World’s Cutest Alchemist

Waking up, I felt…The best I’ve been in months. There was no heavy feeling in my heart; There was no confusion or hesitation hidden away somewhere. I felt…At peace.

Looking at the sleeping girl next to me, I smiled.

And it’s all because of her.

Getting up, I made my way to the bathroom and went ahead with my usual routine.

In the kitchen, I stood in front of the stove and pondered for a moment before nodding. Today, I felt like eating something simple.

…

The delicious scent of bacon wafted throughout the apartment. As I’ve always said, the best bacon is chewy with a little bit of crisp.

To synergize with the bacon, I made sunny-side up eggs. You had to make sure the bottom of the whites were a little crispy but not burnt. At the end some people liked to flip them to cover up the sun, but, I didn’t.

By the time I was nearly finished making breakfast, Luna sleepily walked out of the bedroom. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles and yawned.

“Good morning!” I greeted her cheerfully.

She flinched, turning to look at me and smiled,

“Good morning…” She replied, her voice slightly raspy.

I smiled as she made her way to the bathroom.

Turning my attention back to the food, I continued plating everything. I’d get six slices of bacon and two eggs, while Luna would get ten slices and three eggs.

I couldn’t help but nibble on a slice of bacon as I took my seat. A moment later, Luna came out of the bathroom with a washed face and brushed hair.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked as she sat down.

“The best~” I replied with a smile, “How about you?”

“Me too,” She said, “I slept very well.”

“Oh,” My smile grew, slightly turning mischievous, “If you slept well and I slept well, there’s only one reason. Maybe it was the goodnight kiss.”

“Pf-” Luna nearly choked on the water she was drinking, her face flushed red at a rapid rate and her head immediately slightly bowed. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she took a few breaths to stabilize.

“Are you okay?” I asked, concerned.

“Y-Yeah…” She replied, “Bacon and eggs today?” She said, changing the topic.

“Yeah, I felt a bit nostalgic.” I replied.

“Nostalgic?” Luna asked, “We eat bacon and eggs like every other day?”

“Bacon, eggs, plus something else like toast or waffles.” I corrected, “It’s been a while since I’ve had only bacon and eggs.”

“Is there a difference?” Luna asked.

I only smiled.

Back then when I just awakened, I was quite broke; My kitchen was barely stocked and I was living alone. I remember wanting bread to dip in the egg, but not having any to toast.

But now, my kitchen is fully stocked. I’m living with a cute mouse-like girl and I’m no longer broke.

I’ve come quite a long way.

I dipped the bacon into the yolk and chewed.

It’s quite a good life.

But, there’s one thing that would make it better.

I propped my chin with my hand and smiled, looking at Luna; She was focused on the food in front of her.

…

While Luna was washing the dishes, I was scrolling on my phone.

“Hey, Mouse,” I said.

“Hm?” Luna continued to wash the dishes but she slightly turned to me as if to show she was listening.

“Are you doing anything today?”

“Um…” Luna thought for a moment, “I was probably gonna go to the association to list that I’m available for gate clears to parties searching for a mage. It’d just take a few minutes though. Why?”

“If you’re free, then, let’s go out.” I smiled.

“…Go out? Go out where?” She said after a pause.

I looked at my phone, on the screen was a website for tickets to an amusement park in Orlando. It was about a three hour drive, so, we’d get there around 11 and return around midnight.

“Let’s go have some fun.”

…

Though initially confused, she quickly found out and seemed quite excited.

This was our first time going to an amusement park together, all the other times we went out were nearby and simple shopping, arcade or movie trips.

We didn’t pack a lot, in fact, I think it was quite minimal.

I brought a couple calming and fatigue potions with me. Luna may be fine, but walking around all day will exhaust me!

Mm…Thinking about it I wonder if I can bring potions inside the park? Probably not, right?

Even if I could, they’re sure to check it, no? Would they see that Raccoon brewed them and connect the dots?

You know what? I’ll just leave the potions in the car.

“What made you suddenly decide you want to go to the amusement park?” Luna asked.

“Oh, well, cause I’m happy.” I answered with a smile.

“Fair,” Luna nodded, “I haven’t been to an amusement park in so long. The last time I went was probably with my parents when I was in elementary school.”

“That’s a while,” I said, “Did you go on the coasters while you were there? Or did you like the other stuff better?”

“We went on a few coasters, but nothing insane like the ones that do loops.” She answered, “My family liked the interactive rides a bit more; My favorite were the motion simulators based off of movies.”

“Ah, I should’ve expected that.” I laughed.

“What about you? What’s your favorite ride?” She asked.

“I loved the water rides, getting soaked was always a blast.” I said, “There was this one ride where there was a chance to barely get wet, or have a waterfall poured on you. My friends and I would ride that one a lot and always laugh at whoever got soaked.”

“Oh, I know that one.” Luna nodded, “My Mom wouldn’t go on it since she didn’t want to get wet.”

“Fair.”

We continued chatting until eventually, hours had passed. Finally, we had arrived.

…

It was at the security check-in where we encountered a problem.

We easily passed the first check—it was just a metal detector and neither Luna nor I had anything dangerous on us. However, the second check was the issue.

It was an awakener check.

Neither of us had known about this because Luna hadn’t visited this place since elementary school, and I wasn’t an awakener the last time I visited so it didn’t concern me.

“You’re both awakeners?” The security guard asked, though, he already knew. The detector had lit up when we crossed the metal detector.

“That’s right.” Luna said, she glanced at me worriedly.

“Mhm.” I nodded and gave Luna a shrug.

“Then I’ll need you two to just imbue some mana into this machine over here,” He led us to a small machine.

“Why?” I asked innocently, “Did we do something wrong?”

“No, haha,” The man laughed a little, “It’s just something all awakeners need to do to enter the park. It’s just for safety reasons,” he explained, “This way, if an awakener does something bad, we’ll be able to know their signatures. Don’t worry, this machine is approved by the awakener’s association, so, we can’t do anything with your mana. Not that I’m sure of what we’d even do with it, haha.”

“I see.” I nodded, “So, I just imbue my mana into it?” I asked.

“Yep, after that you’ll be free head in. Have you two been here before?” The man asked.

“Only pre-awakening,” I answered a chuckle, “So, this is my first time even knowing this existed.”

“Ah, understandable. Congratulations on your awakening.” The man smiled.

“Thank you.”

Luna imbued her mana first. Just above the machine was a camera; I assumed it logged this stuff in a database.

I internally shrugged. Whatever.

I’m not a criminal, I’m not in hiding. I’ve never done anything wrong. I’m not letting something this minor stop me from spending time with Luna; If I avoided this today, would I have to avoid everything else that awakeners need to do to enter places?

That sounds annoying.

“You’re good.” The man said to Luna and she stepped back.

She looked at me, concerned, but I just gave her a smile.

“Do you have a favorite awakener, mister?” I asked the security guard.

“Favorite? Hm…” The man stroked his chin a few times, “I like the Lightning Lord a lot. As a child I would always imagine I had electric-based magic like Zeus, haha.” The man chuckled, “What about you, missy?”

I grabbed the machine,

“You probably don’t know my favorite as she’s a little obscure, but her alias is ElectricTypeMouse, I like her a lot.” I smiled, “But, my second favorite would have to be the Little Bomber, do you know her?”

“Ah, I don’t know the first person you mentioned, but as for the Little Bomber? Hah! Of course I know her! It’s hard to find people nowadays who don’t.” The man smiled, “My son’s a production class and every day he’s talking about how he’s also gonna rank on the leaderboards.”

“Pfft, well, tell him I wish him luck.”

I turned to the camera, lifted my free hand in a peace sign and smiled brightly,

Cheese~!

“Alright, you’re good, enjoy your visit.” The man politely said.

“Thank you, we’ll have a blast.” I smiled.

“Is…Is that okay?” Luna whispered to me once we were out of earshot, “Your identity…”

“Pfft, it’s nothing.” I grabbed Luna’s hand, “Don’t worry about that. Instead, let’s have a good time.”

“O-Oh,” She blushed but smiled, “Okay!”

We walked towards the entrance of the park.

…

The entrance was grand and magnificent, it was a huge arch that was taller than a two-story house. At the top of it read ‘Rapturous World’ and just below it was the motto ‘Explore a whole new world!’

Dozens of people were entering and exiting.

Luna and I stopped briefly and took a photo together with the entrance as the background.

“Shall we go?” I asked.

“Mm.” Luna nodded.

We walked through that entrance, hand-in-hand.

The first area of the park, directly after the entrance, was known as the ‘New World’. The theme was based off of, well, a brand new world. The decor was purposefully unfamiliar but intriguing, models of animals were scattered throughout the area. Some of them you could ride on.

The closest animal to us was a rhinoceros, on it were three children laughing and having a good time with their parents taking a video of them.

Suddenly, someone approached with a camera in hand.

“Hello, would you two like a photo?”

It was one of those photo-scammers. At least, that’s what I know them as. They approach people and offer to take a photo than ask for money to send the photo to your email.

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“Nope, we’re okay.” I answered.

Seemingly familiar with rejection, the photographer nodded and approached another family who was entering.

“They looked pretty professional?” Luna said.

“If you walk around with a camera looking like a tour guide, that’ll do that.” I chuckled.

“Are you saying they’re not?”

“No idea.” I shrugged, “Never bought one.”

“Pfft, alright.” Luna chuckled, “This place looks better than I remember.” She commented as we walked, she looked at one of the giant elephant models.

“Yeah, it’s cause you’re old~” I teased, “When you last visited, way back in your day, this place had yet to renovate.”

“I’m one year older than you.” Luna glared at me.

“Wow, you’re already at grandma age? Should I start calling you ‘Grandma Mouse’? You already have the gray hair.”

She playfully bumped against my shoulder,

“It’s silver, not gray.” Luna corrected, “If I’m a grandma, are you a child?”

“No? I’m an adult, are your eyes messed up in your old age?”

“Haah…” Luna sighed.

“Hehe!” I giggled, “Oh! Come here!” I pulled her towards a large tiger model.

“What? Picture?” Luna asked.

I smiled, “Go on, climb onto its back!” I urged.

“Wait, what?” Luna said, taken aback, “Why would I do that? That’s for children.” Luna remarked.

“Then, you’re admitting you’re a grandma?”

“No! There’s more stages than just grandma and child!”

“So, you’re not getting on?” I looked at her with puppy eyes.

“Ah-but…Haah…” Luna sighed, “Fine.” She said, climbing onto the tiger.

“Hehe!” I smiled, stepping back and taking a lot of photos, “Look! It’s a mouse riding a cat!” I giggled.

“Haaaaaah.” Luna sighed again but I could see that smile! She was actually enjoying it!

“Okay,” Luna hopped off the tiger, “Your turn now.”

“Huh? Me?” I pointed at myself, “I’m not a child, why would I do such a silly thing.” I said, monotone.

Luna widened her eyes and looked at me, shocked, then, her brows furrow as that gaze turned to a glare,

“You!”

“Pfft! Hahahah!” I laughed.

Luna grabbed my arm,

“You’re going up there!”

“Bahaha!” I continued to laugh as she dragged me closer to the tiger, “Okay, okay,” I said, wiping away my tears, “I’m going up.”

I jumped up and climbed onto the tiger’s back. I looked at Luna’s phone camera and smiled, even striking a couple poses.

After I hopped off the tiger and approached Luna, she commented under her breath,

“For someone who’s not a child, you sure did enjoy yourself up there.”

“Pfft!” Hearing that, I burst out into another fit of laughter, “Petty mouse!” I pointed at her.

“Pfft!” She started to laugh as well.

After a few, I grabbed her hand again and we continued to walk.

There were no rides or attractions in this entrance area, it was mostly shops and info sections about the other zones in the park.

The park was lively, so, I obviously had to stick extremely close to Luna so that we wouldn’t get lost in the crowd! What? There’s no one near us and it isn’t that crowded? Blasphemy!

“Hehe,” I giggled.

“What?” Luna asked.

“Nothing~” I hummed as we approached the next area of the park.

The Water World.

If I remember correctly, park lore states that this is a flooded world that was rebuilt by the people who had found the first area. It’s full of water attractions and has tons of sea monster decor everywhere.

“This is my favorite area.” I said as we walked through the large arch, signifying a portal to this world.

Luna looked around, focusing on the large models of the sea monsters that were scattered through the area.

“Recognize them?” I asked.

“No,” Luna shook her head, “I just thought they looked cool.” She said.

“Heh, agreed.” I chuckled.

The buildings were water-related, so, they were designed as ships, submarines, anchors, and the like.

“Should we eat first?” I asked, “It’d be better to explore the park on a full stomach.”

“Yes!” Luna immediately replied.

“Pfft, alright you foodie.” I chuckled, “Then, let’s come back here later, this place has a lot of seafood.”

“Okay,” Luna nodded, then, she started to tease, “So weak~ can’t even handle a bit of seafood?”

“Wow,” I smacked my lips, “Are you shaming my allergies?”

“No~ I’m just shaming you, weakling~”

Pfft! Who taught this girl this!? I oughta teach them a lesson!

Huh…? It’s me? Oh, fine, I’ll punish her with chocolate cake!

“So mean,” I fake sniffled and pretended to wipe my eyes with my free hand.

“Hahaha, this is fun.” Luna laughed.

“Let’s see if you still think that later.” I shook my head.

“I’ll be waiting.”

We didn’t explore much of the water world, quickly heading to the next area so that we could eat.

And, as it turns out, the next area is called:

The Age of Dinosaurs.

Now, obviously, they didn’t sell dinosaur meat. Instead, they sold meat named after the dinosaurs! Like T-Rex Tail, which is a large cut of meat cooked over an open fire.

My mouth watered remembering the taste. Surprisingly amazing. My friends and I shared it the last time we visited.

“Dinosaur land?” Luna asked as we approached the large arch-gate. Above it were flying dinosaurs like pterodactyls and other pterosaurs.

The fence was a lot of forest with large carnivores hidden in the trees.

“Yep! My second favorite area!” I said, pulling Luna along.

“What type of food is here?”

“Meat! Lots of meat!”

I heard Luna audibly gulp.

I laughed.

Directly in front of the entrance was a T-Rex, nearly the size of the arch, roaring at us. It was extremely detailed and hyper realistic. I’d imagine an awakener had a hand in creating it.

“Wow, scary.” Luna commented as she looked up into the mouth of the dinosaur.

“Yeah, I bet this thing could swallow us whole!”

“Easily.” Luna nodded, “I’m thankful I haven’t run into any dinosaur monsters yet.”

“Oh! You just jinxed it!” I exclaimed, “Be prepared, the next gate you enter is going to have dinosaurs in it!”

“Pfft, that’s not how it works.”

“Ah! You’re even denying it! Now it’s confirmed!”

“Okay, sure.” Luna exaggerated her tone, clearly not believing.

“Hmph, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I said.

“Right, right.”

The buildings in dinosaur world were safari-esque. Nice and open with large roofs and lots of greenery.

“So, where are we going?” Luna asked.

“Hehe, we’re going to the best restaurant this place has.” I said, leading her deeper into the area.

Soon, we approached a large building with large windows and a huge deck filled with people.

“This is…Feast of Ages?” Luna said, reading the sign.

“Yep!” I nodded, “It’s a little expensive, but, the food is worth it.”

“Okay, I’ll trust you.”

“Hehe,”

We headed inside and waited in the line to order.

While we waited, Luna read some of the menu items,

“T-Rex Tail…Spinosaurus Thigh…Mapusaurus Sirloin…Giganotosaurus Tenderloin…What do you recommend?” Luna asked.

“Hehe, actually, I’ll order just one thing for us.”

“Huh? One thing?” Luna asked.

Before I could explain, it was our turn to order.

“Hello, what can I get you?” The cashier asked.

“T-Rex tail, caveman style, please.”

“Okay, cash or card?”

I paid for the meal and Luna and I stepped to the side. Our ticket number was 84.

“T-Rex tail caveman style?” Luna said, “What’s that?”

“Hehe, wait and see.”

“Hm…” Luna looked at some of the other guest’s food to try and determine what I ordered.

“Hey!” I covered her eyes with my palms, “No cheating!”

“Pfft, why the surprise?” Luna chuckled and stopped turning her head.

“No reason.” I shrugged, “I just want to see it.”

“Haah, fine.” Luna sighed.

“Hehe.” I giggled.

“Aren’t you gonna take away your palms?” Luna asked. I hadn’t stopped covering her eyes.

“Nope, you’re gonna look if I do.”

“You’re too much.” Luna slightly smiled with a shake of the head.

“So, what rides do you want to go on?” Luna asked, accepting her fate.

“Hm…Honestly, as much as I want to say all of them, we don’t have enough time for that.” I said, “At most, we can probably ride everything in two worlds before it’s time for us to go.”

“Are there really that many rides?” Luna asked, “I don’t remember there being that many.”

“There’s a lot.” I said, “I only say that we can get through two worlds because I bought express tickets, without them, we might get through half a world.”

“Oh wow, looks like we’ll have to come back here later then.”

“For sure.” I nodded, though she couldn’t see that.

“So, what worlds?” Luna asked.

“Since you like the motion ones, let’s just do the reality area. That world is like the size of three areas combined, it has the motion simulators you like and some coasters I haven’t even ridden yet.”

“Huh, I don’t remember that one.” Luna said, confused.

“It’s on the newer side,” I said, “You’d have been in high school when it opened.”

“Cool.” Luna said, “You haven’t ridden some of the rides? I thought you came here a lot with your friends.”

“Haha, we had our favorite rides and would just forget about them.” I chuckled.

“Pfft, you’re calling me old and you’re the one with dementia?” Luna laughed.

“Alright, wise guy.”

Before we could continue chatting, our order number was called.

“Order number eighty-four.”

Finally, I uncovered Luna’s eyes.

Luna immediately turned to where we pick up our order and her eyes widened and jaw dropped, she looked completely taken aback.

“Hehe!” I giggled and grabbed our order.

It was a large chunk of meat attached to a bone. The meat was slightly charred as it was cooked directly over a fire. We were meant to hold the bone and eat it directly like we were caveman.

“T-This…” Luna eventually let out.

“Big enough to share, no?” I said with a smile.

That was true; The chunk of meat was nearly bigger than her head.

“W-we’re going to share it?” Luna asked.

“Of course?” I said as if it was obvious, “I can’t finish this thing by myself. Just think of it like cotton candy, we each get a side.” I chuckled.

“Did you share this with your friends before?” Luna asked, “That Cassian guy?”

Though I don’t know why she named Cassian directly, I nodded.

“Yeah, we’d order just one of these and whoever wanted a bite would just grab it and chomp.”

“H-Huh? I-isn’t that an indirect kiss though…?” Luna asked meekly.

“Pfft, as if that’s a problem.” I laughed, “We’ve done much worse than that.”

“Much worse!? W-with Cassian!?”

…What’s her deal with Cassian?

“…Yeah…” I said, dragging out the word.

“Okay! Let’s eat!” She hurriedly said, grabbing the bone, “Do I just eat it like this?”

I nodded.

Then, she bit a large chunk of meat as if she was really a caveman in the prehistoric age. Wow…Impressive.

As she was chewing, I grabbed the bone and bit into the opposite side. The chunk I ripped off was no where close to the amount she had. I handed her back the bone as I chewed.

“T-This is really good!?” She said after swallowing.

“Right?” I nodded as she took another big bite, “Let’s head to a bench to eat. There’s a fun thing we can watch while eating.”

She nodded and I led her out of the restaurant.

Soon, we approached a large area with seats that were basically gigantic steps. They were way too big to step up comfortably, but a 3 year old might happily climb them. I took a seat and signaled for Luna to do the same.

Here, we could learn about dinosaurs and see someone create an illusion of them. At the bottom of the steps was an employee talking about a dinosaur called the gallimimus, an ostrich-like dinosaur.

Even though the employee didn’t have a megaphone, I could clearly hear her voice as if she was right next to me. I realized that it was [Mana Voice], the skill I created a while ago.

Before I awakened, I just thought it was a party trick, but now, I can feel the mana next to me. Interesting.

I grabbed the bone and bit into the meat before handing it back to Luna.

“The gallimimus was an omnivorous creature that would eat insects, small reptiles, plants, and eggs…” The employee said.

Just then, next to her, a gallimimus appeared. It was eating a large egg, swallowing it whole. The others seated, especially the children, gasped in awe.

“Wow, somehow, you still eat more than that thing.” I said to Luna, “Ouch!”

I was rightfully(?) met with a elbow to the side and a glare.

“Pfft,” I laughed before just biting into the meat while Luna was holding it. I couldn’t be bothered to take it and then give it back.

“Nom!” I chewed happily and looked at Luna who had flinched.

”Ahem,” Luna cleared her throat, silently taking another bite.

…

“Paah!” I patted my full belly.

“So consistent.” Luna smiled, “You’re done?” She asked. There was still a quarter of the meat left; Most of that was Luna’s contributions.

“Yeah, I’m full.” I said, “Are you done?” I asked.

“Um…” Luna hesitated, looking at the remaining chunk of meat and then at me.

“If you’re full, just toss it in a bin somewhere. There’s trashcans everywhere.”

“N-No! I-it’s not that.” She said before I heard her audibly gulp, she took a deep breath before biting into the remaining meat.

“?” I titled my head, wondering what was wrong with her but let it go.

Soon, she finished eating and tossed the bone in the trash. She was blushing for some reason.

I didn’t think about it. We had spent longer than I thought we would here, so, I wanted to get to Reality World soon; The only issue was it was on the opposite side of the park.

After washing our hands and wiping our mouths with a paper towel, I grabbed Luna’s hand and started to walk.

“We’re gonna have to go through more worlds to get to Reality World, right?” Luna asked.

“Hehe, nope!” I answered, “There’s a fun thing we can ride to get there quickly.”

Luna looked intrigued and soon her eyes widened.

We were approaching an attraction meant specifically meant to cross the park. The entrance to it was large with dinosaurs set up as if they had broke through the perimeters. The theme was supposed to be: Escape the dinosaurs.

One of the larger dinosaurs had a model of a human in its mouth.

“Just in time,” I said, leading Luna to the express line.

We showed the lady our tickets and walked through the queue.

“Is this a ride?” Luna asked.

“Transport ride,” I said, “It just looks cool from the outside. The actual ride itself is just a boat that goes from here to the docks of Futuristic World.

“I see.” Luna nodded.

It didn’t take long for us to get on the boat. These things could fit 20-30 people. Sometimes, the driver would act as if we barely escaped the dinosaurs and have some type of script. This wasn’t one of those times.

“Oh my…” Luna let out, looking at the shores. We could see parts of each area from here.

The Horror World, Comic World, Game World, and where we were heading: The Futuristic World.

I smiled, looking at Luna observing everything with awe. It had changed a lot since she last visited. I took a few photos.

“Mouse,” I said.

“Yes?” She said, turning to me.

“Mwah.” I kissed her cheek.

“W-W-Wha…” Her face immediately flushed.

I snapped another photo.

“Hehe, we’re almost there.” I said, pointing towards the front of the boat.

“O-Oh…” Luna let out.

Soon, the boat docked and Luna and I had stepped into the world.

As the name implied, the theme of this area was super futuristic. There were models of flying vehicles in the air and tall buildings.

Though, we didn’t stay for long, we immediately set off to Reality World which was just next to this one.

“Here we are.” I said, leading her through the arch.

Unlike the abstract themes of the other area, this one was based off our current world. There was no set theme and could have just about anything.

There were a lot of rides based off of popular movies though. Which, I assume is what Luna would love.

“Wow…” Luna let out as we walked, her eyes were glistening with stars. There were a lot of models of movie characters—all of which Luna recognized.

“That’s the robot from ‘Circuits to Die For’!” She said, “And thats the diner from ‘Last Summer, I Died’!”

I smiled, watching as Luna took many photos. She probably felt like a kid in a candy store. Or maybe a mouse in a cheese store? That seems more fitting.

Eventually, we approached our first ride: Cheese Trap.

Luna glared at me as we did, she hadn’t known which one we were going on. I had simply pulled her along.

“Hehe,” I giggled, “This is motion simulation about a mouse trying to steal a piece of cheese.”

“Of course you’d choose this one.” Luna sighed as we entered the express queue.

The decorations for the queue were nice; There was a bunch of decor of things that we’d see in the ride. Like couches, refrigerators, mice, and most importantly, cheese.

Thankfully, the express line wasn’t long. We smoothly passed by the people waiting in the regular line. The trade-off was that we missed some of the decor, but, it was worth it.

We showed the employee are express passes again and she assigned us a number. There, we waited a bit. Three people were assigned to the number behind us. Luckily, it didn’t seem like they were going to assign a single rider to our number.

After a bit more waiting, we finally entered the room with the car we’d be sitting in.

Luna audibly laughed as she saw the design.

It was designed to literally look like a mouse.

We entered the car, Luna and I sat at the front while the three people assigned the previous number sat behind us.

In front of the car was a large screen that’d show the movie; The car we sat in would mimic the motions and it’d be as if we were in the movie ourselves.

Currently, the screen was showing us what to do: keep our hands in the car and pull down the bar, watch the screen in front of us, and the other basic things.

It also told us what not to do: Put our hands outside of the car, use electronic devices, somehow escape the car mid-ride and jump around. Basically, don’t do anything stupid.

I glanced over at Luna who was smiling in anticipation.

“Hehe, excited?” I asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t been on one of these in so long.” She said.

Her hands were on the bar keeping us seated.

“It’s gonna be fun, I like this one a lot.” I said, putting my right hand over the left.

She flinched a bit but didn’t comment.

Feeling a little bolder, I pushed her hand over and interlocked our fingers.

I saw her cheeks flush but she still didn’t say anything, focusing on the screen.

I smiled and turned my attention to the screen.

The doors to the car closed and the lights turned off. Soon, our car started to raise.

The ride had started.

The story was as goes: One day, we wake up and suddenly turn into a mouse. The only way to turn back into a human again is to take the antidote—which happens to be in a piece of cheese.

However, the family cat sees us and thinks we’re a mouse. So, it tries to hunt us.

It’s a simple but fun story and we had many close calls with the cat, barely escaping each time. Eventually, we’re finally in reach of the cheese. Our character runs towards the cheese but-

The cat appears right in front of us at the last minute. It pins us down with its paw.

With nowhere to run, the cat’s mouth opens wide and descends towards us.

Just when we’re about to get eaten, the scene switches back to the bed and the human wakes. He was having a nightmare the whole time, he looks at the sleeping cat on his lap and sighs, petting the cat gently.

As the car lowered back to the ground, the bar keeping us seated raised.

“Wow! That was fun!” Luna exclaimed cheerfully, “The plot was predictable but I really liked how we moved around as if we were the mouse!”

“Hehe, I’m glad you liked it.” I said.

Soon, the doors opened and Luna and I scooted out of the car.

“Yeah! I’d definitely go on it again, it was funny when the cat caught us at the end. I reckon that every time we escaped was actually because the cat let us—cats do like to play with their food after all.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, “But, yeah, I always end up on this ride every time I come. The queue is short and fun to ride.”

We left the building.

“What’s next?” Luna asked excitedly.

I smiled, taking her to the next attraction.

…

We went on a few more motion simulation rides after Cheese Trap, and each and every time, Luna had a great time.

The problem was, it was already getting late. The sun had already set, so, a lot of rides had closed.

I reckoned we had maybe 3 more rides until the park closed.

Though we hadn’t gone on any coasters, I didn’t mind whatsoever. I’ve already ridden most of the rides here. I was also having fun anyways, just spending time with Luna was fun.

“Wow, it’s already getting late.” Luna said, “What time does the park close?” She asked.

“9 P.M.” I said.

“Ah, so it’s almost time to leave.” Luna said, I could tell she was a little reluctant.

“Hehe, we can always come back again.” I said, “Maybe next time, we’ll book a hotel near the parks so we come earlier.”

“Oh! Good idea!” Luna cheered up.

As we were walking to the next ride, I spotted something interesting.

“Hey, over here.” I pulled Luna along to it.

“What is it?” Luna asked, then, she saw.

It was a photo booth.

“Oh! We haven’t been in one of these in forever!” She said.

“Hehe, right?”

We quickly got in and sat side-by-side.

“Pose!” I said, throwing up peace signs.

Luna smiled, also showing the camera two fingers.

3…2…1…Snap!

The timer counted down and snapped a photo before resetting.

We did a few more poses, and on the final countdown, I smiled.

3…2…1…

Just before the timer hit 0, I turned to give Luna a cheek kiss.

But, what I didn’t expect was to not see Luna’s cheek, but her face. It was like time had slowed down.

We had the same idea.

As our faces approached each other, I could see Luna’s eyes widen. Her face was already a little red.

Then,

Snap!

Luna immediately flinched away, covering her mouth as she turned away. Even the tips of her ears were red.

I wanted to laugh, I really did. But, my face felt hot too. Even I couldn’t escape the flush on my cheeks.

The machine didn’t care about any of this and printed the pictures.

The first four photos were simple, just us smiling and throwing up finger poses. Peace signs, bunny ears, shadow animals, and even a combined heart sign with my left hand and her right.

But, the fifth photo printed out showed something else. It showed Luna and I with wide eyes and our lips touching.

Truthfully, it was barely a kiss. It was more like a peck on the lips, but…

That didn’t stop my cheeks from being hot.

I took a deep breath and glanced at Luna, she was still basically frozen in embarrassment.

I smiled through the embarrassment and printed another set of photos.

“Hey…” I tapped her on the shoulder, she flinched, hesitantly turning to me, “We gotta move out so the next people can enter.” I reminded her.

“R-R-Right…” She nodded, grabbing the set of photos and but not looking at them.

Outside of the photo booth, Luna stared at the floor, refusing to look at me.

Honestly, she looked extremely cute right now. I couldn’t help but take a few photos.

“Hey,” I said,

“Mm…?” She replied, still not looking at me.

“I’m getting tired,” I yawned, “How about we head home?”

“S-Sure…” Luna nodded, quickly starting to walk.

I smiled, following behind her. It didn’t seem like she was fit to hold hands right now.

It wasn’t hard to find the exit, it was basically just walking one direction until we arrived back in the New World area.

We made our way back to the car and I played music. Luna still didn’t want to look at me, but that was fine.

Though I said I was tired, my heart was pounding. I wasn’t tired one bit. Instead, I was secretly looking at the set of photos I had pocketed.

Smacking my lips, I looked out of the window. It was a full moon.

…

When we were closer to home, I started to recognize the area. Specifically, we were approaching a beautiful park that I used to play at.

A small plan had started to form in my mind and my heart started to beat faster.

“Luna,” I said.

She flinched and glanced at me, she had finally started being able to look at me again at some point. Well, she still blushed, but that was fine.

“Huh?” She said, “Is something wrong?”

“Mm, I just want to stretch my legs for a bit. Can we stop at that park over there?” I asked, pointing towards the park.

“Sure.” Luna readily accepted.

She parked the car and I got out, raising my arms to the sky and stretching.

“Mm!” I groaned as I cracked my back.

I looked up towards the bright moon. Beautiful.

Checking my phone, I could see it was already past midnight. Yet, I wasn’t tired at all.

Taking a deep breath, I turned,

“Luna,”

“Huh? Yeah?”

“Walk with me?” I asked.

“Sure.” She nodded, stepping out of the car.

Luna approached my side and we just started to walk. No questions needed.

The night breeze brushed against my skin as the two of us walked on the path. Just to the left of us, flowers of various colors were lit up by the moonlight. To the right was a large river that lead straight to the everglades.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Luna said, breaking the silence.

“I’m glad,” I smiled, “I did too. I can’t wait to go again.”

“Me too…” Luna nodded, “When do you think we will?”

“Mm…Probably after we buy a house?” I said.

“Oh, I agree. That sounds good.” Luna paused, “Um…Earlier…” She hesitantly said.

I stopped and so did she.

“Hey, Luna,” I said, cutting off whatever she was going to say.

“…Yes?” She asked, looking at me.

From where I stood, her hair perfectly reflected the moon’s brilliance.

A cool breeze swept through the air, lifting her bangs slightly.

“You know, don’t you?” I asked, grabbing her hand and interlocking our fingers.

“I…know?” She repeated before slightly bowing her head, “…I don’t know…”

“Why don’t you know?” I stepped closer.

“…I don’t want to assume and get it wrong.” She said.

“You know you’re not wrong,” I said, “What’s the real reason?” I asked.

When she didn’t respond, I stepped closer again.

“Is it because you want to hear me say it directly instead?” I asked.

“Hic!” She hiccuped.

“Why don’t you say those words first?” I asked.

“…Embarrassed…” She replied meekly.

I stepped even closer, close enough to where we were only just a few inches apart.

“Fine,” I smiled, my cheeks completely red, “Listen carefully.”

Luna swallowed, raising her head to look into my eyes. Her face was completely red and her eyes were glistening.

“Luna, I love you.”

“Hic!”

“I’ve loved you for a long while now; The feeling I get when I’m around you is something I can’t feel anywhere else. I feel safe, protected, and calm, but also excited, nervous, and a comfort like no other.

I like your scent, it reminds me of blueberries; Your beautiful silver hair, even now, reminds me so much of the moonlight; I can’t help but be drawn into your ocean blue eyes, I find myself craving to gaze into those depths.

I like the way you always get excited when you smell food; I like the way you can talk about movies for hours; I like how you always get smug when playing games but act like it’s nothing; I like how you sneakily drink my potions in the middle of the night when you think I’m sleeping.

I like how empathetic and kind you are; I like how you’re always there for me, no matter what happens; I like how you worry about me; I like how embarrassed you get whenever I tease you; I like how you sneakily try to spend more time with me; I like quite a lot of things about you.

So, I’ll say it again.

Luna, I love you.”

“Hic! Hic! Hic!” Luna repeatedly hiccuped as she sniffled and tears fell down her cheeks.

I quietly watched, staring into her eyes.

“S-Stella,” She said through sniffles, “S-Stella! Stella!” She repeated, and took a deep breath,

“Stella, I love you too!”

Luna continued as her hand trembled in mine,

“I love you so much. I hate being apart from you; So much of my day, I think of you. I love it when you tease me; I love it when you smile at me; I love it when you hug me or hold my hand; I love your strawberry scent; I love everything about you.” She said all of that so confidently but her next words were as quiet as a mumble, as if she used up all of her courage,

“I…I love you, Stella…C-Can I w-write the rest on paper…” She sniffled.

“You’re so cute,” I smiled, pulling her hand in, “Fine, but you’ll have to read it to me.”

“O-O-Okay…” She replied meekly.

“Earlier, at the photobooth,” I started.

Luna flinched, her face somehow turning even more red, “Y-Yes…”

“That was an accident.”

“I-It was…”

“This is on purpose.”

“Hic!”

With that, I leaned in. Luna closed her eyes as our lips connected.