LadyHammer: w00t w00t, it's me again! I'm having fun putting Axl in these crazy little predicaments, so, I'm back to do it again! And I luff Palette! I haven't really gotten a chance to play much of X8 yet, but geezus, I luff her! She's so cute n' fiestay! xD Anyway... this was a cute idea I had. It's gonna be pretty dramatic... lol as in 'soap opera' dramatic... but it'll be like... a soap opera comedy. A really weird one. And a really cute one. Teehee I just can't wait till I get the rest of the plot in! Wheee!

Disclaimer: I dun own nobody. Capcom does. HAH YOU CAN'T SUE ME NOW! Oh wait, I do own Ribbon, tho... yeah, but that's about it, I think...

I yawned and lazily tossed around in my bed, refusing to wake up. It was such a nice, warm and fuzzy morning, and I didn't want to wake up. The sun shone delicately through my window, and the sunlight poured all the way across the room. A patch of light was over my waist underneath my soft blanket, and I gazed dreamily to the ceiling. The warm morning sun's warmth flooded over me and I broke into a content smile. The morning was perfect. Too bad I was on duty in half an hour.

Or, maybe in this instance, now…

"AXL!"

I gave a groggy sigh and pushed myself out of bed, putting on an annoyed, smug face as I walked over to my door, my dusty blue blanket still slung over me. There was a heavy knocking at the door, and a pounding in the back of my head formed a matching beat. If I wasn't mistaken, a very irritated navigator was behind my bedroom door.

I pressed a button on the keypad on the wall, and the door slid open to reveal a very frustrated looking short blonde girl. Her tiny eyebrows expressed a very fed-up emotion. One was cocked high, and the other one sunk down right over one of her blue eyes. Her blonde hair was tightly pulled back into a hardly noticeable bun at the nape of her neck, and she was dressed for duty except for her unusually large headset. I wonder what it was I had done this time.

"Do you have ANY idea… OOH, you're in so much trouble…" she muttered, staring up at me. I pouted, feeling sort of helpless and confused. I didn't want to get in trouble… I didn't do anything!

"What did I do?" I asked meekly. Palette wasn't a girl you wanted to get in a tangle with when she was in an irritated mood. Trust Zero… he's been in one of those tangles before. Him and Palette don't talk much anymore.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Palette exclaimed, throwing her arms up in astonishment. "HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW?"

"… I think I missed something…" I mumbled with a sigh. I fidgeted with the end of my long, loose tank top, wanting desperately to return to my warm bed under the sunlight.

"Oho! You seem to have forgotten! You're coming with me, mister!" Palette said snobbishly, grabbing onto my ear and pulling me out of my doorway and dragging me down the halls.

"OW! Palette, stop! Lemme go! I didn't do anything!" I yelped, running behind her in hopes of stopping the pain searing in my poor ear. How degrading…

Palette didn't say a further word, and continued to march down the halls in her stuffy mannerisms, her nose up in the air. The other late morning reploids on duty who were in the hall glanced at me and sighed in sympathy, continuing to go their ways. How rude! Can't even help a guy out, can they…?

I ended up being pulled into an office where Signas, Layer, and Alia were all waiting for me. It seemed that Palette was supposed to go in, too, but she was so miffed she marched right back out after shoving me in the room. Alia stifled a laugh, seeing me still in my sleep clothes, probably looking pretty ridiculous in a white tank top 2 sizes too big, and a pair of long dark red shorts. My hair wasn't too nice looking either, not that I kept it well groomed, anyway. Wisps of stray orangish brown hair were all over the place, and my bangs were having a hard time finding their way out of my groggy, tired eyes.

"We're sorry about this, really…" Signas started in a spiritless tone, giving an annoyed sigh. "But she insisted."

"Just goes to prove a few points, actually…" Layer said with a shrug, looking towards the ceiling, pushing her long violet bangs out of her topaz eyes. Alia couldn't keep a giggle in any longer.

"Poor Palette… if only she could realize it…" she muttered to Layer, her words coming out a bit more audible than expected, however. I guess by now I was helplessly confused. No, way beyond that. What was going on?

"Umm… is asking questions pretty much… out of the question right now?" I asked, giving an uneasy frown and looking off to the side. Signas gave a very amused chuckle.

"I think this is better under your interpretation rather than ours, Axl. We wouldn't want to start some 'he-said-she-said' game, here…" he replied. I cocked an eyebrow. Nothing was making any sense. Signas pressed a button on the office desk, and a panel on the wall slid up to reveal a large screen and a keypad next to it. He pressed a few things on the pad, and finally, a list showed up on the screen.

"What's that?" I asked. By now, both Layer and Alia were trying to stifle their girlish giggles, leaving me standing here like a clueless, feeble moron. I couldn't help but feel a little bit embarrassed. Signas cleared his throat and began pointing to things on the screen.

"This is a chart showing which navigators you, X, and Zero chose for various areas of investigation and other tasks you've had to carry out. Notice your column…" he said. Alia sat on her hands, curious as to what I might make of this, while Layer just laid back in her chair and smirked.

AXL -

Sector :Spotter:
RFOREST5 . . . . . . .PALETTE
BFOREST01. . . . . .PALETTE
99TROPIC. . . . . . . .PALETTE
DES-176. . . . . . . . .ALIA
DES-176-2. . . . . . . .ALIA
005TROPIC. . . . . . .LAYER
COAST550. . . . . . . .ALIA
WRHSE8. . . . . . . . . .LAYER
AREA8711-R. . . . . . .RIBBON
59540LAB. . . . . . . . .ALIA
COAST006. . . . . . . . .ALIA
LAB-FAL4. . . . . . . . . .ALIA

I looked at the list with a bewildered look upon my face. So? What was this supposed to mean? I hope it's got nothing to do with that one sector the 5th Unit's navigator had to help us with. That was a one time thing. And Palette was the only one who didn't like Ribbon.

"… I don't get it," I said finally. Layer smirked and stood up, patting me on the back.

"It's okay, kid," she said, moving her bangs out of her face again. I looked up at her with very sarcastic face.

"You only call me that 'cause Zero occasionally does," I remarked. Too bad Layer's bangs weren't longer. They might have been able to hide her blush.

"Hey. It's catchy. But see how many times you've had Palette help you with a sector?" she asked, pointing to the list of spotters on my column.

"Yeah. So? It's more than I've had you help me…"

I had a feeling I wasn't scoring real well with Layer this morning. She'd probably be shooting me a dirty look here or there today.

"C'mon. Try to understand this, okay? You're a smart kid, so make use of the impish little processor in your head, got it?" she replied once more. I folded my arms.

"Sure."

"Alright, then. How many missions does this list display? 12? You've had Palette's help three times, mine two, Ribbon's once, and Alia's six times. Palette's pissed beyond pissed. This matter is for some reason now glorified, BY HER," she explained calmly. I'm surprised she hasn't snapped at me yet. I always thought it'd be fun to try n' pick at her for a day just to see if she really could get angry.

"So? Why's it such a big deal?" I asked. Alia giggled.

"It's okay, Layer, he doesn't understand," she said. Signas rolled his eyes.

"Guess that's what I get for having a vast majority of female navigators," he said. "Gossip out the wazoo."

"Where's the wazoo?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow. Alia broke out in another giggle fit at my either naivety or immaturity. Or, most likely, both.

"Never mind. Ask Zero. You'd best be off to get ready for your tasks, today. Zero's leading his unit into a costal area we haven't charted, yet. Normally, we'd have you, him, and X go through the area first, but it was under an already tranquil-charted area, so I'm sure it won't be much of a big deal. I'd like it if you followed him out there, today. I've noticed you're a bit clumsy in the rockier areas… maybe you can learn a thing or two out there, today," Signas replied. "It'll be good for you."

I sighed, shrugging.

"Whatever," I replied. "If one of you decides to fill me in on what Palette's deal is, I'll be with Zero, I guess."

And then, simple as that, I exited the room. Palette had been standing outside the room the whole time, her arms folded and her face still smug and her nose in the air. I looked back at her in a way I wasn't expecting. My jade green eyes made contact with her slightly glassy azure ones, and I gave her a look that felt like a sincere, calm, sympathetic apology. I don't know if she took it all in or not, but whatever it was I did, I felt kind of bad. I hadn't meant to make her so upset. I turned away and made my way back down the halls.

Yaaay chapter two is on it's way! Things aren't really plotified yet, but I think is a good intro to the plot. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think! It's in that lil' drop down menu thingy over there! The one on the bottom left corner of your screen:D I'd love to hear what ya have to say.