Learn to do it was extremely difficult to write. It took forever to get to work for this story, but I was absolutely determined to do it so let me know how you all think it turned out.
Remind me never to get on a train again. Mr. Boss had just watched his entire scheme blow up through the smoke of his cigar. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!" he cried. He was strangling himself and yanking his hair out of frustration. It was a rather creepy sight.
"Uh, wow," The Tolienator said. "Mr. Boss, sir, you really should watch your blood pressure. This kind of stress can be pretty fatal, ya know."
Mr. Boss was still fuming; his face was red with fury. "How could they let her escape?Again! How?" he screamed.
"Yeah, your right sir, its very upsetting. I guess this cigar, here, is broken." The Tolienator dropped the cigar to the ground and lifted his foot, preparing to crush it. "NO!" Mr. Boss cried as he ran to stop him. He grabbed Tolienator's leg and swung him out of the way, then reached for the cigar. The Tolienator could practically see steam flying out of his ears.
"Okay, calm down Mr. Boss. Remember your blood pressure," he told him.
Mr. Boss looked at him. "I sold my soul for this," he said, walking toward him. "My life, my very existence depends on it. And you, hehe, almost DESTROYED IT!" He started to choke him.
"Oh, w-ell th-that is one p-pricey re-reliquary, th-then. I get it, I get it," Tolienator gasped. "See that you remember, you miserable loser," Mr. Boss growled, before tossing him aside.
The Tolienator muttered under his breath. "Oh sure, just keep blaming me. Everything is always my fault. Like I made you sell your soul to-"
"What are you muttering about," Mr. Boss asked.
Tolienator stood up. "Numbuh Three, sir. Just wishing I could do the job for ya. I'd give her a HA! Then a HIYA! And I'd kick her sir."
Mr. Boss chuckled cruelly. "Oh, I've got something else in mind. Something much more enticing. Something really….cruel."
It took many hours before the group managed to make it off the mountain where the train had crashed. "So, are we walking to Paris, now?" Kuki asked.
"We're still taking a boat in Boston, remember?" Wally answered.
"Oh. So we're walking to Boston."
"No, Numbuh Three, sir," Wally said. "We're taking a bus."
Kuki sighed. "A bus. That's nice."
They walked many more miles for what seemed like decades. Finally, they stopped to rest by a little creek with a small bridge. Hoagie started to act strange. He kept twirling around and humming to himself. When they stopped, he even picked some flowers. "Abigail! Hoagie's on his way, baby!" he cried out. Kuki turned to Wally. "Who's Abigail?" she asked him.
"Who's Abigail?" Hoagie repeated.
Wally ran up to him. "Shh, Hoagie," he said. Hoagie wasn't paying attention.
"Abby is a wondrous young woman!"
"Hoagie!"
"She's a tender blossom."
"Shut up!"
"A cup of hot chocolate after a long walk in the snow!"
"Hoagie, ix-nay on the abby-Ay!" Wally hissed.
Hoagie grabbed his hands and twirled Wally around with him. "She's a decadent pastry filled with whipped cream and laughter!" he went on, pulling him into a dip.
"Is this a person or a cream puff?" Kuki asked Wally, giggling.
Hoagie spun him then tossed him aside. "She's Numbuh One's ravishing second in command!" he cried.
Kuki was puzzled. "But I thought we were going to see Numbuh One himself. Why are we going to see his second in command?" she turned to Wally who was backing away nervously. "Wally…" she said suspiciously. Wally rubbed the back of his head. "Well," he said, "No one is allowed near Numbuh One without convincing Numbuh Five first."
Kuki felt sick to her stomach. "Oh no, not me. No. Nobody ever told me I had to prove I was Numbuh Three!"
"But, would you listen," Wally said.
"Show up, yes. Look nice, fine. But lie?" she asked.
"You don't know it's a lie. What if its true?" he said, even though he knew it was all a lie. Kuki could see he was thinking that. "Ugh," she turned to walked away.
"Okay, okay," Wally said, running to face her. "So we hit one more bump in the road to finding out who you are. I just thought this was something you had to see though to the end no matter what."
"But look at me Wally, I'm not exactly Grand Operative material here," she said, motioning at her rags.
She walked over to the bridge where Hoagie was still dancing. He stopped and handed Kuki a rose and looked at their reflection in the water. "Tell me, hun, what do you see?" he asked her. Kuki glared at her reflection.
"Hmph, I see a skinny, little nobody with no past, and no future." She dropped the rose into the water.
Hoagie smiled at her. "Well, I see an engaging and fiery young woman, who, on a number occasions, has shown a regal command equal to any operative in the world. And I've known my share of KND operatives." He looked over his shoulder and then faced Kuki again. "You see, dear, I was a pilot and 2x4 technician in the KND, a long time ago." Kuki smiled back. She knew he was trying to help, and she appreciated that. Leave it to Wally to screw it up, though.
"So are you ready to become the Grand Operative Numbuh Three?" he asked.
Kuki groaned and walked away. Hoagie glared at him and rolled his eyes. "What?" Wally asked.
Hoagie sighed and turned back to Kuki. "Kuki, there's nothing left for you back there. Everything is in Paris."
Kuki looked at her necklace. Then she took a deep breath and turned back to the boys. "Gentlemen, start your teaching."
"I remember it well," Hoagie said.
You were born in a hospital by the sea.
A hospital by the sea. Could it be?
Yes that's right, you rode ponies when you were only three.
Pony riding, me?
And the pony, it was white.
You made faces and terrorized the cook,
through him in the brook.
Was I wild?
Wrote the book.
But you'd behave when Numbuh One would give that look.
Remember how it was.
Your long forgotten past.
We've lots and lots to teach you and the time is going fast.
Alright, I'm ready.
They went up to a log and climbed on. Hoagie placed a twig on her head, and Wally stood behind to spot her.
Now shoulders back and stand up tall.
And do not walk, but try to float.
I feel a little foolish, am I floating?
Like a little boat.
You give a bow.
What happens now?
You're saluted just like this.
Wally put his hand up to his forehead to salute her.
Most of all remember this:
If I can learn to do it, you can learn to do it.
Something in ya knows it.
There's nothing to it.
Follow in my footsteps, shoe by shoe.
You can learn to do it, too.
Wally got them on a passing truck. The driver didn't seem to mind giving them a ride. Hoagie set up a table and they began to teach Kuki Numbuh Three's table etiquette.
Now elbows in, and sit up straight.
And never slurp the green tea.
I never cared for gross green tea!
She said that just like Numbuh Three!
The samovar,
The caviar,
Desert and then good night?
Not until you get this right.
They stopped at a fair with pony rides. Now it was time to teach Kuki to ride ponies just like Numbuh Three. After a while, Kuki found herself galloping through a trail perfectly. She jumped over a log and turned back to grin. Hoagie jumped it and caught up to her, giving her a high five. Wally attempted to jump the log but the pony stop right in front of it, which sent Wally flying forward right into a mud puddle.
If I can learn to do it (if he can learn to do it)
You can learn to do it (you can learn to do it)
Pull yourself together.
And you'll pull through it.
Tell yourself its easy.
And its true!
You can learn to do it, too!
Back on the truck, Hoagie had an album full of previous Kids Next Door operative that he showed Kuki.
"Next we memorize the names of the operatives," he said
Now here we have Numbuh Sixty,
Gave Thirteen a wedgie.
he's very edgy.
And here we have Numbuh Forty
Loved his birdie.
Got it Kuki?
(no)
Numbuh Fifty
(he was..)
Short.
Numbuh Thirty-four
(had a..)
Wart.
Sixty-Five Point Three
Wore a colander for a hat.
I hear he's still a little fat.
And I recall his yellow cat!
I don't believe we told her that.
Wally tried extremely hard not to stare at her. He also told himself not to even think about it, but it was just too hard. Everything she did, everything, was exactly like Numbuh Three. The pony riding. The way she squealed with excitement when she answered a question correctly. She even mentioned a few things that neither he, nor Hoagie, remembered telling her. But they were just simple things that anyone could have guessed. It doesn't mean anything, he told himself. Wally looked once more at Kuki. Even the way her hair blew in the wind was exactly the same. But he knew better than to get his hopes up. Because eventually, something will bring them back down, crushing them. Destroying them. Leaving you with twice the pain you had before. Wally shook his head, reminding himself why they were doing all this in the first place. Eleventy thousand bucks, he thought, here we come.
Kuki was now attempting to ride a bike. They say, once you learn you never forget. She was about to find out if that was true.
If you can learn to do it.
I can learn to do it.
Don't know how you knew it.
I simply knew it.
Suddenly I feel like someone knew!
Kuki, you're a dream come true!
At last, the group made it to Boston. After buying their tickets, they all prepared to board the ship to Paris.
If I can learn to do it,
You can learn to do it.
Pull yourself together,
And you'll pull through it.
Tell yourself its easy, and its true.
You can learn to do it,
Nothing to it.
You can learn to do it, too!
On board, Wally came up to Kuki with a simple, pink dress. "Here," he said, awkwardly, "I bought you a dress."
Kuki giggled and looked inside of it. "You bought me a tent," she said. Wally raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking for?" he asked. "The Big-Top circus, I think its still in here," she answered from inside the dress. "Oh come on. Just put it on," he said.
He left their room so she could change. Kuki eyed the dress thoughtfully and decided that wasn't so bad.
Back on the deck, Hoagie and Wally were playing with their old yipper cards. "Well let's see if that beats Yipper number 96," Hoagie said, triumphantly.
"Hmph, you better not have stolen it from nerds," Wally said.
"Please, you think I'm that stupid," he said.
Kuki walked up just then, wearing the dress. She still had her dirty, old sneaker, since she had no other shoes. But she still looked nice.
Hoagie looked up. "Perfect," he said. "Just marvelous, don't ya think."
Wally looked at her, then mentally kicked himself. In the store, he didn't notice that it was the same dress Numbuh Three wore in their school play of West Side Story. Only it was made for juniors, instead of kids. With Kuki wearing it, there was no denying that she looked like Numbuh Three's seventeen-year-old twin.
"Alright," Hoagie said, "now you're dressed for a party, and you will learn to dance for one, too. Wally," he said, grabbing Wally's arm and bringing him up to her.
"What? Me, dance with her. Nu-uh. No way," he said.
"Come on man, Numbuh Three loved dancing," Hoagie said.
"Well, why can't you do it? You're better anyway," Wally asked.
"Because I'm going to count off the steps for you," he answered. Then he pushed him right up to Kuki and took a step back. "Now let's go."
"You couldn't pay me," Wally said.
"But I could dare you. Oh, but who cares. You'd be too chicken to take that dare, anyway."
He had him there. Wally could never turn down a dare. "Chicken? How's this for chicken?" he cried.
He turned around and took Kuki's hand, wrapping his arm around her waist. She blushed, but put her arm around his shoulder. After realizing what he just did, Wally froze. Kuki began to move.
Hoagie counted them off. "And one, two, three, one, two, three- no wait," he stopped them. "Kuki, you don't lead. Let him."
Wally and Kuki looked at each other. They began to sway back and forth, and side to side. Kuki's cheeks were like two carnation petals. Wally's face was like a tomato. Hoagie could've sworn he saw a real smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Yes, Kuki looked exactly like Numbuh Three, in every way. She was just as lovely. Her flowing, black hair blew lightly in the breeze. Her porcelain skin glowed in the sunset. She twirled around with such graceful movements, as if she's been doing it her whole life. Wally couldn't believe it, he shouldn't believe it. But right there, as he looked at her, all he saw Numbuh Three.
Hoagie sat down and smiled.
It's one, two, three, then suddenly
I see it as a glance.
She's radiant, and confidant, and born to take this chance.
I planned it all, I taught her well, I just forgot…
Romance.
Hoagie saw Kuki's pink cheeks. The way she was looking at Wally. He didn't think it would actually happen, seeing how much they were bickering, but it seemed, now, that she was falling for Wallabee Beetles. He knew Wally wouldn't feel the same way, unless he started believing that Kuki really was…but there was no way he would think that.
Hoagie, how could you do this?
He scooped Bradley up in his arms.
How will we get through this?
I never should have let them dance.
Kuki and Wally continued to dance. Kuki tried to smile at him, but Wally just kept staring. He couldn't think. "I'm, uh, getting kind of dizzy," Kuki said.
Wally stopped dancing. "Yeah, 'cause, um, 'c-cause of the s-spinning, I guess," he said. "Maybe we should stop."
"We have stopped," Kuki said.
Wally's heart was racing. The sunset was reflecting in her eyes. She was so beautiful, so much like Numbuh Three, that it made his chest hurt. He didn't even realize he was leaning forward until Kuki closed her eyes. At that moment, his brain seemed to snap back to life. He stopped, suddenly, let go of her and backed away quickly. What the crud was he doing?
Kuki opened her eyes, surprised by his sudden reaction.
"Uh, K-Kuki, um, y-you're doing f-fine, j-just fine," he stuttered. He backed up a little more before turning around and running off.
Kuki stared after him. Her heart was hammering in her chest. This feeling, it was so… familiar.
Wally was staring out at the sea, at the bow of the ship. What was he thinking? Why was about to…kiss Kuki? Why couldn't he just snap out of it already and see that Kuki was absolutely not Numbuh Three? That would be impossible. He remembered that dreadful night clearly, though never tried to think about it. He remembered hearing Numbuh Three scream in the treehouse. And when he found her with Numbuh One, though he couldn't see them through the smoke, and how he ran back to grab her rainbow monkey after pushing them out the trapdoor. (A/N I'm sure you've realized by now that it was Wally that got them out. If not, then there you go.)
The treehouse exploded just as he jumped out the trapdoor. He had blacked out for a minute. When he got up, seeing that his teammates were nowhere to be found, he climbed up a tree hoping to spot them from up there. That's when he saw her slip out of Numbuh One's grasp and fall. He remembered searching for her all night without any luck. She was gone, which is why it would impossible for Kuki to be Numbuh Three.
But nothing was impossible. And maybe there was a possibility that Kuki was Numbuh Three. He said it himself: Kuki doesn't remember what happened to her, and no one knows what happened to Numbuh Three.
Wally gripped the railing tighter. Shut up, shut up, shut up, he screamed mentally. You can't get your hopes up now, you can't. So shut up!
Kuki and Hoagie were sitting beside the bunk bed.
Hoagie was thinking about Abby. He and Numbuh five have actually kept in touch all these years via email, letters, and the very occasional phone call. He thought about the day he fell in love with her. It was the last time he saw her in person, which was actually four years ago. Abby had come to the memorial hospital to visit her sister, who had given birth, while Hoagie was visiting his sick grandmother. When they saw each other, they went crazy, hugged, and talked for hours. Hoagie told her how Wally was doing, while she told him how Nigel was doing. Somewhere in the reunion, Hoagie ended up kissing her. It was a spur of the moment thing that he hadn't planned on doing. But it just happened. To his relief and joy, instead of pushing him away, Abby wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Hoagie hadn't told Wally about the reunion.
Back on the ship, it was night now, and it had begun to rain outside. Wally was fast asleep in the corner. He had taken off his sweater but remained in his jeans and white T-shirt. Kuki and Hoagie were in pajamas, Hoagie in plaid button down shirt and pants, Kuki had purple cotton bottoms with a yellow T-shirt.
Kuki looked over at Hoagie, who was starting to look pretty green. "Are you alright?" she asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just riddled with envy. I mean look at him," he said, pointing at Wally. "He can sleep through anything."
Bradley was going a bag and came out holding a stuffed animal in his mouth. Kuki had seen one of those before. It was a rainbow monkey. She took it from Bradley and looked at it.
"Cute rainbow monkey, huh," Hoagie said.
"Hm, are you sure that's all it is?" Kuki asked.
Hoagie shrugged. "What else could it be?"
"I don't know," she said. "Something else. Something special. A reminder or something."
She looked at Hoagie, who was climbing up to his bunk. "Is that possible?" she asked him.
"Anything's possible," he said. "You got Wally to dance, didn't you?"
Kuki giggled. "Sweet dreams, Numbuh Three, sir," he said.
"Night," she responded. She turned back to look at Wally. Kuki couldn't help but smile at him. Then she sighed. Climbing into her bed, and snuggling Bradley in her arms, Kuki realized that the inevitable happened; she had fallen for Wallabee Beetles.
Then she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
"Aw, there she is Mr. Boss," Tolienator said. "Sound asleep in her little bed."
"Yep, and pleasant dreams to you, Numbuh Three," Mr. Boss said. "I'll get inside your mind, where you can't escape me."
Kuki was lying in a meadow, relaxing, when a dark-skinned, little girl in a red cap came up. She waved at Kuki, who waved back. Then she motioned for Kuki to follow her.
Bradley woke up in time to see Kuki walk out the door, and out into the pouring rain. Nervous, he ran over to where Wally was lying and jumped on him, squealing, to wake him up. He did wake up, eventually.
"What, what. Bradley? Bradley, what is it?" he asked. He looked up, and gasped. Her bead was empty. She wasn't there. "Kuki? Kuki!" he cried.
He got up immediately, bolted out the door and ran onto the deck. What was she doing out here? There was a really bad thunderstorm out, it was practically a typhoon. "KUKI!"
Kuki followed the girl down a trail until they reached a cliffside. There, a chubby boy had just pushed a short blonde boy into the water below. The blonde kid was obviously terrified. "Ah, don't worry, he can swim. He's just a big baby about it," the chubby kid said before jumping in after him.
Kuki looked over the edge. Besides the two boys she saw, there was another boy, a bald kid wearing sunglasses, in the water as well. "Hey guys," he called out in a British accent. "Jump in, come on."
The dark-skinned girl jumped in with them. Kuki laughed. She didn't know these kids, but they seemed like fun. (A/N she's still seventeen)
Wally ran across the deck frantically. What if she's hurt? What if she fell into the water? What if-
A giant wave cut him off, sending him up to the crow's nest. He gripped the edges, terrified. If there was one thing Wally was terrified of, it was swimming. But he shook it off. No time to worry about himself. He had to find Kuki!
"KUKI, WHERE ARE YOU?"
Then he saw her. She was standing the edge of the railing with one foot up, like she was getting ready to jump. Her eyes were closed and she had a huge grin on her face. Either she had gone mad, Wally thought, or she was sleepwalking. Either way, he had to stop her. He grabbed a rope dangling behind him, and swung toward her.
"KUKI, DON'T!"
"Yes, JUMP!" the bald kid cried, turning into a dark silhouette, as well as the other kids. Everything around her turned dark. The water turned into fire. "The Kids Next Door curse!"
He and the other girl, now giants, grabbed Kuki's arms and tried to pull her in. kuki screamed, and begged them to let her go.
"Kuki, wake up! Wake up!" Wally cried. He lifted her in his arms and got her off the railing before she could jump.
"No, no," she mumbled in her sleep. Kuki was struggling in his arms. She must be having one bad nightmare.
Wally shook her. "WAKE UP!" he yelled.
Kuki's eyes shot open. She looked around, gasping, trying to take in what had happened. She looked at Wally.
"A curse, Kids Next Door curse," she screamed.
"A what? What the crud are you talking about?" he asked her.
Kuki buried her face in his chest. "I keep seeing faces, so many faces," she sobbed.
Wally awkwardly placed his arms over her shoulders. "It.. it was a nightmare," he reassured her. "Its okay, you're safe now."
Kuki continued to sob. Wally wrapped her in a tighter embrace and rubbed her back to calm her.
Great. Even the way cried was exactly like Numbuh Three. Wally wasn't sure how much more of that he could take.
Correction, this is my longest chapter yet. But I'm not sure how long the rest will be, so we'll see. I would guesstimate maybe six more chapters to go but I'm not entirely sure. Well I should be in bed. Wow there's no way I can wake up for school tomorrow.