Natalie McKleign was a thirteen year old girl. She never thought Christmas was very special, that is until last year. Last year on Christmas eve she lost her parents. They went out for dinner and when her parents went to pay the bill, they never came back. That was the worst day of her life. This Christmas, she is visiting her aunt and uncle in whatever town they live in. But the first day she arrived, she knew that this would be her second worst Christmas ever, little did she know that was far from the truth.

I woke up on Christmas Eve day, in the old, fold-out bed from my aunt and uncle's couch. I sat up and looked around with a sigh, it didn't feel right. I wasn't used to it. I grabbed my suitcase of clothes and walked groggily into the bathroom. I took a shower, it felt nice to refresh myself. I brushed my long, brown hair with side bangs. I quickly styled it and got dressed in the stupid costume my aunt and uncle wanted me to wear for the day. It was an elf costume, it was green and red with green and red striped stockings and red shoes with the bells on them. As well as the green and red elf hat with the bell. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed, the costume was ridiculous but it'd have to do. They begged me to put make-up on, some kind of eyeshadow and lipstick but I refused. I didn't like wearing make-up, I was sure that my pale skin was allergic to it. Besides that, I sighed and put my suitcase in the closet, where it hid for the day. I picked up my koala I had gotten at build-a-bear when I was five and hugged it before I delicately placed it in the closet. It was my last memory of my parents.

"Natalie, are you up dear?" I heard m Aunt Michelle call from the kitchen.

"Yes, I'm awake." I said as I walked into the kitchen to see my aunt Michelle in a Mrs. Clause costume and my uncle Charlie in a Santa Costume.

"Here, eat some breakfast before we go to the mall." she said with the same kindness she always had in her voice.

"No thanks, I'm not very hungry." I replied.

"Oh come on now, you've barely eaten since you got here. You need to gain some weight, you're so skinny!" she commented. I looked down at myself, I was pretty skinny. I shook my head anyways.

"Not hungry." I repeated.

"Okay. Well, we're leaving in five minutes." she said.

"Okay." I said. I walked into the living room and folded the bed back into the couch, folded the blankets and set them in the closet, and put the cushions back on the couch. By the time I'd finished it was time for us to leave. So we all got into my uncle's car and drove to the mall. As we walked into the mall I spotted a couple of people crowding around something. So I went over to look. I saw some kids dressed in an elf and Santa costume. And the one in the Santa costume was... green? I walked up to examine the situation more closely. The kid dressed looked like a robot. I wasn't sure but my Aunt grabbed my arm and pulled me into the mall. I sighed, this was going to be so boring. After about an hour I saw the two kids in the Santa and elf costumes again. I had been relaxing on one of the huge presents in the area where kids asked Santa what they wanted. I looked over at my aunt and uncle then ran over to them.

"Hey you there!" I called to them. The elf turned and waved but the Santa grabbed his arm and dragged him along. I jogged up to them and taped the Santa kid on his shoulder. He turned and looked at me with anger.

"What do you want stupid human." he said. "I hate this filthy earth holiday. I HATE IT! And I hate this planet too. I HATE IT!" he said. I blinked.

"Oh... I... um... I don't like Christmas either. Not that much." I said. I looked down at my feet. "I'm Natalie, by the way. And you are?"

"I'M GIR!" the elf said.

"I'm Zim." the Santa said flatly.

"Oh, well I'm bored. Where are you two going?" I asked

"Back to the base!" Gir said happily.

"SHUDDUP GIR!" Zim yelled.

"Um, okay..." I said. "You're weird." I said. I smiled, "Well, I need to make friends here before I leave. Maybe then I can stay in this town. I'm only staying until January first, but I leave the second." I said.

"Mhm. I didn't ask you filthy human." Zim said as he turned and began to walk away.

"Don't leave!" I said desperately. I glanced back once more before following him. "I want to be friends!" I begged. "Please, my parents disappeared last Christmas Eve! I have no one!" I called. Zim stopped and turned to face me.

"Zim has no pity!" he said. I pouted and my eyes began to get watery. "Um, well I..." he stuttered. "FINE! But know this, Invaders need no one. NO ONE!" he yelled. My eyes widened.

"THANK YOU!" I yelled as I hugged him.

"GET OFF! GET OFF OF ZIM!" he yelled. I let go of him.

"Sorry." I said. He dusted off and continued to walk. "Awe! It's so cute how you walk without bending your knees!" I commented.

"Shut up." he said, he seemed to be blushing.

"Okay." I said with a smile. We walked out of the mall and to his house. It was the coolest house I had ever seen. It was green and purple with lawn gnomes all over his front yard. We went inside and they both took off their costumes. I looked at my costume and sighed. I felt guilty about leaving my aunt and uncle like that, but I couldn't help it. I looked around and spotted a tiny Christmas tree in the corner.

"Why is your tree so small?" I asked

"Because it is." Zim replied.

"But, why?" I said.

"I hate earth. I hate Christmas. Simple as that Nat-human." he said.

"Nat-human? Why are you calling me 'human'? That's something an alien would say." I said.

"What? No. No, it's not. It's s normal thing to say. I like tv." he said with a nervous smile.

"Oh my gosh Zim, are you an alien?" I said.

"NO! I'm human! I'm very human!" he said.

"Then why are you green? And why do you call me human? And why do you hate earth? And why is there a robot in your house? And why do you walk without bending your knees? And, and, and-"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP! YES, YES! I AM AN ALIEN!" he yelled.

"Your joking right?" I asked. He glared at me. "I'm kidding!" I said quickly.

"Now, you best NOT tell ANYONE. Or else I will do something s horrible to you that-"

"Um, I don't think I want to know Zim. I won't tell anyone, I pinky promise." I said holding out a pinky.

"What?" he said. I rolled my eyes, grabbed his hand, wrapped my pinky around his and shook. He gave me a weird look.

"So, what's your robot's name?" I asked with a smile and a glisten in my eye.

"I'M GIR!" the robot yelled joyfully.

"What planet are you from and what's your species?" I asked.

"I am from the planet Irk. I'm an Irken. An Irken Invader to be specific." he replied.

"I'm not really sure what that means." I said with a laugh. I walked over to the couch and sat down. Zim sat next to me.

"It means I travel to a planet to DESTROY it for my tallest." he explained.

"Who?" I asked. He sighed and I looked at him. "Sorry. I'm sorry." I said.

"The tallest are my leaders, they are called the tallest because they are taller than anyone. I wish to please them in any way I can." he explained. I looked at him and smiled.

"That's cool." I said as I turned the tv on. An angry looking monkey popped up onto the screen as soon as it turned on. "WHAT THE FREAK?" I yelled, I curled up into a ball in the corner of the couch.

"It's just a show." Zim said in an attempt to comfort me.

"ANGRY MONKEY SHOW!" Gir yelled. I peeked out of my ball to see Gir sqeeze between me and Zim. I uncurled from my ball and looked at the tv screen.

"That's creepy." I said after a while.

"I know." Zim replied.

"But... I can't stop watching." I said.

"I know." Zim said again. I forced myself to stand up and look away.

"Your house, it's so..." I said, looking up thoughtfully, "how should I put this, it's boring. Quite boring. You need more holiday cheer! Come on then..." I said grabbing Zim and Gir's hands and dragging them out the door. "See your house? It needs Christmas lights! All over!" I stated. "And, your gnomes? Give them Santa outfits!" I suggested.

"Mhm, that's very nice human, but I hate Christmas." he said.

"I know, and so do I, but spreading holiday cheer doesn't mean you have it." I said flatly.

"Eh. I'm going to my lab. Don't mess anything up! And DON'T follow me!" he said walking back inside.

"Gir, you'll help me right?" I asked him in a whisper.

"Of course!" he said. He smiled at me and I smiled back. So we went to the store to buy a couple of lights, Santa costumes, and stuff to make gingerbread cookies. They ran back and started with the outside, putting lights all up on the house and dressing the gnomes in Santa outfits. They finally finished as a light snow began to fall.

"Ready Gir? One... two... three!" I said as the lights flicked on. "Wow, it looks so pretty!" I said. "Come on, let's go make these cookies." I said with a smile.

"Yay, cookies!" Gir said as I took his hand and we walked inside. Zim was nowhere to be seen so I quickly found a bowl and began to make the dough. As soon as that was finished we rolled it out and began to use the cookies cutters to make all sorts of Christmas shapes. Then we put them in the over and sat on the couch. Gir fell asleep on my lap as we watched television. When the cookies were done I quickly woke him up so we could take them out.

"Wow! They look so yummy!" I said with a smile. "We will frost them after they cool." I said.

"What is that smell?" Zim asked as he came up out of the toilet in the kitchen.

"Why were you in the toilet?" I asked.

"What? What did you do?" he asked

"We made cookies!" Gir said happily.

"Yeah, we were just about to frost them." I said. "Want to help?" I asked.

"No." he said flatly. I shrugged and me and Gir began to frost them. Zim stood there and watched us.

"FINISHED!" I yelled happily. "Try one Zim, please?" I asked.

"No, I hate human food!" he said.

"Just one!" I begged.

"Whatever, just give me!" he said, grabbing the cookie and taking a bite.

"So? So? Soooooo? What do you think?" I asked.

"Hm, this food isn't half bad. In fact, it's actually GOOD." he said. I smiled brightly.

"Oh, and we sorta, kinda, decorated the outside." I said nervously.

"You did WHAT?" he asked, he ran out the door and I followed. "Take this down immediately." he said with anger.

"But, it's so pretty." I said in awe.

"I told you NOT to mess anything up!" he yelled.

"But I didn't!" I argued.

"TAKE IT DOWN!" he yelled.

"NO!" I yelled back.

"You dare yell at Zim?" he challeged.

"No! No, no no, no no no no no no!" I said almost all at the same time.

"Good, then this will come down."

"Maybe." I said. Zim looked at me. "But I used my money on this." I said, using puppy dog eyes on him.

"No, that human trick won't work on me." he said stubbornly. I stared at him like that for a while. "Just give up, it's not going to work." he said. I didn't give up though, I just moved closer towards him. He backed away and looked at the house. "It can stay up for today. JUST TODAY. And if you don't take it down I will take it down and destroy it. Okay?"

"Okay!" I said with a smile I ran inside to see Gir sprawled on the couch covered in frosting. "Gir! Did you eat all the cookies?" I asked.

"No, I left... one... for you..." he said with a small smile. He seemed very full.

"Awe, thank you Gir." I said as I turned and walked into the kitchen. I ate my cookie with a smile. Then Zim walked by, he looked at me then went down his toilet thingy. So I picked Gir up and cuddled with him on the couch, he was so tiny and cute! We fell asleep. And when I first woke up again it was 4:00 AM. I sat up in surprise and looked around. "No no no no no..." I whispered to myself. "I stayed over!" I whispered loudly I stood up and looked around "Oh well, I guess I'll have to wait until daytime to go home." I took the presents I got for Gir and Zim out of a bag and place them under the tiny tree. It wasn't much but I had gotten Gir an adorable stuffed pig and Zim a digital map of the universe. I smiled and curled up on the other end of the couch, Gir was on the other end and I slept until I heard noise. I woke up and noticed that it was now 8:00 on Christmas morning and Zim was over by the tree. I looked at him and stood up drowsily. "Zim?" I said. He jumped when I said that and quickly stood to face me.

"Nat-human? Wh- what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I fell asleep on your couch last night." I said with a yawn. Gir sat up and smiled at me. "Merry Christmas, to you both." I said. "Well, I have to go now. I'm sure my aunt and uncle are worried." I said.

"Thank you." Zim said.

"What?"

"I said, thank you. For this map thing. It will be very helpful to my mission." he said. Gir stood up and looked at the tree, he picked up his present and ripped it open.

"A PIGGY!" he yelled, he turned and smiled at me. "Thank you!" he said as he ran over and hugged me.

"Well, I just thought you two should have some Christmas cheer." I said with a small smile. Zim looked at me and sighed, pulling a tiny box out of his pocket. (A/N: Does Zim have pockets? Oh well...)

"Here, take this." he said. I took the tiny box and opened it to find a bracelet with a tiny koala charm.

"Wh-what? You got this for me?" I asked.

"No, I made it. Gir told me you liked koalas" he said.

"But, Gir was with me the whole night." I said.

"No, he wasn't" Zim said. I shrugged and smiled again.

"Thank you both!" I said, I hugged Gir first and then I hugged Zim. This time Zim hugged back.

"Merry Christmas, human." he said.

"Merry Christmas." I said with a smile as I turned and walked out the door.