The first face most babies see is the face of their mother, the very face of the one that delivered them, brought them into the world. It's the face of the one that's willing to nurture them, love them….and give them all of the devotion they need. Something similar to this happened between the Maverick Hunter called Zero…and the former member of the Red Alert Syndicate, Axl. The events that followed Gate's words caused many Reploids to break into sobs.
The eyes of the Maverick Hunter opened slowly, and he rubbed at them the way a child would when rising from slumber. At first, his vision was a little blurry….but then everything became perfectly clear. The first face his eyes fell on….was the face of the one that had saved his life. It was the face of the Reploid that had put everything on the line…just to save his life.
It was Axl's face.
The look on Zero's face bore a great resemblance to the look on a small puppy's face. His facial expression was beyond adorable. Confusion and shock were in his eyes, which were shimmering, heavenly jewels of twilight. The eyes of the Flame surpassed the beauty of the most beautiful diamonds….and the look on his face caused even more Reploids to burst into tears. The Maverick Hunter thought he was lost in a dream-the look in his eyes made that quite obvious. Normally, such a look would not have appeared on the face of great Hunter-that fact made things even more beautiful. The Reploid had been trapped within a cell of pain for an eternity spoke after a small period of silence….and the first word he said was-
"Axl?"
A huge smile broke out on the young Reploid's face. It was as if Zero had just walked through the door for a family reunion.
"Hey! Zero! Long time no see, right! Haven't heard from you in a while!"
That caused even more confusion to break out on the Hunter's face. His voice was incredibly soft…..the sound of his own voice surprised him.
"What's going on? You're behind this, aren't you?"
"Yep." The usual nonchalance had returned. The young one grinned at him casually, as if nothing important had taken place….but there were tears in his eyes.
"But……what is this? Am I….dreaming….or something? Are you guys playing some kind of trick on me?"
"Nope. Not really. This is the real deal, pal. You're alive and kickin'."
"But….how? This can't be right!"
Zero began to examine himself, which made even more Reploids break into tears. Watching him was like watching a newborn take its first steps into the world….and they all felt as if they had been reunited with a long-lost friend. The poor Maverick Hunter was definitely confused-he couldn't believe what was going on. He had spent many months in the clutches of the virus…..it couldn't be gone.
"This is some kind of freakin' dream. I know it is."
"Sorry, Zero, but Axl's right."
It was Dr.Cain. The comical professor placed a hand on Zero's shoulder, beaming with the warmest amount of affection. His eyes were warm, gentle jewels of sunlight…and his face was bright with joy. "You're awake, and that's all there is to it. Axl was able to find a cure for you. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Everything's done and taken care of."
The tears that filled the Hunter's eyes were so beautiful that they caused the hearts of every Reploid in the room to explode with an unbearable amount of happiness and shock. Zero's voice was still soft and weak…..it was like a piece of glass…..
"X?"
Megaman X's eyes, which had been closed because of the heavy amount of tears pouring from them, flew open and shot right over to the eyes of his dearest, precious friend. It had been an eternity since he had heard Zero's voice…..
"Yeah?"
"Is this true? Did Axl really-"
"Yeah." The legendary Maverick Hunter wanted to break down and CRY. Badly. "He did. It's true, Zero. He did."
Right after that, the blue Reploid fell to his knees and began to sob his heart out. He covered his face with his hands and cried. He cried so hard that his chest hurt, his eyes hurt…..he cried.
The nightmare was over.
It was actually over.
The warm eyes of the Crimson Flame went right back to Axl, who also wanted to break down and cry. The young one was beaming at him with the most beautiful smile-it was an indescribably warm, gentle, affectionate smile….
"Glad you're okay, bud. We missed you."
Those words made things even worse. The ocean of tears inside of the young one's heart became even larger-his chest was like an incredibly weak wall….and it was about to break. Zero smiled at his new friend through sheets of starlight….but a moment later, he released a playful sigh of anger.
"Well, what are you doing? Get over here!"
Axl's heart jumped in confusion. "Wha?"
"You heard what I said. Get over here. I can't walk over to you-I don't feel like I'm strong enough to carry a pebble, so get over here!"
The young one walked over to the place his new friend was resting in, smiling with the deepest amount of relief and happiness. What happened next took the cake. Zero embraced the young one and began to sob, unable to believe that the virus that had tormented him for so long, was actually GONE. Zero was definitely not the type of individual that broke down and cried-but he was sobbing on the shoulder of the one that had just restored his life. The sound of Zero's sobbing came as quite a surprise to everyone, and it…..was beyond beautiful….
The heart of the young Reploid called Axl united with the heart of the Crimson Flame. He felt calm, peaceful…..the happiness that filled his heart was an unbelievably beautiful amount of happiness. He never thought that such powerful joy existed before. He held onto his dear friend with closed eyes, emitting the warmth of a gentle parent….emitting the warmth of a true friend. He had never felt such warmth before….ever….
He had just saved the life of someone he met hours ago.
Sunlight flooded the entire Maverick Hunter base. Sunlight broke out from behind the black rainclouds, which had been hiding the true beauty of the heavens. Sunlight soared through the soul of the young Black Tiger, and filled his entire body. Tears fell from his eyes slowly and gently…..
Everything was all right now...
But……..there was still……
Sadness struck him like a ton of bricks, and his heart fell from blue skies.
There was still one problem.
If I'm okay with the way things are, then whydo I feel so miserable?
-Running short on time right now. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Big hugs to everyone! To the Great One: PLEASE tell your Axl to kick Red to the curve! Burn him, watch him rot in his grave! Bad Red! Bad! Keep up the amazing work-your masterpiece is incredible. To Uzu-Chan: Hi! Please continue your story too! The Axls of the World need to stick together! To Star Ninja: HI! To everyone: HI! I'll update soon, and thank you! (is listening to Memories of Waves and Light from FFX-2)
