Two of Amy's friends from her old school are coming up to visit, and she wants them to meet the gang. There's just one thing, these twins are not like most people… Set a few months before "Birthday of Wonder and Doom".

"Yeah, okay!" I grinned down the phone, "I can't wait! You sure you can't stay longer? Fair enough. Right, I'll meet you tomorrow. Bye!"

I jumped off of the bed that I had been sitting on while Dib was on the computer and did what was probably the most girly thing I had ever done in my life. I waved my hands in the air while jumping up and down, clenched my eyes shut and let out a shriek of glee. Dib span around on the chair to raise his eyebrows at me un unease.

"Uh… good news I take it?"

I composed myself as best I could and beamed, "Two of my best friends from school back in Wales are coming down to visit tomorrow morning and spending The day here!"

He smiled weakly, "Oh, that's… great."

Sensing his lack of enthusiasm I punched his shoulder playfully, "What's up?"

"Nothing, really, it's just…" he trailed off.

"You're meeting them too, stupid."

His eyes brightened, "Really?"

"Why wouldn't I want you to meet them?"

"Well, you know, you're kinda my only friend here…" he shrugged, "Just figured that, you'd be going off with them until they left and…"

I smiled softly at his insecurities, "Hey, I said they're my best friends from Wales. You're my best friend. Period. Actually, you're more than a best friend to me you're like my -" I quickly cut myself off.

He gave me a quizzical look, "Like your…" he left his words hang there for me to pick up.

I didn't. "Move over, I'll show you them on my online profile."

He shifted out of the way so I could have access to his computer and logged onto my account. I scanned through my pictured until I came across one of the three of us together. It had been one of the rare sunny days and we had all gone down the beach. I lay out on a towel next to another girl wearing glasses with neon green lenses, the third posed in a skimpy bathing suit, sitting in a deckchair.

"That's Bryony in the chair, and that's her twin sister Tami." I explained.

Dib scanned the picture and tilted his head, "Never seen you in a bathing suit before."

I clicked the photo away, blushing slightly, "And if I'm lucky, you never will again. So, will you come to my house tomorrow to meet them, please?"

He nodded, "Sure. So it was Tami in the chair and -"

"No, Bryony." I corrected, "Tami has the glasses. Oh, should I ask Gaz and Zim to come too?"

He jolted at my words, "Gaz yeah, but Zim? Seriously?"

"Well, I consider him a friend too, even if he isn't happy with it, and I did promise the twins that I'd introduce them to all of my friends."

"Ugh, you and promises!" he moaned, rolling his eyes.

That night, after talking to Gaz about coming with us, to which she agreed out of lack of anything else to do, I made my way home and stopped by my infamous next door neighbour. I tapped the door lightly and watched in amusement as the letter box opened and a pair of ruby orbs glared out at me. I bent down and waved until the front door opened, a gloved hand hoisting me inside.

"Evening." I smiled.

"What is it this time Amy-worm?" Zim sighed.

"Well, you know that we're friends?" I started, smiling as sweetly as possible.

He arched his brow and folded his arms, "That's not the label that Zim agreed on…"

"Okay, frienemies!" I offered, "Well ,two of my friends from my old home are coming to visit tomorrow morning and I promised them that they could meet the people I'd met here. So, I was wondering, will you come over mine tomorrow and meet them?"

"Pfft, Zim has no time to meet pathetic humans when there is much to do here!" He eyed me cautiously, "Why should I?"

"Because it will really mean a lot to me and," I hurried on when I figured that wasn't going to work, "and won't it be beneficial for you to meet humans of other countries, that way you'll be more prepared for world domination and stuff."

He tapped his chin in thought, "You have a point, but Zim wishes to know about them first! Zim shall not fall victim to whatever trick you are playing."

"No trick, but fair enough." I pulled up a picture of them on my phone, "That's Bryony and that's Tami. They're twins."

"Twins?" he tried out the word in his mouth.

"When two babies are born from the same…" this was going to be hard, he didn't know about human birthing, "Imagine if two smeets were hatched together from the same tube, it's like that."

He brushed the phone away, "Zim does not have the time, nor interest."

Okay, I was a little disappointed, "Well, I'm not going to force you. It's just, they've heard bit about you and rally wanted to meet the famous Zim in person."

"How much have they heard?" he asked darkly.

"Nothing major, don't worry. As far as they know you're just a loud-mouth kid with a skin condition and a large ego."

He nodded, "Good." He blinked, "Hey!"

I smirked, "So will you 'grace' them with your presence?"

Zim tapped his chin in thought, "Zim shall think on it and appear if he wishes."

Looks like I wasn't going to get much more out of him, "Okay, well, my house tomorrow morning if you're coming. See you around, Zimmers."

He rolled his eyes at the unwanted nickname and waved his hand passively for me to let myself out. I obliged and smiled softly, secretly hoping that he would end up showing up. If I knew him like I thought I did, his curiosity would get the better of him. Like me, he was never one to miss out on something new.

I burst into fits of laughter as Tami poked me in the ribs. She grinned and adjusted her neon-green lensed glasses. We were all sitting around the table in my kitchen. The twins giggled, their straight blond hair quivering from their movements.

"Well at least one thing hasn't changed!" Bryony smirked, "You've been talking like a proper yank since we've arrived."

"Nah she hasn't changed that much," Tami retorted, suddenly her hands swooped down over my chest, "Scrap that last, something have changed a lot!"

I swatted her away, "And you two haven't changed much. Still too bold for your own good."

"Wouldn't life be boring if we weren't?" Tami asked, putting mockingly.

Bryony gave her sister a nudge, to which she returned. They always did this to me. They ganged up and tried to put me inter awkward situations to try and make me stand up for myself. A confidence booster, they called it. Not in my eyes! They were more confident for ten of me, let along just the two of them. I mentally forgave them every time. Bryony adjusted herself in her chair, showing off the toned nature of her arms.

"How's the tennis going?" I asked.

"Great, I've got a competition in a few weeks."

"Good luck, give me a ring or something to tell me how it goes." I looked at Tami and noticed the tips of her fingers were lightly stained different colours, "Still painting then?"

"She doesn't stop!" Bryony moaned.

"You have your hobbies and I have mine!" her sister protested.

I laughed. We were interrupted by a knock at the door. I'd already explained to the twins that they were going to have visitors and they seemed more then pleased. I opened the door and grinned at the expectant stare from Gaz and shy smile of Dib. Stepping to the side, I let them in and told them to go through to the kitchen. I was a little nervous now, I was worried if they were going to get along or not, but also, there was something I'd deliberately stayed quiet about.

Tami stood up and held her hand out to shake theirs and felt behind her to find her chair again. Bryony however, leant over and clocked something out of place, returning upright again so that she could wheel her chair out from the table and over to greet them. She looked up and them and brought her wheel-chair to a stop before them, holding out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Bryony." She grinned.

"Dib, and this is my sister Gaz." Dib smiled, taking her hand and stepping to the side for Gaz to take over.

Tami stood up again and took a step forward, holding out her palms, "Do you mind? I like to get a feel for who I'm talking to, is that okay?"

When he didn't answer, she lifted up her glasses to reveal her eyes. The stared blankly at nothing in particular and seemed almost incapable of movement. Dib blinked in understanding. She was blind. I've introduced the twins to people before, and there was almost always an issue with their 'impairings'. Like people didn't want to be touched by a person who just wanted to put a face to a voice, or allow a person who couldn't walk to join them at a table. It made me sick. So I was silently begging that Dib was not one of those people.

"Sure, no problem, glasses on or off?" he asked.

"On please."

I breathed a secret sigh of relief. Tami flattened her palms of his cheeks and traced his jaw and lips with her thumbs. Her hands shifted upwards to smooth over his eyes under his lenses and up to the hairline on his brow.

"So this is the famous Dib?" Bryony smirked, eyeing him approvingly.

"Apparently so, I've been waiting to get my hands of this one for a while." Tami smirked. Dib eyed me questioningly and blushed slightly. Tami noted the hint of heat in his cheeks and giggled, "Awe, love him, he's getting embarrassed!"

She finished forming her mental image of him by feeling her hands over scythe-like spike in his air. She pulled away and felt along the side of the table until she came across me. She leaned on my shoulder and tousled my hair.

"Wow, Amy, when you said his spike was solid,"

"And that he had a big head," added Bryony,

"We thought you were talking about something else." They chanted.

"Gaz!" I blurted out a little loudly, "Uh, Gaz, have you spoken to Gaz?"

My cheeks burned as I swatted them away towards the awaiting girl. Dib was just frozen, his rosy cheeks now glowing scarlet. I smiled apologetically and nervously ran my hands through my hair. Well, they were getting on, that was the thing I'd been most worried about. Even if it was at my expense…

"So, Amy says you're pretty much unbeatable on a G.S.2." Bryony stated..

"So do I." Gaz arched her brow, "Is that some sort of subtle challenge?"

"It might be."

She shrugged, "Your funeral."

"Fair enough, you beat me gaming and I'll beat you at tennis."

"You play tennis?"

"Bryony's aiming for the Olympics." I mentioned.

"Paralympics, but either way, I'm getting a gold." She smirked while pumping her fist in the air.

Gaz smirked at the girls blunt attitude and nodded in approval. We returned to our places around the table and resumed some sort of conversation. Dib started explaining his fascination with the paranormal while the twins listened inventively. I was really pleased with how well things were going. They'd barely been talking for ten minutes and already it was like they were old friends. Sure I had to duck my head a few times whenever they brought up an embarrassing story about my old life or if Dib starting asking if they'd seen any alien phenomena around where they're from. But nevertheless, I was really enjoying myself.

All of a sudden, there was another knock at the door. Dib looked at me with annoyed eyes, instantly taking a guys as to who it was. I ignored him and rushed to the door. Stood before me was Zim, fully disguised in wig and contacts. His arms were folded and his eyes narrowed in expectancy. I put my hands on my hips and gave him a knowing grin.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Zim was bored."

"Sure." I nodded, not believing him for a second, "And the fact that you were spying through your window and saw Gaz arriving had nothing to do with it?"

He glared at me, "Zim figured that you were right for once, it would be beneficial for Zim to take note of the many varieties of human that shall soon be my slaves. So, it makes sense for Zim not to miss out on this opportunity."

"Sure it was."

"Do not push your luck."

"Come on in." I sighed, stepping to the side and letting him brush past me.

I led the way into the kitchen and was about to introduce him, when the twins took over. Bryony eyed him from head to toe and gave her sister a playful nudge in the arm.

"Wait a moment Tam," Bryony smiled, "Looks like we're in the presence of the almighty Zim! Man, you weren't kidding about that skin condition!"

"He's really green?" muttered Tami curiously.

"Greener than your glasses."

Zim froze, glaring at me for daring to talk about him without his permission. I smiled and gave Zim a shove in the back so that he stumbled forward, his hand instantly being snatched up by the twins into a hand-shake. Tami stood up and the corner of her mouth gave a twitch of curiosity at the feel of his three fingered claw. Zim watched in mild awe at the sight of Bryony in her wheelchair, never actually seeing such a contraption before, let along a human using it. He raised his head and persevered until they'd finally released him. He cleared his throat and waved his hand passively.

"Yes, I am Zim, and Zim is merely here to observe. So carry on with your day, Zim is of no concern."

My palm smacked against my forehead. Tone it down, Zim, tone it down! To my surprise, Tami giggled and grabbed his hand again, giving it a tug so that he was pulled closer to her.

"Well that just makes me more concerned." She smirked.

Before he could pull away, she lifted her hands to his face and started smoothing along his cheeks and lips. Zim widened his eyes in horror, shuddering at the sudden intimate touch of a human on him. Maybe it was the shock, but he stayed perfectly still. I rolled my eyes at Tami's seductive smirk. She'd always been a touchy flirt like her sister. Wait, she was flirting! Oh please tell me she wasn't interested in Zim! Her thumbs traced his lips and over the bump where his nose should have been and lifted her hands up to feel along the lining of his wig. His lack of ears and nose didn't seem to faze her, in fact, it just made her want to search more. Finally, he swatted her away.

"That is more than enough to picture the glory that is Zim." He muttered.

"I can think of a few more things, you know, to get the full picture." She raised her eyebrows suggestively, moving her hands downwards to feel along his chest and abs.

Zim jarred at her words and sudden touch and slowly edged behind away. Bryony poked her sister in the ribs and shook her head mockingly. Bryony smiled apologetically at Zim, who arched his brow and shrugged, giving the aura that he did not much care for the girls actions.

"Excuse her, she doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut." Bryony grinned.

Dib rolled his eyes, "Neither does he."

"Silence Dib-worm, if Zim remembers correctly, it is you who should keep his mouth shut."

"Guys, give it a rest for one day, please?" I asked, giving them a warning look.

"He's an alien you know." He pointed out.

Bryony looked at her watch and groaned, looking at her sister, "Damn it! Twenty-four minutes and forty-two seconds! I owe you a new pair of shades."

We all exchanged glances, "Um, I'm missing something." I offered.

Tami grinned smugly, "Well, from what you've told us, we placed a bet to see how long it would take for him to accuse Zim of being an alien starting from when we were introduced. I said between twenty and twenty-five minutes."

"And I said between twenty-six minutes and thirty minutes." Bryony sighed, "So close."

Dib leant in and raised his eyebrows, "Exactly how much did you tell them about me?"

I blushed and shrugged, looking as innocent as possible, "Pfft, not much really…"

For the next few hours, that's pretty much all we did, just talk. And I was really enjoying myself. It turned out that the reason they were staying with me for just one day was because they were passing through. They were on their way to meet their grandparents in Australia and their flight has to pass over the U.S, so why not stop by. I fully agreed. It was a shame that they could only stay for a few hours before their next flight was arriving. But still, it was so great seeing them again and the fact that they were getting along with my new friends was just great. After a while, Zim sighed.

"Will you stop nudging Zims leg."

Tami shrugged, "What's in it for me if I do?"

He narrowed his eyes and chose to ignore the question, "Why does the female have different colours on her fingers?"

Her hands instinctively rubbed together, "I'm a painter. Still life mostly. I feel the shape with my hands then follow the same movements on the page. I could paint you some time if you like. Oh, Bry, show him those pictures you took on your phone."

Bryony brought up the images and handed them around to all of us, ending with Zim. They were beautiful pieces varying from fruit to flowers to people. She was very good at capturing the shapes and details. She always had been. Zim stared at the images for a moment, before pushing it back to them.

He blinked, "Zim assures you that when his name is feared by all, you shall be called into duty to construct a monument."

"Translation: You're really good." I giggled.

Zim glared at me while Dib just smirked wryly. Gaz peered over the edge of her game slave and eyed the alien with irritation. Zim jumped up onto his chair and pointed at me accusingly.

"LIES!" he yelled.

The twins pointed up at him in the same manner and yelled in return "DENIAL!"

"Owned…" Dib muttered.

"Whiner…" Gaz added.

I sighed, not wanting to be left out, "Okay…"

I figured that it was getting a little boring for everyone just hanging around the house all day, so I made a suggestion to head down to the park. Not to mention that Dib and Zim looked like they were going to lunge at each other at any second if the spent any more time in the same room. Dib helped with pushing Bryony while Tami insisted on being led by Zim, much to his annoyance. When we arrived, Bryony's eyes instantly lit up at the sight of tennis courts. Reading her like a book, I went over to the help booth and rented a few rackets.

Bryony tested out the weight of it in her hands and grinned at me, "Game of two on two?"

"Why not, Dib?" I asked, looking hopeful.

He gulped and looked at the racket in his hands, "Uh, sure, okay."

Within twenty minutes, Dib and I were loosing horribly against Bryony and Gaz. I swung the racket with all my might and was sure it was heading for a brilliant point for us. Then out of nowhere, Bryony skidded on her wheels and swerved, swinging her weapon and knocking the ball back out way. Dib swung his arms aimlessly and let the ball bounce right past him.

"Come on Dib, you're not even trying!" Bryony laughed.

"He is. He just really is that bad." Gaz muttered, rolling her eyes.

He panted for breath and wiped the sweat from his brow. I smirked and tossed him a bottle of water to which he gratefully swallowed. From the sidelines Zim was cackling at the boys hopelessness. Dib glared at him and threw the ball in the air and swung the racket. The ball shot through the air and smacked the alien in the face. I bit my lip to stop myself laughing as Bryony's jaw dropped open.

"That's more like it!" she cried.

"You okay?" Tami asked, lifting Zim back to his feet and smoothing her hands over his arms slowly.

He glared, unnerved by the touch and stepped away, "Zim is fine, Tam-worm."

Gaz arched her brow at Bryony, "You're sister is very… interested in Zim."

"Apparently so, jealous?"

"Why would you even try and disgust me like that?"

"Well, according to Amy the two of you kind of li -"

"Ready for another match?" I called, deliberately cutting her off, "Zim, fancy having a go?"

Zim eyed me sceptically, "Does the Dib and Amy-worm wish to lose their facial features?"

Dib and I exchanged glances, "Not really, no." I answered.

"Then we understand each other."

All too soon, we were walking them back to the airport to see them off. I felt really depressed, it hadn't even been a full day and already they were going. Who knows how long it would be before we saw each other again. We stopped outside of the airport and I span Tami around into a hug. Dib backed off slightly and gave the others signal to follow suit. I appreciated it and made note to thank him later.

"Hey, no fair on the sneak attack!" she grinned, returning the gesture.

I let go and stooped down to embrace Bryony, "Give me a call or something when you land."

"Will do! Wow, you still worry about everything, don't you?" she smirked.

"Naturally."

Tami joined in the group hug and whispered, "Zim seems kinda fit." I snorted and straightened up, she shrugged, "Too bad he's take, Gaz better keep an eye out."

"They're not together!" I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Unlike you and Dib." Bryony arched her brow, raising her voice a little.

"Seriously? Why?" I gaped, unable to believe that they were still on this.

"Because he's as jittery as you and it was funny!" Bryony explained, "It was just a joke, silly!"

"Plus, you two need a push along by the looks of it." Tami added.

"No push, we need no push because there's nothing to push." I stated firmly.

"Sure there's not." They grinned.

I rolled my eyes and chose not to further to conversation and grabbed them both in another hug. Bryony wheeled over and grinned up at the group.

"It's great meeting all of you, you take care of our Amy, okay?"

"Uh, sure, will do." Dib blushed.

"And we'll be back if we hear otherwise." Tami warned playfully.

For a second, Zim looked truly panicked. But he composed himself and waved his hand passively as an act of goodbye. With a final hug goodbye, they were gone. I lingered for a moment, feeling a pang of homesickness for Wales. It was a strange feeling that I'd really never experienced, only once when I first moved here, but that was it. Dib nudged my shoulder playfully.

"Well they were pretty cool." He muttered.

"They were alright." Gaz shrugged, pulling out her G.S.2 and making her way home.

I turned around to face Zim, but he'd already gone. I sighed and faced Dib again, he just rolled his eyes and started leading the way down the road. Following him closely, a smile broke out on my face.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For really making an effort today. They had a great day, I could tell."

He shrugged, "Yeah well… If it's okay to ask, how come you didn't mention their, conditions, before?"

I swallowed, "Because I felt like it wasn't something important that defined who they were."

"I, you know… like that about you."

"What?" I asked, hoping for more of a detailed answer.

"Uh… see you in skool!" he babbled, rushing of in the other direction, blushing slightly.

I shook my head and carried on down the sidewalk. He was a strange boy, but I liked that about him. He was so anxious, worse than me sometimes! He should just relax. Ha, says me… After a short walk, I ended up back at my house and was about to enter when I hesitated. Something in the window of the house next door caught my attention. Curiosity building, I pocketed my keys and hopped over the fence and knocked on the vibrant front door. Zim opened and let me in, almost like he was expecting me to show up. I smiled.

"Hey, you vanished before I could ask. So, did you like them?"

He paused, "They were… curious. Why was the Tam-worm so fascinated by the touch of Zim and stare to blankly? And why does the Bryony-creature reside in such a strange mechanism?"

Here we go again. But I was at least grateful the he had chosen to wait until they were gone before asking me. Maybe he knew it was a sensitive subject? Or maybe Tami really did make him uncomfortable. I wasn't sure, but he had asked me an honest question. So he deserved an honest answer.

"Tami was born with her eyes underdeveloped, so she can't see. She's blind. And Bryony… she was in a car accident a few years ago, so now she can't walk."

Zim swallowed the information and lulled it over in his head. Something clicked inside that I couldn't catch on to. It was a long pause and I was starting to feel uncomfortable. He wrung his hands and turned away to sit down. He looked deflated, sad even. I tilted my head and couldn't decide what to do. Finally, I chose to join him on the sofa and nudge his arm gently.

"You okay?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, but then softened, looking down at the floor, "Zim was not aware that humans could have defects too…"

I blinked in surprise. Part of me wanted to punch him there and then for daring to call them that. But the other part of me was reminding me that it hadn't been that long since he was labelled a defect himself, so his perception of one was unclear. In his mind, anything that was not like everything else was defective. I sighed.

"They're not defects, and neither are you. They're just people who happen to have a certain thing to deal with. Who doesn't? It doesn't make them defective at all."

He looked at me curiously, "So if lack of sight and a major motor skill doesn't make them defective, then what is it that makes Zim one?"

I didn't wait for an invite or worry about his reaction, I draped an arm over his shoulder and took his hand.

"You are not a defect. There's no such thing as a defective person."

He brushed me away and glared at me, "How can a human see things in such a way? The ignorance and naivety of it!"

"I'm not ignorant and I'm not naïve." I retorted, "I'm just telling you how I see it. They accepted their conditions and it made them stronger. Look at Bryony, she can't move a muscle from her hips own and yet she's training for tennis competitions so that she can bring home gold one day. And Tami, she's never seen a shade of colour in her life, yet she can paint things more realistically than is they were photos! So don't you dare tell me that they're defects. And don't you even think about calling yourself one either. I don't want to hear it and I refuse to believe it."

He stared at me while I vented at him. My words sunk in and he tried to process them carefully. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, it was very rare that I could. But for some reason, he actually smiled at me. Not with appreciation or apology, or even his usual wry smile. It was just a smile.

"The Amy-worm is…" he faltered, "strange."

"Yeah, maybe I am."

Feeling that I'd made my point, I leaned in for a weak attempt at a comforting hug and got to my feet. Just as I was about to walk through the door, his voiced stopped me.

"Amy."

I jolted. He never called me by my name, just my name. Normally there was some snide comment attached, like when he referred to Dib. Not this time. I didn't turn around, I just waited expectantly for him to find his words.

"So, Zim doesn't understand. What is a defect?"

I allowed myself a small smile and gave him a simple answer that I figured summed up my opinion. Without turning around, I just shrugged.

"A defect… is a myth."

A/N:

I'd like to point out that this subject is very serious and isn't addressed enough. You hear so much about bad things happening and how it affects people negatively, but barely anyone mentions how people can gain something from it and achieve anything they want. Bryony is based on a male friend of mine who shares a similar condition and is well on the way to recovery. Tami is based on a teacher I had in school who taught art who got me a B graded overall. I tried to handle this subject as delicately as possible and I hope I did a good job, if not, I'm deeply sorry.