I know, I'm crazy for doing another story. But I put an A/N at the bottom to clear a few things up. Read and enjoy people! And feel free to tell me if I get anything wrong.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. You mean I do? REALLY? I . . . I don't . . . ? (cries) That was mean!

Chapter 1

I was ecstatic. But, then again, so was the rest of my class. The teachers had finally noticed most, if not all, of the kids' fascination with anime. But there was one that seemed to hold the most interest. Gundam Wing. It was a story of hardships and honors earned; of sacrifice and reward. Not to mention the hotties.

But there were those fans that took it to the extreme, learning the different styles of combat, guns, and hacking. I'm proud to say I'm one of them. But, ssh, it's a secret.

Allow me to blah, blah, blah. Yeah, I'll just cut to the chase. My name is Chalamar Nausica, and I am a full blooded Egyptian. A few years before I was born, my parents immigrated to America. Because of this, I have an American accent, but am still able to speak my native tongue, much to everyone's' enjoyment. It made me popular. I hate popular. I'm a quiet person who, ironically, doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut. I don't like a lot of attention directed at me. So, coincidentally, I guess I'm considered snobby and possibly a little stuck up. Okay, in some cases, really stuck up, but that's beside the point. But I do have one true friend. Jeriah Skitson, a full blooded American through and through. He's about two months older than me and we've known each other since we were really little. So, like . . . forever.

"Hey, Chal. What are we doin' here again?"

Sad to say, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Jeriah, unfortunately, suffers from OJS, otherwise known as Oblivious Jackass Syndrome. He's as bad as I am, not really caring what other people say or think, unless it concerns the other. We've been friends for so long, that we're practically family. We even did that blood bond thing where you take a cup of whine and you each put a drop of your blood into it, then drink it. Yeah, we might be considered a little insane. But if you think about it, who isn't? That doesn't really matter, I still love him.Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

"We're getting a tour of the biggest anime enterprise in the U. S. I can't wait till we get to the Gundam Wing wing. No pun intended, I assure you," I answered, practically bouncing on my feet in line.

"Oh. What's Gundam Wing?" he asked.

The line moved forward a ways, but I stayed glued in my spot. I turned my face toward him, my eyes mockingly big and mouth agape. "You mean to tell me, that you've never heard of Gundam Wing?"

He smirked and shook his head. "Nopers."

The line once again moved forward and this time we moved with it. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders (the perks of being 5' 11"), practically dragging him along. "My dear, dear Jer. You have much to learn of the ways of the Gundam world."

Sissy, the richest and preppiest bitch that ever walked the halls of Moonscape High, stepped up right behind us as I said that. "Yeah, like how unintelligent freaks usually die in the first or second episode."

I faked a laugh. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha. That's so funny!" She smiled smugly. "You know what else is funny?" I asked, completely serious. Jeriah grinned, knowing I would come up with some smartass remark that would likely get me in detention. Again. But that was only if they heard me say it and I couldn't come up with some half-ass lie.

She shook her head, that smug smile still in place. "What?"

"The bottom of my foot connecting with your ass." I turned around and faced the front again. Jeriah snickered, nudging me with his elbow. I looked back and smirked a little. The brunette looked like she was about to blow a gasket.

"Why, you . . . you . . . " she started, her fists clenched at her sides.

I raised my eyebrows. "Yes? I'm sorry, are you having trouble? Do you need a new computer chip? I hear they upgraded the latest edition. You can now reduce the amount of bullshit that comes out of your mouth."

Her face got red and she stalked to me. I tensed, ready to kick some ass, when the teacher let out an announcement that I wouldn't have missed if Sissy had ripped my ears off and fed them to her cat.

"We are now entering the Gundam Wing exhibition. Feel free to look around and participate in the various activities they have."

My eyes lit up and I was suddenly acting like my counterpart personality, which, unfortunately for many people (including myself) was basically a cat. My head and eyes moved quickly, stopping here and there for short periods of time, and I scurried from exhibit to exhibit. I spotted two cubicles I wanted to visit, each involving the drawing of anime characters. One was when you were in a contest to see who could draw one of the pilots or other characters the best and the fastest. The other was when you got to become an anime character paired up with the character of your choice.

"Oh, oh. Which to choose, which to choose," I said, hopping up and down on the balls of my feet. Jeriah laughed and grabbed my arm, tugging me to the cubicle where the contest was being held. Guess that solved that problem . . . .

"C'mon, Chalamar. Time to show these guys how to draw anime." He practically shoved--wait, did I say practically? I meant literally--me into one of the chairs, then stood back to watch me make a fool of myself.

I didn't like to be put under pressure. I started to sweat and my breathing got the slightest bit faster. My hands began to shake and I started to wiggle my leg continuously, sometimes bumping the table with my knee, much to everyone else's annoyance. Bad idea on their part, I just did it even more. I know, I'm evil.

"All right. Everyone ready? Here are the rules. You can draw any GW character you like. You have three minutes to do it, and the best drawing will win and you will get a plushie of the character you drew. Everyone ready? Get set . . . Go!"

The pencils flew and scratching of lead could be heard. I sighed and picked up my pencil, knowing exactly what I was going to draw. I began with the basics, drawing five body sketches. Then I added certain features, like fingers, hair and clothes. I put in the faces, each with different, yet appropriate expressions, and began shading. All of this took me about a minute and thirty seconds. I glanced around. Everyone else was still working on the faces and/or bodies. They weren't even close to shading yet. So I decided to add a little background, after all, they never said anything about not adding a background. So I drew a few of the Gundams in, followed by a streak of light. Then I drew in a few stars. Once I finished that, I filled in the empty space to create . . . well, space. As the finishing touch, I put my initials in the armor of Wing Zero. Blowing on the paper to get any excess lead off so it wouldn't smear quite so badly, I lay down my pencil, pushed my drawing to the front of the table and leaned back, my arms behind my head and my ginger eyes closed.

A timer went off, signaling the end of the three minutes. "Time's up. We'll collect the drawings and decide which is best. It won't take long, so just sit and wait here." The man collected the drawings and walked away with a few of his associates. About forty-five seconds later, they came back. "All right. We've decided the winning sketch is this one with the five pilots and the space scene." He held up my drawing for all to see and there was a chorus of clapping.

He walked up to me and leaned down, my drawing still in his hand. "This is really very good. Would you mind if I blew this up and put it on display for the rest of the day?" he asked. I blushed at his praise and nodded. He grinned and walked away.

Jeriah came up to me and gave me a clap on the back. Hard. Good ol' Jer. Can always count on him to bring me to the brink of death due to oxygen loss . . .

"Ugh."

"Good job, Chal. I knew you would win. So, since you drew all five and the Gundams, do you get all five pilots and the three G's?"

"No clue," I answered. I walked away, heading toward the other exhibit. I was trying to decide who I wanted to be paired with when someone bumped into me from behind. Due to the combat training I forced myself to participate in when I discovered the wonderful legacy of the colonies, I hardly moved an inch. I mean, I couldn't not move at all, that would have just freaked the person out. That just shows how dense people in my school were . . . Course, now that I think about it, I don't know why I did move.

"Oh, excuse you." It was some jock from another school. You know the type: spiky hair, perfectly gelled; bulky muscles, and gorgeous eyes. Yup, I wanted to puke.

He continued walking past me. At the last second, I stuck my foot out, casually "leaning" on my other leg and putting my hand on my hip. He fell hard.

I looked down, appalled. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Here, let me help you." I reached down and he grabbed my hand, using it to pull himself up. When he was halfway there, his butt in the air and his legs turned in a somewhat odd position, I let go. Once again, his ass met marble. "Oops. My bad. I guess I slipped." I then turned back to my decision of pairings, ignoring him and the muttering that was being emitted from his mouth.

I finally gave up. I couldn't decide, so I didn't want to do it. I did know someone who would do it, whether he wanted to or not. "Hey, Jer. C'mere, I got something I want you to do for me." He walked over. Leaning down to whisper in his ear, I quietly said, "Payback's a bitch." I then shoved him in the chair.

He panicked, then looked at me, giving me a glare that could have rivaled Heero's. Was he lying when he said he'd never watched the show? But he had no choice, and I pointed to one of the girl characters. "Pair him with Relena. I think they'd make a great couple."

The artist nodded and proceeded to sketch. Five or six minutes later--I don't know, I wasn't watching the clock--he finished and handed the drawing over to Jeriah. I peered at it from over his shoulder, letting out a soft whistle. "Not bad . . . "

The contest man returned, handing me my own drawing. "Thank you for letting us use it. And since it has your initials in it, we can't 'steal' it, so don't worry about anything like that."

I shrugged. I didn't care, I had many more at home. I noticed another door to the side. Hmm . . . I wonder what's back there. Must have something to do with GW, since it's in this particular wing. And they didn't say we couldn't go back there. My mind made up, I walked to the door, looking over my shoulder before opening it. Jeriah followed me, his curious and mischievous little mind whirring.

He closed the door quietly behind us, casting us into darkness. I grabbed a lighter that I always kept with me in case of emergencies and lit it up. Finally finding the switch, I flicked it on, then gasped in awe. There were five Gundams in there, each a little taller than me. I knew they were just models, but they were the original models. These were the Gundams they created before airing the show. I was in heaven. I couldn't move or breathe for several minutes. I came back to reality, noticing this annoying little prickling sensation centered at my ribs. I looked down and saw a finger jabbing me in the side. Following the finger, I found an arm, then a shoulder, and finally a face. I glared at Jer, who put on an innocent face and looked around the room, whistling.

"You have a death wish, don't you . . . " I said, giving my own death glare, which was pretty intimidating, if I do say so myself.

"Nah, just like to annoy the hell outta you," he said. He then walked off, examining the models. Pulling back a curtain, he let out an impressed whistle and motioned to me. "Hey, Chal. Come over here, you should see this."

I gazed at Nataku a little longer, then sauntered over, taking my sweet time, much to his annoyance. He always was an impatient older brother. "Yees?" I slid the last few inches toward him when I said that. I looked at what he pointed to. It was some kind of mirror, but it was really weird. There were swirling colors in it: blue, black, purple, dark green, a little brown here and there, and gray. "Whoa. Cool. What do you think it is?"

He shook his head. "No idea." He reached his hand out, touching the glass of the mirror. At first nothing happened. Then there was a sucking noise and Jeriah's hand began to disappear into the mirror. He freaked. I freaked. He put his foot on the wall in front of him and tried to yank his arm back. I grabbed him around the waist and copied, but to no avail. His leg began to slink--yes, slink, disgusting choice of words, huh--into the mirror and he started shouting. I was becoming hysterical, adding my own shouts to his. Soon, he was completely swallowed, and I was quickly following suit. The door opened and security guards ran in. Seeing me--well, half of me--being sucked into the mirror stumped them for a moment, though I think it was the fact that you could only see one of my eyes that was the biggest problem for them. Getting over it, they all ran toward me, grasping the outstretched hand I held toward them, trying with all their might to pull me out. But because the pull of the mirror was so strong, they unintentionally dislocated my shoulder. Let me tell you, that hurts like hell. I let out one last scream before I was sucked completely into the mirror. I couldn't see anything. The darkness and pain was making me disoriented and there was a kind of wind screaming through my ears, invading my mind until I thought my head would explode.

Finally, it stopped. I lay on the ground for a while, my eyes closed, trying to get my heart rate and breathing back to normal. When I opened my eyes, it was to two gray pools. "Aah!" I screamed. I then slapped whatever was in my face. I gasped at the pain that shot through my shoulder.

I heard a curse and looked in front of me, leaning up on my elbow. There sat Jeriah, holding the side of his head. "Dammit, Chalamar! That hurt!"

I rolled my eyes. "Baby." He glared at me and I flipped him off. Standing, I brushed off my pants as best I could with one hand and took a look around. We were in some kind of house. Some kind of big house. Some kind of big house that was definitely not empty of life. I turned my head from side to side, on the alert. For some reason, this house looked very familiar . . .

"Hey, Chal. Where do you think we are?" Jeriah asked, apparently forgiving me and coming to stand beside me.

I didn't answer. My eyes were centered on the door to our left. I was sure I'd seen movement under it.

"Chal? Hey, what happened to your arm?"

"Ssh." I said, putting my fingers to my lips. My eyes narrowed. There was the movement again. Yup, someone is definitely out there. I motioned with my hand for Jer to follow me, not once taking my eyes from that door. My dislocated shoulder was completely forgotten at the moment. I was more worried about our saftey. We backed up slowly, Jeriah giving me pointers on our direction and the layout. We found a dark corner and stopped, holding our breaths. Jeriah turned to face me, I could feel his movement behind me. I strained my ears for any sound of a threat. Hearing and seeing nothing--the movement had stopped once we reached the corner--I let out my breath in a short whoosh.

"Okay, I think we'll be alright for now." There was a thunk and a grunt behind me. I turned around quickly to see Jer on the floor and a gun pointed at my nose.

"Don't move," said a cold, yet oddly familiar voice.

My eyes shifted around the dim room, looking for a way to escape. Seeing nothing, I decided the best thing to do would be to surrender for now, then kick ass later when I wasn't staring down the wrong end of a pistol. I raised my one good arm slowly, staring at the spot I assumed my attacker's eyes would be. But I couldn't seem to contain that little hint of sarcasm that came out of my mouth after he said that. "Aye, aye, mon Capitan." I told you I was a smartass who couldn't keep her mouth shut . . . .

Next thing I knew, the butt of the gun connected with the nerve between my neck and shoulder, and I went limp. But I did happen to have one last thought go through my insanity induced mind. Ah, shit.

Tada! There ya go. Okay, onto the A/N.

Author's Note

Okay, people. Just so all of you know, since I have six stories 'cause my mind just won't stop, it might start taking me a little while to update all of them. But I promise you, I will get to them eventually. But don't expect it, like . . . the next day, and in some cases the next month. I'm kind of busy as well, not much free time on my hands. But I won't abandon them or put them on hiatus. It'll just be sloooow updates. But don't let that stop you from reading. Thank you, by the way. I'll update as fast as I can. Sorry about this little inconvenience, but some of you--if not all--have had this problem at least once. Don't give up on me! When school ends in about 2 and 1/2 months, I should have more time, if I can get my brother off . . . annoying little . . . alien . . .yeeaah . . .

Lemme know if I should change anything . . . I'll think about it. (cheeky grin)

Comments? Questions? Suggestions? You know the drill.