~Chapter 11~

Flying out of the portal and right past the square arch she had already gotten used to seeing, Lei was deep into thought again.

She stopped to stare at the city in the distance for a few moments, accustoming her eyes to its brightness.

Her mind was so occupied with everything that has happened, that before she knew it, she was already back home, facing the high contrast between the UnderNet and NetCity which never failed to amaze her, as it also never failed to remind her where she truly belongs, and make her realize how abnormal her latest experience was.

She blinked.

'I.. Hugged Bass.' She thought to herself, 'And he hugged me back.'

Lei shifted her blue eyes to the ground.

How on earth could she tell anyone about this?

And would anyone even.. believe her?

She reached back and grabbed her long ponytail, then swept all of it forward to lay on her front left shoulder and chest.

Lei stared down at her fingers, as she ran them through her soft, straight brown hair.

'Was that the first time he had ever hugged someone?' She couldn't help but wonder, turning a bit sad at that thought.

She blinked.

"Oh, right." She suddenly said to herself, as she remembered she needed to find MegaMan as soon as possible and tell him about Bass' invitation.

Lei quickly let go of her hair and started flying up at the city's direction in front of her, as she activated her now working again GPS to see where the system had him last checked in, and picked up her speed in that direction.

Not sure whether her sudden popularity had died down yet or not, she figured it would be the best to do as Dean suggested, and avoid the main streets for the time being.

Her eyes suddenly widened.

'Dean!' She thought to herself as she remembered, 'I have to call him back!'

Lei took out her small communication device and quickly called her co-worker. She realized it has been a few hours since they had last spoken, and that there was a high chance that he had already gone home.

She smiled with relief as he picked up, the small device projecting his face before her.

"Hi Dean!" She said happily.

The male Navi smiled back at her.

"Hey, can finally talk, I see!" He said.

"Yeah! Sorry about that.." She apologized, "Does your offer still stand?"

Dean chuckled.

"Sure. Where are you now?" He answered.

Lei paused for a moment.

She figured that finding MegaMan and telling him about tomorrow would most likely not take her very long.

"I'm just running a quick errand, meet me at the usual place in about half an hour?" She asked.

"Alright, see ya there" Dean confirmed.

And with that, their conversation ended.

Lei clenched the small device in her palm as she stared at it.

'Okay, gotta make sure to just find MegaMan, tell him about tomorrow and leave. Nothing less, nothing more!' She thought to herself, her expression determined.

After flying for about ten minutes following the route her GPS created for her, Lei eventually arrived at MegaMan's location.

He was training alone at the outer part of the city, and she was relieved to be lucky enough to catch him out of his PET.

She waved at him from the distance, catching his attention and causing him to stop his training all at once.

"Lei!" He called to her, surprised, as he watched her lower herself to the ground before him.

Lei smiled at the blue NetNavi.

"Hello MegaMan." She greeted him, noticing that he was wearing his helmet this time, and was looking rather different with it; younger, somehow.

"You're back!" He said and smiled, his green eyes wide, "In one piece!"

Lei giggled at his shocked expression.

"Yes, I am!" She said, jokingly crossing her arms at his obvious disbelief.

MegaMan's expression turned amused.

"Sorry," he chuckled, "I just don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of someone actually interacting with Bass and staying alive to talk about it.."

Lei blinked as she processed his words.

She realized that even after meeting Bass for the second time already, she still couldn't see why everyone feared him to such a degree they wouldn't even try and give him a chance. After all he even-

Suddenly, The memory of him telling her all about his past followed by their mutual hug popped into her mind, causing her eyes to widen.

Her brow furrowed as she quickly pushed it away from her thoughts, and regained her cool.

"I have his answer for you, but it's not recorded this time." She said, watching him closely.

MegaMan's green eyes flickered with interest.

"Really." He asked, as he stepped closer.

"Yes. Your rematch will be held in the UnderNet, tomorrow at noon." Lei said.

MegaMan's mouth broke into a wide smile as he clenched his fist with excitement.

"Alright!" He yelled, "Can't wait!"

Lei smiled at his excitement, but her amusement quickly faded as she remembered the true meaning behind the idea of them fighting against each other.

She stared in silence at the blue Navi in front of her for a few moments.

"Um." She begun saying, grabbing his attention, "Are you really going to fight him seriously?" She asked.

Lei knew it was none of her business to ask him, and that she had already pretty much received a clear answer from Bass about what the nature of their fight is going to be like, but she still just couldn't help it.

MegaMan blinked at her question.

"Well, if I'm not planning on fighting him seriously, I might as well just not fight him at all." He answered, cocking his head to the side with a confused expression.

Lei lifted her hands up and grabbed the strap of her messenger bag.

"Yeah, I guess you're right.." She said as she smiled at him, then shifted her gaze down to her hands.

'Was I hoping for a different answer out of him?' She thought to herself.

Both Navis stayed silent for a few moments.

"Is everything okay, Lei?" MegaMan suddenly asked her with a worried expression.

His question snapped her back from her thoughts.

She released the grip on her messenger bag's strap and lowered her hands back at both of her sides.

"Oh, I'm fine!" She said with a reassuring voice and smiled, "Say, I know this is a strange question, but do you think that maybe I could come with you tomorrow?"

MegaMan's expression turned into pure confusion at her words.

He stared at the female Navi in front of him.

"Sure.. But, what for?" He asked her.

Lei went silent for a few seconds.

"Well, I haven't actually seen a real NetNavi battle before in my life.. It sounds really interesting," She explained, her blue eyes curious.

MegaMan watched her as she continued.

"And.." She said as Her blue eyes shifted away from him, "I was kind of invited to watch it."

MegaMan scratched the back of his neck.

"Hmm, I guess you could come then.. You managed to travel there all alone by yourself and come back totally fine for the second time already, so what's another NetNavi battle for you?" He chuckled as he crossed his arms at her and winked.

Lei smiled wide at his approval.

For some reason, the way MegaMan treated the whole idea of him fighting against Bass relaxed her worries almost completely. She felt that if it was him who Bass was fighting against, then it was all going to be okay.

"Then, meet me at the entrance to the UnderNet tomorrow around noon." He said.

Lei nodded, then quickly made a memo for herself so that she won't forget.

Her eyes then shifted to the time, and widened in horror as she realized 30 minutes had already passed since she last talked with Dean.

"Oh crap!" She suddenly said and jolted, surprising him.

Wide-eyed, he just watched the female Navi panic in front of him.

"I'm sorry MegaMan! I have to go!" She said as she quickly turned away from the confused blue Navi, then started flying back at the direction of the city with high speed, "I'll see you tomorrow then! Bye!" She yelled mid-flight, turning back to him.

He could only chuckle in amusement as he waved goodbye at her, then continued with his training.

'To think that she would want to witness our fight just because she hasn't seen one yet.. That girl sure is something..' He thought to himself as he ran her words through his mind once again.

Then, MegaMan suddenly stopped as he remembered the delivery girl's second reason.

His brow furrowed as he processed what she said.

'Did she say she was.. invited to watch it?'

He stood still for a few moments, staring at the direction the girl had just flew in.

Then, He blinked.

"No way.." He chuckled to himself, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap." Lei chanted to herself, flying fast through the city.

'How could I forget to check the time? Hoooow?' She mentally slapped herself.

She was already ten minutes late, and not hearing from Dean only made her more anxious.

After a few minutes, she finally arrived at the park behind their workplace, and she lowered herself down to the ground, her blue eyes scanning everywhere, quickly spotting Dean, sitting by himself on one of the benches, reading the latest news projected from his communication device.

His gaze lifted to her as she stepped closer.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Dean..!" She apologized and quickly sat beside him.

Dean tapped the device and closed the news article, then jokingly crossed his arms at her.

"Making me wait for you, huh." He said as he narrowed his eyes.

Lei smiled sheepishly.

"I had a perfect plan for not being late! I swear." She said, raising both her hands to her face in an apologetic gesture.

Dean chuckled.

"It's okay, I already know you and how short your attention span is." He teased, sticking his tongue at her.

Lei narrowed her eyes at him.

"True.. But still uncalled for!" She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Both Navis broke into a loud laugh.

Lei wiped the tears forming in her eyes as she stared at her friend.

'It sure has been long since we both just sat and talked like this.' She thought to herself and smiled, suddenly realizing how much she missed their silly conversations.

"So how are you spending your luxurious vacation so far?" Dean asked her.

Lei's eyes widened.

"Oh.. Just doing some errands here and there, you know.. How's your delivery going, though?" She quickly changed the subject, preferring to lie to him as little as possible, realizing it never failed to leave her with that familiar prick of guilt she tried so hard to ignore.

Dean was silent for a few moments.

"Good actually, except for that annoying lady who lives on Main Street, the one who's always angry for no reason.. You know her." He said and sighed deeply.

Lei giggled, "Aw, she's not that bad." She said, and smiled.

Dean raised an eyebrow at the female Navi as he begun laughing.

"You're like the only one who actually thinks that, you know?" He said with a skeptical expression, "Then again, you basically never admitted to having a difficult delivery for as long as I've known you so I guess that only makes sense."

Lei shifted her blue eyes upward to stare at the night sky above them.

"I think categorizing things under 'difficult' is a mistake to begin with." She said.

He watched her as she continued;

"I don't really see anything as 'hard', on the contrary.. the more I have an opportunity to experience in new things, the better. Once you realize that, everything 'difficult' turns exciting and challenging instead." She said, shifting her blue eyes back to him and smiling widely.

Dean said nothing as he just stared at the female Navi sitting next to him for a few moments.

"I wish I had your attitude." He said, and smiled at her.

Lei giggled and shifted her eyes back to the sky.

'Really.. if only people didn't avoid everything they feared..' She thought to herself.

Both Navis chatted for another half an hour, then realized it was already getting late, so they decided to call it a day.

"Are you sure you don't want me to fly you back?" Dean asked, rubbing his neck.

Lei shook her head at him.

"It's fine, really." She confirmed, and smiled.

Dean stayed silent for a few moments, his finger tapping nervously on the back of his neck.

"Uh, Lei.. I was just thinking.." He suddenly begun saying, shifting his brown eyes away from her, "Do you.."

The female Navi only stared at him with a puzzled expression.

Shifting his eyes back to her face and seeing how confused he suddenly made her, Dean only sighed.

"Never mind. My bad." He quickly apologized.

Lei's confusion only grew at his words.

"Is everything okay, Dean?" She giggled at him, making him slightly blush.

"I'm perfectly fine." He said with an irritated voice, "See you on Monday, then."

Lei raised an eyebrow at her co-worker.

"Alright, bye." She turned away from him and started flying in her direction.

'What was that all about?' She thought to herself, still very confused at his behavior.

Dean stayed in his place for a few moments as he watched her fly away.

"Damn it." He spat, and kicked the ground next to him.

He stared at his now dirty shoe for a few moments, then sighed deeply.

A/N: Once again, thank you guys so much for your reviews! I'm always happy to read them, and I take everything I read into consideration.