A/N: The second installment of "Moving Forward"! Thanks to my two reviews so far. (I'll try to fit in dinosaurs! c:) Read, Enjoy, and Review!

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Previously: A small tiger standing on its back paws was dusting himself off, the remains of the glass lamp that used to be on the nightstand around him. Looking up at Calvin, he smiled.

"You're a lot taller than I remember, Calvin," Hobbes said with a mischievous grin.

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Bewildered, Calvin slammed the door behind him. "…Hobbes?! Man, I haven't seen you for the longest time! You're…"

"Short, dirty, and in desperate need of a bath," Hobbes replied, still trying to dust himself off. He looked up at Calvin, frowning. "I'm also wondering what in the world possessed you to just forget about me! We were just playing outside, you told me to wait, and you didn't come back. You're mom was the one to come out and tell me to come home, and she made me take a bath and stuck me in that prison." He pointed to the closet. "You can't imagine what monsters I had to fight just to claim my own territory." He stood up a little straighter then. "You just need to show them who's boss," he said, smiling proudly. But then he looked at Calvin again and turned away angrily. "I can't believe you forgot about your best friend," he muttered.

Calvin put his face into his hands. "This can't be happening to me. I can't be thinking that I'm talking to him again. Hobbes has always been a figment of my imagination. He's never existed, he's never talked. He's…" But then Calvin looked up at Hobbes, and he knew that he was very much real, as real as anything would ever get. Looking back, Calvin knew that he had really forgotten his best friend; he had literally left him in the dust. Shame washed over him, as well as guilt.

"Damn it, Hobbes. I never thought… Well yeah, that's it, I never thought. I was six, I had a short attention span. But I swear I'll make it up to you. I don't know how, and I don't know how long it—"

"Why are you packing?" Hobbes interrupted. He was wide eyed and walking around the room; he stared at the much bigger and bare bed, the clothes strewn all around the room, the almost empty closet. He saw the messy, open, and full suitcase. He saw the equipment for Calvin Ball in the old Transmogrifier/Duplicator. He saw all the memories that he had in a pile in front of the closet. He picked up a flag and turned around. "Where are you going?" he asked in a small voice.

"Oh, well I'm—" Calvin was starting to answer when his mom opened the door.

"Calvin, what have I told you about slamming doors in this house? It's unacceptable!" She saw Hobbes sitting on top of the closet pile. She picked him up. "Hey, look at this Calvin. It's Hobbes." She picked a bit of lint off of him, and noticed a ripped seam close to his tail. "Hm, you look pretty beat up, old guy." Turning to Calvin, she said, "Hey, I'm going to run him through the washing machine and fix him up, and I'll put him in the Goodwill box so we can give him to charity, okay?"

Calvin saw Hobbes's eyes go wide. "NO!" he yelled, too loudly. His mom gave him a weird look. Calvin cleared his throat. "I mean, I'll take him, Mom. I want to make sure that he ends up where he belongs." He gave his mom what he hoped was a convincing smile, and Hobbes relaxed.

She shrugged. "Alright, then. I'll bring him back up when I've fixed him up. Anything else you need?" Hobbes pantomimed eating, stuffing his face with who-knows what. Calvin shot him a look that quieted him. She looked around the room and noticed the shattered lamp. "What happened there?"

"Oh, that was my bad, Mom. Trying to carry too many things at once." Calvin smiled sheepishly, giving the impression of a misbehaving child.

She shook her head. "Honestly, Calvin, sometimes you act like you're six all over again."

Would that be a bad thing? Calvin thought.

"Do you want me to pick it up?" she asked, looking at the glass reluctantly.

"No, thanks Mom. I'll take care of it. Oh, and Hobbes," he started. His mother gave him a questioning look. "Ah, nevermind. I'll tell you later."

Hobbes nodded over his Mom's shoulder as she asked, "Tell me what later?"

"Oh, uh, never mind Mom. I've got it covered," Calvin said, giving her a thumbs up. She chuckled as she walked out of the room, and he realized that he had just given his mom a thumbs up over what she thought was a stuffed animal. He never gave anyone, especially his mom, a thumbs up. He buried his head in the pile of clothes that was is luggage and groaned.

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"So that's why I'm packing. I'm going to college at Columbia." Calvin chuckled. "Turns out I had the smarts to get through high school with flying colors."

He and Hobbes were lounging against the bed, eating sandwiches that Calvin had made (regretfully without chocolate syrup and marshmallows). Calvin had just finished explaining to Hobbes the packed clothes and clean closet.

Hobbes chewed on his sandwich thoughtfully. "So whatever happened to Susie Derkins? She was a cutie," Hobbes grinned, showing salmon between his teeth.

Calvin was taken aback by the question. Hobbes had given no sign that he had heard anything else Calvin had said. Then Calvin laughed and grew quiet. "She moved. It was in about sixth grade, when we were eleven. Her dad got transferred to some place in California, and I never saw her again. At the time, I remember thinking Good riddance. But now I don't know. What do you think?" He looked at Hobbes, and jumped at what he saw.

Hobbes was giving him the grin of a lifetime, literally from ear to ear. "I think," Hobbes said, "that I know exactly how you're going to make the last… how many years was it again?"

"Twelve…" Calvin replied.

"Right, twelve years up to me." Hobbes fell back to eating his sandwich, taking slow, contented bites, and sneaking conspiratorial glances at Calvin.

Calvin grew nervous. He knew the plans that Hobbes could come up with. "Well, what is it?" Calvin ventured after a couple minutes of silence.

Without looking up, Hobbes said, "You're going to take me to college with you."

Calvin relaxed. He wouldn't mind doing that at all. After all, Hobbes was his best friend. He breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled at Hobbes.

Hobbes was smiling back at him smugly. "And…"

Oh no. Calvin's smile faded.

"You're going to find Susie Derkins."

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A/N: Thoughts? Thanks for reading. c: