The next several weeks passed in relative peace. The weather gradually chilled, and before long, the air had taken on a crisp, clear quality. The sleepy fog (or smog, rather) that filled the city sky in autumn had cleared away, and only a few dark, wispy clouds remained. Cicadas buzzed in that peculiar way they did, and owls hooted intermittently. The world was quiet, clean, and natural so early in the morning, before the sun rose. Silence had descended on the odd green-and-purple house. With good reason.
Dib had tried for several weeks to ignore Zim's declining state. The alien was grateful for those weeks, as his state was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The blackouts were becoming more frequent, and his strength and memory were failing him. And, even through all the smiles and waffle-making, it was obvious that their days together were numbered.
Even so, Dib pushed on. He continued to help Zim through his fits of unconsciousness, continued to clean up Gir's messes. Dib was the house's last pillar of strength, and he knew it. He was the last thing holding them together. The boy tried – he tried very hard – to not dwell on that fact. It wasn't easy.
Everything served as a reminder for him. Every time Zim had trouble lifting something, or even standing, it reminded Dib that his enemy-turned-friend was almost gone. Every time Gir accidentally blew something up, or the robo-parents fell to pieces, Dib was reminded of how little stability was left. The last time he had seen a calender, he'd thrown it away. It reminded him too much of how long it had been since he had left that house; Gir would always do the shopping, so Dib could be there if Zim needed him.
Dib couldn't bring himself to be angry, though. He had given up everything for the past several months, all for the alien he'd once sworn to destroy. Right? 'No,' he thought to himself, 'I didn't have anything to give up. You can't loose what you never had. All I did was trade one life for another.'
And the human couldn't deny that he liked this new life a heck of a lot more. Before, it had been the same ridiculous thing again and again. Surrounded by the morons in "Skool", nobody to care about him at home, only scorn wherever he went. Now, he had something real. Now... He had a friend. And even if that friend didn't last into the next morning, Dib was glad that he had had one at all. Despite how everything seemed to be wrong, he was happy.
oOo
One day, Zim had commented on how neither of them had been in Skool for a long while. He'd asked if they should go the next day, but Dib said no.
"Why would we?" he had asked. "It's not like they care what we do. At this point, they've probably forgotten us."
Zim chuckled. "Maybe we're a ghost story now. I can just imagine all those dirt-things telling stories to eachother about the two freaks who disappeared."
They'd had a good laugh about it, but it was a bit sad to dwell on, because of how true it must've been. The two had been outcasts in every sense of the word. Whether in their "homes", or in Skool, they would not be missed. And it was just as well to them; if the others didn't care, so be it. It only meant that they could spend as much time together as possible. And, really, that's all either of them needed.
oOo
"The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed."
Carl Jung (1875 – 1961)
A/N Ohgod, I'm so sorry ;_; I haven't updated since January...I've wanted to move on to other ideas for a while now, but I couldn't bear to do that before finishing this. So, I've found a good stop for it. Hopefully, you like this chapter, even though it's short and late ^_^;;; I think it's safe to say that I'm done with this. I had originally planned to make this a character-death, and have an epilouge songfic-scene to "Graveyard Picnic" by Voltaire, but I couldn't bring myself to kill him... So I did this. Please don't hate me for this ;_; Well, I think I'll go now, because this has dragged on for long enough. ^_^ I hope you liked it~