Chapter Twelve: Nothing Lasts Forever

One body can contain a lot of blood. Blood that can spill over onto other things. She just never knew there could be so much blood.

She should have gone skiing...She didn't know what it was and it wasn't on Arlia. But she could have sailed oceans...climbed things. It couldn't end this way. Why did she ever become a soldier? All soldiers ever do is kill and eventually die. But with no war on Arlia...She's had no idea what the term blood bath really meant. All she knew...was she didn't want to die...not like this.

Why was there so much blood...?

...

….

…

..

.

Dark substance was all over the floor along with several bodies, there wasn't enough light to count them. Still determined, Dib dared to take a few steps into the room. Something solid struck his foot. The head of a gypsy boy, Dib could swear he'd seen the boy before. His eyes seemed far away, even in death and a knowing grin still donned his lips It wouldn't have been as jarring a sight if there had been a body still attached.

"No! You'll never take me!" A female screamed. Dib squinted into the dark and was just able to make out the form of a young woman wearing a tattered dress and rags with large golden rings by the sides of her head. "Bastard. You'll never kill me. You'll never take my place." The door behind Dib slammed shut and the room became lighter. The woman was covered in blood, a recently used knife in her hand. Her eyes looked crazed, like she wasn't looking at Dib, but at someone else standing near him. But he was the only one around.

The gypsy girl came running at him and Dib realized he had no weapon handy. Hastily he picked up the dismembered head and threw it, running across the room to hopefully find something useful. The short distraction worked, somewhat, as the girl stumbled when she caught the head. Dib turned away to scan for weapons and didn't watch the girl for a few moments.

While he was turned the other way, the girl looked at the head with hatred and threw it angrily at the wall and growled at it then began to kick it. Most of the corpses that lay around did have weapons, but they were broken and unable to work anymore. Guns and parts and pieces, swords broken at the hilt, various weapons disassembled. None of it would work. It was no good!

"Grrrrr…Die scum!" The girl cried out, somehow behind Dib now, her knife raised up as she pounced. In those few moments, Dib grabbed the closest piece of metal he could and thrust it upward. The girl's falling momentum doing most of the work as the metal embedded deep into her forehead, piercing her skull. Blood ran down her face and, since she was above him, onto Dib's arm and torso. The shock on her face combined with the blood was an image that would be burned into his mind forever.

Slow clapping interrupted the strange silence. The gypsy girl was let onto the floor, the metal still lodged into her head. Finally through the shock that he'd lived, Dib could feel the sharp angry pain in his side. The crazy girl certainly didn't go down without a fight. Dib removed the knife quickly and kept it in his hand. Wounded, but with a weapon now.

The clapping had come from a certain figure at the now opened door. With a fluid movement, the door was closed again. "Thank you for removing that pest. But I'm afraid you will have to be terminated as well," Kaito said sadistically.

"Like hell," Dib said through clenched teeth. This man had killed Gaz…on Universal television. Had probably helped kidnap Miz as well. A passionate fire ignited in his chest and he suddenly had an extreme thirst for blood, or whatever that beast had.

"Tsk, tsk," Kaito took a few steps further into the room, ignoring the blood and corpses. Dib watched him as if he were a snake. "So resistant little one. Tell me, just how much do you know about your father's work?" Kaito asked, slowly circling the room. Dib began to circle as well, keeping his eyes on the snake.

"What are you talking about?" Dib spat. He knew Professor Membrane's work could be evil at times, particularly when it came to Zim.

"Your father was working on something monumental, Dib, something grand," Kaito stalled. Dib wondered what Kaito was really doing.

"Spit it out," Dib called, wanting, needing to ask questions, needing answers. But his father…this was out of the blue. Part of Dib was curious what his father was working on that could be considered 'monumental.'

"He was trying to find a way to bend reality; the ultimate tool to create a perfect universe; a way to repel the bad and create the good," Kaito paused in his movement, thus Dib paused also. "Professor Membrane was trying to create a god. And he did it, though his perfect universe is far from reality."

"And why are you telling me this?" Dib asked, only half venom now.

"Because, Dib," He grinned, "You are your father's son."

"What do you…"

"You, Dib," Kaito said in excitement. "You were the first experiment in the Zero Element Project!"

"That just sounds like bullshit," Dib said, gripping the knife in his hand harder than before.

"Really?" Kaito asked, he started to walk again, so did Dib. "They tried to give Gaz the gene, too. She did so well with it. I thought maybe she could do it all, but she only had half the power, she embraced evil, but not good. You got the other half. But we can't use good without the bad. So we gave a new gene to her…through a new life form that has both genes and the ultimate power."

"You're sick," Dib muttered.

"Yes, yes," Kaito waved off. "The son most likely will work. We'd never used you before because you weren't enough on your own." Dib remained calm the whole time. "Maybe if you'd realized your powers earlier on, you could have worked together and…dear Gazzy wouldn't be dead-"

"Shut up! Sick bastard!" Dib yelled, pointing the knife at him.

"But it's true," Kaito smiled, "it's your fault entirely."

"Liar! You killed her!" Dib yelled, beginning to break.

"But now she's gone. Too bad. I could feel the power in her blood as it passed through my fingers. So thick, like pig's blood-" and that was it. Dib broke. The world tilted and he felt himself running towards the bastard man, but stopped short and threw the knife as hard as he could without aiming and watched as it lodged into Kaito's forehead. A single line of dark blood trickled from his head. "Tsk tsk. Good throw for a human, but not enough to kill a Meekrob." Dib lost it then. He could feel the blood misted air and feel the essence of all the dead people there. So much death.

This man killed Gaz.

He was rushing forward again, faster than before and threw a punch as hard as he could at Kaito that landed in the center of his chest. The very fabric of the being before him began to unravel, undoing itself. "Ultimate…" Kaito managed before there was nothing left of him.

The room was suddenly filled with such sickening silence filled only with the sounds of Dib's panting.

Kaito the evil being had just been destroyed, right before his very eyes.

Maybe there was something to this Ultimate whatever. At least that's what Dib thought just before passing out.

…

The trip through underground tunnels was not a pleasant one. But one plus, Anya was once again behind Zim, thus able to see his…well, behind. She once again scolded herself, but couldn't help letting her eyes wander. Though there wasn't much to see, like last time. The tunnel was dark and small, making them crawl on hands and knees. If they weren't dirty before they certainly were now. The tunnel sloped downward and it was hard not to slip forward, and Anya put almost all of her concentration on not slipping. Too awkward, especially with the particular thoughts she'd been having lately pertaining the certain thing that was right in front of her face.

"You alright?" Zim asked randomly, "It's odd that you're not bitching right now."

"I-I'm just fine!" Anya practically yelled, "I'm just sick of all this filth!" That seemed like a reasonable excuse. Zim did something like a shrug and left her alone. Stupid male Irken, she though couldn't help but think, Why's he got to be so…..so…..ugh! A spider, or something like it, suddenly dropped in front of Anya face, she halted and screamed, shaking her hands through her hand and spazzing out.

"What? What's going on?" Zim asked urgently, sitting on his ass with gun in hand, looking every which direction.

"It was…It was.." Anya said out of breath.

"What? What was it! Did the Meekrob find us? I shouldn't have trusted that man again…" Zim looked at the walls angrily.

"It was a spider…" Anya whispered, running hands through her hair once more. Zim literally deadpanned. It was almost scary as Anya shrunk back.

"The hell…" Zim said slowly, looking from the wall to Anya and back again. After doing this for a while he carefully and deliberately put the gun away. "We're in a freakin' war zone and you flip out over a freakin' spider!" Zim yelled, probably louder than Anya did the first time.

"It…was scary looking…" Anya whispered to defend herself. Zim just stared at her incredulously. "Well it was!"

"Shhhh," Zim whispered, "Do you want wake up the whole planet?"

"I- Ugh!" Anya scoffed and looked away.

"Ahem," Something behind them said. Both looked behind them with blank, surprised faces. The head of a giant spider with dozens of beady eyes and pincers looked at them irritably.

"!" Both screamed and scrambled over each other trying to get through the tunnel way as fast as possible.

…

Eventually the tunnel started to go back up, weaving it's way through the dark dirt, making an unusual path that generally lead upward. Then they came to a place in the tunnel where a huge metal hatch was built into the ceiling of the tunnel. Beyond that, the tunnel continued but sloped downward again. "Okay," Zim whispered, turning to Anya. "Are you ready to see a glimpse of the city above?" Anya nodded and readied herself. Zim pushed aside the hatch door and revealed the city to her.

The city of Meekrob was towering, much like Arlia had been. Except that here, not all the platforms and buildings connected to the ground. Without the need of touching ground to travel, the Meekrob planet was one of disconnection and very little surfaces. Most residences and businesses alike were built on top of one another without connection together by walkway. Most all places above ground were impossible to get to without the ability to levitate or float.

But for the Irken and Arlian, that was okay, all the places they needed to access to could be found on the ground level. And the Crown Jewel would probably be stored underground. While Zim understood all of this beforehand, he neglected to mention any of this information to Anya, who was awestruck at the sight before her. It was more than she imagined from another planet, despite all that she learned in the desert.

"So," Zim murmured, "We need to stay underground. In the crust surface level."

"W-Why?" Anya whispered. Zim shut the hatch door without bothering to explain anything, but Anya still remained there, staring at it in hopes of it opening again. Zim sighed at this and took hold of Anya's arm, dragging her down the tunnel.

"Do I need to explain everything?" Zim asked, not expecting an answer. "Some Meekrob live on the surface, so we can't go there. We'll get caught. A lot of Meekrob live above that. We can't go there. Yet. So where else but the crust surface level? It's where all the sewers and nasty things are that Meekrob don't want to mess with. It's also where escaped prisoners go into hiding, but the Meekrob officials don't know that. So don't tell them."

"How…how do you know all this?" Anya asked and then added, "And why?"

"Cause I'm awesome," Zim boasted in his usual manner as he flashed a quick, devious grin at his current partner in crime.

But that grin and cocky arrogance soon fell away as Zim was reminded that it wasn't Dib who was with him right now. No, Dib was somewhere much safer. It was the neutral Arlian. The strange angry girl who seemed satisfied with nothing Zim did. In short: Zim didn't like her. Nor she him. With a sullen indifference, Zim let go of the girl and kept forging ahead, thinking only of the mission…and his one distraction from any mission.

As they got deeper, the tunnel became wider, allowing them to stand and walk normally. The dark and old passages didn't phase Zim one bit, he knew these tunnels already. But once in a while, Anya would cling to his back as something made a noise in the distance or if the passage got too dark to see. He could only think of Dib and how they would be fighting over who got to lead the way right then.

"Halt who goes there!" Someone in the distance called out. Anya yipped and clung desperately to Zim arm, he tried not to be embarrassed of her.

"It's me, fatass, you know that," Zim yelled, knowing exactly who was going to come waddling over to them. From the dark creeped a small, squat, very wide Vortian. His horns were curled into themselves and extremely dirty, he carried a large flashlight, though he wasn't using it, and was currently giving Zim the stink eye.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The little guy asked, pointing his flashlight towards them, causing Anya to squeak unnecessarily.

"None of your business," Zim sneered, he hated this little Vortian. He hated most all Vortians, but this one was especially irritating.

"Well, you're on our turf, so I think it is my business," The Vortian retaliated. For several seconds they simply glared at each other until Zim stuck one leg out and pushed the Vortian over on his butt. "H-Hey!" The alien cried out, rolling around momentarily. "That's not fair!"

"So?" Zim asked, watching the Vortian roll, unable to get back up. Zim put one hand on Anya's and strode past this sad sight. Up ahead there were several turnoffs grouped together.

"How do we know which one to go through?" Anya asked, gazing at all the paths. Zim put on his thinking face, hand on chin and made deep thinking noises.

"They added new tunnels….So…I dunno. Let's try one," Zim said, leading Anya off to one on the left.

"Wait! What if it's a trap!" Anya squeaked, freaked out.

"I guess we'll find out, huh," Zim said, not breaking stride. He knew this was the right way, but he wasn't going to tell Anya. It was too fun to mess with her.

…

Dib….

"Hm..?" Light and dark played in his vision, crossing and refracting…forever tangled.

Dib….

"…Wha…"

You have to get up…You have to continue…

The image of Gaz leaning over him appeared through a haze. She smiled and tilted her head, looking so relieved and happy like she'd never been before. "What…what's going on…?"

You have to save him…he's the soul hope for our world…

Light splayed before him, blurring her image when she spoke. Darkness ate at the edges of her being.

I'll lend you my powers…please...Just get up, Dib….

A silken hand reached towards him, and Dib stretched for it, the fabric of reality bending and pulling at them.

Hurry Dib…

Her voice faded into the darkness as the light receded. His hand just brushed hers before she simply evaporated. He was left sitting in the dark, her final words echoing in his mind, he thought about what she meant. His hand was still in the air, reaching for what wasn't there. In a snap he was standing and making his way through the ship.

…

INTERMISSION

Spider's point of view:

"All I wanted…was to have some friends…" The spider watched the figures running in the distance and with a sigh, returned to his earthen home.

…

The smaller ship was found in a hanger in the huge ship Dib had been transported to. The whole ship had become dark and inactive with its leaders death, as if was Kaito's very essence that kept the broken ship going. The only vessel in the hanger was Dib's. Seems Kaito wasn't very popular. Approaching the ship, feeling stronger than before, a chill filled the air.

Though the atmosphere was grim, Dib was stronger now, he wouldn't let anything go wrong now. It was to Meekrob now. With that thought, he opened the door to the small cruiser. And out came a hell storm; knives thrown and fire flaring around. But he dodged it all and jumped back, crouching and preparing himself for anything. When the smoke cleared he saw himself…no, not himself. The Clone. And he didn't look too happy about being locked in a storage closet.

"It's time for me to take my rightful place…" The clone said, grimacing at Dib.

"Oh good, I'll find a dumpster for you," Dib said with a serious tone, glaring daggers at this obstacle standing in his way.

"You'll pay for that…" The clone hissed. The something seemed to flash through his eyes and a half-grin crawled up his face. "You can't save him, you know."

A fire lit up in Dib and he growled, launching up and into the ship, crashing his fist into the clone's face, successfully knocking him into the ground. The clone leapt up and did the same, but Dib's hand caught the punch before it could strike. The clone's face contorted in anger. In a roar, he pulled one more dagger from behind him and swung it out towards Dib. Taken by surprise, Dib wasn't able to stop it before it embedded into his upper arm. He pushed the clone away and removed the dagger, but didn't throw it down.

Standing above the weaker life form while brandishing a blade made him feel powerful. Terribly so. But it was too much, this was wrong and he knew it. He was supposed to be the good guy, the one who saves people's lives. True…this was a mere clone, not even a real person. But was that much even true, was this person before him worthy of life? Did he have a human consciousness worthy of being spared from death? All these thoughts flashed in a few seconds while the clone began to get up again to resume the fight.

He never finished standing though, for the blade sunk deep within his gut, the force of which knocking out his breath and stunning him. Dib watched the clone fall back down, bleeding out all over the place. "Computer," Dib called out, "Clean up this mess." And with that he returned to the cockpit to plot out the course to Meekrob, not giving so much as a backward glance at the fallen clone.

…

They hid under a counter in the dark computer room as they heard the slow clicking of heels down the previously empty hallway. So maybe the abandoned Meekrob building wasn't so abandoned after all. The air was stagnant; the only interruption being sharp clicks that swam through the silence, sending vibrations throughout the air and bouncing off all the surfaces. The only thing more horrifying than the sounds was the silence that followed as the click stopped abruptly nearby.

There was a pregnant moment where no one dared to breath…and then that devil sound continued on its way to leave them in their dark silence alone. Anya breathed out in relief. "I thought this was a safe building," She whispered.

"It was, but nothing's ever absolute," Zim told her. She watched with distain as Zim got up and walked away. Why'd he have to be so depressing all the time? He'd be a better leader if he'd cheer up once in a while.

"So…Miz is somewhere in this neighborhood?" Anya asked, catching up.

"I think so," Zim replied, looking down the hall. It was all clear. They kept on going down the hall, weapons loaded and ready. Eventually, after much sneaking and snooping, they exited the building. Again, Anya gazed at the tall, underground buildings. Most were abandoned and the tops of them were obscured by darkness…but it was still amazing. "Hurry up," Zim called behind him. Anya skipped back up to him.

They walked cautiously, every small noise seemed to echo in the cavernous space. Finally they reached a huge round building with blown out windows. Zim led them in, stepping around old furniture and random crap spread around the room. They went from room to room and up a spiral staircase that just kept going and going up. "No one knows about this place anymore," Zim told her, "Everyone forgot about it. It leads to the surface…to one of the capitol buildings."

"And that's where Miz is?"

"I think so," Zim said, not looking too sure of that.

"What if he's not there?"

"We're dead." Anya stopped asking questions after that. The staircase spiraled on towards the heavens and made the trip dizzying. They kept on for what seemed like thirty minutes at the least until it stopped. There was no platform or landing, only a single wooden panel on the ceiling. Zim pushed it up slightly and looked every which way before shoving it open all the way. He climbed all the way into the next room and waited for Anya. The room was small and dark, a large wooden door on one wall, the rest a cold gray stone. Zim readied his gun and looked back at Anya. "Ready?"

…

Meekrob was so close, he was about to begin landing when he noticed an incoming call from planet Irk. "Computer, why the hell and who the hell has the nerve to call me?" Dib asked irritably.

"Tallest Kita, leader of Irk," The computer answered simply.

"Kita..?" Dib echoed. When had a new Tallest been appointed? "Let her through." The image of a tall Irken with purple eyes appeared on the vid-screen to his left. She had mechanics attached to various parts of her body, which was somewhat disturbing. "What do you want?"

"Human Dib of Earth," Kita said softly, "How would you like to be made an honorary Invader for Irk to aid in the efforts to end all war across the universe beginning with the Meekrob."

"What do you mean…Irk would never willingly team up with Earth," Dib said, not understanding her.

"Things have changed…Irk has changed. There are new people in charge and peace is priority number one," Kita said, still awaiting Dib's answer. "Will you join us?"

"…Only if Zim is made an Invader, too," Dib said, eyeing her warily.

"Invader Zim has already been reinstated as an official invader," Kita informed. That was surprising; Zim was often despised and hated on Irk. Maybe things were changing…

"Fine…I'm about to do my first mission, then. I'm about to invade Meekrob," Dib told her, his new leader.

"Good. I have troops heading there this very minute…they should be there about now," Kita said, "I have news from Arlia that Zim is already deep within Meekrob, go help him. Don't let Zim die." Without waiting for a response, Kita cut the transmission.

"Wasn't planning on it," He mumbled. Out of curiosity Dib flipped on all the scanners and saw a few Irken ships coming in from behind. Good thing Kita called or else he'd be going in alone. Now he had backup.

…

Several minutes went by, the silence wasn't comforting. And then she heard the signal to come out. She pushed the heavy wooden door open and carefully made her way through the room. It was all clear, and Anya wondered where he'd gone. Then she saw the blood in the next room, that was it. She entered timidly, taking note of all the bodies…the blood. They definitely didn't have this on Arlia. The blood was all different colors. There was a small bit of movement at the back of the room, and then a flurry of movement as Zim walked past her.

She turned and watched him walk away. There was something in his arms and his gun was gone. She followed him through the first room and to another all white room. There were panels and circuitry everywhere. Zim pushed a button and a panel opened up to reveal a long bench and a few screens inside. He pushed a small bundle into Anya's arms and guided her towards the pod.

"Get him home," Zim whispered, closing the hatch behind her. She heard a rush of air and she was gone…headed back home without Zim and with a bundle in her arms. She looked down and saw a little baby looking up at her.

"Let's go home, kid."

…

It was mayhem when the invading ships touched down. There were shots fired everywhere, people running all over. The planet was huge; it would be hell to find Zim in all this chaos. Running through the madness of two races clashing, Dib made his way to the nearest building. Though there was constant violence, most of them left Dib alone, he wasn't Irken or Meekrob, so no one was quite sure where he stood. It was easy to slip through the doorways to different buildings.

At the sound of several Meekrob arguing loudly, Dib stopped and listened for a moment. "No one from Unit Five is responding! Where the hell are they?" "Unit five was with the child prince!" "The entire building seems to be taken out." "Did they leave in escape pods?" "Only one pod was sent out!" That would be Zim, Dib smirked and waited until the Meekrob unknowingly told him exactly where to go. Then he took off down the street.

Maybe his new mysterious power would come in handy, he still didn't know how it worked. If only he knew how to trigger it. Despite this, he successfully evaded troops from both sides and made it to the section of buildings where Zim supposedly had been. It suddenly occurred to Dib that his prey might not even be there anymore. He'd just have to hope and look for him.

The first building he reached was dark and seemed to be abandoned, it was in the center of the Meekrob city. Inside there were a few lights still flickering, illuminating the trash and blood spread around everywhere. Dib felt a minute feeling of fear that he wouldn't find Zim, that he would be somewhere in the dark…already gone. But he remembered that Zim wouldn't go down like that. He'd have way more dignity than that.

A sudden noise from another room caused Dib to jump. A tin can rolled into view, light green and red splatters on it. A pounding started in Dib's heart as he ran around the corner to see where the green blood had come from. "Oh…there you are…" A raspy voice called out from the corner of the room. Dib headed toward it warily, trying to see in the dark. Finally, he could make out a dark greenish shape leaning on something…he seemed to be holding his side. Dib rushed over, holding Zim up. "Wondered when you'd get here…" Zim whispered.

"It's okay, it's okay, we'll get out of here now," Dib whispered, looking towards the doorways.

"No…" Zim said, laying a gloved hand on Dib's shoulder, "Game over."

"No, it's not over, the game's not over," Dib said quickly, panic coating his voice.

"We're surrounded…followed you here," Zim told him, motioning to the surveillance camera's next to them. Dib glanced all around the screens, looking for a way, because there had to be a way. It wasn't over, it could never be over. "Miz is safe now…but not for long," Zim said, leaning closer to Dib. He felt a sting and looked down at all the blood covering Zim's side.

Tears started to bud. "No…" He whispered in pain.

"It's okay, Dib," Zim told him, a serene smile on his face.

"But…But…you just…you're an invader now," Dib told him, hoping that one fact would change Zim's mind, his attitude about the situation. Maybe being an invader would change the entire situation. "Kita's the Tallest now, and she made both of us Invaders!"

All Zim did was raise a hand to stroke Dib's cheek. "That's nice…"

"Eh…that…That's all you have to say?" Dib asked, frustration and hopelessness boiling into anger. "You finally have what you've always wanted and all you have to say is 'that's nice'? You're an Irken Invader and by hell we'll get out of here! We'll live through this!" Dib yelled. But Zim was unaffected, he kept a hand at Dib's face and simply stared in his eyes.

"Because it's over…I can end this all now," Zim said, excitement leaking into his voice. His eyes darted to the control panel. Dib's eyes followed, and now the tears couldn't help but flow. He buried his head into Zim's shoulder and shuddered there. "We can finally make it all stop. We'll be real heroes, not just invaders." Dib nodded weakly.

"It's really over…" Dib whispered.

"Yeah. It is," Zim agreed, holding onto Dib as best he could. "Let's end this…" Dib nodded and straightened himself up. Zim reached over and placed his bloody palm on the button. Dib's went over, holding Zim's hand, the blood stinging pleasantly.

"Hey…" Dib whispered, looking at Zim, "…I love you…"

Zim gave a weak smile, "I love you, too…" And together they pressed down on the button that would cause the entire planet of Meekrob to implode upon itself.

…

Everyone at Irk stared at the oversized screens. Kita watched with pride mixed with horror. The war was over…but she'd lost the Irken she had just regained. All around her the Irkens, both short and tall, cheered and threw snacks around. This was the best victory they'd ever had. Zim must have known that. She gazed up at the debris and earthen chunks floating through space. She'd have to dedicate a food court or something like that to Zim.

…

On the surface of Arlia, Anya stepped out of the small escape pod and met with her fellow Arlians. They all chattered about something blowing up, and they'd had a victory of some kind. She didn't listen, she just searched for someone to hand off Miz to, but no one would take him. So she went to the building of her elders. Her elders all looked at her with pride and honor. Miz was still asleep in her arms, so they spoke quietly.

"Daughter of Arlia, one of the greatest victories of our people has occurred, and you are one to thank. Especially in the return of the young Prince of the Stars," Her elders told her. She bowed, though didn't know what victory they spoke of. "With Meekrob destroyed and Irk turned peaceful, we'll have no problems bringing peace to the Universe."

"What…what do you mean Meekrob was destroyed, did Zim get off the planet?" Anya asked, she had no idea why she cared, really. But still…it frightened her, the thought of Zim being trapped there.

"The soldiers Zim and Dib did not make it off the planet, in fact, they're the reason it was destroyed. They are two most noble soldiers for saving the universe from the might of the Meekrob." Anya lost her breath and couldn't breathe for a moment. She held Miz tighter and simply listened without thinking. "Dearest Princess of Arlia, will you care for Prince Miz until such a time when he old enough to rule the stars?" Anya finally got her breath back and simply nodded. This child…was all she had to remember those two so…of course she would care for him. She looked down at the sleeping boy in her arms. So innocent and sweet. How could anyone abandon him? "Good, new accommodations will be drawn up, and you will cease to fight, finally taking your role as the Princess of Arlia." Anya nodded, not taking her eyes from the bundle of life in her arms.

After being dismissed, Anya entered the elevator and kept herself together as long as she could. But that wasn't long. She gasped for air and sunk to the floor, her shoulders heaving as the tears swam down her face. That bastard! He could have left with her and he would have been fine! He didn't have to sacrifice himself like that! The sobs woke Miz up, but he didn't cry out. The sweet little thing stared up at Anya in confusion. His eyes reflected the same dark purple as his hair, his cute little face just stared. He reached up a tiny hand toward Anya, and she thought he would touch her face. Instead, little hands yanked hair on her hair. A small giggle erupted from her, he was so cute. Little Miz laughed, pulling more on her hair. She laughed again, how could anyone be sad around him?

…

…

..

..

A/N

Admit it, it was always going to end this way.