It's the finale of my first fanfic. Thank you all for reading this story and for all the great reviews. I would especially like to thank HannahGee13 for being my bestest buddy. Also ClockwerkOrange(you crack me up) supertinagirl, The Mortician's Daughter, GazmRules, Fantasy017, warriorsfan12 528,and XxDoomygrlxX. Sorry if this seems really sappy, but it's a romance, what can I say? You all get finale waffles to eat as this story draws to a close. Enjoy.

Chapter 10: Defective Together

It was about a quarter past midnight. Tak, due to the stress and emotional breakdown, had fallen asleep. Zim was saying to Dib and Kezzi, "I'll take her up to her room. Now get out of here."

Dib protested, "How do we know you won't try to set off the bomb while you're here? I'm not budging an inch until-"

"Oh, Dib, he'd probably just screw it up anyway. We both need to go home." Kezzi cut him off.

She switched her disguise on. Dib pouted but allowed himself to be dragged out of the base. On the way down, Kezzi asked, "How's that burn?"

"Huh? Oh. It stings, but it's not that bad."

"Good. It should heal in about a week."

Once out into the night air, Kezzi looked up at the full moon and said, "You know, Irk is nowhere near as pretty as Earth."

Dib looked at her. "Really?"

"Mm-hmm. There's so much pollution there, and neon lights and traffic. I know Earth has a lot of that too, but nowhere near as much. Of course, I'd get arrested for saying things like that there. I think that's my favorite thing about this place: individuality and free will."

There was a brief silence. Then Dib asked, "Hey, Kezzi? If you were labeled a Defective, then why didn't the Tallest kill you?"

She said sadly, "Because I held back. I tried as hard as I could to make myself fit in. But one day I just snapped. I couldn't take it anymore, not being who I wanted to be…"

She trailed off. The moonlight shone snow white on her pale face as they walked down the sidewalk. Cars rolled by, crickets chirped in a nearby forest. Suddenly she turned to Dib and said, "I know for sure I'm happier this way. I know I'll never go back to Irk again. If that means I have to stay in this disguise for the rest of my life, fine. But I'm not leaving you, ever."

Dib stared at her. "Do you really mean that?"

Kezzi slid her hand into his. "I'm absolutely, completely serious. I'm glad I'm a Defective, Dib, because it means I can have feelings for you. They're the best feelings I've ever felt."

Another silence fell in which the two just stared into each other's eyes, silver and gold in a silent promise to always be together. Then Kezzi grinned and said, "Race ya to my street."

She bolted ahead of Dib, who followed, laughing. In the back of his mind, he knew something totally ridiculous was happening to him. He had fallen in love with an Irken, his sworn enemy's kind. But he didn't care. Remembering Kezzi's words from earlier, he let himself feel his weaker emotions, because they were what he really felt. It was the best he had ever felt.

Meanwhile, back in the huge purple building the two had just left, Zim was watching over Tak as she slept. Looking down at her, Zim thought she actually looked peaceful. He had never seen her look that way before. She had looked enraged, sad, arrogant, put never peaceful. Until now.

"Nn…"

Zim glanced at her. Slowly, her deep violet eyes opened. Her vision cleared, and she saw the familiar figure standing next to her bed. She squinted and said, "Zim?"

He nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes. She whispered, "I'm so sorry…"

There was no reply. Tak felt herself die a little inside. There was no way he would forgive her, after all she did to him. "You must hate me now, right?"

Zim raised an invisible eyebrow. "Are you kidding? I never would have thought of using a poison bomb against the human stink-meats. You have to teach me these things."

Tak stared at him. She sat up on the bed. "You mean you aren't mad that I nearly killed you?"

He shook his head. "Others have come much closer than you. Besides, I guess I deserved for you to despise me as much as you did. I put you through so much…"

Tak said softly, "But I don't despise you. Not anymore."

Zim turned around to look at her. "Really?"

"No. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I ever really did. Ever since I first saw you on Devastis, and you caused that blackout, I had been searching for you. For decades I tried to track you down. My entire life revolved around finding you. I remember when I first came here, and how shattered I felt when you didn't even recognize me. I told myself that I hated you with every particle of my being, but I believe I was just fooling myself."

She lapsed into silence. After a moment Zim asked, "But doesn't that make you a Defective?"

"If it does, I don't really care. This is Earth, after all. The Tallest aren't here to tell us how to live our life. They always said that Irkens don't feel love. But that's a lie. It's in our nature to feel like that. The Tallest are just trying to stifle it. But we don't have to stifle it anymore. I don't want to be heartless if it means I can't be happy."

Zim asked, "You realize that you are casting away everything that makes you an Irken by deciding this. You are showing complete disrespect for your planet and species. If you tried to apply to become an invader, you'd be laughed at and then vaporized. Is that…what you really want?"

"Yes." Tak stood up. "I now see that I never wanted to be an invader. All I wanted was to be loved…"

She paused and stared into Zim's ruby red eyes. "I feel like you're the only one…that's capable of loving me."

Many moments passed as the two aliens looked into each other's eyes. Then, slowly, Zim leaned forward and kissed Tak gently on the mouth.

This time, Tak didn't pull away. Her eyes widened in surprise, but then they closed as she wrapped her arms around Zim. Finally, she felt as though someone truly cared for her, not for her military purposes, but for her.

Then, Zim broke the kiss and looked down at her. "You see? Zim is capable of loving even the Tak-thing. I do not care that we are both Defectives if we can be Defective together."

Tak smiled. "Neither do I."

She nuzzled her head against Zim's shoulder. She felt that she had finally achieved what she wanted most in life. But in the back of their minds, they both knew that if they were caught like this on Irk, they would be put through the worst torment imaginable. They would face the pain, ridicule, and neglect that all Defectives faced. Finally, they would be destroyed. Destroyed for loving someone.

But they weren't on Irk anymore. So it didn't matter.