Does nobody care about my pictures? *snif* You know, you can find out some serious info on future chaps just from the stuff I put up there! Like you can make a decent guess on where my mind's headed with this new chapter, but nooo, nobody seems to care... *sniffle* Sorry it took me forever and a day to get this chapter up, skool is being an absolute pain and i'm having issues in my life... nnk... anyway, as a sort of apology, this chapter's a bit longer than the others. I was tempted to cut off the last paragraph, but I decided that you'd figure it out anyway, so I left it as it was...
Warnings: If you haven't figured it out yet, you're a twit. Much ZADR fluff. Besides that, there's a bit of songfic in it. And some other stuff. Stuff is good. Now read the story. Why are you still reading this lame excuse of a warning? Move on to the fic already! Jeez...
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Gaz grinned to herself as she peered in the window, noting the face fest. /A job well done,/ she thought smugly to herself, and went back to her house. Gir was watching *really* old tapes of Barney. Gaz shuddered to herself, disgusted. "Come on Gir, I'll show you a real movie," she said, pulling out "Flight of the Navigator." It was a pretty good old movie, and the only one that didn't have either horrifying kid stuff, boring science lectures, or Mysterious Mysteries episodes. They slid it into the VCR, and Gir munched on unpopped popcorn cheerfully as they watched. Almost all their movies revolved around science or aliens, as Dib and her father were mostly the ones who'd bought them in the first place. The video game collection in Gaz's room was quite extensive however, so she'd never seen a need to watch movies. "Why watch it when you can do it" was one of her favorite philosophies.

After the movie was over, Gir offered her some biscuits he'd been storing in his head. "Come on try one, they good!" he said, grinning. Gaz bit into one cautiously, pleasantly surprised to find that not only was it edible, it tasted pretty good. They enjoyed the biscuits in relative silence, saving two for Dib and Zim. Gaz checked her watch to see what time it was.

"Come on, let's go. They should be done by now," she commented, standing up. Seeing it was starting to rain outside, she put on her dark purple raincoat and grabbed the matching umbrella. Gir took her hand and skipped alongside her joyfully. When they arrived, she knocked on the door fairly loudly. There was no answer. Gaz sighed, then knocked again, even louder. Still no answer. She took out her skool ID card and used it to unlock the door. She opened it and dragged Gir inside, ignoring his protests that she was making him lose the staring contest with Mr. Lawn Gnome. She stopped short and clamped a hand over Gir's mouth, staring at the couch. Zim and her brother were fast asleep, their arms loosely encircling one another. "They must be really out of it not to have heard me from such a short distance," she grumbled. Still, she knew her brother rarely got any sleep... Dib usually went to bed at midnight and woke up at three forty all but screaming. She took Gir by the black synthetic paw and went to the kitchen. "Let's make some more of those biscuits, whaddya say?" she said, hoping cooking was generally a quiet occupation. Gir nodded happily, and went to fetch the baking mix. Gaz decided if they could sleep through her knocking, she could turn the radio on. She flipped it on, and the two began reconstructing the biscuit recipe from before.

*******

Dib woke slowly, a little disoriented. He blinked a couple times, and noted that he was still on Zim's couch, holding the alien in his arms. Strains of music floated through the doorway to the kitchen. He listened to it, smiling as he recognized the song.

/Good morning, beautiful, how was your night?/
/Mine was wonderful with you by my side. When I/
/Open my eyes to see your sweet face/
/It's a good mornin beautiful day./

He kissed Zim's forehead softly, thinking how true the song was. Zim was so beautiful, beautiful and precious to him. His life had already started getting better now that he'd finally admitted to Zim (and himself) his true feelings.

/I couldn't see the light, I didn't know day from night./
/I had no reason to care./
/But since you came along, I can face the dawn/
/'Cause I know you'll be there./

He smiled to himself as the chorus started again. He /had/ been unable to see the light, and days and nights had been the same.. Merely nightmares, either waking or asleep, that plagued him whether he was out or not. He'd been able to sleep peacefully for the first time in a long time the past two nights, something that had left him when his mom died. Since he was an eidetic, he remembered just about everything from his past. That was why the dreams could come at him with such viciousness, such vividness. The pain he felt, remembered though it was, still hurt just as much. He smiled fondly at Zim, watching the little stirrings that meant he was waking up.

Zim blinked awake slowly, and smiled up at Dib. He was so comfortable in his arms. His antennae perked a little, noting a song playing in the background.

/I never worry/
/If it's rainin outside/
/'Cause in here with you girl/
/The sun always shines./

/Good mornin beautiful, how was your night?/
/Mine was wonderful with you by my side. When I/
/Open my eyes to see your sweet face/
/It's a good mornin beautiful day./

Zim smiled at the lyrics. "So true," he murmured, cuddling up against Dib. He could hear the raindrops splattering against the window, but he felt surprisingly safe even though he hadn't bathed in paste. "Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful, Dib?" he asked.

"Nope... been called an awful lot of things, but never beautiful," he said, smiling.

"Well, I'll say it then. Dib, you are one hundred percent beautiful," Zim said, tilting his head up to look into his eyes. Dib blushed.

"You too, Zim. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, and probably ever will," he said softly, kissing Zim's forehead lightly. It was Zim's turn to blush, and the pink on green made an interesting contrast. The radio DJ was cut off in the middle of announcing the next song, and an all-too-familiar voice spoke up from the kitchen.

"If you two are done being all mushy and sentimental, the biscuits are ready," Gaz said, seemingly ignoring the fact that they were both blushing bright pink now. "This is the new batch, Gir and me ate the others already. You'd be surprised at how well he can cook sometimes." They separated sheepishly, but taking their time about it. They were a little embarrased at having been seen by Gaz of all people, yet they didn't want to break their little bubble of happiness. Dib took Zim's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. Zim smiled at him, and they headed for the kitchen.

"It's about time," Gaz grumbled as they arrived, setting down the plate of still warm biscuits. They all ate in relative silence, Gaz playing her Gameslave as she nibbled on one, Gir concealing them away in his head and then taking them out and eating them noisily, and Dib and Zim exchanging quick glances and holding hands under the table. Now that they had finally figured things out they were almost afraid to let go, as if they might lose their fragile love when they lost contact. When all the biscuits were gone (the majority having gone to Gir) Gaz yawned and clicked off her Game Slave after she saved. "Well, it's been a fun Saturday afternoon, but I think it's time to go, Dib. You've been here long enough, and you won't melt if you two are separated for a while." She stood and started out, grabbing her raincoat and umbrella as she went. Dib lingered just long enough to give Zim one last kiss on the forehead as he stood, then followed his sister. Zim walked with them to the door and stood leaning against the doorframe, waving as he watched them go. Dib, under the safety of Gaz's purple umbrella, waved back. Zim smiled and watched until they rounded the bend, then went back inside. He leaned against the door, just smiling. Gir bounded up, holding up a box.

"Can we watch this movie?!" Gir asked, grinning.

"Is it Titanic?" Zim asked warily, though somehow he didn't think he'd mind so much anymore. Gir shook his head rapidly, the loose objects and some biscuit crumbs rattling around inside. "What is it then?" he pressed.

"I dunnooooo," Gir replied, grinning.

"Well... okay. Let's see if it's any good then," Zim said. Gir slid the tape into the TV's slot and joined Zim on the couch. The title screen came up, lilting music in the background. "Far and Away, huh? Wonder what it's about," Zim mumbled to himself.

"Shh!" Gir said, then turned back to the TV. Zim quieted, and sat back to enjoy the movie. He was unusually attentive during the movie; he cried at the sad parts and snickered to himself at the funny parts. He was grinning with tears in his eyes as the movie ended and the credits began.

"Gir, I think that was the best movie you've ever shown," he said, smiling at the little robot as he wiped his eyes. No response. "Gir?" he queried, looking at the silvery form beside him. He was fast asleep, clutching a rubber pig protectively. Zim smiled and drew the blanket up over the little robot, then headed down to his lab to begin work on his newest project - a switching device he'd ordered from Call Nowia and was modifying for his own purposes. It had originally been a Gender-Bender 3000, which could change the gender of something alive and was often used to un-fix pets. He was trying to get it to become a body-switcher, where one could swap minds. The possibilities for conquest with this method were endless! They had had a body-switcher for sale, but the gender changer was a lot cheaper, so Zim figured he would save the money and use his brilliant brains to make it serve his purposes. Even though he was banished, he figured he could still take over Earth. They were just begging for punishment anyway, from what Zim had seen of what they'd done to the environment and regularly did to Dib. He grinned; he had a new reason to fight. A small tapping noise behind him alerted him, and he turned to see Gir standing there tapping the glass container with a chicken in it.

"What's this doo?" Gir asked, looking at the shiny red button in front of him. Zim put the gender gun down, and rushed to snatch the little robot up before he could touch it.

"Do not press that button, this chicken is for testing the mind swap gun out, not shooting into the sun," he said sternly. He put Gir down, who promptly ran off screaming about tacos and sun chickens. Zim studied the chicken in the container, who was clucking nervously and looking for any possible means of escape. "I don't know, the sun experiment wasn't a complete failure. Maybe I should run a few more diagnostics," he said to himself, his finger inching towards the button. A loud voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts.

"WHAT'S THIS DO?!" Gir screeched excitedly, looking down the nozzle of the gender gun.

"GIR! NOO!!" Zim yelled, diving for him. It was too late though, and the bright blue ray shot out at Gir, reflected off his metal body, and hit Zim square in the forehead. The next thing Zim knew was darkness...

*********

"Nnnnngh... wha happened?" Zim asked groggily. His voice sounded funny, and he felt different.

"MASTER!! You're alive!" Gir squealed, snatching up his hand in a hug of doom. Zim could feel his circulation cutting off. He shook Gir off gently, sitting up. Something was not quite right... What was the last thing that had happened? He blinked and tried to concentrate. Gir holding the gun... blue beam... a pain in his forehead, then blackness... He stood shakily, leaning against the computer for support. "Oooh, Master's all prettyful!" Gir said, beaming up at him.

"What are you talking about?" Zim snapped back. /My voice... it's all high... and... feminine?!/ "Oh nooo!" he moaned. "Gir, do you have a mirror?" Gir opened up the storage space inside his head and rummaged around, then pulled out a compact mirror with all the powder gone. Zim opened it up, and held it up to view himself. The resultant scream of horror reverberated for miles around, shattering a few inferior human windows from its intensity. A very angry, very female Zim advanced on Gir, claws ready to tear him into little pieces. Gir gulped, and backed up rather quickly. Zim froze, seeing the look of absolute terror on Gir's face. A new sensation washed over her. /Am I feeling... guilt?/ she wondered. Sighing, she reached down to pick Gir up. "I'm sorry, but that was very bad of you to do, Gir. You KNOW not to mess with my stuff unless I say it's okay!" she said, staring into the little robot's eyes with disapproval. "Now go... I dunno... watch TV. Just stay out of the labs, kay?" She set him down and he nodded, saluting her as his eyes flashed red, then wandered off to go watch the Scary Monkey Show.

Zim looked around for the gun, and groaned when she saw it was smashed to bits. "I must've landed on it when I blacked out," she thought out loud. Looking up at the digital clock on the wall, she suddenly felt very tired. The past day's events had begun to catch up to her, so even though it was only 9:30 pm she decided to head for her couch-chair thingy. Flopping back onto its soft red fabric, she drifted off into sleep, her last conscious thought being, /I wonder what Dib will think.../

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A little note about the couch-chair thingy... you know in the ep Bestest Friends where he's lying on the big red chair thing? That serves as a bed as well. Oh yeah, a couple extra disclaimers... I don't own rights to "Titanic" *shudders* as if I'd want to... and I don't own rights to either "Flight of the Navigator" or "Far and Away." I do have all three movies, and I really think everyone should go watch "Far and Away" right now because it's a really good movie... I flipped to she/her in the last two paragraphs, it's talking about Zim for all you easily confused people like me out there. It got annoying typing s/he and him/her, so I just picked the form. On a totally unrelated note, you should also go watch "All Quiet On The Western Front" (the color version). That's a great movie too. Kinda long, but awesome. We watched it in world history. I really like that movie. Anyway. Righty-o, time for individual notes for all you people that love me! ^_^
ArmAndLeg: ^_^ Yes, rabid fangirldom is awesome. I like togetherness. Too bad it's not a sensation I've ever experienced before. Nyik. Oh well. There will be more happy fluffy Zim and Dib togetherness coming soon! Or as soon as I can... @_@... only 20 days left... just gotta survive these last days... nnnk...
PRHG: I dunnoooo... they probably will, considering Zim and Dib's bargain... nihihihii... VENGEANCE IS NICE!! o0; erm... heheh... *cough* I was thinking of doing a totally separate Tallests fic, yes CRINGE in HORROR! It will probably be a before-they-were-Tallests fic, like so many others... heh... but not at ALL conventional... muahahahahahaaa..... Give me feedback on if you'd like ta see that! THAT APPLIES TO ALL OF YOU! ^_^
Mistah E: ^-^! Yay! New person! I like this fic too, it's probably the first one to ever get much success that I've written... nyik... Zim and Dib ARE an incredibly cute couple though... i love Zim/Dib, i love it gooood...
Rylyn: Aie.. I sorry for you... ^_^ Go watch Flight of the Navigator or Far and Away! Those are GOOD! And it's okay, I had a sudden bout of inspiration that's kinda been lacking for the past week... sorry!! ^_^;; but there's the new one, hope yas enjoyed it!
C-W: *showers her with yummy candy* Yay candy!! Nothing like a sugar high to get the fic juices flowing... unless you've just been informed of some SERIOUSLY FUNNY stuff! *snickers* OPIUM BAGELSS!!! XD Don't eat poppyseed bagels and take a drug test cause you'll get tested positive for opium, because they make opium out of poppyseeds... 'I swear, it was just my breakfast!' 'You have opium for breakfast??' 'Curse you drugged bagel! Curse yoou!'
B.O.W.N.: ^-^ Goo is fuuuuunnnnn... I like goo! Plus there's happy healing goo that fixes alll Dib's paaiiins... well maybe not all, but Zim fixed the other hurt... ^_~
Parker: I dunno, it might turn angsty later on... pth... there's only been a Friday evening and a Saturday that they've been together, they haven't had to go back to skool yet... hmmm... yes.... I'm feeling there will probably be angst later on... muahaha... of course, the angst will be surrounded by fluff n stuff, but that's okay. Angsty fluff is fun... I like reading angst too, it really connects sometimes.
Rain: Yee! I'll have to check it out! ^_^ I so glad you popped in on my little fic, thanks for leaving such a happy comment! ^_____^ it's nice to know my story's actually useful! LAUNDRY! ^__^; sorry, old reference... meeheehee... be sure to check back sometime, I might have a new chapter up within a week this time... ,