Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids or the characters in it, but I do own the plot. Happy now?

A/N: Three updates in roughly a month and a half? That's a record, I say. I am impressed with myself. Anyway… this is it. I've truly enjoyed this journey and playing with the characters has been so much fun! I hope you readers have enjoyed this story as much as I have, and I hope to contribute more to his fandom in the future. So… enjoy!

Chapter 11: Confessions, Part 3

Wind Colony Hospital, Wind Colony, Central Continent of Delpoi, Planet Zi – September 13, 9:45 PM

When Irvine reached Moonbay's hospital room, he saw that a nurse had just finished checking on her. From what he could see, Moonbay was propped up against a few pillows and she looked pale… which seemed unnatural to Irvine.

"Well, Moonbay, it appears that there is no concussion. That means that you'll be out of here in a few days. Until then, just take it easy, especially with that arm, and nothing stressful, okay?" At Moonbay's nod, the nurse smiled and left, glancing curiously at Irvine as she walked past him. Ignoring the look sent his way, Irvine stepped into the hospital room.

Moonbay looked up, and Irvine couldn't even begin to describe how glad he was that he got to see Moonbay's eyes again. "Irvine, hi."

"Hey yourself, Moonbay," Irvine replied, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the bed and, pulling up a chair sat down, and for a few minutes silence reigned.

"Moonbay," Irvine began, and when Moonbay looked at him curiously he continued, "Why were you in the Saix when McMann attacked you?"

Moonbay looked down, not sure how to phrase her answer. "Well, when McMann came back and tried to talk to me, I panicked. I hit and scratched him, then ran. I was originally going to go and sit in my Gustav, but then I saw the Lightning Saix, and I felt like I would be safer with him. I climbed up into the cockpit, tearing my dress, and once inside I couldn't hold it in anymore. I felt like I'd wrecked Van and Fiona's day, and I just let everything out. Your Zoid's a good listener, Irvine; maybe you should copy him sometime." Irvine ignored the jab, causing Moonbay's grin to fade. "Listen, Irvine. I- I shouldn't have allowed your Saix to take me out of the colony; I actually tried to get him to stop, but he wouldn't. It seems he was determined to help us both out by getting rid of the problem."

Irvine sighed and, running a hand through his already messed up hair, he said, "Moonbay, I don't blame you for any of this. If anything, McMann's the one to blame, and to be honest, I couldn't be happier. We caught him, and he's going to jail. When Rudolph gets through with him, he'll probably not see the light of day for the rest of his life." Moonbay sighed in relief, which drew Irvine's eyes up to meet hers. They held this position for a minute, until Moonbay averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"Don't do that," Irvine said, causing Moonbay to start and turn to look at him.

"Don't do what?" Moonbay asked, genuinely confused.

"Don't act all coy like you don't know how you feel," Irvine responded, causing Moonbay's heart to beat faster. What was he saying exactly? Did this mean what she thought it meant?

Almost as if reading her mind, Irvine said, "Moonbay, when I found you in the Saix' cockpit, you were unconscious, your arm was at a weird angle and you were bleeding from a head wound. I can't tell you how scared I was that I'd… that I'd lost you forever." Moonbay gasped, but Irvine ignored her and continued, "Then, when I was watching you here in this damn hospital, I remembered all of the times before when we were separated by one thing or another, and especially when I thought I lost you when you tried to break off our friendship. Why did you do that, by the way?"

Moonbay sighed, and running her uninjured hand over the arm cast she now sported, she replied, "When McMann and I first got engaged, everything was great. I really thought he was the one for me. Then, when I came back one day from a routine delivery, he flipped out and began yelling at me, accusing me of cheating on him with you. I told him that he didn't know what he was saying, and that I would never cheat on him. I loved him. He didn't listen and threatened to come and kill you if he ever caught us together. I began to lessen our contact so that McMann wouldn't know where you were and try to come kill you. I really did it to protect you, and I acted like nothing was wrong otherwise, because I didn't want you to be all macho and save me; I could do it myself."

"You did do that, Moonbay. You got away from that bastard safely, and stayed away."

"Yeah, for a while. Then, when the Imperial Army was chasing us, he appeared and saved us. I thought he'd changed, and in order to keep us away from the eyes and ears of the Imperials, I did what he asked, including dancing with him. I knew you were there, by the way." She threw a grin at Irvine, and was pleased when she saw that he had a slightly shocked look on his face. "I made sure to keep his attention on me so that he wouldn't notice you there, but after you'd left he asked me to stay with him, telling me he'd changed. When I asked him if he was okay with you and me being friends, he vehemently said no, telling me that if he ever saw the two of us together again after he left, he'd kill you. I told him no then and there, and around you guys, he acted like he was okay with it, and I went back to give him one last kiss to tell him good-bye forever."

Moonbay's voice turned bitter. "Of course, he didn't accept that, and so began stalking me. I never told you guys for the same reason that I never told you about him before. I wanted to protect you guys, and since I could really never do it from a Zoid cockpit, I did it by keeping silent." She turned away, afraid of what she'd see on Irvine's face.

Irvine remained silent for a minute then, gathering his courage, reached out a hand and turned Moonbay's chin so that she was facing him, causing her chocolate orbs to widen. "What you did, Moonbay, is just like you – you're like a big sister, doing her best to protect all of us."

Moonbay jerked her face away, doing her best to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes. "Is that all you see me as, Irvine? Do you just see me as a sister that needs protecting?"

"No, Moonbay," Irvine reached out again, and this time with both hands framed Moonbay's face, his courage rising with Moonbay's words. "That's not all I see you as. I see you as my best friend, as an excellent transporter, a horrible singer," this caused a snort of disbelief from Moonbay, "but the most important thing that I see you as is the woman… the woman that I love." Irvine ran his fingers over Moonbay's face, brushing the tears off her face.

Moonbay stared into Irvine's gray eyes, absentmindedly noting that he didn't have his eye patch on, and she saw that he was being sincere; that got to her more than anything else. "You- you really mean that, Irvine?"

Irvine smirked and said, "Of course I do, Moonbay. Why would I tell you otherwise?"

Moonbay grinned and said, "Well, Irvine, if you're going to be honest, than so am I. I love you too, Irvine, and I'm sorry that it took me so long to figure it out." Irvine grinned and pulled Moonbay closer, kissing her. Moonbay wrapped her good arm around Irvine, trying to pull him closer, and Irvine took the hint, getting up so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. When they pulled apart, both were breathing heavily, and Moonbay was grinning so wide that she thought her face was going to freeze in its current position.

Irvine pulled Moonbay into a hug, and leaned down so that he could whisper, "Well, 'bay, I guess it'll be you and me from now on, right?"

Moonbay looked up and said, "Yeah, Irvine. It'll be you and me. Oh, and Irvine? Care to teach me how to pilot your Saix?"

Irvine's grin faded, and he replied, "I don't know. He's picky about who he lets pilot him."

"I piloted him just this afternoon!"

"Not that well; he just let you think you were piloting him."

Irvine and Moonbay began bickering about the issue, insults and retorts flying across the room rapidly. When Van and Fiona came to check on Moonbay, they saw that the two were involved in a friendly argument, and turned to grin at each other.

"Well, I guess those two worked it out after all," Van commented, placing an arm around Fiona's shoulder.

Fiona sighed and leaned against Van, her eyes noting how happy the two looked. "Yes, they did. What a day, huh? We got married, McMann almost killed Moonbay, he's going to jail for life without parole, Irvine and Moonbay got together, Raven and Ryss were actually more civil to each other than usual, and I think your sister found a potential love interest."

At this Van looked at Fiona in surprise. "What?! She didn't tell me that! Who is it?"

"I'm not telling you; you'll have to find out on your own," Fiona replied, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She moved away from Van as he tried to tickle her to get the answer out of her, and they played the game for a few minutes, stopping when they heard a throat clearing. Looking behind them, they saw a smirking Raven and smiling Ryss.

"Well, Flyheight, I think it's time we take our leave," Raven said, his eyes showing no danger to Van and Fiona. He was a little shocked when Ryss hit him on the arm. "What was that for?"

"Raven, you said that we would stay for a day or two. Don't break your promise!" Ryss exclaimed, her eyes boring into Raven's. Van was prepared to jump in and separate the two, but was rendered speechless when Raven sighed and looked away, conceding defeat.

Ryss grinned and looked at Fiona, saying, "Well, Fiona, looks like we all got what we wanted today, right?"

Fiona, catching on to Ryss' words, smiled and nodded, adding, "Looks that way, Ryss. I have Van, Irvine and Moonbay have each other, and you have Raven."

Van remained speechless as he looked at Raven, who merely raised an eyebrow, asking if Van was going to do anything. When Van was able to close his mouth Raven commented, "Come on, Flyheight. Just because I was a killer doesn't mean that I don't have a heart."

Van began laughing, which caused Raven's eyebrow to lift further. "It's just too funny that all of this would happen on today of all days!"

Fiona smiled. "I agree, Van. What are the chances?"

Ryss looked at Raven, who looked back, and added, "This may sound cliché, but today's been a changing day in all our lives."

Van nodded and added, "Yeah. It's like we've been moving along some kind of rhythm the whole day, and it's led us here."

Irvine chose that moment to stick his head out the door and said, "Are you four going to stand there or come in and see how Moonbay's doing?"

Fiona and Ryss were first through the door, with Van and a reluctant Raven following. As the six began talking in Moonbay's hospital room, they all came to one conclusion – that day had been one weird day, and the only thing that described it was that they had been moving to a certain rhythm, which had eventually led them to where they were now: a happy ending.