Reese had a clear goal in his mind as he descended the caves towards his friend Sol's dwelling. Due to being too big to fit in a fox's den, Reese had to shrink himself down in size to fit. As he turned a bend in the darkness, he came to a cavern that was lit by the glow of bioluminescent plants, mushrooms and lichen. They had been specifically planted in order to light up the caves, and were also useful for navigation. Reese was looking for a white mushroom. Following the trail of them would guide him to Sol's den. The caves’ changing nature meant that every time you entered them they would have a completely different layout to last time, but certain magical plants could be grown in such a way that they would at least lead somewhere consistently. Spotting the mushroom in amongst a patch of moss on a slope leading upward, he started to head up the slope. Reese listened to the sound of the wind whistling through the stone walls and the drops of water falling off stalactites. As he continued walking the tunnels, he thought of how the plants here only really survived due to magic. There was no natural sunlight due to whatever magic allows these caves to connect to any other cave underground. This also causes them to never go directly to the surface where the sun would be. Luckily they could somewhat control where the entrances to these caves would appear.

Well, influence would be more accurate, Reese thought as he drew up to the entrance to Sol's den. Taking note of the lantern powered by magic on the cave roof and some root vegetables in the garden, he finally knocked on the wooden door. As he waited, he took in the details of the door. It was round and painted green, with a window in it just above the centre. There were gold accents around the door knob and the edges. 

The door opened up with a smooth creaking noise. It opened to about half way, then Sol poked his snout out.

"Reese!" Sol said while lighting up, both figuratively and literally due to his magical pelt.

"It's good to see you, Sol!" Reese said, grinning, as he stepped into the foyer of Sol's den. "I see that you added a new door to the place," Reese said. Sol smiled. 

"Yeah! It uhh… leads to my greenhouse now", he said, following after Reese who was heading towards the new door. Opening it, Reese took a moment to just take in the sight of what Sol had made. It was a small garden that was situated on top of a tree branch that Caused several difficulties, not only limited due to the fact that he had to bring the dirt up to the place where he wanted to make his garden but he also had to grow the tree in such way that it wouldn't grow into the plants ever, as Sol aged. Stepping through the doorway, he could see the entirety of the tree that Sol had managed to grow all on his own. Reese continued walking forward. Looking ahead, he could see the bark of another tree, specifically the tree he was standing on. Sol's tree always had a copy of itself within itself. That was one of the more magical things about this place. Looking up at Sol's tree, his eyes lingered on the rotten spots and the places where pruning had taken place. What would have happened if he hadn't done anything to help them? What would have happened if those relationships had never been made in the first place? What if he had never cut ties with those bad friends? 

"I should have done more to help him," Reese thought. "But I was too foolish to realize what I was doing; or what she was doing to me."

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"Um. Are you OK?" Sol's voice said, cutting through Reese's thoughts.

He shook himself.  "I'm fine,'' he said, turning to look at Sol. "Do you happen to have any flowers for a gravestone?".

. . . 

As he began his trek back up to set up the dimensional portal with the bouquet of flowers in tow, Reese thought about what else he should bring with him. A book, maybe? No. Maybe he should bring a gravestone? 

"Hey!"

Reese jumped slightly, turning to find the source of the voice which belonged to Aidan.

 "I heard you went down to Sol's place" Reese regarded Aidan, whose hand was partially fused with the nanobots that made up the wall, leaving his paws hanging in the air. Not even the metal paddles that were attached to the exoskeleton around his legs were touching the floor. And his mask was showing a smirk.

Reese smiled and said, "Yup, went down to check what the new door was about, also to get a bouquet of flowers" he said holding up said bouquet. All while continuing to walk towards the local nexus point.

Aidan frowned, then said, "Why do you need a bouquet of flowers?" 

Reese sighed then said, "I'm heading to the Chelmspawa Mountain range." Aidan Visor blinked. 

After a moment he finally said "oh".

"Yeah," Reese said, “I'm trying to figure out what else I should bring.” 

"What about a picnic mat?" Aidan suggested.

Reese thought the suggestion over. Finally they arrived at the local nexus point, and Reese nodded.

"I think that's a good idea," he said, then continued, "do you think you could set up the portal while I get the mat?"

Aidan nodded and disconnected his hand from the wall, then walked to the console next to the portal platform and started to set up the gateway. Reese looked past Aidan for a moment, thinking about how lucky he was that his friends were still with him, and how they forgave him. Despite pushing them away when he was hurting, and hurting them when they were just trying to help him rule. Reese shook his head. While he did do those actions, it was primarily due to his bad associations that had encouraged his bad behavior. Thinking about what could have happened doesn't change what happened, but they still forgave him. Reese turned and walked deeper into the facility, thinking of where he might find a picnic mat.

. . .

The sun was setting on the mountains as Reese reached the top of the hill with a pack filled with picnic stuff, gifts, and a bouquet of flowers, along with other things.

He set down his pack, and brought out the picnic mat. He unfolded it onto the grass. It was a red checkerboard colour. Putting his pack onto it and sitting down upon it, he brought out the rest of the stuff he had brought. A journal, a bouquet of flowers, and some incense were among the more important things, he decided, leaving the gravestone in the pack. Finally, after setting up a small memorial, he only had one thing left to place in it. Bringing out a photo that was taken in the early days of his relationship with Tales Crafter, he placed it in the center of the memorial, lit the incense, and watched the sun set behind the mountains as best as he could. This was not the first anniversary of her death. Nor was it the first time he had taken the day off to grieve, but this was the first time he was able to grieve at the place of her death. Sitting there, he was struck by the fact that she would have never allowed time off for a funeral if any of his other friends had died. Reese closed his eyes and grieved.