~ Part 16 ~ | I'm Here (Literally and Metaphorically)

~*~*~*~

** Would You Be So Kind (Dodie) **

~*~*~*~

"Oh, would you be so kind
As to fall in love with me?
You see, I'm trying
I know you know that I like you
But that's not enough
So if you will
Please fall in love
I think it's only fair
There's gotta be some butterflies somewhere (wanna share?)
'Cause I like you but that's not enough
So if you will
Please fall in love with me"

~ Dodie

****

This chapter is dedicated to @nanT-ana5
for the votes! It is much appreciated!

(comment or PM if you'd like a shoutout!)

*****

Zane never believed himself to be a master of communication. In truth, Zane never thought of himself as a master of anything. There was always room for improvement in his eyes. No matter what Zane's view on people's completion of skills was he was not anywhere close to being good at talking.

There were some moments when Zane knew exactly what to say. Sometimes he just felt emotion and he was able to project his feelings into words quite fluently. Other days, conversations were stilted, he missed the little things that were more important than he'd anticipated, and then suddenly he was staring off into space with a mind as blank as a whiteboard.

It was because of Zane's lack of social skills that he was feeling particularly nervous walking up to Nya's room. He was worried about coming off too cold or maybe even too enthusiastic like Cole often said Jay was. He wanted to give Pixal space so she could enjoy her night but at the same time, he didn't want her to think he wasn't interested in talking with her. Zane was usually great at balancing things so this shouldn't be a problem. He followed recipes to the tiniest grain of salt, he balanced out chemical equations without even having to look at the page, he never ran late and his free time was scheduled in the most logical ways he could when he had friends like Jay and Kai. But for some reason verbal cues were a lot harder to do.

The tall boy stopped at their door, cookies still resting perfectly on the plate in his hands, and not a crumb on him. Zane took a deep breath, remembering all the meditative exercises Wu had them do and then he rapped lightly on the door.

"Coming!" Nya's voice called through the door. He could hear giggles from the other side. After a few seconds, the door swung open revealing Nya, decked out in her pyjamas and one of the Korean face masks Zane had found at the corner store stuck onto her skin. Her eyes brightened when she saw him and a huge grin pulled at her cheeks as she took in the delicious food.

"Thank you, Zane!" Nya took the plate and hugged him tightly around the neck. "You didn't have to do this!" Zane shrugged sheepishly. He didn't trust himself to speak.

Thankfully, Nya didn't seem to notice. She simply tugged him into her room where Pixal was perched rather stiffly on a throw cushion with what looked like a teen film playing on the television behind her.

"We're watching Mean Girls," Nya said with a note of pride. Pixal avoided Zane's gaze, turning her head to try and hide the matching face mask she wore from him. "It's pretty good, right Pix?"

Pixal nodded slowly. "Despite the many unrealistic moments of the movie it has proved to be quite entertaining."

Zane frowned a little at her avoidance but kept his voice light. "That is good." Nya looked between them carefully. She seemed to be thinking deeply as she studied them both. Zane wasn't sure what conclusion she came to but it caused her to abruptly put the cookies down.

"I have to go- uh- talk to Jay real quick," Nya said a little too loudly.

Zane tilted his head. "I believe he's with Kai playing video games but he might've moved. Would you like me to find them for you?"

"Nope!" Nya marched quickly towards the door. "I got it Zane, thank you! You can keep Pixal busy while I'm gone."

"A-alright?"

With that she left with a bang, slamming the door behind her until the various junk and small items on the shelves rattled. Pixal hastily peeled off her face mask and set it aside. The mask left a residue on her skin, a large glob of it on her nose as she looked awkwardly at Zane. The blonde quickly went over to Nya's side table where she kept her tissue box neatly beside her clock and took one out.

"You..." Zane hesitatingly handed her the tissue. "You have some of the moisturizer on your face."

Pixal's eyes widened and she hurried scrubbed all over her skin. It was another uncomfortable second before she finally swiped at her nose.

"Are you having fun?" Zane asked. He wasn't adept at being the one keeping a conversation going.

The girl nodded, a small smile appearing. "It has been... an experience. But I've come to enjoy it." Her hand slid to a small photograph on the floor. Zane recognized it as one of Nya's Polaroids. "Nya is very nice."

"She is." Zane agreed wholeheartedly.

There was another beat of silence. Pixal looked nervously at her knees, her arms coming to wrap around herself. Zane didn't understand why she has been acting so weird. It seemed to be because of him though. He had no idea what he did but all he could tell was that Pixal didn't want to be around him.

"I will leave now," Zane said out loud, even though it hurt him. "I hope you have a fun rest of your night." He rotated away from her and began to leave as well.

"Wait!" Pixal's voice made him stop. He glanced at her. The girl was now on her feet, a hand stretched towards him and her eyes were squeezed shut. Slowly she closed her fingers into a fist, bringing it protectively to her chest and took a shaky breath. "I- I am sorry I have been avoiding you."

Zane blinked in surprise and spun to full face her.

"I never meant to be so distant... I was scared. But that's no excuse. I should've communicated better." Her tone was clear and serious, each word sincere.

Zane couldn't help but smile.

"It's alright," Zane assured her.

"No, it's not." Pixal disagreed. "It was rude and unfair. Especially when the reason I've been distant has to do with you."

Zane's heart felt like it had plummeted in his chest. His body suddenly felt much colder than before. "Was or something I did?" His voice sounded small.

She gasped. "No, no! Of course not! You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then what is it?" Zane was very confused. If it wasn't something he did wrong then what could it possibly be?

"It's..." The girl took one last deep breath. "It has to do with the DNA test. The one I was doing to help you find your family."

Zane's brow furrowed. "Yes, I recall."

"I  was so scared I would not find a match," Pixal said softly as she took a step closer to him. "I remember staring at the screen and praying that something would come up."

His gaze softened. "Pixal, you really didn't need to-"

"Please let me finish," She cut in gently. "I need to finally say it." Zane watched her for a moment. Then he nodded silently.

Pixal bit her lip. "I finally got a match. I was so excited to tell you. I almost called you immediately. But then I looked closer at the file and I realized that the match was so hard to find because it hadn't been as recent as it should have been." Zane tilted his head. "The people that matched you biologically as parents are both deceased."

Zane felt himself freeze. The sinking feeling was gone and all he felt was numbness. He hadn't expected to find anything. He'd grown to be comfortable in the life he had now. There was still longing, of course, and questions. But all those had faded a little more as time went on. Despite his usual flippancy towards his past he still felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

It just shows how much people really do care underneath it all.

"Zane?" Pixal broke into his thoughts cautiously. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you right away."

Zane blinked. Something wet ran down his face. His hand moved to his cheek, gently brushing the liquid off of his skin and he looked down at his moist finger in surprise.

"I... I don't understand what I am feeling right now." Zane choked a little on his words. A strange tangle of emotions was weaving its way through his chest. It felt thick and sad and scary.

Pixal looked at him in a way he couldn't quite understand as she closed the distance between them and gently wrapped her arms around his body. Zane sank into the embrace, letting the tears silently fall and the mixture of weird emotions take over at least for one moment.

"I'm so sorry," Pixal whispered again into his shoulder.

Zane closed his eyes.

For a second everything felt overwhelming. He felt alone. He felt like no one was left in the world for him. But something in his head cleared away the fog and focused on the small things. Focused on the people in the building that he loved more dearly than anything else in the world.

Zane thought about Wu finding him advanced math textbooks just for him, a proud smile on the old man's face every time he saw Zane crack open the binding. He thought about Cole's playful teases as they washed the dishes and Jay's excitement whenever they talked about a joint interest. His mind flashed to Nya's laughter when he eavesdropped with her and Kai's forced frown whenever he was trying to stay grumpy. Zane looked back to the warm feeling in his body when he tutored Lloyd and the tingles of affection whenever he heard Pixal's voice.

He wasn't alone. That's something Wu had told him since day one. Even though something inside Zane was still a little crushed that his biological parents were no longer he still had beautiful, amazing, loving people in his life that he would hold onto so tight that nothing could ever tear them apart.

"I will be okay." Zane reached down to return her embrace. He nestled his head on top of hers. "I don't blame you."

"You should be mad at me," Pixal whispered.

"I'm not. I am sad. I do wish you communicated better but... that is something we can work on." Zane pulled away so she could see his sincerity. "I like you a lot, Pixal. You make me feel happy. We are ...compatible." The young man finished simply.

Pixal finally looked into his eyes. "We are," she flushed a little. "But I think we should take this slow. Let yourself be sad." She wiped his tears with the pad of her thumb.

Zane smiled down at her and he rested his forehead against hers. "Thank you."

*****

Nya rounded the corner, feeling a little pleased with herself for getting Zane and Pixal alone with each other when she almost ran into Jay. He stepped back and was going to do his usual apology when he saw her face-mask face and let out a strangled scream.

"Sorry!" Nya quickly took it off and grabbed his hand to calm him. As their new relationship has progressed she's learned little things. Like how Jay loved physical contact.

Jay pressed his free hand to his heart, gasping loudly as he tried to relax. "A little warning maybe?" He let out only a half-hysterical laugh.

"I'll be sure to do that next time. So you'll know there aren't any face-mask monsters lurking around." Nya teased.

Jay's face turned an angry red. "Nya!" He complained.

"I'm sorry!" She laughed and hugged him before she stepped back. "What are you doing anyways? Zane said you were doing video games. I would've thought the halls would be empty."

"I was but then Kai and I went looking for food and ran into Ronin." Jay grimaced. The dark-haired girl's expression immediately soured. "Turns out he's not an inspector and is actually scouting for other schools or something. Kai tried to hold him down so we could figure out what to do with him but he's a lot more flexible than he looks. Like a greasy weasel."

Nya shook her head. "Why am I not surprised? I knew something was up with him. Did you tell Wu?"

"Well, we tried," Jay's face scrunched up a bit in the cute way it did when he was thinking. Nya couldn't help but grin. "But Wu's been acting weird. He didn't even say anything!"

"He didn't say anything?" Nya echoed in surprise. Their headmaster was a lot of things but being at a loss for words was rare. He always seemed ready to lecture.

"Nothing! He just went up to his office and didn't look back." Jay fidgeted nervously. "Do you think something's wrong?"

"Something's definitely not right." Nya pressed her lips together in thought. "Maybe the others will know."

Jay nodded in agreement. "Kai didn't. Maybe we could ask Lloyd? He is his nephew."

"Was he with you guys in the room?"

"No, he left with Zane." Jay gently tugged Nya down the stairs. "He's probably still in the kitchen." He looked anxiously back at her. "Wu will be okay though right?"

"Of course!" Nya said with as much confidence as she could so he would be extra reassured. "Wu is very strong. He's probably just been a little off with all the stuff happening."

"But what if he's secretly dying and he's hiding it from us!" Jay exclaimed. "Like Morgan Strider in Starfarer issue a hundred and six!"

Nya stopped, her abrupt halt causing Jay to stumble a bit. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand tightly so he knew she was there. Literally and metaphorically. "Wu will be okay. We'll make sure of it."

Jay let out a loud breath, kicking his feet with embarrassment. "You're probably right. I'm just being stupid."

Nya laughed. "I don't mind it when you're stupid."

Jay's smile was so wide that Nya thought it wouldn't fit on his face. She couldn't help but want to kiss him on the cheek. Before she could though his eyes brightened and his mouth formed an 'o' as it does when he remembers something.

"I just remembered! Nya! For your birthday do you want to go to a drive-in theatre? Just you and me?" Jay asked hopefully. "We can see The Princess Diaries. I heard that's a pretty go-to for teenage girls."

Now her grin was almost as wide as Jay's. "I would love to."

"Great." Jay's looked away bashfully. "It's a date."

Nya laughed. "It's almost as if you're my boyfriend."

"I was trying to be clever!" Jay whined. "Don't ruin it." She began to pull them back on track, snickering under her breath.

"Come on, let's go find Lloyd and find out what's up with Wu," Nya told him. This time she did press her lips to the side of his face. The flustered yelp made it all the more worthwhile.

NOTE*****
Double update???? 😱😱 How can this be?
I hope you enjoyed this! As you can see I'm starting to wrap up everything now.

There will be a little more to Zane's story. Originally it was going to be in Ghost Story but I decided to push it back. I'm thinking of doing a little special just for this.

Also, Pixal and Zane finally admitted they liked each other! Eeeee! Now they can work their way to figuring things out.

Also, Jay and Nya are very cute. This was a romance chapter today. 😂

Have a nice day!

LuckyBugBooks 🐞