Zero awoke to feel someone shaking him.
"Zero! ZERO!!!"
He started, then relaxed when he saw it was Roose. "What?"
"Come on, get up!" Roose said, sounding excited and weary all at once. "The door's open, and we only have an hour and ten minutes left!"
Zero shot up, and instantly regretted it as his limbs protested the action with sharp stabs of pain. "Why didn't you say something before?!"
Roose looked sheepish. "Well, we both kind of passed out. I just woke up before you did."
The boys hurried out of the gravity chamber, only to find a note from Azuma taped to the door.
Be back on time or you go down in rank the number of SECONDS you're late! 88, your Repairer's expecting you.
"Kizna," Zero breathed before taking off with Roose struggling to keep up.
Despite how exhausted they felt, the boys made it to the hospital ward in record time. Unfortunately, Kizna appeared to have gotten tired of waiting and had fallen asleep. Zero didn't have the heart to wake her, thinking she probably needed her rest. But it was still good to know she had been awake at some point.
He was going to tell Roose to go find Wrecka, but his friend had already dozed off in a chair, snoring quietly.
Zero smiled and sat down next to Kizna, squeezing her gloved hand. "It's kinda funny. You get hurt and they work me twice as hard. I'm still trying to figure out why they're making poor Roose suffer, though."
A hand touched Zero's shoulder, and he spun around, only to find Yamagi's Repairer standing behind him. "Oh. Hi." He smiled hastily, wishing he could recall her name just once.
She said nothing, but held out an apple.
Normally, Zero would've refused it, but his stomach growled, and he practically tore the apple from her hand and ravenously bit into it.
Seemingly amused by his appetite, she pulled out another apple and placed it in Roose's lap.
Zero finished his rather quickly and began to eye Roose's, but she simply held out a third apple.
And it went on that way until Zero had put away at least five apples, but he'd stopped counting then. He was just thinking of telling her he didn't know her name when she tapped her watch, frowning.
Zero's eyes widened. They only had fifteen minutes to get back. He thanked her for the apples and nudged Roose awake.
Roose was grateful for the apples as well, and managed a heartfelt, "Thanks, Tukasa-chan!" with one stuck in his mouth as Zero dragged him away.
Tukasa smiled and waved as they ran out the door, then sat down to look after Kizna.
* * * * *
Hiead crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Azuma. "Well?"
Azuma glared at him. "I have…very specific orders that you are to be moved to advanced training immediately."
Hiead did not appear to be impressed.
"You won't be with 88 and 85, if that's what you're thinking. Certain people…higher up…seem to think you need to train at an even higher level than them."
Hiead smirked. "How much more higher?"
"They get breaks." Azuma paused. "You won't. And one more thing."
"Yeah?"
"Don't think because you have two EXs that you're guaranteed to move up. Get lazy now and I promise you'll never get promoted."
"I don't get lazy," Hiead spat. "I get better."
"We'll see," Azuma said as Hiead walked out.
* * * * *
Roose stared up at the ceiling. "Zero?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember much? From when you fell into Eeva Leena?"
Zero sat up. "Sure. Why?"
"Well…how was it? What was it like?"
"It hurt a lot at first. Then…I got used to her…or she got used to me."
"And…how was it after that?"
"Weird," Zero murmured softly.
"Oh." Roose looked a bit nervous. "The Goddess…what was she like?"
"Friendly," Zero said, grinning at the memory. "Why all these questions about Eeva Leena?"
Roose blushed. "I…um…sort of used to imagine. What it'd be like to be inside a Goddess."
"Really? What did you imagine?" Zero asked, more interested than he was supposed to be.
Roose hesitated. "I…I always pictured this perfect, beautiful woman, taking my hand and showing me all of outer space."
"Did she look anything like Wrecka-chan?"
Zero knew from the way Roose's face turned bright red that she looked EXACTLY like Wrecka. "Well, that's good. The Goddess was cute, and Wrecka's cute, too. Anyway, she'll be there when you make Pilot, remember? So nothing to worry about."
Roose nodded mutely. "I…I hope Kizna's awake next time."
Zero grinned. "Thanks, Roose." He closed his eyes and stretched. "Night."
"Night, Zero." Roose closed his eyes as well, half of him hoping Wrecka didn't miss him too much, and the other half hoping she did.
* * * * *
There was no one waiting beside the tree this time, and Zero's first thought was to head for the briar patch. Before he could, though, he spotted a small, blue-haired girl off in the distance…but in the opposite direction of the briar patch.
After a moment of indecision, Zero chose to approach the girl. However, the moment he got within arm's reach, she vanished and reappeared even farther away than before. Still, Zero couldn't shake the feeling that she was important to rescuing Kizzie, and continued to try and reach her. But the girl kept moving farther and farther away, until, finally, Zero couldn't see her anymore. By then, it was too late.
* * * * *
Zero woke up with an ache in his head and Azuma in his face.
"Have a good nap, Sleeping Beauty?"
Zero rolled over and shook Roose awake.
"I thought I should let you know that you've got some competition. Candidate 87's been bumped up to advanced training, too."
Zero instantly frowned.
"There's more, though. Unlike your situation, 87 can program his machine for however much he wants to train in. The catch being that your machine is now linked to his, and will automatically switch to half of whatever he's training in."
"Does Hiead-san know that?" Roose asked quietly.
Azuma grinned wickedly. "No."
"Is there any GOOD news?" Zero asked.
"Yeah. Much as 87 might like to think he is, he's not a machine. Chances are he'll wear himself out within a few hours, and your machine will go back to its normal settings whenever he's not training."
"Assuming he stops," Zero muttered.
Roose's eyes widened.
"He starts in three minutes. Good luck. You're going to NEED it." Azuma chuckled as he left the room.
Zero almost didn't stop himself from muttering, "We are SO dead."
* * * * *
Hiead was ten minutes into his training.
The monitor above him reported a constant 10G, as it had for the past ten minutes.
The pain was incredible. Blinding, even.
But not impossible.
He had not yet tried to move. Now, slowly, he attempted to raise his right arm, and nearly broke the limb in the process. With an angry grunt, he laid still again, letting the forces work against his body.
He would try again ten minutes later, and ten after that, until he could move enough to make himself sweat.
Hiead closed his eyes, letting himself go numb, blocking out the pain, and focusing on nothing but his will to win.
* * * * *
It was still very difficult to move in 5G, but Zero and Roose were managing with varying degrees of success.
Zero had suggested push-ups again, which they did until he suggested trying to stand again.
It took nearly ten minutes to do it, but Zero made it to his feet.
"Okay, Roose. Now it's your turn."
Instead of panicking, Roose grunted loudly, slowly pushing himself up until he made it to his knees.
"Good! Keep going!" Zero encouraged.
Panting, Roose moved to one knee…and stopped.
"Almost there!" Zero said.
Roose shook his head wearily.
"You can't quit now, Roose! You're too close!"
"Zero…it hurts…"
"It's going to hurt worse if we don't train, Roose. You think Hiead's going to stop?"
Roose's eyes widened in fear.
"I didn't think so. Now, PUSH UP!"
After a few seconds, Roose made it to a squatting position.
"All you have to do now is stand."
Roose took a deep breath and forced himself to stand, his face red and sweaty by the time he made it all the way up.
"Good job," Zero said. "Now, let's try some basic moves."
Roose blinked. "Like what?"
Zeru shrugged. "Try to stop my fist when I throw it at you."
"Um…Zero, I don't think that's a good idea…"
"Wrecka's depending on you to train hard, Roose. I know you won't disappoint her. And Hiead wouldn't have any mercy on us if he knew his machine was linked to ours."
"No mercy," Roose muttered.
"That's right. Come on, try to catch me off guard. Kick or punch, your choice."
Roose nodded, then threw a left jab that Zero easily dodged.
"I've seen you do better, Roose."
Gradually, Roose's punches began to pick up speed, and after a while, Zero was no longer taking it easy. It was becoming a real chore to avoid the fists, and he soon realized why. When he did take his eyes off the fists, Zero was more than surprised to see that Roose's eyes had gone pink, and the edges of his hair were turning white. His lips were even curving into a vicious snarl.
"Just like in my dream," Zero murmured right before Roose's right fist slammed into his jaw. The sheer force of the blow spun him half around and sent him sprawling to his knees.
"Ze…Zero? Are you okay?"
Zero shook his head to clear it. The coppery taste of blood entered his mouth, and he could feel his jaw throbbing as he tested it.
"I-I'm so sorry, Zero! I didn't mean to-"
"No. That was…good, Roose. Very good. Most people could never land a solid blow on me. You're improving." Zero stood up and smiled. "Let's do it again. Only this time, you try dodging."
* * * * *
"And so they grow stronger, together, yet apart."
Her hand gently came to rest on his shoulder. "You still believe I am wrong to hope."
"No. I merely believe you place your hope in the wrong Candidate. There must always be hope."
"I cannot perform my duties forever. There must be another. I must hope."
"I agree," he said softly. "I just wish you would be more open-minded about who will replace you."
"Then we will both have hope in the young," she responded. "And we shall see which of our chosen rises to become the savior of mankind."
After she had gone, he turned back to the vast emptiness of space. He dared not share his concerns with Teela. For in his mind, the question was no longer which of the Candidates would save mankind, but if either of them even could.