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Hazel rang the doorbell at Dev's house with one hand, holding the strap of her backpack with the other. It was twelve o'clock outside, so Wanda and Cosmo had fallen asleep on the way, being her two keychains. She didn't want to disturb them yet.
The door opened with a mechanical swish. Dev, seeing that it was Hazel, moved his glasses from his nose to the top of his head and smiled.
"Hi, Hazel! Ready for a movie day?" He sounded more cheerful than usual as he let her in.
"Of course! I can't wait to see what kind of movies you like!" She bounced slightly with excitement. "And I brought some popcorn! My parents never allowed me to eat it too much."
"You're gonna love this movie!" Dev ignored the whole popcorn part, thinking of something of his own, "The main character is a guy with fancy technology that helps people! And- and he becomes the coolest guy in the world, even though his parents never believed in him!"
"Sounds cool!" Hazel was happy to see that Dev was trusting her with his emotions again, which made her decide not to mention that she wasn't a big fan of superhero movies.
They took the elevator up to one of Dev's thousand floors to the Dimmadomes movie theater and quickly sat down in front of the screen. Hazel put her backpack down next to her, Dev grabbed a bowl of popcorn that one of his drones had delivered, and grabbed the remote to start the movie. Hazel continued to bounce happily.
The title of the movie, 'Jerry the Star Kid', appeared on the screen.
Leaning forward in her seat, Hazel began to watch it intently with Dev. They laughed when Jerry hit his horrible older sister in the face with a sandwich. They frowned when his parents ignored his amazing inventions. At some point, Peri joined them, trying to steal their popcorn time to time without them noticing. They cheered when one of Jerry's inventions saved a cat from a tree. They cried during The Rain Scene. They rolled their eyes when his parents said they always believed in him after Jerry got the key to the city and everyone's recognition.
A little less than two hours later, the end credits started rolling.
"Wow, Dev, this movie is amazing!" Hazel wiped the last of her tears from her eyes. "That's such a great ending!"
"I never thought I could be so touched by a superhero movie," Peri closed his eyes and blew his nose into a handkerchief he had just conjured for himself.
"I know! This is the best movie ever! Want to see the director's commentary?" Dev clenched his fists, glad someone else was enjoying it.
"Sure!" Hazel and Peri said in unison, throwing their hands up in the air.
After a few seconds of searching, a new video opened on the screen. There was a man who sat on a classic black fabric chair with a perfectly shaved face and shiny brown hair, wearing an ironed shirt with a pink tie. Behind him hung a huge movie poster.
“Hi everyone,” he waved his hand before folding both of them into a lock again, “People call me the Director of That Movie, and today we’re going to show you a scene from Jerry the Star Kid while I chatter in your ear, making it hard to watch!”
For a few seconds, while Peri and Hazel fought over the last handful of popcorn, the director’s real name appeared on the screen. As Hazel quickly stuck her head in the bowl, eating or licking all the popcorn, leaving Peri unable to eat it. When he turned back to the screen in a huff, the caption had already disappeared and the frame had changed to one of the opening scenes of the film.
“I love him so much! Did you know he’s from Dimmsdale, just like my dad? And he has this weird rule about filming all his movies there! It’s not far from here, my grandpa’s Dimmadome is still there!” Dev was pumping his fists up and down excitedly.
“So we can see him!?” Hazel, even though she found out about this guy’s existence about two hours ago, screamed excitedly.
“Yeah! They’re already filming a new movie!” Dev turned back to the TV, watching the little director, who could be called Director by now, in the corner of the screen before abruptly standing up. “I know! We can go there right now!"
He started to walk away before Peri and Hazel could react. A few seconds of confusion as they blinked rapidly, and then they stood up and started running right after him. Hazel grabbed her backpack with still sleeping Wanda and Cosmo on it. It was amazing how deep they could sleep.
“But Dev! We’ll never be allowed on the set!” Hazel frowned worriedly, catching up and starting to fall in step with him.
“What do you mean?” Dev raised an eyebrow skeptically. “I’m Dimmadome, I can go anywhere I want!”
“I don’t think you can get on the set by a ticket,” Peri smiled, but also frowned, as if he didn’t want to be ‘that guy’ who needed to say it.
Dev stopped and looked angrily at Peri. Peri shrugged, continuing to smile guiltily. Although Dev, realizing that this was a good point, started to think about it and look thoughtfully at the floor.
"I know!" He smiled confidently. "I wish we were on the set of Jerry the Star Kid: A New Invention right now!"
Everyone froze for a second, looking straight at Dev. Then Peri shrugged and waved his wand. They all disappeared in a poof of pink smoke.
When Dev opened his eyes again, they were already in the center of a busy set. He glanced at Hazel for a second. She was standing there with stars in her eyes, looking around. Peri was behind her, looking around, surprised but less enthusiastic than her. He looked like he was struggling with some kind of deja vu or something. He was also in his human form, sunglasses on his forehead, but not touching his hair(strange work of physics), but other than that, he was in the same clothes and with the same purple hair. His legs were shaking a little, and he was swaying as if he was trying not to fall.
Dev was distracted when someone, probably a member of the staff, bumped into him while talking to the microphone. They ignored him and continued on. Just as he was about to shout something after them, someone else bumped him, causing him to yelp, more in frustration than in pain.
“It’s too crowded!” Hazel shouted over all the noise around, now less enthusiastic. “We need to find a quieter place!”
People continued talking and all the sounds started to overlap. Dev began to bare his teeth in irritation, ready to scream at any moment. Peri, who was already in panic, started to be even more horrified when he saw this.
“Uhhh,” he began to frantically look around, trying to find a quiet place. After a few seconds, his face lit up, "Over there, let's go!"
He grabbed Hazel and Dev by their arms, starting to run awkwardly to some corner.
And they ended up near the toilets. Peri sighed, feeling how it stunk in here, but decided that it was still better. Dev growled loudly when he saw how busy this place was, and pulled his hand out of Peri's grip. Now he folded his arms over his chest in displeasure.
"And how are we going to find the Director in all this chaos!?" He began to stamp his foot impatiently.
"Don't worry, kid," Peri tried to smile encouragingly, starting to pat Dev's head, "we'll find this Director and you'll get his autograph. Or whatever you wanted from him."
Dev frowned even more and began to shake with anger, clearly about to say something rude in response, but abruptly stopped. The incident with Fairy World flashed before his eyes, especially Peri's words that he cared about him. Sighing, Dev didn't throw the hand on his head, instead turning his gaze to the concrete with a mixture of regret and sadness.
"Okay," he muttered, barely audible in all of the noise.
Peri smiled widely while Dev wasn't looking. He excitedly turned his gaze to Hazel, who looked at him with pride, and she gave him a thumbs up.
Noticing the sudden silence between them, Dev looked up and saw the silent conversation between the two. A slight blush appeared on his cheeks, and he angrily waved his hands to finally throw Peri's hand away. After that, he sighed, pretending that nothing had happened.
"So, where do we start?" Hazel, still smiling slightly, asked first.
"I was thinking of trying to look for the Director somewhere…" Peri fell silent in the middle of the sentence, wondering where to start. He started tapping his finger on his chin.
"Director?" It turned out that at some point the toilet door opened, and a man was standing in the doorway, wiping his wet hands on his clothes. "It was me last time I checked."
Everyone simultaneously flinched, turning to the stranger. In front of them stood the same man as in the commentary to the film. He was wearing a pink hoodie and a cap of the same color(probably for the work) with the visor up. He had a lollipop in his mouth, and he crunched it, which sent shivers down everyone's spine. He was wearing 'cool' sunglasses in the shape of stars, which were considered cool only in the last decade. But if it weren't for his outdated tastes and slight morning stubble, he wouldn't have been any different from some twenty-year-old guy
Dev, recovering first, began to look at his idol, and Hazel stood nearby for company. Peri smiled awkwardly, standing behind them, trying to think of how to explain their presence on the set.
"Hey kids. We don't have to film with you today, what're you doing here?" He came closer and crouched down to be on their level.
"My friend Dev really likes your films, so we wanted to say hello along with ours, uh..." Hazel looked at Peri, asking for help, while Dev continued to silently admire.
"I'm their agent, Peri Fairyw- I mean, Peri Cosma. We're sincerely sorry, it seems like we, uhhh, mixed up the days," Peri tried to smile professionally.
The director nodded thoughtfully, looking from kids to Peri and back. He took a deep breath.
“Tell me honestly, did you sneak onto the set?” The director suddenly became serious, his brows furrowed, and he took off his star-shaped glasses.
The kids’s eyes widened as they looked at each other. Peri’s smile began to tremble as he tried his best to remain calm. Cold sweat began to run down their faces as they tried to think of what to say. Usually adults were slower to realize that something was wrong!
“Well- well, you see...”
“I’m just kidding,” the director began to laugh. “You should have seen your faces! Don’t worry, I won’t turn you in. You know, I liked making problems when I was your age too. I mean, at least you have an adult with you.”
The director rose to his feet again and extended his right hand for a handshake. He had a knowing smile on his face, as if to say, “Kids, right?” When he smiled, his two front teeth stuck out like a beaver’s. Peri suddenly felt so much understood and accepted, which made him happily shake their hands. It was like he was back in his old parental home again. For a second, he smiled genuinely.
“Sorry, I just couldn’t resist their puppy eyes,” Peri feigned guilt, looking away.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. There’s so much chaos around that no one will notice,” the Director let go of his hand, looking back at the children. “And what are your names, you rascals?”
“I’m Hazel Wells, sir!” Hazel, as always, smiled happily, also extending her hand for a handshake, being a professional.
"Please, let's not be formal, I'm not that old," the director laughed slightly, carefully shaking her hand with three fingers out of five. "Just Tim is fine. And you De-?"
"Dev Dimmadome!" Dev pushes Hazel away, grinning from ear to ear, and enthusiastically shakes Timmy's hand. "That's right, that Dimmadome. I'm your biggest fan! I've seen all your films dozens, no, hundreds of times!"
Peri frowned. Something about the name of this director and the way he carried himself seemed to make something stir in him, some kind of suspicion. He knew a Tim once... Oh well. He mentally shrugged.
"Old Doug's grandson's my fan, I don't believe it!" Tim laughed again, not minding the fact that his hand continued to be violently shaken up and down. "The old man would be so shocked."
"You knew my grandpa!?" Dev stopped shaking his hand from shock.
"Of course! I remember when I was ten years old I accidentally found his…" his face suddenly changed from happy to deeply thoughtful. Then it distorted with sadness for a second, but, as if Dev had simply imagined it, Tim smiled again. "Well, I can't even remember what happened back then!"
Yeah, Peri thinks, thank god he didn't get his father's slowness.
"This is so cool! My idol and my grandfather knew each other! This is the best day of my life," tears of happiness appeared in the corners of Dev's eyes when he hugged the Director by his leg.
"As much as I want to continue chatting with you, I have to get back to work," Tim tousled Dev's perfect hair, smiling guiltily. "But you can continue walking around the set. If someone asks, tell them Turner vouches for you."
Wait…
“Okay, Mr. Turner,” Dev’s smile had shrunk to its normal size when he let him go, he clearly wanted to continue talking to him.
Tim waved his hand, heading back to his seat
After Hazel lost his back in the crowd, she looked up at Peri. He had suddenly gone pale, his smile frozen on his face like broken glass, and overall he seemed lik he was paused. His hands hung awkwardly in the air, as if in the middle of an action. His eyes were either completely empty or filled with panic.
Hazel tugged at his sleeve, “Are you okay?”
Peri blinked, coming out of his trance, and laughed awkwardly. In the distance, someone said ‘Action!’.
“Who, me? Of course I'm finest- I mean, I'm perfectly fun- I'm fine!" He continued to laugh quietly, as if he wasn't fine, but before Hazel could point it out, he continued. "My- my parents, are they with you?"
"Well, yeah. They're sleeping," Hazel took her backpack off her shoulders and held it up to Peri so he could see her two badges with what seemed like closed eyes, "why do you ask…?"
Peri took the backpack without explanation and, after a moment's thought, began shaking it vigorously. Hazel reflexively reached out for it, but before she could snatch it, Wanda and Cosmo woke up and immediately transformed back from badges to fairies.
"Hazel, what hap- Oh!" A quick glance around revealed that they were in a crowded place, so Wanda transformed back into her human form, followed a second later by Cosmo. "Peri! What're you-"
Peri quickly took his parents by the hands and right after that started running away from kids. Wanda continued to complain and ask what was going on, and Cosmo was just happily running with them.
Dev and Hazel looked at each other, not knowing what to do now. They were clearly not welcome right now, so...
"Do you want to find a huge table with cool food?" Hazel asked, pointing her thumb somewhere to the left.
"Eh, why not," Dev shrugged.
"By the way, your hair is a mess."
Hazel pushed him slightly, and immediately after that started running with laughter. Dev, indignant, ran after her, but couldn't resist and also started laughing.
Peri pushed his parents behind some expensive cinema equipment, and, also hiding behind it, began to watch someone. Reflexively, Cosmo and Wanda peeked out from behind the equipment and looked in the same direction, at some guy in a pink hoodie.
"So why are we spying on this guy?" Cosmo asked in a whisper, as if they were on some secret mission.
"Yes, sweetie, the last time you took us away from kids they ended up in Vicky's hands," Wanda looked around worriedly, trying to figure out where their godchilds were.
"How can't you see it!?" Peri whispered. He was still angry that he also didn't figure it out by himself. "It's Timmy!"
"What!?" They both screamed, now watching the Director's actions with wide eyes.
Timmy was sitting in the director's chair, watching the filming process. Being his former godparents and godbrother, they caught the exact moment when Timmy didn't like something, immediately after which he stood up, heading towards the actors.
"Okay, okay, but what if," he began, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, "you just watch that burning thing fall on Jerry instead of running to save him? You have to show all the panic that you feel, how you want to run to him, but you can't because of the emotions and stuff. How does that sound?"
"But Tim, it's… we're already behind schedule, how can we-" the actor began, looking from Timmy to the scene behind him, puzzled.
"Relax, it'll be fine. We'll just have to change the scene with Jerry a little before we start shooting it," Timmy waved his hand, not bothered. "Less work for you, Joe, come on."
"But you can't just change the plot out of the blue! Isn't this an important moment for the plot!?" Now Joe looked more annoyed than wary.
"Don't you have a wife and kid waiting at home? You talk about them every free second. The sooner we get this scene over with, the sooner you can get back to them, dude." Timmy seemed to be getting impatient. He looked exaggeratedly at his wrist without any watch. "Besides, this is the last scene for today."
They just stared at each other for a few seconds, until the actor sighed and nodded, resigned to this change.
Timmy lightly punched him in the shoulder before returning to his seat. "If something does happen, just blame me, I don't care."
Then on the count of three, he yelled "Action!" and the scene went on again.
"It does look like our Timmy," Wanda put her index finger to her chin and began to look thoughtfully at the concrete.
"Oh my god, it's Timmy! We should go say hi!" Cosmo was already heading towards him, smiling from ear to ear, before Peri and Wanda pulled him back by his elbows.
"We can't just go up to him, Dad! He doesn't remember us!" Peri was shouting under his breath, panicking.
"Oh, right," the smile quickly disappeared from Cosmo's face when he remembered the whole part with Da Rules.
"But what should we do then?" Wanda began to stroke Cosmo's back. "Just watch him?"
"I don't know!" Peri began to walk in small circles back and forth, gnawing on the end of his wand. "Maybe we can just... talk to him? What if he remembers something?"
There was a small, naive hope in his voice that he might actually remember them. That completely ignored the fact that Timmy didn't have any thought when they met. But he remembered Peri as a flying, barely-talking ball with eyes with a different name, so it wasn't surprising that he wouldn't recognize him, right? Right!?
"Don't drive yourself crazy over this," Wanda stopped him, taking him by the shoulder.
"Yeah, we can't do anything about it, Da Rules are Da Rules," Cosmo continued, looking as sympathetic as Wanda.
Peri stared at them silently for a few moments before his eyes slowly began to water and he pursed his lips. Just a second later, they were already streaming down his face.
"I miss him too!" Cosmo drawled, his voice breaking, starting to sob almost immediately after.
He hugged Peri and now they were a bunch of two sobbing fairies. Wanda joined in the hug, tears in the corners of her eyes.
They stood there for a few minutes, while Cosmo and Peri tried to calm down. But they were interrupted by a sudden cough somewhere near them. When they opened their eyes, it was Hazel and Dev with their hands full of food. Hazel looked at them half puzzled, half worried, and Dev just puzzled.
“Are you okay?” Hazel asked worriedly, raising her hands full of candy, trying to touch them.
“Ah, you see,” Wanda tore herself away from her boys, then wiped her eyes and pointed behind her, “our former godchild Timmy is sitting over there.”
“Timothy Turner was your godchild!?” Dev cried out, completely shocked.
“Yeah, but we haven’t seen him in…” Wanda paused, trying to count.
“Ten thousand years!” Cosmo shouted from where he was still in tears hugging Peri, who almost calmed down.
"Technically only fifteen," she corrected.
"Then why don't you go to him?" Hazel already felt that she wouldn't like the answer.
"It's not that simple, Hazel," Wanda crouched down in front of her, smiling sadly. "After children lose their godparents, they forget us and all our adventures, remember?"
"But that's so sad," Hazel lowered her head, several candies falling from her grip.
Wanda's gaze changed to sympathy, and she hugged Hazel by the shoulders. Dev watched the two of them silently before speaking.
"He didn't look happy," he glanced at Peri for a second before continuing. "When he started telling me about how he met my grandpa, he stopped mid-sentence and looked like we kicked his puppy or something."
"Yeah, I saw it too," Hazel nodded, turning from Dev to Wanda. "I guess he doesn't like that he can't remember anything from his childhood."
"Oh," Wanda seemed to feel another wave of pain, and Cosmo began to sniffle loudly again. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it, kids."
Dev and Hazel exchanged glances before looking back at Timmy. They jumped and yelped when they saw that he started to walk towards them. Dev quickly hid the stolen candies in his pockets. Hazel, not having any of her own, handed them to Dev to hide them as well. Wanda stood up and tried to calm herself. The three of them were smiling nervously when he finally approached them.
“Are you okay here?” Timmy glanced awkwardly at Cosmo, who was wiping away tears, and Peri, who was standing there with red eyes, before looking back at the kids and Wanda. “It just doesn’t look like it…”
“Oh, no-no, Sport, we’re fine, sorry for bothering you,” Wanda was looking somewhere over Timmy’s shoulder, refusing to meet his eye. She quickly continued, remembering something. “I’m Wanda, and this is… my husband, Cosmo.”
They both looked at the mess that Cosmo was right now.
“It’s okay,” Timmy continued to look awkward, but now he seemed more understanding. “You’re Hazel’s parents, right?”
“Yeah, we are,” Wanda tried to smile genuinely.
"Yeah, we just," Cosmo sniffles, interrupting himself, "wanted to see our kid again."
At the end of his sentence, his voice breaks so the last word is hard to hear. Peri pats his shoulder a few times, trying to calm the new wave of tears.
"Okay, then I’ll-" Timmy starts backing away, "leave you alone. See ya."
He quickly starts walking back to his work. Again. No wonder these guys are behind schedule, with their director getting distracted so much. Although, it seems like they were starting to call it a day.
Dev looked at Wanda again, then at Cosmo, who was hugging Peri like a stuffed animal, and then at Peri, who for the first time seemed okay with it.
They all looked so sad. Even Dev could tell how much they cared about Timmy. A slight jealousy starts to curl in his chest like a snake, and he mentally winces with anger. But, looking facts in the face, instead of complaining, he sighs deeply. Hazel watches him with interest.
Having decided something for himself, he confidently (with the confidence he usually feigned so as not to seem weak) stepped towards Peri, distracting him and Cosmo from their self-flagellation.
"I wish that Mr. Turner remembered his childhood with you," he confidently raised his head to meet the red eyes of his godparent.
Silence hangs around for a few seconds, during which Cosmo and Peri blink at him in shock several times. Then Cosmo abruptly grabs Peri by the collar and begins to jump up and down with a huge smile on his face.
"Ooh, we can do that, right!? We can do that!" He exclaims joyfully, as if convincing Peri to make this wish come true as quickly as possible.
"But that's against Da Rules," Peri hesitates, holding his father's wrist in an attempt to pull him away.
"I think we can fight Jorgan on this one," Hazel smiles confidently, walking over and wrapping her arm around Dev's shoulders. Dev smiles awkwardly, slightly confused.
Peri pauses, considering the idea. After a few moments, he looks over at a cheerful Cosmo, then looks at Wanda, as if searching for the right answer.
"Well, technically," a small smile slowly begins to grow on her face, "there's nothing in Da Rules that says they can't wish that."
As if that were the last thing stopping him, Peri nods, his brow furrowed in confidence. He clutches his wand in his hands and quickly points it at Timmy. Before he can change his mind, Peri waves it, and Timmy is engulfed in pink poof.
Everyone looks at him, holding their breath. Right after the poof clears, Timmy blinks in confusion and starts looking around, but at first glance, nothing about him has changed. All the workers have already started packing up their things to finish for the day, so no one is really paying attention to anyone, even to the film Director.
When Timmy finally notices them, there's something in his gaze compared to the last two times they've talked. Some kind of mixture of recognition, nostalgia, and immense joy.
As he takes his first excited step towards them, he's stopped, surprisingly, by Peri. Peri is right next to him in an instant(did he teleport himself?) and grabs him in a tight hug.
"Poof!" Timmy laughs as he yells this, and immediately hugs him back just as tightly. Peri seems too happy to correct him.
Wanda and Cosmo are not far behind, joining in the hug as soon as they reach them.
“Timmy!” The name escapes them with a slight breath, as if it hurted not to say it for so long. As if their son had finally come home.
“Cosmo, Wanda! I can’t believe it!” He laughs, tears starting to form in the corners of his eyes as he pulls away to get a better look. “You haven’t changed at all.”
Then he looks back at Peri. “But Poof, my god, you’ve grown so much! You’re not a floating ball anymore! And you have curls!”
“And your ten-year-old self was just stretched up! You haven’t changed at all,” he laughs, still in a daze. “Also, I’m Peri now.”
“Peri, okay,” Timmy quickly moves over it, thinking of a million other things. “I have so many questions. First of all, why are you so... human?"
He looks down at the four of them, then looks back up at their faces, as if that didn't require an explanation.
"Yeah, well, we figured out we can do that," Wanda smiles with that kind of smile you only see on a parent looking at their child.
"Yeah, it's so much easier now that we can do it!" Cosmo adds, shaking his head. "I can't believe I didn't think of that before."
"Okay, okay," Timmy laughs, glad Cosmo is still his good old Cosmo. Then he looks down at himself in disbelief. "But how the... why do I remember you guys?"
"Dev wished that you remembered us," Peri replies, gesturing at the children, who were looking at them. "He's my godchild."
"You have a godchild!?" Timmy now seems completely confused, but not in a bad way. He glances at Dev for a second, "And he's Dimmadome!?"
"Yeah!" Peri laughs in disbelief that he can tell him that.
"You guys are so cute," Hazel smiles, entranced.
"But we don't have time for this, because-" Dev starts, less excited, but doesn't finish.
A bolt of lightning comes out of nowhere, and everyone quickly turns to look at it. Jorgan and his wand are now towering over them. He looks clearly displeased.
"Timmy Turner," he says furiously, as if it physically hurts him.
"Oh boy," Hazel says quietly, shrinking into herself, trying to take up as little space as possible. Beside her, Dev frowns, taking a step back.
"Relax," Timmy says calmly with a smile on his face, "I used to deal with this, like, every week."
Jorgan narrows his eyes and slams his wand down on the ground.
All six of them disappear from the set, and the people around them continue to go about their business as if nothing had happened.