What's this? A new fan fiction by Natha? YES! It's true! Those gosh-darn plot bunnies are so annoying some times, the only way to get them to let go of my sore hind end is to write them down. Don't worry, my Freakafans, I won't ignore the Freakazoid fanfic, it will just update slower than normal probably.

Nathalorial does not own Lazy Town.

.:Dang plot bunnies, I hope your happy now:.

Pixel kicked up his skateboard as he reached the steps to the Lazy Town High School, carrying it the rest of the way. He was anxious to get to his locker before school started. Well, most of his friends were. Mayor Meanswell had told them that weekend that they would find a surprise in their lockers when they went back to school on Monday.

Pixel turned one corner sharply, and almost ran right into Ziggy, who seemed to be in almost as much a hurry as Pixel.

"Hey Zig, checked your locker yet?" Pixel asked. Ziggy shook his head no.

"Not yet, I'm heading there now. I saw Stingy earlier though, he said he found a letter in his locker, and it said not to open until lunch time on the envelope." The junior replied.

"Not till lunch? Hmm, I wonder why. Anything else about it?" Pixel asked, just before they arrived at their lockers.

"No, but I guess we'll find out soon enough." Ziggy pulled out a fresh bonbons sucker from his pocket, unwrapping it and sticking it in his mouth. Typical Ziggy. Pixel turned back to his locker, pushing the button on a little gadget that looked like a car lock controller, before opening his locker to search it. Ziggy had to work at regular combination lock for his to open.

"What's this… pink?" Pixel held up a small pink envelope, with the black 'Do not open before lunch' scrawled on one side. Immediately, his thoughts went to Stephanie. It would make sense, if she had sent them the letters. Pixel often emailed her, but she never made any mention about this. Actually, Pixel wasn't sure if she communicated with the rest of Lazy Town at all, other than her uncle Milford. After having left Lazy Town that summer years ago, she never came back, her summer instead filled with more dance lessons and camps, with no time to visit family and friends. Not even Sportacus kept in contact with the spunky pink girl.

"Piiiixel… earth to Pixel!" Ziggy's voice finally made their way into the teen's brain, startling him from his thoughts. "You going to put your board away? Class starts soon."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. Just thinking."

.:Oooh, Lazy Town Teens! =D :.

The time seemed to drag before lunch for a small group of teens, each one waiting to open the mysterious pink letters. Ziggy kept drumming some small candy-canes on his notebook, Trixi kept trying to distract her teachers by leading them off on off-topic conversations, Stingy kept flipping a coin back and forth over his knuckles, and Pixel kept doodling on the edge of his papers. Once that final bell to signal the time for food came, they all rushed as fast as they could from their individual classes to their favorite lunch table, eager to read the letters.

Once they actually sat down though, they seemed to not know what to do next, anxiously turning the envelopes over in their hands, wondering who should open theirs first.

"Oh my gosh, this is just stupid, let's open them already." Trixi finally sighed, and ran a straight finger along the top fold, ripping hers open. The other's followed suit, soon pulling out small slips of pink paper. Their eye's all widened, suspicions confirmed.

'Hey guys, what's up? I hope you all remember me, it's been so long since I've come to Lazy Town! Guess what? Due to some certain circumstances, I'll be moving back to Lazy Town, this time for good! Isn't that amazing? I'll see you soon! Love, Stephanie'

"Hey, Pinkie's coming back!" Trixi exclaimed. "I almost forgot about her, it's been so long."

"I wonder if she still like's candy…" Ziggy wondered aloud.

"Just don't give her my candy." Stingy told him. And so the conversation amongst them continued, talking about times past. Pixel didn't say much, he was thinking about how much Stephanie might have changed. Her emails didn't contain much in that aspect. He wondered if she would like how much they all had changed here, and the things that hadn't as well. Pixel let his eyes shift over his friends. They were all teenagers now, he hoped the pink girl would recognize them all.

Ziggy still loved candy, but he kept it down more than he did as a kid. True, you wouldn't catch him dead without a small sucker sticking out of the corner of his mouth, but at least he wasn't packing those huge lollipops around anymore. A lot of his passion for candy turned into a passion for mountain dew, pizza and tacos instead. Ziggy wasn't in sports that much, but he was usually on the main drum set for pep band during football and basketball games, and first part trumpet in the jazz band. And he wasn't the short chubby kid anymore either. Ziggy was now your typical lanky teen boy, almost as tall as Pixel, despite being the youngest of the group. His blond hair now hung down to his shoulders, and actually looked pretty good on him when pulled back in a ponytail.

Stingy was still like his name suggested, stingy. But he had nowhere near as much greed as he did as a kid. True, he did have the most money out of the high schoolers, but if someone wanted to borrow some for something small like lunch, the answer was no. Stingy was also in the pep and jazz bands now, playing his alto saxophone in first part. He was more protective of that thing than even his piggy bank. Stingy was shorter than Ziggy, and he never changed his hair style, but wore looser clothes than he did as a kid. No more suits and a bowtie, but jeans and a t-shirt like every other teenage boy.

Trixi had definitely grow up, bustier now that they had all gone through puberty. She was also captain of the color guard team. Her attitude hadn't changed much, she was still spunky and a bit of a trickster. Now she had the arm strength to back her up though, with the occasional fights the other girls tried to pick with her - you don't mess with girls who wield six-foot iron poles… it's just not done. Trixi was the shortest of them all, but physically the strongest. Her hair had gotten darker over the years, and was now a dark brown, and also shoulder length. She wore it in pigtails when she could, but during practice she put it in one ponytail.

Pixel then looked at himself, at how he had changed since Stephanie had last been in Lazy Town. He was still the tallest of the group, and still the master of anything and everything digital and electrical, but he had a better social life now too. Before Stephanie came along, his life never left the confines of his house, except for school. Now, he was almost running his own business. Residents of Lazy Town started recognizing his talent with electronics as more than just a little kids hobby when he fixed the old lightening system at the middle school auditorium, and started paying him to fix their wires or computers whenever the need arose. Pixel wasn't in any sports, but he did spend some free time at the skate park, and was pretty killer on a snowboard during the winter. His hair was still a bright orange, and he spiked it each morning.

Pixel smiled to himself. They really hadn't changed that much, he realized, things would be just like old times.

.:My math for their ages is somehow screwed up:.

Sportacus was sitting in his airship, enjoying his own lunch and thinking of the pink letter than had found its way to him via the mail tube. He was excited to see Stephanie, as much as the kids down below were, and like Pixel, he was thinking about how they had all changed since the pink dancer was last in the town.

For a while, Sportacus had gone on saving the kids as usual from getting stuck in trees or from a plan of Robbie Rotten. Once the kids hit puberty though, they started needing help for completely different reasons. And Sportacus couldn't exactly help in all of them. The problems of teenagers were definitely different from the problems of children.

All of them could remember clearly the day they started realizing they were growing up. Particularly because that morning, Trixi woke the whole neighborhood with a scream of pain and fear. You could imagine the fear on the boys' faces when they burst in to find her crying in her pajamas on the floor, and her bed covered in blood. Turns out it was a problem only Ms. Busybody could help with, as Trixi didn't have her mother to explain these things about growing up to her. Sportacus and the boys were slightly traumatized for a few hours after the incident.

The awareness of them not being kids anymore continued as the boys each noticed certain things about their body changing as well. At least Sportacus could help them understand that part whenever their father's were not there. And teach them to control their own strength when muscles started developing. Sportacus recalled the day when Ziggy inadvertently broke Robbie Rotten's nose. His crystal had beeped, and when he looked through the telescope and saw Ziggy and Robbie, he presumed Ziggy needed help. Upon arrival, he noticed it was Robbie cringing away, not Ziggy. They finally worked it all out, it was just an accident, after all, but poor Robbie stuck to his lair now more than before, even if only to avoid another broken nose.

A few times, the hero's crystal beeped late at night, waking him up. Sportacus would go through the town, and find Trixi in a catfight with a few other girls. Admittedly, he thought she was good, able to defend herself somewhat from three others. But he had to stop before it escalated into much more. It was actually on his suggestion that Trixi then tried out for color guard, to build up a little muscle and be able to defend herself properly, and discourage others from picking fights with her - you don't mess with girls who wield six-foot iron poles… it's just not done.

As the kids grew older, Sportacus would find himself needing to patrol later at night, missing his 8:08 bedtime almost every day now. Stingy had been mugged while walking home from pep band late one night. Pixel was nearby and beat off the mugger with a stick he found on the ground just before Sportacus arrived. Stingy was okay, clutching his saxophone case like it was his whole world. Two days later, Pixel was cornered by a few of the mugger's friends and beaten until the hero arrived.

Sportacus grimaced and tried to bring his thoughts back to the present. He wondered whether Stephanie would show up, see how much had changed in Lazy Town, and change her mind and leave again. Sportacus would not consider Lazy Town all that safe anymore, not like it was ten years ago. And Robbie wasn't the cause this time, but more of the people themselves as the town grew. The hero was actually beginning to consider taking some time to train the kids a little more extensively in defending themselves, and asking them to help him patrol the town. It was getting to the point that one man, even if that man was Sportacus, could not control the violence in a growing city.

Sportacus frowned to himself. They had all changed so much, he realized. How could things be like they were before?

.:I wonder how Sportacus would react to sports candy crisp. Because crisps have a lot of sugar in the topping…:.

After school was over, Ziggy, Pixel, Stingy, and Trixi all raced over to Mayor Meanswell's house, to get a full story. They came through the door and into the kitchen without even knocking first, determined to see Stephanie.

Sportacus was there already, sitting at the table and talking to the Mayor. Poor Milford nearly spilled his coffee when the teens burst into the room, bombarding him with questions, their voices overlapping each other. Sportacus put his hands up to get their attention.

"Okay, okay guys, calm down, let the Mayor catch his breath first." He told them. The voices respectfully died down. "That's better. Now, I don't believe you're here for the exact same reason I am, but once your questions are answered, could you please stay a little longer?"

"Only if we can do all of it within the half-hour," Trixi said. "I have color guard at 4:00."

"And Stingy and I have pep band practice as well." Ziggy spoke up, chewing on the stick of a long-gone sucker.

Sportacus nodded his head in understanding. "I'm sure it won't take that long. Now, Mayor?"

"Ah yes, well, Stephanie is moving back to Lazy Town at the end of this week. She will be finishing school with you, even." Mayor Meanswell said then, before taking another sip of his coffee.

"The letter said 'due to some certain circumstances'… did something happen?" Pixel asked. "Her emails have always been happy, but she never mentioned anything about this."

Milford and Sportacus exchanged glances, they had just been discussing this before the teens got there. "I'm sorry kids, but if Stephanie wants you all to know, you'll have to let her tell you herself. It's not my place." Milford told them. Of course, this left them all even more curious, but they dropped the subject, and looked expectantly at Sportacus.

"I'm sure you have noticed that Lazy Town is not as safe as it used to be?" Sportacus asked them. They nodded their heads. "As the town grows, so does the violence, and I can't contain it all anymore. This job is bigger now than what just one man can do."

"We can help you, Sportacus, when we aren't busy with school." Ziggy piped up. Sportacus smiled at them.

"That's just what I was thinking you would say. I want to train you kids to better defend yourselves, so that you can help me. But only if you want to. You wouldn't have much free time, except for the days you don't have school."

"I would totally do it!" Trixi yelled, punching her fist in the air, then glanced at her watch and squeaked. "Eek, sorry guys, I'll get back to you on that, I've got to get ready for practice!" And with that, she ran off. Ziggy and Stingy looked at each other for a moment.

"That's our cue, we have pep band practice too. We'll talk to you around 6 then, if your available?" Stingy asked, as he and Ziggy headed towards the door as well. Sportacus nodded his head to them. That left Pixel leaning against the kitchen door frame, arms crossed. He watched Stingy and Ziggy leave, before turning to face the Mayor and Sportacus.

"I don't have anything to do, I'm free most of the time after school." He said simply. He came over to the table with the two men and sat down. "So, what's this about our help?" he asked.

.:I've decided that when and if I ever have kids, they will watch LazyTown, because it's the only kids show that gives a positive message every single episode:.

Stephanie looked around her bedroom at her parents' house. The only photos she had were of her friends and family in Lazy Town. She didn't really connect with her peers here as much as she did in Lazy Town, and while it was easy to 'make friends', they were not as good of friends as Sportacus and the others were. Stephanie was still into dance, oh was she into dance. To fill up that void of missing her true friends, she immersed herself into the world of dance, everything from the fox-trot to pole dancing. Because of that, she had one of the best bodies at her current high school, and was the object of many boy's affections, and turned many heads at the high school dances.

Stephanie still dyed her hair pink, but she also added blue and purple streaks to it as well. Her hair was about shoulder length now, and she had upgraded her wardrobe from sundresses to t-shirts and mini-skirts. Currently, she was wearing a black t-shirt that had a suspicious-looking pink fairy on it, and a hot-pink, plaid, pleated mini-skirt with black and white in it. Instead of a maroon headband with plastic gems, she wore a black headband with a bow on the side of it.

Eyes landing on her laptop, Stephanie had to resist the urge to get onto her email and tell Pixel everything that had happened. She purposely kept her emails happy, so as not to worry her friends, but things were not all that great in her life. For one, her happy-go-lucky attitude (among other things) severely ticked off some girls at school, and it was all she could do to avoid any dangerous confrontations with them (though she was sure she could easily beat their asses). Another thing was her dancing itself, combined with bad relations with her parents. Long story short, you don't learn pole-dancing from just anyone, and that just added to her many arguments with her abusing, neglecting parents. She wasn't even on speaking terms with them anymore. That's why she was going to live with her uncle Milford in Lazy Town – to try and start over, and finish high school without killing herself or someone else by going crazy.

Sighing to herself, Stephanie picked her laptop up and put it in one of her suitcases, before leaving the almost-empty room, grabbing her jacket and walking out of the house without so much as glancing at her parents. She had some dance classes to finish this week, then she could get on that train and leave this god-forsaken place once and for all, and never come back.

.:Oh, moody, ain't she?:.

Natha's notes: So, what do you think of my opening? I hope you liked it, because I liked it, and I spent a bit of time on it. Lemme know what you think! There is a nice shiny button down there just begging to be clicked! =D