Chapter Four: Gravestones

Clouds were gathering over the Irken sky. A clap of thunder resounded, and Mel swore in Irken. Not another one. Not now. When she'd come back to Irk after a couple years of being gone, the atmosphere had been polluted more. It rained now, normal Earth water, which just as well might've been poison. Normally, the air would be breathable for human beings, but the Irken atmosphere in collision with increasingly heavy rainstorms made it poisonous to human beings, and even to Irkens who had been away long enough to not go through the slow process of adaptation.

Had she not been in an atmospherically controlled room after a certain amount of time, she, too, would have suffocated. She laid down some flowers on the graves of her two best friends - Zim and Dib. Silently she cursed those two fools running the planet, the current Tallest, for if she were to do so aloud, she'd get caught and punished for sure. They had allowed special shipments of snacks to come into the planet, but the nature of the chips, as they were, released certain chemicals in the air to create rain clouds. Great. Potato chip poisoning. Her two best friends died because of some stupid potato chips.

Tears. They would not relent now. If only she hadn't told them to wait outside the hospital for her while she visited some old friends that were sick. That way they wouldn't have suffocated. Since their deaths, she was confined to the hospital until they made adjustments to the way her lungs functioned. She had wanted badly to go to them and kiss their cheeks and whisper her last goodbyes...and always the thought came back to haunt her: 'I should have left it be.'

Mel thought back to that day when she had asked Zim to go, but he stood up for his mission, which she had known was false. But he hadn't. And Dib. He wanted to stay for his family. She had told him to take a vacation. Some vacation. It had been years now. Today was a special day for her to visit. It was Dib's birthday. How old would he be now? Oh, yes, nineteen. Seven years had passed. He'd almost reached his thirteenth birthday when it had happened. Almost.

Every year, on both Zim's birthday and Dib's, she would put flowers on their graves, think to herself, talk to them, and sing happy birthday to whoever had the birthday. On scale, Zim would probably be in his thirties. But he had never told her his exact age. Just been really vague. He had just said his early to mid twenties, put on scale with the average human's lifespan.

She wanted so much to decapitate Red and Purple for ordering the snacks in that ended up killing her friends. Mel read the gravestones aloud: "Dib Membrane - Born on Earth in 2058, died in 2070. Zim Halik - Born on Irk in 5330, died in 5630." One part she had smudged off long ago. Underneath the writing were two words - status: short. She and Zim were engaged at the time, to be married in a year - six years ago, now. Moving back here had been a bad idea. Maybe there wasn't anything for her on Earth without Zim or Dib, but certainly there wasn't anything for her here, except for the gravestones, mere shadows of formerly great memories.

Invader Mel knew that no matter where she was their spirits would always be with her, but she felt a connection with the site. Even though so much anger stirred inside of her, and all the writing that was on the gravestones themselves were the dates and the names, she felt as if she were almost abandoning them by leaving. She knew that was silly, but could not leave the planet nonetheless. The real memory of them was on Earth. Mel knew that. Dib's room, Zim's house...everything was back there. Nothing was here. Nothing but these lousy, poorly shaped rocks that said they were buried below.

Zal, one of her friends, walked up from behind. "You'd better get moving. There's a storm about to hit."

"I don't care. I don't care if I die out here, I'm not leaving."

"Stop talking like that. Get up. It's storm season, too."

"It's also Dib's birthday. He's nineteen today."

"Oh...I'm so sorry. But still, staying out in the rain won't do any good. Why don't you come and celebrate it with me?"

"I don't celebrate their birthdays. I talk to them. I only feel alone enough to talk to them out here."

"Most of the crops are dying now, because of the rain. Soon this planet won't even be habitable."

"Sure it will. Just not by Irkens. And changing the subject will do no good. I am intent on staying here for the remainder of the day."

"You can't!"

"Yes I can! Please! It's because of our lousy leaders that we're in this situation, so we can't expect them to get us out of it."

"Mel! Shut your mouth! You know with talk like that you're liable to be killed!"

"Nothing matters now. I don't even have a life, really. I remember Miyuki."

"You mean Tallest Miyuki?"

"Yes. If he were still alive, none of this would be happening."

"Perhaps not. But if he were still alive, Zim wouldn't have gone to Earth; you wouldn't have met him, meaning you probably wouldn't have seen Dib either. Everything has a reason. You would have gone insane if it weren't for them, and if you were insane now, I wouldn't have recovered in that hospital. I'd be dead. I wouldn't have started a family, and that would start a whole other chain of events never happening. Even if it was for a short while, your seeing them was positive, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Come on. Let's go home."

"All right. Just a minute, though." Mel bent down and hugged the gravestones, tears falling loosely. "Goodbye, Zim, my Invader Zim. Goodbye, Dib, Paranormal Investigator Dib. I hope we meet sometime in the future."

"I'm sure we will," she heard the voice in her head, but it wasn't her own. An echoing of their voices remained in her mind, as the wind pulled tightly at her dress and windbreaker. She pulled it closer to her, as the wind chilled to an icy cold.

"Invader Mel, get out of there!" Zal screamed out against the wind as it ripped at her side. A heavy gale tore Mel's windbreaker off, but she stood her ground. A downpour began, and she refused to move. The pain ate at her from the inside out, but she remained. She drew in breaths of the rain through her mouth, and despite the intense stinging, it was truly relaxing. 'Blast it all, why did I have to be born Irken? Why can't I enjoy the cool, calming of the rain without being killed half to death?'

Mel wanted to crawl into the ground and die beside Zim. Existence was like a pointless struggle to win a meaningless prize. At least, it was that way for an Irken like her in her situation. The rain became so unbearable she couldn't stand. Instead, she slumped up against Zim's grave and thought about all the people who had made a positive influence on her: Miyuki, Zim, Dib, Zal. No one else? No one. So desperately she wanted to fall asleep there, but instead trudged home in the rain, without a windbreaker, umbrella, or anything else.

She walked past many houses, but only one had a kid looking out the window. The little girl shouted, "Hey, look! There's a lady Irken outside!"

"Outside? That's impossible!" her mother scolded her for making up such a story, but eventually looked anyway. "My goodness! What on Irk is she doing out there?" They allowed her to come inside, and after catching her breath, she explained what had happened.

"You see, I just love my friends too much to leave them. I just can't do it. I just can't."

"Here. Sit down. We've got the heat turned up all the way now. Is that better?"

"Yes, very. Thank you so much for your kindness. I'm thinking about going back to Earth though. It rains there, too. I like rain. It's just too bad I can't stay in it for too long without killing myself."

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. I'm okay. It's interesting, though. I almost asked Miyuki to marry me, but time ran out, and he died before I asked. I was going to ask Zim to marry me, and I knew he wanted to marry me, but he didn't know my reply right up until the time he died. I guess it'll just be my mission to live and exist, and hopefully make a difference in someone's life. Invading is pointless in my opinion. I am a former invader myself. I hate it. My first mission failed because I became emotionally attached to the people there. My last mission was almost a success and almost a failure. I failed in my original goal. However, I succeeded in learning about human emotion. Some humans can be the nicest you've ever known, others are the cruelest creatures imaginable. Same with Irkens. It just depends.

"I wish Miyuki were alive...I bet he'd know what I meant...well, the sun is shining once more, and I think I'll be on my way now. Thanks for your hospitality. Goodbye."

"Wait!" The young girl screamed and ran after her. "You forgot this." Clasped in the little girl's hands was a golden locket with a picture of the late Tallest Miyuki inside. She had another on for Zim, and yet another for Dib, but this one was extra special to her. It reminded her of how everything had started, bringing her memory of the three all at once.

"Why thank you, little girl. What's your name?"

"Mei. Why?"

"Mei, do you know what I'm going to do with this now?"

"No. What?"

"I'm going to kiss it, put it in my knapsack here, and then I'm going to do some thing even more amazing. You know what that is?"

"No."

"I'm going to fulfill each of my old friend's purposes. I'm going to write a book to try to teach people that they have to show consideration for people whether they're short or tall. That one's for Miyuki. Then, I'm going to prove how ignorant human beings are. That one's for Zim. And lastly, I'm going to prove that aliens do exist, because on Earth, they don't believe so. For Dib, I'm going to prove he's not crazy. And for myself, I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I stuck by my loved ones through life and through death. Their spirits know what I am doing. I ought to be off now. Goodbye, Mei."

"Goodbye, Invader Mel!" the form of Mel disappeared right before her into thin air. In confusion, the little girl Mei ran back indoors.

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One Year Later

Zal walked along the rows of gravestones, in search of a particular couple of them. She could not find any remains of the graves that belonged to Zim and Dib. Startling enough, she came across a grave labeled 'Invader Mel - Born on Earth in 2058, Died in 2070. Born on Irk in 5330, died in 5630. status: Tallest Miyuki's wife.' What could possibly have occurred over one year that would restore Zim, Dib, and Miyuki? Silently she contemplated over this, then walked away without another word. After all, people got locked away for telling stories like that. She wondered about her friend, Invader Mel, and then another thought crossed her mind - maybe it did all happen. But perhaps in just another version of reality.

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Back on Earth

Dib and Zim held a silent funeral, along with Tallest Miyuki of Irk, for the loss of Invader Mel Taline. "Dib? Isn't that your name?" he beckoned.

"Yes. Why?"

"Mel just wanted to say thanks for saving her from insanity."

"What? I didn't do anything. Zim's the one who pretended to be you when she was delusional and gave her the kiss that snapped her out of it."

"No. She doesn't mean that. She means that you were a good friend. After all, you did really like her, and had a hard time not speaking out against us. Thanks."

"You're welcome, I guess."

"My Tallest, is she really...dead?" Zim inquired.

"No. She just wants you two to fulfill your purposes without disruption in your lives. That's what she told me, and I trust her. Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Tallest Miyuki, will we ever see her again?"

"I have a feeling we will. Oh, and she wanted me to give you guys these." Tallest Miyuki handed out the lockets, and they realized how much she cared for them. And they knew that so long as they had her with them in their hearts, but far away on a physical level, their lives would continue as if she hadn't been there at all, but their hearts would be touched all the same. It was at this point that Invader Mel knew she had completed her mission.



Okay, I know it's kind of sad, but at least no one died this time. People die in my stories for some reason. I write dead people. I know that was lame. Well, I've started a sequel, and it should be done in a couple days. It'll take another day or two after that for me to get it up, though. Wowie, this is a long endnote. Well, I'll hear from you soon, hopefully. Wait, who am I talking to? Ahhh! The giant onion dip is attacking me! O_o