It's cold, so cold. I'm surrounded by white and —and I have no idea who (or where) I am. All I remember are a few flashes:

A dog with green fur—

A black wig—

An explosion—

Maniacal laughing—

A name: Zim

Uurgh….my head hurts so much! Zim…is that my name? No, it can't be, it doesn't…feel right. Zim musty be someone else, but enough about that, where am I?! All that I'm surrounded by is white, white snow! Snow—snow—snow—

"Jingly bells, jingly bells, jingly all the way"—

A large Santa-shaped blob morphing into a large red and white creature the size of the Chrysler building—

"███!!! Quick! Launch it into space!!!!"—

Nngh…was that my name?... I have to find shelter first…a cave maybe but it's impossible to see! Maybe I could follow the direction of the wind! I must hit a cave eventually! Okay…snow…more snow…even more snow…cave!!! There's a cave and it's warm!! So warm—

Sweat running down my face—

"I just sold a whole box at my dad's lab"—

There's something in there! A small figure wearing a charred pink shirt/dress-thing (uugh, for god's sake, you're a scientist (am I?) use better words than 'thing') And maybe, beneath the layer of soot covering it, its skin is green!

Green skin—

Red eyes—

Antennae—

Pink uniform—

Black boots and gloves—

Three fingers—

I HATE—

'Are you okay?' Should I ask again? Inch closer…closer? Is it alive? Ask again, try and make friends with it; any friend is better than none and , if all fails, I can eat it…

"There better not be any living dead up there!"—

Vampire Piggies—

"███, you'd better not mess me up…"—

'Hello?' poke it, poke it…is it even living any more? 'Hello?'

'What do you want? Have you come here to gloat?!'

It talks!!!! 'Wh-what do you mean?...' Don't scare it with its scary zipper-like teeth and red eyes

Laughter—

A countdown: "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1"—

Screams—

Purple hair and black clothes—

"███ you moron - get down!!!"—

Hurt…hurt…hurt…I think I blacked out. Ohmygod! It's holding me! Its black-gloved hand bracing against my back, my head inches away from the floor. 'Wh-what?' ouch. It dropped me…

'I suppose you think this is amusing, me reduced to this…but it's not entirely my fault! My Tallest - They commanded it!'

Listen closely, maybe you'll learn something about you. You obviously knew this thing. Why am I thinking to myself in the third person?! Oh, right…listening.

'I mean, after the truce I was done with the Earth and "Invading" it and stuff but then They called in and said "Zim, we need you and the Earth"'

Zim—

Alien—

Enemy—

Invader—

Truce—

Friend—

'And then They tell me to blow it up and give me a Kerrian Bio-bomb, and I was all "But my Tallest, won't I die too?" and They were all , "Don't worry Zim, you'll survive (you always do…)" So I pressed the countdown button and then you walked in and took it all the wrong way. You said "Zim -"'

"Zim - there's no way I'm letting you blow up the Earth!"—

"Foolish ███, this is no longer my decision, They have spoken…"—

"But the truce - I thought we were getting somewhere with that!!!"—

"In the face of duty, friendship comes second…I'm sorry"—

'Then GIR decided to jump on the control panel and start making those revolting waffles of his and the machine malfunctioned. Instead of vaporizing everything in a fifty-mile radius, It shot the two of us up into the Alaskan city Nunavut.'

'Nunavut?' that's familiar! Nunavut…

'Yes foolish Earth-stink, Nunavut. Where it rains the acid-water-ice all day long and the darkness is everlasting!'

Dark?...Vampires…Ghouls…Zombies…

'Your mind is preoccupied? Why is it that you haven't called Zim by his truly amazing name?'

This is Zim?! Tell it-him the truth… 'I-I can't remember!'

'Can't remember what?'

'Anything! I can't remember anything! Well, I remember a few flashes but other than that and a full physical profile of you, I can't remember anything!!!! Not even my own name!' Oh god…he's staring at me like he wants to eat me!

'So—you remember nothing of us? Nothing of the many amazing exploits of Zim?'

What was that supposed to mean? Shake your head "no". Is he angry? Sad?

'Will you listen if I tell you who you and I are to each other?'

Oh please don't let us be gay! Nod for "yes".

'You and I, we go way back to a time when naivety was bliss and our days were spent with an endless game of "good and evil" Once, during those times, we were enemies, but as the time progressed we found ourselves wanting to be more of friends or acquaintances rather than "mortal enemies". When all that came to an end we called a truce, my mission to destroy the Earth was put on a standby until your pitifully short human life came to an end and you would stop trying to expose me. The truce held after that until—'

'The explosion?' tender, his voice was full of raw tender feelings! Even though he looks like he would (and could) kill me without a second thought, he's really not so bad underneath that green bug-like appearance it seems. 'I remember that. I remember you insisting that "They" made you and that you couldn't disobey "Them". Who are "They" to you exactly?'

Oh wow—he flinched, that hurt him! Apologize! 'I'm—'

'They are my leaders, my Tallest. They are—I am programmed to obey Them or else…'

That thing on his back! I can remember that…kinda. Something about it being him, his personality and his brain, everything that is "him".

'My PAK makes me and so duty comes way before friendship'

Comfort him, even if I don't know him well (or remember knowing him) he's gonna cry…can't let him cry. 'Well now they don't have such a grip over you, no? They don't know where you are so they can't make you do anything!' Smile, make him feel better! 'So enjoy your time here! Do anything you want, here they have no reign over you!'

'But you'll - we'll die if we stay here for too long! We have to find a way back home!'

We? He included me?! He has a point though, there's no food or water and it's horridly cold here. 'Of course. So, how are we going to get home?'

'There are some bits and pieces of an aircraft that was in the way of the explosion. We could build a means of getting home from that.'

He's giving me his hand, he's helping me up.

'Come along Dib, let's get to work.'

Dib? Dib?! My name is Dib?!!

Dib-stink—

Dib…SIT DOWN!!!—

I believe you Dib—

Dib—

Dib—

Dib—

Dib!—

I remember! I remember everything, Zim, me, Gaz…and I remember what a good friend he was after the truce. He really was…is a good guy! Take his proffered hand, 'Okay Zim, let's get to work' Oh wow, his face just lit up. He has a very pure heart y'know. It just took a bit for me to figure that out.

FIN