Aya: Hi hi's! The evils of midterm season have prevented me from actually typing this up, but
the ideas have been buzzing in my head for awhile, getting better as the days passed. Special
thanks to Yuzu-chan for helping me work out the ideas and research info for this chapter ^_^
X and Zero: *still in pose as in last scene of Chapter 6*
X: My throat is staring to hurt, can you hurry it up?
Zero: I don't mind, Rarrr!
Faith: *about to beat door down*
Aya: Chill out! It's not your cue yet! Prepare yourselves for el-final chappy of "Hunted Heart."
Thank my friend Yuzu-chan for convincing me not to break this into two chapters and leave you with
yet another evil ciffy-hanger :)
--------------------------------
Hunted Heart
Chapter 7: Snipe
"What's wrong X? You don't like me now that I'm maverick?" Zero's eyes turned a chilly blue shade.
His fingers traced the outline of X's face.
"Zero..." A new desperation took over X. "No..." The only thing he could do was watch as Zero
marveled at his prey. Unlike Zero, X had no armor on. Normally he was not as strong as Zero,
not having the use of the boosting abilities of the armor made it completely futile to fight Zero
hand to hand.
The door chime on the door rang. Zero peered over his shoulder, slightly annoyed at the distraction.
"Don't move..." Zero headed for the door, leaving X trembling. X heard his door slide open. There
was a scream. X bolted upright and saw the green glow of Zero's Z-saber as he drew it. He was
going to kill someone.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion. X's legs felt like lead. The sword was already in the down
swing when X had only covered half the distance between Zero and himself.
"Zero, STOP!" X yelled. Zero hesitated for a second, which was exactly what X needed. He rushed
in front of Zero and grabbed the sword by the blade, gasping slightly as the blade burned his hands.
He couldn't stop the sword completely and it reached his right shoulder, drawing blood.
"X! You're bleeding!" Came Faith's voice from behind him. In the commotion, he hadn't noticed who
Zero was attacking.
"Zero...." X struggled to keep the sword from cutting further. "Stop it Zero... she's just a child!"
Zero deactivated his sword and looked down hard at X. His legs gave out beneath him, and X fell to
the ground, grasping his wounded shoulder.
Zero stretched his hand out, palm up. X studied the expression on Zero's face, then nodded,
understanding the offer without a spoken word. In his Maverick state, he could wipe out a good deal
of the hunters before anyone could stop him.
"I have to go." X told Faith before placing his hand on Zero's. Zero smiled and pulled X's body
close to his own and wrapped his arm around X's waist. X shut his eyes. It hurt to see someone
he knew could be kind become...
"X." Zero said softly. For a moment X thought he heard the Zero he knew was inside. He opened
his eyes again, but found the icy blue eyes of a maverick staring back. "Smile." Zero teleported
them out.
--------------------------------------
//You're going to regret not killing me, honey...// Faith snapped a part onto her laser rifle.
//No one stands in the way between X and me.// Her eyes narrowed to slits.
"Faith?!" Came pounding at the door. It was the other Hunters again. They wanted to know what
happened at X's room. "Faith, what happened? Who attacked you? Where's X?"
//No one.// Faith swung the rifle strap over her head.
---------------------------------------
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" X thrashed his arms around, trying to reach out for
something... anything.
"Shh...." A soothing voice and a hand stroking his hair calmed him down a bit. "You're having
another bad dream, X." Someone held him securely, rocking slightly. Without opening his eyes, X
nuzzled closer to the one holding him. He imagined clear blue skies as he felt a warm breath close
to his face. He remembered the last time Zero held him like this...
"Zero!" His eyes snapped open and he saw Zero's eyes. Reality came back, and X tried to get out
of Zero's arms, but his shoulder made movement of any kind very painful. He glanced over to his
right shoulder, it wasn't bandaged at all, and still bleeding.
X looked around, disoriented. //How long has it been since I passed out?// He was surrounded
by darkness. //Where is this place?// Zero noticed the confusion on X's face and turned X's face
slowly back towards himself.
"X, X, don't worry." Zero whispered. "No one will bother us here." X's eyes was getting heavy.
The wound was affecting him. Zero rocked and hummed a haunting tune.
//It's not so bad...// X thought to himself as darkness ebbed away his senses. //Zero is Zero...
he'll always love me...even if he's Maverick.// A burning sensation returned to his chest. //Oh
no!// His eyes, now wide open, searched the room for the other Zero. The true Zero followed X's
panicked search around the room.
"You!" X yelled to someone behind Zero. What Zero could not see was the copy of Zero in X's view,
standing behind Zero.
"X, what?" Zero looked behind him, then at X again. "Nothing's there."
"No... stop! I don't..." X reached for the Z-saber sheathed behind Zero and, with a strength
that surprised Zero, knocked Zero away. Zero watched curiously at the horrified look plastered on
X's face as he activated the Z-Saber.
"X...what are you doing?" Zero said, amused more than anything else at the turn of events.
"Get away, Zero!" X cried. "I don't know what I'm about to do!" X took a step forwards, closer to
Zero. "Stop it!" He yelled out to someone behind Zero again. "No!"
"X..." Zero did not budge from where he sat, and sounded like he was talking to a badly behaved pet.
"Put the sword down."
"Zero, go!" X shook his head as he took another step towards Zero. "I don't know what's happening!
I, NO!" He took another step forwards. "STOP IT!" He yelled again to the invisible stranger behind
Zero.
/////////"Faith did something to you." X recalled Zero saying to him earlier./////////////
X's chest tightened again.
"Zero, you said Faith did something to me. What was it?!"
"She put a chip in you." Zero replied. "Why?"
X continued to step towards Zero, with a new horrified expression on his face. "Oh no! She's...
I...." X was now only several feet away from Zero. "GO!" Instead of heeding his friend's advice,
Zero got up and took a step towards X.
"What are you going to do, X?" Zero asked confidently. "Faith's doing this to you, isn't she?"
"Zero, GO!" X said desperately as he saw his sword arm raising above his head. "GO!" The sword
started to swing downwards. "ZEROOO!" Zero held tightly to X's wrist, stopping the sword from
finding its target. The sword, stopped in mid-swing, was aimed at himself instead of Zero. X
had managed to change the trajectory of the sword.
Zero looked very disturbed by X's action, while, in X's view, the copy of Zero stood behind the real
one wore almost the same expression. X struggled, and continued to pull at the Z-saber, this time
on his own will, but Zero's grip held.
"X..." Zero shook his head sadly, then swung a backhand at X's head. The unarmored Reploid made a
dull noise when the hit connected, then fell backwards as stars filled his vision. Zero caught X
before he hit the ground, watching expressionlessly as X's consciousness gave away. "X... looks like
I'll have to find different accommodations for you... until I take care of Faith..." Zero's eyes
narrowed darkly. "I'm going to rip her apart, piece by piece, for doing this to you."
--------------------------------------
X stirred slowly awake. He could hear the clank of chains as he pulled his arms towards himself.
His right temple pounded. The sound of Zero's hand connecting with his head was fresh in his mind.
Slowly he pushed himself off the ground, pausing a bit to let the wave of dizziness pass. He tested
the chains latched on his wrists, they were bolted to the ground. He jerked at them, harder this
time, trying to uproot the bolts, but they held. Frustration mounted in him. He followed Zero to
help him, not to try to kill him. "Damn it." He yanked angrily at the chains, venting his anger,
but only succeeded in cutting new wounds on his wrists.
"Why did you try to kill yourself?" X bolted from the sound of Zero's voice. He looked up and saw
Zero leaning against some boxes about twenty feet away. For the first time, X looked at his
surroundings and saw that he was in a storage warehouse. Boxes were stacked around the large room
with a vaulted ceiling. Windows high on the wall let in a bit of moonlight.
"Zero?" X hesitated, not sure to whom he was talking.
"I'm the one in your head." He pushed himself off of the boxes and walked towards X. "Now, why did
you try and kill yourself?"
"You gave me no choice." X moved into a sitting position, looking wearily at the false Zero. "You
tried to make me kill a friend."
"You'd kill yourself before him?" The false Zero looked meaningfully at X, who nodded. X ran his
hand gingerly over his right shoulder. The wound from Zero's sword had stopped bleeding--thanks to
his self repair system--but it was still open. The copy noticed that along with the blood coming
from X's wrists, and approached the hunter. X drew back, but could only go back so far before the
fully extended chains stopped him. "Hold still." The copy commanded, and placed a hand on his
shoulder. X felt a comforting warmth from the hand on his shoulder and closed his eyes. When he
opened them again, he checked his shoulder and his wrists to find the wounds were completely healed.
X looked disbelievingly at the false Zero.
"How did you do that?" X rubbed his shoulder as he asked. The other Zero simply smiled, then
noticed something from across the room and disappeared. "Wait!" X called out, but he was already
gone. X looked over his shoulder and saw the real Zero entering the room.
"Who are you talking to?" Zero asked X, looking around. X turned back to look at false Zero, but
found nothing there. X didn't answer, but Zero seemed to be satisfied that no one was in the room,
and focused his attention back to X. "Never mind." Zero waved his hand dismissively. "Sorry about
the chains, but I can't have you hurting yourself when it's not necessary."
"Zero... we can go back to HQ and get you fixed." X turned fully around to face Zero. "Please,
let's go home."
"You _are_ home." Zero replied, smiling warmly at X. "Our new home." Zero got out of his chair and
started to head towards X. "We can be together, now..." The sound of breaking glass echoed through
the large room. Moments later, Zero dropped to his knees, his hand held to his chest. Blood trickled
from between his fingers. Zero's kind eyes fell onto X again, before they closed completely. In slow
motion, X saw Zero fall to the ground.
//His eyes...// X thought... //Zero... Zero was back...//
X took in a sharp breath before pulling against his chains, trying to get closer to Zero, who had
fallen several feet out of reach. "Zero! ZERO!" He could almost reach Zero's blood covered hand.
Someone teleported in next to Zero and kicked Zero's arm away. X looked up angrily and saw Faith
standing over him, glaring back at him with equal intensity. A long range scoped rifle was in her
right hand. "YOU shot Zero?"
"Only because he took you away from me." Faith justified herself, her eyes narrowing as she looked
at Zero again. "He had the audacity to come between us."
"Faith!" X shook his head. "He didn't take me away from anyone! I don't love you." A frown appeared
on Faith's face, and she backed away from X. "I don't love you, Faith."
"No." She re-gripped her gun. "No." She repeated as she held her gun with both hands, aiming the
long rifle at X. "You love me! Because I love you!" She continued to back away, shaking her head
as she repeated herself. X sat very still on the floor, looking longingly at Zero. "TELL ME YOU
LOVE ME!" She demanded ferociously.
"I only love Zero." He said stoically. "Kill me, if you have to. Zero..." He reached out for the
fallen hunter again, now ignoring everything else.
"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Faith continued to wave her rifle, but X's world now only
involved Zero and himself. Faith fired warning shots, missing X by only inches. X did not turn his
gaze away from Zero. She gritted her teeth. "Fine." She said with a new calm. "You can die with
your pathetic lover." She aimed straight for X this time, and fired a shot.
//I love you... Zero.// X closed his eyes. A warm whirl of wind grew in front of X. The hunter
opened his eyes and saw Zero materializing before him. The laser reflected from Zero's raised arm
and flew back to Faith, hitting her on the shoulder. X checked and saw Zero was still lying on the
ground, meaning the Zero who just shielded him must be the one from his mind.
"You?!" Faith dropped her rifle and gripped tightly at her shoulder. She looked at the Zero lying
on the ground, then the one standing in front of X. "How is this possible?" X stared dumbly at Faith,
then back to the Zero standing in front of him.
"I'm not Zero." X's guardian bent down and picked up Zero's sword. "You have no idea that X is special,
do you?" He activated the sword, the green light humming in the air. "I'm part of the chip you implanted
in X; only I have evolved beyond that."
"That-that's not possible!" Faith backed away. "You can't possibly have taken a physical form! You're
just a hallucination to him!"
He shook his head, pointing the sword at her. "You don't deserve to live, after what you've put these
two through!"
"Zero! No!" X interjected, finally finding his voice. "STOP!"
The copy looked over his shoulder to address X. "You need to understand, X, she'll never leave you alone
until she dies. I know..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "she created me." Before X could protest,
it already ended. Quick as a lighting strike, he advanced, and stabbed Faith square in her chest with the
Z-Saber. Pain twisted her feature. She gripped at the sword with both hands. The copy pushed the sword
again, causing her to fall backwards. He let go of the sword as she fell, allowing the sword to fall with
her. She continued to grip the sword as she struggled to breathe. A strange silence fell over all of
them. Finally, Faith pulled herself slightly upright and let out a laugh that resembled a cough, a trickle
of blood rolled from the corner of her mouth.
"Who would think my own invention could fall in love with you?" She coughed again, spewing more blood.
"Or even that he could evolve beyond what he was...just from being with you." She fell back down on her
back. "You have the charms of a Siren, X. That is your curse..." Faith fell silent. Her hands loosened
from the sword and fell limply to her sides. She was dead.
"X?" The copy of Zero turned to see tears trickling down his face. X hand one hand stretched out for
Zero, who laid motionless on the ground, with a growing pool of blood beneath him. "He's dead, X." X
nodded. The false Zero wrapped his arms around X.
"Can you let me out of these?" X lifted his chains. "So I can go over to Zero?" The copy pulled back.
"You really loved him, didn't you?"
X nodded. The copy sighed.
"You'll find the chip Faith implanted in you if you search closely at slot 5K on the chip matrix." The
copy kissed X lightly on the cheek, causing X to blush slightly. "When you replace the chip, you will
be fine."
"But you..."
"Will cease to exist? No. Not really." He walked towards Zero and placed a hand on the open wound
on Zero's back. "I hope he takes good care of you." The copy got up, turned, and disappeared into the
moonlight, leaving X with a million questions. Zero started to stir, and lifted his head up from the
ground.
"X?" Zero croaked weakly. "What... why are you crying?"
"Zero?" X held his breath, and a smile slowly formed on his face. "You're... alive?" He tried to leap
forward to hold Zero's hands, and found that he could reach further while lying on the floor. Even then,
he was stills short by several feet. Zero dragged himself towards X and grasped X's outstretched hand,
squeezing it as tightly as he could.
"Why are you still crying, silly?" Zero asked. X wiped the tears off his face with his other hand.
"Let's go home." X smiled warmly.
--------------------------------------------------
The day was brisk. X crossed the grounds of the botanical garden, to the section dedicated to roses.
He stopped when he found the particular bush he was looking for, and started to dig a small hole about
a foot deep in the dirt. In his hand was a box, about the size of he hole. He opened it momentarily
to look at the chip Douglas extracted from him.
Zero approached X, staring at the box, and then at X again. "Are you still thinking about him?" Zero
asked.
"It's my fault again, isn't it?" X closed the box and placed it inside the hole underneath the rose
bush. "Everyone getting hurt around me."
"You need to stop thinking like that." Zero continued as X patted down the freshly dug earth. "Faith was
insane, and the other Zero... well... do you miss him?"
During the post-event briefing, Zero heard all about his doppelganger. X thought Zero looked a bit
concerned about how X felt about the other Zero. The red hunter never brought it up until now, but it
seems to have bothered him everyday.
"I don't miss him." X shook his head turned to look at Zero. "He said he was how I envision you to be...
and... he's right here." The blue hunter wrapped his arms around Zero and leaned against him. "He is you."
"The Tea Rose?" Zero observed. "Why here?"
"The Tea Rose means 'I'll remember always.'" X closed his eyes. Zero could see that X was still thinking
about something. No matter what X said, he was still hurting about Faith and the other Zero.
"Look over there." Zero said softly. X followed Zero's gaze, which fell on a lone white flower planted
in a slightly raised mound sectioned off by small bricks. The bright white pedals hung like a bell while
its long green leaves extended gracefully from the base of the stem and swung gently in the breeze.
The way the light hit the flower instilled a sense of tranquility in X.
"What is that?" X asked, still holding Zero in his arms.
"That's the Snowdrop. It means 'Hope.'"
X looked up at Zero, who was smiling at X. "I didn't know you had an encyclopedic knowledge of flowers."
"I don't." Zero raised a finger, as if you make a point. "I looked at the label they put over there."
X chuckled, leaning his forehead on Zero's chest. "You know what else I read on the label?"
"What?" X looked up at Zero, who stared quite seriously at him.
"Caramel Cheesecake means happiness! So let's go get some!" Zero swung his arm around X's shoulder and
the two started to walk away from the Rose bushes. X looked ahead at the garden before him; it was
vibrant and full of life. He felt Zero's arm on his shoulder and thought of the whimsical nature of the
Red Hunter, always hunting for happiness.
//Hope...// X thought contently. //I'll just enjoy this moment.//
~The End~
-----------------------------------
Aya: Let me just apologize for the ending. I tried to work in a cute kiss, or something here at the
end, but it just came off sounding... corny. I mean, I had all the meaningful stuff going on with
the flowers, so this just seemed to be enough. This is not so bad, right?
Mob Member 1: Waahhh!! Copy Zero is so cute! Why did you have to off him?!
Mob Member 2: *wiping away tears on t-shirt* He was so sweet!
Zero: HEY! I'm sweet!
X: Yep! *kisses Zero* YUM ^_^
Neo Mob Members: *Dancing around Faith's body* YAY!
Faith: *Pops back to life* Roar!
Neo Mob Members: WAHHH!!! *Runs away*
Aya: By the way, as per chapter 2's end notes, 'twas Lauren-sama's comment about it was nice having a girl
go after X instead of Zero that caused me to write Faith to be obsessed about X. Originally it was
just supposed to be Faith going after Zero, with many signs pointing otherwise just to mess with your
minds ^_^
Mob Member 3: Have we totally forgotten the point of having lemony scenes in these fics? *on soapbox*
have we all forgotten the importance of good lemon that will advance fan fiction literature? What is
the world coming to when-- *during her speech, the sun rises and sets* And so, that's why we must have good
lemony scenes!
Aya: *stares at MM3* Uh.. yeah... Oh X-kun! *pulls X away from Zero* Here, have this! *Hands X-kun a "Spider
Flower."*
X: What does this mean?
Aya: It means "Elope with me!" *Evil villainess laughter as she runs off with X.*
Zero and Zombie Faith: *In unison* COME BACK HERE! *Cue chase music*
the ideas have been buzzing in my head for awhile, getting better as the days passed. Special
thanks to Yuzu-chan for helping me work out the ideas and research info for this chapter ^_^
X and Zero: *still in pose as in last scene of Chapter 6*
X: My throat is staring to hurt, can you hurry it up?
Zero: I don't mind, Rarrr!
Faith: *about to beat door down*
Aya: Chill out! It's not your cue yet! Prepare yourselves for el-final chappy of "Hunted Heart."
Thank my friend Yuzu-chan for convincing me not to break this into two chapters and leave you with
yet another evil ciffy-hanger :)
--------------------------------
Hunted Heart
Chapter 7: Snipe
"What's wrong X? You don't like me now that I'm maverick?" Zero's eyes turned a chilly blue shade.
His fingers traced the outline of X's face.
"Zero..." A new desperation took over X. "No..." The only thing he could do was watch as Zero
marveled at his prey. Unlike Zero, X had no armor on. Normally he was not as strong as Zero,
not having the use of the boosting abilities of the armor made it completely futile to fight Zero
hand to hand.
The door chime on the door rang. Zero peered over his shoulder, slightly annoyed at the distraction.
"Don't move..." Zero headed for the door, leaving X trembling. X heard his door slide open. There
was a scream. X bolted upright and saw the green glow of Zero's Z-saber as he drew it. He was
going to kill someone.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion. X's legs felt like lead. The sword was already in the down
swing when X had only covered half the distance between Zero and himself.
"Zero, STOP!" X yelled. Zero hesitated for a second, which was exactly what X needed. He rushed
in front of Zero and grabbed the sword by the blade, gasping slightly as the blade burned his hands.
He couldn't stop the sword completely and it reached his right shoulder, drawing blood.
"X! You're bleeding!" Came Faith's voice from behind him. In the commotion, he hadn't noticed who
Zero was attacking.
"Zero...." X struggled to keep the sword from cutting further. "Stop it Zero... she's just a child!"
Zero deactivated his sword and looked down hard at X. His legs gave out beneath him, and X fell to
the ground, grasping his wounded shoulder.
Zero stretched his hand out, palm up. X studied the expression on Zero's face, then nodded,
understanding the offer without a spoken word. In his Maverick state, he could wipe out a good deal
of the hunters before anyone could stop him.
"I have to go." X told Faith before placing his hand on Zero's. Zero smiled and pulled X's body
close to his own and wrapped his arm around X's waist. X shut his eyes. It hurt to see someone
he knew could be kind become...
"X." Zero said softly. For a moment X thought he heard the Zero he knew was inside. He opened
his eyes again, but found the icy blue eyes of a maverick staring back. "Smile." Zero teleported
them out.
--------------------------------------
//You're going to regret not killing me, honey...// Faith snapped a part onto her laser rifle.
//No one stands in the way between X and me.// Her eyes narrowed to slits.
"Faith?!" Came pounding at the door. It was the other Hunters again. They wanted to know what
happened at X's room. "Faith, what happened? Who attacked you? Where's X?"
//No one.// Faith swung the rifle strap over her head.
---------------------------------------
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" X thrashed his arms around, trying to reach out for
something... anything.
"Shh...." A soothing voice and a hand stroking his hair calmed him down a bit. "You're having
another bad dream, X." Someone held him securely, rocking slightly. Without opening his eyes, X
nuzzled closer to the one holding him. He imagined clear blue skies as he felt a warm breath close
to his face. He remembered the last time Zero held him like this...
"Zero!" His eyes snapped open and he saw Zero's eyes. Reality came back, and X tried to get out
of Zero's arms, but his shoulder made movement of any kind very painful. He glanced over to his
right shoulder, it wasn't bandaged at all, and still bleeding.
X looked around, disoriented. //How long has it been since I passed out?// He was surrounded
by darkness. //Where is this place?// Zero noticed the confusion on X's face and turned X's face
slowly back towards himself.
"X, X, don't worry." Zero whispered. "No one will bother us here." X's eyes was getting heavy.
The wound was affecting him. Zero rocked and hummed a haunting tune.
//It's not so bad...// X thought to himself as darkness ebbed away his senses. //Zero is Zero...
he'll always love me...even if he's Maverick.// A burning sensation returned to his chest. //Oh
no!// His eyes, now wide open, searched the room for the other Zero. The true Zero followed X's
panicked search around the room.
"You!" X yelled to someone behind Zero. What Zero could not see was the copy of Zero in X's view,
standing behind Zero.
"X, what?" Zero looked behind him, then at X again. "Nothing's there."
"No... stop! I don't..." X reached for the Z-saber sheathed behind Zero and, with a strength
that surprised Zero, knocked Zero away. Zero watched curiously at the horrified look plastered on
X's face as he activated the Z-Saber.
"X...what are you doing?" Zero said, amused more than anything else at the turn of events.
"Get away, Zero!" X cried. "I don't know what I'm about to do!" X took a step forwards, closer to
Zero. "Stop it!" He yelled out to someone behind Zero again. "No!"
"X..." Zero did not budge from where he sat, and sounded like he was talking to a badly behaved pet.
"Put the sword down."
"Zero, go!" X shook his head as he took another step towards Zero. "I don't know what's happening!
I, NO!" He took another step forwards. "STOP IT!" He yelled again to the invisible stranger behind
Zero.
/////////"Faith did something to you." X recalled Zero saying to him earlier./////////////
X's chest tightened again.
"Zero, you said Faith did something to me. What was it?!"
"She put a chip in you." Zero replied. "Why?"
X continued to step towards Zero, with a new horrified expression on his face. "Oh no! She's...
I...." X was now only several feet away from Zero. "GO!" Instead of heeding his friend's advice,
Zero got up and took a step towards X.
"What are you going to do, X?" Zero asked confidently. "Faith's doing this to you, isn't she?"
"Zero, GO!" X said desperately as he saw his sword arm raising above his head. "GO!" The sword
started to swing downwards. "ZEROOO!" Zero held tightly to X's wrist, stopping the sword from
finding its target. The sword, stopped in mid-swing, was aimed at himself instead of Zero. X
had managed to change the trajectory of the sword.
Zero looked very disturbed by X's action, while, in X's view, the copy of Zero stood behind the real
one wore almost the same expression. X struggled, and continued to pull at the Z-saber, this time
on his own will, but Zero's grip held.
"X..." Zero shook his head sadly, then swung a backhand at X's head. The unarmored Reploid made a
dull noise when the hit connected, then fell backwards as stars filled his vision. Zero caught X
before he hit the ground, watching expressionlessly as X's consciousness gave away. "X... looks like
I'll have to find different accommodations for you... until I take care of Faith..." Zero's eyes
narrowed darkly. "I'm going to rip her apart, piece by piece, for doing this to you."
--------------------------------------
X stirred slowly awake. He could hear the clank of chains as he pulled his arms towards himself.
His right temple pounded. The sound of Zero's hand connecting with his head was fresh in his mind.
Slowly he pushed himself off the ground, pausing a bit to let the wave of dizziness pass. He tested
the chains latched on his wrists, they were bolted to the ground. He jerked at them, harder this
time, trying to uproot the bolts, but they held. Frustration mounted in him. He followed Zero to
help him, not to try to kill him. "Damn it." He yanked angrily at the chains, venting his anger,
but only succeeded in cutting new wounds on his wrists.
"Why did you try to kill yourself?" X bolted from the sound of Zero's voice. He looked up and saw
Zero leaning against some boxes about twenty feet away. For the first time, X looked at his
surroundings and saw that he was in a storage warehouse. Boxes were stacked around the large room
with a vaulted ceiling. Windows high on the wall let in a bit of moonlight.
"Zero?" X hesitated, not sure to whom he was talking.
"I'm the one in your head." He pushed himself off of the boxes and walked towards X. "Now, why did
you try and kill yourself?"
"You gave me no choice." X moved into a sitting position, looking wearily at the false Zero. "You
tried to make me kill a friend."
"You'd kill yourself before him?" The false Zero looked meaningfully at X, who nodded. X ran his
hand gingerly over his right shoulder. The wound from Zero's sword had stopped bleeding--thanks to
his self repair system--but it was still open. The copy noticed that along with the blood coming
from X's wrists, and approached the hunter. X drew back, but could only go back so far before the
fully extended chains stopped him. "Hold still." The copy commanded, and placed a hand on his
shoulder. X felt a comforting warmth from the hand on his shoulder and closed his eyes. When he
opened them again, he checked his shoulder and his wrists to find the wounds were completely healed.
X looked disbelievingly at the false Zero.
"How did you do that?" X rubbed his shoulder as he asked. The other Zero simply smiled, then
noticed something from across the room and disappeared. "Wait!" X called out, but he was already
gone. X looked over his shoulder and saw the real Zero entering the room.
"Who are you talking to?" Zero asked X, looking around. X turned back to look at false Zero, but
found nothing there. X didn't answer, but Zero seemed to be satisfied that no one was in the room,
and focused his attention back to X. "Never mind." Zero waved his hand dismissively. "Sorry about
the chains, but I can't have you hurting yourself when it's not necessary."
"Zero... we can go back to HQ and get you fixed." X turned fully around to face Zero. "Please,
let's go home."
"You _are_ home." Zero replied, smiling warmly at X. "Our new home." Zero got out of his chair and
started to head towards X. "We can be together, now..." The sound of breaking glass echoed through
the large room. Moments later, Zero dropped to his knees, his hand held to his chest. Blood trickled
from between his fingers. Zero's kind eyes fell onto X again, before they closed completely. In slow
motion, X saw Zero fall to the ground.
//His eyes...// X thought... //Zero... Zero was back...//
X took in a sharp breath before pulling against his chains, trying to get closer to Zero, who had
fallen several feet out of reach. "Zero! ZERO!" He could almost reach Zero's blood covered hand.
Someone teleported in next to Zero and kicked Zero's arm away. X looked up angrily and saw Faith
standing over him, glaring back at him with equal intensity. A long range scoped rifle was in her
right hand. "YOU shot Zero?"
"Only because he took you away from me." Faith justified herself, her eyes narrowing as she looked
at Zero again. "He had the audacity to come between us."
"Faith!" X shook his head. "He didn't take me away from anyone! I don't love you." A frown appeared
on Faith's face, and she backed away from X. "I don't love you, Faith."
"No." She re-gripped her gun. "No." She repeated as she held her gun with both hands, aiming the
long rifle at X. "You love me! Because I love you!" She continued to back away, shaking her head
as she repeated herself. X sat very still on the floor, looking longingly at Zero. "TELL ME YOU
LOVE ME!" She demanded ferociously.
"I only love Zero." He said stoically. "Kill me, if you have to. Zero..." He reached out for the
fallen hunter again, now ignoring everything else.
"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Faith continued to wave her rifle, but X's world now only
involved Zero and himself. Faith fired warning shots, missing X by only inches. X did not turn his
gaze away from Zero. She gritted her teeth. "Fine." She said with a new calm. "You can die with
your pathetic lover." She aimed straight for X this time, and fired a shot.
//I love you... Zero.// X closed his eyes. A warm whirl of wind grew in front of X. The hunter
opened his eyes and saw Zero materializing before him. The laser reflected from Zero's raised arm
and flew back to Faith, hitting her on the shoulder. X checked and saw Zero was still lying on the
ground, meaning the Zero who just shielded him must be the one from his mind.
"You?!" Faith dropped her rifle and gripped tightly at her shoulder. She looked at the Zero lying
on the ground, then the one standing in front of X. "How is this possible?" X stared dumbly at Faith,
then back to the Zero standing in front of him.
"I'm not Zero." X's guardian bent down and picked up Zero's sword. "You have no idea that X is special,
do you?" He activated the sword, the green light humming in the air. "I'm part of the chip you implanted
in X; only I have evolved beyond that."
"That-that's not possible!" Faith backed away. "You can't possibly have taken a physical form! You're
just a hallucination to him!"
He shook his head, pointing the sword at her. "You don't deserve to live, after what you've put these
two through!"
"Zero! No!" X interjected, finally finding his voice. "STOP!"
The copy looked over his shoulder to address X. "You need to understand, X, she'll never leave you alone
until she dies. I know..." He closed his eyes for a moment. "she created me." Before X could protest,
it already ended. Quick as a lighting strike, he advanced, and stabbed Faith square in her chest with the
Z-Saber. Pain twisted her feature. She gripped at the sword with both hands. The copy pushed the sword
again, causing her to fall backwards. He let go of the sword as she fell, allowing the sword to fall with
her. She continued to grip the sword as she struggled to breathe. A strange silence fell over all of
them. Finally, Faith pulled herself slightly upright and let out a laugh that resembled a cough, a trickle
of blood rolled from the corner of her mouth.
"Who would think my own invention could fall in love with you?" She coughed again, spewing more blood.
"Or even that he could evolve beyond what he was...just from being with you." She fell back down on her
back. "You have the charms of a Siren, X. That is your curse..." Faith fell silent. Her hands loosened
from the sword and fell limply to her sides. She was dead.
"X?" The copy of Zero turned to see tears trickling down his face. X hand one hand stretched out for
Zero, who laid motionless on the ground, with a growing pool of blood beneath him. "He's dead, X." X
nodded. The false Zero wrapped his arms around X.
"Can you let me out of these?" X lifted his chains. "So I can go over to Zero?" The copy pulled back.
"You really loved him, didn't you?"
X nodded. The copy sighed.
"You'll find the chip Faith implanted in you if you search closely at slot 5K on the chip matrix." The
copy kissed X lightly on the cheek, causing X to blush slightly. "When you replace the chip, you will
be fine."
"But you..."
"Will cease to exist? No. Not really." He walked towards Zero and placed a hand on the open wound
on Zero's back. "I hope he takes good care of you." The copy got up, turned, and disappeared into the
moonlight, leaving X with a million questions. Zero started to stir, and lifted his head up from the
ground.
"X?" Zero croaked weakly. "What... why are you crying?"
"Zero?" X held his breath, and a smile slowly formed on his face. "You're... alive?" He tried to leap
forward to hold Zero's hands, and found that he could reach further while lying on the floor. Even then,
he was stills short by several feet. Zero dragged himself towards X and grasped X's outstretched hand,
squeezing it as tightly as he could.
"Why are you still crying, silly?" Zero asked. X wiped the tears off his face with his other hand.
"Let's go home." X smiled warmly.
--------------------------------------------------
The day was brisk. X crossed the grounds of the botanical garden, to the section dedicated to roses.
He stopped when he found the particular bush he was looking for, and started to dig a small hole about
a foot deep in the dirt. In his hand was a box, about the size of he hole. He opened it momentarily
to look at the chip Douglas extracted from him.
Zero approached X, staring at the box, and then at X again. "Are you still thinking about him?" Zero
asked.
"It's my fault again, isn't it?" X closed the box and placed it inside the hole underneath the rose
bush. "Everyone getting hurt around me."
"You need to stop thinking like that." Zero continued as X patted down the freshly dug earth. "Faith was
insane, and the other Zero... well... do you miss him?"
During the post-event briefing, Zero heard all about his doppelganger. X thought Zero looked a bit
concerned about how X felt about the other Zero. The red hunter never brought it up until now, but it
seems to have bothered him everyday.
"I don't miss him." X shook his head turned to look at Zero. "He said he was how I envision you to be...
and... he's right here." The blue hunter wrapped his arms around Zero and leaned against him. "He is you."
"The Tea Rose?" Zero observed. "Why here?"
"The Tea Rose means 'I'll remember always.'" X closed his eyes. Zero could see that X was still thinking
about something. No matter what X said, he was still hurting about Faith and the other Zero.
"Look over there." Zero said softly. X followed Zero's gaze, which fell on a lone white flower planted
in a slightly raised mound sectioned off by small bricks. The bright white pedals hung like a bell while
its long green leaves extended gracefully from the base of the stem and swung gently in the breeze.
The way the light hit the flower instilled a sense of tranquility in X.
"What is that?" X asked, still holding Zero in his arms.
"That's the Snowdrop. It means 'Hope.'"
X looked up at Zero, who was smiling at X. "I didn't know you had an encyclopedic knowledge of flowers."
"I don't." Zero raised a finger, as if you make a point. "I looked at the label they put over there."
X chuckled, leaning his forehead on Zero's chest. "You know what else I read on the label?"
"What?" X looked up at Zero, who stared quite seriously at him.
"Caramel Cheesecake means happiness! So let's go get some!" Zero swung his arm around X's shoulder and
the two started to walk away from the Rose bushes. X looked ahead at the garden before him; it was
vibrant and full of life. He felt Zero's arm on his shoulder and thought of the whimsical nature of the
Red Hunter, always hunting for happiness.
//Hope...// X thought contently. //I'll just enjoy this moment.//
~The End~
-----------------------------------
Aya: Let me just apologize for the ending. I tried to work in a cute kiss, or something here at the
end, but it just came off sounding... corny. I mean, I had all the meaningful stuff going on with
the flowers, so this just seemed to be enough. This is not so bad, right?
Mob Member 1: Waahhh!! Copy Zero is so cute! Why did you have to off him?!
Mob Member 2: *wiping away tears on t-shirt* He was so sweet!
Zero: HEY! I'm sweet!
X: Yep! *kisses Zero* YUM ^_^
Neo Mob Members: *Dancing around Faith's body* YAY!
Faith: *Pops back to life* Roar!
Neo Mob Members: WAHHH!!! *Runs away*
Aya: By the way, as per chapter 2's end notes, 'twas Lauren-sama's comment about it was nice having a girl
go after X instead of Zero that caused me to write Faith to be obsessed about X. Originally it was
just supposed to be Faith going after Zero, with many signs pointing otherwise just to mess with your
minds ^_^
Mob Member 3: Have we totally forgotten the point of having lemony scenes in these fics? *on soapbox*
have we all forgotten the importance of good lemon that will advance fan fiction literature? What is
the world coming to when-- *during her speech, the sun rises and sets* And so, that's why we must have good
lemony scenes!
Aya: *stares at MM3* Uh.. yeah... Oh X-kun! *pulls X away from Zero* Here, have this! *Hands X-kun a "Spider
Flower."*
X: What does this mean?
Aya: It means "Elope with me!" *Evil villainess laughter as she runs off with X.*
Zero and Zombie Faith: *In unison* COME BACK HERE! *Cue chase music*