The girl looked down at the shimmering reflection in the water and pulled up her plastered hair to reveal the two odd looking additions to her forehead. Blood red in color and getting sharper by the day, there wasn't a doubt in her mind as to what they entailed.

Horns huh?

Sakura grimaced slightly at the sudden wave of mixed emotions and memories that overcame her as she looked at herself. Broken glass, long nails, a familiar boy looking at her in terror. However, deeper within her mind was a familiar sensation that stuck out from the others. She brought her hand up to her forehead to gently prod at one of the growths, a new set of memories returned to her. Her companion leaning in to touch his own pair of horns to hers and smiling slightly, a feeling of warmth wrapping around her mind as someone calls out to her from a million miles away, connected by the blood that ran through them.

She relaxed and leaned back in her bath, opting to look up toward the ceiling rather than dwell on her progressing predicament.

Maybe this isn't such a bad thing…

They were still small enough to hide in her hair for the time being, and she really hoped they would stay that way at least for a little while longer. The festival was today after all, and she really didn't want to be drawing attention from anyone other than her darling, and that wasn't even to mention the amount of explaining she'd have to do to her mother if she found out. Her mother would probably demand that she go get herself checked at the hospital even though Sakura had a pretty solidified hunch that she wasn't in any danger. She grinned deviously, however, thinking about how her darling might react to the revelation. Would he give her an amusing reaction? Would he like them? Would it bring some of his memories back? Regardless of how entertaining it might be, she decided to keep them hidden for the time being.

She had been half-lying to Hiro about her reasons for lack of sleep a week prior. Her nightmares were causing problems, but what kept her up at night in truth was the disorienting puzzle that her mind had left to her. The strong bond she held with Hiro in that past life was as clear as day, but the events surrounding her connection to him felt disjointed, confusing, and maybe even a little scary to think about. Sakura was quickly realizing that maybe her life as Zero Two wasn't one that she wanted to remember. Maybe there were some things that she'd rather forget about… Or maybe she should just take the good with the bad and carry the burdens of her past life, while making this second chance count.

"Sakura!" A feminine voice called from outside the bathroom door, pulling Sakura from her thoughts, "I know you went to make sure you smell good for your date, but you'll start pruning if you stay in there too long…"

Sakura giggled slightly, the thought of this being their first actual date was something she found amusing for some reason.

"I'm getting out now mom!" Sakura called back, raising from her bath.

You're kidding me…

Hiro pulled back his hair again to reveal the two matching blue prongs growing from his head. There was no longer a doubt in his mind as to what they were.

He supposed that it was only fitting that he ended up with horns in this life as well as the previous one, his high YBC the most likely culprit of this phenomena. He wondered if Zero Tw-… Sakura was having a similar occurrence. He certainly hoped not considering that if she still didn't have her memories they would likely cause a lot of confusion for the poor girl.

He let his messy hair fall back on his forehead, which managed to conceal his horns quite nicely, deciding to keep them that way until he decided how to deal with them. Then, turning away from the bathroom mirror, he gazed at the traditional yukata that was laid neatly across his bed. Apparently the formalwear had been around for over two thousand years after being reintroduced after the strife-filled transcendental era of the 2000s. The yukata had a fairly basic design, entirely blue with a slightly darker blue belt, however, on either sleeve there was a pattern of white birds that spread elegantly as they reached toward the lower part of the sleeve. Hiro reached to feel the fabric beneath his fingers as he examined the winged creatures. Images of stars and distant planets flashed through his mind as his thoughts wandered to the distant feelings of freedom and flight from the unrecorded parts of his past life.

Hiro couldn't help but feel the pull on his heart strings, and reached up to grab his chest in a futile attempt to calm himself.

Today is about us isn't it?

He smiled to himself wistfully.

How incredibly bittersweet…

To say she was running a bit late was an understatement. They had all agreed to meet up at the school yard half an hour ago and she was just now getting on the train by herself after practically forcing Hiro to leave without her. She had to make sure everything was perfect, which is why she created a backup plan to disguise her horns by having her mother help design a simple flower crown. Two roses were placed on the crown where her horns were growing in, and a few daisies were placed around the sides of the crown.

To be perfectly honest, Sakura hated dressing up fancily; she always found yukatas to be painfully restrictive of motion and, for someone with as much energy as her, that typically ended up causing several issues. She begrudgingly went along with it however, knowing that in the end it would be worth it to see how Hiro would react to the rare occasion.

Sakura looked out of the window toward the city she was traveling hastily toward as dusk settled over the skyline. The city appeared dim compared to the stars that were beginning to break through in the night sky. Four stars shone brighter than all the others, the four stars of Apus. It felt like the constellation was calling out to her, and she soon found that she nearly missed her stop after staring at the constellation for seemingly too long. She hurriedly got off the train and shot the group chat a quick message to tell them she was close.

Goro : Thank God, Hiro was about to have a panic attack thinking you bailed on us.

Hiro : He's exaggerating! Take your time.

She smiled at her darling's response, he was so unbelievably cute sometimes, and continued on the short walk toward the school.

"Oi, Hiro, quit pacing! It's stressing me out." Futoshi requested sheepishly after having watched him pace back and forth for nearly five minutes.

"Sorry, I just can't seem to stay still," Hiro smiled apologetically deciding to sit down for a moment.

His heart was starting to beat faster and faster and he was having a hard time keeping any sort of calm composure. Did she plan this? Did she intend show up late to let his anxiety build? He wouldn't put it beyond her honestly, she was just as mischievous now as Sakura as she was as Zero Two, and he had a hard time believing that she didn't realize the full extent of the effect she had on him.

"Sorry I'm late," a voice called from the side.

Hiro stood up almost too suddenly and turned to greet the familiar voice, only to find himself completely stunned by her appearance. She definitely wasn't the type of girl to go out of her way to dress up, she didn't really need to honestly, but right now Hiro didn't know if he had ever seen someone so beautiful in either of his lives. The yukata she wore was red with large pink sakura petals covering most of clothing, smaller petals running down the sleeves. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and around her head was a very cute flower crown that complemented her hair color perfectly.

She smirked as she approached, and gently reached her hand to touch the underside of his chin. Then, she leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Best close your mouth before you start drooling, Darling."

Hiro, in his flabbergasted state, hadn't realized that he'd gaping at her and quickly closed his mouth, blushing slightly as she pulled away to look at him. Her own cheeks had a slightly red tint.

"You look amazing," Hiro said, speaking the only words he could seem to form at the moment.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! We aren't even at the festival yet and you guys are looking like you wanna ditch us to have a make-out sesh." Zorome growled.

"Zorome…" Goro sighed.

"We should get going!" Ichigo called, trying to avoid the incoming conflict.

Hiro and Sakura followed in quickly behind as the group began their journey toward the Jian Park. In front were Mitsuru and Kokoro, who were trying to be subtle about their hand holding while the other members walked in a more conglomerated group. They all wore some variety of a yukata for the special occasion. The streets were full of life and laughter, booths for food and other festival activities lined all along the lakeside on the outer edges of the park.

Hiro glanced at Sakura and watched as her eyes lit up with child-like bewilderment as she examined all the strange and colorful foods displayed in each of the stalls, her eyes then darting toward the park itself where people were gathered near the base of the ancient cherry blossom tree awaiting the firework show that would begin soon. She suddenly looked toward him and gave him another bright grin. Quickening her pace, her hand still firmly grasped to his, she made her way toward the booth that had initially caught her attention.

"Come on, darling, I'm hungry!" She complained, dragging him off toward the smell of assorted baked sweets.

"You're always hungry," Hiro teased, finally breaking free from his earlier tension.

Ignoring his comments she began admiring what appeared to be fried donut holes and pointed out the chocolate covered ones to the store owner, who passed over two skewers with 3 balls each to the girl in exchange for a bit of the cash she had brought along.

"Here," she said, offering one of the skewers to Hiro as she devoured the first of her own donut holes.

Hiro eyed the food curiously for a moment before taking a bite. They were crunchy on the outside, but had a fluffy soft texture inside that practically melted in his mouth. Mixing flavors of chocolate and sugary dough were almost overwhelming for the boy who didn't have much of a sweet tooth, and yet he still found it delicious.

"It's good!" Hiro admired, looking back over at Sakura who had already finished all three of her own donut balls and was looking at him innocently, apparently already wanting to move on to the next booth.

Hiro couldn't help but laugh a bit. They continued on, discussing nothing in particular as they explored stall games and tasted various other foods, meeting up occasionally with the others of the group before finally entering the park for the main event of the night. The stars were glowing particularly bright in the sky above.

"Where do you want to sit?" Hiro asked the pink haired girl, who was absorbed in the flavor of the rock candy she had grabbed just before entering the park. They were a bit late, it appeared, as the majority of the hill leading up to the cherry blossom tree was crammed with people.

"It doesn't really matter as long as we're together, does it?" Sakura said, tilting her head slightly.

"I suppose not," Hiro affirmed with a smile. He led them toward the base of the hill, to an area just before the land flattened out, where they sat down and gently laid their heads back in soft grass.

"Can you see it?" Sakura asked, gazing up at the night sky, something she had been doing a lot more lately.

Hiro examined the sky before easily finding the four brightest stars of the night.

"Yep," He said before turning back to her, her lips slightly parted. She was gently tracing the stars with her fingertips, trying to create the image of a bird that their now ancient ancestors had saw in the sky.

And when she turned to face him, he found himself breathless as the moonlight seemed to be something of a spotlight that focused solely on her. He couldn't help but feel the need to lean in and kiss her… So that's exactly what he did. He leaned in swiftly to close the distance between them, pouncing on his opportunity. Her lips tasted sweet, the look of surprise on her face faded as she closed her eyes to absorb herself in the action with him. After he broke away he returned to examining her. He was a bit surprised to find a slightly down-trodden look on her face.

"Hey, darling… There's something I want to ask you." Her eyes couldn't seem to meet his. "Do you-"

A crack in the sky broke their moment of peace as the first firework exploded in the night sky, startling them both. Exploding into a simple mix of purple and blue, and was quickly followed by two other rockets, popping one after the other in the sky. These two had more intricate designs that accompanied them with greens toward the center before expanding out into a mixture of white and purple.

Hiro noticed Sakura getting up beside him. She had a dazed expression on her face, and her movement was zombie-like as she started heading up the hill toward the cherry blossom tree.

"Sakura?"

There wasn't a response and she continued upward. A pop behind Hiro caused him to turn his head back toward the exploding fireworks, a purple and blue star exploded to life in the sky and images of a similarly dazed Zero Two and explosions of purple and blue roared to the forefront of his mind. A sharp pain shot through his head as he stumbled to get up, his clothing not making it particularly easy to move swiftly. Sakura had already moved through the majority of the crowd and was nearly at the towering pink tree. Hiro hurriedly moved to chase after her, hearing the grumbles of disapproving festival goers, but he didn't care. He couldn't let her disappear, not again, not ever again.

She had lost track of herself in her mind again, she felt like she was fading in a deep blue ocean as she stared up at the glowing stars in space that continued to call to her. All the while explosions shook the world around her. Her body had reached the base of the cherry blossom tree now, and she gently reached her hand out toward the stars.

Memories of a similar night sky came to her, one that her mind could not totally comprehend as the loud booms of explosions shook through the vacuum around her.

"Zero Two!"

A muffled voice called from seemingly nowhere. Someone emerged from the void, a boy with long blue horns, black hair and glowing blue eyes desperately reaching out toward her. He was Hiro, the one from her past life, he was Hiro, the one from her current life. The identities of the two becoming indistinguishable. She stretched her arm out toward the boy, their fingertips just barely touching. Suddenly, she was pulled from the abyss and her mind returned to reality. The booms of the fireworks still reverberating out from above them. She blinked once, observing the tearful eyes of the boy above her as he had seemingly tackled her to the ground. Two glowing blue horns were poking through his mop of black hair. Her flower crown had fallen off, revealing her own, now very visible, red horns.

"Zero Two…"

Her eyes widened.

"You-?"

He quickly pulled her close in an embrace, being careful not to crush her.

"I remember," he said quickly, reading her mind.

Tears quickly welled up her own eyes, the once disorienting mental picture of her past life now becoming a clear and beautiful painting as she breathed in the scent of her darling.

"We made it back, didn't we?" She quietly asked, her tears began to flow as she buried her nose into his neck, wrapping her arms around him.

"Of course we did. We had promises to keep after all," His own tears falling on the grass beneath them.

Zero Two felt her body become warmer, her skin color changing to a bright red. Hiro pulled away to reveal that his own body was changing in response to hers, his skin becoming a dark blue.

She looked away from him, instinctively trying to hide her changing appearance, before realizing what she was doing.

That's right, she thought to herself, I don't need to worry about that anymore…

Before him she was now bare, and him to her as well. They had nothing to hide, no detail left untouched and yet they had always accepted each other completely, even in this new life, even before their memories had returned.

He gently touched his horns to hers, and she shivered as all of his emotions and thoughts rushed through her body and mind.

"Darling, you pervert," she half-joked, a smile plastered on her face as happy tears continued to flow.

"I can't help it," He joked back, showing a smile of his own.

She leaned up to kiss him, basking in all the colorful memories that sprang to her mind from the taste of his lips against her. The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, it was all there, and she cherished every bit of it equally. When they separated, Hiro had an immense look of happiness on his face, she found herself giggling. Everything about that moment felt so alive and real to her, and yet so fantastical at the same time.

He then stood up and offered his hand to her. Around them, people were taking notice of the odd looking couple, but for Zero Two, that was the last thing on her mind. Their skin slowly faded back to normal colors as the initial rush of overwhelming feelings faded, but the horns on their heads continued to glow brightly in the night. Red and blue fireworks casting a gentle glow on their faces as their eyes spoke three silent words to each other.

I love you.

They couldn't help but find that love to be something profoundly beautiful.

AN: First off, huge thanks to dsw78, KingPolar, and Code 118 (Ambient), for assaulting my draft of the story that was riddled with errors, so I could get a much cleaner final copy. I always tend to make a billion minor mistakes when I write, and I know that really grinds the gears of some people, so I'm extremely thankful that they were able to help me clean up what I had in mind.

I never intended for this to be a particularly long story and thus why it's ending after only 10k-ish words. Dragging something like this on for too long get's extremely tedious for me as a writer and most definitely for the readers, and I figured I had established everything enough to be able to sign things off swiftly with this chapter. It's possible that I might write a minor epilogue for this story (which is also technically an epilogue lol), just to kinda close out my thoughts on what happens next, but other than that, this is it. Next story might be a short ending re-write, or just an entire shafting of the second half of the story post-episode 15 and possibly a bit before. The latter would require quite a bit of time and thought that I'm not sure I have right now, so the former is more likely.

I'll probably return to writing after a week or so of cooling off.

Hope you enjoyed, have a great week!