Nicky had very little memory of those days. What she did remember was the first walk to school, meeting Rayoss and Jilly, and something about Alphys being ill at the time. She also remembered being thrilled about Carlson - an man she heard stories about for years - being put in jail for a very, very long time. (That was also the first time she'd ever seen Asriel drunk.)
If she had other memories from that day, good or bad, they were replaced by others, ones in which she became attached to her two bestest friends in the whole world (who were now dating), as well as trying to get through school at all.
Nicky was brave, but she hated confrontation, which made her seem weak. When she was cornered or made fun of by others, she always tried to talk her way out of it instead of tossing insults back. It was never easy, and she did end up often injured or hurt physically as well as emotionally, but despite this, her strategy never changed, and it seemed to work well enough for her to graduate.
The doorbell ringing startled Nicky from her reverie, and sans and Papyrus came in, sans holding dandelions and Papyrus holding balloons. She grinned and ran to her uncles, hugging them both. She adored them both for different reasons, but that adoration was immense, indeed.
"sup, kiddo," sans said, handing her the flowers. She took them with a grin, and Papyrus in reply shoved the balloons at her, which she also took with a grin. They both did this at times - compete for the better reaction from her. Apparently they had never done this with her mother, but for her they barely held back. As she grew up, their desire for reactions to only get more fervent. Maybe it was because she was calming with age, and was less prone to childlike reactions?
"NICKNAME!" Papyrus said happily. "WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE GRADUATING! IT'S BEEN SO LONG!"
"not really," sans replied. "if anything, it took forever for nick to grow up." he winked at her. "i never thought you'd stop trying to find fairy rings."
Nicky went scarlet at that, and to her horror, Basket started laughing behind her, too. "Fairy rings?!" she echoed, her voice choked with laughter. She knew that she would never heard the end of it from her for a very, very long time.
"I hate you, sans," Nicky growled, but all he did was pat her shoulder and grin, then walk into the room. "love ya, too, nick," he replied.
After more greetings and hugs, they all got comfortable in the living room, something Nicky loved to watch happen, because the room itself wasn't so big, but there were still many to fit. She stayed standing as they all squished in. Her parents took the floor in front of the TV, while their parents sats down on one side of the couch. Undyne jumped down beside them, then pulled Alphys into her lap, who curled up into her arms immediately with a smile. Basket perched on the arm of the couch beside her mothers, her arms crossed but a smile on her lips. sans stood beside Frisk, while Papyrus sat down at the feet of Undyne and Alphys, holding a piece of paper and a pen. Nicky tried to find a spot to sit, but she didn't mind when she found none. She loved seeing her family together like this. (Mettaton, it should be mentioned, was already at the school and setting up myriad cameras and lighting sources, and would be meeting them there.)
"Nicky, quite hovering like Tsudereplane and come join us!" Frisk called, and she grinned, deciding to do so. She walked over and sat beside her father, who put his arm around her immediately. As her family spoke around her, about the past few years, and all that had happened, she just listened, her heart soaring.
She was so happy they'd made it so far.
When she met her mother's gaze, she could tell Frisk felt exactly the same way.
So while concluding this story, I suddenly wanted to continue it, but from Basket's perspective from when she joins Nicky at school. But then I realised, this is supposed to be Nicky's story. So, quite possibly, Basket will be getting a story. Not sure yet. But, uh, yeah. Possibly?
There will also be two one-shots coming up soon, so I'm not totally finished :). Thanks again for being patient with me and reading! It means everything to me!