All right, let me give you the lowdown on facts you'll need to know for this to make sense:

I believe that during the run of the show, Phineas, Ferb and Isabella are ten years of age. Vanessa is sixteen. This story takes place at a five year high school reunion. And yeah, I know they don't really have those. I just didn't want the characters to be too old, you know? So seeing that the three youngest would graduate at eighteen, those three characters in this story are approximately twenty-three years old, making Vanessa twenty-nine. And if that's all a ton of stuff you don't care about, just think of them being mid twenties. Better?

I believe that's all for now... more author's notes at the end, I'm sure. Let the reading commence!

The gym had looked as the student body remembered it; crowded, slick and hot. It wasn't as bad as it had been during all the pep rallies; the entire school wasn't there, but their class was plenty.

The boys made their way through the crowd quickly, looking about their classmates with eager eyes.

"I remember a few faces," Vanessa spoke up when they settled near an empty table. She was holding tightly to her husband's arm, keeping her calm composure.

Vanessa Fletcher had grown up since her days as a Doofenshmirtz. She was still as independent as ever, and Ferb respected her space and confidence as any good man would.

"It's good to see them again," Ferb added breathily as he pulled out Vanessa's chair for her. She thanked him softly, holding to his forearm affectionately. "It seems like so long ago."

Phineas was scanning the room, and it was no secret just who he was searching for. When he saw not the woman he sought, he sighed. "I know," he replied wearily in response to his stepbrother's observation. "Once upon a time, huh?"

Phineas smiled cheekily, but both of his companions read through his false mask and frowned concernedly.

Vanessa looked at Phineas with pleading eyes, touching his knee with the tip of her fingers. He looked up from his gaze on his lap to look his sister-in-law in the eyes.

"Do you think she'll come?" she asked gently.

Phineas shrugged noncommittally. "I don't know. I don't even know where she went. It doesn't matter. There's a lot of people I'd love to see."

As if on cue, a shout rang in the young man's ears. "PHINEAS!"

All three of those seated at the small round table looked up in tandem, seeking the source of the voice and its too familiar accent.

"Hey!" Phineas greeted, standing up to meet Baljeet with a handshake and a brotherly hug. "How have you been?"

And so the night began, with Baljeet continuing his rounds about the table, individually greeting those of his old friends.

Phineas was glad to see his friend. And not only Baljeet; he had seen and spoken to many of their old friend and classmates, including several of the Fireside Girls. None of which, to Phineas's chagrin, had spoken to her in over a year. And yet, he spoke to each of them with just as much kindness and joy that he had as a child.

"Phin? Phineas?" Vanessa's calls broke Phineas out of a trance he wasn't aware he had slipped into.

"Yes?" he finally responded, shaking his head and smiling apologetically. Vanessa just stared at him. He sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry, Van, I didn't mean to act like this. I came her hoping to get over this, but I'm just making it so much worse and-"

"What happened to you?" Vanessa chuckled, but no humor was evident in her tone.

"I beg your pardon?" Phineas asked confusedly, not following the meaning behind Vanessa's words.

The brunette leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest after smoothing the creases on her pants.

"I mean you never used to do this," she began. "You never used to wallow in the past like you are. I thought you liked to keep moving forward. I thought you liked optimism and learning new things and-"

"I did!" Phineas interrupted suddenly. "I do. I do… it's just…"

"Did her leaving affect you this badly?"

Phineas shook his head. "No," he protested. "I just… don't like… not understanding…"

Vanessa nodded, accepting what very little Phineas' words had to offer.

"You all right?" a new voice rang. Ferb smiled softly as he set drinks in front of his table-mates, scooting his chair slightly closer to his stepbrother.

Vanessa's gaze seemed to roam for a moment, but neither man noticed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine."

Ferb didn't accept his stepbrother's lack of sincerity as quickly as Vanessa had. "You lying to me, brother?" he asked, lightly shoving Phineas' shoulder.

Ferb earned himself a genuine smile and Phineas laughed a little. His smile dampened quickly, however, and he let out what had to be his ten millionth sigh of the evening.

"I miss her," he finally admitted.

"Why don't you go talk to her?"

Phineas looked at Vanessa with distaste for a moment before following her pointing finger towards a woman walking in the gym's open doors.

Phineas heard his sister-in-law asking for verification in her identification of the young lady, but Phineas didn't bother answering. Her looked on in awe, struck dumb. He blinked repeatedly, closing his mouth after a few moments of leaving his jaw slack.

"She's lovely," Vanessa mumbled in admiration, indulging in the smile on Phineas' face.

"She always was…" Phineas whispered, not nearly loud enough for anyone but himself to hear.

She had grown up just as well. This woman's transformation was unlike Vanessa's. Vanessa had changed, but of course, more in personality than physical appearance, unlike the Flynn-Fletcher boys.

Both men had grown much taller, each of their bodies submitting to sharp, boyish features; Ferb maintaining his familiar business stance while Phineas remained a free spirit as he always had been, with long bangs and his signature cheeky grin.

The woman across the room, who had now been holding Phineas' gaze for many minutes, was tall and curvy. Her deep black hair fell in an onyx river down her back, tickling the pale skin of her elbows. She wasn't a supermodel, for sure, she couldn't pass for one; not in the purple jumper she was sporting. But the woman was cute, undeniably. And in the eyes of Phineas, she was beautiful.

"Are you going to speak with her?" Ferb asked, a smile gracing his face.

"Am I going to speak to her?" Phineas mimicked, lowering his voice in mock. His grin dominated most of his face and he let out a laugh his friends had longed to hear for so long.

"Well?" Vanessa urged, giggling at the expression on Phineas' face and smacking his shoulder blade playfully.

"Of course I'm going to talk to her," Phineas replied, resting his chin on the back of his chair. "Just not right now. She just got here. I'm going to wait until I can speak with her uninterrupted. Alone."

"Ooh!" Vanessa and Ferb chorused, sending the three table-mates into a fit of laughter.

As the night went on, Ferb and Vanessa grew restless of waiting for Phineas to make his move. Eventually the couple excused themselves, Ferb ushering his wife to meet a few more of some friends from school.

Phineas hadn't budged since she had walked in, his only movement being a turn of his head each time her gaze could have possibly met his.

It didn't take long after the woman had drifted away from a group of girls for Phineas to watch the way she moved about.

She walked with the strut of a woman, hips swinging slightly but not so noticeable that she appeared to be arrogant. Phineas came to believe that it was most likely only noticeable to those who watched her very closely. And of course, he had noticed.

She stood apart from the crowd for a moment before fanning her face with the wave of a petite hand. She proceeded to walk carefully to the gym door, disappearing gracefully into the crisp staleness of the cool night air.

Phineas smiled; here was his chance. He parted from his chair, running his hands up and down his sides as he moved hastily in the direction of the doors.

In the corner of the room, Ferb and Vanessa watched Phineas dart a little less than stealthily in the woman's direction.

"Finally," they mumbled simultaneously, each smiling and shaking their heads.

As Phineas reached his destination, he let out a huff of air and took a deep breath. He pushed the handle on the door, preparing to step outside with only one thought plaguing his mind: "It's good to see you, Isabella."

Okay, first of all, before you complain, let me explain. I know everyone introduced has been extremely out of character, so let me tell you why. They're thirteen years older than they are in the show. Aging does that to people. Turns them into the person they said they'd never become. Also, if you're interested, here's my reasoning between the personality differences.

Vanessa: Okay, I know she's totally rebellious and wicked in the show. But you know what? She's a teenage girl. All teenage girls have that personality. I should know. I am one. But anyway, I think she'd grow up to be a really compassionate albeit snippy young woman, especially after doing some serious growing up. Getting married counts as growing older, doesn't it?

Ferb: Not much to say on him, he doesn't play a very large role. He spoke a lot more than usual, but then again, he talks a lot more in the show lately, too. And it's not like I gave him a page to say. I kept his lines short and to the point.

Phineas: I know, awful. He's nothing like he's supposed to be, but you'll understand later. Next chapter I'll get into his moodiness and hopefully you'll understand. Not much more I can say on him because of that, then.

And just because I was worried about posting this, thank you for reading. I appreciate even clicking the title. (Which will make sense later, I assure.) I plan on this being three chapters long, with each chapter being about this length, so not very long at all.

I'd love to hear reviews but I won't ask for them, and if you would like to say something, I'd ask not to mention anything about the OOC, I've promised to unravel why I've written them that way in later chapters. And I digress.

Thank you once again. Much love, 'Lil Miss Kandy Kane