Sorry that this is so late. I didn't know where to end this chapter and it was getting really long so in order to get it out, I had to rework it to make it a bit shorter. I was just a bit busy with work and all that jazz. I will say that next week, I will try to get out two chapters because I will be on vacation 2/21-2/27 and I won't have time to work on a chapter. So, hopefully I will be able to post two chapters on the 18th. As always, let me know what you think. I am enjoying writing my first TecnaxTimmy story.

"Hurry up, Timmy! We are going to be late!"

Helia called out from the living room as he collected the envelope of tickets and grabbed the keys to his car.

It was the night of the ballet and Timmy was standing in front of the bathroom mirror adjusting his glasses and trying to follow Brandon's instructions on how to gel his hair back. Brandon was the king of slicking back his hair and for some reason, Timmy wanted to try to look somewhat presentable and that meant not having his hair in front of his face. It was a special night as it was the first night in a long time that he would be with all of his friends together. Also, Stella had insisted that they all look "perfect" and that meant combed hair and nice clothes that were just so stuffy.

Running the comb through his hair one last time, Timmy sighed as he heard Helia's voice calling him out of the bathroom.

"Well," Timmy stared at himself in the mirror, "this is as good as it's going to get."

Setting down the comb, Timmy lifted his arm and smelled himself one more time. His mother would always preach cleanliness and smelling nice before they would go to mass and old habits die hard. It was probably some weird, ingrained phobia of smelling bad that his mother had instilled in him. He was going to be in a crowded theatre and the last thing that he wanted in the back of his mind was the possibility of not smelling good, especially if he was going to be seated by Tecna.

Over the past few weeks, Timmy had gotten to know more about Tecna as she finally opened up to him. She had smiled with him, he had seen her cry but just the once, and she was open to learning more about life on Earth without criticism. She had even asked Timmy to teach her how to play one of his computer games and he had gladly obliged. Soon, they had been staying up until the wee hours of the morning playing games together. Timmy was glad for the distraction and new game partner but he was even happier for the fact that if Tecna was playing games then she wasn't working on repairing her communicator. No communicator meant no rescue message which meant she wouldn't be flying away after blasting his brain across the sidewalk. Timmy quite liked his head.

"Timothy Powers if you don't get out here…" Helia called out.

Timmy rolled his eyes before heading out of the bathroom and down the hall to the living room. Helia stood there in a pair of black slacks and a loose white shirt. That was probably the fanciest that man was probably ever going to get. Or perhaps Timmy was overdressed in his black slacks and fitted dark green dress shirt.

"What took you so long?" Helia asked as he grabbed his coat.

"Do I not look nice?" Timmy asked as he slipped on his shoes, "I tried to comb my hair back and every time I did it, I looked like a drowned rat."

"Why would you try to comb your hair back? You look fine with your hair the way it usually is?"

"I just thought that I would at least try to look presentable. Not all of us can look like we stepped out of a fucking painting."

"Mr. Powers, are you coming on to me?" Helia smirked.

Timmy rolled his eyes, "I'm serious. I was just trying to look nice."

"Nice? You certainly put in a lot of effort for just nice. Are you sure that you aren't trying to impress a certain fuchsia-haired woman?"

"Why on Earth would you think that I am trying to impress Tecna?" Timmy groaned as he rose to a standing position after tying his black shoes.

"You have been spending a lot of time with her lately and I haven't heard you yell at her in weeks. She seems to kind of live here now. When did you say that she was going to move out? Well, then again, she doesn't really have many things. But her toothbrush is next to yours so is she here to stay or…?"

The communicator was almost done and that meant that Tecna would soon be gone.

"I think that she is finalizing some things with her landlord." Timmy lied, hoping that Helia would believe it or at the very least, not ask too many questions.

"It's not like I mind having her here, she is an odd woman but she is great fun. Plus," Helia buttoned up his coat, "I haven't seen you so happy and relaxed. It is like most of the negative energy has disappeared from the apartment."

Timmy rolled his eyes, "I think that I have just gotten used to her."

"Sure…" Helia smirked, "but I see the way that you look at her…and the way that she looks at you."

Timmy wanted to protest. Sure, he might be looking at her in a new light but even with Tecna's newfound emotional depth, there was still no way that she would have any meaning behind any look that she gave him unless it was confusion or contempt. Timmy would not entertain the thought that Tecna was looking at him. Nor would he admit that he was looking at Tecna. So Timmy didn't say anything.

"Just a reminder that I'm going out with Flora and her family after the show tonight. So you will have the apartment to yourself."

"And?" Timmy grabbed his coat from the closet and placed it on his arm.

"I am also going to be spending the night at Flora's so you will be all alone for the whole night."

"Helia…" Timmy groaned as he began buttoning up his dark blue coat.

"I'm just saying so if you finally want to convince Tecna to sleep in your bed, I wo-"

"Helia! Nothing is going to ever happen between me and Tecna! Stop bringing it up!" Timmy shouted as he made his way to the door. "Now let's go!"

The lobby of the large theatre began to fill up as Timmy, Helia, Riven, and Nabu were waiting for the rest of their group to arrive. Flora and Musa were getting ready to perform and the other girls were over at Stella's getting ready. The first time that Tecna had been over to Stella's and been with the other girls, Timmy hadn't heard anything from the others that would have suggested that Tecna behaved…well, like herself. Hopefully, she was fine tonight.

"They better hurry up," Riven folded his arms over his chest, "the show is about to start soon and we all know that if I don't see a ballet or opera from the beginning, I have no idea what is going on."

Timmy chuckled as he shook his head but even he was starting to get a bit worried. There were only about ten minutes until showtime and there was no sign of the rest of their group. The guys could go in by themselves, but they knew that the girls and Brandon and Sky would kill them.

"Oh, there they are." Nabu smiled as he craned his neck to look out into the crowd to see the rest of the group heading towards them.

Timmy turned around as he watched the group come near him, looking out for a certain fuchsia-haired woman. But she was nowhere to be found. Oh no, Timmy thought, what happened now?

"Sorry that we are a bit late," Bloom sighed, "Kenna would not let us leave without a meltdown. I hope Daphne is doing alright."

"I'm sure that Celeste is probably distracting Ken by now." Sky chuckled, "You know that Kenna loves her cousin. This is the first night that we have had out in a long time, focus on having fun."

"Easier said than done," Bloom grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, I am glad that your little tot is happy and whatnot but we have to get in the theatre and get our seats," Riven said as he made a motion towards the theatre doors.

Aisha floated over towards Nabu and linked her arm with his and walked into the auditorium with Riven, Bloom, and Sky. Timmy noticed that along with Tecna missing, Stella and Brandon also weren't there.

"Aisha," Timmy called out to the curly-haired woman in green. Aisha turned around and smiled at Timmy, "where are Stella, Brandon, and Tecna?"

"They should be here soon, Brandon was parking the car and Stella didn't want to come in on her own. Tecna stayed because Stella told her that she needed to fix her makeup."

Timmy rolled his eyes, of course Stella would hold her back because of that.

"We can wait for them out here," Helia said with a polite smile, "you head in and find our seats."

Aisha, Nabu, Bloom, and Sky went into the bustling auditorium leaving Helia and Timmy behind in the lobby.

Timmy waited nervously, anxious for Tecna to arrive. This was her first big outing and he had no idea how she would react. He learned that they did not have anything like this in Zenith so would she know the proper etiquette? Would she actually like the ballet? Would she like the music? Would she be able to keep quiet for long enough? Tecna was never shy of voicing her opinion, even at the expense of others.

"You're worrying," Helia mentioned, pulling Timmy from his state of overthinking.

"I am not." Timmy countered.

"You are fidgeting and biting the inside of your cheeks."

"I guess that I am hoping that they arrive in time." Timmy lied. Well, it wasn't a complete lie, he was worried that something had happened and that the three missing members of their group were going to miss the beginning of the show meaning that Tecna would miss the beginning of her first ballet. Timmy knew that both Stella and Brandon had a penchant for being "fashionably late".

But Timmy was saved when he saw a flash of purple and he had to do his best not to have his jaw hit the floor.

She looked amazing.

Dressed in a simple purple velvet dress that came to just above her knees and a pair of silver heels. Her hair had been brushed and pinned back giving Timmy a good look at her beautiful face. Her bright eyes and pink lips were all that Timmy could focus on as she came closer. She was listening to whatever it was that Stella was talking about and smiling. A smile was a recent development for Tecna but it was the most radiant smile that he had seen. It eclipsed even Stella's bright and sunny smile.

"You're staring," Helia remarked, once again bringing Timmy back from inside of his head and back to reality.

"What are you talking about? I am not staring." Timmy turned to look at Helia.

"Whatever you say, Timmy." Helia smirked, "I will be with Flora all night."

Timmy had never wanted to punch his best friend before but he was getting quite close to knocking Helia out in the middle of the theatre lobby. Timmy wished that Helia would just drop the subject, not because it was annoying but because there was something in Timmy that ached knowing that what Helia was suggesting was never going to happen. Timmy didn't really even know if it could happen. He and Tecna had discussed the sociological side of procreation but none of the actual logistics. Not that he had actual procreation itself on his mind but Timmy knew that his mother would kill him if she knew some of the thoughts that had entered his mind concerning a certain alien.

"Sorry that it took us too long, someone," Stella glared at Brandon, "insisted on parking in the furthest parking space from the entrance."

"It was all that was left, Sunshine," Brandon did his best to appease his fiancé, "I told you that we should have left earlier."

"I wasn't ready."

"So you are the reason that we didn't get here in time and thus got a bad parking spot." Brandon chuckled.

Stella pouted and turned her head away from her fiancé.

"We better head in," Helia broke the tension, he was great at that, "the others are waiting for us inside."

Stella, Brandon, and Helia walked into the auditorium to head to their seats, leaving Tecna and Timmy behind in the lobby.

Timmy rubbed the back of his neck as he turned to face Tecna, "You look…nice."

She looked better than nice but for some reason, all thoughts left Timmy's head. It was like he looked at her and his mind became blank. Tecna smiled at him and Timmy could feel his brain turn into mush.

"Thank you," Tecna smiled, "that is what I am supposed to say in moments like this, right?"

"Yes." Timmy chuckled, "that is correct."

"I learned that when I saw Bloom's offspring watching something on the television."

"Kenna is Bloom's daughter, and I am glad that modern-day children's programming is still somewhat educational."

"I also like the songs." Tecna laughed and it was like music to his ears.

"I am glad."

He really was. When he had met Tecna, she seemed to hate almost everything about Earth but slowly, she was finding things that she liked. He had learned that she like waffles and raspberries. Tecna smiled whenever she would hear a bird chirp and church bells ring. And she had been vocal about the time that she spent with Timmy at night as they gamed together.

"Shall we go in?" Timmy asked as he motioned behind him to the doors of the auditorium. Tecna nodded her head before reaching forward and taking Timmy's hand in hers. "What are you doing?"

"I saw Stella and Brandon do this when they entered. Is this not correct?"

Once the shock of Tecna's hand in his wore away, Timmy instinctively tightened his grip slightly as the warmth from her hand radiated in his. Everything about it felt so foreign but also so right.

"No," Timmy smiled, "it is correct."

Tecna and Timmy walked into the bustling auditorium as people talked to one another and others scrambled to find their seats. A woman at the doors handed Timmy and Tecna a program.

"What is this for?" Tecna asked.

"A program," Timmy leaned over and whispered into Tecna's ear as they made their way to the rest of the group, "it gives you information about the show."

"I shall study it thoroughly."

Timmy rolled his eyes and let out a slight scoff, "It is not to be studied, just…" Timmy gently took the program from Tecna, "enjoy the show."

Timmy showed Tecna to her seat situated between him and Helia. She sat down and looked up at the large stage. A dark blue curtain covered the stage and the sounds of the orchestra warming up began.

"Is this the ballet?" Tecna pointed up to the stage.

"No," Timmy shook his head as he sat down, "it should be starting in a few minutes."

"Oh good," Tecna nodded, "I don't like all the noise."

"I agree."

Opening his program, Timmy began reading the director's notes and scanning the list of the cast and characters. He smiled when he saw Miele's name playing Clara. He had heard Flora talk about how hard Miele had worked to finally be on pointe and how excited Miele was to play Clara.

"What does it say?" Tecna asked as she leaned across Timmy to read the program. Timmy's nose was right above Tecna's head and he could smell the lemon smell that came from the shampoo that she used; it must have been Stella's as Tecna usually smelled of fresh linens and rainwater. Still, Timmy breathed in and resisted coming in closer.

"Who is in the show. See," Timmy pointed, "there is Flora's name."

Tecna nodded as she continued to look over the names in the program, she might have not known who anybody was but Timmy enjoyed the proximity. The lights dimmed as the audience and orchestra came to a hush and Timmy swore that he could hear his heartbeat in his ears.

"The show is about to start." Timmy managed to squeak out. Tecna rose back up and redirected her gaze to the stage.

The overture began and Tecna closed her eyes and smiled as the music filled her ears. Timmy looked to Tecna and smiled himself, loving the way that she looked under the dim lights, enjoying the music. When the curtains opened to reveal the wintery set, Timmy tapped Tecna's shoulder and she opened her eyes to look at him before he pointed to the stage. Tecna let out a small gasp when she saw the set and Timmy never felt so happy by Tecna's unadulterated awe. Her eyes twinkled and every time she smiled, she looked more and more stunning.

Who would have thought that when she crashed into the Earth and found his way into his apartment that he would be staring at her like this? He hated her then but now, Timmy didn't know if he wanted to be parted from her.

The dancers came on stage and Timmy swallowed before turning his attention to the stage to watch the performance. The colors and the music paired with the dancing brought the story to life and everyone in the group smiled when Miele came onto the stage, proud of all the hard work that she had done to get to the point she was at. Miele and Flora's mother had trouble conceiving after giving birth to Flora and Miele had been almost a miracle but came with her own complications that delayed her ability to dance on pointe. But with hard work, Miele was finally able to tell her family that she was going to be on pointe and dance the part of Clara. Everyone was over the moon to see Miele front and center on the stage.

"Is that Flora's little sister?" Tecna whispered as she pointed up to the stage.

"Yes, that is Miele."

"The shoes that she is wearing do not seem very practical," Tecna remarked as she continued to look at the young teen dancing across the stage.

Timmy smiled and nodded with a shrug, "I have to agree with you on that but it is part of the dance style."

"There are different kinds of dancing?" Tecna turned her head to look at Timmy.

"Many." Timmy replied, "I'll tell you about them some other time. For now, just focus on the ballet."

Tecna nodded and turned her attention back to the stage but Timmy's gaze didn't leave Tecna. She smiled as Miele and the rest of the dancers created the scene of Christmas Eve before transforming into Clara's dream sequence featuring the Nutcracker coming to life and fighting off the Rat King. Tecna seemed to be in a trance as the characters "fought" on stage and Timmy was in a trance watching her. Even with everything happening on stage, Timmy only looked at Tecna.

The lights came on and Timmy did not realize that the time came for intermission.

"…Timmy?"

He blinked as Tecna called his name.

"Sorry, just…uh…sorry…" Timmy stammered.

"What is happening now?" Tecna asked as her head turned, her eyes scanning the audience as people got up from their seats and made their way to the doors.

"Intermission."

"What is that?"

"Just a break in the show. You can use the bathroom needed or stretch your legs."

"Can I just stay here?" Tecna asked.

Timmy smiled, "Of course you can stay here. There isn't a rule saying that you have to get up and move around."

Tecna reached over and grabbed the program and began reading the director's notes and the information about the cast. She would point out the characters that she would recognize and make passing remarks about the notes.

"Hey, Timster," Timmy let out a soft groan as Riven called out to him, "Nabu and I are going to get some drinks from the bar. Do you want to come with?"

Timmy looked at Tecna with her face in the program, "No, I am going to stay here."

"Suit yourself. Lord knows I need a drink to get through all of this."

Usually, Timmy would have gone with Nabu and Riven, wanting to spend the time to pick their heads about the latest games. Doomsday Battalion was coming out in the next week and Timmy didn't know what came over him to choose to stay in a stuffy auditorium than to talk about video games but as he looked at Tecna, he just wanted to stay by her side. His mother and friends would be shocked if they knew that he had chosen a person over a video game, much less a woman at that.

Timmy took in a small inhale as he felt something warm in his hand. He looked down to see that once again, Tecna's hand was in his.

"Tecna…"

"Is this not-"

Timmy's fingers wove in with Tecna's and wrapped around the back of her hand. Tecna looked down and smiled as Timmy's hand enveloped hers.

"I like it too."

"I don't want you to let go," Tecna whispered.

"I will have to at some point," Timmy chuckled, "you will be going back to your home but maybe you will have to show this to the rest of the people on Zenith."

"But it will not be the same."

"What do you mean?" Timmy chuckled, "A hand is a hand. Or do the people of Zenith have different kinds of hands? Your hand feels the same as mine."

"No," Tecna blushed, the first that Timmy had seen, "it's just…it won't be yours."

He didn't realize how close they were. Timmy didn't realize how close Tecna's face was to his as he looked into Tecna's ocean-like eyes. Her lips were so close to his and if it wasn't for the lights flickering on and off, Timmy didn't know if he would have pulled away.

"What is happening now?" Tecna asked.

"The second half is going to begin."

His hand was still wrapped around Tecna's as the auditorium began to fill up. He should have let go, but he couldn't and Tecna was making no effort to move. He wouldn't say anything, he didn't want to let her go either. He would have been perfectly content staying connected to her the rest of the ballet. But soon, Tecna let go and Timmy's hand suddenly felt so empty and cold. He wanted to reach back over and take her hand back in his.

"Tecna, I-"

The lights dimmed and the entre-acte music began. Timmy didn't finish what he was going to say to Tecna. But perhaps it was for the best that he didn't. Did he really want to tell her that he didn't want to let her go? He would have to let go of her eventually as the communicator and then she would be back in Zenith. No matter how he felt or what he wanted, the future would remain unchanged. She would need to go back and her would be alone.

He didn't want her to let his hand go. He didn't want the night to end. He didn't want Tecna to finish the communicator. He didn't want his life to go back to the way it was before. He enjoyed having her by his side. He enjoyed playing games with Tecna, talking to her at night, showing her how to cook, and laughing at her small faux pas. Timmy would miss her smile and laugh, he would even miss her child-like questions and criticisms.

As Timmy glanced over at Tecna, her eyes fixed on to the stage as the dancers came back onto the stage, he slowly wrapped his hand around Tecna's. The warmth was back in his hand and he felt himself relax in his seat.

Tecna looked down the row at the others, noticing that nobody else was holding hands.

"Timmy, I don't think that we are supposed to be-"

"No, but I really wanted to."

Tecna didn't reply but instead wrapped her hand tighter around Timmy's and smiled as he refocused her gaze to the ballet.

The unlikely pair spent the rest of the ballet hand in hand, Timmy sneaking glances over towards Tecna. He caught every smile, every look of awe as the dancers spun and leaped, and even caught the tears welling up in her eyes at the beauty of the dancing and music. But Timmy only could see Tecna's beauty, whatever was going on onstage paled in comparison. And it was in that moment that Timmy realized something that he didn't think he would ever admit to himself or anybody else.

He didn't want Tecna to leave.