[Synopsis: There was never anyone like Gnome in Engineer's life that brought him so much joy...Not even now is there anyone who could take her place. And with these things in mind, he manages to find some happiness for himself.]

[Location: Uh...Well, the setting should be obvious once you get down to reading. I don't want to spoil stuff right off the bat.]

HEADS UP: I wanted to try my hand at some angst, so this is gonna be heckin' angsty. I'm sorry if you expected fluff, but I wanted to shake things up just a tiny bit. There IS some fluff at the end, though. XP

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The bright, shining sun beamed down on Engineer as he slowly walked along the beaten path. He refused to acknowledge just how beautiful the day was, though; in his eyes, it was always cloudy here, and the sound of the birds chirping in the trees above fell on deaf ears. All the purple clad figure heard was the sound of falling rain in his head.

A curious honeybee buzzed over and landed on one of the honeysuckles Engineer carried with him, sipping the sweet nectar still left inside one of the white blossoms hidden among the yellow daffodils. He paid it no mind; he wasn't afraid it might sting him, and if circumstances had been different, he might have been admiring it and studying its behavior, telling his dear Gnome all he knew about the insect as it flew about.

...But such things didn't interest him anymore. Especially when now, he could no longer do them.

The more he dwelled on that fact, the slower he walked. His vision clouded over with tears, and his breath shuddered.

Finally, he stopped, and looked down at what sat before him, barely five feet away...A smooth, granite headstone, with not only a hummingbird carved into it, but a name, two dates, and a statement from who it belonged to.

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GNOME MOINEAR

April 10th, 1999 - May 13th, 2022

"I'll see you guys again soon!"

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Engineer stepped closer and knelt down, gently placing the bouquet of flowers at the foot of the grave, sniffling quietly.

"...Hi, Gnome," he whispered, his voice creaking. "...I brought you some more honeysuckle. And a few daffodils...Your favorite."

He was almost expecting an answer. The steady breeze that blew through the cemetery almost sounded like her voice.

"...Would you care to hear what's up?" he asked her. "MrCheese is opening a second Cheese Louise location on the other side of town. And MrEgg got in touch with one of his two older brothers...It sounds like they're trying to make amends. A-and Veteran...well...He won a cheeseburger eating contest the night before last, and Player said that when he got home, he ended up losing half of what he ate to the toilet bowl. Heh..."

He paused, half laughing and half crying, smiling a bit as he wiped away a tear as it fell from the corner of his visor...But his smile fell as soon as it'd appeared.

"...I wish you could be here, Gnome. I wish you could s-still be a part of all this. Without you around...I-I don't want to make it sound like I'm being a burden, o-or that it's your fault s-somehow, but...It doesn't matter how much I accomplish. I-I could win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, o-or be the first person to c-capture dark matter particles, or...s-some other third thing, I don't know, it doesn't matter...Nothing like that would ever b-be able to f-fill the hole in m-my heart that y-you used to be in..."

That was the moment Engineer finally broke apart, falling down the rest of the way and crying. Long and hard, and with barely a moment to breathe...It felt like an hour had passed before he finally spoke again, but his heart ached no less.

"I'll never find anyone else, Gnome...I won't ever replace you. I could never do that, I don't ever want to do that. I promised you that you'd always be my one and only...I'm not going to break that promise. Ever. As long as I live. I'll never leave you, Gnome, never, never, never..."

He sobbed and hiccupped more as he drew closer to the headstone and threw his arms around it, holding onto the granite memorial as though it were Gnome herself.

The haunting memories came back to him as he mourned. The blinding headlights, waking up in a hospital bed, asking the doctor if his girlfriend was alright...He'd asked himself over and over again, ever since the moment the news was broken to him. Why? Why did he survive a collision like that? Why couldn't he have died too, when the embrace death would have been so much better than what his survival had given him?

Why...?

...When he finally pulled away, his eyes happened to fall upon the quote written at the bottom of it, beneath the dates marking the start and end of her life.

"I'll see you guys again soon!"

He fell silent, tracing over the words with his fingers before looking up at the sky.

He suddenly realized that for a September day, it was very comfortably warm...The sky was bright and blue, with nary a cloud in it, the grass was green, and the sound of a dove cooing in a nearby tree finally worked its way into Engineer's head.

Slowly, Engineer rose to his knees again, scanning over the text written into the grave, and then he took a deep breath to regain some composure.

"...Gnomey," he said to her, now looking up at the sky rather than down at the grave her body rested beneath. "I...I'm gonna try to keep going, Gnomey. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold on, but...I know you don't like to see me upset. And you must know that I miss you, but..."

He sniffed again, wiping another tear from his eye before continuing.

"...Th-this hasn't been goodbye. Not forever...It's just a 'see you later.' And I'll wait, Gnome...I'll wait as long as I have to, and keep on going as hard as I can for you. Because I know you want to see me happy..."

He caught sight of a towering cumulous cloud just above the horizon out yonder...He swore it took the shape of a crewmate. One with a pointed cap.

...It looked just like her.

And he smiled at it.

"I'll see you again, Gnome," he whispered, turning away from the headstone he so often frequented to go back home. "No matter what happens, I'll always, always love you...I promise you."

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...

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...

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April 9th, 2084

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Engineer lay awake in bed, scanning over the shelves full of medals and prizes he'd won over the course of decades for his incredible work in numerous scientific fields, a small smile on his old, wrinkled face...He'd accomplished so much over so many years.

And yet, the right side of his bed still remained empty...Only one person had ever slept there beside him, and she'd been dead for decades.

A small twinge of pain panged in Engineer's chest as he looked at where Gnome would have been, and he remembered his promise.

"I'll wait, Gnome," he said again, feeling consciousness slip from him as he put his head against his pillow and pulled the covers over himself, drawing in one more breath. "...I promised, didn't I...?"

The world around him faded to black. His trophies disappeared, along with the bedroom, and the bed, and then his own body began to lose feeling.

"...Gnome."

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...

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It only seemed a moment later that Engineer woke up from his slumber.

But he could immediately tell that something was very different.

His bed had somehow ended up in a grassy field, the sun shining brightly, and the birds singing cheerfully...And the dull aches and pains he usually felt in the morning when he dragged himself out of bed were gone.

He looked down at his hands. Not a wrinkle in sight...Could it somehow be?

The sound of a stream nearby caught his attention, and he made his way over to it, a spring in his step that he hadn't felt in long years.

His reflection in the crystal clear water didn't lie to him.

...He was young again.

"How, though?" he said to himself, not sure how exactly this was happening, nor sure of exactly where he was.

Was anyone else nearby? Perhaps they could give him answers.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice sounding just as he'd remembered it sounding all those years ago before it'd grown tired and creaky. "Anyone around?"

"Engie?"

He whipped his head around to see someone standing atop one of the rolling hills behind him...A lime figure in a pointed green cap.

He took a step towards her, and before he even knew it, he was running across the verdant field to meet her once again, after so, so many years of waiting.

She spun around in his grasp, and every laugh and hug and kiss following was infinitely sweeter than what he could have ever imagined it being.

...He finally had her back.

And nothing would ever separate them ever, ever again.

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Me planning the story: "I'm a grown bird. I'm a big adult. I can do this."

Me writing the story: *has to stop writing every 10-15 minutes to step away from the computer and dry away my tears* T^T

Okay, time to go back and see what kinds of more light-hearted scenarios are commented on my "asking for writing support chapter." The next one won't be quite so angsty, that I can promise. Later! :D