Disclaimer: Sonny With a Chance belongs to Disney.

Author's Note: This chapter essentially serves two purposes. It closes out this story and simultaneously provides a sort of prologue for my next one. I'm planning to call it "Three Little Words," and it should be started within the next two weeks. Most of the first two chapters are in my head already, but they have to share typing time with my Kim Possible story.

Zora's Complaint

The entire world had gone crazy. That was the only explanation Zora could come up with for the events of the past two weeks. Chad and Sonny were still dating, and everyone else at the studio and in the press seemed to have gone back to their usual routine.

An actress from So Random was not supposed to be romantically involved with the star of Mackenzie Falls. It was just plain wrong! Why couldn't anyone else see that? Even Zora's cast-mates had decided to accept the situation and move on.

As she saw it, Zora had only one option left, which was why she was striding down a hallway at Condor Studios at this moment. Barely even pausing for a brief knock, she burst into Marshall's office.

"This has to stop!" she exclaimed dramatically. Marshall and his personal assistant just stared at her in perplexity for a pair of heartbeats. Marshall dismissed his assistant before addressing Zora.

"To what, exactly, are you referring?" he asked tiredly, rubbing a hand over his bald head.

"Duh! Chad and Sonny! They've disrupted the natural order of the universe!"

"And how have they managed that?"

"They're dating! They actually seem to like each other. That's not supposed to happen!"

Marshall folded his hands in front of him on his desk and peered at Zora intently. She met his gaze, but his ongoing silence started to make her feel uncomfortable.

"Just because there has long been a rivalry between the two shows doesn't make it inevitable," he said finally. "To be honest, I've been hoping for months that Sonny would find a way to at least tone it down."

Zora didn't believe what she was hearing.

"What are you saying, that you set all of this up?" she demanded, and Marshall gave her a weary smile.

"As tempting as it is to let you think I'm that omniscient, no," he replied. "I was just as surprised as anyone when things happened the way they did. But since they have, I see no reason to change anything."

"But…but how can you say that?"

"You really want to know? Then I'll tell you. Both Chad and Sonny continue to show up at work on time, and they give their all on the set. In fact, Chad's romantic scenes have become heartbreakingly believable, and Sonny's sketch ideas are better than ever. Best of all, this long-standing feud has faded into the background, making my life a lot easier. Peace and tranquility reign. Why would I want to go back to the way things were?"

Zora collapsed into a chair, trying to absorb all of this. Was it possible that her view was just a little too narrow? Could it be that Chad and Sonny were not only good for each other, but good for the studio as well? Come to think of it, Sonny had been a lot funnier lately. And she certainly wasn't as flighty or distracted as she'd been during her brief obsession with Mackenzie Falls, or even as she was on that day between accepting a date from Chad and actually going out with him.

Maybe Zora and the others had overstated the whole traitor angle, too. It was patently obvious that Grady was still clandestinely watching Falls on a regular basis. Was there really anything wrong with letting him watch it openly? Could it even be hoped that he would lose interest if it were no longer forbidden?

Taking a larger perspective, the two shows were part of the same business, and they weren't really competing against each other. The shows weren't on at the same time and didn't necessarily draw the same audience. The viewers certainly didn't care about the supposed rivalry, which meant it was all in the actors' heads. In fact, Zora admitted grudgingly, the fan blogs were generally gushing about how cute a couple Chad and Sonny were. There was a lot of buzz about them winning the Best Couple title at the upcoming Tween Choice awards. Surely, that would be good publicity for everyone at Condor.

"So what happens when they break up?" she said finally.

"If that happens," Marshall replied, putting a slight stress on his verbal editing of her preposition, "I assume the rivalry will be back in force, possibly more venomous than before. I'll cross that bridge when and if I come to it. In the meantime, I don't see any advantage in forcing the issue."

"I don't, either," Zora sighed, forced to concede the point. "Thanks for this little talk. You've given me a lot to think about." And unlike the Wicked Witch of the Web, Zora actually intended to consider it all very carefully.

"You know, my office door is always open," said Marshall jovially, standing up to see her out. "But when it isn't, I appreciate a knock."

Zora nodded vaguely and made her way back to her dressing room. While she wouldn't say she was thoroughly convinced, a lot of what Marshall said really did make sense. It seemed there was nothing more to be done but to watch and wait. Maybe, at the end of the day, the universe could take care of itself.

Author's Note: I just want to say that Zora cracks me up. She's the youngest regular on the show, and she's undoubtedly zany, but she sometimes talks like she's 30.

Review responses:

I want to thank DannySamLover20 (I love that pairing, too) and Alyona77 for reviewing the first chapter. I hope you will watch for my next fic! Also, thank you to the people who put this story on their favorites and alerts. It's nice to know that people like it but maybe can't think of anything to say in a review. Catch you next time!