Here's a new story for y'all! Ben 10 and all it's aliens belong to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Martha belongs to newbienovelistRD and Ally belongs to Sparkling Lover. I only own Rachel, the Jocklins, Sasha, and Eric. Enjoy!

How Their Love's Journey Together Began

Rachel hummed as she mixed a big pot of elbow macaroni with hot dogs, lima beans, and green peas, with a little bit of cheese, all together to form her favorite pasta dish. Even her alien friends loved it so much they asked her to make it more often. So she did.

Ally came into the kitchen to see her cousin getting lunch ready. "Hey, Rach," she said.

Rachel turned with a smile. "Hey, Ally, what's up?" she asked.

"I was wondering, how did you come to live here?"

Rachel paused in her work at her cousin's question. "We've been kinda wondering too," said her sister Sasha who came in with Martha and Eric behind her.

Rachel smiled and set about making some cornbread. "Well, I wouldn't mind telling that story," she said and saw the four watch her put the cornbread to bake in the oven before heading to the living room to tell the story.

"It wasn't too long after Rook had asked me to be his girlfriend…,"

Rachel raced through Plumber HQ after getting out of college and zipped past surprised Plumbers, calling out apologies over her shoulder as she ran.

She had heard that there had been an explosion during Rook and Ben's patrol earlier and now she ran toward the hospital ward for fear that they were hurt. She thought about Rook being hurt and her legs blurred as she ran.

Finally making to the hospital ward, she spotted Magister Tennyson, who heard her come up to the counter as she leaned against it to get her breath back. She looked up at him and he knew the question on her mind.

"No one got hurt," he reassured her, making her sigh in relief. "It just shook up some of the locals."

"That's a relief," she said. "The news channel didn't give much information."

She then felt a pair of arms come around her and looked back to see Rook smiling at her and she hugged him in return. "I was so worried," she said, letting Rook tilt her chin up and give her a kiss.

"I'm alright, Rachel," he said to her.

After a few more moments, Rook drove Rachel to the Grant Mansion to see how their alien friends were doing. Chromastone greeted them at the door.

"Rachel, may I talk to you?" he asked.

"Sure," she said. "What's up?"

Chromastone lifted her up in his arms and walked towards the living room. Rook, curious, followed and saw Chromastone had Rachel a piece of paper.

"A buyer's notice?!" she exclaimed. "What?"

The Crystalsapien sighed. "It seems someone on the town council spread a document that says since the Grant Mansion hasn't been officially bought, although it was left to the town and the Mayor has been trying to keep it up, it needs to be purchased in the next twenty-four hours, or we will face foreclosure," he said.

"NO!" Rachel exclaimed. "That can't happen! This is your guys' home!"

"Yes," said Ghostfreak. "And unless we can come up with the quarter-million dollars, we'll have to move."

"Quarter-million?!" Rachel exclaimed. "There's no way we can come up with that in a day!" She paused. "Is there?"

Both aliens shook their heads. "What are we going to tell the others?" asked Chromastone, but no one had an answer.

Rook however was in deep thought. The Mansion needed to be bought? He quickly calculated everything in his head and went to make a phone call to someone he knew could help.

The next day, Rachel went to the Grant Mansion, her heart feeling like someone had shot it with buckshot. She didn't know how to save their home.

"What am I going to do?" she asked as she then sighed and opened the door, stopping short when she saw Magister Tennyson there with the house agent.

"Thank you, sir," said the agent and quickly left, leaving Rachel confused as the turned to the Plumber agent.

"Magister Tennyson, what was that about?" she asked.

He smiled. "You'll see," he said before heading out. Rachel went to the living room to try and make sense of it when she noticed some sale papers and a small red box sitting on the coffee table. Curious, she read the papers and was stunned.

The sale papers showed that she and Rook were now the legal owners of the Grant Mansion and he was gifting it to her. Rachel was shocked and then saw a note underneath the deed and picked it up, recognizing Rook's handwriting.

Rachel,

You may be pleasantly surprised to know that I have bought the Grant Mansion for you and our friends. I know the house means a lot to all of you, and I couldn't think of a better gift to give you than what you wanted the most.

I also have a question for you. Look in the small red box.

Love, Rook.

Smiling at her boyfriend's thoughtfulness, she opened up the red box and gasped in shock.

It was a white diamond ring with cubic zirconia surrounding it, making it sparkle and shine. A piece of paper was wrapped around it and she carefully opened it, placing the ring on her left hand on her third finger as she then read the question written on the paper.

Will you marry me?

Rachel smiled and then looked around, hearing voices from the downstairs den and so went downstairs to the floor just above Way Big's quarters and saw the aliens playing darts and Rook was trying to figure out how to aim the dart and throw it, but was having a little trouble.

Smiling, Rachel quietly walked up to him and moved her left hand to point at the target. "Focus on the target," she said, but smiling as her hidden intention was for him to notice she was wearing the ring.

Rook glanced at the hand and was about to say 'thank you' when he spotted the ring. He froze and slowly turned to look at the smiling girl behind him as she held up her left hand so that the ring caught in the lamplight, causing it to sparkle. The others all smiled as they watched Rachel and Rook.

Rachel moved closer and gently closed Rook's slightly opened mouth with her hand as she smiled.

"Yes, Rook Blonko. I will marry you," she said, pulling his head down for a kiss. Rook snapped out of his surprise and hugged Rachel, kissing her back as the aliens all cheered, happy for the two of them.

Rachel sighed as she came back to the present, seeing four surprised faces looking at her. "It was one of the best surprises and gifts someone had ever given me," she said.

"So, that's how you got engaged," said Sasha. "Wow."

"Yes," said Rachel. "It took Rook a few moments after I had said yes and we kissed for him to ask if it was a dream."

The five humans shared a laugh as Martha then looked at Eric and he nodded and cleared his throat. "Uh, Martha and I are also engaged," he said, a little nervous.

It was still for a few moments before Rachel let out a happy squeal. "That's awesome!" she said. "When's the big date?"

Martha looked at her. "Is it okay if it's after yours and Sasha's?" she asked.

"Sure!" said Sasha.

The timer for the cornbread beeped and Rachel stood up. "Lunchtime, guys! Come and get it!" she called out happily as she headed for the kitchen.

She had just taken the cornbread out of the oven and set it down to cool a little while she got the dinnerware when she felt two familiar arms wrap around her waist. Smiling, she leaned her head back and welcomed a kiss from Rook.

"I overheard you telling them the story," he said. "I also heard that Martha and Eric are getting married."

Rachel nodded. "Yes, they are," she said. And then she smiled at him again. "I don't regret any of it."

He smiled. "Neither do I," he said as he pulled her closer and kissed her, giving her a French kiss which made her knees buckle and she sagged against him. After a few moments, they broke off.

"Love's journey is better together," said Rook with a smile. "I love you, Baby."

"I couldn't agree more, and I love you too, Honey," Rachel said as they sealed it once more with a loving kiss.

And so, that's how Rachel came to live at the Grant Mansion. I hope you all enjoyed it!

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GoldGuardian2418