chapter one:
'Another boring day at Skool' Zim thought as he checked his watch and started for the door. He was now a Junior in highskool and "seventeen". I use quotation because he was still small Zim. He hadn't grown at all. So, Zim just said it had something to do with his "skin condition". People where still as stoopid as ever so no one questioned him.
Being this small gives Dib an advantage, because Dib had grown and was reaching towards six foot. He towered over Zim. Luckily, for Zim, he had his pac which allowed him to be the same height during their fights with it's spider like legs that shoot out.
Zim pushed through the highskool's doors only to be towered over and kicked. He was only half the size of everyone else, but that didn't mean his voice wasn't. "DO NOT KICK ZIIIM!!!!" The way Zim was now was a little toned down from when he first came to Earth, but he still yelled out the occasional, 'I AM ZIM' and 'DO NOT MAKE FUN OF THE ALMIGHTY ZIIIM'.
He trudged to his locker to get out just a notebook. Zim never carried around the big text books that they gave everyone, because he created a device that recorded everything that was taught and was put in the hard drive of his pac. This is the reason he's been able to pass every test and get average grades if not good. Ms. Bitters wasn't the teacher anymore, but Ms. Peppys was. In ways she was so much worse. Her peppy attitude every day made Zim want to throw his notebook at her.
As Zim sat down he looked around. He felt odd, because he didn't feel the evil stairs that usually come at him from across the room. Then he noticed what was wrong, Dib was absent. 'That's strange,' Zim thought. 'He almost never misses. . . O, well, it'll be a more relaxing day for me'
With that the day slowing slipped by. Zim fell asleep during all the lessons taught (good thing he sat in the back), he staired at his lunch, slept some more, then went home.
'I should think of a way to make me grow,' he starting thinking as he opened the door to his house. That was when he heard the sound. It was one that he's never heard for decades... A little tinkering bell. Now, I know what you're thinking, 'How could Zim have lived on earth for years and not heard a bell?' Am I right? Well, this bell wasn't just a normal bell. It was a ringing so high pitched and beautiful that only Irkens could hear it.
Zim stood frozen at his door. 'It can't be her, is it? I thought she was dead.' He unclenched his hand from the door and looked around, but no one was there.
"Is anyone out there?" he asked taking a step toward the front of the yard. Still, no one was there. 'Must just all be in my head,' he thought walking back to his house. What he didn't see was a shadow up in the trees with only the glint from the bell showing.
That night once Zim laid his head down on his newly bought human bed (he thought he should try one) he dreamt of his past...
"What should I dooo WITH THIS ONE....MMHMM....Ok, MAster..." The big muscular Irken put the jelly-like substance he was holding to his ear down on his floating table. He looked at the little Irken sitting in the chair in front of the desk. "Ok, Zim, we have your punishment for blowing up the learning center. It's soomething sooo hooorrible that it will have you screaming inside."
Zim just sat there slightly trembling, he was the smallest Irken and he did not dare to go against this guy. The big Irken lead Zim out the door and down a corridor only to go into another room with something locked in a cage inside. Zim stood in the room looking at the repulsive, yet vulnerable alien and shivered.
She was a human, but the Irkens didn't know it. She was captured while one of the Irken investigators were out searching for new worlds when they came across earth. He took the little girl hostage, but died on the journey back. No one knows why or how, and the captured girl who was locked up the whole time never said a word about what happened. Her brown-blond tangled hair flew down to her tummy and hung in her face in layers. She was wearing hardly anything except for a purple cloth that hung lightly to her and went past her knees. The girl was sitting on a 2 legged stool and was chained to the ground, yet ever since she got there she hadn't moved an inch and barley ate her food.
She lifted up her head and turned toward the two Irkens. Her earthy green eyes flashed to Zim immediately showing confusion. It was funny how Zim felt his chest tighten ever so slightly and understand her confusion so easily. He was an invader and was not supposed to feel much emotion.
"It's yours to take care of now. It might make a good slave for the Irken society, but you have to house It and make sure It doesn't escape or else it'll be YOU in this cage. We have no room for It here. This cage is for other dangerous things," the big Irken spat out. The girl cocked her head to the side still confused at wat was going to happen. She was only five, so she was scared, out of tears, and numb, and she had no clue what was going to happen next.
The Irken reached for keys and unlocked the cage door, then unlocked the chain from her leg. He pulled out some rope from his pocket and tied it around her waist and pulled her out of the cage. It wasn't easy for her to stand up. Her knees buckled a couple times, and with no mercy from the Irken he just kept pulling until he half drug her to Zim.
"HeRe, Take her HoMe." The Irken shoved him through the door and left Zim standing in the hallway. He looked at the girl.
"Do you have a name?" he asked as slow as he could. All the girl did was tilt her head. "Never mind," he said harshly, then started to half drag half carry the alien out.
Zim sat up in his bed breathing some what abnormally. 'Why am I dreaming of all of this now? Of all the other times why now?' he thought confused about why that memory was brought up in his dream.
"Gir! Get in here!" Zim yelled. Gir was still his normal self. Zim was just too lazy to do anything to make him more efficient.
"YES MASTER!?" Gir said, saluting.
"I'm not going to skool today, have the parentbots call the skool and tell them I'm sick." With that Gir ran off to tell the parentbots. 'Ugh! I can't go to skool in this condition anyways. I'll be having flashbacks all day and I won't like that'
Zim stood up and walked into the living room to watch some tv. He soon felt his mind drifting back to where the dream left off...
Once they got to Zim's place, which seemed more like a strange apartment room on the third floor, he tied the girl to a pillar in the middle of the what seemed to be front room. She gave the pillar a sideways glace looked around and sat down. Once she felt the comfortable almost carpet feel she laid back and closed her eyes, faintly smiling.
Zim watched her intently from the couch. 'It smiled I think...What am I gunna call It?' He walked over to the alien laying on the floor and lightly shook her touching only the cloth just incase her skin was poisonous.
She opened her eyes, blinked, and sat up to stair Zim, who was kneeling, straight in the eyes. The girl smiled just the slightest bit to try and the keep the strange man friendly.
He felt the tightening in his chest again, but ignored it. "Zim," he said pointing to himself.
Next, he pointed at her. She smiled and pointed toward Zim. "Zzzzii--im," she finished with a smile. The Irken sat back amused at the ringing her voice made in his head. Then, she pointed to herself and opened her mouth. Then closed it.
"Yes, what's you're name, what is it??" Zim put his hands on her sholders forgetting that her skin might my poisonous.
Her eyes got big and shoved the Irken back. His action scared her and she thought he was going to hurt her. She slid across the floor to some what hide behind the pillar.
Zim hit his head. 'This won't get me anywhere and I want to bust out yelling at this stupid creature!!' he thought as he looked at the alien with harsh eyes that scared her more. He hated that even more, because then he felt bad and wanted to hold the strange creature. "WHAT!? WHY AM I FEELING THIS?! NO, ZIM, YOU'RE THE GREATEST INVADER THERE IS ON IRKEN, YOU CAN NOT GIVE INTO THIS ALIEN!!!!!" he had one leg propped up on a table and one arm in the air. It took him a minute to realize he yelled that out loud. He looked down at the alien who was sitting crossed legged, watching him intently with amused green eyes.
They staired at eachother for sometime and then Zim noticed a wierd feeling inside of him. This wierd sensation of the fact that he needed her in his arms to cradle and hold her. He shook his head furosiously. 'NO!!!!!!' he thought, but as he shook his head from side to side he got dizzy and lost balance. He fell over on his face right in front of the alien. 'Oh, no! I'm showing my weak side, I CAN'T!'
Then he felt a hand on his back and the heat from this hand felt so comforting he just wanted to stay there. 'WHAT AM I THINKING?! UGH... I think I'm gunna puke...'
As he stood up he looked at the alien making sure he didn't look into her eyes. Then she immediatly busted out laughing a high pitched giggle that sent Zim backwards from the feeling it gave him. He felt so happy and also grossed out for feeling that way. She started clapping and rocking back and forth, finally falling backwards from laughing too much. She sighed and closed her eyes.
"Hey, but what's you're name, alien?" Zim asked looking at her laying on the floor.
She opened her eyes just a crack to look at him and the sat up. "Jes," she said before her half opened eyes shut all the way and she fell back to sleep on the floor...
'And that was just the beginning,' Zim thought. 'Then there were more confusing feelings, and changes, and the bell, how she never said a word yet understood everything, how she stayed Irken size, how she got cuter everyday...' his thought trailed off just remembering how happy he was decades ago. 'Then, things got bad... I started wanting to destroy more and more things, thus scarying Jes, and Impending Doom I.' Zim sighed not really wanting to remember the old days when he noticed how late it was.
'After Skool, hmmm? I probably didn't miss anything,' he thought just as the doorbell rang. "WHO DARES TO RING ZIM'S DOOR BE--... ugh, I really need to stop that. I'm not going back home, so I'm not an invader anymore," he said with a sigh.
He got up and opened the door to find 5'9'' Dib.
"What do YOU want?" Zim spat out crossing his arms to look up at Dib. He really didn't feel like fighting today.
Dib leaned in closer to Zim and shoved him inside. Zim took a step backwards not wanting to fall over. Dib had eventually seen every inch of his house, so he didn't really care anymore.
"Dib-," he was cut off.
"Ok, so, now I'm the only guy in my house besides my dad and it's driving me INSANE!! The only place I can come to think anymore is my enemy's house!!!" Dib ranted on as he paced in the room throwing his arms in the air. Zim just stared really not wanting to comfort the human. "NOW SHE'S here! Dad just HAD to take her in! GAH! And she's so pretty! GAH! Stupid Guymones!"
Zim sighed and said, "It's hormones, and you'll be fine. Having another person around might be exciting. Now, LEAVE." He got behind Dib and tried to push him out, but Dib held still.
"No, Zim, you don't understand. It's like I can't control myself almost when I'm with her."
Zim sighed. Dib had been going over to Zim's house for a while now when ever he needed advice or whatever. Zim was starting to just go with it. "Then do what ever it is that you need to do and then you'll be cured," Zim said. "Now leave." He pointed to the door and Dib, hurt, trudged out of the house and shut the door.
'Stupid Dib, I can't give you answers. I'm alone too, you know. The only other human contact I ever had was with Jes.'
With that Zim stood up and went to bed early not wanting Dib to come back and disturb him.