Yeah, another gap. I'm surprised I'm not dead yet xD the truth is I've been really caught up in the Homestuck fandom so I haven't given too much thought to IZ. But now that Soapy Waffles has released their "Mopiness of Doom" (however complete it is) I feel more motivated to finish this .w.

It had been three days since he'd last seen Zim.

Dib had stayed home for the most part, using his arm as a weak excuse to sit in bed all day, surfing the Internet. It was only when he found himself in his underwear, surrounded by cheese poofs and watching videos of kittens playing that he realized how boring his life was without Zim.

"I need to get out more," he sighed, setting aside his laptop and brushing away cheese dust. He sat on the edge of his bed, debating whether or not to pay Zim a visit.

"What am I doing? It's not like we went through a breakup or- oh just shut up," he muttered, grabbing the nearest pair of pants and throwing them on.

"Hey, Dib," Gaz's voice, still softer than normal, came from the hallway. "We need more milk."

"Because you've been eating my cereal," Dib hissed under his breath.

"What was that?" Gaz said, her voice slightly scratchy.

"Nothing, I'll get some milk while I'm out," Dib said, pulling on his shoes and grabbing his trench coat. He walked out into the hallway, passing Gaz, who's recent illness left her looking pale and wan, but no less terrifying.

"Hey, Gaz," Dib asked on a whim, looking over at her. "Do you need anything else?"

"..." She was somewhat stunned by his concern for her, but didn't show it in her face. "Batteries. 32 pack."

"Sure thing," he said, grabbing his wallet as he clomped down the stairs. "I'll be back later."

Gaz watched him leave, still a bit perplexed by his behavior. And although she'd never admit it... grateful.

Zim was alone in his lab, searching the many archives of Irken history stored in his database. Something, anything to explain to what was happening to him. Why he was feeling these... things. He understood that it was what the humans called 'love'. He'd seen enough romantic comedies with GIR to tell him that. But Irken were not supposed to experience such things. It was widely believed that things like 'love' were eliminated along with traditional reproduction. So why in the heck-?!

"Might I suggest research on the human interwebs?" The computer sighed. "You're not likely to find anything that goes back that far..."

"Hmph. If the humans have anything valuable on the subject, I'll eat my gloves," Zim muttered, reluctantly pulling up a human search engine.

"Alright, let's start with... Love," he said, typing it in. Over seven and a half billion results in the space of about a second popped up on the screen.

"Damn." The computer highlighted a link on the screen for him. "Try this one."

Zim clicked the link, reading the definition that appeared. "Love is an emotion of a strong affection and personal attachment." Zim snorted before continuing. "Love is also said to be a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection —'the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another'." [*]

"Sound familiar?" The computer asked.

"Shut up and let me narrow my search," Zim said, scowling and reloading the previous screen. He emptied the search box and began typing. "What... causes... love?" he said, clicking the search button. Millions of results appeared before him, fewer than before, but still making him groan in frustration.

"Try that one," the computer said, highlighting another link. Zim clicked it, reading the article that appeared.

"Damn it, this is about human hormones," he snapped. "How is any of this supposed to help me?!"

"Here, let me try," The computer insisted, returning to the search engine once more. Robotic attachments typed away on the keyboard, pulling up another page of results.

"'How do you know when you're falling in love?'" Zim read aloud, frowning.

"Just go with it," the computer sighed, clicking on a link. A new page popped up, and Zim began reading, his expression unreadable (Other than to wince at the terrible grammar and spelling).

"When he is all you think about.
You feel like yourself around him..
That no other guy compares to him in your eyes..
He is a good honest loyal romantic trustworthy guy..
You know if he was not to talk to you again you would be heartbroken..
You have a real and true connection with him..
No one can change your mind about him.." [**]

"When im falling in love with someone i get the feeling inside me that tells me this is a person i want to spend my life with and they will do anything to make me happy. Falling in love is easy to mistake for just being close friends. Sometimes you just have to wait and make sure its the right person." [**]

"When you're in love, you'll know."

"...I think I've hit the nail on the head here, to use the common Earth phrase," The computer noted, watching his eyes widen.

"...I'm...gonna...I'll be back later," Zim stammered, hopping out of his chair and into the elevator.

The lift began moving with a hum, and Zim slid to the cool metal floor, his face in his hands. His blood was pumping quickly, his breath coming in short pants, making him feel light-headed and dizzy.

"I'm..." he whispered to the empty elevator.

"I'm in love."

* From Wikipedia

** From various pages on Yahoo! Answers

^ I actually did go to Google and type this stuff in. See, I'm dedicated!

Now that that's out of the way, WOO GO ZIM!

Zim: ...Shut up. *blushing*

Me: Wait, where'd Dib go?

Zim: Um... Nowhere?

Me: ...I'll let that one slide for now. But ANYWAYS. I have fallen back in love with this story! Expect more when I can think of the next chapter /shot

So, R&R?