This short fic contains many spoilers for Darling in the Franxx, so if you have yet to view episode 24 of the series, I cannot recommend reading what follows. Proceed to read at your own risk, and please enjoy the following short story.

For herself and Hachi, it had been nearly a millennium since the planet had been rejuvenated by the Klaxosaurs, one thousand years since Hiro and Zero Two had left to go defeat VIRM. In that time, the world had changed drastically. Squad Thirteen had reintroduced love, and life and meaning to a world that had under APE been cold and soulless. It had started only a short time after Zero Two and Hiro had left as well, with Mitsuru and Kokoro bringing forth the first real human child into the world in so very long. Then the others had followed. Ikuno had solved the issue with rapid aging for everyone save herself, as she put the others happiness before her own life, but even she was loved. It had been a thousand years, and yet she and Hachi had continued on. He had rediscovered his own, lost emotions, just as she had, although it took him far longer than it had taken her. It had started though, with his concern for the children’s feelings reawakening something deep inside him. Now they had come together as a couple just as the children of Squad Thirteen had so long ago. She had become a teacher to the children of this new Eden, free of the horrors of the past. Hachi had sort of bounced around before settling into the role of a policeman, trying to keep the people safe, just as he had done on the Plantation.

She walked past the great Sakura tree that had grown from the remnants of Zero Two, the tree she still could not help but think of as a part of Zero Two, her best parts. She walked this way every day, on the way to the small school she had opened and poured her life into, since Mitsuru and Kokoro’s children had needed to learn about the new world they were inheriting. Their descendants were still innumerable in the school, even after all this time. On this particular day, she saw a small boy reading a picture book in the cool shade beneath the great tree. To her eyes, he was the spitting image of the long-gone Hiro, with his dark hair hanging disheveledly over his eyes. A small girl was running around the tree when her foot caught one of the roots, sending her crashing to the ground. Her shockingly pink hair framed her little face as she cried in shock and pain over her fall. The boy closed the picture book and went to help the girl. She couldn’t help but wonder if it was the picture book Zero Two had lovingly preserved and kept, the one that meant the world to her, and the first beautiful thing she had ever owned. The same book that the other children of Squad Thirteen had held onto and preserved and shared with their children, and finished. The little boy licked the girl’s knee, the way a parent would to soothe a frightened child. The boy offered his hand to the pink haired girl, picking her up, and as they started to talk, she continued on her way. But something bothered her, those two children looked uncannily like Hiro and Zero Two, it was simply improbable after all this time.

As the boy took the girls hand, he asked for her name. Her aquamarine eyes met his, and left an unmistakable impression upon him. The girl answered shyly “M-my name is Tsubaki. What’s yours?” He couldn’t take his eyes away from hers, he made a note of her bird bracelet, and answered her “My name is Asahi.” Tsubaki smiled wide at him and opened the red bag she had slung around one shoulder “Wanna sweet?” She took out one of the brightly red wrapped candies she was carrying and offered it to him, and he took it from her apprehensively, before unwrapping it and eating it. At first he didn’t like the combination of flavors, maple, chocolate, red bean, and it was shockingly sweet. He hesitated but then made a slight sound of enjoyment as he savored the intense sweetness of it. “Even though it’s the first time I had this…I feel like I know this somehow.” He held the storybook out to her “Wanna read with me?” His eagerness to share this with her drew her in, and they went to sit back down beneath the ancient sakura tree. Neither of them could read very well quite yet, but he knew enough of it from when his mama read to him. He opened the storybook to the beginning again, forgetting his page so he could share this with his new friend. She leaned her head in close to get a good look at the pictures as he started to read it to her.

“The Beast and the Prince” he started reading at the cover, “In the deepest, darkest part of the forest lived a tribe, hidden from all. They had large wings on their backs, and were beautiful, but they were what would be called beasts. Among them was their princess, who had large ashen wings. Their law said that once one turned sixteen, they would be allowed to fly outside the forest.”

“And on her sixteenth birthday, the princess took flight to the world beyond the forest. She crossed the steep mountains and the surging rivers and reached a land of humans. The moon shone brightly in the sky. She landed in a castle garden, where she found a young man gazing up at the moon. The princess hid in the bushes and stared at the young man, and for the first time love bloomed in her heart. But he was clearly of a different race. A beast and a human could never be together.”

“And so the princess went to see a witch who lived in the same forest and said, “I want to live as a human. I want to be united with him.” The witch replied like so; “I can help you if you offer me your wings. But keep this in mind, no matter how you disguise yourself, you are a beast, and you will consume the prince’s life one day.” The princess ripped off her wings and was assaulted by a pain far more intense than she had ever felt. She could never fly again. Even so, she smiled happily, with tears of joy streaming down her face. “I’m human! I’m human! I’m the same as him now!”

“The princess once again set out for the land of humans, this time on foot. In the desert, she spotted a group of people. “Oh No! Is there anyone who can save him?!” There lay a young man, his leg bitten by a snake. The princess rushed to his side and sucked the venom out from his wound. “Thank you, O brave lady. I am the prince of these lands.” It was the same young man she had met in the castle.

I owe my life to you. Please marry me.”

“A wedding ceremony was held soon after. The priest asked the princess, clad in a wedding dress of pure white “Do you vow to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?” “I do.” The two exchanged rings, and when the priest said so, they sealed their vows with a kiss, and cheers rang out across the land. “Bless the brave girl who saved our prince’s life.” The whole kingdom celebrated their marriage.”

“Humans! Humans! They have neither the wings to fly nor the claws and fangs to hunt. Such weak and frail creatures, but they are so, so warm. Humans are wonderful!” After the wedding, she lived happily as princess of a human land. She supported the prince in his work, traveled the world and saw oceans studded with glints of sapphire, sparkling grasslands and auroras that swayed like raging flames. The princess took the prince’s hand and said with a smile on her face “Grab on to me and never let go.”

“But the princess’ happiness was short-lived. She woke up in the night to a pain that threatened to rend her asunder and found her body turning into one of a beast. “Why? I asked you to make me human!” On her back were jet-black wings, tearing through her flesh and skin to spread. “Using magic comes at a price. You’ve attained plenty of happiness as a human. Now it is time for you to lose yourself and turn into an ugly monster.” The witch of the forest whispered to her. “However, if you kill the person you love most, you will be freed of your curse and return to the beast you originally were.”

“The princess gazed at her beloved prince as her claws reached for his throat. She loved him more than anything, and anyone. But the desire to rip his neck apart welled up inside her. As she desperately tried to clench her fist and stop herself, her claws dug into her skin and blood started gushing out. “If I kill the prince, I will be freed of this curse…” With tears streaming down her face, she kissed the prince on the cheek”

“When the prince awoke, the princess was no longer beside him. Instead, the bed was covered in jet-black feathers. In profound sadness, the prince searched all across the land for her, but nobody had seen the princess.”

It was here that the pretty pictures ended, and some crudely drawn pages took over the story, each one with a different style, and a different handwriting. These pages were different too, because each page had a name on it. Ichigo, Goro, Zorome, Miku, Futoshi, Kokoro, Naomi, Mitsuru, Ikuno, each of them had made their own mark on the storybook, long ago as their pages were yellowed with age.

“When none of the people in the castle, or the surrounding towns had seen his beloved princess, the prince summoned his eight most loyal knights. They arrived two by two, in matching armors and colors. The first two came in burnished armor, with shields of white and blue. The next two knights came with shields of pink and white. The next two knights came in green and black. The last two knights came bearing shields of purple and white. The princes’ knights swore that they would not fail, and that they would be able to reunite him with his happy princess.”

“The noble knights searched throughout the kingdom, asking everyone they saw if they had seen the princess. Sadly, nobody in the kingdom had seen her. So the knights expanded their search, into the desert. But nobody there had seen the princess either. However, a merchant explained that he had seen a flying monster heading towards the forest. The knights had come to believe that the monster had stolen the princess away, and sent for the handsome prince to join them as they headed towards the beasts lair in the forest.”

“In the forest, the prince heard the cries of his beloved princess and he drew his sword, eager to repay her kindness and save her from her captor. However, the prince and his loyal knights were astonished that the princess’ cries came from the monster they had sought to destroy. The prince got close to her, and hugged her to comfort her. No matter what she looked like, he still loved her for who she was. His honest love broke the evil witches curse, but she was not human. She returned to her original form, with ashen wings and red horns.”

“The prince was struck by her beauty, even in this form. “Princess, my darling, you are more beautiful now than you were when you saved my life.” Even though she was not human, and though she had hidden this form from him when she first saw him, he loved her with all his heart. The knights knelt before their prince and princess, happy that the two were reunited.”

“Sadly, the laws of the forest, and the laws of the kingdom worked together to try and keep the happy couple apart. After all, the laws of the forest stated that once a beast, always a beast. The kingdom’s law was that only a human princess could be with the brave prince. The prince returned home with his knights, determined to find a way to be with his beloved darling, who belonged to another world where he could not follow. He summoned the kingdom’s mightiest wizard to his castle, and begged him to turn him into a beast of the forest, with wings and horns.”

“The wizard replied; “I can make you a beast of the forest, but you must sacrifice everything. Your kingdom here, your friends, everything of the world of humans that you love.” The knights bade farewell to the handsome prince, knowing that a life without the princess’ smile was not worth living for him, and departed. The prince said his goodbyes to the kingdom of humans, and when he was ready he went to sleep. In bed the wizard cast his most powerful spell, turning him from a handsome prince into one of the beasts of the forest. He grew blue horns, and great white wings, and excitedly went to the forest to reunite with his beloved darling.”

“He flew as fast as his new wings could carry him, and landed in the clearing where he had saved his princess from the evil witches curse. She was there waiting for him, excited that her darling was there for her. They took each other’s’ hands and slowly rose into the sky, happy that they could be together. The prince finally was able to echo the princess’ words “Grab on to me and never let go.”

Those two children from the morning had stuck with her all day, the sheer improbability of them looking so much like Hiro and Zero Two was making them stick out to her. She shared what she had seen with Hachi when he came home from work, before even talking about their respective days. Hachi looked at her inquisitively, before giving words to the thoughts that had been rattling around in her head all day “What if it is them, finally returned, Nana?” He sat and stroked his chin pensively, looking up at her with this one good eye. “It simply can’t be, it has been over a thousand years since they left. And anyway, they both have parents here, I think that girl is one of Ryoma’s children. So many of his kids have distinct hair colors like that.” Hachi smiled knowingly at her “They do have families, and if it is them, they have a life that neither of them have had the opportunity for. Papa and Dr. Franxx made them, they were tools for them to exploit and use. But now, they have every opportunity to grow and learn and be. So let them.” His face regained its old stoniness for a moment, thinking as he fell silent. She responded to him “Maybe we could just keep an eye on them, to see.”

Every day, Tsubaki and Asahi would meet and play together, they swiftly became absolutely inseparable. Asahi’s father, Gen’ichi, was at home mostly, working on something or another to make people’s lives better or easier, his mother, Himari, was a baker. Once Tsubaki started coming around regularly, his mom always left some sweet cakes or pastries, refined from recipes passed down in the family, to indulge her sweet tooth. Tsubaki’s mama, Ai, stayed at home, as there were always children in that house. She had five older siblings, and one younger. Her father, Ryoma, was a dedicated and decorated policeman. He seemed very distant, but was always very warm towards his many children, and Asahi once he started to come over regularly. Tsubaki’s house had a definite bird motif, a seeming swallow with spread wings, joyous in its flight, and it was a bracelet with this pattern that Asahi had noticed sparkling on Tsubaki’s wrist. Asahi’s house was very simple and homely, always cramped with things his father was working on, or his mother bustling around the house. This definitely affected each of their personalities. Asahi was quiet, but free spirited, charismatic and well-liked by the other children. His natural curiosity made him prone to wanting to go on adventures, to find out things about the world that loomed so large in his mind. He also loved books, the storybook he shared with Tsubaki was his absolute favorite story. Tsubaki was an adventurous, impulsive child, with a wide-eyed love of the world around her, and everything in it. She hates wearing shoes, and loves birds just as much as her mother does.

Tsubaki would go meet Asahi quite frequently under the sakura tree, as that was his favorite place to read. She had fallen in love with the storybook, just as much as he had. The pictures always drew her in, it was truly gorgeous to look at. As time went on, Asahi became better at reading, and would always tell her the story of the monster who became a beautiful princess. She would always try to rest her head on his shoulder as he read to her, and the evil witch’s ultimatum to kill the prince she so loved would always drive her to tears. But the fact that, in the added later pages, the prince became a monster too, in order to remain with the princess, regardless of what she looked like, because he so loved her, made them both weep. Neither of them could quite fathom why a story could do this to them, but the long faded, yellowed hand drawn picture of the prince at the last page made them giggle. There were half faded words at the bottom, which took some finessing and Ai’s help to finally decipher that simply read “My Beloved Darling.” After being read the story yet again, Tsubaki took the book and held it close to her heart, declaring simply “I love this!”

One winter day, the inseparable pair went into the forest that surrounded the city, it was ancient and huge, trees that had been there for millennia. As always, Asahi held on to Tsubaki’s hand, his blue puffy cold weather jacket making him look fat. Tsubaki held on to him and ran ahead, as she was wont to do. Her white jacket with pink stripes was a little overlarge for her, a result of it being an older sister’s hand me down. Beneath a large mistletoe tree, the two of them sat down as it began to snow. Asahi put his hand on her head, and she looked over at him confused for a moment, but she decided she liked it. She pulled her hood down so his hand was in her hair and he started to stroke her long hair, she made a soft squeak at the sensation, before she ruffled his unkempt raven hair in retaliation. They both laughed at this, before she hugged him, rendering him embarrassed, his face turned a deep crimson color, but he did not attempt to pull away from her. She let go and he immediately covered his face, he was still mortified, but he had loved having her so close to him. He decided that she smelled nice, sweet like the candies she so enjoyed. He decided to hug her back, in retaliation, but also to get close to her once more. Unlike when she did it to him, Tsubaki did not get embarrassed in the slightest, instead she looked up at him as he was kneeling before her with the biggest, sweetest grin on her face. It was then that she called him, for the first time, “darling.” Asahi turned even redder than before, if that were possible. He felt butterflies develop in his stomach and he felt odd and floaty. He didn’t quite know what that meant, but he just wanted her to stay with him, forever. He wanted nothing more than to tell her exactly that, that he wanted her by his side, but they were interrupted by Nana and Hachi. He quickly let go of her, and this time they both became flush and flustered.

She took a walk with Hachi in the woods that once surrounded the Plantation where they had worked, and grown up, once upon a time. Back then, neither of them had really noticed the beauty of this place, they were altered to be merely servants to the whims of APE. In the spring, this place was full of flowering trees and new sprouts. In the winter, it was a snowy paradise, full of sika deer and macaques. For individuals as long lived as they were, it was a place to go to reminisce about the long distant past of which they were the sole survivors. Today, however, their tranquility was shattered, first by the appearance of a hart with a magnificent rack and its mate, a pale hind. It was after this truly rare occurrence that they noticed the children were also in the forest, and the children noticed them as well. Both of them were beet red, and the girl pulled her hood back up. Hachi crouched down and looked directly into their terrified, disconcerted faces. They calmed down some when Hachi smiled at them, his brown eye glinting under his severe brow. He noticed that the girl had taken the boy’s hand, then glanced back into their eyes. He decided to introduce himself to them, similarly as he had introduced himself to the children back when APE ran things. “I am Hachi, the chief of police, and this” he turned and gestured towards Nana, “is Nana. She’s a teacher. Now,” his severe expression softened, his personal magnetism sparkling through, “what are you two doing out here?”

The boy was the first to answer, swallowing hard before spewing a rapid sentence “Well, we were out exploring, we had wanted to see what there was other than the city and the monuments and…” Hachi cut him off with a hand gesture, while Nana crouched down as well, asking their names. The girl responded to Nana first, “I’m Tsubaki,” before the boy responded as well, blurting it out so it sounded like one word “My name is Asahi.” Hachi then asked Tsubaki “Is Ryoma your father?” And she responded by nodded rapidly. “Come on, let us take you two home. It looks as though more snow is going to fall, and it can be hard to leave these woods.” Hachi offered to carry one of them back on his shoulders, and Asahi insisted that Tsubaki be the one who was carried. He lifted her onto his broad shoulders, and she let her legs dangle around his neck. She spread her arms out like a bird and made a high pitched sound of enjoyment. Asahi looked up at her in pure joy, and took Nana’s hand to be led back to their homes. She couldn’t help but feel that this was somehow Zero Two, the beautiful bird finally let out of her cage and given an opportunity to fly free. Asahi tugged at her hand, wanting to run ahead, as the snow began to swirl down around them. Tsubaki looked up, on Hachi’s shoulders and opened her mouth to catch the delicate flakes on her tongue. Asahi tugged off one of his gloves to catch some in his hand. Hachi decided to one up them, and ducked down to make a snowball. He packed it tight then flung it at Nana’s torso, his unusual laugh cutting the silence of the snowy forest. He let Tsubaki down, and this started them all running, laughter and handfuls of snowballs flying through the chill air.

Eventually, they made it back to the city, the Sakura tree looking resplendent as the snow fell around its enormous trunk. Hachi had wanted to take Tsubaki back alone, but Asahi refused to cooperate and go home with Nana. He wanted to stay with her for as long as he could, despite it starting to be close to dinnertime in both their houses. Hachi smiled knowingly, and agreed to get the both of them home safely, letting Nana leave so she could go start cooking. First he took Tsubaki home, when Ryoma opened the door he immediately stood to attention as he noticed the Chief of Police standing outside with his daughter. “Is she in trouble, sir?” “At ease, Ryoma. She’s fine, she was just playing in the forest with her friend here, and I wanted to make sure she got home safely.” “Thank you so much, sir.” “She’s a good kid, Ryoma. You should be proud of her.” Hachi then took Asahi by the hand, and left with him for his house. “Asahi…what drew you to Tsubaki in the first place?” Asahi screwed up his face, concentrating, trying to think of why. “I dunno, I hate seeing people cry?” “What do you mean?” “When I first met her, beneath the sakura tree, she fell and skinned her knee. Everything just sorta…started from there. It feels right, when we’re together.” Asahi drew quiet, whispering. “I like her.” Hachi grinned from ear to ear, something that still looked unusual on him, even after a millennia. “I can tell, Asahi. I think everyone else can too. You remind me of someone I knew once. He also loved someone, earnestly, with all his being. He met her as a kid too, and that was the end of it. Nobody could get between him and the girl he loved.” Hachi’s eye glistened with moisture as he recalled Hiro and his darling Zero Two, and the ultimate sacrifice that they made so the former parasites of the plantation could go on, have a life worth living. “Grab onto her, and never let her go.”

Hachi brought Asahi back to his home, where his father opened the door to let him in. A sumptuous spread of food was on the table, visible through the open door. Asahi ran in to sit down to eat, and his parents thanked Hachi, and then closed the door. He trudged back to his humble home through the driving snow, thinking to himself the whole time. There was too much similarity for it to be random chance, especially the way they had met as children. He truly started to believe that Nana was correct, that these children were, somehow, Hiro and Zero Two. Not just in resemblance, but it was their souls, their personalities. It was, truly, them. He continued musing to himself through the windblown snowflakes. He was, truly happy that, despite all of the time that had passed, they had found their way back home again.

He stopped near the sakura tree that dominated the view, getting close enough to put his hands on the bark of the ancient timber. “Thank you, Zero Two.” He whispered to the venerable plant. “You have a second chance, now. A whole new life with Hiro to live.” He patted the tree. “You earned your happiness, and your humanity. Let nobody take that away from you.” He took out a small knife, and started to scratch names into the tree, where they were barely visible, but a child could see them easily. He started with M+K, and drew a heart around it, followed by a G+I also with the same heart. He continued with a Z+M, and an F+K, and finally an N+I. At the center of them all, he wrote out two names in full: Hiro and Zero Two. Their heart was biggest of all, and touched all the little hearts with initials in them, binding everything together. Beneath his artwork he scratched in a simple word: Thirteen. He put his knife away, and continued home. Nana was waiting for him, when he opened the door into his warm home, and removed his hat and coat and hung them on a hook to dry off from the winter’s chill.

Nana was waiting with a sharp tone “What took you so long to get back?” His response was simple, “I stopped to visit Zero Two.” She was visibly shaken, “What?” “The tree. I wanted to leave something that would last, where the children could find it. Even if the children don’t really know what it means, I want Hiro and Zero Two to have closure. That their lives meant something, and that their friends went on to make something beautiful of their own.” Nana was floored, Hachi had always been very direct, and not terribly sentimental. He must have seen something himself that reassured him, which told him that this was something that needed to be done. “Do you think they are Hiro and Zero Two?” Hachi nodded in affirmation. “Without a doubt. I asked Asahi about what drew him to Tsubaki, and he said that it just felt right. A love like Hiro’s and Zero Two’s is eternal, tied into the very essence of their being. Their love started the other’s too, especially Mitsuru and Kokoro. Their love gave the other’s a chance at having a life beyond being a parasite, gave them hope. It gave us hope.” He reached for Nana’s hand. “Without them changing everything, I would have never reawakened my emotions, I would have never had you to spend eternity with. They created everything we have here, even this paradise.”

Even in their dreams, Asahi and Tsubaki were together. His thoughts were dominated by her, and every moment apart just made him more excited for their next moment together. She or was very much the same, always wanting nothing more than to be near the one she proclaimed to be her darling. When they were together, to her, everything just felt right. One of Tsubaki’s favorite things to do with Asahi was draw, she was always very good at it, whereas he wasn’t. But with practice and her encouragement, Asahi became better at drawing, and more confident. Tsubaki also loved swimming, something Asahi was also not terribly good at. However, being near her was more than enough for him, even if she did laugh at him for needing assistance to stay afloat. He liked being in the water perfectly well, and being near it. His favorite was the wave pool, it was his one chance to get to giggle at Tsubaki’s inability to stay standing when the bigger waves came. On his way home one day, he stopped by the venerable sakura tree. He finally noticed the heart with Zero Two and Hiro’s names, they just happened to be by where he rested his head the first time he met Tsubaki. He put his hand on the largest heart, and whispered to the tree. “Thank you… I love you, Zero Two.”