A/N: Before I start, I must thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving me the idea for this story-with Him, nothing's impossible! Amen!

Hey folks! Just to let you know, I am working on chapter 10 of Dreamscape Crusade. I watched some Zula Patrol clips yesterday, and I remembered that I had some old ZP one-shots sitting around in my documents file. This one, which I wrote back in 2012, is another Bula/Zeeter one-shot. It doesn't even take place after "A Token of Appreciation", but I guess it sets up the ground work for this story.

Either way, I hope you enjoy this story!

Story Title: By My Side

Genre/Tags: Romance/Friendship

Rating: K+

Summary: While recovering from a dangerous assignment in the hospital, Zeeter discovers just how devoted Bula is to her. Bula/Zeeter.

Disclaimer: Would I really be here if I owned The Zula Patrol?

By My Side

His face was waiting for her when she opened her eyes for the first time in three days. The captain's tired expression immediately shifted to happiness when he saw that his girlfriend was finally coming to.

"Zeeter, thank goodness you're alright!" he gasped.

Zeeter looked up at Bula with tired eyes, and despite feeling numb and tired, she gave him the best smile she could manage.

"How're you feeling?" he asked.

"Exhausted," she said, "but happy to be alive."

"We're all glad that you're alive," he said. "But to be honest, everyone was worried that you weren't going to wake up..."

"Yeah...that explosion did a number on my head," she said. She winced as she attempted to sit up. "I feel like my head's being ripped apart from the inside."

"You need to rest, Zeeter," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The doctors said that you won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

Zeeter groaned. "Figures," she said.

Bula sighed. He didn't want to give her this news, knowing that she hated being grounded. But one look at her injuries had sealed it for him. He wasn't going to let her go anywhere if she was going to hurt herself even more with her stunts.

Three days ago, the Zula Patrol had been involved in a very dangerous mission that had involved a star cruiser. This particular one had been sabotaged by Dark Truder, who was after some sort of special treasure on the ship. After the Zula Patrol had chased him off, it turned out that Truder had done more than just that- he'd also screwed with the controls in the control room, and had set the ship on a collision course with an asteroid.

In order to stop the ship from crashing, the team had to fix the controls, but there were also the hundreds of travelers on board that they had to take care of. That meant somebody had to stay behind and fix the ship, but there was a great risk in doing so.

Zeeter had taken it, and the last vessel she took was with a little boy that had gotten separated from his parents during the chaos. She had gotten him in before the flames had reached where she was standing, and had taken some pretty bad burns. But Zeeter, being the determined alien that she was, managed to get in and pilot the escape pod to safety just as the ship blew up. It was only afterwards that she collapsed from her injuries.

It was all because of Bula that she was in the medical bay in the first place. The captain of the star cruiser had been about to leave her behind, but Bula refused on going anywhere until she was found. Multo and Wigg found her holding on as long as she could, and they brought her back to the ship, where she had lost consciousness.

Thankfully, the little boy that she'd rescued had made it, and his parents tearfully gave Bula their thanks, telling him to tell Zeeter how much they appreciated her help when she woke up.

The keyword in that sentence was when. The doctors had said that it could be almost a week before she woke up, due to the extent of her injuries.

The captain, his faith unwavering, didn't leave her side for three whole days. He slept, ate and practically lived in that hospital room, not wanting to leave until she woke up. He'd left duty around HQ to Multo, who knew what to do when he wasn't there-and knew to order takeout for Wizzy and Wigg since there was no way in the world they were going to eat his food.

"Wait a minute, you were here for three days?" Zeeter asked, bringing him out of his memories for a moment.

"Yeah. I practically lived here for a while," he said. "I swore to myself that I wouldn't leave your side if you were hurt."

Zeeter felt some heat come onto her cheeks. While she normally dismissed others' care as 'mushy' stuff, it was sweet to see how devoted he was to her. Nobody ever did such a thing for her-her own parents maybe, but she could count on her four fingers and know that none of her friends had been by her side this long.

"-eter," was the last thing that escaped Bula's mouth. Zeeter snapped to attention, mentally kicking herself for zoning her friend out. She looked up at her superior sheepishly and said, "S-Sorry, Bula. I missed what you were saying."

Bula looked confused and a little concerned. "I was saying that I don't think that you'll be staying in the hospital for long, since you're recovering pretty well. Are you feeling okay?" he said.

"I'm fine, it's just that...I'm amazed that you were here the whole time I was knocked out," she said.

Bula looked frozen for a moment, and then looked down at the floor sheepishly, scratching his cheek with his finger. It was a thing that he did whenever he was nervous.

"Well, I couldn't just leave you here in the hospital, Zeeter. The family of that little boy wanted me to tell you thanks for what you've done," he said.

Zeeter asked, "Is that little boy okay?"

Bula nodded. "Yes, he's perfectly alright. You're a hero, Zeeter."

This, of course, made the ZP pilot blush, a light pink color coming onto her lavender skin. "Aw, shucks, it was nothing," she said.

"What do you mean, it was nothing? A lot of people are alive now thanks to you. You need to realize how much that means to them," the captain chided. Zeeter blushed a little more, but then her face lit up as something occurred to her.

"You know, I really thought that you wouldn't be here, considering how mad you were before the ship blew up," she said.

Bula looked surprised, and then his expression became somber."Zeeter, when I yelled at you to get out of that ship, I was angry that you weren't listening to me. But the reason I was yelling wasn't just because I was angry. I was scared. I thought I would never see you again, that you were gonna die. Just thinking of that now..." He shook his head. "I don't even want to think about it. When you came to the medical bay, I wanted to stay by your side, so that way I could tell you what those families said. But more importantly, I...I wanted to see you alive. I wanted to see you energetic again." His voice was filled with emotion and his eyes were red with tears.

"Bula, I-I didn't know about that," she said, her voice practically a whisper. She knew Bula did love her deeply, but she didn't know how much until today.

"But on the other hand," he continued after a long silence, "you were amazing on that mission, Zeeter. I don't think that I could even manage such bold leadership if I were in your position." A smile graced his tired face. "I couldn't be anymore proud of you, Zeeter. You really are a hero."

Hot pink flamed unto Zeeter's cheeks as she looked down shyly, a smirk on her face. "T-Thanks, Bula. You have no idea how much that means to me."

He smiled at her and took her hand. "I'm pretty sure I've got an idea," he said. Just then, there was a buzz from his cell phone, which he'd kept on vibrate until now. He sighed.

"If Wizzy and Wigg are complaining about the games and stuff again, I might as well lock them in their room," he groaned, much to Zeeter's amusement. "Do you mind if I step outside and take this call?"

"Oh sure, not at all, Bula. But before you go..." Zeeter then began to pull her boyfriend closer to her, a move that made him extremely nervous.

"Wha-" was all that escaped Bula's lips before she kissed him. After about a minute she let go, and surveyed his reaction. It was short, sweet and to the point, but its impact on Bula was priceless. His pupils had shrunk in complete shock, and his mouth formed an O in surprise. It was so funny that Zeeter burst out laughing, unable to go without doing so. He eventually woke up after a few seconds-and his face exploded into a furious red in embarrassment.

"W-What was that for?!" he sputtered finally, making Zeeter laugh again. Even after a few weeks of dating, he still wasn't used to such kisses. To Zeeter, that only made him cuter.

Once she had controlled her giggles, she said, "It was to say thank you for staying by my side. So...thanks."

It took him a moment to get the message, and then he smiled again, his face turning slightly redder.

"You're welcome," he said, and after considering it, he gently stepped forward and kissed her on her forehead. "You won't even miss me." He then let go of her hand so he could go out in the hall to finally ease the other Patrollers' concerns.

Zeeter played with her fingers while turning slightly redder. That warm, fuzzy feeling from when she'd kissed Bula was still fresh in her mind. Her whole body shuddered with it. She hoped that they would be able to share that feeling again when she recovered fully.

Above all, though, she was happy to know that he would always be by her side, through the good and the bad.

The End

Alright, another ZP fic! I wrote this on Thanksgiving 2012, and my original intent was going to be a drama/friendship/romance, but as I wrote in the paper version, it can be Bula/Zeeter if you want it to be. This was originally part of a short story series that I was planning for Zula Patrol, called "The Untold Stories", but I never got around to actually writing the entire collection, although I did write the ones with Bula/Zeeter and Multo/Zeeter in them.

Please let me know what you think in your reviews!

God bless, iheartgod175