Time for the Eternal Lovers part where Arnold & Ranpha put aside their time to help out Tact and Vanilla's relationship issue as part of a minor twist.

The Hero & The Heroine (Vanilla Route)

Well, I never expected the vacation to be more than just seeing Ranpha's family. When we defeated Nefuria, we were given a 30-day paid vacation and Ranpha and I immediately went to plan with seeing her family. Her little brothers were what I heard about in her letters and they did try to take advantage of me, but Ranpha was there to make sure they didn't go overboard.

I then spoke with her mother and seemed to genuinely like me and how much of a smart and caring gentleman I was. Her father was also positive towards me, at first he had some things on his mind but when I answered his questions as straight to the point as I could, he then fully approved of me being the one that Ranpha chose and wanted to be with. But that wasn't the only thing we did, during the week away on her home world, Ranpha and I were dressed in sport clothing and with our matching pink hoodies.

"Hah...hah...hah." I panted. "Now that was more than a long mile run."

"Huh, you can't be tired already?" Ranpha asked.

"Of course not, it's been a while since I exercised daily. But still, I have no excuses for slouching around."

"Yeah...in a way, it's your fault for not being in the gym as often as I am."

"Understandable...but I will keep on running and doing other sports."

"That's the way, Arnold! Say, let's run to over there where the lighthouse is."

"Oh it's on, Ranpha!" I caught my breath and ran past her by surprise. It was tiring but it was a great week together.

23 Days Later...

We were back on the Elsior, travelling to the south west part of the galaxy where Val-Fasc forces were amassing, preparing to strike with a counter-attack. I was in Ranpha's room and we were thinking back to when we had our vacation with her family that actually helped me feel at ease with talking about that word, but I still had some things on my mind, such as what were my parents like and where was my home world?

"Hey, are you okay?" Ranpha asked.

I snapped out of my trance. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Background Music: Galaxy Angel - Ranpha's Theme

"Are you tired? You've been sleeping for longer hours for a few weeks."

"Really? I guess I must've been shattered after all the sport activities we did during our vacation." I smiled at her. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing those, because looking back now, I'm developing some muscles."

She blinked. "Oooh, well I'm now curious to see what they're like. Anyways, you're always working hard for me, so I'm happy about it."

"And more importantly, I can just tell you if something's on my mind, just a like a boyfriend should."

"Yep, yep...by the way, there's an old saying. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Yeah, I once heard about that. They say that when two people haven't seen each other for a long time or are very far away, they start become more fond and loving towards one another."

Ranpha nodded. "That's right."

"Ahhh, it's like two people coming together as one with endless faith, devotion and love. Like two souls joining hand in hand together..."

Ranpha blushed. "Oh...you're thinking that far ahead?"

"Uhhh...well, maybe I am...forgive me."

"It's okay, Arnold. If you want to think ahead for the future, I don't mind at all. I know, maybe after the upcoming war with the Val-Fasc is over, we can discuss about that and what we should have."

"Yeah, I think that would be the best option to go for."

"Good...say, what can we do now?"

I smiled at her. "Well that's easy, it's to enjoy my time with you."

"He he, as long as you understand that."

"And you don't need to ask me...because I wanna hold you tight as well."

She blushed again. "Yeah, hold me close."

Background Music: Galaxy Angel - Ranpha's Theme (Arranged)

We sat on the bed and I put my arms around her waist when she sat on my lap.

"How's this, Ranpha?" I asked.

"Mmmm" She hummed, holding to my hands around her. "When you hold me like this, your hands are a little big, I like it."

"Me too...and the warmth and scent of your hair...I almost want to rest my head on your shoulders."

She looked at me. "Awww, is my Arnold getting sleepy again?"

"Nope...this man is gonna stay alert and awake."

Ranpha giggled until a beep went off.

"Yes, go ahead." I said.

"Angel Wing, prepare to scramble, Val-Fasc fleet has been detected on radar." Tact replied.

We got up from the bed. "Looks like it's time to put our war faces on."

"Yeah, let's get out there and deliver some justice." Ranpha declared.

"Uhh, isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"Well you were the one who got me used to your random references and it's fun!"

"Okay, okay...but now's the time for action."

"Yeah, let's go."

We rushed out of her room, it was time to resume the war with the Val-Fasc.

After we helped rescued a civilian ship that had two people from Eden which stunned us all, Tact brought Lushati and Wein to the guest room to learn more about Eden and why the Val-Fasc are involved. So I had nowhere to sleep for the time being, but thankfully, Ranpha was more than happy to have me sleep in her room. Which was perfect timing because learning about Lushati and Wein being brother and sister caused me to have a headache and Vanilla advised me to rest.

So I slept in Ranpha's bed and it was very comfy, perhaps a bit more comfy than the bed in the guest room. I began to dream away which may have told me something about my past and then it turned into a nightmare, causing me to wake up with my eyes wide open and unable to focus.

"ARGH!" I yelled as I got out of bed. "Hah...hah...hah...what the heck...was that?!"

Suddenly the door opened. "Arnold!" Ranpha exclaimed. "What happened?"

"R-Ranpha...I'm...here?"

"You're shaking a little...and you're covered in sweat, did you have a nightmare?"

I couldn't say anything, I was still in shock at what I saw in the dream. Then I felt her arms wrapped around me and I put my head on her shoulder. "Hic...it...was...awful..."

"Oh Arnold...I don't get what happened, but it's okay. See, I'm right here."

"...Ranpha..."

"Calmed down a little bit?"

"Y-yeah...I feel much better now...thank you..."

"Really? Thank goodness."

"I'm sorry I made you worry...that was quite unmanly of me."

"Awww you don't have to. I know that you are a strong man, it's alright to have sensitive emotions."

I put my arms around her. "Yeah...you're right, you're here with me."

"Of course, there's no need to be scared anymore, right?" She then put her hands around my waist. "See, there, there."

"Uhhh, that's ticklish."

"He he he, I used to do that to my little brothers everytime they try to catch me."

"Well, maybe I don't mind it at all."

"Good...but about what happened, did you have a bad dream?"

"Yeah...and it turned into a nightmare and it freaked me out."

"If you can...what was it about?"

I explained the whole dream to her and how it could be a warning or something, she felt more curious.

"Hmm, so you think it's like an omen?" She asked.

I nodded. "Possibly, but I won't know for sure unless I get a chance to speak with Lady Shatyarn, she might know something about my past."

"Maybe she might...but that may have to wait until we find out more on what we'll be doing next now that we have two people from Eden on the ship."

I looked in her eyes. "Yeah, I know that...but if there's time for me ask her along the way, it would prevent me from any added further aggravation to my piloting work."

She looked back. "Good point..."

"So how did you hear me from close by?"

"Oh, me and the other angels were listening in on what Tact was saying to the two people in the guest room when I heard you yell. But before we did, Milfie suggested a group picnic to welcome Lushati and Wein. If you can come, it would make a positive difference."

"Well, I would but I'm still shaken from earlier..."

"Please...I am really happy that you wanna place me before yourself and I love you for that, but don't forget about our closest friends. Milfie is an old friend of mine and she was your first friend too, it would mean a lot to me especially."

I smiled at her. "Alright...I will gladly come along, because I love you too."

She smiled back. "Yeah...thanks, but we can stay like this a little longer if you want."

"Yeah, it'll help me until we see our friends."

Well the picnic helped apart from the sprinkler incident, but as the days passed by, we had started to notice that Tact and Vanilla had not had much chance to be with each other due to the busy work, while although my relationship with Ranpha was as strong as it's been, we just couldn't help but feel bad for Vanilla and I think the other angels were starting to notice too.

We then met Admiral Rowil, number two of the Val-Fasc and we beat him and his fleet, but not before he dropped a bombshell that was shared to everyone around, detailing the past on what happened to my parents...I snapped and lost all control of emotions before rushing back to Ranpha's room, looking for solace and where I would be safe. The next day rolled around and when I woke up, I was still on Ranpha's bed...and then I felt Ranpha sleeping beside me.

She must've been really worried for me, I smiled weakly as I gently moved out of the bed before I left her room and walked all the way down to the hanger, got into my frame and flew all the way to the White Moon to get some answers. I came back later with my limiter removed so I would be more powerful and my sadness was gone. With me back in the fight, we found Rowil's home base and I gave him the killing blow with help from Ranpha's anchor claw. I was happy that he was finally gone, although we were curious as to why enemy reinforcements showed up, something else was going on here.

When we boarded our frames, we sat in the lounge where Milfie treated me to a luxury cake slice and Ranpha hugged me, happy that I was back to normal.

But the peace was not to last, during a battle, Vanilla's harvester malfunctioned and it had to be shot down. We were devastated to see it turn out like this, but we had to keep pushing forward towards Eden and catching up with Unit #7 which had been stolen by Wein who turned out to be a Val-Fasc although I had my suspicions about him for a long while. This was confirmed when we dealt with him in the first battle, but then he retreated and we then escaped a Val-Fasc fleet thanks to help from our allies.

We were back at the White Moon, with the Elsior and our Emblem frames wrecked...I felt bad for Clayton who he and his team would have to work extremely hard to repair them. But there was one good news, Vanilla had woken up and was resting in a spare room on the White Moon. Tact had yet to arrive but the rest of us were already there.

"Vanilla, are you really okay?" Ranpha asked.

"Yes, there is nothing wrong anywhere." Vanilla replied.

Mint sighed. "Really? That is a relief to hear."

"I am truly glad." Chitose added. "I was besides myself, worrying that you wouldn't wake up."

Forte shook her head. "Come on, Chitose. Don't say such sad things."

"Then should we have a part to celebrate your complete recovery?" Milfie asked.

"I don't think there's any problem with that." I replied. "But we should wait until Tact gets here."

Then speak of the devil, he arrived to join us and he saw Vanilla. "Vanilla...

"Tact..." Vanilla replied, surprised to see him.

"Thank goodness...you're really awake."

"..."

"Oooh, look at those two stare at each other." Forte commented.

"I guess a couple doesn't need to communicate." Ranpha added as I held her hand.

"It's so romantic." Chitose said. "I have to write this in my diary."

*GROWL*

Suddenly, a blue wolf appeared beside Vanilla and growled at Tact.

"Ahhh!" Milfie exclaimed, jumping back a bit.

"What the hell?!" I gasped.

"Hold it, those nanomachines look weird." Ranpha said.

I nodded, keeping Ranpha away from the animal. "Yeah, now that you mention it, her little bunny nanomachine has suddenly turned into a blue wolf."

"They look kind of scary." Milfie sighed.

"I think we better stay back, girls, this is not safe right now."

Tact walked forward to Vanilla. "What's going on with your nanomachines, Vanilla?"

*GROWL*

He was suddenly knocked down by what I now believe was Vanilla's nanomachine pet. "Ow...why did the nanomachine...attack me?"

"Vanilla, are your nanomachines a little out of control?" Forte asked. "What the heck's going on?!"

"I can't...stop them..." Vanilla replied as she held her forehead, looks like she was hurting mentally in some way. "Please...don't attack...Tact."

"This is going to be really stupid, but let me try." I said.

"Arnold, are you insane?!" Ranpha gasped.

*GROWL* It suddenly got off Tact and turned towards me.

"Whew...I'm saved." Tact sighed as he slowly got up.

"Tact...I'm sorry." Vanilla said and she ran out of the room.

"She ran away!" Milfie exclaimed.

"The nanomachine disappeared too." Chitose added.

"Hey, shouldn't you go after her, Tact?" Ranpha asked.

"Yeah, we're not going to be able to discuss it here." Tact replied. "I'm going after her."

He ran out of the room, possibly to find Vanilla. The rest of us sighed and we walked back to the Elsior.

Later on in the lounge, we were with Tact and he looked devastated. Vanilla was not with us and half of us knew the reason why.

"What's the matter, Tact?" Milfie asked. "You've been sighing for a while now."

"Tact is suffering from a broken heart." Mint explained.

"A broken heart, what do you mean?" Chitose asked.

"I was surprised too when I heard that Vanilla was quitting the Angel Wing." Forte said.

Well that was a bombshell to end all bombshells!

Tact sighed again. "It's the truth."

"You're her boyfriend right?" Ranpha asked. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"...stop her, huh..."

"That's right. If you were really thinking about her, you would stop her by force."

Uh oh, I knew where this was going. Ranpha was about to give out one of her tough love lectures.

Tact was silent.

"What? Got nothing to say? Not going to make any excuses?"

"Ranpha, it's not fair to put all the blame on him." Milfie protested.

Yeah, if anything, Tact should've learnt to not give a crap about what Lester said, his cold-hearted commitment to the mission did not help. I thought to myself.

"Arnold, now's not the time to start playing the blame game." Mint said as her bunny ears flapped.

I blushed. "Oops...sorry about that...don't mind me."

"Anyways, Vanilla is a member of the Angel Wing, just like us." She continued. "We are all responsible for not stopping her."

"Of course we're all together." Ranpha replied. "But..."

"Where is she right now?" Chitose asked.

"She's already left, she's on the White Moon." Mint replied.

"Already?" I asked. "Poor girl..."

"The bonds of the Angel Wing are not broken easily." Forte said.

I sighed. "And yet Wein was able to do just that...the damn Val-Fasc really got one over us, we must be a laughing stock to them, right now."

"Tact, you've got to do something about her." Ranpha said.

"No matter what you say, there's nothing I can do." Tact replied.

I silently face palmed, bad choice of words Tact...very bad choice of words.

Ranpha sighed angrily. "...Pathetic!"

"Huh?"

She looked at him angrily and slammed her hands on the table. "Watching you makes me want to gag!"

I sat well back and preferred to not say anything over this.

"Geez, calm down, Ranpha." Milfie said.

"I won't calm down! I'll never forgive anybody for abandoning their precious girlfriend."

"I didn't, I never abandoned her!" Tact protested. "Is that just that...

"What, you're blaming her? Right now, you have to think about each other, but all I hear about is how Vanilla's doing this and how Vanilla's doing that...and just how are you thinking about her?!

Tact gasped. "What am I...I...I."

I nodded. "Alright Ranpha, that's enough."

"But..."

"I think your words got through to him."

"Agreed, now we just have to leave it to Tact to think about it." Mint said.

"Yeah, I think we should leave it to him now." Forte added. "Let's go, Angels."

We left Tact to think about it whilst the rest of us went our ways. Ranpha and I went into my guest room and we laid down on the bed together, I could tell that something was on her mind.

"Arnold...this may sound selfish of me, but I just can't stop thinking about it." She said.

"About what?" I asked.

"What I said to him...I just realized what was not in my mind at the time...I wanna go and speak to him."

"Well if you need to, feel free to do so...oh and I wanna help too. Shall I go to the White Moon and convince Vanilla to come back?"

She blinked at me. "With that nanomachine pet out of control...are you sure?"

"It's better to try and sometimes fail then to have not tried at all."

"Hmm can't argue with that...well make sure you stay safe. I don't want you to get hurt...and I think Vanilla would say the same as a close friend."

"Yeah, but still I'll do my best to keep myself unharmed...besides, thanks to the training in the gym, I'm ready to take it on."

"Okay, Arnold...let's go out there and bring two people back together, like match makers!"

I laughed. "Ha ha, that's the spirit! I'm going to the hanger now."

Ranpha kissed me and left my room and I rushed to the hanger and got into my frame. I flew to the White Moon and rushed over to find Vanilla in the Throne room.

Vanilla turned and gasped as she saw me. "Arnold! What are you doing here?"

"I'm about to do something I may either be proud of or regret it for life." I replied, walking towards her.

Suddenly, the nanomachine pet appeared in front of her and growled at me.

"Yeah, yeah, nice growl." I taunted. "Come at me, bro!"

*GROWL*

Vanilla was surprised. "Arnold! Wait!"

The pet charged at me, but I dodged the attack and landed a fist shot on one of its legs.

*GROWL*

"Just bring it, wolfy!" I taunted it again.

It galloped towards me, but I was ready with a swift knee strike in the stomach.

*GROWL*

"You've got some resilience...but can you handle the special that Ranpha taught me?"

"Arnold! Please stop!" Vanilla tried to yell.

*GROWL*

"Here it comes...ultra shooting star kick!"

My kick landed on the pet's head perfectly...it stopped growling and suddenly fell to the floor. It was still alive and okay, but it was knocked out at best. I then turned around to see Vanilla who was in tears. I walked over to her and I wrapped her in a friendly hug.

"Why...hic" she cried. "hic...why did you...attack...my...hic...nanomachines?"

I sighed. "I'm really sorry Vanilla...but if I was going to be able to speak to you right, I had to make sure I was safe. It was a question of survival, basic human instinct and all that. I wanted to tell you that you being here and not with the Angel Wing is such an easy way out."

"What...do you mean?"

"You know that being here is wrong...it's too little too late for Tact to change what he could've done in the past, but that doesn't mean you should just give up. He's your boyfriend and your his girlfriend. You two belong to each other, you just need to believe in yourself that you can trust him and be with him...or was all that just a lie?"

Vanilla gasped. "N-no...I do love him and...I want to be with him. But...how I do believe in myself?"

"I don't know how...you just have to...now come on, it's best if you come back."

Vanilla looked away before looking back at me. "Alright, Arnold...I will return to the Angel Wing, but I would like to come back via the warehouse."

"Ahhh, a surprise return. Good idea, I'll help you with that."

"Thank you...what about my nanomachines?"

"I'll carry it with you."

She nodded and we left the Throne room, good thing Shatyarn and Noah weren't here to see this.

We eventually made it to Eden and we freed the home planet of Juno where I went on and survived a jungle quest that my father had to take, earning a trip to Library and getting a dimension gate key that would be the gateway to a future. We then attended a victory ball at the Sky Palace and I got to dance with Ranpha whilst Tact and Vanilla finally solved the nanomachine problem...by Tact promising to marry Vanilla some day.

We then had to deal with the Val-Fasc's counter attack but with Vanilla restored. the mobile depth charges were no match for us. We then learnt more about the Chrono Quake Bomb as well as what my dimension gate key could do. We left Eden and we were on route to the Val-Fasc's home-world, the long down time we had was desperately needed and we made sure that would be ready for the final battle.

There were at least one or two loose ends that I wanted to tie up, so I went to the virtual park where I was waiting for Ranpha.

"Sorry." She said as she walked up to me. "Were you waiting?"

"Nope, I just got here." I replied.

"Can I sit next to you?"

"Sure, let's sit by the hill where we have our group picnics."

"Yeah, good choice."

We sat by the bottom of the hill with my arm around her and we looked at the night sky which was different from normal.

"Don't the stars out tonight look a little different from the other ones?" Ranpha asked.

"Yeah, I heard from Tact that he retrieved some info about the star skies from the Val-Fasc's home-world and he had it installed." I replied.

"It feels a little mysterious...looking up at a night sky from somewhere you've never been."

I looked at her. "It's all of our jobs to make sure those stars can continue to shine."

"Yeah...we have to win the war against the Val-Fasc." She rested her head on my shoulder. "You know, we've come a very long way."

I nodded. "We sure have...more than seven months ago, we first met and now look at us, we're a wonderful couple and we've changed a little bit of ourselves which has made us stronger."

She sighed happily. "Stronger...both physically and romantically. We're the greatest pilots of the galaxy."

I held her right hand with my right hand. "That would make us Galaxy Angels, right?"

"Galaxy Angels...yeah, that sounds cool. I love that name."

"I'm glad you do...and I also love you, Ranpha. I have loved you ever since we first met."

"Ahhh...and I love you too, Arnold...say, can we stay together forever after this?"

"Yes we can...and I'll do all in my power to make that a reality."

Ranpha turned around and we shared a kiss, then was saw Tact and Vanilla by the fountain. they didn't see us, but we noticed Tact give Vanilla something and they shared a gentle kiss.

"Ahhh, looks like Tact and Vanilla have made a commitment, that's so beautiful." Ranpha said.

"It is...and when we win, I'll make ours a dream come true...for now, let's just pretend that it's still just the two of us here."

"Yeah...I'm cool with that."

We resumed our gentle kiss with our arms around each other until we fell down on the dry grass, side by side with our lips locked in. This was the girl I always wanted and she going to be mine...for all time.

That's the Tact and Vanilla route done with both them and Arnold & Ranpha ready to contemplate marriage in the future. I also hope you guys enjoyed Ranpha's toned down behaviour which is thanks to Arnold's personality.

Up next is the start of the final route! The Tact & Chitose route which means that whilst Arnold and Forte get together in their own way, one of the other angels is going to get her heart broken. :( But who will it be? I'll leave you to guess that one.