N. Sanity Island. That's where our hero, Crash Bandicoot lived, along with his sister, Coco, of course. They lived in harmony with the world, until every other Friday when Neo Cortex tried to kill them, you all know the deal.

You should also be aware of Neo Cortex's niece, Nina Cortex, who was much smarter than him, but was rarely involved in his plans. She lived in his castle with him, as Cortex was just too lazy to fly her back to Madame Amberly's Academy of Evil- along with the fact that the school had temporarily shut down because Cortex had, you know, basically murdered Madame Amberly last time he was there.

What you don't know is that every night after Cortex's plans were inevitably foiled by Crash, Nina would sneak out of the castle, knowing that Crash would be tired and passed out on the beach somewhere, and would go hang out with Coco.

Coco knew there was something about Nina that made her different from her uncle. Even if she was quieter and a little meaner than the average person, she was kind hearted deep down, and just wanted her uncle to give up with his plans so everyone could live in peace.

Coco was the only person she ever opened up to, and she was so thankful that Coco enjoyed listening to her and helping her sort out her emotions.

So, as soon as Nina got the word that her uncle's plan had failed again, she immediately packed a small bag and sneaked out of her window. She was going to go hang out with Coco again, and maybe stay for the night because the way Uka Uka explained things, Cortex's ego would be broken for a while.

"Yo! I'm outside blondie!" Nina whisper-yelled while tapping on Coco's small window.

She had been standing there for around 5 minutes, signaling for Coco to let her in, but for some reason she never came to open the window.

"Where even are you?!" Nina said, frustrated, because she couldn't see Coco from her angle.

And eventually she got so fed up she just smashed the window and climbed through, hoping Coco had house insurance.

A sharp pain stung at Nina's leg, she had accidentally cut herself while climbing through the broken window.

"Uh... They've got to have medical supplies here right?" Nina said as she roamed around the house, looking for a bathroom. "I mean- Crash probably gets hurt a lot while fighting my uncle..."

After a few minutes, she found the bathroom, got some towels to clean up the blood, then bandaged herself up, making a mental note to bring more supplies next time she came over because it seemed like they were running low.

As soon as she walked out, she realized why Coco wasn't answering the window. The bandicoot was dead asleep on the couch. Well, kind of- half her body was hanging off of it.

"Um."

"Coco...? You good..?"

No answer. Nina knew she was alive because the bandicoot was snoring, like- really loud.

"Um. I guess I'll just wait..."

Within minutes, Nina was also asleep on the ground. It was nighttime after all.

"Wake up sleepyhead," Nina heard a voice, and then felt a sharp pain on her cheek.

"Can't believe I had to slap you awake... Do you even sleep at night?" Coco said, standing over Nina who had fallen asleep on the floor.

"Says you," Nina rolled her eyes. "I had to smash open your window to get inside and once I did you were snoring away on the couch!"

"It's a good thing we have house insurance..." Coco sighed, "Anyway, want to go play Minecraft?!"

"Hell yeah."

Nina jumped up and followed Coco to her room, sitting down on her bed while watching her turn on the PlayStation.

"Oh!" Coco said, "I almost forgot! I made something for you!"

"Y-You made something...? For me...?"

Coco rummaged through her drawers until she pulled out a big yet tidy controller like contraption. It was colored purple and black, and had an "N" on the top front.

"I know you have troubles with the regular PlayStation controller because of your hands, so I used parts from one of my scrapped inventions to make a more accessible one that works with your hands perfectly!"

"I..."

"Oh, and this is also because you messed up and killed my Minecraft dog."

"It was an accident!"

Coco laughed, "Yeah I know, here you go, I hope you like it!"

"I can't believe this... Thank you... It means a lot..." Nina felt tears coming up. She had never felt this loved before- by the girl who was supposed to be her arch nemesis nonetheless.

"I wish I could take these things off... so I could hug you without crushing you..."

"About that... If you trust me enough maybe I could tinker with them? Maybe add some stuff so you can control them better and be gentler...?" Coco said hesitantly.

Nina sat there for a little. She trusted Coco with her whole heart... But... She was unsure.

But then she thought about the animals she used to play with as a child. How she loved them so much- and these metal hands took that away from her... Coco was offering to help... So she could play with those animals again... So she could thank Coco with a real hug...

"Do it."

Coco gasped, "Really?"

"Yeah. These hands have ruined everything for me. You're offering to help rid the pain a little... I could never pass that up." Nina wiped away her tears.

"Ugh. My eyeliner is getting everywhere!" She wiped away the black eyeliner that had gotten onto her arm.

"And maybe I can do your make up...?"

"Haha. That's a bit too far." Nina laughed with Coco. She had never had a friend like this before.

"Okay- just give me a minute to get all my tools out. I'll be right back!" Coco said as she rushed out the room to get her stuff.

Nina looked at those metal hands of hers. How Coco would help lessen the curse these hands had given her...

"Does that hurt?" Coco said as she pulled off more of Nina's fingers.

"Not at all, I have no feeling in them- it's just weird to see your fingers being pulled off."

"So the main point is that they sense when they're touching something alive- like a small furry animal- so if I remove the sensors inside the fingers and the palm then they wont automatically tighten." Coco said as she took the plates off of all the fingers and looked for the ribbon cables connecting the sensors.

"Wait- how did you know about that?!" Nina said, trying not to shake Coco's work table.

"You talk in your sleep... it's a lot of info dumping you know. You could never write a good novel like that." Coco said as she picked up her tweezers.

Embarrassed, Nina stayed quiet a little before talking again.

"What kind of stuff do I say while sleeping...?"

"A lot about wishing you could still hold those animals, a little about how you want to kill Dingodile for stealing your chocolate, and a whole lot more about how you miss your father- but you think Cortex is actually your dad." Coco said as she went from one finger to another, disconnecting the sensors, and clipping them back into place.

"Umm... Yeah... Uka Uka constantly hears Cortex slipping up and calling me his daughter instead of niece. The mask is actually concerned." Nina explained as she thought about how it would make sense as to why she and Cortex were so alike.

"That's crazy... Who's your 'dad' though?" Coco said while doing air quotes when she said dad, hoping it wouldn't offend Nina.

"He's this huge rich dude. He has like a huge company or something, I don't really know." Nina said as Coco took off the plates from her palms to get rid of the batteries that powered the sensors along with another chip, but she didn't know what that extra chip one was for.

"I just miss him because he's my dad and all. I don't know why he left and I don't know how close he is to my 'uncle'"

"Aaaaanndddd... Done!" Coco said as she pulled away from Nina's hands in victory.

"Want to test them out?" Coco said as she quickly packed away her tools. "They're sure to work better now that I've cleaned them, and they won't crush things unless you want to!"

Without another word, Nina pulled Coco into a tight, non-lethal hug. This was her first hug in... who knows how long...?! It felt so nice. Being able to hold someone without fear of killing them or breaking their ribs.

"Coco... T-Thank you..." Nina said as she cried into Coco's embrace.

"It's no probl-" Coco suddenly stopped as Nina pulled away.

"I have something to say-" Nina said as she looked down at her hands and back at Coco.

"I think I love you Coco- You understand me so well and you're so nice to me- I can't help but feel this way." Nina said as she cupped her hands around Coco's face- she had never been able to do this with anyone before, and Coco had been the one to set her free from the prison that those metal hands were.

"Nina I-" Coco said as she pulled her back into a hug. "I love you too. I love you so much. I care about you more than anything else- I just want you to be happy."

They spent the rest of the night gaming Minecraft. You know, blowing up villages and whatnot, normal gameplay. After they got tired, they fell asleep cuddling on Coco's bed, both of them finally truly happy, together.

"Cortex! Where is Nina! She is nowhere to be found in the castle! I must ask her something!" Uka Uka bellowed at Cortex, who was asleep on his futon.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Cortex flew up in fear and slammed straight into the wall.

"M-Mighty Uka Uka! I assure you I can find her pronto as I installed a tracker in her hands!" Cortex said as he ran to his computer, booting it up and going to a hidden folder.

"As soon as I launch this program it will show me her exact location! Haha!"

"Just get to it!" Uka Uka yelled.

As the program finished loading, it displayed an error message. "T-Tracker not found...? How can this be?! There's no possible way she could have removed it herself!"

"Ah... Uka Uka! I'm sure there's a solution...!"

"I've had enough of you! Come here so I can throttle you!"

"But you don't even have hands!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

The next three hours were passed with Cortex being chased by the mask, fearing for his life.

The next morning, Crash and Aku Aku found Coco and Nina sleeping in bed together, snoring loudly and cuddling.

"Um... Crash...?" Aku Aku said as he made sure what he was seeing wasn't some sort of strange magic.

"I'm not even going to ask... I just hope they wake up soon so they don't miss lunch. It's already 12 PM."

And so they left the room to let them sleep in peace, while Cortex lost his marbles trying to hide so Uka Uka didn't throw him into the castle's trash compactor.