It's been a while, hasn't it... At least a year since I last uploaded a story, I believe. Time goes by fast, doesn't it... I've really stopped writing fanfiction, but after playing through Cave Story, I just had to write this. It's based off of the Best Ending, and I've got everyone surviving (All of the Sakamotos, along with Itoh and Professor Booster), and Balrog, Quote, and Curly decide to stay with them. Some people may be OOC, but I don't really care. Just read the story.

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"Mooooom! I'm bored!"

The shrill call rang through the Sakamoto household, catching Momorin somewhat by surprise, and somewhat annoying her as well. After all, they had just arrived at their countryside home three days ago, along with Quote, Curly, and Balrog, who met up with them along the way, and nobody was in the mood for any more excitement for a long while.

"Well, find something constructive to do with yourself, then!" she yelled back. She sat down, rubbing her forehead in frustration. She had been working like mad to figure out how to transform Sue and Itoh back to their human form, but none of the tests they had run worked, and they all needed a break, just a single day to relax… Momorin looked up, suddenly getting an idea, and smiled. Standing up, she walked up the stairs to Sue's room.

"Sue…?" she said, peeking her head into the large room. However, she didn't find Sue, but Quote, still asleep on the bunk-bed that they had bought for Curly and him. Curly and Sue were nowhere to be seen. Tiptoeing in, she shook the scout robot, who in turn began to stir. His eyes opened, and blinked. He suddenly sat up, eyes wide open.

"Oh no! What time is it…" he panicked, scrambling out of bed and quickly getting dressed. "Oh no oh no oh no, I overslept! Curly's gonna kill me! What do I do, what do I do-" He suddenly noticed a figure standing next to his bunk.

"Good morning, Mrs. Sakamoto. Did you wake me up?" he asked. She smiled and nodded, as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I thought you were Curly." Relaxing, he sat down, although still staying on his toes in case Curly decided to pop up. He didn't notice Momorin sitting down next to him.

"Say, Quote… would you mind helping me with something?" she asked carefully. Quote nodded vigerously. "Of course, Mrs. Sakamoto. What is it that you need?" Momorin smiled as she told Quote her plan.

X X X

"QUOOOOOOOOOOTE! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Curly yelled at the top of her lungs, standing in the doorway of the house. "We were supposed to fix that leak in the basement today…" she muttered to nobody in particular as she stomped into the living room. Sue was there, lying on her back on the couch.

"Sue, have you seen Quote? I can't find him." Sue shook her head, frowning. "I haven't seen him or my mom either. And Itoh's missing too." Curly stopped, taking in this new information. Her eyes closed, thinking of what was happening.

Sighing, Sue hopped off the couch and walked to the refrigerator and reached for a can of soda. Popping the top and snapping off the tab, she noticed a bright pink sticky note on the counter. Grabbing it, she walked over to Curly.

"Curly, take a look at this. It was over on the counter." Curly took the note and read it.

Itoh, could you meet with us at the lake today? And could you bring your grill and water clothes? If you can, that would be a big help. – Momorin and Quote

PS: Don't let Curly or Sue find this note! We can't let them ruin our plan!

Curly's eyes filled with curiosity, then rage and suspicion. What were they planning that they couldn't tell her or Sue about? Giving Sue a small push upstairs, she crumpled the note.

"Get a set of water clothes. We're going to the lake." She said. Sue nodded slightly as she zipped upstairs. She knew better than to argue with Curly when she was in this mood. She opened her closet door and was surprised to find that her swimsuit was gone. Confused, she went over to Curly's dresser and opened it, with the same result. Heading back downstairs, she looked for Curly, only to realize that she had already left. Running low on patience, with a house key in her fuzzy hand, she walked outside, and locked the door.

X X X

The "lake" was what you'd expect it to be; a large body of cool clear water, surrounded by a few trees, the very picture of a picnic spot. Balrog attempted to set up the grill, with little success. Momorin was setting up beach umbrellas (according to her, it made it easier for her to relax) and towels. Quote put the swim clothes on each person's respective towel and inflated beach balls. Itoh was speaking on a cell phone while setting up plastic tables and spreading out bags of burgers, hot dogs, soda, and all sorts of food. Little did they know that Sue and Curly were hiding behind a clump of bushes, spying on the group.

"What are they doing? It doesn't look like something that they would try to hide… in fact, it looks like a simple picnic. Why do they not want us to know about that?" Curly said, now befuddled as to Momorin and Quote's intentions. Sue remained silent, instead trying to find a way to sneak up on them without being seen. Crouching, she began to crawl along the grass like a rabbit, her sharp Mimiga ears listening in on their conversation.

"...Alright. Okay. I understand. See ya, Kazuma." Itoh terminated the call and slipped the cell phone into his pocket. "Kazuma and Professor Booster are tied up at work, so they won't be able to join us until later." He reported as Momorin opened the last umbrella.

"Oh… that's too bad…" Momorin was obviously disappointed, but perked up as she thought of the others. "Do you have any idea if Curly and Sue found the note?" Itoh shrugged. "I haven't got a clue, I just left the note on the counter and left it up to fate. It was a bright pink sticky note though, so I thought it was pretty noticeable…" Momorin sighed, then jumped as she heard a crash.

"I'm okay!" yelled Balrog as he poked his hand out of a mess of grill and parts. Momorin sighed louder and walked over to put the grill together. "Balrog, why don't you and Quote see how the water is?" She pulled Balrog out and directed him towards Quote. "Good idea! Hey! Quote!" Quote had already changed into a pair of red-and-black swim trunks, and looked over at Balrog. "Last one in is a rotten egg!" Balrog leaped into the air and plummeted towards the lake.

"HUZZAH!" Balrog yelled as he smashed the serenity of the lake, sending ripples spreading across the entire body of water and sending a large splash of water in the direction of the bushes Sue and Curly were hiding in. "Hey, c'mon Balrog, that's no fair!" Quote laughed as he dove into the lake. Both of them bobbing up, Balrog gasping for air after his high-jump, Quote gasping for air after laughing, they began to splash each other with water.

Curly had had quite enough. She had been ignored (in their plan), exhausted (from fighting in the caves), and splashed (by Balrog), and without realizing it, she went over the edge. She tore her way out of the bushes, screaming like a maniac as she went. Leaping into the lake, she began swimming furiously towards the shocked form of Quote. Sue, on the other hand, didn't mind getting wet, and casually walked out of the bushes towards the line of towels.

"I'M GONNA GET YOU!" Curly smashed into Quote, pulling him into a headlock and scrunching his head with a powerful noogie. Balrog swam towards Momorin and Itoh, who had noticed the commotion and were trying to figure out how to calm Curly down. Quote, confused as to why he was being treated this way, could only cry in pain.

Momorin and Itoh ran towards the edge of the lake, Momorin holding a towel while Itoh carried Curly's swimsuit. "Curly! Stop that this instant and get out! You're going to ruin your clothes!" Momorin yelled. Itoh took a more physical (although instinctive) approach, trying to splash Curly with more water to knock some sense back into her. Neither attempt worked.

Quote, upset with what was happening to what started out as a great day, yelled out "Curly! You're hurting me!" right in Curly's face. Losing some of her anger, Curly began to calm down. She let Quote out of the headlock and dropped her arms to her sides and took deep breaths. She suddenly shivered, her teeth chattering.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry, Q-Q-Quote." She said, kissing his cheek before heading towards the lake's edge. Quote brought a hand to his cheek and blushed.

X X X

It had been around half an hour and everything had returned to normal. Curly fully apologized to Quote after changing (privately) into her swimsuit, and Sue explained to her mother how they found the note, afterward also changing into her swimsuit. Balrog, Quote, and Sue were splashing around in the lake while Curly sunbathed. Momorin began to cook the food while Itoh took a business call.

Curly sighed with contentment as she curled up in the warmth of the midday sun. Something was still bothering her, however.

"Mrs. Sakamoto, why did you try and keep this a secret from us?" she asked. Momorin turned around and grinned. "We weren't trying to keep secrets at all, on the contrary. We wanted you to find the note." Curly ran her hand through her hair and began to laugh. "But why not just tell us?" Momorin walked over to Curly and sat down next to her.

"Curly, I'm sure that you'll agree with me that we're all exhausted after everything that happened up at the island. I thought that we all deserve to have a break." Momorin lay down on the grass as she closed her eyes. "We – Itoh, Kazuma, Sue, Professor Booster and I – always used to come here whenever we felt like we needed a break from our lives. But as time passed, we all got more and more tied up in our work, and then we went up to the island… and you know the rest." Curly leaned on her elbows, listening intently. Momorin sighed, then stood up.

"Anyway, everyone's been very restless and irritable and I thought we could all use a day of fun and relaxation." Momorin began to sniff, then she cringed. "I'd better make sure those burgers don't burn…" she hurried towards the grill as Curly stared out at the lake. She stood up, stretched her arms, then grabbed a beach ball and, running towards the lake, tossed it towards Balrog.

"Balrog! Think fast!" Balrog turned around as his vision was suddenly smothered by a medley of red, blue and yellow. The beach ball made a tiny splish as Balrog blinked. "What was that for, Curly?" Curly sighed in frustration. "You're supposed to catch it and toss it to somebody else, Balrog. Haven't you ever played catch before?" Balrog picked up the beach ball and tossed it to Quote, who, in turn, batted it back to Curly. They went at it for a while, until the ball was suddenly tossed to Sue, who, due to her lighter Mimiga frame, was pushed back into deeper water by the force of the ball.

"Sue! Are you okay?" Quote called out to her. Sue didn't answer, as she was scrabbling to hang on to the floaty ball to keep her from sinking. All this did, however, was spin the ball, and she began to float further and further away. Balrog was attempting to call Momorin and Itoh for help, while Curly tried to stay calm and think of an idea. Noticing that Sue was spinning the ball, she got an idea.

"Sue! Listen carefully! Try to hang on, and spin the ball in the opposite direction!" she yelled. Sue tried this, and began to roll back to the more shallow water. Sighing with relief, Curly swam over and plucked Sue off of the now somewhat deflated ball. "I think we should all get out and rest." Sue suggested as she swam towards the lake's edge; the other's followed suit.

X X X

It was the evening, and the swimmers had changed back into their normal clothing (sans Curly, who instead wrapped up in her towel). Kazuma and Booster had arrived moments after the beach ball incident, and everyone was now sitting at the plastic tables, happily munching on burgers and hot dogs.

"Kazuma, how's that Sky Dragon of yours been coming along?" Quote asked the young man sitting across from him. Kazuma chewed slowly, swallowed, then replied with, "Pretty well, actually. I still don't know what gender it is, but I've been making some basic progress on training it. It's a feisty one, though." Quote nodded and took another bite of burger. "It must be confused since you keep it in its habitat every night." Kazuma nearly choked on his burger and began to lecture Quote on how he took care of the Sky Dragon. On the other side of the table, Sue, Curly, and Momorin were conversing about what to do now that everything was back to normal. Itoh, Balrog, and Professor Booster sat in the middle, looking up at the island.

"Professor, do you think that I'll be a Mimiga forever?" Itoh asked. Professor Booster shook his head, smiling. "As long as we don't give up hope, we'll find a way. After all, we put our faith in Quote, and he came through for us, didn't he?" Itoh nodded and turned to Balrog. "What about you? What will you do now that you're free?" Balrog thought for a moment, then remarked, "I don't really know. I was thinking I could help one of you out with your work, or something." Itoh groaned on the inside, then lay his head back. He quickly fell sound asleep. Professor Booster quietly covered Itoh with his towel and then went to his own towel, soon falling asleep as well.

X X X

The food was finished, the tables and grill packed up and stashed in the truck that they came in. Everyone was asleep, excepting Quote and Curly, who were stargazing.

"Curly… do you think that we'll ever go back to the island?" Quote asked. Curly, shivering slightly, nodded. "Quote, we can do whatever we want now that we've finished our mission. I'm sure that if we want to go back to the island, we will. But for right now, let's go to sleep. I'm freezing…" Curly began to noticeably shiver, and Quote came over and wrapped her (along with himself) up with his towel. Curly gasped, then turned bright red.

"Any warmer?" he grinned. He wrapped his arms around her as he nestled his head into the soft grass. Curly did nothing for a while, then curled up a bit, resting her head under Quote's. "Thank you, Quote…" she whispered. Taking one last look at the lake, they both slipped into dreamland, smiling through the entire night.

The End