Nothing's Gone Forever (Only Out Of Place)

Chapter 1

(And the story begins...!

Some family cuteness here, before we get into the angst next chapter ;)

I'm also working on another angsty multichapter for Zephzo/BFZ (from Limelight) and this time it's on the canon timeline, unlike Tattooed Mistakes was. I haven't got a title yet so it's just getting called the "future fic" for now. And I'm going to be turning A Zombie History Lesson into a one-shot collection and I'm writing lesson 2 atm~ Plus more Limelights, of course, and I'll be starting a new BtB soon. Anyway, back to Out Of Place... Zed's full name came from fist-it-out and Eliza's and Bonzo's came from kokinu09~)

Chapter 1 theme songs: American Honey by Lady Antebellum, Little Brothers from Phineas and Ferb and The Best Day by Taylor Swift

"I've known Paizley my whole life. Since the day I was born. Hell, even before I was born..."

~ She grew up good, she grew up slow, like American honey ~

She may as well have grown up with four parents. Treaza Reilig and Zana Necrodopolous had been the best of friends for years, their mutual curiosity of the human's world on the other side of the barrier tying them together. They were both so eager, and so unafraid of the outside.

Their husbands never quite understood what they found so intriguing about it all but they could happily sit back and smile as the two women chattered away. Dezmond, Treaza's husband, did at least have some knowledge of human things – he worked at Seabrook's recycling plant alongside Treaza, and they even secretly collected up some of the objects they found there to bring home.

The humans in Seabrook had high standards, so the most miniscule of faults in anything they owned meant they had to get rid of it, which also meant that what they ended up throwing out was actually still usable. Some minor fixes and they were good to go. Paizley already loved the treasures that filled her house from the moment her parents first brought her home. No toy seemed to interest her; all she ever wanted to play with were the trinkets and gadgets she found scattered everywhere.

Zana and Zevon were around so often that even as a baby, Paizley, in her babbled Zombie-tongue, took to calling them 'jaka' – a term usually meant for older relatives; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. But that was how she saw them. They were practically family, Treaza and Zana were like sisters, so who else could they possibly be if not Zanajaka and Zevjaka? A toddler wasn't going to understand more than that.

She didn't take much interest in the other little zombies her age. Not Azalea, or Zane, or Azim, or Ezra. She was happy playing by herself. Azalea's family lived opposite Zana and Zevon and they were friends with them and Paizley's parents, but that was about as much contact as the two girls had. And although Zane was already turning out to be quite a friendly child, Paizley barely responded to him either.

Some time before Paizley's third birthday, Azalea's mother, Zinnia, announced that she was pregnant. Although Paizley didn't understand what that meant, she noticed the attention Azalea was getting. The word 'janook' – 'family' – was being thrown around a lot in her presence; they specifically meant 'sister'. Azalea was going to be a big sister. And even if she didn't fully grasp what was going on, Paizley was fascinated by the thought of a new baby zombie coming along. She started to take more notice of Azalea, but still not as a friend. It was more like she was observing her, trying to figure out what any of it had to do with her.

"Guag!" she said out of nowhere one day from her mother's arms. Though Zombie-tongue was far easier than English (it would be a little while longer before she'd start to learn English), certain sounds were still just as hard to pronounce for them as they were for human toddlers.