A/N: Wow, it's been a while since I wrote this. Hopefully the formatting won't implode again. Thanks to the one reviewer I got, and I'll help you later on character development if I can.

The reason I have returned is twofold. One, I began writing a Rockman fanfic for a bunch of random friends online, and it inspired me to write again. The other one is the excellent work of the writer Atreyu452, who writes some of the best Rockman.EXE work I've ever seen and made me realize if I didn't start writing again I'd just have to sit and be jealous of better writers. So, thank you, Atreyu-chan, even if you never ever read this.

Chapter 5: Sakura to Ayame (Cherry Blossoms and Iris)

Zero wandered aimlessly through the halls of the Hunter base, his eyes empty and distant. Some of the younger Hunters gave him odd looks as he passed, but he seemed unable to notice. His helmet was tucked under one arm, allowing strands of blonde hair to cascade across his face.

You've been replaced, whispered Deathsong's voice in his mind. Obsolete. Ignored. Might as well just kill yourself and be done with it.

Zero shook his head, causing his blonde hair to become even messier. No... I refuse to accept that. This is just temporary... I have to believe that, or there will be nothing else to believe...

Why bother? replied the mocking voice. What's the point of going on in the first place? Why don't you just give up on Hunting and welcome oblivion instead?

...For Iris, I must continue, if there is no other reason. She would not want me to give up. X said so, and I believe him with all my heart.

Iris is DEAD, Zero. She can't care anymore. Just give up and join her if you believe she's still watching! Accept death this time!

"NO!" cried Zero, shaking his head. "I refuse to accept that!'

The other Hunters in the base stared at Zero, slightly afraid of this little outburst. Zero suddenly realized he had said the last part of his mental argument aloud without even thinking about it. Am I going crazy? he wondered. Is this the final sign of my inevitable decline? Were they right to replace me?

Confusion pounding through his mind, he wandered the halls again, leaving confused Hunters in his wake...

---

X also was wandering the halls, but not due to any confusion or pandemonium. Instead, he was searching for Zero, to try to tell him why Signas had made this particular decision, and to try to calm down his most likely worried friend. However, so far he was not having much success.

"Zero!" he called, his voice echoing down the long corridors and twisting passages of the base. However, no voice came in reply. He sighed and trudged on through the halls, worry occupying his mind above all else.

Eventually, however, he realized he had arrived, perhaps through coincidence or perhaps through a subconscious desire, at Zero's old room. He sighed to himself and knocked once, figuring that perhaps the young Hunter Deathsong could help him with the search, having most likely been the last to see Zero.

A young silver-haired man with black armor and almost fishhook like hair opened the door. He was wearing a simple black helmet with a visor that obscured his eyes and one hand held what resembled in many ways a tuning fork. He bowed as he saw who his visitor was. "Konnichiwa, X-sama. I'm afraid that Zero's not here, if that's who you're looking for. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get ready for a mission..." He started to close the door, but X kept it open fairly easily.

"I know Zero's not here, Deathsong-san. That's why I came to talk to you," X replied, in a calm tone of voice.

Deathsong raised one eyebrow, although that fact was difficult to tell. "Hmn? Why would one so great as you wish to talk to someone as lowly as me?"

Despite being annoyed at the younger Hunter's faked respect, X managed to remain calm. "Because Zero-san has gone missing, and I wish to know if you know where he may be."

Deathsong shook his head. "I gave him the news of his temporary replacement, and he ran out. After that, I do not know where he may have gone. Now, if you will excuse me, I really need to go..." He started to try to close the door again. This time X, brought beyond the point of politeness, shoved it back open using nearly all his strength, forcing Deathsong to let go or get slammed into the wall. He chose the former.

"Listen, kid," X growled. "I do not care how important this mission may be, but the disappearance of an important Hunter is a much bigger issue. Now, how exactly did you break the news to him?"

Deathsong sighed. "I said he had been replaced temporarily by me, and told him where his new quarters were. I didn't sugarcoat it or anything, but I wasn't going 'Heh, you're a loser and I'm much better!' either, if that's what you're asking."

X shook his head. "You may not have been trying to be harsh on him, but Zero's been in a fragile state since the death of Iris-chan. It's quite likely he took it as a personal insult."

Deathsong shrugged. "I'm sorry that he did – if he did – but it's not my fault. I really can't help you, X-sama."

X sighed a third time today and nodded slowly. "You're right. I'm forcing too much upon you... I'm just worried for Zero, so..."

Deathsong smiled slightly. "Don't worry, X-sama. I'm sure Zero-sama will be OK."

"You're right. Thank you for the help you gave me, Deathsong-san. I look forward to fighting beside you in the next few weeks."

"And I look forward to working with you as well, X-sama," Deathsong replied. "Now, I better get ready or Alia will kill me..." They both grinned at each other for a second, then Deathsong closed the door, leaving X standing alone in the hall, wondering to what degree the kid had been humouring him.

---

Zero walked alone through the cool green forest near the Hunter base, staring up at the canopy of green that cast the forest in shadow. Very few except Zero ever came here, so he was for once at peace. His mind was slightly calmer than it had been before, and his destination was clear.

He stepped into a large, open clearing, through which a thin creek trickled. One tree stood in the very center, casting the glade in green shadows, and towards that he walked, remembering the only time he had ever brought someone else there...

"Where are you taking me?" asked the young brown-haired woman, pulling a few twigs out of her hair.

"You'll see. It's a great place! I come there all the time to relax and stuff...I think you'll like it... And then it can be our place, instead of just mine..."

The woman grinned slightly. "I... I think I'd like that, Zero-kun."

"I'm glad you think so, Iris-chan," replied the blonde man, grinning as he ran off through the woods, followed closely by the girl known as Iris.

Zero sighed and sat at the base of the tree, staring up at its many leaves. "Heh... This is the first time since the incident I've been here without you, Iris-chan... I hope you don't mind, but I feel closer to you here than anywhere else, and... I need to talk to you, even if you can't hear me any more..." he said to the air and sky, his blue eyes filled with sadness.

He brushed a strand of blonde hair out of his face and smiled sadly to himself. "Did you know this tree was a cherry tree? Well, it is. You never got to come in spring, so you never saw the cherry blossoms fall... I was planning to bring you one day as a surprise and see what you thought... It's too bad it didn't end up working out that way..."

"Have you ever heard of The Book of Tea, by Kakuzo Okakura? It's mostly about... well, tea, of course... but there's a section on flowers... Now how does that passage go...? It's about cherry blossoms..." A single tear slid down his cheek as he recited the passage. "'For a moment they hover like bejeweled clouds and dance above the crystal streams; then, as they sail away on the laughing waters, they seem to say: 'Farewell, O Spring! We are on to Eternity.''"

"Is that where you are, Iris? Are you with the cherry blossoms of Springs past now? Or does nothing but oblivion await the dead? I hope you're with the cherry blossoms... I hope you're happy... one of us needs to be..." Crystal tears were running down his cheeks freely.

"Everything's falling apart without you, Iris. I've been replaced as a commander, and I'm starting to think it's a good thing I was... I'm becoming more obsolete every day... What's left for me now but the promise of you? What's left but death?"

"Iris-chan... please... If you don't want me to come to you yet, give me some sign. Show me somehow that I have something to live for... even if it's just the wishes of the one I killed... Please..."

Suddenly, a flash of pink caught his eyes. A single cherry blossom rested upon the branch above him, despite the fact it was still a few weeks until spring. The wind caught the lone blossom and tried to pull it from the branch it rested upon, but the cherry blossom somehow remained in place, merely buffeted back and forth in place. Zero closed his eyes and nodded. "I... Thank you, Iris. I shall be like that cherry blossom... I will remain strong no matter what happens... and I will always remember you, until the day I go to meet you. I just hope you are happy..." He rose to his feet and bowed to the tree, before walking back through the woods towards the base. Unseen by him, the wind ripped the blossom from the branch and carried into the creek, sweeping it into parts unknown...