Disclaimer: Geno still not own. You still not sue!
A/N: This is probably the fluffiest chapter I've ever written. You'll know when you've read through it… So, just to warn ya, if you're not a fan of 3/4, then you should really not read this chapter. Genosythe will not be held responsible for any seizure or heart attack of any kind.
Right, then. Time to read.
…
When love's not enough
Chapter 11
Numbuh 5 entered the living room. Three pair of eyes met her expressionless face as she came through the doorway.
"How is he doing?" Numbuh 2 asked concerned.
"He's doing a lot better," Numbuh 5 replied. "Numbuh 5 made him eat the pancakes."
"That's great!" Numbuh 3 exclaimed with a smile. "Then he'll be all better, and then everything will be back to normal, and we can go on missions!" She poked Numbuh 4, who was sitting next to her on the couch. "Won't that be swell?"
Numbuh 4 smiled and nodded.
Numbuh 5 went over to the other couch, where Numbuh 2 was sitting, and sat down. She sighed.
"What's wrong?" Numbuh 2 asked, frowning at her.
"Well, Numbuh 5 just has this feeling that this ain't the end," she replied.
"Adult fighting has no end," he told her.
"Yes, Numbuh 5 knows that," she muttered. "But she means about the Delightful Children. And Father. The chances for him leaving the Kids Next Door alone are low. He'll show up soon to get revenge, and when he does, he'll be prepared."
"So… you're worried about Father?" Numbuh 2 asked and glanced over at the two other operatives. They were both busy watching TV and talking about something. He was relieved that they didn't pay attention. It wasn't such a good idea to get them to worry about this as well, even though it was pretty obvious Father would attack them soon enough. He suddenly felt how he also got worried about this.
"Yeah, a little worried," Numbuh 5 said in a low voice. "But never mind." She shook her head as if she was trying to get rid of the thoughts. "It's not important. To worry about it now, that is." She leaned back on the couch and scratched her head.
"I agree," Numbuh 2 said. "We'll worry about this all later. It's only been 24 hours since the war went on up there. There's no way Father is prepared to face us again just yet."
…
Later, when the day had turned to night and everybody in the Treehouse were wondering about going to bed or staying up just a little longer to watch a late night show on TV, Numbuh 1 was still resting in his room. He was constantly tired, and this was a rather unpleasant state for him to be in. The thought about not being ready in time if they were to go on a mission was bugging him. And what worse was was that he knew he wouldn't be ready if the Treehouse suffered an attack. There were so many things to worry about. But he had promised Numbuh 5 to stop thinking about it and leave the thinking to the others. She told him that she would be angry with him if he let these thoughts bother him now that he needed to rest his head. If he just stopped thinking, he would get better sooner. But if he kept thinking, the thoughts would wear him out again. He knew that, too.
He glanced at his empty plate on the bedside table. He had forced himself to eat something during the day. So far, it was only the two pancakes for breakfast and a sausage for dinner. The thought of eating more now made him sick.
Suddenly, he heard the others laugh from the living room. They were having a great time. He heard someone run, and someone else followed. By the voices, he guessed it was Numbuh 4 who had done something to anger Numbuh 2, and was now running for his life, laughing. This made Numbuh 1 smile. He loved the innocence of those two when they were playing with each other like the little kids they were.
Numbuh 1 decided to go out to the living room for a few minutes, just to spend some time with the others. He felt so alone in his room now, something that was rather strange. He usually enjoyed his time alone in his room.
He got out of the bed and left the room. He walked all the way to the living room. The voices got closer. As he entered the room, Numbuh 4 came running towards him and hid himself behind his leader.
"Numbuh 1!" he shouted. "You've gotta help me! Numbuh 2's gone mad!"
Numbuh 2 followed, but stopped in front of Numbuh 1. "He's being a jerk!"
Numbuh 1 could see that Numbuh 2 was partly wet from the head and down to his waist. He couldn't help but smile as he realized what Numbuh 4 had done.
"He threw his lemonade at me!" Numbuh 2 continued and pointed an accusing finger at the little Australian behind Numbuh 1. "I was just kidding about throwing mine at him, but then he actually splashed me with his!"
"Now, Numbuh 4," Numbuh 1 said and looked behind him. "That was not very nice of you." He was still smiling.
"I know," Numbuh 4 replied and grinned.
The girls let out another laugh over by the orange couch.
The five kids settled down in front of the TV for another hour. Then Numbuh 5 told them that they probably should go to bed soon, seeing as they still had to gather strength incase of an attack. Especially Numbuh 1. She saw how exhausted he looked.
They all went to their rooms and got ready for bed.
Numbuh 4 did his best at trying to fall asleep, but he just couldn't. Something was bugging him. Something about Numbuh 3… He knew what it was. He had told her he loved her. He suddenly felt a little stupid for telling her the truth, the whole truth as it was. He actually loved her and he was worried she didn't love him back. That she only liked him. He didn't want her to like him, he wanted her to love him.
He remembered that when he had told her he loved her, she didn't answer. But he couldn't remember why she hadn't. He searched his mind, trying to replay the moment he had said it in his head. They were up at the Moon Base. He was comforting her after she believed that he was in love with Numbuh 86. Well, at least because she had kissed him. Numbuh 3 was very upset. Then Numbuh 4 talked to her and calmed her down. And told her the truth. He suddenly remembered now. They had been interrupted by the teenagers. But she had acted like she enjoyed knowing of it later on when they went home. Right?
He sighed and tried to fall asleep on his left side. But he just wasn't comfortable enough. He let out an irritated cry and pulled the blanket away. He then got up and walked over to the ladder. He quickly made his way down to the floor and left his room. The hall outside was left in complete darkness. He switched on the light and walked through it. Up some stairs, up a few more stairs down a long hall, down another long hall. Finally, he stood facing the green curtain that separated Numbuh 3's room with the dark hall. He had no idea why he actually went up there, he just felt like he had to talk to her.
Numbuh 4 leaned closer to the curtain and held it to the side just enough to let himself peek inside her room. The little light beside her bed was on, dimly lighting up the room in an orange colored light. Numbuh 3 was sleeping in her bed now. He could see the blanket gently moving up and down as she took a new breath and let it out again.
Numbuh 4 suddenly had second thoughts about this. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to go in there now and waking her up. Waking her up from her precious and needed sleep just to ask if she loved him back…
He felt that it was wrong, but at the same time, he had this urge to just go in there and talk to her. After arguing with himself for a while, he finally took a step inside. He crossed the room silently in his orange footie pajamas. When he had made it over to her bed, he gazed at her sleeping face. She was very beautiful now. In a way, he didn't feel like disturbing this beautiful girl, sleeping so quietly in her bed, hugging one of her stuffed animals to her chest.
Suddenly, he felt a sneeze coming on. He knew he couldn't hold it back. He backed away from the bed and covered his face as he sneezed, a muffled sound escaping his nose and mouth. He usually sneezed a lot louder, but because of Numbuh 3, he didn't dare to make much noise at all, fearing he'd waken the raven haired beauty.
He sneezed again. Numbuh 3 moved a little, making a sleepy sound.
"Numbuh 3?" Numbuh 4 whispered and wiped his face in his sleeve.
Numbuh 3 groaned sleepily and opened her eyes a little to look up at his face. "Numbuh 4?"
"Hi," he said, grinning sheepishly. "Err, did I wake you?"
She rubbed her eyes and looked up at him again. "Yes, silly," she replied with a sleepy voice. She smiled at him and stretched.
"I'm sorry, Kuki…" Numbuh 4 muttered. "I just wanted to see you."
She sat up. "What do you mean?"
"Like, I wanted to talk to you, I guess," he replied. "But I also wanted to… uhm, see you…" He blushed slightly.
"Aw, that's cute of you, Wally," she said. "Wanna sit down?"
He carefully sat down in front of her on the bed. "Listen, Kuki… I wanted to talk to you about this whole liking thing."
Her smile faded. "What? You mean you changed your mind? Again..?"
"No!" he quickly replied, suddenly realizing it had come out a little too loud. He raised his eyebrows in worry. "No, it's not that. But… I was kind of afraid you had…"
She frowned. "No… I still like you, if that's what you're worried about."
He sighed and avoided eye contact. "Yeah, you like me…"
The Japanese just stared at him.
"Kuki, do you remember what I told you up at the Moon Base?" he asked looking back at her again. "I just got worried that I was the only one who felt it that way… You remember what I said, right?"
She smiled. "Of course I do, silly! You said you loved me."
"Yeah," he muttered, turning deep crimson in the dim orange light. "I really meant it, too… I'm just worried that you don't feel the same way." He looked her in the eyes. "Do you?"
"I think you know the answer to that question just as well as I do," she said, trying to hide a little smile.
Numbuh 4 looked away and bit his lip anxiously. He really feared the worst, though he was hoping that he was wrong. A wave of bad feelings flushed over him. He suddenly felt sick and wanted to go back to his room.
Damn all these cruddy emotions!
Numbuh 3 suddenly took one of his hands in hers. This made him look back into her eyes. She smiled sweetly. "Wallabee – I love you, too."
Numbuh 4's jaw dropped. He wanted to say something, but there was just no way to say it. He realized he had stopped breathing. He exhaled, still shocked. "You… I though… Well, I… And you…" He shook his head to get a grip and shouted; "You love me?"
Numbuh 3 giggled. "Yes!"
Numbuh 4's face lit up. He smiled. He was so happy to hear it. The words he had been waiting so long to hear was now said.
"I love you, Wally," she repeated.
"You have no idea how much I love you, Kuki!" the Australian exclaimed. He grabbed her and hugged her tightly. She threw her arms around him and hugged him back. Her eyes were all watery. She made a sniffing sound. Numbuh 4 suddenly let go of her and looked at her.
"Are you ok?" he asked. "Why… why are you crying?"
A tear ran down Numbuh 3's cheek. "I'm sorry," she said and smiled. "I'm just so happy that we both love each other and all."
What she had said made him smile. He almost wanted to cry of happiness too, but he tried not to. He felt that his eyes got a little watery, but he forced the tears back. "Me, too, Kuki. I'm glad we finally have each other." He touched her cheek, wiping away the tear. Then he moved closer, sitting on his knees, and carefully hugged her again. When they broke apart, they stared at each other for a few seconds. It felt like forever to them.
Numbuh 4 carefully moved his face closer to Numbuh 3's. His heart was racing. Their lips touched in a careful yet confident kiss. He pulled back as he noticed that he was trembling.
They were both blushing like crazy. Numbuh 3 twisted her long purple sleeves and smiled awkwardly to herself. Numbuh 4 scratched his arm and gritted his teeth.
"That was the most perfect moment ever," Numbuh 3 said and giggled. She then moved closer to him and kissed him again. It was better this time. Numbuh 4 wrapped his arms around her lower back and she held her arms around his shoulders, both of them standing on their knees on the bed. She was still a little taller than him while standing like this, but it didn't matter. Not to them. It was as if it wasn't real. Like in a dream. A sweet dream. They both thought this was too good to be true.
Numbuh 4 was hoping it would stop being so awkward after a while. He was still a little shaky. He noticed that Numbuh 3 wasn't totally calm either.
Numbuh 3 felt like she never wanted to let go of him. She was so happy she had realized her true feelings about this boy. And she could hardly believe where she was right now! She was in the arms of the boy she loved more than anyone else in the world. Even if he hadn't said so, she knew he felt the same way.
Numbuh 4 never went back to his room that night. He stayed in Numbuh 3's room, tucked together with her under the blanket. They were lying face to face, holding around each other, gently. And they felt like nothing in the world could break them apart. Nothing…
