This story is part of my 100 Theme Challenge. For more information, visit my profile.
I do not own Kids Next Door.
69. Annoyance
1. Candy
As they walked down the aisle to their seats, she glared at the pile of junk food in his arms – Snickers, Reese's, Sour Patch Kids, and M&Ms, purchased at the refreshment stand – and hissed, "If you make a lot of noise with those wrappers during the movie, I will personally ship your butt to Pluto!"
2. Hair
Everyone thought that she just liked the authority it carried, though the real reason Fanny continued to wear her helmet was to keep him from pulling her hair – but he did it when she wasn't looking anyway.
3. Finish
Some small part of her was a little sad when he finished repairing her ship, but the rest of her quickly told it to shut up before she started going soft.
4. Youth
He considered it his personal duty to remind her that youth should not be wasted on the young.
5. Familiar
As he stood up and brushed himself off, he thought there was something somehow familiar about the way the girl had punched him.
6. Push
"Just go," Rachel said with a shove, and Fanny walked tentatively over to him, silently cursing herself for saying anything.
7. Walk
There was always a spring in his step that she couldn't quite pin down, until one day she saw him with his other friends, walking just like anyone else.
8. Need
She was a strong, independent woman, and she didn't need a man to be successful or complete, but she had to admit it sure made things a lot nicer.
9. Law
Everyone always said to beware the mother-in-law, but Fanny soon learned that it was actually a cane wielding grandmother-in-law that she had to look out for.
10. Second
Her eyes flared, her face flushed, and as she stomped toward him, he realized – a moment too late – that he should never have mentioned that Abby already had plans tonight.
11. Violet
"I don't care how short the new girl's skirt is," she said, whacking the back of his head, "keep your eyes to yourself!"
12. Distraction
His grades were slipping and his mother asked why, so he made up some story about vengeful teachers and missing assignments; he couldn't tell her that the TND had just transferred Fanny into all of his classes.
13. Begin
She was beginning something she could never take back, could never undo, and she didn't care.
14. Damage
It was always her style to make an impression, he thinks as he drives the nail into the wood; he just wishes she wouldn't make it in the side of their treehouse.
15. Show
They each had their own way of hiding their weakness – his was humor, hers bossiness – but eventually all pretenses with each other were lost and they could just be.
16. Splash
"Cannonball," he shouts, and when the resulting wave of water drenches her magazine, she screams and chases him all over the Sector J treehouse.
17. Truth
Do you love me? she asks, adding, and don't lie; yes, he says, slightly taken aback – it never occurred to him to lie.
18. Thrill
She called him a psycho with a death wish, but he said he preferred the term "thrill-seeker."
19. Beauty
She asked him what he thought was beautiful, and he answered without really thinking, "Oh, freckles, maybe, and red hair, and green eyes."
20. Ask
She frowned down and the debris and cursed under her breath; she would have to ask that lame pilot for help.
21. While
Neither of them could bring themselves to say goodbye, but somehow "See you in a while"
had the same finality.
22. Laugh
Secure in the knowledge that he couldn't hear her, she laughed; that last joke really had been funny.
23. Safe
She began staying at the Moonbase overnight, refusing Rachel's pleas to go home and get some rest – being immersed in her work was the only thing keeping her safe from the conflicting thoughts and nagging doubts that haunted her constantly.
24. Feel
When she starts feeling his presence without even seeing him, like he's north and she's a compass needle, she knows without a doubt that she can't lie anymore.
25. Fear
She waits a few seconds before answering, and for the first time she sees real fear in his eyes.
26. Home
Hers was always with the Kids Next Door; his, more and more now, was with her.
27. Canine
She swore up and down that they weren't getting a dog – and besides, they already had a cat – but when he held up the puppy and made a face that rivaled the dog's own, she gave in, but still insisted that it stay outside.
28. Catch
"Only if you can catch me, Gilligan," she called over her shoulder, shrieking in surprise when his arms held her by her waist only a few seconds later – Fanny hadn't realized how fast he had gotten lately.
29. Light
"At least we have light," he said, but just as he finished speaking, the bulb went out, and if anyone had been outside the closet, they would have heard the sounds of scuffling, as well as shouts and insults tossed back and forth.
30. Travel
He flew her all over the world, but he had to admit that the one place he really wanted to go was forever out of his reach.
31. Day
On his first day of training, he went home and told his mother that he was in love; on hers, she told her dad how much she love her new, heavy boots.
32. Order
"As your senior officer, I order you to kiss me," she said fiercely, and he smiled a strange smile and complied, not at all unwillingly.
33. Look
"Fanny says to stop staring at her in Science – it's creeping her out."
34. Loud
It wasn't until she almost got herself fighting Father that Fanny realized Hoagie could be just as loud as she was when he wanted to.
35. Strength
He couldn't lift a car, or even a box of books, but he had the kind of quiet strength that made even Fanny feel weak.
36. Race
Hoagie hopped up and down impatiently, willing the Laundromat washer to go faster; Fanny's smug face as she stood next to her washer told him that she would never let him live it down if he lost.
37. Want
She'd never wanted this to happen, but then it had been a long time since she'd gotten what she wanted.
38. Through
She had built her walls, and he couldn't tear them down, but if he looked hard enough he could spot a hole, tiny, but just big enough for him to squeeze through.
39. Nothing
He hears her urgent voice on the walkie-talkie, and then silence, and he knows, with a certainty that he's never felt before, and he drops the radio unit and stares with dry, lifeless eyes at his empty passenger seat.
40. Private
Suddenly, all activity on Deck 5 stops as the operatives watch their Senior Decommissioning Officer chase Sector V's 2x4 Tech expert across the deck, screaming, "What part of 'Keep Out' do you not understand?!"
41. Stay
She knows this will happen, and she tries to prepare herself, but her stomach turns anyway when they bring him in – all chained up as if he were some sort of criminal, which she supposes he is now, just for turning thirteen – and she tells the recruit she's been training to pull the switch, but she doesn't leave, not until long after it's over and he's gone and most of her is gone too.
42. Lack
He doesn't have much sense, and he certainly isn't as smooth as he thinks he is, but for the first time, she doesn't care that he's not perfect.
43. Smoke
"That's it, no more mad scientist for you," she says, coughing and waving away the fumes.
44. Speak
She wanted to protest, to say something about how ridiculous this was, because she hated him (she did hate him, didn't she?), but no words would come, so she relaxed into his arms and decided that she could argue with him later.
45. Mine
"Get lost, you witch – no one talks bad about my boyfriend except me!"
46. Fill
Whenever it was his turn to fill out the mission reports, he agonized over whether to sneak some sort of message in; when she read them, she always found one anyway.
47. Crash
"Watch what you're doing, you stupid boy," she yelled, but at the same time she was running toward the wreckage, fumbling for her first aid kit and praying he could hear her.
48. Think (Companion to Mine)
"Gee, thanks, Fanny . . . I think."
49. Big
He stands there proudly, his smile impossibly big, and she doesn't have the heart to tell him that she's getting a new office next week.
50. Together
"That's not –" she starts, but then she remembers where she was last night, and the night before, and the night before that, and says quietly, "oh."
The End
A/N: I may just decide to do the rest of the themes this way. That was so much fun. Anyway, reviews welcome and concrit greatly appreciated!
Numbuh 212