A/N: Thanks to Code 118/Ambient_Riot for beta-ing this chapter. Please go check out Two in One, it's wonderful. Glad to hear you all are still having fun with this story!
Hiro and his fiancée laid on the bed for another few hours, before the rumbling of their stomachs made them get up.
Having slept in much, much later than most of their fellow parasites, they entered the cafeteria to find it empty. All the better for them, as it meant some more time to themselves. Ichigo had also been kind enough to leave out some food for them, ensuring they wouldn't be hungry for long.
The two chatted as they ate, discussing trivial matters and the status of the bet pool on Miku and Zorome.
"Ichigo says it'll happen in a few weeks," Hiro mumbled, drinking some water.
"I don't know," Zero Two said, "I think more like a month or two."
Hiro rolled his eyes. "They might just need a little push."
His honey hummed in agreement. A moment passed before she sighed. "I wonder what happened to your old partner. Naomi, was it?"
Hiro looked at the wall beside him. "Everyone says they put her in cold storage with lots of other parasites. Only recently took them out," he continued, quieter this time, "I feel terrible for my failure. Putting her through all that... it was my fault."
"I don't think so. It wasn't you who made her pilot with you, it was APE, right?" Hiro nodded, and Zero Two smiled softly. "Good, so then don't blame yourself."
Hiro shook his head. "I don't know, honey, I just can't shake the feeling that I did something wrong, you know?"
"I know, darling. Trust me, I know." Zero Two whispered, her eyes fixated on a spot on the table.
An uncomfortable silence settled around them, the guilt, theirs or not, weighing heavy on the hybrids' shoulders.
The cafeteria door slid open, startling both of them. The woman in the doorway's expression calm, yet studious.
"Naomi?" Zero Two asked.
The woman smiled. "Yeah, that's me. I came to see both of you. I've been trying for weeks," she said, sitting down across from them. "So, you two saved the world, right?"
Hiro looked at her. "I suppose so, though I have faith you all could've managed without us."
"Sure, but it'll be nice to have closure," Naomi said, taking a deep breath, "Hiro, did you know that you couldn't pilot with anyone besides her?" She gestured at Zero Two.
"No. At the time, I didn't even remember her. I'm sorry, Nao-" he was cut off by Naomi laughing.
She paused, smiling. "There's no need for an apology, then. Have a good day, and nice to meet you, Zero Two." The pistil got up and left both of them in silence.
Zero Two looked at her darling, and laced their fingers. "See? Even she doesn't blame you, so don't feel bad."
Hiro smiled at her touch. "It doesn't stop the nightmares, though-"
"-it does make them easier to bear," Zero Two finished. "You make my nightmares easier to bear, darling. Don't forget that, please. Don't forget I need you."
"And I you, Zero Two. We promised, right?"
She kissed him. "We promised."
Their moment was ruined by the sound of alarms blaring throughout the whole facility.
Ichigo was rushing the parasites to their hangars, Nana and Hachi having notified her that a mass of klaxosaurs was coming, and fast.
She wasn't even sure if they had any magma energy left, but it was worth a try if it saved their asses, right?
"Ichigo, what the hell is happening?" Zorome asked. Most of Squad 13 had appeared before her, minus Mitsuru and Kokoro, who were staying with Ai, and Ikuno, who couldn't pilot anymore.
"I don't know! The klaxosaur alarm got sounded, so I rushed everyone here!" she paused, regaining her breath. "Get your FranXX running, if you can! Futoshi, stay behind and give us ETA updates. I'm counting on all of you."
All present members of the squad saluted and ran off to their FranXX, but she stopped Hiro and Zero Two.
"You two especially, be careful. We just got you back, we can't lose you again!" she yelled, causing the couple to give her a thumbs up.
"So bossy..." Zero Two said, "But I like that about you. You can count on us." She and Hiro ran off to attempt to start Strelizia, while Ichigo went off to Delphinium.
She ran up to the mech. "Goro, how's she looking?"
He frowned. "Not good. Seems all the magma's been drained. All the other FranXX seem to have the same issue."
Strelizia flew past them. "Well, not all," Goro amended.
The red-and-white mech had been the only one to make it out of the hangar, and the rest of the parasites watched as the klaxosaurs approached. Strelizia had stopped, and was maintaining its neutral stance.
"What are they doing?" Goro hissed.
Ichigo shook her head. "I don't know."
Hiro and Zero Two had sensed something, and stopped the mech before it broke the klaxosaurs' ranks.
"You've got a minute before they're too close," Futoshi told them, sighing. "I think you should head back."
"No," Hiro said, "There's something here. Honey, you feel it too? That... tingling, almost."
Strelizia nodded. "Yeah. Should we go closer?"
"No," Hiro said. "Let them come to us."
The klaxosaurs approached, and Hiro started making out different classes within the horde.
"A few Gutenbergs, mostly Moho. Nothing too special, so... why is something off?" Hiro whispered to himself.
Strelizia readied her spear. "I'm not expecting anything, darling, but better to be prepared," she said.
He murmured in agreement, as the beasts got ever closer.
"They're on you," Futoshi said.
Suddenly, they stopped, and one older-looking klaxosaur moved to the front. It began to screech.
"Words..." Hiro found his mind once again violated by another presence.
Children of ours, he heard, listen well. The war for Earth is over, so we shall rest after this last act.
Strelizia brought her spear out again. "What last act?" she asked.
The klaxosaur laughed? Then it said, Nothing bad. Do not worry. We just need to tell you something.
The klaxosaur moved slowly, as if walking, to them. "Darling, what's happening?" Strelizia asked, the possible danger making the mech tense.
Hiro was thinking. What could the klaxosaurs tell them, and why them?
The klaxosaur stopped at the mech's feet. Here, kneel.
"Darling? What should we do?"
Hiro looked up in realization. "As it asks."
Strelizia knelt, and the klaxosaur pressed its frontal horns to Strelizia's lone horn Hiro saw a vision of what he remembered as Europe, several plantations, and a man, speaking to many people. A moment passed, and the klaxosaur removed its horns. Be wary, children. Look out for those who desire purity.
The klaxosaur turned and joined its pack, before the whole unit sped off.
Strelizia and Hiro were confused. What had it meant by "desiring purity?" VIRM? But they were de-
The klaxosaur shrieked out its answer, reading their minds. Something like them, yes. But a bit more… human.
Hiro figured he'd discuss this with Squad 13 later, in a more comfortable place. His honey agreed, and the mech returned to the Bird Nest.
Strelizia entered its port, and the pilots got out.
Ichigo could immediately tell something was off. Both Hiro and Zero Two were visibly distraught, and had a death grip on each other's hand. "Guys, what happened? Are you hurt?" the bluenette asked, concern racking her face.
Zero Two looked at her, eyes distant. "We're fine. Follow us," she stated, walking towards the command center with Hiro.
"Guess we should follow them," Ichigo said, and the rest of Squad 13 followed behind her.
Once they'd arrived at the command center, Hiro asked Ichigo to get Ikuno and Naomi. Once both women had come, Hiro closed and locked the door.
He leaned over the main table and cleared his throat. "Zero Two and I have reason to believe a faction of APE-loyal parasites is still active in Europe," he said, looking for any response.
Goro was the first to speak up. "How? APE and VIRM are destroyed."
Hiro nodded. "Their ideology remains ingrained in some. Those fortunate enough to not lose any to VIRM - they exist. If we are to reclaim the world and restore humanity, we must stop them."
Ichigo thought for a moment. "We… don't have any order here yet. I promise you, eventually, we can beat them together - just after things settle here," she clarified, looking at Hiro and Zero Two.
Both nodded, and Ichigo dismissed the conference. The squadmates returned to their changing rooms, but Goro stopped Ichigo before she could follow.
"You have to let me go to Europe on recon. We won't know the extent of these parasites otherwise," he said, staring her in the eyes.
She looked at him as if he were suggesting he kill himself. "What?! There's no way, Goro," she pleaded, "Stay. That's an order."
He frowned. "Since when do you have any power over me? Since a non-existent organization told you you did? Let me do what I think is best," he growled, teeth clenched.
He stormed out of the room, and Ichigo followed closely on his heels. She caught up to him as he was entering the stamen changing room, wrapping her arms around him to stop any movement.
"Goro! Listen to me! You can't go!" She yelled, the man in question attempting to pull away, "Please! I… I love you!"
For a moment, the only noise in the area was the sound of the ventilation.
Then Zero Two whistled from inside the locker room.
"You go, girl!" she congratulated, bringing the bluenette's cheeks to heat up, and making Goro not fare much better.
He was staring at her incredulously, mouth agape. Hiro had said she liked him that way, but… having her actually tell him that? It was a dream come true. He laughed, finally returning her hug. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear that from you," he breathed, resting his chin on her head.
The rest of Squad 13 looked on from their locker rooms, with Hiro and Zero Two smiling especially bright.
Zorome smirked. "Took you long enough, guys! I swear, they've been dancing around each other for years…" he trailed off, as his fellow stamen began staring at him intently. "What?"
Goro made to speak, but Hiro shushed him before he could say anything. Zorome and Miku… they could figure out that themselves. Or at least, under the pretense of doing so. Hiro had a feeling he might need to give them an extra push.
"Alright, we'll let you two get back to it," Hiro said, motioning with his head for everyone to return to the rooms and finish changing.
Once the two were alone in the hall again, Ichigo sighed. "If I can't stop you from going, can I at least make you stay a little longer?" She asked, gazing up at him.
"Sure," Goro agreed, "I won't leave immediately." He leaned down, and kissed the bluenette, causing her cheeks to get a little closer to that strawberry red.
Ichigo was able to finalize the plans for the new human government much quicker than she'd anticipated, due to a new burst of "motivation." Hiro supposed that three years ago, he would've never guessed Goro could be referred to in such a manner. Things were surprising nowadays, but he was content with that, for now.
After Mitsuru finished his work on the Grand Palace, Ichigo had immediately began the inaugural process for the new government, the Earth Federation. All of the parasites thought saying their government was for the whole planet was a little presumptuous, but who was out there to stop them?
Actually, that was why Hiro was standing outside the main hall of the Grand Palace. Himself, Zero Two, and Ichigo had decided to break the news to the other parasites of the threat to their peace. They'd found records of it in old APE terminals some more tech-savvy parasites had gotten into - Edelweiss, one of APE's backup plantations in Europe. They never had any contact with the Japanese branch of the organization, and as such, Hiro knew they probably were still in-the-dark about VIRM and APE's misdeeds.
Zero Two was standing outside with her darling, quite nervous presenting in front of a crowd. Hiro was a natural at it - he'd proven himself several times already - but she couldn't get over her fears that people still wouldn't accept her.
She looked at him expectantly, and he squeezed her hand. They could accomplish this together, like they always had.
They heard Ichigo calling them on stage, and out they went. Their friend had prepared an area for them to sit at, so that they could begin their talk with ease. People in the audience were incredibly excited to see them, the memories of Earth's salvation fresh in their minds.
The couple sat down, and Ichigo gave a brief explanation as to why they were all here, before passing the mic to Hiro and Zero Two.
Hiro spoke first. "Three weeks ago, the Bird Nest's perimeter was breached by a mass of klaxosaurs. They were peaceful in intent, seeking only to warn us about the dangers of what we now believe is an APE-aligned plantation, or group of plantations, in Europe," he explained, drawing some gasps from the audience. He nodded to Zero Two.
She cleared her throat, speaking clearly. "These plantations present a threat to our planned repopulation of the Earth, as they are most certainly aligned against our more individualistic beliefs and practices. If we are to reclaim this planet completely, they must be stopped," Zero Two finished, before asking if the audience had any questions.
A couple hands went up, leading to basic questions. How are we going to do this, do we have any extra information at the time, et cetera. Then a hand towards the back went up.
"How do we know this isn't a ploy by the klaxosaurs for us to move our military forces away, then for them to finish us off?" the parasite asked, distrust apparent in the way he talked. A murmur went over the crowd, many people agreeing, some disagreeing, and others remaining silent.
Hiro sighed. "We don't know that, but we can assume that based off our current peace with the klaxosaurs, and based off what we know about APE's backup plantations, what the klaxosaurs told us was true, and that we should be worried about this," he said, many people in the audience nodding.
The parasite gave the mic to the next asker, and whispered to himself, "Of course they'd say that those monsters wouldn't be tricking us."
Hiro's ears twitched, and he knew Zero Two had heard the man say it, too. Immediately, he went into damage control mode, grabbing her hand under the table and squeezing it.
The rest of the session went by without incident, with many other basic questions being asked. The mood, however, was totally off-kilter. Zero Two was agitated, Hiro knew, and he honestly wasn't faring much better. Did people really think of them that way, as listening to "monsters?"
When the session ended, his honey rushed to the bathroom, emptying the small breakfast she had. She… she thought that people had moved on from this, but now she knew they hadn't. People were still just as unaccepting as before their mission. Her darling patted her back, doing his best to reassure her.
But in that moment, back in the hall, she knew he'd experienced the feeling of being thought of as a monster for the first time.
Ikuno's research was progressing smoothly, mostly thanks to Hiro and Zero Two's blood. Its properties were astonishing - regeneration, it stopped the adverse side effects of yellow blood cells on any sort of human body, and it… it could infect other blood and replace it.
So that was how Hiro had changed. Ikuno made a note in her calendar to discuss this further with both hybrids, seeing as she now knew exactly how Hiro had saurified.
"Bloodbonding… I'll have to research this further," Ikuno murmured under her breath.
As the scientist got back to work, her dutiful partner - in work and in life - walked in behind her, pulling up a chair to sit in.
"What are you working on?" Naomi asked, taking Ikuno's free hand and connecting it with her own.
Ikuno looked up, saying, "Still the cure for yellow blood cells. I've found some new developments with Hiro and Zero Two's blood, though."
Naomi tilted her head. "Oh?"
Ikuno nodded. "Yeah, could you get Zero Two in here? I need to check something," she said, getting back to writing.
"Alright. I'll be right back."
Depending on the information she got from Ichigo in regards to the hybrids' more recent activities… she may have the chance to research bloodbonding firsthand.
Naomi came back with Zero Two in tow. The pink-haired girl looked a bit displeased, but was otherwise looking fine. "What do you need? I was relaxing with my darling," she said.
Ikuno stood up, and moved towards her research bed. She motioned for Zero Two to come over and lie down on the bed, and Zero Two complied. "So, I've found some more interesting things with regards to your blood. Wanna hear them?" Ikuno asked.
Zero Two furrowed her eyebrows. "Why did you need me to lie down for this?"
Ikuno waved her away. "That comes later. Do you want me to tell you some insights I've obtained?"
Zero Two sighed. "Sure, but keep it quick. I want to get back to my darling," she pouted, before Ikuno began her explanation. As she was going, Zero Two's eyes widened as things began falling into place.
"So… we're for sure certain that it was my blood that made him saurify?" she asked, eyes begging for confirmation.
"If this is about you feeling guilty for that again, he licked your knee," Naomi called from across the room.
Ikuno pointed to her girlfriend. "Exactly, Zero Two. But yes, it was definitely his ingestion of your blood that began the saurification process. What we don't know is why it took so long - was it not riding with you? I wish we had another test subject to see if it worked short-term…" Ikuno trailed off, searching her memories. Was there another klaxosapiens around? Would there be, she corrected herself. She'd yet to do what she brought Zero Two here for.
"Um, I think one of my clones is still alive. My darling didn't bring her to Mars with him," Zero Two confirmed, bringing Ikuno to remember.
"Ah, yes. 9'ζ. She left late last year, still barely clinging on to life. I wonder where she is now…" Ikuno stopped herself from going off on a tangent again, returning to her original purpose. "So, Zero Two, how have you been feeling lately?"
The woman in question took some time before responding. "Fine, mostly. Why?"
Ikuno didn't respond to her question. "Why do you say mostly?" The scientist asked.
"Well…" Zero Two began, "I've been having stomach problems lately. Can't seem to keep any breakfast down, although lunch and dinner are fine."
Ikuno nodded, writing a note. "How are you emotionally? Things good with Hiro and all that?"
Zero Two's eyes lit up at the mention of her relationship with her darling. "Never better!" She exclaimed. "It's been good, not being in mortal danger constantly. Really lets you wind down, you know," she added, giggling a little. 'Winding down' was not what she and her darling had been doing lately. If anything… well, she wouldn't go into her sex life with Ikuno. Unless…
"Have you two copulated?" Ikuno asked.
Speak of the devil, Zero Two thought. She might as well be truthful, then. "Uh… yeah. We did, quite a lot, the other night, and the night before, and..." she trailed off, memories flooding back. Mating with my darling, hahaha~...
"Zero Two? You're drooling," Ikuno called, snapping the hybrid back to reality.
"Sorry, just thinking about what we could be doing right now, if I weren't on this damn bed!" She joked, causing Ikuno to smile.
"I don't think you should be doing any more of that, but I'd like to get one test in if you'll let me," Ikuno said, preparing one of APE's old ultrasound machines.
"Okay, but make it quick," Zero Two said. Not mating with my darling? Is this woman crazy?
Ikuno did her best to do exactly that, and her eyes widened when she looked at her monitor. She asked Zero Two to sit up, preparing her for the news.
Ikuno took her glasses off and looked Zero Two directly in the eyes, tilting the monitor towards her.
The pink haired girl was confused for a moment as to what she was seeing, before realization lit up her face. Tears came to her eyes, the raw emotion from what she was seeing overwhelming her.
Ikuno smiled, standing Zero Two up. "I think you've got something to tell Hiro, so get going."
Zero Two ran off into the hall, tears, a big, dumb smile, and the setting midsummer sun lighting up her features.
The bakery's door closed, and Futoshi exhaled. Seemed like every day now, there was another set of new people just clamoring to get his bread! If he'd known he was this good at baking before, he would've baked before!
Luckily, the day was coming to an end. Today was quite busy, and there was still a backlog of orders to be filled. Futoshi made a mental note to himself to hire an assistant, or at least begin looking into hiring one, relatively soon. The way things were going, he'd need it.
While he was working on some more bread, the door opened one last time. "You can sit down for a bit here, I'm unable to take your order right now," he called, causing the person who just came in to laugh.
"I'm not here to overwork you, don't worry," the voice, Futoshi recognizing as higher-pitched, said. "I'm actually here to see if you have any positions open. I love your food, and wanted to see if I could help make some of it."
Futoshi turned towards the person, looking her - he knew from her appearance now - up and down. She was shorter than him, though not by much, and had short brown hair clipped to her neck. She stuttered, realizing he was looking at her. "M-my name's Nimina. Nice to meet you!"
Futoshi smiled. "I'd shake your hand if I could, although I'm a little preoccupied right now," he chuckled. "My name's Futoshi."
"I know," Nimina said, "it's on the sign outside."
"But, of course! How else would you know which bread shop it is? It's not like there's an abundance of them, or anything," he joked, bringing the girl in front of him to laugh a little.
Futoshi cleared his throat, picking up the tray of bread he just finished. "Seeing as I'm now done for the day, would you like an interview? I've got nothing else to do," he clarified, sitting down behind the counter.
Nimina sat at the bar in front of him. "Sure, fire away," she consented.
"What experience do you have with baking?" he began.
"I've been working as my squad's personal chef ever since APE fell, and they say I'm alright," she responded.
Futoshi considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Sounds good, you're on," he said.
Nimina was taken aback. "It was that easy?!"
Futoshi shrugged. "I've got way too many orders and you're the first qualified person to walk in here and apply, so why not? Let's get this last order out, and then we can discuss your pay."
The girl in front of him readjusted herself, then nodded, offering her hand. "I'm looking forward to working with you, Futoshi."
He smiled, and shook her hand. "Me too, Nimina."
Zorome and Miku were sitting on a bench in the recently-constructed park on the hill where Zero Two's revival tree was standing. Both of them had found their other squadmates too busy to do anything, and had begrudgingly decided to come here together.
It was late, around nineteen-hundred hours, and the sun was very pretty. "It's really beautiful, right now, you know?" The redhead said, looking at her partner.
He was staring very intently at the sun. "What do you think about Hiro and Zero Two?" he asked.
Miku was confused. "Where's this coming from, Zorome?"
"At the meeting earlier… that one guy, in the back. I was sitting near him, and he… he insulted them. Called them monsters. Can you believe that?" Zorome said, impassioned. How dare that man insult his friends?
Miku was astonished. "Really? That's terrible," she said, joining Zorome in his thousand-yard-stare. "You'd think they'd have more respect for the people who saved them, more than they could ever know."
"So did I. I guess we really didn't know these people as well as we thought," he said, looking over at her. "Anyways, how was your day?"
Miku was even more confused. "Why are you changing topics all of a sudden?" She countered, looking back at him.
Zorome shrugged. "We don't need to be talking about one specific thing, y'know. We can just be talking."
"Fair enough," Miku said. "What can we talk about? I mean, without getting mad at each other. Seems like we do that a lot…"
"Um…" Zorome thought, "How about what we want to do besides FranXX piloting? Ikuno's almost done with her cure, so we'll have a lot of time on our hands," he paused. "I'm thinking about getting into education - as more and more kids are being made, we'll have a need for teachers."
Miku's eyes lit up. "Really? Same here! I'd love to teach kids," she exclaimed, her enthusiasm for her profession leaking into her voice.
Zorome grinned, pumping his fists in the air. "We'll be the dynamic teaching duo! Kids around the world will fear and respect us!"
Miku smiled wearily. "I wouldn't go that far…I'd like to have a healthy relationship with my students. It's good for learning."
Zorome stared at her nonchalantly. "I mean, duh. What sort of good teacher actually terrorizes their kids? I was just messing around," he explained, bringing Miku to a revelation.
"Wait, most of the time, when we're talking, are you messing with me?" she asked, eyes narrowing at him.
He sweated, moving a little bit away from her. "N-no, of course not! Some of the more… outlandish things aren't what I actually think, of course. I do it because it's fun to see you riled up, to see you impassioned," he said, "Even if it's because you're angry at me."
Miku was shocked. "So you'll purposefully make me angry because you like seeing me that way?" He nodded. "Have you ever considered that maybe other things can get me like that?"
Zorome shook his head. "No, not really. I mean, we've always been at each other's throats. I guess I've found it easier to get you that way by making you angry, than by doing other things," he clarified, rubbing the back of his neck.
Miku sighed. "Well, keep that in mind, especially because you just saw me that way without making me angry," she said, turning back to the sunset, now a much brighter orange.
Zorome was staring, he knew, but the way the rays of sunlight framed her face and lit up her hair made her look like she had a halo. He was lucky, he supposed, to have an angel like her around. She kept him in check, kept him grounded, when he tried to fly too high.
Miku turned, the hairs on the back of her neck telling her that the man sitting next to her was staring. "What? Is there a spider there or something?"
Zorome returned to reality, blushing and looking away. "No, it's just... you looked really pretty," he mumbled, causing her to tilt her head.
"What? 'Just' what?" she asked.
"Just… it's nice to know that I can see you excited without being annoyed at me," he explained, looking at Miku from the corner of his eye.
"Zorome, you idiot," she chastised, "You've always been able to. You've just never tried."
"Oh? So, what makes you excited, Miku?" he smirked.
You. Damn it, subconscious! Now was not the time! She stammered, racking her brain for an appropriate response. "Uh-uhm, let's see," she paused, "Teaching, accessories, and…" You. Piloting Argentea together. Talking, like we are now. "...hanging out with my friends." It was a true response, but an incomplete one.
Zorome smiled. "Me too, Miku, me too. Us - Squad 13? We're… we're family," he stated. Miku agreed softly, looking back at the sunset.
The two sat like that, in silence, for a while. Both wanting to say more, but unable to find the courage. The sun sat completely, its purpling colors fading to black.
The clear night sky was filled with stars, the Milky Way stretching far above them. The arm's orange radiance reminding Zorome of the girl sitting next to him.
"It's beautiful," he said, smiling softly. He even thought he could see Andromeda.
"Yep," she agreed. Words couldn't quite be used to describe the feelings they felt there, staring at the vastness of creation.
Zorome started. "Miku, look!" She turned. "Shooting stars!"
Miku smiled. "Those aren't meteors, Zorome," she corrected. "They're the last of the klaxosaur's fleet, returning to their home. Their fight is over."
Zorome looked at her. "They deserve their rest," he said.
"Yeah," she agreed.
That night, beneath the brilliance of space and the returning klaxosaurs, Zorome and Miku slept on the bench, her head resting gently on his shoulder.
Zero Two rushed to her darling, having left him in their room. She came up to the door, throwing it open, and found nothing in there. Where is my darling?
She decided to text him, pulling out her communicator. After a brief conversation, he told her he was at the hangar, overseeing the inspection of Strelizia.
By the time she'd made it to him, the inspection was over and he was sitting on the walkway connecting Strelizia's core to its port, dangling his legs over the side idly.
"Hey, honey!" He called. "How's it going?"
"I'm… fine! How are you?" She responded, coming up to where he was sitting.
"Better now that you're here. Seems like every moment without you is a little more empty," he said, flustering her.
"You're so suave, darling," she giggled. "You always know exactly what to say."
He laughed. "What can I say? You're cute when you're blushing."
"Darling!" She chided, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him a little. "Stop it!"
"Fine, fine," he agreed. "So, what did you want to talk about? You seemed pretty urgent earlier."
Oh. She'd forgotten it momentarily. Only her darling could do that to her, distract her so much that she'd forget something so important!
How was she going to broach this? "Uh... let's just sit here, for a while. Is that fine?" She looked at him, expectantly.
"Fine by me. Take your time," he said, allowing her to reposition his head into her lap. They sat that way for a while, before Zero Two spoke up.
"Darling…" He looked up at her. "If I asked you to give up your status as a human, would you?"
He smiled. "I already have, and besides, humanity isn't based off appearances. You said that yourself, remember?"
She did say that. "It's been a while, my memories from back then are fuzzy. Warm fuzzy, but fuzzy still," she said, laughing a little at her phrasing. Right, back on track! "If I asked you to leave everything behind for me, would you?"
Her darling shifted his face to a more serious expression. "Without question. Why?"
Zero Two looked down at him intensely. "I just needed to know. Darling… promise me, again, we'll always be together."
"Of course. If we lose each other, you don't even need to say the word, and I'll be running back to find you," her darling assured her, "Just like I always have."
"I promise, too. I promise to never leave you again," she said, tears coming to her eyes, making her crimson pupils hazy.
"Hey, what's wrong? You alright?" He asked, grabbing her hand and sitting up.
She sniffled. "I'm fine. I'm fine, trust me," she said. A moment passed with their eyes and hands locked, before Zero Two composed herself. "I think I can tell you now, darling."
"Whenever you're ready," he said, "I can wait for as long as you need."
Zero Two smiled. He was always so attuned to what she needed, it really was like they were one-and-the-same. The horns protruding from his forehead, the blue marks around his eyes, and the deep blue pupils in eyes so very much like her own only further supported that point. She breathed deeply, squeezing his hand for support.
"I visited Ikuno today, you remember." He nodded. "I got absolute confirmation that you ingesting some of my blood was what started your saurification."
"Alright, did she tell you anything else?" Her darling asked, his head tilting inquisitively.
"Yes, that 9'ζ might still be alive. Ikuno was wondering if she could be used as a subject for further testing regarding bloodbonding," Zero Two said.
"Sorry, what's that?" Her darling asked, while Zero Two had already prepared an explanation.
"It's her term for the process by which a homosapiens transitions into a klaxosapiens. So far, you're the only example of it. You're living proof it works, which is hope for us," she said.
"So it's another way to bolster the klaxosapiens population, then? I mean, the only way, right?" He asked, sadness marring his face.
Zero Two was confused. What did he mean? "Huh?"
"You know, because you can't…" he trailed off.
"Not following, darling," she said, brows furrowing.
"Remember when you said that you can't-" he paused, "-you can't leave something behind? You were talking about having kids, right?"
Zero Two was shocked. She did say that, so how… how was…
"I… I guess so. Memories still fuzzy, you know," she said.
"So… bloodbonding is the only way, then," her darling said, defeat joining sadness on his face.
She sighed. She really was bad at explaining things sometimes, wasn't she? The only way she could convince him was…
She moved closer to him, touching their horns. Hiro was confused for a second, then he heard his heartbeat. Then Zero Two's. And then a third.
His eyes widened. "What? But… you said…"
Zero Two smiled. "I guess I was wrong. Because, well, we're going to have a child, darling."
Hiro laughed, blinking rapidly. "Wow, just… wow. When did you, you know, conceive?"
"About three weeks ago, when we first had sex, I think," she said, giggling. "We're going to be parents, darling."
Hiro was getting emotional too - tears were welling in his eyes - but he was still grinning enormously. "We're going to be parents. Wow! I… I never dreamed I'd get to say that!"
Zero Two kept on laughing, the raw emotion coursing through both of them running down their faces. "I know, I know! It's so exciting!" She exclaimed.
Both were still crying, and laughing. They were happier than they'd ever been.
"I love you," they declared, simultaneously.
That night, in front of the mech that was their love, inside the hangar in their home, two parents-to-be sat, crying, and laughing, and living. They fell asleep there, in each other's arms, not caring if the world thought they were monsters. Because they knew that they weren't. They knew that they were more human than they'd ever been before.
A/N: How about that, huh? Excited?
On a more serious note, how do you guys feel about these 6k-word updates? You like them? Think they're tedious? Let me know!
Gonna be working on this a lot - I'm on vacation in a place that's practically perfect for writing.
Until next time, dsw78
