Yeah...sorry for the chapter names. I have a couple stories going, and I need to keep my uploads organized.
At 8 am, the bell rang. All of the Skool was gathered into the Auditorium with the 6th graders behind stage. One by one, Zim and Dib looked between the curtains and watched their classmates go. Finally, it was almost their turn.
"Where's Gaz?" Dib asked, looking around. He and Zim had changed into their costumes as well. Again, Dib was amazed at how accurate Zim was in keeping true to the era. He was dressed in Union blue, and his merits on his chest were equal to that of General Sherman's. Zim, in Confederate grey, looked as though he just fled Gettysburg.
Zim shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't seen her in a while…" He trailed off when he saw Gaz out of the corner of his eye.
"Gaz!" he whispered. "Where have you been? Are you ready? Do you know your part?"
Dib turned too and saw Gaz. She was dressed in a simple day dress of the time- white, shortsleeved with ruffles and a low neck. A green sash was tied at her natural waste and a giant bow on her back. She had her hair back into a low bun, with a simple green ribbon chocker at her neck. Green emeralds dangled from her ears.
"Wow, Gaz! You look like you could be a Union wife!" Dib noticed how low the bodice was cut. "But…I don't like that top…you need something higher. Zim what else do you have?"
Zim, however, was looking very confused. "Well…the dress I originally gave her. That's not the one. She's supposed to be a Southern Bell….where did you get that?"
Before Gaz could answer, another girl stepped out from behind her. She, too, was in Civil War dress, but she was wearing the ball gown that Zim had brought for Gaz.
It was a solid blue, like the color of moonlight snow, and it billowed out into a bell fashion. It too was short sleeved, with ruffles, and a decoration of lace around the v-necked collar. This girl too wore a chocker of ribbon, but it was the same blue of the dress…and her eyes. But…her skin…
"T…Tak?" Zim stammered. Dib's mouth dropped. Tak sneered. She was wearing a wig of dark brown hair, done in ringlets and curls.
"Tak!" Zim found his voice. "What are you doing here? You were thrown off into space! And why aren't you in your other disguise?"
"I didn't have much freedom as a hologram. You're right, these beings are stupid, and just lenses and a wig works."
Zim walked to her and grabbed both her arms. "But what are you doing here?" He hissed into her face.
She smiled again and said in a cold voice with a southern accent, "Now, Lieutenant Zim, is that how you treat a lady? I'm just a poor Southern Bell, here for the performance. Thank goodness my cousin Gaz is the same waist as I or I do not know what would have become of me!"
Behind them, Ms. Bitters whispered, "Dib, Zim…your filth is up next. Be ready."
Zim glared into Taks eyes for a moment, and then let her go. He paced a few paces, then grabbed Dib and drug him over to the other side of the small room.
"I don't know what she is doing, but she knows what we are doing. We're just going to have to adjust."
Dib nodded. "You're right, we don't have time to deal with it. She can…sing or something."
Zim punched Dib in the arm. "Don't agree with me." Rubbing his arm, Dib followed Zim back to Gaz and Tak.
"Ok," Zim whispered. Behind them, the audience was clapping as the performance before them was finishing. They had about two minutes while the grade-judgement was given before they were to go on.
"Ok…Dib and Gaz…you're still going to talk. Tak, I don't know why or how, but you seem to know what's going on here." Tak nodded, an evil smirk still on her face. Zim thought fast. "I originally was going to just…well, die on stage. But…since you're here…we're going to use you. Do you know the song 'Ain True Love'?"
Tak nodded again. Suddenly, Ms. Bitters was standing behind them, growling.
"You little gits had better get on that stage now…every second you waste, your grade is dropped!"
Without another word, the four walked to the opening for the stage.
"You two wait until Zim and I introduce you, this is kinda like a play," Dib told Gaz and Tak. They both just staired at him. "Uh…ok then.." Dib nodded to Zim, who motioned to the tech guy to start the audio and visual, took a deep breath, and stepped out on stage.
The first fifteen minutes of the performance went smoothly. Dib and Zim remembered all their lines perfectly, and there wasn't a glitch to be found in the video/audio. The play was Zim and Dib were cousins, Zim living outside Atlanta as a cotton plantation owner, and Dib in New York as a lawyer. They went through the causes of the war as a dialogue of conversations and letters between the two. Once they both signed up for their respectful armies, it was time for the girls to come out. Dib went first.
"Dear Cousin Judah," he said, pretending to dictate a letter to a servant. Behind them, on the screen, images of soldiers getting ready for war passed by.
"I regret to hear about your mother. Aunt Scarlet was always kind to me when I would visit. My regards to Uncle William, for now the entire run of the plantation is on him, with you leaving for the War.
"My dearest Cousin, I beg of you one last time to reconsider. Sister Beth has been keeping company with General Grant, and she has informed me that the Yankee army has an astounding amount of wealth and resources. Please, reconsider. I will never ask you to drop your cause, but please, take your father and sisters, and flee. Leave Atlanta and head to St. Louis, or even further West. The government is giving great land grants for California and Oregon. I hear there is even gold!"
As Dib was dictating, Gaz walked out onto stage. She held her head high and walked in a manner that no one had ever seen before. She pretended to be at a party and listening to all the generals and officers speak. When Dib finished his portion, the lights dimmed on Dib's side of the stage and went up on Zim's. Zim, pretending to have just read the letter, marched angrily around in a circle, dictating his own "letter".
"Thaddeus: You ask of me to leave my land but keep my cause? Your request is as impossible as asking a bee to stay away from the honeysickle yet continue to make honey. I do regret that this War will tear us apart, but Lincoln is a tyrant, and I must take my stand for my father! I have a message for General Grant. We do not fear whatever weapon you have, for we have something more: God."
After this line, they were supposed to move on to the battles, but Tak was still backstage. If Zim didn't bring her out, she for sure would do something to ruin the performance. Zim glanced at Dib, who nodded slightly. Zim would have to adlib.
"I have some lighter news, Tad. Do you remember Catherine, from the Midsummer Ball in Atlanta? Well, I am pleased to tell you that I made Kitty my bride the week before last. When this War has ended, perhaps you and Beth would enjoy a trip with us to the coast, I would gladly like to introduce you properly."
As he finished, Tak was walking about next to him. She came to stand by his side, and just as the lights were fading so the students could watch the next portion of the video, she placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Your wife?" she hissed.
"Well, Tad had a sister, so I figured I could have a wife. I'm supposed to die, so you'll be a widow, just wait."
Tak snorted softly. "Well…I hope your rich."