Hey i know its been a while since i updated so this one is extra long, sorry theres not much battling and my skills at writing simple sappy stuffare rather bad.

please review!

'Hey what happened here?' Higsby asked. The he saw Emma leaning unconscious against Maylu and Yai. 'What happened to her?'

'No time Higsby.' Lan said firmly. 'We need to take her to the hospital.'

'I'll call up a car.' Yai said as she pulled out her mobile phone again, dialling hurriedly.

Emma woke up in a sterile white room. She was looking up at a tiled ceiling. There were exactly 46 tiles on the ceiling. She heard the door click shut and closed her eyes. A lone pair of footsteps moved over to the bed she was in and she could hear a vase being placed on the bedside table. She found herself wanting it to be Chaud who was standing beside her. She couldn't help herself and so opened her eyes.

'Lan…' She mumbled. She discovered that she was disappointed. She looked at the flowers, they were daffodils in full bloom, there was a card attached. She reached for the card, it had a picture of a puppy on it, and the inside of the card was signed by Yai and Maylu.

'They were worried about you after you collapsed.' Lan said kindly. He placed his contribution down on the bed. It was a plain white envelope.

'Thank you Lan.' Emma said quietly.

'Well go on. Open it.' Lan smiled. Emma opened the envelope and 5 battle chips fell onto the bed sheets. She picked them up carefully.

'Geyser, Longblade, Boomer1, Binder1, Twinfang1.' She read aloud. 'Thank you Lan.' She looked away from him, she felt embarrassed because she wanted Chaud to be worried about her. Sure it was nice to have so many people concerned for her but right now …she just wanted to go home and to know that Chaud was worried about her. She sighed and Lan, as dense as he was, gathered that she wanted to be alone.

'I'll come by later. Bye.' He said softly as he left, closing the door behind him. Emma stared at the door for a minute or two. Maybe she should have been more grateful. After a short while she decided that she was bored of the hospital and found that she wanted to go home. Angel X was still missing from her PET and was probably waiting at home. Emma slipped on her trainers and gathered her things. She opened the door and found herself nearly nose to nose with Chaud. They both flushed pink.

'Ch…Chaud…' Emma stammered and they both took a step backwards away from each other. 'Wh …what are you doing here?' Chaud swallowed the emptiness in his throat that was preventing him from talking.

'There were a few problems with the issue of your guardian and next of kin. Without one you're not allowed to leave the hospital.' Emma's face dropped. Of course this would have happened sooner or later. 'Your father said that you could look after yourself and refused to collect you.'

'He would say that.' Emma spat. 'He's not the best father…but he's the only one I've got.' She softened as she spoke. She obviously cared more than she was letting on. 'I guess I'm stuck here then.' Chaud waited for a moment until he had decided that she had suffered enough.

'Chaud. Shouldn't we be leaving?' Protoman said rather muffled from underneath Chaud's jacket. Chaud pulled his PET out and Emma realised just how much she missed Angel X's companionship.

'Which is why he agreed to let me be your guardian for the next 24 hours.' Chaud said ignoring Protoman for a moment. 'And we are leaving now.' Emma's face lit up and she flung her arms around Chaud's neck causing him to drop Protoman. Without realising it, his arms moved themselves around her. Neither could remember the previous nervousness or embarrassment at their closeness. They were so close together that he could feel her warm laughter of joy against his neck and she could feel the steady thumping of his heart. For minute or two, they were happy and forgot about what had thrown them together like this until Emma dropped her arms. Chaud followed suit and they both looked at each other.

'I guess we should go then.' Emma blushed. She picked Protoman off the floor and handed him back to Chaud. 'Sorry about that.'

'Thank you.' Protoman said rather hurt. The previous relationship of wariness had fallen back into place and walls around themselves had been rebuilt. However as they left, there was a new mutual bond between them and there were continual flickers of glances at each other.

The walk from the hospital was quite eventful. Emma and Chaud had gone through the park and come across Maylu, Yai, Dex, Lan and Tory having a picnic. Emma ran over to them and was greeted by several hugs and was then handed a cheese sandwich. Chaud took his time coming over to the group. He still didn't get along with them all, especially Yai. Not that he wanted to get along with them especially well. They had stayed with them for about half an hour before Chaud reminded Emma that she was supposed to be at home resting. Yai looked across at Chaud in an odd fashion. Since when was he concerned about anyone except himself? She frowned at him but he was making sure that Emma had her bag. Maylu had decided to go with Chaud and Emma. There were some things that needed a girls helping hand.

They had turned up at Emma's after a short while.

'Hey Lan lives there.' Maylu said pointing across the street a little way up.

'Oh wow. I guess I'll be seeing more of you guys.' Emma smiled. It had taken the journey home to realise that she actually made some good friends. Maylu smiled back as Emma unlocked the front door. The three of them walked into the main area and Chaud was a little taken back. He could see that this one main room was used for nearly all areas of life. There were several computers, a few on the floor, and the whole room was a little messy. From Maylu's reaction, which was none really, Chaud determined that this was normal. But Maylu was just trying to be nice.

'Don't you live with your father?' Maylu asked carefully.

'No. He lives on the other side of town.' Emma said coldly. She lifted a pile of paper off one of the work surfaces onto the floor.

'The other side of town?' Chaud repeated. Emma continued to move about the room, drifting towards the computers.

'Anyone want to jack in?' Emma asked as she pulled her blank PET from her belt.

'I'd better be going. I've got work to do.' Chaud muttered. 'I might send Protoman to check up on you in a few hours.' Maylu looked confused. Chaud wasn't normally the most caring of people.

'Okay.' Emma said. 'Bye Chaud.' She nearly sang the last part. She still had those few moments where they had held each other in the front of her mind. 'Do you want to jack in Maylu?'

'Okay.' Maylu replied. She lifted her PET out from its pouch and jacked Roll into the master computer as Emma connected the blank PET. The screen flickered and an annoyed Angel X sat cross legged on the desktop.

'And what happened!' Angel X exclaimed. There was no sign of the phoenix behind her. It had obviously gone back to its original cage. Angel X jumped a little when Roll integrated next to her.

'There was a problem.' Emma said trying to avoid the question.

'A problem! What kind of problem?' Angel X screamed. Emma mumbled something under her breath and continued to wander around busying herself with meaningless tasks.

'Emma collapsed.' Roll intervened.

'Collapsed…? But…I thought that she…' Angel X stammered. 'You said that it was safe! You said that nothing would happen to either of us! You said…you said…' She disappeared into the internet without warning.

'Angel X…' Emma muttered. 'I didn't mean…' She trailed off. Maylu looked at her and then back at the computer screen.

'Roll will you go after her please.' Maylu said softly before sitting Emma down on the sofa. 'What was that about?'

'She wouldn't transfer my consciousness into the phoenix if I was going to get hurt.' Emma replied. 'I didn't think that it would be this bad. I thought it would be no worse than full-synchro.' Suddenly the screen flickered and both Angel X and Roll were standing on the desktop.

'EMMA!' They cried simultaneously.

'You have to look at this! It's from Tech Works!' Angel X yelled. Emma scrambled over to the computer with Maylu close behind.

'What is it?' Emma asked earnestly.

'Watch it!' Roll yelled as an e-mail popped into view. Emma didn't have time to hit play as Angel X started it without warning. A plain grey Tech Works navi appeared.

'Miss Lance. I have a message regarding your father. It seems that while visiting the off shore laboratory in the pacific there was a gas leak.' An image of one of the labs appeared beside the navi. 'This resulted in an explosion and unfortunately you father was killed. However, 4 hours before his death he had sold Phoenix Labs to Ayano Tech, and so you and your company Phoenix Labs now work for Ayano Tech. Thank you Miss Lance.' The window closed and Maylu placed an arm around Emma.

'I can't believe it.' Emma whispered. 'He's…he's gone.' Tears formed in her eyes even though she was trying so hard not to cry.

'It'll be okay.' Maylu reassured.

'How?' Emma sobbed. 'How can it be okay? He's gone. He was all I had left.'

'All you had left?' Maylu asked. Emma merely nodded. Emma sat there with Maylu for what seemed like an eternity. Losing someone, no matter how far apart you thought you were from them, could warp your sense of time.

'Excuse me.' A voice said from the computer.

'Who let you in here?' Angel X screamed.

'Calm down Angel X.' Roll said softly.

'No I will not calm down!' Angel X continued. 'He's not supposed to be here!'

'Who is it?' Emma asked between sobs.

'Protoman.' Roll said. Emma's head lifted and she stared at the screen again.

'Protoman…' Emma whispered. Her mind flicked back to Chaud for an instant.

'I was asked by Chaud to check on you.' Protoman said. 'And I can see that you're not alright.'

'Get out of my computer!' Angel X ranted.

'Can I be of any assistance?' Protoman asked.

'Get out!' Angel X screamed. 'Get the hell out of my computer!' Protoman flicked a glance at Angel X and sighed.

'I am here to help Emma, not interfere with your computer.' Protoman muttered. 'Shall I inform Chaud?'

'No.' Emma said quickly. 'I don't want to run to him. I said I wouldn't need his help.'

'I think that she'll be okay.' Maylu said to Protoman. 'Don't worry about telling Chaud.' With that Protoman left and Angel X calmed down dramatically. 'So what now?'

'Who did he sell Phoenix Labs to?' Emma asked as she dried her eyes. Roll rewound the message and the navi appeared again.

'…he had sold Phoenix Labs to Ayano Tech, and so you and your company Phoenix Labs now work for Ayano Tech. Thank you Miss Lance.' The window closed again and Emma looked at Angel X and grinned.

'We need to talk to someone at Ayano Tech.' Emma said.

'I can arrange that.' Maylu smiled sweetly.

'You can? How?' Emma and Angel X asked.

'I know Yai Ayano. She's a good friend of mine.' Maylu said.

Chaud had been sitting in his office when Protoman returned to him. He had kept to his word and sent Protoman to check on Emma. He had been reviewing some of Blaze Quest's recent activity and found that he was bored.

'Chaud Emma seems to be…' Protoman started before remembering what Emma had said. 'She seems to be perfectly alright. Angel X on the other hand seems to be suffering from stress.' Chaud looked at Protoman and the tiniest of smiles crept onto his face.

'You're worried?' Chaud asked.

'No!' Protoman barked hurriedly before composing himself. 'Maylu was still there, Roll too.' Chaud lent back in his chair and thought for a while.

'Did you find anything else out?' Chaud asked.

'Not yet. Mr. Lance seems to have an affinity for covering his tracks. Very well too.' Protoman answered.

'Keep looking. I want to get to the bottom of this.'

Emma and Maylu sat outside a café and were both sipping at coca-cola. It was a beautiful day and there was a gentle breeze. Emma held the feather that she usually wore around her neck in her hands. It had been the last thing that her mother had given her and she cherished it. All of a sudden Maylu stood up as a pink limo pulled up. A small girl with blonde hair and a red dress stepped out and Emma recognised her from the shop where she battled the phoenix.

'Yai I'd like you to meet Emma. She's the head scientist for Phoenix labs, the team your father just bought.' Maylu explained. Emma stood up and put the feather back around her neck.

'So you're Emma. I saw your phoenix virus, it was very impressive.' Yai said as she sat down. The waiter came over and before he could say anything Yai spoke to him. 'I'll have a strawberry milkshake.' He scurried off and Emma and Maylu sat back down.

'So you're the daughter of Ayano Tech's president.' Emma said quickly. 'And he gave you a research team?' Emma couldn't believe that someone would do that.

'I told him that Glyde needed some battle chips designed especially for him.' Yai said. 'And it seems that you're the one who's going to make them.'

'I do now belong to your father.' Emma said quietly.

'Hey it's Lan.' Maylu smiled. Sure enough Lan skated over and perched on the wall next to the table.

'Hey, I went to the hospital yesterday but you weren't there.' Lan said.

'Oh yeah. Chaud…he um…helped me out.' Emma muttered.

'As long as you're alright.' Lan grinned. 'So what's going on?'

'I was just introducing Emma and Yai.' Maylu said. 'Emma's going to work for Yai now.'

'Really? That's kinda cool I guess.' Lan said uninterested. 'Hey Maylu I'm gonna meet the others for some ice-cream, you wanna come?' Maylu looked at Yai and then Emma.

'We're fine here.' Yai said smugly. Maylu smiled and started to walk away with Lan.

'So what now?' Emma asked as Maylu and Lan disappeared around the corner and the waiter placed Yai's milkshake on the table. Yai took a sip of her milkshake.

'So what facilities do you have?' Yai asked.

'Well, I worked from home…'

'What about staff?'

'I use computer programs.'

'So you are Phoenix Labs?'

'Essentially…yeah.'

'Well we can't have that.' Yai said quickly. 'If you're going to work for me then you'll need a complete lab and staff.'

'I…I don't have the money or resources for…' Emma started.

'Phoenix Labs is now a part of Ayano Tech. My father will pay for everything.' Yai said smugly. 'So what do you need?'

Protoman looked around the cyber city and sighed. Even the synthetically perfected sky couldn't cheer him up. Chaud had set him what seemed to be an endless search. It had already been 24 hours since he had left Chaud to look for more information on Mr. Lance and the only thing that he had discovered was that he owned a group of research and development teams that he headed under Tech Works. Many of which had just recently been sold off for a tidy profit and one had been destroyed in a very suspicious 'freak' accident. He looked up at one of the billboards and saw an advertisement for research staff for Phoenix Labs…which was where Emma worked…which had just been sold. Protoman opened a link to his PET.

'Chaud?' He said questioningly. There was no response. Chaud wouldn't have just left it anywhere. He noticed that he was looking out of a high window. Chaud had to still be at his office. He decided against leaving a message. There was no telling who would read it and besides… he still had to keep looking.

The two girls had successfully bought, thanks to Yai's father, a lab just 2 streets down from Emma's house and more than enough equipment to go with it. As they walked out of a computer store a truck pulled out of the depo and headed off towards the lab. They continued down the street together.

'Glyde posted an ad on the net for any researchers so you should have a full team soon enough.' Yai said.

'That's great.' Emma smiled. 'Is there anything in particular that you want developed for Glyde?'

'Well what do you think would be best?' Yai asked.

'I'd have to take a closer look at him before telling you that.' Emma laughed. 'So you don't have any ideas?'

'Glyde is an organiser, not so much a fighter.' Yai said quickly.

'So when shall I take a look at him?' Emma asked.

'Now is good. The lab should be set up by now. My father knows the best people.' Yai said. 'Glyde, call up my car.'

'Of course Miss Yai.' Glyde said and within what could have only been moments the pink limo stopped beside them.

'Very impressive.' Emma muttered as she climbed into the limo. God even the inside was pink, very pink.

'Take us to Phoenix Labs.' Yai instructed the driver and he immediately started driving.

'You know it's not that far. We could have just walked.' Emma said casually.

'Why walk when we can travel in style.' Yai said. This wasn't Emma's idea of style. She would have preferred to have walked and kept her dignity intact rather than travel 2 streets in a pink limo. The arrived at the lab and both scooted out of the limo, which promptly drove off.

'Wow. It's beautiful.' Emma murmured. It was a single storey, detached building which sat a few hundred yards away from the pavement. It was a creamy white with solid oak doors and window frames. Emma ran up to the front door and pushed it a little. It opened and she sprinted inside. Yai quickly walked through the first and less important room and came up behind Emma and watched her dart around the room poking and prodding all of the new equipment. There was what looked like 2 tables in the centre of the room which were surrounded by several computers and consoles.

'Here. Here.' Emma cried as she pointed to one of the consoles. 'Jack Glyde in here.' Yai did what Emma wanted and Glyde appeared lying down on one of the tables. A white light ran over Glyde and he squirmed. 'It'll take the computers a while to process the data.'

'Take the rest of the day off.' Yai told Emma. She pointed to an email on her PET. 3 new staff members had been hired. 'I expect you to work hard tomorrow and I want results.'

'And you'll get them. I won't quit.' Emma told Yai proudly. It had taken a while for Yai to convince Emma to leave the lab. Emma was so fascinated by the new equipment that she was hardly listening to Yai. It was only when Yai threatened to get Glyde to crash the systems that Emma listened.

'Do you need a ride home?' Yai offered.

'I'm good.' Emma replied. She didn't want to get back in that pink limo, ever. Yai got back into her limo and waved as she was driven off.

Once back at home. Emma hummed away tidying up as Angel X played with the blue mettaurs. She danced around happily and Angel X looked at her operator in a confused manner.

'Emma…?' She started. Emma stopped skipping around and sat down in front of the computer.

'What's up?' Emma asked. She was close to song. She hadn't realised just how great having friends was.

'I know that you're happy about the new lab but…are you going to see Chaud again?' Angel X asked. 'I mean, he did check up on you just like he said he would.' Emma flopped back against the back rest of the chair.

'I want to see him again…' Emma muttered. '…but, with what's been happening…'

'Forget about everything. Just email him.' Angel X said as if it was simple.

'I can't…' Emma mumbled.

'No good.' Angel X said and she disappeared into the internet.

'Oh god no.' Emma muttered. She knew that Angel X had gone looking for Protoman so that he could pass a message onto Chaud.

Angel X integrated in the stands of the net battle arena. She looked down into the stadium and saw Sharkman launching a water tower at Gutsman. She watched the 2 navis throw attacks at each other even though it was clear that Sharkman was going to be victorious. She let her gaze wander around the stands. He had to be here, he looked like he couldn't resist a challenge. Sure enough, he was over in the left wing of the stands. Angel X ran over to him.

'Protoman!' She yelled as she skidded to a halt beside him. 'How are you?' She slapped him playfully on his back and he tried to shrug her off.

'I'm fine. How is Emma? Chaud is still…concerned for her.' Protoman asked.

'She's okay but…' Angel X started. 'She wants to see Chaud again.' Protoman took in a sharp breath. 'I don't know whether he wants to see her but…' She didn't finish her sentence. Protoman knew what she was asking.

'I'll tell him to meet her.' Protoman said.

'You can't say it like that!' Angel X whined. Protoman looked at her and for the first time her noticed her blue eyes. He swallowed quickly.

'Then I'll make sure that he knows that she wishes to see him.' Protoman tried.

'That's a little better.' Angel X said.

'Has something happened to her?' Protoman asked.

'Her father…he's dead, some accident at one of the labs.' Angel X replied coldly. 'I think that she'll be happier without him.'

'Wait, the man who died at the lab was her father?' Protoman asked hurriedly.

'You know about the accident?' Angel X questioned. 'And yes.'

'Chaud will definitely want to talk to Emma if that is true.' Protoman said clearly.

'Why?' Angel X pleaded as she grabbed his arm in despair. 'What did he do?'

'He tried to attack Master Blaze.'

'Chaud's father?'

'Yes.'

'Oh god.'