Disclaimer: I don't own Darling in the Franxx

She gazed out at the landscape with disinterested eyes, she'd seen it many times before in so many different places. Barren, devoid of any life. There was no happiness to be had as far as her eyes could see. Her long pink hair billowed along with the wind, she was seated on the open cockpit of her Franxx - Strelizia. No one would bother her if she was up here, giving her solitude. Its what she was used to and had come to accept as the norm. The only time she was talked to was when they needed her to fight or to replace another one of her deceased 'partners'.

She longed to go back to the lake she swam in not so long ago. It felt so good on her skin, so peaceful. Not to mention she came across the person who had entered the forefront of her mind and refused to leave. Someone who had made her feel some positive emotions since the longest time ago.

She called him darling, a name she reserved for the one she had been looking for ever since she left the garden: The place where all parasite were raised and trained. The mere fact she called him darling was enough to make her pause in thought. She looked inside her fragmented memories, searching for why she called him darling. Was it his taste? Was it his smell? Was it becasue he was only the second person to not recoil at the sight of her horns?

Upon thinking about her horns she reached up and touched one. She had two small horns protruding on her head. Almost always whenever someone spotted them they gave a look of fear or disgust, a reaction suitable upon seeing a monster. She no longer cared about such reactions, it was the same reaction all the time. Some just hid it better.

But not her darling. She remembered that much, her memories at a certain point were scattered due to human interference, but some things she would never forget. One of them was how he merely stared at them in wonder.

The boy from the lake gave the same reaction, then seemed to care more about her being naked than anything else. His flustered reaction was new to her and to be quite honest something she found adorable. Teasing him had given her a sense of self satisfaction and pleasure. A feeling she wanted more of, it was a refreshing change. The only time she felt something remotely similar was with her true darling. That must have been why she called the newcomer darling. Because he treated her like she wasnt a monster.

But then more and more thoughts pored into her mind.

His taste made her heart race.

His smell was intoxicating.

His eyes held a shine to them whenever he gazed at her. Even though they only talked for a few minutes. Everyone elses eyes regarded her with the same reaction as her horns. Disgust or fear.

Most importantly though, he asked for her name. Every other parasite was called by a code number. She didnt go by her code, she preferred be called by the name given to her by her true darling: Zero Two.

What made it so odd to be asked about it was no other parasite even knew the concept of names, so why did he. She came to the conclusion that if her memories of her time with her true darling were scattered, then maybe her darlings were as well. The boy from the lake had too many similarities to her true darling, she would have to find out more about him she concluded.

She looked down below back into the hangar bay, where she saw doctor Franxx and her fodder talking. When the doctor asked her to come with him to plantation 13 she didnt know why. Apparently he got permission from APE to take her off the front lines for whatever reason he had to bring her here. When she asked him about it he simply replied with "something is bothering me, call it a scientists whim".

She wondered if the boy from the lake might have something to do with it, after all nothing else had made her question things as much as her meeting with him. She would have found out more about him if her fodder hadn't interrupted. She cast a disdainful look at her fodder, her current 'partner'. He was cast in an arm brace, bandages covered most of his body and he looked like he could barely breathe. Such was the result of piloting a Franxx with her, she was too strong a Pistil. No Stamen had lasted more than three rides with her, meaning she was going through Stamens faster than the Franxx required magma energy. Not that she cared, they were simply a means to her killing the enemy easier and becoming human.

Her fodders next ride would be his third, and by the looks of it he wouldnt last a minute into it. Speaking of the third ride, she sniffed the air. Not only did she have 2 horns on her head she also contained heightened senses and vastly superior physical capabilities than humans. So when she smelt an enemy approaching, she was not surprised when she heard the doctor calling for her to get ready for combat.

She let out a grin full of excitement and maliciousness, she ached to get into the next fight.

Around the same time the one who was at the center of Zero Two's thoughts was standing at the transport station. He was not alone, he was accompanied by a fellow student and an adult guard. His thoughts were also in turmoil, the reason were two certain girls. One was the girl immediately to his left holding a suitcase. The other was in fact Zero two.

He had failed at synchronizing in the aptitude test with the girl next to him. Naomi was her name, he gave her that name instead of referring to her code: 703. He named a lot of children who were with him in the garden, including his two best friends Ichigo and Goro. They passed their aptitude test, he did not. He was currently deciding whether he should stay or go back to the garden with Naomi. The only reason he was given a choice was because of his code number: 016. A double digit parasite was considered special and highly capable, the lower your code number the better you are.

Or were in his case, he was considered a prodigy said to be destined to be the best parasite. But one day his scores on all the tests dropped, all the way to the point where he couldn't even synchronize. He brought Naomi down with him, all because of some reason that eluded him. Whenever he tried to think of what the cause might be his mind draws a blank.

"Hiro" he glanced up at Naomi as he heard her call the name he had given himself .She brought him out of those thoughts. She was staring ahead, not looking at him, he could even see that she was holding back tears. "Have you decided on staying?"

He would have said no not even two hours ago, he would have said he was leaving for the garden with her. But an hour ago he came across someone who was absolutely fascinated by. A girl with pink hair and 2 small horns on her head. She said her name was Zero Two, and the thing he noticed most when he thought about her was a tight feeling in his chest which he did not quite understand.

Maybe his chest tightened because in the few minutes he was with her he felt more alive than he had in a long time. She was a dazzling existence who apparently had no boundaries for personal space.

The part that gave him the most confusion was how is chest felt when she offered her hand to him and asked him to be her darling. He thought she meant partner but apparently that wasn't the case.

He looked back up at Naomi and replied "I still havent decided, I feel like I don't belong here if I can't pilot the Franxx. What i do know is that i can't let you leave without saying sorry."

"Don't bother" He flinched at her tone as she cried out. "You're lucky you even get a choice to stay, if it were me i would stay in a heartbeat!" Tears were streaming down her face as she continued yelling. "Its favoritism i know, but you should be thankful you can stay, so what if you don't think you belong at least you get to stay by our friends side!"

Her sobs started to calm after the initial outburst and her voice quitened down "Stop running away Hiro, you feel like you don't belong then make a reason to" He held back a gasp.

Zero Two said something similar "If you don't belong here then build a place where you do". Two different ways of saying something very similar. Take your fate into your own hands.

The transport arrived and Namoi hopped on tears still streaming down her face, she passed her luggage over to him. She smiled bitterly at him "I hope you stop running Hiro, from yourself and whoever your next partner will be"

With that the gate shut and her transport took off.

Only for the ground to erupt from underneath like a violent earthquake. Hiro fell down due to the magnitude, he fell back against the wall and looked up to see that Naomis transport had been flung into the air.

"NAOMI" He yelled at the top of his lungs but he knew there was nothing he could do. He then swung his head to look at the cause of the earthquake. It was the enemy of humanity, a klaxosaur: a blue and black creature that could change its shape. By the looks of it this one looked to be a Mohorovicic class, they were dangerous but by no means the biggest. At least according to the books they were made to read on klaxosaurs.

Suddenly the klaxosaur charged right at the plantation, more specifically it was charging to a collision course where he was. He hurriedly sprinted as fast as he could along the pathway, after about 5 seconds he heard a massive crash and was flung by the sheer force of the collision down the pathway. He skidded to a stop and ended up on his side. He shakily looked up at the area he had just come from.

"Incredible" he was astounded, if he was a second too slow he might have been crushed. There was no sign of the adult that was with him. The thought of what had happened made hiro freeze.

Until a white and red blur shot passed him and smashed into the klaxosaur. Shocked out of his stupor he scrambled up and saw something that looked like a white klaxosaur in an intense melee with the black one.

"Whats going on, that's not a Franxx is it?" he stared at it in awe, it seemed to move effortlessly as it danced around the attacks of its enemy. That was until the Klaxosaur seperated itself and started transforming. It suddenly transformed into a giant laser and charged up.

The sequence of events that transpired seemed to happen in a slow motion. The klaxosaur fired, the white one jumped in front and took the blow. It held its ground for a few seconds before a massive explosion happened. Hiro shielded his eyes from the dust cloud that hit him, only to see the white combatant flying through the air.

Directly at him.

"OH CRAP" he flung himself to the side, and for the second time in a minute he was knocked away onto his side by the force of the impact.

Zero Two grunted in pain, she was right her fodder barely lasted half a minute once he connected, causing her to have to pilot in stampede from. She could have let the plantation take the hit but in a split second decision jumped in front of it.

"Why even bother, i owe them nothing. I could have dodged and killed it easily if I didn't take the blow". She opened the hatch and threw fodders body out. She leaned against the opening to catch her breath. Blood was streaking the side of her face and her right arm was cut open. That didn't matter though she could still fight with such injuries.

"Hey are you okay?" She tensed and looked up. She gasped in mild shock, her new darling was crouched over her fodder trying to help him. She saw desperation in his eyes and felt some emotion she couldnt identify stir in her.

"Forget it he's done for". She announced her presence by proclaiming the fodder dead. She saw Hiro look at her in disbelief.

"Surely there's a way to save him"

"Forget it, it's his third ride, no one rides with me more than three times and lives"

His eyes seemed to look confused. Had he not heard of her? Doesn't matter to her, she started to walk back into the cockpit.

"You aren't planning on riding that alone are you? Franxx can't be piloted alone"

"Didn't i tell you? I'm always alone" Hiro looked at her back with an expression of both desperation and sadness. That shouldnt be how someone lives, being so used to being alone.

"You will die!"

Her eyes turned cold however she did not face him."Im not afraid of death, now i've got a job to do". She then limped into the cockpit fully intending to pilot alone.

Hiro looked at her with both admiration and pity. She was willing to die fighting, but she was willing to die alone. He for the longest time felt like he didnt deserve to live, he can't pilot a Franxx that was his purpose in life. He had been moping around for years, in a pit of depression without purpose. Piloting the Franxx was what they were born to do. That was what he had been told for as long as he can remember. If he can't fulfill his purpose then what was the point. He recalled Naomi's words. "Stop running away"

He clenched his fist, looked at the body of her previous stamen then looked at her slowly retreating form. He then made a decision that would change his determined path drastically.

"Wait, I'll pilot that franxx with you. I won't let you pilot alone". Zero Two's eyes widened and she paused. He saw what happened to her fodder, she told him what happens to those who ride with her. Yet he still wanted to.

She looked at him over her shoulder "Do you want to die?"

Hiro balled his fists so hard his knuckled turned white. "As I am now i have no place I belong, thats no different from being dead. If I die piloting with you, at least i died fighting! SO TAKE ME WITH YOU!" He shouted his honest feelings to her fully prepared to die if she said yes.

Zero Two was shocked, that look in his eyes. The same eyes as hers, the eyes of someone who yearned for a place to belong to. The tears that were beginning to fall, he reminded her so much or her true darling. Perhaps he could be?

She allowed herself a smile, a sincere and bloody smile. "You really are just like me, it's been a long time since I last saw a human cry. I like the look in your eyes .It makes my heart race." She extended a hand to him "Now come to me"

When she extended her hand to him at the lake he was hesitant, but now he reached without pause. Eyes filled with determination, it set her heart on fire. She firmly grasped his hand in hers and she pulled him into the cockpit.

Hiro found himself lost in her eyes, inviting him in. The eyes were filled with passion, excitement and something else that made his mind reel.

"You are now my Darling!"

As he was pulled into her she pressed her lips against his.

His mind his body it never felt so alive.

He felt like he was floating in a lake, except it was a lake entirely of a pleasant warmth encasing him. His body was being caressed in the most pleasurable way possible. His mind felt at ease, his body never so relaxed. It was the most serene feeling and he wished it would never end.

Until suddenly his body felt like it'd been stabbed with a thousand needles, the pain was sharp. Intense. So sudden but he couldn't cry out, it was the complete opposite to the warmth he felt. His mind felt like someone had just crushed it in, he'd never been in more pain than this.

He wanted it to stop.

He wanted to feel that warmth again.

He wanted to feel her lips on his again.

Then as if his thoughts were being read, the pain suddenly stopped.

He was being carresed again, gently. Lovingly. He felt at peace again. HOw he wished he could bask in this warmth for the rest of eternity.

When he finally opened his eyes, he was lying in bed in the medical bay.

"Wait, when did i get here" He noticed he was attached to an IV. "Wheres Zero Two?"

He saw his best friend Goro sleeping in the chair next to the bed.

"What happened after she kissed me?"