Disclaimer: …… Don't own, don't sue … please?

Author's Notes:

Yes! Chapter 5 is here! I'm excited! I made it to chappie 5! This chapter is going to be juicy, juicy, juicy!

I really have nothing to say, except to enjoy the fluff and happy reading!

Music Pieces:

Chapter 5: Cargo -- "Aura's Theme" – Tomoyo Mitami -- .hack/INFECTON (games)

-- "Zelda's Theme" – Koji Kondo, Yoshiko Kawamoto – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Xenosaga: Nexus Ties

Chapter 5: Cargo

The Elsa, Cockpit

"That's it captain! Navigational equipment fixed … for the most part, anyway…" Hammer mumbled. Tony had grown impatient waiting for him, so he decided to "explore the area," which really meant "see if there's anything out their capable of relieving my boredom." So, he had turned on the engines and had "explored the area," finding nothing worthwhile save for the brief glimpse of a large comet.

"You did it? You fixed it?" the Captain exclaimed excitedly. Hammer nodded in reply, his mind officially fried from trying to understand computer language for forty-five minutes…

"Yeah, it's a sketchy fix, we'll need to pull into a port to completely fix it, but it'll last for a bit." he explained. The Captain nodded.

"Alright! Tony, find us a nearby port before we really will be stranded!" he called to the far seat ahead. The engines, flaring as he did his exploring, were suddenly slowed to a halt as he stared out the cockpit window.

"Captain … look!" he shouted in disbelief. Hammer and the Captain both raised their heads to find whatever it was that Tony had been staring at.

Outside, floating all by itself was a light blue object, and object shaped much like a casket…

"Should we bring it in?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, let's see what it is. Anyway, if it's garbage we can just throw it back out." the Captain answered. Carefully, Tony pulled slowly up to the casket and summoned a drone from the hangar. Opening the hatch and controlling the drone, he retrieved the casket and dragged it back in the hangar.

"Let's go see what it is!" Hammer exclaimed as he sprinted to the door and away he was to the hangar.

"I'll stop the ship." Tony sighed as the Captain jogged to the door, Tony soon following him. They made their way down the elevator to the hangar the on the third floor below the cockpit. There, they saw Hammer standing over the casket-like object, completely still as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Hammer?" Tony called as he and the Captain jogged to his side. It was their turn to freeze as they saw the object.

It was a casket, a light blue one with no company name at all. The window on the front lid was crystal clear, and inside was a young woman. Her smooth creamy hair seemed as unrealistic as her beauty and fair skin. Her crimson uniform with dark red borders was tight about and fell to her upper thighs, just below her behind. The collar of her uniform was somewhat like a turtleneck and dark red. She wore dark red boots and gloves that ran from her biceps to her knuckles. There were three smooth and round periwinkle gems across her collar bone, the center one about the size of a fist and the two a few inches from it the size of an average thumbprint. On her boots at her feet were similar stones.

Yet it was her face that was most eye catching. She was solemn, yet seemed saddened with her eyes closed and her lips forming a slight frown.

"Who is she?" Tony asked quietly as if it were a crime to speak in the woman's presence. The Captain made his way to the intercom located on the opposite wall and pressed the red button.

"Chaos! Wake up, sleeping beauty! We've got very unusual cargo in the hangar! Chaos, wake up!" his voice rang about the ship loudly, alerting the boy that he had called chaos.

The Woglinde, Hallway 3, Residence Area

Shion strolled through the hallway in the residence quarters, deep in thoughts concerning KOS-MOS. What had gone wrong in the simulation this time? Everything was running smoothly until KOS-MOS activated the Hilbert Effect.

"Stop it, Shion! You'll have plenty of time to worry about it tomorrow." she told herself, shaking her head to clear her mind. Huh. That was something Allen had said a few days ago, actually. Maybe he was starting to grow on her … just a little.

"Chief!"

Well, he was a very nice person and somewhat clumsy … Who wasn't? She certainly was, but her clumsiness was the tendency to push her luck, not the tripping, lost-for-words clumsiness Allen had…

"Chief?"

That was decided then. The next time Allen asked her to go on a date, she would say yes. Even if she was busy with the Project, she could take a little break, right?

"Shion!"

She was jolted back to reality at the sound of a male voice calling her name. Quickly turning, she caught sight of Allen running towards her with a smile.

"Allen?" she said as he skidded to a halt in front of her, bending down to catch his breath for a moment before straightening.

"Chief," he panted. "I still … want to talk … to you." He took three deep breaths, and waited for an answer.

"Oh! That's right! What did you want to talk to me about, Allen?" she asked as they continued walking, or more like dragging for Allen. "Is it about KOS-MOS?"

"Uh … No, actually … It's about us." he stuttered as a faint blush formed across his cheeks.

"U-Us?" Shion repeated with curious eyes. "What do you mean us?" She felt her cheeks redden just has Allen's had.

"Yeah, um, Chief?" continued Allen. "Do you … want to go on a, um, date … with me?" Oh, damn, that took guts! Now his face was a complete pink as he and Shion stopped walking.

"A date?" she repeated once again. Well, that was quick. She was just thinking about him and asking her on a date. Already she knew her answer. "Sure, Allen … When?"

"How about dinner tonight?" Allen answered with more confidence. "We could stop by this really great restaurant I know about on the second floor. And we could even go now, if you want."

This wasn't so bad. Once he had things going they were easily kept that way. Shion simply gave him a gentle smile and soon it formed into a grin.

"I would … love to go to dinner with you, Allen." She fought back her delighted giggles as Allen held out his arm like a proper gentlemen. With a blissful grin she snatched his arm and held onto him, leaning her head against his shoulder as she could no longer hold in her giggles in.

Allen, feeling the same bliss as his date did, let out a small chuckle as they turned back down the hall to one of the many elevators connected to the second floor. For the first time since he aborted the Woglinde he felt completely at peace.

The Elsa, Cabin 1

"…unusual cargo in the hangar. Chaos, wake up!"

The boy, chaos, stifled a yawn as he heard the Captain's order over the intercom. Unusual cargo? He sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before standing and quickly grooming his hair. No doubt that "unusual cargo" was a Gnosis. Well, then he was needed. After all, exterminating threatening Gnosis was the reason why he was aboard the Elsa.

Dragging out of the cabin as fast as he could, he made his way to the elevator down to the floor the hangar was located on. Sliding through the door to the hangar, he looked up at the scene before him.

Hammer was kneeling next to a large light blue box, it seemed, pushing buttons on the side of the box as if trying to open it. Tony merely stood over Hammer's shoulder as he stared at the box.

"There you are!" the Captain exclaimed as he motion chaos to them. "You'd better have a look at this." he said as chaos made his way to them.

"Is it a Gnosis?" he asked.

"I don't think so. She looks human, to me." he replied with a shake of his head. Chaos took in the word "she." Then it was a human as the Captain had thought? He stopped at the side of the box opposite Hammer and silently gasped.

It was a woman, a very beautiful one at that. She appeared to be either in a deep sleep or dead. Praying that it was only sleep and that this woman was still alive, he knelt beside the box and gazed at the woman's face.

"Is she dead?" he inquired quietly, realizing the box was a casket.

"I don't know." replied Hammer. "Whoever put her in this gave her enough oxygen to last her for 36 hours. Seems kind of strange to do provide a dead person with oxygen." He continued to punch the buttons on the side.

"Got it open?" Tony broke the short silence.

"Eh … Almost. This lock was professionally designed, but I don't know what company since the casket seems to be missing the company name." he replied. Now chaos began to wonder about the woman and who she really was. Her face an creamy hair seemed familiar … but he couldn't place his finger on it.

A loud beep snapped everyone to attention and Hammer threw his hands in the air with a grin.

"Hallelujah! It's open!" he exclaimed. Carefully, the four of them grasped some of the six handles on the sides of the casket lid and pulled it off and set it aside. Tony and Hammer gasped and chaos's eyes widened when the caught a clear picture of the woman, her features soft and saddened.

"She's pretty." Hammer whispered.

"She's beautiful." Tony emphasized as if to correct Hammer. Fascinated, chaos reached a hand towards the maiden's cheek, wanting to at least feel her smooth skin. Suddenly, causing every one to shriek except for chaos who merely jumped, the woman's eyes shot open and her body jolted upright as she took a sharp intake of breath. Her hands gripped chaos's wrist in a death vice as she stared into chaos's turquoise eyes. Chaos stared back into those unbelievable, deep violet eyes with comfort and surprise.

"Help me…" the woman hissed with wide eyes as she breathed with effort. "Don't let him do this … Help me…" Surprised at first, chaos softened his eyes and gave a soft smile.

"You're alright. We're not going to hurt you." he reassured. "You're safe." The woman seemed to calm as her breathing slowed and her eyes became heavier. Soon she fell back into her cold unconscious state and began to fall back into the casket. Catching her with his free hand, he slowly pulled his other hand from her now limp grip and pulled her upright.

"Well, at least we know she's alive." the Captain remarked. "What should we do with her?"

"We can't just leave her." chaos stated. "She seems to be really frightened. We could keep her aboard the Elsa until she's recovered."

"We don't even know her name, chaos. What if she works for U-TIC? What then? We'll be in deep trouble if she is working for U-TIC." Tony reminded. Hammer nodded in agreement, but the Captain shook his head.

"I agree with chaos. We can't leave her; she seems too shaken up right now." he said. "Let's keep her for a while. Maybe she could help us. And if she is from U-TIC, well … we'll see."

After a few minor complaints from Tony and Hammer, the crew decided to let the woman stay in cabin 1 with chaos to look out for her. Minding the tight doorways, chaos carried the familiar woman to cabin 1 while the rest of the crew returned to the cockpit. Choosing a bed for her, he laid her down gently as to not awaken her. She merely groaned quietly in her sleep when she was set down.

He knelt next to her bed for a moment to make sure she was comfortable before collapsing on the bed across from hers. She was light, for a human. Maybe it was because of her thin yet healthy frame…

No matter. He had been ordered by the Captain to stay with her until she awakened and he was going to do just that.

The Woglinde, Hallway 3, Residence Area

"Oh, wow, I'm full!" Allen sighed as he and Shion made their way back to their cabins.

"I'll say." she agreed, still clinging to his arm. Not that Allen minded. He enjoyed her company and had a great time that night. When they reached Shion's headquarters they stopped before her door.

"I had a great time, Allen." Shion's voice suddenly became affectionate.

"I did too." he nodded. In a goodbye, Shion leaned up towards Allen and left him a sweet peck on the cheek, their faces slightly pink.

"Sleep tight." Allen nearly squeaked as Shion unlocked her door and it hissed open.

"'Night." she winked as she stepped inside her room and the door closed and locked behind her. Allen began to walk down the hall to his room, trying his best to hold in the cheer he wanted to emit.

Yet, as he does at many things, he failed and his echoing cheer reached Shion's ears as she leaned against her door. Upon hearing his delight, she grinned and giggled before deciding it was time for bed.

Aw … Cuteness! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, ya know? Finally! Some real fluff and … chaos met NINA! What now! I felt that I accomplished what I wanted in this chapter… Yay!

Alright. The next chappie will have many epic moments … and little bit more between chaos and NINA. Ziggy might come into play … and Kael will return for sure. So, stick around!

Reviews are appreciated!

The Next Chapter Will Be Published Tomorrow (June 21, 2006)