AnimeCat: Well, chapter 5!! I'm rushing this saga and I know it, because for one thing it's longer than Demons, it has two installments of its own, and I really want to start some new projects. Hey, at least I don't make ya wait more than a day for the next chapter, eh? ^_^
I'm usually pretty good at battle scenes, sometimes, at least....this isn't my best...actually my worst is later on, and then my best...
Marin uses the Deathscythe and then meets a friend.
Solo begs of Harmony to stay by his side so that he might protect her....but she's hesitant...why?
Luna goes against Zeke, who she happens to love, if you haven't picked up on that from their meeting, and what's this? Zeke Merquise wants to launch an all-out attack on Colony L2 to get rid of the Gundams? Why would Luna oppose that?? She's L3's chief commander, shouldn't she want the Gundam gone? Why doesn't she?
Review!!
@-------
Marin went home, and began to feel better. She sat down at her computer and took a deep sigh. She turned it on and signed online. It was about time she checked up on the enemy. And she was right, something was going down, just a few miles from the colony. There was an enemy transport moving at top speed for L3.
Not a good thing.
Time to board the Deathscythe.
Her mom and dad were already asleep, so she stalked out of the house and made her way to the old base. She found the four Gundams there, all lined up, Deathscythe, DeathsWings, Sandrock, and HeavyArms. Marin smiled. She's hadn't even touched the Deathscythe since she learned to pilot it a few months before.
"Hey, old boy." She said lightly. "Be needing your help today."
She remembered when after they'd all learned to pilot, that Solo had offered to trade the Deathscythe for DeathsWings, due to the fact that DeathsWings was a girl's mobile suit, but Marin had become attached to Deathscythe.
Marin just /loved/ the Deathscythe Hell Customs. She didn't really mind the Sandrock Kai Customs, or the HeavyArms Kai Customs, and she was sorry she never had seen the Wing Zero Customs.
No time to think about it now. She jumped into the Deathscythe and the mobile suit came to life. She left the base, and went out to find out what the enemy had to take to L3.
Within minutes, she was approaching the carrier. She noticed a few mobile suits coming up from behind her. She turned around and saw seven Neptune and five Mercury ready to attack.
"Surrender." Was the command.
"You're kidding, right?" She giggled. A slash of the scythe, and jabbing the pole of the staff into the control system blew the first Neptune to pieces. She fired the Vulcan guns, and two Mercury went bye-bye. She put the Verniae output to the maximum and shot toward the carrier.
Marin wasn't very experienced, and she wanted to get the carrier before Deathscythe was seriously damaged.
"Come on, Deathscythe, don't give up on me now…" She muttered as it shook madly from the Neptune's beam canon fire. "Left leg immobile… Low on fuel? That can't be." She said urgently. She looked down. Deathscythe had a huge gash on the fuel tank. "Damn!" She hissed. "I'll bet this never happened to Grandpa or Dad!"
She brought the scythe down lightning fast, and the carrier exploded, taking another Mercury and a Neptune with it. Marin smiled triumphantly. But something was wrong…. She looked carefully, and saw something float away from the destroyed carrier. A white mobile suit that Marin instantly recognized. "T-T-Tallgeese…" Her voice trembled.
Was the pilot in it? She couldn't fight him…it was impossible. She was already in a losing battle with just a handful of regularly manned suits, and she couldn't fight much longer.
No…it continued floating. She was about to bring the scythe through it to destroy it, when the Neptune attacked again.
Marin shrieked in pain as an electrical shock went through her body. The control panel exploded in a rush of white fire, and bits of computer parts shot with bullet speed from it, severely cutting her arms and head.
"No, No, NO!" She screamed, and the Deathscythe went limp. The Neptune fired again, drifting her toward the colony. She blinked blood out of her eyes. The Neptune were retreating to rescue the Tallgeese.
The Mercury watched her, making sure the pilot was dead. Marin breathed deep. Chances of survival were nonexistent if they decided to attack again. She had one oppurtunity…when the Neptune got far enough away…she could use the scythe and use the last of her fuel to make it to her colony. That was it. If not… She opened up a transmission to the base. No one was there, but eventually they would go there, and they would find her transmission.
"This is Marin Lila Maxwell. I thought I could handle the Deathscythe on my own. I was wrong…I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, everybody. If you guys ever find Kiane…tell her hi for me. I hope she's as nice as that Kian girl is…hey! What do you know…their names are alike." She paused. "I want Solo to know I love him and I hope he gets better… And Mommy, tell Daddy to stop swearing all the time…it's not good." She was beginning to fell sick, very sick. She was only twelve…and this might be the end. She hadn't said "Mommy" or "Daddy" in years.
Her chance was coming…but her arms were weak from the shock. She could barely move them. She couldn't miss the chance! She tore the scythe through the last Mercury and fired the engine. Nothing happened. Then, at the last possible second, the engine roared to life and she sped toward the colony. The Neptune didn't follow.
Marin took a very deep breath. She was still for a moment before bursting into tears. Her body hurt with unnatural pain…burning, aching, and her head was throbbing. The cuts on her arms and head were stinging and bleeding all over her face. She wiped blood from her eyes, nose, and mouth, and took a breath of air between sobs. She passed out a few minutes later.
Her head hurt even more when she woke up. She shook her head to clear it, and saw all the screens blank. That was bad. She couldn't see out…she could be anywhere drifting in space. She pounded on the dead controls, and the screens flickered. They flickered again and she could see. She was…
Inside a colony? How'd that happen?
But it was true. The Deathscythe was hunched over inside the colony in a remote area. *The locking gates must have opened for me…* She thought, and looked behind. The locking gates were right behind her. *But who opened them?*
She kicked Deathscythe's gates open, and tumbled out. She heard someone utter a loud, surprised shriek. She looked up from her spot on the dirt to see a boy. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. He was brown-haired and hazel-eyed. Marin's first impression of him was, of course, that he was cute.
"What the…" He whispered. "Is that a…?"
"Gundam?" She asked. "Yeah. It is."
"You were piloting it? No way! You're just a kid!" The boy shook his head.
"Please help me up." She said softly. He took a reluctant step toward her, and helped her up. "I'm not /too/ young. My father and my grandfather were only fifteen."
"Are you okay?" He asked gently, sitting her down and letting her lean on him for support. She took a breath. She wanted to nod, but she shook her head.
"No. I'm not, right now. I'll /be/ okay, but right now…I want to die." She managed a smile. Then she turned solemn. "Can I trust you?" She asked coldly.
"What?" He asked. Marin's hand drifted down to the holster at her waist. She made no other move.
"I won't repeat myself." She continued in the same voice.
"But…what do you mean?" He asked.
"Will you turn me or Deathscythe in?"
"What…?" He asked. "Why would I do that?"
"What colony is this?"
"L2." The boy informed her. Marin breathed. L2, her colony, would never think of her as a threat. She knew people were hoping that the Gundams would save them. But she didn't know this boy, even though he looked familiar.
"Will you?" She demanded. "I'll have no qualms about killing you to shut you up."
"N-n-no." He stammered. "I'm Jake Zachary."
She looked at him, with a little smile. "I'm Marin Maxwell. Thank you."
"Maxwell?" He asked, with an unreadable expression. "Are you related to Duo Maxwell? Old guy, runs a junk yard and a fund for the needy?"
"Yeah I know him." Marin said, surprised. "He's my grandfather." Then, she remembered where she'd seen the boy, Jake, before. "I saw you on Friday with…yeah, I saw you with Kian!" It was the same boy.
"Yeah! You were with that guy!" Jake exclaimed. "You guys laughed at us. How do you know Kian?"
"Solo is my cousin…he was stabbed yesterday. Kian took me to the hospital."
"That boy, Solo, was stabbed? God…I'm sorry. Is he okay?"
"I don't know…he might be." Marin said sadly. "Would you come with me to my house? I don't have the strength to walk. I need my dad to take care of the Deathscythe."
"Yeah…okay. Do you know where Kian is? I need to talk to her."
"She's probably with my aunt. My dad can give you a lift."
"Then let's go."
~~~~~~~~
When Solo finally opened his eyes, and everything was dark, his first assumption was that he's gone blind. He spent five minutes in total terror, until he saw a twinkling of stars outside his window.
"It's night…oh thank God…" He mumbled.
Damn!
That means no one's around to see him! He's been semi-conscious for a bit, but unable to open his eyes. Visiting time must have ended hours ago. But then…
"Solo?" Someone asked as if they couldn't believe it. He slowly turned around as they flipped on a small light.
It was Harmony.
She was drenching wet. He could hear rain hitting the roof.
"Harmony…" He breathed hoarsely. His throat hurt. "How did you get in here?"
"I opened ze vindow. I am a very good climber." She said with a slight smile. "I 'ad to be ze one to see you avake. I owed it to you."
"It's okay…" He sort of slurred his words together. She shook her head.
"I should 'ave studied better. It vas /my/ fault." She pointed to herself.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine." He said positively. She bit her lip with worry. He saw her wearing the same sapphire choker and matching earrings that she'd worn since he'd first seen her. She looked tired, as if she'd been up for days. "That's nice jewelry." He said, trying to change the subject. She looked down at it and nodded.
"Lady F alvays told me to 'ave one zing, and 'old on to it forever. Because anyzing can be taken from you at anytime."
"I like that philosophy." Solo approved.
"It vas ze same vith Mrs. Maxvell." Harmony said. "She still 'as ze silver cross, does she not?"
"Yeah, she does." Solo nodded. That explained it. He clutched his gold cross tightly in his hand. His engraved name was undoubtedly printed in his palm. He wanted to protect this image of her, and he couldn't explain why. This wild, cold, and dangerous girl was sad…and it hurt him. Harmony Earthe, Daye Maxwell-- the signs were the same, and so were the risks. Harmony could lose her mind.
Solo didn't want that to happen.
"Solo, do you 'ave somezing you vish to protect?" She asked, breaking his thoughts. She laid her hand on his. He held up his cross, and he gently squeezed her hand.
"This." He said unconvincingly. *I want to protect you, Harmony. And only you…*
He didn't understand what he was feeling. And Harmony looked worse than ever. Her shoulders trembled. She leaned against the wall and watched him with sad eyes.
"I don't know vat's vrong vith me." She said, her voice shaking. "I'm going to go."
She took a few steps toward the door.
"Harmony…" Solo tried, but his voice failed. She turned to him slowly. She gave him another wretched look. Her sadness was bringing him down. "Don't go back."
She tilted her head.
"Vat?" She asked in confusion.
"Don't go back to Lady F. Your training…it's dangerous. Don't go back."
"Vere vould I go, Solo? 'Onestly. She is ze only person I 'ave ever trusted."
"Then trust me." He said desperately. She smiled at him.
"You should not trust me." She sighed. "No one should. I do trust you…but it's not a good idea to trust me."
"I already do." He continued. Her expression died and she sat down beside him. She held up her left hand, and on her finger was a ring.
"Zen you must know everyzing." She said solemnly.
"What is that?" He asked. She took it off and examined it.
"Despite my age, I 'ave been married." She said emotionlessly. Solo thought he'd die all over again. He knew very well that he'd been resuscitated. He remembered very clearly what had happened. I'd died…
"You've been…married?"
"'Is name vas Lyle Bordeaux. 'E…'e died. I vas already deep into my training vith F, and zen I returned to France for a mission, and I remembered 'im from my childhood. I stopped being an assassin…for a little while. Zen 'e died…and I returned to Lady F."
"Harmony…did you ever think that F had Lyle killed so you'd return to her?"
Harmony looked at him with total shock in her eyes. "Solo…vat are you saying?"
"Exactly what I said." He said gently.
"You zink F killed my 'usband?" She asked, frozen. She shook her head. "Are you…angry at me?"
"Why would I be mad? I've only known you a few days. Harmony, if I didn't get angry over the fact that you killed me, do you think I'd be mad about this?"
"Ven you put it zat vay…" She said lightly. She paused. "Killed you?"
"Oops…" He hadn't intended to tell her that. "About that…well… er…yeah…I was…um…resuscitated. I was legally dead for two minutes."
Harmony looked dead on her feet. "I'm not angry!" He said urgently. He smiled broadly. "But you're not hiding anything else from me…are ya? You're not a mother of six or anything like that? My limit is three."
She burst out laughing and instantly covered her mouth.
"It's okay." He smiled. "You're allowed to laugh in life."
She smiled at him again.
"I am going to tell your family zat you've voken up." She said, standing up. "Zey are probably at zeir 'omes, but I vill tell zem anyvay."
"Thanks…" He murmured as he hit the pillow with exhaustion.
~~~~~~~~~
"Luna?" She heard Zeke say. "Are you awake?"
"Hm?" She mumbled, opening her eyes. Zeke's face filled the screens of the cockpit. "What is it?"
"Luna!" He breathed. "I thought you'd died." He looked beyond relieved. She sat straight up.
"Excuse me?" She snapped. "What do you mean?"
"When you were attacked." He said slowly. Then he paused. "You slept through it all?" He shouted.
"What 'all'?"
"The carrier you were in was attacked by 02, you know, the Deathscythe. You lost all your escorts except for some Neptune." He explained.
Luna looked amazed. She rubbed her forehead. "I must have been knocked unconscious." She said suddenly, wincing. "My head is killing me. Must have hit it."
"Thank God!" Zeke said, shaking his head.
"What happened to the Deathscythe? No way just a few Neptune and Mercury beat it."
"They did." Zeke shrugged. "Well, it was already in bad shape-- looked really old, and maybe the pilot wasn't that experienced. When we stopped attacking, it drifted toward the colony. The pilot is probably dead."
"Z-e-k-e…" She said slowly, shaking her head at him. "Are you a fool? Of course he's not dead. You know that. Our grandparents fought the Gundams before. The Gundam pilots just don't die. They just don't."
"Luna, what--?"
"And anyway, the Gundams aren't our enemies. L2 is. I wouldn't have fought a Gundam pilot anyway, no matter what. My grandmother was ready to give up her life for them before. I'm not ready for that, but I won't fight them."
"Luna," He said sadly, "they're protecting L2. I saw it in the way the Deathscythe moved. He never fired in the direction of the colony." Then he paused. "That makes them your enemies."
"No!"
"Luna! Please, listen to me…we can make a sweep of L2, and get rid of the Gundams…they'd make no trouble for us that way--"
"Zeke Merquise." Luna cut in, her voice icy. "I am your superior officer. You will not make an attack on the Gundam pilots without my permission. And from now on, Officer Merquise, you will call me Lady Luna Une."
"Luna,"
"Lady Luna Une!" She corrected harshly. "Did you hear me, Officer Merquise? Unless you change your view, my friend, you can say goodbye to your position. And to the Epyon. I'll let someone else pilot it. Are we clear?"
@-------
AnimeCat: Yay! Can't wait till next chapter, can ya?? *loud snap is heard in the distance, followed by an OMAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOO KOOOOORRRROOOOOSUUUUUU!!!!*
Could it be??? *AnimeCat gets gigantic stars for eyes. so does chibi relena*
*zooms away, leaving large smoke cloud in her wake*
Review!! Remember to tell me who your fave character is! ^_^
Next chapter: Cedric pays a visit to his little crush, Sarra Shail, who mourns for her father. Kiane finally is introduced to her father, Kien Yuy. But...what expectations does he have for his daughter...the heir to not only the Sanq Kingdom, but to the Wing Zero?
I'm usually pretty good at battle scenes, sometimes, at least....this isn't my best...actually my worst is later on, and then my best...
Marin uses the Deathscythe and then meets a friend.
Solo begs of Harmony to stay by his side so that he might protect her....but she's hesitant...why?
Luna goes against Zeke, who she happens to love, if you haven't picked up on that from their meeting, and what's this? Zeke Merquise wants to launch an all-out attack on Colony L2 to get rid of the Gundams? Why would Luna oppose that?? She's L3's chief commander, shouldn't she want the Gundam gone? Why doesn't she?
Review!!
@-------
Marin went home, and began to feel better. She sat down at her computer and took a deep sigh. She turned it on and signed online. It was about time she checked up on the enemy. And she was right, something was going down, just a few miles from the colony. There was an enemy transport moving at top speed for L3.
Not a good thing.
Time to board the Deathscythe.
Her mom and dad were already asleep, so she stalked out of the house and made her way to the old base. She found the four Gundams there, all lined up, Deathscythe, DeathsWings, Sandrock, and HeavyArms. Marin smiled. She's hadn't even touched the Deathscythe since she learned to pilot it a few months before.
"Hey, old boy." She said lightly. "Be needing your help today."
She remembered when after they'd all learned to pilot, that Solo had offered to trade the Deathscythe for DeathsWings, due to the fact that DeathsWings was a girl's mobile suit, but Marin had become attached to Deathscythe.
Marin just /loved/ the Deathscythe Hell Customs. She didn't really mind the Sandrock Kai Customs, or the HeavyArms Kai Customs, and she was sorry she never had seen the Wing Zero Customs.
No time to think about it now. She jumped into the Deathscythe and the mobile suit came to life. She left the base, and went out to find out what the enemy had to take to L3.
Within minutes, she was approaching the carrier. She noticed a few mobile suits coming up from behind her. She turned around and saw seven Neptune and five Mercury ready to attack.
"Surrender." Was the command.
"You're kidding, right?" She giggled. A slash of the scythe, and jabbing the pole of the staff into the control system blew the first Neptune to pieces. She fired the Vulcan guns, and two Mercury went bye-bye. She put the Verniae output to the maximum and shot toward the carrier.
Marin wasn't very experienced, and she wanted to get the carrier before Deathscythe was seriously damaged.
"Come on, Deathscythe, don't give up on me now…" She muttered as it shook madly from the Neptune's beam canon fire. "Left leg immobile… Low on fuel? That can't be." She said urgently. She looked down. Deathscythe had a huge gash on the fuel tank. "Damn!" She hissed. "I'll bet this never happened to Grandpa or Dad!"
She brought the scythe down lightning fast, and the carrier exploded, taking another Mercury and a Neptune with it. Marin smiled triumphantly. But something was wrong…. She looked carefully, and saw something float away from the destroyed carrier. A white mobile suit that Marin instantly recognized. "T-T-Tallgeese…" Her voice trembled.
Was the pilot in it? She couldn't fight him…it was impossible. She was already in a losing battle with just a handful of regularly manned suits, and she couldn't fight much longer.
No…it continued floating. She was about to bring the scythe through it to destroy it, when the Neptune attacked again.
Marin shrieked in pain as an electrical shock went through her body. The control panel exploded in a rush of white fire, and bits of computer parts shot with bullet speed from it, severely cutting her arms and head.
"No, No, NO!" She screamed, and the Deathscythe went limp. The Neptune fired again, drifting her toward the colony. She blinked blood out of her eyes. The Neptune were retreating to rescue the Tallgeese.
The Mercury watched her, making sure the pilot was dead. Marin breathed deep. Chances of survival were nonexistent if they decided to attack again. She had one oppurtunity…when the Neptune got far enough away…she could use the scythe and use the last of her fuel to make it to her colony. That was it. If not… She opened up a transmission to the base. No one was there, but eventually they would go there, and they would find her transmission.
"This is Marin Lila Maxwell. I thought I could handle the Deathscythe on my own. I was wrong…I'm sorry, Mom, Dad, everybody. If you guys ever find Kiane…tell her hi for me. I hope she's as nice as that Kian girl is…hey! What do you know…their names are alike." She paused. "I want Solo to know I love him and I hope he gets better… And Mommy, tell Daddy to stop swearing all the time…it's not good." She was beginning to fell sick, very sick. She was only twelve…and this might be the end. She hadn't said "Mommy" or "Daddy" in years.
Her chance was coming…but her arms were weak from the shock. She could barely move them. She couldn't miss the chance! She tore the scythe through the last Mercury and fired the engine. Nothing happened. Then, at the last possible second, the engine roared to life and she sped toward the colony. The Neptune didn't follow.
Marin took a very deep breath. She was still for a moment before bursting into tears. Her body hurt with unnatural pain…burning, aching, and her head was throbbing. The cuts on her arms and head were stinging and bleeding all over her face. She wiped blood from her eyes, nose, and mouth, and took a breath of air between sobs. She passed out a few minutes later.
Her head hurt even more when she woke up. She shook her head to clear it, and saw all the screens blank. That was bad. She couldn't see out…she could be anywhere drifting in space. She pounded on the dead controls, and the screens flickered. They flickered again and she could see. She was…
Inside a colony? How'd that happen?
But it was true. The Deathscythe was hunched over inside the colony in a remote area. *The locking gates must have opened for me…* She thought, and looked behind. The locking gates were right behind her. *But who opened them?*
She kicked Deathscythe's gates open, and tumbled out. She heard someone utter a loud, surprised shriek. She looked up from her spot on the dirt to see a boy. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. He was brown-haired and hazel-eyed. Marin's first impression of him was, of course, that he was cute.
"What the…" He whispered. "Is that a…?"
"Gundam?" She asked. "Yeah. It is."
"You were piloting it? No way! You're just a kid!" The boy shook his head.
"Please help me up." She said softly. He took a reluctant step toward her, and helped her up. "I'm not /too/ young. My father and my grandfather were only fifteen."
"Are you okay?" He asked gently, sitting her down and letting her lean on him for support. She took a breath. She wanted to nod, but she shook her head.
"No. I'm not, right now. I'll /be/ okay, but right now…I want to die." She managed a smile. Then she turned solemn. "Can I trust you?" She asked coldly.
"What?" He asked. Marin's hand drifted down to the holster at her waist. She made no other move.
"I won't repeat myself." She continued in the same voice.
"But…what do you mean?" He asked.
"Will you turn me or Deathscythe in?"
"What…?" He asked. "Why would I do that?"
"What colony is this?"
"L2." The boy informed her. Marin breathed. L2, her colony, would never think of her as a threat. She knew people were hoping that the Gundams would save them. But she didn't know this boy, even though he looked familiar.
"Will you?" She demanded. "I'll have no qualms about killing you to shut you up."
"N-n-no." He stammered. "I'm Jake Zachary."
She looked at him, with a little smile. "I'm Marin Maxwell. Thank you."
"Maxwell?" He asked, with an unreadable expression. "Are you related to Duo Maxwell? Old guy, runs a junk yard and a fund for the needy?"
"Yeah I know him." Marin said, surprised. "He's my grandfather." Then, she remembered where she'd seen the boy, Jake, before. "I saw you on Friday with…yeah, I saw you with Kian!" It was the same boy.
"Yeah! You were with that guy!" Jake exclaimed. "You guys laughed at us. How do you know Kian?"
"Solo is my cousin…he was stabbed yesterday. Kian took me to the hospital."
"That boy, Solo, was stabbed? God…I'm sorry. Is he okay?"
"I don't know…he might be." Marin said sadly. "Would you come with me to my house? I don't have the strength to walk. I need my dad to take care of the Deathscythe."
"Yeah…okay. Do you know where Kian is? I need to talk to her."
"She's probably with my aunt. My dad can give you a lift."
"Then let's go."
~~~~~~~~
When Solo finally opened his eyes, and everything was dark, his first assumption was that he's gone blind. He spent five minutes in total terror, until he saw a twinkling of stars outside his window.
"It's night…oh thank God…" He mumbled.
Damn!
That means no one's around to see him! He's been semi-conscious for a bit, but unable to open his eyes. Visiting time must have ended hours ago. But then…
"Solo?" Someone asked as if they couldn't believe it. He slowly turned around as they flipped on a small light.
It was Harmony.
She was drenching wet. He could hear rain hitting the roof.
"Harmony…" He breathed hoarsely. His throat hurt. "How did you get in here?"
"I opened ze vindow. I am a very good climber." She said with a slight smile. "I 'ad to be ze one to see you avake. I owed it to you."
"It's okay…" He sort of slurred his words together. She shook her head.
"I should 'ave studied better. It vas /my/ fault." She pointed to herself.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine." He said positively. She bit her lip with worry. He saw her wearing the same sapphire choker and matching earrings that she'd worn since he'd first seen her. She looked tired, as if she'd been up for days. "That's nice jewelry." He said, trying to change the subject. She looked down at it and nodded.
"Lady F alvays told me to 'ave one zing, and 'old on to it forever. Because anyzing can be taken from you at anytime."
"I like that philosophy." Solo approved.
"It vas ze same vith Mrs. Maxvell." Harmony said. "She still 'as ze silver cross, does she not?"
"Yeah, she does." Solo nodded. That explained it. He clutched his gold cross tightly in his hand. His engraved name was undoubtedly printed in his palm. He wanted to protect this image of her, and he couldn't explain why. This wild, cold, and dangerous girl was sad…and it hurt him. Harmony Earthe, Daye Maxwell-- the signs were the same, and so were the risks. Harmony could lose her mind.
Solo didn't want that to happen.
"Solo, do you 'ave somezing you vish to protect?" She asked, breaking his thoughts. She laid her hand on his. He held up his cross, and he gently squeezed her hand.
"This." He said unconvincingly. *I want to protect you, Harmony. And only you…*
He didn't understand what he was feeling. And Harmony looked worse than ever. Her shoulders trembled. She leaned against the wall and watched him with sad eyes.
"I don't know vat's vrong vith me." She said, her voice shaking. "I'm going to go."
She took a few steps toward the door.
"Harmony…" Solo tried, but his voice failed. She turned to him slowly. She gave him another wretched look. Her sadness was bringing him down. "Don't go back."
She tilted her head.
"Vat?" She asked in confusion.
"Don't go back to Lady F. Your training…it's dangerous. Don't go back."
"Vere vould I go, Solo? 'Onestly. She is ze only person I 'ave ever trusted."
"Then trust me." He said desperately. She smiled at him.
"You should not trust me." She sighed. "No one should. I do trust you…but it's not a good idea to trust me."
"I already do." He continued. Her expression died and she sat down beside him. She held up her left hand, and on her finger was a ring.
"Zen you must know everyzing." She said solemnly.
"What is that?" He asked. She took it off and examined it.
"Despite my age, I 'ave been married." She said emotionlessly. Solo thought he'd die all over again. He knew very well that he'd been resuscitated. He remembered very clearly what had happened. I'd died…
"You've been…married?"
"'Is name vas Lyle Bordeaux. 'E…'e died. I vas already deep into my training vith F, and zen I returned to France for a mission, and I remembered 'im from my childhood. I stopped being an assassin…for a little while. Zen 'e died…and I returned to Lady F."
"Harmony…did you ever think that F had Lyle killed so you'd return to her?"
Harmony looked at him with total shock in her eyes. "Solo…vat are you saying?"
"Exactly what I said." He said gently.
"You zink F killed my 'usband?" She asked, frozen. She shook her head. "Are you…angry at me?"
"Why would I be mad? I've only known you a few days. Harmony, if I didn't get angry over the fact that you killed me, do you think I'd be mad about this?"
"Ven you put it zat vay…" She said lightly. She paused. "Killed you?"
"Oops…" He hadn't intended to tell her that. "About that…well… er…yeah…I was…um…resuscitated. I was legally dead for two minutes."
Harmony looked dead on her feet. "I'm not angry!" He said urgently. He smiled broadly. "But you're not hiding anything else from me…are ya? You're not a mother of six or anything like that? My limit is three."
She burst out laughing and instantly covered her mouth.
"It's okay." He smiled. "You're allowed to laugh in life."
She smiled at him again.
"I am going to tell your family zat you've voken up." She said, standing up. "Zey are probably at zeir 'omes, but I vill tell zem anyvay."
"Thanks…" He murmured as he hit the pillow with exhaustion.
~~~~~~~~~
"Luna?" She heard Zeke say. "Are you awake?"
"Hm?" She mumbled, opening her eyes. Zeke's face filled the screens of the cockpit. "What is it?"
"Luna!" He breathed. "I thought you'd died." He looked beyond relieved. She sat straight up.
"Excuse me?" She snapped. "What do you mean?"
"When you were attacked." He said slowly. Then he paused. "You slept through it all?" He shouted.
"What 'all'?"
"The carrier you were in was attacked by 02, you know, the Deathscythe. You lost all your escorts except for some Neptune." He explained.
Luna looked amazed. She rubbed her forehead. "I must have been knocked unconscious." She said suddenly, wincing. "My head is killing me. Must have hit it."
"Thank God!" Zeke said, shaking his head.
"What happened to the Deathscythe? No way just a few Neptune and Mercury beat it."
"They did." Zeke shrugged. "Well, it was already in bad shape-- looked really old, and maybe the pilot wasn't that experienced. When we stopped attacking, it drifted toward the colony. The pilot is probably dead."
"Z-e-k-e…" She said slowly, shaking her head at him. "Are you a fool? Of course he's not dead. You know that. Our grandparents fought the Gundams before. The Gundam pilots just don't die. They just don't."
"Luna, what--?"
"And anyway, the Gundams aren't our enemies. L2 is. I wouldn't have fought a Gundam pilot anyway, no matter what. My grandmother was ready to give up her life for them before. I'm not ready for that, but I won't fight them."
"Luna," He said sadly, "they're protecting L2. I saw it in the way the Deathscythe moved. He never fired in the direction of the colony." Then he paused. "That makes them your enemies."
"No!"
"Luna! Please, listen to me…we can make a sweep of L2, and get rid of the Gundams…they'd make no trouble for us that way--"
"Zeke Merquise." Luna cut in, her voice icy. "I am your superior officer. You will not make an attack on the Gundam pilots without my permission. And from now on, Officer Merquise, you will call me Lady Luna Une."
"Luna,"
"Lady Luna Une!" She corrected harshly. "Did you hear me, Officer Merquise? Unless you change your view, my friend, you can say goodbye to your position. And to the Epyon. I'll let someone else pilot it. Are we clear?"
@-------
AnimeCat: Yay! Can't wait till next chapter, can ya?? *loud snap is heard in the distance, followed by an OMAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEE WOOOOOOOO KOOOOORRRROOOOOSUUUUUU!!!!*
Could it be??? *AnimeCat gets gigantic stars for eyes. so does chibi relena*
*zooms away, leaving large smoke cloud in her wake*
Review!! Remember to tell me who your fave character is! ^_^
Next chapter: Cedric pays a visit to his little crush, Sarra Shail, who mourns for her father. Kiane finally is introduced to her father, Kien Yuy. But...what expectations does he have for his daughter...the heir to not only the Sanq Kingdom, but to the Wing Zero?