Well, the real problem with writing lemon scenes for me is because I posted this fic on another site, and I need approval from an admin to write a NC-17 fic. I want this story to have the same chapters for both sites, but I'll ask some other people reading my fic about it.

Another problem is if I change the rating of this fic to M, then not as many people will read it. It took me two months when I first found this site to even notice the rating feature. Anyways, tell me what you guys think about the issue, here's an update:

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Vent and Aile's Room

"Vent and Aile, are the two of you in there?" Prairie knocks on the door and slowly steps in. She looks around for the two chosen ones but only manages to find the female brown haired ex-transporter. "Where's Vent?"

"He's… busy right now…" Aile pauses, as if wanting to say more, but doesn't. Prairie moves closer and sits on the bed next to Aile and gets a closer look at her. She seems tired and depressed, something must've happened between the two of them.

"Is anything wrong? You look tired."

"No, I just can't sleep right now. I'm waiting for Vent." Aile rubs her eyes to try and stay awake. "Anyways, what brings you here?"

"Oh, Sis wanted me to give these to you two." Prairie reaches into her pockets and pulls out two red biometals. "Sis examined and copied Model O so both of you will be able to use it."

"Is it safe to use that?" Aile edges a bit closer to get a better view of the red biometal. There seems to be something very different about it, but in a good way.

"Sis scanned it and all traces of Omega have disappeared. It's just an empty shell now, like the other biometals when they reawakened. It should be safe, but you should tell me or Sis if there's anything wrong." Aile nods as she takes one Model O in her hands and puts the other one on the bed.

"Aile…" Prairie puts her fingers on the brown haired girl's chin and lifts it up so that the girl is looking at her eye to eye. "I can tell there's something wrong right now, and I just want you to know that you don't have to deal with it alone."

"It's nothing, really." Aile gets off the bed and climbs onto the top bunk. Aile turns so that she's facing the wall. "I better go and get some sleep now. Vent's probably not coming back for a while."

She doesn't want to talk about it. I better not try and push the subject. Prairie nods as she prepares to open the door, but Aile speaks up. "Prairie?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it a part of a normal relationship for the guy to start hanging out with other girls?" Aile spills out and lets Prairie fill in the blanks by herself.

So that's what's bothering her. I wonder who the girl could be though, Rose? No, that can't be it. I better figure out by myself later, I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to talk anymore about it. Prairie thinks for a moment about Aile's question. "I haven't been in a relationship myself, but I can tell you this much. Over the one hundred years I've been alive, I've never once seen a "normal relationship" as you put it."

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better." Aile smiles and then she turns to face Prairie. "Still, I'm beginning to wonder if all of this trouble is really worth it."

"I'm sure that Vent will come around soon enough. You're smart, beautiful, and you've known him for years. If he still can't see how much you two care about each other, then you shouldn't bother with him."

"Wait, what did you say in your second sentence?" Aile sits back up at hearing the compliment.

"You're smart, beautiful, and you've known him for years?" Prairie repeats the sentence, wondering what Aile finds weird about it. Does she think I'm coming on to her or something?

"I've never heard anyone tell me that before, not even Vent or Girouette. It feels… nice." Aile looks at Prairie and finds that the commander seems to be surprised by her statement. If only I could hear that from Vent…

"No one's ever told you that before? Well, Girouette and Vent must have been blind to have missed it, or you've changed when you became a Guardian." Prairie prepares to leave. "By the way, Aile, if you really believe that you want to be with Vent, tell him while you still can. There are more things that can get in the way than just death."

"Thanks, I really appreciate that. Maybe we should have these chats more often." Prairie nods as she prepares to leave. Aile watches as the door closes. I have a feeling that Prairie's speaking from experience. Maybe I do need to speak with Vent about this.

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Medic Wing

"Vent, don't tell me you got injured again! There hasn't even been a mission since you last left here." Rose quickly goes over to Vent to check for any injuries.

"You know, I've had to be attended to a lot of injuries when I fought, but there were actually enemies involved for me to get hurt." Zero wakes up after hearing Rose's voice.

"Actually… I didn't come here because I'm injured." Vent's answer surprises Rose for a second as he continues. "I was just wondering if there is anything that could help ease the pain on deep scars that have dried blood in them."

"Did Aile get hurt somehow?" Rose tries to recall the last time that she inspected Aile. "I don't recall seeing any scars while treating her, where are they?"

"No, it isn't Aile." Vent looks around nervously, wondering if this was a good idea. Pandora didn't complain, but those scars were definitely painful. Rose would be the only one who knows anything about it.

"It depends, how deep and old are the scars?" Rose opens up a cabinet to reveal a bunch of jars, boxes, and medical tools that Vent couldn't identify.

Let's see, what exactly did Pandora say? "About a few years, some more recent than others. I don't really need anything to get rid of the scars, just to make it a bit better."

Zero watches the scene silently as he watches Rose's face. Her expression is almost identical to the ones the other gave him before they started bombarding him with questions. Rose's facial expression changes, probably because she decided not to pry for information.

"It's not healthy if you leave a wound unattended for too long, and that seems to be exactly the case from your description. Here's what you have to do…"

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Prometheus and Pandora's Room

"I see that your plan to captivate Vent went pretty well. If it wasn't for the fact you told me about your plan, I'd have to say you really liked him." Prometheus takes off his cape and inspects it while speaking to Pandora without making eye contact with her.

"What's your point?" Pandora winces a bit and rubs her back as the scars begin to sting. I can still feel it even after all these years.

"That you're a really good actor to have convinced him." Prometheus puts on his cape and prepares to leave, but turns to look Pandora in the eyes. "Be careful, the best actors sometimes can't tell the difference between their role and who they really are. Well, I'll be going outside now to train."

Prometheus presses a few buttons as the door opens. The door closes and he looks around to make sure nobody's around. He takes out his communicator and presses a few buttons. "Lord W, Phantom, are either of you there?"

"What is it? I'm very busy right now." Prometheus expects to see the image of the floating metal as usual, but is surprised to see the face of an old man instead.

"Model W, is that you?"

"I thought that it would be difficult for me to talk with people unless we're seeing face to face, so I got Phantom to project a hologram that I can control. Now why did you contact me?"

Prometheus starts thinking of where to begin. "Do you remember how Pandora planned to tear Vent and Aile's relationship apart by getting in the way?"

"Did she succeed?"

"Well, not yet, but I'm beginning to worry about her. When she hugged Vent, she definitely wasn't acting that she enjoyed it. If this keeps on, then she might decide to stick with them instead." Prometheus tells Model W his doubts and waits for a reply.

"Let me tell you something, Prometheus. Making a relationship work is like fighting an opponent that's better than you in every way. I've gotten in the way of Zero's enough times to know how fragile it is. There's nothing to worry about." The image of Model W starts to disorient a bit. "Phantom! Your projector needs to be fixed again."

"Someone's close, I'll tell you if anything else comes up." Prometheus quickly puts away the communicator as Vent turns and sees Prometheus. "What are you doing here, brat?"

"Is Pandora here?" Vent tries not to make contact with Prometheus as he asks the question. I hate moments like these. There's just something about him that makes me uneasy, even after hearing Pandora's story.

"She's inside, so you can go ahead and head in. I was just leaving anyways." Prometheus walks past Vent as his green cape billows behind him, making contact with Vent's shoulder. The skull helmeted reploid makes a right turn and Vent watches as the wall blocks him from view.

Well, it's now or never. Vent takes a deep breath as he curls his fingers into a fist and knocks on the door.

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Pandora looks in the mirror in the bathroom as the hair brush straightens her green hair. She hears a knock and quickly drops the hairbrush and dashes out of the bathroom.

"Did you forget anything, Prometheus?"

"It's me, Vent." Pandora pauses for a moment. What's he doing here? She goes beside the door and punches in a few buttons. The door slides open and Vent steps in.

"What do you want?" Pandora eyes the blue boy and notices that he's carrying a plastic bag in his left hand.

"Umm… I asked Rose about how to treat injuries like yours, and she told me that…" Vent starts to stammer and can't continue speaking. Why are things like these always so hard?

"I don't need your help. Do you think I'm weak just because of what I told you?" Pandora turns and waves her hands to dismiss Vent, but cringes over in pain from her sudden movement.

"Are you alright!?" Vent rushes up to the white armored reploid, grabbing Pandora's hand and putting it on his shoulder to support her, then putting his own hand on her other shoulder. "Your injuries haven't been treated properly and you're still feeling pain after all these years."

"I told you I didn't need any help." Pandora repeats it again, but her voice is a lot weaker and she lies on her bed. Vent opens the plastic bag and pulls out a plastic container, two really thin, long pieces of metal almost like chopsticks and a long thin white piece of cloth.

"I can tell that your scars are really painful. Just please give me a chance to try and help you." Vent opens the plastic container to reveal some kind of clear liquid and he reaches into the plastic bag again and gets out a piece of white cotton.

"Why do you even care?" Pandora yells the question at Vent and there's a tense silence between the two. Pandora looks at Vent's eyes and sees his answer: "Isn't it obvious?" Pandora sighs in defeat. "I give up, what do I need to do?"

"Just lie down on the bed with your back towards the ceiling." Pandora takes off her armor revealing her black jumpsuit and lies down on the bed face first. "Just give me a moment to get everything set up…"

Vent grabs the two pieces of metal with his right hand and picks up the white piece of cotton. He dips it into the container, soaking up the cotton, and then sits beside Pandora on the edge of the bed.

"Uhh… You're going to have to take off… the jumpsuit." Vent's face turns red as he quietly speaks and he immediately looks away as Pandora lifts up her head and gazes in his direction.

"Are you sure that you know what you're doing?" Pandora doesn't get up from the bed as she faces the pillow again.

"Rose explained everything step by step for me and told me this method is the best that we have for both reploids and humans. There shouldn't be any problems." Vent looks at Pandora again as he tries to will his blush away. His face is still slightly pink, but Pandora isn't looking in his direction.

Vent's face turns even redder when the flesh on Pandora's back becomes visible after Pandora's jumpsuit disappears. He gulps, trying to slow down his pulse, and then stares at Pandora for a moment. Her skin's pale, almost completely white and Vent is able to see the white strap of her bra. He then moves closer to begin.

He inspects the scars and finds six in total. Vent's curiosity gets the better of him as he puts his left hand right next to one of the scars on her creamy white skin. Pandora shivers and Vent's hand immediately retreats. That was so stupid. What the heck was I thinking?

"Hurry up, it's getting cold. I'm not used to not having my armor on. I don't even remember the last time I've been exposed like this." Pandora's voice is a bit weaker than usual. Vent brings the plastic container over to the bed and dips the cotton in it again.

"This is going to sting a whole lot, so you better hold on to something." Pandora doesn't answer, but she clutches onto one of the bed posts with one hand and the bed sheet with the other. I better start off with the smallest one…

Vent leans down a bit and puts his hand on Pandora's back to steady himself. Pandora shivers at the action, so he quickly withdraws it. It must be really cold for her. I'll just take off my gloves.

Vent's hand makes contact with Pandora's skin again, resulting in Pandora tensing a bit, but then she relaxes. "Are you ready?" Pandora nods and Vent carefully positions the cotton over the smallest and shallowest scar.

Vent carefully lowers the cotton and Pandora's muscles begin to tense up. Her nails tighten on the bed sheet and her other hand almost tightens on the bed post. Vent continues to move the cotton around, making sure to clean out any dried blood. Fresh blood begins to ooze out of the scar and Vent lifts up the cotton and wipes the blood away with a nearby towel.

That was hard, I can't believe Rose does this everyday. Vent wipes the sweat from his eyebrow and sits back up. Pandora's muscles relax a bit and her grip on the bed post and bed sheet loosens. "Do you want to wait a while before I go on to the next scar?"

"No, just continue, I've experienced worse things." Vent nods as he moves on to the next scars. The next four are basically the same as the first one, only a bit bigger and deeper. Vent pauses a bit as he looks at the last scar. It runs the deepest and is the biggest, about twice as bad as any of the other ones.

I'll have to be really careful for this one. Vent dips the cotton into the liquid and then carefully lifts it over the scar. Vent feels beads of sweat trickling down his cheeks as he leans forward towards Pandora again.

Vent lowers the cotton until it makes contact with Pandora's scar. Pandora whimpers for a slight second and her skin twitches. Vent takes a deep breath and brings the cotton deeper to disinfect the scars.

Pandora's hand claws at the bed sheet, causing it to wrinkle and splinters begin to fall off the bed post. Vent brings the cotton deeper in and Pandora brings her mouth to the pillow, suppressing screams of pain.

Sweat starts to pour all over Vent's face as he forces himself to concentrate. After what seems to be an eternity for both of them, Vent raises the cotton and wipes away the blood with a towel. He sighs in relief and Pandora starts getting back up.

"Wait, we still need to bandage it." Pandora gets up on her knees on the bed as Vent gets the white piece of cloth. Vent kneels on the bed directly behind Pandora as he begins wrapping the cloth around Pandora, starting from bottom to top.

Vent uses the thin strip of cloth over the lower part of Pandora's back and holds it gently in place with his knee. Now, he has a slight problem. How am I supposed to get it back here? If I go in front of Pandora, the cloth will just fall down…

Vent decides to try and see just how far his arms could stretch. He wraps his right arm around Pandora's abdomen and tries to stretch his other arm to reach the cloth. He manages to just make it, but both his arms have to squeeze Pandora's belly to do that.

Vent repeats the action again, this time without needing to use his knee to support the cloth, until all of Pandora's scars are wrapped. Well, I guess that's it, I should just go back now.

Vent looks at where his arms are to find that they are still wrapped around Pandora's waist, even after finishing wrapping the cloth around her. Vent also notes how their bodies are pressing against each other and he blushes. I've been doing a lot of that lately. I wonder what Pandora's thinking.

From his angle, Vent can only see Pandora's green hair, so he has no idea what she's thinking. Pandora sneezes, causing Vent to quickly move away. "It's really cold in here, I should go get changed."

In a flash, Pandora's fully armored except for the helmet and she looks at Vent. "I guess I owe you a thank you even if that did hurt so much. The scars aren't nearly as painful as they used to be."

"No problem…" Vent tries to think of something to say to continue the conversation. "You were really brave."

"Brave?" Pandora starts to get off the bed and so does Vent. Vent cleans up everything and puts it back into the plastic bag.

"Yeah, when Rose first did that to me, three Guardians had to hold me down and my screams were so loud they said that people on the other side of the base could hear me. My wounds back then weren't nearly as painful as yours, so I can only imagine what you had to endure, and yet you didn't even scream!"

"Screaming in pain is a sign of weakness and the world is not a place for the weak." Pandora looks at the clock on the wall. "Prometheus is coming back soon. You should probably go back to your room unless you want to meet him."

"Alright…" Vent pauses for a moment as he heads for the door. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

"Why?"

"Well, if you aren't busy, I thought that the two of us could go to Innerpeace and hang out." Pandora gives Vent a blank stare, causing him to twiddle his thumbs awkwardly. "You know, wander around, meet new people, grab a bite to eat, and play games…"

"What's the point of those things?" Pandora's question gets a confused look from Vent. Has she really never done those things in her life? I thought that they probably don't do those things a lot, but everyone should be able to have some fun once in a while…

"You know, just to have fun and enjoy life. Live a little." Pandora considers Vent's offer for a while.

"Well, I've never done that before. Meet me at the main hallway tomorrow at noon and then I'll have my answer."

"Great, I better go back now." Pandora goes next to the door and presses a few buttons making the door open. Vent walks out and Pandora waits for about ten minutes. After that time, Prometheus walks in.

"What did the kid want?" Prometheus wipes off some dirt from his armor and it falls onto the ground.

"Nothing much… he just wanted to talk." Prometheus raises his eyebrow as though that's was something unusual.

"No one has ever "wanted to just talk" with either of us before." Prometheus takes off his cape and hangs it in the closet. "I don't like him coming here too often. It could get in the way of our plans."

"You don't need to worry about that. I'm planning to go with him to Innerpeace tomorrow." Prometheus stops what he's doing and turns to Pandora.

"That's not going to benefit Lord W's plans in any way whatsoever. You're taking too many unnecessary risks around Vent. Maybe you should just forget your plan."

"Why does everything we do have to benefit Lord W? Don't we have a right to live as well?" Pandora's voice doesn't rise and she asks the question as if she's considering it for the first time herself.

"In the end we're just tools, pieces in a chess game. Our only purpose is to help our king take down the other teams, and our king is Lord W." Prometheus voice rises and he moves a bit closer to Pandora so that they're about one meter away. "I accepted that and you used to accept that as well. Why is some brat changing that?"

"Maybe I want to play a different game for once." Pandora turns her back on Prometheus and walks to the bathroom, slamming the door, and leaving Prometheus alone.

"Looks like the role she's playing has become a part of who she really is. I just hope Model W's right about relationships being fragile. She better not give anything away to the Guardians."

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Vent and Aile's Room

The door opens and Vent quietly steps in the room. "It's getting pretty late, Vent." Vent's eyes look upwards and he sees Aile. "I've been waiting for you."

"I'm sorry that I kept you waiting, I was…"

"…with Pandora?" Vent pauses for a moment and Aile stares straight at him with her green eyes. "I saw the two of you while following Prometheus so there's no point in trying to lie. I'm just going to get straight to the point, which one of us are you going to choose?"

There's silence for a few moments as Vent tries to think. I want to be with Aile, but Pandora… "It's not like that, Aile. Pandora's lonely and never had what we have. I got to know her a bit better and I learned just how hard she's had it. I'm sure that you'd be able to see that as well if you got to know her."

"Are you attracted to her?" Aile turns away from Vent again as she asks the question. She hears a gulp sound coming from Vent's direction. He's hesitating. The answer's pretty obvious after what I've already seen.

"Yes…" Vent looks at Aile but she doesn't turn. I'd do almost anything to see what her facial expression is right now. These questions are killing me. "…I find her attractive, but not in the same way as how I view you."

"If you had to choose between one of us, which one would you choose?" Aile doesn't turn as she asks the question. "Answer me honestly, Vent."

"I already told you. I don't view her the same way as you. I can't answer that question."

"However you view her, it's still going to cause problems for us. Just tell me your opinion, Vent. I'd rather not be in your love life at all than being a third wheel." Aile turns to face Vent, and he gets a closer look at her.

Her eyes are droopy and tired, as if she hadn't slept for many days. She's in a really bad shape right now, what am I supposed to tell her? I've known her for years and don't want to leave her, but I can't just ignore Pandora… Vent clutches his hair in frustration as he tries to answer the question himself.

"I don't know right now! I'm just… too confused about… everything." Vent looks at Aile, trying to see if he can get any idea of what she's thinking, but she still has the same tired look.

"Well, talk to me again when you're not confused." Aile turns and Vent tries to think of something…anything…that would make the situation better.

"I'm going to show Pandora around Innerpeace tomorrow. Maybe you could come and get to know her a bit better." Vent waits for Aile's reply for about a minute, wondering if she's somehow managed to fall asleep.

"I don't want to face her right now… just go ahead and have fun on your date." Aile sighs and tucks herself deeper into her blanket without facing Vent. Vent gets on the lower bunk and prepares to go to sleep.

"I'm going to sleep now. Night, Aile." Vent waits for the usual reply, but it doesn't come. He hears the sound of shuffling and knows that Aile's having trouble going to sleep from experience. Why do these things always have to be so difficult? I really don't want to damage the relationship between me and Aile. Maybe things will look a bit better tomorrow.

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Commander's Room

"Hey, Aile, what are you doing here?" Ciel turns as Aile enters the room. Ciel takes a closer look and notices her sagging eyes. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"Not really, I was just… thinking about some things." Aile yawns and sees Prairie typing something on the computer. "What are you doing?"

"I just finished filling out some paperwork and I'm finishing off some things that need to be done. After that, I'll have some free time. How did things go last night, Aile?" Aile quickly looks at Ciel, who isn't really paying attention to their conversation.

"Take a wild guess."

"Seeing as Vent isn't here with you, I'd say not very well. What exactly did he say or do to make you lose sleep like this?"

"He was very indecisive and didn't really answer my question one way or the other." Aile sits down on an unoccupied chair. "Vent has a date with Pandora right now, so I've been avoiding them." Aile quickly covers her mouth as she realized that she let Pandora's name slip.

Surprisingly, Prairie doesn't look the least bit shocked. "I've been talking to Zero and Rose yesterday and there weren't many other options left." Prairie finishes typing and stands up. "I know what'll make you feel better. Ciel, are you busy?" Prairie shouts across the room to the blond scientist.

"Let me check." Ciel looks in the direction of Prairie and Aile and takes out an electronic schedule for the day. "I don't have anything planned, why?"

"Maybe we can go to Innerpeace together, just us girls." Ciel nods her approval at Prairie's suggestion but Aile looks doubtful.

"Innerpeace? What if I run into…" Aile pauses as she realizes that Ciel's paying attention to the conversation as well. The last thing I need is the whole base knowing about my love problems.

"That's not going to happen. Innerpeace is huge. Besides, you can't just avoid them forever."

"I guess so…" The door opens and they all turn to find Leviathan walking into the room.

"I hope none of you mind if I tag along. Harpy's busy right now with paperwork and I need a bit of fresh air."

"Sure, just let me go grab some zennies and then we can all head out. Just wait here." Prairie runs out of the Commander's Room to get her wallet as the others wait.

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Main Hallway

Vent stands in the main hallway and looks at his watch. It's already 12:10 p.m. Maybe Pandora decided to change her mind about this. Vent looks up to see Pandora beside him, causing him to jump up in surprise.

"How did you do that?" He looks at Pandora carefully, noting her appearance. She's wearing no helmet or armor, but she's still wearing her white gloves, the gold rings around her wrist, the black jumpsuit covering her entire body and her white footwear. Other than that, the rest of her attire is unfamiliar to Vent.

She's wearing a green vest with a white blouse on top of that and a light blue skirt reaching up to her knees. "I teleported next to you, sorry I'm late. I had to search in the closet for something suitable to wear."

"Uhh… You look great…" Vent looks her up and down, still barely being able to believe that this is the same Pandora. "Those clothes make you look very… different…"

"I don't own these anyways the closet's full of clothing, that's why it took me so long to find something that I liked."

"Well, it really suits you." Vent opens the door and looks down. "We're pretty far from the ground. Want me to tell Prairie to lower the airship?"

"That's okay, we can just jump it." Pandora jumps down from the entrance and two green rings surround her feet, causing her to gently float downwards.

"Rock-on!" Vent gets Model H and X and slowly descends downwards while watching Pandora floating in the air. The way her hair's blowing in the wind and how she's floating makes her look so… angelic… The two of them land and Vent deactivates his biometals and the green rings disappear.

"Come on, let's hurry!"

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Innerpeace

Vent and Pandora wander the busy streets of Innerpeace as Vent begins contemplating where the two of them should go first when his stomach growls. "Uhh… let's go grab a bite first, I haven't eaten lunch yet."

"Alright," Vent looks around and finds a café.

"Do you want to eat there?"

"It doesn't really matter." Vent nods and the two of them head toward the café. The two of them enter the door as bells chime and Vent looks around, trying to find an empty table.

This place is pretty full… Oh, there's a spot! Vent heads next to the window and sits down at a table for two. Vent looks at the end of the table to find two flat monitors attached to the table behind the napkins. He goes to the one closer to him and it immediately opens up.

Let's see, how did Boss do this that time? Vent puts his finger over the menu and a bunch of subsections came out on the monitor. He clicks on appetizers first to see what it has to offer.

After having decided what to order, Vent sees Pandora looking at the menu with a blank look on her face. "Did you choose anything yet?"

"I don't know what any of these things are like."

"You mean you haven't eaten any of these before? What have you eaten?" Vent puts his elbow on the table and waits for Pandora's answer.

"Prometheus and I only required E-Crystals to function properly and so that's the only thing we ever got. Unless you count using E-Crystals as eating, then I don't remember ever really eating anything."

"You mean you've never eaten anything else other than that? What were the E-Crystals like?"

"They were a bit bland, but you get used to it after a while." Pandora looks at the menu again. "I'll just have whatever you're having."

Vent nods and he puts his finger over the back button a few times. He clicks on order and orders two of everything that he's having. After looking at the total price and counting his zennies, he presses confirm as the two of them wait. Vent uses his hand to prop his head up by his cheeks as he looks around.

"Is anything wrong?" Pandora looks at Vent. "You don't seem as energetic as usual."

"Huh?" It takes Vent's brain a moment to register what Pandora just said and to come up with a reply. "Oh, it's just Aile. She's been a little grim lately and I'm worried about her."

"Maybe you should try talking to her and find out what's wrong." Vent pauses as he wonders if telling Pandora would be a good idea. I suppose she's going to figure it out by herself sooner or later.

"Aile saw us together yesterday and now she's thinking that you'd get in the way of our relationship."

"Do you think I'll get in the way of your relationship?" Pandora asks the question without much of a hesitation, as if Vent's answer was no surprise. I guess she figured it out sooner than I thought.

"I'll have to agree with her on that one." Vent speaks quietly, wondering what Pandora's reaction would be. "I'm not sure of what to think anymore."

"Why did you come here with me then?" Vent thinks of the answers he could give. She seems like someone that I can talk with about anything.

"I didn't want to leave you alone. From what you told me, you already seemed so lonely, and I didn't want to see you like that." Pandora closes her eyes after listening to Vent's words, as if deep in thought.

Pandora opens her eyes again and speaks. "You're saying that the only reason you decided to come here was because you felt sorry for me?" Her tone is still the same as ever, but she somehow manages to add a dangerous edge to her voice.

Vent goes over his words again and realizes why Pandora's mad. Alright, maybe I should've phrased that in a better way. I need to think of something else to say and quick. "I also wanted to see you again. I like spending time with you."

Pandora speaks again, but this time the dangerous edge is gone and her voice has a softer tone. "I guess I'd have to say the same. It's been so long since I've had any real interaction with a person like this."

A small sphere-like mech with tiny arms goes up to their table and puts a tray on there. Vent reaches into his wallet and gives the machine a couple of coins. The machine leaves and Vent splits the food.

"You must be thirsty after all that talking." Vent gets out a cup filled with grape soda and a straw. "Here."

Pandora looks at the straw clueless for a moment and then looks around. She follows what the others are doing and puts the straw though the hole, having a sip. Vent watches her sip the drink slowly before taking a drink himself.

"How do you like it?"

"It tastes funny. It's so bubbly…" Vent removes the wrapping from the cheeseburger and bites into it. Pandora does the same, and Vent notices that she's only eating a bit at a time.

"What's wrong? Isn't the food good?"

"No, it just seems so strange. I've gotten used to eating small amounts from habit. It's hard to have to eat something so big after so many years." Pandora takes another bite, larger this time as some crumbs begin to fall to the ground. "So this is eating… I like it…"

"You have a piece of bread next to your lips." Vent takes a napkin and stands up while leaning forward to wipe it away. Vent sits back in his seat and finishes his food and watches Pandora, who's only a quarter of the way through.

After that, the two of them leave and Vent looks around. "What do you want to do next?"

"It doesn't really matter since I don't have any opinions about any of this." Vent nods as his gaze shifts toward the arcade. He leads Pandora inside and exchanges some of his zennies for game tokens.

"Oh! Let's play that game!" Vent points to two chairs with wheels, two helmets, and some other controls, a driving game. He gets on one chair and waits for Pandora to get on the other.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, you just have to get on one of them and put the helmet over your head. It will create a virtual image of you in a car and you just have to drive it and win. The other cars are the people sitting over there." Vent points to some other similar seats to theirs and waits for Pandora to sit down, but she looks doubtful.

"You go by yourself first. I'll just watch and observe." Vent shrugs and tosses in his coin, starting up the machine. He puts on the helmet, lowers the visor and he sees himself in a car. Pandora watches the screen and manages to locate Vent's car. She carefully watches all of Vent's action and how they affect the car.

Vent wins and then takes off the helmet. "Are you ready to give it a try?" Pandora nods as she gets on the chair and puts on the helmet. There are a total of eight different players and the game starts off with Vent speeding ahead and Pandora keeping up a steady pace.

After a while, Pandora uses the turbo button that she saw Vent use once and she speeds right through Vent, flipping his car.

"Hey!" Pandora speeds off and Vent waits for his car to respawn as the image becomes blank. Vent respawns and several cars rush past him. Vent manages to get back to second place on the last lap, but Pandora's still ahead of him.

This might be my only hope… Vent presses the turbo button and his car speeds ahead. Vent's boost in speed disappears as he goes next to Pandora, the two of them constantly switching between second place and first place.

As the finish line comes into view, Pandora gets about one car length away from Vent and cuts him off. Vent tries to move, but Pandora follows his movements and blocks his path.

I'll have to try and ram it… Vent's foot presses on the power pedal and his front makes contact with the tail end of Pandora's car. Alright, I'll just have to position myself…

Before Vent could finish thinking up of a strategy, the car in third place rams Vent from behind, pushing Pandora past the finish line. Pandora takes off her helmet and soon, so does Vent.

"I guess that I won." Vent nods and then the two of them start to look at other games. She's like one of those eager kids who have never been outside their home.

After using up all their tokens, Vent and Pandora begin to leave, but Vent notices one of those machines filled with stuff animals that you use a mechanic claw to grab. He quickly goes over to it and examines all of them.

"I bet the commander would love this one!" Vent points at one of them as Pandora watches. "Do you know how this machine works?" Pandora shakes her head and Vent explains everything to her.

"Come on, you should give it a try! I'll help you if you need anything." Vent takes out a small zenny from his wallet as Pandora approaches the machine. She puts one hand on the control stick and the other on the button.

Vent inserts the zenny and watches Pandora try to control it. She manages to grab a stuffed animal, but not the one that he was aiming for. "Want to try again?"

"Sure." Vent inserts another zenny in and immediately gets behind Pandora. Pandora seems to be having some trouble, so Vent puts his hands on top of hers to help her control it.

Vent blushes slightly as he feels their arms brushing against each other and their skin touching. Pandora and Vent press the button after positioning it properly and watch as the claw lowers.

It grabs onto the targeted stuffed animal and pulls it up. It drops down and then Vent picks it up. Pandora looks at the other stuffed animal. "What should we do with this one?"

"Let's just give it to someone…" Vent finds a kid walking by and after talking to the kid for a while, he hands him the stuffed animal. "Do you want to get one for yourself?"

"I don't really see the point in owning something like that." Vent holds onto the stuffed animal he's planning to give to Prairie as the two of them exit the arcade to explore more of Innerpeace.

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Innerpeace Rec Center

Prairie, Ciel, Aile and Leviathan crash down on the couch exhausted as sweat pour down their head. Aile manages to speak in between panting. "I didn't know… that a game of… volleyball could get so… extreme."

"That happens when you… play with reploids." Leviathan, the least tired of the four of them, answers for Aile and they all take a moment to catch their breath. "Well, did that cheer you up a bit?"

"What makes you think that I was sad?" Aile manages to sit up on the coach as she leans backwards. Well, I guess I do feel a bit better. If Vent has plans with other people, I can do the same.

"Well, from the way you looked, for one. I haven't seen anyone look that bad since I put caffeine into Harpuia's water bottle one hundred years ago." Leviathan sighs, as if recalling a fond memory.

"You put caffeine into Harpuia's water bottle? When did that happen and how come he didn't notice?" Prairie begins participating in the conversation as well and waits for Leviathan to recall the details.

"Well, this happened way back in Neo Arcadia before Zero awakened. Harpuia seemed so calm that I wondered what would happen if he had some caffeine. He drinks from those water bottles that you can't see through unless you open the lid, and he never bothers doing that."

"What exactly happened?" Ciel begins to take interest in the conversation as well, intrigued by Leviathan's tale.

"Harpuia started flying all around the base at first doing things. You can ask him for full details if he manages to remember. After a few days of no sleep, he became really tired and eventually collapsed during a meeting. That's why Copy X promoted Phantom to second-in-command. Harpuia refused to speak to me for about a month after that incident."

Leviathan clears her throat as she tries to remember where she's going with this. "Alright, back on track. Tell us what's wrong, Aile."

"There's nothing wrong… really." Aile looks at Prairie and sends her a look, begging her not to tell the others. Prairie nods almost unnoticeably, an action that only Aile catches.

"I'm not that easy to fool, you know. Let me take a wild guess, does the problem start with a capitalized V and ends with t?" Aile nods at Leviathan's comment. Is it really that obvious?

"Yeah, I think he's developing an interest in other people. Have any of you ever experienced that." Aile looks at Leviathan and Ciel deep in thought.

"Well, there was this one time that I got Harpuia really drunk at a victory party, but I'm not sure if your innocent ears can handle the whole story. Other than that, I don't think I've had any problems like that."

"How about you, Ciel, have you ever had any problems like that?" Aile shifts her attention to Ciel.

"Well, sometimes when I look at Zero, it looks like he's thinking of someone else. Other times, it's like he's looking straight through me and I have to speak to get his attention." Ciel recalls a few problems with their relationship.

"Why's that?"

"I'm not really sure, and I don't think Zero knows much about it himself. I talked to X about it, and he told me that Zero was involved with a female reploid about two hundred years ago. Whenever Zero zones out like that, it's probably because some memories of her are resurfacing."

"That must be really hard for you, having to constantly compete with someone that you don't know." Leviathan and Prairie nod at Aile's comment. "Don't you ever get tired of that?"

"If you want to be with someone, then you're going to have to take the whole package. That's just one of the things wrong with Zero, but I wouldn't trade him for anyone else in the whole world." Ciel gets a faraway look in her eyes as she continues. "Knowing all of that just make those special moments seem all the more special."

"Hey, Leviathan, do you have any problems in your relationship with Harpuia?" Aile looks at the cerulean reploid. I'm sure that her relationship can't be perfect, although I don't really see any real problems so far.

"There's no serious problems for us, although Harpuia barely does anything fun unless I practically force him." Leviathan goes to the vending machine to get a drink. She takes a sip before continuing. "It's worth it though. Special moments won't seem special if they aren't rare."

Prairie's communicator beeps and she presses a button on it. "This is Prairie." There are some inaudible mumbling sounds that the other three females can't quite make out before Prairie answers again. "They've returned? Alright, I'll get back to the base as soon as I can."

Prairie puts the communicator back in her pockets and looks at the others. "One of the squads patrolling around has just returned and I need to look over their report. Do any of you need anything before we go?"

"That's alright. We might as well leave now." Ciel stands up first, Aile and Leviathan later mimic her action. The four of them head out to the busy streets of Innerpeace and head toward Guardian HQ.

While they're walking, Aile notices that Prairie stops moving, staring into a direction. Aile follows Prairie's gaze, but doesn't find anything out of place.

"Hey, Prairie, are you coming?" Prairie doesn't seem to hear her question, so Aile moves closer to her and taps her on the shoulder. The action startles Prairie as she almost jumps up in surprise. "What were you looking at that's so interesting?"

"It's nothing. I just thought I saw something for a second." The two of them continue walking as they catch up to Ciel and Leviathan. Maybe my head's just playing tricks on me. Still, how many people in Innerpeace could have silver hair?

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"Lord W, are you there?" Static appears on the monitor as an unclear voice comes from the speakers. The hologram of Weil stares at Phantom as he presses a few buttons. The static clears to reveal Shadowman.

"Shadowman, what's the special occasion? Is Shademan planning something big to risk you contacting us?" Model W looks at Shadowman as he shakes his head.

"I've made sure to disable all the security in this room before making contact." Shadowman looks around before continuing. "Geminiman, Magnetman and I have all been fully repaired. I think now's the best time to strike Shademan before we're discovered."

"Where are those two anyways?"

"They're standing outside keeping guard in case anyone comes near." Shadowman turns his head back to check. "No one suspects a thing right now, and we want to keep it that way until we take out Shademan."

"The three of you are going to need more help to defeat him." Model W motions to Phantom. Phantom puts five microchips onto the transporter and presses a button. The microchips appear near Shadowman. "These are the same microchip that Phantom, Prometheus, and Pandora used to open your eyes to who's going to win."

"You want us to try and control the other five Robot Masters before we make our move?" Model W nods. "I like the way you think, that's why I'm sure that your team is going to be the one winning."

Model W scans the room and notices something. "Why's a plant growing inside a room full of metal?" Shadowman follows Model W's gaze to see what he's talking about.

"It must be one of Plantman's." One of the Geminiman twins enters the room and makes a motion to Shadowman. "Alright, someone's coming. I'm cutting off the transmission."

The image of Shadowman disappears and the hologram of Weil turns to face Phantom. "You see, Phantom, that's why it pays to be posted about the enemy."

Phantom nods and quickly goes over to a machine as it beeps. "Our scanners have located a strong energy signal. It's faint, but it's definitely the Mother Elf."

"Things are beginning to fall into place perfectly."

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This chapter's a whole lot longer than the others since I just seemed to get one idea after the other. As for the lemon idea, if it somehow manages to work, can you guys spread the word about this fic to get more readers?

Anyways, remember to Read and Review! Reading good comments makes me want to work more on the fic.