Eva was late, she was always late. No matter how much she tried to be on time, things would just happen, like the time her alarm clock broke, her shoe laces refused to be tied and her Kadoatie tripped her up.

Now she was really in trouble though. Her mum had reminded her just this morning how important it was for her to be on time. It was the big celebration, everyone had been working on the preperations for weeks and now it looked like Eva would be lucky to get there at all...

Eva groaned as she stood on her toes to look over the top of the crowd in front of her. She had woken up three hours early this morning, baked a large apple pie for the big celebration, and even left her home fifteen minutes earlier than usual. She had felt so proud of herself as she took a shortcut down Rainbow Lane, knowing that the site of the celebration was only a street over.

Now, however, it appeared that her smart idea had become her downfall. Not only was her shortcut costing her valuable time, but she soon began to feel lost within the crowd! She had weaved herself in and out of the Neopets around her, hoping to get to the front of the group. It did her no help; she could not even find where she had entered the crowd, not to mention the scene of the commotion!

Sighing, she plopped down on the ground, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of feet. Eva was lucky that she was small for an Aisha; otherwise she may have been unable to sit at all. Still, she wished that she was tall enough to see what was going on. She even hoped she would suddenly sprout wings and fly away above the crowd, over the commotion that had halted her progress, and to the party for which she had baked her famous pie for.

Her pie had gotten cold and mushy from the trip. The fancy cardboard box she had placed it in so carefully was now slightly squished and dented on the top. Bored and frustrated, she opened the box to look at the pie's condition. It smelled wonderful, but the top of the pie had caved in greatly. So much for all that hard work, Eva thought to herself.

The Aisha began to close the box when she heard a loud rumbling from above her. She looked up to see a gigantic Elephante staring down at her. "Is that apple pie?" he asked her.

Eva didn't know how to respond. She nodded solemnly, choosing not to speak.

"Apple pie's my favorite," the Elephante said to her. "Did you bake it for anything special?"

Eva nodded again and began to explain her entire story to the Elephante, who listened closely.

"Gee, that's a shame," he said kindly. "It'll be cold and sticky by the time you arrive to the party. Looks like nothing's going to clear up here soon." He looked out over the crowd silently for a moment, as if contemplating the situation. "Miss, I have a proposition for you. If you let me have a piece of that lovely pie you have got there, I will lift you up over the crowd and let you see what's going on. Maybe we can ask some Neopians up ahead to pass you to the front of the group to get you going. What do you say?"

Eva smiled. "Really, Mister?" she said in her squeaky voice. "That's so kind of you." She handed him the pie box and the spatula, and he lifted her high above everyone else onto his shoulders. She couldn't believe what she saw...

"So that's what all the commotion is about," Eva thought aloud bitterly. "Can I come back down?" she then asked the Elephante.

"Sure," he said, placing her gently back onto the ground. "May I have a slice of that apple pie now?"

Eva forked over a slice to him, still quite upset that she was missing her celebration for this. He munched on it slowly, savoring the flavor. The Aisha sighed, looking down at her incomplete, caved-in pie.

"This is delicious!" the Elephante said, complimenting Eva.

"Really?" she asked, happy that at least he enjoyed it.

Her new friend nodded. "This is the finest pie I've tasted in years! It's a shame that you won't be able to share it with your party anytime soon."

Eva's expression saddened. "I didn't catch your name," she prompted.

"You can call me Gordon."

Eva smiled at her new acquaintance, then quickly returned her thoughts to getting to the celebration immediately. But how? The crowd was thick, and all of the Neopets there were eager to get Hannah's autograph or at least see her. If Eva tried to move through the crowd, she would simply get pushed away because she was such a small, unnoticeable Aisha.

Not knowing what else to do, she turned to the Elephante next to her. "Gordon, do you think you could help me break through this crowd of Hannah fans?" she asked desperately...

Eva stood motionless in thought. She watched the crowd of Neopets around her, pushing and shouting to get to Hannah. Three baby Poogles shoved past the Aisha, screaming shrilly and waving papers and pens around. They would need something important to get out of this mob.

"Wait!" Eva suddenly shouted in excitement. She turned to Gordon, whose face was stiff with concentration.

The little Aisha jumped up and down as she hollered the idea into one of the Elephante's ears. "What if one of us supposedly passed out from too much heat and closure from the crowd?"

"Then the crowd would part to allow us to get through to the hospital!" Gordon replied, finishing her idea. "Now which one of us would pass out though?"

"Err, maybe I should," Eva answered, trying not to think of how she would get the huge bulk of the Elephante out of the crowd. "I guess someone of my size would be much more easily overwhelmed by the crowd, heat, and excitement. And a frail little Aisha would draw more attention. We can't take too much time either, or else I'll be even later then I am right now," she added with qualm in her voice.

Gordon glanced over his shoulder at the jostling Neopets around him. "Ok then, but let me hold your pie and help you out."

"Sure," Eva answered willingly giving the pie box to Gordon. Standing up straight, the Aisha let out a loud moan and collapsed on Gordon's legs like a sack of bricks.

Gordon, with as much drama in his voice as possible, yelled to the crowd, "Oh no! Hurry someone! Help me get this Aisha out of the crowd and into the shade!"

Word quickly spread through the crowd about the minor accident, and it looked like their plan was working, when there was suddenly a collective yell of excitement. "Look who's coming! It's Hannah! It's Hannah!" And sure enough, Hannah was coming to check on the poor girl who passed out.

"Uh oh," muttered Gordon as the crowd parted for Hannah, who was walking right towards the Elelphante and Aisha...

The Aisha squinted her eyes tightly shut, hoping the ruse would work, and that she and Gordon could leave as soon as possible.

"Oh, dear," said Hannah as she wiped beads of sweat from Eva's forehead. Contrary to the Usul's belief, the perspiration was not from the heat, but from nerves. "The poor thing. What happened?" she questioned Gordon.

"Erm," stammered the poor Elephante, "i-it was the heat. And she's not used to crowded places." He gave a sigh of relief, thankful that he'd been able to provide a good excuse. "I think we should really get her out of the sun."

Eva risked peeking out from under her long eyelashes. There stood Hannah, the famous Usul, bent over her. The adventurer's grey-blue eyes flashed in some inscrutable emotion as she studied the Aisha. After staying silent for a moment, she nodded curtly. "All right. Follow me..."

"...Gordon. It's an honor, Ms. Hannah."

Hannah smiled, then began to guide him and his burden through the crowd. Like magic, the Neopets parted, leaving a path for the trio. Finally, they reached a shaded spot under a canopy. Gordon carefully laid Eva on a wooden bench. Meanwhile, Hannah politely waved away a few worshipping Kougras, asking for privacy.

"So, Gordon," the Usul said with a twinkle in her eye, "Would you mind telling me why you and your clever little friend here staged this performance?"...

Hannah looked down at her, and seemed to be trying not to smile.

Eva blushed violently. "H-how did you know?"

"I've fainted before," Hannah said cheerfully, "and I've faked it, too. You weren't nearly helpless enough to have fainted for real -- I could see you were holding yourself up partly. And of course, it was a dead giveaway when you peeked at me. So." The famous Usul looked decidedly mischievous. "Do you think you'd like to sit up now while the two of you explain yourselves?"

Eva sat up rather slowly, still blushing terribly. "It was my idea," she said sheepishly. "Gordon was just really nice and helped me out. I was supposed to meet my mother at a celebration twenty minutes ago, and I tried to take a shortcut and found a crowd in the way, and I was already late, and...." She looked down, now embarrassed about her deception. "My pie's gotten all cold already," she said sadly.

"What was the celebration for?" Hannah asked kindly.

"It's my great-grandmother's birthday. She's the oldest Aisha in Neopia Central." Eva hung her head. "I'm always late, but I really tried not to be today. Now I'm missing her birthday party. Apple pie is her favorite. And Mom's going to be so disappointed."

"Apple pie, is it?" Hannah patted the young Aisha's shoulder kindly. "Well, it's certainly not your fault or your great-grandmother's that I was in your way today. Why don't you tell me which direction you need to go, and I'll help you get through the crowd?"

"You're really nice too," Eva said admiringly. "Would you really? It's just one street over...." She pointed, then looked up at Gordon. "Do you want to come to the party?"

"Why -- why, I couldn't," Gordon stammered. "It's a family affair--"

"Family and friends," Eva said warmly.

"Sounds like you qualify," Hannah put in. "So let's go..."

"So (pardon us), your great-grandmother is really ('scuse me, coming through) the oldest Aisha in all of Neopia Central? (Yes, I'm sure you are my biggest fan, dear)," she said while sidestepping past a squealing pink Kougra.

Eva, who was riding up on top of Gordon's head, holding her pie up over her own as if to protect it from the throng of fans, nodded. "Yes, she is! She's turning 132 years old today!"

Gordon made a low, sliding whistle of astonishment. "Phew," he muttered, "I had no idea Aishas could even get that old..."

"They sure can," Eva beamed, feeling proud for some reason to be related to someone of such stature. It was like being related to a celebrity! Well, almost. Certainly not of the same caliber as Hannah, but her great-grandma was still impressive as well, in her own special way... Speaking of special...

"You know, it's funny," she started as she looked down at Gordon and then surveyed the crowd. "No matter what I do, it seems that I am always late for something. I don't think I've ever been on time for anything. It's like I'm cursed or something!"

Gordon snorted. "Pfft, that's silly! There's no such thing as curses!" The Elephante's snickering faded, however, when he noticed the steely glare he was getting from Hannah.

"Trust me, curses are very real," the Usul said with unnerving resolve. But she seemed to soften as she continued, "But that doesn't mean that you have one, Eva. You've probably just been very unlucky! Who could've forseen that I would be in your way this morning? After all, nothing's stopped us from being any more late than we are now, has it?"

Eva was about to concur, but her voice caught in her throat when, from her high vantage point on top of her friend's head, she caught sight of something up ahead blocking their path. She could only point wordlessly and gawk with a slack jaw. Hannah and Gordon followed her gaze and gasped in disbelief as well at what they saw. The equally-shocked crowd parted to reveal...

Legs popped out of its underside, going "poit!"

The flying thing moved slightly sideways, bumped into a wall (there was a sound of breaking glass and screams; Eva winced) and stretched its legs longer. They touched the street, and the thing settled onto them, looking as if it might be crouching down. Steam and smoke spouted up from somewhere behind it.

And then, with a clang and a spinning of a great many dials, a door dilated open and extruded a slide.

Out stepped a six-eared Aisha in a spacesuit.

He lifted his arms and removed the bubbly helmet of his suit.

"We have come," he said into the shocked silence.

"No kidding," Hannah muttered under her breath.

"We are told," said the alien Aisha, "that the oldest Aisha in Neopia lives nearby. We must find her and pay her our respects. Can anyone direct us to her?"

"Er." Eva, boggling, lifted a hand and waved cautiously from the top of Gordon's head. "That's my great-grandmother. I'm trying to get to her birthday party."

"Excellent!" The alien Aisha strode forward, a friendly smile on his face, but his next words struck horror into Eva's heart. "We have brought refreshments..."

As the Aisha brought out the last tray of desserts -- Eva guessed that they were desserts because each was topped with a moldy blob that looked somewhat like a cherry -- an idea popped into Eva's mind. It might be crazy, she reasoned to herself. But it might work!

Leaning down, she whispered her idea into one of Gordon's massive Elephante ears. "Eva, I'm not sure that would work..." he muttered, not wanting her to get too excited. His small Aisha friend seemed unfazed, and she told her plan to Hannah in hushed tones. The Usul's face immediately broke into a wide grin, and Eva was convinced -- she would ask as soon as she got the chance.

The alien Aisha swept a very low bow, then looked at the trio -- two young pets and a legendary explorer-- who stood awkwardly, surrounded by the remains of the crowd, the rest of which had scattered. "If there is anything I can do for you, say the word..." The alien balanced his helmet on his hip.

"Well, I actually have one question..." Eva looked back at Hannah, who motioned for her to go on. "I was wondering… where did you make all this... stuff?" She avoided referring to the platters as food.

"In the kitchen in the back of the ship, of course," the alien gestured with a slight nod of his head to the over-grown vending machine behind him.

Eva took a deep breath and then ventured, "Do you think there's any way that I could go in there and make an apple pie before we go to my great-grandma's party...?"

"Thanks!" exclaimed Eva, her face flushing with joy. Grabbing Gordon's hand in one hand, and Hannah's paw in the other, she steered them into the spaceship.

The inside was a clear, barren, sanitary white, devoid of any lint or dust or irregularity that creates homey comfort. The walls were a strict, patterned tile, and the air was so pure and filtered that it smelled faintly of hospital rooms.

Eva did her best to ignore the unpleasant sterility, and she and her friends shifted through the maze of pristine white until they found an oven. She skimmed her gaze over the spotless cabinet, but nowhere were there ingredients for apple pies.

Hesitantly she glanced at her friends. "I don't want to be rude and poke around in their supplies," she said, "but I could really use some flour."

Flour, murmured a monotonic voice, and Eva's head whipped about to see a flashing of buttons and a spinning of gears as a device implemented in the wall sparked to life. Gaping, she watched a compartment open, presenting her with a bag of her favorite brand of flour.

"Sugar!" she cried. "Apples! Water! Bowl!" She and her friends watched in delight as the machine produced each item they named. Eva finished reciting the list from memory, and was soon combining the ingredients in her bowl.

"Is the oven up to temperature?" she asked, arranging the filling within the carefully prepared crust.

Gordon nodded as he adjusted the knob. "Just got there."

Placing the pie within the oven rack, Eva only hoped that it would be as good as the one she'd already made.

The beeping of the oven brought Eva running in, met by the smell of fresh-baked apple pie. She grabbed a puffy, spotless oven mitt and opened the door, bringing out the steaming pastry.

It was perfect -- the crust was light and golden brown with heat, and the steam that seeped up through the holes in the top was laced with the scent of cinnamon and apple.

Eva grinned at Hannah, who followed her in. "I guess the exactness of the spaceship is good for something -- it makes flawless apple pies!"

"I can't wait to see your great-grandmother's face when she sees that," commented Hannah, returning the grin.

Gordon's long trunk appeared through the door, followed closely by his head. "She's here!" he exclaimed. "The aliens brought her and moved the party here!"

Snatching up the pie, Eva hurried out of the ship, Hannah in tow. Sure enough, her great-grandmother, the oldest Aisha in Neopia, was sitting contentedly amid a ring of onlookers, tasting one of the colorless heaps of food served by the aliens.

"I especially like these alien dishes," her great-grandmother said. "They are easy for my old teeth to eat." Her face brightened as she saw Eva. "Come here, child! I'm glad you finally made it. What have you there?"

"A pie, great-grandmother," replied Eva, giving the old Aisha a hug. "I made it for you."

Gordon, Eva, and Hannah watched as the ancient Neopet plucked a fork from a nearby plate and lowered it into the pie. A chunk came up upon it, billowing with steam, and she placed it between her lips. They waited patiently as she prepared to announce her verdict.

"Eva, my great-grandchild," said the oldest Aisha, "This pie is what makes living all these years worthwhile."

Throwing her arms around the frail form of her great-grandmother, Eva whispered, "And you make them worthwhile, too."

The End