Another short story from Xenoblade chronicles X. This time with Cross and Lin, Enjoy!

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In the early afternoon Cross walked into the outfitters firing range with a sniper rifle in hand. He was in the middle of aiming for the target when heard his name called.

"Oh, hey, Cross!" The voice surprised Cross and throw off his aim, missing the target.

Cross turned to see Lin behind him. "Hey Lin what's up?"

"You here to test a new weapon?"

"No, some idiot thought it'd be a good idea to use a sniper rifle as a club and bent the barrel. I just got this thing straightened and now I need to see if it still works. What have you been up to?"

"I was just wondering if I could maybe make the flight module's energy systems work a little more efficiently. I had a chance to talk it over with a mechanic from one of the arms manufacturers, you know?"

"Really now." Cross held the sniper rifle over his shoulder. "What was it like?"

"Man, the people working behind the scenes to develop state-of-the-art weapons sure do have a lot of interesting things to say! You wouldn't BELIEVE how rapidly technology is advancing here in New LA while we're out on deployment."

Cross kneeled down to Lin's eye level. "If you like to play with tools so much then wouldn't you prefer to be a full-time mechanic?"

Lin tapped her fingers together as she thought about the question. "Well, I guess I do get a teeeensy bit jealous of people who get to work with new technologies like that. But our work as BLADEs is equally important for weapons development, right?"

"True, field testing and all." Cross aimed at target and fired. The bullet missed the target and flow over it. Cross lowered the sniper rifle and pinched his nose. "I swear I'm gonna find the guy who broke this and show him what a real club is." Cross holstered the weapon over his back. "So, what ideas do you have for you flight module?"

"Remember when we saw that auravis flying through the sky during a mission?"

"Yeah I remember. Beautiful thing."

Cross and Lin walked out of the firing range and into sunlight. "I saw the way it stayed aloft while gliding, and that gave me the idea for a new tail assembly! It makes me glad I joined BLADE."

"Lin I know this means a lot to you but are you sure you're not pushing yourself to hard? There have been nights that you haven't come to the barracks."

Lin stopped and looked up to Cross. "I know you worry about me. And I appreciate it, Cross! I wouldn't be able to continue inventing things the way I do if I didn't have you and Elma watching out for me all the time."

"Maybe it would be better for you to focus on BLADE missions."

"Focus on BLADE missions? Oh... I thought I was doing okay out there, you know?" Cross placed his hands on his hips as he looked down at Lin who laughed nervously. "Can you really tell I'm that distracted?"

"Why don't you ask the limbs I've replaced after taking hits for protecting you?"

Lin hung her head in shame. "I always INTEND to give things my full attention, but sometimes I find myself kind of...drifting off in the middle of indigen battles. Like, I find myself watching the way they move, and then analyzing their musculature, and thinking about how I could incorporate that into a Skell..."

Cross kneeled and lifted her head to look her in the eye. "Listen, it's okay to let you mind wonder, I've learned that that's when the best idea show themselves. But when we're out in the field you need to stay focus. I can't keep replacing limbs." Cross held the side of Lin's face in his right hand. "I want you to be safe, okay? You and Elma are very important to me." Cross leaned closer to give Lin a hug.

"Aw, Cross. You're so sweet." Lin returned the hug. "You've always been like a father to me, you know?"

"I try."

The two separated and Cross stood up. "I'm gonna keep working my butt off to invent cool stuff that'll help all of us, okay?"

"As long as you have some downtime in-between work sessions."

"Yeah, I know that booster engine I was testing kinda...exploded, but I'm not about to give up."

"Yeah, I saw that when I first came to NLA."

"In fact..." Lin tapped her chin with his finger then smiled to Cross. "I'd be honored if you'd join me as my co-test pilot! What do you say?"

"Why not? Someone has to make sure you stop putting in things backwards."

"Really? That's great! There are so many things I want to work on, and Doug can't possibly handle them all. Now that I've got you to help me test, I can double down on making all those prototypes I've been itching to make! Thank you so much!"

"Of cause, I'd be a bad father if I didn't help my little girl." Cross smirked as he ruffled Lin's hair. "Let's go get some lunch and we can talk about some of your module ideas." Cross placed his hand on his side. "Shall we?"

Lin hook her arm around Cross' and walked beside him. "Thanks for the honest pep talk. I appreciate it. I wouldn't be able to continue inventing things the way I do if I didn't have you and Elma watching out for me all the time."

"Glad to be a happy little family."

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