He couldn't believe it. It happened again, exactly one year to the day.

-Flashback-

Timmy's POV...

"Timmy? Are you almost ready?"

"Um... for what?"

His mother had entered his room unannounced and asked him this question out of the blue. He had been expecting a quiet February vacation of staying home and playing video games, maybe inviting his friends over to build a snowman, he might have even invited Tootie over, against his better judgment, or get into trouble making wishes with Cosmo and Wanda... He didn't expect his mother to come into his room and tell him:

"We're going to a ski resort!" his mother beamed at him.

"What?!"

"Oh I know! Isn't it exciting? Just like last year!"

"The... same ski resort?"

"Yep! Aren't you excited?"

"Excited is... such a strong word... I was gonna say... terrified."

"Oh, don't be silly! You love skiing."

"I do? That's news to me..."

"Come on now, get your things together, we have a long drive ahead of us!" with that, his mother left the room and returned downstairs.

Timmy began gathering clothes for the trip. It was one thing for his parents to go on vacation and leave him with Vicky. The thought caused him to shudder. But it was another thing to bring him along for whatever vacation they were going on, that was a very rare occurrence.

When he felt his suitcase was sufficiently packed, he grabbed the fishbowl containing his fish/fairy godparents and it and headed downstairs to find his parents.

"Mom? Dad? I'm all packed and ready to-" he was interrupted by two arms sweeping him into a bone-crushing hug.

"There's my favorite little angel!"

Oh God. Her again. Bane of his existence. Destroyer of hopes. Crusher of dreams. Nemesis to children. Kicker of puppies. Vicky.

"Vicky... I can't... can't breathe..." she was squeezing the life out of him, oh how he wished it was Tootie instead of Vicky, obsessive as she was, she wouldn't try to hurt him... But her older, red-headed sister? She would. Were it not for the ridiculous amounts of money his parents paid her, he knew his end would have come long ago.

His parents entered the living room from the kitchen. "Oh, I almost forgot! Vicky's coming with us!"

Timmy gasped for air and gave Vicky a pleading look. "Of course you are..."

"Yep! I get to spend extra quality time with my favorite victim- er charge! Thanks for bringing me along Mr. and Mrs. Turner!"

"Oh, of course Vicky! You've always been so helpful when we've had to call you on short notice, it wouldn't be fair to leave you out of it! You're like a part of the family!"

As cold and unyielding as Vicky's heart was, she felt the smallest hint of... something at these words.

"Aw, thanks! You guys are the best!"

Timmy could feel his pancreas kicking into high gear at the sound of Vicky's voice, it was just so sickeningly sweet! And fake. Nothing about this girl was sweet, she proved it time and time again for the past three years. He was only eleven, and she had already succeeded in crushing any hopes that his parents would believe him when he told them how evil she was and fire her. She was just too good at acting.

"Alright, is everyone ready to go?" Timmy's father spoke up.

"Seems that way dear! Dimmsdale ski resort, here we come!" Timmy's mom and dad left the house to put their luggage in the car.

Timmy moved to follow his parents, but was yanked back. "Y'know Twerp, I heard baldy and braces were going too."

"Chester and AJ?"

"Yep, too bad there was a sudden drain in their parents' bank accounts though, I guess they won't be joining us, so I get to focus my attention on you! Isn't that great?"

"Am I to assume you had something to do with that?"

"Wha? Me? How on Earth would I be able to do something like that? Hack into someone's bank account and steal their money from right under their noses?" Vicky took out a wad of cash and flicked through it for emphasis. "C'mon kid, you're giving me way too much credit."

"Right. What about Tootie?"

"Sorry, you're girlfriend ain't comin' either, she's going on vacation with our parents."

"She's not my girlfriend! Why aren't you going?"

Vicky had a thoughtful expression as if she was contemplating something. "Why, I wanted to come and babysit you of course! I'll give up my vacation if it means I can make you miserable, after all, misery loves company!"

"Wait... why are you miserable?" he had caught what she let slip.

"I... I'm not! Grr... move your ass!" Vicky grabbed her own suitcase and left the house.

"That was... weird." Timmy looked down at his goldfish, who merely shrugged in response.

He spent the next six hours entirely too close to Vicky, who decided that, in addition to putting on an act in front of his parents, would be far too affectionate for his liking, she sat in the car's middle seat, rather than the one closer to the window, and kept putting her arm around his shoulder like they were the best of friends.

Were it literally any other girl, he would be excited, and probably embarrassed, but it wasn't, it was Vicky, and the only feelings he got around her were a sense of dread and impending disaster.

"Vicky... could you... go over to your side? Or really just anywhere away from me?"

"Yes."

Vicky didn't move from her spot.

"But you aren't going to-"

"Nope." she pulled him closer to her, uncomfortably so.

"Having trouble breathing... again."

She loosened her grip just barely noticeably. It wasn't anywhere near an indication that she would change her ways, but at least he could breathe comfortably again.

"Thanks..."

Vicky released an annoyed sounding breath from her nose.

Upon arriving at the ski resort, Vicky got out first and stretched, followed by Timmy, then his parents.

"Well, it looks like we got here too late to go skiing today, sorry you two."

"Oh don't worry about it Mrs. Turner! We're gonna be here all week, there's plenty of time to go skiing!"

"That's the spirit! Now, my husband and I have room 2A, and you two have room 4H, if you need us for anything, that's where we'll most likely be."

"Okay! You two have fun, I'll take good care of Timmy!" the resort happened to have a gambling hall, which is where Vicky expected the Turners to be going once their things were situated.

"Mom! Dad! I-"

But, true to their ways, his parents had already run off.

Timmy sighed sadly. "Nevermind..."

"Oh, don't worry Twerp, I said I'd take good care of you..." Vicky cracked her knuckles. "And I meant it."

"Can't you just kill me and, I don't know, not torture me?"

"Where's the fun in that?" she tossed her suitcase to him. "Carry my things."

While it was a longshot, appeasement generally worked better for him than rebellion for dealing with Vicky, so he carried her luggage for her. Up four flights of stairs. In the bitter winter cold.

By the time he reached the hotel room, his fish were already frozen in their bowl. "Guess I'll thaw them out by a heater or something..."

"Thaw what out?" Vicky was holding an icicle and occasionally taking a bite from it.

"Cosmo and Wanda."

"Who?"

"My goldfish?"

"Oh, you named 'em? Why? Don't they usually last like, a year tops?"

"I like them, don't you name your pets?"

"Yeah, but not things that last a year or less, getting close to someone, or something that won't last, will only leave you hurting in the end." she spoke with a somber tone, a tone Timmy didn't know existed.

"I'd rather love and be hurt than feel nothing at all. wouldn't you?"

"Hmph, what are you, my frickin' therapist or something?"

"I don't think I could handle a responsibility like that..."

"You're already treading on thin ice, Twerp..."

Isn't this how it always went? No matter how much he tried to have a normal conversation with Vicky, it always turned to hostility toward him. Didn't she realize that she had already broken him? As much as he disliked her for treating him the way she did, he no longer fought back. If she wanted something done, he did it, if she said 'jump' he'd ask her how high. He wasn't depressed, not really, he just didn't see the point of fighting an unwinnable battle. Maybe she did realize it after all, he wasn't sure when she might have, but she took full advantage of him, her slave. It also meant that eventually she began to lighten up, ever so slightly, like his fighting back was part of what excited her, without his rebellious nature in play, she grew bored with constantly torturing him.

"Had I known that all I had to do was give up to get an easy ride, I would have done it years ago..." Give up. Is that what he had done? When you put it like that, he sounded pathetic, why should an eleven year old boy give up? "Because Vicky wore me down..."

"Sorry..."

"Yeah, I'll bet you are." Vicky flung the hotel room door open and walked inside. "You coming in? Or would you prefer to freeze to death?"

Timmy carried the bags inside and set them down on the beds. "At least there are two beds..."

"Good thing, you would've slept on the floor." she opened her bag and took out some clothes.

He merely watched.

"What? Expecting me to pull some sort of weapon out of here? I didn't bother to bring one, I can make you do whatever I want without threatening you with bodily harm." she grinned evilly at him.

"Lucky you..."

"Better thaw out your fish, wouldn't want to leave them in cryo for too long."

"Yeah..."

Vicky's POV...

"Boring." Vicky watched as the once spirited boy put his fishbowl by the heater. He was so... boring now, he never fought back, just complied with her demands like it was the most natural thing in he world. She liked it at first, he was basically her slave, clean the bathroom? Done. Get her a drink? Done. Make her dinner because she couldn't cook and he could? Done. Do all this in a frilly french maid outfit? Done. But at least when he was ten he complained about it... Now he offered no resistance at all, she was willing to bet that if she requested a kiss on the cheek, he'd ask which cheek. Not that she would. That was criminal... right? Well... perhaps not a kiss on the cheek, that was fairly platonic, anything else though? Too far, right? Right.

"Alright Twerp, you stay on your side of the room, I stay on mine." she drew an invisible line with her finger, bisecting the room.

"Okay..." he watched as Vicky crossed the line and headed to the bathroom, which just happened to be on his side of the room, a bundle of clothing and a towel in her arms. "Hey! You-"

"I make the rules. Which means I break the rules. And I'm going to take a shower." she slammed the bathroom door shut.

Timmy's POV...

"Alright... I'll- I'll be here..." he laid down on the bed and tried to get some sleep. He thought he hated her, for the chores she made him do, for her cruelty, for lying to his parents when something got broken... for everything really. Except he didn't, not anymore. It was too much work to hate her, he certainly didn't like her, but he didn't hate her, he nothinged her, for lack of a better term. She existed as one of the only constants in his life, and that was enough for him.

When she emerged from the shower a half hour later in what he could only assume was regular sleeping attire for her, a green tank-top and black night shorts, she didn't say anything to him, then again, what was there to say? They weren't a couple.

Timmy mentally gagged at the thought.

And they weren't friends, they were two people who needed the other, even if the reasons were petty, in Vicky's case, or out of love, in Timmy's case. Not love for the red-headed witch, mind you. Love for his godparents.

"Goodnight Vicky." he never gave up hope that one day he could have some semblance of a normal relationship with Vicky, one that didn't include the animosity he had become so used to.

"Night." she flicked the light off, plunging the room into darkness.

"Well, better than nothing at all..."

The next morning...

"Hey! Wake up!" Vicky began prodding the side of Timmy's head with her finger.

"Wha? What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch. I may be stuck watching you, but I'm not gonna hang out in the hotel room all day doing nothing, now get up!" she moved to shove him off the bed, but he simply rolled off on his own and landed on his hands and feet.

"Fine..."

"That's all you ever say! 'Fine', 'Alright', 'Sure' Where's your spine?!"

"Huh?" "What could've brought this on?" "Whaddya mean?"

"Ugh! Nevermind, I don't have time to explain it to you, just get dressed!"

Vicky crossed her arms and looked out the window.

Timmy grabbed some clothes from his suitcase and changed into more 'cold weather appropriate' attire. "Happy?"

"I'll be happy when I get paid, at the end of the day." Vicky opened the door and motioned for Timmy to follow her.

They arrived at the main lobby to find Timmy's parents playing the slots, and not doing particularly well.

"Mrs. Turner? How are things?" the saccharine facade was back, as usual.

"Well enough. Usually we do better when we gamble, though I prefer blackjack myself... but my husband wanted to 'break from the norm' as he said it, so here we are!"

"Well, best of luck to you two! I just came over to get a little spending money for-" Vicky was interrupted as a large wad of hundred dollar bills was shoved into her hands.

"That should cover it." Timmy's mother never took her gaze off the slot machine.

"Thanks!" Vicky made her way over to a less crowded area of the casino and stopped in front of a slot machine.

"Vicky? You gamble?"

"Nope, too risky, what if I lost?" she inserted a quarter into the slot machine.

"So what are you-?"

Vicky pulled the lever and watched as the slots began to spin. After a few seconds, Vicky punched the side of the machine, causing it to sputter and spark for several seconds, then all three slots landed on 'Jackpot', which caused the machine to begin spouting out quarters at an alarming rate. "See? It's not a gamble if you know you're gonna win."

"Isn't that... cheating?" Timmy looked around nervously.

"Yes. Yes it is." she began gathering up the quarters from the sputtering machine, then looked at Timmy, who continued to watch her. "Help!"

Timmy began scooping up quarters into his pockets and noticed a twenty-something year old man wearing a security uniform walking toward them. "Erm... you two! What's going on here?"

"Well..." Vicky stood up in front of the man and glared menacingly. "It seems I won the jackpot, I'm merely collecting my winnings."

"Aren't you a little young to be gambling? What are you, seventeen?"

Vicky looked at the man dangerously, then to his teeth, he wore a crude set of braces. "Aren't you a little too old to old to be wearing braces?"

The man responded by nervously looking around and then covering his mouth and walking off.

"Nice job dealing with that guy." Timmy suddenly stood next to her.

"It's easy when you're like me, how much did you get?"

"More than enough." he shook his pockets, making a heavy jingling sound as he did.

"Good."

He expected her to take what he got, but she simply walked off, and he followed.

"You know how to snowboard Twerp?"

"Kinda..."

"Good, I was afraid you still spent your time skiing, like a wuss."

"I'm not very good though, we don't come up here much..."

They grabbed their gear and were now riding the chairlift up the mountain.

Vicky dropped off the lift and into the fresh snow, she called up to him mid-fall. "Better keep up!"

"Heh... I think I can." he dropped after her and followed close behind, dodging trees as he did. She was far better than he was at this, her motions fluid and instinctual, while his were somewhat clumsy.

Vicky looked over her shoulder to see him doing fairly well at keeping up, despite him saying he didn't get much practice. "Not bad Twerp! I might actually respect you in a few years!"

He wanted to stick his tongue out at her for the remark, but his brain told him to tell her to watch out for the tree she was speeding toward instead. "Vicky! Tree!"

Without returning her gaze to what was going on in front of her, she dodged the tree. "You say something?" she dodged another without taking her eyes off him. "Something about a tree?"

"That luck of yours just might run out if you aren't careful..."

"Meh... I doubt it, unless you want me to get- AH!" just as he predicted, Vicky smacked her shoulder on a somewhat thick low-hanging branch and tumbled into a small clearing where the mountain flattened out a bit.

"Vicky..." there was a nearly imperceptible hint of worry in his voice, mean as she was, he didn't wish harm on her, or anybody for that matter. He slowed to a halt and freed himself from the foot bindings of the snowboard. "Hey... you alright?" he was kneeling next to her now.

"Come closer..." Vicky's voice sounded weak and foreign as she spoke.

Timmy leaned down a bit. "Yeah...?"

"Closer..."

He leaned down a bit more so her face was inches from his. "Vicky? Are you okay? I can-" He was interrupted by a handful of snow colliding with his face.

"Pfft! The look on your face! Priceless!" Vicky was rolling around on the snowy ground holding her stomach and laughing at him. For worrying about her. "If only I had a camera!"

"Should've known..." No one in their right mind would have any reason to care about Vicky's well-being, and he just learned about what happened when one did. "So I'm gonna assume you're fine then?"

"Yeah, a little sore... but... Hahaha! You! And that look! What? Got a little crush on your babysitter?!" Vicky continued to laugh at him.

"Hmph." Timmy crossed his arms and looked away in defiance. "Yeah... laugh it up, my worrying over whether or not you were okay is real funny."

Vicky continued snickering and extended a hand. "Help me up."

Timmy moved to grab it, then pulled his hand away. "Help yourself." he strapped his board back to his feet and sped away, leaving Vicky alone in the snow.

"Hmph, uppity brat." she got up and rubbed at her shoulder before rotating it and hearing a loud popping sound. "Much better." she followed him back down the mountain.

Timmy entered the main lobby and passed his parents.

"Timmy? Where's Vicky?"

He wore an expression on his face that was somewhere between annoyed and bored. "No idea, probably strangling a bag of puppies or something."

"Oh, don't say such awful things! She just wants to be your friend..."

"Sure..." he was tracking snow through the lobby and really didn't give a damn, he was mad, and had no idea why. It wasn't the first time he was worried about Vicky, but it was the first time she threw his concern back in his face. "That's what I get for worrying about an enemy..." He returned to the hotel room and began watching some wonderfully mind numbing television to take his mind off Vicky and his gambling addicted parents.

Vicky's POV...

She entered the main lobby and made her way towards where she knew Timmy's parents would be. "How are you two doing?"

"Oh Vicky! Very well actually, our luck has taken a turn for the better! Did you two enjoy skiing?"

"It was alright. Have you seen Timmy? He ran off after falling in the snow, I think he was embarrassed."

"Oh, that explains why he seemed distant a few minutes ago, yes, he came through here really quick and headed upstairs, likely to his and your hotel room. Would you be a dear and check on him?"

"Of course! Can't have my favorite little angel being a sourpuss now, can I?" she made her way up the stairs and to the room she shared with Timmy, she contemplated knocking, then thought better of it and kicked the door open and walked in. "So, wanna talk about that little disappearing act back there, or can I go straight to beating it out of you?"

"I don't much wanna talk about it, just leave me alone."

"Huh... kinda feels like the old Timmy again." "Maybe you misheard, either talk, or I beat it out of you, those are your options."

"How about option C?" Timmy stood and turned off the TV, then crawled into his bed and under the covers. "Night."

"Don't think so." Vicky ripped the blanket off of Timmy and tossed it aside. "Talk."

Timmy turned to her and glared daggers at her, it would have been effective, if Timmy didn't look like he had been crying. "Wait. Crying? He never cries, why now?"

"No." Timmy stood up from the bed and retrieved his blanket, then wrapped it around himself. "Leave me alone."

"Grr... listen you little-" she stopped herself, much as she wanted to lay into him, she couldn't when she saw his puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Whatever." she stripped down to her sleeping clothes, which she had elected to wear under her snowsuit, and crawled into her own bed, then shut the light.

Wednesday Morning...

Vicky awoke with a very dry mouth. "Blech... shouldn't have left the heater running all night... Twerp? Get me a glass of water."

There was no sound from Timmy's side of the room.

"Hey! Twerp! Water, now!" she threw the covers off herself and looked over to his bed to find it made and empty. "Where the hell is he? Twerp?"

Still no response, he wasn't in the hotel room.

Vicky got out of bed and drank some water from the sink. "Alright. I'm kicking his ass." She got dressed and made her way to the casino to find Timmy's parents still gambling, though they were at the blackjack table now. "Did my favorite little angel pass through here?"

"Oh Vicky! I'm not sure, he isn't with you?"

"No, I got up late, he was gone when I got up."

"Oh well, I'm sure he's fine, why don't you go look for him, my husband and I are on a winning streak!"

"Sure! I'll find him, he's probably just still embarrassed over his little spill yesterday. See you later!"

Vicky left the building and walked over to the ski and snowboard rental kiosk. "Hey, you seen a kid with rabbit teeth and a pink hat come through here?"

The blonde girl behind the counter looked up from her magazine with a rather bored expression. "Yeah, he came through a few minutes ago... or was it an hour ago? I dunno, he rented a snowboard and took the chairlift up to Death Mountain." the girl lazily pointed at the tallest mountain at the resort. "You gonna rent a snowboard or skis?"

Vicky already had a snowboard hefted on her shoulder. "Got my own, thanks."

"Right, well if you go up there, be careful, there was a pretty bad avalanche up there last year, some people got trapped I heard, so no yelling or loud bullshit while you're up there."

"Yeah yeah, I know about avalanches." Vicky hopped onto the chairlift and began the long ascent to the top of the mountain. She was going to have to control herself, the last thing she needed was a repeat of last year's events, where they were trapped for hours in a frozen cave, then attacked by a not-yeti who turned out to be a nearly brain-dead surfer who was keeping pizza fresh. "What an idiot... keeping pizza in a cave that far from civilization just to keep it cold, how about a freezer? Dumbass."

She was surprised to find Timmy at the top of the mountain, sitting on a rocky ledge above an impossibly high cliff. He looked over his shoulder at the sound of her approaching footsteps. "Of course..."

"Hey there little buddy! Thought you'd get away huh?"

"Kinda hoped..."

"Nope, I'm really good at finding you." she nudged him with her foot, causing him to tip forward slightly.

"Why won't you just leave me alone?"

"Because making you miserable is just too much fun!" she nudged him again causing him to tip a little more.

"But what did I do to deserve it? What, I called you when I was eight because I needed a babysitter? Was that so bad?"

"Who said you deserved it? Maybe I just enjoy making you miserable?"

"What kind of person enjoys breaking another's spirit?"

"The kind of person I am."

A strong gust of wind blew and pushed Timmy forward toward the edge, he thought he would fall off, how would Vicky explain this one to his parents? He felt himself unconsciously leaning toward the edge, a little further and-

He felt Vicky grab his hood and yank him back from the edge and onto the more solid ground next to her. "Come on, I'll race you down, I win, you do one command of my choosing, then I leave you alone."

"I already do pretty much whatever you want..."

"Yeah, but this has the extra bonus in that I'll leave you alone after it's done."

"Something isn't right here, why is she being merciful now?" "What if I win?"

"You won't." she grinned at him and slipped her goggles over her eyes, then sped off down the mountain.

"Hey!" he put his own goggles on and raced after her.

If he thought she was skilled before, he didn't know what to call her now. She was traveling much faster, but still dodged the trees with an almost inhuman amount of grace and agility. Were it not for the fact that she was his babysitter and completely evil, he might have even admired her. "C'mon Twerp! At least make this a challenge for me!" she yelled back to him.

"No yelling on the mountain!"

"What?"

"Oh no, I'm not falling for that." he wasn't about to be the one to cause an avalanche, especially since he didn't have Cosmo and Wanda this time.

"I can't hear you!" Vicky continued to effortlessly dodge trees, despite not looking where she was going.

"I said to keep it down! What if you cause an avalanche?"

"Hah! What are the chances of that happening again? On the anniversary of the last one? Not likely!"

No sooner had she finished her sentence than did Timmy feel the mountain begin to shake. "Oh no... why does this only happen to me?!"

"What? Losing-" Vicky saw the wall of snow rampaging down the mountain toward them. "Shit!" she returned her gaze to in front of her and leaned forward to give herself more speed. "Better speed up Twerp!"

"What'd you say?"

She looked to see he was now racing alongside her. "How did you-?"

"Must be because I'm smaller and lighter! Later!" he leaned forward a bit more and semi-crouched, making him go even faster.

"Hey! Not- not fair!"

"See you at the bottom!" he called back to her.

Vicky looked behind her to see the wall of snow gaining fast. "Great, not only is he gonna beat me, I'm going to die too." she crouched as he did and began to gain more speed. "Hmph, I guess I can learn a thing or two, even from a Twerp."

Timmy looked back to see Vicky and the wall of snow far behind him. "Sure hope she's quick enough..." "Help her..." "Oh no, I don't think so conscience, you don't get to just jump in now." "You can't just leave her..." "I'm pretty sure I can, in fact, I know I can." "No you can't..." "Not listening." "Yes you are..." "Grr... no! I'm not!" "Just go back for her..." "Goddammit!" he looked back at Vicky again and began to slow his descent.

She was now alongside him again. "What? I don't need your pity! I can still beat you!"

Timmy scoffed and rolled his eyes, then reached for her hand and held onto it like his life depended on it, though it was her life that was on the line.

"What're you? Let me go! I'm fine and I don't need help! Especially not from you!"

"Too bad my help is non-negotiable. Now stop trying to pull your hand away and focus on outrunning our deaths!"

Vicky growled in frustration but stopped trying to pull her hand away and focused on the task at hand.

She looked behind her and saw that the wall of snow was gaining on them. "Hey! We're not gonna make it! Just- just let me go!" she resumed trying to pull her hand free from his, but he wasn't relenting anytime soon.

"Trust me, I really want to!"

"Then just... let go!"

He didn't answer, but his grip on her hand tightened slightly.

"Did you hear me?! Let me go!"

He suddenly veered to the left toward a depression in the snow and yanked her forward, causing her to be propelled forward and into the depression, which, as it turned out, was a small cave. He followed her in a second later, and the entrance was covered over by the avalanche, sealing them in.

Vicky sat up and looked around the cave. She had collided with the wall from being thrown in and was a little sore. The cave was fairly small, smaller than the last one they had been trapped in, the ceiling was just a few inches higher than the top of her head, and there wasn't a mountain of pizza boxes in this one, though there was easily enough room to lie down on the floor without touching the walls.

Vicky unbuckled herself from her snowboard and quickly strode over to Timmy.

"Well." he began to unbuckle himself from his own board. "That was close."

Vicky stood before him and took the glove off her right hand, then slapped Timmy across the face. "What is wrong with you?! I told you to leave me! Then at least you would've survived! Now we're both gonna die!"

"Well I couldn't just leave you!" his face was burning from her slap, a strange contrast to how the rest of him felt from the cold wind that had been whipping against him as he raced down the mountain.

"Why not?! How is this better?!"

"It! ...It isn't... but at least you're alive..."

"For how much longer?" she sneered at him and sat down on the opposite side of the cave, as far from him as she could get.

-End of ridiculously long Flashback-

And that was the story behind how Timmy found himself on a frozen floor, in a frozen cave, under a frozen mountain. With a girl who had the world's only frozen heart beating in her chest.

"You remember the last time we were in this situation?" he wasn't looking at her, or anything for that matter, except maybe the ceiling.

Her response was an annoyed growl.

"We said we wouldn't talk about it, not ever. Who knew we'd find ourselves back in the exact same situation? Of course... this time I don't have Cosmo and Wanda here..."

"Fuck you and fuck your fish! Even if they were here, what good would they be?! Something to eat for the last few hours of life we have?!"

"Right. I always forget that no one knows that they are fairies..." "And no hunky surfer/yeti to help us out... How did that turn out anyway? Did you guys end up dating?"

"Heh... yeah, for all of one date, then I realized he was an idiot." Vicky chuckled to herself.

"Sorry to hear that... well, not really. You can find someone better."

"You trying to cheer me up? Cause it ain't working..."

"We could always talk about how we'll be dead soon. Any regrets?"

"I regret I'm gonna die in a cave with an eleven year old brat." Vicky deadpanned at Timmy.

"How poignant."

"You don't even know what that word means..."

"Nope."

"Yet you still managed to use it correctly... kind of."

"I regret I'm never gonna get a date with Trixie Tang..."

"That again? You'll be dead soon, give it up. You never had a chance to begin with."

"Maybe... maybe."

"I regret that I wasn't nicer to Tootie, my own sister..."

"You worry too much. She loves you anyway."

"Hah. What do you know?"

"I've talked to her on multiple occasions, she doesn't hate you at all, I'm honestly surprised by it, but she once said that you were the best sister she could ask for..."

The revelation hit Vicky like a truck, and she felt dampness at the corners of her eyes. "Great, now I'm crying and I'm gonna die in a frozen cave with an eleven year old brat."

"I regret... nevermind."

"What? You might as well tell me. Get it off your chest so you can die with an unburdened heart."

"How poetic. I regret... that we couldn't be friends."

"Who?"

"You and I."

"That's it?"

"Yep."

"Hmph. What a lame regret. You wanted us to be friends?"

"Why is that lame?"

"I dunno, it just is. Of all the things you could regret, you regret not being friends with the girl who tortures you on a daily basis?"

"When we first met... that's what I wanted. I wanted to be friends, how could I have known you would be the person you are? Even now, when you hit your shoulder yesterday, I was worried about you, I thought you were really hurt. So what did you do? You smacked me in the face with a snowball. Or even less than an hour ago. I saved you. You. Vicky. My own personal 'white whale' if you will. And what do you do? You slap me across the face! Is me worrying about you really that bad? Is me saving you really that bad?!"

"Hmph. Evidently there's something wrong with you to save someone like me... And even worse, you have no spine! What happened to the you I used to know, the one who fought back when I made him do chores?"

"Maybe you're right. There must be something wrong with my head, I can't even bring myself to hate you anymore... I'm just... exhausted, tired of it all. And as for my not having a spine... Would someone without a spine have gone back for you? You've worn me out Vicky. I don't want to fight anymore, that's all..." he spoke somberly, then stood up and made his way over to Vicky, then slumped down next to her.

"What are you doing?"

"Same thing we did last time." his arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close to him.

"No seriously, what are you doing?" her cheeks turned the lightest shade of pink at his bold actions.

"I have no intention of freezing to death. I may have said my regrets, but I'm not gonna die in a cave, not like this."

"So why are you?"

"If I'm gonna stay warm, I need you, and I guess I can't let you freeze to death either, so..."

As much as Vicky wanted to push him away, she felt she didn't have the strength to. Strength? No, she was strong enough, she didn't have the resolve to, that's what it was. She couldn't deny that she enjoyed the feeling of being held, even if it was just so they didn't die, even if it was the Twerp, of all people, doing the holding. She leaned closer and rested her head, cheek-first, on top of his head. "You should've left me. You could've saved yourself..."

"I almost did. But I had a sudden attack of conscience..."

"Well..." she took her glove off again and lightly caressed where she had slapped him. "I'm glad you did, and... I'm sorry for hitting you..."

Her cool hand on his cheek felt oddly soothing, despite the fact that the same hand had caused him pain an hour earlier. "You can make it up to me when we get out of here."

"If we get out of here..."

"When we get out of here."

"Yeah, how long will it take them to realize we're missing?"

"Hopefully not too long... until then, no going to sleep, if you start to get sleepy, tell me, if you sleep, you die."

Vicky yawned. "Does that count?"

"Really?" he smirked up at her.

"Gotta keep the mood light, don't I?"

Despite this, both ended up falling asleep, and Vicky awoke several hours later. "Crap... I'm gonna be sore for a while... Twerp?" she poked at Timmy several times, eliciting a groan from him. "Wake up. We weren't supposed to go to sleep..." Vicky wiggled her fingers and toes, they felt a bit cold, but she could still feel them, so no frostbite yet. "Hey!" her voice reverberated against the cave walls.

"Wha?! Oh... it's you..."

Timmy's POV...

He stretched and tried wiggling his fingers and toes. "No frostbite yet... luckily. What time is it?"

"Time for you to get a watch."

Timmy pulled up his sleeve to expose a wristwatch. "Eight-forty-two. If they haven't noticed us by now, they almost certainly will by tomorrow morning."

"That's good, right?"

"Unless we freeze to death first. The sun was out earlier, now it's night, it'll be even colder..."

"So what do we do?!"

"I dunno..."

"Perfect. All that determined shit about how you won't give up and die in a cave, and now you don't know what we're gonna do?!"

"Agh... don't yell, this cold weather gives me a headache, and you're only making it worse..."

"Don't yell?!"

"Knew I shouldn't have said that..."

"We're gonna freeze to death and you're worried about a little headache?!" the cave shook in response to Vicky's yelling.

"Vicky... you're gonna cause another avalanche..."

"Who cares?! Are you trying to say I caused the last one?! Or the one last year?!"

"I don't wanna fight... just stop."

"Then tell me what we're gonna do!"

"I don't know!" he yelled as loud as she did, causing a large hunk of rock to drop from the ceiling, followed by a large amount of snow pouring in from the hole left by the rock.

"You broke the cave, Twerp."

An idea formed in Timmy's head. "That just might- yeah!" Timmy ran over to the rock and snow and formed it into a mound. "Come here!"

"What? We gonna build a snowman?" she walked over and looked at the mound, then up at the hole the rock had left behind. She could see stars in the night sky. "That's!"

"Yeah, stand on this and gimme a boost."

Vicky did as he said and lifted him onto her shoulders. "Can you reach?"

"Grr... no... gimme... oh! The snow boards!" Timmy climbed down off Vicky and grabbed both of their snowboards. "Alright, gimme another boost up there!"

"What's the magic word?"

"You realize I'm trying to save us from freezing to death?"

Vicky crossed her arms and smirked at him.

"Please?"

"Was that so hard?" Vicky crouched down and let Timmy climb onto her shoulders.

"Alright, now if I put this here..." she looked up to see Timmy sticking his board through the hole and wedging it in the hole, then climbing up onto it. "Alright, hand me your board."

Vicky handed her snowboard up to him. "Careful with that, it was expensive!"

"I'll be careful." "Nevermind I'm using it to save your life!" he grabbed it and formed a skinny 'X' shape with the two boards. He put his feet on it to brace himself and pushed them down, they didn't seem like they would give way so he reached back down into the hole. "Your hand milady?"

"Of course Sir Twerp." she reached up and grabbed his hand.

He braced himself over the hole on top of the boards and pulled her up, with no small amount of effort and moved the snowboards so she didn't hit her head. With a final effort, he pulled her up out of the hole and onto him, so she was lying on top of him.

"Feels... like a scene... from some action... movie... where the hero and heroine escape from... a deathtrap and-"

Vicky interrupted him by taking his face in her hands and crashing her lips into his. She pulled back after a few seconds and rolled off Timmy onto her back in the snow.

"Yeah... that." his cheeks felt like they could melt the snow right now.

"That your first kiss?"

"Uh... yeah..."

"Same here..."

"Bullshit!"

Vicky turned to look at him with sad eyes.

"Er... I mean... really?"

"Yeah..."

"Oh..." Timmy stood up and offered Vicky his hand. "We might as well head back."

"Right." she took his hand and he pulled her up.

Both strapped their snowboards back on and made their way back to the ski lodge.

Upon arriving, the two found Timmy's parents playing roulette.

"Oh! Timmy, Vicky! How was skiing? Your father and I have been doing very well here!"

"Mrs. Turner? Have you two... even left the gambling hall since we got here?"

"Of course not! Can't let a winning streak get away! We've been playing for two days straight!" Timmy's mother's left eye began twitching sporadically.

"I think I'm gonna stay in tomorrow, maybe just relax in my room." Timmy interjected.

"Me too... it was a long day today..." Vicky yawned and stretched, then put her arm around Timmy's shoulders. "You two keep on... keeping on!"

"We will! Goodnight you two!" Timmy's parents returned their attention to the roulette wheel in front of them.

Vicky entered the hotel room, followed by Timmy, who stopped and thought after he closed the door. "Huh. Looks like you won."

Vicky stuck her head out from behind the refrigerator door. "What?"

"You said that if you got back first, you'd have a request, then you'd leave me alone."

"Oh..."

"Not that-! I'm not saying I... um... I don't want you to... uh..."

"I get what you're trying to say. I actually didn't give much thought to what I'd ask for when I won... oh well." Vicky took a pink lemonade out of the fridge and took a sip from it, then unzipped her jacket and took off her snow pants. Leaving her in her sleeping clothes again. "You don't... mind if I walk around like... this, right?"

"Why would it matter now?"

"Erm... I dunno..."

"Okay... well, no. Dress how you want, it's your room too."

"Okay... I will..." Vicky laid down on the couch and flipped on the TV.

"So..."

"So."

"Are we...?"

"Together?"

"I- um... well... I guess that's where I was headed..." Timmy's face now rivaled the color of a ripened tomato.

"No idea. Is- is that what you want?" she peeked over the couch at him, her face turning slightly pink.

"Is it what you want?"

Vicky narrowed her eyes at him. "You first."

"Maybe... I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea..."

"That's not much of an answer." Vicky slumped back onto the couch and re-focused her gaze on the TV.

"But it's still an answer, so tell me what you think."

Vicky sighed loudly. "I don't know what I think. I've known you for three years, feels like longer..."

"Don't start the age bullshit."

"Huh?"

"It's all been said and done before, I don't wanna hear: 'Oh, I've got six years on you' or 'Oh you're just a kid' I'm tired of hearing it. Don't factor my age into it."

"As if it's that easy... we wouldn't be able to be public about it, not at all."

Timmy thought back to all the times he had to get attention away from his godparents. "Okay."

"Okay? That's it?"

"Yeah." he crossed his arms and smirked at her.

"Don't look so smug! Um..." she walked over to him and stood before him. "Crap you're short."

"How perceptive of you." he deadpanned at her.

"No! I mean- just... I have to lean down to..." Vicky leaned down to plant a light kiss on Timmy's lips. "See what I mean?"

"I'll get taller!"

"I'm sure you will, but..."

"But?"

She was at a loss, factoring out the age issue, there wasn't really any reason to not enter a relationship with Timmy... right?

"Vicky?"

"Alright."

"Yes? You- you want to?"

"Yeah... what's the worst that could happen?"

"We could get caught, you'd go to prison, I'd have to see a therapist, we'd likely never see each other again..."

"Really filling me with confidence..."

"I'm kidding! None of that will happen."

"How do you know?"

"Eh... trust me?"

"You're asking a lot there, I don't trust people..."

He wrapped his arms around her and looked up at her. "You- um... you can trust me..." he was blushing again.

"Hm... very cute... Alright, we'll give this a shot."

"Okay then... good."

"Great."

"Yep."

"Uh-huh."

Timmy stepped back from Vicky. "Well..."

"Well?"

"Goodnight!"

"Night!"

Vicky ran over to her bed and crawled under the covers. Timmy got out of his snow attire and did the same, though he crawled into his bed rather than hers.

A few minutes after Vicky shut the light, Timmy heard noise from her side of the room and looked over his shoulder to see a dark shape moving toward his bed.

"You asleep?"

He couldn't resist. "Yes."

She shoved his shoulder and climbed into bed with him.

"Um..."

"What? We're not doing anything naughty..."

"I suppose not..."

"Good! Now, go to sleep." Vicky wrapped an arm around him and snuggled closer. She whispered into his ear. "This is nice..."

"Yeah..." Timmy could feel the grip of sleep about him. "Love you Vicky..."

Vicky's eyes shot open. "What?!"

A/N: Here I was thinking: 'I'll write some chapters for some existing stories this weekend' and look what happens, my muse laughs in my face and hands me this. So here it is, a oneshot... hopefully. Might make it into a series... no! I didn't say that... Ah crap, she's doing it again... Post a review if you don't mind, it'll make my day (and my muse's too).