A/N: I'M ALIVEEEEE!!!!!!! So...hurrrr ya go: the final chapter!!

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Gir was busy deep inside the house somewhere, scribbling a little note in her best handwriting. Really, it consisted of only lines and circles, and some star looking things every now and then. After staring at the complete project, she stood and kissed it, then held it up in one hand.

''That'za one spicy meatball, baby!!'' She squealed, then decided to find master.

When she emerged from the kitchen holding her note, Zim was laying on the coffee table, staring up at the cracks in the ceiling. She crept up very silently behind him, then when she was right behind him, flung herself on him.

Zim shot up, terrified for a moment, and then relaxed. His veins felt like they were on fire. All the advil had made for an interesting night filled with feverish hallucinations, and on top of that, the Dib monkey's mind tricks were making his tummy swim and his blood feel like it was lava.

Gir reached for her note and shoved it in Zim's face, beaming proudly.

''I wroted you a note for your LOVAH MAN!! Giveittohimandhe'lllikeitjustlikethetacosmmm!'' She sprouted a couple more sentences of jibberish before standing on her hands and walking like that to the kitchen.

Zim watched her absent mindedly before looking back down at the note and opened it slowly. His eyes scanned the scribbles and he couldn't help but smile.

A note...for a...lover man?

Is that what she had said? Zim seemed to recall it being so.

Was that what that feeling was? Love?

He needed to talk to Dib, whatever it was.

Dib rolled over in bed to be met with the sight of Zim sitting on the floor a mere couple feet from his bed, staring at him with an intent, fixed gaze. Dib gasped and sat up quickly, forgetting for a moment that he was 17 and for a second, thought they were back in the days of being 13 and loathing each other. It faded quickly, however, when he looked deep into Zim's curious eyes. He even forgot to ask Zim how he managed to sneak into his room (he figured it was through his open window, anyway).

''Do I love you?'' Zim asked suddenly, his emotions as perplexed as Dib's face became when he heard the question.

Suddenly, Dib had the urge to dive under his covers and hide forever; to not resurface. Though he had been wishing for this moment for the longest time, suddenly now, he wanted to be a fish. Yes, a fish. He would be a fish in the ocean of his blankets...

He was interrupted from his fishy thoughts by Zim and couldn't help the raging flame of a blush on his face.

''Do I love you?'' Zim asked again, this time more forceful, as if he was becoming desparate to know. ''Is that why I can't sleep? Is that why my body is changing to meet Earth's atmosphere so quickly? Is that why all I can think about is you?''

Dib was absolutely elated to hear these things from Zim, since they had been what he was praying for. For Zim to stay, and for them to be...together.

For four years he had rehearsed a speech for this one moment, and now, he was speechless and empty.

Zim leaned forward, his eyes furrowed with anxiousness and even...worry? ''Dib?''

Dib managed to choke out a weak sentence. ''Do I make you happy?''

Zim nodded.

''Do you want to be around me all the time?''

''Yes,'' Zim answered, rubbing his chin. ''It's kinda weird, ya know, but I just want to--'' He trailed off mid sentence when he looked up and saw Dib staring at him blankly.

Silence hung thick and suffocating in the room. Dib again and again pulled on the neck of his pajamas, feeling as if he couldn't breathe, and every time he looked into Zim's panicked eyes, he didn't know what to do even more than before.

Zim frantically pulled Gir's note from his pocket and handed it to Dib.

Dib looked at the mass of shapes and lines and quirked an eyebrow, then looked back at Zim.

''Gir made it,'' Zim answered, his voice shakey. ''She said it's because I love you. Do I?''

Dib folded the note back up and sighed deeply. He leaned forward, and with a new found courage, laid his hand gently on the side of Zim's face and massaged the skin with his thumb. Then he finally answered, in a tiny whisper:

''Yes, Zim, I think you do...''

Zim sighed deep with relief. He figured the tricky part was over, he knew he loved the Dib monkey. And the Dib monkey loved him. Good. The hard part was over; now they just needed to keep breathing...

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A/N: Yay!!!!!!!! So it took me a LOOOOONG time to finish this story and the ending kind of sucks because, to be honest...when I started this, I planned nothing and just kinda wrote. I had a couple diff endings in mind...one where Zim died, one where they left again, one where nothing happened...but I decided to choose the happy one cuz I didn't want crazed ZADR fans burrying me alive in oreo cookie crumbs...though, that would've been a nummy way to go. So, basically, Zim and Dib realize they love each other and they live happily ever after. WHEEE!! Maybe I'll do a sequel...depends on the response to the end. BUT I HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOYED IT!!! wheeee!!

Disclaimer: None of this is mine, except for the note Gir wrote. YUUUUP! Also, apologies now to anyone this thing offended.