Hello, everyone! Sorry about the long wait (I've been struck by the damned Writers' Block and haven't been able to come up with a lot of good ideas), but here's the new chapter! I hope it can make up for the extended wait!

Kira and Kai had just finished putting Aster's body into an airtight vinyl medical waste bag to use as a body bag. Still crying, Kira took hold of the zipper and prepared herself to seal away her best friend into his eternal rest. Right as she was about to move it over his head, but stopped just at his chin. She stared for a long moment as tears still welled in her eyes.

She looked up at Kai. "...C-could I... be alone with him... f-for a little bit...?"

Kai nodded. "Okay..." he said, before turning and leaving the room.

Kira returned her attention to Aster's corpse. "Aster..." she began. "...why did you have to go? W-why... couldn't you stay... a l-little bit longer...? It felt like... like I was j-just getting to know you...! You were just getting t-to know what it was like to... l-l-live...! And now... you've been taken away from me! I... I... I just don't know what to do, Aster! I don't know w-where to go from here... now that... y-you're not here... anymore...!"

She couldn't bring herself to say anything more, and once again, began to cry extremely hard, her head laying on Aster's cranial carapace. Kira, even now, was still not able to overcome the death of her Xeno friend. There was not an ounce of doubt inside of her that she was never going to recover from this...

It was some time later that Kira heard the sound of a single, deep heartbeat. She quickly sat up and saw a green light quickly fading from inside of Aster's chest.

It must be his final message... Kira thought in immense grief. ...I'm sure he'll always be looking down on me from the Afterlife.

She started crying again... but didn't bother to look up at the vitals monitors, which were showing a weak, but detectable, range of heartbeat, brainwaves, and oxygen; the sensor was still attached to Aster's arm. As time passed, the short waves on the monitor became gradually larger and more normal-looking.

Aster tilted his head, which made Kira sit bolt upright. She gasped in immense shock. "...Aster..." she uttered.

Aster moved the zipper down, and pulled the body bag off of himself.

"Kira..." Aster responded.

Tears filled Kira's eyes once again, but this time they were not of any sorrow. A massive smile quickly took the place of her quivering frown.

"ASTER!" she exclaimed. Without hesitation, she leapt at the Xeno and gave him a big, tight hug. "Oh my God! I thought I lost you! How did you come back!?"

Aster took heavy breaths, as it was clear that he was still weak. "Kira... even though I did believe myself to be dangerous... and that I did not want you to be put in danger because of me..." he paused. "...something inside of me... fought for you... so that I could be with you."

Kira was nearly overdosing on happiness now that he had said that to her.

"And now... I realize just what this feeling is... love. It's love." he said.

"Oh, I knew you would come through!" Kira said in heavy bliss. "I wouldn't know what to do without you, Aster!"

"And, I've been meaning to ask for a little while..." Aster said. "...Kira... will you be my mate?"

Sniffling and finally able to release the negative energy from her previous sorrow, Kira answered without hesitation: "YES! Yes I will, Aster! You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear that from a guy (even if not in the same way, but who cares!?) Anyways, all that matters is that you are okay."

"I knew that I would be alright in the end." Aster said.

"How...?" Kira asked.

Aster took a short breath before answering. "...Because my friend promised it to me."

If Kira had any tears left, this would definitely have brought her to.

At that moment, the door to the intensive care unit opened up behind Kira and Kai entered the room. He was smiling, as though he had forgotten about the situation.

"Kai!" Kira said. "You won't believe what just—"

"I know. I saw it all on the video monitor." Kai responded, pointing to the camera in the upper corner of the room. "I just wanted to know what your farewell to him would have been..."

Kira looked back down at Aster, who still was laying and trying to build up strength. "So... how is this even possible?" she asked.

"That's the thing..." Kai began. "...it shouldn't be possible! He would have suffered brain death from the amount of time he was gone! But all I know... is that love is something even science cannot explain or decipher."

Just as Kai was about to finish speaking, something came in through the partially-open door. It appeared to be a female Xenomorph Drone. Kai looked back at it after hearing it enter.

"Oh yeah... she happened to have heard me crying while I was watching you on the camera... and she came in and tried to help." he said. "She did become pretty intimate with all the comforting and consoling she tried to give me... so, I figured... why not?"

Kira chuckled a bit. "So... she's like... your 'female Aster'?"

Kai nodded. "I named her Sugarcube." he said, smiling. "I offered to let her stay at my place with us."

"Yes, I am truly glad that Kai has decided to take me away from here." Sugarcube said in Kira's head, sounding like a soft, young adult female voice. "I really felt bad for him as he witnessed the recording of you mourning the male Drone..." she turned her attention to Aster. "...but you are alright now, too?"

"Yes..." Aster responded. "...I am a bit weak, but I'm sure I'll pull through."

"We should probably be going..." Kai said, checking a handheld holographic tablet he stole on his way back. "...security team reinforcements are arriving! I hate to say it, but we probably might not have time to rescue all of the other Xenos!"

"But we have to! We've come too far to quit! Isn't there another way...?" Kira asked, desperately.

Kai rapidly scanned the layout of the underground facility. Finally, he noticed something.

"I think we might have something here..." he said, looking at a room in which they could easily escape from in a special vehicle...

So many cliffhanger chapters! I hope the Writers' Block doesn't set in again! Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll keep you posted on the next one! Later! Keep holding on...