Azalea laid down on a bench inside the dojo reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because if you don't read the entire Harry Potter series at least ones a year, that year just sucks.
A few feet across from her Jack took a deep breath before letting out a, "Hiyah," and successfully breaking four bricks. "Oh yeah, I did it again. I'm on fire," he cheered as he and Rudy did a high ten, "Fire," he added in a high pitched song.
"More bricks, Eddie," Rudy ordered and the boy started to load up new bricks, "Okay, just think, in a couple of hours, Jack is gonna break the world record for most bricks broken by anyone under sixteen."
"And I'm breaking a world record too," Eddie said proudly, "For most bricks wheelbarrowed from one place to another. Right, Rudy?"
"Yes, you are," Rudy smiled encouragingly but when Eddie walked away he turned around and mouthed, "Oh, no, he's not."
"Some of the records in this book are crazy," Kim stated from her place beside Azalea, reading the Burgess World Record Book. "There was a woman in Michigan who at her own car. Come look at this picture."
"Wow, she literally has a trunk in her junk," Jack said looking at the picture, his eyes then travelled the to red head that hadn't even let her gaze shift from her book for one second. No matter how many bricks he broke.
The two hadn't really spoken much since their break up. After that very failed 'We are okay' dinner when Joan preformed a love song in their honour, Azalea had pretty much acted like he didn't exist unless he spoke to her first.
"Would you let him focus, Kim?" Rudy said, "The judge from the Burgress Book of World Records is gonna be here in a few hours."
"He is right," Jack agreed, "This is my last chance to break the record. After I turn sixteen next week, I won't be eligible."
"You know, you getting your name and more importantly, the dojo's name in that record book, is the biggest thing that's ever happened to us," Rudy said with an excited grin.
"Do you wanna know what you are Rudy?" Azalea said without looking up from her book, "You are pageant mom and Jack is your eight you old daughter with perfect hair on the hunt for a tiara."
Kim let out a laugh, "Yeah, come on, Rudy. The biggest?" she asked.
"When I became a sensei I had two goals," Rudy told them, "Saving the president from a ninja attack and getting my dojo's name in a record book that's read by millions of people on their toilets."
"I'm out," Kim announced, dropping the book in the trash can before walking away.
"What's up, yo?" Jerry said entering the dojo, "Record breaker in the house."
"What record are you gonna break?" Rudy asked with a snort.
"A record I've been training for my whole life," Jerry said smugly, "Yeah, world's longest armpit hair. Check it," Jerry took off his jacket to reveal a lot of armpit hair.
"Wow, that is pretty long," Rudy agreed but Jerry just chuckled.
"Please," Jerry smirked before revealing the armpit braids that went down to his waist.
"Oh, sweet pit hair!" Jack exclaimed.
"I know, right," Jerry smirked.
"Ooh, it's so soft. What conditioner do you use?" Rudy wondered.
"And I'm gonna smash the yo-yo record for the two handed synchronised round the world, baby," Milton announced, "Check this out," he said, staring to spin the yo-yo around only for both of them to get stuck in Jerry's armpit hair.
Milton then did the most intelligent thing he could think of and tried to pull the yo-yo back which resulted in most of Jerry's armpit hair coming with them and for the boy to let out a pained and horrified scream.
Jerry glared daggers at Milton who let out a scream before running away followed by a furious Jerry. But during this entire ordeal Azalea had stayed quiet and uninterested which seemed to catch the attention of her brother.
"You know, you should show more enthusiasm about this, Lea," Rudy told her in a matter of fact tone, "It's a big day for all of us, so stop reading a book I know you have read a million times before."
"First of all, you can never read these books too many times. That's not even possible," she said sitting up on the bench, "and second of all, I've seen Jack break bricks a million times before too."
"What's so interesting about those books anyway?" Jack crossed his arms.
"Yeah, I never get what all the fuss is about," Rudy agreed, "It's just a scrawny little kid waving around a stick."
"Are you Sirius? What's Ron with you?" Azalea exclaimed laughing a little at her own joke but when both the guys in front of her looked at her weirdly she stopped, "You uncultured swines."
"At least you aren't one of those teenage girls with massive crushes on boy bands," Rudy shrugged, "There are absolutely no one in those films worth looking at. Not like there are in the Bobby Wasabi movies."
"Rudy, we all now about your schoolboy crush on Bobby, but you have nothing to say, because you have the absolute worst taste in men ever," Azalea said, wondering how the conversation had come to this.
"Name one attractive guy in Harry Potter," Jack smirked at her confidently.
"Okay. Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Tom Riddle, Oliver Wood, Bill Weasley, Sirius Black, Draco Malfoy-"
"I said name one," Jack grumbled and Azalea smirked victoriously.
"But sense I'm in such a good mood now, I will show my enthusiasm by helping them set up the stage outside. See ya."
☆★☆
Azalea kept her word and was now helping Joan put up a banner over the stage, "Oh, Azalea," Joan sighed with a large grin, "The whole mall is talking about Jack. There hasn't been a buzz like this since the escalator ripped off my security pants."
"Thanks Joan," Azalea grimaced, "I had actually just managed to delete that image from my head. It's back now."
"Oh, I can still hear those construction workers hootin' and hollerin'," Joan said with a fond smile.
"I wouldn't call they begging you to cover up, hootin' and hollerin'," Azalea said.
"Well, when you are my age, Azalea, the definition of a hoot gets mighty loose," Joan admitted before walking away just as Jack walked into the dojo.
"Yeah, I will catch up with you later, Joan," Azalea told her before jumping off the stage an running in after him. She needed to give him something and the fact that they had broken up didn't mean she wouldn't support him, and she had actually made this when they were still together.
"Hey, Jack," she said just as he threw his bag on the floor, stepping over a few bo-staffs. She would have to move them to the right place after this, "I made you something to wear when you break the record."
"Oh, sorta like a good luck bracelet," Jack smiled when she handed the bracelet to him, "Sure you don't want to give it to one of your Harry Potter guys?"
"If they had been here, definitely," she joked, well half-joked which earned her an unimpressed glance from Jack. "Okay, I wouldn't have given them that bracelet, because I made that for you. It's kind of — uh — a-"
"What, like a friendship bracelet?" Jack suggested.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Azalea said, not finding anything better to say.
"Great! It's finally official," Jack said sarcastically, "We are friends."
"Jack, you know I will always think of you as more than just-" Azalea stopped herself, they had decided to remain friends. She wouldn't cave and ruin that after a few weeks.
"Now than just what?" Jack asked, looking at her pointedly, and for a second she thought she saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"I don't know. It's just a dumb bracelet and I have to discuss how sad my life is going to be when I grow older, with Joan. Gotta go," Azalea started to run out of the dojo.
"Azalea! Come on, Azalea, wait a second-" Jack said following her but the next second she heard the sound of the bo staffs rattling and she turned around to see Jack falling backwards.
"Jack!" she exclaimed in horror, and for the first time in her life her immediate reaction wasn't to laugh but to run forward and crouch down beside him, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so," Jack said clutching his head and then he looked around confusedly, "Just one question, though. Who are you people?"
Azalea looked at him in horror, "This is why we don't leave things on the floor."
☆★☆
"This is not good," the doctor they had called to examine Jack said while pointing a flashlight to the brown haired boy's face, "He's gonna die."
"WHAT?" all of them exclaimed in horror.
"My pen light. His batteries are shot," the doctor exclaimed and they all let out a sigh of relief.
"Do you really have to call your pen light 'he'?" Milton wondered.
"Listen, Jack is gonna be fine," the doctor said, "But we are gonna have to operate-" he continued and all of them gasped, "on a need-to-know basis."
"You are gonna need an operation soon," Azalea muttered under her breath.
"So here is what you need to know," the doctor told them, "We don't have to do any more tests. Jack only has a minor concussion. He suffered some memory loss, but he's probably gonna be fine."
"You need a medical degree to make that conclusion?" Azalea glared at him, "and probably?"
"Maybe, I don't know," the doctor said with uncertainty, "It's not like medicine is a real science," he laughed.
"Where did you get this guy?" Azalea turned to her brother who finally spoke up.
"Dr. McCrary, I called Jack's parents but they are out of town. Is there anything that we can do to help him?" Rudy asked.
"This is one thing you can do to speed up his recovery," Dr McCrary said, "Talk about the things he has forgotten," he said followed by the sound of his phone ringing, "Excuse me — Yes? — Hello — What? — Oh, no," he hung up the phone, "I just lost a patient."
"I got this one," Milton said smugly, "See, it sounds like he's saying he just lost his patient. But what he really means is he just lost cell reception."
"No," Dr. McCrary said, "My patient is dead you insensitive punk!" he stormed out of the dojo and Jerry broke the silence that followed,
"Uh, hey, Jack. Do you remember last week when you loaned me 20 bucks?" Jerry asked.
"No," Jack shook his head.
"He's fine," Jerry stated, earning a sharp punch in the arm from Azalea which was followed by a scream of pain.
"Jack, we are gonna help you get your memory back," Rudy promised him as Jack started to walk and look around, "Is there anything you can remember about this dojo?"
"Sorry," Jack said apologetically.
"Come on, Jack," Milton said, "You have to remember this wall."
Rudy stood in front of the teenagers and Marge to instruct them. "Everyone focus" and they started to meditate. But the serenity of the mediation was soon interrupted when someone crashed through the wall, doing a somersault before standing up. Azalea quickly recognised the figure as Jack and her eyes widened in surprise.
"That boy just came right out the wall?" Marge screamed and the others shifted their gazes between Jack and the hole in the wall.
"Okay you guys have got to try that" Jack laughed but his happiness died when he saw the mall security guard stick his head through the hole. "Gotta go, sorry about the wall. Nice to see you again Lea" he winked before doing a cartwheel followed by a backflip causing the Azalea to roll her eyes at his 'show off'.
But just as Jack reached the door two mall cops grabbed him. "Who was that kid?" Rudy asked.
"Jack!" everyone chorused.
"Oh, so I'm a karate student," Jack said.
"Oh, no," Jerry panicked, moving over to stand face to face with Jack, "This is worse than I thought. We are gonna have to start from scratch," he got up in his face, "YOU, JACK! ME, JERRY! YOU GOOD AT KARATE! ME BETTER!"
Jerry did some weird kick in the air and Jack turned to the others, "Did this guy also hit his head?"
"Yeah, a few times when he was a child, no doubt," Azalea snorted, looking at Jack worriedly.
"Jack, check out these trophies," Eddie said moving over to the over to pick one up, "You won half of 'em."
"And the other half is divided between the ones Lea has won and the ones Rudy bought," Milton added.
"You are holding the one for poodle grooming," Rudy said proudly.
"The point is," Azalea rolled her eyes at her brother, "You are really good, Jack."
Rudy then went into a whole rant, rambling up all of Jack's achievements from defeating the Black Dragons in the school cafeteria to his wins in China.
"Man, I didn't realise I was that good. I gotta try some of that," Jack said, standing up and moving over to a dummy.
"There you go! See, that's the spirit!" Rudy exclaimed excitedly as Jack prepared himself.
But when he eventually started, it was by bitch slapping the dummy followed by some moves that had absolutely nothing to do with karate which ended up with Jack wrestling the dummy to the floor.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Jerry said as he and Rudy separated Jack from the dummy.
"Is that how I look when I do karate?" Eddie asked, a little horrified.
"No, Eddie," Milton said, "You are not that good."
"This is awful," Rudy stated, "It's so upsetting."
"I know a way to help him get his memory back," Jerry told them, moving over to grab a bo staff.
"What are you doing?" Eddie wondered.
"Oh, I'm gonna smack him in the head to jog his memory," Jerry explained casually.
"Give me that," Azalea snatched the bo staff out of his hand before he could do any damage.
"What, no. It totally works," Jerry defended himself, "I saw it in a cartoon once."
"Well, in that case-" Azalea took a threatening step forward only for Kim to snatch the bo staff out of her hands.
"I'm sorry. You guys seem really nice, but I don't know who you are," Jack said in frustration, "Maybe if you told me a little bit about yourselves, I'd remember."
Azalea shifted a little on her feet but luckily Jerry took this as an invite to talk about himself, "I'll get this party started. Well, I'm Jerry."
Jerry then told Jack about some of his proudest moments. Like the time he started to work for the Meatball Mafia by mistake.
The sound of an engine revving outside the dojo caught their attention and when they ran outside they almost got hit by a go-cart that screeched as it stopped a yard away from them.
The driver stepped out and took of his helmet to reveal Jerry who exhaled deeply, "Oh, hey, you guys" he said smugly, "You like my new ride?"
And one of the many times he escaped detention.
"Guys! Did I miss anything?" Jerry came running down the stairs.
"No, aren't you supposed to be in detention for putting a tollbooth in the boy's bathroom?" Azalea asked.
"I should be, but when you sit me in the back and leave a window open, I'm what they call a flight risk" Jerry smirked proudly.
Milton then joined in and told Jack about the first time he broke a board thanks to Jack.
"Break a board? I can barely cut a well cooked piece of fish."
"Just believe in yourself and do it!"
"I can't. When I was born my parents thought they had given birth to a baby bird. I mean-" Milton tried to reason but Jack interrupted him.
"DO IT KRUPNICK!"
Milton did a war cry and actually managed to break the board with his hand which surprised everyone, especially himself.
"Holy Christmas Nuts!"
Eddie then told Jack about his passion for dancing, or whatever he liked to call it.
Eddie and his dance instructor was dancing a tango when he suddenly got a feeling and started to freestyle, causing the young woman to take a step back.
"Eddie, I don't know how to tell you this," she said, "But you are never going to be a good dancer."
"Oh, that's okay," Eddie shrugged with a flirty smile, "I don't come here for the dancing."
Kim then told them one of the tales from their time with the Wasabitron 3000.
Kim fought against the robot as the others watched, impressed. When they were done they clapped as Kim and the robot bowed to each other.
"That was technically flawless" the Wasabitron told her, "You are a model of efficiency."
"Wow, did you hear that, Jack? Azalea?" Kim asked smugly, "It called me flawless."
Azalea then told him about the first time they met.
The new boy kicked up her apple and caught it easily before giving her a smug look that caused her to cross her arms. "Not gonna lie, that was kinda cool. I'm Lea."
"I'm Jack, I'm new."
"Yeah I can see that, you look far too happy for someone who have been here for a while and your actually about to try the food here" Azalea said with a smirk before adding, "No offence Marge."
"None taken sweetie."
Both of them laughed at her joke before they went into a rather awkward silence. "Could I have my apple back? It's my only lunch and you don't wanna be around when I'm hungry."
"Oh, sorry" Jack said awkwardly before handing over the apple. "Well maybe I will see you around Lea!"
"Or maybe you wanna sit with me and my friends. We don't bite, well most of us" Azalea said with a friendly smile.
"So, anything?" Kim asked.
For a second it actually looked like he was remembering something, until he sighed, "No! Still nothing."
"I know what will help you remember you," Rudy said with a smug smile, "Talking about me."
"Oh boy."
"Oh, I'm more than your sensei," Rudy continued, like usual ignoring his sisters comments, "Father figure, sure. Role model, you betcha. Idol? That's you talkin', not me."
"Look, I appreciate all you guys trying to help," Jack told them, "But I don't know the guy you are talking about and I'm not gonna be able to break any kind record."
"I think I know what can help, Jack," Milton said, "A psychiatric study suggests that-"
"Oh, forget that," Jerry interrupted him, "Just give me one good swing at his head."
"No, just let me tell him more about me," Rudy said confidently.
"I know what will help," Eddie said, "I will read to him from my friendship diary."
"This is hopeless," Azalea exclaimed and after that everyone started to speak at the same time, making it impossible to hear what anyone was saying.
Running a hand through her hair Azalea turned to Jack only to realise that he was gone, "Guys?" she said but no one heard her, "Guys! GUYS!" she yelled to get their attention, "Jack's gone."
"Oh, this is bad," Rudy said when he realised that the boy was in fact gone, "Jack has no idea who he is and he's out there on the streets of Seaford all alone. We have to find him!"
☆★☆
After looking through half the mall they finally found Jack inside Falafel Phil's, getting attacked by Frank and a few Black Dragons who laughed while Frank through falafel balls at him while laughing like a madman.
"Hey! Careful, Frank," Milton exclaimed, "I hypnotised Jack and when I snap my fingers three times, he'll be back. And he will probably wanna pull your ears off."
"And before Milton has even gotten to three, I will have done it for him," Azalea glared at Frank who looked between Jack and her with a frightened expression.
Milton the snapped his fingers once, then twice and before he could do it a third time Frank stopped him, "Don't do it, man. I have dreams of being an ear model. RUN!"
The Black Dragons dashed out of the restaurant and they sat down in the both with Jack, Azalea sitting down beside him.
"Sorry I ran out, guys, I just needed a second," Jack apologised, "Thanks for saving me, Milton," he then added, "You must be the hero of then group."
Azalea let out a loud snort, earning a glare from the red haired boy beside her who then gave Jack a smug smile, "I have my moments. There was this one time—"
Milton told this story, Azalea was sure he had dreamt it, of the time he grew muscles the size of a gladiator.
"First of all, that didn't really happen," Azalea deadpanned.
"And second of all," Kim continued, "there is not just one hero. We are the Wasabi Warriors. We stick together."
They told him about the time they fought of the Swathmore kids.
Azalea turned around to see that Jack had been backed out on the plank and were having some problems so she quickly jumped up on the railing, taking ahold of the rope that hung down from the sail and swung herself over, knocking all three Swathmore kids to the ground.
"Thought I would swing by" she smirked at her boyfriend. Jack just rolled his eyes at her before jumping down to join her on deck again.
"I had it sorted" he scoffed.
"You really didn't" Azalea snorted.
And about the treasure hunt.
Jack started to fight the leader who kicked him into a wall. Azalea ran towards him and took a swing but he dodged it.
Instead she continued to run towards Jack who picked her up by the waist, allowing her to run on the wall before kicking the leader of the men in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"Wow! We are a pretty awesome group," Jack said, "You guys are like ninjas."
"Of course we are!"
"Absolutely. Look at us."
"Guys," Kim said when the three boys leaned back in their seats smugly.
"We also have our— not so ninja moments," Milton said awkwardly.
"Or as I like to call them, the best times of my life," Azalea.
"All the time."
"Every day."
Like the time Eddie got attacked by a squirrel.
"Aaw, check out that squirrel up there. Cute little fellah" Eddie cooed while looking up at the tree and the next second the squirrel jumped down and attached himself to Eddie's face.
The boy screamed in horror and Milton immediately stood up to take the animal off him only to elbow Jerry in the nose when the squirrel finally let go.
Azalea held her stomach in pain from how hard she was laughing at the scene. "That — squirrel — best moment of my life" she got out between laughs.
Their mishaps when they filmed the karate reality show.
Kim made her way through the path of tigers but was knocked down by one of the sacks, which caused Azalea to let out a snort, "Karma."
Meanwhile Milton crawled all over the ramp and hit the buzzer on the other side, winning the round.
"Holy Christmas nuts! I did it!" Milton yelled excitedly. "I did it! I did i-" he was knocked down by one of the sacks.
When Kim fell of a cliff and onto Jerry.
Kim started to scream as the falcon attacked her, "Aah! Get off me! Stop it!"
"Oh dear," Milton said as Kim let out a loud scream when she fell. But luckily for her Jerry was there to break her fall, both fell with a thud and a groan to the ground.
Azalea laughed as Kim was coughing up feathers, "Those cute baby birds messed you up, didn't they?" she cooed teasingly, "Yes, they did. Yes they did."
The time Kim and Jerry failed miserably as cheerleaders followed by Eddie giving himself a massive wedgy.
"That's a time-out on the field" the announcer informed them and the cheerleaders ran out while the football players ran in.
"Ten bucks on that this is going to be a disaster" Azalea whispered to Jack.
"Those are our friends out there" Jack pointed at Kim and Jerry, "I'm not taking those odds. Of course it's going to be a disaster."
As if on cue Kim climbed up and stood on Jerry's shoulders, the boy screaming in pain. "Give me an 'S'!" Kim shouted.
"S!" the crowed chanted back.
"Give me an 'E'!"
"E!"
"Give me a — help" Kim shouted before falling of Jerry's shoulders and into the orchestra.
Azalea tried to cover up her laughter, but failed miserably. "Aha, that's a riot!" Rudy laughed, "That girl just took a header into a sousaphone."
"I'm pretty sure that was Kim" Jack said, looking unimpressed by the Gillespie siblings amusement.
"It's even funnier now, cause I know here" Rudy laughed.
"Are all Gillespies born with out sensitivity?" Jack asked his still laughing girlfriend who just nodded in response.
"I can't help it" Azalea defended, "It's a coping mechanism."
"Attention both sides" the announcer said, "would you please direct your eyes to the scoreboard. Some kid named Eddie has given himself a massive wedgie."
Azalea along with the rest of the crowd laughed, but she tried to cover it up by burying her head in Jack's shoulder. "You have a problem" he told her.
"I know" she said, wiping the tears from laughter out of her eyes. Jack then decided to drag her away to get some popcorn.
Rudy's CPR moment with the doll a few weeks ago.
Rudy started to blow air into the doll while the teenagers looked at him weirdly. "Rudy, are you sure you are doing this right?" Jack wondered sceptically.
"Yes. Now, her stomach is filling up with air. Gently apply some pressure" Rudy told him confidently.
"Oh, dear lord."
"I'm not touching-" Jack tried to protest but once again he was interrupted.
"DO IT! There is a life at stake!" Rudy shouted.
"I say, let her die," Azalea muttered and they probably should have done that. Jack punched the dolls stomach and an yellow liquid, that looked to much like vomit, splashed up and covered Rudy's face.
"I'm going throw up," Azalea gagged and all the others gagged and back away.
"Little too much pressure, Jack," Rudy glared at the boy who looked ready to vomit.
When Milton's overall blew up.
"OH! There's too much pressure!" Milton screams as his onepiece was filled with falafel, "I'm gonna blow up!"
"You're not gonna blow!" Eddie yelled.
"You are not gonna blow!" Rudy agreed, "Help me find my ring! That's the priority."
"If you think that's the priority; you really need to sort out your priorities!" Azalea yelled and the next second Milton's clothes blew up, leaving the boy looking like he had been through a food fight slash explosion. "Once again we've reached the part where I have to clean everything up. So get out of here."
Jerry getting attacked by a porcupine.
"Hey! It's a groundhog" Jerry brought their attention to the animal on the ground. "Hey! You are a cute little fellah" he crouched down in front of it and started cooing.
"Not a groundhog honey. It's a porcupine, I would take a few steps back if I were you" Azalea warned him.
"Eh, thank you Lea. But I think I know the difference between a porcupine and a groundhog" Jerry said cockily.
"I'm not even sure you know the difference between a cow and a horse" Azalea said, the entire situation making her moody and her filter was almost gone.
Jerry crouched down in front of him and when he stood up again his face was covered in sharp spines from the porcupine. "This dumb groundhog thinks he is a porcupine. No if you'll excuse me, I have to go over there" Jerry tried to walk away with his dignity but he screamed loudly after a couple of meters.
"Are you always so-?" Jack turned to the red head, bout he couldn't find the right word.
"Insensitive?"
"Smug?"
"A know it all?"
"Gloating?"
"Thanks guys," Azalea said with a sarcastic smile, "Really."
"But for some reason you love her anyway," Kim said, her eyes widening when she realised what she had said.
"I love you?" Jack turned to the red head with a confused expression, "Wait, are we — are we like a thing?"
"No," Azalea said with an awkward smile, "We kind of were, but not anymore."
"We broke up? Why?" Jack looked at her expectantly.
Azalea sent a glare towards Kim before turning back to her ex-boyfriend who had no idea they had ever been together.
"We wanted different things. Sort of."
☆★☆
They walked out of Falafel Phil's to see that people were already gathering around the stage, ready to see Jack break the record, "Guys, guys," Rudy called as he ran over, "The judge from the Burgess of World Records is gonna be here any minute. Lucky for us, I've come up with a foolproof plan."
"Great, what is it?" Jack asked.
"Oh, honey, I know you are new here, but foolproof is a synonym to foolish in the Gillespie family," Azalea said, knowing that this wasn't going to be good.
"I made this hand for you out of a sledgehammer," Rudy held up a sledgehammer with a yellow glove covering the hammer part, "Looks perfectly natural. Now quick. Just slide it up your sleeve. And no shaking hands. And whatever you do, don't salute anyone. You will kill yourself."
"This is actually worse than I thought," Azalea muttered while Jack observed the glove with scepticism.
"This is gonna work, won't it?" Rudy panicked, "Sure. Sure it will work. It has to work. Of course it's gonna work. Somebody tell me it's gonna work."
"It will work," Milton said, hoping to stop Rudy from panicking.
"Don't you lie to me!" Rudy glared at Milton, "I gotta get a backup."
Rudy started to run around like a lost and speeded puppy before he sprinted out of sight and Jack turned to Azalea.
"Is this guy always like this?"
"Yeah," she said, "We call it going all Rudy."
Azalea then told Jack about the many times Rudy went a little crazy. Like when they were going to sell chocolate to save the basketball program at their school.
"What is wrong with you people? I bought a thousand boxes of candy for us to sell."
"Yeah, that one is on you" Azalea told him, "I was planning on selling one to mom and be done with it."
"We're doing the best we can, Rudy" Jack defended all of them.
Rudy started mock wailing, "We can —" he wailed, acting like a baby.
Followed by things like the time he got trapped underneath the vending machine and when he returned to high school,
"What's up? How is it going?" the familiar voice of Rudy rang through the crowded school hallway, "Slap me some skin. All right. All right, I feel you."
"Wow," Jack said as they walked over to him, "Rudy, you've actually come back to school."
"Yeah, I was the King here, once," Rudy bragged, "Figured I'd spend five days back on the throne."
"Jack! Jack!" Bobby Wasabi's voice broke their story time and they turned to see him run towards them followed by Joan, "We heard what happened. You are going to be okay."
"Yeah, I bumped by head once and I was fine," Joan added, "Of course when I woke up I was in Mexico married to a ferret farmer."
"As an action hero, I've been in hundreds of movies where I've been kicked in the head countless times," Bobby stated, "and I can say with complete authority— I'm sorry, what was the question?"
"Please tell me these aren't my parents," Jack whispered to Azalea with a slightly worried expression.
"Nah, just good friends," Azalea said, and if it hadn't been for the fact that she felt extremely sorry for him in the moment, she might have tried to trick him into believing those two were actually his parents.
"There he is, that's Jack," Rudy walked up to them with a man in a suit. "Guys, this is Winston Burgess from the Burgess Book of World Records," he introduced them before turning back to the man, "If we could just have a little more time."
"I don't have a lot of time," Winston told them, "I gotta watch a woman bit blink for 27 hours."
"I don't think I can do this," Jack turned to them, looking apologetic.
"Me neither," Azalea said without thinking, earning a sharp kick on the knee from Kim, causing her to let out a whine while jumping up and down on her uninjured leg.
"I don't want to let you down," Jack continued, "I'm sorry, Amelia" he placed a hand on Azalea's shoulder and she glared at him.
"It's Azalea," she told him, "I didn't know there was something wrong with your short time memory too."
"Hey, Azalea should kiss him," Jerry suggested and everyone's heads snapped towards him, some in confusion, some in horror and some in delight.
"Come again?" Azalea asked alarmingly.
"To make him remember-"
"How could that make him remember when no such thing has ever happened before?" Azalea tried to keep her tone light, sending Jerry a discreet glare.
"Uuuhh-" Jerry said, seeming to have realised what he had said. "Like in the movies, when the Prince kisses the princess-"
"So you mean that Jack is Snow White and I'm his Prince?" Azalea deadpanned.
"It might actually work."
"WHAT?" Azalea turned to her brother, "You — YOU — want me to kiss Jack?"
"I'm desperate!" Rudy yelled, "and it's not like I'm giving you my permission to date him. It's a kiss."
"I can't just kiss him," Azalea was starting to feel a little uncomfortable by everyone's expecting looks.
"WHY NOT?!" everyone except for Jack exclaimed.
Azalea turned her head to look at Jack who looked like he didn't know what to do or think in the moment. "Well," Azalea started awkwardly, "He doesn't even know me. How would you feel if a complete stranger suddenly kissed you?"
The boys looked back at her with faces that told her everything she needed to know, "Yeah, I forgot who I was talking to," Azalea sighed, "But this isn't a Disney movie, I can't just kiss him and suddenly he will remember everything."
"So what should we do?" Milton wondered.
"I honestly don't know," Azalea said, "I would offer to do it myself. But the only thing that would break is my hand."
"You know what?" Jack said, "I don't remember you guys or this place, but from everything you've said, we don't give up. And I don't wanna start now. I'm Wabooboo Warrior!"
"Wasabi Warrior," Milton corrected him.
"Right, it's got a better ring to it," Jack said awkwardly.
"Break a leg. Or try not to," Azalea said, leaning up to kiss his cheek like she used to do whenever he competed but seeing as he was about to walk away he turned around at the sound of her voice and for the second time, she missed and kissed him on the lips instead.
It took her a second to realise what she was doing and she jumped back quickly, "I was aiming for the cheek," she said quickly before muttering a, "Damn, again," under her breath.
"Mmmmhmmm," the entire crowd said.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna die in a corner now," she said, mostly to herself, as Jack jumped up on the stage while she took her place next to Kim, desperately avoiding looking at her brother.
Jack stood in front of the bricks he was going to break and his gaze shifted between all his friends that had gathered around him. Rudy was motioning for him to use him terrible invention but Jack gave him a shake of the head.
Jack looked right at Azalea who offered him a small smile and for a moment his eyes became almost dazed and a second later he prepared himself and broke all the bricks.
The crowd started to cheer and all of them ran up to give Jack some high fives while laughing. "I can't believe it. My memory's back. I remember you and the dojo and Milton and Rudy and Jerry, you owe me 20 bucks."
"I'm Eddie," Jerry tried earning a slap on the arm from Eddie, "What?"
"Congratulations, Jack," Winston Burgess said, "You will now be listed as the official under 16 world record holder for brick-breaking"
"Let's go to Falafel Phil's and celebrate," Eddie suggested.
"Falafel Phil's? I believe that's the restaurant that holds the world record for largest roach infestation."
"That's the place," Rudy said with a smile.
"You gotta be famous for something," Azalea offered a weak smile.
The gang walked towards Falafel Phil's but before either Azalea or Jack could move Rudy wrapped one arm around each one of them, "I will be keeping my eye on the two of you. Both my eyes," he looked suspiciously between them and sending Jack a warning look before walking away.
"Hey! You told me to kiss him," Azalea protested.
"Yes and now we are back to the no boys rule," Rudy told her before disappearing after the others.
"You have a terrible aim, did you know that?" Jack turned to her when Rudy was out of sight, keeping the appropriate distance between them.
"Oh, shut up," Azalea said but she couldn't keep a smile from breaking out, "You did it, Jack. It would be a lie to say that I didn't have my doubts, but you did it. How do you feel?"
"I feel great," he grinned, "Jack is back."
"We missed you," Azalea admitted before remembering something, "Hey, I've got a question. Do you remember what we talked about right before you fell and hit your head?"
"No. No, I don't," Jack told her with a frown, "Why?"
"Just wondering," she told him casually, "I should probably head over to Phil's before Rudy gets any ideas."
Azalea dashed away while Jack stayed for a second, looking at her retreating figure with a smirk. He picked up the bracelet she had given him just before he fell and placed it on his wrist.
The way she had acted since their break up made it seem like she didn't care, so it was nice knowing that she did. It gave him hope, the hope that this wasn't the end for them.
___________
Azalea's Outfit:
Author's Note: I aged them up one year, because I felt like it would go better with the plot.