Summary: Once upon a time she was a teenage girl with innocent eyes who just wanted to win the science fair. She was innocent. Now, she lived on a world filled with bandits and blood instead of hot cocoa, and it was not what she deserved.

Pairing: Zaige, ZeroxGaige.

Author's Note: I woke up with a shit ton of inspiration. I had to write this WHOLE thing oh my god it like made my head explode. I wanted to make it so much longer but I just I couldn't. I like poured my very SOUL into this and I just have to post it for you guys. Sorry if characters seem OOC or something. XD

Disclaimer: Don't own Gearbox. Wish I did.

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Once Upon A Time
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Once upon a time she was a teenage girl with innocent eyes who just wanted to win the science fair.

She had a loving father that would do anything for her, a brilliance that none of the other children she was raised around could comprehend. Gaige was innocent, and it was simply bad luck that sent her to Pandora. It was a fate she did not deserve.

I'd followed her ECHOcast... listened to her past.

Once upon a time she was a teenage girl with innocent eyes who just wanted to win the science fair.

Now, she was just as determined and bright as she was before, only she lived on a world filled with bandits and blood instead of hot cocoa.

Life was not fair, I'd thought. She had her whole life ahead of her, and now she had to fight and kill to survive. She was an innocent killer, and it was not fair. Life on Pandora was not what she deserved.

Yet at the same time, I couldn't help but feel pleased that life had brought her to me.

I'd known she was…fond of me, but it was… difficult for me to reciprocate her feelings. It was not that I did not care for her, I did. I wanted to protect her; I wanted to keep her happy. Every bullet that pierced her skin and every tear that fell from her eyes tore through my heart. But I was not innocent, and I did not wish to destroy what little innocence she had left.

However, it was impossible to shield her from the darkness of Pandora. In the end, all I could do was be there for her when things became too much for her to handle.

So that's what I did. I would bring her hot cocoa. She would tell me it was a child's drink. She would drink it anyways, thank me, smile. We would talk, she would tell me about her father, about her dreams, her wishes, her fears, and I would be there for her whenever she needed me.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful mechromancer with innocent eyes and a smile like sunshine, and I was a deadly assassin that wanted nothing more than to give her what she deserved.

And one day, when Hyperion was gone and she could be reunited with her father. With our friends, Axton and Maya and Salvador and Krieg behind me, it would not matter that I was not innocent. I would try my hardest to make her dreams come true, to make her happy, and then I would reciprocate her feelings.

One day she would get her happily ever after, because that's what she deserved.