Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Never have, never will.

XXXXXXXXXX: represents scene/time change

Warnings: strong language, violence, possible shonen-ai/yaoi references and/or content, possible shoujo-ai/yuri references and/or content, and… you know what? Let's throw in suggestive dialogue for good measure.

Chapter Two (Act I)

Five Shooting Stars Return to Space

"Are you sure you have to do this?" Catherine asked, her voice laden with concern. The memories of the war were still fresh in her mind and the last thing she wanted was for Trowa to rush out into another mess some idiot had thrown together.

Trowa looked at her with an impassive expression, but his eyes carried the heavy burden of guilt. He had been toying with the idea of staying in the Earth Sphere, but he had a churning in his gut that was telling him how unwise that decision would be. It was the first time that he could remember hesitating in anything that might involve the Gundams. Flying out to space on a moment's notice and having to come face to face with an upset Catherine had been a very close match indeed.

"Yes, I feel obligated to," he finally replied after some moments. Catherine frowned and glanced over at Quatre with irritation, as if he were to blame for this whole scenario. Quatre offered her a weak smile, an indication that he had no intention of convincing him otherwise.

"It'll be lonely around here without you…" A crooked smile shadowed onto Trowa's face and disappeared within an instant.

"Guilt will not alter my decision," Trowa replied. Catherine stared at him, an angry spark glittering in the edges of her eyes. She struggled to find some other argument to keep him with her, but those pilots were a stubborn lot and no amount of reasoning was going to change his decision. Heaving an exasperated sigh, she crossed her arms and shifted her weight.

"Whatever… just be careful, okay?" Trowa nodded his head. It was a wonder that he had survived the war without a little luck, because, before he could react, Catherine slipped through his defenses and embraced him. There were only a few on his list that could have gotten so close without causing him suspicion, and it seemed that Catherine was one of those people.

He remained rigid for a few moments, unsure of how to handle the situation, especially when it was in front of Quatre and Wufei, but he realized how important this contact was to her. Leaning forward, he returned the gesture and was surprised when she suddenly pushed him away, tears swimming on the edges of her eyes.

Did I do something wrong? Trowa panicked and, without knowing what to do, he turned to Quatre unconsciously for help. Quatre simply shook his head with a soft smile and nodded to the craft. They didn't have any time to waste.

Quatre began to follow Trowa, who had turned away from the circus and towards the plane, but the former was stopped by an icy hand on his shoulder.

"You had better take good care of him, Quatre Winner," Catherine said in a clipped voice. "I don't want him coming back in pieces."

"I can assure you. He'll have people watching out for him."

"Yeah, and not a lot of friendly people, either." To Quatre's surprise, she gave Quatre a soft squeeze on his shoulder and released him with a sigh.

"And, I can't believe I'm saying this," she continued. "But… take care of yourself, too. You guys deserve more than this."

"Thank you," Quatre said. "Most people wouldn't agree with you." Catherine scoffed and shooed him away with a flick of her hand. Quatre gave her a final farewell and picked up the pace until he was able to fall in beside Trowa.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Quatre asked, looking up at him with a quiet sentiment. It had been different during the war. Everything they did had a purpose and every failure they encountered was another nail in the coffin, but this time was different. Trowa had the choice to turn away from something that he was not directly involved in. Quatre wanted to be sure that if this turned into another conflict, Trowa knew he had the option to stay right where he was.

"This seems to be the most logical option," Trowa replied softly.

"Not everyone follows logic."

"Alright, intuition then," Trowa offered. Quatre smiled kindly at him as they crossed the area in front of the circus, taking in the last remnants of a world that could have been written into any storybook. In the distance, they could see Wufei leaning casually against the plane, his eyes perusing the words of a paperback book. Upon their arrival, he secured his place with a bookmark and slipped inside the plane to notify Akhmed that they were going to be taking off. By the time Trowa and Quatre stepped inside the plane, the engines were already warming up for take-off.

"Ready?" Wufei asked. With one glance out of the window, they secured the hatch and prepared themselves for their meeting with their fellow Gundam pilots.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"When are they supposed to get here?" asked Duo, yawning heavily.

Sally let a playful smile slip onto her face. "Come on, Duo. This should be easy for you! How much waiting did you have to do during the war?" she asked.

She was right about that, Duo had to admit. Duo had been in situations where saying "patience is a virtue" was a gross understatement. The slightest movement in a dark corner of an OZ base could have cost him his life, but in this situation…

"But there's nothing to do!" he exclaimed. "This isn't a life or death situation. It's not like I have a gun pointed at me or anything!"

"That can be arranged," Heero suggested helpfully. Duo craned his neck around to see Heero, arms crossed, looking down at Duo as the latter sat on the hot asphalt with his legs splayed out in front of him.

"Well, I appreciate your help," Duo shot back sarcastically. "But I can take care of this dilemma on my own."

"Fine," Heero replied. "Would you like to use my gun or your own?"

"That's not what I meant," Duo countered, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly with irritation. Standing up, Duo went straight to Heero, mouth open and his finger poised in a manner that meant an abundant lack of silence, but before he could begin—

"They're here." The hum of a plane beyond the sand dunes was drawing nearer, a faint sound like the buzzing of an insect's wings. If Heero hadn't said anything, Duo would have missed the sound all together.

"And it's about time," Duo said, his thoughts delayed, but not forgotten. Duo was excited to see the others and Heero's morbid sense of humor—or at least, that's what Duo was hoping it was—was not going to get in the way.

Heero had been sitting there for hours with the fidgeting fool and it was getting on his last nerves. He had thought his complete lack of concentration was from his utter boredom, but it seemed that Duo was quite eager to greet his fellow pilots. He also had to admit, perhaps on a subconscious level, that seeing the others was like a breath of fresh air after finally escaping the confines of L2. Heero wasn't much for reunions and comradery, but after making his way out of the war alive, enrolling in school and fulfilling the everyday role of a stereotypical schoolboy was vastly overrated.

Heero took one full breath of that air of freedom and looked to the sky as the aircraft with the Winner insignia approached. He shielded his eyes from the whirls of sand that dusted the landing site, watching as the wheels bounced and skidded along the runway. As the plane circled closer to them, Heero turned away from the scene and entered the shuttle. The Gundams would have to be transferred as quickly as possible. Even in a deserted place like the middle of the Sahara Desert, there were no guarantees that a few curious eyes wouldn't peek out from under the sand.

When the plane finally settled, Duo began to walk over to the aircraft. He intended to casually make his way towards it, showing that he was not too enthusiastic, but interested just the same. Then, the hatch opened and a figure emerged from the inside. Patience abandoned Duo when he recognized the boy and began to jog over to the now silent machine.

"Quatre!" Upon hearing Duo's call, he looked up and waved back to his ally, who was now sprinting towards the plane. Trowa appeared silently from the cockpit and snuck back to the rear of the craft, knowing that getting into a conversation with Duo would require a long term commitment.

As Quatre finally made his way down from the makeshift staircase to the earth below, he only had a few milliseconds to prepare himself for the onslaught that was Duo.

Quatre's arms opened just in time as Duo barreled into him, hugging him close with all the effort he could muster. Quatre's side burned from the contact, but he dutifully ignored it. The waves of emotion that were pounding into Quatre were telling him that Duo was completely and utterly happy to see him and it was that brilliant honesty that brought tears to Quatre's eyes. When he had played this meeting over and over in his head, this wasn't the most common scenario that had entered his mind. He was used to the stiff handshakes of his fellow colonial officials and Winner board members, so he hadn't been sure what to expect in this situation, but he was sure that this was much better than he had hoped.

"It's good to see ya, man!" Duo said amidst his laughter, pulling Quatre to him. To Hell with what the others might think. He had really missed the guy. Quatre held onto him for a few more moments before finally pulling away. He immediately regretted it, because when he moved back, his unshed tears reigned in Duo's feelings of happiness and tore away at its radiance.

"You okay?" Duo asked. Quatre nodded and took in a ragged breath. Duo's emotions had effectively taken his breath away.

"Yeah," he rasped after he had taken in a lungful of air. "I just didn't think that you'd be so happy to see me."

"Well, you kind of took off like a bat outta Hell after it was all said and done. I mean, you had a lot to take care of… I've always wondered how you were doing. It's still healing, right?" he asked. Duo then pretended to spit on his hands and buff out the wound that was still left in Quatre's side. Quatre pushed him away, laughing.

"Yeah, it's still healing, but it's all right."

"You're just a trooper, that's all," Duo replied, looking up as Wufei came down the stairs.

"Wufei, look! It's Duo!"

"Were you expecting someone else?" Wufei asked as he stepped down to their level.

"Oh, nice to see you, too, buddy," Duo said dryly, a small smile playing on his lips. "You know, I've dreamed about this…the two of us meeting again. The way I pictured it, I mean, with the golden sunset in the distance and the light playing off the clouds, I figured you and me-"

"Pace yourself, Duo," Wufei warned. "You're like a potent medicine, which should only be taken in small doses."

"Oh, ha ha, very funny," Duo replied flatly. Wufei ignored his reply and began to head to the back of the plane to retrieve Altron. Across the platform in his peripheral vision, he spotted the perfect soldier leaning in the shadows, a clear indication that the shuttle was ready to be boarded. Wufei gave his comrade a brief nod of acknowledgement, a nod that was dutifully returned. With one easy jump, Wufei landed on the gangway and headed into the cargo hold.

He could hear Quatre in the distance hinting kindly that he had to check on his Gundam, but Duo was somewhat adamant in making sure that Heero and Quatre had a proper meeting. Slightly curious, Wufei turned around in time to see Quatre give the Japanese man a soft smile and then extend his hand towards him. They shook hands roughly, perhaps even mechanically, and from Duo's expression it seemed he was not at all pleased with their lackluster greeting.

Wufei hadn't realized he had been staring until Trowa startled him out of his reverie with a gentle squeeze of his shoulder.

"Just by looking at them," Wufei started. "You wouldn't think that they had piloted the Gundams. They look more like boys trying to act like adults."

"They've already seen things that most adults will never come across. Perhaps they're just trying to fill the part."

"Sure," Wufei said with a smile. "If you want to look at it that way…" Turning back, he noticed Quatre striding towards them, having effectively diverted Duo's attention back to Heero. Quatre's appearance reminded Wufei of the task at hand and he began to make his way towards Altron's cockpit.

"Are you all right?" Trowa asked once Wufei was out of earshot. Duo's enthusiasm in seeing Quatre again didn't help the fact that he was in worse condition than he let on. If it had not been for Duo's sheer delight at their meeting, Trowa would have readily stepped in.

"Stop worrying, Trowa. I'm fine," he said as he headed towards his own Gundam. Trowa shook his head. That was the same excuse every time and he always said it while he was walking away, a clear indication that there was no reason to discuss the matter.

Trowa allowed Quatre a little more space, realizing that he was falling behind the others. Pulling down the cord from his cockpit, he gave it a good tug and was quickly launched into the air towards Heavyarms' controls.

Stepping inside, he quickly noticed that the cockpit seemed much smaller than he remembered, but perhaps, after staying at the Winner mansion for some time, he had probably forgotten what it was like to be in such a confined space.

Trowa didn't have to look at the control panel to know where the right levers and buttons were. He let his hands guide him with a sense of habit that would probably follow him to the grave. And yet, even as he touched the controls of his own machine, a touch that had been perfected in battle, something felt noticeably different, something he couldn't pin down.

"Do you think we'll have to use the Gundams again?" Trowa asked through the communication link, sliding one of his hands over the familiar lever.

"It goes without saying," Wufei replied, flicking on his vid screens as he secured a channel to Sandrock and Heavyarms.

"You're not being very reassuring," Quatre said, his face now visible in the top left hand side of Wufei's screen.

"Of course I am," Wufei corrected. "I'm reassuring you that we're going to have to use our Gundams again." Quatre shook his head as Altron's hatch closed completely, letting their conversation drop.

"How long is the flight from here to Peacemillion?" Trowa's intercom bellowed, as Nataku stood up and proceeded out of the hatch.

"At least ten hours, depending on the amount of shuttles already in the atmosphere," Quatre replied. Quatre watched as Altron exited the shuttle, sensing something from inside the Gundam that made his chest tighten.

He tried to ease away the pain by rubbing his chest, but it didn't seem to be having any effect. In an effort to ignore it, Quatre activated Sandrock's full power system and waited for the myriad of flashing lights and sensors to flicker to life. "No offense to you, Sandrock, but I hope we don't set foot on another battlefield."

Suddenly, the growing pain is his chest spiked and he lurched over the straps holding him in place, grimacing as his chest tightened like a vice. Sweat rolled down his face and he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"Hey, you all right?" Trowa asked when Quatre's Gundam failed to make any movement. Quatre reached to shakily move the lever that was linked to Sandrock's left arm, hoping that this would suffice as a decent response. Heavyarms hesitantly accepted the response and was soon out of sight.

Thankfully, within his chest, he felt a great release as both Wufei and Trowa headed away from him. He laid back, slowly easing away the pain. Quatre located his communication channel and switched it off as Sandrock took his first heavy steps out into the blinding sun.

"It always has to be something, doesn't it?" Quatre whispered softly inside of his cockpit as the edge of this pain died down. "When will this pass?"

Quatre had begun noticing in recent months that his empathy was becoming stronger. Perhaps peace had been able to open up a part of himself that he had kept locked away to protect his sanity or perhaps he had simply discovered a part of his humanity that had yet to be found at that point. Whatever the reason, every emotion that tug at a person seemed to target his chest like a heat-seeking laser, often giving him sudden bouts of pain. He kept this to himself, especially since Trowa and Rashid were likely to lock him in a room if he had let on about his… condition.

Quatre silently hoped that this problem would gradually wear off, leaving him to guess how other people felt based off of simple cues like a normal person. At times, it was nice to feel another person's happiness or joy, but most times, especially during an era that was filled with uncertainty and lingering disappointment, even after the attainment of peace, most emotions that seemed to tear their way into his heart were not pretty…no, they were not pretty at all.

As his pain slipped into a quiet nothingness, he began to move Sandrock, hoping that Sandrock's months of slumber had not completely destroyed his ability to make the short distance to the shuttle. Fortunately, Quatre discovered that Sandrock was functioning quite well for an unused machine and easily made it to the holding area inside the shuttle.

Once the Gundams were effectively secured, the shuttle powered up and was able to safely make it into the atmosphere. Within the day, they would finally set foot on the newly crafted Peacemillion.

TBC

Zeelo: I still…don't have…my fanfics…from America.

Also, I just figured out what Lagrange points are. Maybe I need to watch this series again. I'm sure there are other things I've missed.