Giroro stood next to Keroro, discussing half-heartedly the invasion status. He wanted to be next to Natsumi, watching over her recovery; fortunately, although she had lost quite a bit of fluids in the form of blood and vomit, none of her wounds had been severe and she would recuperate quickly in the hyper-humidity chamber they had placed her in. In fact, she'd probably be feeling the best she ever had when she came out of that thing. But despite Aki and Fuyuki's insistence that that they didn't blame him, and neither should he – reminding him of all the times he'd put his life on the line to help her – he couldn't bring himself to look at them, or her.

"So, what's going on out there? Why are we just standing around?"

Keroro glanced at him, momentarily surprised. "Oh! I forgot you weren't aware of our situation." He looked back up at the wall monitor, upon which Tamama was reviewing transmissions from the Keron fleet. "Not long after you returned to base with Lady Moa and Master Natsumi, we found ourselves under lockdown inside this base, de arimasu. Some outside force has found a way to block all audio and visual input from the Pokopenian surface and electromagnetically seal all of our exit routes." He rubbed his chin ponderously. "Other than the fact that it leaves us as sitting ducks, I'm not very concerned about it, de arimasu. It doesn't seem to be an attack – in fact, it appears that whoever is doing it is trying to protect us. In the meantime, Kururu has been hard at work below on a new weapons prototype for when we find a way to exit. The first of the Keron ships, those that were stationed near this end of the galaxy, should be arriving in six hours; the main fleet we are still unsure of, de arimasu."

The sound of footsteps interrupted them, and they turned to see Aki and Fuyuki approaching with a smile. "She's awake," Aki said to Giroro. "She wants to see you."

Giroro glanced over at Keroro, who gave him a prominent nudge and wink. He caught the innuendo and responded by bludgeoning the back of Keroro's skull with his fist before stalking off.

If Giroro felt any nervousness before entering the room, it vanished upon seeing Natsumi's sincere smile greet him. "How are you feeling?"

She stretched leisurely before hopping to her feet. "Amazing!" She paused upon seeing the concerned look on his face. "Oh, don't worry about me. I've been in that thing for about an hour now, and trust me, I look a lot worse than I feel."

"Good," he smirked, "cause you look pretty bad." He laughed and dodged a playful punch, then took advantage of the rebound to spin her into his arms. He couldn't help himself; seeing her well and happy seemed to make all of the pain and sadness of the last few days dissolve, and he wanted to enjoy these moments while he could.

She giggled and rested her head against his shoulder. A strange feeling had settled over her, one that had been gradually building up inside her ever since she'd found herself in her current alien form. Any feelings that she'd felt for Giroro in the years leading up to that had been limited to that of platonic friendship – not because the attraction wasn't there, but because it had been repressed by the difference in species. Now, she found herself with a new outlook that made her feel like she was facing a completely different Giroro, one whose eyes could see on her level, whose hand fit perfectly into hers. Looking at him like this, she couldn't see any differences between the two of them, and with the removal of that barrier came the inevitable flood of feelings that she'd long denied.

But it couldn't have come at a worse time. They could laugh and play and hold each other all they liked, but in the back of each of their minds lurked the memory that the Greaves were still out there, waiting for their final offensive. The thought made Natsumi shudder and instinctively cling tighter to Giroro.

He noticed. "What is it, Natsumi?"

She bit her lip and burrowed her face deeper into his shoulder. "I was just thinking… I picked a bad time to fall in love."

Giroro froze, hardly daring to believe he'd heard her right.

Love…

Love…

Fall in love…

The words echoed over and over in his head. Greaves, war, destruction, the platoon, Pokopen and Keron, the underground base, the room around them… none of it existed anymore. Only one thing in the universe was real to him now: Love. The love that Natsumi had just confessed for him; the love for which he'd so desperately yearned for the last four years. He wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time, but the only thing he could find himself able to do was tremble and hold her as if his life depended on it.

Natsumi giggled. "I'll bet you're blushing, aren't you? You always were so cute…"

He pulled her away from him, and before she even had a chance to look up she found herself trapped in a fierce kiss. It was so intense and unexpected that she was overcome by a surge of dizziness; hanging limply from his arms, she wanted to return it, but her body would not obey. She succumbed helplessly as he plunged in deeper, fearing she might faint but not wanting the experience to end. Finally, he forced himself to release her and the two of them drew back, panting in disbelief.

The next kiss came almost immediately, this time more tender but no less passionate. "I love you, Natsumi," he whispered against her mouth, sending a ripple of pleasure through her that started at her lips and ended at the tips of her toes. She was in heaven, having never been truly kissed before – at least, not like this. Unable to stand it anymore, she withdrew from his lips and pulled him into a close embrace so she could catch her breath.

With her face nuzzling against his neck, she noticed something surprising that she hadn't before: he smelled nice. The effect was similar to cologne, but not like any she'd ever smelled. She couldn't imagine him wearing anything like that though, especially not in a situation like this. "Giroro," she asked, "this is gonna sound kinda strange… but, do you wear cologne?"

He immediately blushed, then laughed. "Um… no, Natsumi. Those are, um, pheromones. Kind of the Keronian version of… I guess you could say, pitching a tent?"

She giggled; he seemed to feel comfortable talking about it, which was a refreshing change. She inhaled deeply and nuzzled closer to him. "Mm… nice," she murmured dreamily.

Giroro was at a loss for what to do. This time he was the one biting his lip, torn between desire for the woman in his arms and the reality of their situation. You idiot, a voice in his head screamed, this isn't the time for love-making! You've got a job to do! On the other hand, she looked so willing, so ready, as she pressed her lips lightly against his neck… ohh, how he wanted to please her...

"GEROOO!"

Well, that was it. The decision was made for him. As the door burst open, a green blur flashed across the room and tackled Natsumi with a flood of tears. "Master Natsumi, I'm so glad to see you're alright, de arimasu!" He turned to Giroro, seemingly oblivious of the disruption he'd just created. "Kururu has finished the new mech weapons and Master Mutsumi will be making an opening for us as soon as…" He paused, sniffing the air, then snickered knowingly. "Gero gero gero… I wasn't interrupting, was I?"

Giroro sniffed nonchalantly as he turned to the door. "Keroro… catch."

"Eh?... BWAA!" Keroro panicked as he fumbled with the live grenade. Natsumi just smiled at him and shrugged innocently before following Giroro out the door.