Hi everyone, here's the sequel to Reminiscing that I promised. Standard disclaimers apply.

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Ebbing Tides

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The clock's tick-tocks echoed in her vast office. At times, she thought her work would never end. It's been two years to the day that he left her. Everyday she was reminded of his absence, but it was the little things such as the swaying of the velvet window curtains to him scanning every possible weak spots in her security detail on political trips. Lately, tensions have been mounting between civilians and government officials on the overpopulation of the Earth again. She hated the thought of creating another round of colonies, where it would mean families being torn apart. The file gazed in front of her and within it; the majority of ESUN members already signed the papers. She picked up her fountain pen and quickly signed them without glancing at another sentence. The ESUN members had outmaneuvered her on this issue, but it was a chance they were willing to take to oust her from her position. All this time, they told her that a research facility was being built, but now the truth came to light. The facility is actually a colony. Right then, the vid phone alerted her of an incoming message. At that moment, she wanted to disappear from the world.

"Hello Minister Woods, what can I do for you today?" She remained seated at her desk.

The middle-age man looked at her gravely, "The council is getting restless. Have the papers been signed yet?"

Her blue eyes reflected defeat, "They have, I have them right here."

"I'm sorry Ms. Peacecraft, I tried to hold them off."

"It's all right, we have to complete tasks on a timely manner." She logged onto her laptop and clicked on the calendar. She couldn't believe the colony was almost complete. "According to Graves' proposal, the first phase should begin in two weeks with the installation of the live support systems. After that, the new residents can move in."

"I'll have my assistant come by and pick up the file from you later this evening."

Relena nodded in response, "I'll leave it at the front desk for him then. Goodnight, Minister Woods." She ended the conversation and returned back to the file she loathed the most at the moment. Not wanting to stay in her office, she grabbed the manila folder and dumped it at her secretary's desk.

"Anything wrong, Ms. Relena?" Cassie noticed a change in her employer's mood.

"The ESUN is going to have a big problem soon," the blonde paced to the coat rack and placed her light blue coat on. "If Minister Woods' assistant comes by, please give him that file," she pointed to it.

"All right, Ms. Relena, I'll make sure he receives it. Have a good night then."

"The same to you too."

Outside, the chilly temperature surrounded her and she walked towards the limo. The new driver was half asleep. She frowned and tapped against the driver's side window, "I'm walking home on my own," she shouted at the newbie driver.

"Ms. Peacecraft that's crazy," his eyes terrified that he did something wrong. "I won't fall asleep again."

"I'm all right, I need to clear my thoughts. Go home to your family, they need you." She took out her wallet and paid him for the night's trip.

"If you insist, thank you, ma'am." He tipped his hat and started the ignition.

Not long afterwards, she faced the crisp country air. The stars were barely piercing through the clouds. Behind her, she heard footsteps, "You can stop following me, Maxwell. I know it's you."

Pilot 02 came out of the shadows, "I thought I was getting better at this."

"Well you're not," the words stung him.

"Rough day at the office, Princess?"

"You can say that again," she continued to walk the mild uphill climb. "Cassie shouldn't have called you."

"I have orders from Lady Une," he mumbled. "I've heard what the ESUN is planning to accomplish. It's just plain stupid to start another war."

"It might just happen," she sighed in defeat. "The Terra Project was supposed to stop this in the first place. Instead, it didn't sit well with the officials at all." She heard her heels click on the asphalt surface.

Duo was about to open his mouth, trying to bring up Heero, but he decided not to. He feared that it might open old wounds again.

"You were about to say something, weren't you?" Relena felt the same weight in her heart. "It's about Heero, isn't it?"

His cobalt eyes stared down the road, "Yeah. I was wondering how you're holding up? With the workload of yours, Quatre was worried and told me to check on ya once in a while."

"I'm doing well as can be," she told him a lie and hid it well under her words. Inside, she felt her heart becoming heavier. She didn't know how long she could keep this game up of hiding her feelings and burying herself deep in her work. Milliardo gave the position back to her and she was glad that he gave her a distraction. At first it was a good plan, but now, the effects from the past two years were finally showing. For one thing, she lost her fight on the Terra Project to cap space colonization and the ESUN members are slowly turning away from her. With the recent passage by Graves, she knows the fallout will happen shortly to her and the ESUN.

"Princess, you-who?" Duo noticed she was deep in thought and waved his hand in front of her face.

"I'm sorry for spacing out," she smiled. "Well would you look at that," she caught the glimpse of her house finally. "Thanks for escorting me, Duo."

"No problemo," he happily led her to the front and made sure her faithful butler answered the door.

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The laptop's white haze glowed in the darken hotel room. Heero furiously typed away, hacking into several websites' firewalls and viewed what the "chat" was about. He already found the document that disclosed the research facility's true use. His eyes scanned the small font. The more he read, the more he became annoyed with Graves' decision. A few more quick hits, he found a mini disturbance within the ESUN council, where some of the members were requesting Relena to back down as president. As of now, he made a careful tab of who was vying for the position and the list included the top five members that were in succession for president. With all the data, he was leaning more towards Graves.

He followed more links and sub links on Graves. He was twenty-nine and graduated with a degree in political science. Heero continued to read the background info of his suspect and found out that both of his parents were involved with the government. They were lobbyists and tried to develop more funding for scientific advancement. Heero's eyes perked up for a bit and doted on the interesting find. The former Wing pilot perused farther and the dull words were the same all over again. He couldn't find a single smoking gun on Graves at all.

His thoughts wandered back to Relena. For the past two years, he followed her through satellite feeds and reports coming from Lady Une. He couldn't help but wonder if his "fake" death had been the cause of her downward spiral. The thought crossed his mind, but he quickly tossed the idea out. His trainings from Dr. J told him to eliminate all possible emotions and the people close to him; she was one of those people. In order to protect her, he needed to be out of her life.

He closed his laptop and flopped onto his bed with only his black shorts on. The air was stifling, but he couldn't get Relena out of his mind. No matter what he tried to do, an image of her smiling haunted him. "You're in deep, Relena. How are you going to get yourself out of this one?" His monotone voice nearly above a whisper and before long, he closed his eyelids.

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News of the demise of Relena's Terra Project slowly leaked out to the public in first few weeks after the papers were signed. Civilians were becoming anxious. They didn't want to find the letter requiring them to deport to space. The rules of having governmental officials living on Earth were starting to drive them crazy. Murmurs shifted through nations as to who would be the most affected by the space deportation. But to all of them, they didn't know that the cluster was already in its final phase of construction.

In the United States, everyone was panicking that they would be the likely targets. "I knew she couldn't handle it," a man looked up from his meal at a diner filled with worried customers. "We were better off in the past."

Another man shouted in the back, "You're wrong, mister. She's changed greatly and you don't realize it."

"I lost my son in the war!" he banged his ceramic cup against the table. "How does that add up? Tell me!" he screamed.

"We fight for what we believe in," his words spoke wisdom, but it didn't calm the fears at all. Everyone continued to look at the screen, waiting for the press conference of what Ms. Peacecraft had to say on the subject matter.

The breaking news alert flashed across the bottom of the screen and the news station diverted its feed to the conference. "Ladies and Gentleman. You all may be aware of my failure in getting the final phase of my Terra Reformation Project started. The ESUN has outmaneuvered me on this issue and has drafted their own plan." The audience at the diner along with the rest of the world held their breath. "I'm sorry to regret that a new phase of civilian displacement will begin in a matter of weeks. The Andromeda colony cluster will be situated in the alpha quadrant. The area is slightly further away from the L cluster. Please be aware that your respective governments will be sending the vouchers through the mail. Again, I'm truly sorry." The president of the ESUN quickly left the podium amidst an uproar of questions.

Minister Woods greeted her from behind the setup and gave her a pat on her shoulder. He went up to the podium and answered the dozen questions that were being fired back and forth. Relena walked over to the water dispenser and poured herself a glass. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lady Une and two other Preventers standing guard to ensure her safety. At that moment, they all knew she was a high security risk. She continued to sip on her glass of water and she then spoke up, "I'm going to the Andromeda cluster, once the residents move in." Lady Une shifted in her stance. "I know what you're thinking, I'm going and that's that."

"I'll have a Preventer team secure the area before your trip." Her eyes shifted to something in another room, "My sources already point out that the cluster is about finished."

"It's somewhat true," she tossed her cup in the trash bin and headed for the exit. "It's something that I didn't want."

Une nodded her head in agreement and lead the president to her limo, "Let's just hope nothing wrong will come out of this."

"That's just wishful thinking. I've learned from my mistakes. People won't sit quietly through this one, just like with war and the Mariemeia incident." She slid into her limo and out of the public's view. Within the comfort of her limo, two questions plagued her mind. Something isn't right at all. Why would the colony cluster be built this quick? The limo started to move and she watched the blurs of civilians' faces pass by her. She couldn't help but wonder if some of those people will be heading to space because of her. For the first time in a long while, she felt she had failed everyone in her mission.

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"Mr. Graves, a package came early this morning for you."

The third in succession to the ESUN grabbed the small parcel from his secretary. "Thank you," and he shut the door behind him. He quickly ripped open the small box and pulled out the mini disk that was inside. The disk was not bigger than an inch in diameter, yet it contained a highly valued secret. He slipped the disk into his own personal computer and clicked on the icon that popped up onto the screen. In an instant, a flash of data poured through, revealing the blueprints of a Gundam. With the Preventers patrolling on the usage of Gundanium, Graves had a team research on another possibility. For the past two years, his team perfected a synthetic metal with properties similar to Gundanium, but it was much lighter and had a different chemical composition. In essence, the Preventers won't discover the new metal at all, since they'll be focusing on Gundanium itself.

Graves continued to scan his mini project until a phone call interrupted him. "Sir, we have excellent news. The final phase has been completed and the zero system has been installed successfully."

"Well done, Dr. Anson." He immediately closed the connection and began to talk to himself, "And thank you, Dr. J," he mocked. "The Andromeda cluster will be the perfect distraction. Everything is in motion now. We have to eliminate Peacecraft before this goes on." He took the mini disk out of his computer and placed it in a secure lock box hidden in his desk. To him, he wanted the ultimate source of power on the battlefield. The resurrection of the Gundam will achieve his goal. With his secret project, it will surely dissolve the ESUN in a matter of months. In addition, the ties between nations will be rattled to their cores. Out of this chaos, he planned to push his image to the world and try to attain the rank of president for a new government. His eyes flashed with delight to thought that his dream can become reality.

He stepped out of his ESUN office and drove himself to an abandoned military base that was left from the previous war. The area was shrouded with scrapped metal and rusted trucks. To anyone, the area looked more like a metal junkyard than an abandoned base. He pulled into the large hangar and checked if anyone followed him. Once the area was cleared, he walked off to a nearby shaft and punched in the code. The rickety elevator went down a few floors. When the doors finally opened, he saw the metallic Gundam ahead of him. His eyes stared in awe in the majestic view of its beauty and potential.

"Mr. Graves, sir." A soldier saluted him. "Dr. Anson wasn't expecting you today." The soldier had a confused look.

"I know, but I had to see for myself." The ESUN politician continued to stare at the machine. "Has the testing begun for this model yet?"

"No sir."

Dr. Anson came from a side entrance and noticed Graves standing by the elevator shaft. She casually walked up to the group, "Mr. Graves, I wasn't expecting you to come today."

"Has the testing begun yet?"

"No sir, not yet. There are some glitches in the OS."

"We need to hurry on this matter." He became agitated by the setback, but decided to be cautious for now. "I'll give you a month."

"Thank you, sir." Anson gripped her pen in her pocket and she watched him re-enter the elevator shaft. She knew she couldn't fail him on this crucial part. All of the systems can be fixed, but there one major problem. It's finding the right person to withstand the zero system. According to Dr. J's early research, the zero system had destroyed his test subjects' minds. The system that she installed was the prototype to the actual system seen in Heero's Gundam. The dangers in using the zero system were there, but she couldn't pinpoint the exact magnitude of the prototype's effects.

She walked back over to the control panel that monitored all the current systems. In seconds, she brought up the OS of the Gundam and worked at the codes. The lateral movement systems finally worked properly and she then re-typed another code to enhance the intensity of the single light saber. She looked at the digital clock on the wall and smirked to herself, "If I keep this up, I'll have three weeks to find a test subject." Her emerald eyes glazed over the computer code as if it was a secondary language. In her teen years, she spent hours at the computer, cranking mini programs that were used in her robotics project. The first time she ever met Graves was at a technology exposition held at the ESUN headquarters. He became interested in her work on the massive code she created just to move a miniaturized Gundam. To her, he was a charismatic politician, who held an interest in improving the sciences. After the exposition, the two kept in constant contact and when she graduated from the university, Graves hired her to be his defensive specialist on his secret project. From that moment, she never really questioned him about the project, since she figured it was for national defense. In all, she was living out her dream in building a Gundam. She looked back at the clock and fifteen minutes had already passed. "Not bad for a day's work." Luckily for her, the codes were easy to reformat and with all the CS training, it finally paid off.

"Lyra, aren't you going to call it for a night?" Her assistant walked in with two cups of coffee.

"Just about," she smirked and paused a brief moment to stretch out her fingers. She gladly accepted the hot drink. "We need to start testing on the zero system." Her emerald eyes were absorbed by the screen's contents, which showed Dr. J's research notes. "There's gotta be a clue here somewhere."

ooooo

Two more weeks had passed and the first wave of vouchers came through the mail. The vouchers were indiscriminate. At times, a whole street was required to move, while on another street, the residents were spared. Each passing day, people were more afraid to walk up to their mailboxes and pull the contents out of them. They didn't want to see the awful tan envelope. Josh looked out from his bedroom window of his family's two-flat house. He saw the postal worker making his way down his street. The familiar rev of the engine echoed about ten feet away. He lifted the blinds just to focus in on the family's mailbox. Already, some of his friends and their families were required to move into space in less than three weeks. Personally to him, he didn't want to go to space after studying the horrors from the Eve wars. He grew up on the Earth and he wanted it to stay that way. The idea of spending chilly nights up in the middle of nowhere didn't sit too well with him. Nevertheless, he thought space as an unforgiving environment. He could feel his heart race and he saw the postal worker putting mail into his family's mailbox. Once the letter carrier moved out of the way, the thirteen year old ran downstairs to retrieve the mail. The grass crunched under his weight. He didn't know if he should wait for his parents to come home, but he needed to know. His right-hand wavered as he took hold of the mailbox's contents, and he forced himself to look. "Thank God, not today," he wiped his brow. The sound of a front door closing turned his attention away for a moment, and he looked towards his old neighbor. The man gingerly opened the box and pulled out the single letter he received, the tan envelope.

Josh ducked back into his house and he peered through the screen door. Around the street, the same scene was being relived. The tan envelopes had finally invaded his neighborhood. He went to the family room and turned on the TV set. The words coming from the reporter were all a blur to him. For now, he counted his lucky stars, but wondered when his luck will finally run out.

Back at HQ, Une waited for Heero's incoming report. Before then, she authorized the security sweep at the Andromeda cluster before Relena's space flight. She didn't want to take anything to chance. Her Preventer teams were being spread too thinly around different countries and within space itself. She already sent Sally and Wufei into space to monitor the trafficking of Gundanium, while she sent Quatre to the Andromeda cluster to check on its infrastructure along with any possible problems requiring Preventers to intervene. A small beep alerted her of his call. "What's the update, Yuy?"

"The same news here as there."

Une could see that he was in a small outdoor café. "Any possible threats yet?"

"No." He quickly changed the subject, "Be on the lookout for Graves."

"What about him?" Une's eyes shifted in confusion.

"There's something about him." He continued to speak in his monotone voice.

She changed their conversation's direction, "Relena will be traveling to the new colony once the first wave of colonists arrive."

"Hn."

Une could see him reaching towards the wire that allowed their mini conference. In seconds, dead silence enveloped the screen. Heero's strange warning about Graves perplexed her. From what the Preventers have been following, Graves hasn't shown anything out of the ordinary yet. For now, she kept an eye out on the young politician, but she had other perplexing matters to handle first.

TBC