Author's Note: Let's go, let's go. Move the story along...

Chapter 4

Three days was just enough time so that it alternated between taking an eternity and flying by very quickly. More specifically, the days flew by rather fast. With all the excitement and chatter and things to do to get ready there wasn't much time to spare. But the nights... Sportacus nearly couldn't sleep at all. He was too excited. He ended up having to do push ups every night until midnight to wear himself out.

But the three days did pass. And on the morning of Stephanie's arrival all the town was abuzz. But no one more than Sportacus. He was awake and spry before anyone had even thought about breakfast. Not that that did him any good, it wouldn't make the train arrive any sooner. But the anticipation and excitement he felt just wouldn't be deterred.

At 10 o'clock on the dot Stephanie's small crowd of friends were all gathered at the train station eagerly awaiting the train that was scheduled to arrive in just another few minutes.

"Sportacus, you could calm down a little." Ziggy laughed. Sportacus, when he wasn't jogging in place, was practically vibrating.

"Calm down?" Sportacus asked in disbelief. Ziggy chuckled behind his hand.

The train pulled in just moments later and Sportacus started jumping as the people started to disembark. He caught sight of her coming out of a door nearer the end of the train.

"Stephanie!" Sportacus shouted as he jumped. "Stephanie!" Jump. "Stephanie!" Jump.

Stephanie smiled broadly and waved with both arms as she got out of the way of the small crowd still clearing out of the station. Once the crowd cleared enough she started running toward him full tilt. Panicking, everyone moved out of the way.

Halfway through Stephanie dropped her bags and used her momentum to cartwheel the rest of the way. She misjudged the distance by just a hair and ended up stumbling into Sportacus who wasted no time in lifting her up above his head and twirling her around before catching her behind the knees and holding her in a fierce hug.

"Stephanie!" Sportacus shouted, his face buried somewhere in her solar plexus. Stephanie was clutching him around the shoulders while he spun around a couple more times. He sighed happily before loosening his grip and letting her down. Stephanie hugged him properly now that she could.

"Sportacus..." Stephanie's enthusiasm was much quieter than Sportacus's, but no less evident. After a moment they finally let go of each other. Reluctantly.

During that interaction the others had wisely stood aside and kept quiet to let them have their moment. Although Stingy and Trixie got into a small, quiet, spat where Stingy was insisting that this was supposed to be HIS moment. The Mayor had went and got Stephanie's bags from where she'd left them halfway across the platform.

Now that all that excitement had calmed down everyone could get a good look at Stephanie. She hadn't changed much at all. Her hair was a shade darker and came down to the middle of her back, but she'd kept the bangs and headband (though it was a different one). She was a bit taller than she used to be but not by much and almost all of it was in the legs. The most dramatic change was her outfit. She was still dressed in varying shades of pink, but it was now a small t-shirt and a pair of rather short denim shorts. The outfit bared her midriff just a tad when she moved around.

"Stephanie, you haven't grown at all!" Trixie joked. Trixie was nearly the tallest of the group. She and Ziggy had caught up to Sportacus easily. Trixie had also filled out into an impressively curvy figure whereas Stephanie, being a dancer, had more muscles than curves. Stephanie just waved her off with a smile.

"Nawww, you look just fine Stephanie!" Ziggy protested. He came up and hugged her. "It's great to see you again."

"Thanks Ziggy." Stephanie said.

Ziggy's hair was a bit shaggier than it used to be, he'd ditched the cape, and now wore jeans instead of shorts. But other than that he was still mostly the same. His teeth fit into his head a little better, but his grin was still crooked and his face was still covered in freckles.

Pixel and Stingy, while having grown taller, hadn't caught gotten quite as tall as Trixie and Ziggy. Stephanie still only came up to about their necks.

Stingy had kept his formal look, but opted for a dark brown suit with trousers, opposed to a yellow one with shorts, and he had a pale blue shirt underneath. His face was a little pointier where the baby fat was starting to wear off, but he looked the same.

Pixel had glasses now. Which he'd tricked out in some way so that they replaced his old goggles. But his hair was still in the orange colored dreadlocks, flopping over his face a little now that he didn't have the goggles holding it in place. He wore his headphones around his neck and his complicated belt was now a complicated holster. It extended down his legs a bit and was belted to his thighs. It was completely covered in gadgets and tools. His wristband looked significantly more complicated than it used to, and his actual clothing hadn't changed at all.

They both came over to greet Stephanie and Stingy put an arm around her shoulders in a possessive manner. Stingy hadn't meant anything by it of course, at least nothing more than 'this is MY friend', the undertones of this gesture were completely lost on him. He looked around smugly at this but paused when he saw Sportacus frowning at him. Stingy blinked and let go of Stephanie. He took a small step to the side and smiled weakly.

The others didn't seem to notice this interaction at all, they were all too busy catching up. Stephanie didn't even blink an eye at it. But when Sportacus came up close behind her to the side and put his hand softly on her shoulder she brought her hand up to cover his and smiled. The conversation continued uninterrupted.

"Stephanie, lets go home and get your things put away". Mayor Meanswell said after a while, struggling a little while holding the suitcases.

"Oh! Right." Stephanie went to take the suitcases from her uncle but Sportacus beat her too it.

"I'll join you." Sportacus said as he lifted the suitcases out of the Mayor's hands. Stephanie smiled at him in delight.

"And later, we've all planned a welcome home party for you in the town square." Sportacus informed her. Stephanie bounced on her heels.

"Best day ever!" Stephanie shouted as Sportacus beamed down at her.

And so Sportacus escorted Stephanie and the Mayor home, carrying Stephanie's suitcases up to her old room. Stephanie sat down on the bed with a satisfied sigh.

"Long day?" Sportacus teased.

"Not exactly." Stephanie smiled. "I just got myself all worked up over the last week because I was so excited to be coming back to Lazytown. Now that the trip is over and I'm finally here I feel like I don't have to remind myself to breathe." She explained.

"I know exactly how you feel." Sportacus confessed. He sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Stephanie leaned into him.

"I'm so glad to be back." Was all she said.

They stayed like that for a very long time before Mayor Meanswell finally came to check on them.

"Stephanie?" The Mayor called.

Sportacus stood up like a shot when the Mayor came into view. He coughed and tried not to blush as the Mayor just smiled at him.

"How are you coming with your unpacking Stephanie?" The Mayor asked.

"I haven't even started." Stephanie said sheepishly.

"Oh, that's alright. I'm sure you'll get to it later." He assured her. "But for now the party is all set up in the square. There's cake, and a buffet, and balloons, oh and I think Pixel even set up a karaoke machine."

"That sounds great uncle." Stephanie said as she got up from the bed. "I love singing." Stephanie threaded her hand into Sportacus's.

"C'mon Sportacus." Stephanie said as she lead him out the door.

Author's Note: I didn't like this chapter much for some reason. I didn't add as much as I wanted to to the Stephanie/Sportacus reunion... but I didn't want add what I had in mind because it'd kill what I had in mind later on in the story. And I had to get what all the kids look like nowadays out of the way. Blah. Hate that. No more character descriptions, you know what they look like now.