Hello, everyone! I'm going to try something different. This is my first non-Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic, so let's cross our fingers! Unfortunately, I do not own the Suite Life. Ah, well…
"Uhh…Cody?"
Zack Martin looked up curiously at his younger twin brother, who was perched precariously in a tree.
Cody didn't look back down at him. "What is it?"
"What are you doing up in that tree?" Only then did Zack see the orange kite that was just inches out of Cody's reach.
"Isn't it obvious?" Cody asked, his normally angelic eight-year-old voice strained as he stretched his arm. Alas, the kite was just centimeters from his fingertips.
"I can get it!" Zack said. "I just need a fishing pole…"
Cody still persisted, but he still could not reach the kite. "Mom put both our fishing poles in her trunk . We're supposed to go to the harbor with Dad later and I—aah!" He lost his balance momentarily, but he caught himself before he could topple from the tree branch.
Zack smiled. "Okay. I'll be right back!" He ran to his mother's car, which was parked across the street, outside the Tipton hotel.
"Wait, Zack! You can't cross the road without Mom!" But that didn't stop the older twin. Cody sighed. "How am I gonna get down?"
After a minute or so, Zack returned with a fishing pole. "Okay. I'm gonna get that kite." With a determined look on his face, he cast the fishing rod, and he hit something.
"Ah! Zack, that's not the kite!"
No…that was Cody's shorts.
"Oops. Umm…" Zack was confused. "What do I do now?"
"How should I know?" Cody replied.
"Because you know everything!" Zack said impatiently, throwing his fists down a his sides (as little kids do often). Unfortunately, one of his fists was holding the fishing pole. And the fishing pole was attached to Cody's shorts.
"Whoa!" Cody yelped. He began to tip over. He flailed for the tree branch, but he grabbed nothing but air as he plummeted to the ground.
Zack gasped. He rushed to his brother, who was moaning in pain. "Oh, no! Cody, are you okay?"
"Unh…I think so," Cody grunted, getting up. He had a few bruises on his legs and a scrape on his arm, but as far as Zack could tell (which wasn't very far; he was eight), his brother was just fine.
"Sorry I couldn't get your kite," Zack said.
"That's okay," Cody replied weakly.
Carey Martin, the twins' mother, came running up after hearing someone shout. "Boys! What's going on?!" Then she saw Cody. "Cody, my goodness! What happened to you?" She then turned to Zack. "Did you hit your brother?"
"What? No!" Zack cried out. "Why would I do that after he just fell out of a tree?"
"You fell out of a tree?" Carey repeated, turning back to Cody.
"Well…yeah," the younger twin replied, kicking away the fishing rod from beneath him. No need to put Zack in any hot water.
"Do you want to go home, honey?" Carey asked, kneeling down in front of Cody. "You look like you've been through enough for one day."
"No…I'm fine," Cody insisted, eliciting a shrug from his mother, who then walked away.
"But you didn't fall…" Zack pointed out. "I pulled you."
"Shh, don't let Mom hear," Cody hissed.
"Why didn't you tell her?" The older twin was confused.
Cody smiled. "Because you would have gotten in trouble, and Mom wouldn't have let you fish later."
"But…aren't you mad at me?" Zack asked.
Cody shook his head. "No. It was an accident. Why are you so worried about me?"
Zack thought for a minute. "Well…you're my brother, and I love you. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?"
That surprised Cody. Zack had never said "I love you" to him before. It was always implied—after all, they were brothers, twins, best friends. It could have gone without saying.
"I guess," Cody said. He wrapped his arms around Zack. "And…I love you, too, bro."
"By the way," Zack asked as he pulled away. "Where'd my fishing pole go?"
