Neophyte Romancers, a metroid fanfic

First off, this is a little oneshot request by VocaloidLives4Life. This is a birthday present for her, so I hope she likes it! :D

Neophyte Romancers is a side story that takes place between Power Hungry Fool and The Fate of the Galaxy. :) It's cute, hilarious, and fresh! Prepare for quite a read.

Forgive me of any errors, thank you.

Please enjoy!

"All right... Let's see here..." Dr. Clark's dull peridot eyes surveyed the clipboard with my medical files on it. Flipping pages crowded with his stocky penmanship, he gradually began grinning. "After five weeks of bunking with two fractured tibiae and broken ankles, Rundas..." he trailed off slyly.

Squinting at him, I frowned. "Yeah...?"

Clark stopped flipping, flashing his gaze on me. "You're healed! Congratulations!" He jovially threw his clipboard across the hospital room, beaming. A passing assistant had to duck to avoid being hit by the projectile.

I leaned forward on my cot, despite the frozen cords that were restraining me. "Seriously? I am?" Clark nodded. I tossed my arms above my head and whooped, "Booyah! Get me outta here!"

Laughing, Clark obliged. "Okay, okay. Just give me a minute." He approached my bedside, twisting the nozzles of the liquid nitrogen tanks into standby. Then with a few firm jerks of the tubes that connected them to me, freed my bonds. Excess gelid air leaked from them, fresh and white. They rejuvenated me eccentrically.

I exhaled with relief. "Ahh, that feels good." Stretching my back, I swung my legs off the cot's edge, tapping my feet happily on the floor. Mild pinching thwarted my shins and ankles, but besides that, I felt amazing. The sight of my crude crutches against the wall-never to be used ever again-provoked me into standing for the very first time without help in weeks.

I stumbled slightly due to my excitement, but managed to regain my balance. I glanced to Clark, the tubes on the sides of my neck hurting courtesy of my accelerated breathing. "This is great! Thanks, Doc!"

Clark smiled. "It was my duty." He then cast me a firm stare. "But you have to promise me you won't do anything reckless, understand? I'd hate to see you in here again-"

Ignoring him completely, I sprinted freely from the room, calling, "Reckless! Sure! Whatever! Bye!" I was running so fast I knocked a passerby completely onto his back by clothes-lining him with my shoulder. Not a second did I feel remorse; it was quickly washed away by my joy. I cackled hysterically.

The air blasting my face as I rocketed the halls was a well-needed boredom eradicator. My happiness to be off of that bed could have blown up my chest. The burning sensation in each of my muscles was exhilarating, as was the throbbing of my heart and the voice of Aurora Unit 242 cautioning, "Attention, hunter Rundas: Please slow your pace in order to conserve safety for both the personnel and yourself."

I laughed. Did I listen to her? No.

Since my face off with the Metroid-mutated sergeant Jake Larsen five weeks ago, I had been riddled with burns, scars and a sentence to the GFS Olympus's hospital. The wait for my wounds to heal almost drove me insane; staring at the ceiling, reading the same boring books, and talking to the same likewise boring hospital assistants. The medications were horrid, and the physical therapy-while a break from the weekly routine-quickly became monotonous.

My fellow hunters, Ghor and Gandrayda, had escaped a training session gone awry unscathed. Occasionally either visited me during my lockdown, and while I was glad they were okay, seeing them on their feet made me seethe with envy. Unluckily, Samus and I were the ones who had taken a beating.

I frowned to myself as I shot throughout Olympus, plowing through both sentries and personnel. My first motive when I escaped the hospital was to get back on my feet again. After all, it felt great to leap over the decks and over the heads of the crew. But I groaned with exceeding guilt to myself when I realized I hadn't even considered discovering Samus's condition yet.

Samus had gotten both of her femurs crushed beneath sharp, Jovian steel when Larsen attacked. She was in a wheelchair the last time I saw her, enswathed with enormous casts and dismal with humiliation. Being the one-woman-army she was, I imagined she was embarrassed to have to be taken care of by doctors. Not being able to do anything would have dampened her spirit as well, since it had mine.

Where was she now? Was she looking for me? Was she still in the hospital? Had her legs healed? Or were they still broken? Each question slapped me viciously. I felt selfish for only thinking of myself, when she was the one who needed me.

I'm such a jerk! I hissed to myself, internally whacking my forehead. When I see her... ah, when I see her...

With my mind pleasantly wandering towards the image of Samus's striking face, I failed to maneuver around a towering figure before me. My feet launched me at full speed into the person, bruising me harshly all along my front. The velocity at which I was traveling at smashed their balance to zero, and we both were sent careening over Olympus's Crossroads Deck.

Tumbling to a painful stop, I opened my eyes to the blurry, robotic face of Ghor.

"Ghor!" I cried, once his features cleared.

"Rundas?" he said in disbelief, blinking away the impact. Tilting his head down slightly, he smiled. "It is good to see you out of the hospital!"

I grinned back. "Sure is! Feels great! Heeyy," I pried my sore chin out of his chest armor, where it had left a considerable dent. In our chaotic rolling, I had ended up sprawled on top of him. Propping myself up, I grinned sheepishly and knelt away a few steps. "Sorry about that. I, er, didn't see you."

Ghor sat up and chuckled. Reattaching a few misplaced wires in his abdomen, he tapped his misshapen chest. "Do not apologize. It was simply my fault for standing in your path. No harm done."

I grimaced at my damage on him. "You sure about that? The Rundas-shaped dings in your armor kind of say otherwise..."

He waved his trio of fingers passively. "Oh, think nothing of it, friend! This armor is relatively soft anyway."

I cocked my head in surprise. Ghor was typically rock solid. It took a great amount of force to knock him down. "Really?"

"Yes. You see, I am currently testing different metal alloy combinations on myself to create the hardest and most durable armorsuit I am capable." Ghor shrugged. "Apparently, this Pilpquadak mixture is... a tad too juvenile for my tastes. It is best that I keep researching."

Nodding in respect, I stood, despite the bruising. "Nice. But if you need my help with any of that, just ask. I'm open for anything, buddy." I offered him my hand, and he took it to stand as well. "I could use some new armor."

Ghor inspected the ridged burns on my torso with interest sparking his eyes. "Based upon your current condition, I should say you are in desire of a heat-deflecting means of protection, yes?"

I snorted. "Yeah. Larsen hit me hard with Spire's magma. Still hasn't healed, oddly."

He squinted, imagining something. Probably armor designs. "Odd indeed..."

Getting bored of the subject, I decided to change it. Those were dark, terrible days. "Ghor... do you know where Samus is? I haven't seen her yet, and I want to check on her. She was in bad shape after Norion." I searched the Crossroads Deck, my eyes straining to find Samus.

Ghor snapped from his thoughts and glanced to me in innocence. "I have not seen Samus either. I was about to ask you if you had found her yet." I shrugged and frowned, deprived of that privilege. "That is strange... because I cannot seem to locate Gandrayda either."

My brows furrowed. "What? But she's like your shadow!"

He became sullen. "I know. Her absence all this morning has disturbed me. You will not believe this, but I somewhat miss Gandrayda's carping. It has become pleasurable background sound to me..."

I stared at him. "That's weird. I just tune it out."

His shoulders slumped, disregarding a reply. "Did you see Samus during your hospitalization? Both of you were harmed by the sergeant, so you should have shared the same hospital ward, right?"

"Negative," came the gruff, yet esteemed voice. Ghor and I turned towards Admiral Dane, strolling proudly towards us, hatless. The hat lay abandoned where Ghor and I had collided.

Stiffly standing, we assumed hurried salutes before he dismissed the actions. He continued, "To maintain order, and, frankly, peace amongst those on this flagship, I have ordered that male and female injured and hospitalized must be attended to in separate wards." The Admiral stooped and retrieved his hat, brushing it off before placing it on his head. "Only women can enter in the opposite ward to visit. Men are forbidden from entering the women's."

Ghor raised a brow. "What is the reasoning behind restrictions, Admiral?"

His doggish face sagged with bland annoyance. "Do I have to answer that?"

My friend blushed bright red, his head sinking. "Oh, yes... Er... right."

I snickered at him before Dane acknowledged me. "So, someone looks to be out and about this morning." He smiled at me humorously. "Your comeback came as quite a bang, eh, Rundas?"

Next to me, Ghor snorted. "No kidding," he mumbled.

I chuckled, nodding. "Yeah, you could say so. It's good to be back, Admiral. Your doctors work wonders." Kind of a white lie, but what did he have to know?

He bore a flash in his eyes, as though he knew a secret that I didn't. "Indeed they do. Fixing up those bounty hunters of yours after that training session was quite a feat for them. Spire, losing his powers; Kanden, buried beneath a tree and covered with gargantuan splinters; Sylux with a severely damaged helmet of enhanced tech; Trace pinned to a tree by each of his limbs; Noxus, electrocuted harshly; Weavel, in pieces... They're lucky we had some of our greatest on duty then."

As he was talking, I suddenly had an idea. Dane was the commander of this flagship, so he had to be informed of everything that went on, right? If Ghor and I couldn't find Samus and Gandrayda, then he would have at least known something. I exchanged a mute glance with Ghor, who I figured was thinking the same thing.

"Pardon me, Admiral-" I began.

Dane cut me off unexpectedly. Even being several heads taller than him, I jumped. "Yes, yes. Before you ask. I know where your huntresses are, so don't panic."

Ghor and I both exhaled with relief. "That's good news. So? Where are they?" he wondered anxiously.

That same look of shrouded knowing was beaming from Dane's eyes. He watched the humans sauntering through the Crossroads Deck aimlessly, smiling as if in recollection. "They're... out."

"Out?" I echoed. "Out where?" Where in this galaxy would those two possibly go?

"Without even mentioning this to us?" Ghor added forlornly. His affection for Gandrayda was obviously peeking through at this point. My love for Samus had peaked since I totaled him.

Dane was enjoying our reactions, merrily answering, "Samus and Gandrayda have gone to Tallon IV for a bit of time off, they said. They should be back sometime in the afternoon today."

Tallon IV? Where was that? "And they just left us here?" I forced.

He sniffed and suavely nodded. "Yep. It was a time for a girl's day, or however they put it." Our betrayed expressions spewed reassurance out of his mouth. "Don't worry, you two. They're both strong and independent. They'll be fine by themselves for a while."

"No they won't!" I spluttered. I was starting to hate that gleam in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell us they were leaving?"

"As such!" Ghor insisted.

Dane remained aloof. "They wanted me to keep it secret. Is that all the questions?"

"No, sir," Ghor said. "Did they tell you why they needed the time off?"

"Good question," I attached.

Instead of telling us, Dane laughed and clasped his hands behind his back. "You'll see. It's not too much of a secret." He turned towards the people walking past us, standing motionless, but grinning from ear to ear.

The Wotan and I were bewildered. "What's that supposed to mean?" I gawked. Ghor shrugged cluelessly.

"Perhaps it is a metaphor?" he suggested. "Or even a riddle?"

"Ugh, who cares," I growled. "Human customs are messed up."

We got our answer sooner than we thought. Turning with the Admiral towards the bustling Crossroads Deck, Ghor and I witnessed a sight that dropped both our jaws.

A man in a Marine Combat suit approached a rather pretty woman, dressed in a customary personnel teal jumpsuit. He had on his back an unordinary-looking gun, which appeared to be hand-crafted by himself. He strode to the lady, gaining her attention with words I couldn't hear above the noisy passage.

I watched in transfixed wonder as a conversation was exchanged between them, and he unsheathed his gun. She stared at his finger on the trigger, then to the barrel of the gun once pulled. With a flash of bright light, it heaved out of it a series of beautifully shimmering, miniature fireworks. They illuminated the Crossroads Deck and all who passed through it brilliantly, anyone present stopping to gape.

"Astounding..." Ghor breathed.

When the show had ceased, the deck was silent. I clearly heard the Marine say after he dropped his gun to the lady, "Ruby, will you be my valentine?"

She promptly squealed an agreement, and threw her arms around his shoulders. Her brightly painted lips smothered his visor with lipstick. He was probably kissing her too, though I couldn't tell because of his helmet. At once, the Crossroads Deck erupted with applause, and people were blushing and smiling at the gesture.

Dane's laughter echoed afterward. "You should see your faces," he guffawed to Ghor and I.

"What a perturbing ritual..." Ghor muttered after a few moments of that instance sinking in. "I have never seen anything like it..."

I aimed a hand at the couple, still making out. "What on Phrygis was that all about?" People-or even aliens for that matter-didn't perform things like that every day. My head was swimming from disturbance. "Could someone please enlighten me?"

Dane raised his head. "Allow me. That, Rundas, was the magical occurrence known as Valentine's Day."

Ghor began furiously logging the information in his software. "Valentine's Day... Please continue, Admiral. This is intriguing!"

"Intriguing? It's freaky!" I cried, keeping my eyes peeled for any other crazy happenings.

Dane gladly informed us, with Ghor rushing to keep track. I listened with troublesome fascination. "Today is February fourteenth, where we celebrate the very essence of love. It's the day that either makes, or breaks a relationship."

"In what ways?" Ghor pressed.

"Understand, that on Valentine's Day, when a man has feelings for a woman he presents her with a gift that captures her affection, and her affection only. It isn't sportsmanlike to snatch away another fellow's love interest."

My brain clicked. "So, Valentine's Day either makes a relationship by choosing the right gift for the right girl..." Visions were swirling in my brain. Make, huh?

Ghor finished, "And potentially breaks a relationship by stealing someone else's attraction and breaking someone's heart!" He laughed giddily. "Basically, Valentine's Day is supposed to be a day of making a love bond while abstaining from disloyalty!"

"Perfect!" I claimed. The very thought of disloyalty was appalling. "I'm not going to perform any sort of disloyalty at all in my entire lifetime! That's sick!"

"Me either," Ghor promised as well.

"Good thing, too," the Admiral intervened. "It would be a shame if anything of that caliber occurred on this exciting holiday." He paused for a while and stared us both solidly. "You boys... have any plans for today?"

I scratched the back of my head, my face hot. "Now that you mention it, I wanna get working on something for Samus."

Ghor tapped his fingers on his thigh. "I likewise for Gandrayda. Why should we miss this opportunity, even if we're offworlders?"

The Admiral gave us sympathetic smiles. "Now be advised, gentlemen, that the concept of giving valentines should be taken with the utmost seriousness. I want to see those girls swooning! No funny business, you hear?"

"Oh, not at all sir!"

"No funny business! None!"

"Good," he confirmed. "Be sure you make her feel she's special. And also, don't let her know you're planning on getting her something! If you blow this, you'll miss out on it all. She will never speak to you again!" His tone had changed from fatherly to threatening in a matter of syllables. His poker-face put me on tenterhooks. Though directed to both of us, I felt as if Dane were speaking specifically about my relationship with Samus.

I leaned forward fearfully. "Never ever?"

"I repeat: EVER!" he emphasized. My heart pounded with anxiety. "You will be alone for the rest of your lives... just like I am." Ghor's facial lighting faded to a nervous green. "So! Rundas! Ghor! Do this right!" We both flinched.

And with that, the Admiral swiveled on his heel and walked away through a door, leaving us dumbfounded.

I swallowed. "Quite a speech."

"Indeed," Ghor mumbled. "Enticingly intimidating." Shrugging his astonishment, he turned to face me. "Well... how do you propose we go about giving these valentines?"

I made a face, staring blankly into the distance. "First off, Samus and Gandrayda aren't even here, so we can't give anything to them at all," I reminded him.

He shut his eyes, ashamed. "Oh yes! I nearly forgot. Er..." We stood in befuddled silence for a few moments, both of us thinking strenuously.

My thinking was cut abrupt, realization hitting me like a wall. "GHOR!"

He jumped at my scream. "What? What?"

I whipped on him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GONNA GIVE SAMUS!" Shaking him violently, I continued panicking. "This is terrible! I'm gonna end up like Dane! No, no, no! I don't want to be alone! Don't let it happen!"

Ghor shook himself free and punched me on the cheek, restoring my sanity partially.

"Ow..."

Stalwartly, Ghor motivated me. "That's fine, because I do not know either! But do you see me in a frenzy? NO! Pull yourself together, Rundas! Valentine's Day is not the end of your relationship with Samus!"

I helplessly watched him, cupping my bruised cheek. "It isn't? Are you sure?"

He grunted, "No. But that does not matter! What truly matters are Samus and Gandrayda. Those beautiful women mean the universe to us, right?"

I nodded. "Right."

He grinned drivingly. "We want them to be our valentine's, right?"

"Right!"

He aimed a finger at the door that Dane left through. "And will we be frightened by the Admiral's jeers?"

I was about to exclaim, "Right!" as loud as I could, but I quickly corrected myself. "NO!"

Ghor swung his arm around my shoulders, leaning close to me. "You and I are two of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. If we can handle coming back from the dead, then what is stopping us from delivering the most heart-stopping valentines ever seen? I tell you: nothing!"

"Yeah, yeah!" I cheered, already visualizing Samus's expression once she saw my gift... whatever it was. Ideas were flinging themselves wildly within my thoughts. "Nothing! I can do this!"

"Stupendous!" Releasing me, Ghor held out his palm for a high five. Slapping it, I laughed elatedly. "Gather your wits and your creativity, Rundas," he stated. "For our wooing begins now!"

Several hours had passed since Ghor's spiel, but I was still buzzing with stimulation. I was anticipating Samus's return, eagerly constructing gift ideas for her. The majority of them, sadly, had capsized due to their origins being impossible, and the means of giving them to her a tad embarrassing. Still, I was pressing forward, my drive the image of her dazzling blue eyes.

At that same time, the butterflies in my stomach were uncomfortable. How would she react to being given a present? Did she ever receive presents? Would she think I was weird if I gave her something? Anything? How would these Valentine's Day shenanigans effect our relationship?

Brushing aside another impossible idea, I slumped into the wall I was sitting next to, sighing. Ghor paced the floor a few meters away, carrying a digital notepad and a mechanical pen. The massive list he had created over the past hours had diminished into nothing but a gigantic scribble.

"You stumped?" I asked him.

He hung his head and threw the notepad into a nearby potted fern. "Why is this so difficult?" Balling his hands into fists, he groused further, "Why are women so complicated? This is maddening!"

"Darn right, it is." I stood and approached him. Hands akimbo, I glanced around the Mess Hall far below us. The scores of people gathering for lunch made the spacious room unnervingly loud, which, my guess, was fiddling with our abilities to concentrate. "Think we should go somewhere else? Somewhere quiet?"

Ghor threw his arms into the air. "What difference will it make? All around us, valentines are being given without even a stress by the other men! They make it look so easy!" Hunching over the balcony's railing we were on, he gazed dejectedly into the crowds. "Out of everything I can do as a bounty hunter, and I cannot even think of a single, simple present for a girl? Ugh!"

I joined him at the rail. "Don't blame yourself, Ghor. I'm not too good at this either. Anything I come up with hurtles for failure."

"In other words..." he huffed.

"We both suck at this," I concluded grimly. "My future relationships are screwed."

The lighting on his face dimmed to a miserable blue. "Very, very screwed," he agreed.

Just the fleeting thought of Samus turning her back on me forever coaxed my attitude positively. Why should I lose her when I barely realized my undeniable feelings for her? After a kiss that she so willingly gave me?

Straightening, I finally acknowledged my stomach growling, with a hope fueling my conveyance. "I'm not ready to give up on Samus yet, Ghor."

"Optimism..." he grieved. "Such a gift it is..."

Disregarding his melancholy, I compelled, "You want lunch? Maybe food'll inspire us." I didn't wait for his response, shaking his shoulder rouse him. "C'mon."

Without any consideration about it, I grabbed his arm and leapt over the balcony edge, plummeting to the rows of tables far, far below. Ghor was wrenched from his gloomy stupor, hollering in fear as the heads of the Mess Hall attendees became larger.

"Run-DAAAS!" His limbs flailed and jerked before I shot ice beneath my feet, seconds from an unforgiving landing on the tables. We soared above people's heads, a trail of ice marking our path, and melting harmlessly onto tables and people's scalps into sheets.

Hovering above a vacant aisle, I ceased pumping water into my soles, and landed gracefully on my feet. Ghor, however, scraped against the floor and toppled onto his face, shaking.

Laughing, I nudged him with my toe. "Everything okay, Ghor? You look a little queasy." Surrounding Mess Hall goers, confused with their hair wet, found Ghor's position humorous, and began to mutually laugh.

Groggy, he eased himself upright. "What a blessing it is that I do not possess your abilities, Rundas. That was needlessly horrendous." He tiredly glared at me. "Please, never perform a stunt like that again, with me in tow!"

"Hah. Anything you say, buddy. Come on, I'm hungry! Let's eat!" Racing for the serving counters, I pulled him along and we began serving ourselves. I was starving, plus glad to eat something other than bland hospital food, so I heaped my plate to its edges.

Usually, GFED food was disgusting beyond consumption. Today, however, I was excited, scheming, and frankly, too nervous to really bother with the taste and appearance. Once Ghor and I had sat ourselves down, I shredded the charred meat I had picked out and shoveled it into my mouth. That, along with the grossly-smelling vegetables and seasoned grains, had disappeared from my plate in a flash. Even the dessert (a small cupcake iced pink) did not last long.

Ghor ate as fast as I did. Once his plate was barren as well, he sat back on his bench and patted his stomach in satisfaction. "Thank you for suggesting lunch. I had not realized how hungry I was. The stress of this holiday has been most taxing." He guzzled the last of his glass of water.

I discarded my napkin. "No problem. My stomach was rumbling all throughout my brainstorming session; it was driving me crazy. I had to eat something or I'd starve."

Ghor pushed his plate away from his elbows. "Well, I may not have gotten any ideas by eating, but it was gratifying, nonetheless. Did anything come to you?"

I shook my head in defeat. "No. Wish something would, though. I'd hate to face Samus empty handed... "

His prompting charisma had returned. "Then why are we just sitting here? We should be devising ways to romance our huntresses! Come along, Phrygisian! Shall we?"

The motion was contagious, and I regained my enthusiasm. "Let's go!"

Before we had the chance to even rise from our seats, a commotion from the Mess Hall door stopped us. Cheering, staring, and welcomes issued from the people around us, many of them standing. Peeking over the multitude, my heart stopped when the figures of Gandrayda and Samus (equipped in her Varia Suit) appeared in my field of vision.

To my relief, the two didn't seem to be mutilated from their vacation. Wherever Tallon IV was, it had not wracked them physically. Although putting on smiles for the Galactic Federation, the two were clearly inspecting the place resolutely. Gandrayda's bright purple eyes were scanning each face, and I had no doubt that Samus's were as well behind her visor.

I quickly ducked, though inside I was screaming manically. "It's Samus and Gandrayda!" I cheerfully muttered to Ghor, whose facial luminescence proceeded to blaze yellow in surprise. "Samus is walking! She's walking! I gotta go say hi-"

Ghor seized my armor's collar and tugged me under the table, startling the pairs of legs that were already occupying the space. The table itself creaked as we budged it. "Are you out of your mind? The Admiral clearly stated we keep our plans confidential!" he furiously whispered.

"He did?" I said stupidly.

Huddled under the darkness of the table, Ghor's face glowed, tinting me a loose red. "Yes! I know that Samus is very alluring, and Gandrayda... is... as well..." He rambled off dreamily, the red lightening to a warm pink. "Mm..."

I swatted him across the cheekmetal-sweet payback!-to catch his attention. "Ghor! You were saying?"

He blinked and pounded his fist into his forehead softly. "Yes, right! But you mustn't let your guard down!"

"You can't either! That little starry-setback you did just now, is forbidden to you too!" I scolded. "Don't forget!"

His brows furrowed weakly. "Of course. Now, in order to abstain from becoming lonesome old men like Dane, we must keep secret and as incognito as possible from Gandrayda and Samus. They must not discover our plans for their valentines."

Something was wrong with this equation. I muttered in confusion, "Uh, what exactly are our plans for their valentines?"

That struck him silent. "Hm... That would make sense. Argh, why couldn't we think of anything? How can we keep our valentines secret if we have no valentines?"

"Dunno." I was suddenly walloped by a brilliant idea. "Hey! Now that Samus and Gandrayda here, we should try and find out what they like!"

Ghor made a face. "I fail to understand your meaning, Rundas."

"Think about it: we don't know a lot about them. If we study them, or whatever, we could get info on their interests, that way we have insight on what we could get them for Valentine's and stuff. Kind of like, reading a book."

He understood, a clever smile taking his face. "I think you may have saved us a womanless fate, Rundas. A stroke of genius, I should say."

I cocked my head proudly. "It was nothing. But wait, how do we spy on them without their detection? Samus's suit is bound to see us-that Chozo tech doesn't miss anything!"

A wicked cognizance hinted Ghor's eyes. He knew something I didn't. Something good. "I may have just remedy. We need a way of sneaking out of here without notice, though." Poking his head from our hideout, he took in the condition we were in, with our huntresses merely a few steps away. Returning his head, he asked, "Have any suggestions?"

I looked up at the table's underside. "I may have one. It's stupid, but it could work."

Ghor, in his interest, provoked me. "Educate me." I smiled.

A few minutes later, we had managed to goad each person sitting at our table away. With Ghor knelt behind me at the far end of the table, his head was craned against it, as were his shoulders. I was in an equal position, only at the head of the table, nearest to one of the exits.

"You ready?"

Ghor nodded, thumping his brain into the table in the process. He winced before accepting. "Let's go!"

Grunting beneath the table's weight, I lifted myself upright with my legs. Ghor did the same, as the rear of the table followed suit. I quickly gripped the table's edge and flipped it, Ghor mimicking, and soon we were supporting the table. Its flattened side was facing the welcoming throng surrounding Samus and Gandrayda. If my planning was correct, the admirers and their pair of attention-getters would be oblivious to a table walking its way out of the Mess Hall. If I were the one with Samus, I know I would have overlooked.

Motioning with my head towards the door, Ghor and I began steadily sauntering forward. Both of us puffing in our trek, we eventually snuck past everyone present in the Mess Hall, and slipped our way slowly into the abutting corridor.

Once out, we rotated and set the enormous table against a wall, where it fell with a mighty boom. The computer screens above our heads rattled, as did the door frame.

"Do you think anyone heard that?" Ghor asked, watching both ends of the passage, paranoid.

"I'm not staying to find out. Let's get outta here." With a final glance to the door into the Mess Hall, the two of us sprinted as fast as we could away from it, down the corridor, and into the nearby elevator.

I collapsed into the elevator's wall when the solid-impermeable shield sealed away the shaft's entrance. Ghor collapsed with me, wiping oil from his forehead and breathing quickly.

"I was doubtful that that would succeed," he breathed. "An enormous, self-moving table would have at least attracted some form of consideration."

"True," I panted. This kind of strain on my body hadn't been covered in physical therapy. "But when you're watching Samus, it's impossible to look away." I swallowed. "So, you had some place in mind? Where to?"

He airily chuckled. "Elevator: the Weapons Cache, please." The lift shuddered in his request, a beep signifying that it understood. It began to chug up the shaft.

"Weapons Cache?" I wondered, a tad perplexed. "Why there?"

Ghor exhaled thoughtfully. "Rundas, have you ever heard of invisibility suits?"

Upon entrance to the Weapons Cache, I goggled at the shelves completely stocked to the brim with a magnitude of weaponry and armor. Guns and grenades, swords and shields, whips and mines as far as the eye could see. It was a humbling sight. And everything was polished to blinding perfection in the artificial overhead lighting.

Ghor lead me to a far, distinct corner of the Cache, explaining on the way. "During my free time in your hospitalization, I visited this Cache weekly in pursuit of the finest alloys for my upcoming armor models. The Galactic Federation has access to leagues of different metals from every galaxy ever documented, making them rich with knowledge of the strengths, weaknesses, and atomic makeup of each. As you can see, I not only come here for the metal, but also the weapons."

"Whoa. I need to hook myself up in this place for sure..." I murmured in awe, stroking the barrel of a gigantic rocket launcher resting on a padded shelf.

Ghor stopped in front of a large, glass case containing a pair of glistening, mysterious, smoky-silver armor sets. "Their collection is glorious, yes? These invisibility suits have been my primary source of study, aside from the alloys, of course."

Their sleek beauty was hypnotizing. I touched the glass covering one of the suits, mystified. "I think I'm in love."

He laughed. "Now, now, however lovely this suit is, it cannot return your affection. Save that for an organic being. But," He typed in a code on a console, and the glass vanished from my fingers. "It can provide you with the necessary unseen capabilities desired by the wearer."

He unlatched a forearm piece from the model, sliding a cover to reveal a large, white switch. "Observe." Flipping the switch, my eyes widened when the suit itself dissolved like the glass did, leaving an empty space on the wall, and Ghor seeming to be holding nothing. "Completely gone. Not a hint at all of their presence; not on my sensors, even!"

I beamed. "Wow! Suit me up, Ghor! I gotta try this!"

Concurring, Ghor re-revealed the suit and removed it tenderly from its hooks. Disassembling it carefully, he helped me lay the pieces onto my body, where they fit miraculously well. He taught me how to slide the hatch away on the wrist, where the white latch winked prettily at me. Unable to hold in my euphoria, I flicked it. My body dematerialized before my view enchantingly.

I turned towards Ghor, who was wide eyed and restraining a snigger. He seemed to be looking directly at me. "Ghor! This is amazing! I'm gone!" I waved my non-existent arms.

While I laughed jubilantly at my success, he mumbled, "Not... entirely..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" His tone was discomforting.

Ghor pointed to a mirror on the wall. "See for yourself."

Turning, I screamed, "GAAHH!" Every inch of my body was absent. Everything except for my head. "I'm a floating head! How did this happen?"

Ghor held up the helmet that belonged to my suit. His voice was backed by laughter. "You being a Phrygisian... your head will not quite fit into the helmet... You see, they were made for Galactic Federation Troopers, not for Phrygisians."

"But I can't go spying on Samus like this! I can't do anything like this!" I blurted. "Does yours fit?"

Equipping the other invisibility suit, Ghor activated it as well. He placed the helmet over his head easily, and he had completely disappeared to my eyes. His voice carried from the air, "My head is much smaller than yours, Rundas."

I groaned and whipped back to the mirror, where my disembodied head frowned back at me. "Gaah, what can I do?"

Ghor's voice was extremely close. "Nothing, I am afraid. It appears you must continue this valentine snooping as you are. I fear if we try to fit the helmet on, we will break it." My helmet drifted before me independently. "There is an exceedingly high investment on this equipment. In fact, we probably should not even be wearing these."

I glared at my reflection. "Ya coulda told me that!" Running my invisible hand over my face, I sighed in vanquish. "Guess there's nothing else we can do. Let's go."

Ghor removed his helmet, sympathetically smiling. "All you have to do is run fast, all right? Hide behind objects, and the sort. Since only your head is visible, Samus's suit will confuse itself and display garbled tracking signals."

"Okay," I grumbled.

He patted my shoulder. "Good luck, Rundas. Take good observations. We will remain together and follow Gandrayda and Samus as one. I will inform you of any evasive maneuvers you must take, all right?" He reapplied his helmet, his footsteps tapping away from me towards the Weapons Cache exit. "Onward!"

"Onward," I halfheartedly said, and pursued him towards the door.

Caution gurgling inside me, I pressed myself against the doorway, peeking around and into the hall. I saw no one, luckily, before Ghor's voice sounded from the end of the passage. "Clear!"

I ducked my head out of embarrassment and heed, following the clicks of Ghor's feet throughout Olympus. At every corner we turned, I would squeeze my head into a shadowed nook in the wall, awaiting his clearance.

Either I was already getting insecure about all this, or someone was watching me sneak around. Whenever I checked the perimeter, I could only find the air grates in the ceiling, where the suspicious feeling would emanate the most. As quickly as I suspected, the sensation would dissipate till the next time I stopped. Then so on, and so on.

We progressed quickly, searching every floor for Samus and Gandrayda. Occasionally, the halls we traveled through were inhabited by personnel. Waiting for them to leave was the most heart-pounding part of this incognito mission. Ghor's, "Clear!" beckons quickly became sanctuary calls by the time we had finally located them, relaxing on recliners in the Parlor Chamber.

The sheer population of this room made a fearful squeak rip from my throat. I dove behind a large, cushioned chair close to me, hitting my head on something unseen.

Ghor grunted. "That was my leg, Rundas. Superb job on the prowling, by the way," he uttered in an undertone.

"Sorry, leg. Oh and, er, thanks." Gathering myself into a kneel, I watched Samus and Gandrayda from around the chair's arm. They were calmly chatting, Gandrayda cuddled into her chair, while Samus twisted something between her fingers, helmetless. Her hair captivated me.

Long minutes of silence passed. "So... we're listening now?" I asked.

Ghor agreed. "We're listening, gathering information, and then we will conclude what valentines we must give. Simple."

The instance of his voice billowing from my shoulder still ruffled me. Shaking my unease, I hid further behind the chair and focused on the charming purr of Samus's voice. I didn't pay much attention to anything else. Not even her words mattered. As I shut my eyes and pictured her in the fantasies of my mind, the gift I would give her slowly but surely flooded my brain with inspiration.

What was the one thing that Samus Aran used the most in her life? Effortlessly, I deduced that it was armor. She wore her Varia Suit constantly. It was her main protection from the hostile environments she set foot into, and also doubled as her means of defense.

I had always admired that suit of armor. It was elegant and beautiful, yet fearsome and fatal if challenged. I knew that personally. The only thing I disliked about it was its color scheme. To me, the Chozo had absolutely no taste.

Phrygisians were fond of blues, greens, and purples; thus I was as well. If I couldn't alter the Varia Suit itself, maybe I could add something to it to change the aesthetics?

My eyes flipped open. My Valentine's Day gift to Samus had been born! "She's going to love it!" I tittered to myself.

The distant, delightful giggling of Gandrayda startled me in the slightest, but I swiftly recovered and peeked around the chair's edge. Her recliner was turned towards me, as were her eyes. I cowered into the shadows with the horrific inkling that she knew I was there.

I reached for Ghor, but my hands gripped empty air. "Ghor!" I whispered in distress. Where did he go? Who would guide me through the halls back to the Cache safely? "Ghor!"

A soft kneading of cotton material came from the chair I slouched behind, and a human face blocked the light from the ceiling. Whoever it was raised an eyebrow in discombobulation, his mouth hanging open.

I smiled, inwardly mortified. "Uh... hi."

"What are you doing back there?" he wondered.

Stuttering, I maundered purposelessly. "You know, long story short, I was just... I was just doing... thoroughly nothing. So, you can go back to your relaxing... I'll just be leaving..." Worried that he might blab to the Admiral about this, I swing a fist into his forehead with such force that he fell unconscious. "Bye, sir!"

Snatching a potted ficus, I rose from my position and rocketed for the exit, holding the plant behind my head to disguise it from any following eyes. Heads turned at the magically levitating pot, shirking leaves as it retreated, panting. Weighty stares succeeded me till the door sealed itself, and I was in the hall alone.

Frustrated at Ghor's inconvenient absence, I threw the ficus into the floor, where its pot shattered in an explosion of dirt. "How could he just abandon me like that?" I hissed to my invisible feet. "Who gave him the authority to leave me bodiless with Samus in the room? I could've been caught..."

Deactivating the invisibility suit, I frowned at the shiny, cloudy steel. "When I find him, I'm giving him a piece of my mind..." I decided to head for the first place he would most likely be: his assigned quarters.

Now that I wasn't playing ninja, the journey through Olympus and to Ghor's room was a breeze. Not once did I flinch away from someone in the hall, or have the need to throw myself into a corner and check the inhabitants in the adjacent passage. I strolled pleasurably past people and up ramps and stairs, exchanging fair greetings. After twenty minutes of travel, I arrived at Ghor's door.

Before I could knock, I stubbed my toe on something. "Ow!" Glancing down in minor pain, I found one of the air grates resting near my throbbing toe. It had been ripped from its usual place above my head, leaving behind a gaping black hole in the ceiling.

Weird... I didn't give much care for it, and rapped upon the door.

"Ghor! Are you in there?"

No response.

I knocked harder. "Ghor?" Still nothing. Pressing my head to the door, I faintly heard the sharp whooshing of a welder, and the Wotan's content humming. Realizing he had probably thought of a present for Gandrayda and was working on it, I chose to be benign and not barge in on him, fuming at his deserting me.

Letting him work, I crossed the hall and entered my room, eager to begin my own work on Samus's gift.

The sight of my frozen room made me smile. It had a high ceiling, a large bed, and total thermostat control at the command of my voice. I had added a few homey touches to it a while back: ice sculptures and art that I had crafted myself. A few ice-made weapons lay here and there in subzero casing, shimmering gorgeously when I flipped on the light. I was surprised none of it had melted. My half-destroyed PED Suit hung on a Phrygisian-shaped model in the corner as a reminder of my past doings.

No sooner had I walked in when I stubbed my toe yet again. Shouting in annoyance this time, I kicked the perpetrating air grate across the room. "Where are you coming from?" I screamed at it, embedded into the wall.

A gale from the ceiling made me look up into a hole similar to the one outside Ghor's room. "What the...?" I couldn't quite reach it due to its height, and was nonetheless bizarrely curious. Freezing it shut with my palm, I neglected it blithely and approached my bed, where the objects on top of the sheets had caught my eye.

Sitting in a shining heap were several chunks of finely crafted steel. They shone quite handsomely, painted a variety of chilling blues and whites. Picking one of them up and lightly bending it, I found the alloy to be quite flexible.

Squinting, I said aloud, "All right, what's the catch?" I waited for anything to answer back, but as with Ghor, I remained in silence.

The ravishing shades of blue were gnawing at me. This was the exact metal I needed to make Samus's valentine; they were perfect! How would I miss a chance like this? I had no access whatsoever to anything else, and it seemed that the universe had delivered these specifically to me. Gritting my teeth, I rubbed the soothingly cold metal.

"Thank you, universe," I credited aloud as well, sitting down to begin my work. "I hope she'll like this..." A small voice in the back of my head assured me that Samus definitely would, then crept away.

I thought I recognized that voice... Or was I just imaging it?

Valentine's Day's getting to my head...

Over the next half hour or so, I bent, froze, and reshaped the metal so gracefully bestowed upon me into attachable plating. Specific grooves in the edges of the pieces would hook onto the jutting parts of Samus's Varia Suit.

The plating designed to fit onto her thighs, biceps, hand, and shoulder pads was the deep, oceanic blue. The remaining glossy white attachments would fasten to her breastplate, helmet, forearm, calves, and feet smoothly. Pleased with my work, I gingerly hid the pieces beneath my sheets, covering the subsequent ridges with the pillow from the head of the bed.

While immersed within my project, I had utterly forgotten that Ghor was my partner in this whole valentine venture. Leaving my room, I jogged into the hall only to be greeted by Ghor's jolting wail surging from the cracks in his door.

His outburst had hollowed out my stomach in fear. I pounded on his door fretfully, hollering, "Ghor! Are you all right? What's going on?"

His wailing ceased, but I clearly heard his heightened, panicked breathing. "Go away, whoever you are!" he replied raggedly. The clunking coming from within the room signified he was searching for something, and he was kicking up dirt. "Oh, where is it?"

Banging the door again, I forced, "Ghor, it's me, Rundas! Let me in!"

The clunking quieted. "How do I know it's you? Tell me something that only the real Rundas would know! Then I will let you in!"

Seeing through his repulsions, I wove through my memories with Ghor. "You think I'm Gandrayda?" He went quiet, awaiting my confessions. "Ugh, fine. Um, back on Norion, during the training session with the other hunters, you were cornered by Samus. She totally kicked your butt 'cause you didn't have your weapons rebuilt from the damage she did on them in Elysia."

For a minute, the door and I watched each other. "Uh... Ghor?"

The second I cut off, the door slid, and a hand shot out to seize my armor's collar. Ghor yanked me into the room without warning, whiplashing my head back roughly. "Aah!"

Stumbling inside, I landed on hands and knees atop the equation-riddled floor. The door whisked itself shut, and I straightened to turn to Ghor, who I felt behind me. "You know, courteously asking me in would've suffice-"

"STOP-right-there, Rundas," he vigorously growled, locking my muscles mid-swivel. "Look away from the door, please."

I made a face. "What? Why should I-"

"If you will not cooperate, I will throw back out there!" Ghor commanded. "Look away!"

"Okay, fine," I complied, turning my head towards a digital display of the Periodic Table on the wall. "I'm looking away. Is there any reason why I am?"

Ghor hesitated before answering. "Currently... I am in the nude..."

"WHAT?" I shrieked.

Without thinking, I had turned to look at him, propped against the door with his arms wrapped around himself. To my further shock, I found Ghor to be nothing but a lean, jumbled figure comprised of wires. The only part of him I recognized was his face.

Ghor glared at me, his lights pulsing blood red. "I told you not to look! I was sparing you this sight!" He hung his head. "I am hideous..."

Gawking, I asked in flustered manner, "What happened? Where's your armor?"

He raised his head and mournfully sighed. "I have no idea. I had removed it to safely restore the integrity of the invisibility suit before I merged with it. After I finished my valentine for Gandrayda, it had all disappeared!"

A cog swirled in my brain. "Just like that?"

"Yes..."

Uh oh. Thinking back to the newly forged steel hidden beneath my bed, I was stabbed with guilt. How had Ghor's armor ended up in my room, painted the desired colors I wanted?

Unless...

That voice in my head; the grating littering the floors around Ghor's and my room; how she had giggled in the Parlor Chamber...

Gandrayda!

I cleared my throat, capturing Ghor's attention. "Hey, Ghor... I have something to tell you..."

Spitting out Wotan words I dared not comprehend, Ghor slapped on the last of my invisibility armor onto himself. My explanation of the chaos we had been dealing with had erupted a new aura I had never seen in him other than when he was merged with his armor suit.

Gandrayda, being the clever Jovian she was, had been following us around throughout our entire spying expedition on her and Samus. The disturbing, paranoid feeling I had had when roaming Olympus's halls? Gandrayda morphed into some sort of smaller creature that could advance in the air ducts with ease.

The disappearance of Ghor's armor and finding it in the perfect condition for me in my room? Gandrayda, of course. She had somehow been listening to me in the Parlor Chamber.

Ghor was livid. He had maybe an ounce of love for her still, but the rest of it was stark anger. I couldn't blame him, though. If Gandrayda had messed with me like that, I would have been fuming as well. I vaguely wondered if she had noticed our reactions.

Maybe she was watching us right now.

"Of my feelings for her, and she dares to pull a trick like this upon me? The most rude, inconceivable, undeniable ungratefulness I have ever seen in my days!" His wrathfulness gradually steaming away, Ghor sadly picked up the present he had made himself and lifted it to eye level. "Should I even give this to her?"

The valentine was beautiful. It was a thick halo made from a white metal, that was glamorously effulgent in any light. Ghor had managed to create an anti-gravity radiating module small enough to fit inside the halo, giving it the ability to float above whoever's head it was bonded. A smidgen of Gandrayda's blood had linked the device to her head only; it would not float for anyone else.

I patted his shoulder. "Why not? Maybe she'll see she was wrong and apologize for this fiasco."

He sighed. "You believe so?"

"Hey, miracles happen. Even if they involve Gandrayda." I smiled at him. "Don't give up."

Ghor gripped the halo hopefully. "All right, then. Well, seeing as both our gifts are completed, shall we present them to our huntresses?"

Gathering my tinted armor pieces, I nodded. "Yeah! Let's go."

Ghor and I approached the door to his room in silence. We didn't have to open the door ourselves, seeing as it recessed into the wall on its own. We both froze when the doorway revealed Samus and Gandrayda, their hands behind their backs, waiting for us.

My body temperature rapidly increased when Samus's twinkling gaze met mine. Our eyes interlocked smoothly, and I broke into a sweat. Dazzling as ever in her sapphire Zero Suit, her shiny blonde hair flowed like water in the gusts from the AC. I experienced the urge to drop all my cargo and collect her in an embrace.

"Rundas!" she sweetly exclaimed. "You're out of the hospital!"

"Y-yeah, I am. Just got out this m-morning," I croaked. Gandrayda giggled.

She looked to Ghor. "Aww, you got new armor? I was hoping I'd sneak a peek at what's under there. Why did you lock your door behind you, huh?"

His cheeks flushed a fiercely embarrassed red. "Because I am modest?"

Even as nervous as I was, I laughed at that. Samus and Gandrayda joined in, while Ghor attempted to as well. He merely became redder and redder.

"So, Rundas, Ghor," Samus started once the laughter cleared. "How was your Valentine's Day? Quite an experience, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Intense."

"But it was remarkably enjoyable," Ghor added on. "I have had more fun this one day than I have had in years."

Gandrayda crossed her arms, grinning. "Did you have fun with that table? I found it hilarious."

I jumped. "You saw that?"

She gave me a look that was blatant. "Well of course. Who misses an enormous, fifteen foot table leaving a lunchroom? Not the most inconspicuous gesture, Rundas. I saw the whole thing."

Ghor punched my arm. "I knew that that would not work!"

"But we didn't want to spoil your fun, so we kept quiet about it," Samus said, intervening a snappy comeback I was about to launch. "In fact, Gandrayda and I really appreciate all that you've done today. It means a lot to us."

Ghor was disbelieving. "It does?"

"Even all that sneaking around while I was a disembodied head?" I pondered aloud. My remark aroused more laughter from my company.

"Even that," Samus affirmed. "Oh! I almost forgot something." Queueing Gandrayda with her eyebrows, both Samus and Gandrayda brought up items from behind their backs. "The tradition of having only the men give gifts on Valentine's Day is a little one-sided, in my opinion. We got these for you."

Ghor and I inspected our own valentines. Gandrayda held in her hands a wide computer chip, ingrained within it an array of colors and geometric patterns. "I thought long and hard about what to get you, since you're a robot, Ghor."

He seemed touched. "You did?"

"Yup. So I found this. It's a drive that will allow you to change the appearance of your armor at will. It's kind of like a mechanical version of my shapeshifting abilities." Gandrayda rolled her eyes. "Took me an eternity to find, so you better like it."

Placing the chip in his hands, Ghor stared at it. With a captivated glister in his eyes, he inserted the chip into a slot in the nape of his neck. We waited a few moments before his face lit up in rainbows, and he shivered violently.

"Well? Is it working?" I asked when he stood still once more.

He blinked rapidly. "The data in this chip is phenomenal! Look! I can appear to be," -his armor grew shifty and white- "furry," -it then hardened to a rough, scaly hide, colored tan- "reptilian," -Ghor's armor transformed again into a rippling, shimmering form, an aqua in a variety of shades- "or liquid!" Sunny with a smile, Ghor enveloped Gandrayda in a grateful hug, utterly disremembering his attitude earlier of contempt towards her. "Thank you, Gandrayda! Thank you ever so much!"

She was taken aback by his happiness. "Yeah! Anything, Ghor! Anything!"

He pulled away, holding out his valentine for her. Her eyes lit up when she saw the halo, shining in his hand. "I made this for you. No matter what, you will always be my angel, Gandrayda."

Ghor released the halo, it now shaking wildly. It whizzed up to Gandrayda's spiked hair plumes, hovering serenely in its place above her head. Whenever she turned her head around, it would follow her movement exactly. She was amazed.

"Ghor... you're AWESOME!" she cried, throwing herself onto him. "I love you so much!" Ghor laughed shrilly when Gandrayda planted her lips onto his.

Samus stole my attention from Ghor and Gandrayda. They seemed to vanish from the room. "I have something for you too, Rundas." She held up the most incredible necklace I had ever seen.

Wide enough for my neck, it was braided with hawklike precision in every strand from a fiber I was unfamiliar with. Knotted to it were four various, tiny trinkets, each attracting my eye acutely.

The first was a perfectly round, smooth, pale blue stone, its only flaw the hole punctured through it by the necklace. The second charm was a miniature vial filled with water, a sliver of ice within it. The vial dangled, noticeably more jutting than the stone.

The third trinket was a pair of small, blanched, blunted talons. They appeared aged. The fourth trinket was an impressive glass carving of a Phrygisian hand.

Once I was through admiring the immense detail of the charms, Samus began speaking again, melting my soul like wax. "I went on a planetary raid to get these charms for the necklace. The stone is from the tundra on Tallon IV called the Phendrana Drifts. If you break through the frozen rivers, this is what the river rocks look like.

"The vial is filled with regular water, and a sample of the unmelting ice from Bryyo Ice." Samus smiled faintly, remembering something. "I thought it was appropriate, seeing as I couldn't find Phrygis on any of my maps.

"The talons are from the Chozo Ruins on Tallon IV as well. I came across the grave of one of my ancestors, the Chozo, and requested I take a few memories from it. His ghost, after a little fighting, gave me permission to give these a better home.

"This carving took me weeks to perfect. When I had nothing else to do in the hospital while my legs were healing, I exercised my hands in the skill of carving. I went through countless cubes of glass to make this." Samus gestured that I lean down. Obeying, she placed the necklace over my head and comfortably around my neck, where it sat in exemplar fashion at my collarbone. "Do you like it?"

I fingered the carving thoughtfully. "Of course I like it! I love it!" Scooping her into a one-arm hug, I squeezed her thankfully. "Thank you very much, Samus! I've never loved anything else more..." I let her go and eyed her features. "Except for you."

Her eyebrows shot ceilingward, and she blushed. "You're welcome, Rundas. And, thank you, for the compliment."

With butterflies fluttering psychotically inside me, I held out the armor pieces. "I uh, made these for you."

She touched the thigh piece. "Ooh. What do they do?"

"They attach to the grooves in your Varia Suit. With these armor attachments, you won't have to keep the standard orange color anymore. I got blue and white for you instead."

Picking one of the blue attachments, Samus smiled into its reflection. "Blue is my favorite color! How did you know?"

Score! "Er... lucky guess? It's my favorite color too." I paused. "Do you like them?"

"I love them, Rundas. How could I not? These are the best gifts I've ever gotten!" Samus hugged me in return, and I succumbed to my arm's desires, dropping all her Varia attachments.

I freaked out. "Aw, crap! I'm sorry, Samus! I didn't mean-"

Samus's lips were tickling my ear. "Rundas... can I ask you something?"

Her voice immediately put my staggering on kibosh. My voice lowered to a mumble. "What's that?"

"Will you be my valentine?"

My heart almost exploded, it was so overjoyed. "You know the answer to that. Yes. Yes, yes, yes! Of course I will, Samus!"

Smiling, she rested her forehead on mine, staring into my very soul.

Her lips entwined with mine, and the two of us passionately kissed with zeal.

Before I had the time to process her giving me another kiss, she pulled away.

"Good."

That's it! Did you like it, Vocaloid?

Anyone else?

Reviews are appreciated. :) Thank you! See ya later!