Disclaimer: The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and The Suite Life on Deck don't belong to me, no matter how much I wish they did.

Chapter 3: Letting Go

The stars twinkled like cut diamonds, and the waves lazily lapped against the side of the ship, piercing the otherwise silent night. Bailey and Maya, however, were unaware of it as they paced the corridors of the ship ten minutes before curfew, discussing the video they had just seen.

"I can't believe it. I seriously can't believe it," Maya was saying to her blonde friend. "Zack has a twin. Why didn't he tell me?" It was obvious that she was more than a little bit upset.

Bailey shrugged her shoulders, feeling frustrated. "I know. Why won't he talk about him? And, more importantly, why isn't Cody at Seven Seas High? He and Zack are twins, so it's not like he's too old or young. And, if he's the smarter one like it said on the video, then I don't see how he wouldn't be accepted."

Maya exhaled loudly. "I don't know," she said. The two girls then walked in silence for a few minutes, climbing the stairs to the Sky Deck.

The stars were even brighter up here. Maya took a moment to gape at the sheer number of them. Living in New York, she had only ever seen a few stars at a time, due to all the lights. She opened her mouth to comment to Bailey, but said girl suddenly put a hand over Maya's mouth and dragged her behind the juice bar.

Maya pried Bailey's hand off of her mouth, glaring at her. "What the heck?!" she whisper-shouted.

Bailey glared right back. "Shhh!" she said, emphasizing the command by placing a finger over her lips.

Curious now, Maya whispered "What?"

"Be quiet," Bailey whispered. "Don't you hear it?

Maya stopped talking and listened. At first, there was nothing, then a single, tortured sob pierced the night. It was followed by loud gut-wrenching crying, which continued for a while, subsided for a bit, before starting up again.

The girls exchanged curious looks before tiptoeing out from behind the bar, passing around the back of the hot tub, and finally crouching down behind the staircase.

Looking towards the railing, they could make out a figure. The person was clinging onto the rail, as if it was the only thing keeping them from crumpling to the floor. His- they could tell it was a he because of the short hair- quick, agonizing sobs reminded the girls of a tortured animal, and Maya actually checked to make sure he didn't have any blood or bruises. When she failed to see any, she realized that she was right- that the boy was tortured. But, it wasn't of the body, like she had thought. It was of the mind.

She was staring at him, when he pitched his head back, a flash of blond hair briefly illuminating in the dim moonlight.

Maya squinted closer. Blond hair, a thin frame, fair skin… she quietly gasped.

Predictably, Bailey whirled around to face her. "Be quiet!" she whispered angrily.

Maya pointed towards the person. "Bailey," she said under her breath. "It's Zack!"

Bailey didn't look convinced. "What?" she whispered.

Maya took a deep breath. "I'm sure it's him. Look, he has blond hair and he's the same height as Zack!"

Bailey sighed. "Maya, I doubt that it's Zack. Why would he be out of bed this late? Plus-"

She was suddenly cut off by Maya clamping a hand over her mouth, gesturing with her head towards the juice bar, where the sound of footsteps was slowly growing louder. Bailey nodded and Maya released her, the two of them shrinking further into the shadows, in case the new arrival was Mr. Moseby or Kirby doing their nightly check for students out after curfew.

As the new person approached the boy at the rail, however, they could see that it was neither the manager nor his head security guard, but a girl with dark brown hair, wearing pink pajamas.

The girl stopped next to the boy, and the two of them stared at the water for a while in silence, the boy's crying finally terminated.

"Zack?" the girl finally asked. Maya and Bailey immediately recognized her as London. At her words, Maya shot Bailey a victorious look, pleased at recognizing Zack. Bailey, though, was confused at why Zack was out on the Sky Deck after curfew, drowning in his own tears.

They turned their attention back to Zack and London. The brunette heiress was now staring at Zack, waiting for him to acknowledge her.

He gulped, swallowing a sob, then choked out "W-what?" in the weakest voice Maya had ever heard. It almost brought tears to her eyes to see her boyfriend in so much pain.

London touched Zack's shoulder hesitantly, as if waiting for an explosion. "Are you okay?" she asked. The blonde turned to look at her. She couldn't see his face, but she assumed that Zack was glaring at London; by the way she removed her hand from his shoulder and looked down guiltily.

After a second, she asked, "Cody?"

Zack sniffled. "Duh," he said.

Maya looked at Bailey. "Cody?" she whispered. "Like Zack's brother Cody?"

Bailey shrugged, then returned her attention to their friends. Maya did the same.

London was still staring at her hands. "Zack…" she said, trailing off. She then looked up, directly at the blonde boy. "Zack," she said again, her voice now determined. "I know this is the last thing you want to hear, and I also don't want to say it, but it's true."

Zack looked up, wiping his nose, giving London the courage to continue.

"Zack," she said softly. "You need to forget about Cody."

Zack whipped his head back up to look at her, his eyes flashing dangerously, which Maya could spot even from her hiding spot.

"What?!" Zack demanded, his voice low and dangerous.

London winced, but didn't back down. "You need to forget about Cody," she repeated.

Zack's body stiffened. "You did not just say that," he said in the same voice. "Tell me that you didn't say that."

London continued looking at him, and raised her hand to his shoulder once again. "Zack…"

He yanked his shoulder away from her hand, and took a step back. "No," he said. "No. I will not. He wouldn't want me to."

London sighed. "Zack, it's been five years. Cody may not want you to forget him, but he wouldn't want you to live like this. You still have your nightmare practically every night, and I'm pretty sure that there isn't a day where you don't think about him."

Maya was bewildered. His nightmare? she thought. Is that what Marcus was talking about? And what does she mean "forget about him"?

"So?!" Zack yelled, his voice now high and full of the angry passion Maya had heard in class earlier.

"So," London answered, her voice raised as well. "You need to move on! Let go! Cody's gone, Zack! You're never going to see him again!"

As soon as these words left the heiress's mouth, Zack staggered backwards, as if pushed. He started shaking his head, saying "No," so quietly it was almost inaudible.

"No," he repeated, now in a hoarse whisper. "You're wrong." He gripped the rail so hard his knuckles turned white. Maya could see the quiver in his jaw, betraying the tears that were sure to come. "You're wrong."

London touched his shoulder, and this time, he didn't pull away.

"Just think about it," she said softly. "I'm going back to bed."

She walked away. Bailey and Maya watched her go, but Zack stood still, his hands still gripping the railing, looking out at the sea, although Maya had a feeling that he wasn't really seeing it.

"I won't, Cody," he said suddenly, in the same quiet whisper. "I won't let go. I promise."

The dam then broke, and the blonde boy let out a strangled cry, then tears started streaming rapidly down his face. Bailey nudged Maya's arm.

Maya turned to look at her. What? she mouthed.

Let's get back to our cabins. Bailey mouthed back. We don't want to get caught.

Maya nodded, and the duo tiptoed back to the girls' cabins, leaving Zack alone in his little world of misery.

They reached Bailey and London's shared cabin first, and Bailey slipped in with a half-hearted wave and a quiet "'Night". Neither of them felt particularly enthusiastic after what they had just witnessed.

When Maya reached her cabin, she entered uncaringly, grateful that her roommate, Addison, was away for the week, visiting family.

She changed into her pajamas, and laid in bed, trying to figure out what Zack and London were talking about, but it was nearly impossible, since she was fighting off sleep.

Her last thought was that, judging by the way London was talking; something terrible had to have happened to Zack's mystery twin.

And Chapter 3 is up! I told you it wouldn't be too long, didn't I? Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and sorry that it was a bit on the short side. I was going to make it longer, but I thought this was a good place to end. But, the next few chapters will be more intense and you'll find out more about what happened to Cody. I'm almost done with chapter 4- that one's pretty short also- so expect another reletivly short update. Also, to anyone who follows Trouble in Hawaii or Songs & Secrets, those two stories are not on haitus, but I'm kinda stuck on ideas for now (is that consitered haitus?), so I probably won't be updating for a little while. Sorry.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 2!

WoNdY Alice

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Thank you all so much! You're all beyond awesome!