It was Forte. Rockman jumped a little when he saw the other Navi staring at him with his red eyes. Briefly, Rockman wondered what the dark Navi wanted, but considering the pressure he had on his wrist was just enough to keep him from moving, Rockman allowed himself to relax slightly knowing that it was unlikely that Forte wanted to delete him right then and there.

"..." It took a moment for Forte to speak. "This is the second time now."

Rockman didn't know what to say. He watched as confusion and suspicion flickered in Forte's gaze.

Seeing his silence, Forte scowled. "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything." The blue Navi shot back.

"Why did you follow me, then?"

"I-" That made Rockman pause. He didn't know Forte realized that he had been trailing him. He had thought that he'd done enough to hide from the other Navi's sight. The realization made he think, though-

Sometimes, when Rockman had just been about to lose track of the other Navi for good, Forte appeared to slow down, or sometimes decided that he needed a rest, allowing Rockman to catch up with him. He had originally chalked that up to coincidence, or just him being extremely lucky, but now that he knew Forte had sensed his presence the whole time, Rockman was slightly hopeful that perhaps the other Navi wasn't as distant as he appeared.

Maybe he was even warming up to him, but Rockman didn't want to push his luck that far yet.

"I… I just wanted to help you." Rockman said. That was the truth.

Forte's expression didn't change. "I don't need your help."

"I don't care." Rockman insisted. "I still want to help you."

"..." Forte paused for a moment, and Rockman wondered if Forte would believed what he had said. "You're not afraid of me." It was a statement.

Rockman shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"You should be. You saw what I could do. I could have done it to you."

"But you didn't, did you?" The blue Navi questioned him. "If you knew that I was there the whole time, and that you could've deleted me easily, then why didn't you do it?"

That seemed to have caught Forte off guard. Indeed, if he had known the blue Navi was there, then why hadn't he deleted him yet?

Was it possible that Forte didn't want to delete him? Rockman hoped that it was.

"You say you want to help me?" Forte asked him. His gaze seemed less harsh now.

"I do." Rockman nodded.

Forte narrowed his eyes. "Can I trust you?"

Rockman assumed he was probably talking about the incident back in SciLab. As much as Forte tried to hide it, the blue Navi could tell that the other Navi was still very much hurt by the ordeal. Rockman could only imagine the betrayal he felt when the person he trusted the most didn't come to his aid in his time of need.

"I would never betray you, Forte." Rockman said, his voice determined.

"Never?"

The blue Navi shook his head. "Never."

Forte paused again in thought. Rockan was wondering if he had come to a decision when the dark Navi spoke again. "I could feel you this whole time, you know."

"Yes, I know that." Rockman touched the side of his face, slightly embarrassed that he hadn't realized that sooner.

"No, I mean, the entire time." Forte clarified. "I could feel you, when you first snuck into SciLabs."

...What?

"W-what?" Rockman was startled. He hadn't realized Forte had discovered his presence that early.

Forte looked to the side. "That first day, when you snuck in… I can't really explain it, but I knew you were there, just hiding around the corner."

"But… Nobody saw me, did they?" He hoped not. He was sure he'd stay way out of sight from all of the Navies there.

"No, I'm sure no one did, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to keep coming back." Forte shook his head. "In fact, I didn't see you, either."

"Then how…?"

"I could feel you." Forte frowned, probably trying to find a way to clarify what he meant. "Ever since you appeared, I could always feel this… presence, behind my back. I didn't know who it was the first time I'd felt it, and it took me several days to recognize that it was you- Because you kept coming back."

So that's how Forte knew. But… "If you knew I was there, then why didn't you tell anyone? Technically, I was an intruder. Weren't you worried that I would have done something?"

"I considered it." Forte admitted. "...But I could also feel something else."

"What was it?"

"I'm not sure if I can explain this correctly, but…" Forte paused. "...You seem to have… human emotions."

The blue Navi was stunned silence. While Navies were programmed to experience basic emotions such as happiness, sadness, or anger, Rockman had been told that he was special for being able to experience the entire spectrum of the human emotion- concern, content, worry…

He wasn't sure if Forte could experience those feelings as well, but it would seem that he could tell if Rockman himself was experiencing them. That was definitely a surprise.

"Your emotions seemed to fluctuate a lot." Forte continued. "You could be… amused one moment." Rockman had probably been watching Forte cheering on a baseball team. "But then, it appears that you would feel… sad." Rockman remembered thinking about what had happened that had changed Forte so drastically at that moment. "But, I could never feel any ill-will from you. I could feel that you weren't intending to harm anyone, so I let you be." Forte stopped, then added, as if an afterthought. "Besides, you being able to sneak in every day just proved how bad security was."

"Forte…" Rockman wasn't sure how to respond to the other's confession.

"I might have gotten used to your presence." Forte murmured, as if he was unsure if he should tell the blue Navi this or not. "I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but it felt… comforting, feeling you just at the back of my mind, especially after… that incident happened."

"..."

Rockman could now tell with much certainty that Forte hadn't want to put up with his ruthless facade in his past. The fear he had struck into the minds of many, and the way he had treated Rockman, with so much hostility- it was just a way to prevent people from getting too close. It wasn't because he believed that having someone held him down, or made him weak. He was just too afraid to be betrayed again. And now that he knew that Forte had wanted, like anyone else, to have someone there for them, he was more determined than ever not to let Forte go down the same path he had in his previous timeline.

As if sensing his thought, the dark Navi looked back at him. "...I'm still not sure if I can trust you yet." Rockman bit his lip. As much as he wanted Forte to open up to him, Forte's distrust was understandable. How would he had felt if someone he saw as a father had turned their back to him? "But… I suppose there is something you can do to prove that I can trust you."

"Wh-what is it?" Rockman asked, slightly nervous. He wasn't sure what Forte wanted him to do, but if he could show Forte that he was trustworthy… well, that would be worth it.

Forte was silent for a moment, before drawing himself closer to the blue Navi. "...During that time in SciLabs, I could feel something else." Then, the dark Navi raised a hand, running a thumb across Rockman's lips.

The blue Navi certainly hadn't expected that, and in his momentarily stunned state, the dark Navi took his opportunity to close the distance between them. Placing his hands on Rockman's cheek, he steadied the blue navi's head before planting a kiss on his lips.

Rockman's mind went blank. It wasn't until Forte drew back that he felt a series of emotions wash through him- shock, confusion... and something else that he wasn't quite able to make out.

But apparently, Forte had. The black Navi grinned. "As I suspected. You harbour something more than just feelings of friendship for me."