Chapter 7

The sun rose on a bright, sunny day in Lazytown. High above, two athletes rolled out of bed, and began stretching.

They then ate a quick breakfast of granola and apple slices, and brushed their teeth.

Then a letter flew in form the mail shoot.

The elves looked at each other in surprise.

" Mail? This early?!" Sportacus exclaimed as he caught it and opened it up.

" It's for you." He said, tossing it to his friend, who deftly caught it and read it out loud.

" Dear Sportsicus, could you come down and spend the day with us today, and a sleepover tonight? It would mean a lot to us! Hope to see you soon, love, Stephanie."

Sportsicus let the letter drop form her hand as she stared blankly out the window.

Sportacus watched her, concerned.

The last time she had received a sleepover invitation, she had freaked out.

What Sportacus didn't know, and Sportsicus did, was that this was an undercover way to get the female elf able to help with the birthday party planning without Sportacus hanging around so much.

After a few moments of thinking, she turned to her worried friend.

" I'll go."

Sportacus caught her up in a huge, crushing hug that would have broken ordinary human ribs.

" That's my girl." He whispered, tears in his eyes. " I knew you could do it."

Sportsicus laid her head on his well-muscled chest, breathing in deeply of his warmth and kindness.

She knew he had been hoping for this for years now.

She had been so clingy ever since she had arrived, that she freaked out every time she got an invitation to a sleepover.

Sportacus had been trying to instill confidence in her, and now the long awaited day was here; his beautiful girl-elf was ready to go a whole night without him to comfort and watch over her.

He was proud to bursting of her, and surprised himself by feeling a sudden pang in his heart.

Now, no time to go missing her, high time she got off on her own for once, he silently scolded himself.

So the morning routine was stayed, instead they got all of the she-elf's things packed into her backpack for the day and night she was to stay below.

It wasn't much, as Stephanie was bound to provide all she really needed, so all she packed was the usual sports candy snacks and the stuffed toy dog she had since the first Christmas they had spent together.

It smell of Sportacus, and she secretly was still frightened of staying away from him for a whole night alone.

After that, they exchanged another silent, firm hug, then she flipped off the edge and was gone.

Sportacus wiped a tear form his eyes and proceeded to exercise as usual, determined not to spend the day worrying or missing his Elvin companion.

Sportsicus flew her pedal ship down to Stephanie's house and landed softly, as always.

She stood for a moment, unsure, and after glancing longingly up at the airship she called home.

Then she took a deep breath and dove through the open window.

All her Lazytown friends were waiting inside.

" Good morning!" the beautiful elfin hero greeted them with a smile. " You are all up early today."

" Good morning, Sportsicus." All the children chorused.

The she-elf smiled, feeling more at ease as she deposited her backpack next to the pile of the other kid's stuff.

She had not taken the backpack off for quite some time, and it felt strange not to have it.

Not like I'll be needing it today. She thought remorsefully, glancing out the window again, an action not missed by her every ready teaser, Trixie.

" Missing Sportacus already, Little Miss Sportapet?" Trixie teased.

Sportsicus ignored her, and Stephanie stepped in.

" Trixie, that's not very nice." Stephanie said to her dark-haired friend.

Pixel chimed in: " Yeah, Trixie, knock it off!"

" Yeah, she's a superhero just like Sportacus! That means NO TEASING!" Ziggy stated emphatically.

" Thanks, guys." Sportsicus said thankfully.

" Well, it's true; she is a hero's pet." Trixie protested, making Sportsicus fidget and wish she had never came, as Stingy nodded his agreement with Trixie. .

" No, she is a hero's helper, and that means she is always at the ready, and they are both best of friends; you should tell her you're sorry." Stephanie said.

Trixie rolled her eyes and said in an exasperated tone, " Sorry, Sportagirl."

Sportsicus fought to remain calm. " Sure, Trixie."

Stephanie bit her lip and watched nervously as the wound up girl hero began pacing like a caged animal as Trixie watched with piercing eyes.

" Let's get started, okay guys?" Stephanie finally said with a bright smile. " My uncle said we could use the town hall to store all the supplies and decorations for the party until tomorrow. Come on!"

All the children ran out of the house after her, with Sportsicus bringing up the rear, keeping a sharp eye out for her heroic friend, who doubtlessly was nearby.

She was right when she saw a familiar blue hat duck behind a wall, and she quietly left the group of kids and flipped onto of the wall, looking down at a concerned Sportacus.

She grinned at him and hopped down next to him, giving him a quick hug.

"How are you doing?" he asked her quietly, though he already sensed something was the matter.

" Trixie called me a hero's pet." His companion answered, snuggling into him for comfort.

Sportacus looked a bit upset.

" That's not nice." He mused to himself.

" Sportsicus! Where are you?" Stephanie was calling, a worried tone to her normally cheerful voice.

" Gotta go." Sportsicus sighed regretfully.

She would rather stay with Sportacus the rest of the day, taking part and enjoying every bit of the training, saving, playing, talking, and all the good natured teasing between the two best friends.

He gave her a quick hug and let her go, watching as she bounded over the wall and back to her friends.

" Where'd you go, huh? Back to Sportacus? He is probably glad for the break from babysitting you. Just stay here and grow up." Trixie's scalding tone broke into her thoughts of what a normal day would have been like by now.

Sportsicus knew Sportacus was probably fuming on the other side of the wall, so she responded with: " And if he was standing right here, would you say that?"

Trixie seemed at a lose for words after that, and they continued the rest of the way in a strained silence, which Stephanie finally broke when they reached the town hall.

"Okay, everybody listen up." She said in her biggest voice. " We are all friend, right?"

Everybody nodded.

" So lets shake hands and agree that there will be no more bad teasing going on. Right?"

Stephanie looked around as Sportsicus eagerly stepped up, and one by one all the others followed suit, Trixie last of all.

" Hey, Sportsicus, I'm sorry for teasing you earlier, it wasn't nice." Trixie said quietly.

Sportsicus picked up the younger girl in a tight hug.

" I forgive you, Trixie. Let's just be friends now, shall we?" And with that, the happy group of children and elf entered the town hall, full of ideas and plans.