The Love that Binds Them

Chapter 1: The Beginning of Something Special

Author's Notes: I've recently finished Xenosaga II, and because I absolutely love Jr. and MOMO, I've decided to write 20 one-shots based on this adorable couple. There's no sequential order to these stories, so Jr. and MOMO's ages might differ a bit for each one-shot. :)

This first one-shot takes place at the artificial beach on the Kukai Foundation during Xenosaga Episode I. I hope you all enjoy this! Please leave a review and tell me what you think about it! :)

Disclaimer: Much to my dismay, I do not own this wonderful game, but that won't stop me from using my imagination to create some more romance between this incredible pair! : D

The brilliant sun beamed brightly from above, immersing her with its rays and illuminating her strawberry-pink hair and porcelain skin with its warmth. The scent of sea-salt air and fresh seaweed fused together to form an almost natural aroma. Little MOMO could only describe the way she felt then as purely thrilled for the refreshing break, and hopeful—hopeful for the future being as bright as this day at the beach.

She giggled with delight as she played volleyball with her new friend, Jr. The sea-salt air kissed her rosy, sun-soaked cheeks and tickled her hair as she bounced up and down gleefully to hit the flying volleyball coming her way.

"Out of bounds!!" Jr. shouted animatedly, punching the air with his fist for scoring another point. "Here you go, MOMO!" He tossed her the ball so she could serve.

Although the sun here was artificial—as well as the entire beach, for that matter— MOMO felt energized from its light and, even more so, she felt free. For once, she wasn't troubled by any issues that had been occurring. The Gnosis, the U-TIC Organization's pursuit to abduct her—none of this mattered while she was here on this calm and quiet beach. Before she struck the ball again in the air, she looked over at Jr., who warmly beamed at her, his eyes sparkling with passion and excitement. She threw the ball in the air, jumped up, and struck it over to Jr.'s side so vigorously that he didn't even realize the ball landed behind him until moments later.

"Whoa! MOMO! That was an incredible hit!" He exclaimed. "I didn't even see that coming!!"

MOMO giggled and clasped her hands together. "Now it's a tie!"

Jr. chuckled before saying, "Well, we'll see about that after I serve this one!" He extended his arm in preparation for the serve, but just before he could strike the volleyball, he heard Shion shouting from afar.

"Lunch is ready, everyone!!" MOMO and Jr. heard her say.

Jr. turned to look at MOMO and smiled slyly. "Race you to the lunch booth, MOMO!" They both sprinted to the booth, laughing and kicking sand into the air, completely nonchalant and untroubled by any of the issues they had been perturbed with previously.

"Settle down now, children." Shion lightheartedly scolded the two while smiling, making sure to emphasize the word "children." She was pleased to see that Jr. and MOMO were able to act their own age for once. It silently broke her heart whenever she saw Jr. and MOMO behaving far more maturely than they should be. They deserved a break, as did everyone else.

"What's for lunch, Shion?" MOMO asked in between breaths. She wiped off a pearl of sweat from her forehead and caught her breath.

"Well, it's nothing special, but I grilled some cheeseburgers." Shion said, pushing her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and tucking a strand of her ginger hair behind her ear. "I bought some dill pickles and lemonade, too, if that's alright."

"Sounds great, Chief!" Allen piped in, walking towards the group with his flamboyant, green-and-white striped "bathing suit," although it appeared to be a jumpsuit more than anything. "Your cooking is always amazing, though, so I'm positive it won't be any different this time." Allen's attempt to sway Shion resulted in a mere, "Thank you, Allen" for a reply.

Before anyone could discern the disappointed look on Allen's face, however, Jr. cried out, "Sweet!! I'm starving!" and delved into the burger platter.

Soon afterwards, everyone was seated and started eating their meal. Jr. sat next to MOMO and decided it would be amusing to steal her food from her plate and watch her attempt to retrieve her stolen food items from his grasp. He seized her dill pickle from her hand and playfully swung it back in forth in a jokingly manner. He burst out laughing when he saw her tiny hands swatting the air in an effort to salvage her dill pickle. Though her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, he discerned a hint of a smile on her lips as she continuously tried to snatch the pickle out of his hand. In the midst of his bout of laughter, he heard a brief crunching sound and realized MOMO had managed to grab hold of the pickle with her mouth.

"That was pretty good." He commented, breaking into one of his mischievous smiles. Just as suddenly, he, too, latched onto the other end of the pickle with his mouth and started chewing on it. Through their giggling, the two chomped away at the pickle, their mouths reaching closer and closer together. When they reached the middle of the dill pickle, their noses touched, and MOMO felt a faint blush creep to her cheeks to match the tint of her hair. She looked at Jr. and noticed a dark crimson color rising in his cheeks as well. In an attempt to mollify the awkward situation, MOMO playfully pinched Jr.'s nose, causing him to pull back and lose his hold on the remains of the pickle. She caught the remaining pickle in her hands and popped it into her mouth.

"Looks like I win." She remarked with a coy smile, a hint of pink still smeared on her cheeks.

"Yeah…this time you did," Jr. replied, "but there are many more challenges to come, so beware." He couldn't refrain from flashing one of his renownful, sly smiles.

Meanwhile, Allen sat beside Shion, and inordinately praised her on how wonderful the meal was. "Really, Chief," he said between mouthfuls, "you should become a chef one of these days…Chief?"

Shion was, as usual, hard at work on her computer, analyzing KOS-MOS' data and emotional waves. "Oh…I'm sorry, Allen. Yes, I agree with you…"

Allen rolled his eyes in defeat, aware of the fact that she obviously hadn't heard a word he said. "Honestly, Chief, you need to relax a bit."

Shion immediately broke her glance from the screen and massaged her temples. "...You're right, Allen. I do need a break. I'm almost finished. It's just…KOS-MOS' recent behavior has been so perplexing to me. Her actions are so capricious, and she's just so stubborn…I'm getting too old for this." She attempted to make the last line of her speech a joke, but this stirred an uneasy feeling in a little Realian's stomach.

"She's…getting too old…?" MOMO whispered to herself, her heart starting to race.

Jr. decided to interrupt the conversation by saying, "Yeah, Shion, if you work this hard for much longer, you'll be digging yourself an early grave!" He chuckled at his own joke, but MOMO started to fret even more.

Shion's mouth cracked into a small smile after listening to Jr.'s teasing. "Well, death certainly seems much more relaxing and appealing right now! Working over twelve hours each day, and being bombarded with emails, questions and concerns from Vector employees can be quite stressful. On top of that, now I have to babysit KOS-MOS, too! Life is pretty frustrating right now."

Everyone chuckled after hearing that, but MOMO couldn't tolerate hearing more. She quietly slipped out of her chair and strolled through the sand to an isolated area surrounded by palm trees. There, she fell to the ground and brought her legs to her chest, huddling in contemplation.

"Everyone will die one day." MOMO thought to herself uncomfortably. "And then I'll be all alone…"

She felt two large, pearly tears trickle down her smooth face at the realization. She didn't know how long she remained huddling there between two palm trees, but her brooding over the death of her friends broke immediately when she heard her name being called a small distance away. Hastily, she wiped her tears from her face and pulled herself closer between the two palm trees she had placed herself to hide from the approaching person. She didn't want anyone to be concerned about her, especially since they had all been having such a wonderful day so far.

"There you are." A slightly scratchy, yet gentle voice said.

MOMO almost jumped up in alarm and looked up to see none other than Jr. gazing down at her concernedly. She turned her head the other way in order to hide the oncoming tears. She felt him sit down beside her, and she inhaled deeply to compose herself.

"You found me…" She murmured meekly, trying to sound cheerful as she cast her eyes on the ground.

"Yeah, you left the booth so suddenly that I hadn't even noticed. I was looking all over for you…Hey, are you okay?" He gently grabbed hold of her shoulders and turned her in the direction facing him. She refused to look up into his eyes until he placed a hand on her chin and gently brought her face up to his level.

MOMO desperately tried to focus on anything but his eyes so she wouldn't cry, and decided to focus on the calm waves beating against the sand. "Oh, it's nothing, really…" She said after a while. Jr., of course, wasn't credulous enough to believe that.

"MOMO," he started—and this time he cupped both his hands around her cheeks and brought his face directly in front of her own, "you can tell me anything."

The moment he said this, MOMO gazed directly into his eyes and felt a surge of oncoming tears in her eyes. His deep blue eyes gleamed like sapphires as he became impassioned and determined to cheer her up, and she knew his words were sincere.

"Jr…" She began, the tears already seeping out. "I'm scared…scared that one day, I will be all alone."

"MOMO, why do you think you'd be alone? You have so many friends."

"Because," her voice started to waver, "I'm a Realian. And everyone else is human. They have a lifespan, and one day, they're going to die. I'll be left alone because I can't grow old and die like they can..."

"MOMO…" Jr. started, and was heartbroken when he saw his friend burst into tears. He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, bringing her to his chest. He cursed at himself when he realized he was one of the reasons she was crying right now. The conversation about "Shion being too old" and "being willing to die" at the lunch booth was meant to be a lighthearted one, but now he understood how negatively it affected MOMO. "MOMO, please don't cry. I'm so sorry I made you feel this way. I didn't mean to upset you like this."

"It's not your fault, Jr…" He heard her sob from his shoulder.

"But MOMO, you have to hear me out." He pulled her back so he could look directly at her tear-stained face. "Shion, Allen, chaos, Ziggy, and KOS-MOS—they all have a long time to live before they die. More than half a century. Pretty long time, right?" He smiled sympathetically at her crestfallen face and brushed a tear from one of her glowing, golden eyes. "On top of that, you are the kindest person I know. I really mean that, MOMO. You are so nice that every person you meet, you'll become friends with. You'll never be alone."

"But…" MOMO stammered, her lips trembling. "I don't want to imagine my life without all of you in it…"

"MOMO, listen to me. Even when everyone is gone, they'll always be with you in spirit. They'll always be there for you."

"You're right…" MOMO said after a while. "I know you all will be there for me, but…I'll still miss you…"

Jr. brushed her hair out of her face. "MOMO, I have one more thing to say."

"What is it?" She asked sweetly, hope shining in her ocher eyes.

"You don't ever have to worry about being completely alone, because I'll always be by your side."

MOMO nodded. "I know, Jr. Even in death, you'll be there for me in spirit. Although I don't want to think about that ever occurring, I'm glad to know that I'll never be completely alone…"

Jr. shook his head. "No, I actually didn't mean it that way, MOMO. What I meant to say was: I will never die, either…"

MOMO fixed her eyes on him then, her mouth agape, surprised by his words. "What do you mean?"

Jr. couldn't suppress the smile creeping onto his face then and chuckled. "I meant exactly what I said, MOMO. I can't die. I can't grow any older than what I am now. Do you understand what that means, MOMO? I won't die from old age, because I can't grow. I'll always be here with you." He beamed as he said this, his eyes shimmering brightly under the radiant artificial sun.

MOMO found herself smiling with him, a look of pure joy etched on her innocent face. "Really, Jr…? You'll always be here, too?"

Jr. nodded feverishly, relieved to see her so merry again. "That's right! You'll never have to worry about being alone."

Overcome with sheer delight and relief, MOMO threw herself into Jr.'s arms once more. "Thank you so much, Jr.! I feel so much better, now!"

Jr. gently rubbed her back in a soothing manner. "I'm glad to hear that! I don't like seeing you so upset, MOMO. Now how about we get some rest? It's been one exciting day, but I'm starting to get a little tired."

MOMO released herself from the embrace and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm getting pretty tired, too. I just wish everyday was like today."

"Hey, this isn't the last time we'll come to this beach. That's a promise! I'm just glad you had such a good time, MOMO."

"Yes! This was the most fun I've ever had! I'm so happy we'll be coming other times, too! But you're right—we should get back to the Durandal and prepare for Second Miltia. Let's go!" She stood up and brushed the sand off her pink swimsuit, but before she proceeded to walk back to the launch pad, Jr.'s warm hand enveloped her own.

"Just a sec, MOMO." He said. "I want to show you one more thing." He fished out the remote from his swim trunks' pocket and pressed a large, blue button. "Check this out!"

MOMO glanced out onto the ocean and gasped. "It's so beautiful!"

The water's surface reflected a fusion of crimson and pink from the glowing sunset. The hot ball of fire appeared to be melting as it languidly descended from the sky.

Jr. was pleased to see the admiring expression on her face. "You see, MOMO? Life is truly beautiful. Both of our lives are just as promising as the beauty of all the stars above us. There's no need to worry. As long as we're together, everything will be fine."

MOMO was at a loss for words. Everything at that moment was perfect. Just knowing that Jr. would never leave her comforted her greatly. "You're right, Jr. Thank you so much for everything."

"Anytime," was his reply. "Now let's head back, MOMO." He said cheerfully. "Race you to the launch pad!!"

As MOMO followed behind him, struggling to catch up to him, she found herself laughing wholeheartedly. She knew, deep within her heart, that as long as Jr. was right there by her side, she had nothing to fear. This was the beginning of something new, the beginning of something very special, and she couldn't wait to see how the rest of her life unraveled.