Skipper stood at Marlene’s cave entrance, right between the inside and outside of her cave, where Marlene couldn’t see him. Maybe she doesn’t remember, he thought, but who could forget when someone was being mean and rude to you? He felt like he had this big burden resting on his shoulders.

Still wondering whether to go in and apologize 或者 whether to chicken out and go home, Skipper’s foot accidentally protruded into Marlene’s cave light.

“Skipper?” Marlene asked curiously, wondering if the foot she saw sticking into her room was his. She was sitting on her bed, ready to go to sleep.

The foot froze, wondering if it should move. Then, cautiously, Skipper’s entire body moved into the cave light where Marlene could see him.

“Hi,” Marlene yawned. “So why did 你 come here for?” Marlene looked warily at him, wondering if anything psychotic was going to happen next.

Skipper stared, trying to find the right words. “I, uh, guess I owe 你 for all the times…”

“You left me in the cage, ditched me in the plastic volcano, stepped on me, ruined my cave, busted everything I owned, accused me of having cooties, shocked me about a billion times, made fun of me, called me a moron, not caring a word that I say, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!” Marlene had interrupted Skipper, and she was practically yelling when she finished.

“So, yeah, for being a jerk. I’m really sorry,” Skipper said, finishing his own sentence. “I owe you, a lot then.” He took a deep breath. “So, anything I can do…?”

Marlene smirked. “Well, 你 could always clean up my room from your last adventure.” She waved her hands around to indicate the mess his team had made, but had not cared.

Skipper sighed, not feeling much like a leader now. “Okay, so I’ll start 由 gluing back your mug first…” He picked up the glue beside him.

“Or,” Marlene interrupted, “Kiss me.”

Skipper stared at her. Marlene stared back. “What…?” Skipper asked, not sure he heard right.

“You heard me.” Marlene wondered if this was a good idea.

“Well, since it’s better than cleaning…”

Skipper went and kissed Marlene, right on her lips. Once they broke apart, Skipper said, “So, was that good enough?”

Marlene hugged him. “Okay…” But she still had a mischievous smile on her face. “But 你 still have to help me clean up my house.”

“What?!”

“You heard me! 你 owe me a lot!”

“But I thought that was all!”

“No! C’mon, I’ll help you.”

And laughing, Marlene dragged a complaining Skipper to fix up her home.

A/N: Okay, the end. MAN I almost chickened out in publishing this.