Disclaimer: I don't own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody or The Suite Life on Deck.

Chapter 13: Unraveled

Zack slammed the door to his cabin, letting out a heavy sigh as he dropped his backpack randomly and collapsed on his stomach onto his bed. Quickly, he grabbed his pillow and buried his face in it, taking deep breaths to combat the rising tears. As he lay there, his mind unwillingly brought him back to the reason for his distress.

In class, they had finally wrapped up the godforsaken twin unit, which Zack knew should've made him happy. True, the weeks they'd spent learning about what was probably the most familiar and relevant topic to Zack out of everything in the world had been tedious. It had taken every ounce of strength he had to show up for school every day and remain emotionless enough to not attract suspicion. So in a way, he was glad for the torture to have finally ended.

But on the other hand, he wasn't completely sure he had succeeded in his quest, and that honestly terrified him. He had been so surprised on the first day that he accidentally let some of his knowledge (and worse, emotion) break through. And ever since that had happened, all his friends and even his girlfriend had been acting strange around him, almost seemingly avoiding him and making excuses to escape his company. Maya, he had noticed, had especially been walking on glass around him, as if afraid that he would break if she said the wrong thing. Zack knew it was highly unlikely that they would just be able to figure out his secret, but his friends' treatment towards him aroused a deep sense of terror and brought back memories that he'd spent five years running from.

At this thought, Zack involuntarily whimpered and buried his face deeper into the pillow as his twin's face flashed through his mind's eye.

Losing Cody had undoubtedly been the worst thing that had ever happened to Zack. While he loved his mom and all his friends at the Tipton, Cody was of course different. He had been Zack's constant throughout their lives; in some cases the only one. When Zack was born, Cody had been there (even if fifteen minutes later). Cody had been there when their parents began to fight, and through the divorce and that awful court case. He remained at Zack's side through their transition to Boston and the Tipton, the constant light shining even through the black of night. Whenever he needed a partner in crime, homework help, or even a shoulder to cry on, Zack had known that he could always rely on his younger twin.

Looking back on that now, Zack sometimes wished that that hadn't been the case. One of the first things that he had learned in his life was that he could always rely on Cody. So, that premise had rooted itself into Zack's very personality, defining who he was as much as his interests did. While the two of them were growing up, he had naturally become more daring, more reckless, because he knew Cody would always be there to save him if he went too far.

Maybe under any other circumstance, Zack would've found the irony funny.

There was a saying that Zack's mother was fond of reciting whenever he complained about having to live in a one-bedroom suite, or not being able to afford the things he wanted. It was, "The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence". He knew that she meant it only referring to his excessive monetary greed. Not like this. Never like this.

Yet for some reason, five years ago, after the fog of panic cleared his head and Zack was able to fully comprehend that his twin brother was lying comatose and could die at any moment, that was the first thing his mind jumped to.

That had hurt enough. But it was only when he watched his brother's heart stop (the second time) that Zack's world really came crashing down on him. Because up until that moment, he had still mostly expected that Cody would wake up and they could go back home to the Tipton and put this whole thing behind them. After all, Cody had always been Zack's tether. He had grown too trusting; too good at ignoring the fact that someday, it would inevitably snap.

He knew that was why he had fallen so far when it finally did, and why it had taken so long for him to even begin some semblance of recovery. But also because, no matter how many times anyone told him otherwise, Zack knew that the whole thing was all his fault.

Cody may have been Zack's safety net, but the feeling was mutual. It was one of the reasons that the two of them could be so close yet so different. They had grown to fill the others' holes, to catch them when they fell. They had grown to need each other, so that they couldn't really be complete alone. So that meant that each of them had to protect the other. And for twelve years they had, and everything had been in perfect balance. But then Zack had slipped up; he was ignorant and angry and stubborn and the whole thing had flipped and come crashing down. And maybe no one had seen the premises, but everyone had seen their results.

That was one reason why Zack loved the SS Tipton. Here, only London and Mr. Moseby had known Cody, and how Zack had been when his twin was still alive. So he had people who understood his situation when he needed it (although so far, he had never gone to them when he was missing Cody), but most of his friends were unaware of his past and able to look at him as more than half of a broken set.

Most of the time, he was thankful for this opportunity; thankful to have the chance to put the past behind him and start over. But the twin unit and especially his friends' reactions to his slip-up had wrought the painful reminder that no matter what, he could never let go of Cody's memories and their grip on him. He couldn't bear to talk about his lost brother, yet at the same time he knew that he would never have a true relationship with his friends and Maya while hiding such a big secret.

Zack bit back a sob, wringing his pillow in his hands. Why had this happened? What had he done to deserve this? Well… he knew why Cody had died. It was because Zack had failed. He let his selfishness blind him and let him abandon Cody.

Desperately, the blond-haired teen lifted his head, fixing his gaze on the porthole as if it was a portal to the past. If he could, Zack would go back in less than a heartbeat. And he knew that he would do whatever it took- whatever it took- to prevent this from happening.

Because Zack Martin knew better than anyone that the grass truly always was greener on the other side of the fence.

When he thought about it, euphoria wasn't an emotion that Mr. Moseby felt often. But because of his thinking about it, he knew there was no other way to describe how he was currently feeling.

The manager almost sprinted from the ship's lobby to the boys' hallway as soon as his shift ended. He had wanted to go earlier in the day (actually, he had wanted to go last night), but for the sake of being professional, he restrained himself. But professionalism was not enough to wipe the huge smile off his face as he crossed the ship, no matter how many strange looks he received.

Upon reaching his destination, the manager paused for a moment to collect himself, but his hand, reaching out to knock, was stopped by the sound of sobbing barely discernible from inside the cabin. He didn't even have to think to know what was wrong.

As always, hearing Zack crying over his lost brother caused a deep twinge of guilt and pain in Mr. Moseby's gut. Despite all claims to the contrary, he considered the teen (and his brother) almost like a son, and hated to see him so hurt. Plus, the manager was one of only two people onboard who had ever actually interacted with both Zack and Cody, so he could better understand the magnitude of Zack's pain.

But unlike every other time this situation had repeated itself, when he heard Zack's tears, Mr. Moseby felt a glimmer of hope. For even though he didn't yet know about the inevitable side effects and drawbacks, he knew their future was about to get a whole lot brighter.

For the sake of politeness, the manager stifled the happiness lacing his voice as he knocked on the door and called to its resident. Zack commanded him to enter after several seconds of hesitation.

Mr. Moseby pushed back the door and entered, unsurprised to see Zack lying face down on his bed with his head buried into a pillow, save one eye, which was glaring at him murderously. The manager ignored this fact as he spoke up.

"Zack, I need you to come with me. There's something I want to show you."

The clouded blue-gray eye narrowed. "What's that?" he asked, in a voice attempting to be steady.

The older man had to bite back a smile, despite his companion's behavior being at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from happy. "Some paperwork for a new student. He'd be sharing your room if he comes here."

That was finally sufficient to get Zack to remove his face from the pillow, even if only so he was able to glare more fully. "What happened to only accepting students at the end of the year? It's January now; why would he bother coming for just the second semester?"

Mr. Moseby had to continue fighting his grin, reminding himself that Zack wouldn't understand yet, and would take his smile out of context. Finally, he managed, "This is a bit of a… outstanding circumstance. If you come see the paperwork, I'm sure you'll understand."

Zack's eyes only narrowed further in response and he eyed Mr. Moseby silently for several minutes. But since he had known the boy since he was twelve, the manager knew that he was about to give in. He remained silent and stoic until Zack heaved a sigh, rubbed his eyes, and pushed himself off the bed.

"Fine," he said, determined even now to get the last word. "But it'd better be worth it."

This was finally enough to break free the smile onto Mr. Moseby's face. He opened the door and led Zack out of his cabin, facing forward to hide the grin.

"It will be. Trust me."

Bailey was extremely frustrated. She felt almost as if the universe was punishing her for trying to do the right thing, and that was a circumstance that, she had found, did not sit well with her.

Okay, she supposed it had only been two days, and weekdays at that. But still, she felt that the powers that be (if such things existed) had decided that they didn't want her and Maya to talk to Zack. It seemed like they either had insane piles of homework, or Zack was working, or they simply were unable to find him. Granted, these things had only happened once each. But after only two days, they felt like a lot.

That was why, as soon as the last bell rang ending school that day, the two girls exchanged brief confirmatory looks before rushing to their respective cabins to stow away their things. Maya had supplied that Zack didn't have work that night, so they planned to take the opportunity to go speak with him. Actually, he hadn't worked the previous night either, and they would've preferred to have done it then, for that had been the day they finally ended the twin unit. But just as Bailey and Maya had approached his cabin to talk with Zack, they spotted him leaving it with Mr. Moseby. So they resolved to try again today, only sooner.

The girls rushed over to the boys' deck as quickly as they could, only pausing once they were outside of Zack's cabin. After a nod from Bailey, Maya knocked on the door, calling, "Zack? It's me and Bailey. There's something we want to talk to you about."

They waited for a minute, but Zack didn't come open the door, or shout that they could come in. Finally, Maya opened the door and peeked inside, scanning the cabin's interior.

"He's not here," she determined quickly, closing the door and looking to Bailey. "That's strange. I don't know where he could be."

Thinking back, it didn't take Bailey long to reach a conclusion. "Something tells me he's with Mr. Moseby," she responded, already heading off in the direction of the lobby. After a second to register her words, Maya followed.

When the two girls burst through the doors of the lobby though, they were dismayed to see that neither the manager nor their friend were anywhere in sight. Maya went up to the employee currently manning the check-in desk to inquire about Mr. Moseby's location, while Bailey began wandering through the halls surrounding the lobby, searching for anything that could lead them to the missing pair.

They had no luck for a while, though. Maya had returned without news and the two were walking along the left side of the ship when Bailey finally grew frustrated enough to angrily collapse against the railing. Maya joined her but didn't speak, the two of them simply staring out to sea as they both wracked their brains to come up with a plausible location they hadn't yet searched.

Luckily, after only a few minutes of this, Bailey heard the sound of shouting coming from below her feet and out of curiosity leaned farther over the railing to catch sight of the deck below them. Maya joined her a second later, stretching on her tiptoes to crane even farther over than Bailey.

The sound of voices gradually grew louder and more familiar, until Maya was finally able to see their speakers and gasped, quickly pulling back. Wordlessly, she grabbed Bailey by the wrist and began to pull her towards the stairs. She followed without protest, quickening her stride to match her friend's, for she too had recognized Zack and Mr. Mosebys' voices.

Bailey and Maya reached the pair as they were leaving the outdoor walkway. They were facing the opposite direction, so the girls snuck behind a door and began following at a distance, in case their presence would affect the other two's actions.

Mr. Moseby led Zack over to a hallway that was tucked into a corner of the deck. There was no one else around, so Bailey was immediately curious as to what was going on. It heightened when she caught sight of Zack's face as he slipped through the door Mr. Moseby had opened for him. It was pale- the palest Bailey had ever seen, even during the height of the twin unit- and his blue-gray eyes were red and sparkling with tears. She also noticed with a start the way his body was trembling; it was so bad that he was barely able to grip the doorknob.

Of course, Maya noticed all this too, and Bailey heard her gasp as Mr. Moseby closed the door behind him and Zack. Bailey couldn't help but shoot her friend a glare due to the extreme precariousness of their situation, but relented when Maya glared right back. She had been so focused on how she felt about Cody and the situation they had found themselves in that she sometimes lost touch with how this whole experience would probably be harder for Maya, as Zack's girlfriend.

Zack and Mr. Moseby had closed the door behind them, but luckily for Bailey and Maya, it was probably one of the only ones on the ship with a window cut near the top. The girls quickly ran over and pressed their faces to the glass, hoping that the two on the other side were too focused on whatever they were doing to pay attention to what was behind them.

They were facing each other just inside the door, Zack with his back to it, and Mr. Moseby just a few feet in front of him. The manager's face was solemn, but his eyes held a strange mixture of happiness and sadness that Bailey didn't understand. He appeared to be explaining something to the teenager, for the girls could hear the muffled sounds of speaking, but the door prevented individual words from reaching their ears.

The manager's talk went on for several minutes, and Bailey gradually grew more frustrated by their inability to hear. Maya noticed this and placed a hand firmly over her wrist in warning, but she still grew angered to the point where she was about to stomp in and demand that Mr. Moseby explain what he was doing. Was he explaining to Zack about the videos? That would certainly explain why their friend was crying… but not why Mr. Moseby looked happy. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Finally, the manager stopped talking, instead looking at Zack expectantly. After a considerable pause, the blond teen gave a shaky nod, and Mr. Moseby turned and stalked down the hallway, opening a side door and disappearing into it.

Bailey and Maya could do nothing more than stare bewildered, desperate for an explanation. "I don't understand," Maya complained rhetorically, pulling slightly back from the window, even if she didn't remove her eyes from Zack. "What are they-" she abruptly cut herself off, brown eyes growing wide and jaw slackening. Bailey whirled around to look again through the window, for she had turned her gaze to her friend when she spoke. When the blonde girl saw what had elicited her friend's reaction, she gasped, involuntarily bringing a hand to cover her mouth as her knees slightly buckled. "W-what?"

Down at the other end of the hall, Mr. Moseby had reemerged from the room. But he wasn't alone this time. Accompanying him was a teenaged boy about their age, with dirty blond hair and sharp blue-gray eyes. In fact, aside from the long, thin scar running down his left cheek and the pair of crutches he leaned heavily against, he was a splitting image of Zack.

Both Bailey and Maya immediately knew who he was, even if they had never seen him before. But how did this make any sense? They knew this boy; they had seen what happened to him on video. How could he possibly be here?

For several minutes, Zack was just as shocked as the girls, despite the fact that Bailey assumed he had to have at least known something about the situation. He stood rooted in place except for his trembling, while from the other end of the hall, the five-year-old ghost stood, shooting him an impossibly soft and sweet smile.

Time remained frozen for the longest time as Bailey's mind remained stuck in an endless loop of How?. Suddenly, the trance was shattered as Zack let out a desperate cry and began to sprint down the hall. Cody quickly threw aside his crutches and hobbled on clearly damaged legs, meeting Zack midway. The twins wrapped their arms around each other and sank to the ground as Bailey finally understood the look in Mr. Moseby's eyes. Without taking her eyes off her friend and his brother, she reached out for Maya's hand and squeezed it tightly.

It was impossible to say how long the five stayed this way, unable to do anything but stare on as their world was flipped on end yet again.

Hey everyone! Sorry for the again sporadic update; I've been super busy with AP testing (I had my first one today, actually...) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! We're finally getting some answers! Don't worry; I'll explain how Cody's alive in the next chapter, then there'll probably be one more after that. Thanks for reading!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed Chapter 12!

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