On a humid summer day in New New York the Planet Express ship returned from
a delivery to the swamp world of Junglar 4. The heat was sweltering and
Leela had gotten more than a little dirty from the delivery so instead of
waiting to the end of the day and showering when she got home, she decided
to shower on board the ship.
"Ugh, what an exhausting trip." Leela sighed to herself as she stepped under the cool, water. Leela relaxed by putting on some music, one of her favourite tunes, and sung along pleasantly to it. She felt the tension and heat swollen up inside her release as her voice rose into chorus. This song always made her smile, and she needed to, an awful lot had happened on the delivery. Aside from it being unbearably hot, Bender got swallowed by a mud monster and Fry kept asking, "Are we there yet?" every two minutes. Once they managed to save Bender from the jaws of death and Fry's nagging stopped with the end of the delivery Leela was relieved, but she still couldn't wait to get home and put her feet up after this tiring day.
Once the last dregs of dirt were chased down the drain, Leela got out of the shower and towel dried herself from the head down. It wasn't until she started drying her arms that she felt something was different. "Where's my bracelet?" Leela asked herself as she gripped her wrist suddenly. With the same shock she would have if she had lost her hand entirely. "OH NO!" Leela cried, diving back into the shower, clawing at the drain desperately. "It couldn't have gone down the drain, it couldn't!" After a short while spent on her hands and knees, Leela stood up and tried to find her composure. Taking a deep breath, "Now relax, Leela, think." Leela always took her bracelet off before she went in the water, it was just habit. Unless she'd been distracted this time.
"Okay, okay," Leela said to herself, "Just look around again, you probably put it down somewhere in here anyway." She assured herself, but she didn't sound terribly convinced. Another frantic search later Leela found herself still standing, still undressed, and still missing the only possession from her orphaned childhood.
Now she was really starting to get worried.
"Where did I leave it?" Leela quizzed herself, "I'm sure I had it when I came in here, which means it must have fallen down the drain." Leela finally finished drying up and hurriedly put her clothes back on. Not worrying about her hair she darted out onto the bridge of the ship and sat at the console. The ship's computer was able to run various tests and sweeps on the ship's waste tank and although Leela was never responsible for that area of the ship, she had to have her bracelet back. ASAP.
Tapping furiously at the keyboard she managed to have the computer sweep the tank for any unusual objects. i.e. metallic objects. After that all she'd have to do is have the ship isolate the object and filter it out for her right away.
Sadly the computer's summary of the sweep read:
"No metallic object(s) found. No unusual materials found. Tank last emptied 1 day(s) ago. Would you like to empty the tank now?"
"Ugh!" Leela groaned. She swept her hands through her hair. "Where is it?" she cried anxiously.
Fry and Bender were on the couch drinking beer when Leela came storming in.
"Alright Bender, where is it?!" Leela roared as she pinned Bender to the couch by his shoulders.
"Whoa, I can explain everything! I only borrowed your purse so I could, um. prove that your money wasn't counterfeited! Yeh, the store accepted it, no problems. I was doing you a favour if you think about it."
"I'm talking about my bracelet, you rotten crook!"
"Your bracelet? What would I want with that lousy scrap of metal?" Bender argued.
"I don't know," Leela said sarcastically. She released Bender and stood tall, folding her arms, "maybe you wanted to pawn it, or bribe me with it, or who knows what! Well it's not going to work. Now, you've got 3 seconds to hand it over before I pound you into scrap metal!" Leela very coolly tapped the toe of her heavy right boot on the floor twice, conveying a similar message as though she were to have cracked her knuckles or maybe even cocked a pistol.
"Look, Leela, I didn't swipe your god-damn bracelet. Here," Bender offered, "I'll even activate my truth circuit to prove to you!" A Small click was heard and Bender's head started twitching involuntarily, "I , I," Bender paused for breath, "phew. I, I didn't steal your bracelet" Click. "Agh, man, that was weird."
"Ugh!" Leela groaned, "I can't believe I've lost it!"
Fry, who had remained silent until now, spoke, "Where did you lose it?"
"Ugh," Leela sighed, "Fry, you do know that that is officially the stupidest question in the universe?"
"Well, gee Leela, I'm only trying to help." Huffed Fry.
Leela sighed again, she might have apologised but was so frustrated she was about to boil over. So she left the room and continued searching around.
Leela searched for hours, all over the ship, retracing her steps dozens of times from the moment she set foot on the ship after making the delivery. She searched the entire building to make doubly certain. She felt her lungs and heart inside her chest burning up with desperation and a painful lump in her throat proved her mental attachment to her bracelet was having painful repercussions. When the end of the working day came, Fry found Leela onboard the ship rechecking the shower for umpteenth time. "Um, Leela?" Fry spoke cautiously.
"Yes?" Leela replied without turning around.
"Still looking huh?"
Leela tried to whisper, under her breath; "obviously", but the strain in her throat prevented her from doing anything other than mouth the words. "Yes I'm still looking." Leela seethed.
"Maybe you should rest for a while, Leela? You've been searching for hours. I'll ask Scruffy to keep an eye out for it. I'm sure he'll find it when he's cleaning round tonight."
"I don't want to go home without it." Leela said. She still hadn't turned to face Fry, she was looking for her bracelet still, but she knew it wasn't here. The main reason she didn't turn around was, she didn't want Fry to see her red face.
"Okay. But maybe you should just try to. You're not gonna find it by getting worked up. I'll bet it turns up first thing tomorrow." Fry tried coaxing.
Leela really didn't want to stop looking, but she felt so exhausted, and the prospect of simply going home, then waking up to find her lost treasured possession waiting for her on the conference table seemed very appealing, if a little overly optimistic. Leela put both hands to her face and exhaled deeply. She turned around and said, "You're right. It's just, I've never been this long without my bracelet. It's a part of me. It's been the only consistency in my life. My dad made it for me."
"I know. We'll find it." Fry said. He walked Leela home to keep her company as she was clearly visibly upset. Leela insisted she'd be fine at her door, despite Fry's insistency that he should probably spend the night to make sure she was OK. After Leela eventually slammed the door in Fry's eager face, she collapsed onto her couch and let out a deep sigh. Fry was right however, dwelling on her bracelet wouldn't retrieve it and she did her best to take her mind off the issue entirely. She watched some TV, ate dinner, did a little Kung-Fu training before chilling out to some relaxing music and going to bed early.
Very early.
Like a child on Xmas eve, going to sleep early so as to wake up sooner.
Unlike an excited child on Xmas, however, Leela had no difficulty falling asleep. Thanks in no small part to her exertions in the Jungle and her exhausting search earlier on. The next morning Leela woke up and immediately leapt out of bed. She got washed and dressed very quickly and was at work by 6am.
After Hermes let her in she immediately asked if Scruffy had found anything last night.
"Sorry," Hermes shook his head.
Leela took a deep breath. She really had managed to convince herself that her bracelet would be waiting for her first thing in the morning but it was still gone, and she had no idea where. "What on Earth am I going to do?" she thought, as the terrible pain in her throat which had vanished during the night started to return.
A/N: So what's gonna happen now? Will Leela go nuts? Will she find her bracelet? Will I work in a romantic element to the story? Will I mention a Travis song? Who knows! Sorry, that wasn't a very great place to end the chapter, but I hope the first part was at least entertaining. "You call this a cliff-hanger? You call this a cliff-hanger! I wouldn't end a Rugrats episode with this cliff-hanger!"
"Ugh, what an exhausting trip." Leela sighed to herself as she stepped under the cool, water. Leela relaxed by putting on some music, one of her favourite tunes, and sung along pleasantly to it. She felt the tension and heat swollen up inside her release as her voice rose into chorus. This song always made her smile, and she needed to, an awful lot had happened on the delivery. Aside from it being unbearably hot, Bender got swallowed by a mud monster and Fry kept asking, "Are we there yet?" every two minutes. Once they managed to save Bender from the jaws of death and Fry's nagging stopped with the end of the delivery Leela was relieved, but she still couldn't wait to get home and put her feet up after this tiring day.
Once the last dregs of dirt were chased down the drain, Leela got out of the shower and towel dried herself from the head down. It wasn't until she started drying her arms that she felt something was different. "Where's my bracelet?" Leela asked herself as she gripped her wrist suddenly. With the same shock she would have if she had lost her hand entirely. "OH NO!" Leela cried, diving back into the shower, clawing at the drain desperately. "It couldn't have gone down the drain, it couldn't!" After a short while spent on her hands and knees, Leela stood up and tried to find her composure. Taking a deep breath, "Now relax, Leela, think." Leela always took her bracelet off before she went in the water, it was just habit. Unless she'd been distracted this time.
"Okay, okay," Leela said to herself, "Just look around again, you probably put it down somewhere in here anyway." She assured herself, but she didn't sound terribly convinced. Another frantic search later Leela found herself still standing, still undressed, and still missing the only possession from her orphaned childhood.
Now she was really starting to get worried.
"Where did I leave it?" Leela quizzed herself, "I'm sure I had it when I came in here, which means it must have fallen down the drain." Leela finally finished drying up and hurriedly put her clothes back on. Not worrying about her hair she darted out onto the bridge of the ship and sat at the console. The ship's computer was able to run various tests and sweeps on the ship's waste tank and although Leela was never responsible for that area of the ship, she had to have her bracelet back. ASAP.
Tapping furiously at the keyboard she managed to have the computer sweep the tank for any unusual objects. i.e. metallic objects. After that all she'd have to do is have the ship isolate the object and filter it out for her right away.
Sadly the computer's summary of the sweep read:
"No metallic object(s) found. No unusual materials found. Tank last emptied 1 day(s) ago. Would you like to empty the tank now?"
"Ugh!" Leela groaned. She swept her hands through her hair. "Where is it?" she cried anxiously.
Fry and Bender were on the couch drinking beer when Leela came storming in.
"Alright Bender, where is it?!" Leela roared as she pinned Bender to the couch by his shoulders.
"Whoa, I can explain everything! I only borrowed your purse so I could, um. prove that your money wasn't counterfeited! Yeh, the store accepted it, no problems. I was doing you a favour if you think about it."
"I'm talking about my bracelet, you rotten crook!"
"Your bracelet? What would I want with that lousy scrap of metal?" Bender argued.
"I don't know," Leela said sarcastically. She released Bender and stood tall, folding her arms, "maybe you wanted to pawn it, or bribe me with it, or who knows what! Well it's not going to work. Now, you've got 3 seconds to hand it over before I pound you into scrap metal!" Leela very coolly tapped the toe of her heavy right boot on the floor twice, conveying a similar message as though she were to have cracked her knuckles or maybe even cocked a pistol.
"Look, Leela, I didn't swipe your god-damn bracelet. Here," Bender offered, "I'll even activate my truth circuit to prove to you!" A Small click was heard and Bender's head started twitching involuntarily, "I , I," Bender paused for breath, "phew. I, I didn't steal your bracelet" Click. "Agh, man, that was weird."
"Ugh!" Leela groaned, "I can't believe I've lost it!"
Fry, who had remained silent until now, spoke, "Where did you lose it?"
"Ugh," Leela sighed, "Fry, you do know that that is officially the stupidest question in the universe?"
"Well, gee Leela, I'm only trying to help." Huffed Fry.
Leela sighed again, she might have apologised but was so frustrated she was about to boil over. So she left the room and continued searching around.
Leela searched for hours, all over the ship, retracing her steps dozens of times from the moment she set foot on the ship after making the delivery. She searched the entire building to make doubly certain. She felt her lungs and heart inside her chest burning up with desperation and a painful lump in her throat proved her mental attachment to her bracelet was having painful repercussions. When the end of the working day came, Fry found Leela onboard the ship rechecking the shower for umpteenth time. "Um, Leela?" Fry spoke cautiously.
"Yes?" Leela replied without turning around.
"Still looking huh?"
Leela tried to whisper, under her breath; "obviously", but the strain in her throat prevented her from doing anything other than mouth the words. "Yes I'm still looking." Leela seethed.
"Maybe you should rest for a while, Leela? You've been searching for hours. I'll ask Scruffy to keep an eye out for it. I'm sure he'll find it when he's cleaning round tonight."
"I don't want to go home without it." Leela said. She still hadn't turned to face Fry, she was looking for her bracelet still, but she knew it wasn't here. The main reason she didn't turn around was, she didn't want Fry to see her red face.
"Okay. But maybe you should just try to. You're not gonna find it by getting worked up. I'll bet it turns up first thing tomorrow." Fry tried coaxing.
Leela really didn't want to stop looking, but she felt so exhausted, and the prospect of simply going home, then waking up to find her lost treasured possession waiting for her on the conference table seemed very appealing, if a little overly optimistic. Leela put both hands to her face and exhaled deeply. She turned around and said, "You're right. It's just, I've never been this long without my bracelet. It's a part of me. It's been the only consistency in my life. My dad made it for me."
"I know. We'll find it." Fry said. He walked Leela home to keep her company as she was clearly visibly upset. Leela insisted she'd be fine at her door, despite Fry's insistency that he should probably spend the night to make sure she was OK. After Leela eventually slammed the door in Fry's eager face, she collapsed onto her couch and let out a deep sigh. Fry was right however, dwelling on her bracelet wouldn't retrieve it and she did her best to take her mind off the issue entirely. She watched some TV, ate dinner, did a little Kung-Fu training before chilling out to some relaxing music and going to bed early.
Very early.
Like a child on Xmas eve, going to sleep early so as to wake up sooner.
Unlike an excited child on Xmas, however, Leela had no difficulty falling asleep. Thanks in no small part to her exertions in the Jungle and her exhausting search earlier on. The next morning Leela woke up and immediately leapt out of bed. She got washed and dressed very quickly and was at work by 6am.
After Hermes let her in she immediately asked if Scruffy had found anything last night.
"Sorry," Hermes shook his head.
Leela took a deep breath. She really had managed to convince herself that her bracelet would be waiting for her first thing in the morning but it was still gone, and she had no idea where. "What on Earth am I going to do?" she thought, as the terrible pain in her throat which had vanished during the night started to return.
A/N: So what's gonna happen now? Will Leela go nuts? Will she find her bracelet? Will I work in a romantic element to the story? Will I mention a Travis song? Who knows! Sorry, that wasn't a very great place to end the chapter, but I hope the first part was at least entertaining. "You call this a cliff-hanger? You call this a cliff-hanger! I wouldn't end a Rugrats episode with this cliff-hanger!"