"I'm going to kill her." Heero mumbled, yawning. "Truly going to kill her."
"That's what you always say." Duo replied. Heero glared at him.
"This time, I mean it."
"Arguing won't get us anywhere. Would 'Lana have taken Kamikaze?" Quatre asked. Before anyone could answer, the phone rang. Trowa, closest to the phone, hit speaker.
"Hey, guys. Guess who?" It was Relana. "No, Duo, I'm not telling you where I am. Just letting you know I'm okay."
"'Lana, Doc's gonna kill you." Duo said. She laughed.
"Not if he doesn't catch me. It's not likely I'll get outta this mess anyway. So long as the children are fine, and safe... Never mind. Promise me you won't come after me, unless I call you again?"
"No. We're going to trace this call, and find you. Then we'll drag you home if we have to." Heero replied, his voice emotionless.
"You want to find me? Then figure this out. Where once a collector did sigh, so now do I lie. Where once there was a little boy, and the church he planned to annoy. There do I wait, for an anger I need to satiate. Among the echoes of an orphan, where Death I now am courtin'. Only Shinigami knows..." There was a soft click, and she was gone.
"I'm going to kill that girl."
Relana gently returned the cell phone to the pouch at her waist. She knew she would probably need backup, but by the time they figured out her riddle, she would have gotten the children out. She glanced up again, noting the guards' positions. She ran her hand over the smooth barrel of the gun in her pocket. She would use it if she had to. It reminded her of another time she was forced to use that gun...
~Flashback~
Relana, then just thirteen years old, stood poised at the door with Meg. They listened carefully to the guards pacing outside the girls dormitory. Relana held a smooth gun in her hand; it's weight dragged on her, but she told herself she would use it if she had to. She hoped it didn't come to that. They heard the guards stop at the end of the hall, to chat as they always did. Meg slowly opened the door, and they crept out. They snuck down the hall, keeping a sharp eye out for the guards posted everywhere. The last people to try this died horribly.
"Hey, you! What do you think you're doing?" A bullet thudded into the wall beside Relana's head. Meg shrieked, and Relana threw herself on the ground. She shot over her shoulder and heard a scream. It ended suddenly, and Meg yanked Relana to her feet. They started running as the other guard shot at them. More guards ran in front of them. Relana shut her eyes and fired the gun at them. She heard it hit flesh, but by then they were down a different hallway. The two girls dived into an empty office and hit the secret button they had spotted two days earlier. The bookcase swung silently open, and they jumped in. The door shut behind them two seconds before the guards came in.
Relana dropped the gun, shaking all over. Her face was dead white, her blue eyes wide.
"I k-killed people, Meg. Killed them! What am I?" She buried her face in her hands. Meg stroked her hair.
"You did what you had to, 'Lana. Get used to it. As a Gundam pilot, you'll have to kill."
~End flashback~
She had done what she had to. Meg had seemed cold-hearted back then, but Relana understood now. After all, she had done her share of killing in the two years since that day. She shifted restlessly. The hard ground was not the most comfortable spot in the world. In her mind, she felt the faint touch of Kamikaze.
Kamikaze was the only good thing that came out of the experience at the boarding school. OZ had been working on a new prototype of Gundam, and Relana had been deemed strong enough to have one. There was a special connection between these Gundams and their pilots. It was almost as though Kamikaze were alive, anticipating Relana's commands and spotting danger before Relana did. Relana always knew exactly where and in what condition Kamikaze was in.
A movement outside the compound caught Relana's eye. The guards were changing. In the two hours she had been here, the guards had changed every half hour. Now was her chance, in the confusion of changing guards, to sneak in.
Silently, she ran forward, her attention focused only on the guards. She made it safely in the door, and hid behind a convenient pile of boxes. The guards finished changing, and Relana looked around. The building was a large, warehouse, full of scientists, mobile suits and even a few Gundam prototypes. Relana waited until there was no one around, then crept out and followed a lone guard on his way to one of the offices on the top floor. In a dark hallway, she tripped the guard, knocked him out and took his uniform. It was a loose fit, but she supposed it would have to do. Dragging the guard into an office, she closed the door, and continued down the hallway.
"Guard! Where are you going?" The voice halted Relana in her tracks. She slowly turned around, keeping her face hidden. A young lieutenant stood there, his hands on his hips.
"Uh, I was told to find the captive children. Zechs would like them. He, uh, wants to send a message to the Gundam pilots." Relana replied, deepening her voice. "I'm new, and I got lost. Where are the children?"
"Right this way. Follow me, guardsman." The lieutenant turned smartly and headed down the hall.
After going down numerous stairs, they finally arrived at a padlocked door. The lieutenant gestured at it, left Relana the key and headed back upstairs. Relana glanced furtively around, then unlocked the door. She slipped inside and closed the door softly.
" Auntie 'Lana! Auntie 'Lana!" Makiko squealed. "You came!" She leaped up and hugged Relana. Kenji grabbed her legs, and even Masayoshi gurgled from his crib by the wall.
"Auntie 'Lana, you ain't never gonna leave us again, right? Don't let them baddies get us." Kenji said, hiding his face in her pant leg.
"Don't worry, guys. I'll get you outta here."
"What does she mean?" Wufei muttered. "Only Shinigami knows... She means you know where she is, Duo. Think."
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Wait, a church? A collector? An orphan? She means the L2 colony! I'm a collector, there was a church there where I would play, and I'm an orphan, aren't I? Yes, I figured it out!" Duo exclaimed
"Quiet, Duo. We better go find her before Doc gets back, or-"
"What do you need to find before I get back?" Doc walked into the kitchen, saw their guilty faces, and sighed. "She's gone, isn't she?" Just then, the phone rang again. Duo pounced on it, and hit speaker.
"Hey, guys. Me again. Figured it out yet, Duo?" Relana asked.
"Yes. You're in the L2 colony. Did you find the children yet?" Heero asked.
"Yup. Well, are you going to get down here, or not? I need the- Huh? Makiko! Quick, take the phone and hide it!" Relana was cut off in a burst of static. Intermittently, there was a yell, sounds of fighting, and then a gunshot. One of the children screamed. Then it was dead silent.
"Makiko! Relana, are you there? Makiko, what happened?" Duo yelled into the phone. A tiny, teary voice answered him.
"They got Auntie 'Lana. Unca Duo, they took her!" Makiko started crying.
"What do you mean, they got her, Makiko? Makiko?"
"She was talking to you, and then the door opened and she gave the phone to Makiko." It was Kenji. "And then she started hitting the baddies coming in, and then one of them grabbed Masayoshi, and Auntie 'Lana got real mad. She pulled out this gun, and told the baddie to put Masayoshi back. But he didn't, and Auntie 'Lana was gonna shoot him, but this other baddie fired at her, and she was almost hit, but it just missed, and then this other baddie come storming in. He had really long, almost white hair. He got real mad too, and hit the guy with the gun and started yelling. He said something to Auntie 'Lana, but it was real low, and then she had to follow them out. And then you came on, and we're scared. Auntie 'Lana promised the baddies wouldn't get us again, but they did!"
"All right, Kenji, don't worry. We'll be there. We have to go now, ok?" Duo replied. He clicked the phone off.
"Zechs has Relana." Quatre said.
"You have a propensity for stating the obvious, Quatre." Trowa replied. Doc glared at them all.
"I was counting on the five of you to keep her inside tonight. How could she slip past all five of you?" he asked. Before anyone could answer, there was a knock at the door. Doc opened it, and let two cloaked people into the room.
"Hi guys." It was Hilde and Sally.
Relana slumped in a chair in Zechs' office, waiting for the guards to go away. He was softly talking with them, then he sent them out. He returned to sit in the chair opposite her.
"Well, sister, what are you doing here?"
"That's what you always say." Duo replied. Heero glared at him.
"This time, I mean it."
"Arguing won't get us anywhere. Would 'Lana have taken Kamikaze?" Quatre asked. Before anyone could answer, the phone rang. Trowa, closest to the phone, hit speaker.
"Hey, guys. Guess who?" It was Relana. "No, Duo, I'm not telling you where I am. Just letting you know I'm okay."
"'Lana, Doc's gonna kill you." Duo said. She laughed.
"Not if he doesn't catch me. It's not likely I'll get outta this mess anyway. So long as the children are fine, and safe... Never mind. Promise me you won't come after me, unless I call you again?"
"No. We're going to trace this call, and find you. Then we'll drag you home if we have to." Heero replied, his voice emotionless.
"You want to find me? Then figure this out. Where once a collector did sigh, so now do I lie. Where once there was a little boy, and the church he planned to annoy. There do I wait, for an anger I need to satiate. Among the echoes of an orphan, where Death I now am courtin'. Only Shinigami knows..." There was a soft click, and she was gone.
"I'm going to kill that girl."
Relana gently returned the cell phone to the pouch at her waist. She knew she would probably need backup, but by the time they figured out her riddle, she would have gotten the children out. She glanced up again, noting the guards' positions. She ran her hand over the smooth barrel of the gun in her pocket. She would use it if she had to. It reminded her of another time she was forced to use that gun...
~Flashback~
Relana, then just thirteen years old, stood poised at the door with Meg. They listened carefully to the guards pacing outside the girls dormitory. Relana held a smooth gun in her hand; it's weight dragged on her, but she told herself she would use it if she had to. She hoped it didn't come to that. They heard the guards stop at the end of the hall, to chat as they always did. Meg slowly opened the door, and they crept out. They snuck down the hall, keeping a sharp eye out for the guards posted everywhere. The last people to try this died horribly.
"Hey, you! What do you think you're doing?" A bullet thudded into the wall beside Relana's head. Meg shrieked, and Relana threw herself on the ground. She shot over her shoulder and heard a scream. It ended suddenly, and Meg yanked Relana to her feet. They started running as the other guard shot at them. More guards ran in front of them. Relana shut her eyes and fired the gun at them. She heard it hit flesh, but by then they were down a different hallway. The two girls dived into an empty office and hit the secret button they had spotted two days earlier. The bookcase swung silently open, and they jumped in. The door shut behind them two seconds before the guards came in.
Relana dropped the gun, shaking all over. Her face was dead white, her blue eyes wide.
"I k-killed people, Meg. Killed them! What am I?" She buried her face in her hands. Meg stroked her hair.
"You did what you had to, 'Lana. Get used to it. As a Gundam pilot, you'll have to kill."
~End flashback~
She had done what she had to. Meg had seemed cold-hearted back then, but Relana understood now. After all, she had done her share of killing in the two years since that day. She shifted restlessly. The hard ground was not the most comfortable spot in the world. In her mind, she felt the faint touch of Kamikaze.
Kamikaze was the only good thing that came out of the experience at the boarding school. OZ had been working on a new prototype of Gundam, and Relana had been deemed strong enough to have one. There was a special connection between these Gundams and their pilots. It was almost as though Kamikaze were alive, anticipating Relana's commands and spotting danger before Relana did. Relana always knew exactly where and in what condition Kamikaze was in.
A movement outside the compound caught Relana's eye. The guards were changing. In the two hours she had been here, the guards had changed every half hour. Now was her chance, in the confusion of changing guards, to sneak in.
Silently, she ran forward, her attention focused only on the guards. She made it safely in the door, and hid behind a convenient pile of boxes. The guards finished changing, and Relana looked around. The building was a large, warehouse, full of scientists, mobile suits and even a few Gundam prototypes. Relana waited until there was no one around, then crept out and followed a lone guard on his way to one of the offices on the top floor. In a dark hallway, she tripped the guard, knocked him out and took his uniform. It was a loose fit, but she supposed it would have to do. Dragging the guard into an office, she closed the door, and continued down the hallway.
"Guard! Where are you going?" The voice halted Relana in her tracks. She slowly turned around, keeping her face hidden. A young lieutenant stood there, his hands on his hips.
"Uh, I was told to find the captive children. Zechs would like them. He, uh, wants to send a message to the Gundam pilots." Relana replied, deepening her voice. "I'm new, and I got lost. Where are the children?"
"Right this way. Follow me, guardsman." The lieutenant turned smartly and headed down the hall.
After going down numerous stairs, they finally arrived at a padlocked door. The lieutenant gestured at it, left Relana the key and headed back upstairs. Relana glanced furtively around, then unlocked the door. She slipped inside and closed the door softly.
" Auntie 'Lana! Auntie 'Lana!" Makiko squealed. "You came!" She leaped up and hugged Relana. Kenji grabbed her legs, and even Masayoshi gurgled from his crib by the wall.
"Auntie 'Lana, you ain't never gonna leave us again, right? Don't let them baddies get us." Kenji said, hiding his face in her pant leg.
"Don't worry, guys. I'll get you outta here."
"What does she mean?" Wufei muttered. "Only Shinigami knows... She means you know where she is, Duo. Think."
"I'm thinking, I'm thinking. Wait, a church? A collector? An orphan? She means the L2 colony! I'm a collector, there was a church there where I would play, and I'm an orphan, aren't I? Yes, I figured it out!" Duo exclaimed
"Quiet, Duo. We better go find her before Doc gets back, or-"
"What do you need to find before I get back?" Doc walked into the kitchen, saw their guilty faces, and sighed. "She's gone, isn't she?" Just then, the phone rang again. Duo pounced on it, and hit speaker.
"Hey, guys. Me again. Figured it out yet, Duo?" Relana asked.
"Yes. You're in the L2 colony. Did you find the children yet?" Heero asked.
"Yup. Well, are you going to get down here, or not? I need the- Huh? Makiko! Quick, take the phone and hide it!" Relana was cut off in a burst of static. Intermittently, there was a yell, sounds of fighting, and then a gunshot. One of the children screamed. Then it was dead silent.
"Makiko! Relana, are you there? Makiko, what happened?" Duo yelled into the phone. A tiny, teary voice answered him.
"They got Auntie 'Lana. Unca Duo, they took her!" Makiko started crying.
"What do you mean, they got her, Makiko? Makiko?"
"She was talking to you, and then the door opened and she gave the phone to Makiko." It was Kenji. "And then she started hitting the baddies coming in, and then one of them grabbed Masayoshi, and Auntie 'Lana got real mad. She pulled out this gun, and told the baddie to put Masayoshi back. But he didn't, and Auntie 'Lana was gonna shoot him, but this other baddie fired at her, and she was almost hit, but it just missed, and then this other baddie come storming in. He had really long, almost white hair. He got real mad too, and hit the guy with the gun and started yelling. He said something to Auntie 'Lana, but it was real low, and then she had to follow them out. And then you came on, and we're scared. Auntie 'Lana promised the baddies wouldn't get us again, but they did!"
"All right, Kenji, don't worry. We'll be there. We have to go now, ok?" Duo replied. He clicked the phone off.
"Zechs has Relana." Quatre said.
"You have a propensity for stating the obvious, Quatre." Trowa replied. Doc glared at them all.
"I was counting on the five of you to keep her inside tonight. How could she slip past all five of you?" he asked. Before anyone could answer, there was a knock at the door. Doc opened it, and let two cloaked people into the room.
"Hi guys." It was Hilde and Sally.
Relana slumped in a chair in Zechs' office, waiting for the guards to go away. He was softly talking with them, then he sent them out. He returned to sit in the chair opposite her.
"Well, sister, what are you doing here?"