Disclaimer: I don't own ANY of the Rockman characters written about within this fanfic…although I sure wish I DID. .

Random Rant: Whooooooo, sure has been a while since I last wrote something. I've been pretty busy lately, though. But I HAVE been able to think up a little something. It's not much, but, hey, it IS something. ^_^

Anyway, after thinking about all the little fanfics I've written, I realized I never wrote anything about my favorite lil' mysterious older brother. That's right – Blues. Gotta love Blues. So I thought I'd just scratch up a lil' somethin' and write it for all you BluesxRock fans out there. ^^; Mind you, I believe he's acting a might bit out of character, but I love all them painful emotions I shove into fanfics, so blah. =P Besides, if Blues DOES love Rock as more than just a brother and he's suddenly stripped away from him because of something that was his fault, I think Blues would feel a might bit depressed about it.

At any rate, enjoy! ^_^ And to anyone out there whose read "Ecstasy of Blue" and "Velvet Rain" and you're waiting for that little sequel, I PROMISE I'll try to get at least the FIRST chapter up sometime soon! _

Warning: There's a lil' bit of shounen-ai mixed in here. It's not brought up all that much, but that is the basis of this fic. So dun read it if you dun likey the stuff!

Just a Little Longer
By: Bibly

The sun slowly set beneath the horizon, its warm rays reaching out one last time before succumbing to the cold of the night. As I watched the stars appear in the sky, the bright full moon shinning down upon the earth like an angel within the dark heavens, watching over all that happens within the night's dark embrace, my thoughts did nothing but run wild. My emotions were shot; I hadn't slept in days. If my mind were anything more than a mere mass of mixed emotions and thoughts that screamed nothing short of a pain filled "Why?! Why?!", I would have realized that I had barely moved from the tree branch upon which I stood. I was shivering – no doubt from the cold air that whirled around my seemingly frozen body – but I didn't mind. My thoughts were no longer centered around myself and my well-being. Now they thought of you and only you alone. Your cheerful face, your silky-soft hair, your bright, innocent eyes… It was all gone now; nothing was left but an empty, soul-less shell, to whom my love I was never able to reveal…

I sighed, lowering my gaze to the tree branch below me, my shielded eyes brimmed with fresh tears. As they slowly slipped down my cheeks, I could feel them following the very same trails as my previous tears. How odd. I always thought that I would never lose you. I always thought that you were strong, powerful, determined… Whenever the time came for us to finally part ways, I would be the first to shed blood upon the pavement in a dashing attempt to save you one last time as both my final act as your guardian from afar and your brother. And yet…

My feet thumped against the ground softly as I finally decided to move. I crumbled to my knees, weak from exhaustion, yet I forced myself to my feet and headed forward. Now many times had I told you that if you were to ever need help, I would be there, willing to sacrifice my life just so you could survive and protect all that you loved? You had more of a purpose in life than I myself. An untrustworthy loner is not one who needs to survive for very long. But you…you trusted so many, loved so much, and no matter just how stubborn you may have acted at times, almost everyone who met you immediately fell in love with your childishness. Yet that didn't seem to matter to you within your last few seconds in which my slight error would be at the cost of your very life.

Leaning against a tree, I peered ahead, spotting your home – our home – just a few yards away. It was apparent that both Roll and dad were out somewhere, since the car was gone and not a single light shown through any of the windows. I slowly headed toward it, not wanting to come face to face with what had become your fate, but fleeing from it was pointless. As I entered the house, a rush of cold air immediately greeted me. It seemed dead, lifeless, almost like a grave; it sent shivers down my spine. I slowly wandered through the house, not caring that it was nearly as dark as a grave as well, and headed straight for the lab. I didn't stop until I came up to a near invisible door that stood in the darkest corner of the lab itself. You were there, who knew how many feet below, sleeping, unaware to your surroundings or that you had left your family behind. I sighed, placing my hand against the keypad that stood next to it. That very fact alone – that you were no longer aware to the goings of the world around you – saddened me. It was my fault that you were now like that. If I hadn't had interfered, maybe you'd still be with me, following me as you always did, wanting to do nothing more than to simply "hang out" with your older brother…

I typed the code needed to open the door into the keypad quickly and rushed inside as soon as the door swished open. Although it saddened me to think of you they way you know were, the face that your new self had still resembled your old, childish self, despite the fact it looked a bit more mature and less innocent than before. I headed down the long, winding stairway as quickly and as quietly as I could, not wanting to break the eerie yet peaceful silence that floated through the air. Within moments, I stood before another door. It was larger than before, and obviously made of a stronger, thicker material than the previous door, but, just like the previous door, it too had a keypad in which to type in a code. I quickly typed in that code, then stood still as it opened.

The sight that stood before me was nothing short of amazing. Dad had really outdone himself. Numerous computers and machines whirled with life, clicking and beeping continuously as they fed energy through wires to the reserve tanks that were held within the capsule in the middle of the room. I knew that these machines would soon be switched off as soon as the tanks were full, making the room itself as dead as the world outside. I slowly walked into the room, my eyes never wavering from your capsule, the container that held your new self. I peered inside, staring at the face that was once the face of my younger brother, and felt new tears begin to form quicker than before. I suddenly collapsed to the ground in a fit of tears, mumbling incoherently as I tried to make sense of what had happened.

You had gone on another one of your missions against Wily, your cheerful face now shrouded in hate and distaste. I had been watching you from afar, as always, and everything seemed to have been going well for you. You had absolutely no trouble at all with Wily's new Robot Masters, and was well on your way to facing off with the mad scientist once again before he came.

Forte.

Without a single second of hesitation, he leaped on you like a lion on its prey, tearing into your armor with his bare hands, seemingly crazed by something, then leaping away and powering up an extremely powerful plasma blast. Before he could get off the shot, I jumped to intercept it, for I knew I wouldn't have the time to shoot off a powerful enough blast to shoot it off coarse. But as soon as I landed before you, as soon as my feet hit the ground…I crumbled. My energy imbalance shot through me like a flash of electricity, rendering me helpless. You gazed down at me, caught off-guard by my sudden fall, and I watched in horror as the blast of energy zoomed over me and through your chest…through your main source of power…

Within seconds you fell flat on your back, your eyes dimming, your life vanishing before my very eyes. I pleaded with you, told you to stay strong, that I was sorry for faltering at the last second and drawing your attention away from what was at hand. You said nothing…just looked at me. Tears were welling in both of our eyes now, as we stared at one another, fearing for what we both knew was going to happen, yet refusing to believe it. I watched as your blue eyes faded completely, leaving nothing more than soulless, empty pits of death.

I screamed out, realizing that you, my younger brother, whom I had sworn I would keep safe, were now dead.

Forte didn't know what had just taken place. All he knew was that he had now gotten the best of you, and did nothing more than boast and start blabbing on about how he was now the greatest fighter ever. I couldn't take it. Wily had destroyed our lives on so many occasions, and now Forte – Wily's "son" – had taken you away from me… I lashed out on him suddenly, ripping into him with my bare hands, venting out all my anger and sadness on him until I finally tore into his circuitry and destroyed everything. His memory chip, personality chip, everything. It was all gone within a matter of seconds.

I was so weak by then, shaking all over from your death, that I could to nothing more than return home with your lifeless body. Dad and Roll were both horrified and saddened by what I brought home and the story I told. Dad knew he couldn't do anything about you. You were gone completely. Not only had your main source of power been shot, but all of your vital circuitry and chips had been destroyed. I knew then that I had failed. I had kept the hope that perhaps all of your vital inner workings were still in good condition and that you would be able to be repaired, but it wasn't so. You were gone, taken away from me before I could tell you that I loved you…

I glanced inside the capsule once more and sighed. Luckily dad had a copy of your memory banks. It was a bit old, taken a couple years earlier, but it was still something. He placed it within the body of the new robot he had been creating. A "reploid" or something along those lines. As soon as he did so, he told both your sister and I that we wouldn't be able to see if the copy of your memories were in good condition, or somehow faltered in some way for quite some time. As soon as he told us, I hoped, and hoped that whenever you would awaken, you would remember us – remember me.

Until that day comes, I'll continue to be at your side, watching you, waiting for you as long as my energy imbalance allows me to. But for now, I just want to stay here and gaze at you, to stay next to you just a little longer.

owari

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Author's Note: …Yeah… This sucked. o_O I lost interest in it while I was writing it. .;;;; Oh well. I hope you enjoyed it at least! Quite a few plot holes, but, eh. I'm aware of them, I'm just too tired to actually DO anything about them. @_@ Hey, this was written in like…10 minutes. I'm not gonna actually make it sound all technical. .;