Yeehee. I just got back from the 'Kappa' festival. Good food! =all she cares about= and fun. Me and Dez went exploring the huge park grounds, playing (Zim and Lord of the rings, of course!), checking out the abandoned temples and various festival buildings. We found this really awesome trail behind this one lit up building, really eerie looking, spiders galore. We were being attacked by the humongous spiders from 'The Hobbit', but we heard someone yelling at us. so, we turned around, and it turns out we were playing in front of the men's dressing room for the carnival! We ran as the half-naked men bellowed behind us...

Woo...we missed some of the fireworks too, because I had Dez(Dib) trapped in my secret lab when they started, and we couldn't find the way back to the open. =pouts= we're too childish some times :P

Chapter 7

They scavenged through the various bits of scrap metal, broken glass, and other debris littered where Barry had previously discovered the journal. Not knowing exactly what they were searching for, the process was very slow and consuming. Zim guessed that a computer or beacon had to be involved, in order for the vessels to have been detected. Something capable of monitoring the planet's entire atmosphere. He relayed this to the others as he continued digging in the heaps of rubbish.

He paused when he came to a panel of some-sort. The Irken warrior symbol was depicted on it, in its usual vibrant red. The material itself seemed ancient. He ran a gloved hand over it, mutely. This wasn't the first of his kind's ships he'd found among the refuse. He closed his eyes for a moment, hoping the pilot had died quickly, perhaps on impact. He had heard that paks of the distant past had not been as creditable as the presently issued ones. Easily smashed when battered with tremendous force....He looked up, feeling eyes on his back.

Barry was staring at him with a semi-smug look on his face. He snorted, letting Zim know what he thought of the "mighty" Irkens. Zim pulled down an eyelid, sticking out his tongue. A foolish earth-child had done it to him on the playground at skool once, and he gathered it was an exhibition of both dislike and contempt. Barry rolled his eyes before waving his middle finger in Zim's direction and returning to his search.

Medea saw none of this, but noticed Zim was stooped over in assessment of something, his search presently halted. She stepped over to him, treading lightly over the remnants of both buildings and crafts. She kneeled beside him, looking over his shoulder at the symbol. It was the same marking that had been on his own demolished ship, and the symbol of his race, she gathered.

"Did you know about this place?" she inquired quietly.

"I knew that it was undocumented for some reason. I guess I had a vague idea of what happened..." He looked around. There was quite a number of his race's ships lying around, all in ruins. How could this be? Irkens never lost...They might take a little while to fulfill their missions, require a little more preparation time than expected....he thought about his current status of ruling the Earth....but never failed....

"So, when did you meet my children?" Medea asked, trying to switch to a more pleasant subject.

"A couple of months ago. I'm in Dib's class."

She laughed. "Yes, Dib mentioned that. He also said you two used to be the most fearsome of rivals, for the better part of that time."

Zim smirked. "Yes. I was the most amazing of enemies!" He paused, thinking about his various victories. "I turned him into bologna once..." He didn't mention that Dib had also turned him into one.

Medea smiled. "And Gazzy?"

Zim hesitated, wondering if she knew about the 'love' thingy he and Gaz felt for each other. He decided to keep quiet about it, in case she disapproved of such a thing. "We talk sometimes..." He replied, looking at his boots.

She nodded solemnly. "Sometimes, that's the best thing you can share with someone." She tossed a screw-like object down the mound of debris. She turned her face toward him. "You're not still going to try to rule humanity, are you?"

Zim squirmed a little, surprised. What should he say? He didn't feel that he should lie to her for some reason. He looked over the landscape, his mouth a grim line.

"Yes." He said finally. He turned to see what she would do.

She looked mildly disappointed, but didn't say anything for a while. Finally, she lifted her arms, turning to him once again. Zim froze, eyeing her warily. He prepared to make a mad dash for it before she had a chance to grab him and tell the others about his plans for planet domination.

She was too quick , though. Her arms were already folded around him before he could make a break for it. He panicked as she lifted him up, scrambling frantically to get free.

She looked down at him curiously. "What on earth are you so afraid of, dear?"

"You'll never get away with it! No one will perform an autopsy on Zim!!!"

"What?! What are you talking about? Of course no one will!"

Zim paused his struggle for a moment to look up at her face. "You're not going to cut me open, now that you know my ingenious plans for world conquest?"

She looked horrified. "I would never!"

Zim shot her a look of non-belief. Was she being sarcastic? Her face suggested she was seriously disturbed at the very idea of it. Ok, he though, maybe she wouldn't...But he knew that the Barry human might.

"The Barry human would!" Zim said, pointing to a form in the distance, eyes narrowing.

"Barry? No....he may seem unfriendly at the moment, but he's really a genuinely nice guy."

"Yeah. To humans. He'll make sure I'm put in a tube once we return to Earth!" He fixed her with what he hoped was a frightening glare.

"No. He won't. I won't let anything like that happen to you."

Zim looked disconcerted now. "Then why don't you let me go?"

She smiled. "I'll put you down if you like. I was just trying to give you a hug. I didn't mean to frighten you..."

Zim blinked. "You didn't. Nothing frightens an invader." He tried to look nonplussed.

She smirked. "I'm sure." She gave him a hug, then set him down.

Zim looked up at her, questioningly. "What was that for?" The only one, aside from Gaz, to give him a hug was Gir, and that was only because the sir unit was faulty. He had no clue as to what the embrace might have meant.

"To say thank you. For being an almost-friend to my Dib, and talking to Gazzy. It means a lot to them. I can tell." She stood up, turning away. She stopped and turned a few feet away. "Oh, and that your secret is safe with me, soldier." She did a lopsided salute, beaming, then spun on her heel and skipped down the other side of the mound.

Zim watched her, now knowing where Gaz got her grace, and Dib his...randomness. He grinned. Maybe mothers weren't such a pathetic fabrication after all.

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hmmmm. i'm not sure if i'll make a sequel to this story directly, but i'm sure i'll write some more random mimi-fics later on. With Dib and Gaz having a mom around... :)