"See, I told you that he would be coming to shortly. As amazing as that little display may be to you, I have a strong suspicion it is on the low end of the spectrum of things he is capable of triggering. Oh, where is my journal? Has anyone located it yet?"

The growl started to roll in his throat before he opened his eyes and saw Leeron looking around, Anne sitting in a chair some distance away, a look of relief on her features before she quickly stood to her feet.

"I… I wanted to make sure you were well before I left to tend to some other matters. Rest as long as you need to."

Before he could think of something to say to her, Anne left the tent, and only then did he realize he was in a different place from where he'd passed out, the tent much smaller and with enough room just for his cot and some diagnostic machines. A Beastwoman came in, a stack of papers in her hands which she gave to Leeron and then left. He flipped through them, sitting where Anne had as he pulled out a pen, crossed his legs and started writing. Viral sat up, realizing that he didn't feel any worse for wear as he swung his legs over the side of the cot and looked at the doctor.

"Are you going to explain a damned thing, or just leave me to guess?"

Leeon skritched on for another moment, the sound of pen on paper the only thing that could be heard for before he tucked the pen over an ear and looked at Viral.

"It seems that I was wrong."

Viral felt a little bit of shock, although he couldn't quite place the source of it. It could have been shock over the fact that Leeron was wrong or shock that he would go so far as admit it. It couldn't be shock over what he was wrong about since he had no Spiral-forsaken idea what that was. He tilted his head, waiting as Leeron delicately placed the papers on the seat and paced a little.

"I believed you were growing to the point where you could use your own Spiral power, but I no longer believe that to be the case. Pity, though, since it would mean wonders for your species. I'm not completely tossing out the possibility that it could someday…."

"I don't give a damn about the other Beastmen. What the hell is going on with me?"

Leeon kept stride, obviously too used to dealing with his temper by this point in their relationship.

"You've become an amplifier of sorts, love. Your body does not produce Spiral energy, but it increases the capabilities and power of that energy. While to the simple-minded it may look like you healed Dyakkah, what actually happened is that you used Anne's Spiral energy to speed up his healing process. He was never permanently paralyzed, but if he had healed the old fashioned way, the swelling on the nerves may have done more damage, making it harder for him to regain his full walking capabilities."

Viral heard himself let out a soft sigh of relief. "I'm sure Anne is glad he's fine."

"She was, but after you fell out, she insisted that she sit here until you came to. Well, after she yelled at me for a few moments for not mentioning any of this to her. I told her she could blame you."

"Great."

"I told you to tell her."

He had. Viral ran a hand through his hair as he stood up, wanting to deal with Anne. He took a moment to take in what Leeron had just told him.

"So, I'm not turning human?"

"No, that does not quite appear to be the case. I ran some tests while you were asleep, and your cell structure is changing, but it is not becoming more human or resembling the other Beastmen. It is still as unique as it has always been, but I think I have a new hypothesis about why it is slowing down. You won't like it though."

Leeron finally stopped, elbow in hand and his fingers framing his face as he waited for Viral's answer. He felt a growl in his throat as he nodded.

"Lordgenome did not account for the continuation of the Spiral presence above ground. I don't think there was much he did account for when you gave you this little present. He couldn't have known what affect this body of yours would have being in constant contact with not only the Spiral energy on Earth or that of every other Spiral being in existence.

Viral, the reason that your cell regeneration is slowing down is because of the constant exposure of Spiral energy. I looked at a sample of your cells from when you brought Anne to my facility and from while you were out a few moments ago. If I had to give you a percentage of cells that are no longer regenerating at all… it'd have to be at about 2% in various locations on your body."

"At all?"

Leeron nodded, lifting his papers to sit down once more.

"That surge of Spiral energy that you pulled from Anne and pushed into Dyakkah killed a part of you today, and that was not even intentional on either of your parts. I don't know how much your body will take from similar or more intense transfers of Spiral energy. I'm not even sure if there is anything that we can do to halt or slow it. I am sparing a small fraction of researchers to look into it. You could be the greatest weapon that the human race has to fight the Anti-Spiral. That is… if you live long enough."

Viral shuddered, only one thought in his mind which finally slid through his lips, his entire being loathe to voice it.

"So what you are telling me is that being with Anne is killing me."

"Considering the amount of Spiral energy she puts out by merely existing, yes."


She found her parents in a medical tent, her mother's bandages getting changed. She glimpsed the jagged scar crossing over her once flawless face, missing her eye by an inch or so. Kiyoh smiled at her as she walked over, her insides a tormented mess from everything that had gone on since she'd been back to earth. If she was really honest with herself, since the moment she'd come to realize that she was in love with Viral. Reaching out, she took her mother's hand, Dyakkah standing at her shoulder, looking back and forth between the two. The nurse finished the bandages and took his leave, giving them family a bit of privacy.

"I'm sure we can find some salve to put on that so it will fade a little as it finishes healing," Anne told her gently, pushing a curl of her mother's hair out of the bandages it had gotten caught in.

"I suppose I could, but I don't know if I'll bother. We all have our scars to carry, and perhaps it is just time I got one of my own. But I am more worried about you…"

"You have to tell us what is going on between you and Kittan," Dyakkah said. "And Viral. It isn't often that your mother and I feel like we have to pry, but in this case.."

Anne watched her parents look at each other before Kiyoh became teary-eyed.

"I've never seen you fight like that before," she whispered. "And he looks so much like Kittan, my brother, that I just can't stand the thought of you two like this. What is going on? Can you fix it?"

Anne laughed dryly as she let go of her mother's hand and pulled up a stool to sit down. She brought it close, forming a close triangle between them.

"The only thing I can do is to feign insanity. I don't know, maybe I have gone insane. I keep wondering myself what can come of any of this."

Her parents waited patiently, as they ever had, and she let out a long sigh. They had always been supportive, if not understanding, but she wasn't sure how they would deal with this unlikely development. Seeing disappointment in their eyes wasn't something she felt like she could handle on top of everything else. She looked at them both, wondering if she should just walk away and leave it alone. At least for now.

"Please, Annie?"

And with that childhood nickname, her heart melted. It had been years since she had let them call her that. She'd felt it was too childish, so she'd insisted they'd stopped doing so in public. But there had been those nights when one, the other, or both had snuck into her bedroom as she was falling asleep, brush back her curls, kiss her forehead and call her "Annie" when they thought she wouldn't hear. She all but collapsed into the chair, hands folded in her lap as she stared at the ground in defeat.

"The reason Kittan is so furious with me is because he believes I've lost my mind, that I'm tainted. He's so impossibly….he just can't accept the fact that I'm in love with who I am in love with."

"Who you're in love with?"

Damn his timing. Damn it all. Anne lifted her head enough to see the blue and brown eyes of her parents staring over her head as they fidgeted slightly. Kiyoh looked back down at her, their eyes meeting for a moment.

"Tell him," she said softly. "This is not the time to be keeping unnecessary secrets from each other."

"It's exactly the time to keep secrets," Anne sighed as she straightened up, sliding off the stool and looking up at Viral. "Kittan lost his mind when he found out. I wonder what you'll do, Viral. But I'm tired of hiding it and making excuses and fighting against myself, the world and the Anti-Spiral."

Part of her was surprised that she wasn't even teary-eyed at the stress she felt. Maybe she'd become accustomed to it all. She made the little space that existed between her and the Beastman disappear as she reached up and took his face in her hands.

"You, Viral. I'm in love with you, you impossible, simple, blind fool."

He was so close, and she only needed to lean in a little more. But the look of shock on his face brought her to reality and she let her hands drop. There was a quick glance over her shoulder at her parents, sympathy in her mother's eyes while her father's were unreadable.

"The next move is yours, Viral. Answer me when you want."

She couldn't bring herself to look at him as she left the medical tent, letting her feet take her back to where Gurren Lagann was docked. She climbed into the cockpit, Cherise popping out from where she'd stayed quiet for most of the day. The little creature climbed into her lap, and she stroked her skin softly, letting out a long sigh as the emotions crashed like a wave.

"If I've lost him, I've lost him," she said out loud. "I don't know what more I can do right now. I'm tired, Cherise…"

Cherise shoved her wet nose in her hand, and it brought her a little comfort. Just enough to make the rest of the pain bearable.

"It is a shame that I was not the source of your despair."

Anne's head snapped up and she looked around, her eyes finally falling on the form of the Anti-Spiral Emissary where it stood on the ground in front of the mech's docking area. People around them started to scatter, some screaming in terror and others trying in vain to shoot at it. The form was fluxing in and out of this dimension entirely too much for anything to land on it. It took her a moment to weigh the pros and the cons before she decided to get out of the mech, standing on top of it and looking down from what little advantage she had.

"Well, you did not."

"No, but we have forgotten how sentimental and emotional your kind can be."

A harsh laugh tore through Anne's throat, wondering how this being could distance itself so far from what it used to be, from what she still was.

"Well, that would explain why your predecessor's failed, and why you will as well," Anne said. "You cannot possibly understand those of us who still cling to our humanity when you have thrown it away yourself. We will defeat you again, you can be sure of that."

The Emissary stood, considering her as the sound of fire finally died off, people realizing that wasting bullets was not going to help anyone.

"Nothing is certain, except the eventuality of Spiral Nemesis."

"Anne!"

Her heart sunk into her stomach as she saw Viral standing a few yards away from the Emissary, concern on his face as he looked from one to the other.

"I'm fine," she called from her perch on top of Gurren Lagann.

The Emissary looked from one to the other. "I see."

A cold finger dragged up her spine even as Anne heard Viral speak.

"What are you talking about?"

"We have always known that to defeat the Spiral beings, we must defeat or take away their one beacon of hope – Gurren Lagann. But perhaps it has always been much simpler than that. We need only destroy the one who wields Gurren Lagann."

Both the Emissary and Viral looked over at her, and the cold seized her body as the Emissary laughed and then vanished. Her knees gave out as she sat back on her heels, realizing her temper had gotten the best of them. In her anger, she had given the Emissary plenty of ammo to accomplish just that mission.


For a brief moment, Viral wished that the Emissary was still there. He'd always done better when there was something to fight. This particular battle he now faced was not one that he was equipped for, and even if he was, he wasn't quite sure how the hell to fight. He watched Anne slide down the tarnished and worn sides of Gurren Lagann, her eyes at the ground as she approached him, and for a moment, he thought she was going to walk right past him. As she grew closer, her steps slowed, just a little, and he felt more nervous than he'd ever felt standing in front of Lordgenome.

"We have to go and talk to the Council," she said softly. "Or at least Rossiu. They need to know about this possible tactic. Especially if…if…"

Her voice caught for a moment, and Viral realized a moment too late that he was reaching out to comfort her. Anne looked up, stopping just out of arm's length as she held his gaze, her face shifting between too many emotions for him to guess at what she was feeling. His hand fell to his side and he clenched both into fists, a layer of frustration falling on him. Honestly, he still had no idea how to react. No, this wasn't the first time someone had approached him in terms of a relationship. But those people weren't Anne. He'd been struggling so long to hold onto the digger's dream that she might start to look up to him as some part of her family when she, of all people, destroyed that hope.

"Damn it, Anne," he finally said, his voice gruff and low with what his own emotions. "I don't know what to do for you. What I can do for you. Well, I do, but…I just don't know."

"Why I told to answer me when you want," she replied, a ghost of a smile on her lips. At least she found some amusement in this, but she had always managed to find something to laugh at. He let out a slight sigh of relief that she could do that much.

"What I want is to give you an answer, but I don't know if I can. Or when I can. It's not really something that I've ever thought about before."

"Obviously."

And her sense of humor was still intact. Things were fine between them, and that is what he needed to know. In her own way, she was telling him that things were fine as they were. But even he wasn't so much of an insensitive jerk as to leave her in limbo forever. She deserved an answer, and he just hoped he would be able to give it to her within her lifetime. Hell, within his lifetime.

Oh hell…

"Anne? How much did Leeron tell you?"

"Huh?" she said immediately, caught off guard by the sudden change in conversation. "About you and your changes?"

The look in her eyes changed as her stance shifted. He could smell the anger before she started to move towards him, and he admittedly had to brace himself for the jab in his chest she delivered with a finger.

"What the hell were you thinking keeping that information from me?" she fumed. "As the co-pilot of Gurren Lagann, don't you think that you should have shared that with me a little sooner rather than later? And that's just on a professional level. I would have hoped that our relationship alone would make you tell me that something like that was going on with you. I need to know these things, Viral. Don't keep me in the dark about something like that."

Her voice faded along with her anger as she stood in front of him, her arm slowing dropping to her side as he felt her shudder. She let out a sigh, and as she relaxed, she leaned forward, her head resting on his chest, her warmth flowing into him through the contact. He hesitated only a moment, and only because he wasn't sure how she would react, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her fully against him. When her hands pressed against his back, he tilted his head down, burying his nose in her hair and taking in her scent.

He tried to imagine going beyond merely holding her, going to the lengths that she probably had in one thought or another, and he really wasn't sure how he felt about the idea. It wasn't really indifference; it just felt…well, odd was the only way he could put it. Like putting on a new shirt and not being able to tell if you just needed to wear it in or if it would never fit quite the way you wanted to. Hell, if Anne had told him that she was in love with anyone else, he could've handled that with a little more grace. At least, he thought he could have.

"Is there anything else?"

It took him a moment to come back to the moment before he could answer her. "About what's going on with me?"

She nodded slightly.

"My cellular structure is changing, and Leeron originally thought it was because I was evolving into a Spiral being, able to use my own Spiral energy."

"Originally? So what does he think now?"

He tightened his hold on her, remembering the words even as he tried to find his own.

"What I've changed into isn't a Spiral being, but a catalyst. My body can amplify the use of Spiral energy, but not create its own."

"Oh," he heard her say. "And that's how you healed Dad."

"Technically, you healed your Dad. I just kind of helped."

Another nod from Anne.

"What are you not telling me?"

Somehow, he'd known that Anne would not let him leave it at just that. He'd given up trying to figure out how he was giving stuff away.

"Viral?" Her voice grew impatient, and he hated being able to recognize the fear in it. He held her closer.

"My exposure to Spiral energy over the years has been causing my cells to stop regenerating as quickly. Using Spiral energy like that apparently slows down my cell regeneration to the point of stopping it."

Anne stood up straight, taking her arms off of him and forcing them between their bodies, pressing her palms against his chest since he wouldn't let her go. She tilted her head up, looking at him as she struggled a little against his arms.

"What do you mean? Are you saying that your body is finally starting to die? Is that it?"

"Well, if you want to see it that way."

"That is a 'yes' or 'no' question, Viral," Anne said as she hit his chest. "That's what death is. When your cells no longer regenerate and can no longer sustain your body. And it is exposure to…. Oh no…"

He'd seen it coming, and he found it a bit of an effort to keep her where she stood as she tried to push herself away from him.

"Let me go! We are always putting out Spiral energy. Always! All this time I've spent with you...every time we've piloted Gurren Lagann together."

Her voice trembled and gave way to soft sobs even as her knees did, and Viral knelt on the ground with her, the fight over for now.

"Let me go," she told him again, more of a plea than a demand. "I can't…by Spiral, Viral, I can't handle this!"

"Don't tell me what you can't do," Viral said, gripping her shoulders and shaking her once. "I never want to hear you say that again. Don't give up. Leeron has people looking into it, and I'm sure they will find some way…"

"And if they don't, Viral? If I have to watch you, day after day, wondering when your body will finally give out and knowing that I am the primary cause? How am I supposed to live with that, knowing that I am the reason you aren't around anymore?"

"By making it all count, Anne. This ain't just about you and me, you know."

A look of shock ran across her face, and through the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't keep the smirk completely off his face. It only lasted a moment though. He held her firmly.

"I'm only going to say this once to you, Anne. If I die because of Spiral energy coursing through my body, it will be in protecting you and making sure that you and Earth have a future. If I finally die by ensuring you live, then I have been willing to do that for you for some time now, Anne. I've always thought this body was a curse from Lordgenome, and it wasn't until I came to care for you that I came to think that this body might be good for something. Don't take that away from me."

He couldn't fathom the emotional burden he was putting on her, and part of him really didn't care. She'd wanted honesty, so she was going to have it. He lost track of the time that was going by before she gave one shake of her head. Her cheeks were soaked with tears although she was quiet now. He reached up to hold her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing over the soft skin to dry it.

"I'll stay with you until the end, Viral," she told him, placing her hands on his. "Whatever end that may be. I'll be damned if I let you die on your own, using someone else's Spiral energy. You're mine."

Hers? The idea was so novel that he would've sat back on his heels and dropped his hands if she wasn't holding him where he was. The thought of belonging to someone, not as a servant or an object, but as a person… Well, that was something he could probably get used to.