Xenosaga and all of its characters are the property of Namco and Bandai, not my own.
To understand the background of this short story, it is necessary to read my other story, Morgenröte first, as these events take place afterward.
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It started off as a typical day. After breakfast, Allen had gone to the Robot Academy to work. Though they should have completed their newest android, the Professor kept making radical suggestions that were delaying progress. Scott and Allen were continually telling him that something was either unnecessary or unfeasible (due to lack of parts or materials). Of course, it didn't really matter that they weren't making any progress, as they currently had no need for a new battle android.
Joseph had come round to Allen and Shion's house about an hour after breakfast. Shion was training him in martial arts and swordsmanship, just as she and Jin had been taught by their grandfather. It came quite naturally to Joseph, and they had a lot of fun sparring with some crudely made wooden practice swords.
chaos had left the house early in the morning to go and check on the work in the village, for he was somewhat worried of what would happen when others started to colonize Lost Jerusalem. It was something that would eventually have to be dealt with. On his way back, he took his time along the path, searching for and collecting some medicinal ingredients.
After cleaning up the dishes and tidying up the house, Kosmos went outside to paint. It was a hobby she had picked up recently to pass the time. She found that she truly enjoyed it, and was becoming quite good with practice. Though Shion had asked her for a painting to put up in her house, Kosmos was not comfortable enough with her work to give it away. She promised Shion that when she got better, she would. Today she was painting the ocean.
Ziggy was checking in with Juli to see how things were progressing and when she might be able to come. He also gave her an update on Momo and Jr.'s relationship. He had come to think of Momo as his own daughter over the years, and certainly watched Jr. very carefully, even though he mostly approved of him. Juli would laugh sometimes, insisting that Ziggy was being overly cautious. Ziggy repeated what he must have told her a dozen times before "It's better for me to be cautious. I was once a young man, too." Juli laughed again.
Jr. was essentially doing whatever it was that he pleased. True enough, he was planning on contacting Mary and Shelley later to see how they were, and maybe ask about the guys on the Elsa, too, but there wasn't really a rush. So he had gone for a run to stay in shape and was thinking about Momo, wondering what they would do together later that afternoon.
But for Momo, it was not an ordinary day. Instead of hanging out with the others, or helping Ziggy or Shion, or going to the beach, she was inside, baking. Momo was a planner and a promoter of large group activities. Besides spending time with Jr., she was always happiest when everyone was together. So for today, she thought they would all have a big barbeque on the beach and maybe play some games. She hummed to herself as she worked on the crust for her strawberry pie. "Once this has finished baking, and they've all had time for lunch, that's when I'll round them up," she thought. She smiled to herself, happy about her plans for that evening.
At lunch time, both Ziggy and Jr. showed up. "Hey, Momo," said Jr. with a smile. "Something smells really good. What's for lunch?"
"Sandwiches," said Momo, producing a plate with cold-cut sandwiches cut into triangle wedges.
"Ugh," said Jr.
Ziggy stepped forward. "Thank you, Momo. Sandwiches are just fine. Isn't that what you meant to say, Jr.?" He turned and looked at Jr., seeming to say "If you don't like it, you can leave."
"Yeah, it's fine." Jr. sat down at the table as Momo set down the plate and seated herself. "But it isn't sandwiches that I smell." He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath through his nose. "Is that strawberry pie?"
Momo laughed. "Yes, but you aren't having any for lunch." Jr. started to open his mouth to say something, but Momo beat him to it. "And you aren't having any after lunch either." Ziggy took a bite of his sandwich to keep from laughing.
"Why not?" asked Jr. He looked hurt. "Did I do something wrong? Is this about the sandwiches? You know I love anything that you make, Momo. I'll eat this whole plate if you want me to and prove it!" He started to grab for a couple more sandwiches, but Momo smacked his hand.
"Don't be silly. I'm making that pie for a reason, and you can have some later tonight."
"Really?" Jr. let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't really wanted to eat six sandwiches, but if it meant earning a piece of pie he was willing to. He went back to eating his first one, while thinking about pie.
"What's the occasion for the pie?" asked Ziggy.
Momo smiled. "I thought we should all get together for a barbeque on the beach this evening. Wouldn't that be splendid? I made the pie for dessert."
"Yeah, that does sound like a lot of fun," said Jr. "We could play volleyball; I can try surfing again. It'll be awesome. Not to mention the pie…"
Ziggy shook his head in disbelief. "Whoever said "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" must have known Jr.," he thought.
Momo laughed. "Well, when we are done with lunch, Jr. you can clean up since I made lunch. Ziggy, I'm trusting you to make sure he doesn't steal any of the pie. I'm going to go find Shion and the others to tell them about the plan!"
"Hey, I don't need Ziggy to baby-sit me," said Jr. He looked offended.
"He's not baby-sitting you," said Momo. "He's going to be my pie's bodyguard."
Ziggy laughed a little and Jr. blushed. "I just can't win today," he thought.
After they finished eating, Jr. did clean up, as promised. Ziggy leaned back to rest and Momo headed out the door. She headed over to Shion's house first, but was surprised when no one answered the door. "That's strange," she thought. She opened the door and called inside, but still had no answer. "Oh well, on to see Kosmos, I suppose." Momo headed over to chaos and Kosmos' house. She knocked on the door.
"Come in," came the voice of Kosmos. Momo opened the door and went inside. She noticed two practice sticks by the door. As she came into the dining room, she saw Shion and Joseph seated across from each other at the table. Kosmos was in the kitchen, stirring something in a pot.
"So this is where you were," said Momo. "Hello, Shion. Hello, Joseph. Hello, Kosmos." They greeted her as well.
"Have you had lunch yet?" asked Shion. "Kosmos is making us soup."
"Please join us," said Kosmos.
"Oh, thank you, but I've just eaten with Ziggy and Jr." She sat down at the table next to Shion anyway.
"Are you sure that you don't need any help, Kosmos?" asked Joseph, turning to look at her.
"Joseph, I'm just fine, really." Kosmos shook her head. "He is too used to things being the other way around."
"Don't worry, Joseph," said Shion. "I'm sure that Kosmos is a great cook. She has all of us to learn from."
"It's not that," said Joseph. "It's just that I told Yeshua…"
"What did you tell me?" asked chaos, as he walked into the dining room.
"Ah, chaos, you are just in time for lunch," said Kosmos. She turned and smiled at him, then moved the pot of soup from the stove to the table.
"Did you have any doubts?" he asked, also smiling. "I see we have quite a full table today." He walked over to the shelves and grabbed some bread.
"Oh, I've already eaten," said Momo.
"It's all right, I'm sure there is plenty," said chaos as he sat down next to Joseph. Kosmos sat on the other side of chaos.
"Oh, that's right," said Shion, turning to Momo. "You said, 'So here you are' when you first arrived. Were you looking for me?"
"Actually," said Momo, "I was looking for all of you. It's kind of nice to find so many of you in one place." The others had started eating. "I wanted to see what you guys were doing this afternoon or evening."
"I don't have any specific plans," said Shion. "What about you guys?" She looked at the others, who shook their heads.
"What would you like to do, Momo?" asked Kosmos. She and Momo had become good friends, and she could tell when Momo was planning something.
Momo smiled. "Well, I thought that we should all take the afternoon and have a big beach party and barbeque! What do you guys say? Please say yes!"
"I think it's a great idea!" said Kosmos. "How about you, Joseph?"
"Um, I…" he paused. He thought it sounded like fun, but he was worried that Yeshua might think he was slacking off in his work. He weighed his options.
"I think it sounds like fun," said chaos. Joseph let out a mental sigh of relief. "I'm sure that Jr. is already onboard, how about you, Shion?"
"You know that I have no objections. I'll have to see if I can steal Allen and Scott away, though. You know we'd never get the Professor out of his lab."
Momo laughed at the idea of the Professor in a swimsuit, lounging in the sun with a drink at his hand, being fanned by Scott. Shion was right, it would never happen.
"What's so funny?" asked Shion.
"Um, nothing. I'm just so glad that you all agreed to my idea. So, I say you have two hours to do anything that you need to do, and then we all meet down at the beach, okay?" Momo stood up. "Sorry to run, but I have a pie to check on. Don't forget your swimsuits!" With a wave, she was out the door.
Later that afternoon, everyone began to gather at the beach. Allen put up an umbrella for Shion to provide some shade, and she laid out a blanket beneath it. Jr. helped Ziggy bring down the grill, and Ziggy started to fire it up, as he had volunteered to do the cooking. After putting up the umbrella, Allen went to help chaos and Joseph bring down some tables and benches. Jr. had gone to join Momo and Kosmos who were testing the temperature of the water.
Shion sat down on the blanket, and then leaned back, resting on her elbows. She surveyed the three at the water's edge. It was still amazing to her to see Kosmos like this, so full of life and laughter. "Everything we've been through to make it to this day has been worth it," she thought. She turned to see what the others were doing, and noticed that Ziggy was staring down at the water, watching closely. She started to laugh. "I guess we are two over-protective parents, huh?"
Ziggy turned to look at her. "I'm sorry. What did you say?"
Shion laughed again. He really hadn't heard her. "Nothing really." She looked back at the three, who were slightly further in now, letting the waves hit them. "I'm sure she's fine; you should try to relax a little." She turned and looked at Ziggy again.
"Yes, I know, but it's easier said than done. When I first met Juli, and she asked me to retrieve and protect Momo, it was just a job. But when I actually met her, I don't know. It was something about the kindness and purity of her heart that made me want to protect her, no matter what the obstacles. Somewhere in my mind I know that I shouldn't worry about her and Jr., and her mother chastises me for it, but…I just don't know."
Shion smiled. "She's lucky to have a father like you. I know that she always wanted to know her real father, but maybe she really just wanted something as simple as having a loving father."
"It could be said that I wanted to be a father again, too." They both looked back at the three in the water. Jr. seemed to be trying to show off his manliness by attacking the waves, while Momo and Kosmos seemed to be scheming something. "What about you?" asked Ziggy.
"Oh? Yes, I guess I do treat Kosmos like my daughter. It's strange because I'd never had a child before, but I did spend a lot of time creating her. I suppose that I used to think of her as mine and Kevin's daughter, because we had made her together. And then after she woke up, I had the chance to get to know her, but it still felt like I wanted to teach her things, though she was always running around doing things on her own." She sighed. "I suppose that I, too, shouldn't worry now. Since she's a Realian, she's not running head first into battle and telling me the probability of her success. At the same time, she's so drastically different, I want to teach her things and help her to learn and understand things, but I feel as though she doesn't want to confide in me."
"I think that's typical sometimes between daughters and their mothers."
"Yes, but am I too overbearing? Is that why?"
"I don't think so."
Just then, Allen came over and joined Shion. "Hey," he said, and gave her a light kiss. "What's going on?"
"Oh, Ziggy and I were just talking about parenting."
"I see," Allen said. He looked down at the water.
Momo had picked up some wet sand, and since Jr. had his back to them, she threw it and hit him on the back. Jr. turned around surprised. "What was that for?!" Momo laughed. Kosmos had also grabbed a handful, and hit him in the arm. "All right, that does it," said Jr. He picked up a big handful of sand and started to run towards Momo. She screamed and ran from him. Kosmos grabbed another handful and pelted Jr. in the back. He quit chasing Momo and turned to go after Kosmos. Kosmos started running in the opposite direction of Momo. She made it up to the shore and turned in time to see Momo run up behind Jr. and jump on his back. Jr. dropped his sand and let out a fake roar as if he were an animal. He grabbed a hold of Momo's legs to keep her up. "Now, Godzilla will return to his watery lair with his captive!" he said. Momo let out a shriek and then started laughing as Jr. headed back into the water. She squirmed a little, but he wasn't letting go. Kosmos watched as Jr. went further into the water, and then pulled Momo under along with him. When they came back up, Momo was no longer on Jr.'s back, but they were both laughing, and then began splashing each other.
Ziggy let out a sigh, and turned his attention to the grill. Allen tried to stifle his laughter. "There's nothing wrong with them having some fun, is there?"
Kosmos watched Jr. and Momo's splashing for a little longer, and then turned to see where everyone else was. She saw Ziggy at the grill, and Shion and Allen under the umbrella. Turning further, she saw chaos and Joseph setting up the volleyball net. chaos was finishing placing the last spike in the ground, and Joseph headed back towards the house to retrieve the ball. Kosmos saw an opportunity, and started running towards chaos. She jumped on his back, but chaos lost his balance, landing on his hands and knees, and sending Kosmos rolling off of his side. She landed on her butt.
"Kosmos! Are you all right?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "Are you?"
He sat up so he was resting on his heels. "Yes, I'm fine. What were you trying to do?" he asked, as he stretched his shoulders.
"Well, I saw Momo jump onto Jr.'s back, and they both seemed to have a lot of fun, so I thought I would try it. Did I do something wrong?"
chaos smiled gently. "Well, you might have had too much of a running start. And Jr. is more muscular than I am, so that might affect things, too." He got to his feet. "Come on," he said, offering her his hand. She stood up. "Let's go see if everyone is ready to play volleyball." She nodded.
It had already been dark for over an hour and was starting to get cool when everyone decided to call it a night. After they finished cleaning up, they all said their goodnights. chaos and Kosmos were about to enter their house when chaos stopped. "Kosmos," he said.
"Yes, chaos?"
He turned and looked at her. "How about we go for a walk?"
"All right," she said. chaos took her hand and they started walking down the beach, towards the location where the others had first landed. After walking for some time, Kosmos asked "Where are we going, chaos?"
"We're almost there." They walked a little further before he stopped. "This should be fine." Kosmos looked around, but didn't see anything of interest. She wasn't sure where chaos had brought her. "Kosmos," he said, "put your arms around my neck."
"Okay," she said, as she did so. She looked at him, trying to figure out what he was planning. He placed an arm behind her back and the other by her knees, and then lifted her up. "chaos, I don't understand…" she started to say.
"Just wait," he said and closed his eyes. Six white wings sprouted from his back.
Kosmos gasped. "chaos," she said, her eyes wide.
He opened his eyes. "Hold on." He bent his knees and pulled his wings back. Then with a little push, they took to the air. Kosmos tightened her grip slightly. She looked at him, and he was smiling. "It's all right, I won't let you fall." She smiled too, and nodded.
She turned to look over her other shoulder. They were flying about a hundred feet above the ocean. She couldn't believe her eyes. "Can we go higher?" she asked.
"Of course," chaos replied. He flapped his wings harder and they rose higher into the sky. Kosmos looked at the terrain below them, then up at the night sky.
"chaos, it's absolutely beautiful," she said. She turned to him, smiling.
"I thought you would enjoy this," he said. They flew for another ten minutes before he turned and they started to head back. They were at almost the exact same place they had taken off when they landed. chaos set Kosmos down first, then closing his eyes again, his wings disappeared.
Kosmos threw her arms around him and hugged him. "Thank you," she said. He kissed her.
"This is our little secret," he said.
"Okay," she said with a grin.
"We should probably head back," he said. He took her hand and they started to walk the way they had come.
After a little while, Kosmos asked "Is that why we came all the way out here?"
"Yes," he replied. "I wanted to make sure we had privacy."
Kosmos nodded. "Can we go flying again, sometime?"
"Any night you'd like."
Kosmos stopped walking. "But I can still try to jump on your back again, too, right?"
chaos laughed. "As long as there aren't any sharp objects around, of course you can."
They walked only a little further before Kosmos stopped again. She let go of chaos hand. He looked at her, confused. She stepped behind him, put her hands on his shoulders, and jumped onto his back. This time, chaos was able to support her. He shook his head and smiled, almost laughing. She smiled to, proud of her success. She put her arms loosely around his shoulders and rested her head against his. "Okay," she said, "let's go."
"Anything you say," said chaos, and he carried her the rest of the way home.