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Anniversary

"Okay, let's double-check to make sure we got everything," I said as my eyes read the list, "Tent?"

"We're sitting in it right now, Alan."

"Just making sure," I simpered, "Food?"

Niko reached into her backpack and pulled out a couple of sandwiches Dahlia had made for us along with a bag of marshmallows. "Got it all right here."

"Lanterns?"

Niko held up the two lanterns we had ready.

"Sleeping bags?"

"You're sitting on them," she said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and read through the rest of the list. Camping outside tonight was something Niko had asked for me to do with her and it was hard to say "no". She was really adamant about wanting me to come with her, so I took it upon myself to make sure we had everything we needed so that we didn't have to do any walks of shame back to the house.

"Alright. Looks like that's everything," I said as the sun had finally disappeared over the horizon, painting the sky with orange and red hues, "So what did you have planned for us this evening 'cause I'm still in the dark about that part."

"Well, I actually didn't have a whole lot planned," Niko said, her ears flattening against her head, "I just wanted to spend some time with you, that's all."

I tilted my head in confusion. "We're together all the time though."

"I know! Just...all of this had to be today."

"Is today a holiday?"

"No." She fiddled with her scarf for a moment. "...Well, kinda."

I chuckled. "Well, whatever the case, I'm not turning it down. It's obvious whatever's going on is special."

Her eyes seemed to glow brighter as she smiled at me.

"Now pass me the marshmallows. I'm gettin' a little hungry," I said, pointing to the bag.

The two of us sat across from each other, tossing marshmallows into our mouths as the sky continued to darken. Our snacking soon morphed into a competition of who could catch the most marshmallows with their mouth, one that Niko was surprisingly able to win, much to her elation, and then turned into telling each other stories of whatever, like Niko telling me about the first time she got to drive one of the tractors that harvested the wheat when she was younger. Somewhere along the way, I had ended up telling a story about my travels in my old world before I met her.

"So, I enter what I thought was an abandoned shack. Old, cob-webs all over, the perfect place for me to stay," I said, "I set down my things and pull out a sandwich I had saved and I'm about to start eating when all of a sudden, I start hearing a low growl echo throughout the house."

Niko shivered. "Oh, that would really scare me."

I continued. "At the time, I was. I stayed still until... a dog slowly snuck out of the darkness and started creeping towards me. It looked to have lived there for a while, so it must have thought I was treading on its territory. What caught my eye though was the collar around its neck."

She gasped. "Really?"

"Yep and as it got closer, I started to see how...skinny it was. Just before it was over me, I held out my sandwich. Instantly…" I snapped my fingers, "They stopped growling and just stared at the sandwich, still as a statue. I ended up tearing it half so that we could both eat and gobbled that thing down in the blink of an eye." I started to chuckle to myself. "I had barely even taken a bite before it was hanging its tongue out at me and smiling like I was an angel."

"That's so nice of you, Alan."

My chuckles died down and I couldn't help but smile to myself. "...You know, it's weird."

"What is it?" Niko asked.

"Usually, I would always remember that as a sad moment because of what I was going through, but...it seems like all I can remember now are the good things that happened." I smiled at her. "Of course, the best thing that happened to me was getting that laptop and being able to meet you, but...it's like when the rain stops pouring after falling all day and you get the sun peeking out from behind the clouds and that smell that comes from the ground...what's the word…'petrichor'? I think that's right..."

Niko crawled closer to me and returned my smile. "I'm starting to feel the same way with everything that happened in the World Machine. Even if it was really scary at first and finding out that it was all simulated upset me, I still smile thinking about everything we did together."

She wrapped me in a hug, one which I gladly returned before she shuffled over to the entrance of the tent and took a look outside. She grinned as she turned back to me.

"Oh, the stars are out! Come look!"

I followed behind her and looked up at the stars shining above us like spotlights. Niko was already laying down amongst the wheat when I laid down next to her, to which she quickly closed the gap between us. I wrapped my arm around her as she nuzzled into me and, together, we gazed up at the stars in peaceful silence.

"Hey, Niko?" I whispered to her after some time had passed.

"Yeah, Alan?"

"I was thinking about what you said, about this day being special…"

"Yeah?"

I peered down at her. "How long have we known each other?"

Her golden irises gazed up at me. "It's been a year since we met."

"A year?" I felt my eyes widen, "Seriously?"

She giggled. "Yep. I had a feeling this morning that today was special and when you were out helping Mama with chores, I took a peek at that calendar you keep in your room."

"And one year ago was when everything with the World Machine happened? When we met?"

She nodded.

My gaze hovered back up to the night sky above us. A year had gone by this quickly?

"Alan?"

I looked back down at Niko. "Sorry. I'm just…" I found myself at a loss for words for a moment, "It feels like it hasn't been that long, yet, at the same time, it feels like I've known you for longer than that."

"Mama always likes telling me that time flies," Niko said.

"She's not wrong." I smiled at her. "No wonder you really wanted me to camp out here with you."

Niko turned over on her side and wrapped her arms around me again, placing her head right below my chin. "I'm happy to have met you, Alan."

Memories of our journey ran through my head. I could remember it all like yesterday: receiving the laptop, meeting Niko, going through all the regions, meeting Silver, Calamus, Alula, Magpie, Maize, Plight, Ling, Kip, George, Proto, Cedric, Rue; all the times Niko and I cried together, laughed together, smiled together; all the heartache but knowing that it gave way to such blinding happiness that it felt like the sun itself, being given the chance to go with Niko and call her world and family my own…

I felt tears begin to sting my eyes and I couldn't stop myself from letting a sob escape my mouth. Niko looked up from my chest with concern but stopped when she saw the smile that sat on my face as I looked back at her with joy in my heart.

"I'm happy to have met you too, Niko." I said, wrapping my own arm around her and pulling her close, running a hand through her hair, "You are, and always will be, the greatest thing that's happened to me."

Niko's grip around me tightened and she returned her head back under my chin. For the rest of the night, until we finally fell asleep in the tent, we stayed that way; wrapped around each other and pointing up at the stars, creating constellations for each other and remembering all that happened that brought us to this moment.

"I love you, Alan," she said just before we fell asleep.

"I love you too, Niko."

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this and the previous chapter! At the time of writing this, tomorrow marks one year since I published the first chapter of WYUD so I decided to take today to indulge myself (and hopefully fulfill my fluff quota for the month). I also want to apologize for being completely radio silent as these past few months of class and fighting with my inconsistent motivation have left me in a period of not wanting to write anything. Coupled with working on Your Distant Light and getting intimidated by how long my chapters end up becoming, it was rough for a while.

Fortunately, I'm getting back into the swing of things and making good progress on the next chapter of Your Distant Light. If you haven't read YDL yet and are interested, I encourage you to do so and leave feedback to help me improve whatever I can.

Thank you to all that have left reviews, favorited, and followed, and thank you for enjoying a year of With You Unto Dawn!