Okay...so in order to convert .8 into a fraction I can try converting it into a percentage first. Percentage means a factor of one hundred percent.

This recent uprising of his inner genius led the grade schooler to furiously scribble away his previous work with a worn down eraser. He blew the rubbery shreddings away with a slice of annoyance.

.8 would be...eight percent? No. No that would be .08. It's eighty. So it's eighty over a hundred. At least I caught myself in time. I'm getting somewhere, right?

Despite an emerging inner wizard, his head began to throb. This was borderline maddening.

But I can't leave it as is. I have to simplify. Oh how it's so hard not to shut down at this step. It's okay. All I have to do use the half and half method that teacher taught me...so half of eighty is forty. Half of forty is twenty. But what about the denominator? Do I halve that too?

Seconds became the longest few minutes of his life. His mind just wouldn't compute the numbers. He was ready to flip the table.

For crying out loud, this packet is thirteen pages long?! That's more than the years I've lived! And it's nothing but this boring stuff!

Knock Knock Knock.

Ted's head suddenly shot up and turned sharply in the direction of the front door. He could see beyond the curtain, silhouetted like an angel with a yellow aura piercing through the barrier of fabric, a dainty shadow stood erect from the other side. An angel of mercy, no doubt.

"Hello? Ted? Are you in there?" a sweet voice called from the other side. Rich like honey, smooth as milk. Ted's frustration turned to mist and rained down over him in sugary bursts. Now all he could only smile giddily.

It was Audrey.

With little to no hesitation, he dropped his chewed pencil and abandoned his studies like the plague, tearing across the kitchen before reaching the main entrance. With a dramatic tug, the door flew open, and there a redheaded beauty stood before him, hair and clothes blowing softly in a welcoming breeze.

"Audrey, hey!" the younger boy greeted almost breathlessly, absent-mindedly smoothing out the kinks in his brown hair. "What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting you to come by today!"

He sounded overjoyed, even if what he said wasn't exactly true. Not that he wasn't happy to see her. Oh, he was as ecstatic as any twelve year old boy would be if he had a gorgeous, kindhearted high school girl freely choosing to spend her time with him. But he had expected her. Anticipated it even. It'd always been at this hour too. Ever since the planting of what almost became the very last Truffula seed, Audrey was kind enough to visit him daily so the two of them could share more adventures together under the sun and out in Thneedville's new batch of fresh air.

Thankfully. This had been ongoing for over half a year. But his same over-enthused reaction never changed. He always welcomed the teenager into his home like it was his first time doing so, with sweaty palms and a pounding heart. Sometimes he would even forget how to say hello.

Audrey addressed him with a grin, politely stepping past him and into his home. She was beautiful as ever, with her long scarlet hair and perfect eyes that sparkled like Christmas trees, expressing so much warmth.

"You don't mind if I come inside for a bit, do you?"

At this, Ted's face fell entirely. It's not that his home was a bad place to be, if you didn't count that he shared it with his mother and grandmother. However, he'd long grown immune to their embarrassing comments about the relationship between him and Audrey.

It was only odd because there was never a moment that went by where Audrey wouldn't have preferred being outside. Especially with nature at its ripest. The color green was becoming more dominating by the second.

"No way! You're always welcome here. Is it too hot to be out right now or something?" he asked with genuine curiosity, stealing a quick glance at the daylight pouring into the house behind him.

Audrey sighed out a laugh. "Actually it feels great! Even better than yesterday or the day before! A wind is starting to pick up."

Wind? And she's purposely missing that? Now Ted's nerves were in knots. His eyes darted every which way as he warily shut the door. "Oh. Well did you...uh...need something then?"

And now, she was snorting. Ted immediately turned away and slapped his forehead in shame when he was sure she wasn't looking.

"Honestly, Ted, if I'm being intrusive you can tell me."

Ted gasped from behind his arm and tore it away. "N-No! Not at all! I wasn't lying when I said you were welcome here! I didn't mean to make you feel bad or anything!" he babbled nervously. "It's just...you know I thought there might be a reason behind it, like maybe to use the restroom, or get a glass of water," Ted tapped at his fingers one by one. "Or maybe you...aha...want to say something to me in private away from everyone else," his voice trailed off, his twelve year old fantasies running rampant as he scoffed to himself with reddening cheeks.

"Actually," Audrey started, turning her attention away from the unfinished stack of homework on the kitchen table so that she could look at him fully with bright green eyes. "You're absolutely right. That is why I wanted to come in," she said, quieting suddenly. "I wanted to say this and make sure no one heard me. That way it could be special. Something just between the two of us."

Ted's jaw was about ready to hit the floor. The two of us, she had said.

Oh no...she isn't...is she really going to...Is this truly happening?

Audrey's hands suddenly flew into his and he felt himself melt like a gumdrop. An orchestra started off in the back of his mind.

Oh man, her hands are so soft! She's going to tell me she likes me! Like LIKES me!

"Ted..."

Ted! That's me! I'm Ted! I'm the lucky guy! The boy's eyes spaced out drunkenly. I imagined this moment wouldn't happen until some time in the distant future...and I imagined myself with a bit more chest hair, or at least already out of junior high. But I won't complain! Not if it means Audrey, THE Audrey, telling me-

"Let's go see The Once-Ler."

His rising hopes suddenly fell like speared birds. All the harps in his head silenced. The young boy was brought back down to Earth and blinked several times.

"Wait what?"

She laughed to herself, seeming shy. "I know, I know, it's a bit of a rude suggestion. When you told me about him, you said he doesn't take kindly to uninvited guests, and that he has his own reasons for not coming into town on his own, and so on and so forth..." Audrey said, gaze lowering. "But...I don't know, you've told me so much and I'm really interested in seeing him for myself! Maybe one little visit will encourage him to come out of hiding!"

Ted's left eye twitched. He did the unthinkable, and weakly pulled himself free from the excited girl's grasp. Only one word fell from his mouth. "Why?"

And he meant it. Why?

The Once-Ler was the one to completely eliminate the forest of Truffula trees so many decades ago. He had taken with it the air, the rich and fertile soil, the thriving wildlife, the authentic colors. All in the name of business, to sell a scarf. He was only not a monster in Ted's eyes because he'd shared that intimate chapter of his life while the two were barely more than strangers. He understood his remorse, but it never excused his actions.

Audrey knew next to nothing about him besides what he'd done. So theoretically, she should hate him. Even if blindly He was the reason behind the world and its habitat going completely awry. He was the reason behind O'Hare's success and temporary power over everyone in Thneedville. He was the reason they lived in a world where plastic bumblebees came out of plastic flowers on plastic lawns. Only now were things finally changing.

He started it all. He ended it all. But Ted was the one to fix it. Without him, the seed would still be cooped up with that crotchety old hermit in his smelly old tower in the middle of barren old nowhere.

So why?

Suddenly, a stack of sourly scented papers were being shoved into his arms. Ted managed to catch the thin files before they spilled to the floor. He noticed a headline at the top of the splotchy pink page, in big, faded text:

ONCE-LER. THE FACE OF SUCCESS.

"It also helps that I found these!" Audrey stated proudly, noting the curiosity on the younger boy's face.

"Agh. They smell ancient. I didn't even know these still existed," he wretched. But Audrey was already slipping her fingers in between to grab a particular article and pull it free, not seeming to mind the odor. She presented it proudly.

"They're from over fifty years ago. Isn't that so neat? I came across them last night. They'd been stuffed away in my attic."

Ted couldn't process anything she was telling him. Something caught his eye on the page she was holding. He zeroed in on the face of a young man. Discolored and framed by a box. Light skin, dark hair, eyes hidden behind a pair of gaudy shades. He also wore a top hat and uniform, both so sharp the edges looked dangerous. To contrast, he was cradling something fluffy, frayed, and unbelievably soft-looking. The man was smirking with pride, and even the slightest bit of mischievousness.

"Is that...?"

"Him? The Once-ler?" Audrey finished for him. "Yes, it sure is! Fascinating, isn't it? Don't you think he'd like to see these?"

Ted was at a loss for words. The youthful, ambitious man staring back at him, no older than twenty two, his wide eyes barely visible. Was this really the same mustachioed old coot who'd told him the story of the Truffula forest and the legendary Lorax? Ted still had yet to see the Once-Ler now, as he was. But he couldn't imagine that this was that man. It just seemed too wide a parallel.

"Audrey..." Ted started, feeling his considerations teeter back and forth. "I'm not too sure about this. I'd hate to bother the guy. He doesn't talk about the past that much anymore."

"So we'll take these newspapers to him, and ask him all about it! I'm sure one little visit won't hurt. He can share the story with me like he did with you, and you'll be there just in case there's any small details you might've missed!" she prompted, shooing him towards the door. "Please take me, Ted! We'll go on your scooter! We'll be back before sundown! Just lead the way! Hurry!"

Ted instinctively followed the redhead until she stopped dead in her tracks. She had come face to face with Ted's own Grammy Norma. Hair in tight white curls, eyes squinted in concentration while she nonchalantly knitted away at something rosy pink. Her whole body blocked the way out.

"Off on another sunshiney journey today, kiddos?" she asked kindly, glancing at Audrey.

Both children stepped away in surprise. How did such an old woman move so incredibly fast?

"Grammy! Aha...yes. I guess you could say..." Ted looked over to Audrey's eager face and sighed defeatedly, "...we are."

Audrey gasped. "We are?!"

"You are?" Grammy Norma chimed in, squinting at him from beyond her crosshatching needles. Ted forced a smile back and chuckled anxiously. "Yeah, just...j-just going for a ride today. Should feel really cool with all the wind we've been having lately."

Sewing needles suddenly flew across the room and clattered onto the dining room table. Ted turned to face the noise, and all it took was that split moment of distraction. A pair of stubby hands ripped away the papers in his arms. When he peered forward dumbfounded, he found his grandmother's face hidden by a huge sheet of the pale pink paper.

"My word..." she said softly, in a tone Ted wasn't familiar with. "This sets off my butterflies. That really is him, isn't it? That's the Once-Ler."

Audrey bunched her fingers together excitedly. "Sure is!" she answered, leading Ted to cringe. "We were going to go take them to him and maybe hear his story about the Truffula trees one more time!"

"But you know what, keep the newspapers, Grammy. We don't need them right now," Ted hurriedly grabbed Audrey's wrist and prompted her out the front door. "He probably doesn't want to see them anyway. We better get going now, we're only losing time, and wind! Right, Audrey? C'mon let's go."

He'd barely taken two steps off the front porch, when a cane suddenly hooked his neck and tugged him back into the house.

"Not so fast, mister!" Grammy Norma exclaimed, reeling him in as Audrey closed the door with uncertainty so that they were all back inside. She and Ted detached themselves.

Ted pulled himself free and rubbed his sore Adam's Apple protectively. "What are you doing, Grammy?"

"Saving you from that old coot! That's what I'm doing!" she responded proudly. "He already got to talk about himself for days and days, that humble fool. Haven't you ever thought that maybe there was something I had to say?"

Audrey's eyes widened slightly, her heart fluttering. "On his behalf, you mean?"

"On our behalf," Grammy said. "I think my story will be just as investing. You see, the Once-Ler and I have a past together. And I think it's time I brought it to your attention."

The trio went silent. Ted awkwardly scratched his head while a low, deep sigh of surprise passed Audrey's lips.

"You don't mean..." Audrey started, "...you and the Once-Ler...were lovers?!"

Ted grimaced at the way she'd blurted it out. Such a leap in logic. It almost seemed impolite. But strangely enough, this only seemed to trigger a deeper fold of Grammy Norma's interest in sharing a piece of her with them. A thin smile formed, making Ted uneasy.

"Take a seat in the living room and I'll be more than happy to tell you all about it."

Audrey was on board the moment she realized what genre of story this would be. And it wasn't even fiction! She trotted into the neighboring room, with Ted sheepishly following. It's not that he wasn't interested. He was just...skeptical. Grammy seemed way smarter than she let on, but why would she only be telling them this now?

Ted seated himself next to Audrey on the sofa, nudging her with one shoulder. "Wait, what about visiting him? What about 'just the two of us'?" he asked with a twinge of sorrow.

Audrey was oblivious to it all. "It can wait! It's your Grammy's turn!"

The grade schooler only shrugged. "I just don't know about this," he admitted.

But his suspicions were answered by Grammy Norma herself, who'd magically teleported onto a couch next to theirs and was leaning towards him accusingly. "You wouldn't be calling a liar now, would you, Teddy?"

Ted jolted back and shook his head over and over. Audrey clapped her hands together.

"I don't think you're lying, Miss Norma! I think it sounds awfully real, and romantic! I can't wait to hear everything!"

Grammy set her cane across her lap and pondered with a finger to her lip.

"That's touching, dear. But I must warn you both. It's a long story. And romance is not in its first or second chapter."

Audrey grinned. "That's okay! Tell us! Please!"

Grammy greatly appreciated Audrey's enthusiasm. Her eyes flickered towards Ted and she winked, urging him to get invested as well. He could see a spike of youth in her eyes. There was no way she'd let them leave without telling them her side. Better to do it now while she was still alive and kicking.

"With pleasure."

(A/N): A fic that begins with math, amirite? Just something to tie over my block and boredom. Hope you enjoy!