Alouetta looked up at the two women next to her, turning her vision from one to the other as they spoke. Neither of them seemed to pay her much mind, which was odd to her, As Ciel was her un-official mother. She always seemed to listen to her. The only time she didn't was when Uncle Zero was in trouble.

Reploid: Zero

By:

Satashi

"How long has he been in there?" Leviathan asked, looking at the door leading into Zero's room.

"Ever since he got back." Ciel replied softly. "As soon as he woke up, he went into his room and locked it, not saying anything… He didn't even get repairs done to him…"

The blue haired girl sighed. "Harpuia is the strongest of the generals. We'll need to be in top condition to take him down…"

"I'll talk to him." Ciel stated, walking to the door and knocking. When she got no answer, she spoke. "Zero? I'm coming in." She took out her master key card and swiped it across the door, granting her entrance.

Leviathan felt a tug at her sweater. Looking down, she saw a small blond girl holding a stuffed cat doll. "Is Uncle Zero hurt?" She asked up to her.

Leviathan knelt down to her level. "He isn't feeling well." She explained lightly to her. "Uncle Zero is kind of sad right now. The war is affecting him. Don't you worry, though, he'll be right as rain in a little while."

"Fine then!" Ciel screamed, opening the door and turning. "You know what!? I don't care anymore! If this is what Zero was like, I wish you never got your memory back! Coward! What happened to your sense of justice!?"

"Get the hell out!"

Ciel slammed the door and stormed past the two. Leviathan looked at the door in shock. Zero had only spoken kindly about Ciel since they met. And Ciel even took her in, not questioning the decision once Zero personally told her that Leviathan was on their side now.

Standing up, Leviathan ran to catch up with her. "Ciel, Ciel, wait!" She grabbed her shoulder, stopping the human in her tracks. She looked scared and angry and on the verge of tears all at once. "What happened?"

"He… He said he wouldn't fight anymore. Told me to do it own my own, to never talk to him again…"

Leviathan shook her head. "He got a lot of his past back the other day, maybe it's too much for him to handle all at once. I'll go after Harpuia. I can take him down in his place."

Ciel opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself. "…Okay. Come on, we need to get this over with. Before they get Zero's power from the capsule. They've already had enough time to hack into it by now…"

                                                                        ~**~

"They'll die…" Zero said to himself, sitting in his dark room. "Everyone close to me dies… Iris…X…the colonel…Even my friends went Maverick back then…" A knock was on his door, but it was a soft one. Realizing he didn't lock it, he sighed. "Come in."

There was a small pause as someone struggled to open the door. Alouetta then peeked around the cracked door and looked it him. She then closed the door and walked over to the reploid. "Hi."

"Hi."

She titled her head to the side. "I heard you wasn't feeling happy so I brought you a cookie." She offered him a chocolate chip cookie, one that he knew was her favorite.

                                                                        ~**~

Leviathan swallowed as she stood on the trans server. "Mission starting." The operator stated into her headset. "Transit in Three…Two…One… Transit in progress!"

Leviathan's world phased out around her and soon found herself standing in a downpour of rain. The forest around her was thick, and blocked most of the rain coming down. Although the area wasn't the best for either her or Harpuia, they didn't really have a choice when it came to the location of the capsules. She had just gotten lucky on hers.

Sighing, she started to walk, looking around for any signs of enemies or entrance to a lab or base.

                                                                        ~**~

Zero had broken the cookie in half and shared it with the little reploid girl. She sat in his lap and munched contently. "Uncle Zero, why re you so sad?"

Zero though about how he should explain to the young one. "A friend of mine… Very close… is…away. I can't see her anymore."

"Is Leviathan going away somewhere?"

"No, not Lev, she is still here."

Alouetta thought about this for a moment. "Momma Ciel is still here too, isn't she?"

"Yes, Ciel is still here, although probably not too happy with me."

"Do I know this person?"

"No. She was in my past."

"I had a friend in the past once. I can't see her anymore either."

"Oh?" Zero wondered what she could mean.

                                                                                    ~**~

Leviathan paused as she reached the clearing. Rain poured down steadily. Harpuia, in all his glory, was standing in front of a capsule. Rain soaked his armor, but he didn't seem to mind. There was no base, no lab, no defenses. Just him standing guard.

"Leviathan."

"Harpuia."

The greeting was short. A small pause passed over them before the male spoke again. "Where is Zero?"

She set her feet. "I came to claim this one."

Harpuia didn't look too happy. "I waited for him, and he didn't show up. I'm disappointed."

"Don't you want to kill me?" she asked.

"Why? Because you changed sides? No, no  I don't hold anything against you for that. True, I am a little upset about it, but you are following your heart. I can not go against that."

Leviathan felt a relief wash over her. She was glad her didn't think of her as a traitor or a Maverick.

"We still must fight, though, if you want this capsule." Harpuia declared. "My mission is to fight until Master X is completed."

"He's almost regenerated!?"

"Oh yes, the parts from Fefnir helped tremendously. I say he only has a few more days left before he is complete."

Leviathan bit her cheek. If X woke up again, that would mean more deaths. More deaths of people that didn't have to die. "I need that capsule." Leviathan said softly, but somehow the words were heard over the rain.

Harpuia drew two short sword handles from his side, igniting them. The rain hissed against the pulsating plasma, making a small haze of steam around them. Leviathan pulled her staff from her back and swung it, extending it to it's full length and igniting the blades on it. Both looked at the other in a small, silent, yet powerful salute.

                                                                        ~**~

"I had a bunny dolly at our old base." Alouetta told Zero as she played with her stuffed cast. "But I lost him when we moved bases."

Zero sighed to himself and continued to listen to her story.

"I missed Bunny for a long time," she went on to say. "But Mommy got my Kitty as a present. At first I didn't want anything else but my bunny back. But then I realized that if I only was friends with bunny, then what would kitty do?"

Zero's breath caught in his throat.

"So," she continued. "Instead of pushing everyone away, afraid to become friends again, I started talking to Kitty. Now I'm happy again with my new friend. This time  I will do everything I can to keep from being separated." She turned and looked up at him all cute like. "But right now I think you need Kitty more than I do."

Alouetta stood up and sat her stuffed cat doll in Zero's lap. "Take care of Kitty for me until you cheer up, Uncle Zero!" And with that, she walked back to the door and reached up, opening it and slipping out, pulling it closed behind her.

Zero looked down at the stuffed toy. "Something to look after…" He let his lips curl into a half smile. "I can't believe I was just given life-shaking advice by a six year old…"

He stood quickly, tossing the doll onto his bed and ran our the door to the command center, his broken armor clanging around him as he did so. His boots left small sounds as he ran. The helmet that he wore glistened off the light. Zero's arms shone a bright crimson, illuminating a certain power to them that one could almost feel as he went by.

The door to the command center burst open, making everyone turn to look at him. "Ciel!" He shouted out, running to the trans server, since he did not know where he was going. "Transport me to where Leviathan is!"

Ciel smiled brightly. "Right!" She slammed her hand down on a button, grinning as Zero looked at her and smiled. He was once again back to his old self.

"I'll be back in no time." He told her as the countdown reached one, sending him away.

"I wish you good luck."

                                                                        ~**~

Leviathan flipped around Harpuia's slash, twisting her body as she did so to avoid his follow up. The projectile plasma faded out as she swished her arm in the rain, sending several shards of ice at him. Harpuia blocked each projectile with sharp accuracy while still in the air. Upon landing, he darted to his left where he slashed his swords again, once more sending blades of plasma at her.

Leviathan froze all the rain around them, making it look as if time stood still for a moment. The plasma faded out, weakened by cutting through the solid wall of ice. She then rolled on the ground, kicking his feet from under him. Harpuia landed on one hand and sprang into the air , raining down more blades of plasma.

The blue haired girl used the rain around her to her advantage. Quickly she froze select portions and used the feel of shattering ice to determine his pattern. Seeing a chance, she leapt into the air and grabbed his foot, pulling down sharply.

Harpuia yelped as he felt leviathan's trident steer into his right calve. Grunting in pain, he sent his other leg flying, directly hitting her helmet and sending it flying off of her head. Her hair spilled out, lost of it's ponytail. Both fell to the ground and into the mud.

Leviathan was the first to recover, quickly slashing her hand again and sending several ice spears at him. Harpuia had no choice but to block the attack. Once his line of vision cleared, he saw the girl running at him. Quickly thinking, he slashed one of his swords, once again sending the blade of plasma out to her, cutting her armor almost in two pieces.

The girl looked down in shock at her armor covering her front. She could clearly see her shirt through the gash now. Growling, she punched the ground, freezing it solid and making him topple over. "I just got that repaired!" She screamed at him before jumping on top of him and punching his face. Bits and pieces of metal flew as it was broken off. Harpuia managed to plant a foot into her stomach and roughly shove her off of him.

Leaning forward, the make-shift wings on his back lit up and shot out the power he normally used to stay air born. This time, however, he lurched parallel with the ground, hitting Leviathan in the chest and shattering her body armor completely. Her eyes went wide, but till she managed to grab his back and freeze the very things that projected him. With a sharp jerk, they broke off with the help of the ice.

Harpuia growled sharply at the sudden cold as he grabbed her arm and rolled over, bringing the girl with him and slamming her face first into the cold mud. Leviathan pulled up quickly, gasping for some air. She was 'aided' in getting up when Harpuia grabbed her tangled hair and pulled her to her feet, quickly tossing her into one of the trees near by.

She didn't hit the tree, though. Instead she found strong arms wrap around her, catching her before she slammed into the cold rain soaked wood. Looking up, she saw Zero standing next to her, soaked in rain. The droplets didn't seem to phase his armor at all, as it shone brightly despite being hardly any light. His vest was the only thing that looked bad. It wouldn't offer him any protection in this battle.

Zero looked down at her in his arms. She was covered in mud, her shirt was ripped, not covering much. What was covered was matted to her skin with water, blood, and mud. Her hair was soaked and tangled, knotted up from the battle and rain. Her face was bruised slightly and one of her eyes was closed, in the process of being swollen. A light trickle of blood came from her ear where her helmet hadn't protected her enough from Harpuia's kick.

Only four words came into Zero's mind looking at her. "You look like hell."

Leviathan sagged lightly, taken off guard by this. "Well, thanks, bright eyes, I'm glad you noticed!"

Zero turned to Harpuia, who was breathing heavier than usual. He could tell instantly that he was ground-bound. His two short plasma swords were both ignited, waiting. "I'll take over from here."

Leviathan nodded and walked to the capsule while Zero made his way to Harpuia.

Each looked at the other a moment before instantly attacking. Their swords clashed furiously, almost faster than Leviathan could see. Zero kicked out, blocked a sword, punched, blocked the other sword, and flipped back to gain some distance.

Harpuia slashed three times, sending plasma blades at him. Zero jumped, spun and ducked the attacks. Harpuia glowed a second before slashing both at the same time, sending a seven foot tall beam of plasma energy at him.

Zero felt his arm tingle as he charged his buster. When it was close enough, Zero let it loose, blasting a gapping hole into the attack. Harpuia looked clearly impressed, taking in the weapon that neutralized his ultra attack. Zero's arm from the elbow down was transformed into a wicked cannon looking device, which was humming slightly.

Shooting again, Zero knocked Harpuia back a step before being charged again. Parry, parry, slash, jab, jump, spin, kick, duck, block, parry, slash!

Zero spun around, whipping his sword as e did so, making a large circular beam around him for a moment. He used this time to shoot several plasma burst at his foe, who was running a half circle around him. He slashes forward, sending his trademark plasma blade, followed  by three more.

The crimson resistance fighter was forced to take to the air via his EAS to avoid the attack. This was predicted, though, and Harpuia was already there to meet him, swords drawn in an attack position.

Zero's vest was shattered.

Both fell to the ground on their feet. Harpuia swayed lightly on his damaged leg, but still managed to stand. Zero turned to him and took out his whip, slashing it and grabbing Harpuia's good ankle. With a spin, he flung the reploid through a tree and into another. Running after him, The two left the clearing.

Rain poured onto Leviathan as she watched them go. After a moment she heard fighting again and trees shaking. Looking to the capsule, she reached out slowly. She touched the cool wet glass with her palm just to see what it felt like.

The capsule slid open without any protest.

"Hello Leviathan."

Leviathan looked at the image of Dr. Light curiously. "It opened."

"Yes, it is programmed to be opened by Zero or his partner. During the fifth Maverick wars, Zero found many of the capsules X used. After that I programmed them to grant access to anyone of the same frequency as Zero."

She nodded dumbly. "okay…"

Dr.Light cut to the chase. "This will give Zero his chest plate back, along with the fifth and sixth maverick war memory, along with the rest of his life. After this capsule, he will be complete once again.

She looked at the image. "He's off fighting."

"Then accept it on his behalf," A stray plasma blade shot right next to the machine. " Before I am destroyed in the process." The light flickered off, leaving Leviathan alone. Slowly she put one boot into the machine. Holding her breath, she stepped inside. A wild rush of energy shot around her. Around her body she felt a cold type of metal form before vanishing. Looking down, she was the same as ever, but now knew of an armor that she could transit to her whenever she needed it. Or, in this case, as Zero needed it.

Turning, she saw Zero walking to her, limping lightly but otherwise unhurt. "He left when you went into the capsule." He told her with a small grin. "I'll take the armor later. But for now… thanks. Thanks for weakening him so much. I could have never beaten him like I am now…"

Leviathan smiled softly, letting the rain pour down on her. "Hey, don't mention it…"

They both smiled.

                                                                                                ~~**~~

A/N: Sorry to cut it off there but that's all for tonight. Be sure to tune in for the last chapter!