A/N: Hey, you guys. Long time, no see. :) It's been a while since I last updated here on FF. As such, I'd like to apologize for the wait on this chapter. I've been dealing with some personal issues as of late but finally feel ready to jump back into the saddle with this story. That being said, for those of you who don't watch me over on DA, I thought I'd just put it out there that I'm actually going to start making some revisions to this story. Not certain if FF will send out notifications to people following it, so I apologize in advance if you all start receiving spam emails in your inboxes. I plan on jumping around quite a bit though and fixing parts of the story that have always seemed rather rushed to me. I want to thank those of you who have stuck it out with me over the years though and commented on this story. It really means a lot to me. I may remove some of the commentary I used to write at the end of older chapters, not because I wish to disconnect myself from my readers but just to tidy things up as I have received many comments over the years about those comments taking up space in some of my earlier chapters. The overall goal of revising this story is to improve its flow and make it a more enjoyable read for new and old readers alike. So I hope making these changes will prove beneficial in the long run. And once again, sorry if FF sends out unnecessary updates while I'm making tweaks to the the plot line. I don't mean to annoy anybody with my revisions.

In the meantime, however, here's a quick update I hope you all enjoy. This has been by far one of my favorite chapters to write so far. For anybody wishing to view a very special preview image made specifically for this chapter, you can feel free to do so over on the DA version of this chapter.

Much love to you all and thanks for reading!

*Additional Note: If you wish to offer feedback on things that can be improved on in this story, please feel free to comment with any suggestions. Whether it be small grammar/spelling fixes or input on the overall flow of the chapters, I'll accept any criticisms that aren't straight up flames. This story was written for fun, so never will it be one hundred percent perfect, but still, I'd like to make it better for anybody who may stumble across it one day and decide to read.*

ZADR Orange Chapter 194

Warnings: Extreme OOCness

Rating: M for later chapters

Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Zim: Notgonnadie

Dib: Me

Enjoy. =3

The universe was vast and full of wonders, many of which he'd witnessed first-hand during his lifetime as an Irken soldier, but of all the places he'd ever visited, this had to be the most bizarre and unique he'd encountered thus far. For a long moment, Zim couldn't even respond to his mate's silent request, a lump having formed in the back of his throat and rendered him speechless in the face of the bridal shop. It was small and compact but showcased such a large variety of formal attire in its window display, each stitched with patterns and designs unique to its single counterparts, that he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the seemingly unending vestments available to choose from.

Since the time of his tube-breaking day, he'd only ever known of three conventional uniforms worn by the people on his planet. There was the standard invaders uniform worn by the majority of his planet's inhabitants, the armor of the Irken Elites whom scored highly on their combat simulation exams, and of course, the one-of-a-kind robes only worn by the Tallest themselves. Even in all his time living on Earth, he'd only ever seen stores that carried duplicates of whatever style was considered "in" at the time. But this store was altogether different. For the life of him, he couldn't pinpoint even one gown that wasn't different from all the rest.

Another wave of nervousness washed over him at the prospect of going inside. The almost exotic selection of silks and laces, combined with pearls and beads and threaded designs, seemed almost fragile in a sense, like they would fall apart to pieces were he to even touch them let alone see them being tried on.

"Zim..." Dib tried again to direct the frazzled Irken's attention back on himself.

Swallowing thickly, Zim finally peeled his eyes away at his hybrid's familiar voice and locked his gaze onto Dib's as a timid "Okay" and nod of the head followed, despite the wave of anxiety preventing him from realizing exactly what he was agreeing to.

Sensing the other's hesitance still and overly-cautious demeanor, Dib carefully linked his fingers with Zim's and gave the three-fingered extremity a small squeeze for encouragement. "You...wanted to see me walk down the aisle in a wedding dress...didn't you?" he then asked, blushing a light pink at the thought. Although he had been slightly against the idea at first, seeing as he didn't particularly enjoy wearing female clothing, he couldn't deny that this was somehow different. It wasn't just any everyday outfit they were shopping for to disguise him as a female. This was the ONLY piece of clothing he'd be wearing on their wedding day, and perhaps the single one of its kind he'd have the opportunity to wear in his lifetime. It would be a small ceremony, of course, but no more average a day to him than any other day might be. He wanted it to be special and something they'd both remember the rest of their lives. After everything they'd already been through and all the special moments that had been snatched away from them due to complications in their relationship, he was determined to make this day perfect for them, and he knew getting dressed up had been one of Zim's wishes back at the time they'd been discussing it.

Zim stared into Dib's eyes intensely for a few moments longer before finally relaxing his shoulders some and returning the gentle squeeze he'd received from the other, a part of him captivated by his mate's unbending resolve. "Ow oosh ah oo." Of course I do. he said, wanting to make this ceremony as special a day for Dib as it would be for him. He had already taken the other's virginity only for it to be forgotten about the next day, informed him of his pregnancy under the worst of circumstances, and even been robbed of the chance to properly propose when he'd been taken captive by his former leader's guards. He wasn't about to let anything else get in the way of his commitment to the other, not even himself. Gripping the hybrid's hand even tighter, he then allowed him to lead the way back into the dress shop.

"Well then. This is the place for Dib to try a few on." Rose smiled at them when they finally entered the building together. "This is actually where I came to buy my own wedding dress. I'm certain we can find a dress that's just perfect for Dib here. And...given we find one he really likes, perhaps we can even reserve it until the wedding day and have it tailored to fit him just a few days beforehand." she winked at Dib knowingly, a sly smile accompanying said wink, as though she had more than just that planned ahead of time for them.

Blushing even more at the wink he received from Rose, Dib looked away to one side shyly before nodding his head slowly in agreement. "...I-I think I'd like that..." he admitted, all the while keep his gaze averted from both Rose and Zim alike.

Zim smiled a bit at the suggestion himself, eager to see Dib all dressed up for the occasion.

"Alright, Dib. I guess as a starting point, we'll look to see if we can find any dresses that match where we wanted to have the wedding ceremony. But feel free to point out any that you like and we'll see whether you can fit into them or not." Rose encouraged, smiling and leading them over to a fairly secluded area of the store to begin looking.

Finding a separate wall lined with dresses of all shapes, sizes, and colors, each comprised of their own elaborate embroidering, Dib began looking through them carefully, rather surprised by how vast the selection was and just a tad bit unnerved by the thought of having to pick just one for the occasion. He tried to imagine himself in any one of these dresses, only a very few sticking out to him in his mind, but not quite enough to make him moon over their designs.

Skimming through some of the dresses himself, Zim gawked at all the intricate needlework in each gown before frowning at some and shaking his head at others. Somehow they all seemed too complicated and extravagant to him. Surely Dib would appreciate something simpler than all this, he thought as he looked through each of the garments in mindful contemplation.

Working his way through nearly the entire selection of dresses in that corner of the store, Dib finally came across one in particular that seemed to stand out from all the rest he'd seen so far. It was lean and cream-colored with a layered rim that nearly touched the ground and seemed to flow behind it. He pulled it out to get a better look at, tiny little light pink hearts lining the outer rim evenly while the back of said garment was laced with a criss-cross pattern and three simple white roses bunched together where his lower back would be were he to try it on. It was rather plain in comparison to some of the other meticulously decorated dresses surrounding it but perhaps more eye-catching to him because of that. He ran his thumbs across the silky material, the top half of the dress composed of two wavy straps that would straddle the shoulders and a V-cut at the front and the back of the dress, decorated with simple heart designs also lining the rim of that as well. "H-How about this one?" he asked, turning it around to show both Rose and Zim. Inside were two long and slender gloves to accompany it, each of which would come up to about his elbows while the veil was held together by a hair piece that resembled that of a white rose.

"Hmm..." Zim studied the dress that had roused his precious mate's attention, his antennae twitching beneath his wig slightly, resulting in a subtle tilt as he eyed both Dib and the dress up and down momentarily.

"Would you like to try that one on, Dib?" Rose then asked, taking it from Dib to have a look at for herself. "It's a beautiful dress. Wait here. I'll see if they have this in a size that will fit you." she said, taking the dress Dib had picked out and bringing it to one of the employees at the front desk.

Watching as Rose talked with the employee at the front of the store, he then noticed the employee looking it over before taking it into the back of what looked to be a storage room of sorts. Returning about a minute later, the employee then held up another dress to Rose, which she happily took hold of before returning back to Zim and Dib with it.

"Good news! They had one in a size that I think just might fit you, Dib." she smiled wide at him, her current enthusiasm trickling out in her voice and causing Dib's heart to begin beating rather excitedly. "Come on. Let's try it on you." she then took Dib by the arm and pulled him along into one of their back changing rooms so she could help him climb into it.

Several minutes passed, Zim waiting almost impatiently for them to return to the front before finally Rose exited the changing room, all smiles. "Oh, Zim...You're going to love how it looks on him. It fits almost perfectly." she said before gesturing for Dib to exit the changing room.

Having seen how it looked on himself in the mirror behind the curtain, Dib blushed a pale rose color before slowly exiting to join the others, taking care not to risk stepping on the bottom half of the dress for fear of tripping and ripping the fabric. Once he was finally out in the open and in front of Zim however, he almost instantly began playing about with his fingers nervously, not so sure whether the Irken would like it on him or not. It was just a little bit tight at his midsection, but only because of his pregnancy, which seemed so much more noticeable in this material as it hugged his belly nicely but still had an elegance about it that made the rest of him look rather slender and delicate in comparison.

Zim's antennae leaped to attention again before twitching wildly beneath his wig, said hairpiece nearly falling off completely now. He stepped up to Dib with a purr, cupping his face in his hands before leaning in to steal a kiss. "I love it." he then spoke in a soft and clear voice no longer hindered by the swelling in his tongue, which had thankfully gone down quite a bit now.

Flushing a bright red at the unexpected kiss, Dib felt his own antennae tremble in response as a gentle flutter of movement vibrated from within his tummy. "R-Really?" he gazed into Zim's eyes rather dreamily for a moment before dropping his eyes back down to look the dress over again, his hands finding the slight bulge in his belly and smoothing themselves over it tenderly.

Following Dib's hands as they fell on down his body, Zim pet the baby bump in his mate's stomach carefully and fingered the material hugging Dib's body approvingly. "Really." he answered, never once taking his eyes off of Dib's.

Feeling the smeets kick against Zim's hands, Dib couldn't help but let a small smile play along his lips at those words. "...I think the smeets like it too..." he said as his own hands wavered beneath Zim's, struggling momentarily to follow the other's small petting motions.

Noticing this, Zim pulled the other closer to him, enveloping him in a warm embrace as he nodded his head against Dib's gently. "Me too." he agreed lovingly, all the while resting his forehead against Dib's.

"Well then, I guess it's settled." Rose sent them a competent smile. "I'll go see if we can have that dress reserved until close to the wedding day. Then we'll see about coming back in and having them take your measurements so it can be adjusted to fit you better." she said, making her way back to the front counter so she could explain their situation to the employee stationed there.

Purring steadily still, Zim pulled his body away momentarily before sliding up behind the hybrid to hold him from behind now. "It looks very good on you, Dib-love." he slithered his tongue out to flick against the boy's cheek playfully, all the while swaying him in his arms gently.

Resting his back against Zim's chest comfortably as they rocked back and forth, Dib then tilted his head backwards momentarily to gaze up into Zim's eyes once again. "Now I wish we had brought the camera Rose gave to us last night." he said, the veil and hair piece he was wearing brushing against Zim's face faintly between soft wisps of hair.

Zim smiled and inhaled the other's scent deeply, the feel of Dib's hair against his face drawing out a small chuckle from him. By IRK, did he love his hybrid's hair! "We can take as many pictures as we want when we get married." he then murmured against his scalp.

"Yeah...I guess..." he smiled to himself at the thought, that same, almost childlike excitement he had felt when Rose had first brought over the dress jolting through his body again.

Returning to the two of them once she had finished speaking with an employee, Rose couldn't help but sigh out rather satisfied, happy this trip was going as planned so far. "Alright. Everything is set up now. We'll come back in a few months from now and have your measurements taken for the wedding. In the meantime, this dress will be reserved just for you, Dib. And to make things even better, we don't even have to pay until after we've had it altered." she smiled wide at them. "Now let's get you out of it and back into your regular clothes so we can head on out to our next stop." she insisted before glancing over in Zim's direction.

Tilting his head to one side when he caught the vague look Rose was casting his way now, Zim couldn't help but scratch his head in confusion as she ushered Dib back behind the curtain to get changed again. What on Earth could she mean by that? he wondered as he watched them disappear into the back.

Smiling almost knowingly as she took Dib by the arm, Rose led him into the changing room, about a minute or two passing before they finally exited once more. "Come on, you two. Jack's been waiting in the car this entire time. Let's not keep him waiting any longer." she instructed as she carefully carried the chosen wedding gown up to the front desk for storage. Dropping it off with the employee behind the counter, she then gestured for the two boys to follow her as she headed back for the car with a skip in her step, simply elated by how smoothly that had just gone.

Returning back to Zim's side, Dib took the other's arm in his own as they exited out the door they had come in through.

For all the panic he'd experienced before entering the store, Zim was astounded by how composed Dib had remained during that entire detour, having read somewhere that picking out the wedding dress was sometimes the most stressful part about planning a marriage ceremony. He had assumed his human hybrid would be more self-conscious about his weight, but was relieved this errand hadn't knocked Dib's confidence as such. Pulling the other close to himself, he then kissed Dib on the cheek as they made their way out. Perhaps planning this Earthly ceremony wouldn't be as impossible as he had imagined it.

Purring happily at the small kiss, Dib allowed his eyelids to slip partway closed as he leaned up against the Irken and became submerged in his affections.

Upon reaching the door to the car, Rose opened it to place a few items inside before leaning herself forward to whisper something else into Jack's ear.

Jack smiled back at her deviously. "Alright, alright." he laughed, opening his door to exit the car and meet them on the other side.

Rose then turned to face the two lovebirds. "Alright, before we leave here, we've got one last stop to make." she chirped before signaling at them to follow, Jack taking his own place next to her and linking his arm with Rose's, much the same way Zim and Dib were currently walking.

"The store is this way." Jack directed as he began heading in the direction of their second destination on route, having agreed with his wife not to tell them where they were heading until they were already there.

Like a fish caught on a line, Zim could only watch rather curiously as the two humans walked on ahead of them before following behind at a distance, helping Dib along all the while as he kept a firm hold of him.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 194. Until next time~