A/Note: Wow, how about Tak, huh? Dib seemed to like her, didn't he? Well I
think so. I wanted to do a short fluffy thing about it, so here goes! And
this time, it's in the first person, from Dib's p.o.v.! And yes, I probably
am reading way too much into it all. Correction: Dib's last name whatever
it is, taken off. *shrugs* Nick.com sucks on super-toast and kills my poor
browser; I never even saw the full site until tonight, I'm serious. The
over-use of Flash should be punishable by rabid sewer rats. Whaddaya gonna
do? Ah well. Thanks for pointing it out.
"Tracking Tak"
Okay, I admit that I was shocked. I'm not certain what shocked me more, though… The fact that Tak really was an alien… or that Zim had come to me for help.
To be fair, I guess I had it coming. Heh, I mean think about it. I, Dib; the self-proclaimed paranormalist and protector of the Earth, the person who fancied himself the most capable of identifying any and all alien threats… was totally taken in by one. I never suspected, even for a moment. What was there to suspect? She only arrived in a freaky airship with a strange specter of a cat-like thing, immediately won over the entire class with free weenies, and then attacked the resident alien for no apparent reason with incredible viciousness that suggested a long-time, deep abiding hatred.
Maybe I'm slipping. Looking back on it, it seems really obvious.
I suppose that the fact that an attractive-looking female was willingly spending time with me, listening to my endless lectures on aliens, Zim, ghosts, aliens, werewolves… and I might even have mentioned aliens a time or two also… and Zim. I guess I should be glad that I didn't proclaim myself the sole hope of all humanity. She might have blown me to kingdom come right then and there.
She sat there, quietly listening, as I went on and on… I was an informant for an alien invader! It's a bit humiliating. Sure, she would have figured out that most of humanity is pretty stupid and inobservant eventually. But I can't help but think that I accelerated the timetable a bit.
And still… I can't hate her for it.
Yeah, you heard me. I can't. I remember accusing Zim of being jealous when he tried to tell me the truth about her. I accused him of being jealous. Jealous because I thought she was spending time with me because she liked me. Jealous because all the attempts he'd been making all week long to get her romantic attention had backfired on him horribly. I mean, the gifts, the flowers… you'd have had to have been blind not to see him trying valiantly to play the gallant boyfriend. Just about the only thing he hadn't tried was removing his coat or shirt and putting it over a puddle for her to walk over.
If it had rained at all that week, he probably would have, regardless of the chemical reaction that the water would have caused.
But she rebuffed his attempts. I celebrated inwardly. I'd turn around in class to talk to her, tell her some story of my exploits defending the Earth against Zim. Miss Bitters either didn't notice my inattentiveness to her lectures or figured I was too doomed anyway for it to make any difference. So I sat next to her at every opportunity, giddily telling her everything she needed to know. I practically handed her the Earth, considering that I shied from no subject in my lectures, and then tried to deny the idea of her true identity…
Blast it all, why can't I hate her?
I remember seeing her for the first time for real. I mean really seeing HER, not her disguise. I'd conned my way into Zim's base for it. Sure, I wanted to save the Earth. I'm not totally dense. I'd accepted that she obviously was an alien threat. But the idea that sprang into my head when Gaz held up that memory module, the notion that along with Tak's plans, that there might be an image of the real her, over-rode just about anything else.
I think I agreed to let Zim feed my brain to his robot or something. I don't really remember for sure. Everything sort of became hazy, after I got that idea of seeing her. I would have done just about anything for a glimpse of what she really looked like under that hologram.
I guess the most shocking thing was how much she *didn't* look like Zim. The eyes, so deep purple they were very nearly black… her long gracefully curved antennae… I recall wondering about that strange apparatus affixed to her head. It sounds so… strange to be thinking this way about someone who's not even my own species! Nothing in my encounters with Zim had prepared me for this. Sure, he looked strange, downright weird, even. When it comes down to it, Zim was just alien. Tak, she was *exotic*.
From the moment she'd sat down behind me and smiled, I'd been.. something… I'm not sure what to call it. Intrigued, perhaps. Now, I was entranced. It wasn't enough to have seen her image. I wanted to see her in person. To see that face in conjunction with hearing her voice… I forgot about Gaz. I walked right out and left her there in Zim's base. I told him that I'd shut off the magma pumps in her base to secure a ride.
I never thought that she'd actually go up in her ship to fight him. I assumed that she would send her ship out as a distraction and would retreat into her base to wait while Zim chased her ship fruitlessly across the skies until it was too late for anyone to stop her.
Okay, so I was wrong.
I was wrong about a lot of things.
How did I miss that huge on/off switch? Simple. I wasn't looking for it. I was looking for… her. I scoured every surface and shadow searching for either the inviting human image that she'd disguised herself with, or the startling, striking otherworldly beauty of her true self. I found neither. It was only after I'd raced through the entire building that I allowed myself to see the switch that had supposedly been my target.
With an inward sigh, I reached to turn it off. So she hadn't stayed to make sure nothing went wrong. She'd gone out to battle Zim, to prevent him from destroying her plan. I expected her to come back. I just knew that she would. She'd come back, and I'd be there. And I'd convince her to wait just a little while before trying to turn the Earth into a giant piñata for her.. Tallers or whatever they called themselves. She'd object, but I just knew that she'd relent. After all, she was the alien with the upper hand, wasn't she?
I'd talk to her. I'd remind her what a great time we'd had together, making Zim miserable. I'd tell her all the good things about the Earth. I'd win her over somehow! After all, if what she'd said in her message to the Tallest was true, we had so much in common. Both outcasts constantly denied the chance to prove themselves for no good reason! Frustrated! Alone!
But she never came.
Late that evening, I went home. Not trusting Zim to come back and pick me up, I instead decided to take the smelly, noisy bus all the way from downtown. My world was crushed. I saw Zim's ship re-enter the atmosphere and fire a gratuitous volley of laser shots at the gigantic hot dog stand as the last rays of sunset painted the skies in brilliant violet tribute to she who had so nearly destroyed this fragile world that I loved and had sworn to protect. So he'd made it. That probably meant that she hadn't.
But still… I could hear some inner voice whispering to me, the one that had always assured me that aliens existed, that I should keep going no matter the ridicule… that small inner voice that had always been right in the end… It seemed to think that she was alright.
That night, I sat outside, watching the sparkling glory of the distant stars. "Don't you just want to fly out there and see it all?" I asked Gaz. She looked up and shrugged indifferently. She probably knew that I wasn't really talking about looking for new galaxies, or contacting other civilizations. In her strange, uncanny way of seeing through things, I know that she knew I was only interested in looking for one particular alien. And it wasn't the one who would be in school tomorrow, idly trying to fit in with the rest of the class between attempts to conquer the planet.
Gaz went inside, leaving me to commune with the cold, distant stars. All I wanted was a sign. Some small assurance that the two of us would meet again. I looked back up in time to see something come hurtling through the sky to crash in the yard, hurling me a short distance from where I'd been watching. I stood, and crept cautiously toward the small crater. I peered through the smoke, and as it cleared, I let myself smile broadly in awe.
It was a sign. Not just any sign, but a sign just for me… I'd seen her ship only briefly, but I recognized it. For a brief shining second, I imagined that she might be inside, that I could take her in, tend to her injuries, be her guardian angel on a savage, hostile world.
She wasn't inside. I knew it before I even pried the hatch open to look in the ship. Some controls were smashed, sabotage of some sort? A faint blinking light and a fading diagram of the ship on a display caught my attention. I couldn't read the strange alien characters of the irken alphabet, but the visual aid of the diagram was enough. The small piece of the ship shown repeatedly shooting away from the main body declared wordlessly that Tak had abandoned ship in an escape pod. She was gone, no telling where.
I sat down in the seat that she'd vacated mere hours before. I closed my eyes, and listened to the strange sounds the device made around me, breathed the odd scent of it. She'd invested all her hopes and dreams in this small ship, it had probably been a sort of… home to her. Finally, I smiled. She had, intentionally or not, left me her vehicle. Her own space craft. Obviously, the fates intended that we meet again.
It might take me years to learn how to fix the ship. Who knew how long to learn to fly it. But one day, I'd see her again. If she didn't return to me, I would seek her out.
I've always been obsessed with aliens. It's… possible that love is just a new form for that obsession to take. One way or another, someday I'll see her again. I'll stand before her and see her as she truly is. I'll prove myself worthy to her.
Someday Tak… Someday….
A/Note: Good grief, that was some gooey fluff, wasn't it? Maybe this'll snap me out of the hiatus I keep putting UW on?
"Tracking Tak"
Okay, I admit that I was shocked. I'm not certain what shocked me more, though… The fact that Tak really was an alien… or that Zim had come to me for help.
To be fair, I guess I had it coming. Heh, I mean think about it. I, Dib; the self-proclaimed paranormalist and protector of the Earth, the person who fancied himself the most capable of identifying any and all alien threats… was totally taken in by one. I never suspected, even for a moment. What was there to suspect? She only arrived in a freaky airship with a strange specter of a cat-like thing, immediately won over the entire class with free weenies, and then attacked the resident alien for no apparent reason with incredible viciousness that suggested a long-time, deep abiding hatred.
Maybe I'm slipping. Looking back on it, it seems really obvious.
I suppose that the fact that an attractive-looking female was willingly spending time with me, listening to my endless lectures on aliens, Zim, ghosts, aliens, werewolves… and I might even have mentioned aliens a time or two also… and Zim. I guess I should be glad that I didn't proclaim myself the sole hope of all humanity. She might have blown me to kingdom come right then and there.
She sat there, quietly listening, as I went on and on… I was an informant for an alien invader! It's a bit humiliating. Sure, she would have figured out that most of humanity is pretty stupid and inobservant eventually. But I can't help but think that I accelerated the timetable a bit.
And still… I can't hate her for it.
Yeah, you heard me. I can't. I remember accusing Zim of being jealous when he tried to tell me the truth about her. I accused him of being jealous. Jealous because I thought she was spending time with me because she liked me. Jealous because all the attempts he'd been making all week long to get her romantic attention had backfired on him horribly. I mean, the gifts, the flowers… you'd have had to have been blind not to see him trying valiantly to play the gallant boyfriend. Just about the only thing he hadn't tried was removing his coat or shirt and putting it over a puddle for her to walk over.
If it had rained at all that week, he probably would have, regardless of the chemical reaction that the water would have caused.
But she rebuffed his attempts. I celebrated inwardly. I'd turn around in class to talk to her, tell her some story of my exploits defending the Earth against Zim. Miss Bitters either didn't notice my inattentiveness to her lectures or figured I was too doomed anyway for it to make any difference. So I sat next to her at every opportunity, giddily telling her everything she needed to know. I practically handed her the Earth, considering that I shied from no subject in my lectures, and then tried to deny the idea of her true identity…
Blast it all, why can't I hate her?
I remember seeing her for the first time for real. I mean really seeing HER, not her disguise. I'd conned my way into Zim's base for it. Sure, I wanted to save the Earth. I'm not totally dense. I'd accepted that she obviously was an alien threat. But the idea that sprang into my head when Gaz held up that memory module, the notion that along with Tak's plans, that there might be an image of the real her, over-rode just about anything else.
I think I agreed to let Zim feed my brain to his robot or something. I don't really remember for sure. Everything sort of became hazy, after I got that idea of seeing her. I would have done just about anything for a glimpse of what she really looked like under that hologram.
I guess the most shocking thing was how much she *didn't* look like Zim. The eyes, so deep purple they were very nearly black… her long gracefully curved antennae… I recall wondering about that strange apparatus affixed to her head. It sounds so… strange to be thinking this way about someone who's not even my own species! Nothing in my encounters with Zim had prepared me for this. Sure, he looked strange, downright weird, even. When it comes down to it, Zim was just alien. Tak, she was *exotic*.
From the moment she'd sat down behind me and smiled, I'd been.. something… I'm not sure what to call it. Intrigued, perhaps. Now, I was entranced. It wasn't enough to have seen her image. I wanted to see her in person. To see that face in conjunction with hearing her voice… I forgot about Gaz. I walked right out and left her there in Zim's base. I told him that I'd shut off the magma pumps in her base to secure a ride.
I never thought that she'd actually go up in her ship to fight him. I assumed that she would send her ship out as a distraction and would retreat into her base to wait while Zim chased her ship fruitlessly across the skies until it was too late for anyone to stop her.
Okay, so I was wrong.
I was wrong about a lot of things.
How did I miss that huge on/off switch? Simple. I wasn't looking for it. I was looking for… her. I scoured every surface and shadow searching for either the inviting human image that she'd disguised herself with, or the startling, striking otherworldly beauty of her true self. I found neither. It was only after I'd raced through the entire building that I allowed myself to see the switch that had supposedly been my target.
With an inward sigh, I reached to turn it off. So she hadn't stayed to make sure nothing went wrong. She'd gone out to battle Zim, to prevent him from destroying her plan. I expected her to come back. I just knew that she would. She'd come back, and I'd be there. And I'd convince her to wait just a little while before trying to turn the Earth into a giant piñata for her.. Tallers or whatever they called themselves. She'd object, but I just knew that she'd relent. After all, she was the alien with the upper hand, wasn't she?
I'd talk to her. I'd remind her what a great time we'd had together, making Zim miserable. I'd tell her all the good things about the Earth. I'd win her over somehow! After all, if what she'd said in her message to the Tallest was true, we had so much in common. Both outcasts constantly denied the chance to prove themselves for no good reason! Frustrated! Alone!
But she never came.
Late that evening, I went home. Not trusting Zim to come back and pick me up, I instead decided to take the smelly, noisy bus all the way from downtown. My world was crushed. I saw Zim's ship re-enter the atmosphere and fire a gratuitous volley of laser shots at the gigantic hot dog stand as the last rays of sunset painted the skies in brilliant violet tribute to she who had so nearly destroyed this fragile world that I loved and had sworn to protect. So he'd made it. That probably meant that she hadn't.
But still… I could hear some inner voice whispering to me, the one that had always assured me that aliens existed, that I should keep going no matter the ridicule… that small inner voice that had always been right in the end… It seemed to think that she was alright.
That night, I sat outside, watching the sparkling glory of the distant stars. "Don't you just want to fly out there and see it all?" I asked Gaz. She looked up and shrugged indifferently. She probably knew that I wasn't really talking about looking for new galaxies, or contacting other civilizations. In her strange, uncanny way of seeing through things, I know that she knew I was only interested in looking for one particular alien. And it wasn't the one who would be in school tomorrow, idly trying to fit in with the rest of the class between attempts to conquer the planet.
Gaz went inside, leaving me to commune with the cold, distant stars. All I wanted was a sign. Some small assurance that the two of us would meet again. I looked back up in time to see something come hurtling through the sky to crash in the yard, hurling me a short distance from where I'd been watching. I stood, and crept cautiously toward the small crater. I peered through the smoke, and as it cleared, I let myself smile broadly in awe.
It was a sign. Not just any sign, but a sign just for me… I'd seen her ship only briefly, but I recognized it. For a brief shining second, I imagined that she might be inside, that I could take her in, tend to her injuries, be her guardian angel on a savage, hostile world.
She wasn't inside. I knew it before I even pried the hatch open to look in the ship. Some controls were smashed, sabotage of some sort? A faint blinking light and a fading diagram of the ship on a display caught my attention. I couldn't read the strange alien characters of the irken alphabet, but the visual aid of the diagram was enough. The small piece of the ship shown repeatedly shooting away from the main body declared wordlessly that Tak had abandoned ship in an escape pod. She was gone, no telling where.
I sat down in the seat that she'd vacated mere hours before. I closed my eyes, and listened to the strange sounds the device made around me, breathed the odd scent of it. She'd invested all her hopes and dreams in this small ship, it had probably been a sort of… home to her. Finally, I smiled. She had, intentionally or not, left me her vehicle. Her own space craft. Obviously, the fates intended that we meet again.
It might take me years to learn how to fix the ship. Who knew how long to learn to fly it. But one day, I'd see her again. If she didn't return to me, I would seek her out.
I've always been obsessed with aliens. It's… possible that love is just a new form for that obsession to take. One way or another, someday I'll see her again. I'll stand before her and see her as she truly is. I'll prove myself worthy to her.
Someday Tak… Someday….
A/Note: Good grief, that was some gooey fluff, wasn't it? Maybe this'll snap me out of the hiatus I keep putting UW on?