For Better or For Worse

Chapter 11

Giroro barely uttered a word for the next two weeks. Dororo didn't pay any attention whatsoever to Giroro if they were anywhere near each other, but other than that he was completely normal. Or, he was, until that one invasion meeting…

"So… any ideas?," asked Keroro, his face slumped on the table at the front of the room "Our budget is low, and I can't think of anything"

"Well… if we used less mechanical labour, we could easily create a harmless machine that would force the pekoponians to submit to us, without breaking the bank. Ku ku ku!" Kururu suggested.

Keroro looked at Kururu in extreme confusion before continuing.

"Yeah, but how would we get the labour?," Keroro looked at Giroro, wanting him to contribute with some input. "What do you think Giroro-kun?"

"Hm? Oh… Why don't we just hypnotise the Pekoponians and the animals of Pekopon to do the labour for us?" Giroro said, smirking at the idea of the Pekoponian inhabitants building… whatever it was which would be used to enslave them.

"I cannot accept this!" Dororo cried from the back of the room.

Giroro gritted his eyes. He had had it up to here with Dororo's need to protect this god forsaken planet. He turned to face the ninja.

"We'll never get this bloody invasion out of the way if you keep refusing to cooperate!" he growled.

Before Dororo had a chance to retaliate, the door to the room was suddenly kicked down by Natsumi, who didn't hesitate to stomp into the room, Fuyuki following timidly.

"What are you planning… stupid… frog…" She trailed off after reading the atmosphere and noticing the death glares shot from Giroro to Dororo and vice versa.

"You're not exactly helping either, SOLDIER" said Dororo, venomously lacing the last word with sarcasm.

"W-what?"

"It's her, isn't it?," Dororo cried, pointing at Natsumi accusingly "It's your infatuation with this Pekoponian girl that's hindering the invasion! Not me!"

"Infatuation…?" Natsumi breathed in shock.

"Oh, come off it, Dororo! You're just a sour bastard that needs to get over his fucked up past!" Giroro fumed.

"You know full well why my life is screwed up, it was YOUR FAULT" Dororo growled

"I knew this would happen, I bloody knew it" Giroro said, smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand.

Keroro, Tamama, Kururu, Fuyuki, Natsumi and Mois exchanged equally confused glances, but none of them dared interrupt the argument.

"You know it wouldn't be this way if you didn't break it off! It's your fault I love this planet too much to invade it," Dororo hissed, prodding a finger roughly into Giroro's chest "It's your fault I left the platoon, and it's your fucking fault we're even arguing in the first place!"

Giroro angrily grabbed the bottom of Dororo's mask and held him up by it, leaning in and glaring furiously at the assassin.

"Get. The fuck. OVER IT" He growled deeply.

"Only if you do, first" Dororo choked.

Giroro dropped the blue ninja on the floor and stared at him. Dororo choked again, as he tried to drag himself up into a sitting position.

"You… are a hypocrite… who is arrogant… and feels his image is more important than-"

"NOTHING is more important to me than you, Dororo" Giroro suddenly said, causing Dororo to snap his head up to face Giroro in shock.

"W-what?"

"I think it's time I dropped this stupid charade," Giroro said, making his way up to Dororo and kneeling down so he was level with the stunned keronian "You may want to forget about your past and move on… but I'm a persistent bastard and I don't let go so easily," He hooked a finger into the rim of Dororo's mask "You're… all I think about. I still love you, I always have and I always will" He finally pulled the mask down, exposing the assassin's mouth, before softly pressing his lips to Dororo's

Everyone in the room, even Kururu, stared open mouthed at this seemingly unprovoked display of affection.

Dororo didn't react at all, he was frozen. All he could do was stare wide eyed at the one he loved. Eventually, he lifted a hand to rest on the belligerent's cheek to pull him closer, before they broke apart, panting heavily and blushing deeply.

"I don't give a fuck what anyone thinks. I don't care if it gets in the way of the god damn invasion. My life revolves around you, Dororo, you're my world" Giroro murmured before resting his forehead upon the ninja's. Hearing this, Dororo began to tear up.

"Giroro-kun… oh Jesus, I still love you too" He whispered.

After a moments silence, Keroro spoke up.

"What do you mean 'still'?" He asked, wondering just how long this had been going on for.

Dororo fell back and blushed.

"A-are we in trouble?" He stammered. Giroro helped him up before completely explaining everything to Keroro.

"So… oh" Keroro said blankly, not really sure how to react.

"I certainly hope you haven't got a problem with this, Keroro" Giroro asked in a low voice, eyeing Keroro almost threateningly.

"N-no, of course not! I-it's just… well; you two are my childhood friends… I'm just a little shocked, that's all"

"This relationship doesn't change who we are, Keroro-kun" Dororo said, reassuring him.

"Strange, coming from you," said Giroro, nudging the ninja affectionately "Whatever happened to 'Zeroro is dead, I'm Dororo now'?"

"Uh… well… shut up."

Giroro grinned triumphantly at Dororo, but squeezed his hand softly. Quite frankly, he was sure nothing could upset him now. Dororo was back with him, and that was enough.

That night, Giroro and Dororo sat on the roof together, mostly just in companionable silence.

"Giroro-kun" Dororo said suddenly.

"Hm?"

"What happens now?"

Giroro contemplated the question.

"We could leave Pekopon and start a different invasion"

Dororo shook his head.

"After meeting Koyuki and living on this planet for so long… I've realised it would be wrong to take what isn't yours from a planet that deserves its own right of freedom"

Giroro nodded.

"Well… what do you think we should do, Dororo?"

"I want to go home"

Giroro looked at the light blue ninja and tilted his head slightly.

"Right now… the past… Keron… our people… that's what's most important to me. I could do there what I do here… I could defend Keron…," He looked a Giroro meaningfully for a second "But I wish you would do something local too… like maybe… drive a train? You've always liked trains…"

Giroro spluttered at that last part.

"You're right, I do love trains, but I just can't see myself being anything but a soldier"

"But if you go out and fight and… I lose you… I… don't know what I'd do…"

"Don't worry about me, Dororo. I'm 'The Demon of the Battlefield', am I not?"

"Even the most careful of soldiers die, Giroro. My father was one of them"

"I know"

Another silence.

"Seriously, if you die, I'll be very cross"

"Heh, well, I promise not to die then… as long as you're wearing that dress for me for when I come home…"

Dororo playfully smacked Giroro over the back of the head playfully, only to have his arm grabbed so Giroro could pull him closer. He pulled down the ninja's mask and kissed him deeply, smiling blissfully into the Dororo's lips as he returned it.

Pulling away, Giroro slid his arm around Dororo and pulled him into a warm embrace in which they stayed long after the moon had risen to signal the end of the day. Giroro smiled at the sight, cradling the sleeping Dororo's head in his arms. Their long running feud was finally over… it was their time. Time to start something new.

Fin

A/N

It's finally over! I'm terribly sorry to all my readers for making them wait so long XD I understand that this story may be hard to read in parts, but I have no Idea how to use the line dividers on . Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story and the fluff-fest at the end XD Reviews are welcome ^^