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She was coming back.
The signals had come through. Traces of a spacecraft had been located just a few hundred miles away. It was theirs. The one they'd built together, poured so much time, metal, and oil into. The one that he never thought he'd see ever again.
The ship was approaching earth, and would likely be landing close to or even on the island in a matter of hours. He just needed to sort out a few details, and he'd likely be able to predict where it would land so he could wait for her arrival on the spot.
“If we factor in terminal velocity, air resistance, and her ability to steer correctly, she should end up landing in…”
He typed in the details to the console, pressed enter, waited for the results, and-
“TomorrowWorld.”
She'd be landing in the TomorrowWorld attraction area. Somewhere between Super City and the Starr Force base. Fitting, given their first ever test subject for the ship resided there.
It would be quite the pilgrimage from the observatory to Tomorrowland, but as it stood, the ship wouldn't be landing for another hour and a half. He could get there in time.
He checked over his appearance one more time, making sure everything was in order. His systems were at peak function, his suit was as pristine as could be, and his telescope eye, despite being misty with tears, sparkled with a certain knowing excitement.
“I'll be there soon, Nebula.”
…
It was an odd and somewhat scary experience stepping out of the observatory for anything besides a drink from Barley's, but no amount of fear could deter Cosmo from his mission. He'd made treks to Town Square and back on less fuel, and TomorrowWorld was much closer than that, so he figured he wouldn't have too much difficulty.
As he walked through the bustling streets of Super City to the approximate location of the ship’s landing zone, he couldn't help but remember the words she'd said to him before she blasted off.
“Save it for when I come back.”
The “it” in that equation referred to what he wanted to tell her before she left. He'd been holding on to those words for so long, the desire to tell her building inside him like a Mars-bound sandstorm. To be able see her again, hear her voice, feel her fingers touch his face and send sparks through his whole system, it was going to be something special.
He was undoubtedly excited, but worry also plagued him. What if she'd changed during her trip? What if she wasn't the same droid she was before she left? Would she still care about him the way she did before take off?
A staggering sense of dread ran through his circuits, stopping him from moving entirely. He stood frozen in place, his joints locking up in a state of intense, paralyzing fear. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. He couldn't even think or process anything. His system burned, overloaded with all manner of terrible possibilities. He felt faint.
“Look, up in the sky! What is that?!”
The shriek of a confused passerby snapped him out of his panicked state with the force of a lightning bolt. The next thing he knew, a crowd of people were running past him, desperate to get away from whatever was falling towards them. In that moment, with a split-second’s worth of thought running through his processor, Cosmo regained himself. He knew what he had to do.
His joints returned to their normal working state, and he ran against the crowd, pushing passed terrified visitors and brawlers alike. Up ahead, Surge and Max were trying to escort people to safety, which left them completely oblivious to Cosmo's presence. Perfect. As the last of the crowd ran past him, he finally reached his destination; a large fourway intersection. It was a good thing no cars drove through here, or this would be a disastrous landing spot.
After a moment of regaining himself, Cosmo turned his gaze to the sky above him, and sure enough, a large, beautiful spaceship was heading straight to the earth. It had to be her. There was no way it couldn't be. He couldn't take his eye off the spaceship, THEIR spaceship, as it careened towards the ground. Closer and closer and-
…
The ensuing crash shook the ground around the impact zone to its very foundation, sending pieces of asphalt and metal flying in all directions. Cosmo's vision completely blanked for a full minute when the ship connected with the ground. It was only after the ringing in his audio sensors stopped did he manage to recalibrate enough for his vision to return.
And when it did, the first thing he saw, leaning against the spaceship, helmet removed and looking only slightly worn, was-
“NEBULA!!”
Cosmo ran forward as if his whole body was on autopilot, straight to the side of the girl of his dreams. He slowed down as he got close, letting her recalibrate on her own time. She did, and once her focus was regained, she looked up, meeting his eye.
“Cosmo?”
She remembered him.
In a moment of pure, unrestrained joy, Cosmo embraced her, holding her tightly and choking out small digital sobs.
“I love you.”
Nebula didn't react at first, still trying to recover her entire range of motion and function. She couldn't say anything that would capture what she felt in that moment. So instead, she just hugged him back, whispering the words in kind.
“I love you too.”
…
After the commotion of the initial landing had subsided, Cosmo and Nebula had gotten a ride back to the planetarium from Surge, as neither of them had any strength in them to walk. Once they were back inside the observatory, Cosmo helped her walk to the planet projection stage, setting her down and turning on the display to provide some nice atmosphere. For a time, the two sat together in silence, not really sure what to say. They'd been apart for so long, and surely there was a lot to discuss, but they didn't feel like talking about any of it. They were together again, and that was all that mattered for now.
“Cosmo?”
Nebula’s voice, as beautiful and earnest as it always was, got Cosmo's attention instantly. He turned to look at her, his telescope eye retracting to avoid hitting her face. “Yes, Nebula?”
She turned to look at him, smiling the same sweet smile he'd always adored seeing on her face. “I'm glad you saved those words for when I got back.”
Cosmo felt his metal heat up, his face gaining a few blush lines. “Ah, what do you mean by that?”
“The second you came up to me, you said you love me. Those were the best words I could ever hope to hear once I returned home.” She reached out her hand, sliding her thumb over his mouth and making sparks dance across his metal. “I love you, my dear.”
Cosmo just held her hand against his face, his eye shifting to display a heart in place of a normal pupil. “I love you too, my shining star. I'm so happy you're back.”