AN: And here's the laaaaaaast one:D Enjoy!!

December 25

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

'Smell that, Dib' said Zim over the communicator. 'The sweet perfume of jollyness reduced to ashes.'

'I can't smell anything, Zim,' rationalized Dib. 'First, there is no air in space to carry a smell. Second, Santa is not reduced to ashes, he just flew away into space for another year.'

'It's a victory anyways!'

'Only because he crashed into an asteroid.'

'But he did to avoid the missiles that ZIM had so precisely thrown at him!'

'They were heat-seeking missiles, Zim. They would have hit their target anyways, if they hadn't decided to chase me instead.'

'That's what you get for flying so close to the enemy!'

'What was I supposed to do? All my long-range weapons were down and he was about to attack you!'

'I would have fought it!'

'Half of your Megadoomer is paralyzed since you received that hit!'

'So what, Dib? I'm a trained Invader, I can fight my way out of worse situations. There was no need for such stoopidness, you know?'

Dib lowered his head and took a breath.

'I guess I was worried about you,' he admitted in a mumble.

Zim watched him over the communicator screen and seemed to decide something.

'Activate your Megadoomer's cloaking device and meet me at my base. We've got some celebrating to do.'

Dib lifted his head, a hopeful expression in his eyes.

'And by celebrating, you mean…?'

'Store the Megadoomers for next year, scan our bodies for external and internal injuries, grab a bite and maybe catch a movie,' smirked Zim, fully aware of the implications it held.

Dib got out of the shower, only clad in a towel, feeling refreshed. The battle was over, they had won fairly easily (thanks to a rogue asteroid), they weren't too badly hurt (just a few bruises here and there), Zim wanted to do stuff with him and he still had some hours to pack his things and exit the base, without the need to run. He sighed contently and fell on his bed, arms stretched on each side of him.

He must have fallen asleep, because when he opened his eyes, he found Zim's face staring at him.

'You snore,' stated the alien.

'Huh… sorry,' was the only thing the human could find to say. 'What time is it?'

'It'll be midnight in ten minutes,' said Zim with a neutral face. 'Our truce will be over by then.'

Dib jumped out of the bed and grabbed his boxers and a pair of jeans.

'Why didn't you wake me sooner?!?' he exclaimed, trying to put the boxers without disrupting the towel he had around his waist.

'I was appreciating the silence,' answered Zim with an amused smile at Dib's antics.

'Damn it, I thought we were going to celebrate! You know, the food, the movie and… stuff…'

'…Maybe we have time for a quickie…' proposed Zim.

'Are you going to chase me out of your base with lasers as soon as the clock strikes midnight?' asked Dib, putting on his shirt now that the pants were on.

'Of course,' shrugged Zim.

'Then forget it,' grumbled Dib. 'You'll have to wait for next year, Space Boy.'

He found his shoes under the bed and caught his fingers twice trying to tie them up. He stuffed his remaining clothes into his bag, not wanting to find them all strewn on the Hi Skool grounds come next weekday. Zim was very serious about this end of truce thing. In less than seven minutes, everything would be back to normal. The fights, the stalking, the arguments, the life and death situations, everything. Dib felt a bitter taste on his tongue. He didn't want to go back to that.

'I'm ready,' he said in a morose tone, putting on his trench coat.

'Good,' replied Zim, seemingly lost in thought.

They got on the elevator and stood awkwardly side by side, not exchanging a glance nor a word. The stupid elevator music kept playing until the door opened on the main floor.

'How much time?' asked Dib, stepping into the living room.

'Four minutes thirty-five seconds.'

'Alright,' he said, before dropping his bag, stepping forward, grabbing Zim by the waist and kissing the hell out of him.

The Invader responded with enthusiasm, his antennas curling in pure delight. But Dib put an end to the kiss, eyes filled with sorrow.

'You know?' he whispered. 'I can't wait for next Christmas.'

Zim frowned and calculated the remaining time. Two minutes twelve seconds. Maybe it would be enough.

'Stay,' he ordered.

'What?'

'Stay here. At my base.'

'…Why?'

'Because I know you don't like your own home. And you already have you room here. Your stuff is already here anyways. My TV is bigger. It's closer to Skool. You can help with the experiments, you'd be better than GIR, I'm sure. He needs a babysitter, you know? I don't want to reprogram the computer so it sees you as an enemy once again. And I have better medical supplies, since you do tend to get hurt often and pretty badly…'

'…That's mostly your fault, you know?' said Dib, not believing what the alien was proposing.

'Nonsense,' scoffed the Invader. 'You should stay because I'm letting you stay. That should be enough. That, and the sex,' he added with a smirk. 'It's awesome.'

'It would be nice to know,' said Dib with raised eyebrows.

'I'll give you full of unforgivable delicious memories, Dib,' purred Zim.

Dib thought it over, but Zim made impatient motions with his hands.

'You have twenty seconds to give me your answer,' he warned.

'What? But…'

'Eighteen.'

'…You're missing one.'

'What? Sixteen.'

'A reason. There's still one I need to hear before I accept.'

'What are you on, foolish human? You only have ten seconds left!'

'You know which one.'

'No I don't! Seven!'

'Say it!'

'Alright! I want you to stay, Dib! Is that enough?' Three!'

'Good enough for me,' said Dib with a smile. 'I'll stay.'

'FINALLY!' shouted Zim, turning off the buzzing sound of his internal alarm clock.

He grabbed Dib by the collar of his trench coat, threw him on the couch and straddled his hips with a ravenous smile.

'How about some victory celebration?' he whispered.

Hours later, they could be found laying on the couch, exhausted but content, under a thick blanket printed with monkeys. The tv was off, the only show being the snowflakes slowly falling out of the window. Zim smirked at them, satisfied in knowing that they wouldn't need to exit the base for the remainder of Christmas vacations.

'What are you laughing at?' asked Dib, seeing the other's smug grin.

'I'm mocking these pitiful crystals of solidified water! They thought they could get Zim, but they didn't expect him to be all safe and secure inside his base with a personal human heater to keep him warm! Take that, winter!'

Dib laughed and pulled Zim even closer, his breath tickling the alien's antennas.

'Keep doing that and you know we'll be up for another round,' warned the Invader.

'Again?!? But Zim, let me rest a little bit, I'm only human, you know?'

'No, you are better than human, or Zim wouldn't have chosen you. Now breath elsewhere.'

'Alright, alright…' mumbled Dib, his eyes falling to the window once again. 'You think GIR would make us hot chocolate if we ask him?'

'Maybe, maybe not.'

'Hm… worth a try.'

'Later. Zim is lazy and comfy right now. I don't want to get up and clean his messes.'

'You're right. Let's just stay here for now…'

They curled up together, under a monkey-printed blanket, on a bright pink couch, inside a neon green house, in the middle of a white neighborhood.

The Earth was safe for another year, because Santa was off into space, but most importantly, because Zim and Dib would be too busy "extending the truce" to take over or save the planet. The humans could rest in peace.

'Hey, Zim?' mumbled Dib, slowly falling asleep.

'Hm?'

'Merry Doomsday.'

'Merry Doomsday, Dib.'

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…twelve reasons to stay.

The End

AN: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for the reviews, they helped me fight my procrastination and usual lateness to get here! Stay tuned to my account, because after this we're gonna be posting some Kribliss deliciousness! ;) With that, I'll be wishing you all a merry Doomsday ;)

--Swing