AN: This is from a request on my tumblr; I liked it so I decided to post it here for preservation purposes. :)

Forget Me Not

Kuki's thirteenth birthday is a funny affair.

Numbuh's One and Five are gone already, have been for months. Numbuh Two is going to be around until September, but he has his hands full with training the kid with the yoyo to take his place.

Things are pretty quiet in the treehouse these days; a quiet that seems to grow on Kuki like a parasite, slowly dulling her vibrant hues and muffling her loud laughter. Her stuffed animals come to tea less and less, until tea stops happening indefinitely.

Wally and Hoagie buy her a cupcake from her favorite bakery, stuffing the biggest candle they could find in the center of it.

She makes a wish, blows it out, and smiles.

The Decomm Recovery Team will take care of removing her things after the fact, but Kuki spends the afternoon in her room, carefully packing away all of her belongings into plain brown boxes.

Wally watches from the door. "Don't look like you have enough boxes for all your friends here," he notes hesitantly.

Kuki looks around at her floor, littered with plush and smiling faces. "Yeah. I'll probably have to leave a few behind," she replies sadly. She picks up two of her toys, a red rabbit and a blue cat, and holds them side by side. "I don't even know if I'll want them after…uh, after."

Wally takes the statement as the invitation it is and walks in to sit beside her and gently take the animals from her hands. "Don't be dumb, of course you will. You'll still be you, right?" He slides the cat and rabbit into a box, pacing them gingerly between the arms and tails of the others.

"I don't know," Kuki sniffs. "Maybe I won't be. Maybe I'll be boring and no fun like my mom and nobody will like me anymore!" She starts to cry.

Wally's hands jerk, unsure, then drift to rest on his own legs. "C'mon, Kooks, who wouldn't like you? You're awesome."

"Shut up, you're awesome," she fires back, wiping at her face.

Wally grins, shrugs, like 'what are you gonna do' and Kuki laughs softly.

"Sorry," she says, brushing away the last of the wetness on her face. "I'm a crybaby."

"Yeah," Wally concedes, which earns him a glare. "But I still like you."

Kuki tries not to smile, bumping Wally's shoulder with hers. "Thanks. You're a crybaby too, you know."

"Oh, thanks."

She grins. "What are friends for?"

Wally's smile falters.

He clears his throat. "Actually, um…"

Kuki's face blanks, then blooms slowly in recognition.

"You know I…" Wally continues haltedly, twisting his hands on his knees and fiddling with his sleeves. "Uh, it's not just…uh…'friends' exactly. I mean-"

"You're doing this now?"

He looks up. Kuki looks sadder than he's ever seen her.

"You know I won't remember, right? Tomorrow. I won't…" she swallows hard. "I won't even know your name."

"I'll introduce myself," he blurts out.

Kuki blinks. "What?"

"Tomorrow I'll come find you and I'll introduce myself. So you don't have to worry."

"Wally, I'm not gonna-"

"I know, but I will. I don't-" he falters on the words for a moment, uncertain. "I don't wanna forget you ever. I won't let you forget me either."

Kuki stares at him, eyes wide and full of tears.

"I mean, unless you don't wanna see me again, then it's-"

A press of lips, quick enough that Wally's almost convinced he imagined it, halts his words.

Kuki is leaning back, a little red, but smiling softly. "Of course I do, silly."

Wally feels his ears burning. "Tomorrow," he begins tentatively, "can I ask you on a date?"

Kuki's smile widens. She nods.

Wally doesn't know it, but he granted Kuki's birthday wish just then. She would have to forget, but only for a very short while.

AN: Leave me a sweet review!

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