Playing Hooky - Chapter 4

The darkness continued to engulf them. Leela and Fry took turns squeezing each other's hand to remind themselves they were still there.

Once the feeling of vertigo had subsided, Leela had begun wondering what their world was going to look like. She thought of all her favorite things, and then remembered that they'd be mixed with Fry's thoughts.

I wonder if there will be any data in Fry's brain for the poor machine to look at, she thought, smiling to herself.

"Hey Leela," Fry interrupted her thoughts suddenly, "Is this a date?"

"What?" Leela practically shouted, surprised and flustered by the crazy question out of nowhere, "Fry, if I had known this was a date I wouldn't have agreed to it in any way shape or form! You know that…"

Leela trailed off, realizing she had been unnecessarily mean.

"Oh," Fry sounded hurt, "Silly me…"

"Oh Fry," Leela started apologetically, "It's not that I don't think you're a great guy. It's just…"

"I'm nowhere near good enough for you," Fry finished. He didn't say it in a sarcastic or mean way, but more like it was a fact. Like someone saying snow is cold, he truly believed it.

Leela was about to respond when she was blinded by light. Fry let out a small groan, caught off guard by the sudden brightness.

Leela's arms came up to shield her face, releasing Fry's hand and revealing to her that she no longer wore the helmet or wires. Fry was shielding his face as well and grumbling quietly next to her.

They stayed quiet for a moment, aside from Fry's whining, and allowed their eyes to slowly adjust.

Leela let down her hands and squinted around her. Her eye adjusted bit by bit, and at last she was able to look about at their default world. Fry followed suit, bringing his hands down at about the same time, and looking through barely opened eyes at what lay before them.

When they saw what they had created together, they gasped in unison.

It was more beautiful than anything either of them had ever seen before.

A sea of red and purple flowers coated the ground, reaching out and finally merging with the violet setting sun.

Leela could see the red flowers were bright red daisies, one of her favorite flowers, white in the center and laced with brighter and brighter shades of red before gracing the tips of the petals with a ruby red. The purple flowers were deeply colored violets, starting out as the daisies had with a white center, and working out along the six large petals to a royal purple.

The sun was a sinking orb of light purple, reaching up from an ocean of flowers to meet a cloudless sky of the darkest blue. Faint stars appeared here and there, along with planets of vivid colors.

Trees neither of them had ever seen before peeked up here and there like buoys in the waves, their leaves deep shades of crimson and gold. They shook lightly as a soft breeze began and seemed to jingle softly as their leaves shifted.

The breeze kissed the flowers gently, causing the sea of color to pulsate towards Fry and Leela. Thousands of flowers bowed before them, seeming to worship the two awestruck humans for having devised their humble creation.

"It's…" Leela began, then heard a soft growl to her right, and let out another gasp.

Lying contently among the flowers, not 200 ft away, was an enormous lion. Its golden mane and face was tinted a light shade of purple by the sun. The eyes of the beast were half closed in rapture as the animal enjoyed the warmth of the breeze that enveloped them, and the simple beauty of the setting sun. Its tail twitched lethargically at its side.

There was one other thing Leela noticed - it seemed to be wearing… a saddle.

She looked quickly at Fry, who shrugged dramatically as if to say, "Sorry?"

A smile forced its way to her face. This place was so brilliant – and she and Fry had made this?

She could see how the lion would be from Fry but…

"Fry, what part of this exactly – besides the lion obviously– do you think is your doing?"

"Well," Fry's hands went behind his back as he stared down at his foot, proceeding to twist a flower into the dirt, "I don't know…I guess the planets are mine… and other than that I just really kinda wanted whatever would make you happy… and I knew you liked daisies so…"

He trailed off, blushing deeply.

Leela was speechless. She looked around her at the beauty of the world, at the beautiful red daisies, and finally at Fry.

Fry, who had never wanted anything but her acceptance, had imagined this for her. The gesture was that of a small boy in the schoolyard, offering the last of his chocolate-chip cookie to his first childhood crush. It was childish, it was adorable, and it was genuine.

It was Fry.

Leela stepped towards Fry, who looked up at her advance.

His face revealed a small embarrassed smile, his cheeks still shone a deep crimson, and Leela couldn't hold back any longer. He was just too adorable.

She had never in her life felt so much love for someone as she did for Fry in that moment.

She lunged at Fry, her arms wrapping around his neck, and pressed her body tightly to his in a deep hug.

Fry was flustered, but only momentarily. His arms went around her waist, pulling her to him.

"Oh Fry, this is gorgeous," Leela whispered into his ear. "Even the lion!"

Fry smiled so wide his face was about to split. She liked the lion! Jackpot.

"I have never been this happy in my life," Leela finished, nestling her face into Fry's neck.

Fry's smile dwindled, ending in a content grin. His eyes narrowed happily as he set his chin on Leela's back.

They stood there like that a moment. Leela's face on Fry's shoulder and Fry's chin resting on Leela's back.

Fry broke the silence.

"Leela?"

Leela pulled back, gazing into Fry's eyes with her own. He looked completely serious, so she decided to listen carefully.

"I want you to know that of all the things that have happened in my life, this is the most happy I have ever felt too."

The awful articulation brought Leela back for a moment. Was she thinking straight? Did she love Fry now or what? What did this mean? So many questions at once!

She decided to work through them one at a time.

She stepped back from Fry, a thoughtful look on her face. She sat down in the flowers, which were soft as velvet to the touch. The breeze played gently with her hair as she gazed at the setting sun.

Fry looked concerned for a moment, and then sat down beside Leela, taking her hand in his own. She let him, it would have been silly not to. At that moment, she was infatuated with him.

Question one. Was she thinking straight?

Yes, she had never been surer of her feelings in her life. She had avoided becoming romantically involved with Fry because of his negatives.

She was now ashamed to admit to herself that one of the few times she had allowed herself to be shallow, it had come back to bite her in the ass.

The negatives seemed nothing now compared to his positives, which she had always pushed to the back of her mind. This… masterpiece they were now sitting in had broken the dam, allowing a flood of Fry's amazing qualities to rush into her head and wash out any doubt.

He was gentle, sweet, simple, kind, naïve, genuine, funny, and best of all he was smitten with her. He would do anything for her; follow her to the ends of the galaxy if he had to.

Leela thought vaguely of the bee sting that had nearly killed her. Fry hadn't given up on her, even when the doctors had chalked her up as a vegetable. For two weeks he had sat by her side, helping her to keep her sanity.

She looked over at Fry, who was looking over at the lion in wonder.

Did she love him?

Yes, without a doubt. He was what she had been looking for in those other men – caring, loving, and kind. She loved him, and it was about damn time she had realized it.

Finally, what did this mean?

She turned to Fry and shook his hand with her own to take his attention from the lion – which was now cleaning himself with a tongue the size of Leela's head.

Fry whirled around to look at her, a grin appearing instantly on his face. He looked so happy that it seemed like his head was about to pop off.

Leela stood up, pulling Fry up with her.

"Fry." Leela said, looking him dead in the eye.

"Yes Leela?"

"I changed my mind."

At this Fry looked nervous, obviously afraid Leela was about to drop his hand and tell him to piss off.

"About what?"

Leela leaned in and caught Fry's lips with her own. He responded immediately, wrapping his free arm around her waist and pulling her in closer.

Their eyes closed. The darkness brought more pleasure as sense of touch was heightened by lack of sight.

Their lips melded, and Fry felt like he was about to melt. Leela looped her arms back around his neck, her fingers lacing through the red hair on the back of Fry's head. She pulled him in closer, as close as she could.

Lips moving together, pleasure rippling through them both a million miles a minute.

And all at once they broke in unison, gasping for air.

Their eyes opened slowly

"About today," Leela spoke. Fry could hear her catching her breath.

"This is a date."

She smiled deeply at him with her lips together. Her eye slowly closed halfway in a look of contented ease. Her fingers played with Fry's hair, enjoying the soft texture.

Fry's face, however, radiated confusion. He seemed to give a lot of thought to what Leela had said before speaking.

"So then… we're…"

"Pretty much a couple," Leela finished, continuing to smile happily.

"Well then," Fry said, "I guess I better not screw it up then."

Leela rolled her eye, still smiling.

"Welcome to your dream date," Fry announced happily, "Next stop, the S.S. Loveboat!"

With that, Leela saw Fry's eyes shut in concentration.

She wondered what the heck he was doing, when all at once the world around them changed.

Colors appeared and formed shapes around them, becoming clearer as the pieces fell into place.

When the images finally became sharp and visible, Leela was astounded.

It was the second most beautiful place she had ever seen.

A/N: Omigoodness! I promised you Friday, and its here on Wednesday! Boo-yah! :D

This took a long time, lol but whenever I sit down and say, "Okay, just 5 minutes on the story and then read Chp 7 for Biology," it always ends up like this... a new chapter... and no Biology read...

So on that note, enjoy! And please review (I will stop saying it after this, so PLEASE don't get annoyed! lol) cuz I really worked hard on this chapter especially and would 3 times a million to know what you think. Good or Bad!!! :3