Disclaimer: I disclaim!

A/N: An older Wally and Kuki meet for the first time after their memories have been wiped. I don't know of this has been done already, but I had to do it… enjoy.

When he saw her across the crowded room, time seemed to stand still. Yes, it was highly cliché. No, he didn't believe in love at first sight (pfft, hated the very idea, in fact). But then… why did he suddenly feel as if he'd been punched in the gut? And why was the feeling strangely pleasant…?

He didn't know who she was, but already Wally wished he had never laid eyes on her. He had just been minding his own business, half-heartedly organizing the light weight barbells on their rack (the worst part about his otherwise ideal job), waiting for his next class to start. Then he looked up, and SHE was there, on the other side of the gym by the tread mills. He hadn't even seen her come in and he had certainly never seen her before.

He would have known that much even if he didn't know all the patrons of Gold's Gym by name.

This one was different from any girl he had ever met, or would ever meet. Wally knew it somehow, just by looking at her, even if he didn't know exactly why. There was something about her… something beautiful and… dangerous.

But he couldn't just NOT talk to her, now that he'd seen her. He groaned inwardly. Dilemma, dilemma.

Already the Gym was filled with people. Some women, but mostly men today… Mostly men. What if someone else got to her first? He might be reluctant, but he would kick himself forever if he just stood by and did nothing. Wally was, if nothing else, a man of action.

Casually, he drifted over to the treadmills, and pretended to examine one of them.

"Um… excuse me?"

Like a moth to the flame. That had been easier than he'd thought.

"Yeah?" he said, but he couldn't look up at her quite yet. He fiddled with the gears on the treadmill.

"Do you work here?" She asked. She had a sweet, oriental voice. It was the voice that would belong to cotton candy if it could speak. He loved cotton candy.

"Sure do." He took a deep breath and looked up.

Pale olive-skin, dark eyes shaped like almonds, long legs. Wally knew somehow that if she took her hair down from the messy knot at the back of her head, there would be a long, long black sheet of it. How did he know that? Didn't matter. Now was for speaking, which he realized hadn't been doing for a full twenty seconds.

"Uh, what do you need?" he asked, shaking himself.

She smiled winningly at him, and his tongue suddenly felt like a sock.

"How do you adjust the settings?" she asked, gesturing with a hand that was hidden by the long sleeve of her green sweater.

Wally leaned over to show her. It was over far too quickly, and he couldn't think of anything further to say. But, thank God, she could.

"Thanks, what's your name?"

For an instant, he really could not remember. Then it came to him.

"Wally," he said, too quickly. He wasn't about to tell her his full name. Not yet, anyway. What chance would he have if she knew he was named after a stinkin' marsupial? "Wally Beatles."

"Wally Wally?" she laughed. No, she giggled. He had never liked girls that giggled. Why didn't he care about that now?

"No!" Crud, he hoped he wasn't blushing. "Just Wally."

"Can I call you Wally Wally anyway?"

"Uh…" Why was it so hard to say not to her? "No, I don't think so."

"Ok, how about Wallabee?" she persisted.

"Wha –? How'd you know?"

She blinked her pretty almond eyes at him.

"Know what?" she asked, cocking her head just so. Then it seemed to dawn on her, and she flashed her white teeth at him. "Is that you're real name? No way!"

Wally folded his arms and made incomprehensible grumbling noises. This was a bad idea. Now she would just bug him about his name for all eternity like an annoying little… Eternity? Eternity? Had he thought that? Nononono….

He shook his head, shaggy blonde hair flying.

"How'd you guess?" he grumbled. Talking was better than thinking if his mind was playing tricks like that on him.

"My favorite animal," she grinned. "A wallaby."

"Really?" He was still interested, in spite of himself. She was energetic and annoying and annoyingly energetic, but there was just something about her…

"Mm-hm." She nodded, bangs flopping over her eyes.

"Cool." Here was the hard part. Wally had always hated asking girls for their names, but clearly it was his turn to do so… But she saved him again. Was she horrible or wonderful? He couldn't tell.

"Oopsie. I forgot to tell you my name."

Oopsie. What sort of grown woman said 'oopsie'? It was a terrible word. He hated that word. But… butbutbut… Oh, God. He liked it on her. He found it endearing.

This was terrible… He was so distraught he almost missed her name. He tuned back in just in time.

"I'm Kuki Sanban. Nice to meet you."

"That's a… that's a nice name."

"Yeah. It's Japanese," she said, as if that explained it all. "I have a sister named Mushi."

"I like your name better," he said. No, he didn't. He didn't say things like that, not to anyone! He just didn't! It was a general rule of Wally!

This was exactly the reason he had been reluctant to speak to her at all.

"Thank you."

Tiny spots of pink appeared on Kuki's cheeks. He thought maybe it had been worth it to break his own rule… But never again, he vowed.

"What do you do?" he asked. Usually, he only asked to be polite. Now, he found himself genuinely interested to know.

She pulled back the long green sleeves and held out a pair of delicate hands. Upon closer inspection, Wally could make out a few discolorations here and there, particularly on her palms. Paint and ink stains.

"I'm a cartoonist," she said. "What do you do here?"

"Oh, I teach classes, help out, ya know." He scratched the back of his head. And then… "Crud!"

He looked at his watch. 12:40, on the nose.

"I'm late," he said. Normally, he would have been gone already. He loved his job. But… he didn't want to just…

There was a turning point here. If he bolted for it right now, he would never break another general rule of Wally again. He would never need to see HER again.

"Um… do you… do you want to…" He fumbled the words.

"Do something, sometime?" she finished for him.

"Uh, yeah," he said, oddly relieved.

"I'd like that," she said quietly. She pulled the white ribbon out of her hair. It was a long, long black sheet. He wanted to touch it. "Do you have a pen?"

Actually, he did. He pulled one out of the pocket of his Gold's Gym warm-up jacket.

"Thanks."

Using the side handle of the treadmill for leverage, Kuki scribbled her number on the white ribbon, then held it out to him.

He didn't like ribbons, he didn't hold them, he didn't touch them. But he really wanted this one. Cruddy ribbon. Cruddy girls. He just didn't care anymore. He took the ribbon and stuffed it in his pocket.

"That's very special," she told him. "I don't give my number to just anybody."

"I don't carry around ribbons for just anybody, either," he said truthfully. There was an awkward moment.

"Call me, ok?"

She looked very fragile for a moment there. He smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

"'Course I will."

"Um... I have one thing to confess..." she murmured shyly.

"What"

"I already knew how to adjust the treadmill settings."

He went off to class, fifteen minutes late, clutching the stupid ribbon inside his pocket, and smiling. Well, that was four general rules broken right there. Who woulda thunk it?

A/N: Written because I needed to write something. Am very sleepy. Have probably made many careless errors, particularly in the characterization department, but they are older here, so lets just blame it on that. People change, you know. Hehe… Reviews would be nice.