Sam was back on the computers and Duo...he was playing with Death.
"Hello little Shinigami." He cooed at the cat, holding his braid up for
the cat to claw. Death kept pawing at Duo's hair, while Sam kept typing
away. Mistakenly, Death swiped his claw, missing Duo' braid, and hit Duo's
nose.
"Ouch." He grabbed his nose.
"Ha! That's Death!" She smiled as she pulled up a file. "Gundam Tallgeese." Her tone changed as she whispered. Intrigued, Duo stopped playing with the kitty and stepped over to Sam and the computer.
"Huh? Whatcha lookin' at?" He asked curiously.
"Gundam..." Her eyes glazed over as she looked at the stats of the gundam itself and the pilot. "Pilot: Zechs Marquise." The name rolled over her tongue. "So..that's who he is."
"Zechs?" Duo, still curios as to who Sam was looking up, questioned.
"I fought him.on that mission." She answered him, eyes still glued to the screen.
"Oh.."
********
Aenne walked a ways before she found her self near some buildings. "Geez..I never knew colonies could be so huge." She paused a while, standing in awe of such a huge accomplishment. "It looks so much like Earth." She felt encouraged to do a beautiful speech, but digressed. Aenne wandered, not heading directly into civilization, but stayed on the outskirts. "Now, if I were a Chinese guy, who is always pissed off, and rambling about injustice, and calling me woman, were would I be?" She talked to herself, and noticed some people were looking at her funny. "HEY!! If I'm so amusing, why don't you take a picture!! Ya know what they say.it lasts longer!"
Aenne continued muttering to herself about 'crazy people that have nothing better to do than stare at her' and 'where in the world is Chang Wufei' until she came upon a cemetery. "Yuck!" She groaned. "Icky dead people!" Aenne, who was terribly afraid of evil killer zombies popping out of the ground and sucking out her eyeballs, quickly tiptoes through the graveyard, making sure not her step on any of the graves. She was creeping by, when the Chinese guy with the pissy attitude caught her attention. "Wufei.."
He stood at a solitary grave. A stone gazebo covered it. Candles flickered like heartbeats and Wufei prayed, placing his hands together. A look of longing covered his sorrowful face as he meditated.
Aenne found some bushes, and hid behind them, watching him. She just watched him, his solemn expression on his face, it was as if he was crying, but shed no tears.
Wufei opened his eyes. He swiftly turned around and walked with the wind. It gently carried him out of the cemetery, never turning back.
Aenne hurried up into the gazebo. "Eh?" The name 'Chang Meilan' was engraved into the heartless stone. "C-Chang Meilan." She stumbled over the name for a few seconds before glancing up. The gazebo overlooked a lush green hill, covered with wild flowers. "Beautiful." Behind the grave was a small shrine. Aenne peered around the grave and discovered it. She moved to the back, to admire the tiny shrine. Upon the holy place sat a picture of Meilan, some candles, incense and a bracelet of Buddhist prayer beads. "She's so young.." She kneeled, glimpsing down at the picture of the smiling girl. She looked so peaceful and happy. Aenne had no idea what the relationship between this girl and Wufei had, but she still felt remorseful. Out of respect she lit a candle and bowed her head. Aenne stood up silently and walked out of the gazebo. In the corner of her eye, she saw a cherry tree. The pink blossoms covered the tree, barely showing any green. Aenne skipped over to the tree and picked of a small branch. She held the flower close to her, and like a ghost, drifted back over to Meilan's grave. She placed the pink flowers in the middle and finally left the resting place.
"Poor Chang..both of them." She did not start talking until she reached the Gundams again. Aenne looked up at TroubleWind and then over at Wufei's. Like it's pilot, Nataku also had a serious sorrowful expression. "Why do things havta go wrong?" She asked Chang's Gundam. "Why do people get hurt and die? It just makes this world so much more awful! And it just makes everyone sadder!" She protested.
"It's an injustice."
Aenne turned around. There stood Wufei, still solemn as ever. Aenne wanted to say something like 'I'm sorry' or 'I'm sad that someone you loved died' but that would just mean she disobeyed Chang's instructions and would just make him angrier.
"Come on. It's almost time for us to meet the others." Wufei said, getting into Nataku.
Aenne powered up TroubleWind and they both took off. She sat a while, pondering whether to talk to Chang or not.
"Hiya!" Aenne smiled over the P.A.
"What?"
"I.." She paused, glancing down, and then back up. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Her smile faded.
"Why?"
"Well..for two things..one disobeying orders, I sorta followed you, and spied on you." Aenne confessed.
"I know." He said bluntly.
"W-What?"
"I knew you were there. Don't think I didn't see you. I did. I'm not that stupid." He stated directly.
"Oh...Well, the second reason is I'm sorry for what happened to Meilan. I don't know what or how it happened or who she is. But I understand how it is to lose someone close. I dunno how many times its happened to me..someone whom I love, dies..but somehow I always try to stay cheery." Aenne tried to brighten the situation. "I mean, just think about it. Would they really want me to be sad and depressed the rest of my life? Or would they rather have me be happy, remembering the good times, and never forget them?" Her smile returned.
No response came from Wufei.
"Or.I'm just completely wrong.and have no idea what I'm saying." Aenne heavily sighed.
"I appreciate it.."
"Huh?"
"What you did for Meilan.she loved flowers..."
********
"Okay so I get it now!" Duo said sneering. "You have a crush on him."
"What are you talking about." Sam said flatly.
"Don't think I don't see it. You think he's pretty." Duo persisted. "That long blond hair. Beautiful blues eyes, he has a uniform too."
"By the sound of it, you like him more then I do." Sam turned off the computer and raised herself so she could walk out the door. "So what if I do?" She said scooping up Death.
"I would never believe it either. You having a crush." Duo continued. "I never would have imagined ..." Sam let the door slam and she left the room. Duo stood alone, pondering what just happened. He couldn't tell if he hurt Sam's feeling or if she was joking back. "Sam's just so hard to read ..." He trailed off.
********
"Chang, Aenne!" Quatre yelled upon seeing their jet streams. "We need your help! A second line of MS suits is on the way."
"Hey, where's Heero?" Aenne asked uncertain.
"Aenne, don't worry." Quatre replied, "Heero is on his own mission."
"Gotcha!" Aenne said replying and smiling.
"Come on Nataku!" Chang said pushing himself forward. "We must protect the colonies. They are to weak to fight for themselves!"
Aenne and Chang flew side by side into a battle. For the first time, Aenne knew why to fight. She may not have experienced the pain of being in the colonies, but she knew what it was to suffer. It may not have been a deep pain like loosing the one you love, but still, pain is something all people share. She was fighting to protect the people from pain, so no one would ever have to loose love, so no one would have to suffer.
"Chang, I'll protect Quatre and the others, you must keep all the MS from reaching the colony!" Aenne said taking charge. She led TroubleWind into the heart of battle. Her reactions took control as she let her mind come to peace on the battlefield.
Chang roused to the colony and stood still meditating for a brief moment. "Mobile suits have no soul!" He screamed. "Taking fear out of battle gets rid of purpose!" He rushed forward, swiftly making waste of the machines put before him. "This battle has no meaning."
"We can't continue like this." Quatre said holding back tears. "We have to end this."
"I have an idea." Trowa cut in, "Aenne, take flank with Quatre." Aenne complied. "Now Quatre, whatever you do, don't leave Aenne's side. She'll protect you."
"Don't do it Trowa!" Quatre yelled. "I need you!"
"Quatre, watch out!" Aenne screamed shooting over his head, "Where are you? Get your head in the battle!" Aenne then turned around and saw the explosion that ended Trowa's life. The self-detination device destroyed all enemies. "Trowa?" Aenne said in shock. "Answer me. Answer me damn it!"
"He's dead?" Quatre said quietly, "He can't be dead, he has to take me on a picnic." Tears swelled in his eyes and he screamed "TROWA!!!!!!!"
"Sometimes, the living has to die in order to protect the dead." Chang said addressing everyone. "Be grateful you knew Trowa in battle."
"That is it!" Aenne screamed, "I don't want to fight if everyone keeps blowing up! I don't want to loose any more friends to this stupid war! I just want to end!"
"Aenne!" Quatre screamed, "Above you!"
A single MS Space Leo was left and it had targeted Aenne. It came rushing towards her at such speed she would never have time to react. Chang came rushing towards here and used his gundam to block the Space Leo from ramming into her. The sudden flash of light was so bright, Aenne couldn't see if Chang was dead or alive.
"Chang?" Aenne asked hoping he was alive. "Chang?" She didn't receive an answer. "CHANG!!!!"
"I can hear just fine woman, you don't have to yell. Weakling." He replied.
"Why did you do that?" Aenne said completely shocked and on the brink of tears.
"Nevermind that, we need to get back to the base. I have to repair Nataku." Aenne used Troublewind to brace Nataku as she flew. This was a melancholy day. She lost another friend and was determined not to lose another. They left the battlefield in silence, mourning for the dead.
"Did you realize only one person died in that entire battle?" Aenne said not to anyone in particular, just aloud. Her head hung low as moved forward. "Seems a little excessive for just one death."
But out in the wilderness of space, Trowa, in his space suit, drifted off, whispering to himself, "Quatre, you are too gentle to die ... live in my memory ..."
********
"Duo!" Sam said opening the door to his room. "They are back. Get your ass out of bed so we can greet Aenne!"
"What, it's one in the morning." Duo said turning his back to the light of the hallway.
Sam stepped in his room and grabbed the blanket over Duo and whooshed them off his bed on the floor, leaving him to shiver. "Now get up!"
"All right! I'm up, now get out of her so I can dress." Duo responded.
"Just come in your boxers. That's what I'm doing. Now let's go!" Sam grabbed his hand and pulled him up out of the bed, then got behind him and pushed him into the hallway.
"I'm going, I'm going!" He said trying to get Sam to stop pushing him. "I'm going."
They walked through the hallway, Duo constantly reaching up and stretching and letting out yawns. They got the air lock, and intently, Sam knew something was wrong by the mean expression on Aenne's face.
"What happened?" Sam said intently.
"Is everyone alright?" Duo asked.
"No." Aenne said quietly, "Trowa didn't come back with us." Sam and Duo turned their heads to look at Quatre, tears pouring down his face.
"We shouldn't be fighting at all ..." He repeated to himself over and over again.
"What happened to Nataku?" Sam said pointing up to Chang's Gundam.
"Chang blocked a shot for me." Aenne said dimly, "Can I go to sleep now?"
"Yeah." Sam replied. "Duo, help me get Aenne to her room." Sam said taking Aenne's arm and lifting her up. Duo took the other as they moved her to her room in silence. They laid her in her bed, and covered her with the blanket's then left the room. Sam was the first to speak.
"Aenne shouldn't have gone on that mission." Sam said clutching her fist. "I should have."
"You can't blame yourself." Duo said looking at her. "She knew what she was getting into."
"No one should have to bear the responsibilities of being a pilot. Not you, not Aenne, not anyone." Sam said looking at her feet.
"You shouldn't have to fight either." Duo said lifting Sam's head so he could look in her eyes. "War is such an ugly thing. You're right. We shouldn't have to bear the responsibilities of battle."
"I just said that! Weren't you listening?!" Sam said joking trying to lighten the mood. "God, no one listens to me. Now you go get some rest, I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay, sweet dreams." Duo said before turning his back.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite" Sam said back before stepping in her room. She was careful not to wake Aenne and she slid up onto the top bunk. She rolled over and stared into the black of the room, hoping that Aenne would be alright in the morning.
"Good morning!" Duo said cheerfully as he walked into the food room. "How are my two favorite pilots?"
"Tired." Aenne said quietly.
"Bored." Sam said.
"Oh." Duo said disappointed. "Well what are you going to do today?"
"Sleep." Aenne replied.
"I don't know." Sam said after Aenne.
"Are two even awake?" Duo said eye-browing the two.
"No." Aenne said still quiet
"What's that? Awake. I do not know the concept of which you speak." Sam said staring at the wall.
"That's great." Duo said dropping himself on a bench. He grabbed the remote on turned on the T.V. placed in the corner. What he saw, shocked him "A Gundam pilot was captured today on a space colony. Earlier, a statement was released denouncing support of the Gundam by the colony. The pilot and his Gundam were taken to the lunar base. The pilot is awaiting execution. The other pilots have not been found ..." Duo looked away disappointed.
"What was Heero's mission yesterday?" Sam asked.
"I don't know." Duo said quietly.
"Are we going to go and retrieve him?" Aenne asked.
"No," Sam said, "We can't take our Gundam's into space. Besides, Heero can take care of himself."
"I can't believe it." Duo said hurt. "We are supposed to protect the colonies, but still, they denounce us. What are we going to do? We have no reason to fight."
"Don't say that!" Aenne yelled. "They still need your protection."
"We can't do anything to harm the colonies."
"Then it's settled, we won't act until Oz makes the first move." Sam said cutting in. "Duo, tell us when you want to act. I'll stay behind you."
"Yeah!" Aenne said, "Me too!"
********
The nation of Oz has spread its power to the colonies. After the pilot Heero Yuy was caught, the world power Oz, used the chance to seize the colonies, one by one. Former Alliance members, chose to support the Gundams, but could not show support openly, thus an underground was created with a strong noting of peace with in the colonies.
"We haven't received orders ..." Sam trailed off, "It's time we go into space and act with out own feelings."
"What should we do?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know." Sam said back. "Anything .... we have that freedom now. But I'm going to rescue Heero. If we are going to destroy Oz, we will need him."
"Then I'm going to with Sam to save Mr. Heero!" Aenne declared.
"Hmm ..." Chang said in the silence that follows.
"One thing remains, we can not allow Oz to take control of space. As long as we all want to destroy it, we will be allies." Sam said sternly.
"Then only one thing remains," Duo said smiling, "stealing the carriers to go into space."
"Then we will leave today. Prep what ever you need, we leave in an hour." Sam said finally.
One by one, everyone left the food room until only Sam and Aenne were left.
Aenne was quiet, the thought of going back into space sent shivers down her spine. She looked up at Sam who was sitting quietly on a bench, drinking her cup of coffee. "Are you sure going into space is the right thing?" Aenne asked quaintly. "Nope." Sam replied. "In all honesty, I don't know what to do, but going into space is a start."
"Well, we are going to stick together, so everything will be all right!" Aenne said cheerfully.
"Yeah!" Sam shouted back, "Now we only have an hour, so you might want to pack."
"Pack?" Aenne said perplexed, "I can't pack in an hour!"
"Then you just have to take what's on your person." Sam sat down her cup and walked out of the room, trailed by Aenne. Then Duo, went straight to their room, where Sam stuffed everything she needed into one bag then walked out of the room within the first five minutes.
"What should I bring?" She asked looking at Ducky. "If you were me, what would you want to bring?" The cat, just stared back before letting out a meow. "Okay so I'll bring this and this and this, not this and his and this and this ..."
When finished packing, Sam went to the loading bay and sat on the foot of Troublewind looking down at the floor. She heard the echo of footsteps approach her. She knew who it was instantly when she saw the black shoes beneath her. "Hi Duo." She said still looking down.
"What is a pretty girl like you doing moping on the foot of a Gundam?" He asked.
"Hey!" Sam shouted, "Who are you calling pretty!"
"You! That who!" Duo said with cheerfulness.
Sam shook her head quietly. "I don't want Aenne to get hurt. I need to ask a favor of you."
"What is it?" Duo said concerned, "Anything, just ask."
"Could you load this information into her Gundam?" Sam said holding up a disk. "It's all the data taken from the battles with the Mobile dolls."
"Sure thing." Duo said taking the disk, "I can do that much for you." He climbed up Into TroubleWind and slipped the disk in. It took a few seconds to load, and as soon as Duo popped the disk out, Aenne came rushing into the room.
"Hey! Duo whatcha doin' in my Gundam! A gundam is very personal! Shame on you!" She said with a smile on her face.
"I'm sorry..My, my are we in a better mood?" He asked as he jumped from the looming mecha.
"Possibly.." Aenne grinned.
"Oh no.someone gave her sugar.." Sam lamented. "This trip is going to take a little too long for my liking!"
"Sugar?" Duo's ears perked up with excitement. "I want sugar!"
"No it's my sugar!!" Aenne protested as she hugged onto her stash of candy. Duo rushed over and grabbed a hold of the sacred sugar sack.
"Gimme some!!" He gritted his teeth
"Mine!" Aenne gritted hers as well as she tugged back.
"Mine!" Sam shouted as grabbed the bag out of both their greedy hands and held it up past their reach. "No sugar for either! I refuse to deal with hyper beings on this voyage!"
"But.But..But." Aenne's and Duo's eyes got all watery as they looked helplessly up at the candy.
"Ah, ah, ah." Sam scolded. "I'm going to hold on to these till after our flight, then if you behave I'll let you have them back."
"Ok!" Aenne instantly jumped into Troublewind. "Let's go save Mr. Heero!!" She proclaimed to her buddies. "To save him.and the candy from the clutches of evil!!"
"Hey!!" Sam shouted in defense. "I'm not the clutches of evil!"
"But you took my candy!" Aenne yelled back as she strapped herself in. "Hurry up!!!" She shouted at the two who still stood on the floor. "I want my candy back!"
Duo also wanting the candy and to rescue Heero found himself loading into DeathScythe. And Sam who wanted to rescue Heero in the first place piled into a tauros. "Let's go." Sam commanded as the gundams roared with energy. Aenne still a little frightful of her journey back to space, pushed the button and appeared on a little screen in Duo's gundam.
"Duo?" She asked.
"Huh?" He said relaxing in DeathScythe.
"I'll share my candy with you if you help me get it back."
"Ok!" He agreed hastily.
"So plan one for Operation: Get Candy back from Sam is that.hold on a sec." She scribbled a little picture on a piece of paper. "See there." She pointed to a little stick person with brown hair and big sharp teeth. "That's Sam, she's holdin' our precious items of consumption hostage."
"Why does she have spiky teeth?"
"Because she stole my candy!" Aenne's response left Duo dumbfounded. "Moving on." She pointed then to another stick figure with blonde hair and a little crown to the right of 'Sam' and then she indicated the other stick figure also with long brown hair(only in a braid) with little devil wings, which stood on the left of 'Sam'. "That's us! So you come from the left and start tickling her and while she's laughing like a hyena I'll sneak along and steal the candy back, and we flee in victory!!"
"Nice try." Sam said bluntly, popping up on the screen. "It'll take more than that to get back the candy. And by the way it's very yummy." She grinned. "How dare you!!" Aenne glared back at Sam. "Listening in on our plans! Fiendish knave!"
"What ever. It's not like I couldn't hear you."
"MS Dolls! 9 o'clock!" Duo shouted, interrupting the clash. Two MS flew in close shooting ammo wildly Duo pulled out his scythe and sliced them in half.
"Let's get 'em!" Sam shouted as she fired her flamethrower, engulfing a few MS in red flames.
"Right!" Aenne brought forth her shining katana and rushed at five of the mindless mechas. With one swipe to her right, three went down, and another swipe to the left, and the other two fell.
While Duo stood in the front line fending off the enemy, Aenne and Sam fought back-to-back, making sure each other were safe. "They keep coming." Aenne remarked. "There's no end to them!!"
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Sam said shielding herself from a full on slot of bullets. "Could be wor-" Sam was cut off by a fairly large explosion. It came from where Duo was fighting.
"DUO!!!" The two girls screamed. "DUO!!"
"Don't worry. I'm ok." He said weakly as a stream of blood trickled down his pale cheek. DeathScythe had taken a blow to the right shoulder and was still functional, just not in the greatest of all conditions.
Sam shouted to Aenne. "Come on! We have to protect him!" Aenne was thinking the exact same thing as they both huddled near their hurt partner. The bullets kept flying and the mobile suits kept shooting. "There is just too many." Sam shouted as she shot out her blaster in any direction. "We can't keep this up for long, I'm running low on ammo."
There is no way we can beat them in hand to hand combat." Aenne said limited to just her katanas.
"Guys, if I self-destruct, you two can escape." Duo said looking at the monitors inside his Gundam. "You won't be able to protect me forever."
"No!" Aenne screamed, "We are all leaving this battlefield! I won't let you waste your life."
"Besides," Sam strained, "You don't want to do something you might regret."
"But one life is worth the price of two." Duo continued. "I won't let you be destroyed. If I do self-destruct, I can take out many of the other MS suits-"
"NO!" Aenne screamed, "We are all leaving.
"We do have another choice." Sam said quietly, " I know you won't like it Duo, but surly, surrender would be an alternative to death."
"But that means you have to surrender too." Duo said in protest. "I might not be able to protect you if we surrender."
"We have to." Sam shot back quickly, "We are losing and you said yourself, you won't let us be destroyed. You know we would never let that happen to you."
"Then it's settled, we surrender." Aenne said ending all conversation.
"Allright then." Sam added, "I guess all that's left is shutting down. I'll raise the white flag." She turned her head and punched in some keys codes then pressed enter, smiling all the while. "Done, you know how it works, shut down the Gundam and step out so they can arrest us."
"Don't forget the candy!" Aenne screamed in desperation. "You never know what might happen, smuggle it with you."
"I got you." Sam said taking the bag of candy and stuffin it inside of her space suit.
"Let's not keep our captures waiting." Duo said opening Deathscythe. Aenne followed suit and opened hers. Their space suits were the only thing protecting them from the vacuum of space. Sam was the last to step out, her suit bulging.
"Ouch." He grabbed his nose.
"Ha! That's Death!" She smiled as she pulled up a file. "Gundam Tallgeese." Her tone changed as she whispered. Intrigued, Duo stopped playing with the kitty and stepped over to Sam and the computer.
"Huh? Whatcha lookin' at?" He asked curiously.
"Gundam..." Her eyes glazed over as she looked at the stats of the gundam itself and the pilot. "Pilot: Zechs Marquise." The name rolled over her tongue. "So..that's who he is."
"Zechs?" Duo, still curios as to who Sam was looking up, questioned.
"I fought him.on that mission." She answered him, eyes still glued to the screen.
"Oh.."
********
Aenne walked a ways before she found her self near some buildings. "Geez..I never knew colonies could be so huge." She paused a while, standing in awe of such a huge accomplishment. "It looks so much like Earth." She felt encouraged to do a beautiful speech, but digressed. Aenne wandered, not heading directly into civilization, but stayed on the outskirts. "Now, if I were a Chinese guy, who is always pissed off, and rambling about injustice, and calling me woman, were would I be?" She talked to herself, and noticed some people were looking at her funny. "HEY!! If I'm so amusing, why don't you take a picture!! Ya know what they say.it lasts longer!"
Aenne continued muttering to herself about 'crazy people that have nothing better to do than stare at her' and 'where in the world is Chang Wufei' until she came upon a cemetery. "Yuck!" She groaned. "Icky dead people!" Aenne, who was terribly afraid of evil killer zombies popping out of the ground and sucking out her eyeballs, quickly tiptoes through the graveyard, making sure not her step on any of the graves. She was creeping by, when the Chinese guy with the pissy attitude caught her attention. "Wufei.."
He stood at a solitary grave. A stone gazebo covered it. Candles flickered like heartbeats and Wufei prayed, placing his hands together. A look of longing covered his sorrowful face as he meditated.
Aenne found some bushes, and hid behind them, watching him. She just watched him, his solemn expression on his face, it was as if he was crying, but shed no tears.
Wufei opened his eyes. He swiftly turned around and walked with the wind. It gently carried him out of the cemetery, never turning back.
Aenne hurried up into the gazebo. "Eh?" The name 'Chang Meilan' was engraved into the heartless stone. "C-Chang Meilan." She stumbled over the name for a few seconds before glancing up. The gazebo overlooked a lush green hill, covered with wild flowers. "Beautiful." Behind the grave was a small shrine. Aenne peered around the grave and discovered it. She moved to the back, to admire the tiny shrine. Upon the holy place sat a picture of Meilan, some candles, incense and a bracelet of Buddhist prayer beads. "She's so young.." She kneeled, glimpsing down at the picture of the smiling girl. She looked so peaceful and happy. Aenne had no idea what the relationship between this girl and Wufei had, but she still felt remorseful. Out of respect she lit a candle and bowed her head. Aenne stood up silently and walked out of the gazebo. In the corner of her eye, she saw a cherry tree. The pink blossoms covered the tree, barely showing any green. Aenne skipped over to the tree and picked of a small branch. She held the flower close to her, and like a ghost, drifted back over to Meilan's grave. She placed the pink flowers in the middle and finally left the resting place.
"Poor Chang..both of them." She did not start talking until she reached the Gundams again. Aenne looked up at TroubleWind and then over at Wufei's. Like it's pilot, Nataku also had a serious sorrowful expression. "Why do things havta go wrong?" She asked Chang's Gundam. "Why do people get hurt and die? It just makes this world so much more awful! And it just makes everyone sadder!" She protested.
"It's an injustice."
Aenne turned around. There stood Wufei, still solemn as ever. Aenne wanted to say something like 'I'm sorry' or 'I'm sad that someone you loved died' but that would just mean she disobeyed Chang's instructions and would just make him angrier.
"Come on. It's almost time for us to meet the others." Wufei said, getting into Nataku.
Aenne powered up TroubleWind and they both took off. She sat a while, pondering whether to talk to Chang or not.
"Hiya!" Aenne smiled over the P.A.
"What?"
"I.." She paused, glancing down, and then back up. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Her smile faded.
"Why?"
"Well..for two things..one disobeying orders, I sorta followed you, and spied on you." Aenne confessed.
"I know." He said bluntly.
"W-What?"
"I knew you were there. Don't think I didn't see you. I did. I'm not that stupid." He stated directly.
"Oh...Well, the second reason is I'm sorry for what happened to Meilan. I don't know what or how it happened or who she is. But I understand how it is to lose someone close. I dunno how many times its happened to me..someone whom I love, dies..but somehow I always try to stay cheery." Aenne tried to brighten the situation. "I mean, just think about it. Would they really want me to be sad and depressed the rest of my life? Or would they rather have me be happy, remembering the good times, and never forget them?" Her smile returned.
No response came from Wufei.
"Or.I'm just completely wrong.and have no idea what I'm saying." Aenne heavily sighed.
"I appreciate it.."
"Huh?"
"What you did for Meilan.she loved flowers..."
********
"Okay so I get it now!" Duo said sneering. "You have a crush on him."
"What are you talking about." Sam said flatly.
"Don't think I don't see it. You think he's pretty." Duo persisted. "That long blond hair. Beautiful blues eyes, he has a uniform too."
"By the sound of it, you like him more then I do." Sam turned off the computer and raised herself so she could walk out the door. "So what if I do?" She said scooping up Death.
"I would never believe it either. You having a crush." Duo continued. "I never would have imagined ..." Sam let the door slam and she left the room. Duo stood alone, pondering what just happened. He couldn't tell if he hurt Sam's feeling or if she was joking back. "Sam's just so hard to read ..." He trailed off.
********
"Chang, Aenne!" Quatre yelled upon seeing their jet streams. "We need your help! A second line of MS suits is on the way."
"Hey, where's Heero?" Aenne asked uncertain.
"Aenne, don't worry." Quatre replied, "Heero is on his own mission."
"Gotcha!" Aenne said replying and smiling.
"Come on Nataku!" Chang said pushing himself forward. "We must protect the colonies. They are to weak to fight for themselves!"
Aenne and Chang flew side by side into a battle. For the first time, Aenne knew why to fight. She may not have experienced the pain of being in the colonies, but she knew what it was to suffer. It may not have been a deep pain like loosing the one you love, but still, pain is something all people share. She was fighting to protect the people from pain, so no one would ever have to loose love, so no one would have to suffer.
"Chang, I'll protect Quatre and the others, you must keep all the MS from reaching the colony!" Aenne said taking charge. She led TroubleWind into the heart of battle. Her reactions took control as she let her mind come to peace on the battlefield.
Chang roused to the colony and stood still meditating for a brief moment. "Mobile suits have no soul!" He screamed. "Taking fear out of battle gets rid of purpose!" He rushed forward, swiftly making waste of the machines put before him. "This battle has no meaning."
"We can't continue like this." Quatre said holding back tears. "We have to end this."
"I have an idea." Trowa cut in, "Aenne, take flank with Quatre." Aenne complied. "Now Quatre, whatever you do, don't leave Aenne's side. She'll protect you."
"Don't do it Trowa!" Quatre yelled. "I need you!"
"Quatre, watch out!" Aenne screamed shooting over his head, "Where are you? Get your head in the battle!" Aenne then turned around and saw the explosion that ended Trowa's life. The self-detination device destroyed all enemies. "Trowa?" Aenne said in shock. "Answer me. Answer me damn it!"
"He's dead?" Quatre said quietly, "He can't be dead, he has to take me on a picnic." Tears swelled in his eyes and he screamed "TROWA!!!!!!!"
"Sometimes, the living has to die in order to protect the dead." Chang said addressing everyone. "Be grateful you knew Trowa in battle."
"That is it!" Aenne screamed, "I don't want to fight if everyone keeps blowing up! I don't want to loose any more friends to this stupid war! I just want to end!"
"Aenne!" Quatre screamed, "Above you!"
A single MS Space Leo was left and it had targeted Aenne. It came rushing towards her at such speed she would never have time to react. Chang came rushing towards here and used his gundam to block the Space Leo from ramming into her. The sudden flash of light was so bright, Aenne couldn't see if Chang was dead or alive.
"Chang?" Aenne asked hoping he was alive. "Chang?" She didn't receive an answer. "CHANG!!!!"
"I can hear just fine woman, you don't have to yell. Weakling." He replied.
"Why did you do that?" Aenne said completely shocked and on the brink of tears.
"Nevermind that, we need to get back to the base. I have to repair Nataku." Aenne used Troublewind to brace Nataku as she flew. This was a melancholy day. She lost another friend and was determined not to lose another. They left the battlefield in silence, mourning for the dead.
"Did you realize only one person died in that entire battle?" Aenne said not to anyone in particular, just aloud. Her head hung low as moved forward. "Seems a little excessive for just one death."
But out in the wilderness of space, Trowa, in his space suit, drifted off, whispering to himself, "Quatre, you are too gentle to die ... live in my memory ..."
********
"Duo!" Sam said opening the door to his room. "They are back. Get your ass out of bed so we can greet Aenne!"
"What, it's one in the morning." Duo said turning his back to the light of the hallway.
Sam stepped in his room and grabbed the blanket over Duo and whooshed them off his bed on the floor, leaving him to shiver. "Now get up!"
"All right! I'm up, now get out of her so I can dress." Duo responded.
"Just come in your boxers. That's what I'm doing. Now let's go!" Sam grabbed his hand and pulled him up out of the bed, then got behind him and pushed him into the hallway.
"I'm going, I'm going!" He said trying to get Sam to stop pushing him. "I'm going."
They walked through the hallway, Duo constantly reaching up and stretching and letting out yawns. They got the air lock, and intently, Sam knew something was wrong by the mean expression on Aenne's face.
"What happened?" Sam said intently.
"Is everyone alright?" Duo asked.
"No." Aenne said quietly, "Trowa didn't come back with us." Sam and Duo turned their heads to look at Quatre, tears pouring down his face.
"We shouldn't be fighting at all ..." He repeated to himself over and over again.
"What happened to Nataku?" Sam said pointing up to Chang's Gundam.
"Chang blocked a shot for me." Aenne said dimly, "Can I go to sleep now?"
"Yeah." Sam replied. "Duo, help me get Aenne to her room." Sam said taking Aenne's arm and lifting her up. Duo took the other as they moved her to her room in silence. They laid her in her bed, and covered her with the blanket's then left the room. Sam was the first to speak.
"Aenne shouldn't have gone on that mission." Sam said clutching her fist. "I should have."
"You can't blame yourself." Duo said looking at her. "She knew what she was getting into."
"No one should have to bear the responsibilities of being a pilot. Not you, not Aenne, not anyone." Sam said looking at her feet.
"You shouldn't have to fight either." Duo said lifting Sam's head so he could look in her eyes. "War is such an ugly thing. You're right. We shouldn't have to bear the responsibilities of battle."
"I just said that! Weren't you listening?!" Sam said joking trying to lighten the mood. "God, no one listens to me. Now you go get some rest, I'll see you in the morning."
"Okay, sweet dreams." Duo said before turning his back.
"Don't let the bed bugs bite" Sam said back before stepping in her room. She was careful not to wake Aenne and she slid up onto the top bunk. She rolled over and stared into the black of the room, hoping that Aenne would be alright in the morning.
"Good morning!" Duo said cheerfully as he walked into the food room. "How are my two favorite pilots?"
"Tired." Aenne said quietly.
"Bored." Sam said.
"Oh." Duo said disappointed. "Well what are you going to do today?"
"Sleep." Aenne replied.
"I don't know." Sam said after Aenne.
"Are two even awake?" Duo said eye-browing the two.
"No." Aenne said still quiet
"What's that? Awake. I do not know the concept of which you speak." Sam said staring at the wall.
"That's great." Duo said dropping himself on a bench. He grabbed the remote on turned on the T.V. placed in the corner. What he saw, shocked him "A Gundam pilot was captured today on a space colony. Earlier, a statement was released denouncing support of the Gundam by the colony. The pilot and his Gundam were taken to the lunar base. The pilot is awaiting execution. The other pilots have not been found ..." Duo looked away disappointed.
"What was Heero's mission yesterday?" Sam asked.
"I don't know." Duo said quietly.
"Are we going to go and retrieve him?" Aenne asked.
"No," Sam said, "We can't take our Gundam's into space. Besides, Heero can take care of himself."
"I can't believe it." Duo said hurt. "We are supposed to protect the colonies, but still, they denounce us. What are we going to do? We have no reason to fight."
"Don't say that!" Aenne yelled. "They still need your protection."
"We can't do anything to harm the colonies."
"Then it's settled, we won't act until Oz makes the first move." Sam said cutting in. "Duo, tell us when you want to act. I'll stay behind you."
"Yeah!" Aenne said, "Me too!"
********
The nation of Oz has spread its power to the colonies. After the pilot Heero Yuy was caught, the world power Oz, used the chance to seize the colonies, one by one. Former Alliance members, chose to support the Gundams, but could not show support openly, thus an underground was created with a strong noting of peace with in the colonies.
"We haven't received orders ..." Sam trailed off, "It's time we go into space and act with out own feelings."
"What should we do?" Quatre asked.
"I don't know." Sam said back. "Anything .... we have that freedom now. But I'm going to rescue Heero. If we are going to destroy Oz, we will need him."
"Then I'm going to with Sam to save Mr. Heero!" Aenne declared.
"Hmm ..." Chang said in the silence that follows.
"One thing remains, we can not allow Oz to take control of space. As long as we all want to destroy it, we will be allies." Sam said sternly.
"Then only one thing remains," Duo said smiling, "stealing the carriers to go into space."
"Then we will leave today. Prep what ever you need, we leave in an hour." Sam said finally.
One by one, everyone left the food room until only Sam and Aenne were left.
Aenne was quiet, the thought of going back into space sent shivers down her spine. She looked up at Sam who was sitting quietly on a bench, drinking her cup of coffee. "Are you sure going into space is the right thing?" Aenne asked quaintly. "Nope." Sam replied. "In all honesty, I don't know what to do, but going into space is a start."
"Well, we are going to stick together, so everything will be all right!" Aenne said cheerfully.
"Yeah!" Sam shouted back, "Now we only have an hour, so you might want to pack."
"Pack?" Aenne said perplexed, "I can't pack in an hour!"
"Then you just have to take what's on your person." Sam sat down her cup and walked out of the room, trailed by Aenne. Then Duo, went straight to their room, where Sam stuffed everything she needed into one bag then walked out of the room within the first five minutes.
"What should I bring?" She asked looking at Ducky. "If you were me, what would you want to bring?" The cat, just stared back before letting out a meow. "Okay so I'll bring this and this and this, not this and his and this and this ..."
When finished packing, Sam went to the loading bay and sat on the foot of Troublewind looking down at the floor. She heard the echo of footsteps approach her. She knew who it was instantly when she saw the black shoes beneath her. "Hi Duo." She said still looking down.
"What is a pretty girl like you doing moping on the foot of a Gundam?" He asked.
"Hey!" Sam shouted, "Who are you calling pretty!"
"You! That who!" Duo said with cheerfulness.
Sam shook her head quietly. "I don't want Aenne to get hurt. I need to ask a favor of you."
"What is it?" Duo said concerned, "Anything, just ask."
"Could you load this information into her Gundam?" Sam said holding up a disk. "It's all the data taken from the battles with the Mobile dolls."
"Sure thing." Duo said taking the disk, "I can do that much for you." He climbed up Into TroubleWind and slipped the disk in. It took a few seconds to load, and as soon as Duo popped the disk out, Aenne came rushing into the room.
"Hey! Duo whatcha doin' in my Gundam! A gundam is very personal! Shame on you!" She said with a smile on her face.
"I'm sorry..My, my are we in a better mood?" He asked as he jumped from the looming mecha.
"Possibly.." Aenne grinned.
"Oh no.someone gave her sugar.." Sam lamented. "This trip is going to take a little too long for my liking!"
"Sugar?" Duo's ears perked up with excitement. "I want sugar!"
"No it's my sugar!!" Aenne protested as she hugged onto her stash of candy. Duo rushed over and grabbed a hold of the sacred sugar sack.
"Gimme some!!" He gritted his teeth
"Mine!" Aenne gritted hers as well as she tugged back.
"Mine!" Sam shouted as grabbed the bag out of both their greedy hands and held it up past their reach. "No sugar for either! I refuse to deal with hyper beings on this voyage!"
"But.But..But." Aenne's and Duo's eyes got all watery as they looked helplessly up at the candy.
"Ah, ah, ah." Sam scolded. "I'm going to hold on to these till after our flight, then if you behave I'll let you have them back."
"Ok!" Aenne instantly jumped into Troublewind. "Let's go save Mr. Heero!!" She proclaimed to her buddies. "To save him.and the candy from the clutches of evil!!"
"Hey!!" Sam shouted in defense. "I'm not the clutches of evil!"
"But you took my candy!" Aenne yelled back as she strapped herself in. "Hurry up!!!" She shouted at the two who still stood on the floor. "I want my candy back!"
Duo also wanting the candy and to rescue Heero found himself loading into DeathScythe. And Sam who wanted to rescue Heero in the first place piled into a tauros. "Let's go." Sam commanded as the gundams roared with energy. Aenne still a little frightful of her journey back to space, pushed the button and appeared on a little screen in Duo's gundam.
"Duo?" She asked.
"Huh?" He said relaxing in DeathScythe.
"I'll share my candy with you if you help me get it back."
"Ok!" He agreed hastily.
"So plan one for Operation: Get Candy back from Sam is that.hold on a sec." She scribbled a little picture on a piece of paper. "See there." She pointed to a little stick person with brown hair and big sharp teeth. "That's Sam, she's holdin' our precious items of consumption hostage."
"Why does she have spiky teeth?"
"Because she stole my candy!" Aenne's response left Duo dumbfounded. "Moving on." She pointed then to another stick figure with blonde hair and a little crown to the right of 'Sam' and then she indicated the other stick figure also with long brown hair(only in a braid) with little devil wings, which stood on the left of 'Sam'. "That's us! So you come from the left and start tickling her and while she's laughing like a hyena I'll sneak along and steal the candy back, and we flee in victory!!"
"Nice try." Sam said bluntly, popping up on the screen. "It'll take more than that to get back the candy. And by the way it's very yummy." She grinned. "How dare you!!" Aenne glared back at Sam. "Listening in on our plans! Fiendish knave!"
"What ever. It's not like I couldn't hear you."
"MS Dolls! 9 o'clock!" Duo shouted, interrupting the clash. Two MS flew in close shooting ammo wildly Duo pulled out his scythe and sliced them in half.
"Let's get 'em!" Sam shouted as she fired her flamethrower, engulfing a few MS in red flames.
"Right!" Aenne brought forth her shining katana and rushed at five of the mindless mechas. With one swipe to her right, three went down, and another swipe to the left, and the other two fell.
While Duo stood in the front line fending off the enemy, Aenne and Sam fought back-to-back, making sure each other were safe. "They keep coming." Aenne remarked. "There's no end to them!!"
"Thanks for pointing out the obvious." Sam said shielding herself from a full on slot of bullets. "Could be wor-" Sam was cut off by a fairly large explosion. It came from where Duo was fighting.
"DUO!!!" The two girls screamed. "DUO!!"
"Don't worry. I'm ok." He said weakly as a stream of blood trickled down his pale cheek. DeathScythe had taken a blow to the right shoulder and was still functional, just not in the greatest of all conditions.
Sam shouted to Aenne. "Come on! We have to protect him!" Aenne was thinking the exact same thing as they both huddled near their hurt partner. The bullets kept flying and the mobile suits kept shooting. "There is just too many." Sam shouted as she shot out her blaster in any direction. "We can't keep this up for long, I'm running low on ammo."
There is no way we can beat them in hand to hand combat." Aenne said limited to just her katanas.
"Guys, if I self-destruct, you two can escape." Duo said looking at the monitors inside his Gundam. "You won't be able to protect me forever."
"No!" Aenne screamed, "We are all leaving this battlefield! I won't let you waste your life."
"Besides," Sam strained, "You don't want to do something you might regret."
"But one life is worth the price of two." Duo continued. "I won't let you be destroyed. If I do self-destruct, I can take out many of the other MS suits-"
"NO!" Aenne screamed, "We are all leaving.
"We do have another choice." Sam said quietly, " I know you won't like it Duo, but surly, surrender would be an alternative to death."
"But that means you have to surrender too." Duo said in protest. "I might not be able to protect you if we surrender."
"We have to." Sam shot back quickly, "We are losing and you said yourself, you won't let us be destroyed. You know we would never let that happen to you."
"Then it's settled, we surrender." Aenne said ending all conversation.
"Allright then." Sam added, "I guess all that's left is shutting down. I'll raise the white flag." She turned her head and punched in some keys codes then pressed enter, smiling all the while. "Done, you know how it works, shut down the Gundam and step out so they can arrest us."
"Don't forget the candy!" Aenne screamed in desperation. "You never know what might happen, smuggle it with you."
"I got you." Sam said taking the bag of candy and stuffin it inside of her space suit.
"Let's not keep our captures waiting." Duo said opening Deathscythe. Aenne followed suit and opened hers. Their space suits were the only thing protecting them from the vacuum of space. Sam was the last to step out, her suit bulging.
