I don't own Aqua Teen Hunger Force or any of its characters.

Something kicked my side, and at first I thought I was back in my own world, asleep in my bed. I wondered who would kick me. Then sound rushed in my ears. I could hear familiar voices, and I started to remember everything that happened; I knew I wasn't in my house but in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force's world. For some reason I felt disappointed because of that.

"Is she dead?" I heard Meatwad whisper.

"I don't think so." That sounded like Shake, but his voice was quiet and soft.

I was kicked again, which made me open my eyes. When my vision got clearer, I saw the two Aqua Teens staring down at me. I couldn't help but notice that when he saw I was awake, Shake's eyes started glowing.

But a heartbeat later, the milkshake turned away from me and murmured," There. She's awake. Now what?"

"We're still locked up in this jail cell," the voice of Ignignokt said.

I got in a sitting position and saw that the Mooninites were standing in front of a bar-door. We were locked behind bars like in prison. I sighed and wondered who put us here. I had a feeling it was the Empress, but how did she know we were here so fast?

"We gotta get out of here!" Err exclaimed as he tried to open the door; I noticed that he was freaking out.

"Calm down, Err," the leader of the Mooninites ordered his sidekick. "Freaking out will not help us."

"What will, then?" the alien shot back, turning on his leader. "She is going to kill us! We're practically dead now, just being in her castle! Just wait until she gets here..."

To my surprise, Ignignokt turned to me and asked," Do you still have that gun?"

I forgot about that. I reached in my pocket, but it was gone, along with the rest of the stuff I had picked up. I sighed and shook my head. "She must have taken it when we passed out," I said, frowning.

The green alien turned his back on me and Err shouted loudly," We're going to die!"

Sighing, I crawled to the corner, wondering if Err was right. When I agreed to come here, I had promised Allyson we'd be okay and we'd find a home somewhere, but what if we never got the chance? Suddenly I jerked my head up and looked around. Where was Allyson?

I looked over to where the Aqua Teens were talking. I stumbled to my feet, asking them where my best friend was as I walked over to them.

"Dunno," answered Shake when he turned to me. "I didn't even realize she was gone til you mentioned it." Surprisingly he got a gentle look on his face when my eyes got huge. "Look, I'm sorry," he murmured, but I didn't want his sympathy, whether it was real or not.

I turned my back on the milkshake and walked over to the aliens. "Have you two seen Allyson?" I asked them, but they, too, had no idea. I walked back over to my corner and sat down, eyes so huge that they started to hurt, but I didn't care, not even when they started watering and when I blinked tears rolled down my cheeks.

Burying my face in my knees, I sat there, in the cell and cried in front of the cartoons. I hated crying around others, but I couldn't stop myself. Even just the thought of never seeing Allyson again made me feel empty inside. She understood me and helped me through my darkest hours, even if she joked around and made fun of me for liking certain things.

I felt something touch me, and when I looked up I was surprised to see Ignignokt standing there with his straight arm on my leg. "I'm sure she's fine," he said calmly, and I just blinked at him. Was he trying to make me feel better? On the show it seemed like he didn't care about anyone but himself, not even his sidekick.

Wiping my tears away, I stared at him, not understanding the feelings that were building up inside me. I kept telling myself that he can be annoying, but there was another emotion besides annoyance toward the alien that I sometimes felt, though now it only got stronger the longer I looked at him and realized that he was trying to make me feel better. Did he feel the same way about me?

But he turned away and walked back to the bar door before I could ask him. As I watched him leave, I could feel annoyance wash the strong feeling away.

Another cartoon took the Mooninite's place beside me. "Are you okay?" Shake asked as he looked down at me, and for a second I thought he actually cared, but then I remembered how he normally acted on the show. I'm a girl, so he might be treating me nicely in hopes of getting close to me and touching my body. But still I felt like I had to talk to someone about my emotions, and since Allyson wasn't here, Shake was my only other option, because Meatwad is probably too stupid to understand, and there was no way I could talk to Err in case he told his leader.

"Have you ever hated someone so much that you never wanted to think about them," I dared to ask in a quiet tone so nobody else would overhear me. "But also love them so dearly that you couldn't imagine life without them?"

Shake was silent for a moment before answering in a serious tone," Yes." I wasn't sure if I should believe him since he often said stuff that was a lie, but the look on his face told me that this was no lie.

Before I could stop myself, I went on with more examples. "Hate them so much that you want to yell at them, but also love them so dearly that you want to pour your heart out to them? Hate them so much that you would kill them, but also love them so dearly that you would give your life to save theirs? Hate them so much that you never want to see them, but also love them so dearly that you could live your life with them?" I looked up at the milkshake, waiting for him to answer.

Shake blinked a few times. Then he looked away from me and murmured," Yes. I completely understand how you're feeling."

"You do?" I asked, surprised. "On your show it suggests that you only fall in love when you like how the girl looks." I put air quotes around "fall in love", knowing that he only likes the girls' bodies, but I left that implied instead of saying exactly that.

"It does?" Shake said, sounding worried. "Well, maybe they don't show the true me. The one off the screen."

I slowly got to my feet and shook my head. "The people who made the show wanted you to be mean and selfish."

"Then it's not my fault!" Shake said, smiling. "I could change, ya know. Really, I could."

"Yeah, and hedgehogs will fly," I muttered as I looked across the cell, my eyes landing on Ignignokt, who was talking to his sidekick in a quiet voice.

As I began to wonder where Allyson could be, turning my back to the leader of the Mooninites, Shake suddenly cleared his throat as if to get my attention. When I turned to him, he said," So this guy you hate but love? Is he in this cell?"

I didn't understand why he wanted to know, but I nodded anyway. "Yes."

"Is he someone I know?" Shake pressed.

"Yes," I repeated, becoming annoyed.

The milkshake didn't say anything else though; he just smiled and hurried back to where Meatwad was. I noticed that he bent over as if to whisper something to him, and whatever he said made Meatwad glance at me, before the meatball said something back to his friend, but I didn't hear it.

I stared at the two Aqua Teens for a few more moments, until I turned back to look at the Mooninites. I meant what I said to Shake. I felt love toward Ignignokt, while at the same time he could easily annoy me and make me want to change the channel when he did something that pissed me off.

I wanted to tell him about my feelings, but I was afraid that he would reject me. I sighed, wondering if I could keep this a secret forever. But I'm in this world now, able to talk to him. I might not be able to get another chance like this. I sat back down, thinking of the good stuff that could happen if I told him, but I also thought of the bad stuff.

It was then that I noticed the Mooninites were walking to me, and I calmed myself to make it seem like I wasn't thinking of anything special. They stopped in front of me but didn't say anything, only stared at me for several long moments.

"It's odd that you're nicer than the Empress," Ignignokt finally said, but I had a feeling that that wasn't what he came over here to say. "We're used to her trying to kill us, and her sending her robots after us, and..."

His voice fell in the background, and I watched his lips move, although the words weren't getting to my ears. The part of me that wanted to tell him that I loved him was suddenly stronger than I was, and before I could do anything to stop myself, I pressed my lips against his.

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