A/N: Hello all! This my first fanfiction(well, not first written, but definitely the first I've published). As the description implies, this has nothing to do with any other media involving mecha. So it's not affiliated with Gundam, Macross, Patlabor, etc. I will have a summary for each chapter. Hope you all enjoy it!

Summary:

When old nightmares come back to haunt you, is it really worth it to work in the exact field that caused them in the first place?

Chapter 0: Prologue

**Yu's POV**

?/?/? - Location Unknown - 3:? AM

My eyes opened to see something...familiar. I immediately recognized it. The exact position and intensity of the flames. The setup of furniture. The melting paint on the walls...everything. This was my house on that day nearly 13 years ago. I look frantically everywhere, I call out for my parents to hear them reply. My voice was higher than I remember and when my head went down, I was a lot smaller too. I knew this dream-no, this nightmare all too well. The exact same thing I've been seeing ever since that day. Just as I expected. my parents were trapped behind some planks of the house's support. My father desperately pulling them off, and then...squish...coupled together with a blood-curdling scream that was cut off quickly. I tried to close my eyes so I wouldn't have to see it...but I couldn't. And I saw it all. My parents crushed by the foot of a large mecha. Before I know it, the dam breaks as I scream for them, expecting them to just come back to life and save me, but they didn't. They never did. I ran off and the scene changed. I turn around and BAM!

I then get jolted awake after being hit by something...even with this memory I can't forget, I never knew what knocked me out on that day. As I pant, my hand runs over my forehead in order to give me some form of relief and comfort, it was wet. I must've been sweating. Then again, I always have when it came to this. Though when it moved to my eyes, I felt tears. I sniffled, lightly crying. Why was I grieving like this? This happens all the time and it still manages to bring tears. Yet, out of the corner of my eye I spot my dorm mate. I quickly jump and bonk my head on the ceiling of the bunk bed, rubbing the spot that contacted it. That's when she looked at me with those eyes, those greyish-blue eyes, clearly full of concern. Still looking at me, she softly put her hand on my shoulder as if I was some kind of porcelain doll that would break by the slightest movement.

"Are you ok?", she speaks just as gentle as her touch. I tried to hold it in, believe me I did. I was a grown man for Christ's sake, I had to be strong...but it was too late by that point. I broke down. I bawled. I bawled harder than a girl being ditched by her date at prom. And before I knew it, I was pulled into a warm embrace with her. Being shushed by her like I was a baby.

I hated myself in this moment. Why was I crying?! Boot camp taught me to be tougher than this. But it's like the drill sergeant said to me once. "Some wounds never heal. And no matter how grittier you make yourself be, you will never get rid of that feeling." At least he was kind enough to understand, and so was she. She, who was normally very timid, always as quiet and observant as a mouse. She, who normally disregarded people she deemed "imbeciles", shooing them away like they're insignificant little bugs. She, who was the hardest girl to get close to, who constantly builds her walls and never lets anyone in. But yet...she's here, comforting me, holding me close like I'm her teddy bear. I begin to think that with all these goddamn nightmares, am I even ready for the task I've been given?

Looking back now, was joining this all a mistake?...