Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hi! My name is Knovaa Wisconsin. You say it "Nova" but I spell it with a 'K' and two 'a's and and write the 'o' as a heart because there are too many Novas out there and I couldn't live if I wasn't unique and myself. A lot of people don't like me because of that, but it's not my fault I'm different. And I say why is it so bad if I prefer to sit in a tree in the rain and write poetry than go to a wild party? Not that I don't like parties, but boys always get soooooooooooooo drunk and always hit on me and try to rape me because I'm so beautiful. I'd much rather hang out in a park. But hey, whatever, right?

I'm sixteen years old, and I have long, flowing, raven tresses, which are tinted with purple. I don't dye it, though – it's totally natural and has always grown that way. People make fun of me for that, but I don't want to dye over it. That wouldn't be me. Or unique, like I am. I also have flawless, translucent, pale skin, that I hate because it makes me look like a vampire, and silver-flecked amethyst golden emerald sapphire eyes that are big and almond-shaped and rimmed with super-long black purple-tinged eyelashes, and are my best feature. The best I can say about my nose is that it's small, though it kind of turns up at the end, which is kind of weird. But cute! My body is voluptuous, but skinny, and no matter how much I eat, I don't break out or get fat. And I have very pretty feet.

But even though I'm totally beautiful, I'm not conceited or anything. I kind of have my own unique personal style, but I don't really care how I dress, and I don't wear makeup because I want to look natural. I'm not stuck-up, and I really do want to be friends with people. If only they'd give me a chance... But they won't, because I'm too different for them.

To really understand why I'm so different, even though you won't understand, because no one really understands me, which is lame, you have to know more about me, and especially my family. See, my father is the famous scientist Elan Wisconsin. He works – or used to work, I should say – in the Amazon rainforest, trying to find new natural cures for diseases like AIDS and the common cold and syphilis. That's where he met my mother, Chlamydia. They fell in love at first sight, got married, and had me, right there in the Amazon rainforest. They raised me there for nearly fourteen years. But then something horrible happened that I don't like to talk about, and my father brought me back to the city. He turned his back on the rainforest, and enrolled me in a public school, hoping I'd make some friends and adjust to life with other people. (AN: just like cady in that movie mean girls only without the goths who were her friends.) But growing up in the wild away from people made me too different and unique to fit in, so I was shunned by the whole school. Even the ugly geeky kids who play Dungeons & Dragons. That stung.

At first, Zak Young was just like the rest of them – some random tall, muscular, blond tan senior who would be graduating in a year, and who, despite living next door to me, would never talk to me. But then he actually did graduate, and went away to work for a logging company for the summer. It was after he got back that I actually looked at him for the first time. And I was really surprised. I thought he was just another gorgeous, older jerk who tried to hit on me once because okay, maybe the skirt I was wearing that day was a bit short, or the top was a tad low-cut, or maybe it was the fishnet tights. But he actually seemed kind of nice. And then I found out that Zak loves the rainforest almost as much as I do. And even though no one really gets me, or how special the jungle is to me, I think he might come close.

So, of course, I fell in love.

The problem is that he didn't know I existed. Nothing I did made him notice me. Nothing. Not even walking to school past his house wearing my zebra-print purple hoodie, my orange bikini top, my pink fishnets, and my black miniskirt (not the one with the little skulls on it, the shorter one). So I gave up all hope that he would ever love me – I mean, after all, I'm so ugly with my too-long legs and my oversized boobs and my weird nose, and I'm too different for us to ever be together. But still, a tiny bud of hope like a seed lived in my heart, undernourished, hidden, but still there. I didn't really believe, however, that he would ever like me. Until that day...

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AN: hi I'm carly and this is my first fic so plz be nice, no flamrz. thanx to sidney 4 editing this chp. s ur awesome!

i hope u like knovaa, i think she's pretty awesome and stuff. sidney told me 2 call this chp 'u say it nova' because she thought people might have trouble saying knovaa's name, but i put it in the chp, so i got to name this chp after my favourite fall out boy song instead. i wish i could really make the 'o' into a heart, but u can't do that with word. grrr.

the next chp is gonna have zak in it! omg!

plz r&r, or i won't post the next chp! anyone who r&rs gets a virtual tree! plant ur own rainforest!

I woke up that day full of bubbly happiness. There was a bluebird on my windowsill, and I said "Good morning!" to it even though I know birds don't talk. Then I brushed my long, ebony locks and opened my closet to get dressed.

It took me a really long time to decide what to wear. It was, after all, the first day of summer, and I had to look awesome. Finally, I decided to wear my super-short white shorts that have patch pockets on the front and drawstrings around the legs (AN: i have these shorts but their green), my orange cheetah-print bikini top with the halter tie, my black hoodie with rhinestones on the pockets, and my green high-heeled flip-flops with the orange jewels on the straps. They didn't come with the orange jewels – I stuck them on with hot glue to make them more original. I looked super hot.

I opened my door and walked out of my bedroom and down the hallway, but paused in front of the picture at the top of the stairs. The picture showed my dad and my mom and me in a group hug, standing in front of an ancient Mayan temple. In the picture, there was a monkey on my mom's head. She was laughing and trying to get it off.

I spent a long time looking at that picture, and especially my mom. She looked a lot like me, with long flowing black hair and big almond-shaped silver-flecked forest green eyes outlined with thick dark lashes, but she was really short and had kind of a big nose. In the picture, my dad was looking at her with this sort of goofy smile on his face.

I looked away from the picture and sighed. There were no monkeys here to sit on people's heads and throw poo at them, and my dad hadn't smiled like that since...since we left the Amazon. Even though it was sunny and happy out, I felt sad inside. If only I could get him to go back; but he'd never go back...

I shook it off and went down the stairs, tripping over my flip-flops on the last stair and nearly falling on my face. I'm such a klutz, it's awful. I went into the kitchen and smiled at my dad, who was cooking bacon. "Hi Daddy!"

He looked at me. "Are you seriously wearing that out of the house?"

I smiled bigger and twirled to show off my superhot outfit. "What do you think?"

He closed his eyes. It looked kind of like he was in pain. "I think people are going to think my daughter's a colourblind hooker."

"What?" I was totally taken aback. "How could you say that?"

"It's what your mother would have said, if she were here." He shook his head. "Sometimes you look so much like her..."

"Gee, thanks!"

"That's not a good thing!" he yelled. My pretty eyes widened. "Remember what happened? Well, of course you do, you little slut! It was all your fault!"

Crystalline tears sprang to my eyes. "D-daddy," I whimpered. He smacked me, hard, across the face. It hurt a lot. I fell over on the kitchen table, with emotional pain tearing at my heart.

"Don't talk to me like that!" he bellowed. "You ruined my life, you whore!"

I cringed. "Daddy, don't..." I said.

He smacked my face again. I was going to have huge bruise marks. "Get out of my sight!"

One shining tear spilled out of my right eye and ran down my cheek. I tried to say something, but the emotional pain in my heart clawed up my throat and made it close up. Instead, I yanked myself to my feet and ran through the kitchen and out the front door.

The sound of a lawnmower met my delicate, shell-like pale pink ears with kind of little points on them, they're really weird-looking so I try to hide them beneath my masses of shiny black hair. I sat down on the front steps and sobbed, sure nobody could hear me over the sound of the lawnmower. I was wrong. I'd only been sobbing for maybe a minute when the lawnmower engine cut out. For a moment, there was music, and then it cut out too. I swallowed my sobs, because I didn't want anybody to hear me crying.

It was too late, though. A shadow fell over me, and a voice said, "Hey, are you okay?"

I looked up, not bothering to hide my eyes, that I was sure were red and puffy. I didn't care what I looked like, I was so distraught. My father had never hit me before, and I was really upset.

Of course, when I saw Zak standing beside our stairs, looking at me with an adorable puzzled expression, I forgot all about being upset. Oh my God, he was actually talking to me!

Now he looked worried. "Are you all right?" he asked again.

I nodded. But then I remembered my dad's angry words, and fresh tears welled up in my eyes.

"You don't look all right. What's your name?"

"Kn-Knovaa," I managed to choke out.

"Really?" I nodded. "That's a..." He looked at the sky for a second, and pulled his headphones down from their places on his ears. "Um, unique name."

Despite my tears, I smiled. It seemed like he really did get me!

Zak smiled too, but then the smile fell off his face. "Hey, those are some nasty-looking bruises on your face. What happened?"

"Walked into a doorknob," I said sadly.

"It must have been a pretty tall doorknob," Zak commented.

A single diamond-like tear slipped down my left cheek. "A door," I corrected myself.

"Since when do doors have fingers?"

I sniffled daintily, and wished I had brought my Hello Kitty purse with the 'Save the Planet' buttons on it with me. I have Kleenex in my purse. "All right!" I shouted at him. "My father abused me!"

There was a long silence, broken only by the tweeting of birds and the loud braa-p-aap-raap of a motorcycle engine somewhere in the distance.

Then Zak said, "Um."

It was the most glorious sound I've ever heard. If I hadn't been totally distraught, I would have sighed. As it was, I just kind of snuffled and shook my head. "I can't go home now. My dad might kill me. I don't know why he doesn't love me anymore. But ever since we moved from the rainforest, he – he -" I hiccupped. Oh no, I was going to cry again. I hate crying, it makes my beautiful eyes all red and puffy. "I need to get away," I finished. "Far away."

"Uh, okay."

"You can't stop me!" I lashed out at Zak. Of course, I regretted it as soon as I saw his beautiful sky-blue eyes cloud with...well, it might have been confusion, but it was probably sadness. "I'm sorry," I sighed. "I shouldn't have yelled. But I'm running away to the Amazon. There's nothing you can say to stop me."

"The Amazon?" A taxi passed by us on the street, and Zak glanced over at it. "Isn't that kind of far away?"

"I don't care."

"Okay." He shrugged. "It might take a lot of money."

I stopped sniffling because if I'd moved, if I'd even breathed, I would have started bawling. "OMG!" I shouted in one breath. "I need money!"

"Um, yeah. That's kind of how the world works." The words would have sounded sarcastic, but Zak's voice was kind and apologetic.

"What do I do now?" I wailed.

"Well, when most people need money, they get a job."

I looked up at him and fluttered my eyelashes sadly. "I guess I could stay at Tara's (AN: omg s this is u!!!) until I get enough money to fly there."

"The Amazon's still pretty far away," Zak said concernedly, but I was already jumping to my feet.

"Thank you, Zak! You've given me new hope!"

"Um, you're welcome?" He sounded thoroughly confused, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I had to go pack.

I managed to sneak past my father, who was still in the kitchen making an omelette, and up the stairs and down the hall to my room. Then I grabbed my pink Roxy totebag with the big black skull with rhinestones on it and put all the stuff I would need in it, like clothes and shoes and my cutest underwear and a toothbrush and stuff. I also took my most favouritest book ever, and a picture of Rob Pattinson, since he's totally super-cute and if I ever get a book written and it gets turned into a movie I want him to star in it (AN: i luv rab pattinson & he looks kind of like nick only not because nick looks more like zak), and my stuffed elephant Porphyria who I've had since I was born, and my iPod with my favourite music by Evanescence and Green Day and Fall Out Boy on it, and a necklace of a heart that my dad gave me on my last birthday, and a picture of my mom. Then I zipped up the bag and I climbed out the window and down the trellis outside it, nearly tripping over my heels. When I got down, I realised I didn't have any money, so I quickly ran back up the trellis into my room and emptied my piggy bank into my tote. Then I climbed back down and ran into the garage. I grabbed my bike and wheeled it down the driveway, then jumped on it and rode away to Tara's house.

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AN: amy lee is so pretty and i wish i looke dlike her and could sing like her.

sidney, thanx so much 4 betaing 4 me! u r the best!!!

doesnt it just break ur heart how mean knovaas dad is in this chp??? i wanted 2 call it 'broken' like the song with amy lee because thats how knovaa feels but s said that didnt make any sense if u hadnt read the chp. so i didnt.

this chp didnt hppen on a saturday, thats the name of a fall out boy song.

I LUV U ROB PATTINSON!!!!!!!!!!!! will u play zak if this gets made in2 a movie?

keep r&ring plz! every1 who r&rz gets a virtual tree!

When I got to Tara's house, I knocked on the door. It took a while before anyone heard, but Tara finally opened the door. She was wearing a bright red tube top and big, torn blue jeans that fit her butt really nicely, and no socks. When she saw the pearly tears threatening my big beautiful amethyst sapphire emerald golden-flecked silver-rimmed eyes, and my tote bag stuffed full of stuff, not to mention the bruises on my cheeks, she said, "What happened?"

I started crying again very depressedly. My happy sunshiney morning full of bunnies and kittens and bluebirds was ruined, but at least my best friend forever and ever Tara still loved me and cared about me.

Tara looked at me with her stormy grey eyes and said, "Hey, come in. Don't just stand out there bawling your eyes out." She stepped out of the doorway, and I shuffled into her house, still crying.

Tara saw how upset I was, and ushered me into her living room, where she passed me a bag of Doritos and made me eat some. "Now, what happened?" she asked.

"M-m-my dad abused me, can I stay here?" I sobbed.

Tara looked kind of surprised. "...For how long?" she finally asked.

"Just a month or so. I'm earning money to fly away to the Amazon rainforest."

"What?" Tara fixed me with her best 'wtf you are being stupid' glare (AN: sorry s but ur kinda good at this glare). I sniffled loudly, feeling tears welling up in my beautiful orbs again.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay then?"

We sat in uncomfortable silence for a long moment, then Tara said, "So I saw that Zak guy you like talking to you." This is part of why I love Tara – she knows just when to change the subject. Tara has been my best friend since I moved to the city. She has long, dark hair that could be brown or black, and has red and blonde in it in the sun just like Bella (AN: omg s I am soooooo jealous of ur hair). She's taller than me, but not by much. She likes to write a lot, and she makes masks sometimes in her spare time. She's really unique and doesn't care what other people think about her. She's totally cool. She's also really pretty, and boys all like her.

"I don't like Zak!" I shouted, blushing very red.

Tara made a 'pfft' noise. "You do so. You've even said so at least twice."

I hid my face under my hood.

Well, anyways, just then Tara's mom came in. "Oh, hi, Knovaa," she said. "Tara, can you take the dog for his walk?"

"Mom, can Knovaa live with us for a month?" Tara asked.

"Sorry?"

"Knovaa needs a place to live for a month or so. Can she stay here?"

Tara's mom blinked. She looked kind of surprised. "Well, I guess so. Now, will you two take the dog out for his exercise? Tara, you can get the mail while you're out."

We went through the kitchen into the bootroom, and put on our shoes. Tara put on her shiny red ballet flats, and I put on my green high-heeled flipflops with orange jewels. Tara called her dog, and he came. She clipped his leash onto his collar, and we went outside.

We walked to Tara's mailbox. All of a sudden, it started raining. "Oh great," Tara grumbled. "If the mail gets wet, my mom'll be fit to be tied."

"What does that even mean?" I asked prettily.

"No idea."

I spun in a circle very happily. "I just love the rain! Don't you, Tara?"

"Yeah. I just don't like having to walk in it."

Just then I saw somebody coming down the street towards us. She had blonde hair in a high ponytail, and was wearing a pink Hollister polo top. She was holding her American Eagle bag over her head to protect her from the rain. "OMG Tara," I said. "Look out, here comes Brittany Culver-Reeves."

Tara rolled her crystal-blue eyes. You could tell she doesn't like Brittany either.

Brittany passed right by us, and said, "Hi, Tara. Hi, Knovaa," really sarcastically. I didn't say anything, just nodded. Brittany had been really mean to me ever since I moved from the rainforest.

"Hi, Brittany," Tara said patiently.

"I saw you talking to Zak," Brittany said to me conversationally.

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

"Keep your weird jungle-girl hands off of him. Zak and I are an item. You can't have him."

I couldn't believe it. I thought Zak was like me. I just couldn't believe he'd even look at someone preppy and dumb like Brittany.

"Yeah, like Zak would ever date a girl who's still in the tenth grade. Get a life, Brittany," Tara told her off. You could tell Brittany was upset, because she stuck her nose in the air and sniffed huffily.

"Whatever. I'm getting wet. Bye." And she flounced off.

Tara looked after her disgustedly. "I hate that girl," she said firmly.

I couldn't help it. I started to sniffle again. Tara looked shocked. "Hey, Knovaa, don't let her get to you! You know Brittany's delusional."

"But she's right!" I wailed depressedly. Even the rain couldn't cheer me up. "I can't have him. He'd never date a girl who's still in the tenth grade! It's hopeless."

Tara sighed frustratedly. "Come on, let's go back inside. We're getting wet."

We went back to Tara's house, and she dried off the dog's feet while I went into the living room. When she was done drying the dog off, Tara came into the living room and sat on the love seat. "So what happened?" she asked.

A single tear traced a winding path down my left cheek. "My dad hit me," I whispered. Even telling Tara was painful, and Tara is my best friend ever. I mean, we even share our clothes! Sometimes.

Tara nodded sadly. "I'm sorry. So what are you going to do about it? Call Child Services?"

"Um, no. I'm running away to the Amazon. Like I told you?"

"Why?"

I stopped. I hadn't really thought about it before, but now I realised, I didn't want to leave my dad alone with nothing but his memories and dark sadness. "I want to have him follow me. The rainforest was the only place I was happy, the only place I could ever call home, and I know he feels the same way, despite what happened to Mom. If I could get him to go back, maybe I could get him to open up his heart and let me and the rainforest back in."

Tara goggled at me for a moment. "That's deep," she finally said. (AN: hai lauren this is 4 u!)

"I know, hey? So I have to get a job to get a plane ticket."

"Wouldn't it be easier if you stayed on the same continent?"

"Huh?" I asked. "No, I have to go to the rainforest."

"Yeah," Tara said. "There's one right here in Australia. It's like a reserve or something."

My mouth kind of hung open. "Really?" I said finally, very shocked.

"Yeah. It was on the news last night. I thought I recognised the name. They call it Ferngully."

"OMG!" I squealed, excitement leaking out of me like ketchup from a cheap hot dog bun, you know, the kind that's too short for the hot dog and when you hold it it kind of disintegrates. "Tara, that's the same place Zak went to last summer!"

"No way!" Tara shrieked.

"Yeah way!" I shrieked back.

"Well, then, you have to go!" Tara said, all excited like some of my excitement-ketchup had got on her. "We'll find a way to let your dad know where you've gone."

"This is gonna be so cool!" I shouted back at her.

"I know, I can't wait!" she squealed. "I've never been to the rainforest before!"

I stopped, the big smile dropping from my pretty face. "Tara, you can't come with."

"Why not?"

"Because you can't." She just didn't get it. "Your mom would be really worried."

Tara gave me her 'wtf you are being stupid' look again. "Knovaa, we just asked my mom if you could live with us for a few months, and she said yes, no questions asked. I don't think she's going to worry too much."

"But you have to stay here. If my dad comes looking for me, you have to tell him where I've gone."

Tara pouted. "Knovaa, that's not a good reason. Leave him a note. Or tell my mom to tell him. Take me with you!"

"Enough! I'm not gonna talk about this anymore. We'll work it out later." I flicked my long, wavy raven locks over my shoulder. "Let's find out where this Ferngully is."

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AN: whoever reviewd and said this was stupid, u r really mean and a jerk and hiding behind the name 'uglyest stroy ever' isnt gonna make u ny friends. n her name is KNOVAA. not nova.

sidney, thanx again 4 editing this chp! and tara's eyes are crystal blue, not stormy grey. y'd u say they wer stormy grey? oh, n did u give the link 2 this 2 nick like i asked?

thanx every1 4 reading n review2ing! every1 who r&rs gets a virtual tree! save teh planet, plant the rainforest!

AN: s omg u r so mean i cant believe ud say that about knovaa! shes not a 'marysue', u gigantic jerkhole. and it wouldnt make sense 4 tara 2 go with knovaa, i told u all about this, u r so mean.

sorry this took so long, but s was being a meanie and wouldnt edit it. so here is the next chapter of 'the saviour', hope u like.

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whern i woke up the next morning tara was astill asleep, so i didnt want 2 wake her p so i took my pink roxy bag with the rhinestones and the black skullz on it and went downstairs 2 the bathroom 2 get dressed. i took off my black ruby gloom tank top pajama shirt nd my green frog-print pajama pants. i put on my black lace thong and matching bra, that showed off how nice my boobs were. i put on my black lace-trimmed pink-striped capri leggings, my favourite green miniskirt with black lase trim, my purple tube top that says 'i heart trees' that showed off my flat tummy & my pink flower belly-button ring, and my black lace arm-cuffs witht he little skullz on them. i put my long, wavy, glossy black purple-tinted tresses in2 pigtails with purple ribbons, & put in my favourite pink skull earrings with black bows. tara still wasnt up, so i painted my toenails and fingerlnails black with green stripes. i put little pink rhinestones in my pinkies n pinky toes. then i went upstairs to get tara, because it was almost lunchtime already.

tara was lying in bed looking all hurtie. i said, 'hey tara, wake up sleepyhead.'

tara opened her forest green eyes and looked at me very feverish, & said 'i dont feel so good, knovaa.'

'how do u not feel good?' i asked.

'my tummy hurts n i have a headache & a fever,' tara moaned. 'plus i cant feel my toes.'

an icy hand of fear clenched around my heart. 'oh no, not u 2!' i shouted, terrified.

'me 2? what r u talking about, knovaa?' tara asked all feverish. i couldn't answer. this was the same thing that happened 2 my mom, she got really sick like this just before she...died.

'tara, hang on!' i shouted very frightend.

tara coughed. 'ur not making any snes, knovaa.'

'shes delirious! ur delirious!'

'im not delirious, ur just...' tara coughed again very loud, like one of her lungs was stuck in her throat and she was trying to dislgode it and it was punching her in the thorat at the same time. 'omg,' she whispered faintly.

'nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1' i screamed, but it was 2 late.

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AN: take that, s!

n i can so keep tara's eye dcolour straight!

AN: s im so sorry! i luv u 2, n i dont want us 2 stop bein freinds bcuz of this sdtory. of course tara can come with knovaa 2 the rainforest! im so sorry 4 not listening 2 u.

ps lauren can i borrow 'from under the cork tree'? thanx. & s, did u tell nik yet?

oh, n the title is from fall out boy's cover of 'whats this' from nightmare b4 christmeas (thats a gr8 movie!!!)

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"Oh no!" I shouted. "Tara, hang on!"

"Why are you freaking out, Knovaa?" Tara asked, blinking her sea-green eyes, long, black eyelashes fluttering. "What's going on?"

"Tara, I didn't tell you because I didn't feel like I could tell anyone," I sobbed, crystalline tears pouring down my baby-soft cheeks, "but this is how my mom died."

"What?" Tara pushed herself up on her elbow, showing off her white tank top. "Your mom's dead? I didn't know that."

I nodded, sobbing. "I was too distraught by it to tell anyone, but that's why my dad and I moved from the Amazon."

"There's one thing I don't get," Tara said. "Well, a lot of things, but this is the big one right now. If you guys were living in the Amazon, why'd you move all the way to Australia?"

"Dad lived here before he went to study in the Amazon. And once Mom died, he wanted to distance himself from it as much as he could. This was about as far away as we could get."

"Huh."

So anyway, we went downstairs and ate taquitos for breakfast and Tara had a Tylenol and an Advil only she didn't feel much better. Then she went back upstairs to get dressed. When she came back down, she was wearing a camo-print tank top that showed off her boobs, with a striped black-and-white button-up shirt open over it, and short denim shorts with buttons all over them. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

"I don't know." I sat down on the floor, my skirt floofing out around me. "Wait! Maybe I do!"

"What?"

An idea hit me. "My dad was looking for a cure for my mom's disease in the Amazon before..."

"Before?"

"Before we, uh, left. Anyway, there's probably something in the rainforest that can cure it!"

"OMG, does that mean I can come with?" Tara squealed.

"Yeah," I said, even though it had only been supposed to be me and my dad. (And maybe Zak. If I was extra-special lucky.) Having Tara there would make it happier and more fun and everything, and I hadn't really wanted to be all alone in the rainforest until my dad came, anyway.

Tara squeaked and clapped her hands. "OMG, I have to go pack!"

So Tara went and packed, and I helped her pick out her nicest outfits to bring with, then we left a note for her mom and went to the bus station. Since we were staying on the continent, we didn't have to take a plane. So anyway, we bought tickets and got on a bus and went to Ferngully.

When we got off the bus, both of our jaws dropped. It was so big and green. It was almost too much to take in at once.

Tara said, "Wow. If this is a small rainforest, I can't imagine what the Amazon must be like."

"It's bigger than this," I said. "And there's a river in the middle."

Tara rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Knovaa. The Amazon."

But I ignored Tara. Being in a nice green place like this, being back in the rainforest, was like coming home. Even though I'd never been here before, exactly.

I leaned against this big tree, all covered in flowers, and sighed, closing my eyes. It was so peaceful. I felt kind of a warm shivery tingle run through me. Maybe, if my dad and Zak and Tara all came with me, I could stay here forever.

I opened my eyes again and screamed. "AAH! Tara, you're growing!"

Tara was goggling at me, her mouth opening and closing, and she was pointing at me. "I'm not growing, Knovaa, you're shrinking!"

I screamed louder. "OMG! Why am I shrinking?!?!"

"I don't know!!!!!!" Tara shouted back.

"Well, DO something about it!!!!!!!!!!"

"What?" Tara looked around blankly.

"Anything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Umm..." Tara reached over and grabbed me by the shoulders. "Okay! Just don't freak out! I'll think of something."

"It's okay," I sighed. "You're not getting bigger anymore."

Tara looked up very scared. "No, but the rainforest is! Knova, I'm shrinking too!!!!!!!!!!!"

"WHYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!?" I moaned loudly.

"It's gotta be this tree, or something," Tara gasped. "This only started when you touched it, and then when I touched you..."

"I don't get it!" I shouted, upset. It just didn't make sense. But we kept shrinking until we were both only about three inches high!

That was when I heard a sound like someone laughing. I put my hands on my hips and turned where it was coming from, but I couldn't see anything except a really big leaf. "It's mean to laugh at people when all of a sudden they're shrinking for no reason and -" I broke off as a horrible thought hit me. "OMG, our luggage didn't shrink with us! Now we have nothing else to wear!"

The laughter got louder. It was kind of a long time before it trailed off, then a voice said, "You two are just too funny!" And then, somebody came out from behind the leaf.

---

AN: omg who is it? pionts if u can guess!

r&r, people, plant the rainforest!

I gasped and nearly fainted. There was a boy.

"OMG, Tara, do you see him too?" I asked, just making sure. Tara nodded but it didn't seem like she could say anything, so I said it for her. "HI!?" I said as I looked at the boy. He was wearing a...um...a skirt.

And that was it.

He also had bright red hair, that came down to his shoulders and bright green eyes like the colour of the sun behind a leaf only brighter. And he had a really nice chest. But Tara and me were both staring at the skirt.

At least, I thought so. Until Tara whispered, "OMG, Knovaa, he's got wings!"

The boy crossed his arms, smirked, and said, "You know, I can hear you."

I had no idea what to say. So I said, "You've got wings!"

"And you don't." He cocked his head to one side and kind of stared at me. I pulled up my shirt a little in front. "So I guess that means...you're humans. Huh."

"OMG, you're not?!" I squealed. Both Tara and the boy gave me kinda dirty looks (that I totally didn't deserve, BTW). "This is, like, so totally the weirdest day ever!"

Tara was kind of rolling her eyes, like she does sometimes when we've been hanging out for a really long time. But I wasn't looking at her. I was looking at the guy, who was totally checking me out. "Um, excuse me? I don't even know your name!" I flipped my long wavy shiny black-and-purple tresses prettily over my shoulder with a huff.

The guy looked at Tara, and Tara shrugged.

"Well, I'm Pips," the boy said, "and I guess I should do something with you two...but last time we had humans around here, they nearly destroyed the whole rainforest."

I gasped very shocked. "That's so horrible! Why would anyone do something so awful?"

Pips shrugged. "That Zak guy said it had something to do with 'mon-nee', but -"

"OMG, Zak was here?!?" I shrieked so excited that some birds way, way up in the trees above us started to squawk. Then they all flew away.

Tara muttered, "Knovaa, I told you that. That's why we decided to come. Ringing any bells?"

Pips took his hands away from his ears. "Yeah, Zak was here." He didn't sound super happy about it, which I thought was weird. Zak was like the greatest guy ever! "You two know him?"

"He's my next-door neighbour! We had a conversation just this morning," I said proudly, pouting my sweetheart-rose-pink lips prettily.

Pips shut his eyes. It looked kind of like he was counting under his breath. When he opened his eyes again, he said, "Then I guess I'd better take you to see Crysta." He sounded kind of not super happy about that either.

But I totally was. Me and my best friend ever were going on an adventure!

Pips whistled, with two fingers in his mouth, really loud. Nothing happened for a couple of seconds, and then a bunch of little goblin-things riding gigantic flying beetles came flying down. I didn't have time to scream before one of them picked me up and plopped me down on the beetle, sitting behind him, and flew off.

Once I stopped freaking out, it was actually kind of fun. We were zipping around through the rainforest, dodging around and over and under branches like a rollercoaster. Tara was hanging on to her bug for dear life, and she looked kind of a funny greenish colour. I remembered just then that she was super-sick, and I felt kind of bad for having fun on the ride. But then I remembered that we were going to find Tara a cure, and that we had to get there as fast as we could! I felt a bit better then.

After a little bit, I was so happy that I burst into my favourite Fall Out Boy song, "Our Lawyer Made Us Change The Name Of This Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued". I have an amazing singing voice, and I know that song really well, so I was singing as loud as I could. I noticed that now Pips, who was flying right beside Tara, looked kind of green too.

Then all of a sudden a branch that was right in front of us turned bright red! All these little red flowers had popped up all over it. It was really pretty and as we went by I picked on and put it in my hair (I had stopped singing).

Everyone kind of looked at me funny.

Then this enormous tree was right in front of us, and we were flying straight at it! I shut my eyes, and when I opened them, we were...inside the tree! We landed on the bottom of what looked kind of like a really big wooden cathedral. All around the inside of it were holes in the walls, and as we flew in, people leaned out of most of them. Some of them didn't look entirely happy to see us.

I got off the beetle and thanked the goblin thingie politely. Tara kind of slid off the back of the beetle she was on with a groan. Pips landed beside her and offered her a hand up, but she shook her head and stayed sitting on the ground.

Pips shrugged, flicked his wings (omg wings!) again, and took off, cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting, "Crysta!" A couple of seconds later, a dark-haired girl with really big blue eyes stuck her head out of another knothole kind of far up and said, "Pips, if you've just come to bug me again -"

Then she saw us.

I screamed a little when she jumped down towards us, but halfway down her wings (omg! Wings!) fluttered and caught her, and by the time she touched down she was barely moving at all.

"OMG," I whispered. "This is so cool."

The girl called Crysta looked at us really serious. "Pips," she asked, "who are these?"

Pips landed beside her. "I didn't get their names, but this is the quiet one," he pointed to Tara," and that's the noisy one." I opened my mouth very indignant.

"I am not-"

"They're humans," Pips added helpfully. "And I found them."

"I can see that," Crysta mused. She'd started to pace. "But what are they doing here?"

Pips shrugged. "They just showed up."

"I'm Knovaa, and we did not 'just show up'," I said. "We took the bus."

Pips and Crysta exchanged blank looks.

"But then, we got here and just started to shrink! And then this Pips guy showed up and said we had to see you. So we came here. Oh, and we're friends of Zak's," I added. It had seemed to help with Pips; maybe it would help hre too.

Crysta took a deep breath. "Then why did you come here? Zak was supposed to stop humans from coming here, not send more."

"Yeah, but -" I glanced at Tara. "My friend's really sick, and she might die. And we thought there might be something here that could cure her."

Crysta looked at Tara too. "She does lokk sick," she admitted.

"Also we need to be unshrunk," I added.

"Well, I can do that," Crysta said proudly. She waved her hands and some twinkly lights appeared in the air. Then they stopped.

"Was something supposed to happen?" I asked politely.

Tara groaned.

Crysta looked horrified. "That was supposed to unshrink you!" Then she seemed to realise something. "Right! We're still inside. You'll have to go outside – you'd get too big for the tree if you unshrank in here." She seemed to be kind of proud of her logic.

So we went outside, and Crysta tried her glowy-hand-thingie again. But this time, nothing happened at all! Crysta looked at us, then at Pips, and then at us again. "I don't understand," she said finally. "It's like when I was just learning magic. It won't work at all!"

"What does that mean?" Tara asked. She was starting to look less green, and she was standing up now. I hoped that meant she was feeling better.

Crysta made a face. "That means you stay with us until I figure out how to make you your regular size again." She sighed. "Follow me. Not everyone is going to like this."

---

AN: sorry i took so long writing this chp but i was really drpressed cuz nik got a girflriend n didnt tell me n i found out when somebody told me they broke up.

in other news has ne1 seen the mvie 'avatar' it was really amazing n stuff n i think it was the best movie since ferngully!!!1 an i will probably write fic 4 it too so watch my account 4 that it will be about a girl called 'blossom' who goes 2 pandora bcuz her mom...anyway, that would spoil it so watch my account!!

omg, n i saw 'new moon' n rob pattinson is even hotter!!!!!11 i dunt think thats legal!!!

We went back into the tree. My green high-heeled flip-flops with the sparkly orange jewels glued on them got caught on a root and I tripped and fell over 'cause I'm so clumsy. My raven-black pigtails with natural lilac-tinted highlights bounced attractively as I picked myself up, revealing my weirdly pointy ears. I quickly clapped my hands over them and fixed my hair so it hid them again.

A whole bunch of people with wings were standing around talking, and when we walked in, they all stopped and looked at us. I waved cheerfully and smiled my prettiest smile that showed off my perfectly straight pearly white teeth, I've been told I have the brightest smile in the whole grade eight class. Tara elbowed me in the ribs. "Knovaa, stop that."

"Why?"

"Because you look like an idiot. And can't you tell they're not exactly overjoyed to see us?"

She was right, like usual. The people had all started to whisper and mutter and some of them were pointing at us, which was totally rude. I'm used to it, because I've always attracted a lot of attention because I'm so gorgeous and totally unusual, but Tara crossed her arms and scowled, scrumpling up her nose and narrowing her slaty grey eyes.

All of a sudden everybody stopped whispering. I looked up, and saw that Crysta was kind of hovering above us. She clapped her hands once, and called out, "Hey, everybody?"

All attention was suddenly focused on Crysta. It was a little creepy, but now nobody was looking at me.

Crysta smiled. "Thanks. Um, this is Knovaa -"

I waved.

"- and this is Tara -"

Tara scowled.

"- and they've run into some sort of rogue spell or something. They'll be staying here until they can be unshrunk." She gave us both a meaningful look. "And then they'll be leaving."

There was some grumbling from the audience.

"Any questions?" Silence. Crysta smiled brightly. "Excellent. Okay! So -"

"Are you completely batty?" a blonde girl wearing a really skimpy leaf bikini shouted.

"I resemble that remark," a voice said quietly from way up by the ceiling. I jumped, and looked up, but then Crysta started talking and I paid attention to her again.

"Is there a problem, Brytt?" Crysta asked. She looked kind of glowery.

The blonde girl named Brytt sniffed and stuck her nose in the air. "well, not that I'm questioning your authority as Magi, but…they're humans!"

"And there's a problem with that?"

"But they tried to destroy the forest!" Brytt pouted. "How do we know that they won't try it again?"

"Excuse me, we totally didn't!" I protested. "We just got here. And anyway, I've never destroyed a rainforest in my life! I even lived in one for most of my life, so there!"

A couple of people snickered. I crossed my arms like Tara which made my boobs look awesome.

Crysta was kind of touching her head like she had a headache. "Look. They're only staying until I can put them back to normal. If they destroy the forest during that time, you can say, 'I told you so'. Until then, I don't want to hear another word from you."

Brytt stuck her nose farther in the air and flounced away.

Tara shook her head. "I guess she won't be joining the fanclub."

"What fanclub?" I asked, very confused.

Tara sighed. "Never mind."

We went out of the tree again for a walk after that. Crysta stayed inside, because for some reason everybody wanted to talk to her. I guessed it was because they were all mad at her for wanting us to stay, but I didn't know why. Sure, some humans had done really bad stuff to the environment, but I wasn't one of them. I mean, I did live in the Amazon rainforest for most of my life, and I understand how all life is connected and everything living is important in a way that most other people couldn't even begin to comprehend. Oh, and Tara always recycled and stuff.

I got that maybe people around here didn't get that, 'cause I'm used to people not getting me because I'm so unlike anyone else ever. But there was still no reason for them to be so upset. Ferngully was totally a protected nature preserve! How would anyone destroy it? And, more importantly, since it was illegal to do logging and stuff here, why?

"How would anyone destroy this entire forest?" Tara asked. "And, more importantly, isn't it illegal to log and mine and build here? Why would people have wanted to destroy the forest in the first place?"

I gasped. "OMG, Tara, that's totally what I was just thinking!"

Tara ignored me. She had her thinking face on. "Something's going on here," she said. "Some of them seemed almost…scared of us. I wonder what happened to make them so wary of humans? And what shrank us? Why cuoldn't she undo it?"

"Also, what are we going to do about clothes?" I added helpfully. Tara glared at me. "Um, and can she cure you?" I continued. Tara nodded.

I was about to say something else, but then all of a sudden there was this really big brown thing in my face. It looked a little like a face, only with kind of a cross between a pig and an elephant nose, and ginormous ears, and it was all covered in brown fur. And it was upside down. I screamed, and it went, "Aaah!"

Just like that. "Aaah!"

But it wasn't done. "Humans in the forest, oh no, not again. Not good, not good at all. What are you doing here?'

"What am I doing here? What are you?" I squealed very affronted.

"I think he's a fruitbat," Tara whispered to me.

"Fruitbat?" I asked. "You don't look like a bat." Well, actually, maybe he did. Kinda. A little. Only upside down. And crossed with an elephant.

"Your hair wants cutting," he snapped at me. My delicate snow-white hands fluttered u to my pigtails like little butterflies. When I was sure my weird ugly ears weren't showing, I wrinkled my nose at the bat.

"Why would you say something so rude?"

The bat suddenly did a midair somersault, and landed, right side up, in front of me. "Wires crossed! Mayday, mayday, Houston, we have a problem. No, it's unsinkable!"

"He's totally loopy," I whispered to Tara.

The bat stopped his wild gyrations, drew himself up to his full height, and kind of puffed out his chest. "Excuse me? I am not loopy. I am batty. Batty Koda, to be precise. And you little humans are not. Welcome." He poked me in the middle of the collarbone on the last two words, and I fell over with a puff of dirt and my fluffy tutu skirt went all poofing out all over the place. My pigtails bounced up and out of place and my ears showed.

"Oh no!" I wailed.

"Wait. Waitwaitwait." The bat and Tara were both looking at me funny, but only the bat was talking. "Are those what I think they are?'

I clapped my hands over the hideous cute little leaf-shaped points on my ears. "I don't know what you're talking about! And you had to go show off my ugly ears and now I've got dirt on my bum!" I flounced my skirt once for emphasis.

The bat rolled his eyes. "Beam me up, Scotty. There's no intelligent life on this planet."

I crossed my arms and pouted. This was so unfair! No one here liked me and it wasn't the same as the Amazon and I missed my home and I missed my mom and – and –

A single crystalline tear softly caressed me flawless translucent-pale cheek.

I missed my dad.

"Knovaa?" Tara said softly. "Are you okay?"

I sniffled quietly. "Noooo," I moaned. Then I got up, trying not to flash anyone my cute lace undies, and I ran off, hoping no one saw the waterfall of tears beginning to spill from my opalescent orbs.

---

AN: oh no what wil happen 2 knovaa? if u review ull get n answer sooner bcuz reviews ar emy fuel! n their eco-friendly!

i rilly like batty but he had 2 be mean 2 knovaa so teh next chapter could happen. but theyll make friends soon bcuz i like bstty n i dont want u guys 2 think hes a jerk.

ugh exams ate my life but i think theyll be over soon so ill be updateing more also stay tuned for my very first avatr fanfiction. s thanks 4 betaing again! ur the best!

I did what I do whenever I get really super-upset and no one is around to comfort me – I went and climbed a tree and sat in it. It was kind of harder than usual because I was only three inches tall, but I'm a really good tree climber so I got up there eventually. For a while I just sat there in the leaves and sang 'Golden' (AN: it's a relly sad song by f.o.b. it totally represents knovaa right here, go look it up if u haven't herd it), and all these little buds started coming out of the tree branch and tunring into leaves and flowers and stuff! It was really amazing and beautiful, but then I got too lonely and sad because all the fresh greenery everywhere was really reminding me of my home, and my throat got all tight and then my pretty voice sounded ucky so I had to stop. So I was sitting up there with nothing to do and I thought of a poem.

'All the pretty colours of life

Taunt me from the edge of my knife

Boiling heartache filled with strife

Take me away to Tenerife

Where I'll learn to play the fife

And…ummm…'

But then I was interrupted by the sound of somebody down below my tree yelling. I would know that voice anywhere, and if I didn't, what it was saying would probably be a clue. "Knovaa? Knovaa, if you've run away to cry somewhere you'll probably get eaten." It was Tara.

I didn't feel like getting yelled at for almost getting eaten, so I called back, "I'm up here!" only kind of quietly and a little bit grumpy so she could tell I was still upset.

"Knovaa? Is that you?"

"Up HERE!" I shouted angrily, a few drops of liquid sadness squeezing out from the corners of my eyes. "Geez!"

"Yup, that's her," Tara said faintly. "She's the only person I know who actually talks like that."

A few seconds later, Tara came hovering up to my branch, and she was totally sitting on the back of that annoying bat!

"What are you doing here?" I wailed. "I thought you didn't want me here! I thought you hated me!"

The bat scratched his head with one scary-looking big sharp claw, making Tara almost fall off. "Did I say that? I don't think I said that. Did I say that?" he asked Tara, who shook her head making her pretty long auburn-browny-reddish locks catch the light prettily.

"Knovaa, nobody hates you," Tara in a voice that sounded kinda sympathetic but also really bored. "Batty doesn't trust humans because they experimented on him. And, apparently, they tried to clear-cut Ferngully last summer. I don't know the whole story yet, because I thought you should hear this too."

"OMG!" I said, and my eyes got really big like eyes do when you're surprised only mine looked really big and cute like a kitten or Lady Gaga in that one video, I forget which one. "Tara, isn't that the same time Zak was here?"

"Yeah," Tara answered in her 'wtf you are being stupid' voice. "That's kind of why I wanted you to be here when Batty told me about it so I wouldn't have to try to explain it all to you." She made a face that I thought was kind of mean but Tara's my best friend in the world ever so she was kind of joking. Definitely.

"So what happened?" I asked, bouncing up and down on the tree limb very excited because I was finally going to find out what happened! "Also does this have anything to do with why nobody wants us here?" The tree limb kind of bounced up and down too, and Tara shouted at me.

"Knovaa, stop that! I kind of want to land – it's not easy sitting on the back of something with flapping wings!"

"Well, it's no picnic trying to carry you, either," Batty grumbled. Tara stuck her tongue out at him but she was on his back so he couldn't see. I giggled.

Well anyways Tara climbed off Batty's back and sat beside me on the branch and he hung upside down from a branch above us and Batty told us all about how this big evil guy called Hexxus tried to destroy the rainforest with the help of a logging company. But Zak was there, and he totally saved the forest! And Hexxus got sealed up in a tree, and then they all had a party.

"Wow! That's so totally cool!" I gasped. "I mean, not that there's an evil destruction-spirit imprisoned in a flowering tree at the very edge of the forest that seeks only the right opportunity to escape and wreak terrible vengeance upon us all, but that Zak was here and he totally saved you guys! I mean, I knew he was awesome, but not that awesome!"

Tara and Batty were giving me kinda funny looks. "What?" I said, very puzzled.

"Say that again, will you?" Tara asked.

"I just said that it's bad that this Hexxus guy wanted to trash Ferngully, but it was good that Zak stopped him. Why are you looking at me like that?"

"She's just like me!" Batty said all excited. "Got a few wires crossed." And he started making like puppy dog eyes at me except he was a bat so I guess they would be Batty eyes.

"God, I hope not," Tara said.

"Tara, that's rude, don't say 'God'. You might offend somebody," I said.

"Knovaa, you say 'OMG' all the time," Tara pointed out.

"OMG, you're right!" I said. "But wait. I don't say 'God'. Just 'G'."

It must have hurt when Tara slapped herself on the forehead.

Just then I heard the sound of somebody grumbling, only really far below us. So I looked down. "OMZ, guys, there's somebody down there!"

" 'OMZ'?" Tara asked, not very polite.

"OmiZak, of course!" I said smiling very pretty. The sun glinted off one of my perfectly straight and white teeth. Batty started shrieking "Agh, I'm blinded!" and covering his face with his wings but he was a big joker anyway so I just laughed.

"Hey," Tara said, looking down at the grumbling person below us. "Isn't that that Brytt girl from the meeting?"

"OMZ, you're right!" I said. "And she's all alone." Brytt was down there flying all alone very fast through the forest towards the place Tara and I came from when we got here and grumbling loudly. She was so loud we could tell some of what she was saying.

"Stupid…letting humans…high and mighty Magi Crysta…"

"She sounds upset," Tara said thoughtfully.

"She's such a meanie," I sniffed.

Then she flew right past us and said something really suspicious. "Serve them all right when Hexxus comes back…"

I looked at Tara and Batty. "Did you hear that?" Their faces looked very shocked (but not as cute as my shocked face) so I knew they'd heard it.

"She did say 'when', not 'if', didn't she," Tara said flatly.

"I say we follow her!" I shouted very excited because it was a mystery and the only thing I love better than solving mysteries is Zak! (And saving rainforests.) Tara shushed me.

So anyways we followed Brytt because my idea was smart. We flew and flew for a really long time. Brytt didn't do anything interesting until we got almost out of the forest. Then she stopped and landed by this really big tree. We hid behind another tree and watched her.

"OMZ, Tara," I whispered very stealthily. "That's the tree I leaned on when we got here, when we started shrinking."

Tara squinted at it. "How can you tell?"

"I just can." It felt like the same tree. "Also our luggage is right there."

Tara sighed.

"Shh!" I shushed her. Brytt was totally talking to the tree. All I could make out was a mumble, and I leaned closer to hear better. I looked at Batty very annoyed when he let out a gasp. "Shh! I want to hear what she's mumbling to the tree about!"

"Do you know what that tree is?" Batty sort of whisper-hissed.

"No," I said. "Shh."

Brytt muttered something about 'my lord'. And then Batty interrupted again.

"Stupid humans."

"Hey!" I said.

"That tree," Batty continued, grabbing me and pointing me at it, which was a little much because I was totally already looking at the tree and he didn't have to do that, "is the same tree that Hexxus is sealed inside!"

Oh.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is really, really bad," Batty started to repeat under his breath, pacing back and forth.

"Yeah," Tara said. "We should tell somebody bout this."

"Tell somebody about what?" a voice said from behind us. I jumped! "And what are you doing out here, anyway?"

I turned around and saw Pips glaring at me.

---

AN: omg guyz ive been soooooooo busy n my frends r all mad at me just bc i said that i didnt like laruens hair thats no reason to stop talking 2 me u guys cn go jump off a cliff n not get rescued.

s ur the bestes persob ever n i miss u soooooooooooo much i wish u didnt have 2 move.

lauren i do not have ur fall out boy cd. i gave it back 2 u when u slept over at my house. n i wouldnt give it to u anyway if ur gonna be such a b**** about it. :P im i bigger fan of them htan u r neway.

sry its been so long since i updtaed but i had skool. n also i had to thikn of what shuld happen nex. mayb she haz a speciul power or something. ;) but i only write 4 fun so dont be meen!1

big thx 2 sidney again 4 editign 4 me! s u roxx0rz!

---

"What are you doing out here?" Pips asked.

"Uh, solving a mystery?" I tried, smiling as big as I could. He didn't look very impressed. But then his eyes went really big and he looked over my shoulder.

"What does she think she's doing?" he blustered very loud, and Tara and I both shushed him. But he didn't shush. "I've got to tell Crysta about this," he said, and took off again.

I looked at Tara and Batty, and we agreed to leave too, before Brytt noticed we were totally spying on her. So we started walking away except for Batty 'cause he could fly so it would be dumb to walk if you could fly because flying is so much cooler.

"What do you think she was doing there?" I wondered.

"It looked almost like she was praying or something," Tara suggested.

"Yeah, praying to the tree with an evil demon spirit thingy in it," I shouted excitedly. Also I bounced up and down a bit. "I bet she has some sort of evil plan to let it out!"

"Knovaa, you jump to conclusions way too easily," Tara said, but she sounded like she was thinking about it.

"I wouldn't put it past her," I said, very dark and spooky-sounding I thought.

Well anyways, we got back to the tree stump where we'd come right at the beginning, and there were a whole bunch of fairies fluttering around, which was totally awesome. I was so busy looking up at the trees and the light through the canopy and the bright colourful trails the fairies left behind as they flew around that I walked into a tree root and tripped and fell over. I'm such a klutz sometimes.

Somebody said, "Hey, are you okay?" Except it wasn't Tara or Batty or anybody else. In fact, it sounded kinda like –

"Can I help you up?"

I looked up and Zak was looking down at me. He looked about as stunned as I felt. I heard him mutter something that sounded a little like "Oh no" before I squealed very excitedly.

"Omigo- Zak! When did you get here?" I asked as I took his hand and got up. "How did you get here? And why are you only fairy sized?"

Zak kind of winced when I started talking, so I checked to make sure I wasn't standing on his feet or anything. I wasn't, so I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but Zak interrupted me. "I'm actually not here because of you. There was an article in the paper this morning about how some company thought they'd found oil under the preserve. I wanted to find out what was going on and make sure everyone was all right. I don't know why I'm this size. It's really weird." Then he gave me this really weird look. "Although now I'm wondering if that's the only reason."

"Huh?" I didn't get it.

"Well, you're here. And I only met you this morning. This can't be a coincidence."

I thought about that for a moment, but it still didn't make any sense. So I just shrugged. "It is really weird that we're both here at the same time and under the same spell or whatever, isn't it? It's almost like fate or something, like in a Disney movie when the girl is all like lonely and sad and then the prince comes along and -" And then my heart started beating really fast and I looked away 'cause I was blushing all bright red and I thought it made me look really stupid even though everybody I know tells me that I look really cute when I blush, but I don't believe them at all because I'm not pretty or cute or anything like that except when I'm wearing a lot of makeup and what was I talking about again?

"Did you have trouble getting back to normal size, too?" Tara asked. I was really relieved 'cause she totally saved me from being really embarrassed in front of Zak and also I just realized that Pips was watching me making an idiot of myself going on about Disney and I blushed even redder. Also now everyone would think I liked Zak! I got even redder.

"Knovaa, are you all right?" Tara asked. "You're turning purple."

"I'm fine," I squeaked. Except that I was turning purple in front of two really cute guys! "But I have to go and – go." And I dashed off.

I didn't go very far though before I realized I was totally lost. There were a whole bunch of trees everywhere and they all looked the same. I turned around, but it all looked the same behind me too. I was totally lost in the middle of the rainforest!

"Aaaa!" I shouted. Just then, Tara came out from behind some leaves and kinda glared at me.

"Knovaa, what are you doing? You can't just wander off like that. You'll get lost and fall in a hol and then something will eat you."

"Uh. Yeah. Sorry," I giggled.

Tara sighed like she was really put upon and grabbed my delicate wrist and tugged me behind her as she went back to the clearing we'd been in. "Don't run off like that again," she scolded me.

"Is Zak still there?" I asked, peeking out cutely from behind a leaf. My black lacy skirt fluffed out behind me as I leaned over to see better.

"Yeah," Tara said, before yanking me out from behind the leaf. "And everyone knows you have a huge, obvious crush on him, so you can stop acting all embarrassed."

I got very mad about this but I didn't want to say anything to Tara because we're best friends, so I just glowered at my green high- heeled beaded flip- flops as I walked along after her. And secretly I plotted horrible revenge on her in my head, only I'd never actually do anything mean to her because I'm way too nice and kind for something like that. And also because she'd kill me. Tara has no scruples when it comes to prank wars.

Anyway we came out again and Zak was talking to Pips about something and they both looked kind of mad, so I tried to sneak past while they were still distracted talking to each other. It didn't work. I got a really funny look from Pips, and a funnier one from Zak. As soon as I got past though they started arguing again.

"I just want to talk to her," Zak said really angry.

"Well, she's busy. And she doesn't want to talk to you anyway." And Pips totally stuck his tongue out! I giggled, but stopped when Tara tugged me along into the tree stump, and I nearly tripped up again on the way in, only I didn't because I'm really graceful even though I'm so clumsy and also Tara was pulling me along too fast so I couldn't stay tripped.

"Wasn't that cute?" I asked her gleefully as we walked inside.

"What?" Tara asked. "Because you aren't 'cute', you're just annoying."

I laughed. Tara's such a joker sometimes. "How they were totally fighting over me! It was so adorable! I didn't know Zak cared so much about me! Did you know? Do you think I have a chance? Do -"

"Knovaa," Tara interrupted, "if you hadn't run off for some reason, you'd have noticed they were talking about Crysta. Zak hasn't tried to get bigified again yet, and he wants Crysta to try. Pips was arguing that she was way too busy because she was working on our case."

"Oh." I thought about it for a minute. "OMZ! Tara! Do you think that Pips has a crush on Crysta?"

"Wow! That's really weird, because that was exactly the last thing I was thinking about!" Tara said very excited. She's so funny, that's why we're best friends!

UGH I CAN'T. I JUST CAN'T. CARLY, STOP WRITING THIS TRIPE AND I'LL STOP MAKING TARA SNARK AT KNOVAA. JUST STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT.

So anyway, we went back outside again and there was this really funny rumbling noise, like when your car just starts up, only really quiet. I only noticed it because it was all wrong in the rainforest and it really stuck out, because they don't have cars in the rainforest and big mechanical things don't usually come out of nowhere and start making rumbling noises.

"Do you hear a rumbling noise like a really big mechanical thing?" I asked Tara. She shook her head. I blushed very embarrassed because I forgot that Tara didn't grow up in a rainforest so she didn't know what one sounds like, and also I've always been able to hear things a lot better than other people, I think it's because of my weird freaky cute perfectly leaf- shaped ears.

All of a sudden, the rumbling started getting louder like the really big mechanical thing that was making it was getting closer.

"And now it's getting louder like a really big mechanical thing that's getting slowly closer to us," I commented.

Tara looked around. "When you say something like that, it usually means that -"

"There's no way that there's anything big and mechanical in Ferngully," Pips scoffed.

"Really, when she starts using eerily accurate similes to describe unplaceable sounds or smells or changes in temperature or whatever, she's usually right," Tara said ominously. I smiled very big and showed off my perfectly straight white teeth. It was so nice of SiTara to take my side! This is why we're friends in the first place – she was the only one in the whole school who even bothered to talk to me because all the other kids didn't like me because I was so different and unique. And she totally stands up to the kids who bully me, which is so super-nice and SUCKING UP TO ME DOESN'T HELP, CARLY, THIS IS STILL TERRIBLE.

"Hey, there is a really quiet rumbling noise," Zak said.

I smiled smugly (except not too smugly because I'm not stuck-up or anything even when I'm right all the time and other people just won't believe me).

THAT'S IT, I'M DONE. EDIT YOUR OWN SHITTY FANFIC NEXT TIME, CARLY. AND YES, I SAID 'SHITTY'. DEAL WITH IT.

AND YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR SWEATER AND THE HAIRBAND YOU LEFT AT MY HOUSE BACK.

SO THERE.

HA.

s i cant belive u woud do that 2 me u r a big meenie n im just writing 4 fun so y do u have 2 spoil it all r u rilly my freind neway? u can keep the stupid sweter n hairband n ill just keep firefly n u will never wath it again cuz ill have it. so there ha. i dont even need ur help 2 rite this bcauz ever1 who reeds it sez its rilly good n i shud get it publisched so there. ur just jelus i can write so awesome n every1 likes it.

n i dont even miss u a little so there.

now i dont no if i even wanna keep riting i feel totaly betraid. dose nebody no a good beta?

---

then all of a suddewn tara got all wobbly n i grabed her arm so she woudnyt fall over becoz im nice like theat not like sum ppl i could mention but i wont becuz im 2 nice n also im a good freind not like sertin ppl but neway. tara wuz all wobbly n i had 2 hold her up.

tara whats wrong i said very concerned.

i don't know Knovaa tara said all weak and coughed kinda scratchy like she had just eatin popcorn n it waz cught in her throat n she was tryin to get it out. i feel rilly sick.

oh no i cried tara its cuz u hav that jungle diseas i bet. we nreed 2 find out how to fix u. becoz even when some1 is bein mean 2 me i m nice 2 thenm n also tara waz my best ferind n i wanted her to be alive.

oh no zak and pips said and zak said Knovaa y didnt u tell me tara waz sick bcuz she can ttally get cured here.

omz rilly? i said very excited.

yes its rilly easy pips said. xcept humans dont no about it bcuz their humans n that makes them bdum. i was kinda sad he said that becuz i thot we were gunna be freinds. but then tara feinted.

oh my gosh i said sadly. yara dont die on me.

weve gotta get crysta pips asid she nos what 2 do.

jus then a bunch of trees fell over with a crash n we all looked over wher they fell down n there waz a rilly big truck there!1!

---

oh n lauren i still dont have ur fall out boy cd.

thnx 2 ...xxXXedwerdroxx0rz193XXxx... 4 betaing 4 me! u r teh bestest!

laurne i do not hav ur fukin cd so su me yah i ment it.

u guyz y aren't u reveiwing? i put a lot of time n efort in2 these chps, so i wuld like u 2 aknolidge my work!1

i 3 u all tho.

---

"Oh no!" I cried breathily, feeling my lungs constrict with fear and terror. I felt so small, so fragile, so breakable in the face of the mechanical monster that towered over me. "What are we gonna do?"

Zak immediately stepped in front of me, his jaw clenched in fury and eyes aflame. "Take care of Tara, Knovaa," he instructed me quickly. I tried to take deep breaths, to calm the rapidly fluttering pace of my heart. I felt as though I were on the verge of passing out. Somehow, I managed to keep my head.

"Tara! Tara, can you hear me?" I tried to remember what I knew of first aid. Check to make sure the victim is unresponsive, then check for breathing, then that their airways are clear and unobstructed. I leaned over and pressed my ear against Tara's mouth, listening for any sign of breath. "C'mon, Tara, we didn't get this far for you to suddenly die on me."

The truck's engine growled. The sound was deafening, seeming to instantly swallow the entire world in a cacophony of clamour. My delicate ears shut down completely from the overload of solid sound. And then the engine sound died to a mere roar.

Over the thunder of the truck's engine, as it crept ominously forward through the trees, I faintly heard Pips shouting, "What is that doing here?"

A faint murmur of "oh, this is very bad, this is very very bad indeed" caught my ear, and I turned to see Batty sort of hovering behind us. His wings fluttered as nervously as my pulse.

"I don't know how it got here, who brought it here, or why," Zak stated fiercely, and the sound of his voice was like a jolt of pure courage shooting straight up my spine. "But I'm not going to let it – or anyone – destroy this place."

In that instant, I knew for certain that my heart had been forever sealed to his. I had never met anyone who truly understood the depth of my feelings for the wild places of the earth, who would willingly lay down their life to protect what was so important to them.

My emerald-sapphire-amethyst-gold-and-silver-flecked orbs took in the whole of his glorious being. He had to be some kind of a god, I concluded, tracing the lines of his taut muscles, trained and solidified by years of manual labour, rippling under tanned skin. The way his hair flashed golden in the sunlight, surrounding his head like a halo –

"Knovaa! Your friend's unconscious! Oh, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do?"

I quickly took over giving first aid to Tara. She wasn't breathing, so I started giving her that thing you do with the breathing that is first aid. The one I forget the name of. I know it really well because I had to do it in school and I was the top of the class.

Anyways, as I gave Tara mouth-to-mouth or whatever it's really called, my thoughts strayed inconveniently to the truck growling threateningly behind me and, inexorably, to the man with the figure of Adonis and the face of an angel. What would it be like, I wondered, to look into those dark mysterious eyes, to taste his lips on mine…

Suddenly, without warning, a sharp pain in my shoulder knocked me away from Tara. She sat up, gasping for air, and rubbed the fist she'd punched me with. "Do you listen? When the person you're giving mouth-to-mouth to is trying to talk to you, chances are they're breathing."

"Tara!" I exclaimed in extreme delight. "You're not dead!"

"Of course I'm not dead," Tara scoffed, much to my chagrin. "I've got much too much to do. Now, help me up."

I extended a hand towards her. Tara took it and tried to pull herself up, but the moment she stood on her own her legs gave way beneath her and she crumpled to the ground like a marionette with all of her strings cut.

"Ouch," Tara sniped bitterly.

"Can you stand?" I inquired concernedly.

"Don't think so." Tara attempted to lever herself to her feet, but failed and ended up face-down on the ground. "Knovaa, you're going to have to help me."

I slipped an arm around her shoulders and we managed, between the both of us, to get her onto her feet. Then, like contestants in a drunken three-legged race, we staggered towards the boys – and the monstrous entity that threatened our continued existence.

Zak was already in motion, running towards the truck's enormous front grill at a tiring pace. I couldn't help but be drawn to the way he moved – like poetry in motion, graceful as a big cat that –

"Knovaa? Anyone home? Hel-lo?" Tara was waving her hand in front of my eyes.

"Isn't he beautiful," I wanted to sigh, but settled instead for, "Yes?"

"We're facing certain death. Stop drooling over your crush."

"A crush?" I found myself unanticipatedly angered by Tara's thoughtless comment. I did not have a crush on Zak. It went far beyond the realms of mere high school puppy love. No, I thought, I was infatuated, completely addicted to him. And he had no idea of the effect he had on me. Perhaps, though, it was best that it stayed that way. There was no way he'd ever understand how deeply I truly felt, no way he could ever reciprocate my feelings. After all, what was I to him? We'd barely spoken once. I was nothing more than a meteorite locked into orbit around his sun, a mere speck in relation to his cosmos. I needed to forget this ridiculous desire, to somehow swallow it. I knew I'd never be able to stop this longing, never be able to quiet the screaming of my heart. But perhaps, unburdened by the weight of my affections, he could find someone he could truly care about, someone worthy of his glorious love. She would have to be truly perfect, I mused, someone without any flaws whatsoever. I could never live up to that standard.

A bitter heartache began to overwhelm me as I contemplated the idea of some girl, probably tall and blonde and busty, with a perfect tan and perfect teeth and impeccable clothing, hanging off of Zak's arm, laughing at something he'd said. In my mind, she looked a lot like Brittany. Even the thought of the way he would look at her, the admiration and complete love shining from those beautiful eyes -

"Knovaa! How many times do I have to remind you that we are standing in front of certain death?"

I forced myself back into reality. Icy fingers of dread trickled down my spine as I realized just how serious the situation we faced was. In the teeth of the mechanical monstrosity, even Zak appeared dwarfed.

One thing confused me, though. Why was the truck stopped? Why hadn't it knocked anything over yet? Why wasn't it wreaking utter devastation upon the rainforest around me?

What was going on?

That was when the door of the truck swung open, sending a blast of air rushing into our faces and nearly knocking Tara and I over. I struggled to keep my balance, and so was almost too distracted to notice that someone was stepping out of the truck.

That is, until my supportive grip on Tara slipped, her weight shifted, and we both fell over in a tangled heap. Incapable as I was of getting up, I was forced to look up as enormous boots tromped towards us, growing closer and closer with every step…

---

ok wasnt that awsum n dramatic n supensful u guys? thx again ...xxXXedwerdroxx0rz193XXxx... ur the best beta ive had like ever! (ALSO S U R A POOPYHEAD GO DIE IN ALL THE FIRES.)

agan, plz reveiw n tell me what u thougt! i like getting feedbak! reveiw review review!1

so lauren is a big huge menie n she still thinks i have her stupid cd so were not freinds nemore.

lauren i cant belive ud do something like that 2 me u no i like nick u r the worst ferind evar n i dun ever wanna talk 2 u ever fun benig alone 4ever.

thnx 2 ~*arteamis*~ 4 betaing 4 me! u r super awsum! (not like s who is still a meenie. n wont talk 2 me.)

---

The thick rubber sole of the gigantic boot came down heavily mere inches away from where Tara and I were, sending shudders through the ground and knocking me off of my feet. I stared up, up into the impassive face of certain death.

From this angle, certain death looked a lot like a pair of nostrils.

I shut my eyes and braced myself for the worst. At any moment, that boot would fall, snuffing my short and tragic existence out in a mere millisecond. I reflected briefly on all the things I would miss. I would never graduate, never go to college, never know the feeling of true love reciprocated, never marry, never have children. I would die here, alone, in the rainforest, at the mercy of someone who had no idea I was even there.

It was a true tragedy.

But somehow, my anticipated death by squishing did not come. Somehow, in fact, nothing happened at all. For a few long moments.

I opened one eye, experimentally.

The gigantic person's face was looming over me like a cliff face looms over somebody who's standing at the very bottom of the cliff, except not really. I screamed very loudly and the face went all scrunchy like he was in pain.

"Knovaa?" the face said.

I gasped!

"Is that you?" the really ginormous guy continued.

"OMG, it is!" I squealed very excited.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm saving Tara's life and running away from home!" I said defiantly, and put my hands on my hips.

The person who was really huge and who I didn't recognize because I was staring directly up their nostrils said, "Why would you do that?" I thought that maybe I recognized them, but I couldn't really tell because I was still staring up their nostrils.

"Because my daddy abused me!" I shed a single crystalline tear thinking back to those unhappy memories. Why did my life have to be so tragic and filled with misery? It just wasn't fair.

The person's mouth opened and I totally thought I was gonna get eaten. Oh no! I thought silently to myself. But wait, that doesn't make any sense. They're talking to me, so why would they eat me?

Then they said something that made me wobble and feel really faint. "I would never do something like that, Knovaa!"

"OMZ," I breathed breathily, teetering back and forth on the razor-edge of consciousness. "Daddy?"

"Knovaa!"

"OMZ!" I felt limpid pools of salty wetness begin to well up in my eyes at the sheer emotion of it all. I didn't think I could handle it. I just wanted to give my father a gigantic hug, but I couldn't because I probably was only big enough to wrap my arms around his finger and his hands weren't anywhere near where Tara and I were. "I can't believe you actually came all the way here just for me!"

My daddy looked baffled, or at least I thought he did, but it was kind of hard to tell when his face looked about as tall as a house. "Why wouldn't I? You disappeared! I had no idea where you'd gone! I was worried sick, young lady!" He squinted kind of. "And what do you think you're wearing?"

I swallowed and played a little with the hem of my frilly lacy black miniskirt that came down to just under my hips. "Clothes?"

Daddy looked like he was going to start yelling again, and I felt a second tear like a diamond drop trace a trail of moisture down my flawlessly smooth and pale cheek. But instead of yelling at me, my father took a deep breath and said, "Why did you run away like that?"

"Because you abused me!" I shouted very angrily. I had almost forgotten, I was so happy I'd actually got him back to the rainforest like I wanted to, but now I remembered how horrible he'd been to me.

"Because I told you not to leave the house in clothes that made you look cheap and tasteless?"

"Because you hit me!"

Now my father looked totally clueless. "Knovaa, I never hit you."

"Yes you did!" I protested angrily. "Look, I've even got the bruises to prove it!" I pointed a finger at my eye.

"Knovaa, you don't have a bruise on your face," my father said.

I laughed, only not like a happy laugh but like a laugh that is bitter and disillusioned with everything it once thought it knew and now realizes that the world is a cold and dark and uncaring place. "There so totally is."

"Knovaa, there isn't. There hasn't been since you got to my house." Tara squinted at my face. "Did you draw it on with eyeshadow?"

"NO!" I shouted very loud and stamped my foot a bit in frustration. "I did not! I had a bruise there, it was there yesterday!"

Everyone stared at me. It was really awkward.

"It was, okay?" I said, but they didn't seem like they believed me. "Tara, you saw it, right? I had a great big black eye! It was really ugly and everything!"

Tara nodded. "Yeah, I saw it…" She sounded all uncertain. "But you don't have a black eye today." Suddenly I remembered that it hadn't been there that morning when I was getting dressed. What had happened to my bruise?

"Knovaa, sweetheart," my dad said, all soft and understanding-like. "It's okay. I know that what I said was wrong. I know I really hurt you. But that was no reason to run away, and there was no call to fake a bruise and say that I hit you. I may not be the best father, but I'd never do something like that to my own daughter. You're all I have left of your mother," he said, and he sounded really sad only I didn't trust it because when no one was looking, he kind of smiled at me. I didn't know what was going on. I had no idea why my black eye had disappeared, or why my dad was saying it had never happened, or how he'd known I was here, or anything! I didn't know what was going on! But now everybody was glaring at me all accusing.

"Knovaa, what the hell were you thinking?" Tara snapped.

"I didn't fake it!" I protested angrily. "He really did hit me!" No one understood my pain! And even worse, nobody believed me!

They were all still just looking at me judgily, though. Even Zak was staring at me, and I could see disappointment in his perfect crystal-blue eyes. I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stay there for a second longer.

I turned around and ran, nearly tripping over my green high-heeled flip-flops with the orange hand beading as I ran. The tears that had been gathering in my eyes spilled out like a flood, and I couldn't see where I was going. Then my feet got all tangled up in the straps on my flip-flops and I fell on my face and got dirt on my adorably upturned nose.

I lay there in the dirt for a few long moments, wondering if someone would come after me but knowing deep in my heart of hearts that they wouldn't. They all thought I was a terrible, awful, self-centred person and I didn't deserve to be loved by anyone.

And I was right. I didn't hear anyone coming towards me. I let myself lie facedown in the muck, and thought about how everything had gone wrong. Tara, my best and only friend of ever, was dying. Zak almost definitely hated my guts – and I didn't blame him. They were all convinced that I was a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad person, and I didn't deserve anyone's sympathy. Maybe, if I was lucky, I would die here, I mused. They would all be better off without me.

Sure, I'd gotten my father to the rainforest again, but he didn't seem like he was falling back in love with it. In fact, I didn't even know why he'd come. We didn't own a truck, I mused, and there was no way they'd let my father just drive it into the rainforest like that even if we did. No, something very seriously weird and probably bad was going on.

Then, from the clearing, I heard the sound of an engine roaring into life.

---

so omg can ne of u gaiz geuss wats goin on? i bet u cant! but reveiw neway n c if u got it rite!

s if ur still readin this ur bein dum n u shuld txt me. ur dum n stupid n mean n annoying n i miss ur big stupid face, ok? so stop bein all huffy n just talk 2 me.

i hope u gaiz liked it!

omz u gaiz!1 gess who wuz my beta 4 ths chappie!1

i 3 u s n u r my bff&e&e&e&e&e! i missd u sooooooo muhc u dont even no. dont ever sotp talkin 2 me agan! now u hav 2 come visit me somtime!

i 3 u gaiz lots & lots! thx 2 every1 hwo reads n reveiws, u r my favoutires!1

---

I scrambled to my feet, feeling terror squeezing my insides like a great big metal hand all squeezing my stomach and lungs and stuff. The truck was starting up again! I heard a roaring sound as it started moving. This had to be bad, because I didn't know how it could be good. The best possible thing was that my dad was leaving, and it was way too soon for him to leave, because I hadn't figured out why he was being so weird and saying that he hadn't hit me and stuff, and also he wasn't back in love with the rainforest or anything. And the worst –

All of a sudden there was a ginormous crash from behind me. I shrieked very loud and high pitched and squeezed my hands over my cute little perfectly leaf-shaped ears to block out the sound. It rattled around my ribcage, which kinda hurt, and shook the ground I was standing on, knocking me over on my butt again, making my great big pigtails of black naturally-purple-highlighted ringlets and my frilly lacy black skirt both bounce and flounce all over the place.

"Ow," I said, as I got back to my feet, as soon as the crash was over. "I'm totally gonna have a bruise on my tailbone!"

Then I looked over and saw a wall blocking me off from the clearing.

"OMZ!" I screamed very loud. "You guys! Are you okay?"

I ran up and started beating on the wall with my fists. It was kinda round and bowed out towards me, and it was rough like wood, and covered in moss and green stuff, and when I hit it all of a sudden it felt like somebody stabbing me in the hand.

"Owww!" I shouted very surprised. "What's going on?"

All of a sudden I realized the wall was a tree that had fallen over. Or more like been knocked over, because on my left it was all a splintery mass of broken wood, still green and stuff, and oozing like sap and other stuff you find on the inside of trees. My heart went all funny like it does when you get all scared and upset and angry and worried and sad all at once and it turns into an annoying big lump in the middle of your chest. I heard the truck engine dying down again, and then turning off, but it sounded like it was really far away and quiet and not important because all I was really hearing was blood pounding in my ears.

Then I heard a voice that I didn't recognize. "Elan, why are you talking to the bugs?"

My dad answered, "I'm not talking to the bugs, Frank. Just making sure this is the right spot."

"So you say we should start testing here?"

"Yup, this is definitely the site. Drill straight down from here and you'll hit the biggest oil deposits in Australia."

Suddenly I couldn't breathe. My throat went all funny and closed up like when you're crying or when you're watching a really super-scary movie, and I couldn't really get a breath in. I couldn't believe it. My daddy had come with an oil company representative. He was the one trying to destroy the rainforest, the place he'd once worked so hard to preserve and protect?

"YOU -" I shouted, but I couldn't think of a word mean enough to describe my father right then and I was pretty sure they couldn't hear me anyway. "YOU – YOU -"

I punched the tree blocking me from the clearing again. Again, it felt like somebody was stabbing me in the hand. I screamed very loud in frustration and anger and sadness and pain, and then I looked down and saw the tree was glowing!

I thought for a moment that they'd lit the tree on fire, and I kind of ran away except not really because the ground was really uneven and I was still wearing my high-heeled flip-flops which are not very good for running in. So I got maybe like five steps or something and then I tripped and fell over, I'm such a klutz. I totally skinned my knee, too, and it really smarted and then it started bleeding.

I felt one big fat diamond-like tear begin to trickle down the side of my nose. Everything was horrible, I'd lost my father and my home and my best friend and the only guy I'd ever loved, and now I was sitting alone and bleeding and helpless in the mud getting my favourite skirt all dirty and muddy and it would be impossible to wash especially since I would never be human-sized again and I'd have to wash it out in the river or something and –

A tear fell on the great big nasty cut on my knee, and all of a sudden it (my knee) started glowing orange.

I freaked out.

It didn't hurt, though. It was just kind of warm for a bit, and then it stopped stinging, and then stopped glowing. I wiped away the mud and blood, and was shocked. My knee wasn't cut at all! I was totally fine. But I had scraped my knee open, and it had been bleeding, or else there wouldn't be blood on my knee in the first place. Which meant that I'd somehow healed really insanely fast.

"Except that would be silly, because then I'd have to be like a superhero or something," I laughed, except not very happily, because I wasn't sure what was going on and everything still seemed pretty horrible. "Or like…magic!"

And then I got very quiet and my eyes got all big and round (AN: like lady gaga in that video, i forget which 1) with surprise. It almost made sense. There were fairies in the rainforest, right? And fairies were magic, right? And I was born in the rainforest, right?

So if I was magic…

"Oh my Zak," I said quietly.

Just then the engine of the truck started up again! I screamed a little bit except not very much because I don't actually scream all that often, only today everything was startling me. "Why is everything startling me today?" I complained loudly. "I'm not really a scaredy-cat!"

But then I stopped thinking about it, because I had more important things to worry about. The truck engine noise was getting louder, but I couldn't see anything over that stupid fallen tree! I had to get back somehow and see what was going on, but I couldn't climb over the tree and it was too big for me to go around it. I had no idea what to do.

Then over the trunk of the tree I saw a funny light. I stared at it for a couple of minutes before I realized that it was headlights!

"Oh no!" I shouted. I was going to get squished by the truck!

Then I noticed the headlights weren't pointed at me, but at the big tree-stump-thingie Tara and I had met Crysta in. That tree thing had seemed pretty important. So if the truck had knocked down the tree that was blocking me off, and now it was going after this other tree thing…

And also, all of my friends were standing right in the path of the truck! I gulped. This was really seriously bad. I had to do something.

I tried climbing the tree in my way again, but I just fell on my butt. I yelled at the tree for a bit, but other than making me feel a little bit better it didn't do anything. Then, just when I was starting to think it might be easier for me to just give up because there was no way I could stop my dad and the guy from the oil company, all of a sudden Batty flew over the log! I was so super-happy to see him that I flung my arms around his neck and gave him a great big squeezy hug.

"OMZ, I'm so happy to see you!" I squealed excitedly.

"What am I, chopped liver?" said a very familiar voice from behind Batty, and I felt like my heart was going to explode, except the good kind of explode, not the bad kind.

"TARA!" I screamed so loud a bunch of birds way up in the canopy got startled and flew away squawking like crazy. Batty put his fingers in his ears and gritted his teeth. But I didn't care. My bestest best friend ever in the whole entire universe was safe! I ran up to her and was going to give her a great big hug, but then I stopped. "Uh, do you still think I'm bad and I faked -" I started, but Tara shook her head no.

"Knovaa, I trust you. And even if I didn't, the fact that your dad is apparently evil would have made me reconsider whatever he said anyway."

Everything went all blurry because tears were all filling up my eyes. I knew they'd probably make my cheeks look all red and blotchy and disgusting and stuff, but I didn't even care because you know what? I had my bestest best friend of ever back! I grabbed Tara and gave her a great big squeezy hug. She kinda gasped out, "Knovaa – can't – breathe -" but she'll say anything to get out of a hug from me so I didn't really listen. I kept on hugging her for a really long time.

"So what's going on over there?" I cried urgently when I finally released her.

"That truck has – and this is gonna sound really insanely stupid – blades on the front of it," Tara said. "It's pretty much demolishing anything in its path."

"OMZ," I whispered. This was horrible! I couldn't believe that my dad would do something this awful! "I've got to stop this."

"Excuse me for interrupting this touching Kodak moment," Batty said loudly, "but how do you think you're going to do that? If you haven't noticed, you're only about three inches high and a human to boot, while that thing out there is seven feet of rainforest-munching, fairy-tromping, Batty-eviscerating KILLER STEEL!" He was kind of freaking out, but I felt all calm. It was weird, like I knew I should probably be freaking out but I was too busy working things out to get all scared and discouraged and stuff.

I looked up at the tree that was blocking my view again, and a great big pearly-white smile spread across my face. "Don't worry," I said confidently. "I think I have an idea."

AN: so omz u gaiz its been SOO LONG sence my last updata, i hop u arnt sick of this stroy yet bcuz i have a lot mor eadventures 4 knovaa n tara 2 go on (maybe). neway thx 4 reading n reveiwin it mans a lot 2 me bcuz i wnt 2 get publiched sum day n now im 1 step closer 2 my dremz!11 thx u gaiz, u r the best n i hope ur virtul rainforests r still dgrowoing1!

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"I think I have an idea."

Batty started biting his fingernails and wrapped a wing around himself. "Why do I get the very strong feeling that this isn't going to end well?"

Tara narrowed her blue-grey eyes that were the same colour as the sea on a stormy day. "Knovaa, if you'll forgive me, your ideas so far have only gotten us into this mess. You'd better have a real doozy up your sleeve if you think you can get us out of it again."

"Don't worry," I answered confidently. "I just need Batty to fly me over to the truck."

"WHAT?" Batty crumpled into a little ball. "Why is it always me?" he moaned softly, from behind a wing.

Somewhere behind the tree, something went crunch as the truck ploughed into it.

I put on my very best puppy-dog eyes and batted my lashes prettily while giving him my absolute cutest heart-melting pout. It would have worked beautifully if he'd been looking. Instead, I had to poke him in the wing until he looked. When he saw me, he made a little yelping noise and ducked his head back under his wing. I frowned. I thought my convincing face was cute.

"Or I can try to get over that tree myself," I said. I sounded really snappy and kinda mean and I said, "Sorry, that sounded nasty. I just don't want to see this beautiful rainforest destroyed because I was sitting around doing nothing!"

"Knovaa, I'm shocked. That actually sounded coherent and almost inspirational," Tara said wonderingly. Then "Oh bother, I've fallen over again."

I went over and helped her up, and then I looked up at the tree again. I grabbed the bark and started to climb. It curved up and over my head though, and I couldn't get a good grip and I fell down beside Tara.

Batty shook his head. "I can't bear to watch this, it's just too painful." And with that he opened up his wings and swooped away into the air.

I shook my fist in his general direction. "You can't leave now! You cowardly -" But I got cut off because all the wind got knocked out of me when he came swooping back and grabbed me by the shoulders, dragging me backwards up and over the tree. It was really super-scary and I screamed a lot.

Then all of a sudden I was looking at the truck. It didn't even look that much like a truck, though. It looked really big and menacing like something from a movie where robot aliens kill everybody on Earth, and the engine was belching black smoke so thick that I couldn't really see the truck properly. But I saw the gigantic pincer blades that were sticking out of the front of it and hitting the tree stump meeting hall. The stump was holding up, and I saw blue and orange sparks that I guessed were magic that Crysta and the fairies were using against the truck, but it wasn't doing much good. I got really scared then. If their magic wasn't helping, then what could I do?

Just then the smoke sorta blew away from the top of the truck, and I saw that Brytt fluttering along beside the truck. My eyes got all narrow and squinty, only in a menacing way, not an 'I-can't-see-the-screen-from-here-and-I-need-glasses' way.

"OMZ, that preppy…fairy!" I said loudly. "I bet she had something to do with this!"

"What?"

"She must have," I mumbled. "She was totally talking to that tree, and…" My eyes got really wide again as I realized something really super-awful. "OMZ! I bet she let it out!"

"What?"

"The destruction-spirit-guy-thingie! I'll bet you she let it out, and now that's why my dad is acting so weird and the truck's turned into a great big ravening metal monstrosity!" I nearly clapped my hands together in glee because I was so excited. I'd figured it all out! But then all of my excitement drained away when I looked at the truck again. It was almost completely swallowed by a shadow and it looked kinda like a great big skull- face was sticking out of the smoke right up at the top. It looked almost demonic and I shivered. I didn't want to go fight that thing.

Then all of a sudden this blue light flared up out of nowhere! I had to shut my eyes because it was so bright. When I opened them again, the truck was stuck in the branches of a tree that had sprung up out of the ground. I started cheering, but stopped when a tentacle made out of smoke uncoiled out of the tree and snapped something out of the air. We swooped past and I saw it was Crysta.

"Go back!" I shouted very urgently.

"What?"

"That thing's got Crysta! We've got to help her!"

I think Batty might have given me whiplash with how fast he turned around. Now the evil possessed truck was getting closer by the second. I swallowed hard. I didn't really know what I was going to do.

Then a branch whistled by my head, and I had to duck, but not before noticing that the branch was covered in red flowers. All of a sudden I remembered my first flight through the rainforest, and how this whole tree had exploded into flower when I'd started –

I gasped.

Singing!

I didn't waste another second. The truck was starting to struggle out of the tree holding it in place, and with Crysta all tied up in that icky-looking smoke tentacle's grip, the tree itself was starting to wither and die. The truck would be out again in a few seconds. I took a deep breath, and started singing at the top of my lungs the first song that came into my head.

"WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE!"

At first, I didn't see any change. The big pincer- slash- blade- thingies on the front of the truck cut off a couple more branches, and I thought that maybe we were too late. But I refused to believe it. I sang louder.

"DOOOON'T STOP BELIEEEEEEVIN'!"

The tree struggled with the truck, but the truck and the big black smoky monster guy were winning. I heard the monster guy laugh, and it felt like something icky and slimy sliding down my back. I shivered all over and Batty shouted down, "Stop that! I'll drop you!" I barely heard him, though, because just then Crysta's blue light went out. OMZ! Was she … dead?

The smoky monster guy turned and looked at me, and I felt my eyes go all squinty in that menacing way again. This was so not fair. Thanks to this overgrown puff of exhaust, I'd lost my father, the only family I had left; I'd lost my shot at making friends (or maybe something more) with Zak, and I'd nearly lost the person who mattered most to me, my best friend Tara. I was damned if I was going to lose the rainforest too.

"Little girl," the monster guy said in that slimy hissy voice of his, "do you really think you can stop me, when the true guardians of this forest have failed? Do you really think that your pathetic attempts at bursting my eardrums are doing you any good?"

"Bursting your -" And then I got it. "MY SINGING ISN'T THAT BAD!"

Batty muttered something under his breath, but I didn't really hear it, because I was busy fuming. That was it. That was the final straw.

I felt a funny sort of warm feeling start to glow in the middle of my ribcage as I took a deep breath in. I just knew that something special was going to happen. Brytt fluttered up out of the smoke, and when she saw me a really shocked look popped out all over her face. The monster guy with the funny name laughed again, but it sounded almost nervous.

"Uh, Knovaa," Batty said conversationally, "I hate to mention this, but YOU'RE GLOWING!" he started freaking out. I just smiled really huge.

And then I opened my mouth and launched into the chorus of my very favourite song ever.

"We're going down, down in an earlier round

But sugar, we're going down swinging!"

Nothing happened for a moment, and Brytt looked relieved. Then all of a sudden I felt really warm, and the tree started growing like crazy! A branch wrapped itself around Brytt's waist, and she kicked at it all helplessly, it was hilarious. The trunk of the tree started getting all thick and growing taller and taller, lifting the truck off the ground. Giant branches grew around the truck, snapped off the pincers, and started squeezing the truck until the sides dented in and the roof popped open. The smoky guy looked really confused for a second, before my dad came out of the roof and walked right through the smoky monster guy. For a minute, it looked like my dad was smiling really evilly at me, and then the smoky guy dissolved. The truck popped like a bubble on a piece of bubble wrap, and my dad jumped onto a branch just in time.

Then the tree stopped growing. In fact, it looked like it was…shrinking?

"Oh no!" I said. "I'm growing again! Batty, you'd better put me down or else you'll drop me!"

Just then Batty fluttered in front of my face. He was really big for a bat even when I was normal-sized again, and I might have kind of screamed a little. But only a little. But then I started to panic. If Batty wasn't flying me around, then…who was?

As soon as I thought it, I fell down on my butt with a thump. I pouted adorably. My poor behind was taking such a beating today.

"Knovaa!" somebody yelled from way up above me. I looked up and saw my dad standing in the tree, waving. "Would you mind helping me down?"

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AN: *wipes away tear* wasnt that awesum? but its not over so stay tuned!11

AN: omg u gaiz this is liek the 2ndlast chapter!1 im so excited n im rilly proud of myself bcos this is the frist story i ever finishd n i want 2 be n authour somday so this iz otally kewl!

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It was pretty boring after that. I flew up and got my dad down out of the tree. He looked really pale and kind of sick by the time we got back down, but that totally wasn't my fault. I'd only found out I could fly like five minutes ago. I was still learning.

We found Crysta with Tara, doing something that made a whole bunch of brightly coloured lights come out like one of those little ball-shaped light things that DJs have at dances and things, and also some people have in their bedrooms but it's really hard to see anything by that kind of light and anyways it makes me really dizzy. I think disco balls are way cooler things to have in bedrooms.

What was I talking about again? Oh, right, Tara. There were all these lights everywhere and then Crysta sat back, smiling. "I think she'll be all right," she said proudly, with a big smile on her face. "I've driven all the poison out of her system. She should recover just fine." The smile turned into a little worried frown. "Of course, for some reason, she still won't go back to normal size."

"Let me try," I said, and leaned over the log. It only actually came about up to my knees when I was the right size. When the tip of my finger touched Tara's head, there was this little spark like static electricity, except not all shocky, and then Tara started to grow.

It didn't take long for her to get back to human size, and I clapped my hands together happily. "OMZ, TARA!"

Tara blinked a couple times as she woke up. "AUGH. Knovaa, please get out of my face."

I flung my arms around her neck. "You're okay! And you're not dead!"

Tara kind of tried to push my arms apart, but she gave up after a bit and patted me kind of weakly on the back instead. "What's going on? What happened to the demon truck?"

"I beat it!" I said happily. "With magical singing!"

Both my father and Tara winced.

"You know, I really wouldn't have expected anything else of you," Tara said finally.

I beamed proudly.

"So now can we go home?" Tara asked impatiently. I stuck my tongue out at her when my dad wasn't looking.

"No. I still have some things I want to ask my dad." I stared at him pointedly. He kind of looked at his feet, then seemed to remember that he was a doctor and also my father and had no real reason to be embarrassed or ashamed. "Like why he pretended he hadn't hit me, and why he hit me in the first place."

"Hit you?" my dad asked, and he sounded totally blindsided, like he had no idea that he'd even hit me at all!

"Can we not do this again?" I kind of asked sadly, in the voice that Tara keeps telling me is 'whining' but couldn't be because I don't whine. "After you told me I reminded you of Mom. You called me a slut and a whore and told me it was my fault Mom was dead and slapped me right in the face!"

My dad's mouth kind of dropped open and he sort of just stared at me like that.

"And then you came here in a logging truck and tried to kill everybody!" I shouted very angry, because the memories were still hurting like sharp pointy things that were stabbing me in the chest.

Just then, I heard a high-pitched voice shouting angrily from somewhere over by the tree stump that had nearly got destroyed when the truck went on its rampage. It got louder and closer, and kinda sounded familiar. I wondered who it was.

"OW! Let go of me, you great big nasty jerk! You're totally ruining my hair! You're all gonna be sooo sorry!"

Pips flew into view, dragging Brytt. Her blonde hair was all messed up, and she was covered in sooty black stuff that kind of looked like what exhaust would look like if it stuck to people instead of evaporating into the air and causing global warming and stuff. She was shouting really loud and Pips looked totally fed up. If I wasn't so totally distraught and angry and everything, I would've giggled.

"All right," he said, sounding bored and that big word with an x in it that means annoyed except I forget what it is (an: s do u no?). "We all know you're mixed up in this. So what's going on? And no trying to wriggle out of it."

Brytt pouted unhelpfully and crossed her arms and turned up her nose, sniffing all stuck-upishly. She didn't say anything.

Pips shrugged up at me and Tara. Tara narrowed her eyes, and then reached down and grabbed Brytt's wings and picked her up. Brytt kicked and yelled and stuff, but Tara didn't let her go. She just picked her up until Brytt was on eye level with her, and glared directly at Brytt's face.

Brytt stopped yelling, and kind of swallowed really loudly. She looked like she was trying to decide whether to kick Tara in the face or pee her pants. I actually giggled that time, but only a little bit behind my hand because I didn't think Brytt would be very scared if she heard me giggling.

"We know you let Hexxus out…somehow," Tara said, in her very scariest 'wtf you are so stupid why would you even do that' voice. "And he wants to get rid of the rainforest. So what did you have to gain? Why did you do it?"

Brytt bit her bottom lip. "I didn't -" she started whining, but Tara cut her off.

"Can it. We're not going to fall for that, so you can just drop the act now. Why did you do it?"

Brytt pouted. "This is so not fair," she muttered. Then she sighed heavily. "I wanted to get rid of that know-it-all Magi Crysta, okay?"

Tara looked at her in disbelief. "That's why you tried to demolish the whole of Ferngully? Because one person was pissing you off? That seemed like a good idea?"

Brytt crossed her arms stubbornly. "She gets so high and mighty about everything, and she's a total hypocrite because she hangs out with humans, like, all the time! And everybody knows they're, like, the real problem here. And anyway, I'm better at magic and Magi Lune should have chosen me. And it's not like everything was really gonna get destroyed."

"Kindly explain how that one was supposed to work," Tara growled.

Brytt rolled her eyes, like it should be so obvious. "Well, Magi Crysta would try and beat Hexxus again, and then when it was overpowering her because she didn't have her little human friend around to save her butt this time, I would have stepped in and saved the day, and then everybody would know that I would have made a better Magi. Duh." She scowled at me. "Except you guys all showed up and messed everything up."

"And she would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids," someone mumbled. I looked down and saw that Batty was glaring at me.

"Batty!" I shouted happily. Everybody winced. "You're okay!"

"Yeah, that tree I hit made a really excellent brake."

I frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to -"

"Forget it, kid." Batty stopped, shook his head kind of a lot, and then sort of smiled. Although it kind of looked like he was making a face, but then again he's a bat so I guess maybe he just always looks like that.

My dad looked up at me, kind of with his mouth open. He looked pretty silly, but I could tell he totally saw me in a new light now and stuff. "Wait. You two saved this rainforest from…some sort of evil spirit?"

I nodded proudly and put my hands on my hips. "And Tara helped," I added, and Tara punched me in the arm. "Ow!"

My dad kind of smiled, except not really because he also looked kinda sad, sort of like he was going to start crying but he was really happy about it. "Your mother would be so proud of you."

I could feel pools of tears welling up inside my wide, violet-silver-green-blue-gold-flecked eyes, and my insides felt all mushy and gooey and warm and stuff like at the end of a Disney movie when everything is all right again. And then Tara started talking and ruined it.

"Wait a second. So did you or didn't you smack your daughter into a kitchen table?"

Anyway then it turned out that it was okay because Brytt started talking like she always does because she can't keep her stupid blonde mouth shut. Except that she said that it was all part of her plan that she and this Hexxus guy made up to get the rainforest all cut down by the oil drilling guys, and so my dad was all like brainwashed and stuff to approve their project, and that's why he hit me and now he couldn't remember anything. Only it wasn't actually him. Because he was brainwashed or something. And so it was okay again and we weren't annoyed that she wouldn't stop talking. AND SEE THERE S I DO SO KNOW HOW TO WRAP UP LOOSE ENDS.

"Okay, yay!" I said happily, and I hugged my dad. "I knew you really loved me!"

My dad hugged me back. "I do really love you. Please never, ever do anything like this ever again."

"Welllll…" I smiled cutely and tossed my floofy black violet-tinged pigtails.

"Knovaa. I was worried sick!"

"Okay, okay," I sighed resignedly. "But can you just tell me why I'm apparently a fairy?"

My dad looked like somebody'd slapped him across the face with a fish. Well, maybe the fish wasn't the important part. But I think it'd be really funny to see somebody get slapped with a fish. Anyway, he looked totally shocked or something. "You're…what? A fairy? Knovaa, there's no such thing as -"

"Don't say it, or one of them will drop down dead!" I wailed.

"Actually, that's not -" Crysta started to say, but I was still talking to my dad and wasn't really listening.

"And anyway I was just talking to them so there." I crossed my arms over my chest and smiled triumphantly.

"How hard did she hit her head?" my dad asked Tara, who shrugged.

"If she hit her head, I must've too. Or maybe there's something in the water. Or maybe there really are…" Tara made a face. "Fairies. I sound like a five-year-old girl."

My dad looked at both of us, and then up at the tree that I made grow in the middle of the big spiky truck thing. "I suppose there's no point in trying to hide it from you now," he sighed. I felt all excited, like there was something big that was about to happen, so I didn't ask any stupid questions. (for once – ed.) (an: s that waz mean) "Knovaa, your mother isn't human. And she's not dead."

I didn't say anything because my mouth was hanging open in shock. Nobody moved for a bit. Then Tara pushed my mouth closed, and said kindly, "You were starting to drool a little, sweetie."

"What are you talking about?" I shouted at my dad, waving my arms dramatically. My hand hit something, and I heard a noise like 'oof', so I stopped waving my arms around dramatically. "You told me she died from that same thing Tara got sick with!"

"No, she didn't," my dad admitted. "But I had to tell you something."

"Then what really happened?"

My dad looked at his feet. "She was their Magi, and it was up to her to protect them. And she couldn't have done that if she was worrying about us. You were an accident – not a mistake, honey, we both love you very much – but we didn't intend to have you, and when the government started to talk about clear-cutting and putting in ranches…"

"What? Why did you run away, if that was -"

"Knovaa." My dad gave me his best dadish look. "Let me finish. I knew I couldn't protect you from…whatever that thing was, the one you defeated here, today. Your mother had to take care of her people, and I could only really do something about the people who wanted to clear-cut if I was back in the human world. So we left." He ran a hand through his hair. "I only wanted to protect you both. I won that fight, but I still don't know what happened to her, whether she's still alive…and I haven't had the courage to go back and find out."

"OMZ," I managed to choke out. "That is so sad."

"So, you guys were, like, fairy sized, right? Or Knovaa's mom was normal sized?" Tara said, quietly. "Because that would be kind of icky if you weren't."

"Excuse me." Crysta interrupted. "Are you saying – I mean, do you mean that there's another rainforest out there?" We all kinda stared at her. She turned bright pink and muttered, "After we lost contact with the others, we just assumed we were the last."

"OMZ! Like in The Last Unicorn! I loved that movie!" I shouted happily. Tara winced. Crysta just looked lost. "Nevermind," I said nicely.

"So there are other rainforests out there, with other fairies living in them?" Crysta repeated patiently. "Zak, you didn't tell me about this!"

I felt all the blood rush to my face like some kind of blood balloon thing and I knew I must be blushing bright pink, because three-inch-tall Zak had just climbed up on top of the log my dad was sitting on. "Uh, yeah," he said, answering Crysta's question. "I thought you knew. Everybody else does." He rubbed the back of his neck. "In retrospect, that doesn't make any sense at all. Sorry."

"Zak!" I squealed very excited. It was kind of hard to tell, because he was so little, but I think Zak went very pale. He also muttered something that sounded kind of like 'uh oh'. "You're okay! OMZ, I was so worried!"

" 'OMZ'?" Zak asked Tara, who shrugged. I gave her a big hug, because it would have been just too embarrassing if he'd found out what it really stood for! Tara is my best friend ever!

"Tell him," she whispered in my ear.

"What? No! I couldn't!" I shrieked. Tara covered her ears with her hands, and then rolled her eyes and looked at Zak.

"Knovaa's got a huge crush on you," she said matter-of-factly.

I hate you, Tara.

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AN: thank u everyboyd who red this n stuck with knovaa all the way! 1 more chp to go!1

AN: Hey guys, Sidney, Carly's beta, here. Carly started dating this Nick guy, and, with one freakin' chapter left, decided to abandon this fic. Now, I care too much about you guys to leave you hanging like that. So here, courtesy of me, is the conclusion to 'The Saviour', as Carly intended it to be read.

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"LOL," Zak said. "Sorry but I'm into dudes."

"That's right," Pips said and squeezed Zak's ass. "But Crysta's single if you're feeling lonely."

Then Pips and Zak made out and it was glorious.

"Bawww," Knovaa said, "I haz no boyfriend. I must now go find Edward Cullen and make him love me."

Then we all went home and had cake. And it was awesome.

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There you go. Because I love you.

It's like two in the morning. I'm going to bed. Thanks for reading!

Cheers, Sidney