Tossing. Turning. Rambling in your sleep. These are the actions one in a nightmare could commit if said nightmare is severe. But, one part of this puzzle is out of place. It's the legendary S-Rank Maverick Hunter, Zero, who's experiencing them to this degree. It doesn't help that it has been 6 years since Iris' death. But, we haven't come to talk about her.
"No- Stop it- Gh..." The man groaned, kicking the covers off while gripping his blonde hair harshly. "You can't do this to me- I won't let you-" He gritted his teeth as something new took place; he shed his first tears. For so long, he had never been able to show any emotion except pride, outrage, and recently, annoyance. But now, that all changed.
"Please- Stop this-" A red aura formed around the Reploid as his teeth became sharper. With each toss and turn, the emotions just kept. piling. up. Until then, they were finally released as he woke up with a sharp gasp. His blue eyes darted from the closet, to the window, and finally, his hands. "Gh...Damn it. This shit's really getting to me." Zero grumbled, quickly hopping out of bed to possibly get a midnight snack.
As Zero stumbled throughout the halls of the Maverick Hunter Base, the thoughts of that nightmare ran throughout his head. 'What the hell happened to that Maverick? Why the hell did I have horns? Is that...being actually me?' There was so much that he didn't understand, but he managed to forget about it for a while as he made himself some coffee. "Heh...nothing like caffeine to soothe your mood."
Just as he was about to take a sip, he heard another being's footsteps. Due to the fact he didn't have his saber on him, he relied on a kitchen knife. "Who's there?!" Zero asked, hoping that no one would wake up due to his yelling. But, it turned out that the being was his closest female colleague.
"Jesus Christ, Z. I could hear you from my room. And we're on two opposite sides of the base, so that's saying something." She groaned, gently pushing her black to hot pink hair back. The cyborg walked over to Zero and decided to make some dango, just like her mother taught her. "Heh. Isn't it fitting, Ari? I call you Ms. Bubblegum, and here you are, making sweets at midnight." He smirked at his little comment.
Ariana rolled her eyes as she finished up the dango-making process. A few minutes of silence passed as they each did their own thing. Eventually, Ariana spoke up. "...I'm sorry for your loss, Z." On Zero's side, the silence grew heavier as a shadow loomed over his face. "...It's a loss. People come and go, that's how it's been." To Ariana's surprise, his voice began to waver. She leaned closer to see a few tears fall down his face, and onto the table where they're sitting. "Are you…crying?"
This made Zero jump almost immediately. He quickly wiped his tears to hide any evidence that he was actually crying. "Pfft- Me? Crying?" He scoffed in between his sentence. "Don't be ridiculous, Bubblegum." To Ariana, it almost sounded as if he was using his normal personality as a facade.
"Zero...you can't completely fake tears." She said, wiping the tears off of his face. "Ari, quit it. I- I'm not a baby, and I'm not crying." Zero hissed as he would firmly, but gently grab her hand and pin it on the counter. "...Zero, just because you're crying doesn't mean I'll think of you as anything different." Ariana gave him a soft smile as she gently wiped his tears. In that moment, instead of Ariana, he saw his forbidden lover, Iris, in her place.
After 10 minutes of complete silence, Ariana opened her arms to offer him a hug. And as she figured, he cried like an emotionally distraught child in her arms. "I- I didn't want to kill her- I loved her so much- GOD, WHY DOES IT HURT THIS BAD?!?" He wept. "...This is your first time losing someone, hm?" Ariana asked him, trying to console the man before everyone wakes up.
Zero nodded. "Not just that, but..." He sniffled while wiping his tears. Ariana offered him a napkin, to which he took. "Thanks...But it's my first time feeling what X feels. For so long, I've only been restricted to being obnoxiously prideful, a fucking dick, or just an insane mess of anger, but..." Zero fell silent and suddenly collapsed in Ariana's arms.
The cybernetically-enhanced human woman carried Zero back to his room. "But, you never got to know what it's like to feel this way. You were so weirded out when X sympathized with the girl who lost Patrasche that you stood still in disgust." Ariana whispered while walking through the halls of the base.
"...You didn't even want him to cry over your very first death. But now, you know what it feels like to be...human." She smiled softly, gently pushing a few strands of Zero's hair away from his tear-stained face. Ariana quietly opened his room door to put him on his bed. She gently tucked him in, kissed his forehead, and watch as a small smile made its way onto his face. She then pulled up a chair, sat right next to his bed, and held his hand. "Good night, Zero. If you need me, I'll be right here. Just squeeze my hand if there's any trouble."