Soaking in soft, serene silence, the two friends entered the main room of the Maverick Hunter base and were instantly greeted by many of their fellow Reploids. The Crimson Flame gained many enthusiastic greetings because of his descent from the vaults of death….and in return, the Reploids that greeted him received a very warm smile. The entire are was practically flooded with warm, savory sunlight…..and just a short while ago, it had been a place of pain and sorrow….

"Hey guys! What's up!"

Zero pushed away the cheerful, jubilant Douglas as if he were nothing but a mosquito. "Nothing much." the amazing Maverick Hunter said, bearing a resemblance to a spoiled child that had just used up every toy in the house. X tossed him a playful, harmless glare, then winked at the Head Mechanic kindly.

"Everything's fine. Pay no attention to that JERK right there."

The eyes of the mechanic instantly became gemstones of confusion and compassion-the voice of his old friend was shaky….and his eyes were watery. Something had happened just a few minutes ago-what went down?

"Are you sure? X, you look like you've been through-"

"Hell. I know." the Hunter replied gently, no longer wanting to speak of the pain he had been in for such a long period of time. He wiped his eyes once again and smiled. "I'm fine, thanks to Zero. So what's up with you?"

"Where's Signas?"

X gave the Crimson Flame an even harder glare, and scolded him the way a mother would scold a child. "ONE QUESTION AT A TIME, PLEASE. THANK YOU."

"Whatever. I do what I want. I used to outrank you, remember?"

"YEAH. 'USED TO'. You NO LONGER outrank me. Now shut up and let me speak with Douglas and Alia."

Alia, the beautiful Maverick Hunter Navigator, was at her usual station, which wasn't too far away from her dear friends. Her shimmering blue eyes fell on the trio, radiating the warmth of a dove's melody. Her voice was no different-it was like a wind of ocean fragrance-pleasant, bright and wonderful.

"Hey, you two. Zero, it's good to see you up and about. I feel like I haven't seen you in years."

"Yeah, same here."

Concern entered the eyes of the radiant Navigator, and her voice became a sweet song of kindness, affection and fear.

"You two aren't ready to set out, are you? Where's Axl?"

"The kid's still sleeping in the dorm. We aren't leaving him behind, even though X would love to. I guess we just wanted to stop by for a chat."

"Well now, if you wanna chat, I'll give you the weather forecast! It's breezy and sunny today! Light winds about, and it's a beautiful 76 degrees!"

Zero gave Douglas a glare that would have melted black iron.

"Nobody asked for the weather, dimwit."

The happy mechanic threw himself on the Crimson Flame and held onto him the way a hyperactive child would hold onto the cutest teddy bear-

"I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE BACK WITH US! WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, NOW GET OFF OF ME! I MISSED YOU GUYS TOO, ALL RIGHT!"

X and Alia watched the two of them as if they were mothers watching over quarreling children, shaking their heads. The beautiful Alia sighed a moment later and looked into the face of the one she longed to be with….

"So. What's on your mind?"

X looked at her shyly-unfortunately for her, the shyness didn't come about simply because he was looking at her. The shyness appeared simply because there was a lot going on in his heart at the moment….and he really didn't know what to say.

"I can't give you any details. I don't really know my current thoughts at the moment myself. My head feels like its spinning."

"I know how you feel. I'm feeling the same way right now."

The meaning of those words flew right over X's head.

Alia turned around in her chair, so she could face the data on her monitors. "Boarski's stirring up a lot of problems right now. You guys should probably take him out first, so we can avoid any huge problems that might crop up in the future. He's taken over our Special Defenses-we need them back in order to secure everything we've got."

The voice of the individual that spoke next caused all four of them to jump in surprise.

"Right. So! When are we leaving, guys?"

Zero and X whirled right around and shouted-

"Axl!"

It was none other than the Black Tiger.

The young Reploid was wearing a tender, exuberant smile…..and his eyes were sparkling stones of endless happiness. They were filled with the thirst for adventure…but at the same time….they were filled with the light of a new beginning….the light of….

Eternal love.

The Crimson Flame's eyes widened in shock. "Axl! When did-how long have-"

"Heh heh. I came in right when Alia started talking about my old pal Boarski."

X went next.

"But…..weren't you-"

"Asleep? Nope. Not at all."

"But then…..everything that happened back there…..don't tell me….you were awake the entire time!"

"Yep! Pretty sneaky, aren't I? Heh heh!"

Tears of everlasting affection rushed into the eyes of the Maverick Hunter called Megaman X…..and they also rushed into the eyes of the Black Tiger. The bonds the young one shared with both Maverick Hunters increased tremendously……the light of eternal love became even brighter…….

And smiles blossomed on every face.

"Hey……X….."

"Yes, Axl?"-