Note: I make no claims to the IZ characters. They are property of the one and only JHONEN VASQUEZ.

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Chapter Three

The Reaction

Dib and Gaz sat in a shocked silence. To Dib this obviously came to him as a surprise, but to Gaz, however, this was almost expected. And although thru the shock on his face, it was obvious that he was taking the news quite well. The expression on Gaz's face lead no one to believe that she felt as though she'd swallowed a large stone and it was caught in her throat.

By this time, several minutes of uncomfortable silence had passed, and Peg had begun to fidget in her seat. "Children," began Prof. Membrane, "I know this may be hard to understand . ."

Dib suddenly interrupted him. "Mom?" he said somewhat uncertainly. Peg sighed deeply as though she had been holding her breath.

"Dib," she replied, getting up off the couch. She crossed the room and took him into her arms, her tears flowing freely. "I've missed you two so much! I am so glad to be home." Reluctant to let her little boy go, she released him and walked over to Gaz and wrapped her arms around her. Gaz suddenly felt a deep warmth within her that she'd never felt before. Sure, her father had hugged her, but if felt nothing close to a hug from a long lost mother. She eagerly returned the hug.

Peg, who had earlier noticed Gaz's resentment, was thrilled. More than anything she wanted her daughter's approval, for she too knew the feeling of not knowing her mother.

"Where have you been all this time?" asked Dib. Gaz heard this statement and immediately stiffened with her forgotten anger. Peg felt this and let go of her daughter.

"Well," started Peg, "I . . ."

"Let's leave your mother alone, she's had a rough day," said Prof. Membrane as Peg returned to her position on the couch. Peg's eyes suddenly became downcast as if she were remembering something horrible. "Maybe you two should go to bed."

Dib looked at the digital clock that sat next to the phone. 9:07. He started to open his mouth to protest, but soon received a look from his father that clearly said that there was no point in arguing.

"Goodnight," said Dib. He got up off the floor and headed for his room. Gaz soon followed. "Dad's acting weird," Dib whispered to Gaz. Gaz gave him an annoyed look. Dib rolled his eyes. "Ok, I know his wife - OUR mother - has returned from where ever she has been but I didn't think that this would happen!" Once again, Gaz only responded with a look.

As soon as they reached their bedrooms, Gaz quickly slipped into her room and slammed the door shut. She plopped down onto her bed, put on her headphones, and cranked up the music on her potable CD player, immediately blocking out any sound that may have wandered into her room. Dib went into his room and closed the door. He sat on his bed and opened his laptop and began clicking away, trying to take his mind off the situation that had only moments ago been presented to him. After several moments of this, he found that all he could think about was his mother. He quietly closed his laptop and creeped over to the door. He pressed his ear against the door to hear if his parents had begun talking again. Sure enough, he could hear mumbling coming from the other room. But that's all he heard, mumbling. Dib slowly reached for the knob and turned it, letting the door open a little ways. Instantaneously, the mumbling turned into audible speech and he leaned closer to get a better listen.

". . . .don't have to tell them," said Prof. Membrane, "I'm not sure they'd understand."

"No. I don't want to lie to them, they need to know everything. I've been away from them too long!" said Peg.

Prof. Membrane sighed. "You're right."

"You know, this may sound strange, but what are our children like? I feel so uninformed."

"Dib is just like you with his paranormal studies, and of course I . . ."

"Wish he'd chose a more legitimate field of study?" They laughed and Dib perked up. He had always wondered which side of his family he had received this particular trait from.

"You always used to say that to me," said Peg, still chuckling.

"Yes, but Dib's obsession with aliens is much more intense than yours," said Prof. Membrane.

"He sounds a lot like my brother," she said quietly. An awkward pause fell among the two adults.

"I'm very sorry I wasn't able to know him," said Prof. Membrane comfortingly.

"Yes," replied Peg, her voice somewhat shaky. Suddenly, Peg cleared her throat and she began to speak once more. "So, how's Gaz?"

"She's very much into video games, but she is obviously intelligent," replied Prof. Membrane proudly, "She doesn't seem to want anyone to know it. When she does show it, she makes me so proud of her." Although Dib did not see this, all Peg could do was smile.

"I am so very proud of our children," continued Prof. Membrane, "I don't always seem to show it, and I regret it. You know, I did my best to raise them while they were young, and I'm doing my best now."

"And no one says your not!" said Peg, "Now, we can raise our children together. Without fear." Suddenly Dib closed his door. As he slid down the wall and sat on the floor, he couldn't help but wonder what his parents had to fear. Just at that moment, a thought popped into his head. She makes me so proud of her, is what their father had said. Dib smiled thinking of how happy Gaz would be. She had indirectly stated on several occasions that she didn't think that their father cared about them and now he had proof that he really did care. With that thought in mind, Dib went over to his bed, lay down and fell into a somewhat eventful sleep.

The next morning at Skool, Dib sat at his desk by the window, half asleep. His position at the window brought in only polluted air, which was the only thing keeping him awake. Dib was leaning lazily on an unsteady, propped up arm, and it seemed like everytime his eyes started to droop, a gust of smoggy wind would roll in and jolt him awake.

Dib hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. He had spent most of the night tossing in turning while horrible dreams of what his parents could possibly fear played over and over in his mind. Now, his lack of sleep was catching up with him. He didn't even notice Zim's usual outrageous questions and comments.

As a matter of fact, Zim had already spent nearly the entire morning in the restroom, beating his previous record of three hours. And although Dib was now looking in the direction of Zim's empty seat, he didn't quite register that Zim wasn't there. That is, until the classroom door was thrown open. The loud bang of the door hitting the wall brought Dib back to reality.

"Zim!" said Ms. Bitters harshly, "Where have you been?"

"I! Was in the restroom!" replied Zim, marching to his seat. After only taking two steps, he tripped over himself and fell onto the floor with a thud. Immediately, the entire classroom burst into laughter.

"Look at Zim!" yelled Sara over the noise and laughter. Zim quickly stood up and adjusted his toupee. Dib, who surprisingly wasn't apart of the class taunting, added this event to list of mental things to tell his mother about his day.

"Settle down, class," said Ms. Bitters. The noise level in the room barely lowered as Zim took his seat. Ms. Bitters growled ferociously, causing a wave of silence to settle over the students. With that, Ms. Bitters continued to enrich the immature minds of the class with useless bits of information until the lunch bell rang.

After picking up his lunch tray with a plate of mayonnaise and corn on it, he scanned the cafeteria for a place to sit. He soon caught sight of his sister, playing her GS2, pausing only every once and a while to shovel in a spoonful of lunch, as always. Dib quickly crossed the room and slipped into one of the many vacant chairs that stood around her table.

"Hey, Gaz," said Dib as he absentmindedly began eating his lunch and spying on Zim, who was picking at his lunch as usual.

"I'm not thinking of her," Gaz said immediately. Dib turned towards her and gave her a strange look.

"What?"

"Nevermind."

Dib turned his attention back towards Zim and Gaz continued to direct her attention towards her GS2. In actuality, she was just staring at the screen, oblivious to the fact that this was the sixteenth time she'd died in like the past five minutes. I am not thinking about her, thought Gaz, I'm not thinking about her. Finally, Gaz turned off her GS2 and slammed it on the table. Ok, so maybe I am thinking about her, thought Gaz.

Peg was all Gaz could think about. It didn't seem to bother Dib, who appeared to be enjoying the appearance of their long lost mother. She still hadn't been able to sort out her emotions. The evening before, when everyone thought she was asleep, but what she was really doing was crying. She was crying tears of anger and tears of joy. Joy for the return of her mother and anger for Peg, who had disrupted the orderly dysfunction that was the Membrane household.

With that thought in mind, a frustrated Gaz hastily left the lunch table, leaving behind her half eaten lunch, a very confused brother, and her GS2. "What is up with her today?" thought Dib aloud as he picked up Gaz's GS2 and turned it in his hand.

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Well, ok. This is kind of a sucky chapter, but I felt it was important to the story. Just keep watching for new chapters and don't forget to review!