Chapter 12 – Never Let Go

A/N: Hey everyone! Well, here we are. We're finally at the end. This is probably the longest chapter in the story, but I had a great time writing it.

Enjoy the final chapter in I Remember!

XXXXXXXXXXX

Saying that Coco was horrified will be an understatement. The sight of her big brother floating in the air with Uka-Uka's demonic face was enough to leave her breathless.

"Guys, what do we do?!" Dingodile stammered, panicking.

"Run, that's what!" Pinstripe snapped back and sprinted to the door only to stop when a red energy barrier blocked it.

"I don't think so," Uka-Uka said as the two crystals vanished into him. "There is no escaping my wrath. You'll all be learning that soon," he then released a black and crimson miasma around the room, causing the four big stone statues to come to life.

"Not again," Coco gulped as they marched forward, their hollow gazes locked onto them. She jumped back when a statue with a dog head began swiping at her with its staff. Recalling her brother's mistake back on the island, she didn't dare to punch or kick it. She heard a cry and glanced back to see Dingodile and Pinstripe running for their lives as the statues chased after them.

The one attacking her raised its staff and brought it down, nearly crushing her if she hadn't moved aside just in time. Suddenly, Koala Kong ran in and slammed into it with his shoulder, knocking it away. He then picked up a piece from the broken statue and flung at the bird head of another that was trying to crush Dingodile in its arms.

"Will you guys pull it together? It's not that bad!" Koala Kong growled.

"Easy for you to say! We don't have our weapons!" Pinstripe shot back, glaring at Coco.

"Sorry," Coco winced. It wasn't like they could have trusted the two henchmen not to use their weapon on them when their backs were turned so they ended up disposing of them.

Uka-Uka suddenly appeared in front of them and began spinning like a tornado, Crash's iconic attack. This served as an ugly reminder for Coco that Crash and Uka-Uka really were working together on destroying them. The dark tornado charged toward them before they can react and knocked Pinstripe, Dingodile and her away. Just as it reached the larger mutant, he threw his arms around it and caught Crash.

"Ha, I don't care how many crystals you have, bandicoot. I was always better than you when it comes to strength," Koala Kong gloated only to blink when Crash vanished from his grip and appeared in front of him.

The large mutant tried punching him, but he froze in time mid-punch, much to their shock.

"Nice try," Uka-Uka smirked. He then kicked him in the face and knocked him out the time prison with a telekinetic burst from his hand, sending him flying into a wall. The mask then turned to face Coco.

"Let my brother go, you monster!" she growled.

"Let him go? It was he who joined me willingly. He chose me over you!"

Coco knew he was trying to get to her, knew her brother wasn't himself when he made that decision or even right in this moment, but those words still hurt nevertheless. She scowled. "Shut up! I'm going to free him from you!"

That had the mask laughing. "Child, we are one of the most powerful beings in the world right now. Do you have any idea what we're capable of?" he said and launched a red fireball at her from thin air.

The girl dodged it and charged toward them, but the fireball disappeared into a portal and was shot back at her from another.

"Watch out!" Dingodile warned.

Startled, Coco looked back and dropped to the ground immediately, the fiery projectile grazing the end of her ponytail.

"You really need to realize just how outmatched you are," he said almost bored as he surrounded himself with more fireballs and began launching them in every direction. They hit the walls, the floor and destroyed anything they touched in the tomb.

Coco scrambled to find cover behind a nearby pillar as the flames continued dancing through the air. Daring to glance beyond the pillar, she saw the other three running for cover too. She pressed herself against the hard stone as she waited out the violent onslaught.

"I see youuuu!" Uka-Uka said in a cheery tone that sent a chill down her spine. She quickly ran out of her hiding spot just as a blast of energy cut through the pillar.

He appeared right in front of her. The bandicoot didn't want to attack her brother, didn't want to repeat that awful fight they had at the Time Twister again, but she was left with no choice. Without stopping, she swung her leg horizontally at him with a yell, but a portal appeared and sucked him away before she hit him. The next thing she felt was a hard kick to her back. She quickly recovered and turned to face him. "Stop that!"

"Why not? It's quite entertaining. I never got to have this much fun in centuries," he stated with a smug look that she badly wanted to wipe from his face. Several small portals appeared around him with spears peeking out of them, all pointing at her. "I think after I'm done with you, I'll go find that brother of mine. I'm still not over what he did to me all those years ago,"

Coco's eyes widened. "No, you stay away from him!"

Uka-Uka scowled. "Don't try commanding me, child,"

Just then, Pinstripe came rushing with one of fallen statue's weapons and swung at Crash who ended up catching it with ease. "I'm about had it with you!" Pinstripe growled, pressing his staff further.

Uka-Uka grinned as the weapon turned to dust in his hand, causing Pinstripe to back away in surprise.

"Gotcha!"

Dingodile jumped behind Crash and smacked him away with his tail, sending him rolling through the air.

"How dare you!" Uka-Uka growled.

"Forgot about me, didn't you?" the mutant replied, grinning. The mask reached out with his hand and lifted Dingodile into the air. He then threw him across the room into Pinstripe.

"Pesky little worms! I will show what you're truly dealing with," he said as his body began to glow and coils of blue energy burst from his fist, dancing around in the room. The ground shook and cracks began appearing on the walls.

"S-stop! You're going to destroy the whole place!" Coco exclaimed as the air pressure coming from him pushed her back with the others.

"That's the point," the mask replied and with a single motion, all the pillars in the room snapped. Pieces from the ceiling began falling all around them.

"Run!" Coco cried out and ran away. Koala Kong hurried to pick his two teammates up and rushed with Coco as the ceiling started collapsing around them.

Gritting her teeth, Coco's eyes scanned through the clouds of dust for any place to hide from the falling rubble since the only way out was still blocked by the energy barrier.

"There!" she pointed at some massive pieces from the ceiling that fell in front them. They might work as a shelter.

"Are you crazy?" Koala Kong growled.

"Got a better idea?" she snapped back. The larger mutant closed his mouth shut and followed her underneath the mass of broken stones as the ceiling continued breaking apart.

Eventually, the noises stopped and the four let out collective breaths they didn't know they were holding.

Their cover was suddenly pulled from above them and they all turned to see Uka-Uka looking down at them, disappointed. "Still alive I see. Well, you won't be for long," he muttered and the mutants panicked as their surroundings melted away. The wreckage that was the tomb room was gone and replaced with a view over the desert.

Coco realized with terror that they were teleported to the top of the pyramid. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky and blocking the sunlight as Crash floated in front of them. On the ground below, old pillars and ruins began to rise into the air and spiral around them as the ancient mask cackled madly. Any humans nearby panicked and ran away screaming.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm starting to miss the old stupid Crash," Pinstripe said, gulping.

"Survive this!" With a motion of his hand, Crash sent the floating wreckage raining down at them. The four could only run for their lives.

"I don't know how long I can keep running like this, guys!" Dingodile panted once the attack ended.

"We're done for. There is no way we can beat him," Pinstripe said, an uncharacteristic look of dread on his face. Even Koala Kong, who had been undaunted by their enemy earlier, was looking worn out.

The hopelessness of the fight was starting to get to Coco too. The scale of Crash and Uka-Uka's power was increasing with every moment. She had no idea how long they can survive more of this. Come on, think. She bit her lip as she looked up at the floating figure above them.

And that's when it hit her. Coco gasped and thought over her plan. There was a great risk, but it was all she had. "Guys, I got an idea," she told them. "We only have one chance to pull it off though,"

"At this point, I'm not about to complain. Hit us with it already!" Pinstripe urged her.

"I need you and Dingodile to run and get Uka-Uka's attention on you,"

"I regret what I just said," he sighed.

"Are you sure you about this, girl?" Dingodile asked nervously.

No, but they had no other choice. "Come on, hurry!"

The two exchanged nervous looks and then ran away. Coco then turned to the remaining mutant.

"Koala Kong, remember the snake room?"

Meanwhile, Uka-Uka was still cackling as he experimented with his new found powers, twisting coils of pink energy all around him like lightening.

"Hey, Uka-Uka!"

He glanced down at the two mutants down below. Right, he momentarily forgot about them. "Oh? Are you planning on pleading for mercy?"

"No, I just wanted to let you know how pathetic you actually are!" Dingodile exclaimed loudly.

"What?! Can't you see all the power I have right now?" he growled, gesturing to the stormy sky and the destruction surrounding them.

Pinstripe piped in. "Yes, but you needed the help of an oaf like Crash to get where you are. How sad,"

"I bet if your brother had these powers, he'll be able to do so much more than this!" Dingodile added dismissively.

That struck a nerve in Uka-Uka and a white hot anger filled him. "THAT'S IT! No more playing around. Let's see if you two will enjoy oblivion!" he snarled and began charging a blue orb in his hand, aiming it at the two who backed away in fear.

Suddenly, the mask heard a cry and looked over just in time to see the flying form of Coco slam into him. She wrapped her legs around his body and her hands immediately went for the mask.

"Get. Off. Him!" she yelled and pulled harder and harder. Crash struggled to push her off while the orb continued charging in his hand. While the two were struggling in the air, they failed to notice a piece of rubble flying in their direction until it was too late and hit them. The force was enough to help pull the mask off and knock the two crystals out of it. Coco screamed and grabbed onto her unconscious brother as they plummeted through the air.

The ball of energy was released and exploded, creating a glowing vortex that sucked the two mutants and the mask into it.

The floating ruins fell to the ground and the weather slowly began returning to normal.

"They're gone," Koala Kong muttered quietly as Pinstripe walked over next to him to stare at the empty space where the three fought.

"I can't believe she actually did it," Pinstripe replied.

"So…" Dingodile said, turning to them with a tired frown. "What now?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

The next time Coco opened her eyes, she found herself lying on grass. Feeling disoriented, she pulled herself with a grunt and saw her brother looking down at her worriedly. He looked quite shaken and weak. "Crash…"

He fell to his knees and hugged her. "You okay?" he asked.

"I think?" she replied, wincing when she tried to stand only for the pain in her leg to prevent her. It must have taken the blunt of the hit from that chunk of stone back there. She then looked around and saw they were on a hill in a clearing in the middle of a forest. A single big tree was behind them. Did he drag her here?

"Sorry," he murmured suddenly, dejected. She frowned.

"Crash, it's alright. It wasn't your fault. Those crystals are to blame for what happened again," she told him, but he almost looked like he didn't believe her.

He then started glancing around and she realized he was looking for the other mutants. She hadn't been paying attention to their absence until now.

"They are probably still back there….still thinking we could have taken them home," she said and Crash looked at her in confusion. She can feel her own ears fall a little. "Listen, I know they were jerks to us and I'm still mad about what they did to us at Cortex's castle, but….I wish I was honest with them once I learned the truth, that we can't go back to the future. I just knew that without their help I would not be able to save you,"

They were all back to square one once more.

"We can!" Crash insisted.

"No, Crash. You don't understand! When you left us, I came across N. Tropy," she said and he blinked at that. "He said that there was never a chance for us to go back home. I was wrong. If we keep going like this then it will take us hundreds of years if not ever to get back the Wumpa Island we came from!" she explained sadly.

Crash however shook his head and pointed ahead. "Portal, home," he said, reaching for her hand only for her to pull it away. She was getting tired of this, tired of their misguided journey, tired of hoping only to be disappointed again and again!

"Crash, enough! We can't keep doing this anymore. There is no point, okay? Just look at what this whole thing is doing to you!" she snapped, gesturing at him. He was hugging himself with an exhausted look on his face. "This is clearly draining you. You can't keep doing this. We're better off staying here where we're safe rather than to put ourselves in more danger again. Everything we've done this far has been for nothing. We lost the other mutants we came across and we have no idea where we are again!"

"Aku-Aku…" Crash murmured, tone hurt.

Coco's heart throbbed and she looked down at the mention of the kind mask. The thought of never seeing him again hurt her deeply, but she knew better now, knew what they were doing wasn't going to fix anything. "Wherever he is or when….he's probably safe and he would want the same for us," she looked up at him almost pleadingly. "So, please. Let's just stop, okay?"

Crash looked devastated and averted his gaze from her before slowly walking away. Coco sighed and leaned against the tree, feeling her eyes welling up.

It was for the best, she told herself. It wasn't the first time they had to abandon a life they once were happy with and they at least had each other this time, but none of what she told herself managed to make it hurt any less.

XXXXXXXX

Crash walked down the hill, following the blue thread while his tired body was not allowing him to move easily. Everything just felt so heavy to him. Eyes droopy and still hugging himself, Crash reached the end of the slope, glancing briefly up to where his sister was sitting.

She didn't get it.

He knew his sister wasn't lying about the things she said to him, but Crash couldn't stop. After everything that happened, he needed to keep going. They had to go back.

He hadn't forgotten all those times the two of them spent watching the world from behind the castle's windows and wishing to see the island. They had worked so hard to escape that castle, to be free of Cortex and his plans for them. He, Coco and Aku-Aku…

He missed their home and the life they had there. They went through so much, sacrificed so much to get there and Crash ruined it, because he was too weak against those crystals. Coco told him it wasn't his fault, but he knew it was. No matter what anyone told him.

That's why he was going to find a way back home, no matter how long it will take him.

And no matter the cost.

It was then Crash realized his surroundings had grown dimmer somehow and he can barely make out the forest he once was in anymore. The glowing thread was now going elsewhere. He followed its ascent with his eyes to see millions of them filling the whole dark sky and lightening it up, much to his surprise. They were stretching everywhere he can see, intertwining and intercepting. It was breathtaking to say the least.

Crash looked back to the thread in front of him. His body can still remember how Uka-Uka used his ability to manipulate time earlier. What if…..

His tired face grew determined.

He slowly reached for the thread, grabbed it and pulled!

XXXXXXX

Coco didn't know when it happened, didn't see it coming, but something in the air suddenly shifted, as if the whole world tilted and everything around her erupted, consuming her before she can even scream.

She swam through a blinding void of light and sounds for what felt like forever before finally finding herself on solid ground. Blinking away the spots in her eyes, Coco was greeted with the sight of the calm sea expanding in the distance. She was sitting on a beach, a familiar one. "W-wha-How?!" she stammered, falling on her back and finally finding her voice. Noises behind her made her turn and gasped.

Everyone was there. The mutants, the three scientists and even N. Tropy looking around confused.

"W-what happened?"

"Wait, this is Wumpa Island!"

"How did we get here?!"

Cortex, who was curled up on himself protectively, looked around and gasped. "I'm alive? I'm alive!" he cheered.

"We are?" Brio asked, opening his eyes too.

"I have survived once again!" he gloated, putting his hands on his hips.

The girl sat there staring at them in disbelief. How did this happen? How did they get here? One moment she was sitting by that tree and the next-

"Coco!"

She suddenly felt something hard press into her side and to her shock, it was her guardian! "Aku-Aku?" she murmured before hugging him back tearfully. She still didn't understand, but he was here and that's all that mattered.

"I was so worried about you two! I couldn't find you anywhere!" the mask rambled on, looking close to tears…somehow.

"We missed you too," she said.

"Wait, where's your brother?" he asked.

Coco's eyes widened in alarm and she looked around the beach frantically until her eyes fell on a nearly unfamiliar figure lying in the sand. "CRASH!"

Aku-Aku quickly flew over to him while Coco slowly limped with her injured leg to his side. She barely recognized him. His once bright orange fur was now ghastly white and he had huge dark circles around his eyes. He lay on his side, eyes closed with his breathing shallow and looking close to passing out right then and there.

"W-what happened to him….?" Aku-Aku could only ask.

It suddenly clicked in her head and her face went downcast. "Oh, Crash…." She murmured, screwing her eyes shut. She already knew what he did, but she couldn't accept it.

"Come on, let's carry him back home. I-I might be able to save him," Aku-Aku stammered.

"Well, well, isn't this just perfect," the two turned to see Cortex walking over to them smugly. "I'm going to assume you all had something to do with how we're all here. Thank you. N. Brio and I were kind of in trouble-"

"The future people wanted to kill us," Biro piped in, shivering at the memory.

"…but now I think is the perfect time to settle a few things," he continued, undeterred by the interruption.

Coco stared at him in disbelief. "Are you insane?! What is wrong with you? He just nearly destroyed himself to save all of you!" she snapped and then her expression crumbled as she looked down at her brother. "…just leave us alone already,"

Cortex huffed. "And that's where you are wrong. I wasn't the one who went after you. You were the ones who came after me and tried to ruin my plans! You're just facing the consequences of that now,"

"Stay back!" Aku-Aku growled, floating over the two injured mutants protectively. "I won't let you harm them,"

"We'll see about that. Mutants attack!" Cortex ordered calmly, pointing at the three.

None of his mutants behind him moved.

"What's the matter with you? Didn't you hear me?" Cortex snapped, turning to them. His henchmen were glancing at each other, hesitating.

"We…we can't do that," Dingodile said, looking unsure.

"What? Why?!"

"Moe and I would have frozen in a snowy mountain if we haven't been brought back here, so…." Joe trailed off, nervously. The other mutants seemed to feel the same.

Cortex's form began shaking, causing his two assistances to back away.

"He's gonna blow," N. Gin whispered to Brio.

"ARE YOU ALL LISTENING TO YOURSELVES? I'm your creator! You should be listening to me and I'm commanding you to destroy them!" Cortex snarled, fists trembling with rage.

The group remained quiet under the outburst. Brio was shaking his head warningly at them while glancing at the fuming scientist. Koala Kong spoke up solemnly. "Sorry, Boss,"

Cortex faltered in shock. "You….You-" he glared at Crash. "This is all your fault! You're the root to all of this. I should have known you'll make them act like you, you stubborn little imbecile! I've given you many chances in the past, more than you actually deserve, but now I'm going to do what I should have done-" he began, reaching for his laser gun only for orange energy cuffs to appear around his hands. The same happened to Brio and N. Gin. "What?"

"You'll do no such thing," N. Tropy said, marching over to them.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to be partners!" Cortex protested.

"Not after what just transpired! The search for the power crystals had been an absolute disaster!" the taller man snapped, glaring down at him with a terrifying scowl. "You and your minions deliberately created changes in history despite my instructions, the last stunt pulled by that crazy bandicoot left multiple tears in the time-space continuum and my Time Twister was destroyed!"

"B-but-"

"Nothing that stupid master of yours promised me was worth all this damage. Everything was nearly erased several times with us along. Since he's not here to fix this mess then you three will. You will assist me in rebuilding the Time Twister from scratch and undoing all the damage that happened through the timeline!"

"Assist?" N. Gin perked up.

"Don't even think about it," N. Tropy muttered dangerously, pointing his staff at him.

"Okay," the smaller man nodded and inched back to the other two shaking men.

"Now let's go. There is much to be done," N. Tropy huffed and then looked over at the bandicoots and their guardian. Coco blinked when the man gave her a knowing smirk before hitting the ground with his staff and disappearing with the three men.

"Well, that was unexpected," Moe said.

Now that the threat of the evil man was gone, Aku-Aku returned to the matter at hand. "Hurry, help me get him inside!"

XXXXXXXX

Crash's dreams were filled with flashing lights and screeching noises. Phantom pains poked at his skin while his surroundings melted and stretched endlessly.

He then found himself lying on his bed, waking up to soft humming. Still feeling tired, he sat up and looked around. Everything looked exactly as he left it that fateful day. Shivering slightly, he draped his blanket over his head and hugged himself with it.

"Crash?" The bandicoot looked up to see Aku-Aku floating over him, his body creating a warm light that faded once he noticed him. He looked beyond relieved. "Oh, I'm so glad you woke up,"

Crash smiled weakly and reached out, causing the mask to lean over for a hug.

"Coco told me everything that happened while I was gone. I'm so sorry you had gone through all of that by yourselves," he said guiltily.

Crash then glanced down at himself and grimaced as he inspected his new white fur.

Aku-Aku frowned. "Don't worry, I'm sure I can find a way to turn it back to normal," he assured and Crash nodded quietly.

More noises then continued coming from outside the room, catching their attention. "Hold on," the mask sighed and flew over, pulling the door open with his magic. "Could you all be quiet?"

"Sorry, Aku-Aku. They just wouldn't-" Coco peered into the room to explain only to gasp and rush inside worriedly. "Crash!"

"Careful! He's still recovering!" Aku-Aku called and she immediately stopped herself.

"Right, sorry," she apologized sheepishly and carefully wrapped her arms around him. "How are you doing, big brother?"

He grunted in response, having been much better.

"You really need to stop pulling stunts like that, making me worry like this. I thought we lost you again," she said as she pulled away, whipping her eyes.

Crash frowned and looked down at his lap. "Sorry. Had to,"

"I know that," she sighed. "That doesn't mean I'm going to get used to them though,"

"Leg?" he asked, looking down at her previously injured leg.

"Oh, don't worry. Aku-Aku has been healing it for me. It's much better now. I promise," she grinned, stretching it in front of him.

"Oi, guess who woke up," the three looked back to see Dingodile standing by the door with the other mutants peering through it, much to Crash's surprise. They began entering the room.

"Hold on, there isn't-" Aku-Aku tried to say, but they kept coming in and sitting on the floor in front of the bed. It got so crowded that Coco was forced to sit on Crash's bed with him.

Feeling beyond lost, Crash turned to Coco and Aku-Aku for answers.

"They wanted a place to stay in and since they aren't planning on hurting you, I let them in," Aku-Aku explained tiredly.

"And you have no idea how hard they are to keep under control," Coco added, glaring at the group.

"We're not that bad!" Moe muttered.

"Tell that to all our broken furniture," she replied and he dipped his head down. Ripper-Roo was probably the worst of the bunch so they had to make him stay outside where he can't destroy any more of their interior.

"Well, you do have a small house with not much to do in it. Tiny and I can barely fit," Koala Kong complained, sitting down on the floor along with others. As if on cue, the sound of something smashing reached their ears.

"Sorry!" Tiny called from the other room, causing Aku-Aku to sigh.

"Hey, white isn't too bad on you," Joe told Crash awkwardly, which got him a nudge from his brother. Crash giggled lightly at that.

"But listen up, just because we're not fighting right now doesn't mean we're okay or anything," Pinstripe said behind them while leaning against the doorway. "I'm still mad about the stuff that you did before and what you ruined for us, but…you did, naively, save us back there when you had no reason to and we're…..grateful, even if that whole mess was your fault," he admitted reluctantly and then mumbled the last part. Coco glared at him.

"Aw, was admitting that as painful as it looked, Pinstripe?" Dingodile teased from his spot on the floor.

"Oh, shut up!" the other growled, crossing his arms and looking away.

"Now that you brought it up, are you all planning on staying here from now on?" Aku-Aku asked, though dreading the answer.

Koala Kong shrugged. "No clue. We are supposed to work for Cortex, but he and Brio are gone now. We don't know what to do,"

"We agreed that we won't be sticking around here for long though," Dingodile gave a toothy grin. "If Cortex and Uka-Uka aren't here to give me the treasures they promised me then I'll go find them somewhere else myself. That's one thing about my goals that hasn't changed,"

"Same here, I won't gain much from living here," Pinstripe added. The other mutants nodded their agreement.

Aku-Aku blinked. "Um…very well, I will be taking you away from the island when you're ready to leave," he replied awkwardly.

Crash wasn't surprised by this honestly. The other mutants always had bigger ambitions than he ever did. He could only hope humans wouldn't freak out too much when coming across them.

"But anyway, I should bring attention to the fact that my brother is nowhere to be found and I can't sense him anywhere," Aku-Aku said and everyone tensed up.

"Yeah, he wasn't with Crash and I after we got sucked into that vortex either," Coco noted. "He probably ended up somewhere else,"

"Well, wherever he is right now, he might be planning on coming back, so we need to be ready when that time comes," the mask said.

"Okay, sure. Whatever you say, old man. Anyway, time to hit the beach," Dingodile grinned, standing up along with the others.

"Hey, this is serious!" Aku-Aku huffed.

"Take it easy, pal," he told Crash before walking away. While Aku-Aku protested after them, it took Crash a moment until he realized what the other mutant called him.

XXXXXXXXXX

Coco woke up with a gasp later that night and glanced around her room frantically, sighing in relief when certain she was actually home. When she closed her eyes, she still could see the Crash with Uka-Uka's face from her nightmares, his booming laughter filling her head with ember eyes that cut right through her. She had woken up just as he lunged at her.

Seeing she won't be going back to sleep any time soon after that, she sat up and grabbed her laptop. Might as well get some work done. While typing in the dark room, she absently glanced over to the window and spotted something. She first thought she imagined it, but when she leaned closer to the glass, she saw it.

Someone was at the beach. Confused, she went outside her room and slowed down slightly as she passed Crash's door before entering the living room where the fireplace was. The other mutants were sleeping there. She made sure not to make a sound as she sneaked among them and slipped through the door.

She got a glimpse of Ripper-Roo snoring on the tree stomp they used to chop firewood and held back a snort before remembering the reason she was here. She cautiously walked toward the beach where the person was, feeling a knot in her stomach.

She froze up. "Crash?"

Crash glanced back at her in surprise, sitting on a lone log with his blanket draped over him.

She frowned sternly. "What are you doing out here? You shouldn't leave your bed,"

"Can't sleep," he answered and she blinked, taken aback before sighing.

"Well, you're not the only one," she said, walking over and sitting next to him on the log. For a minute, the two just sat there staring at the sea and the night sky.

It was hard to believe just the other morning they headed out to save the world from Uka-Uka and Cortex only to return in that same day. So much had happened; honestly, it felt like several days had passed to her.

Coco eventually broke the silence. "Hey, Crash. I'm…I'm sorry for lashing out at you back at that hill," she looked down at her feet. "It's just….whenever we made any progress whether with the crystal collecting or with our journey back to the future, things kept falling apart no matter what we did. I just got….tired of it I guess. I didn't want to keep trying just to fail every time,"

There were many moments back then when she believed there was no way out, that she won't see this place or walk on this beach again. She was glad to be wrong.

"It's okay," Crash said, giving her his iconic smile. "Thanks. Saved me,"

"No problem. You can always count on me to have your back, big brother," she grinned back. Suddenly, the two were interrupted by a new sound. They turned to see a pair of small eyes staring at them from the dark. Coco was ready to stand in front of Crash who was in no position to fight when the intruder finally revealed itself. It was a small fox.

"Oh, never mind," she said, feeling silly and then noticed the excited look on her brother's face.

"Hey, buddy," Crash said quietly, beckoning it with his hand. The animals backed away warily, much to his surprise and disappointment. Coco stared at the animal and her brother in confusion until an odd memory came to mind. It was from the time Crash disappeared on her and she found him messing with something in bushes later. He denied he had been doing anything ad then distracted her with the meteorite he found.

Oh!

"Maybe it doesn't recognize you because you look different?" she guessed, wincing. Crash glanced back at her and his ears fell down. He kept trying to beckon it though, refusing to give up. The fox soon stepped closer and sniffed his hand briefly before pushing his head into it in recognition. Crash scratched its head, grinning in relief. She smiled from behind them.

"Keep it?" Crash asked her hopefully.

"What? But-" A million arguments sprung in Coco's mind, but she refrained from voicing them when she saw the disheartened look on his face. She sighed. Well, she supposed he earned it, after everything that he did for them. "Alright, fine. I don't know how Aku-Aku will feel about this, but just make sure to keep it away from other mutants during their stay here. Tiny might try to eat it," she said and Crash cheered.

"Now come on, we should head back. Since neither of us is sleeping, let's find a place for it in your room," Coco said and the two began walking away while the small fox followed them. "Might as well get a good look at the meteorite you found while I'm there. I haven't gotten the chance to before,"

"Space rock," Crash said seriously.

Coco raised her hands. "Alright, your space rock,"

Crash nodded in satisfaction at that and she gave him a light punch on the shoulder, promoting them both to laugh. While they walked through the beach, a web of blue light flashed over the sky for a brief moment before fading completely.

The End

XXXXXXXXX

A/N: Annnnd done! Phew, it's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since I started this, but I'm happy with the way it turned. I had an amazing time writing this and Something About You. I'm also very glad that you guys enjoyed it and stuck with me this far.

Now I want to thank everyone who reviewed for I Remember!

HonkyHonk

N. Harmonik

Infinite's Ruby

Stephdragonness

Cinerea Mayia

Ultragreenyellow56

And all guests

Until next time! :D