The door of the café opens, and a bell rings cheerfully over the porcupine's head as she enters. She glances around with an air of interest, blue eyes flicking from one table to the next as she searches for an empty booth or chair. The warmth and delicious food smells in the café surround her like a comforting blanket, and she can't help but smile because of this. It's been a long time since she's felt so… at home. L.A. is certainly a busy city, and she has always loved that aspect of it, but it really is like a different world entirely when she steps into a tiny café like this one.

The porcupine has a wizened look about her, though the years have done little to erode her spunk and vibrant personality. She still attracts several pairs of eyes to her just walking into the room. While that attention is definitely still for her looks, it is also for her fame. She might as well be carrying a big sign reading, "Check me out, I'm famous!" Despite her popularity, however, she tries to remain low-key even if her recognizable face reveals a very not low-key lifestyle.

She begins weaving among the animals occupying the eatery, some surfing on laptops and others engrossed in conversations with a companion. As she passes the front counter, she takes in rows of pastries dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with chocolate syrup. Hmm, she'll have to visit this particular place more often.

A fox is following right behind her. He is dressed in a black business suit, and the sleek look is completed with a pair of shades and an earpiece that he occasionally mutters into behind a cupped palm.

"Miss Woods, I must remind you of your meeting with the label in twenty minutes…" the fox says, leaning down to talk in her ear.

She scoffs. "The label can wait. I haven't been to L.A. in ages. And for the last time, just call me Ash."

The fox frowns in confusion. "We were just in L.A. last month, Mi— Ash."

Ash shrugs one shoulder carelessly. "Y'know what I mean, Nick. I haven't been to this part of L.A. in forever. I just wanna enjoy a quick bite to eat in this café, then we can go to the dumb meeting. Okay?"

Nick sighs, retreating away from her ear. "Alright."

Finally, Ash finds an empty table in a back corner. A few eyes are still lingering on her, but most of the animals have returned to their respective devices or friends. The majority of the population in L.A. is either immune or used to celebrity sightings, anyway.

She and Nick slide into the booth across from each other, him immediately going to his phone to scroll through a long-ass list of appointments and obligations for the day. Ash begins to zone out after a while, stirring her coffee idly with a spoon while watching the street outside. A couple of teenage girls come over to her and shyly ask for an autograph, which Ash scribbles lazily on the corner of a cocktail napkin. Then she returns to staring out the window.

After a short while, something catches her eye. The side street outside is fairly empty save for the occasional car or bicycle, but a very familiar-looking face careens around a corner and continues rushing down the sidewalk across the street. In his arms, he's balancing a haphazardly-stacked pile of papers, several of which are flying off the top and fluttering to the ground. He barely notices, however.

Ash leans closer to the window until her nose is practically pressed against the cool glass. She wants to get a better look at the male, but he has already moved on past the café. She notices one of the papers get carried across the street by the wind and land on the sidewalk outside. As Nick continues blabbing on about meetings and other fun stuff, she sits up in the booth and squints at the paper.

It's a poster for an event— a show, to be exact. And the address listed is so familiar she cannot deny it.

551 Echo Drive.

The freakin' Moon Theater.

She springs up out of her seat, flinging a hundred-dollar bill on the table and ditching her agent to race out the door and down the side street.

The koala is a few blocks ahead by now, but she catches up fairly quickly. She takes a chance and speaks a name that hasn't rolled off her tongue in years.

"Hey, Moon!"

He freezes, a final cluster of papers sliding off the stack in his arms as he spins around. Sure enough, there is her former boss Buster Moon, just as chipper as she recalls. He jogs back a few paces to meet her at a corner, panting heavily.

"Oh my… god! Ash, it— it's… you!"

"The one and only," she replies with a half-grin. "How, uh, how've you been?"

He shifts the papers higher so that they are nearly covering his face. The gold wedding band on his left ring finger glints in the bright L.A. sun. "I've been fantastic. And clearly you've been great as well, with all the success, song and album releases and— well, I shouldn't put words into your mouth. Really, how have you been, Ash?"

She smirks. She really has missed his rambling, and now it's like a comfortingly familiar tune to her ears. "I've been… fine, truthfully. A little bit… tired, I guess. But who isn't tired these days?" She offers an awkward laugh that is highly reminiscent of her nineteen-year-old self, so she cuts it off abruptly.

"No, keep laughing. I always did like your laugh," Buster insists. Then he jerks his head in the direction he'd been running. "I was just heading back to the copier store because they printed these in orange instead of yellow, like I asked, so I really have to run, but… well, I don't know if you read any of the posters, but…"

Ash easily catches on to what he is implying. "Oh, yes, I did notice one or two"— she discreetly casts a glance back at the paper-laden trail the koala has left all down the sidewalk behind them— "and I would absolutely love to catch your show tomorrow night. It's really awesome you're still running the theater."

"Of course I am! What else is there for me and Eddie to do?" Buster asks with a chuckle. "And it would be amazing if you could come, Ash. It really would. I know how busy you are and all, but… I would so appreciate it. And there will be some old familiar faces there, too, so that'll be fun."

Her giggle tapers off into a frown. "Oh? Like… which familiar faces?"

"I really gotta run, Ash!" Buster says suddenly. "So I'll see you tomorrow, I presume?"

"Uh, yeah. Tomorrow night—"

"Seven sharp."

"Seven sharp," she repeats obediently. Then he's gone down the street again.

Just as he turns a corner out of her sight, Nick catches up to her. "Miss Woods!" the fox sputters. "You cannot just run off like that, what if paparazzi had caught—"

Ash brushes him off. "Aw, gimme a break, Nicky. You know I'm mostly old news for now, 'til the new single comes out."

"Right," Nick breathes. "Just… please be more careful. This city is unpredictable."

She tilts her head thoughtfully. "Can't argue with that."

oo0oo

"That was a fantastic performance, Johnny. I would love to have you here again sometime," the red panda gushes as he offers his hand to Johnny, who takes it with a firm shake.

"Thank ya, Bruce. I'd just as much love ta come back in the future," Johnny replies with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah. Catch you later, big guy!" Bruce reaches up to give Johnny a final friendly slap on the back before returning to the stage.

Johnny finishes packing up his things, folding up his keyboard and gently placing his guitar back in its case. He then gives the bar owner one last wave before he exits into the star-speckled night.

He pulls out his phone, scrolling through it briefly. His schedule is completely clear, except for just one event tonight. The show at Moon Theater. Buster has been calling him just about every other day for the past two months to remind him about it. Johnny knew since he first heard about it that he wouldn't miss it for the world.

Twenty minutes later, he's standing in front of the theater. It remains just as impressive as always, with the squid tanks glowing a cerulean blue and the façade perfectly kept-up and free of any dirt or cracks. He enters the lobby, making his way politely through the thick crowd so he can place his instruments in a small storage closet as he usually does. Then he pays for his ticket and slips into the auditorium.

It's been years, and he still forgets to breathe for a moment every time he sees the stage. A small smile graces his lips, and he finds his seat without any trouble.

"Hey, Meen," he greets his old friend while settling into the plush red velvet.

"Oh, Johnny!" Meena squeals. She leans over to envelop him in a soft hug. "How are you? How was your gig tonight?"

He flips through the show's program just to do something with his hands. "It went well. He wants me ta come back an' play again soon," he tells her. "An' you? I imagine things must be pretty interestin' with ya."

She rolls her eyes. "I… I guess you could say that. You know, of course, the album is finally getting released in two days. And Andrew and I will be flying out to Wiscatsin to visit his family."

"Are ya nervous?"

"Nervous? Me? Are you joking?" The elephant erupts in a fit of giggles. "Of course I'm nervous, dummy! My fiancé doesn't exactly have the kindest mother, or so he's told me."

"It'll be fine. They'll take one look at ya two an' see how much in love ya are, an' there'll be no way they could reject ya."

"I guess… I'm just surprised he's still stuck with me. You'd have thought my family has already suffocated him enough," Meena says. "I know they don't mean to be overwhelming, but they just… are."

Johnny nods, amusement twinkling in his gaze. In the past years, Meena has probably been his closest friend, and even if they don't see each other every day anymore, they still talk a lot on the phone. Her career took off around five years ago, and he was the first animal she told when she signed with a label. He was the first one to hear the initial and final drafts of her hits "Should've Been Us," "Nobody Love," and "Hollow." Her career went on pause when Johnny introduced her to Andrew, a glasses-wearing rhino with a knack for button-downs. She split her time between songwriting and dating him, and the same night she finished the last song for her album "Unbreakable Smile," Andrew proposed. Johnny was, naturally, the first one she told.

When Johnny brings himself out of his thoughts, he finds the empty seat on the other side of Meena filled. Actually, the entire rest of the row has been filled with Rosita, Norman, and twenty-five moody preteens. Oh, and Gunter.

Rosita and Meena are hugging and chatting excitedly, while Norman offers a stiff wave. Gunter is talking animatedly with one of the not-so-little piglets at the other end of the row, his accented voice filling the entire room with enthusiasm (and piggy power).

Rosita never ended up signing with a label, instead choosing to stay near home to raise her children. While she did put her career on hold for a while, she returned to singing once her oldest kids were fifteen. Buster helped promote her at the theater, then she started landing gigs left and right around southern Calatonia. Gunter, meanwhile, returned to Germany for a while to be with his boyfriend, and the two of them eventually eloped. He then became a professional dancer famous worldwide for his moves and his, well, piggy power.

Johnny leans forward, and finds yet another couple of familiar faces in the seat in front of him. "Hey, Mike," he says. "Hey, Nancy. How are the kids doin'?"

The mouse cranes his neck to look up at Johnny with a big yawn. "They're good, they're good. Just as exhausting as always."

Johnny laughs, falling back and watching animals mill around as the last of the theater's seats are filled. It seems the only unoccupied seat now is the one to his left.

The last few guests slide into their assigned rows, and the lights begin to dim. Then the doors open, and the sound of running feet echoes around the quieting room. Johnny twists around, and forgets how to breathe all over again.

By the time she is sitting in the seat next to him, he is still in shock. The last time he saw her, it was years ago, watching her terrified face recede from him as he fell through the open air. At the last second, she moved away from the edge and he never saw her again since.

It takes him a second to realize that she, too, is staring at him. She is the first to speak.

"Holy… shit. J- Johnny?"

He hasn't been able to listen to her songs on the radio without breaking into tears.

"You're… you're okay?"

She reached platinum, and he stuck close to home. His career, or waiting for his dad to be out of prison. He made his choice.

"I… I don't understand. How can— how are… how…"

Her eyes are still blue like the squid tanks outside. The fur on her face is still soft as ever, or so he'd like to imagine. He cannot get over the perplexed expression she's wearing.

"I… I ran away. I thought— I thought—"

The awning caught him. The theater's sweeping awning extended like a hand to catch him. His body bounced against the fabric like a deadweight. His spine curled. His fingernails dug into his palms until they bled. He fell, but he never finished falling.

"I'm so, so sorry. I feel awful."

He's still falling, in every tense imaginable. In his past, in his present, in his future, he was, he is, he will always be falling.

Her voice contains so much raw emotion, so heartbreakingly genuine. She cares. He needs time, but he thinks he will care too. Seeing her again is like enriching his oxygen, making every breath better than the last.

He thinks back to the first time he laid eyes on her— when his world was simpler, when his world was so boring. He thinks back to when she walked into the theater, armed with a guitar and a defiant look on that exceptional face of hers. He thinks back to that very first second she entered the room with those blue eyes wandering and exploring. That, Johnny thinks, is when he fell for her.

"Seven years…" she chokes out.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not okay! All this time you've been here, and I didn't even look over my shoulder… I… I'm a horrible—"

"It's okay," he says. He slides his hand under her chin and lifts her head to lock gazes. "I mean it."

One day, he will land. Today is not that day.

Thank you all a million times over for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following. I will never forget all the time I put into this story. I know this ending definitely seems rushed, but I just need to move on. I have new projects to work on, and I'm not as into this fandom nor this pairing anymore. There will likely be a few more small fics from me for this fandom, but no more big stories. I greatly appreciate each and every one of you reading this, and I hope you all have an amazing rest of your year. Adios!