AN: This story is not connected to We Belong Together
Across The Stars
Addison was so excited for the International, well now Intergalactic Cheer Off. But despite everyone's concerns about the aliens being better at literally everything than everyone else, or that they must be up to no good, Addison had no doubt in her mind that the Mighty Shrimp would be able to pull off another victory. She wasn't afraid of a little competition, and she trusted her squad with her life. They were a perfectly unified squad, not because of some telepathic groupthink, but because they all cared about cheer, and each other more than anything else.
After the aliens left the Cheer Pavilion, and Addison got her squad fired up again, they had just finished running through their routine one last time, and Addison knew they were better than ever and ready to face anything that could happen.
Everyone else happily ran off the stage after they broke down, and despite their earlier nerves, right now everyone's confidence had been restored by Addison's speech and their phenomenal practice.
Addison was the only one still on the stage, about to follow Bree and everyone else as they excitedly headed to the locker rooms to grab their things.
But then, something felt weird, she felt all tingly like something was trying to tickle her, but from the inside. She glanced down and saw an ethereal blue glow start to surround her. Her eyes widened in panic and surprise as suddenly her arms and legs seemed to be dissolving into blue light before her very eyes.
"HELP! HELP!" She yelled, but none of the other cheerleaders seemed to see or hear her. And then there was a blinding flash of light and suddenly Addison couldn't feel anything anymore. Thankfully it lasted only a second, so she didn't have too much time to panic.
"HELP! What is going on?" She shouted again, and just as quickly as the weird feeling appeared, she felt back to normal again, but now she was stunned into silence. She was in a strange-looking room. Everywhere she looked was blank, metallic-looking white walls, lit up with blue and white lights all over. She glanced around in every direction. She was standing on a small, circular platform with two more behind her, and also behind her, there was a window opening up to the dark evening sky. Addison ran to the window, she could still see the stars and moon shining brightly in the distance, but she could also see down. Very far down, she was seeing Seabrook from a bird's eye view, and it looked like she was near the center of Zombietown.
"Woah." She finally realized, she had to be in the aliens' spaceship. But why? And where was everyone? The ship was so quiet, the only sound she could hear beyond her panicked breathing was the low hum of machinery behind every wall.
Addison turned around to nervously face the opposite direction from the window, there was no door that she could see, but the room opened into a long hallway.
Addison slowly walked through the halls, everything looked so, so alien to her. Every single wall looked the same, and after making a few turns she wasn't sure she could navigate her way back to the teleporter room or wherever she had been beamed in from. She passed a few other doors, some of them with windows, some without, none of them opened for her, and even the ones with windows in them she had no idea what anything was. She couldn't find anyone else either.
She approached another door, and through its window, she could see something glowing red in the center of the room, and she walked closer to investigate. But then she felt a cool hand touch her bare shoulder and she turned around and swung out instinctively.
To her surprise, her attacker caught her first punch. "Too slow- AHH!" But he wasn't ready for her to follow up with a left hook and she socked him right in the jaw before she even noticed his handsome face and familiar green hair.
"Zed? Oh my Z! I'm sorry, reflexes." Addison reached out to gently hold his arm as Zed faced her again and cradled his jaw.
"Zed!" Addison whispered.
"What are you doing here?" Zed asked her
"I got beamed up, what are you doing here? Did the aliens beam you up too?"
"A-Spen asked if I could help them with my knowledge of Seabrook," Zed whispered back.
"Oh." Addison relaxed a bit, she knew what was going on now, or at least why Zed was here. "Poor thing, they're trying to spend alone time with you."
"Alone time, why?"
Addison sighed. "So you know how the aliens all turned off their emotional inhibitors or whatever when they arrived? Apparently, A-Spen decided that they have a crush on you."
"They do? Well, I do have universal appeal." Zed joked, but then turned serious. "Addie I promise you if they do have a crush on me, I promise you I have done nothing to try to encourage it. You're the only one in the entire universe for me."
"I know, Bree and I tried to explain to them how love and romance work on Earth, but I wasn't entirely sure if they got the point, especially about you and me being together forever."
"Then the next time I see them, I promise I will make it clear to them that we're only friends," Zed promised her.
"I know you will, but be nice. A-Spen's new to human feelings and human relations." Addison reminded him.
Then they heard footsteps marching their way down the hall in perfect synchronization. "Beware Intruder!" A-Li shouted, and she was holding a glowing ball of red energy over her wrist.
Zed instinctively threw himself in front of Addison to protect her, and Addison grabbed onto his arm and peaked over his back.
"Addison?" A-Spen asked, and they all slowed down and their faces switched from anger to surprise to confusion. "Mothership beamed you aboard?"
"Yeah." Addison nodded.
A-Lan smiled, "Then we have no choice but to-"
"Welcome you," A-Spen said.
"Vaporize you," A-Li said at the same time
Zed and Addison flinched further away, while the aliens all shared a look between themselves, probably having another telepathic conversation.
"Welcome you." A-Li corrected herself, "Sorry."
The three aliens led the way into the room Addison had been about to enter before Zed stopped her and the large hexagonal door slid into the wall. This was the largest room she had seen yet, and in the center was a large centre console or something that was glowing red, and playing a static-filled, garbled message on repeat.
"You have a lovely home," Addison said, one thing everyone in Seabrook knew, was how to be a good guest, whether she was invited or not.
"It is a marvelous ship, but it is not our home." A-Lan sighed and all three Aliens started pressing and moving the different glowing spheres on the console.
"Our planet was destroyed by environmental blight built up over many years." A-Spen started explaining.
"What? Over years? Did anyone try to stop it?" Addison asked.
"No, and we lost everything. No one spoke up." A-Li continued the story.
"That would have led to disagreements, and we value harmony," A-Lan said.
"And we will remain one people, in harmony at any cost." A-Li declared with a note of aggression in her voice.
"You seem angry," Zed smirked at her.
"I'm not angry, I'm just feeling harmony in a super hostile way." A-Li declared and then she growled under her breath. "I need to get off this planet. There is so much conflict here, it's infuriating."
"We need your help." A-Spen finally admitted to Addison, "but first-"
"A-Spen has great feelings for you," A-Lan whispered to Zed.
"Ah, right, about that-" Zed was completely ready to declare his love to Addison and explain to A-Spen that on Earth, romantic relationships were mutually exclusive.
"I've been doing research Zed, couples can grow apart."
"But we are not a couple." Zed reminded them.
"No, we are not. I am breaking up with you. I am sorry. We do not have tissues, but you can cry on my shoulder if you so require it."
"What?" Zed was now very confused, actually more than confused. Did A-Spen really think they had been dating or something?
Addison patted his shoulder in sympathy, but with a small smile on her face. "Don't worry A-Spen, I'll make sure Zed's taken care of."
"Oh you will, will you?" Zed smirked and pulled her close.
"Yep," Addison smiled and kissed a quick peck on his cheek. "Feel better now?"
"As long as I'm with you, I'll always be better," Zed promised and kissed her cheek in return.
"As you can see, they have mastered the interactions of your species and feels you can both be trusted." A-Lan burst what their friends often called their Zeddison bubble where they only focused on each other. But they both brought their attention back to the aliens.
"Years ago, our scout crashed in Seabrook and hid a map to Utopia, a new home for aliens. We came here to find it." A-Spen said.
"Wait, I thought you said you were here for cheer?" Zed asked them.
"That was a deception," A-Spen admitted. "We were afraid you would not allow us to find the map because it is hidden in the most precious thing in Seabrook."
"So that's why you kept asking about the Moonstone?" Zed asked.
"Yes, but our scans came back negative, it's not there," A-Lan said.
"Wait you scanned the Moonstone? Did you by chance ask the wolves first?" Addison asked a bit nervously.
"No we did not," A-Li said.
"Oh boy, Willa is not going to be happy. The wolves are very protective of the Moonstone, it's the source of life for both werewolves and zombies." Addison explained.
"No worries, the Moonstone is perfectly fine, in fact, it did more damage to me," A-Lan admitted, rubbing his arm like it was sore. "It is a powerful energy source, but it's toxic to us."
Addison reached down and felt for the moonstone necklace she was currently wearing around her neck. Ever since Willa gave it back to her at Prawn. She had barely taken it off, and even though her short-lived wish of being a werewolf was just a fantasy of the past, she still liked to wear it as a reminder she was part of the wolves' pack.
"Do you know what else could be the most precious thing in Seabrook?" A-Spen asked.
Addison thought for a few moments, "Well Cheer mostly, but I don't know how you would hide coordinates in a routine."
Behind her, Zed reached out to touch one of the glowing spheres.
"Woah, do not touch." A-Li ordered and slapped his hand away, "We're repairing the files of our scout's logs."
"With no success," A-Lan added.
"I mean have you guys tried banging it? It works whenever my old TV's on the fritz." Zed suggested.
"Banging?" A-Li laughed in disbelief. "That's highly sensitive cosmic tech, you can't just bang-"
Not to be deterred, Zed made a fist and pounded the side of the console.
"OW!" A shrill, disembodied voice said that seemed to come from the ship itself. But then the shifting red lights coalesced into an image of one of the aliens wearing the same face masks all of them had been wearing when they first arrived.
"Oh, that seems to have worked." A-Li reached out to move some glowing spheres around and the recording started to play. Unlike the other aliens' light blue hair, hers was snow-white.
"This is Scout Commander 15-09. I proudly report my mission is complete. For centuries, our people have been without a home, but I found Utopia, the perfect new planet for our people."
The three aliens all seemed to light up with excitement at this news, and Addison could feel herself getting excited with them, but there was also something about the recording that was reminding her of something, or someone. Where had she heard that voice before?
"I hid the coordinates in the most precious thing in Seabrook. You must find the most precious thing in Seabrook. Many decades ago out of fuel, my ship crashed on this planet. I would have died if not for a young humanoid, Eli."
Eli, like my grandpa Elijah? Addison thought to herself, no way there had to be plenty of Eli's in Seabrook, right?
He hid me and nursed me back to health. But with no ship to take me home, I was forced to hide my true identity.
"I know how that feels." Addison nodded quietly to herself. But Zed noticed and reached down to gently hold and squeeze her hand in comfort and love.
"I joined Eli in his school, and I discovered my passion, cheerleading. I even created a trophy. The image of the alien disappeared for a few moments and a new image that Addison recognized appeared on the screen.
"The Seabrook Cup!"
"But no longer in contact with our people, my hair grew white, and I lost my stardust power." Addison reached up to run her hand through her own white locks, and her mind really started racing, Eli, white hair, cheer, and that voice, she couldn't get her hopes up, but could it be…the answer she was always looking for?
"Though I gained something else. A family, Eli and I fell in love and married. And we named our firstborn daughter A-Mishanta, but we always called her Missy."
Addison breathed in in shock, "That's my mom's name." This was starting to add up in a way that was making too much sense, but also no sense at all, but she didn't want to get her hopes up.
The alien in the hologram finally took off her face mask and everything clicked into place in Addison's head. "Grandma?" Addison reached out to touch the hologram of her grandma's smiling face, but when she did, the hologram disappeared.
"The aliens' scout was your grandma!" Zed shouted, and he was just as excited for her, she could hear it in his voice.
"Grandma Angie was an alien? My mom's an alien? I'm an alien?" Addison didn't even know where to begin.
"You're part alien. That's why the ship beamed you up too." A-Spen said to her, excitement lighting up her own face as well.
"Zed, I know who I am." Addison reached out to hug him tightly, she was so happy, and there was no one else she wanted by her side for this moment than him.
"I'm so happy for you," Zed whispered in her ear. He knew this was what she had always been looking for.
When they pulled away, A-Spen was holding out a white metal cylinder and opened it up to reveal the glowing blue device all the aliens had on their wrists. A-Spen pulled it out and held it out to Addison. "We found this Luma Lens in the scout ship, it belonged to your grandmother."
She set it down in Addison's palm, and it glowed even brighter for a moment before disappearing, and Addison could have sworn she felt another tingly feeling like when she was beamed up by the teleporter when it touched her skin.
"Now you should possess our spark." A-Li explained, "Can you lift the Luma Lens with your mind?"
Addison stared down at the lens in her hand and put all her focus into it. Lift! Up! Fly! Go! Jump! But nothing happened. "I…I can't." Addison said quietly.
The aliens all seemed to deflate in unison. "Our relationship with stardust defines us, our technology would not work for you," A-Spen explained.
"You cannot share in our telepathy." A-Lan continued.
"Nor survive travel with us," A-Li added.
"No, no, This is who I am," Addison said, this was the only thing in her life that finally gave her an answer, to why she was different from everyone else, this had to work, why wouldn't it work? "This is where I belong, it all makes sense."
"I'm sorry Addison, you do not have our spark, you are not truly one of us," A-Spen said.
"Right, yeah, sorry." Addison stuttered, her voice already shaking, she had to get out of here, she ran back the way she came and thankfully she could hear Zed following two steps behind her, but if she wasn't an alien, then she had to get out of here.
Zed and Addison each stepped on one of the teleportation spots and were beamed back down into Zombietown.
"The aliens won't accept me? I may be part alien but I'm still totally alone!" Addison cried out when they made it back down to Seabrook.
"Addison, because of you no one in Seabrook ever has to feel alone. You made this a place for people, all people to call home." Zed reminded her.
Addison took a deep breath to calm herself down, but she still had tears in her eyes. "I'll still help the aliens find the map to their new home," Addison promised him.
"Good, and whatever happens, you have to go Mountain College, whether I get in or not. No matter how far away we are from each other, we will always be together." Zed reached out to grab both of her hands in his.
"You'll do great on your interview tomorrow. I know you will, that first recruiter was scared away by the alien invasion, not you. And I know I'm totally biased, but I know you're exceptional Zed. But you're right, even if we're two hundred miles away, we'll make it work."
"I better, everyone's counting on me to be the first zombie to get into college."
"You're not alone either Zed," Addison promised him, "and I know we are going to college together because nothing will ever keep us apart."
Zed reached out to pull her close to him and wrap her up completely in a hug. Addison pressed her head against his chest, right over his slow heartbeat that she knew only beat for her and no one else. If she could live her entire life surrounded by him, like this, her life would already be complete.
They finally pulled away from each other and both sighed. "Do you want to talk about it some more?" Zed asked.
"Not now, maybe later, but I know I have to get home, Mom and Dad probably think I've been abducted…which I guess I was." Addison managed to giggle.
Zed grinned back, "At least your dad will be sending the Z-Patrol after someone who isn't me for once. But allow me to walk you home."
"Happily." Just being with Zed she already felt lighter than a few minutes ago, even if on the inside she was a jumbled mess of questions. They did their best to focus talk on the cheer championship tomorrow and not aliens or college for the rest of the night as Zed walked her home.
"I do have to admit that the aliens are going to be the team to beat if we want to keep the Seabrook Cup. They looked amazing on stage, even though it was pretty obvious they were using their powers for most of it."
"I hear that, thankfully A-Lan and the others helped me with the scholarship application after somehow beating literally all my records and good grades in like half an hour this morning."
"Yeah, but the good news is that our last practice was amazing today, and I was this close to finally pulling off the double tuck lindy." Addison pinched her fingers together in emphasis, "I think I'm going to have to land it perfectly to win."
"Don't even worry about it, we are both going to do so great, I'm sure nothing can possibly go wrong. Besides I think we are both very impressive, we just have to make sure the judges and the interviewer can take in all our greatness."
Addison giggled, "I know you're right, we just have one more trophy and then I just know we'll be off at college together, and with all our friends."
"I know, I can't wait. I am so ready to be a Panther, and even though I love Seabrook pink, I'm ready for some Mountain College Green and Yellow."
"And I'm sure you'll look just as handsome in your jersey as you always do."
"Not as cute as you always look in your cheer uniform, 'cause girl you look delicious, oh I mean gorgeous, speaking of I also can't wait to see the squad's newest uniforms tomorrow. All Bonzo has told me is that they are very sparkly, and very pink."
"That they are." Addison nodded, "but don't try to ask me for hints 'cause it won't work. It's a surprise for everyone, including you Buster."
"Oh really?" Zed came to a stop and leered down at her, Addison knew that look and she wasn't going to be trapped.
"Yes really, and we're already pretty late remember?" Addison pulled ahead and Zed quickly caught back up to her.
"Yes, I know," Zed sighed, but then he grinned again, "and another great thing about Mountain College next year, our parents will be 200 miles away and no curfew."
"You're right." Addison smiled, "Think Bree and Bonzo would be willing to share a room every so often?"
"Well, I was thinking more than every so often, but yeah, and I'm sure they would be just as down for it as we are. At least I hope so."
"And just what would we be doing with all that alone time together?"
"Well, hopefully, we can still have study dates, and we can also…study each other. Zed whispered softly in her ear and nibbled it lightly. "I know you better than anyone, but I will always be ready to learn more."
"Wow, aren't you just full of good ideas Zed?" Addison laughed, "when you put it that way, how could I say no?"
"Exactly, after tomorrow, no matter what happens everything is going to be fine, and hopefully no more complications in our way. Instead, we'll be closer to our someday."
"Yeah," Addison sighed happily and leaned her head against his arm as they continued walking home. Someday.
A few minutes later, they arrived at Addison's front porch, and after one more hug and kiss goodnight, and a promise to call each other to say goodnight later, Zed walked off back to Zombietown.
Addison walked upstairs to her room and even though Zed had helpfully distracted her from some of her biggest worries, she couldn't help thinking about the aliens, and her grandma.
She searched through her closet for a few minutes until she found one of the scrapbooks she and her grandma had made together years ago. She couldn't help but smile and giggle at the memories held within it. Especially the pictures of her and Grandma Angie cheering together. Angie had taught both Bucky and Addison everything she knew about cheering, and going over to her house had always been her favorite place in her entire world.
Grandma Angie had made Addison feel happy no matter what they did together, but cheer, just like everything else was where they really bonded, she couldn't stop smiling at her little 10-year-old self in the pictures, and in every photo, Grandma was smiling back at her.
One other reason she had always loved spending time with Grandma Angie and Grandpa Elijah was that they had been the only ones in her family that never said a bad word about her hair and wig. Sometimes when she had sleepovers at their house, they even let her take it off if she was inside. Before freshman year, the only times she didn't wear the wig was when she was asleep in her room, and at her Grandma's house.
That had to be because they always knew the truth, that it wasn't some weird genetic thing, it was her alien heritage showing itself. Just like her grandma had always told her, it only made her more special, even though at the time, Addison didn't believe that it in the slightest, it wasn't until she met Zed that she started to believe that for real, and now she knew there was even more truth to it, to her than she ever knew.
And that led to another question. "Where did you hide the map, Grandma?" What could be the most precious thing in Seabrook? Could it be something in City Hall, or the museum, or maybe something connected to her family? Addison didn't know where to begin.
She grabbed the Luma Lens and held it in the palm of her hand again. It lit up for a moment, and she swore she felt it vibrate for a few seconds, but still no matter how much she focused, it stayed lying flat in her palm.
Just then she heard a knock on her door and she buried the lens beneath her blankets before saying, "Come in."
Mom walked into the room. "Hi sweetie, I thought I should check on you since Zed has his big day tomorrow. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine," Addison lied, "actually Mom, where was Grandma Angie from?"
"Seabrook dear. Born and raised. Why?" Mom asked, but Addison could tell she looked worried about something, but Addison brushed it off, she was probably just worried about everything that would happen tomorrow plus still stressed by the aliens' arrival too.
"Because uh…" Addison started out, but she quickly didn't know what to say. That she and Mom, and Grandma were all aliens? There was no way her mom would believe that, and she likely didn't know just like Addison didn't. Her parents wouldn't have treated her that way over her hair for years if they had known. So Mom didn't know, and right now even the Luma Lens said she wasn't alien enough, so even if it was true, it didn't matter. Addison shook her head instead. "Never mind. Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Mom reached out for a moment to squeeze Addison's hand and then walked back out the door.
Addison was sure her mom must not know, and there was no real proof other than what Grandma's recording said. And the actual test was currently a negative. Addison just shook her head.
She dialed Zed's number and he quickly picked up his phone.
"Hey, Addie."
"Hi, Zed."
"Are you doing ok?" Zed could always tell when she was upset, it was almost like he could read her mind.
"Not so much. I tried the Luma Lens again, but again, nothing happened."
"Addison, I promise I couldn't care less if you're a human, zombie, werewolf, alien, or anything, all I, and everyone else who loves you, cares about is that you are Addison. And in two days you are going to show the whole world just what Addison Wells can do." Zed said with total confidence in his voice. Not for the first time Addison silently thought he would be a great cheerleader if he really wanted to be.
"Thank you Zed. Also, I tried to ask Mom about Grandma, but I don't think Mom knows about Grandma being an Alien either. Mom said she was born and raised in Seabrook."
"Well, who knows what her and your Grandpa had to deal with, but I'm sure they had their reasons for keeping the secret if nothing else not to panic anyone and make fitting in easier. Because as we all know, people can be dumb when they don't understand that different is a superpower."
"Yeah." Addison agreed and yawned. "Sorry, I think I really need to get my beauty sleep tonight if I'm going to be ready for tomorrow."
"You never need beauty sleep, you're always beautiful."
"Thanks, Zed, but you better get to bed soon too, we're both having big days."
"I hear that, I can't wait to see you tomorrow morning."
"I can't wait either Zed. Gar Gar Gaza."
"Gar Gar Gaza. Addie." Zed said back and then they hung up.
Addison set her phone down, turned off her lights, and snuggled up under her blankets, on a night like tonight, with her brain still full of everything, she wished she had Zed to cuddle with, but she would make do. And thankfully she soon drifted off to dreams among the stars.