So, after enduring several months of constant begging, I finally got my act together, sat down, gave myself a dead line, and finished Chapter 12 of A Crimson Christmas (and the non existent crowd goes wild). So anyway, no long A/N today. Please, just read and enjoy.
Oh, and Ami-chan… this one is for you as promised.
Year: After Colony 232
December 17
12:04 A.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
A door slowly creaked open, and a slender wrist snaked its way out of the doorway and gripped the edge of it. The motion surprised the blonde girl who had, only a moment before, been casually walking down the hall. She paused and watched the strange scene.
"Come on, let me go. I have to be going." A female voice escaped from the room, obviously belonging to the hand that held the doorway. The blonde instantly smiled, recognizing the voice.
"But Bren…" complained a second, masculine voice.
"No buts. I've really got to go." The truth was they both needed sleep. They had training in the morning, but he didn't know that, and she wasn't supposed to know about his. The owner of the hand finally one the struggle and Osiris's pilot finally emerged, wearing nothing but a pair of underwear and her shirt only half buttoned, exposing plenty of cleavage. Her bra was clutched between her teeth as she used both hand to try and finish the buttoning.
"Bren!" Trevet pleaded from in the dark room. Bren just shook her head and stopped fastening her shirt just long enough to look up and meet Ami's eyes. The blonde gave her a questioning, or rather teasing look, but never said anything. Instead, she shook her head, snickering, and walked on towards the room she shared with Nikki. Bren's voice seemed to find its way back to her when she noticed that Ami's hair was only loosely tied back, and the shirt which she had so nicely tucked in in the front, hung out in the back.
"Oi! You're one to talk! You can't judge me!" She called after her friend. She took a step in the same direction, only to be stopped by Trevet's voice.
"I still have your pants!"
The girl froze and hung her head in defeat. "Fuck," she stated simply, turned, and walked back into the dark room, shutting the door once again.
Year: After Colony 232
December 17
1:10 A.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
An hour later, Bren still had not returned. Ami and Kat sat, showered and cross-legged, on Nikki's bed beside her.
"You're sure it was her?" Kat asked, giggling.
"No Kat. It was just someone who looked exactly like her." Ami said taking a sip of soda and then burping.
"Red!"
"Blue!"
"Shit!" Ami pouted. "Do I have to?"
"Colors game rules. Yep!" Nikki told her. Ami pouted again but then closed her eyes and began to moan.
"Alright, who's been pleasing Ami?" Bren asked from the doorway.
"Me!" Kat said, raising her hand. Ami scowled at her and hit her in the head with a pillow.
"In that case, feel free to continue" Bren stated, coming completely into the room, fully dressed, and plopping down beside Nikki. "So, what did I miss?" She paused. "Wait… what else did I miss?" Not entirely sure she wanted to know what had been going on.
Kat tore herself away from the pillow fight she was engaged in with Ami. "Weren't we supposed to have a meeting?" she asked, glaring at Bren.
"Yes, I believe we were. But it seems out friend was otherwise occupied." Ami replied, sticking her tongue out.
"Hey, how come I had to cut mine short?" Kat protested.
"Because you remembered your pants." Nikki told her smiling.
"Yes, but… hey wait a minute! How did you know?" Bren asked, shooting Ami a look.
"Wasn't me!" Ami retorted holding her hands up defensively.
"Right, like I believe that. So really, what did I miss?"
"Jon called. We're on our own from how on. He and Diana have other things to attend to. Oh, and we're meeting the boys at 8:00 am tomorrow at an old colony military base a few miles from here. The suits are already there in the hanger." Nikki told them. Ami, Kat, and Bren just stared at her. "What?"
Bren just shook her head. "Anything else?"
"How are we going to keep the boys from finding out that we're their backup?" Kat asked, leaning forward.
"We get there early." Nikki told her.
"Use voice modifiers." Ami added.
"And if all else fails, keep Ami away from Tarak." Bren finished.
"Right," Nikki and Kat said at the same time.
"I hate you all." Ami pouted and yawned.
"Bed time then?"
"Yeah; Night Kat, Night Bren." Nikki called as the two of them rose to leave.
"Don't forget your pants tomorrow, Bren." Ami told her, earning a scowl in return as Bren closed the door.
"You don't learn, do you?"
"Nope."
Year: After Colony 232
December 17
6:32 A.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
"I know we said early, but I didn't think you meant this early." Kat complained. Ami nodded agreement, as they glared at Nikki. It was only 6:30 in the morning and they were already at the hanger.
"How come Bren's not complaining?" Ami asked.
"Who me?" Bren asked, holding up a bottle of watermelon Bacardi. "Nikki bribed me."
"Hey, what about me?" Ami protested.
"And me!"
"Yeah! What about us? Give us some!" Ami addressed Bren.
"No!"
"What, is it special?" Ami said, sarcastically. Bren pouted, and Ami lunged at her. She and Kat struggled to get some of the alcohol.
"Hey, hey! Stop that. Do I need to get a hose?" Nikki threatened them.
"No!" All three pouted.
"Good." She handed two more bottles to Kat and Ami.
"YAY!" Ami jumped up and down. "Where'd you get these anyway?"
"Do you really need to know?"
"Good point." Kat said, taking a drink.
An hour and a half later, the girls were inside their suits, powering them up.
"Osiris here, all good to go."
"Vulcan; ready to kick ass!"
"Izanami, lets go!"
"Isoke in; I can't find the start button!"
"It's on your left,"
"Thank you," Kat said, unsure of whom had replied as they had the voice modifiers already turned on. She pressed the button and looked up as five mobile suits appeared. Haruko's face came up on the screens and Nikki's heart skipped a beat."
"I assume, you're our back up." He asked.
"You assume right." Bren replied, double checking that the voice modifiers stayed functioning.
"Right. I'm Yuy, this is Maxwell, Winner, Barton, and Chang. And you are?"
Nikki looked at her watch. 7:59 am. "No time to chat. Training starts in precisely one minute." With that said, she took off, the other three girls following after her.
"Friendly, aren't they." Trevet remarked, following. The other boys took off as well, just as the simulation started.
Thirty minutes into the simulation and things were still going well.
"One on your rear Osiris. Watch it." Nikki told her.
"Thanks."
"Need help?"
"Nope. This one is all mine." The MD suddenly fired missiles at her. "Hey! Hey! That's my bum! Hey!" Bren yelled before turning and blowing the MD to bits with her energy ax. Nikki just laughed.
"Hey Chang! Watch your ass!" Kat called blowing up several MDs that were tailing him, potentially ending the young pilot's career.
"That was close. Thanks."
"Just watch it next time." Kat snapped at him, trying to keep up the pretence that they weren't on friendly terms with the boys. Suddenly, Ami screamed, and all three of the other girls turned to watch as Vulcan barreled straight into Tarak's gundam, sending him spiraling downward.
"What the fuck?" he screamed
"Crap, who was supposed to be watching her?"
"Me!
"Isoke! Did you forget rule number three?"
"Oops."
Ami waited as silence overtook the fight. Nikki deactivated the simulation from Izanami.
"A-ami?" Tarak choked.
"Oh fuck." Ami said, powering down Vulcan and stepping out.
"So, that means!" Yul stammered.
"Brilliant deduction," Kat told him, stepping out as well. Nikki and Bren joined them.
"T-tarak, I'm sorry. Really I am," Ami told him. The pilot just landed his gundam, climbed out, and walked off. "Shit." She said, landing her own, and following. Everyone else landed their suits and stood there.
"Well, that went well." Bren said.
"What the hell were you thinking? Are you insane! You could have been killed! Do you know how stupid that was!" Haru was yelling at Nikki, who seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Yuy! Leave her be." Bren yelled. Haru shot her a nasty glare and stomped off. Osiris's pilot stopped Nikki from following.
"I was saved by a woman!" Yul muttered over and over. Kat just smirked.
"Yes you were. Want to do something about it?"
Yul just blinked and shook his head. "A woman!" he muttered again, causing Kat to start fuming.
"Bren?" Trevet asked the girl who was comforting Nikki.
"Yes?" she raised her eyebrows, daring him to yell at her as Haruko had yelled at Nikki.
"How did you do that cool barrel roll thingy?" He asked, running his fingers through his hair. Bren smiled. "I'll explain later."
Year: After Colony 232
December 17
9:15 A.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
"Talk to me." Ami sat on the edge of her fiancé's bed, tears in her blue eyes, and yet Tarak seemingly ignored her. It's what he'd been doing for the past half hour, as he paced back and fourth in front of her. "Please," she begged.
"Y-you lied… to me." He added after a short pause, stressing the fact that it was he who had been wronged.
"You know I didn't want to; but would you have let me fight it you'd known?" Silence filled the hotel room and Tarak looked away from Ami again. "I didn't think so."
"You could get killed!"
"And so could you! For a year, I had o idea where you were, and I worried. And then, when I did know, I was even more worried. So why is it ok for you, but not for me?"
Again, they young pilot paused. "This is different," he blurted out.
"No its not. I'm a good pilot, Tarak. I've already been in a few battles." Ami protested and Tarak turned a brilliant shade of green.
"You ran me over!"
"I always run you over! I ran over you on foot yesterday; does that make me bad at walking?"
"I just don't want to loose you." Tarak told her, sitting beside her and wrapping his arms around her. She settled into his hold.
"And I don't want to lose you; but I can't ask you to stop, so please don't ask me." As her words reached his ear, Tarak fell silent, listening; really listening. He sighed, resting his chin on the crown of her head, and nodded. Ami smiled. "Thank you."
"Just don't make me regret this. And stop running me over!"
"I'll try," Ami giggled.
"Good." He kissed her gently.
Year: After Colony 232
December 17
8:45 A.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
"Wait! Haru! Please, wait!" Nikki called out, tears in her eyes. Bren had become engrossed in her conversation with Trevet enough that she could easily escape and follow her love.
"Go away Nikki." He shot back, causing the girl to falter and immediately stop, her lip quivering. "Maybe you should marry Bren. You seem to listen to her more than you do me."
"H-haru? Surely you don't… You can't mean that?" Nikki couldn't understand him. She didn't want to understand him. She wanted to have heard him wrong. He seemed so angry. He reminded her of her father. He turned at the sound of her voice weakening and looked at her. Immediately, he regretted his words. He hated to see her face in obvious pain. The worst part was that, this time, he was the cause.
"Nikki, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way. I'm just angry. You lied to me."
"Angry enough to break off our engagement?" Nikki threw back at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, as she struggled to pull the diamond ring off her finger, her shoulders raising and falling as she sobbed.
Haru walked over and placed his hands around hers, stopping her. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Never. I can never be that angry."
She swallowed and looked at him. "And I can pilot?" Haru paused and looked away. "Haru, I'm a good pilot. And I can't stand sitting around doing nothing while you're out risking your life. Please, I want to help. I want to fight beside you." She told him, whipping her eyes on her sleeve.
"Its not that I don't think you can pilot, cause you certainly proved otherwise today. It's that I can't imagine you a soldier. I don't want too. You're too innocent. I don't like the thought of you staining your hands with blood." He held up her white palms which he still had clasped in his own grip. Nikki looked down at her feet. "But if you really must, I won't stop you." He told her, earning a smile, hug, and a kiss.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Haru laughed. "It doesn't take much to make you happy, does it?"
"Nope." She said, linking her arm with his. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Good. You should."
Haru just shook his head.
Year: After Colony 232
December 17
10:07 A.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
Kat sat on her bed, ignoring Bren and Trevet who were in deep conversation about what happened. Neither was upset with the other. Instead they were swapping tactics, praising each other, and teasing one another. She wanted to throw a pillow at them, and she was about to when someone knocked on the door. The two love birds had moved away from talking, and were now making out, paid the door no attention.
"Oh, don't bother, I'll get it." Kat mumbled, standing and walking to the door. The knock sounded again before she reached it.
"I'm coming." She shouted, not caring about disturbing Bren and Trev. Not that she did. Sighing, Kat opened the door. "Oh, Yul. It's you." She stepped out into the hall and closed the door slightly. He frowned, confusion written all over his Chinese features.
"Shouldn't we go in there?"
"Trust me. It's more comfortable out here." Kat retorted. "Did you want something?" She tilted her head, making her look adorable and innocent. Quite the opposite of the Kat who had saved his life about an hour before.
"You're not making this easy."
"Making what easy?"
Yul shook his head. "Whatever. I came to say I was… well, what I'm trying to say is… I just wanted to, um… well, thank you."
Kat frowned. "For what?"
"For saving my ass back in the simulation."
She smiled politely. "It's my job as backup. But you're welcome anyway. If that's all, I really should make sure Bren and Trev don't trash the room." She turned to walk back into the hotel room she shared with her best friend.
"Wait Kat! I'm sorry! You are strong! Very Strong. I was wrong." He blurted out suddenly.
Kat turned back around and kissed him. "Thank you. I thought you'd never say so."
"Let's go get some coffee or something." Yul told her. Kat nodded and opened her door to grab her room key.
"I'm going out Bren. I'll be back later."
"Kay," Bren responded, mid kiss.
"I'm gonna go to a bar and dance naked."
"Sounds great."
"Then I plan to be kidnapped and get married."
"Good plan."
"To Yul."
"Have fun."
Kat sighed and closed the door. "They're gone," she told Yul, who laughed and led the way.
Year: After Colony 232
December 19
6:12 P.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
Trowa closed the blinds, and the curtains, shutting out all natural light from the hotel room. Wufei sat in a chair at the table, a cup of tea in one hand, and a book in the other. Duo paced back and fourth in the room, while Heero lay, his body heavily bandaged, on one of the four beds. One of the others had lent him a plain white T-shirt. He looked helpless, at least in Duo's eyes. 02 had always thought it would be impossible to cause major bodily harm to Wing Zero's pilot. He had imagined his best friend as indestructible.
"Maxwell!" Duo jumped from his thoughts and turned to Wufei. "He can't tell us anything until he comes to, and you pacing is doing nothing but driving me crazy." Duo just nodded and took a seat beside him. Trowa passed him a cup of tea as his cell phone rang. The braided pilot plugged it into the video screen and Ayman's face appeared.
"Hey, if it isn't the littlest Winner." Duo joked, pretending to be cheerful.
"Hello Commander Maxwell, Mr. Barton, Mr. Chang. I'm glad to see you all doing well." The young boy told them. There was no doubt he was Quatre's son.
"Same here Ayman. So, what can I do for you?"
"Well, the thing is, I… I was kind of wondering if you knew anything about my dad's location. I know I shouldn't ask, but…"
Duo made a face and sighed. "No, it's alright Ayman. If anyone has the right to know, its you. We don't know anything really solid, but we just stumbled onto a lead and we'll have to see where that takes us, ok?" Ok, so it wasn't a total lie. Technically, the lead had stumbled into them.
"Yes sir, thank you."
"You're welcome. Any reason for the sudden inquisition?" Wufei asked him, sticking his head into the screen.
"I recently discovered my mother ad half siblings." The boy explained. "I'm hoping I won't have to bring my mother terrible news about father when I see her again."
"Good for you, Ayman," Trowa told the boy, nodding. Ayman smiled. He had always liked his father's best friend.
"Tell the others we said hello, and too keep up the good work. We trust you all can destroy the General and his plans. Has back up arrived?"
"Yes sir. And it turned out to be their girlfriends, Commander Duo." Ayman noticed 02's face and smiled. "Don't worry; the girls are really focused. They won't let anything get in the way of protecting the colonies.
"If you say so, Winner. Take care." Wufei told him.
"You too, sirs." Ayman replied, cutting the link. He sat back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. There was a hard knock on the door, and the boy automatically jumped up and raced for it, stepping through and closing it behind him, as the whole group left for dinner.
Year: After Colony 231
January 14
12:30 P.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L3; Colony 83GKY02
A small blond teenager pressed her face against the glass of her window, a small fever keeping her inside on the beautiful winter afternoon. She wanted to be outside, ice-skating, or sledging or something along those lines, but instead a fever of 101.2 kept her inside her stifling warm house, barely able to breath. Her face began to grow raw from the chill of the glass against her skin, but she didn't really care because it was keeping her from feeling like she was on fire. Stupid parents. Stupid sweat the fever out of you.
"Ami! Get your face off the glass! I just cleaned them and you're smudging it." Her mother called as she passed through the living room, a basket of laundry in her arms. Ami tore herself away from the cold to glare at her before returning to pressing her burning forehead against her only relief. Behind her the TV weather man was reporting how the snow had fallen perfectly the night before and that it was the best day to enjoy it, as the temperatures were supposed to drop even more and freeze it all by the next day. Her mother came back again, listening to her sixteen year old, grumbling about being inside. "I told you, you shouldn't go out without a coat on."
"Yeah, yeah." Ami sniffled, wondering what her friends were doing. She had called Nikki earlier, telling her that she had to cancel their plans for the day as she had gotten a lousy flu. It just wasn't fair. She pulled herself away from the window and leaned back against her pillows that she had placed on the couch, folding her arms over her chest. She glared at the weather reporter again, and changed the channel. Everywhere she looked, more and more people playing in the snow. Getting angry, the girl turned the TV off and lay down, still fuming and muttering to herself, even as the doorbell rang.
"Oh, hi. Come right in, she's in the living room." Ami heard her mom say, but forced her eyelids shut, pretending to be sound asleep, not wanting to be bothered. It was probably someone else who wanted to talk about how much fun it was outside. She pulled herself into a smaller ball as the person sat down on the couch beside her.
"Come now, you don't expect me to believe you're asleep, do you?" She heard a familiar voice say. Her eyes flew open as she sat bolt upright and threw her arms around her boy.
"Tarak!" She squealed, hugging him for all he was worth. "It's horrible, I'm so bored and sick."
"Aww... poor Ami. Here, I brought you soup," he told her, taking out a container from the bag he carried. He set it down on the table and kissed her forehead. "You are burning up. Sorry, baby." He said, hugging her again, not caring whether she was contagious or not. Ami just pouted and nodded, making Tarak smile. "Come, why don't you let me feed you?" He asked her. Ami glanced around, to make sure no one was watching and nodded, thankful that for once her mom respected her privacy.
Getting slightly bored, but still feeling extremely loved as he fed her the soup, Ami fished a second spoon out of the bag Tarak had brought with him, and began to feed him in turn. "To protect you from catching it," was her only, feeble excuse. After they finished eating, Tarak cuddled under the blanket with her and they watched a few movies to pass the day, and then fell asleep in one another's arms.
Year: After Colony 232
December 21
1:54 P.M.
Location: Colony Cluster L4; Colony 67JPR04
"Bren, slow down. What's the rush?" Trevet asked. Several days had passed. The nine unknown fighters had managed to free the colony from the general's hold. It had been a fairly simple fight, more fireworks than anything else, resulting in the surrender of the other side. Haru had called them weak, but happily let them live. He wasn't one to kill if he didn't have to, and the others happily agreed.
"Only a few shopping days left till Christmas," she retorted, smiling as Trevet caught up with her. He ran his hand through her hair and against her cheek, leaving his thumb on a white bandage that rested there. It was slightly tinted red. Just because the mission had been a success, didn't mean that they had all escaped unscathed. Each had a few bruises and bangs. And Yul had redeemed a little of his pride, saving Kat's butt at one point. Trevet frowned, worried for a moment. "Oh stop it. I'm fine." She smiled, and paused, her eyes going over the crowd. "Oh my god. Trevet! That woman!"
"What about her?"
"She was on TV. The girls and I, we saw her. She was talking about someone who had buried her son, Todd."
"Are you sure?" Trevet looked at the woman, calculating. She stood at a bus stop, a sick little girl in her arms.
"Yes, that's Mrs. Evegao. I'd recognize that face anywhere." Trevet suddenly grabbed Bren's hand, pulling her towards the woman. "Trevet Maxwell, what the Hell!" He suddenly stopped right beside the woman.
"Mrs Evegao?"
"Yes, do I know you?" She asked, curious.
"No, but I know, or rather knew your son Todd." He pulled out a ball of cash from his pocket that he always carried and handed it to her. "He asked me to give this to you and tell you he loves you and his sister." Trevet said, nodding towards the girl. Bren and the woman were dumbfounded.
"Then you're the man that buried my baby?" she asked him, unsure as she accepted the money.
"Yes ma'am." Trevet replied, stone faced.
"God Bless y-"
"Please don't. I don't deserve it. Merry Christmas." And he turned and walked away. Bren apologized to the woman and dashed off after the blonde pilot.
"Trev, why?"
"Because I'm also the one that killed her son! Me and my damn gundam. He was just a child. He had nothing to do with that battle." Trevet yelled, crying slightly. Bren drew him into her arms.
"Shhhh… it's alright."
"No, its not. I don't deserve anything good. Everyone around me gets hurt."
"What are you talking about?"
"My sister, Todd, you!"
"Trevet, none of this is your fault." Bren told him, holding him close as he sobbed on her shoulders. "Don't blame yourself anymore. Its gonna be alright."
Year: After colony 219
September 6
7:00 A.M
Location: America
"Class, I'd like you all to welcome Brennett Clemense." An older woman told a small group of kindergartners. They all wore the same green school uniform. "She's from the England. Brennett, take a seat there, next to Katylina." The woman told the girl softly. Bren obeyed and teacher went on rambling about vowels. Finally, the bell rang, indicating recess, and three girls came over to the new comer.
"Hi, I'm Katylina," said the small French girl she sat next to. "But please, call me Kat."
"Only if you call me Bren."
"Deal." Kat told her, smiling.
"This is Ami, by the way," Kat said, indicating to the blonde little girl.
Finally, the smallest of the group smiled and stuck her head over Ami's shoulder. "Konnichiha."
"Um… bless you?"
Kat, Ami, and the small girl laughed. "That's Nikki, she's from Japan, and she has a tendency to talk like that." Ami, who appeared to be Nikki's best friend, explained.
"Oh…" Bren said, sitting back down.
"What are you doing?" Nikki asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Sitting."
"We can see that. Why are you sitting? Don't you want to play with us?" Ami asked, giggling a bit.
"Can I?"
"Of course, silly," Kat retorted, before grabbing her and dragging her onto the play ground, the other two following.
So yeah… that chapter took a few months. I have no clue when I'll get around to writing the next one, but it's progressing. It's almost Christmas, so once I reach that, things will go faster over the next year…. Yes, that's right. The ending will be Christmas in the year AC 233. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Until later…
Fateless Wanderer
