The following is a non-profit, fan based work.

All Mega Man X characters are property of CAPCOM.

Please enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Understanding Dreams

She laid there on the cold floor, her body burning with pain, feeling as thought it was being torn apart. She looked up at the man holding her in his arms, his face filled with sorrow, tears flowing uncontrollably.

"Iris, please! Hang in there!", he pleaded. She wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay, that she just needed to rest. But she knew the truth. She wouldn't survive this. He held her closer to him, trying to fathom what was going on. He couldn't lose her, nor could she lose him.

"Zero…", she softly spoke, the pain clear in her voice, "Please, stay away from Repliforce. Let's live together, in a world where only reploids exist."

"Iris, there is no world just for reploids! It's only a fantasy.", he cried. He hated to be the one to shatter her dreams, and by extension his own.

"I know. But, I wanted to believe it. I wanted to live there…with you.", she admitted as she weakly reached her hand out to touch his cheek. He placed his hand on her own and cupped it together between both of his. He couldn't take it anymore, he wanted to believe this was all just another nightmare.

"Iris…", he pleaded, "…don't leave me. Please…"

She lowered her eye lids slightly and smiled at him, before they shut completely and her head fell to one side. She could hear Zero gasp, and she felt as though the darkness was starting to overtake her mind. She was falling deeper and deeper into a strange slumber. All she could hear, faintly in the distance, was his crying voice.

"Iris! IRIS! IIRRRRRIIIIISSSSSSSSS!"

. . .

Iris awoke screaming, thrashing about wildly as she tried to escape from the darkness.

"No! No! NO!", she screamed, as shaking her head violently.

"Hey, hey! Iris, relax!", a familiar voice said as a pair of hands came down onto her shoulders, causing her eyes to open instantly. The world came back into view, and she looked around. She wasn't at the Final Weapon anymore, she was in a room she recognized as that of a certain crimson hunter.

"What? Where…where am I?", she asked, still feeling dazed. She turned her head and saw a familiar face that gave her relief. His blue eyes with a caring look inside of them, a soft smile, and of course that flowing blonde hair. She began to relax, she knew she wasn't dead after all.

"What's wrong?", he asked softly, "Did you have a bad dream?"

"Y-Yes. It was horrible, the worst I've ever had.", she said. He could feel her shaking, so he wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to calm her frayed nerves.

"Shhhh…It's okay. It's over now.", he said. The word 'over' rang in her head, as she began to shake even harder and breathe heavier. Sensing this, he immediately began to caress her back slowly, trying to reduce her anxiety. It seemed to work, as her breathing slowly went back to it's previous level.

"Zero…it was terrifying! I dreamt that…that the Repliforce…", she began. He began to change the motion of his caressing, changing it to a soft circular motion. She began to breathe normally, as she let the feeling of his touch across her body relieve some of her fear.

"You don't have to worry about Repliforce. Everything's been cleared up.", he assured her. Suddenly, her eyes went wide. She pushed away from him, stricken with fear at the meaning of his words. She began to shake again, not knowing what the answer to her next question would be.

"Z-Zero. What do you mean by that? Is my brother alright?!", she questioned him, causing her heart to begin pounding. He smiled softly.

"I mean, everything's fine. Repliforce was cleared of all charges regarding the Sky Lagoon incident. Your brother agreed to put away his weapons and came back here to HQ with me and X to plead his case, the commander listened to him, and we used what evidence we had to go after the real perpetrator.", he explained, the look in his eyes reassuring her.

"Is my brother here? Can you take me to see him?", she asked.

"Of course I can, darling. But you might want to cover yourself up a bit more.", he chuckled. Looking down, she saw she was wearing nothing but a pink tank top and navy blue panties. She blushed, and looked at Zero.

"Why am I wearing my night clothes again?", she asked. Zero gave her a perplexed look.

"You don't remember? Are you feeling alright?", he asked, his eyes showing concern. She paused and tried to regain her composure from the nightmare she had just experienced. She then saw an image of herself laying down with Zero, dressed for just such an occasion.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that I came here to spend some time alone with you while my brother watched TV. And then, things got warm…and close. Very close.", she said, blushing at the memory.

"Phew! I was scared you were suffering memory loss.", he said, "You had me worried there."

"Sorry.", she giggled, "I guess that bad dream rattled me more than I thought."

He got out of the bed and walked over to the wall, where various articles of clothing hung on hooks drilled into the metal. He grabbed a crimson robe and handed it to her. She quickly slipped it on and fastened it up, covering her revealing clothes.

"Those are for Zero's eyes only.", she thought. He took her by the hand and led her through the darkened hallways of the Maverick Hunter Base. She made sure to stick close to him as he felt his way around the walls, trying to navigate through the pitch blackness of the night. Within a few minutes, they came to a room where a light was emitting from inside. He motioned for her to remain quiet as he slowly turned the doorknob, opening the way to the room. They walked inside as he led her over to the couch, where she saw her brother fast asleep in the glow of the TV, with a blanket overtop him.

"I made sure to put that on him for you.", Zero whispered. She wrapped herself around his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, my love.", she whispered back. He stroked the top of her head lovingly. She walked over the her brother and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Sleep tight, dear brother.", she told him. Joining Zero, she wrapped herself around his arm once again as they made their way back to their room.

Once they had returned, Zero made sure to lock the door, as Iris slowly removed her robe to reveal her night clothes once again. Her back was turned to Zero, who couldn't help but turn red as he gazed upon her rather firm backside. She spun around, causing him to turn even redder as her breasts gave a slight bounce with the turn. She was smiling sweetly at him.

"Ready for bed, my brave lion?", she cooed. He led her over to the bed and gently laid her down on the mattress, climbing in beside her. He drew the blankets overtop of them and wrapped his arms around her.

"Zero?", she asked.

"Yes, my sweet?", he responded.

"Can you promise me something?", she said with a hint of concern in her voice. Zero sensed this and tightened his grip around her.

"Of course. I can promise you anything.", he said.

"I dreamt that the Repliforce was accused of being Mavericks after the Sky Lagoon incident, so they declared that they would build a nation only for reploids in the reaches of outer space. I was scared when my brother started the coup, so I came to the Maverick Hunters' base to be with you. Then, you fought my brother. I managed to break up the fight, but you refused to stop chasing Repliforce, claiming it was your duty as a hunter to do so. When you fought my brother again, you accidentally inflicted a fatal wound, killing him. The news drove me insane, and I forgot my love for you as vengeance filled my heart and mind. I journeyed to the Final Weapon to confront you, and merged my brother's 'fighting spirit' with my own programming. And then…we fought.", she explained as her eyes began to water.

"Iris…did I…kill you?", he asked in disbelief.

"No.", she sniffed, "You tried to reason with me but I didn't listen. My brother's programming turned out to be incompatible with my own, which caused my systems to crash. You rushed to my side, but it was too late. I died in your arms…and that's when I woke up." The tears began to flow from her eyes, as Zero sat up and immediately began to run his fingers through her hair.

"Listen, I promise nothing like that will ever happen. I would never bring any harm to you, or your brother. It wouldn't matter if it was my duty as a hunter to do so, I care about you too much to ever want to hurt you in any way.", he told her with a strong tone in his voice, telling her that he was serious.

"R-Really?", she said looking up.

"Really. If anything ever happened to you…I wouldn't be able to go on fighting. I would lose all purpose in life, not to mention my faith in life itself.", he said, "You mean the world to me, Iris. And besides, Repliforce has been cleared of all charges. We found the real criminal who caused Sky Lagoon."

"Who was it?", she asked.

"A hunter that both X and I knew. His name was Magma Dragoon. Needless to say, I was so blinded with rage that he tried to set up Repliforce that X and I smashed him to pieces!", he said, slamming his fist down into the comforter. Iris was taken aback by his sudden anger, and Zero quickly collected himself and took a deep breath. "But none of that matters, because you're safe, and no innocent reploids or humans lost their lives in the conflict that could've resulted if Colonel really had started a coup." He hugged Iris tightly, and she rested her head against his chest.

"You're right, Zero. Now then, let's move on to some…happier things.", she smiled as she came closer to him, throwing her arms around his neck and pushing her breasts against him. He began to blush uncontrollably as he felt a sensation down below. She then let go and laid on her back, spreading her legs far apart. "It's time for you to have some fun."

He knew exactly what to do. He bent down and brought his face close to Iris' panties, nuzzling his nose against them. Iris felt a surge of pleasure go through her, causing her to bite her lip to keep from moaning as her legs trembled. Zero then placed his fingers at the top of her panties, and began slowly move them down until he reached her womanhood, which he preceded to rub. Iris began to breath heavily as the feelings overwhelmed her.

"Oooooooooohhhh, Zero.", she moaned, "More. Please more."

He was more than happy to complie as he slipped her panties off her thighs and down to her ankles, then off completely. He then bent down close to her and began to lick her womanhood, causing her to gasp. He continued to lick and suck on her as she began to become wet. She felt her face growing extremely hot as Zero continued to pleasure her. As each passing second ticked away, she melted away into ecstacy and smiled.

"Zeeerroooo…", she moaned, "Keep going."

Zero began to suck much harder and lick much faster, making Iris gasp even louder, sending her deeper into her trance. She began to feel all of her stress and anxieties drain away as Zero sped up further. He began to stick his tongue into her, making her vaginal walls tighten. She could feel the force of her orgasm coming down on her.

"Zero…I'm…I'm going to…oh God!", she cried out. Zero then began swirling her tongue around inside of her walls, making her moan at the top of her lungs, almost to the point where she was screaming. Zero prayed that all this noise wasn't going to wake anybody up, especially the Colonel.

"I'm…I'm…AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!", she screamed as loud as she could as her juices burst forth, spilling into Zero's face and soaking the sheets. He wiped off his mouth, making sure to taste some of her juices as he did so. Iris smiled as she remained in her trance for a few moments before coming back to reality. She felt relived, the nightmare was gone from her mind.

"Thank you, Zero. I feel much better now.", she sighed happily as the two of them curled back up together. This time Iris turned and slept with her back against him. He put his arms around her waist and slid his crotch close to her rear.

"In the mood for a little spooning, I see?", he smirked.

"After a performance like that, how could I not be?", she giggled, " But come to think of it, why didn't you go in the traditional way?"

"Well I didn't want to hurt you in any way.", he chuckled as he rubbed her stomach, "After all, you are expecting."

THE END