"Zess! Cover me!"

"Roger that!" Zessica flies ahead in her Vector, shooting at the nearest Abductor as I dive under.

"Malloy! Do you copy?"

Malloy appears on the screen. "Yeah. I'm here. You ready to merge?"

I nod. "We need to do it now. On my count. Zessica, you ready?"

"Yeah. I'm right here." Vector X swoops in behind us.

"Okay. Merge one!"

Zess shouts, "Merge two!"

Malloy gives it all he's got. "Go AQUARION!!"

We go through a tunnel of light, which blinds me, and then the roof opens up and I'm back in headquarters. The merge simulation was a success.

A hand reaches into the simulation Vector, offering to help me climb out. "You were pretty awesome out there!"

I grab the hand and allow him to pull me out as his other arm wraps around my waist. "Thanks. I'm still not as good as you or Zessica, though."

Amata chuckles. "Oh don't be silly! You're good!"

I shake my head. "Not really. My power is pretty much useless in battle."

"That's not true. If it weren't for you, most of the past merges would have fallen apart without you to connect us."

I sigh. "Yeah. Whatever. You're just trying to make me feel better."

I change out of the Element suit and back into my regular clothes before walking with Amata towards the boys' dorms. When we get there, he takes off his vest and plops down face-first onto his bed. "I'm tired," he says through the pillows that his face is buried in.

"You're always tired now. Then again, I guess with everything you've been through, it takes a lot out of you. At least your appetite is almost back to normal."

He rolls over and lays on his back, his eyes fixed on the bunk above him.

I sit on the edge of the bed and look at him. "Are you sure you're making the adjustment alright? I mean, you've been out of commission for like three weeks. I'll admit, it's even hard for me to go back to everyday life, the way it was before that day of the funeral."

He sighs. "I'm doing okay, I think. Although I swear I can still hear the beeping from the monitor. That sound is like engraved into my brain. It is a little weird to have everything go back to normal, whatever 'normal' is. Nothing seems real anymore."

"Yeah. I get what you mean. What about your puking fits?"

He doesn't answer.

"Amata?"

He clenches his jaw. "I had one last night. Andy can tell you about it."

I exhale. "Oh Amata... You poor thing. Was it from a nightmare?"

"Yeah... I woke up crying and I ran to the bathroom. Andy said he saw everything. He helped me back in bed, and then we kinda just sat there and talked." His hand finds mine. "It's weird."

"Huh? What is?"

He closes his eyes, lost in thought. "Seven days of my life are gone. Missing. It's so weird. I can never get those days back. It's like they never even happened."

"Oh Amata." I squeeze his hand, just like I did how many times before. "They happened for me. I had to go through those seven days. It was horrible. They were the worst days of my life. In fact, I think the last three weeks were the worst of my life."

"I can't imagine what it must've been like for you," he murmurs.

"I spent the whole time praying that you would live to see another day." I stare at the floor, letting my mind wander. Everything is so surreal. There's so many things happening at once. What do I do about it? Is there even anything I can do?

"They may have been the worst weeks of my life, but they were also the best," he says softly.

I turn to him. "Huh? Really? Why?"

"They're what made me realize how much I'm in love with you. Yeah, I had a huge crush on you, and I wrote that note, but those three weeks are what really made me see how much I need you in my life."

My face flushes. "You really know how to flatter me with words."

He yawns. "I'm not trying to flatter you. It's the honest truth."

Eventually, Amata turns on his side and falls asleep. For once, he actually seems at peace in his unconscious state. Normally, I see him tossing and turning, nightmares filling his head, but this time, he's calm. I kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear, "I love you". Then I pull off his boots, tuck him under the blankets, and walk out to go see who else is doing the simulation today.

When I get there, I can see on the big screen the fight going on in the sim. Sazanka, Yunoha, and Andy are shooting at Abductors like crazy.

"Yunoha! A little help here?!" Andy shouts. He's driving.

"Okay! I'll try my best!" She concentrates and allows the simulated Aquarion to become invisible. I watch as Andy then shoots his holes and Sazanka uses her powers to rust away their enemies.

When it's over, Andy climbs out to meet me. "How'd I do out there?"

"Pretty good!"

"How's my bro hanging in there?"

"He's asleep right now."

He chuckles. "It seems like he's always sleeping lately!"

I bite the inside of my cheek. "Well, I can't really blame him after everything that's happened."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

Yunoha runs over to join us, back in her usual attire and Tama clutched close to her chest. "Hi Mikono! You did really good in your sim earlier!"

"Oh! Thanks! But you were way more awesome than I'll ever be!"

Andy nudges me. "Girl! You need to get some confidence into you!"

"And how exactly do I get some confidence? Wearing outfits like Zessica?" I joke.

The two of them laugh.

Suddenly, the alarm goes off. "Enemy detection alert! Enemy detection alert just off the coast of Neo-Kowloon! All Elements, report for duty immediately!"

"Oh crap!" Andy starts to run towards headquarters, Yunoha at his heels, but he stops when he notices that I'm not following him. "Why aren't you coming?"

"I'm gonna go check on Amata. The last thing we need is for him to get into another battle! You guys go on ahead."

Andy looks at Yunoha before saying, "Okay," and running off. I rush towards the boys' dorms.

Amata is sitting on the edge of the bed, his vest and boots back on. "Mikono! I heard the alarm!"

"There's an Abductor attack! We have to report to headquarters!" I grab his arm and we rush off.

We reach HQ and see the fight on screen. Cayenne, Zessica, and Andy are in their Vectors, floating before the biggest Gnis I've ever seen. My jaw drops at the sight of it. Next to it are two smaller Gnises. Probably backup mechs.

"What the hell do they want?!" I hear Andy shout through the speakers. "They're not attacking us or anything!"

As if it heard Andy's words, a voice comes over the feed and a face appears on the screen. It's a male. "Greetings. My name is Izumo Kamurogi. I am the Chief Commander of Altair."

"W-what is happening?!" I manage to stutter out.

Yunoha looks over at me, standing a few feet away. "I'm not sure. Whatever that thing is, it scares me!" She clutches her doll closer to her chest.

"I am not here to hurt you."

"Yeah right!" Cayenne sneers.

"All I ask is for one of your Rare Iguras. As I've seen, you possess quite a few. I'm sure you could offer up at least one," Izumo continues.

"Rare...Igura?" Cayenne's eyebrows knit. "W-what does that mean?"

"You might know them as females."

Everyone's eyes widen. "What?!" We all go quiet for a few moments before someone breaks the silence.

"No!" Andy waves a fist in the air. "Are you kidding?! 'Rare Igura' my ass! We will not surrender to you!"

Izumo speaks through gritted teeth. "Fine. We can do this the hard way."

He fires bullets at the Vectors. The battle begins.

The Vectors get into place and merge to form Aquarion Gepard. Cayenne is the head. I watch on screen as he drives it up above Izumo and shoots the gun at him, but he keeps missing as the Gnis just moves out of the way and fires back. The other two Gnises start shooting and attack Aquarion from the sides.

"This isn't good," Amata mutters under his breath.

The Aquarion dodges and rolls out of the way, but some of the bullets still hit it, and whatever these bullets are made of, they're very strong and make a few dents. Cayenne shoots at the big Gnis again.

"Damn it!" Andy grits his teeth. "Just leave us alone, asshole!"

Cayenne keeps attacking, but Izumo is just too strong. The Gnis ends up hitting Aquarion so hard that the mech falls and the merge splits apart.

"Element change! Switch out Zessica Wong for MIX!" Donar calls.

They switch out and the fight continues. MIX uses her powers to block up any open points on the Gnis. It works, and Izumo's mech starts to rattle and combust.

But the fight is not over. After a few moments, the smaller mechs charge.

"Uh oh." I watch as everyone remerges, but Izumo just seems to have the upper hand. He gets his own Gnis working again and charges along with his backup.

"Andy's aura is decreasing!" someone shouts.

"Element change! Andy W. Hole for Malloy Direzza!" Crea calls.

Another switch, but it doesn't last long. MIX is swapped out for Sazanka. Cayenne for Yunoha. It's all going horribly.

"I don't understand!" Izumo yells. "Why don't you just give up a Rare Igura already?!"

"He wants the girls! It might be best if we just have the boys fight," Ms. Suomi says.

Yet another Element change. Cayenne's back in instead of Sazanka, and Andy's back in for Yunoha.

Amata stares at the screen, squinting.

"Amata? What's the matter?" I ask gently.

"That guy. I feel like I know him for some weird reason." He doesn't take his eyes off the screen as the battle continues.

Aquarion Spada now attempts to drive its sword through the big Gnis, but it fails, multiple times.

"This guy is strong!" Malloy exclaims. "How the hell are we gonna beat him?!"

Aquarion takes another hit. The only two boys left to swap are Amata and Shrade, and neither are in ideal health conditions to fight.

"Andy's aura levels are dropping rapidly! We need to switch him out now!"

Donar's voice rings out as he shouts, "But there's no one left unless we use a girl!"

"What about Shrade?" Yunoha shyly asks.

Crea looks at her lap for a second before announcing, "Switch out Andy for Shrade."

The swap occurs and Shrade is teleported inside. I grab Amata's arm tightly. "You think we can win this?"

Amata doesn't say anything. He just pulls me into his chest.

Shrade manages to fight very well. He's able to bend Izumo's mind, before Aquarion takes yet another hit and is knocked off balance. But Shrade doesn't give up. He gives Izumo a good beating on with Spada's sword.

"He's a natural," I say quietly. "He might be able to tear that guy apart."

Amata's muscles tighten beneath his clothes. "Yeah. He might."

"Malloy's vitals are about to go redline! Switch!" someone shouts.

"No! Malloy! Suck it up and fight like a man!" Donar yells at the top of his lungs.

"No! We need to get him out of there!" Suomi cries. "Please!"

Donar turns on her. "There's no one left to switch him out with except-" He stops mid-sentence and looks at Amata. Suomi automatically knows what he is thinking.

"No! Amata Sora will not be allowed to fight! You can't let him!"

Crea chimes in, "If we let him fight, he'll be risking his life again! We can't do this! Fudo! Tell them!"

But Commander Fudo doesn't say anything. Instead, he stands behind the Chairman's chair, a cross look on his face. Something is bothering him.

"Fudo! Say something!" Crea pleads. "What do we do?!"

Amata holds his breath as we all wait for an answer. Finally, Fudo makes a decision.

"Switch out Malloy Direzza for Amata Sora." He says the words more sullenly than normal. Usually he shouts them out enthusiastically, but now, it's like he doesn't want to say those words. He's worried about something.

Amata tenses up. "Me? Are you serious?"

"Get out there and fight, kid! We need you!" Donar shouts.

"No!" Suomi and Crea both cry.

Amata looks me in the eyes. "I'm gonna try my best. I'm gonna win this for you. Okay?"

I exhale. "Okay. Please be careful."

"I will." He turns to get into the panel, but I grab his arm.

"I mean it," I say firmly. "I can't lose you again! Please be careful."

Amata kisses me quick before leaping into the panel and teleports into Aquarion.

"Amata! Good to see you, my friend!" Shrade says.

"You too. Alright. Let's do this!"

Amata's power of flight kicks in and Aquarion Spada shoots up into the air. As gravity kicks in and pulls the mech back down, the sword aims right for Izumo's Gnis. Shrade drives it through effortlessly. Then he kicks the two smaller Gnises, causing them to explode and burst into flames.

"Yeah!" A couple of us pump our fists in the air.

But our victory is short lived. Izumo somehow removes the sword and smacks Aquarion to the ground, causing the merge to split apart. Electricity crackles around the torn circuits that decorate the freshly made hole in the Gnis.

"Amata! You're the head! Merge now!" Donar shouts.

I can see Amata on screen. He seems uncertain. "But sir, I-"

Donar cuts him off. "Damn it! Merge already! This is no time for complaints!"

Amata bites his lip. "Okay."

"Merge one!"

"Merge two!"

"Go Aquarion!" He says it half-heartedly.

The Vectors begin to merge, but they end up banging into one another and wobble around.

"Amata's aura refuses to rise! What do we do?" someone calls.

"MERGE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!!" Donar screams. "WHICH IT DOES!!"

I look over at Fudo. The look on his face is frightening. He clearly is not happy with the current situation.

"Just give up a Rare Igura already! Why must this be so difficult!" Izumo seems to be very fed up with this battle.

"Amata!" I cry out. "Amata! Listen to me!"

"Mikono?" He can hear my voice over the speakers. "What's wrong?"

"Amata! You have to listen to me! You guys need to merge! It's the only way we can win this! I know that you're not fully ready to do this, and you still haven't recovered from all that's happened, but you're our only hope! You can do it! I believe in you! We all believe in you!"

His eyes glint with determination. "Right!"

"Amata's aura is rising rapidly! He's primed and ready to merge!" MIX shouts.

"'Atta boy!" Donar pounds his fist happily on the Commander's table.

"Merge one!"

"Merge two!"

This time, he says it with all his might. "Go AQUARION!!"

Aquarion EVOL forms and Amata immediately launches an attack on Izumo. His Infinity Punch knocks Izumo off balance.

"Yes! Get 'em Amata!" Andy shouts.

He uses the head's laser and shoots it straight at the Gnis. Amata hits it spot on.

"You're strong, boy," Izumo says before the live communication feed cuts out, but it seems as if Amata can either still hear him or see something, because I watch as he freezes up. His eyes go wide and he stares at the Gnis.

"Amata! What's happening?" Suomi calls. "Are you alright?"

"Amata! Say something!" I cry.

"N-no. It can't be true..." he mutters, "...but why?"

"Get your head back in the game!" Donar shouts.

Izumo swings and hits Aquarion hard. The whole mech goes down, bolts of electricity crackling around it. Cayenne, Shrade, and Amata all cry out in pain.

"No!"

The merge falls apart, and all the Vectors take off in different directions. Amata lags behind.

Before another merge can even occur, Izumo hits Amata's Vector as hard as he possibly can, since it is closest to him, and I watch in horror as it goes tumbling towards the ground. His screaming blares over the speakers in Headquarters.

"AMATA!! NO!"

A quick teleport is authorized and Amata is brought back within seconds, leaving the Vector to crash with no one in it. I immediately rush over and take his face in my hands. "Amata! Are you alright?!"

He breathes heavily, and he stares, blankly and wide-eyed ahead of him.

"Amata! Say something!"

His hand finds my shoulder and he squeezes it. "I-I think I just met my father."