CHAPTER NINE
❝The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to.❞
Carl Sandburg
✦✧✦
It is May. School ends in a month, and for Nicky and Luna, that means the end of high school. The end of childhood. Nicky's planning to apply to NYU, and Luna's already been accepted to George Washington University online to study--you guessed it--history. She doesn't quite know what she wants to do with her degree, but that's the beauty of life. You figure it out as you go.
Larry's flashlight did much better than he was anticipating, and Daley Devices is a thing now. It's not quite a full business, but the billionaire who funded it has been pitching it to some of his clients, and Larry's making bank on his glow-in-the-dark flashlight. There was even a column about Daley Devices in the New York Post the other day, and Larry's got it framed on his wall, which Luna thinks is kind of hilarious, but definitely deserved.
It's also been three and a half weeks since Luna last saw Ahkmenrah. Which really sucks.
The first week was the worst. It was hard to listen to Les Mis without thinking about him, but she managed, and spent most of it studying with Nicky, which kept both their minds off the museum.
The second week was better. Luna discovered a new band, Vampire Weekend, and Nicky was very pleased to not have to listen to Into the Woods again. "Oxford Comma" was the anthem of the week, and study sessions would usually culminate in the both of them singing the final lines under their breath: "'Show your paintings at the United Nations/Lil Jon, he always tells the truth...'"
The third week, Luna realized what the butterflies mean.
(And so did Ahkmenrah, reader.)
They're currently eating PopTarts and playing Halo when Nicky's phone rings. "Hang on," Nicky says, pressing the PAUSE button so that his avatar is mid-destruction of Luna's and pressing ANSWER and SPEAKER on his phone. "What's up, Dad?"
"Hey, kiddo," says Larry's tinny-phone-speaker voice. "What are you doing right now?"
"Playing Halo with Lu."
"Hi, Luna."
"Hi, Mr. Daley." Luna breaks off another piece of her confetti cake PopTart (limited edition!) and pops it into her mouth.
"You guys up for a museum night tonight? I got off early and was kind of feeling something fun."
Luna gives Nicky a very vigorous nod and Nicky stifles a laugh. "Yeah, sure, Dad," he says into the phone. "What time?"
"It's, uh, four-forty now? Does five sound good?"
"That sounds great."
"Do you want me to pick you up?"
"Nah, we'll walk," Nicky says with a meaningful look at Luna (this is when we say 'oh dear' collectively, reader).
"Okay. See you guys there." And Larry hangs up.
"You want to finish this?" Luna asks, gesturing to the screen. She's kind of hoping not, since Nicky keeps a tally of how many times he's beaten her (it's in the hundreds-to-double-digits range).
"Hell yeah." Nicky grins and presses PLAY, and almost immediately, Luna's avatar is dead and Nicky's 499-22 in the tally. Damn it.
Ten minutes later, they're outside, drinking iced coffees from a cute stand on the corner, and enjoying the gentle breeze flowing off the river. Spring in New York doesn't last long before giving way to summer, but it's easily seventy degrees and very comfortable out. The breeze ruffles Luna's hair as she sips her almond milk latte. It's beautiful.
"So," Nicky says after a minute, "you like Ahkmenrah."
Luna almost chokes on her coffee. "Excuse me?"
"That wasn't a question. You like him."
"I--" Luna starts to argue, but Nicky stops her.
"Before you try to lie to me, I'd just like to remind you that we've been friends for almost fourteen years, we made a pact in sixth grade never to lie to each other that my hemophobic ass almost passed out during, and also, I can tell when you're lying to me. But please, continue."
Luna rolls her eyes. "Way to make me feel guilty."
"My pleasure." Nicky sips his coffee, grinning.
Luna sighs. "Shit. Yeah, I like him. Is that weird?"
"Is it weird that you have a crush on an undead Egyptian king who only comes to life at night?" Nicky pretends to think about it for a minute, then shrugs. "Nah, not at all."
"You know, it only sounds weird if you say it like that."
"When are you gonna tell him?"
"Tell him?"
"Yeah, dude, he's got it bad for you."
Luna scoffs, forgetting there's coffee in her mouth, and almost chokes again. When she recovers and Nicky's finished laughing his head off, she says, "He does not!"
"Then you're blind, queen, because those gorgeous eyes are saying 'I'm totally in love' whenever he looks at you," Nicky says, in a brilliant impression of literally any of the Kardashians.
Quite cleverly, Luna changes the subject to summer vacations--Larry's planning to take Nicky to northern Maine for a few weeks, and Luna's trying to convince her parents to let her go, too--and they talk about all the things they want to do--Luna wants to visit the famous lighthouse, the Portland Head Light; Nicky just wants to eat lobster--until they're standing in front of the museum, waiting for Larry.
After about five minutes of waiting, a very nice black car pulls up and Larry hops out of the backseat, still dressed for work and carrying a paper bag. He waves at them, smiling, then turns to the driver and says something. The driver nods and pulls away, leaving Larry on the curb.
"Hey, guys!" Larry says, jogging over to them. "Who won in Halo?"
"Who do you think won?" asks Nicky with a shit-eating grin on his face. Luna punches him in the arm, but she can't resist smiling. She's with her best friend and about to go see... Well, you know.
They hurry up the front steps toward the massive glass doors, and then Larry stops, frowning. Luna peers around to see what he's looking at--
An official-looking sign that reads "Closed for Renovations".
"'Closed for Renovations'?" Nicky raises his eyebrows. "Have they ever been closed?"
"No." Larry leads the way through the revolving doors and into the lobby.
"Oh, my god..." Luna breathes, her eyes wide. There are crates and boxes everywhere, all of them marked and sealed, and everything looks so empty and strange. She wonders where Ahkmenrah is.
"Um, hello! Excuse me!" A very familiar British voice comes hurtling toward them. "Unauthorized personnel!" And then Dr. McPhee's eyes land on them and they narrow even further. "Oh. If it isn't our own Mr. Success Story. Come for one of your nostalgia tours?" He gestures to Luna and Nicky. "With the little baby night guards? I haven't seen you for a few months."
"Yeah, I've been busy," Larry says, somewhat awkwardly. "And the kids are graduating, so..."
"What's going on?" Luna asks impatiently, cutting him off. "Why is everything packed away?"
Dr. McPhee lets out a heavy sigh. "Progress, so they tell me. 'The future.'" He steps over to a small display Luna hadn't even noticed before. "Behold: natural history, version 2.0." He presses a button on the side and a holographic display pops up into the air above them. As they watch, a digital version of Teddy, riding on Texas, gallops into view. He waves at them.
"Welcome to the Museum of Natural History, where history comes to life! Step up, ask your question, then let the next little boy or girl have their turn!"
Luna stares around at Larry and Nicky, both of whom have similar shocked expressions on their faces, and finally Larry leans in closer and asks, "Okay, where were you born?"
Digital Teddy smiles. "Right here in New York City, on 20th Street, October 27, the year of our Lord 1858!"
Dr. McPhee sighs and presses another button. Digital Teddy glitches and skips forward, talking unintelligibly until finally disappearing back into the display.
"Blah, blah, blah," says McPhee, looking back up at them with an indifferent expression. "History, history, learning, learning. Changing America one child at a time." He gives a tiny shrug.
"That's great," Larry replies slowly. "So you're adding some new interactive exhibits?"
"No, Mr. Daley, not adding. Replacing the old exhibits."
"You can't do that!" Luna blurts before she can stop herself. Her heart is suddenly racing eighty miles an hour.
Dr. McPhee turns around and shakes his head, giving her one of those aw-what-a-naïve-child looks. "It's already done."
Before Luna can protest any further, Nicky asks, "Where are they going?"
"Away," McPhee answers ambiguously, waving a hand at all the crates. "The dioramas, the waxworks, even some of the shabbier animals like this--" He walks over to an open crate and pulls Dexter out, looking down at him appraisingly-- "scrawny little monkey."
Larry makes a gesture similar to yanking Dexter out of McPhee's hands. "You should be careful. He's a capuchin."
Dr. McPhee gives Larry a you've-got-to-be-shitting-me look. "It's a monkey."
"He's a rare breed. He's a capuchin." Larry shrugs. "He's not just a monkey."
"Okay, as much as I love this conversation," Luna says, rolling her eyes, "I want to know whose idea it was to get rid of everything that's actually natural history in the natural history museum."
"Me, of course." Dr. McPhee puffs out his chest importantly. "I'm in charge. Me and the board. Mainly the board. Anyway, why do you care?"
"Because people love this stuff!" Luna protests, and she resists the urge to say "I love this stuff."
Dr. McPhee snorts derisively. "Sweetheart, people love 'what's next'." He turns his gaze on Larry. "You should know that. You left."
"My situation changed," Larry replies defensively. "My business took off--"
"Yeah, you became a success!" McPhee interrupts. "So would I, if I was a night guard."
"So, wait, where is everyone going?" Nicky asks, setting his empty coffee cup on the front desk counter.
"Deep storage," McPhee replies with a sigh. "The Federal Archives."
"Where's that?" asks Larry, but it's not McPhee who answers this time; it's Luna.
"Washington, D.C.," she says, her voice barely a whisper. Her heart finds a place to rest somewhere beneath her stomach, her hands beginning to shake.
"Under the Smithsonian." Dr. McPhee looks slightly impressed.
"There's gotta be something we can do." Larry shakes his head, looking as anxious as Luna feels.
"It's done!" Dr. McPhee replies, exasperated. "They leave tomorrow morning." He lowers his voice slightly sympathetically. "It's over."
The three of them watch as he picks up his briefcase and walks slowly out of the lobby and down the stairs outside, disappearing from view. There's a deadly silence in the museum now. It echoes all the nights to come and it chills down to the bones. Luna wishes she'd worn a sweater, despite the warm weather outside; she can't stop rubbing her arms.
Nicky grabs her hand and squeezes it, pulling her close to him. "It's gonna be okay," he says, and together they watch the sunset through the giant windows above the lobby doors. It's a beautiful, horribly sad sunset.
And then there's a gentle, dinosaur-bone-like nudge on each of their shoulders. Luna grins half-heartedly. "Hey, Rexy."
"Hey, buddy, how you doing?" Larry coos, patting the tyrannosaur's nose bone. "How you doing with all this?"
Rexy nudges the paper bag in Larry's hands and Larry pulls out a massive rope dog toy. The two of them tussle with it for a while, and Luna and Nicky are content to watch, waiting for the other exhibits to wake up.
There's a loud crashing noise around them as the lid of every crate bursts open and exhibits climb out, gasping for air: the Neanderthals, Dexter, Sacagawea, Attila, and even the miniatures! There's an overwhelming sense of home in the air that both warms Luna and brings a lump to rest in the back of her throat.
"Lawrence!" Teddy--the real wax Teddy this time--gallops into the room, grinning widely. "Good to see you, lad!" He tips his hat to Nicky and Luna. "Young man. My dear lady."
"Hi, Teddy." Luna smiles up at him.
"Yeah, you, too, Teddy." Larry shakes Teddy's hand, a nostalgic expression on his face.
"The Guardian of Brooklyn has returned!"
Luna's heart leaps into her throat. Ahkmenrah. She whips around, her pulse racing--
And there he is. The same beautiful royal clothing, same glittering smile, same piercing eyes. His gaze moves to Luna and something raw, something visceral changes in it. Like it's only the two of them in the room. Like all he cares about is her.
Before he can finish saying her name, she's in his arms, hugging him as tightly as she can and burying her face in his neck, not caring a whit that every eye in the room is on them. "I missed you," she breathes, overwhelmed by the familiarity of him.
"Being apart from you was worse than anything any man could ever do to me," Ahkmenrah replies, his voice soft, and then he does something he's never done before: he presses his lips to her forehead for a split second, a sweet, gentle kiss before anyone else can see--and then he lets her go.
"Hey, Ahk!" Larry waves from across the room, then turns back to Teddy. "Look, McPhee told me what's going on around here. I had no idea."
"Indeed." Teddy nods gravely. "A lot has transpired, Lawrence, since your last visit. One would say that--"
Larry's phone buzzes in his pocket and Luna resists the urge to roll her eyes. "This happens a lot," she whispers to Ahkmenrah, who nods seriously.
"Ah. Cricket." Teddy nods wisely, and Luna stifles a laugh.
Jedediah yells something at Larry that sounds quite rude, Dexter makes a grab for the zipper of Nicky's pants, and Luna turns to look up at Ahkmenrah. "I think that's our cue to leave."
Ahkmenrah grins and takes her hand in his, slipping his fingers through hers and sending a shiver down her spine. "My lady."
They walk slowly down the quiet halls, as close as they can possibly be, saying nothing with words and everything in their eyes, and then Ahkmenrah pushes open a door and pulls Luna into a dark room.
Her eyes take a moment to adjust to the darkness--and then she sees it. The nine-foot-tall amethyst geode Teddy and Sac saw on their first date. Up close and in the dark, it's even more beautiful than she imagined, shining more brightly than any star she's ever seen.
After a moment, she broaches the question they've both been avoiding. "So...you're really leaving?"
Ahkmenrah lets out a long sigh. "It seems so. From what little I gather, the higher authorities deem us unworthy to teach children about natural history, so they're packing us away."
"Ahk, you're going to D.C." Luna shakes her head, gripping the railing separating them from the geode so tightly her knuckles turn white. "To the Federal Archives, which is one of the most secure places in the country. It's four hours away by car, and even then, we could never get in to see you or anyone else."
Ahkmenrah's eyes widen and he reaches out for her hand again, almost instinctively. "My gods," he breathes. "My gods."
"I think this is our only eclipse," Luna whispers, blinking away the sudden stinging warmth in her eyes.
"No." Ahkmenrah clears his throat, looks away. "No. I refuse to believe that. If tonight is truly goodbye, we must make the most of it." He squeezes her hand and gives her a watery smile. "A soccer tournament, perhaps? Or a movie?"
It's a plea of distraction that Luna gladly welcomes, so they rejoin the others and suggest a soccer tournament, and the teams change: Luna, Nicky, Columbus, and a few of the Huns versus Attila, Ahkmenrah, Sacagawea, Larry, and the rest of the Huns. (It was not a good idea to put Luna and Ahkmenrah on opposite teams, reader; he tries his best not to hit her and she has no problem shoulder-checking him into the front desk.)
Despite their best efforts, however, Luna's team gives up three goals to Ahkmenrah's (two of them are Sac's) and the losing team takes a lap of shame around the lobby.
"I hate you so much," Luna pants, leaning against the front desk next to Nicky and Ahkmenrah.
"Which of us?" Nicky asks, smirking.
"Either of you, I'm not picky." Luna bursts out laughing at the offended look on Ahkmenrah's face. "Oh, come on, Ahk, it's a joke!"
"That was not funny," Ahk says, sounding very hurt, but after a few minutes of Nicky and Luna laughing hysterically, he lightens up and soon is howling along with them, especially after Dexter succeeds in pantsing Nicky and scampers to the top of the giant globe behind the desk, screeching derisively.
But all too soon, it's ten minutes until sunset, and the rest of the exhibits file back into the lobby and begin climbing into their respective crates. Luna walks Ahkmenrah back to his crate, as slowly as she possibly can, and then he stops her. "Luna--"
"No." Luna shakes her head, her eyes already brimming with tears. "Don't say goodbye. Don't. No goodbyes."
Ahkmenrah brings his hands up to cup her face, his skin soft against hers, and smiles sadly. "Until our next eclipse, then, my darling." His eyes never leave hers, deep oceans of everything unspoken between them, and Luna tilts her chin up to him, leaning in slightly--
And then Larry walks past and says, "Five minutes, guys. Hurry." And the moment is gone.
Luna helps Ahkmenrah climb into his crate, and just as she's about to slide the lid closed, he takes her hand gently in his and presses it to his lips, a single tear sliding down his cheek. The touch of his lips to her skin burns like fire and Luna bites her lip to fight off the sobs welling in her throat.
"Do you have the tablet?" she whispers, not trusting her voice to go any higher.
Ahkmenrah nods, patting the packing peanuts beside him. "I never leave home without it." He cracks a watery smile, and Luna laughs quietly, sniffling and wiping away her tears.
Neither one of them wants to look away from the other, but finally, Ahkmenrah mouths a silent goodbye and pulls the lid shut on his crate.
Luna gives Teddy a goodbye hug and kiss on the cheek, her heart sinking knowing that this is the last night he, Rexy, the Easter Island head, and so many others will wake up at sunset.
The sun peeks through the windows above the doors and all is still in the museum.
As if he could read her mind (and we all know best friends can, reader), Nicky appears by her side and holds her while she cries, mourning the loss of her friends, the people she cares about most in the world.
It's a beautiful, horribly sad sunrise.
✦✧✦
i'm so sorry for how long this took me. you would not believe how hard it was to find natm 2 without paying lots of Money™ and i'm a mega cheapskate, sooooo... but i did it!!!
i also wanted to mention that YES there are variances to the original movie in this chapter. get used to those. i'm using the original first draft of the script where ahkmenrah actually has a part in the movie as a reference (tbh it's hilarious and has so much more lore in it), so there'll be some lines and plot from that, some from the original movie, and some of my own creation, just for the plot's sake.
here's the link to that script if you would like to read (please do, it's amazing):
https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Night_At_The_Museum_2.pdf
q: do you like wattpad comments?
a: yes!! i love y'all's comments, they make the story so much more real to me <3