"Did you find Megaman?" Chaud asked. "No, I'm sure he's sticking by Lan's side." Protoman lied. Chaud was frustrated, this game needed to be finished by the end of the day. Chaud put his head in his hands, he had a headache. "How's the game coming?" Protoman asked. "It's not. I'm supposed to have it finished by tonight." Chaud said. "You can't work like this Chaud." Protoman said. Chaud broke down right there and let the tears spill. "Protoman, I love him. I miss him so much." Chaud cried. "I know." Protoman said. "Why did dad do this to me?!" Chaud yelled. "He didn't Chaud!" Protoman yelled. Chaud stopped suddenly and looked at Protoman. "What are you saying?" Chaud asked. "You did this to yourself Chaud. You're letting him control you with money and power." Protoman said. "I have NOTHING without this company." Chaud spat. "You also have nothing without love either. Lan isn't the only one who taught us something. Megaman taught me about the power of friendships and bonds." Protoman stated. Chaud just sat his PET down and laid his head down on his desk.
About an hour passes when his PET rings. It's a message from Yai. "Let's meet up, we gotta talk." it read. He jumped at the opportunity to hear anything at all about Lan. He ran downstairs and told her to meet him at the park.
Soon enough, he was at the park faced with not only Yai, but Maylu, Dex, and Tory. He didn't want to hear what they had to say to him. "Chaud, how dare you!" Maylu snapped. "You don't understand." Chaud said. "We may not have all the materialistic things that you do, but we get when someone is being a selfish jerk!" Dex spat. "If anyone understands, it's gonna be Yai." Chaud said. "No Chaud, I don't. I'd never give up my friends for my money! How immature can you be?!" Yai yelled. Chaud turned away from them, he was breaking. "I...don't have the support you do." Chaud said. "Of course you do." Maylu said. "You have us!" Tory said. Chaud turned and looked at them, they were smiling. "Chaud, you have our support. You have Lan's parents, all of our Net Navi's, you have your Net Navi's support!" Yai said. Tears built up in Chaud's eyes, he realized that he was being so immature, selfish, and possessive. "Greed leads to loss, anxiety leads to error, possessiveness leads to solitude." Maylu said. "All of you are right..." Chaud said, looking at the ground. Suddenly, Yai hugged him. Soon, the others joined her in a huge group hug. "You'll never be alone while you have us, Chaud." Maylu smiled. "How is Lan doing?" Chaud asked. No one said anything and that answered his question. "I have to fix this." Chaud said and ran off. "Thank you all, so much!" he yelled after them.
Chaud burst into his fathers office, panting. He had run all the way home. "What is it Chaud? That game still isn't finished." his father stated. "I'm going to be with Lan." Chaud said. His father turned to him and chuckled. "I told you that I won't allow that." his father spat. "I don't care!" Chaud yelled. "Where are you going to go Chaud?" his father asked. "I don't know, but I can't let you control me anymore!" Chaud yelled. "Get your shit and get out! You're dead to me!" his father screamed. Chaud ran to his room and shoved clothes and anything else he could in a bag and walked out the door. Chaud had never felt this free in his entire life.
/~***~\\\\\
Lan sat out on his balcony, knees to his chest. The news was playing on the TV, he listened absentmindedly. The wind was blowing softly, he closed his eyes and tried to go to another place. He could hear some of the news in background.
"Net crimes have gone down recently since the defeat of Laserman. No news yet on the whereabouts of Doctor Regal, but the search is ongoing. Thankfully, we have the help of our wonderful Net Savers to keep the net safe for all to use." Ribbita said in her cheerful voice.
Lan sighed and looked at his PET. "Megaman, I'm sorry about all the worrying you've been doing." Lan said. "Hey, it's okay. I'm just glad you're doing a bit better." Megaman smiled. "Yeah, it still hurts a lot, but I'm trying to stay strong." Lan said, looking up at the sky. "It's okay to not be strong sometimes Lan." Megaman said. "I know, but I gotta be strong if I'm going to face him again once I start going back to net saving." Lan said. "That's true, but you need to give yourself as much time as you can." Megaman said. "Yeah..." Lan trailed off.
"Breaking news from BlazeQuest games!" Ribbita yelled. Lan turned off the TV immediately and walked downstairs. "I think a walk will do me some good." Lan said. "I agree." Megaman said. Lan walked out of the house and skated, he didn't know where he was going, he just let his mind take him. He ended up facing the old N1 Grand Prix arena. "Of course my mind would lead me here." Lan said. The arena was still somewhat underwater, but he could get to it if he climbed down the pier correctly. "Lan, this is kinda dangerous, don't you think?" Megaman asked. Lan ignored him and climbed down the pier and hopped on to a broken slab of concrete.
He walked into the old arena and looked around, so many memories. He walked up to the battling platform and ran his hand over the jack-in station. "Megaman, so many things happened here." Lan said. "Yeah, I'll say." Megaman said. "Chaud and I battled the last battle here, even though the arena was sinking. And that's when we first met PharaohMan...and you were deleted." Lan said, he hated remembering that part. "But I'm back and I'm here to stay." Megaman said. The PET was ringing nonstop. "Who is messaging me?" Lan asked. "Maylu, Dex, Tory, and Yai all sent you a message." Megaman said. "I'm not worried about it right now." Lan said, leaning against the battling podium, he stared straight across, to where Chaud was standing on that day. He day dreamed about him. Lan's PET went off again and it was a video message from Maylu. "Lan! Did you see the news?!" she exclaimed. "No." Lan said. "A lot of memories here, aren't there?" Chaud said, making Lan jump. Lan hung up on Maylu and turned to Chaud. "Chaud..." Lan said, looking at him. "What are you doing here?" Lan asked. "I came to find you. My mind led me here." Chaud smiled. "I guess you didn't see the news then?" Chaud asked. "No, what was I supposed to see?" Lan asked, still shocked that Chaud was there. "My dad disowned me. I'm no longer the vice president of BlazeQuest, I no longer have any money." Chaud said, smiling. "Why are you so happy about that?" Lan asked. "Because I grew up and told him that none of that mattered to me, you matter to me." Chaud said. Lan ran to him and cried into his chest. They both fell to the ground and Chaud held Lan tight. Chaud grabbed his face between his hands and kissed him hard. "I missed you so damn much." Chaud said, tears spilling down his cheek. "I love you Chaud, I have since the day we battled here. It was all bottled up until you admitted your feelings for me." Lan cried. "I fell for you on that day as well. Your courage, your strength, your compassion..." Chaud said.
Lan and Chaud walked out of the arena and climbed back up on to the pier. Chaud took Lan's hand and laced his fingers with his. "I'm not sure where I'm gonna go, but I know that I never want to be without you again." Chaud said. "Come stay with me for a while." Lan said. "Your parents will be okay with that?" Chaud asked. "Absolutely!" Lan said. Chaud smiled and held Lan's hand tighter. "Thank you." Chaud said.
They walked into Lan's house and explained what happened to his parents. They had already seen the news and figured as much. "Chaud can stay with us for as long as he wants!" Mrs. Hikari smiled. "Thank you so much." Chaud smiled. They both walked upstairs and cuddled on Lan's bed and watched the rerun of the news. Chaud wasn't sad, he was happy, he was emotionally content with this situation. "Your friends have the power to help people in extraordinary ways." Chaud said. "What do you mean?" Lan asked. "They woke me up. They showed me how immature I was being, how I was letting materialistic things ruin my chance of happiness." Chaud said, looking at Lan. "I'm so sorry I put you through all of this." Chaud said, caressing Lan's cheek. "Shut up and kiss me." Lan said. Chaud kissed Lan hard, pulling him on to his lap. Chaud circled his arms around Lan's waist and pulled him closer. Lan rested his hands on Chaud's chest, licking his lips to invite himself in. Their tongues danced together in passion. They broke away and looked into each others eyes. "I've needed you for so long." Chaud said. "I'm here to stay." Lan smiled and kissed him.
Megaman and Protoman smiled from their PET's. "This is only the beginning of a beautiful thing." Megaman said. "I'm always glad to be your partner." Protoman smiled and gave Megaman a high five.