A/N: Hello Jimmy Neutron fandom! This is kinda my love letter to all of you; I remember watching the Jimmy Neutron movie as a kid and loving it (mind you I'm a Gen Z'er so it was already old back then) but I had NO IDEA there was a show! I literally just found out about it at the beginning of 2022 and I binged the whole thing in like, 3 weeks. The show was obviously amazing, but when I got to Stranded it literally changed my life, and that's why the fanfic you're reading now exists. However, discovering the fandom was truly the best part; it's since become my favorite fandom of all time. It may be small and not receive as much attention as it used to back in the day, but it is the most brilliant, creative, engaging fandom I've ever been a part of (and that's across all platforms!)

There are a several amazing authors on this site who inspired me to write a JN piece of my own, so thank you AntiqueDreams, Katia11, jcforever19, CherryDarlingxo, and lexaleigh (just to name a few) for your incredible stories that I have since read over and over (never gonna get over the ending of TOSOT, Mara!)

I didn't start watching The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius thinking I was going to get an OTP out of it, but here we are. I started writing this series with the hopes of getting to know both Jimmy and Cindy better, and following their complex relationship wherever it may go. I've read some fantastic stories about them since being introduced to the fandom, but I was finally ready to do my own take on these two whom I have grown to love so much. And this is the result. I hope you enjoy! Any and all feedback on this series is appreciated. And again, thank you.

The answer was both.

Australia is both a country and a continent. Of course she knew that; she wasn't riding the heels of a boy genius by sheer luck or magic.

Still, Cindy couldn't help the flutter in her heart when Jimmy suggested they take the hover car to go check it out. They didn't need to—any geography textbook or teacher in their school could tell them they were both right. But that had never been enough for them. And now that they knew what they became when nobody was watching, she wasn't sure being right still held the same gravity. Personal victories had taken on a whole new meaning.

She couldn't let onto this, though, so she griped in his ear the whole way to the lab, then fought him for the driver's seat when he summoned the hover car. He let her have it. Did that mean something different now, too?

Girl, relax. You can't second-guess every little thing he does, a voice in her head chided. It sounded an awful lot like Libby.

Despite her best friend's wisdom echoing around in her mind, Cindy was hard-pressed to ignore the shameless bliss that clouded her thoughts like a fog whenever she remembered the day they had spent on that island—their island—and how it had felt like the whole world was at their fingertips. Like anything was possible, even…even them being a them. Something inconceivable on all other terrains was in her grasp on those shores. She'd never let herself hope for it back home; what were she and Neutron good for besides incessant insult battles and their notorious academic rivalry?

That didn't mean she hadn't thought about it. A lot. Loathe as she was to admit it, a part of her belonged to him; even if it was just the part that craved intellectual superiority over him. Even if it was just the part that wanted him to see her as more than a cerebral contender, the part that forced her to keep up with him like it meant her life. Even if that was all it was, Cindy couldn't imagine her life without the fudge-headed egomaniac savant known as Jimmy Neutron, who was constantly dragging her into near-death experiences.

Except for when she was the one doing the dragging.

"Cindy!" Jimmy's panicked voice jarred the pensive girl from her thoughts. Cindy glanced down at the control board and saw her elbow had accidentally hit a button labeled ADFN 371-X. Oh for Pete's sake, what the heck did that mean?

Strident alarms started blaring from speakers embedded in the hover car's upholstery. Cindy was tempted to cover her ears, but taking her hands off the wheel seemed like an even worse idea than reminiscing while driving had been.

Jimmy lunged over her and pressed a few buttons on the next panel over, which caused the alarms to shut off. Cindy sucked in a breath. She tried not to focus on how close he was, or that he smelled oddly good, and focused instead on the control board's updated readings. From what she could tell, the crisis had been averted.

"You have to pay attention while you're steering this thing, Vortex. You're going to get us both killed!" Jimmy snapped. He jerked a thumb behind him. "Sit back there. I'm gonna drive for a bit." He reached for the wheel, forcing her back.

"Wha—hey! It was just one little mistake. Give me back the wheel!" Cindy grabbed it and yanked it towards her. The hover car swerved to the left.

Jimmy glared at her sharply. "'One little mistake?' Do you even know what that button does?"

"Does it shut you up, because if so I will gladly press it again!" Wow, that was weak. She could've fired a better comeback in her sleep! It was all his fault; had he always looked that cute when he was mad? Oh great, now she was really losing it.

"Ha ha, very funny—no; it calls in a nuclear air strike! You clearly can't take this seriously, so give me back the wheel or I will eject you," he threatened.

Cindy gaped at him. "Why do you have a button that calls in a nuclear air strike?" She screeched.

"That's none of your business!" He shot back, running a hand through his hair. "I can't believe we're doing this again. It was a bad idea to begin with." Jimmy shook his head.

That stung. Cindy didn't want it to show, though, so she diverted her focus to the tiny neighborhoods and business districts sprawled out below them like a classroom carpet scene. The world always looked so small from up here. Toy-like. Breakable.

Amazing how different things were on solid ground.

The island came back to Cindy's mind. It had only been a few days, but the memory was already eating her alive. It had come and gone too quickly. Now, she was stuck in a whiplash between damned reality and impossible dream. It was painful, and all she wanted to know was if he felt anything similar; even the smallest shred, the tiniest fraction of regret.

We don't have to go.

"I filled the tank to the top this time," Jimmy informed her, breaking the silence she'd been using to shield herself. His eyes still focused forward. "There's more than enough in there to get us to Australia and back before anyone notices we're gone."

Cindy rested her chin on her palm, watching the world pass under them like a film on fast-forward. "How'd your folks react when you walked in the door?" She asked curiously.

"They nearly blew a gasket. I got the usual lecture about not disappearing without telling them. Nothing I haven't heard before," Jimmy replied. "What about you?"

Of course she couldn't tell him the truth. That her mom had been black-out drunk on the couch when she'd crept in through the front door the night they returned. Her dad's car wasn't even in the driveway. And she'd felt broken glass crunch under her shoe on her way up the stairs. He didn't need to know any of that. Everyone already thought the bruises were from karate, anyway.

So she just said, "I got lectured too. 'You're destined for great things, Cynthia, don't go wasting precious time on fruitless excursions with the neighbor boy.'" She had told innumerable versions of this half-truth before; by now her impression of her mother was spot-on.

Jimmy chuckled dryly. "Looks like we both got off rather easy then, huh?"

"I guess so." Their exchange met a disconcerting lull. The familiar urge to start an argument over absolutely nothing itched at the back of Cindy's neck; anything to get him talking. Anything to get him to look at her.

She wasn't sure when it had first happened, but they'd started doing this thing while they argued where they gradually moved closer to each other the more heated the debate became, until they were practically touching noses, and the words had a vibration against their cheeks. Cindy loved it. Being that close to him turned her world on its side, and she rode the high like a wave. When it was over, all she could think about was when it would happen again. And if there was anything she could do to make it happen again sooner.

So many things she'd never tell him. So many things she wanted to know. Like, had he thought about the island at all since they'd been home? Did he want to go back? If he did, was there even a way to retrace their steps, as it were?

The questions threatened to spill out of her like a dam past capacity. She decided to let them out one at a time, until it was absolutely clear she had made a mistake. Cindy had learned her lesson on the island, after all. Nothing mattered when it was just her and him. The world didn't matter; for all intents and purposes, he was her world. And it was at least worth a shot.

Cindy traced circles with her finger on the side of the hover car. "It was weird being back in school today. Felt like waking up too fast," she commented absently. Her breath tied itself up in her lungs as she waited for him to respond.

"Is that what that 98 percent on the pop quiz was all about?" is all he says in return. There's a biting hint of instigation in his tone, which she's trained to listen for. He still wasn't looking at her.

Please just look, you idiot. Don't make me do this.

"Oh, come on. I got a hand cramp halfway through, I didn't finish writing the last question," Cindy complained. There, that had to tide him over. She took a deep breath. "I mean…that sure was some vacation we had, hmm?"

She waited to inevitably regret saying that.

"I wouldn't exactly call almost getting killed several times in an uncharted ecosystem a 'vacation,' Vortex," Jimmy pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Sarcasm, Neutron."

So that was that. He was going to make her do it.

Cindy sucked in another breath, which was disguised by the loud rattle of the hover car's engine. "I think we should try to find it again."

Her words hung densely in the air for a few long moments. Cindy was about ready to throw herself over the side of the hover car when he finally spoke. "Why?"

She gaped at him. Why? The word cut deep, a double-edged sword going in for the mortal blow. Heat rose into her cheeks as she went through the familiar process of turning her pain and frustration into anger, with her most favorite target in the world present to witness the result.

"What do you mean why? We had fun, that's why. One day you or I might want to go back, just to get away, and no one would ever find us. They wouldn't know where to look."

"What are you talking about? Sheen and Carl and Libby all know about the island, too," Jimmy reminded her.

"But they wouldn't know how to get back to it. Not like we would. Think about it," she began. "It can be a secret, if we want it to be. Somewhere only we know."

She could see him mulling it over. But all too quickly that flash of consideration passed across his expression, and his mouth set in a hard line. "No. I don't think it's a good idea. You almost got asphyxiated by a boa constrictor, Cindy! And I would've been eaten by that Venus flytrap if you hadn't pushed me out of the way." He shook his head. "It's too dangerous. We ought to leave it alone."

"You weren't scared, Neutron, when we were there. I could read you like a book the whole time; you're not exactly deep!" she fired back at him. "We have complete control there! It's our island! We could come and go as we please, stay a day or stay a month. It wouldn't matter. The world doesn't exist there, remember?"

"The world always exists, Cindy, no matter where you are," Jimmy argued frustratedly. He still wasn't looking at her. A twinge of desperation mixed with rage shot up her spine like a volt of electricity. "The island isn't exempt from reality, it's just estranged from it. Whatever we're missing out on here won't disappear; it'll just pile up the longer we're gone. Maybe we were having too much fun for our own good, and that was why we thought we could stay. But it just doesn't work like that."

Why we thought we could stay?

Cindy stewed in her seat. "Fine, whatever, just forget I mentioned it," she spat. The silence that followed, however, didn't last long. "You're delusional, you know," Cindy blurted. "You want to go back. I can tell."

That, of course, was a shot over the bow.

Jimmy punched the Autopilot button and finally spun around to face Cindy. His cheeks were a familiar shade of red, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly—a lit fuse burning itself a little closer to detonation with every beat of silence that passed between them.

"Don't tell me what I want, Vortex," he spat. "I can't make you understand; you don't think I know that? We can't go back. Get it through your head. It was an accident that we wound up there in the first place, and it'll be easier for us both if we just forget about it."

Cindy felt like the wind had gotten knocked out of her. The vehement ferocity in his crystal blue eyes only drove the stake in deeper. She contemplated jumping out of the hover car once more. What was he going to do about it? He clearly didn't care, if he couldn't see just how important this was to her.

Being denied the island was like getting locked out of heaven. Especially torturous, since she had gotten a cruel taste of happiness before it was ripped away from her like a toy from the hands of an unsuspecting child. But the island itself, of course, wasn't what had made the whole experience feel otherworldly, paradisiacal. Perfect.

Shattered green eyes stared deeply into decided blue ones. Strangled words stayed unspoken, and a million lies were told in their absence.

Jimmy sighed, unclenching his fists. "It's both."

Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Australia is both a country and a continent."

She held his gaze, which had softened the tiniest bit, and nodded. "We should go home," she whispered. The words were quickly lost to the wind, but he caught them all the same.

"I agree."

Neither of them spoke a word after that.

Jimmy exhaled heavily as he collapsed onto the futon in his lab, his mood slightly lifted by Goddard nudging his hand in greeting. Jimmy patted him on the head and smiled.

"Hey, boy. Do me a favor, would you? Bring up those coordinates from last night."

Goddard popped out his screen, and a map showing the Pacific Ocean appeared on it. It was almost entirely blue, except for one tiny dot of land about eighty-one meters from a certain invisible equator line. A red pinpoint appeared over the small speck, and its coordinates along with it.

(0*00'02.7"N 135*00'05.1"W)

Goddard whined knowingly, while Jimmy just stared at the numbers on the screen. The numbers that made it real; as real as any cold hard fact or scientific principle. They seemed to jump right through the screen and call him out from the middle of nowhere. We're real, whether you like it or not, they jeered. And we know you wish we weren't.

All Jimmy managed was a sigh. He didn't want to lie, but right now it was the only option that felt safe. Maybe he would tell her one day. But for now, he concluded, it was a secret best kept to himself.