Disclaimer: I don't own Eureka Seven or anything copyrighted to it!

Chapter 16: Coming home

"Can I really hurt him…?" Eureka thought to herself. She could remember the face that was ready to kill her and not show any emotions what so ever.

"But if I kill him… won't I suffer more…" Eureka continued to think.

"I guess if he killed me then… the pain might go away" Eureka began having dark thoughts again.

"Renton… I'll follow you then…" Eureka said.

"Hey cutie!" Helen said as she came into Hikaru's room. He didn't react; he simply sat there and waited. Most of the time she would just come in and give him a kiss and tell him a few things and leave. This time was different, for some reason he wanted to see his target again; something about her was special and just wanted to see her again.

"You were amazing in that battle" Helen was in a cheery mood.

"Hey, maybe next time you could move a little faster and maybe you could destroy that blue Nirvash" she suggested. She went on about destroying the blue Nirvash and how he could perform even better in the next battle and after a while she left. When he made sure she had left he took out a small picture that was given to him. The girl in the picture had green wings and looked very depressed, her hair was let down and it covered the middle of her face. She wore a blue/white military dress with a same style shoes. Something about her seemed to make him feel different. He took out a small hairclip that had always been with him, for as far as he could remember he wouldn't let go of the hairclip. The hairclip was gold and had a flower decoration at the end of it; it seemed to fit the girl in the picture. He looked more carefully at the girl in the picture and imagined placing the hairclip on her. When he realized that the clip would never disappear into the picture; he got up and stood in front of the large standing mirror. What he saw in it wasn't himself. What he saw in the mirror was half the red Nirvash he piloted and the other half was someone familiar, someone he knew well; someone he once was. No fragments of memory remained from the human side but when he looked at the picture of the girl and then to the mirror he would see it smile.

"Anemone, how are you?" Dominic asked. Anemone was injured from the stress of the typeChaos and Holland the other decided no matter what they had to destroy the red Nirvash. He had nearly ruthlessly destroyed all the LFOs they had against him; he even nearly killed Eureka.

"I'm fine… But, that wasn't Renton… His fighting style is a lot more different from this one" she said as she took a sip of tea.

"Looks like Renton has lost it all… all his memories… Even of Eureka, he almost killed her too" Dominic said.

"You think we can kill him…" Anemone asked.

"It'll be difficult physically and mentally…" Dominic replied.

"But for now… Rest up" Dominic said concerning. In the infirmary of the Gekko-Go and Dango-Go were Holland, Omega, Anemone, Stella and Akira. The only ones that avoided injury were Hilda, Mathieu and Eureka. Even though Eureka's Nirvash was badly damaged, it was in better shape then the other LFOs that took on the red Nirvash. Eureka's heart weighed even more now and all she could think about was the pilot of the red Nirvash. When they returned to Tresor for repairs they decided to stay there so they could recover from their injuries. For about three weeks the Gekko-Go and the Dango-Go remained hidden in the hangers of Tresor. With Omega and Dr. Bear working together, they managed to get the time for the cross-over points next overload period. According to them, they had another five years before they gained too much power, is seems like after they were repaired the cross-over points were upgraded as well. Even with all that time, they needed to retrieve the Amita drive that disappeared with Renton and the Ariel that was to be the replacement for one of the final two points.

"We need to rethink our strategy… the red Nirvash and Ariel is just too powerful for us to handle… Even of we had an army to back us up… we might win" Holland was aware of the power the red Nirvash and the Ariel had together.

"We can't stay here forever either…" Omega said.

"Dr. Bear and I got the Tresor engineers to upgrade all LFOs to the best of their abilities but… We're out of trump cards… We need a miracle" Omega added.

"Well, we best get moving then" Holland said. He sounded very confident about something.

"Huh, I just said we needed a better strategy" Omega sounded confused.

"We needed a miracle to defeat the military and save the world in the past, and we need one now" Holland said; he knew something.

"Someone will pull through for us all, I'm sure of it" Holland had a gut feeling a familiar face was going to help them.

"You mean Norbu? Sakuya? Eureka?" Omega asked.

"I can't say who it'll be but I'm sure someone will pull through" Holland replied. He left the room and felt a slight sense that whoever he had this feeling for was going to help them, and he would be the miracle they needed. The Gekko-Go left Tresor again to find a replacement for the two cross-over points but when soon they found themselves to be under attack by the military again. This time it was just the red Nirvash and two squads that covered him. Holland didn't want to take any chances so he sent out all the LFOs again.

"Doggie, make sure you have a clear distance from the red Nirvash, I don't want it entering us again, also launch the 808, 606, and 909" Holland commanded. He headed for the hanger and launched, when both the Gekko-Go and the Dango-Go finished launching their LFOs they started their attack on the red Nirvash.

"Everyone, ignore the other KLFs; just take down the Nirvash!" Holland knew that if they took out the Nirvash now they wouldn't have too much trouble. The seven LFOs engaged the red Nirvash but it fired off its engines to the max and sliced through the 606 taking out its arm and leg. It didn't bother to try and finish it off; it came to the typeChaos and simply punched it off its ref board. The two 909s doubled teamed on the Nirvash but it moved too fast and it performed a cut-back drop turn to slice off the arms and guns of the two 909s. It then turned to the two 808s and the 505, it threw boomerang blades at them over and over again. Stella, Omega and Hilda found it hard to dodge all the blades took hits from them. The red Nirvash raced up to the 808 in the middle which was the one with Omega in it. He got ready to finish it off, no one could stop him; they were all badly damaged but safe as the Nirvash got ready to stab the 808 Eureka stopped him again. It became clear that the red Nirvash had only wanted to lure the blue Nirvash out.

"Why do you keep coming back…?" Eureka's voice was sad and lonely. No answer came from the red Nirvash.

"Why!" Eureka wanted her question answered. Holland and the others flew around to see the battle between Eureka and the red Nirvash. The red Nirvash once again took out two sets of boomerang blades and proceeded with its attack on the blue Nirvash. From the slashing of the two sides they danced in the air, leaving green streaks of trappar energy behind. Eureka made a fatal error when the red Nirvash got behind her and damaged her back engines. Eureka could no longer increase her speed dramatically so her dodging became less effective. Just like that time, the red Nirvash got the upper hand. When Holland looked around he saw the KLF squads had been destroyed from the battle. The red Nirvash was alone and it was about to win against Eureka. Everyone watched at the red Nirvash slammed the blue Nirvash off its ref board and take it under its own ref board. It then pressed the blue Nirvash's arms to its side and for the first time; the two Nirvashes were starring face to face.

"Eureka!" Holland yelled but Eureka had purposely turned off her intercom. Eureka waited for the red Nirvash to make its move but it didn't move for the most part and she figured that she could still put up a resistance if he let go. She watched as the pilot got out and hopped over to her cockpit; she knew he was going to kill her and take the blue Nirvash back to his base. She wanted him to end her pain once and for all. She turned again to find he had taken out his gun; she closed her eyes and heard a gun shot and then the cockpit door opened. She saw him put his hand on his knife pocket but she closed her eyes and waited for the cold metal blade to meet her throat.

"Go ahead…" Eureka said with her eyes closed tightly. She felt his hand brush her hair away and she felt a small cold metal sensation run across her forehead. Eureka could feel him back off for a bit and she felt a weight on her hair. She reached out and felt the flower hairclip was on her again. She slowly opened her eyes but felt him reach out and hugged her. She felt warm and safe again, like how Renton's embrace was before; it was the same. She told herself if he was going to kill her now, she would be happy to go. His grip on her got tighter and tighter and Eureka didn't him to let go. She rested her head on his shoulder; she enjoyed every second that passed. She felt his grip loosen and when she opened her eyes again he stretched out and kissed her on her lips. He held her face gently and Eureka enjoyed every moment of it; if he was going to take her away, she would go willingly with him. If he were to take her away and lock her up she wouldn't mind if he was there. When he finally broke off from the kiss Eureka leaned slightly to get more from him but felt her injury in her shoulder. Blood began to soak through the clothes but when she turned to him again, he moved the strap that the wound was under and kissed it. Eureka felt funny at the kiss; she held his head in that place, but soon he lifted his head with his lips covered in blood. He closed them slightly and spread the blood even on his lips. He placed the strap back and admired Eureka a bit more.

"Please stay here with me…" Eureka said softly she leaned over to him as he turned away; she reached out to try and hold him again. But he crawled out the way he came. When he got out he turned to look at Eureka again and in the corner of his mouth, Eureka saw that he cracked a small smile. He hopped back to his Nirvash where he used the red Nirvash to carry the blue Nirvash back to the Gekko-Go. The hatch of the Gekko-Go was open and he landed inside the Gekko-Go, however, when he put the blue Nirvash gently down the red Nirvash turned and grabbed its ref board and flew off. Not long after the red Nirvash rode off, Holland and the others returned.

"Eureka, what happened?" Holland asked as he ran to her. Eureka had come out of the Nirvash and for the first time in a long time; she was smiling.

"Holland, when the red Nirvash comes back, please like it on board" Eureka said with her hands in front of her heart.

"What happened?" Holland was shocked.

"He's coming home" Eureka quietly replied. The red Nirvash headed back to its base where it made its normal landing; at first no one suspected anything. Helen had come up to him but noticed he wasn't heading for his room or writing his battle report.

"Where are you headed?" she asked. No answer came from Hikaru. Everyone in the base knew Hikaru and that he was often referred to as "the experiment", other then that everyone knew he was mute. It seems whatever Helen did or say Hikaru just walked on; eventually Helen got bored and wandered somewhere else. Hikaru walked up to a small room where he tried to open the door; he failed when his ID wasn't allowed to open it. Taking out a small bomb, Hikaru broke into the room and quickly reached for the small package in the middle of the room. He swiftly exited the room and ran for the hanger to get to his Nirvash. The security guard that was monitoring the hall when he broke in; everyone was alerted that he had broken in. As he ran he met resistance and fired on them. He soon reached the Nirvash and jumped in; he fired up the engines and drove off. When he confirmed that he was in the clearing he transformed the Nirvash into its humanoid mode then to the jet-mode. However, about five KLF squads followed him; he was now headed for the Gekko-Go.

"Leader, five KLF squads are headed this way! The red Nirvash is in the lead!" Woz yelled.

"I knew it was too good to be true…" Holland clenched his teeth. He looked to the window and saw the red Nirvash throw six boomerang blades at the front of the Gekko-Go. Holland thought that they might hit but he was wrong; the blades deflected and headed back to the red Nirvash where it moved slightly and let them destroy two of the five squads that followed him.

"Leader, there's a request for a landing on the Gekko-Go" Gidget said as she scanned the letter that came through.

"How many are boarding?" Holland asked.

"One" she replied. Holland turned back to the window and saw the red Nirvash perform a cut-back drop turn and slice its way through one of the other KLFs. About seven remained but none of them want to further persuade him so they retreated. The red Nirvash turned and circled around, waiting for the hatch of the Gekko-Go to open.

"Leader, other request for landing" Gidget said.

"It's from the red Nirvash!" she added.

"Get everyone to the hanger, have all of them armed" Holland commanded. The hatch opened and the Nirvash boarded; when he saw people gathering around the Nirvash he waited until they all got into position and then he came out. He jumped out and put his hands in the air.

"Drop your weapons" Holland said. Eureka was in the hanger with them; he looked at her for a moment. He did nothing but Eureka looked to Holland and then to him and gave him a nod. He reached into his gun pocket and took out his gun; he lowered it to the ground and kicked it to Holland. He then reached into his knife pocket on the outside of his right leg and then another one under his left leg's pant leg. He kicked those two to Holland too.

"State your business here" Holland said bitterly. Hikaru looked to Eureka again and she gave him another nod; he reached into his pocket and took out a small package. The same package that he had taken from the military base's room; he dropped in to the ground and kicked it like he did with the weapons. Holland curiously picked up the package and opened it; inside was something that he did not expect to see for a long time to come.

'The Amita drive!" he said as he held the purple triangular device in his hands. He looked to the pilot of the red Nirvash again and noticed that blood dripped from his left sleeve. Everyone noticed it but Eureka was the one to run up to him and got his hand down to roll up the sleeve to find that he was shot there with a bullet. When she touched it he simply looked at her and gave no response.

"You should go to the infirmary" Holland said. He realized that he wasn't a threat; at least not at the moment. If he had wanted to kill them he would have done it already and he could have caught them many times before. However, even with Holland's invitation to the infirmary he didn't move. When Eureka started to walk away was when he started to move; he was following her. Eureka realized that he was following her and decided to take him to the infirmary. At first Mischa was very interested if this was Renton or not. She took a small blood sample and treated his wound. She quickly ran the sample in test and confirmed that it was indeed Renton, at least, his body was. Eureka looked pleased to see him again and when Adrock heard the news he almost flipped. Everyone soon noticed that Renton, or Hikaru followed Eureka where ever she went. When Axel, Adrock and the kids saw him he didn't react to them. No one understands why he refused to speak but Omega gave an answer for that.

"According to the research done by the military, some of the victim or subjects that have their mental signals messed with lose the ability to speak… However, if certain events happen they might regain it" he explained.

"I'm just glad he's with me right now…" Eureka said softly. Eureka felt like Renton has just lost himself somewhere but now he was finding his way back to her. For the first time in a long time; she didn't feel lonely anymore. The kids tried their best to make him react, even the slightest they tried pouring water on him while he watched them and they even tried to injure him to get him to move. Eureka let this happen because she thought it might help retrieve some memories or at least try to get him to speak again.

"Hey Renton, let's go back to our room" Eureka said. When she brought him to their room he sat down on the bed just like would at the military base. With Eureka in front of him he felt like she was Helen but something was different, Eureka simply sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Renton…" she said softly. He felt like that was his name; Hikaru was something he never got used to, Renton was the name that he knew but never got it out. He felt funny but he placed his arm around Eureka and rested his head on hers; he felt her wings spread out and try to wrap around him. The wings felt familiar like he felt them before and the warmness he felt coming from them hold her more tightly. He felt like he found something he lost along time ago. Something about Eureka differed from Helen and he just wanted to be next to her, he wanted to protect her with everything he had.

To be continued…

The young woman feels like the young man is returning to her, it this true? Next time: Breaking the lock