"...that it only...took a moment...to be loved..."

WALL-E listened absently to his tape of Hello, Dolly! while sifting through his old things for the twentieth time. EVE had been missing for a few days, so naturally, WALL-E couldn't focus on any kind of work. Operation: Recolonize had been swiftly underway for the past 6 months, and the humans were avoiding their previous mistakes, such as capitalism and money systems. It was almost like human evolution had restarted.

But WALL-E couldn't help out the other robots today. EVE was at the forefront of his mind, and this caused him to work much slower than normal. The other upgraded WALL-E units as well as the WALL-As had been tasked with clearing garbage from the encampment area, but so far, WALL-E had found himself unable to help. He looked up to stare at the hole in the ceiling that EVE had blasted in her frantic attempt to save him, and something inside him ached.

"Evah..." he sighed sadly.

Everyone else was noticing, too. M-O would drop by sometimes with the other robots, hoping that something would change. WALL-E could see they were concerned for him, but he didn't care. He just ignored them.

"Wall-E!" M-O slammed his brush against the floor of the truck in frustration.

WALL-E didn't even blink.

M-O made many more frenetic noises before going behind WALL-E and attempting to push him out of the truck, in order to get some kind of reaction from him.

WALL-E in response turned and picked up M-O by his blue backpack, carrying him outside. He dropped the little cleaning bot and went back into his truck.

M-O Wheeled over to WALL-E and made some more frustrated sounds. WALL-E continued to ignore him.

The little robot shook his head sadly. He wheeled to WALL-E's side and gently nudged him with his brush. WALL-E didn't move.

Then he got an idea. M-O dashed to the back of WALL-E's truck and jumped up to the player. He hit the rewind button.

"Put on your Sunday clothes, there's lots of world out there!"

WALL-E shook his head as M-O began to hum along, dancing in little circles around his friend. He tried to ignore him at first, but the tune was cheery, and he'd been upset for far too long. He found himself absently bobbing his head to the beat of the music. M-O's little golden eyes curved upward in a smile as WALL-E began wheeling back and forth, his irritation slowly dissipating. Soon, both of them were spinning around the truck, humming the tune of the chipper song.

When it was over, WALL-E smiled at M-O, giving him a grateful pat on the head. M-O, in turn, lifted his brush enough to give WALL-E a friendly handshake.

"Here." M-O said, gesturing to himself.

WALL-E gave a nod. He felt much better now.

"Wall-E?"

His heart lept at the voice, "Evah!?"

There she was, gliding toward him angelically. WALL-E felt his optics curve into a smile, "Evah!"

She swept him up and spun him around and around, "Wall-E!"

He warbled in happiness, but soon, EVE had set him on the ground again. She made a few dismissive hand gestures before pointing back the way she had come.

WALL-E shook his head in disbelief, "Evah?"

EVE mumbled an apology before gliding into the truck and smiling, taking WALL-E's hand as she sailed past him. WALL-E had known EVE for a long time, so he could tell that her smile was fake. It appalled him, too. Why would she need to fake a smile?

He decided he would find out.

Long after the sun had set, WALL-E was boxed up in his shelf, silently watching his girlfriend in dormancy. Just hours ago, he had snuck away to recharge, just catching the last rays of sunlight. He did this so he could stay up and see if EVE would try and sneak out. Recharging wouldn't help him stay awake forever, but it gave him an advantage, since it was much easier to go to sleep when his energy wasn't full.

WALL-E was just about to give up and doze off when EVE peeked her blue eyes out of her dormant form. It was too dark to see clearly, so WALL-E was able to keep watching as EVE came out of dormancy and looked around. He stuck his head back into his body just as she floated over to him and laid a gentle hand on his head. Her fingers brushed over WALL-E's arm and lingered over his hand. He just caught her beeping what might have been an apology before she flew away.

He waited just a moment longer before rolling off his shelf to gaze upward. The stars were barely visible through the hole in the roof. He realized this is where EVE must have escaped from, and wondered how he'd get out, knowing the door would make too much noise. He finally noticed that if he stood on his shelf and rolled it up a bit, he could just reach the hole, grab the edge of it, and hoist himself onto the roof. He saw EVE's curved silhouette against the cloudy sky as she slipped into the Axiom.

Currently, the Axiom was only being used for repairing broken robots. The humans were determined to work on their own, without having to rely on technology, so it was mostly abandoned. Why would EVE be heading to the Axiom?

Was she broken?

WALL-E raced off to catch her before she was out of sight. There were two things that drove WALL-E insane; when M-O tried to clean through his precious treasures, and when EVE was upset or in danger.

He wanted to believe otherwise, but it seemed that something was going on with her.

He had to wander for awhile, but he finally caught up to her. Where was she, you ask?

The diagnostics lab.

WALL-E hid in a convenient stash of trash in the corner while he watched EVE with growing anxiety. She darted her eyes around nervously before booting up the computer console. Opening her access panel, she took a cord from the cluster of analyzers and plugged herself in, watching with an aching fear in her eyes. WALL-E was scared, but he forced himself to hold still as numbers and letters flashed across the monitor. All of them reflected off of EVE's screen. All of them made her round LED eyes contort in nervousness.

Finally, one red word stood out among the rest. WALL-E didn't know what the word meant, but he knew it was bad, because EVE lifted her hands to her face in horror. Her head hung in rejection, and she began to shake with stifled sobs. The sound broke WALL-E's heart.

"Why..." her distorted voice rang out in the quiet room, "Why..."

WALL-E wanted nothing more than to run to her and offer comfort, but he held back. He wasn't supposed to be here, and she was keeping this from him. She knew about that word, she knew its meaning, and WALL-E trusted her judgment. All he could do was watch as she cried...and cried...and cried...

Finally, EVE clenched her slender white fingers into tight fists. Her fear turned to anger. Giving out a yell of rage, she unsheathed her ion cannon and shot a nearby pile of refuse. Not satisfied with one shot, EVE proceeded to shoot everywhere around the room, sometimes coming close to WALL-E's hiding spot. Luckily, the deafening sound drowned out WALL-E's screams of terror.

Once the room was completely silent again, WALL-E dared to peek out. EVE was gone. He nearly panicked before noticing EVE out in the hallway. He took one last look at the word still on the screen before wheeling his way back home.

He hated that word.

He hated it, because it hurt EVE.