Now for the Moonlit Lovers part and it begins around the first chapter of the game with a "fan club" twist.

One Great Affection (Mint Route)

Six Months Later...

"Arnold." Chitose said on my screen. "Are we any closer to the Elsior?"

"We're not that far off." I replied. "Just keep following the enemy ships I detected on the radar."

"I hope we reach them in time." Vanilla said.

"We will."

It had been six months since Eonia and the Black Moon were defeated, but there were still remains of what was left of his fleet and I was leading two other angels on route to the Elsior that was about to be under attack by an automated fleet. We soon spotted the Elsior and the Trick Master to the side, Mint was ready for battle. When it was over, we boarded the frames inside the hanger, it had been a long while.

"The champ is here!" I remarked. "It's been a while."

"Arnold, good to see you, friend." Tact replied. "You did terrific out there."

"Hello Tact, it's good to see you again." Vanilla said. "Did I help?"

"Yeah, you were very good. I'm glad the two of you are doing well."

"Thanks." I replied.

Mint then came on by. "Well Arnold and Vanilla, happy to see you both after a long time."

"Yeah, we've missed you." I gave her a quick hug. "You and Tact doing well?"

"Of course, at first I was worried that the long vacation had dulled Tact's abilities. but that appeared to be unfounded."

"That's because I was fighting for you too." Tact replied. "By the way, where's the new girl?"

Chitose walked by and introduced herself to her and Mint. Chitose Karasuma was the new member to join the angel wing a week ago and as much as we tried to convince her to relax and call us by our first names, we came to a compromise and mentioning Ms. or Mr. in my case.

We walked to the bridge where Chitose gave out an explanation that was would be heading to the Zhada system but whilst able to head to a drop point for resupply near Criena station. Mint however decided to use her telepathy on Chitose as to tease her until Tact introduced Mint to her.

Mint showed Chitose to her room which would be next to Vanilla and speaking of her, she and I went to the infirmary first and Doctor Cera was surprised to see us.

"Oh...Arnold and Vanilla." Cera said. "Now there's two people I haven't seen for a long time."

"Hello Doctor Cera." Vanilla replied who held my hand. "How are you?"

"I am quite well, thanks and I can see you and Arnold are loved up."

"Straight to the point as always." I giggled. "You haven't changed."

"I also assume that you've kept your sugar level from falling, correct?"

"Yes...I'm taking great care of him and his health." Vanilla replied, smiling.

"And is he taking care of you in return?"

"I can assure you that I am." I replied.

We left the infirmary and it seemed Vanilla had something on her mind.

"Arnold, I must go and see the space rabbits." she said. "Could you go and get the lettuce that are in a crate from the warehouse for me?"

I nodded. "Sure thing...I'll be in the Whale Room as soon as I can."

"Don't rush...take your time if you have to be elsewhere along the way."

"I'll keep that in mind." I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and she left whilst I went to the warehouse.

I checked on a metal crate that was labelled 'animal food', I opened the contain lid and grabbed a wrapped packet of lettuce, I closed the lid and I left the warehouse. I walked over to the Whale Room as I promised and over to Kuromie's office.

"Vanilla, I've got the lettuce you asked for."

"Thank you." She replied, taking the lettuce packet from me and feeding the space rabbits.

"Ah, good timing Arnold." Kuromie said.

"Hi Kuromie, long time I guess."

"Yes, the Space Whale and I felt your presence when you arrived on the Elsior and we are happy to see you back."

"That's good to know, I bet everyone else is."

"Well...not quite."

I was curious. "Hmm, why not everyone?"

"Between you and me...the Space Whale has began to sense a little...unrest from a fan club now that Vanilla has returned."

"Unrest among a fan club...what the heck's been going here in the last six months?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to find that out for yourself...just make sure to be alert when Vanilla is with you."

"Thanks for the warning...I'll keep that in mind."

Vanilla walked up to me. "I've finished with the feeding."

"Thanks for doing that, Vanilla." Kuromie replied. "Appreciate the help. I'll see you both later."

Vanilla and I left the Whale Room and we took a seat in the lounge where Tact, Mint and Chitose were.

"Good of you to join us." Mint said. "It's a mini reunion since Milfie, Ranpha and Forte are not here for now."

"With tea, cakes and all." I replied. "Nice timing on our parts."

I sat down with Vanilla close to me and we held hands under the table.

"It has been a very long time since I last had cake." Chitose said. "So it's very exciting for me."

"Oh, you don't like sweet things?" Tact asked.

"No, I love them. But the sweets from my home planet were just tea candies."

"Today, I recommend the strawberry tart or lemon pie." Mint said.

I looked at Vanilla. "Wanna share a slice together?"

She smiled. "Yes...I'd love to. I'd like the lemon pie."

"Awww, isn't that sweet of you wanting to share?" Mint teased. "Anyways, this will be my first time tasting a strawberry tart, so I'll be having that."

"Both look so good." Chitose added. "I like strawberries, so I'll have a strawberry tart."

"I'll have a slice of lemon pie myself." Tact said.

"Alright, take the cookies and relax." Mint replied. "I'll bring everybody's order over, my treat." She went over to the counter, asking for a staff worker to help with the serving.

"Wow...thanks Mint." I replied before moving closer to Vanilla, still holding hands.

"Umm, this may sound forward from me, but how long have you and Ms. Vanilla been together?" Chitose asked.

"Six months and one week." I replied as Vanilla nodded with a smile.

I was tempted to say Seven Days and One Week...90's reference, where are my late 20yr olds at?! Uhhh, sorry for that fourth wall break, I'll continue...

"Here you are, everyone." Mint said as she brought two plates on a table as a staff worker placed two more plates.

"Thank you for treating us, Mint." Vanilla replied.

Vanilla and I shared the lemon pie with a fork and a teaspoon. She went first, eating a piece with a tea spoon and I went second with a fork. We looked at each other and thought of an idea. I took a piece and brought it to her mouth, she was smiling and ate it. She did the same with her teaspoon...we were completely lost in each others eyes.

But as we were enjoying it, I did think back to what Kuromie said about the unrest among the fan club...I hoped they wouldn't become a problem.

It was the next afternoon and Vanilla and I were in the park wrapped in a close hug, looking at each other in the eyes. We had often done cheek kisses but we decided that today, we were going to have our first kiss on the lips, the moment was right, no one else was around. But first, we had to say the words we hadn't said yet.

"Vanilla...I love you." I said.

"Arnold...I love you too." she replied.

We moved our heads forward, moving for our first proper kiss, nothing could stop this...

"LA LA LA LA LA!" A voice yelled from by the hedges.

We moved back and I looked to see a pair of crew workers that were hiding.

"Vanilla's Fan Club rules again!" The second crew worker said.

"Too bad, Arnold!" They ran away, laughing.

I looked at Vanilla...she and I agreed on one thing...someone call security, the mood just got killed...

We left the park and walked down to the Infirmary, Doctor Cera wasn't there which was very rare. We went into a close hug, attempting to get the mood going. The room was quiet and we began to smile at each other. Attempt number two, we moved our heads closer and our lips were inching towards contact.

Suddenly, the door opened. "Ugh! Vanilla, I have stomach cramps." A crew worker said. "Please help me."

We broke up the embrace.

"Please lie down here." Vanilla replied. "Arnold...we'll try again later...okay?"

I nodded and as I left passed the door, I looked back to see the crew worker showing a smug look, as if to say 'better luck next time'.

I went over to the snacks machine room by the elevator and I took a deep breath, thinking what I could do about that Vanilla fan club.

"Two times...two times they've interrupted me and Vanilla...if they do this a third time, I swear!"

"What's this about you and Vanilla?" Mint asked.

"Oh...Mint, it's just a minor problem. I'm just thinking of how to take care of it."

She looked at me with concern. "I see...you said it's about you and her, is something wrong between you two?"

"Well uhhh..."

I was cut off when three crew workers jumped in by surprise.

"There he is!" one said.

"Get him!" A second one added.

"You won't take Vanilla away from us!" the third one said.

I was getting slapped and kicked around my body.

"ACK!" I yelled as I fell down. "Owww...*cough* but why *cough*?!"

"HEY!" Mint shouted at them. "YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

"Oh crap! It's the telepathy girl!" One of them said.

"Run!" A second one said and the three of them ran away.

"They were quick to run away." Mint said. "Arnold, are you okay?"

I was still down and in pain. "Maybe I'll look back at this and laugh one day, ha ha ha-ow my ribs."

"Let me help you up." I took her hand and I was able to stand back up. "What was that all about?"

"I think they were members of Vanilla's fan club." I replied, holding on to my stomach. "Damn, they got me good."

"Fan club...to think they would go this far to declare their love for their idol." Mint sighed. "We should go and tell Vanilla about this."

"Wouldn't it be better to speak to Tact about it since he has more authority on the ship?"

Mint looked at me angrily. "No! We can leave him out of this!" She spoke firmly.

I was taken back. "Woah, calm down. It was only a suggestion." I felt a little bit scared and upset.

Mint gasped slightly before she felt sad. "Oh goodness! I'm so sorry I yelled at you, Arnold...I just pictured Tact's face instead of yours when you mentioned his name."

"I see...did you two have an argument?"

She looked away. "Well if you could call it that, but here isn't the best place to discuss this."

"Shall we talk about it in your room?"

"I think that would be best, but afterwards, you should go and see Cera just in case."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Mint and I left the elevator room and walked upwards and into her room.

"Rich tea, Arnold?" Mint offered. "And do have a seat."

"Just a small one, thanks." I replied, smiling.

"Here you go...and here's some more of the rich candy we shared back when I gave you the room tour many months ago."

"Thanks again...so if you could start from the beginning, tell me what happened."

Mint sighed and sat down with me. "Last night, I went to look for Tact to wish him a kiss goodnight when I saw him being hugged by Chitose who was in her nightwear."

I blinked. "That would explain why I heard a bit of muffling when I was in my room last night. But do continue."

"Then this morning, Tact has been trying to explain that it's all a misunderstanding, but I've refused to let him. Then just over thirty minutes ago, Tact came back from Crinea Station with Chitose and he said he bought me a gift. But instead, I slapped him in the face and I ran away to where I found you."

"So you didn't give him a chance to explain about the gift?"

"No...and I didn't want to know. Worse still, my telepathy isn't working."

"Not working?"

"I don't know why, but I can't seem to read what's on the front of peoples minds, which was why I didn't read yours when I saw you."

"Well that doesn't sound good...but I think I may know one reason why that's happened."

Mint looked at me. "You do...then please tell me."

"You seem to believe that Tact is cheating on you and you don't want to use your telepathy to determine if it's true or not."

"Cheating..." she looked away, feeling upset. "...I know Tact very well and deep, deep down, I know that he would never do that...but what do I believe?"

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Mint, I think it would be best if you let Tact explain everything to you and if he's going to, he'll want to see you where you'd most likely be."

"My room?"

"Yeah...in any case, one way or another, I'm going to solve this fan club issue myself, I don't want you to have more problems to deal with."

"Alright, Arnold...and thank you for calming me down." She showed a little smile. "You're a sweet guy and Vanilla is very lucky to have you."

"And thank you for the tea and candy...wish me luck." I got off the chair.

"Best of luck, Arnold. I know that you can do it."

We shared a friendly hug and I left her room. Only to find Tact standing outside.

"Huh?" he gasped. "What were you in there for?"

"Trying to help her calm down so you can explain the story to her." I replied. "All I can say is good luck to you, because you're gonna need it."

Tact nodded and he went into Mint's room to discuss the issue and perhaps to make up as well.

"Right...now to get rid of the other problem."

I went down to the infirmary and Cera was there, but Vanilla wasn't. "Cera, do you know where Vanilla went?"

"Arnold...I think she went to the cafeteria."

"Thanks, excuse me."

I dashed over to the cafeteria and she was sitting with Chitose. I waved and sat next to Vanilla.

"Hi Mr. Arnold." Chitose said. "Vanilla and I were discussing what happened between Tact and Mint."

"We're worried about them." Vanilla added. "Are they going to be okay?"

"I'm sure they will." I replied. "We just need to believe that they'll kiss and make up."

"Speaking of kissing..." Vanilla drifted off with her words.

"Oh, that reminds me." Chitose said, getting up. "I have an important matter to take care off and I nearly about it, I'll see you both later."

She rushed off out of the cafeteria, leaving me and Vanilla.

"Okay...about the kissing, shall we try again?" I asked.

Vanilla nodded. "Yes...can we kiss quicker this time?"

"Yeah, let's make it third time lucky."

We moved our heads closer, about to push our lips together. We closed our eyes, inching closer and closer.

"MESS UP!" A voice yelled before I saw a crew worker run past us and out of the cafeteria.

I sighed angrily...for the love of the galaxy!

"Arnold...it's alright, the crew worker is gone." she said.

I took a deep breath and we moved our head closer, ready to try yet again, I could feel her breathing closer to mine...maybe fourth time would be the charm.

Suddenly, sirens went across the ship.

"Hostile fleet detected!" Almo spoke through the speakers. "All units, red alert."

"Okay! Now I'm pissed off!" I exclaimed. "The enemy have got a freaking nerve to show up now!"

"Arnold...please don't yell in front of me..." Vanilla replied. "Let's just get to our frames and eliminate the targets."

"You're right, Vanilla...I'm sorry."

We rushed to the hanger to get ready for battle. It didn't last long since Mint was able to clean house with Chitose doing well, but Vanilla and I could only handle one target each.

We boarded our frames and I was not pleased with my performance. I could see on Tact's face that he looked concerned about me and Vanilla.

"We're back, Tact." I sighed. "That wasn't very good of me at all..."

"It's alright Arnold, not everyone does well in every battle. I'm sure you'll bounce back next time."

"Tact, I wasn't able to repair as often, I'm sorry I wasn't helpful." Vanilla said sadly.

"No it's okay Vanilla, you did what you could...what happened, because I really want to help."

I sighed, feeling emotional. "Vanilla and I just want to have our first kiss, but we've been interrupted four times...three of which were thanks to Vanilla's fan club...is it too much to ask?"

"So that's why I saw you rushing into the cafeteria earlier." Chitose said. "Those crew workers seem to have no respect for you and Ms. Vanilla's privacy."

"Tact, I'm back." Mint said. "Did you see me out there?"

Tact smiled as he hugged her. "I did Mint, you were amazing, like I said you would be...but shall we go to the infirmary just to be sure your back to normal, or am I worrying too much?"

Mint looked at me, wiping my tears away. "It's a boyfriend's right to worry...but I would like Arnold and Vanilla to have their matter settled first."

"But how can Vanilla and I have our first kiss with all those crew workers running about?" I asked and I held on to Vanilla who hugged me back tightly.

"Leave it to us." Tact replied. "I'll go and speak with the fan club president."

"You and Vanilla go to the Whale Room." Mint added. "Chitose and I will guard the door so no one gets in."

"Yes, you can count on us." Chitose nodded.

"Thank you." Vanilla replied. "Then please, let's go."

We left the hanger and Vanilla and I walked into the Whale Room whilst Mint and Chitose stood outside.

Background Music: Seal - Kiss From A Rose

Vanilla and I were happy to be alone again, but I wanted to cheer up before we tried our first kiss. We kneeled down and wrapped each other in a loving hug, setting the mood and not noticing that the virtual sun was beginning to set. We started to smile, moving our heads forward till our noses touched. We moved closer and closer, our lips being inches away and our eyes closed...until I felt the first touch of her lips before I felt the lips locked in with mine.

FINALLY! I got to kiss Vanilla on the lips...and we had our close friends who helped made it possible!

After a whole minute, we broke our first real kiss and hugged even tighter...both Vanilla and I were emotional that we shared what was the greatest kiss we had.

End Of Background Music

The next day and after a successful battle against Rezom's fleet, Milfie, Ranpha and Forte re-joined and now all of us were back together again. I was in the park with Vanilla where I was laying down on the dry hill and Vanilla was beside me.

"Arnold, would you rest your head on my lap?" she asked. "I'd like to clean your ears, gently."

"I'd like that, actually." I replied.

I moved my head and rested it on Vanilla's lap and she began to clean my ears, it felt a tiny bit ticklish at first but I got comfortable with it. Both us were all smiles, ever since we had our first kiss under the virtual sunset, looking back it was quite a romantic scene. Vanilla then reminded herself that we were to meet in Chitose room cause she wanted to show us something.

We were met with mostly smirked expressions when we arrived.

"There you are." Milfie said.

"It's not like punctual Vanilla to be a little late." Ranpha added.

"So where were you and Vanilla, eh Arnold?" Forte teased.

"She was only cleaning out my ears." I replied.

"Yes...it's true." Vanilla nodded.

"Oh...well that's not romantic." Ranpha dismissed. "A romantic date should be at a classy restaurant."

"And if I had a man, I'll just stick to dancing at a bingo hall, thanks." Forte laughed.

"Anyways, let's leave them be." Mint said. "So what did you wanted to show us?"

"These...they're called sparklers." Chitose answered and she explained how they worked.

The next battles followed did not phase the strong relationship that Vanilla and I had. But on the day before the next one against Nefuria, I was in the Whale Room with Vanilla, looking at the night sky on a picnic mat that we borrowed from Milfie, we sat very close with my arms around her.

"To think that over six months ago, we were in this spot and we took the next step." I said.

"Yes...and now we're a strong couple." She replied. "After this battle...I have a favour to ask."

I looked at her. "A favour...what do you have in mind?"

"Can we visit a zoo...I would love to have a day out and visit the animals."

"Hmm animals that we don't normally see...I think we can make that possible."

She smiled. "Really?"

"Really, really...because I believe that we will win tomorrow and beat Nefuria."

"Thank you, Arnold. I love you."

"And I love you too, Vanilla...mind if we kiss again?"

"Yes...let us kiss for the sake of tomorrow's battle."

She turned around and we shared a loving kiss on the lips, confident that we would win...and that she would get her dream of visiting a Zoo come true.

"When we have our day at the zoo, I'll make sure to keep you close to me. I don't ever wanna lose you."

"Yes...I will never want to lose you either..."

She lay beside me on the picnic mat and I held on to her.

The night sky, the gentle breeze...this is what I wanted our relationship to be, but we knew that our battle with the Val-Fasc was only the beginning...

Up next, the third and final part of Tact Mint's route on Eternal Lovers and Arnold thinks of a question he wants to...pop.