I pulled away to face the pain.

I close my eyes and drift away.

Over the fear that I will never find

A way to heal my soul.

And I will wander 'til the end of time

Torn away from you.

Gaz's thumbs hurt from playing her game slave 2, but she wasn't giving up. She was on the final boss of Vampire Piggy Slayer 2. This was one of the biggest moments of her life. She was not going to let up. The boss was at 1% life. One more hit. Almost there...here...we...go-! "GAZ LOOK!" An arm hit the game slave out of Gaz's hands and it fell to the ground. When Gaz quickly picked up the device, the screen showed "Game Over" Game...over...she never saved...Gaz stood up on the picnic table and nearly strangled her brother to death. "Gaz! What..!" Dib choked. "You...you messed up my game, Dib...you're gonna suffer horribly for that!" Gaz growled. Dib's eyes almost rolled back into his head before someone separated the two.

Dib gasped for breath. Gaz looked to her left to see Zim with an upset look on his face. "What?" She asked. "I thought we agreed," Zim said, "that I get to kill Dib. You just get to torture him." Gaz rolled her eyes, "I was torturing him." Zim crossed his arms. "Well, it looked a lot like you were killing him to me!" He said. "He messed up my game." She stated. Zim looked downwards. He did understand how much that strange game device meant to her. "Well...just remember: Dib-stink is to die at my hand!" He concluded. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Gaz said with the wave of a hand.

Dib hadn't heard Gaz and Zim's conversation since he was partly regaining consciousness. On the bus that afternoon, Gaz blocked out the sounds of the loud children by listening to her music. Dib was on his laptop. Zim, who was sitting behind the two, looked over his seat to look at what Gaz was listening to every now and then. After three attempts, he was able to catch a glance at what the band was called. He smiled and wrote it down on a piece of paper. "What are you doing, Zim?" Skoodge asked, who was sitting next to him. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." Zim lied.

Gaz refused to admit to Dib that she had been hanging out with Zim. They had a few things in common: They both hated Dib, they'd both rather see the earth destroyed, and they both mostly cared about themselves. It was rather strange that the two actually began acknowledging each other's existence. Neither could tell if they were friends yet since neither of them had ever had a true friend. Zim was struggling the most, because every time he'd talk to her, he'd get a strange feeling in his squeedily-spooch. He thought he knew what the feeling was, but couldn't quite put his claw on it.

"Skoodge! I'm going down to the base. Don't disturb me. And make sure Gir doesn't break anything!" Zim said. "Yeah, okay." Skoodge said. Zim went down into the base and sat at his large computer. "Computer!" Zim yelled. "What is it?" Computer asked. "Search any upcoming concerts for the band Evanescence." He commanded. The computer searched for a moment before it said, "Evanescence Concert; Music Palace; Thursday; January 13th." Zim nodded, "And how much are front row tickets?" The computer searched again before it said, "$346.00" Zim's jaw dropped. That's a lot of earth monies...and he needed two of those which meant...$692.00! Zim slumped back in his chair as the price repeated itself in his head. Then something else repeated in his head: Do it for her...

Gaz laid on her bed. She had caught up in her game and beat the final boss. She closed the game slave, satisfied, and set it on her dresser. She had just gotten changed into her pajamas before she heard a tap on her window. She turned around and flinched to see Zim staring at her, waving. She opened the window and grabbed his collar, "You better not have been watching me change." She warned. "No! Of course not!" Zim yelled in a hushed voice. Gaz knew he was lying, but released him. "What are you doing here anyway?" She asked. Zim let himself in. "I wanted to show you these." He said, smirking and waving two slips of paper at her. Gaz took one and read it. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

The paper was a ticket for front row seats to an Evanescence concert. "How...did...you-?" Gaz said, finding her voice. Zim chuckled. "I have my ways." He bragged. "Zim, these things are crazy expensive! How'd you manage to get the money?!" Gaz yelled. Zim couldn't hold back his smirk, "Simple. I saw someone buying tickets. He was clearly a fan of food, given his appearance, so I traded 300 coupons to all kinds of restaurants for the tickets. Now I have to pay Gir back for stealing his coupons..." He explained, "Anyway, the concert is next Thursday, I was wondering if you wanted to accompany me." Gaz blinked at him. Woah, was he asking her out? No. No, it was just a concert. Just a concert. "Hold on." She said. She cracked her door open. "DIB!" No response, "DIB!" Dib yelled from downstairs, "WHAT?!"

"DO WE HAVE ANY PLANS NEXT THURSDAY?"

"YEAH, WE'RE GOING TO EAT AT THAT SUSHI PLACE!"

"OKAY!"

Gaz shut her door. "I can't stand that place. I'm definitely going." She said. "Excellent!" Zim said, "So, next Thursday night, I'll pick you up in the Voot at 7:30," Gaz nodded. "And make sure you're not seen. I'll have to sneak out." Zim stood on his spider legs outside the window. "I'll see you then, human." He said, smirking. Gaz slammed the window shut and pulled the drapes. She looked back at her ticket and smiled. Zim wasn't such a bad guy.

A few days later, Gaz was in her room getting dressed for the concert. She wore a grey shirt, black jeans, and an Evanescence jacket. She heard a tap on her window. She opened the window and brushed her hair out of her face. "Are you ready to go?" Zim asked. Gaz nodded and climbed out of the window into Zim's arms. His spider legs shrunk back into his PAK as they lowered to the ground. They entered the Voot Cruiser and Zim turned on the invisibility cloaking device (which actually made the ship and those inside invisible, unlike the Megadoomer).

As they were flying to the Music Palace, Gaz wondered, "Aren't your antennae sensitive? Wouldn't the loud music hurt them?" Zim, not looking away from his piloting, shook his head. "I've lived with Gir long enough to get used to loud sounds. Besides, chaotic screaming and music are completely different concepts." He said.

When they got there, Zim parked the Voot behind the building. They turned in their tickets, and took their seats. They were there a bit early, so they had to wait, but when it did start, they were as loud as all the other people in the concert. The concert lasted for 2 hours, where six songs were played: What You Want, Together Again, Call me When you're Sober, Good Enough, Surrender, and Bring me to Life. Gaz couldn't help but steal a glance at Zim during Good Enough, mouthing the lyrics:

Under your spell again.

I can't say no to you.

Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand.

I can't say no to you.

Zim couldn't help but steal a glance at Gaz during Surrender, mouthing the lyrics as she did:

Breathe in and take my life in you

No longer myself only you

There's no escaping me, my love

Surrender

Both were thinking the same thing: "Do I have a thing for him/her?"

"Wake me up!"

"Wake me up inside!"

"I can't wake up!"

"Wake me up inside!"

"Save me!"

"Call my name and save me from the dark!"

Gaz and Zim shared a laugh after their mini-duet. "I never thought I'd have such a fondness for human music!" Zim said. "Well, you can't not like Evanescence." Gaz stated. Zim nodded, "True." They entered the Voot and Gaz checked the clock on her Game Slave 2. It read 10:13. "By the time we get back to my house, it'll be around 10:45. Dib's gonna go crazy." She sighed, sitting back in her seat. Zim removed his disguise and they were airborne. "But you snuck out? How would he notice you were gone?" He asked. "My dad won't let us eat as a family unless the entire family's there." She told him.

Zim parked the Voot next to Gaz's house, and he used his spider legs to lift her up to her room. "Y'know what, Zim? Maybe we should do this more often. I had fun." She said. "As did I, Gaz." Zim said. Gaz opened one eye. He'd never referred to her as her name before. "Well...G'night." He said, and with that, he left. Gaz smiled, something she rarely did, and went downstairs to confront Dib about where she'd been.

The next day, at recess, Dib still hadn't gotten over Gaz disappearing the night before. "And you act like nothing happened! Not only did I not get to go to my favorite restaurant, but I missed a very important meeting with the Swollen Eyeball searching for you!" Dib ranted. "Can you rant somewhere else? I playing a game." Gaz said. "Tell me where you were last night, Gaz! Tell me!" He yelled. Zim, who was hearing the whole thing (it was kind of hard not to with all of Dib's shouting), decided to interfere. "Well, if you must know, Dib-Stink, I accompanied Gaz-human at a concert last night, and she found it quite delightful. Much more delightful than if she was to be stuck with you." He said. Dib's jaw dropped. "You...you went on a DATE with him!?" He shouted. Gaz paused her game. "Geez, Dib, it was just a concert. Nothing more. Most of the time I forgot Zim was even there." She said. "Still! I can't believe you..."

Zim drowned out Dib's words. Just a concert...Was that really all Gaz saw that night? A concert? Did she really forget he was there? "Zim, tell him it wasn't a date." Gaz said. Zim looked at both of them with a strait face. "It was just a concert." He said rather coldly, and walked away. "You better not bring my sister into your...your...alien stuff Zim!" Dib warned. Gaz realized instantly that Zim was upset, and she knew why. Sure, she was only lying earlier, but he didn't know that. Just as she was about to catch up to him, the school bell rang. Tomorrow, she thought, I'll tell him tomorrow.

Gaz couldn't get the thought out of her head. She knew she hurt him. She had to tell him today. As soon as the final bell rang, Gaz ran out of her classroom, abandoned Dib, and tried to catch up to Zim. She knew where his house was from the school, so she headed in that direction. She eventually found a rather slow walking Zim around the block. "Zim! Hey!" She called. Zim stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around.

Gaz caught up to him. "I need to talk to you." She said. "About?" Zim questioned. He was speaking silently. He definitely was upset. "You know I was lying back there right? I just wanted to get Dib off my back." She said. Zim was silent for a moment, then spoke dryly, "You're a strange human, Dib-sister. How am I supposed to know you aren't lying right now?" Gaz clenched her fists. "Because I'm not! God, Zim. I'm trying to apologize here. The least you could do is believe me." She snapped. "Well I don't!" Zim barked, still not turning around.

The two stood there for a moment. Gaz stepped closer to Zim and grabbed his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She said, "I didn't mean to hurt you." Zim lowered his head and let out a deep sigh. He turned his head towards her slightly. "Can you look me in the eyes and tell me what you say is true?" He asked. Gaz opened her mouth to answer, then closed it. "I can't do that if I can't them." She said. "Eh?" Zim wondered. Suddenly, Gaz pinned him to the wall. "What are you-hey quit it! Stop! Gaz!" She peeled off his contacts, leaving him with his wig and revealing his ruby eyes. She opened her eyes and looked strait at him, their faces only inches away.

"I was lying to get Dib off my back. That concert was the best thing that had ever happened to me. And the fact that you were there made it better. I never forgot you were there, Zim. I never will."

Zim seemed shocked. He instantly knew she was telling the truth by the tone of her voice: soft and calm. Out of nowhere, Zim leaned into a kiss. Gaz's eyes widened. At first, she didn't know what to do, but then, suddenly, it didn't matter as she kissed him back. Gaz had never kissed anyone before, and Zim didn't think he even had the ability to love, yet here they were, kissing.

They released the kiss for breath and stared at each other. "You look much better without your disguise." Gaz said. Zim smiled, "Thank you." He wanted it again. He wanted the sensation of her lips on his to never end. He wanted to continue to hold her in his arms. "Hey, can I come over tonight?" Gaz asked. Zim, who was kind of in a trance, simply ran his claws through her hair and murmured, "Mmhmm..." Gaz smirked. "You should also put your contacts back on." She said, "Someone might see you." That snapped Zim out of it. He quickly grabbed his contacts from the ground, blew on them, and put them on. "R-right. Come then, Gaz! Let's get there before Gir destroys it!" He exclaimed, back to his normal, enthusiastic self. Gaz never imagined she'd fall for a guy like Zim, but emotions were strange things.

Is this real enough for you?

You were so confused

Now that you've decided to stay

We'll remain together