Lemon Warning: This chapter contains a lemon scene if you are uncomfortable with this please skip past that section. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy.

Dr. Franxx sat at his desk, pouring over a diagram of a guarded facility, the orange light of the map casting eerily shadows over his face. Mentally he swore; he couldn't figure out how to do this without endangering the entire squad. But it was essential that they accomplish this mission. They needed to recover humanity's history that Papa had secreted away. Remembering the past was important, and unfortunately, he didn't know nearly enough about it to even beginning teaching Squad 13. Which is why they had to do this. Before Papa destroyed it all.

His communicator beeped, and he looked down to see a message from Nana. "Hiro and Zero Two are here to see you."

Picking it up, he sent his reply. "Send them in."

Hurriedly he hid the diagram of the facility and was just in time to see Hiro and Zero Two walking into his office.

"Good morning." He said pleasantly.

"Good morning, Dr... Hrrr, I mean, father." Zero Two stuttered.

He smiled, ever since Zero Two had found out that he was indeed her father she'd been trying to call him that but he knew that after so many years and after all he had done, calling him father was difficult. All the same, he really appreciated the effort, and it warmed his old heart.

"Good morning, Dr. Franxx." Hiro greeted.

Standing, he gestured them to chairs in front of his desk, "Please have a seat. I trust you are both doing well."

Zero Two smiled. "Yes, we are… Extremely well as a matter of fact."

He smiled. "That's good to hear. To be honest, I'm surprised that everyone is holding up so well. The thought of Papa sending his forces to attack us is still terrifying to me. I thought for sure you guys would be more scared then you are."

"We are still scared." Zero Two said. "But we all have reasons to continue fighting, and when the people you love most are threatened, not doing anything because you're scared really isn't an option anymore."

He nodded quietly. "You're right. I'm afraid that sometimes in my old age, I tend to forget that fact." He sighed and then smiled warmly. "I guess that's why I like to keep you guys around. To remind me of what's important."

"I think we all need reminding from time to time." Zero Two said sweetly.

He smiled. "You're right," Then after a few quiet moments, he asked. "So changing the subject. What can I do for you? I was told you wanted to see me."

Hiro and Zero Two looked at each other nervously, silently debating who should go first."

"We… We have a request to make." Hiro said after a moment, sounding nervous.

"And a confession." Zero Two added blushing.

"A confession?" He said, surprised. "What could you possibly have to confess?"

Zero Two flushed an even deeper shade of scarlet.

Nervously he stared at his daughter, waiting with bated breath, wondering what the hell she was going to say.

She glanced at Hiro, who gave her a reassuring nod. Then looking him in the eyes, she said. "I'm pregnant."

He stared at her, stunned. Pregnant!? His little girl. Pregnant!? It seemed like only yesterday that he was pulling her out of the cloning tube, but now…. Now his little girl was pregnant.

"W-Wha…" He stuttered. "Oh, Um, congratulations."

His heart was hammering in his chest as he stared at them in utter shock.

"How far along are you?" He managed to ask.

"Just over three months." Zero Two said, smiling.

He felt his stomach fall out beneath him. She'd been pregnant this whole time!? He'd sent his pregnant daughter into mortal danger and risked not only her but her baby. What if she'd been hurt, or killed what if…

"And um... that's why we have a request to make." Zero Two said, standing up.

His eyes widened as he saw the little bulge of her pregnant belly, Zero Two's precious little baby making its presence known to the rest of the world.

"As you can see, I don't really fit into my uniform anymore. Would it be possible to get some pregnancy clothes?"

"Y-Yes, of course." He stuttered, still overwhelmed by the fact that his daughter was pregnant. "I'll get Nana to design some for you."

She smiled. "Thank you."

"Zero Two." He finally managed after serval long moments. "You let me send you out to fight Papa, while you were pregnant. Why didn't you tell me?"

Zero Two smiled. "Well, to be honest, I haven't told anybody; the squad just noticed it as well, and that's how they found out."

"But, you've been going on missions and fighting Papa's army's." He insisted, "You're endangering your baby."

Zero Two sighed. "I know… And Darling and I have talked about this at length. But I feel that I need to fight. Darling and I have decided that this needs to be over before, I reach nine months. We really don't want to bring a baby into the world when Papa is still in it."

"Zero Two." He groaned. "Papa took over the world, taking him down before you're due isn't something that's going to be easy."

"I know…" She said. "But still."

"Zero Two… H-How far along are you again?"

"Just over three months." She said slightly more hesitantly.

He felt like somebody had just slapped him in the face. "You're telling me that we need to defeat Papa in five, maybe six months?"

"I know that it may be difficult, but we defiantly have at least six months to do it."

"No, we don't, and even if we did have six months defeating him that fast might be impossible."

"Father, I'm three months along, we have another six to play with. I don't care if I have to fight every day for those six months just as long as we defeat Papa before then."

"Zero Two pregnancy isn't that simple. Your pregnancy might not last nine months, sometimes babies are born early. It's not unheard of to give birth at eight months. And even still, the further you progress, the more vulnerable you become."

Her eyes went wide, and he saw the fear on Hiro's face. "But the book…"

"Yes, ideally, pregnancy should be nine months, but life isn't always perfect." He said, putting his head in his hands.

"So, what do we do?" Hiro asked, sounding scared.

He sighed and then sat up. "We do our best to defeat Papa before, your baby is born." He stared at Zero Two. "I'll do my best." He promised. "I don't know how I'll do it, but I'll do everything I can to defeat Papa before your baby is born. I…I owe you that much."

"Thank you." Zero Two said sincerely

"Don't thank me yet," He sighed.

"But promise me that the two of you will stay alive."

"We will." Zero Two said with a smile. "We're going to have a baby to care for."

He looked at Hiro. "And promise me you'll keep her safe."

Hiro smiled. "With my life if necessary."

"Don't say that." Zero Two scolded,

Hiro laughed and kissed her on the cheek, but his stubborn daughter wasn't satisfied with that answer.

He sighed and pulled open a drawer that held a very special picture, one that he held near and dear to his heart.

"Here, I have something I want to show you two." He said, raising his voice slightly to get Zero Two's attention.

Curious, they both looked at him their momentary argument set aside.

"I took this picture when you two were babies, I've kept it all this time, but I think its time I showed you."

He put the picture on the table and smiled as he heard their gasps of surprise and affection. The picture before them was a picture of Zero Two and Hiro as babies sleeping soundly next to each other, gently holding each other's hand as they slept.

"I took this picture a few minutes after I took each of you out of your respective cloning tubes. The two of you stayed like this for hours, and it wasn't until I managed to find a way to explain to Papa that I'd created you Zero Two that you two were finally separated."

Zero Two hummed softly and placed a hand over her heart. "This is so sweet,"

Hiro smiled. "You know in this picture, I'm almost as red as you are Zero Two,"

Zero Two laughed. "Yeah, you're right." After a moment, though, her face took on a wistful expression. "I wished we' ed stayed like this. Everything would have been so much better."

He sighed sadly. "You have no idea how many times I've thought that thought. For that, I am truly sorry."

Hiro, only smiled. "I don't think it really matters. We were made for each other, this picture at least to me proves that." He leaned over and kissed Zero Two, "All I care about now is making sure that stay together for the rest of our lives."

Zero Two smiled.

Just then, however, his communicator beeped with a message from Nana. Pulling it out, he read it. "I've assessed all the candidates for your mission. I believe that Ichigo and Goro will be the most successful."

He sighed and looked up at his daughter leaning against Hiro, a happy smile on her face. Grabbing the picture that lay between them, he offered it to Zero Two. "Here, I want you to keep it."

Zero Two gave him a warm smile and took the picture. "Thank you."

He nodded, "Well, the two of you, please go enjoy the rest of your day."

They stood up, "We will, and thank you… For everything."

He smiled. "It's my pleasure. You just make sure to take care of your baby."

They nodded and turned to leave, giving one final wave before finally leaving his office.

For a few moments, he sat there, just thinking, processing everything that had happened in the last few minutes. As he sat there, the problem that he had been thinking about this morning crept back into his mind, except this time, he had an answer. His daughter's pregnancy had drastically changed, all of his plans involving her, and now he was forced to rely solely on Nana's suggestion.

With a sigh, he dialed Ichigo and waited for her to answer. It didn't take very long.

"Dr. Franxx," Ichigo said politely. "What can I do for you?"

"Ichigo, would you and Goro please come to my office?" He asked.

"Of course, Sir," Ichigo replied. "We'll be right down."

"Thank you."

For the next few minutes, he waited, mentally preparing for what he was going to ask them to do. Suddenly the door hissed open, and they walked in looking calm and dignified.

"Good morning." They said politely, as they walked over to his desk.

"Good morning." He said with a smile. "Please have a seat."

They did, and they all sat in silence, unsure who was going to speak first.

"So," Ichigo said, taking the initiative. "What can we do for you?"

Dr. Franxx sighed. " I won't beat around the bush; you two deserve better than that. Put plainly, I need you two to go on a stealth mission for me."

"A stealth mission?" Goro said, his eyes widening. "To where?"

He tabbed on his desk, and it projected building schematics into the air. "Here, Papa's Archives. It contains all recorded human history."

Goro whistled softly.

He nodded gravely. "Then you understand the gravity of the situation. If we're going to rebuild the human race, we cannot let these records be destroyed. There are millennias of human history and stories contained in there. If they're all forgotten; it'll be a tragedy almost beyond compare."

Ichigo nodded. "We understand the gravity of this mission. So why send just us? Wouldn't there be a better chance of success with more people."

"The more people involved, the more of a chance that we're caught, which means that I need the most skilled pilots in Squad 13 to see this mission through to success."

"If you need the best, then you should go with Hiro and Zero Two. They're by far the best pilots in the squad." Ichigo said frankly.

"No." Dr. Franxx corrected simply. "They may be the most powerful pilots, but they are not the most skilled."

"I don't understand?" Ichigo said plainly.

"Hiro and Zero Two wield an enormous amount of power together, which is what makes Strelizia so potent on the battlefield, but in terms of pure skill, you two have a clear advantage." Dr. Franxx paused for a moment before he continued. "Which is why I need you two. This mission is going to require skill and precision, and you two are the best people for the job."

She looked at Goro, and he shrugged, leaving the decision in her hands. She sighed and then straitening herself said. "We'll do it."

"Thank you." Dr. Franxx said sincerely. "I'll send you both the mission data and everything we have on the facility. You'll depart tomorrow afternoon."

Hiro lay quietly on, his bed taking this chance to read up on an idea he had, while Zero Two was in the shower. Thankfully as her pregnancy progressed, Zero Two seemed to take longer and longer showers, which for his purposes allowed him to prepare things for her without her knowing about it. Which helped when you were trying to learn about marriage, but still wanted to surprise the one you loved. Because he wanted it to be a surprise, and he lived for the moment to see Zero Two's reaction when she realized what he was doing. But until he was ready, he had to keep it a secret.

Inwardly he smiled as he read through more information on his communicator and saw an image of a man proposing to the woman he loved, gently slipping a ring onto one of her fingers. Pausing, he stared at the image, realizing that "The Beast and the Prince" book had a similar scene, in its story. A warm smile spread across his face as he realized that his revelation had just made his plan all the more special. Zero Two cherished, "The Beast and the Prince," as one of her most prized possessions, and knew the story backward and forwards, and probably upside down. When he proposed to Zero Two, and she realized that it was the same thing that the prince was doing to the princess. Oh, how her heart was going to melt.

As he sat silently, he heard Zero Two shut off the water to the shower. Realizing that he only had a few moments to prepare what he had planned. Tonight was the night that he' ed set aside, to measure Zero Two's ring finger, which was kind of an important measurement if you wanted to make somebody a wedding ring that actually fits.

Quickly he grabbed a piece of string that he'd set aside, and a simple marker, before hurriedly shoving them under the sheets. Then trying to look, bored, lay back on the bed. Zero Two walked in a couple minutes later in nothing but her undergarments, her smooth pregnant belly, gently protruding into the world around her. Smiling, she made her way over and sat down next to him before collapsing back onto the covers.

"Do you think Ichigo and Goro will be alright." She said seemingly out of nowhere, as she interjected her own thoughts into the air.

He nodded. "Yeah, they'll be fine. They always really shined on their own, even in training. To be honest, commanding us holds them back, and their still the best squad leaders I've ever seen."

"I'm jealous of her sometimes." She said with a smile. "She's so confident and mature, I wish that I could be like that."

"What' a mean?" He said, confused, "You have those characteristics."

"No, I don't." She said, "I only pretend that I do." She rolled closer to him, "and since I've met you, I've been a right old mess."

He sighed. "Oh, come on…"

She smiled and tickled him. "Now, I gotta give you some payback."

He giggled and writhed as Zero Two's fingers danced over him, attacking all the right places to drive him over the edge.

"Ah... Zero Two stop!" He wheezed.

Surprisingly she did, and he noticed that she was looking slightly more tired than usual, the effort of her playful assault taking more of her energy than she'd anticipated.

"More than you thought?" He chided playfully.

She sat up and grinned evilly at him. "Would you like me to do it again?"

"No… No, thank you."

Reaching under the covers, he grabbed the string and the marker." Hey Zero Two, would you hold up our left hand for me."

"Uh.. sure I guess." She said, puzzled.

"Thanks," He nodded, wrapping the string around her ring finger. Quickly he began taking his measurements, doubting that she'd realize that he was making a wedding ring for her, but still not wanting her to make the connection.

"Darling?" Zero Two said curiously. "What're you doing?"

"I'm just curious," He said with a straight face, marking the point on the string where it completely wrapped around her finger.

"Curious about what? How big my finger is?"

"Yeah, sure." He said absentmindedly, checking the measurement again.

Satisfied that he had his measurements correct, he placed the string and marker on the side table and gave the very confused Zero Two a kiss.

"Don't concern yourself over it." He said with a smile. "Your Darling has this all under control."

"Knowing what you had under control would be helpful." Zero Two sighed, laying back on the bed.

Lying down next to her, he smiled. "Only good things."

Reaching down, he placed a hand on her pregnant belly and smiled contentedly as he felt the bulge of their baby, loved and protected inside Zero Two's nurturing womb. As he gently rubbed the bulge of her belly, he felt the warmth that almost seemed to radiate from it, waves of love and compassion just pulsating in and around the new life nestled inside.

"You're weird, you know that?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, but you like me that way."

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I guess you'd have to be weird to fall in love with me."

"And make a baby." He added, kissing her belly.

She sniffed amused. "That too."

They sat in peaceful silence for the next few minutes, until Zero Two broke the silence with a yawn. "Well, I'm off to bed, Darling. You staying up or…."

He smiled. "I'll go to bed too. Plus, I know you need somebody to cuddle you to sleep."

She blushed. "I'm not a child."

He laughed. "Well, technically, part of you is."

"Oh, boy," She groaned. "Alright, I'm turning in before I have to listen to any more of your cringy jokes."

He smiled. "Wait for me…

Naomi awoke late in the morning, the still sleeping Numa cuddled in her arms. Naomi smiled and relaxed into the mattress, which was far more comfortable than the one that she'd been sleeping on for the past couple months. Now that Numa was free of the tube, Naomi had moved back upstairs to the guest suite that Maya had provided for her when she first arrived. And now that her daughter was in a more stable condition, she'd taken full advantage of those comforts. Which were honestly appreciated now more than ever? Naomi didn't regret taking Numa out of the tube, quite the contrary in fact, but she'd be lying if she didn't admit that taking care of Numa had been a lot more work than she had anticipated. Numa was with her constantly and every need of hers she was very vocal of regardless of what time it was. But by far, the most unpleasant job by far was diapers. She shivered just thinking about it, and silently dreaded the next time she had to do it. Which would probably be soon now that she thought about it? It wasn't enough that the rancid stench wasn't almost suffocating at times, but it was a requirement she had to perform way too often for her liking.

Mentally, however, she sighed. It was all part of being a mother, and as much as some parts of her role were undesirable. That didn't mean that she didn't love her little girl, and didn't cherish every moment she spent with her.

Numa groaned, and rolled over, jerking herself awake as she face-planted into Naomi's chest. She chuckled and smiled down at Numa, as her little girl disentangled herself from her breasts.

"You having fun down there or what?" Naomi giggled, picking her daughter up and placing her higher on her chest as she rolled over.

"Hmmm," Numa grunted, staring up at her.

She smiled, and gently cuddled with her daughter until, Numa gently began sucking on her hand, and started to become restless. Naomi smiled well attuned to her daughter's signals by now and gently presented her breast to Numa.

For a long time, she lay there just bonding with her daughter, but after awhile, she looked up and saw the destroyed Klaxosaur city outside her window. Gently sitting up, she made her way over to the desk sitting in the chair as Numa gently continued to suckle her. She looked out at the remains of the city, buildings lying in ruins from a battle fought above the surface over a hundred years ago.

"Such a shame that we didn't get to see it in its heyday, huh Numa."

Numa only grunted, far more interested in her breast than anything she had to say.

She shook her head, amused, and looked back up at the city. As she sat there, a thought crept into her head, and immediately she set off to the throne room, Numa giving a very disgruntled cry of protest as her walking made it difficult for her to suckle.

Naomi looked down at her as she walked. "You little pig. You've been feeding for the last twenty minutes, don't tell me you're still hungry?"

She sighed, she knew that it was best to wait until a baby was full and not disrupt them while they were feeding, but she'd had an idea that she had to act on and was baffled that she hadn't thought of it earlier. She was going to go explore the city… That is... If Maya would let her.

Stepping into the elevator, she tapped on the display, and the elevator began to descend towards the throne room. Knowing that she had a few minutes, she let Numa have her breast again, knowing that getting from the top of the palace to the throne room took serval minutes. As she stood there waiting, she felt a jolt of excitement at her adventurous spirit. Now that she'd had this idea, her inner curiosity was on fire, and she was anxious to be off doing something. Because now that she had a moment to reflect, she realized that she'd kind of fell a little into a monotonous routine of changing diapers, breastfeeding, eating, and sleeping. Which may have been why she felt so restless.

The elevator stopped serval minutes later, and she began to walk down the hallway towards the throne room. As she walked, she heard what sounded like a heated discussion, as she got closer, she managed to pick out a few words.

"Maya. You know it's the only way." Logos said gently but firmly.

"Are you sure there isn't another way?" Maya choked.

"I'm sorry," Logos said sadly, "I wish there was something else that we could do. But we knew what we signed up for, and ultimately it's the right thing to do."

"On… On the other side. Will… Will we still be aware of what's going on or…."

"I don't know… But I guess at the very least, we'll be able to take solace in the fact that what we sacrificed for came to fruition."

"I guess we'll never know for sure." Maya sobbed.

"I have no doubts."

"I know… But it doesn't mean I don't want to see them."

Just then Naomi exited into the throne room audience chamber and say Maya lying on the steps to the throne, Logos curled up next to her, both of them looking sad and in deep thought. As she continued to walk forward, they both jerked as they noticed her, and Maya turned away hurriedly brushing away tears.

"Good Morning," Logos said calmly as she entered the throne room. "Its a pleasure seeing you this morning."

"Same to you." She said hesitantly, "Is um… Is everything alright?"

"Yes… We're fine." Maya cut in, and then thinking for a moment, added. "We were just reflecting on old memories."

Logos sighed.

"Anyway, Naomi, is there something we can help you with?"

"Yeah... Um… I was wondering if you'd let me go explore the city? I've been here for months now, and I would appreciate the opportunity to see more than just the palace."

"Naomi, I'd rather…" Maya began.

Logos jabbed Maya with his tail and shot a stern look at his wife.

Maya stared at him, and their eyes locked, and she could almost feel the battle of wills that was being fought.

"Fine," Maya muttered softly, "You win… Again."

Maya looked up at her. "Very well, I'll let you explore the city."

Naomi smiled, "Thank you."

Maya sighed, "Are you taking Numa with you?"

She nodded. "Might as well, plus I'm sure she'll enjoy going on an adventure with me."

"Then wait here a moment," Maya said, descending down the stairs. "I'll try to find you a baby carrier. She'll be more secure, and you'll be more comfortable if you have one."

She smiled, "Thank you."

Maya smiled. "Give me a few minutes. Rakuen will tell me where one is in this blasted place, but I still have to go and get it."

"I understand." She said with a smile. "Take as much time as you need."

"I'll be back in a moment."

With that, Maya set off, and she quietly sat down on the steps up to the throne.

About an hour later, Naomi stepped out of the palace and onto the landing of the steps that descended down into the city. She took a deep breath and looked out at the city, excited to see what was out there. And with Numa strapped into the baby carrier she had secured to her back, she was free to set off.

Smiling, she set off, and began to descend down the steps that lead down from the royal castle and into the city beyond, little Numa bobbing gently in the baby carrier on her back. Naomi continued down and sighed sadly as she had to pick her way over the crumbled remains of what had probably been a magnificent statue, that now lay decimated over the castle steps.

When she reached the bottom of the steps, she looked back a saw the royal castle far above her, and for the first time, she finally got to appreciate just how beautiful it was.

"I wonder how many thousands of hours it took to build that." She said, amazed, still staring in some awe.

Numa hummed softly in response, not comprehending a word she'd said, just responding to the sound of her mother's voice.

She smiled and looking back at the destroyed city continued down towards a plaza, ready to explore its magnificence of this once beautiful city.

She spent over an hour just walking down the streets admiring just the sheer scale of this city, and even though she had to step over bits of debris, and duck under large sections of collapsed buildings, it was still a marvel to behold. As she continued walking, she exited out into a plaza, and she stared up in wonder at a gorgeously ornate statue that ordained the top of a water fountain, located in the exact center of the plaza. The statue a figure of a person speaking to a crowd, their face alight as they spoke the passionate speech to an enraptured crowd. For a moment, she stood still, and could almost hear the speakers inspiring words as he urged his listeners to choose a more noble path, and make the right decision. She stood marveling, curious to know what the speaker had actually been saying, and what new reality he was trying to bring about. And even as she stared at the broken fountain, water still leaking out from a broken pipe, she couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship, it must have taken to make something like this.

Just then, something caught her eye, and Naomi saw a glowing light coming from one of the destroyed buildings and curious slowly made her way towards it. Picking her way over large piles of rubble, she managed to make it to the door and, after pushing a piece of metal out of her way, climbed through the door. Suddenly she gasped, as she started at several dozen, large glowing pods all clustered around the room.

"Would you look at that." She whispered awed, starting forward.

She stared in, wondering at the pods clustered around the room, each of them glowing a brilliant golden orange and radiating a warm pulsating heat. Walking over to one of them, she studied the pod and noticed that there was something inside it. The thing inside it moved, stretching tiny little legs, and it was at that moment that she realized it. These were baby Klaxosaurs, and these pods were actually eggs. All of a sudden, she realized that she was in a Klaxosaur's nest and that she was surrounded by dozens of eggs.

"Oh, wow!" She gasped, slowly spinning in a circle, "Would you look at that."

She smiled, gazing at all the little baby Klaxosaurs, huddled protectively in their eggs. Amazed, she stepped up to one and gazed at the little baby inside it, smiling as it gently flexed its little arms and legs.

"RRRAAGH!"

All of a sudden, a roar of fury rent the air and horrified she saw a Klaxosaur jump down from the second floor, advancing towards her with unbridled hatred. Hurriedly she began to back away, holding up her hands, "No wait, this is a misunderstanding." She cried hurriedly, "I'm a friend."

The Klaxosaur snarled and pressed forward, baring massive glowing fangs as it advanced forward, merciless fury written all over its face.

"No, wait, please." She begged as she retreated towards the door.

Tears began to stream down her face as she realized that she and her children were in mortal peril. This Klaxosaur could end not only her life but also the lives of Numa and her unborn children in one merciless split second. Numa began to cry, sensing her mother's fear, and Naomi began sobbing as she heard her little girl's cry for help, knowing that there was nothing she could do.

"Please." She sobbed. "I.. I have children…"

The Klaxosaur snarled.

"Please, I'm sorry if I did anything to offend you. I promise I wasn't going to hurt your eggs."

She stumbled and fell to the ground, crashing backward and thankfully, landing painfully on her ass. Numa's crying turned into a terrified wail, as she sobbed the fear and confusion, too much for her to handle. Hopelessly Naomi held her arms up to shield herself, knowing it was futile, but doing anything she could to defend herself and her children.

She sat there sobbing, unable to move awaiting the deadly blow she knew would come and would end her life along with all of her children. However, as Numa continued to wail, the Klaxosaur stopped and stared at them, the menacing growl dying as the Klaxosaur studied her. It seemed to have noticed the sobbing Numa and stared at her almost as if confused.

Naomi hesitantly began to lower her guard slightly, not sure if the danger had past but sensing that the Klaxosaur's desire to mercilessly destroy her may have abated some. Just then, the Klaxosaur seemed to notice something behind her, and she saw fear flash across its face. Hurriedly the Klaxosaur bowed its head and kept it lowered to the ground almost as if groveling, begging for mercy.

Hesitantly Naomi looked behind her and saw Maya standing on a pile of rubble near the door, the large horn protruding from her head glowing a pale blue almost as if ready to spring into action.

"Maya!" She said, shocked. "I.. I'm so glad that you're here."

Maya stepped down from the rubble and reached down to give her a hand up. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." She said, brushing some loss debris off her skirt, "I just got scared shitless."

Maya nodded and reached a hand over to the still wailing Numa. "It's alright, little one. Everything is okay." Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and all of a sudden, Numa stopped crying.

"How did you do that?" Naomi said, awed.

"I changed the way her energy system was working." Maya explained, "When you're upset, the energy inside your body gets scrambled, so by restoring balance, usually you calm down. I just assisted Numa, since she's still a little young."

Naomi stared at her baffled. "I didn't understand a word you just said, but you need to teach me how to do it."

Maya shook her head, amused. "To be honest, Logos is more qualified to teach you about this stuff, he'll give you a better understanding."

She smiled. "Well, then I guess I'll have to ask him."

Maya nodded and then turned to the still bowing Klaxosaur. "It's alright, please rise."

Hesitantly the Klaxosaur raised its head and stared at them with curious hesitation.

"This is Naomi," Maya said, gesturing to her. "She is a friend of mine."

"Hello," Naomi said with a slight wave.

Hesitantly the Klaxosaur nodded a greeting.

"Naomi," Maya said, "I'm sure you've guessed by now, but you've wandered into a Klaxosaur's nest. In future, you should ask the nest's mother for permission to enter. You can communicate your intentions through telepathy to the nest's guardian, she'll understand you."

Naomi nodded, "Yeah, I'll defiantly do that in future," Then suddenly she frowned. "Maya, how did you know that this Klaxosaur is a girl?"

"Because the females are always in their nest guarding their eggs," Maya explained, "Unless their mate is around, they'll never be far from the eggs."

"Then how do you know that this Klaxosaur isn't the male?"

Maya sighed, "This city is a heaven for mothers and the injured. Mated pairs and combat soldiers generally like to live out in the wild. Usually, the ones that come here are pregnant females, who've lost their mates and what to lay their eggs someplace safe, and with easy access to magma energy. Sometimes an injured male or combat soldier manages to make it back here, but more often than not, they unfortunately never make it."

"This might be insensitive," Naomi asked hesitantly, "But um.. what is the difference between a regular Klaxosaur and a combat soldier."

"Combat soldiers generally like to modify themselves to be better fighters, and some of the larger ones begin producing little drones from their bodies that swarm, Papa's plantations. As a general rule of thumb, combat soldiers a sterile. Regular Klaxosaurs, on the other hand, are still deadly but try to keep to their roots and try not to modify themselves. Obviously, they don't sterilize themselves and try to keep the race alive." Maya turned to the eggs.

"My guess is that she arrived here serval months ago since these eggs are almost fully developed." Maya turned and scanned the rest of the nest. "It looks like she did a lot of construction since arriving, this place isn't ideal, and the magma flow is poor." Maya let out a sad sigh, "She must have been desperate and found this place at the last moment."

Maya gazed sadly at the Klaxosaur. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

The Klaxosaur gave a sad hum and looked over at her eggs, looking almost reminiscent.

Naomi felt her heartache and was grateful that she didn't have to go through what had happened to this Klaxosaur. She couldn't imagine losing the ones she loved most and then having to flee her home, especially one that you'd put so much effort into so that you could nurture your children.

"I couldn't imagine what that must feel like." She whispered horrified.

Maya nodded sadly, "Does that give you a little insight into why she was so threatened by you."

She nodded and turned to the Klaxosaur. "I'm so sorry I scared you, I promise that I didn't mean to threaten your eggs."

The Klaxosaur nodded and hummed softly, almost with a note of understanding.

"As a mother, myself, I understand why you did what you did." She said, beginning to unstrap Numa from her back. "I would have done the same thing."

Naomi wrapped her tentacle around Numa, and brought her around and cradled her in her arms. Then smiling, she presented her to the Klaxosaur. "This is Numa."

Numa snuggled closer to her chest, burying herself in her mother's warmth. Naomi giggled softly and shrugged. "Sorry, she's a little needy sometimes, she's curious when she wants to be, but right now…" She let out a small sigh.

Curiously the Klaxosaur stared at Numa, and then suddenly leaned forward as if trying to get a closer look. Numa grunted and shifted her position, her eyes fluttering open and staring right at the Klaxosaur.

Instantly the Klaxosaur's eyes widened in shock, and she looked over at Maya, the question she was unable to ask obvious to everyone in the room.

Maya smiled. "Yes, you're correct. Numa is really a Klaxosapien." Maya gestured towards Naomi's belly, and she is caring twelve more.

The Klaxosaur leaned in close and stared into her womb through her transparent skin, drinking in the sight of the last Klaxosapiens, all growing so that they could be ready to be brought into the world.

The Klaxosaur stared up at her and then bowed her head respectfully.

Naomi blushed and shook her head. "No, please don't bow, I haven't done anything to deserve that."

"Naomi," Maya said softly, "Please don't brush aside her respect. Your children, they mean a lot to the Klaxosaurs. It's proof that what they've been fighting for isn't in vain. And as the mother and guardian of these children, you deserve every ounce of that respect."

"Um… Okay." She said, slightly embarrassed.

After another moment, the Klaxosaur stopped bowing and just stared at her almost reverently. Naomi flushed still uncomfortable with having somebody admire her for anything, especially something that she just did naturally.

Looking for any sort of distractions her gazed focused on the eggs, and she began to walk over to them. Smiling, she watched in awe as the little Klaxosaur inside stretched and wiggled around, testing out its growing limbs.

"They're so beautiful." She said, not taking her eyes off them.

She reached up a hand, but before touching them, it looked over at the Klaxosaur. "May I?"

The Klaxosaur stared at her eggs for a long moment and then nodded.

Reaching forward, she touched the egg and immediately gasped in awe as warm, loving energy radiated into her hand. The little Klaxosaur inside the egg twitched, almost as if in response to her touch. Naomi smiled and gazed around at all the little Klaxosaurs, all huddled in their protective pods.

As she stood, she felt a strange urge to reach out and connect with the child in front of her. To bond with it and to say that everything was going to be alright. Unable to resist, Naomi reached out with her mind and felt herself connect with the baby Klaxosaur, her horns pulsating, with a soft blue glow as their bond began to form. She smiled as she felt the baby's consciousness curiously examining her own, in its own pure, innocent way. She smiled as the baby inside the egg twitched as she focused all her attention on the little Klaxosaur. As she stood there, bonding with this little Klaxosaur, she felt the consciousness of all the other babies, all curious to know who this new person was. Gently she began to reach out with her mind bonding with more of the babies until she stood there, a web of energy passing between her and the babies, connecting them and bonding them together.

"You're in good hands." She whispered to them. "And I promise that one day we'll have a world when we no longer need to live in fear. Until then, your mother is going to take good care of you."

For several more minutes, she stood there bonding, letting their connection become even deeper, but after one last goodbye, she returned to her own body and became aware of Maya and the Klaxosaur staring at her.

She blushed. "Did… Was I not supposed to do that." She asked nervously.

"You shouldn't be able to do that," Maya said, stunned.

"Do what? Talk to them."

"You did more than talk to them, and even for a normal Klaxosapien mass telepathic communication is a very difficult skill to learn. And what I just witness could just be the beginning."

"Well, I'm assuming that it wasn't a bad thing," Naomi said nervously.

"No…" Maya said, distracted. "This just changes quite a bit." Maya smiled ruefully. "Logos is always right in the end, isn't he."

"I'm really confused." She said. "What does this change?"

"Everything."

Ichigo and Goro stood in the entrance of Delphinium, waving goodbye to their fellow squadmates, as they prepared to embark on their mission. None of the other squad members were happy about letting Goro and her go on a dangerous mission alone, but having authority as squad leader helped. At least when it came to getting her teammates to believe the lie that they'd call for help if they needed it.

"Be safe!" Miku shouted.

"We will!" She shouted smiling,

Then turning she and Goro, strode into Delphinium's cockpit, and took their respective seats, the faceplate closing and sealing them in. She took a deep breath and felt Delphinium come alive around her, letting Goro's input on the controls flow through her and into the FRANXX.

"You ready?" Goro asked.

"Yeah…. Let's go."

The door to the FRANXX hangar opened, and Delphinium dashed out, immediately engaging there cruising thrusters as soon as they hit the ground. It took them only minutes to be out of sight of the Plantation; both she and Goro intentionally pushing the speed in order to dissuade any of their squadmates from recklessly following after them. They'd been briefed on this mission after accepting it, and they knew how essential stealth was. Their mission was to infiltrate Papa's ancient archive lab and make their way to the primary data core. Once there, they could finally insert the drive that Dr. Franxx had given them and copy all the Data, pertaining to human history. It seemed in many ways like an impossible feat, and to assault the lab head-on would probably be suicide. However, if one was very skilled, the terrain that made assaulting the lab difficult could be beneficial in sneaking one's way in.

They cruised for what seemed like hours making their way to a nearby mountain range, where they could shelter while they waited for night to fall. But unfortunately for them, maybe because of poor planning or because they traveled faster then even they had predicted, they arrived at the mountain range with serval hours of daylight left before it even started to get dark. And because they had now arrived at the mountain range, things just got a lot more painful.

"Plantation 13 to Delphinium." Nana's voice called. "We are ready to initiate radio silence protocols. Confirm when ready to enter silent running."

Ichigo sighed as they pulled up to a ledge that overlooked the lab. From here on out, they would have to be in silent running, which meant that they'd be out of contact with the Plantation, and they'd have to reduce Delphinium's power levels, to a minimum.

She sighed as she and Goro settled Delphinium, beneath a small ledge on the top, and then began to power down Delphinium.

"Plantation, this is Delphinium," Goro said over the comms. "We've reached the mountain top, we're ready to initiate radio silence."

"Roger that, Delphinium." Nana said, "Sending final instructions now."

Their console beeped, indicating that they'd received a message.

"Got it," Goro replied. "Do you have any final orders."

"Just come back alive."

Goro smiled. "Sure thing. You make sure there's a Plantation to come back to."

Nana chuckled. "Good luck you two."

"Thank you," Goro said when with a sigh, he added. "Delphinium, over and out."

"Plantation 13, over and out."

The comms beeped, and the words "No signal" flashed across the screen.

"Let's get those comms shut down," Goro said with a sigh.

Mentally she deactivated the comms system and began final shut down procedures. "Already on it." She replied.

A few moments later, her consciousness separated from the FRANXX, and she sat up, stretching her stiff muscles from long hours of piloting. Tapping a button on the wrist of her pistol suit, the piloting apparatus disengaged and fell to the floor. Free from having to wear that thing for the next serval hours, she turned to her partner and watched as he gazed over a map of the facility.

For several long hours they just sat there, in complete boredom. She'd tried to take a nap once or twice but to little success. Goro with nothing better to do had went back to the map, and continued studying the facility. For her part she just wallowed in her own boredom, and it wasn't long before she began to fidget.

She sighed, this was getting extremely boring, dusk was still an hour away, and they really didn't have much to do. Bored her restless mind urged her to find something to do, and she found herself staring at Goro. Her eyes following the outline of his muscles, they way his wide shoulders smoothly curved down towards his chest. Her hungry eyes drank in the physique of her partner, his skintight stamen suit concealing none of his muscles.

"This is going to be a pain," Goro muttered, staring at the map, absentmindedly pushing his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

Ichigo declined to comment, too focused on examining her partner to care about what he was doing. Her eyes alighted on the bulge between his legs, instinctually excited by the thought of what that organ was designed to do. Unbidden thoughts of having Goro inside her went wild, kicking her body into overdrive. Now uncomfortably aware of how tight her chest suddenly felt, and how moist the place between her legs felt. Mentally she shook herself and looked down to see the outline of her nipples as they tried to force their way through her suit.

She shivered as she realized that she as hopelessly horny right now and had no reason not to act on it. As she stared at her partner, the man she loved; all the jealousy she had felt as she watched Hiro and Zero Two ignited within her, fueling her passionate desires. She saw it now thinking back to all the kisses she'd seen Zero Two and Hiro exchange, all the time they spent loving and bonding with their unborn baby. The long hours she'd seen them spend, as they cuddled against each other; Hiro's hands caressing Zero Two's pregnant belly long before she ever started showing. Those memories went wild within her, and she imagined what it would be like to share that kind of experience. To feel her own baby inside her as Goro, gently held her, doting on their unborn baby. She could imagine holding her baby, in her arms, a boy who looked just like his father. The thought drove her wild, logic thrown right out the window. It didn't matter that now was a terrible time to even risk getting pregnant. It didn't matter that waiting to see how Zero Two-handled her pregnancy with the most sensible thing to do. All that mattered is that she be with her Goro… Her precious Goro…

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Goro asked.

His voice was all she needed, she stood up and strode over to him.

"I wanna try something." She moaned.

"Ichigo."

She shoved Goro back against the seat, roughly she kissed him, their lips rubbing against each other in a wet mess of passion. She reached down between his legs and grabbed his manhood.

"I wanna have sex." She moaned into his ear.

Goro shivered, and she felt his manhood swelling, the idea of being inside her igniting all his fantasies.

"Ichigo…." The embarrassed Goro protested. "Is now really the time for that."

"Why not?" She giggled. "It's not like we have anything better to do. And I'll be damned if I have to stare at maps the whole time."

She kissed him roughly and stood, quickly unzipping her pistol suit and tore off her bra, her small swollen breast jutting out into the world. She stepped out of her suit and yanked off her underwear, blushing at the big wet spot right in the middle.

Looking up, she saw Goro, his hungry gaze ravaging her body, mapping out every inch of her skin. His gaze made her quiver with anticipation, driven crazy by the idea that Goro was taking the time to engrave every detail of her physique into his memory. But even that wasn't enough, she required action.

"Get it off." She moaned.

Goro did as he was bide, and peeled off has stamen suit, the only thing left was a massive bulged in his underwear, and even that melted away. It sprung forward, quivering with excitement, the head already revealing itself as the sight of….

She couldn't take it anymore, she shoved him down against the seat and sat down rubbing her soaking wet genitals, along his length, moaning as it stimulated all the nerve endings in her sensitive lips.

"Ichigo, doing this could get you pregnant." Goro moaned, the last of his resistance beginning to crumble.

"I don't care." She moaned, kissing him again. "If it happens, let it."

Reaching down, she grabbed Goro's penis and positioned herself above it, his big wet swollen tip rubbing against the lips of her most special place. She took a deep breath and slowly sat down, his tip penetrating her as he began to sheath himself inside her.

Goro let out a groan of pleasure, as she completely sheathed his entire length inside her.

"Ow." She whimpered, feeling as though something had just torn inside her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.

She nodded, trying not to wince as she gradually became accustomed to having him inside her. She bit her tongue to keep from whimpering again, but the pain of trying to move was just too overwhelming. It felt like something was going to tear, she was too tight, and Goro was just too big for her to handle.

"Ichigo," Goro whispered.

She looked up and stared into Goro's deep hazelnut eyes. Slowly a tear began to run down his cheek, and she realized that he was crying. The thought that he was hurting her, tormenting him because being inside her was so pleasurable. Leaning forward, she kissed him and wiped his tears away.

"I'll be okay." She whispered. "It… It just takes a little getting used to.."

"Something this special isn't supposed to hurt. I'm supposed to be pleasing you not hurting you." Goro whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

She smiled. "Sometimes, pain is required to do something special. That doesn't mean that it isn't worth doing."

"But.."

She shook her head. "No buts, just give me a moment." She chuckled softly. "If anything, this means you're quite well endowed."

"Now's not the time for that," Goro said with a sigh.

She grinned and whispered slyly in his ear. "You're right. It's time for you to get hard again. So hurry it up."

She felt Goro swelling inside her again, and she grinned, knowing that Goro's instincts had kicked in. And sure enough, Goro's embarrassed blush was all the proof she needed.

As Goro continued to swell inside her, she took a deep breath and did her best to relax, gently rocking back and forth, becoming more accustomed to having Goro inside her. Taking deep breaths, she continued to rock back and forth, gradually increasing the speed. The pain that had consumed her at first was beginning to subside, replaced with a dull ache, and thankfully the first spasms of pleasure.

She let out a groan of pleasure, as Goro began to thrust up inside her, his member rubbing against all her sensitive areas, now that she had molded to fit him.

"Uhnn." She moaned, the place between her legs beginning to throb in pleasure.

Driven, she increased the speed and gasped at the increased pleasure, fought by pain, as she pushed herself beyond her limits. Unrelenting, she pushed even more, taking this to the extreme, determined to not be held back by her limits.

Goro moaned loudly, and she grinned, kissing him ruffly as she rocked back and forth.

"Ichigo, I'm close." Goro moaned.

She smiled, and fought with her pain, taming it and putting it in its place, letting the pleasure from their bond overwhelm her, cleansing her of pain and discomfort.

"Ichigo!" He cried.

She let out a moan of pleasure as she felt Goro explode inside her, his hot semen pumping out of him, and flowing deep inside her.

For a moment, she sat there panting, doing her best to catch her breath, letting the sensations of the moment wash over her.

"That was amazing." Goro moaned winded.

She smiled, lifted herself off Goro, and stood feeling strangely empty now that Goro wasn't inside her. With a spasm, she felt a little drip of Goro's semen leak out of her, but blushing, she realized that most of it was already deep inside her, and that nature was going to take its course.

Smiling, she walked over to her partner and kissed him on the lips, loving how he moaned into her as he did so.

"I love you so much, Ichigo." He purred softly.

She smiled and lay against his chest, "I love you too."

Quietly she flicked on Delphinium's display, and peacefully the two of them watched the setting sun, comforted in each others presence.

Hours later, Delphinium stood at the top of the hill, waiting for the right moment to descend on Papa's archives. They'd been observing the facility and had made a note of when both the guards and the spotlights made a whole where they could sneak in. All they had to do was wait for that opportunity to present itself again. Unfortunately, that wasn't the hard part, the hard part was getting down from the top of the mountain, because one thing that they had not been made aware of was that the facility periodically flashed a massive spotlight along the mountainside which would catch them, as they tried to descend down the mountain.

If she was honest, Ichigo felt like raiding the facility was going to be an impossible task, but Goro had said that he had a plan. Ichigo, still not feeling confident but trusting her partner, had reluctantly agreed, still terrified of what could happen if that spotlight caught them.

"There it is!" Goro shouted, abruptly snapping her out of her thoughts.

Quickly she did her best to mentally prepare for whatever Goro was about to do, but with a shudder, she felt Delphinium come alive around her, and she knew that she was out of time and needed to place her trust in Goro. With a jolt, they began to descend down the mountainside running to stay on their feet, so that they didn't slide down to their deaths. Up ahead she saw a cliff that cascaded down the rest of the mountainside, inwardly she began to panic but felt Goro tensing and knew he had a plan, placing her faith in him she watched as the cliff loomed closer and closer, and to her surprise, Goro jumped off it, and they began plummeting towards the ground.

"Goro," She said, a little bit of fear catching in her voice.

"I know." He grunted.

Mentally screaming as they plummeted towards their deaths, she closed her eyes and focused exclusively on Goro presence, terrified how this was going to end.

"ICHIGO!" Goro shouted, panicked. "OPEN YOUR EYES I CAN'T SEE!"

Horrified, she forced herself to open her eyes again, and watched terrified as the ground rushed up to meet them.

"GORO!" She screamed.

"NOW!"

Delphinium drew her spears, and they ignited with magma, glowing a fiery orange. Goro thrust them forward into the cliffside, digging them as deep as they could go. It barely did anything. The magma spears cut through the rock like butter, leaving long scars of molten rock, glowing bright orange along the cliff face.

"This isn't working!" She panicked,

"Hold on!" He shouted,

Delphinium suddenly ignited her thrusters, and she felt a jolt as Delphinium was thrown off balance.

"Come on!" Goro shouted, wrestling for control.

He managed to rebalance Delphinium, and overclocked the thrusters into overdrive, searing blue fire rocketing out as they tried to slow their descent.

"That it! That it!" Goro grunted, Delphinium jolting and vibrating as they began to fight the force of gravity.

Delphinium dug its spears in deeper, into the cliff face, the rock now beginning to resist the spears progress through it. She stared down at the ground, afraid that they wouldn't slow down in time. Moments away from impact, Delphinium pushed off from the wall and rolled into cover, not a moment too soon. A moment later, searchlights blazed alight and lite up the mountainside, like it was midday every nook and cranny. The long scar made from their magma spears sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Shit." Goro swore, "That didn't go quite as well as I had envisioned."

"Oh, really!" She exclaimed, her heart pounding in her chest. "I never would have guessed!"

Goro shrugged. "Well, at least we're down here."

"Oh, so I noticed." She said exasperated, "But how do you plan to infiltrate the base now? The moment we move, we'll be spotted."

"Yeah, well, still working on the details," Goro said with a sigh.

Bring up the map onto the cockpit display, they both stared at it, hoping to find some way around their current predicament.

"I have something," Ichigo said after a moment. Mentally she focused on the spot that she was thinking of, and it highlighted on the display. "Why don't we take this little valley that runs across the plains, If you crawl we can stay low enough."

"Yeah, but that doesn't get us any closer." Goro pointed out. "That just brings us to the cliff."

She nodded, "Exactly, we know that the faculty is surrounded on three sides by a cliff, and the front is our only approach. But if the climb along the cliff, we can make our way over to the facility. We know that the computer core is buried underground, so instead of sneaking our way in, parking, and finishing the mission on foot, and then trying to escape, we cut our way through the cliff and directly into the computer core."

Goro thought about it for a moment. "You know that might actually work. It'll be a little noisier, but it defintly be quicker."

She smiled, "Alright, then let's go."

Just then, they heard the sound of a distant alarm, and then horrified watched as two FRANXX squads where deployed, immediately fanning out in a search formation."

"Shit," Goro swore. "We need to move quickly."

Hurriedly they began to crawl towards the cliff face, doing everything in their power to keep as low as possible. But unfortunately their progress with a lot slower then they'd hoped, and every time the checked to see how close the enemy had gotten, it was always closer then they would have liked.

"This is gonna be close," Goro said worried.

"I know just keep your eyes forward." She grunted as they continued to crawl.

"Hold up!" They heard one of the enemy FRANXX shout. "I thought I saw something."

"Damn it," Ichigo whispered.

They were so close. The cliff face was just a few more meters away, they had been so close.

"Do we run for it?" Goro suggested.

She thought for a moment, and slowly peeked Delphinium's head above the ridge and saw the lead FRANXX busy giving orders to the others. "No, let's just continue crawling." She whispered hurriedly.

A few minutes later, Delphinium heaved itself over the side of the cliff, the enemy FRANXX stepping down to where they had been a few moments later. Precariously they hung on the side of the cliff, Delphinium's spears driven deep into the wall, their magma output adjusted so that they wouldn't cut through the wall again.

"Alright, let go," Goro grunted.

Slowly they began to work their way along the cliff, digging in Delphinium's spears into the cliff face as they worked their way along. It took what felt like an eternity, but eventually, they hung below the walls of Papa's archives."

"Can you get a fix on the computer core." She grunted as they hung there.

"Give me a moment," Goro said, bring up a display. "Got it. Hmmm, Ichigo, we need to go down and to the left. You ready…"

Carefully the maneuvered around to they were in position, the supposed computer core directly behind the wall of rock.

"Alright." Goro grunted, securing Delphinium's feet into the cliffside, "Let's hope we were right on this."

Goro took a deep breath and Delphinium drew a magma spear out of the cliff face, Goro adjusting the spear to full output levels, the blade glowing red hot and casting an eerie light on the cliffside.

"Let's hope they didn't see that," Goro grunted, driving Delphinium's spear into the cliffside and beginning to carve a hole into the rock.

"I hope nobody is waiting for us on the other side," Ichigo said nervously.

Goro groaned but kept carving. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

With bated breath, she watched as Delphinium's spears sliced through the rock tunneling into the mountainside. Serval long minutes later, they were rewarded with the sight of the metal all the facility. The room that held to the computer core one thrust away.

"Well, here goes nothing." Goro shrugged.

Stabbing forward, they pierced the wall and saw a glowing light at the end of the tunnel. Goro drew the spear out of the tunnel and drove it back into the wall, securing Delphinium fulling in place again. Then aligning Delphinium's cockpit with the hole, quickly began programming the FRANXX to hold its position.

With a sudden rush of sensation, she became aware of her own body again, no longer serving as the interface to Delphinium. Sitting up, she turned to Goro as he grabbed the empty data core Dr. Franxx had given them to use.

"Let's hope nobody heard that," Goro said with a smile.

"Yeah, lets." She agreed, standing up. Reaching down, she disengaged the faceplate and opened the cockpit, feeling a wave of heat rush into the cockpit from the slowly cooling rock.

"Shit." She swore. "I forgot about that part."

"This is going to be painful." Goro moaned, stepping up to the edge of the cockpit door.

"You aren't seriously considering running through that!" Ichigo said incredulously.

"Well, if you look carefully, Ichigo, there is a clear path free of untouched rock."

"It's going to be scolding hot in there!" She protested

He shrugged. "It might be bearable in a few minutes. All the cold air blowing against the cliff is rushing into this hole. The molten rock is already cooling."

"You have got to be kidding me." She groaned.

They stood there in silence watching as the molten rock cooled, hoping that when they finally decided to make a run for it that it wouldn't be an oven.

"Well, there's only one way to get this done," Goro said energetically, and with that, he dashed off through the tunnel towards the entrance they had made to the computer core.

"I hope I don't regret this." Ichigo moaned, and with that, she ran down the path, dashing towards the exit to get out of this oppressive heat. Even after waiting all that time, the air felt like it was on fire, and it seared her lungs painfully as she dragged in ragged breaths as she ran. Everything was painfully hot, and she was afraid that she was about to burst into flame. Doing everything in her power to keep from crying out, she put her head down and charged forward.

What felt like an eternity later, she crashed to the floor of the computer core panting, relief washing over her now that she was finally free of that scolding hot tunnel.

"You fucking idiot." She panted,

He smiled ruefully, brushing a hand through his slightly singed hair. "Well, we're in."

Just then, they heard the sound of a door hissing open, and a pair of booted feet stomping in.

"Shit," Ichigo hissed. "What do we do know?"

"Start grabbing the data." Goro breathed, handing her the harddrive. "I'll see what I can do about him."

"What're…."

"Shh… Just go."

Her heart pounding in her chest, she made her way over to the computer core and found an access console. Plugging in the drive, she began searching through endless categories of files, not comprehending any of it. Finally, she found it under the predictable title "History." Selecting the folder, she copied it to the hard drive and was dismayed to see a progress bar come up. Anxiously she stood there willing the bar to progress, but It took serval long moments for 1% appeared on the bar.

"This is going to take a while." She moaned,

All of a sudden, she heard what sounded like a struggle from above as two people fought for their lives, trading blows as they fought for control.

"Goro!" She whispered, horrified.

Her fear mounting, she dashed around the computer core, looking for some sort of ladder. Sickenly she heard a body hit the floor with a loud "thud."

"Oh, no!" She whimpered.

Finding a ladder, she flew up it, hoping beyond hope that Goro wasn't…

"Ichigo, what are you doing!" Goro hissed, panting as he stood over the knocked out guard.

"Goro!" She cried, relieved, pulling him into a hug. "I was so afraid that I was going to lose you."

He grimaced, "You might have if I hadn't disarmed that guard before he saw me. I nearly lost, and I don't wanna picture what would have happened if he still had his gun. Still, he got me pretty good." He winced as he rubbed a bruise on the side of his jaw.

"Goro." She said, her eyes wide.

He shook his head. "Never mind that. Did you get the files?"

"They're still copying." She said, "When I left to help you, we were at 1%."

"Damn." He swore, "This is going to take longer than I was hoping."

She shrugged, "How long do you think we can hold this for?"

"Five minutes." He said, "Maybe ten. Depending on how long it takes for them to find us."

"Well, that'll have to be enough." She shrugged. "Let's see what we can do to buy us some time."

Hurriedly they began stripping the guard for anything valuable, Goro grabbing his assault rifle and handing her his pistol, each taking whatever spare ammo he had for each respective gun. Goro grabbed his grenades, and any other spare weaponry, and then handed her the man's communicator.

"Keep an eye on their chatter," Goro said, "If they come down here, I wanna know about it."

Just then, they noticed the cameras and quickly Ichigo, shot them hoping that nobody had seen them thus far, but knowing that the hope was futile.

"What can we do to bar the door?" She asked.

"Shoot anyone who comes through it." He said with a shrug. "Unless you have a welder hidden, somewhere I don't know about."

She sniffed in amusement. "I'll remember to pack one next time."

He let out a bark of laughter. "Well, I'll go see If I can slow them down."

He made for the door, but she grabbed his arm, "You don't mean to go out there, do you?"

"Gotta slow them down."

She shook her head. "No way! We are not splitting up."

He wrenched free of her grasp. "Don't be silly, there's no way that they won't notice us before that hard drive is complete, I need to slow down the first few who come to investigate."

"No, I refuse." She insisted. "We stand together, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Quickly she began searching for a solution and spotted the grenades on Goro's belt. "We have those." She said, pointing. "That'll stop anybody who comes after us."

Looking down, he grabbed one and looked at it. "Yeah, but we don't wanna be anywhere near this thing when it goes off."

"Is there any way we can, put it on some sort of timer?" She asked.

"Ichigo, it's a grenade. It doesn't…."

"Doesn't what?"

"I was going to say that all its does is explode, but it looks like we have a few more options here."

He read them," We got, normal, timer, and proximity. Hmmm.. this might be more useful than I thought."

"Let's save them for on the way out." She said, "We'll need something to slow down, pursuers."

He nodded. "Well, I'll guard up here. Go check on the hard drive. I don't wanna be here for longer than I have to."

She nodded and descended down the ladder, and made her way back over to the hard drive, the process bar at twenty percent.

For what seemed like an eternity, she waited, watching as the progress bar slowly progressed its way to completion. Their luck seemed to be holding, and so far, only serval guards had been dispatched to investigate their position. Goro, for his part, was doing a fantastic job keeping them safe, and the guards didn't even make it through the door before he'd subdued them.

But that's when things turned for the worst. "All guards converge on the intruders. Came a commander's voice over the comms. FRANXX squadrons get back here and prepare to block their escape."

"Goro!" She shouted. "They've found us, we're about to be trapped!"

"Is the download done!" He shouted back.

"Five more percent!" She screamed, glancing at the progress bar.

Feverishly she stared at the bar urging it to greater speed as the chatter over the comms became more and more frantic.

Slowly, the percentage climbed into with a beep; the hard drive signaled it was done.

"Ichigo!" Goro screamed as they heard the thundering sound of footsteps.

"It's ready, let's go!" She shouted.

Goro set the grenades, and flew down the ladder, just as she was removing the hard drive, the file transfer complete.

"Come on, let's go!" Goro shouted as he made for the tunnel.

She turned, and they sprinted back through the tunnel, their prize clutched tightly in her hand as they dashed back towards Delphinium. Far back behind them, they heard a blast from the trap they had set, and the screams of dying men. But that wasn't what frightened them. It was the dozens of hurried footsteps chasing after them, the thirst for revenge hot in their blood.

"We're almost there!" Goro panted, putting more determination into his stride.

"Grrr." She groaned, flighting to put what little more speed she could into her run.

Suddenly a bullet whipped over her head, she let out a shriek of fear, feeling a second one whiz just centimeters below her ear.

Delphinium in sight, she and Goro dived into the cockpit, and rolled to the side, just in time for a hail of bullets to go streaking past them.

Goro scrambled to the controls and slammed the emergency start-up button. He let out a scream of pain and fell backward, as a bullet ripped through his shoulder, passing clean through and leaving a bloody stain on the wall behind him.

"Goro!" She cried, leaping up and dragging him away, from the console, more bullets rattling against the faceplate.

"We need to go!" Goro hissed, tears of pain streaming down his face.

"But Goro…."

"We don't have time!" He roared, sobbing as he clutched his arm. "Just… Just help me up."

Trembling, she guided him to his seat, and he immediately began to program the FRANXX preparing for departure. Hurriedly she slide into her seat but didn't deploy the controls, just syncing with him enough to form a connection.

She shuddered, and her eyes opened as Delphinium's, staring out at the guards, rushing down the tunnel. Suddenly a magma shell whizz over Delphinium's head, and she looked up in horror at the sight of the enemy FRANXX aiming at them with a massive magma cannon. Panicked, she stared around for an escape, but there was none, they were trapped.

She heard the whirring of the magma cannon charging and felt her heartbreak. They were going to die. Despaired, she looked down and saw the black abyss that these sheer cliffs plummeted down to. Out of hope. She let go.

Thank you for reading Chapter 22: Binding Together

Damn this chapter was a doozy, but I hope everyone enjoyed. I'll try top get the next one out as soon as I can.

Stay tuned for Chapter 23 of The Jian Bird: Dark Nights