The Heart Of A Human-

Paired Characters: ZakXPips/SLASH!/Lemon

A/N: So, without further ado, I present the sequel to "Earning Wings"! I know it's been horrible waiting for it, but now you're in for a treat! :) The same disclaimers still apply. My OCs are Craig, Liam, and Paige Young, as well as various random side characters that don't have names. If you don't like boy on boy romance, yaoi, or sexual dialogue, then save yourself the trouble and don't read it.

Pips ducked as a plum flew at his head. The fruit splattered against the back wall, covering the hollow of the tree in sticky, maroon juice. His backside had caught some of the explosion, matting his red hair in the process.

"Fuck you!" Zak yelled from the entrance.

"What's your problem, Zap?" Pips shouted, using the sarcastic nickname that hadn't been used in over eight seasons. He knew that the nickname pissed Zak off, and that was his intention. When he was pelted with the fruit, he had lost any sympathy he might have had towards the blond faerie.

"You are my problem!"

"What did I ever do to you?"

Zak hovered there for a moment, hurt crossing his face for a brief flash, before he covered it with anger. "Nothing," he said flatly, crossing his arms and looking away. "you wouldn't understand..."

Pips wrung a corner of his loincloth out from some of the juice, muttering softly to himself. "Stupid, pathetic human..."

Stupid...

Pathetic...

Human.

Zak turned to face him, having unintentionally caught the remark. "Maybe I want to be human again." His voice was the color of cold apathy. It sounded calm, like a promise.

The words pierced Pips' heart. He looked up, sadness squeezing his lungs tight and wrenching tears he thought he'd never shed from his eyes. Pips realized his mistake.

'What have I done...?'

Pips flew towards him with his hand reaching out. Zak shook his head, denying that loving touch, and zoomed away.

The absence of his lover tore him apart.

He returned to their tree and sat down, his legs folded up against him. He wrapped his arms around them, futilely using them as a shield from the pain he could not escape. He didn't cry out, or scream. He just shook.

For the past couple of days, Zak had grown silent and moody. The change in him had concerned Pips, but he didn't think much of it.

Yesterday, he thought that he could entice Zak into telling him what was wrong. Pips had crawled over to Zak, who was sleeping on their mattress of leaves inside their tree, and woke him up by tenderly biting his neck. Seduction was his preferred method in always finding out what was wrong with him.

Only this time, Zak had jumped from the mattress with a yelp and yelled at him. "Pips! What the Hell are you doing?"

Pips had been so shocked by his reaction that he just sat there, at a loss for words.

"Don't fucking touch me!" And he had rolled over, going back to sleep.

And when this morning came along, he had tried to simply ask what was wrong. At first, Zak didn't respond. That's when Pips, the "mischief-maker of Ferngully", had decided to drop an over-ripened cherry on his head, so that maybe Zak would come out of his slump and join in on the fun.

Instead, Pips had been attacked right back, but not in a playful way.

He sat there now, confused and scared. He had pushed him too far. If it had been anyone else, he would have been pissed off. But this was Zak... His love... The faerie made by magic, with the heart and soul of a human...

Eight seasons ago, Pips had hated him. The red head had believed that Zak made a mistake in allowing himself to become a faerie. What if he didn't like being a faerie and left, putting Pips' hopes up only to crush them underfoot? What if Crysta messed up in casting her magic, like she did when she had shrunk him when they first met, only to disastrous and irreversible consequences? Zak took the risk and Pips hated him for it. He would have rather had Zak as the tiny human as he was, staying in Ferngully.

But when they consolidated their differences and Pips realized that Zak made a good faerie, he accepted him and subsequently fell in love with him. To his ultimate joy, so did Zak. They became inseparable and loving in the following eight seasons of being together. Zak eventually moved in with Pips. Crysta was happy to find that her best friends had found one another and even threw a celebration for them. The faeries of Ferngully were thrilled and the celebration that night was a raucous one.

It all seemed so long ago now. The two days of distance and pain between them made all of the happy memories seem like a long faded dream.

Pips got up from the floor and took off to find Crysta, hoping that she could give him some advice in how to approach Zak and apologize.

A/N: I know it's a little short, bear with me. ^^; But hopefully you all liked it! Tell me what you think! :) Find out what happens next in the next chapter!