Chapter 13
And at that moment, I did something that would have made me want to hurl six years ago. I leaned down to his face, removed my hands from his wrists, turned him towards me, and pressed my lips to his…
The kiss was everything I heard a good kiss should be. My lips tingled, my stomach turned, in a good way, and everything just felt perfect, his lips were unexpectedly soft against mine and at that moment the world sort of disappeared. All I was aware of was the feel of his lips against mine and the beeping of the monitors and the crashes of GIR upstairs melted away. I expected Zim to pull away or shove me off but instead he did…nothing. It only lasted about seven seconds but it was long enough for me to feel that his lips were cool and smooth and I smiled slightly.
I pulled away and saw that he was staring at me stunned and seemingly unable to move. His face had turned a shade darker and at the sight my own cheeks heated up. I suddenly became aware of not only my own actions but my position at the moment and Zim's as well.
"Dib…" he said softly and I looked at him. He had his head turned slightly and didn't look me in the eyes. He seemed, almost sad but tired at the same time.
"Uh, yeah? " I asked.
"Can you please get off of me you're squishing my squeedly spooch," he mumbled and I turned a deeper shade of red.
I climbed off of him and stood up; he rose soon after and walked to the table he had been working at. He gripped the sides of it and tapped his fingers lightly with his back turned to me. I waited, hardly breathing, for the rejection that I knew was to come.
"Why have you come here Dib?" he asked and I jumped a bit. I was surprised that he hadn't said a word about the kiss but still happy I wasn't rejected but at the same time slightly disappointed…I guess he was just going to act as if it never happened.
"I came to tell you something and to check on you…" I said bluffing slightly at the last part. Zim gripped the table tighter.
"Save it Dib, nothing you say is of importance anymore. Like I said this world is going to be destroyed and there is nothing you can do to stop it. I…I'm sorry…I have to avenge her, I have to prove them wrong. If you would like, you can take my voot cruiser, and with your family go out into space, however you would have to stay away from the massive. And if you do take the offer I would ask if you could take GIR with you," he said seriously and the offer surprised me. He was so full of surprises today.
Offering to help me survive…but still saying he would destroy my home. It was really strange really. I mean why would you actually tell a person that you were going to destroy all they care about but still offer them a chance to leave. Then I realized what else he had said.
"Wait, who are you trying to prove wrong…and who are you trying to avenge Zim?" I asked and he turned to me the blue liquid that I now recognized as Irken tears again streamed down his face leaving a trail on his light green skin.
"You and Gin were right, obviously. I am a defect, and a failure to my empire. I should be dead…I don't belong anywhere. No one wants me around, I am completely worthless…there really is no point in me still living, like you said, it would better for everyone if I had died out in space. Especially Gin, none of these bad things would have happened to her if I hadn't even been created. Now she's one of those mindless Irken emotionless shells…she never wanted to become one of those and now…now she has and it's all my fault," he cried once again collapsing to his knees, sobbing so hard that speaking would be impossible.
I walked over to his side carefully and bent down to his level. He looked up at me before lunging at me quickly. I flinched expecting to feel pain from some sort of attack but instead the Irken was clinging to my shirt like a life preserver tears soaking into my chest.
"I'm sorry for what I said to you Dib. It was out of line and I know that…I'm so sorry I came and messed up your life, I'm sorry I messed up everyone's lives…but especially yours and Gin's," he cried into my shirt and I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed circles into his back.
"Zim don't be sorry, it's not your fault okay. I'm sorry for what I said to you a few nights ago…it was also out of line. I was supposed to help you, while Gin was away not hurt you. I guess I messed that up big time huh? Heh…And as I was trying to tell you before you cut me off, you didn't ruin our lives, and…Gin is still here," I said and he shot up faster than I thought possible.
"What?" he asked and I stood up helping him up with me.
"I got this note, and I think she's okay and still on earth…either that or it's a trap, I'm hoping that it's the first one," I said pulling out the note. Zim stared at it with wide eyes before taking it from my hands.
I saw his head move slightly as he read over it. His antennae started twitching slightly and smiled at them slightly. When he was finished with the letter he looked back up at me.
"Where and when did you get this?" he asked.
"In the dirt where Gin's old house used to be, I was walking by there just right now and found it. I think it mean's she's still here however I don't know why she told me about her favorite songs though," I said and he rolled his eyes.
"They are obviously messages, she is trying to tell us something. It sounds as though something is keeping her from writing the complete truth to us…I got a message when she first left that had the same sort of confusing clue talk. It said watch out for the red and nothing else after that…" he said and stood there thinking for a few seconds. He nodded to himself and strode over to his computer before beginning to type things in. I figured he was doing something important so I stood back behind him and watched silently, however my jaw dropped when I saw YouTube appear on the screen.
"Zim what are you doing? This is not the time to watch viral videos on YouTube!" I said in disbelief and I saw him shake his head. He was most likely rolling his eyes at me and I scowled at him. But then I noticed the song he put on. It was Sleeping With Sirens, the same band form Gin's note, the song Let's Cheers to This. Clever space-boy I will give you that one.
"Oh…never mind carry on," I muttered and heard him scoff.
He played the song, and we listened intently. Then we listened again, and watched the lyrics eyes flashing across the screen. When the song was finished I looked to Zim who was staring down at his hands on the keyboard.
He then typed in some more words and took us to a separate website for lyrics only. That was when I could read them out loud.
"I've Got The Whole
World In Front Of Me
I'm Not Letting Go 'Til I Say
This Is My Life
I've Got It All
Right In Front Of Me
I Won't Let It Go
There's No Way
This Is Our Time
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
I'm Losing Control
My Head Is Alright
I Can't Shake The Thought
Of Me Losing My Mind
Been Awake For Three Days
Won't Sleep 'Til I've Done
All It Is I'm Living For
Now I Will Show You
All That I'm Made Of
This Is My Life
I've Got The Whole
World In Front Of Me
I'm Not Letting Go 'Til I Say
This Is My Life
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
I Made Up My Mind
This Time I, Know, Now
It All Comes Down To This
This Is Our Time
This Is Our Time
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
For All Of The
Times I Spent Waiting
For All Of The
Long Nights Alone
I Finally Know
What It Means To
Have Something
I Can Call My Own
The Show Must Go On
So We'll Show You
All That We're Made Of
This Is My Life
I've Got The Whole
World In Front Of Me
I'm Not Letting Go 'Til I Say
This Is My Life
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
I Made Up My Mind
This Time I, Know, Now
It All Comes Down To This
This Is Our Time
This Is Our Time
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
Your Soul Is Down
I'll Break The Dawn
I Took The Stage
And Now We're
Taking Back Tonight
I Made Up My Mind
This Is My Life
This Is My Life
I've Got The Whole
World In Front Of Me
I'm Not Letting Go 'Til I Say
This Is My Life
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
I Made Up My Mind
This Time I, Know, Now
It All Comes Down To This
This Is Our Time
This Is Our Time
Don't Slip Away
Don't Slip Away
I Made Up My Mind,
This Is My Life," I read out loud taking in every line and thinking about them hard.
"Alright, I understand what she is trying to tell us," Zim said and I turned to look at him slightly surprised at his ability to decode the song so quickly.
"What is she saying?" I asked still analyzing the song.
"She is still alive, obviously however she is losing herself. She is trying to fight whatever force is against her in order to stay with us and not lose what is hers," he said simply and I smacked myself mentally for not realizing it earlier.
"Of course Zim you're a genius!" I said throwing my arms in the air.
"Yes, yes Dib stink you just stated the obvious," he said with a roll of his eyes and I smiled.
"Of course heh, but now we need to hear the other song as well," I told him and he nodded before finding the other song.
"Hm…who are you now?" I said out loud and started reading again.
"Don't wake me up if I'm sleeping this life away
Tell me that I'll never be good enough
Sometimes it hurts to think it could really be that way
It won't be that way
I'm tired and I'm lost
I don't wanna be found
I put my heart and my soul
And strength in this now
So forgive me 'cause I won't forget that
Yeah, this world has changed me…" I didn't read it out loud this time but I understood the lyrics. I don't really think this song is a clue…nor do I think it was meant for me.
"Uh…Zim, I-," he cut me off.
"GIR. Would you please show the Dib out of the lab…make him waffles or something," he commanded into a device on his wrist. I heard a high-pitched scream in reply and next thing I knew GIR had shown up and whisked me away into the living room with his little rocket feet. He then took me to a table and had me sit down while he walked off and made me some waffles.
"So GIR…do you know what that was all about?" I asked and he turned to look at me with blank eyes well…as blank as they could get seeing as he was a robot.
"You know…Zim kicking me out of the lab so suddenly," I said and he continued to stare.
"Uh…nope," he finally replied and I rolled my eyes before letting my head hit the table and just keeping it there.
A few moments passed and I heard GIR singing the word doom repetitively before there was a clunk. I opened my eyes and saw a plate with a stack of pancakes in front of me. GIR stood next to me smiling as I looked back and forth between him and the pile of food.
"What's in these waffles GIR?" I asked slowly remembering the time I watched Zim ingest soapy-waffles, and hoping there was no soap or forks in them.
"THERE'S WAFFLE IN EM!" he yelled will glee. I sighed in relief and nodded before picking up a fork and tasting one. It was delicious, warm and buttery, the sticky syrup sliding down my throat. I had forgotten the joy a simple waffle could bring to me, with so much chaos in the past few weeks. Heh to think, it has only been a few weeks since all of this started and I have grown so incredibly attached to those two aliens. One of whom I had only known for a few days but…she was like the only person who had ever been nice to me, other than Tak that is but…we all know how that went.
I thought back to that last song that we had listened to in the lab…I had read the lyrics quickly and soon understood their meaning. The song was for Zim, well possibly for both of them as a sort of comfort I think. They had both come to this world as outcasts, with absolutely nothing whether they knew it or not at the time. And both of them had lost who they were, they were Irkens but they were defects. The song was saying that this world had changed them, and it had especially Zim. So I think the message she was trying to say was they may have lost sight of who they were but they still had to fight for what they had as little as that may have been. She was saying, "don't give up."
And she was saying that, "sometimes you have to fall before you fly." This was a lyric in the song. It was a good message, and inspiring one, but the important thing was…would Zim listen?
I hadn't realized how long I had been thinking about it all before I heard Zim coming back upstairs through the toilet.
I turned and looked at him, expecting to see a frown or a scowl but instead I saw a small crooked smile. He nodded to me and sat down at the table next to me and now that he was closer I could see he had small shiny tracks on his face. He had been crying…
"Alright Dib, show me where you found this note," he said holding up the paper I had found. I stood up and we left the house, him slipping his disguise on as we walked.
I pointed to the pile of dirt where Gin's house used to be and he stepped over to it. Picking up something he held his hand down for a moment before turning around and staring at me.
"Well…she's certainly still on earth…," is all he said.
Authors Note: I am so sorry for taking so long to write. I got grounded for a while and after that I got lazy and didn't get back to writing. So it is my fault sorry for that, I am working on the very next chapter right after I post this. This was just so you would have something to read. So yeah sorry if anyone seems a little OOC but they have to work together. And also, sorry about the awkward Lyrics in there but I didn't know how else to throw that in there. The songs just sort of go along with their lives I had to use them so…yeah. Comments are appreciated.