Episode 13

"They're tiny fragments of memories. It's white, cold and filled with things unknown, but it's beautiful. In the outside world that I felt for the first time, I heard a voice calling to me from somewhere. And before my eyes, a warm hand was reaching out for me."

- Zero Two The Beast and the Prince is the thirteenth episode of DARLING in the FRANXX.

Synopsis
An unusual phenomenon begins within Zero Two's body. It is mentally unstable by the influence, Zero two to expose hostile to shouts more than ever. Even the words of Hiro, a partner, were getting out of reach. In the middle of such a fight, Hiro connects deeply with the consciousness of Zero Two and catches a glimpse of the memory that flows from there. It was a memory of their childhood, Hiro remembers that they had once met when she was nameless and unable to speak.

Plot
Nana warns that Hiro's and Zero Two's consciousnesses will connect through Strelizia and merge.

Zero Two narrates that her small room was the entirety of her world. Hiro narrates that the Garden was the entirety of his. Zero Two adds that, one day, she went outside for the first time. Though Zero Two says that she can't forget, Hiro says he'd forgotten completely. She says she can remember the vastness of the outside and how warm the hand she held was, or the promise they made.

Zero Two wonders who she is, though she never crossed her mind as a child. She was trapped in her room for as long as she could remember. Though she felt like I had even older memories, but she soon forgets about them.

When a person enters, Zero Two says that she was probably a stand-in-mother. She would bring her food and pet her head. One day, for the first and only time, she brought her something that wasn't food. Though she tries to eat and break it at first, her "mother" flips open the page and Zero Two begins looking at it.

Is is amazed by its bright colors and different shapes. Though it had words, she couldn't read. After that day, she never showed up again. The book was her first "pretty thing." She was sure the outside world surely had many more. She adds that she was half right. She is unshackled and dragged out of her room.

Hiro too wonders who he is. In contrast, he says that he always thought about it. He was in the Garden for as far back as he could remember. They lived there to become parasites who would fight for Papa and the others. All children were referred to by their code numbers. The lower the number, the higher the child's potential as parasite. The double-digits up to 099, especially the teens in particular, were given special treatment. Hiro was one of them, and he was told he was special, unlike everyone else.

When Hiro tosses a ball, it rolls into Ichigo's feet. She sits crying and doesn't look up. Ichigo wonders if she's strange, since everyone else has stopped showing emotion, though she continues to cry and says she wants to be like everyone else. She asks if she should get more injections. Hiro says that their codes ae in the teens, so they were different from the others to begin with. She says she doesn't want that and being different is scary.

Hiro sits beside her and asks if she wants a name since he gave himself one. He says his name and says she'll feel better if she has a name like him, so he names her "Ichigo." He says that having a name makes it feel okay to be different. She is amazed and asks if he can name the others. He begins naming the other children, including Mitsuru.

Two adults enter and says that they can't change their designation without permission. Hiro politely asks what the problem is. The adults realize he's one of the teens and simply tells him not to just do as he please before leaving. Hiro thinks that they never answered his questions and no other children ever asked any.

The children watch as the adults pack up one of the beds. Hiro narrates that children were gradually disappearing from the Garden at regular intervals, though the adults wouldn't tell them why. Hiro was designated a special research subject and underwent tests at the Lab all by himself. If he did well, he was given a reward. One day, after testing, he witnesses Zero Two being dragged along for testing.

Dr. FRANXX looks over her and notes that she's leagues better than all of their past specimens and can't believe she developed such a human form.

A laser is centered on her palm and when it fires, she screams in pain. Dr. FRANXX is amazed at how quickly her skin regrows. Petrified, Hiro turned away. An Adult spots him and escorts him to his room. He asked who that girl was but no Adult would reply. That was when he took matters into his own hands. Unwilling to watch the girl suffer anymore, Hiro packed a portable searchlight and scaled one of the trees near her cell. She had just gone through testing and is now curled up in a corner. Hiro shouts and slings his searchlight at the window. Shattered glass carpeted the floor. Hiro reached his hand out through the broken window and the girl grabs it. While they were on the run, Hiro named her Zero Two, helped her learn many things and molded her personality. He eventually promised he'd marry her and become her Darling, making Zero Two cry out of joy and hug him. But their happiness was cut short when APE officers managed to catch them and wipe their memories away. After recovering their once lost memories through syncing in Strelizia, Zero Two and Hiro stare at each other with tears in their eyes, realizing they have finally found their lost love.

Appearances

 * Zero Two
 * Hiro
 * Ichigo
 * Mitsuru
 * Dr. FRANXX
 * Goro

Links

 * Official Website

Episodio 13