The Memory Shall Remain

Summary: It's one week before their first concert to go see Emmica, and the gang finds out some news that shows them just how important one of their friends really is.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Rugrats characters, they're the property of their original creaters. Also Zack has been with the gang since Rugrats and the Gray Plague, which took place roughly 9 years prior to the events of this story.

Chapter 1

It was a Saturday morning in late April of the year 2022, and Tommy, Phil, Lil, Dil and Kimi are all waiting in line at the box office to buy their tickets for the Emmica concert.

"Hey, where's Chuckie?" Lil asked.

"He had to go to the dentist for his six months teeth cleaning, he should be here shortly." Replied Kimi.

"And where's Zack?" Phil asked.

"Didn't Zack tell you? He had a baseball game. He's planning to stop by here later to get his ticket." Replied Tommy.

"Well I just hope there are tickets left. Emmica's pretty popular." Replied Phil.

Just then, Chuckie shows up.

"Hey guys." Said Chuckie.

"Hey Chuckeroo, how was the dentist?" Tommy asked.

"The dentist wants me to get braces. I'll be going in on Thursday to have them put on." Replied Chuckie reluctantly.

"Don't worry Chuckie, I'm sure the braces will make you look cool." Said Tommy.

"I guess so, I'm just worried they're going to hurt." Replied Chuckie.

A few minutes later, they were at the front of the line. Tommy handed everybody's money over to the ticket people.

"We need six tickets for next Saturday's Emmica concert." Said Tommy as he handed everybody's money across the counter.

"Here you go." Said the ticket man, handing Tommy the tickets.

"Here are your tickets guys." Said Tommy, passing the tickets around to each of his friends and his brother.

The gang left the box office and headed for home.

Later, Susie and Angelica were walking by the box office.

"Oooh, I should see if there are any tickets left. Emmica is so cool!" Said Susie.

She headed up to the counter.

"I'd like one ticket for the Emmica concert please?" Said Susie.

"Sorry mam, but we're all sold out." Replied the ticket person.

Susie turned away from the counter with a frown and walked back towards Angelica.

"You should have ordered your ticket online, that's what I did. I've had a ticket for this concert for six months now." Said Angelica.

"Oh well, I'm sure there'll be other concerts." Said Susie as the two girls walked down the street.

They headed into the Java Lava to get a smoothie, where they ran into Zack.

"Hi Zack, how goes things?" Susie asked.

Zack looked up from his smoothie with a huge frown.

"Not so good." He replied.

"Awe, what's wrong?" Susie asked.

"My aunt and I are moving away to Wheeling, West Virginia. She got a new job." Replied Zack.

"Oh no that's awful!" Replied Susie.

"Yeah, and now I can't go to the Emmica concert with my friends next Saturday. And I was really looking forward to it cuz it was going to be our first concert. I was so looking forward to going, and maybe, just maybe, I'd get picked to go up on stage to sing with her. Though with the thousands of people attending this concert, just getting to hear her live would have been nice." Said Zack.

"Don't worry Zack, I'm not going either. Apparently this concert is pretty popular already. Was just at the box office and the tickets were already sold out." Replied Susie.

"Yeah cuz some people never listen to me." Grumbled Angelica, crossing her hands across her chest.

"Well, I'd better go find the others and give them the bad news. Any idea where they are?" Zack asked.

"Probably where they usually are. At cousin Tommy's of course." Replied Angelica.

Zack hopped on his bike he had left on the bike rack outside the Java Lava and headed off to Tommy's house. Meanwhile, Didi is peering into the hall closet to see a bunch of old toys and other junk, as she continued to work on her spring cleaning, when Tommy and Dil pass through the entry hall. Didi looks up from the closet and sees them passing by.

"My goodness, you boys have a lot of stuff in here that never gets played with anymore." Said Didi.

"Why do you think it stays in the closet mom?" Asked Dil.

"Now Dil, a lot of these old toys could go to good homes, to younger children who can still enjoy these items." Replied Didi.

"No one's gonna wanna play with that stuff, it's junk. Besides, I'm suppose to get together with Zack this afternoon." Said Tommy.

"Now think about this Tommy, you have a lot more stuff than you know what to do with. I think it's time we have a yard sale. And I'm sure your friends have a ton of stuff to get rid of too." Said Didi as she closed the closet door.

"Fine, I'll go give Chuckie, Phil, Lil and Zack a call and we'll put our stuff together and have a yard sale." Sighed Tommy as he headed off towards the kitchen.

Later at lunch time, everyone was sitting around in Tommy and Dil's kitchen eating pizzas for lunch.

"So Zack, did you get your ticket to the Emmica concert?" Tommy asked.

"No, I'm afraid I won't be going to the concert." Said Zack with a shrug.

"But why?" Lil asked.

"It's, well, it's because I'm moving away." Replied Zack.

"Moving, but how?" Chuckie said disappointingly.

"My aunt got a new job at a radio station in Wheeling, West Virginia. Sure it's the stomping grounds of my late mom, and I'll get to know my maternal grandparents, but it's just, not going to be the same without you guys. I was really looking forward to the Emmica concert, and going to middle school together." Said Zack.

"Well, we can at least spend the rest of the weekend together. When are you leaving?" Tommy asked.

"We're moving on Wednesday. I'll be turning in my science project to Mrs. Guppy on Monday, and my last day at school will be Tuesday." Replied Zack, as he took another bite of his pizza.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Chuckie asked.

"Well, our mom wants us to clean out our closets and have a yard sale." Said Dil.

"Ah, the old spring cleaning time again. I suppose seeing I'm about to move, it wouldn't hurt me to do the same. I've got nine years if not more of stuff built up in my room and closet, most of it just, sits there, collecting dust." Said Zack.

"Hey, maybe we should all clean out our closets and bring our stuff back to my yard and have a humungous yard sale. Think of the money we'll make." Said Tommy eagerly.

"That's a great idea Tommy." Replied Chuckie.

Everybody headed home and got together everything out of their closets, and brought the piles to Tommy and Dil's front yard. On Chuckie and Kimi's way to their house, they ran into Angelica and Susie and told them what they were up to, Angelica relented, till Susie spoke up and encouraged her to clean out her closet. Susie and Angelica ran home and added to the yard sale pile.

Zack was pulling out the many piles from his closet when Aunt Celeste walked into the room.

"What are you doing Zack?" Asked Aunt Celeste.

"Getting together everything I have no use for anymore for Tommy and Dil's yard sale. Their mom has gone on a spring cleaning spree and wants them to get rid of stuff they don't play with anymore. So Tommy suggested maybe we all should pitch in, and seeing we're going to be moving, I figured this was as good a time as any to get rid of some stuff, even though I'd prefer to sell it on ebay." Said Zack, turning away with a sigh.

Aunt Celeste walked up to Zack and lay a hand on his shoulder.

"I know this move isn't going to be easy for you, but you're going to get to make all sorts of new friends, and get to know your maternal grandparents. And I know they've been wanting to see you. They haven't seen you since before your mother and father died, and that was over nine years ago when you were still just a baby." Said Aunt Celeste.

"I don't want to move." Snapped Zack.

"I want to stay with the friends I've had for all eternity. And I hate that we have to move this week. Couldn't we move next week? After the Emmica concert?" Zack asked.

"I'm sorry Zack, but my boss wants me to start working next Saturday. Hey, maybe Emmica will be coming to Wheeling! We'll look online later. Right now, you go help Tommy with that yard sale, and good luck." Said Aunty Celeste, as she walked out the door.

"Thanks." Sighed Zack as he picked up his pile and headed outside the apartment down the street.

As he was heading back to Tommy's, something in a store window caught his eye. It was a Reptar skateboard. As he was admiring this item, Chuckie and Kimi walked up behind him, carrying their pile for the yard sale.

"Hi Zack, what are you looking at?" Chuckie asked.

"Oh how I long to have that Reptar skateboard. It's green just like him and not only is it in the shape of Reptar, but it can hold up to three passengers, and goes super fast!" Said Zack.

"Why don't you just buy it then?" Kimi asked.

"I would, but I really don't have the money. And yeah, I know I didn't spend the money I had saved up for my Emmica concert ticket, but I think until my aunt starts her new job, it would be best if I spend my money carefully right now." Said Zack with a sigh as he turned his gaze away from the store window, the three of them, walking down the street heading for Tommy's house.

They arrived to find everyone in the front yard, along with a huge pile of various toys, clothes, and other assorted items, an empty trash can, and a long table.

"Hey Kimi, Chuckie and Zack, you made it!" Said Tommy.

"Yep, and here's the rest of our stuff to add to the pile." Said Zack, dumping his pile on the ever growing stack. Chuckie and Kimi did the same.

"Ok guys, we need to sort out these piles into three categories. Items to sell, items to be thrown away, and items to keep." Said Tommy.

"And I've got a great idea on how we can sort this stuff. Anything to be thrown away, goes into the trash can." Said Zack, pointing to the empty trash can.

"Anything we're selling, goes on the large table that Tommy's mom put out here for us to use, or, I'm assuming she did anyway." Continued Zack, pointing to the large fold out table.

"And anything we're keeping, is to be put in a pile on the grass, and then carried into Tommy's house. Is everyone with me?" Zack asked.

The group nodded, and everyone, got to work.

Zack POV

I started looking through the piles, helping to sort out everyone's stuff. The first pile I came to was Chuckie and Kimi's.

"Wow Chuckie, you sure are organized. Look at this, all of the pieces to the Bogo Block Village. Man I haven't seen this in years! And your blocks! They're arranged by size, color and shape! And oh wow, it's Mister Banana Head!" I said, as I pulled the items out of Chuckie's pile.

"Thank you Zack. I've always made sure to take good care of my stuff." Replied Chuckie.

"Yeah, and I learned just how organized he was the first time I slept over." Said Tommy.

"Yeah, I seem to recall you were a bit messy back then, but it all turned out ok in the end." Chuckie said with a smile.

After I finished going through Chuckie and Kimi's stack, and he and Kimi decided what they wanted to sell, what they wanted to keep, and what they wanted to throw away, I moved on to Susie's. The first thing I pulled out looked like a small dollhouse.

"Oh wow, nice dollhouse!" I said to Susie.

"Thank you, that's my Cynthia malaboo beach house." Replied Susie.

"Remember when you almost gave that away to me cuz you thought you would be moving?" Angelica asked.

"Wow Susie, you almost moved too?" I asked.

"Yeah, I thought my daddy's boss, who creates the Dummi Bears was going to get us a new house. I'm so glad I was wrong." Replied Susie.

"So Susie, are you keeping this or selling it?" I asked.

"Go stick it on the table, I don't play with it anymore." Said Susie.

I continued to sort through Susie's pile, and just as I did with Chuckie's, we sorted things into piles to keep, sell, and throw away. We were now down to the last item in her pile, a tricycle.

"Hey Susie, I see your tricycle here, but the reflecter appears to be broken." I said, pointing to a reflector with a crack in it.

"Um, I did that, a long time ago." Said Angelica.

"Why am I not surprised." I replied.

"So, Susie, do you think anybody's going to want a trike with a broken reflecter?" I asked.

"I played with it up until kindergarten when I got too big for it. Let's sell it." Replied Susie.

"Ok, to the for sale pile you go. I'll just place you over here next to Chuckie's shiny red pedal car. Man I remember that car. You and Tommy took it when his Reptar wagon went missing a while back." I said, glancing over at the car.

"Yeah, and now a new child can enjoy it." Said Chuckie.

After I finished up sorting through Susie's pile, I went through Phil and Lil's. Most of their's consisted of old baby clothes, Reptar dolls, and small toys, as well as a box of Reptar action figures, and Phil's old ant farm. The ant farm went to the trash, while everything else, mostly went to the for sale table. I decided to double check with them, just to make sure they hadn't changed their mind about selling all of their stuff.

"Ok Phil and Lil, before I move on to Angelica's pile, are you sure there isn't anything you want to keep? Like Chuckie kept WahWah and Susie kept her favorite Dummi Bears doll and her monster book." I asked.

"Nah, none of that stuff is all that special anyway." Replied Phil.

"Half the time we fought over it anyway. I sure wish mom and dad would start treating us as two separate people." Grumbled Lil.

"Ok, I'm moving on to Angelica's pile." I replied, as I started going through Angelica's stuff.

The first thing I picked up was an old video tape titled Miss Carrol's Shoe Tying Series Volume 1.

"Oh wow I remember this video, it's how I learned to tie shoes!" I said, holding up the tape.

"That's how I learned how to tie shoes too." Added Angelica.

"Yeah, and everybody thought I was tying my own shoes, when I didn't know how." Said Chuckie.

"Yeah, but if I recall, I eventually, taught you how to tie your shoes. Remember? We were in our second year of preschool, and you were getting tired of always having to go up to Miss Applebee to get your shoes tied. So I finally taught you how to tie your shoes." I said.

"And I can't thank you enough." Replied Chuckie.

"No problem." I said, as I put the video on the table and continued to go through the pile.

The next thing I came to was Angelica's Cynthia doll. I picked it up.

"Freeze." Angelica shouted.

I stopped and looked at her.

"Put the doll down." Demanded Angelica.

I lay it down gently on the grass.

"Now, step away, slowly." Continued Angelica, as I stepped back from her pile of stuff.

"I'm guessing you're keeping Cynthia." I said.

"Cynthia's not a toy, she's a member of the family. And don't you forget it, you dumb preteen." Snapped Angelica.

"Ok ok, forget I said anything. And don't call me dumb. I've been putting up with that for the last nine years, and frankly, I'm sick of it. Heck, I'm sorry to say this Angelica, but I'll miss you the least of all." I snapped.

It was true, I wouldn't miss her one bit.

Angelica picked up Cynthia and carried her into Tommy's house, and stuffed it in her purse that she had left on the coffee table in their living room.

I continued to go through the pile, when I ran across a set of hand cuffs.

"Anybody want these hand cuffs?" I asked.

"No! I don't care to see those ever again!" Chuckie shouted.

"I'm guessing you had a traumatic experience with those." I said.

"Yeah, I was stuck on Angelica all afternoon while we looked all over for the key, only to find it on Angelica's floor later." Chuckie replied.

"Yeah and then I got hand cuffed to my bed. I wasn't even suppose to have those cuffs in the first place, they were suppose to go to an orphanage." Said Angelica.

"And why didn't they end up there?" I asked.

"Daddy found me cuffed to the bed at supper time. He uncuffed me, yelled at me forever about taking things that didn't belong to me, and for the past nine to ten years or so, they sat on the top shelf of my closet, well, until now. Well now some orphan or whoever can have those dumb old cuffs. They're going." Snapped Angelica, as she snatched the package out of my hand and threw it on the table.

"Ok?" I said.

I continued to go through Angelica's pile, sorting everything out into what to sell and what to keep. Finally, I came to the last item in her pile. It looked like a robot doll with red hair, purple and yellow polcadotted clothing, and had a blue face. It also appeared to have arms, legs, and a mouth that moved, but this toy was as dead as a doornail.

"Who's this?" I asked, holding up the doll.

"That's Mister Friend." Replied Tommy.

"The only one we didn't destroy after he scared us." Added Phil.

"Yeah we set him free through the loose fence board." Added Lil.

"Til I found it. I thought the toy was neat!" Said Angelica.

"Well, why didn't you guys like it?" I asked.

"Well for one thing, he talked all night, and smelled of burning rubber bands, and my daddy said he was full of bugs." Replied Tommy.

"He doesn't look that scary to me, but it's probably because we're older. And, it doesn't talk or move at all, it just sits there. Wait, I see something on the back." I said, pulling off a battery compartment door, to be greeted with something worse than bugs.

"And I think there's more than bugs in this toy." I said, as the battery acid covered my hand.

"Ewww, what's that?" Dil asked.

"Angelica, did this toy sit in the back of your closet for nine or ten years too? I'm guessing ten years, as I don't remember this toy." I said.

"No worries Zack, I don't remember it either." Added Dil.

Angelica nodded.

"Well, it's going to the trash. The batteries corroded and the toy is now leaking battery acid. It's worse than bugs. In fact, it's poisonous. I'm tossing this into the trash and heading inside to wash my hands before I go through anymore piles." I said, tossing Mister Friend into the trash can, making a loud thump against the metal can as he landed with a loud thud.

I then went inside, washed my hands, and came out to go through the last pile, which was Tommy and Dil's stuff, as I didn't need to go through my pile, since I only brought from my apartment what I wanted to get rid of anyway, tossing my pile on to the for sale table as soon as I arrived.

I came back to help Tommy and Dil sort through their stuff, and while the majority of us wanted to get rid of our things, this pile had a lot more memories for us in it. Probably because this was the house we've played at with this stuff over the last nine or more years, while everyone else's toys, mostly sat around, untouched at their houses.

"Oh look, it's our favorite ball. We use to roll this around for hours!" I said, picking up the green ball with the blue stripe and orange star on it.

"Yeah, remember when we went to the next yard to get that ball back?" Tommy asked.

"Yeah, I'll never forget that." Added Chuckie.

"Um, I don't remember that adventure." I replied.

"Neither do I." Said Kimi.

"So, we keeping it?" I asked.

Tommy couldn't bare to get rid of it so it went to the keep pile. I continued to go through the stuff, and ran across a stack of old baby clothes. I chuckled when I pulled out a yellow wig and a small blue dress.

"Hey what's so funny?" Dil asked.

I tried to stifle my laugh, but I just, couldn't.

"Did one of you dress up as a girl for Halloween or something when you were babies or something?" I asked.

"No." Replied Dil.

"Hmmm, I seem to recall something having to do with going fishing in a dress, but that's it." Said Tommy.

"Ok, I know we've done some crazy things, but going fishing in a dress, that's just crazy talk. I'm assuming you don't want this." I said.

Tommy and Dil nodded their heads and I put it along with the rest of the pile of old baby clothes on the ever growing stack on the table.

As I continued to go through the rest of the pile, we found plenty of stuff to sell. Old buckets and shovels for sandbox play, Reptar dolls, Dummi Bears dolls, and several other assorted items. Finally, we came to what was holding the majority of this pile, the Reptar wagon.

"Awe, the Reptar wagon. We had so many adventures in this old thing." I said, stroking the head of Reptar on the front of it.

"Yeah, we did." Said Tommy.

"Remember when we tried to take Dil back to the hospital in that thing?" Lil asked.

"Let's not go there." Said Chuckie.

"Well, we sadly can't fit in it now, so, should we sell it?" I asked.

"But my dad made that for me and Dil." Replied Tommy.

"Now Tommy, I know it has sentimental value, but don't you think it's time for a new generation to have adventures in it?" I asked.

"Ok, I guess so." Tommy said.

But before I rolled it next to Chuckie's pedal car and Susie's trike, I pulled out my phone and took a picture of it. In fact, I took pictures of everything that was out there, so we'd have a memory of all of our old toys. There was Phil's white bear Frosty, that I won for him at the carnival in the first grade when he threw up on the rollercoaster ride to help him feel better. There was the blue kitty cat we got for Tommy from Cynthia Land when he fell ill with that awful Foot in Mouth disease, or whatever it's called, and several other items we were parting ways with, out on the table, ready to sell.

Once we had everything ready to sell, we put price tags on everything while Susie made up a for sale sign and put it outside on the side of the table.

"So how much do you think the Reptar wagon should sell for?" I asked.

"Hmmm, I don't know, ten dollars?" Tommy replied.

I stuck a ten dollar price sticker on the side of the Reptar wagon, and the yard sale, began.

As the afternoon carried on, people came from all over buying our items at the yard sale. I sat there with a shoe box, collecting the money. Finally, everything had sold except for one item. There sat in the middle of the grass, Tommy's Boppo the clown doll.

"Nobody's gonna wanna buy that dumb old clown doll." Said Chuckie.

"Oh I'm sure they will. Let's just wait a little while longer." I replied.

As the sun was starting to set, a lady with black hair and her son with red hair, who looked to be about 3-years-old stopped off in the yard. The boy got really excited, as he played with the clown doll.

"Hi, I'm Boppo!" Said the clown doll as it fell over and came back up.

The boy did this several more times, making me more irritated with the toy as it continued to play over and over and over again. I was about to cover my ears, when the black haired lady walked up to me.

"How much is the clown doll? My son seems to like it!" Said the lady.

"It's five dollars." I replied.

The lady gave me the money, snatched up her son and the toy, and I could breethe a sigh of relief that I didn't have to hear that dumb old clown doll say, "Hi, I'm Boppo," anymore.

"Well guys we did it!" Said Tommy.

"Yep, we did, and, I'd better be getting home, my aunt wants me home for dinner." I said.

"Well ok then, thanks, and, we'll see you later." Said Tommy.

I waved goodbye and headed out of Tommy's yard. Before I rounded the corner though, I turned back to glance at Tommy's yard one last time, as I nearly started to cry, knowing this would be one of the last times I'd ever be in his yard again.

End of Zack POV

Tommy POV

As I sat there, watching Zack head for home and the sun set, I thought about all of the times Zack was there for us throughout our childhood. How he took my brother and my friends through Cynthia Land to get me that toy when I didn't feel well. How he helped me to face my fear of water to rescue my screwdriver and Chuckie's rock at that art museum celebration thing, from the bottom of the pools that were outside the art museum, and then in the third grade, he helped me to learn my multiplication tables. And I know Zack has helped my other friends as well. There wasn't a lot of time left, and if we were going to do something nice for Zack, to show him what an important friend he's been to us over the years, and to thank him, the time to act, was now.

End of Tommy POV

End of Chapter 1

So, what are they going to do to say goodbye to Zack? You'll have to find out, in chapter 2.

Author's Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter. The idea for the yard sale and the batteries being corroded in Mister Friend came to mind when I thought back to last summer. My family had a yard sale to make room for my nephew, who would soon be born, and I spent several hours in the basement playroom, going through old toys and trying to decide what to keep, what to sell, and what to throw away. I sadly found several toys where the batteries had corroded, and trust me, touching that stuff is very unpleasant, and I learned why it's important to take the batteries out of stuff if it's not being played with or used for a while. I'm currently suffering from a case of writer's block, but once I am over it, I'll write up the next chapter and have it posted soon.