Suddenly Yours
When he opened his eyes, there was a sense of panic filling him. The fires, the sensation of burning, the pain of death was all gone... and in turn he felt absolutely nothing. And when he went to check his sensory circuits, to his horror, he discovered he had none. No systems, no processors, it was as if he had no body.
But that could make sense... the last thing Zero saw before the final explosion of Ragnarok took him, was his own body falling apart. Eletrical explosions surrounded him, tossed him about like a rag doll until the gravitational system of Ragnarok failed seconds before the main body exploded and... and he should be dead.
But here he was... staring into whiteness, floating aimlessly. Zero slowly righted himself so he was no longer upside down, curling his body into a ball, legs to his chest and arms around them. He tucked his face to his knees, closed his eyes, tried to figure out some logical explaination he still existed.
Nothing came to mind as he slowly floated along, rolling peacefully. This was upsetting, to say the least; Zero did not want to go back to earth and face the repercussions of his actions. Did not want to see Ciel's tears. Did not want to stick around in case his power brought forth another conflict... he finally was resolved in who he was, what his duty and beliefs were, to die and pass on. What sick game was he stuck in?
Zero slowly uncurled his body and opened his eyes, spinning slowly like a log in the air. All of what he thought bothered him... but what truly made him want to panic was the fact he was alone.
Or, was he? Zero looked around, rolling himself to look in all directions. White, white, white...
He tried to speak, but he had no voice. So he thought instead, Anyone... out there? Can you hear me?
A pause, and then a sweet voice that made Zero's eyes widen filled his mind. "Yes, I hear you."
Everything was flooded by the feeling of excitment, and Zero positively felt giddy. X! X, are you there?
"Yes, I am here."
Where?
"Here."
Zero turned, and suddenly he dropped from the air. Instictively he rolled to avoid damage, jumping to his feet. He lost his battle stance when he saw X a few feet away, standing there with a smile on his face, clad in that blue robe and shimmering halo.
X held his hands out to Zero. "Here I am."
Zero felt relief beyond anything he had experianced prior to this moment. Once, he thought X gone completely, not able to exist, but here he was... the blond couldn't contain himself, rushing to his friend. When their hands clasped, and X was solid Zero couldn't resist pulling X into his arms and clutching him close. The one whom Zero took his beliefs from, the one he promised so much to, the one who knew him before, during, and after all the crap Zero went through... was finally real.
X hugged him back, and although it was probably inappropriate to cling, Zero didn't care anymore. He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against X's head, locking the blue-clad Cyber Elf in his arms and refused to let go of the sensation of feeling X being solid. All of Zero's hopes, dreams, beliefs and faith, finally a touchable presence. Finally existing.
When Zero finally realized he was probably holding X too tightly, he opened his eyes. His head jerked up and X looked at him, smiling as Zero realized the endless white had disappeared. Instead, they stood inside a large building, in a room that could easily hold several hundred people. A debriefing room, if Zero's hazy memory served...
Zero glanced down, and X was no longer in his robe and halo. Instead, incredibly familiar blue armor encased X, and when Zero looked at himself, his clothing too was replaced with thicker, bulkier red armor.
"You're remembering," X's voice echoed in his head.
Slowly as Zero looked around, the room began to populate. There at the round console... a blond woman in pink and red, a purple-haired woman with a large, half-exposed bust, and a younger-looking girl in green. All three were furiously typing at their consoles, speaking into microphones, hands over one ear. Yet Zero didn't hear a word of what they said.
Suddenly the blond woman stood and looked at Zero. When her blue eyes met his, Zero's mind supplied her name, Alia.
"And the others?"
Zero looked at them, and the two turned in their seats to face him and smile. Layer, and Palette.
The door burst open, a teenager-looking Reploid clad in black with bouncing, spiky hair sprouting him his helmet rushing in. He went right up to Zero and X, a huge grin on his face.
Zero couldn't resist reaching out and touching the boy's shoulder--he, too, was real. Axl.
The room kept populating, filling with people Zero thought he had forgotten forever. There, Signas at his usual commanding console. Douglas tinkering with something in the corner; Lifesaver was coming in with a report in his hands. In the back stood Iris and her brother, Colonel, the girl waving as Colonel half-glared. Memories began to filter in, filling the blanks, and the room expanded.
The white field was gone, completly replaced by Hunter Headquarters. Zero looked down at X, who was smiling expectingly at him.
"X?" finally Zero could speak.
Suddenly the old motif of the Maverick Hunters vanished, but everyone remained. Their bulky shells were replaced by much slimmer, more humanoid shapes--the room's technology was upgraded, as well. X now stood in a vest and waist armor, much like Zero again.
And just as suddenly, Zero felt the urge to pull X back into his arms. To cradle him close, others watching or not, kiss him until their oxygen tanks burst from too much carbon. But there were no tanks, and oxygen was not an issue.
Suddenly, Zero realized he was dead, and had returned to Cyberspace, as did all the others. All the memories, both good and bad, were back rightfully in his head. It hit like a thunderclap in his skull.
Tears, the first Zero ever experianced as no Reploid other than X could cry in the real world, filled his eyes as emotion swelled within him. X stood on his toes and kissed him under the eyes, and the tears fell.
"I've missed you," X whispered, wiping away the tears of happiness Zero finally had the chance to experiance. "Welcome home, Zero."
Zero couldn't say a word, holding wordlessly clutch X to him again and let the tears fall, all of his friends, now once more with him, smiling and letting him have his moment in X's arms.
Suddenly, Zero was X's again. Just as he should have been all those years.