Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman Zero, or any of its characters. They are the legal property of Capcom and associates. In the great scheme of things, Capcom means so little that I could claim otherwise in this puny little fanfic and it would change no more of the tantra of universe than a fly dropping dead in the sugar jar in the great scheme of things, so why do I bother? Blah, blah, blah...

Author: Someone begged, so here it is. This time the MMZ fanfic pairing that's drop-dead obvious, but for some reason, so few choose to use or write anything substantial about.

Cold

Zero awoke and sighed slightly as he raised himself on one elbow on the futon as the light of morning penetrated the fabric of the tent. He caught the movement from out of the corner of his eye and turned his head, recoiling immediately at the two sapphire-blue eyes that watched him as he awoke.

A beautiful, light red flush crept up her cheeks as she finished pulling on the underclothes. Zero gaped in horror at her present state of undress. The fabric slipped easily over the contours of her body with a dry rustle that made Zero turn slightly red himself.

She for once managed to look slightly aware of herself and even shy as she stepped towards him, keeping her head down and her eyes averted, cheeks laced with red. The expression on her face, however, was far from upset.

She sat beside him as he levered himself up. He looked sideways at her, but she kept staring into space for a few moments until she finally spoke.

"How do you feel now, Zero?"

Zero groaned to himself as he tried with all his might to remember. What on earth happened?

It had been a hard day of travelling for all of them, even more so for Zero, who struggled to contain his anxiety and his grief. Ever since their departure from the capital, he had done his best to hold in his anger and grief, but exhausted such energy doing so. The thought of Ciel and what had happened between them haunted him in both his waking and sleeping hours, and at often times, he had felt tears stinging to his eyes as he remembered…

Zero did his best to break off the train of thought and shuddered.

He remembered what had happened the night before, how he had tossed and turned in his tent futon until finally giving up and letting the tears flow. She must've been peeking through the tent flap and seen him, tears glittering in the moonlight.

She had called his name softly, and he had turned to see the dark moonlit silhouette inside his tent.

He remembered what he had said.

"Ciel? Is that you?"

"Zero…" Leviathan reached out and took his hand gently in her own, snapping him out of his memory. "What…what is it we have here?"

Again, Zero did not respond immediately.

Slowly, he spoke. "I…I reached out to you."

Fairy looked startled for a moment, and then she shook her head. "No, I came to you. You…don't you remember? You…" Her eyes momentarily hardened. "You asked if I was…someone else. Then you recognized me…you told me to leave you, and I…I…" The blush returned to her cheeks with a vengeance.

"You wouldn't." Zero remembered now. "You said you wanted to…help me. You asked me not to…"

"…not to push me away anymore." Fairy finished. She turned her head imploringly to Zero. "Please, Zero. Please don't tell me I did the wrong thing! I want to help you. I…"

Her whole face was red now, and Zero could see that all traces of her usual cockiness and bravery had slipped from her face. She now looked sincerely desperate, vulnerable, and imploring, and Zero yearned to just wind his arms around her and hold her close…

No! Zero shook himself and looked away from her. He had a moment of weakness, a moment of heartache, and she had taken advantage of it like the shark she was.

"Zero…" Fairy touched his arm tenderly, but he slapped her hand away and turned his cold, furious gaze upon her.

"Ever since we met, you tried to pull this on me, Leviathan!" He growled in an icy voice. "I couldn't count the number of times you tried to tempt me on both hands! And feet! Well, you came, and now you've succeeded. Congratulations! You got what you want, and I have to deal with it! Do what you want, boast on about it all you like, but don't ever expect me to forgive you for this! Now get out of here!"

"Zero…"

"Get out!" Zero roared, closing his eyes.

"Zero!"

He stopped dead as he looked up to glare. The one thing he had never expected to see from her.

Tears.

They rolled down her face, streaking her cheeks.

"Zero…it wasn't just that. I-I really c-care about you! In all my time, I've never known anyone so strong. Anyone who could go through so many trials without cracking. Anyone who…who inflamed me with such desire to fight. Since I met you, I felt such a…a pull within me."

That was as far as she got. Zero's fist swung around and connected sharply with her face. Leviathan cried out and fell back. Zero was kneeling over her, snarling with utter contempt, and she covered her eyes to avoid seeing that gaze any longer.

But that didn't stop Zero from grabbing her arms and pushing them down to her sides. Fairy knew she could have fought. She should be angry. She should be proud and defiant like any general.

But she knew know she could never fight Zero again. Not even if she wanted to.

No-one could harm him after…that.

She remembered the silky smooth feel of his synthflesh against her own, the fingers running over her back, the light smack of lips against the nape of her neck…

No, after that, she could never bear to hurt him again…

She was jerked out of her memory back into harsh reality by the feel of Zero hoisting her up and tossing her roughly in the tent flap's general direction. There was nothing tender about him now. Only raw anger and hate that made tears sting to her eyes.

She stood slowly, and seeing him start to move forward, she quickly nodded and turned to leave. Unhappy and afraid, she ducked under the flap.

How could she ever face him again?

So cold...

No sooner had Fairy crawled outside into the dim sunlight of the jungle morning than she found herself immediately beneath two hard stares.

Sage Harpuia and Fighting Fefnir. Standing over her in full armor. Glaring.

She began to tremble as she realized they had seen her crawl out. And knew where she had spent the night…

Harpuia slowly head something out. Levi couldn't see what it was because of the glaring sun. He dropped it with a thump.

Her helmet.

She could see the familiar design on the blue metal. Fairy felt her face grow unbearably hot as she remembered…

She had left it next to Zero's futon before she and he…

"I suppose we will have to wake Zero up and ask him."

"Harpuia…I don't know. He didn't look too happy tonight. Maybe waking him up ain't a good idea."

"Priorities, Fefnir. Leviathan's disappearance is more important than…"

He broke off abruptly as he heard a sound.

"What was that?" Fefnir had heard it too.

"…Zero must be awake…" Harpuia stepped closer to his tent. Then they heard it again, much louder.

"Zero…"

The two Guardians froze at the familiar voice coming from the tent.

"She's in there? Are they talking about something?"

Curiosity overcoming him, Harpuia, with Fefnir close behind, crept closer to the tent. They could definitely hear sounds now. A rustle, a swish, a mumbled word or two…were Zero and Levi going over their map together?

"Careful!" Fefnir hissed lowly as Harpuia ducked and began to open the flap slightly.

Harpuia slowly peeked in through the flap…and then promptly withdrew his head and turned to look at his fellow Guardian, his eyes wider than Fefnir had ever seen them.

Leviathan walked behind everyone today, unable to bear the tension of being near them. She kept her eyes downcast on the earth so as not to catch their glances and occasional stares…

How could she ever look any of them in the face again? Especially…

Zero.

She felt a single tear of shame trickle down her cheek.

Cold.

Fairy had always preferred the cold, but now…

It seemed that one type of cold was deadly even for her…

Author: Please leave a review. Again, I won't go further unless someone begs me. Love you all, readers.

Jim'Van