Vacation

By: Rèîán§hitsü
Characters Belong to: Hanna-Barbera

Hello again!! It's been a while since I wrote anything while which is absolutely horrible. I've had so many ideas it's ridiculous! Seriously, I have… just no time to write anything. Anyway, I wanted to let everyone know spring break is coming up so hopefully I'll be able to write more then. Don't worry, sooner or later I'll get around to it. Also, I'm planning on writing a series about high school, it's kind of like an anime high school but I'm there too. It's a crossover between and few animes and it's a lot of fun. Look forward to it! I'll soon be uploading a preview of the series so look forward to that as well. Alright well, that's it for now! Enjoy this story.

"I'm going on a vacation?!" Daphne exclaimed.

It had nearly been two years since Daph had gotten a chance to get away from her peers. She had been stressing out lately and Fred noticed, so he decided to take her on a vacation. Unfortunately, Velma had completely ruled out that he could go so Daphne would be going alone.

Fred nodded. "Sure thing," he offered a smile, as normal. "Gonna start packing?"

"Absolutely!" Daphne shouted joyously, then scurried off to her room to pack.

After she was well gone, Fred sighed to himself and walked to the kitchen. Shaggy and Scooby were sitting at the table eating what appeared to be a normal sandwich, but with the stuff falling out the back, he had to question what it really was.

"What is that?" Fred asked.

Shaggy looked at him like he'd interrupted an important meeting.

"Well Fred, it is a—" Shaggy looked at his empty hands as he realized his 'sandwich' had just been stolen. "Scooby!"

Fred shook his head and walked out of the kitchen.

"On second thought, I don't want to know," he stated quietly.

He sat down in front of the computer, in the office, in the back of the house he shared with four rather interesting people.

"I can't believe this," Fred thought aloud, looking at the ceiling. "She gets to go on a vacation and I'm stuck here."

Fred looked around the medium sized room, wondering if he could do anything to change it. He thought for nearly twenty minutes before he heard Daphne yell she was packed. He stood up and stretched. Time to drive her to the airport.

Fred got back to the house after dark, seeing as how Daphne wouldn't let him leave till she was on the plane. Not to mention she kept looking at him like she was waiting for something, or at least until she had to go. When Fred walked in, the house was quiet. He turned and locked the door behind him. Then flipped on the light in the living room.

"Hello?" He asked. "Where the heck is everyone?"

"Like be quiet man," Shaggy whispered from behind him.

Fred slightly jumped but attempted to hide it as he looked behind him at Shaggy…. Who was dressed in a camouflage outfit, with his face painted dark brown and dark green. Fred tried to keep a straight face but couldn't hold back a slight scoff-type, sarcastic laugh.

"What in the—"

"Like shush man," Shaggy commanded again, a little louder this time.

"What are you doing Shag?" Fred leaned over and whispered to his friend.

Shaggy looked around the still room, which appeared completely lifeless to his eyes. He flipped the light back off. Letting the moonlight seep in from the thin white curtains.

"I'm hunting," Shaggy whispered.

Fred's face was covered with a dumbfounded look. "What…?" He asked softly.

"Whoever finds the blue cup first gets to eat the last of the chocolate ice cream, but if we run into each other, we have to play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever wins that gets a three minute chance to find the blue cup before the loser can move again."

Shaggy sounded so composed, like he was really serious about this. Then again, it was food. Well, not just any food, ice cream, not that it mattered to him.

"…Well, good luck with that," Fred said, completely lost for words. He somehow made his way into the office and turned on the light in there. Just as he was shutting the door he heard the sounds of Shaggy falling over the couch and Scooby's snickering laugh.

He rolled his eyes and sat down in front of the computer, again.
"Velma says I can't go on the vacation then runs off for an unknown reason, leaving me with the two idiots."

"What's that?" A voice called from under the computer desk.

Fred scooted back and looked under the desk. Velma was messing with the cords behind the desk, probably trying to get the computer plugged up.

"Oh sorry Velma, I didn't know you were there," Fred sheepishly said.

"I know Fred," Velma stated bluntly then plugged something into the power strip. She crawled out from under the desk and walked over to the printer.

"You know what Shaggy and—"

"Yeah I know," Velma answered as the lights on the printer lit up.

"Did it come unplugged?" Fred awkwardly asked.

"Yes," she glanced at him. "… and I would've told you where I was going if you would've asked."

Fred slightly smiled. "Oh yeah? Then where'd you go?"

Velma walked to the computer and moved the mouse, lighting the screen up. She clicked on a few things and typed in something, but Fred really couldn't see since she was standing in front of it. Something started to print, and when it finished, she handed it to him. He glanced over it, a paper with weird looking letters on it, then looked back at her.

"What is it?"

"It's a code. I found it in a book."

"What's it for?"

"Well I was researching Matthew Lanster, our main suspect in the current case we're on," she pulled up a chair and sat down. "And in one of the books on him there was a letter he wrote to a girl he lived down the street from. But it was in that code so I had to find some information on it."

Fred's brain had to click a few times to realized what she just said, but when it did, he grinned. "Well good work Velma," he handed the paper back to her.

"Do you want to know what it says?" She questioned.

Fred shrugged. "Sure."

"Dear Amelia,

I know this letter does not come as a surprise to you. I'm sorry to tell you that I will be moving next week. Things aren't working out for me here, like I've told you previously. The neighbor's dog got into my backyard again, and my cat has gone. I told the neighbors if their dog gets in my yard again, I'll shoot it, but they refused to listen. I met a realtor at the Arknor Café, just into town, and he mentioned a new neighborhood that doesn't have many residences yet. I intend to move there, I know this will hurt you but you cannot come with me Amelia. I won't let you. A young, beautiful girl like you should not live with a grumpy man such as myself. Please, don't let this news dim you're smile, I will always love you. You have much of your life ahead of you, things will work out just fine. Keep your head up high my love, and remember always to look forward, never look back.

Forever Yours,
Matthew"

"He loved her," Fred commented, exasperated. "But she said she had never heard of a Matthew Lanster," Fred remembered.

Velma nodded. "That's not all, Matthew never had a cat."

"So he lied?" Fred inquired.

Velma shook her head and smiled. "It's not only coded in weird letters, he used symbolism. The cat is the gold. The dog is the neighbors themselves. They were probably watching him so he had to keep changing the hiding place of the gold."

Fred nodded thoughtfully, listening intently.

"Arknor Café, wasn't even built until six months after this letter was sent, it was just an idea floating around town. The realtor was probably an accomplice." She paused. "And the neighborhood mentioned in this letter was closed down a couple years earlier, so it's probably the place he was going."

"Do you think Amelia knows?" Fred asked.

"I know she does, the way he talked in this letter, he told her his secrets," Velma smiled.

Fred thought for a moment. "So we gotta go talk to her again!" A smile stretched across his face. "Velma you're a genius," he commented.

Velma giggled a bit before Fred stood up and kissed her quickly. The moment held on, making them ignorant to what actually happened, but the effect soon wore off and Velma blushed.

"What was that for?"

"I-I don't know… honestly," Fred answered, unsure exactly what to say.

Velma pondered what to say, then after finding something, she opened her mouth and started to speak…

The sound of shattering glass filled the room. Velma shut her mouth and went to open the door. She flipped on the lights to find Shaggy and Scooby running off around the corner.

"What did they do now?" Fred reluctantly asked. Inside though, he was indebted to Shaggy and Scooby, for breaking up the awkward silence and deadly conversation that followed his kiss.

"The broke a vase," Velma shook her head and walked over to it.

"Don't worry, I'll get it," Fred mentioned as he walked to get a broom.

Velma nodded then walked back to the office and shut the door behind her. She slid down against it and smiled to herself. She reached up and lightly ran the tips of her fingers over her lips.

Fred swept up the last of the glass and dumped in a trash bag he had tripled layered. He thought about what he did as he walked outside to through it away. He tossed the bag in the trash can, then looked up at the stars.

"They're so beautiful…" He whispered to himself. "Just like the girls I live with." He started back toward the front door.

"Like what you doing out here man?" Shaggy asked, stepping out from behind a tree.

"What are you?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

"Hiding," Shaggy answered.

"Thought you were hunting," Fred replied.

Shaggy looked at himself then back at Fred. "You and Velma sounded like you were onto something. Did you hit a good clue?"

Fred nodded. "We did… a quite interesting clue on top of that."

"Yeah? Like what?" Shaggy asked curiously.

Fred clicked back onto earth and glanced at Shaggy. "What were we talking about?"

Shaggy looked confused. "Uhh, the clue?"

"Rhere roo rar!" Scooby said when he saw his best friend.

Shaggy's eyes widened as he saw Scooby turn the corner of the house.

"Uhh, gotta go man," he noted before running back into the house.

"Oh brother…" Fred sighed. He soon followed them in, shutting and locking the door.

He walked back to the office in the back of the house and tapped on the door.

"I'm headed to bed Velma. We should head over to Miss Amelia's house in the morning."

"Alright Fred, good night," Velma called back.

Fred paused, as a picture of Daphne waiting for something flashed through his mind. As soon as it was there, it was gone.
"… Night Velma," he stated then walked off to his bedroom.

As soon as she knew he was gone, Velma whispered, maybe to just to herself, "I love you."

"Hah! I get the ice cream," Shaggy exclaimed holding the blue cup in front of Scooby's face.

"I found it first, and a deal's a deal." He walked off and into the kitchen, followed by his loyal dog. He opened the freezer and pulled out the light tub of chocolate ice cream. He raised his eyebrows in a slight shock.

"I was sure it was a little heavier then this earlier, I know there's not much left but still…"

Shaggy pulled open a drawer and got a spoon out of it, he was so interested in that he didn't notice Scooby had snuck out of the kitchen. He pulled off the lid to the tub and glared wide-eyed into a completely empty container. Then he noticed something. A little bit of dried dog slobber on the side, from earlier that day.

"Scooby Doo!" Shaggy turned to where his friend was before Scooby had snuck out. He looked around the corners of the kitchen and into the other rooms. "Where are you?!"