whispered softly.
N. Gin nodded, enjoying the way his name sounded on her tongue.
He kissed her again before breaking away. "I must send you home soon. But don't worry. We'll meet again, be it on the battlefield or like this."
Coco nodded before getting up to head to her house.
"I love you, Coco bandicoot." N. Gin whispered, afraid it was going to be the last time he said it.
"And I love you, Nitro Gin." Coco whispered, afraid it would be the only time he would hear it.
When Coco reached her house, Crash and Aku Aku were beginning to wake.
"Coco!" Aku Aku exclaimed. "You're up early. Is everything alright? Your eyes are red like you've been crying."
Coco wiped away the last few tears before looking up.
"I'm fine." She replied.