Unlikely Romance Chapter 10: Understanding, an invader zim fanfic

Unlikely Romance

Author's Notes: Yayz, I am now home from my 10 day adventure. Woo. But the important thing is that I was able to sleep in my own bed. :)! As for this chapter, I hope that it's long enough, but the plot may not advance very far. I hope that you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to Understanding. They are written and preformed by Evanescence (The best band EVER!! in my opinion) Sadly, there are no longer any copies of this CD in existence, so just go Google video it if you really want to hear it. Type in Understanding, and it'll be the second thing on the list. Brownie points to whoever does. 3

"Some girls glow; I sweat like a big, dirty man."

-My Teacher

Chapter 10: Understanding

The steam in the bathroom continued to rise and fog Dib's vision even after the shower was off; making finding his glasses a nearly impossible task. He grabbed a towel instead. He was disappointed to find that he could see his farmer's tan even without his glasses, but for now he was just happy to be clean and more importantly, sand-free.

"Hey, Tak! Are you out of the shower?" he called.

Her response came from the bedroom. "Yeah, I'm out. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, just a second! I need to find my glasses." Dib fumbled around in the steam for a few more seconds before giving up. They were probably on the floor anyways. Instead, Dib decided to look for his clothes.

Tak waited for Dib in the bedroom. "MIMI," she whispered to her robot. "Go see what's taking him so long."

MIMI saluted and rushed over to the bathroom. The android managed to fling open the door just in time for Dib to come stumbling out, wearing nothing but a towel, through a cloud of steam. Dib squinted at his new surroundings, trying to figure out where he was, MIMI rushed into the bathroom, and Tak remained silent. Finally, Dib managed to focus on the bed or more the green form on it that he was sure belonged to Tak.

MIMI emerged from the bathroom with Dib's glasses, which she handed to the nearsighted human. Dib wiped off the lenses with his towel, put them on, and turned to face Tak. He realized immediately that she was naked.

He instantly felt flushed and had no doubt that he was noticeably blushing. Tak smiled.

"Well," she asked softly, "what are you waiting for? Won't you join me?"

Dib was so flustered ('Oh, jeez! I'm dreaming. I've gotta be dreaming. There is no way that this is happening for real. I'm just dreaming like all the other times. Any minute now I'll wake up. My hormones are just getting the better of me') that he failed to realize that he had dropped his towel.

"Dib?"

The human came to slightly when she called his name. "Will we work?"

Tak frowned. "Work?" she inquired.

"I mean… I'm human and you're… not, so…" he scratched his back nervously and looked at the floor.

"It's obviously worked between a human and an Irken before. That's the whole reason you're here, isn't it?"

Dib wanted to be angry at the mention of Zim, but quickly found it hard. No part of him wanted to be mad, and every part of him wanted her. After all, she did have a point, it had 'worked' before and it would 'work' now.

Without further hesitation, he jumped into bed with her.

(Page Break)

Gaz lay awake in her bed, completely oblivious to the Earth-shattering experience her brother was undergoing. At the moment, she was feeling quite the opposite. She was wrapped in a feeling of foreboding and guilt.

She had not wanted to hurt Zim so deeply, and that is why she felt guilty. For the past three months, she had felt alone. She was dealing with both the loss of her planet and her pregnancy without help or guidance. She was angry at Zim for having brought on both situations, but now she realized that he had been going through his own personal Hell all along; one that was also deeply intertwined with her own. She now knew how alone he had felt and how much it had hurt him. All the emo-freaks at Skool could learn the meaning of pain and loneliness from Zim. Which is why she had a feeling of foreboding.

'What have I done? Zim's the reason I'm in this mess, but he's also the only one who can help me through it. But he's cutting – scratching – himself, and I'm making it worse. I took his deepest, darkest secret and shouted it in front of his enemies while rubbing his nose in it. What if he's dead now? What if he decided "screw it, I give up" and killed himself because of me?'

She wasn't emotionally prepared to face the answer that her mind offered. She feared the loneliness that awaited her. It was too much for one person to endure alone. Too uncertain.

She threw off her covers and sat up. 'I hope that he's still breathing.'

(Page Break)

Zim lay on his side, staring blankly at the wall, trying to ignore Gaz's words. Afterall, words were only what they were. Bad words, maybe; true as well, but he'd had to deal with those plenty of times in his life. Especially eight years ago. They day he first scratched himself. To this day, he can't recall the Tallests' words, but he knew that they had been horrible.

And true.

Too true.

And the shame had been too much to bear. The shame that he had failed, and had known so all along but refused to believe.

"You hold the answers deep within your own mind.

Consciously, you've forgotten it.

That's the way the human mind works.

Whenever something is too unpleasant, too shameful for us

to entertain, we reject it.

We erase it from our memories.

But the imprint is always there."

(Can't wash it all away)

(Can't wish it all away)

(Can't hope it all away)

(Can't cry it all away)

The automatic door to Zim's room opened soundlessly, but he looked up just the same. He met Gaz's gaze, which mirrored the misery he felt inside. "Gaz? Why so late?" he asked softly.

Gaz shrugged as she glided into the room. "Just… wanted to see how you were…" she said, and sat down at the edge of his bed.

"I'm fine," he replied, but she already knew that he was lying. His eyes betrayed him.

The pain that burdens you

The fear that binds me

Releases life in me

"Zim… today I-"

"No… Don't worry about it," he said and averted her gaze.

"But it was wrong of me," she insisted softly.

In our mutual

Shame we hide our eyes

To blind them from the truth

That finds a way from who we are

"Then, we've both done things that we regret," Zim stated.

Gaz reached out and took one of his arms. Zim retracted it as a reflex.

"No," she said, grabbing the arm once more. "I want to know if you've hurt yourself." She rolled up his sleeve and looked at the bandages. They were no different from the night before. She gave a sigh of relief.

Please don't be afraid

When the darkness fades away

The dawn will break the silence

Screaming in our hearts

"Do you trust me now?" Zim asked.

"Yes… in some ways. But I don't know how often you hurt yourself," she explained, letting go of his hand.

"I'm surprised you care," he replied, with a self-mocking smirk.

"Why wouldn't I? You're the father of my child. You're important to me."

My love for you still grows

And this I do for you

Before I try to fight the truth my final time

"Do you really think that? Or are you just trying to make me feel better, so I won't scratch myself."

"Of course I mean-"

"Or are you just saying that because you're scared, and you want me to be there?"

Gaz looked away, but Zim's gaze bore into her, forcing her to answer. "Don't you want to be there? On your own?"

Zim nodded.

"We're supposed to try and be real.

And I feel alone, and we're not together. And that is real."

Gaz leaned forward and softly kissed him on the lips.

Can't wash it all away

Can't wish it all away

Can't cry it all away

Can't scratch it all away

Gaz leaned in closer placing her head on Zim's bare chest and pulled the sheet up higher to hide her own. It was the first time they had been intimate with each other since their child was conceived and she didn't regret it. She wanted to be with him now. He was the one who got them into this mess and she felt that he would be the one to get them out.

Lying beside you

Listening to you breathe

The life that flows inside of you

Burns inside of me

Zim stroked Gaz's hair as she lay on his chest. He was also mindful of her swollen abdomen pressed up against his own. He knew his child resided within her, but he was afraid to ask her about it, for fear that she would once again refer to it as hers and hers alone. She looked up at him and he stroked her cheek.

Hold and speak to me

Of love without a sound

Tell me you will live through this

And I will die for you

"I love you," he told her for the umpteenth time and fully meaning it for the first.

Gaz looked back down and smiled softly to herself. She took the hand that had been stroking her and pulled it under the sheets, placing it on her middle. She watched Zim's confused look change to shock as he felt his child kick his hand.

"You can't hardly feel it right now," she told him. "It's still so small, but you can't feel human babies kick until the fifth month, so…"

"You don't think the child is human?" Zim asked and Gaz shook her head. Zim felt a small sense of pride, but at the same time he had a hard dose of reality smack him upside the head. The reality that there really was a child involved.

"The kicks will get stronger as the baby gets bigger," she said with a small smile and then look up and stared the Irken in the eyes. "Promise me you'll be there," she said mildly, but Zim saw her pleading eyes.

Cast me not away

Say you'll be with me

For I know I cannot

Bear it all alone

"Of course I will," he promised, and kissed her to make the pleading look go away.

"You're not alone, honey.

Never… Never."

Can't fight it all away

Can't hope it all away

Can't scream it all away

It just won't fade away, no

(Page Break)

Dib stared up at the alien ceiling, his mind whirling with memories and emotions. It seemed that everything was happening to him at once, but he couldn't complain. At least he was no longer afraid of dying a virgin. He felt Tak roll over to face him and he turned to face her. Her eyes were so glossy that he could see his reflection in them. Or at least he thought he could.

He wished he knew where his glasses were.

"Satisfied?"

Dib considered the question. "Yeah."

"Good."

He got the feeling that Tak was smiling.

Being with Tak was not like being with any human girl, or at least Dib didn't think so. He had no prior experience with human girls, but he got the impression that sex was supposed to be painful for them. It seemed quite the opposite with Tak.

His mind wandered back to Gaz, a subject that always lingered in the back of his mind; even now, in his moment of triumph he was being nagged by questions he barely wanted to consider. 'Was it like this for Gaz? Did Zim hurt her?'

Dib scowled at the question. The very thought of Zim getting pleasure from his sister's pain only made him want to kill the alien more.

Can't wash it all away

Can't wish it all away

Can't cry it all away

Can't scratch it all away

"Dib," Tak called softly, alarmed by the human's change in mood. One second, blissfully happy, scowling the next.

Dib looked at her. "Sorry. Did I have the look again?"

Tak nodded. "It's your sister, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"You get that look whenever you think about her… Well, her or Zim…"

"Zim," Dib seethed as if the word were a swear.

"Don't think about that right now," Tak told the human gently and reached out to stroke his hair, but before her hand reached his head, the scowl had returned.

"I can't. It's always in the back of my mind."

(Can't fight it all away)

(Can't hope it all away)

Can't scream it all away

Ooh, it all away

(Page Break)

Zim stared out of the hull of the Resisty's ship, into the vastness of space, hoping that some of its tranquility would soothe the torrent in his mind. Memories of the night before mixed and merged with the events of the past eight years, generating a flood of confusing emotions. At the moment, he thought he knew what he wanted but when he put it into perspective, he became unsure.

"But the imprint is always there. Nothing is ever really forgotten."

"Zim."

His antennas perked up, and he turned to face Gaz, standing behind him. She approached him, purple robe billowing around her feet. He loved the way it complimented her hair.

"How are you?" she asked, joining him.

"Okay."

"You look upset."

"I have a lot going on in my mind right now," he confided.

"You're not going to scratch, are you?"

Zim shook his head.

"Good," she said, and then mumbled, "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And what would you do if something did happen to me?" Zim inquired out of curiosity.

"What? If you died?"

"Yes, what would you do?"

"Zim!" She turned away from him. "Don't talk like that. Nothing's going to happen to you."

"I'm just saying 'what if'."

"I hate 'what if's."

"But it's still possible," he persisted.

"Zim… You can't die."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Because!"