Rockman ZX: Colors

"Let's see... bread, apples, oranges..." Aile glanced over her shopping list as she held the shopping basket with her supplies in her hand. Each Guardian was given an allowance in addition to the money that they earned from jobs, and were responsible for their own supplies.

It had only been last week that Girouette had been killed by two of Serpent's numbers, Prometheus and Pandora. Aile herself had been defeated by them, but due to Girouette's sacrifice, she had survived and had only gotten stronger. So far, she had taken down only one Pseudoroid, a rather annoying raptor-like one called Hivolt, and had rescued Model H. Model H, along with Model X and Model Z, had decided to stay on Guardian HQ so that Aile could get some shopping done.

Satisfied that she had everything on her list, Aile went to the checkout line. For a moment, she was sorely tempted to buy a candy bar, but ultimately held herself back. She stood in line behind a woman shopping with her daughter, who appeared to be about seven years old. She glanced at the two wistfully as the little blonde-haired girl said something that made her mother laugh. It only felt like yesterday that Aile had been shopping with her mother...

Frowning, she shook her head. "Get a grip," she muttered to herself. "You can't go back to it." Ten years may have gone by since Aile lost her parents in the Irregular attack, but the pain had never lessened. The recent loss of Girouette, who had been like a father to her, didn't make things any easier.

Aile paid the clerk for the supplies and left the store into Area C-1, holding her bag in one hand while she walked back towards the transerver in Area B-2 to head back to Guardian HQ.

"Excuse me!" a voice called.

Aile blinked and turned around. Standing in front of her was the little girl Aile had seen at the shopping center. Her hair was a dirty-blonde and she had reddish-brown eyes. The tell-tale inverted red triangle on her head indicated that she was a Repliroid child. She was wearing the traditional black body suit with a yellow frock with equally yellow boots, a pleated white skirt with frills, and was carrying a bright pink purse in her hand.

"Hi!" said Aile. "What is it?"

The little girl pointed at Aile's shorts. "Are you with Girouette Express?" she asked. Aile nodded. "I thought I recognized those clothes. I think I've seen you before, but I saw you earlier today when I was shopping with mother. Why do you always wear those clothes? You should buy some new, cuter outfits!"

Smiling, for the girl was quite cute in Aile's opinion, she relpied, "I would, but I just haven't gotten the chance. I'm usually very busy."

"Are you free now?" the little girl asked.

A bit surprised, Aile nodded. "Yes, I'm free."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Come home with me! My older sister never wears what I give her, but I think her clothes will fit you!"

---

That was how, ten minutes later, Aile found herself in the home of the little girl, who was called Luca. Along the way, the two had chatted, and Luca had revealed her dreams about becoming a fashion model for Serpent Company (Aile was hard-pressed to not blurt out her true feelings about the company). Luca was rummaging through the suitcases of her sister's unworn clothes to search for an outfit that she could give Aile.

"Let's see here..." Luca frowned a bit as she searched through the suitcase. Aile sat on Luca's bed, where the pink purse lay. Luca's room, while filled with the normal knickknacks that a little girl would have (such as dolls), were also filled with posters and posters of fashion models.

Suddenly, Luca sprang up. "Ah ha! I found the PERFECT outfit for you! Yes, yes, this one is just totally you!" Turning, she beamed at Aile. "Turn around please! I need to add this chip to your hair!"

Hair chips were a nice alternative to the messy process of dyeing hair, which would simply wear away after awhile. The hair chips were tiny and designed to fit into the cybernetics, and could do several things, but they were most commonly used by women to dye their hair. Presumably, that was what Luca wanted to do.

Aile turned around, closing her eyes as Luca carefully installed the hair color chip to her. When she opened her eyes, Aile couldn't tell exactly what color Luca had dyed it, since her hair was so short. However, from the few strands she could see, it DID seem lighter than usual.

"Now, miss Aile, can you let me put these on?"

"Huh?"

"I want to surprise you!" Luca said cheerfully. "Please close your eyes!"

In her fourteen years of living, Aile had never had a little girl change her. The little girl tugged Aile's shirt off before replacing it with another one, and removed her shoes and replaced them with another. Luckily, shoes were not a problem for Aile, and they fit her perfectly.

"I'm done!" Luca called. "Here's the mirror!" She held up a mirror in front of the transporter as Aile opened her eyes.

When Aile did so, her breath caught. It was almost like looking at a fusion of the two of them. Girouette had always said that he would be with her in spirit. She had never realized how true it would be. For the red hue of the clothes that she was wearing was identical to Girouette's own, and her hair was the exact same shade of strawberry blonde that his were. Tears threatened to fall down her eyes. How on earth had Luca known?

"Miss Aile?" Luca questioned, looking worried as she glanced at Aile. "Is something wrong? Do you not... like the outfit?"

Tearing her gaze away from the mirror, Aile turned to Luca. "No... No. This is wonderful. I don't know how you knew, but these clothes are absolutely perfect. Thank you..." She wiped her tears away. Luca looked a little concerned at the fact that Aile had been crying, but was happy about the fact that Aile had liked her suggestions. "I'm afraid that I need to hurry, though." Prairie had mentioned something about a briefing at 1600 hours, and it was 1530.

After receiving another outfit the exact same size ("Here, this green one will look good on you too, with this light-brown hair chip. Come back later and tell me what you think!"), Aile thanked Luca, picked up the bag containing her groceries and the second bag containing both her old and new clothes, and quickly departed out of Luca's house.

---

When Aile made it back to Guardian HQ, everyone stared at her. Finally, Model Z floated up to her, and said gently, "Didn't we tell you that Girouette's spirit is with you?"

She smiled at the Livemetal, nodding. "Yeah."