A/N: Sorry for the relatively late update guys, I'm managing this story between school and life in general and I'm trying my best to get the chapters out as soon as I can.

I promise I won't bail, so please just bear with me :)

Last part of Bass' POV.

~Chapter 9~

It was already Wednesday noon and a surprisingly quiet one.

Bass slowly woke up as he rose into a sitting position, placing one arm on his bent knee.

He looked around him.

Even though there were no gangs of criminal NetNavis to bother his rest this time, the cloaked Navi couldn't remember the last time he had such a bad sleep session.

He suddenly recalled the uneasy feeling he had before falling asleep.

"Damn it." He cursed to himself.

He lifted his eyes to the sky above him, which still glowed with the same vibrant colors from the day before, and stared up at it for a few minutes.

'What is it that's bothering me so much?'

He didn't have an answer.

As he rose to his feet on the surface of the rock formation he had just spent the night on, Bass suddenly heard a voice.

He quickly turned around to the source of it, when he noticed a small figure at the distance.

The cloaked Navi lowered himself back into a crouching position immediately to prevent himself from being seen, while placing one hand on the surface next to him to balance himself.

He kept silent as he watched the figure getting closer and closer.

Bass just waited, ready to eliminate whoever that was, if needed to.

Eventually, the mysterious Navi was close enough for him to have a clear view of them.

His eyes widened at the sight of her.

It was the delivery girl.

The same one he met just a few days ago, the same one to look at him with that strong gaze of hers, the same one to not even be slightly afraid of him, the same one who called him 'cute', and the same one who laughed at him until she cried.

'That delivery girl..'

She was back, carelessly venturing through the UnderNet just like that.

Bass exhaled, and decided to keep quiet and simply watch her.

The girl was floating slowly, while quickly looking around at every direction, as if she was searching for something.

Suddenly, she lifted her eyes to the sky above her, and he noticed her expression changed.

He kept watching, as he wondered what the hell was this odd girl below him doing.

She was now smiling, her wide blue eyes fixed on the bright colors above her, as she spun around herself, trying to catch a glimpse of every part of it.

"Beautiful." he suddenly heard her quietly say to herself.

The cloaked Navi blinked, and narrowed his eyes at her.

'So fucking defenseless.. She's lucky those shitheads didn't find her before I did.'

This girl was truly naive.

And what was she even looking at, anyway?

He lifted his eyes up to the sky as well.

It had the same annoying, overly-bright colors from before. Nothing special.

He lowered his gaze back down at the girl and watched her for a few more moments, while shifting into a sitting position.

Eventually, he had enough.

"What are you doing." He asked her with a demanding voice.

The girl suddenly perked up as she heard him, and quickly looked all around her to find the source of his voice, her long ponytail flying after the swift movements of her head.

Their eyes finally met.

She called out to him, smiling wide and waving happily.

His eyes widened.

'What the hell is she yelling for? How clueless can this girl be?'

He told her to keep it down, yet she only looked at him with wide eyes and a confused expression.

The cloaked Navi quickly floated down to the ground below him, and began walking at her direction.

'This girl is unbelievable.'

Irritated, he stepped closer until he was right in front of her.

She stayed right in her place, and only blinked while staring up at him.

There it was, that damn nervousness again.

He tried to ignore it as he glared down at her.

Bass just couldn't understand how this delivery girl could be so relaxed. Perhaps she somehow forgot where she was? In that case, even being simply naive was already pushing it.

He decided to remind her.

The girl went silent for a few moments, still staring up at him.

"Is this your awkward way of worrying about me?" She suddenly asked him with a soft smile.

His eyes widened in shock at her words.

'Worried? Me?!'

He froze for a few seconds.

It was so absurd, so unheard of, that it caught him completely off guard.

He quickly denied, forgetting to control his voice.

She teased him.

He growled.

'This girl is driving me crazy.'

He couldn't ignore the nervousness anymore.

He realized he felt like an open nerve around her, and that realization was messing with his head.

Bass went completely silent, and only narrowed his red eyes at the girl in front of him.

She only grinned.

Suddenly, the female Navi took his message out of her bag and presented it to him.

He just stared at her, not sure what to do anymore.

This girl was dangerous for him to be around.

He kept quiet and shifted his gaze to her small hands.

Neither of them said anything.

Then, it suddenly dawned on him;

'Am I actually being hesitant because of this girl? What the hell wrong with me!'

He slapped himself mentally as he grabbed the chip out of her hand, and quickly activated it.

MegaMan's message was stupid, as usual.

Bass blinked.

Going over his nemesis' message in his head, he recalled he mentioned his human OP as well.

He glared at the chip in his right hand.

'That fool still has faith in that bond, huh.'

"Pathetic." He didn't mean to say it out loud, but he did.

The girl suddenly broke him out of his thoughts, questioning his last statement.

He lifted his gaze to her.

'Why', she asks?'

Bass then realized that the female Navi in front of him was an independent one just like him.

He answered her, and watched her closely.

How did she even see the humans, anyway?

He was actually interested in her response.

They didn't break eye contact for a few moments.

Then, she answered, but her reply disappointed him.

As he had already guessed - this girl wasn't able to understand him.

He laughed at himself for even somehow thinking she might.

What was he thinking, really? That this happy-go-lucky, strange delivery girl, living in NetCity, enjoying her everyday ordinary life, will suddenly share his opinions about the damn humans and see them as he does? Has he really gone crazy?

He decided to end this conversation.

The girl went silent, and she only stared up at him.

Bass watched her.

He was confused.

'Why isn't she forcing me into telling her like she forced me to accept her stupid letter last time? Why is she just staring at me like that?

And why is this bothering me so much?'

He swallowed hard, as he started feeling nervous again.

He couldn't take the annoying silence anymore, so he spoke first.

She answered him almost immediately.

"What makes you so sure that I wouldn't understand you?"

Her sincere voice caught him off guard, but he knew better than to fall for that. He knew there was no way she could.

She answered him again.

"I want to know more about you, Bass."

His eyes widened.

He stared at her.

That was the first time anyone had ever said that to him.

This girl wanted to know more about him.

But.. Why?

Was she getting something out of this? Was she going to just tease him again? Laugh at him? Was she collecting information about him for whatever reason?

Why?

He knew he shouldn't ask her, but he did.

For some reason, he had the urge to know.

She was quiet for a few moments, Her large blue eyes staring up at him with a gentle expression.

"I'm curious about you." She finally said and blinked, her voice was soft.

Bass went completely silent.

He wasn't expecting that answer.

'Curious' about me?'

He pondered her words for a little longer.

Was that even a valid reason to ask someone about their past?

Then again, was there anything even remotely normal about this girl's way of thinking?

He then noticed the way she was looking at him; It was as if she was trying to figure him out, to understand him, as if she was asking him to let her in.

They didn't break eye contact the whole time.

Bass let out a deep breath he didn't even notice he was holding.

'Whatever.'

He lifted his hand and revealed his scarred Navi symbol to her.

The girl's eyes went wide, and her lips parted in disbelief when she saw it.

She was shocked, as he thought she'd be.

He started telling her everything.

About his peaceful, naive days at the lab, about his imprisonment, about Dr. Cossack's betrayal, and about the humans ordering to delete him, which resulted in the scar on his symbol, and the death of the NetNavis who tried to kill him.

As he was sharing his past with her, he noticed the girl was completely silent, and her expression changed.

She was now looking at him with one that he hasn't seen anyone make for the longest time.

She just seemed incredibly sad.

He stared at her.

'Why is she getting sad for my sake? She has nothing to do with this.'

For some reason, Bass felt the urge to make her stop looking at him like that.

He broke into a loud laughter over her reaction, and told her that story only makes him feel better.

She kept silent.

Neither of them spoke for the longest time.

'Why isn't she saying anything?'

He was confused at her lack of words.

Suddenly, the female Navi stepped closer to him, until there was little space left between them.

She was so close. Too close.

He didn't say a word.

Still completely silent, she was now looking down at his damaged Navi symbol.

He just watched her, as he felt her gaze on his white scar.

Bass wasn't sure what to do, so he stayed still.

Suddenly, the girl lifted both of her hands at his direction.

His eyes widened.

'What the hell is she thinking?'

This reckless girl made him impossibly jumpy and he hated that effect she had on him.

He quickly tried to get some answers out of her.

She stopped for a moment, and he watched her.

The female Navi simply asked him to stay still, then lifted her face up to meet his.

Her expression was amazingly sincere, and her pleading blue eyes were staring deep into his red ones.

His nervousness skyrocketed.

Never before in his life, did the cloaked Navi think he'd be paralyzed by a mere expression, until today.

She continued raising her hands, and he knew he had to do something.

This was simply too much for him.

Yet.. Why the hell couldn't he move?

Bass could only make out half of a sentence before he went completely frozen to the feel of her gentle touch on both of his sides under both of his arms, and then at the center of his back.

Her small hands enveloped him in a hug, drawing both of their bodies closer until they were squeezed together.

He felt shivers run from his head all the way down to his feet.

He wasn't used to a touch this gentle, he was a fighter, a killer. He was known as UnderNet's most fearsome NetNavi for a reason; he was the most powerful, the most vicious, and he only knew how to get what he wanted using force, and force only.

Yet this girl rendered him completely useless.

His mind went blank, and they stayed like that for few moments,

Until he heard her voice.

It was so soft, almost like a whisper, flowing straight into his ear.

She was sorry. Sorry for everything he had to go through alone and sorry about making him tell her about it.

She then thanked him for sharing his past with her.

His eyes widened as he processed her words.

How did she know?

The truth was, the less Bass had to remember his past, the better.

If there was one thing he hated about himself, it was the fact that after ten whole years, thinking and talking about what happened still affected him. He thought it was simply pathetic, and he tried his best to hide it; to somehow convince himself that losing that bond doesn't mean anything to him anymore, and that it's now just a memory of the past.

Yet deep inside, he knew it wasn't.

And this girl saw right through his mask.

This small, weak, delivery girl was making him realize things about himself that he even forgot were there..

And she was holding him so gently, yet so tight.

His arm moved on its own as he wrapped it around her waist and lifted her even closer to him, accidentally catching some of her soft, long brown hair in his hand.

He couldn't let anyone see his face at that moment, let alone her, so he buried it into her shoulder, and he felt her do the same.

What was it that he was suddenly feeling?

He couldn't name it, but it felt as if all of his worries, all of his weight, was lifting off of him, fading out of his body and mind to somewhere far away.

Was it this girl?

Why the hell did she have this much effect on him?

The whole sensation was completely alien to him.

He was still nervous,

But he didn't hate it anymore.

A/N: Alright, so next chapter will technically be the direct continuation of 7.

I was debating with myself whether I should put his POV this early into the story or not, but then I realized we're already halfway done.

As always, Thank you so much! I'm super glad you're enjoying this. Please keep telling me what you think!