a/n: Happy 8th Anniversary for Xenoblade X in North America. Where would your Cross be when the lights went out? Mine would be in a coffee shop, probably.

All the good things belong to Monolithsoft.

Roo scratched his grey head and nodded in his rangy, good-natured way. The bobbing motion flowed through his whole body. "Plain coffee's good enough," he said. "I don't need the fancy stuff if your blender broke."

"I'm so sorry," Jo said. She had been weeping since the start of her shift, crying harder with every piece of equipment that had miraculously failed when she touched it. The cafe was otherwise quiet, with nothing humming, hissing, or steaming. "I can mix up some cold brew maybe?"

"That would be nice," Roo replied. He wasn't supposed to be here. He'd promised himself that today he'd climb to the top of the Roost, or at least the Great Ring. He'd been pulling double, triple missions the past week, and he'd been in the mood for something that was nothing but open air and the most spectacular views. Instead, he found himself stuck in the Sunshine Cafe, trying and failing to get one last coldberry cafeccino with extra cream. He didn't mind. When he'd returned from a fruitless mission at the crack of dawn, he found that he couldn't bear to leave the city.

The cafe's owner had been standing at the plate glass windows, staring out into the street. Roo knew what she was staring at. A week ago the countdown on BLADE tower had flipped from amber to red, then from double to single digits.

The city had watched and scrambled, filling every shrinking number with double, triple its value in missions to the five corners of Mira. It hadn't been enough. Roo was one of the few that knew how close they had come to success. The coordinates to the Lifehold had been in their grasp, but the data had been corrupted, probably by accident. At least he didn't think that anyone had ever really intended to see that happen. But it had, and now the timer was a zero followed by a flickering muddle of decimals, quickly spinning downward.

This morning he'd realized he could stop checking it. The number was as good as zero. Even if a rambling squad found the Lifehold by accident, even if they could call up the access codes and navigate their way to the control room in the blink of an eye, there wasn't enough time to complete the power restoration. The energy stores would be exhausted before the sequence was finished.

The switch would not happen.

There was a crack as glass shattered by the sink. "I'm sorry!" said Jo, choking on sobs. She held aloft the amputated handle of a glass carafe. Coffee dripped down the counter.

"It's okay," Roo sighed. "Probably couldn't finish anything larger than a small espresso anyway."

Coco walked away from the window stiffly. She stepped behind the counter and put a hand on Jo's arm. Jo spun around, leaned into Coco's shoulder and sobbed. Coco said over Jo's quivering head, "I'll give you a rain check for a free blended drink. You can use it tomorrow."

Roo's lips quirked in a small grin. "Sure," Roo said, "that would be nice."

"Let's get some fresh air," Coco encouraged her weeping employee. The two women shuffled out onto the sidewalk, still almost embracing. Roo loped behind them, closing the door quietly so that not even the antique brass bell so much as whispered. He and Coco turned to look up at the tower, while Jo rubbed her eyes and tried to stop hiccuping.

The display slipped to the last possible decimal point. "I forgot to put something in the tip jar," Roo said.

"Next time," Coco said. "I know you're good for it."

"I have the terrible urge to count down," said Roo. It had never been clear that he could count, and this would be his last chance to learn.

"Please don't," said Coco.

"I feel sick," said Jo. She had finally managed to look at the tower.

"Please do not," insisted Coco.

No one counted, no one was sick, and the tower finally, completely, settled into an unadorned crimson zero. They stood there and watched it for what felt like a very long time.

"Wow," Roo said. "WOW. Can I use that rain check now?"

a/n: I had a list of where all my OCs would be, but all you get is Roo (and yes, he's a J-body, but he didn't know it at this point). Lila has slipped in the command room to stand next to Vandham. Case is in the basement of the MMC with all the other J-bodies, planning how to run NLA afterwards. Izzy is looking out to sea, wondering if that is where Jimmy is and if they'll meet again. Sal is next to him, just messing with sand. Rosalee and Marguerite are hugging. Diego ditched the J-body meeting and is singing to Gino and Josefina. Neesae and Liana are still fighting Ganglion because they are mighty pissed off.

I hope next year there will be all sorts of new Crosses. I hope next year brings you courage and joy.