Author's Note:

Oh boy Chapter 2. Managed to ease in a bit further with the writing process, I guess. Sorry for the apparent delay as I had (rather evilly, mwahaha) uploaded the first chapter right before my exam week. So now I'm back. Ah well. Enjoy!

*Doofenshirmtz Evil Incorporated!*

Perry leaped straight through the doorway and gave the surroundings a sweeping glare. All was quiet and undisturbed. The atmosphere was hushed and the once brightly lit laboratory was almost pitch black, save for the light shining through the door. A single bead of sweat trickled down Perry's forehead. He raised his arm to wipe it off, and as he did so, he could just make out the eerie sound of the shuffling of feet approach him. He turned towards it but no one was there. He was sure he was alone. But was he? The lump that had formed in Perry's throat slowly tightened with a vice grip, seemingly squeezing out his breath in slow, deep gasps out of his bone-dry mouth. He tried to run but his feet were frozen to the floor. Through all of this, he could feel a dark presence slowly envelop him as he…

"SURPRISE!"

Perry shot up into the sky, landing smack into a cage hanging upon the ceiling, trapping him instantly. As his entire body collapsed on the cage floor shivering in pure panic, his twitching eyes could barely make out his arch nemesis amongst a pile of balloons, candy and poorly arranged and misspelled banners, all complemented by a rather large and extravagant looking cake.

Upside down, of course.

"Perry the Platypus? Get down from there, you're not supposed to be trapped yet." Doof pushed a button and Perry was released from the cage, slamming forcefully into the ground.

"Yeah, now you've even ruined my wonderful surprise for you!" Doof lamented, as he gestured towards the setup. "Let's try again." He cleared his throat.

"Surprise, Perry the Platypus! Happy birthday to you!" Doof said, before blowing on a noise maker.

Perry rubbed his head angrily. It wasn't his birthday at all. His was about 5 months from then, and it wasn't even on the same day.

Doof was now by the cake and cutting a slice. "Oh Perry the Platypus, don't you want to come and get your cake?" Perry quickly regained his composure and sprung upwards, before flipping onto the tile in front of him and striking a menacing karate pose at the coated man.

Beep.

Just like that, the cage sprung downwards and encapsulated the poor platypus. The old hidden switch gag got him again. Perry could do nothing but sigh deeply and watch his arch nemesis bawl with laughter.

"Ha ha ha, just look at you! All trapped and ready to see my most brilliant Inator ever!"

Doof grabbed one of the presents and tore off the packaging, before tossing away the box.

"Behold! My Do-"

He looked down and immediately realised he was holding a teddy bear.

"Oh wait…that's the wrong one. Let me try again." He grabbed another one.

"Behold! My Daaaaa-"

The basketball in his hand slipped out and rolled away. Doof looked around to see the humongous pile of presents.

"Ehh…this might take a while," he lamented, and Perry gave him a nonchalant raise of the eyebrow in response.

The clock chimed for the afternoon at Isabella's house. It was time to write the first letter, and all Isabella was doing was chewing at the end of her pencil, staring at the tenderly placed paper before her, which had a single word written upon it.

Hello,

She thought she had everything planned out. Write a sweet note, then follow up with some suggestions and go forward with the words she held on so long to in her heart. The worst part was, she didn't know what was stopping her.

Isabella's mind began drifting away with every question she asked. Some part of her felt like crying out the childish, one-dimensional side of young infatuation and yet, she imagined a little fairy placed upon her shoulder, which sprinkled the light blessings of hope upon her tired and confused little mind. Isabella wished Phineas would stand beside her then, because she knew how much she needed him.

She paced around the room several times, before stopping at her mirror. She took a look at her reflection, one of a brightly glowing, young, ribbon-adorned beauty, yet her heart was not as strong as many would seem to believe.

She placed her hand on the mirror and wondered why she was thinking so deeply. When were the times when she could just lighten up and not overthink the silliest things? Did she try so hard that she failed to just let everything be natural? Over time, even if she waited for eternity, there was no way Phineas could be so naïve.

She giggled to herself. It must be the fairy dust, she told herself.

After she promised herself to stay strong and yet sweet, she began scribbling with a newfound strength and in no time, her first letter was complete. She popped it carefully into a letter and sealed it, but not before giving it a small kiss for good luck.

She crept around the fence separating their two houses, and after being sure no one was watching, she popped it into Phineas' mailbox. Just then, she heard their front door open and she quickly pretended to be passing by.

Lo and behold, Phineas emerged from the house, ever so bored from waiting for his first letter. He almost immediately noticed Isabella, and strolled towards her.

"Hey Isabella, I was just helping Ferb write his letter, since he had some trouble with some vocabulary. He's much better with tools than writing, I guess." Phineas mentioned.

"That's great, Phineas," Isabella squeaked. "So, watcha doin' now?"

"Actually, I'm checking the mail again to see if my pen pal replied." Phineas said, opening the mailbox. "I'm so excited to start writing myself, I can barely – Hey!"

Phineas lit up as he fished the letter from inside. "Wow…" He scratched his head. "I've done plenty of stuff this summer, but receiving a letter…it's certainly a feeling like none other. Huh. The world works in mysterious ways indeed."

Isabella could barely contain herself. "Read it out loud, Phineas. I wanna hear what it says!" she sweetly remarked.

"Oh, alright. But just this once, since this thing is supposed to be secret." Phineas pointed out. He cleared his throat, and read the letter out loud.

Hello forwardmover5,

It's really special to me that I can have someone to write to. My name is Gwen and it would be so cool if you're the Phineas I know about. I hung around a lot when you had a lot of others over, like that giant roller-coaster you've built. I saw that you're an inventor, and I think that being creative is something really special, because it shows how much you really can put your heart into something.

I'm a Fireside Girl myself and I love learning new skills. Maybe one day you can teach me how to build just like you! Do you think that you'll still be creating these wonderful things when you're older? I'm also curious to know what you are like as a person. Maybe we can even get to know each other better once this thing is over.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Love, Gwen

Phineas tucked the letter into his pocket, and he was radiant and beaming from ear to ear. "Wow, it's great having someone you don't even know tell you how much they appreciate you. This is one of the best ideas ever!" He looked up at Isabella, and he thought he could see Isabella clearly blushing from what he just said, but it faded away quickly and he dismissed it as nothing.

"So Isabella," he quipped. "Have you started writing yours yet?"

Isabella was still quivering all over in embarrassment, and she sheepishly stared at the ground. "Oh, yeah. I'm starting soon. I just wanted to get some fresh air, that's all."

"Well, there's no time to waste!" he remarked. "The faster you write these letters, the more you can send out to your new friend!" Phineas began walking back to the house. "I'll catch up with you later once I'm done with my letter!"

"Alright! See you then!" Isabella called. When Phineas disappeared from view, she celebrated to herself. She was very certain that Phineas liked how honest she was.

All she had to do now was continue writing.