--November 13th, A.C. 198.

Seemingly half-asleep, nobody dared move as they gaped at the young woman in OZ. uniform who was slowly pushing through the crowd, heading toward the cemetery gates. Slipping inside, she almost automatically headed toward a marble tombstone near the very back of the cemetery, under an ancient yew tree. As she drew closer, she noticed that the marker was topped with a black-winged angel holding a beam scythe.

Shaking her head, she chuckled quietly to herself. Oh yes, he'd love the irony there. she thought.

Finally, she was directly beside it, and kneeling, she was able to read the inscription:

Prince Milliardo Peacecraft

(A.C. 175-197)

Sighing sadly, the officer reached into her jacket and placed a single, black rose on the cold earth before the stone. Bowing her head so that her long, platinum blonde hair covered her face, she rose to her feet. Unlike many who had come there in the past; she didn't weep…she had long ago given up weeping as an inconvenience. Instead, she merely closed her deep, cobalt eyes and whispered her sorrow into the wind. "I'm sorry, Milliardo, my brother…who would have guessed that peace would be more deadly to you than any war ever was?"

Milliardo Peacecraft, ex-OZ. officer, and only son of the Peacecraft family had been killed in an accident shortly after he had left for Mars, along with his long-time friend and confidant, Lucrezia Noin. The exact circumstances of his death remained a mystery, and he was brought back to Earth and buried in the cemetery alongside his best friend and commander, Treize Khushrenada, whose body had never been recovered. It was to this marker that the young woman now turned.

Leaning close to the stone, she smiled to see that it had been simply engraved with a red rose entwined around a long, slender rapier. Standing, she managed to perform a curt bow as she silently read the inscription:

Treize Khushrenada

(A.C. 171-195)

Straightening back up, she dropped a small, red rose on the grave. Still smiling, she shook her head slowly, "'Twas a bold sacrifice you made that day Commander…if only the rest of the world truly knew how bold it was…"

The woman was Amethyst Peacecraft, the eldest daughter of the late King Peacecraft of the Sanc Kingdom. She was a bizarre sight to look at, to say the least. She had her elder brother's long, platinum hair, as well as his fine, nearly elven features, yet at the same time; she shared her younger sister's deep, cobalt blue eyes.

Like her brother, she had once been a Knight of the Sanc Kingdom, but when she and her siblings were exiled, she quickly consented to become not only one of OZ.'s best pilots, but Treize's personal spy and assassin; an occupation for which her ingenious mind and icy demeanor were well suited. Naturally, Amethyst had very few friends; these few being her brother, Milliardo (Zechs Merquise at the time), Treize Khushrenada, and Noin, who she treated as a sort of after-mission confidant.

Sensing movement behind her, she rested her hand on her sword hilt, but didn't turn to meet the potential threat. Finally, after a long moment of silence, a familiar voice spoke up, "I figured I'd find you here, Amethyst."

The young heir didn't even bother to turn around, "Of course I'm here Noin…this is where my brother is." Suddenly, she turned to face her companion, "What's on your mind? You look worried."

Like many of the people Amethyst had known, Noin hadn't change very much since the war. Perhaps her grayish eyes were a bit more mournful-looking than they had once been, and perhaps her voice seemed a little weary with loss, but she remained otherwise the same as when Amethyst had first met her three years ago.

She shook her head and glanced at her watch, "Well? What do you want?"

Noin shrugged, "It seems that Miss Relena and Lady Une are worried for your safety or something like that…"

Amethyst laughed bitterly, "Heh…evidently they don't know me well enough to remember that if I so much as twitch, heads roll." She snapped her fingers, and narrowing her eyes, turned back toward the graves, "What need have I of protection?"

Noin smiled up at her friend, "Not much, to be sure…" She sighed, "However, Une and your sister don't seem to know that, and have assigned to you a small group of body-guards, who I'm supposed to introduce you to when we get to the palace."

The ex-assassin grimaced, "Wonderful…that's just great…a whole damn troop of them!"

Noin shook her head, "Don't worry about it…they know you can defend yourself. I'm sure you guys will get along fine…"

Amethyst shrugged, "Very well, I'll go."