Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.

One Month Later

Jimmy was standing outside the girl's bathroom, waiting for Cindy to come out. She was changing into her costume. Tonight was the big night, his class would be performing the play for their parents. Jimmy couldn't stop smiling as he thought back over the past month.

While they may not have declared their love for each other, he and Cindy had grown a lot closer over the past thirty days. They were back at the point where they were at the end of fifth grade, maybe a little more. They had run lines nearly every day down in his lab. They talked about school, their home life, and Nick. Jimmy cringed at that last thought, but shook it off as Cindy stepped outside.

"You look, just, wow," Jimmy said while eyeing her.

Cindy blushed as Jimmy kept his eyes on her. She was wearing an elegant white dress for her first scene. Her hair was curled down to her chin. She took a few steps towards Jimmy and looked up. She still couldn't get over how much he had grown since they were kids. He was a good two inches taller than her now.

"Jimmy, thanks so much. I never could have done this without you. All that time you spent helping me, just, you have no idea what it means to me. Thanks so much," she said while kissing him on the cheek.

Jimmy blushed as she kissed him. She pulled away, but stopped when he looked her in the eyes. For a moment, she felt that same feeling in her stomach she had gotten whenever she had stared in his eyes. She rubbed his cheek and kissed him on the lips.

Jimmy's eyes opened wide in shock, but he relaxed and closed them. He couldn't believe what was happening. After what seemed like an eternity, Cindy gently broke the kiss and pulled away.

She took a few deep breaths and stared up at Jimmy. "For old time's sake," she said through a wide grin. Wow. At least now I've got some closure.

"Cindy, you're on!" Ms. Roberts shouted as she appeared from behind the corner.

Jimmy looked down at Cindy. "You're going to do great, Cind. Break a leg," he happily told her.

She just nodded and quickly kissed his cheek again. Ok, that was my closure. She turned around and ran onto the set.

Two hours later, Jimmy and the rest of his class was in their classroom, watching a tape of the performance. They were all laughing and having some food from a buffet Ms. Roberts had prepared. They had decided to throw a cast party.

Libby broke away from Brittany's conversation and headed over to Jimmy. He was standing by himself, taking a sip from his punch. His eyes were glued to the television screen. Cindy and Nick had just kissed.

Libby put her arm on Jimmy's shoulder. "You alright?"

Jimmy slowly nodded. He turned towards Libby. "Yeah. I really am."

Libby smiled as they stared at each other. They both turned around at the same time to see Nick holding Cindy's hand at the other end of the room. Cindy giggled as Nick quickly kissed her.

Libby quickly turned away and looked at Jimmy, very concerned. He seemed to be ok. "How can you watch that?"

Jimmy just chuckled a little and shook his head. "The tiger and the bride," he whispered.

"Huh?" a confused Libby asked.

Jimmy looked up and walked towards the desks. He hopped up on one and ran his right hand through his hair. "The tiger and the bride. It's a story."

Libby took a seat next to him and motioned for him to continue.

"There was this princess. She had tons of servants. And one day she fell in love with one of them. So they started to court each other secretly. Obviously, the king would not approve of his beautiful daughter dating a lowly servant.

But one day the king found out. He was enraged. He sentenced the servant to death. But the princess pleaded with him to spare his life. For days she cried and begged her father to let the man she loved live. Finally, the king relented. He said he would leave it up to fate." Jimmy paused to take another sip from his punch.

"So the next week the king was at this arena. He watched in interest as the servant was led out into the center of the stadium. In front of the poor man stood two doors. Behind one was a beautiful bride. If he opened that door, he would marry that woman. Behind the other door stood a tiger. If he opened that door, it would tear him to shreds before he could react."

Libby sat up a little straighter, a little interested by the story. "Then what happened?"

Jimmy cleared his throat and went on. "The servant was about to pick a door when he realized something. The princess, his love, surely knew what was behind each door. She could point him towards the bride. So he looked up into the stands and saw her.

Sure enough, she did know what was behind each door. But she faced a problem. This was the man she loved. If she sent him to the bride, he would be forced to marry that other woman. He would forget her and fall in love with this new woman, have kids, move on. And she would have to watch all of that, watch her love fall for another.

But if she sent him to the tiger, he would be killed. Never again would she see her love. But he would die loving her.

So the princess stared at the nervous man below. When her father wasn't looking, she shook her head to the left. The servant understood and opened that door."

Libby waited for him to continue, but he just sat there. "So what door did he open? The bride or the tiger?"

Jimmy sighed and jumped off of the desk. He tossed his empty cup into the trash can and turned back towards Libby.

"Nobody knows. The author stopped there. That's how the story ends, the servant opening a door."

Libby was about to say how stupid that was, but Jimmy continued his explanation. "But me, I think I know what was behind the door he chose. It had to be the bride. For if you love someone, if you truly love them, you would do anything to protect them and make them happy. Even if it meant giving them up and watch them be with another."

Jimmy wiped a tear from his eye as he looked at Nick and Cindy again. He smiled a little as he saw the smile on her face.

Libby spun around on the desk to face Jimmy. She also stared at Cindy and Nick. "So, looks like you gave her the bride," she softly told him.

Jimmy nodded. "And I got the tiger."