DISCLAIMER: With the exception of Kumi Yuy and Sette Devion, none of the Gundam Wing characters are mine.
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 23: Lull Before the Storm
by SkyLark
with help from: Snodin, Traci, Sam, Stormy, Silver Star, Beekay, and Sky
Kumi flew towards M29 as fast as Excalibur could carry her. A look of determination on her face the whole time, the Gundam pilot prepared herself for anything. The large Gundamimum wings gave a massive flap, adding speed to the charge. It was not long before the pilot broke through the ozone of the Colony.
The thick storm clouds were still present, and even more threatening than they were the night before. The moment Excalibur pierced through the dark blanket, a loud and deep roll of thunder echoed through the skies. Looking to her monitors, Kumi surveyed the area below and around her. It was darker than most nights, but her eyes adjusted quickly. After a careful search, it became clear that there really was nothing to be found that belonged to OZ.
The sky above her lit in several places as lightning played in the heavens. Again, thunder sounded following the lightshow. Kumi gave her usual, "Hn." as she again looked to the barren fields hundreds of miles below her. The mountain ranges of the colony did not fall far from where the silver-haired pilot was to enter and reach the heart of M29. Their shadows added to the eerie scene that already existed.
Commander Hazark's voice came over the transmitter as he asked, "Is everything all right, Kumi? Do you see anything?" The pilot replied in monotone, "Just a storm approaching." The Commander nodded as he stood in the control room of his ship, "We were expecting that. The colony has been in need of rain. The people of M29 sat their machine to make a storm that'll last the day. We just received word of that now, but it shouldn't affect anything with the mission." The pilot's monotone voice answered, "Understood." Kumi continued to look through her monitors and said to herself, "It's another storm I'm more concerned about."
While he did not hear this, the commander was beginning to wonder if he was right in believing that OZ really had nothing planned for the Gundam pilot. Hazark went on to ask in concern, "Are you certain that you don't need any support from my men?" Kumi nodded, "Hai. Hold back on your men and keep an eye out should anything make its way to the colony. Other than that, I'll speak to you when the mission is complete." Hazark concluded the discussion by answering, "Affirmative."
The mountain ranges were the things that captured the gaze of the silver-haired pilot the whole time. Kumi looked away and focused on the ground below as she plummeted in a nose-dive. Just before the Gundam was about to hit the ground at full force, Excalibur's right arm was raised along with the Buster Riffle. Taking one shot, the beam of the weapon opened a huge hole into the dirt of the valley.
Excalibur fit through easily and was soon shooting through the tubes that lied beneath. It was not long before the Gundam reached the end of the journey and could not go any further with the small entrance leading to the heart just before the suit.
Kumi ran into the entrance after using a thin ripcord to lower herself from her suit. Once inside, she made her way to the main monitor and was typing away at the controls. Her emotionless face remained as always. Her hands were working quickly and the clicking of the keys was all that could be heard. In less than a minute, the pilot was about to press the last key.
"Mission complete," Kumi said in her 'Perfect Soldier' manner as she clicked the last button. The monitor reacted, then went back to its usual state to cover up what had been done. Kumi looked over the controls to see that everything was back to normal when she sensed a dark figure lurking behind her. The figure was soon standing over her as she refused to move from her spot.
Closing her eyes, the Gundam pilot remained still. A large, jagged blade was being raised over her head and was just about to be thrust down into her skull when she moved just in time, dropping to her knees and using her hands to catch the ground beneath her and she spun and kicked the shocked predator in the side of the legs.
The huge man fell with a choked cry of shock as Kumi got to her feet and glared to him. "Demetris," she growled as a nasty sneer crossed her lips. The large man rose as he chuckled deeply. Demetris shook his head to the pilot and said in a threatening tone, "That's the last time you'll knock me to the ground, my dear." With the large, jagged-edge blade ready, Demetris watched in amusement as Kumi glared to him as she removed her deep purple, hooded cape.
The silver-haired pilot bent on her left knee and lifted the loose material of her right let. A leather halter wrapped aroung her leg hid a blade very similar to that which Demetris was holding. "I've waited a long time for this," the girl said with venom in her voice as she rose again. The dark-haired man nodded and growled, "As have I." Kumi grunted and quickly began to charge towards her old opponent. Demetirs ran forward the same,
The two pilots met in the middle, dueling with their blades and making every attempt possible to slash their greatest foe. While Demetirs had a huge advantage with height, Kumi was able to block and meet his blows with equal strength. After a few minutes passed and neither of the two was able to so much as cut their enemy, Kumi backed to the main monitor and stood on top of the controls. Once there, she flipped high in the air as Demetris shouted and attempted to cut her in half.
As she was mid-air, Kumi landed on the man's shoulders as he bent back up after his failed attempt. Taking her blade, the silver-haired girl cut deep and down the man's back from the base of his neck down to the lower back, on her way down to the floor. Demetris never let out so much as a small cry as she cut into him. The long, deep gash in his back began to pour blood. Never turning to face the pilot, the giant was still a bit bent at the waist as he chuckled deeply. That chuckle became a loud round of mad laughter.
The cobalt eyes of the Gundam pilot widened. The man turned to her as his laughter subsided. He shook his head and waved the blade of his knife to follow his head's movement. "Is that the way you greet all of your friends?" he asked, obviously amused. Kumi's eyes narrowed and the fight was on again as the two battled again.
In the midst of the feud, Demetris managed to grab Kumi's right arm with his right hand and held onto it tightly as his left hand cut a long gash from her shoulder to the back of her hand, similar to the one that the 'Perfect Soldier' have him on his back. This all happened too quickly for the young woman to avoid the stab and she let out a croked cry of pain as the blade cut in and down her skin. Demetris then punched Kumi in the face instantly. She flew back and crashed into the monitor. The impact left a large imprint of cracks in the glass there.
Kumi fell onto the panel below, holding onto her bleeding right arm tightly to prevent as much bloodshed as possible, though the arm was bleeding badly enough as it was. The young pilot was sweating badly and trying to catch her breath where as Demetris just barely had a few small drops on his brow and was breathing easily. The 'Perfect Soldier' growled deeply as her eyes narrowed to the man who was approaching her again.
The giant sneered, "I know you're better than that, Kumi. Come on. Make me sorry I was born." Kumi's eyes narrowed as she growled and quickly jumped for her blade that had fallen before Demetris. The tall man was more than pleased to see that she was anything but out of the fight at this point. Raising the blade over his head, the OZ pilot ran towards the his enemy.
* * * * * *
On Pulsar, Wufei, Novem, Zes and Delapan were sitting together in one of the lounges as they were just finished one of their daily workouts and practices. Catherine turned to the Chinese pilot and asked, "Do you think that we've improved any since the first time we piloted our suits?" Wufei smirked and shrugged, "You're doing fine..." All of the pilots said in unison, "For a bunch of girls." The female pilots sighed or growled and Wufei chuckled deeply. "You wanted my honest opinion, ne?"
A familiar voice came from the door behind the four of them as it chuckled, "Well, what do you know? Mister 'I'm better than you, woman' beat us back here, after all." The four pilots turned back quickly to see Sette and Quatre smiling to them in the doorway. Their friends shouted and cheered as they jumped from their seats and ran to the pair.
Relena reached Quatre first as she hugged him tightly. The blonde returned the embrace gladly. Wufei greeted Sette with a small smile and firm handshake. "Good work on completing your mission," he said sincerely. Sette smiled warmly back and nodded, "Thanks, Wolfman. You did a good job, yourself." Ignoring the insult on his name, the Chinese pilot replied, "Thank you." From there, he went onto hug Quatre.
Dorothy greeted the tomboy with a hug. "And where the hell did you go?" Sette asked with a chuckle. Novem answered, "I had to escort Marimaya here to Pulsar." The two pilots looked to her with wide eyes as they gasped. "Marimaya's here?" Quatre asked. Novem nodded, "She's in another meeting with Lady Une and the Preventers right now."
Sette smiled, "That's a good enough excuse for me for your leaving." She removed a collar with a very short leash from one of her pocket. "But I'm holding onto this, just incase," she warned. Dorothy nodded while the others laughed, since they all felt the same about her taking off.
Catherine was hugged by Quatre as he smiled to her, "I'm glad that you're fighting with us, again." The redhead nodded, "Well, someone has to do it. I guess I didn't like the thought of someone else taking my place after all." The Arabian nodded and hugged her again. "You're too difficult to replace, anyway."
Finally, Relena made her way to Sette. The tomboy held her breath, looking to the Queen of the World for the first time since she left for H7. Zes hugged her as the tomboy hesitated before returning the embrace. She bit her lip and patted her half-sister's back. Zes smiled to her, "It's been too quite around here with you away." Sette laughed, "Yea. I'm sure."
Quatre was the only one there who was able to pick up on the ex-princess's hidden nervousness around the young queen. He looked to the blue-haired pilot with concern, but didn't say anything at the moment. The Arabian turned to the others and smiled, "So what's been going on since we left?" Wufei sighed deeply, "Well, OZ has another Gundam suit. It's called the Sagittarius." Quatre and Sette looked to him in shock and distress. Sette sighed deeply as she lowered her head, "We ran into another Gundam of theirs, too...Scorpio."
Delapan asked, "Have you been able to pick up on any information on the Scorpio that we could use?" Quatre shook his head, "No. We were busy trying to complete the mission on L4." Wufei sighed deeply, "We know that we'll see all of those suits again. Let's just hope they're the only Gundam suits that they have." Zes huffed, "Yea. Only. The five that we've come up against are bad enough as it is."
Novem shrugged, "I hope that we see them again soon. It's the only way we'll be able to learn more about them and know more about their weaknesses." Delapan shook her head, "I don't think those suits have any weaknesses." Zes intervened, "Everyone and everything has a weakness. It's just a matter of finding it." Sette smiled at the queen's remark. "Spoken like a true Gundam pilot," she said aloud. Relena looked to her and smiled.
Quatre went on to ask, "Have any of you seen any of the other Gundams since we left?" Delapan nodded, "We ran into Gemini again. We really didn't have any kind of advantage. But we did manage to hold them off pretty well." Wufei then stated, "That just leaves the Capricorn." Sette's eyes widened as she gasped loudly and shouted, "OH SHIT!"
* * * * * *
Kumi was grabbed by her ponytail as Demetris used this as a means to expose her neck by pulling back on it with great force. Letting out a growl of pain, Kumi was instantly pulled back-first into the tall man. His strong left arm released her hair and wrapped tightly around her waist and arms along with it, bringing a crushing hold around the pilot. Paralyzed, the silver-pilot felt the blade of her opponent being pressed against her neck with his free arm.
Breathing heavily, Kumi narrowed her eyes as she was pinned in the hold. "I've always wanted that pretty head of your on a silver platter," Demetris said deeply as he lifted the pilot up his chest. "That lovely hair of yours always was a turn-on," he said quietly in her ear just before licking her exposed jaw-line with his wide tongue.
Seeing nothing but red at this point, Kumi shouted and used all her strength to free her left arm. The moment she succeeded in this, she grabbed the blade that was held against her wrist. Instantly she spun in the tight hold so she was now facing the pilot and looking directly into his dark blue eyes. "You'll have to do better than that to get it," she hissed.
Again, with all her strength, Kumi forced the man's armed hand to thrust the long blade into his right shoulder. She was dropped like a rock, but landed on her feet as she looked up. Demetris laughed and pulled the blade's handle to remove the weapon from his body without any expression of anguish. He licked the blood-covered blade until it was clean. The silver-haired pilot couldn't help but watch with wide eyes.
Demetris looked to the young woman as he chuckled deeply, "We've never fought like this...Out of our Gundams. I'm enjoying this immensely," he smiled evilly. Kumi glared to him and retrieved her own blade. Her right arm continued to bleed, but thanks to her training, she knew how to slow bleeding from deep wounds like the one she received.
The man laughed, "You look as determined to kill me as Matt did before I shot him...Pathetic." Kumi's eyes widened and her mouth opened a bit as if trying to catch her breath. Demetris laughed even louder now on account of her pain. "I'LL HAVE YOU HEART JUST AS YOU TOOK MINE!" Kumi screamed as she ran to the OZ pilot, who was waiting with a huge sneer across his lips.
* * * * * *
Sette led the charge into the control room with the other pilots right behind her. When they entered the room, they looked up to the monitor in the front of the room that showed the galaxy. From where Trowa's red ring ended to the space between Saturn and Uranus, the area was colored in a purple ring. This was the testimony that Kumi had established the connection there.
Zes smiled in relied when they saw this. "See, Kumi accomplished her mission. Everything must be fine." Sette shook her head as she began to fear the worst, "No. Something must be wrong. I know that Demetris was onto her. He'd never pass up a chance to kill her."
Wufei ran to one of the computers and placed a headset on. "Since she's established the connection, I'll be able to contact her without any trouble," he informed his friends as they gathered around him. After typing a few controls in, the Chinese pilot was finally locked into Excalibur's transmission.
"Kumi, this is Wufei. Do you read me?" he spoke into the microphone just next to his mouth. There was no response. Sette whispered, "I knew it. Something did happen." Novem suddenly gasped as she turned to Zes and Delapan. "Didn't you say that Trowa mentioned going after Kumi once his mission was completed?" The redhead gasped along with the queen. "I never even thought of that. He knew about Demetris, then," Relena said gravely. Wufei continued to type at the computer and hissed, "Damn it. I can't get any response from her" after his third failed attempt.
Delepan asked, "Well are there any ships near M29 that might be able to reach her?" Wufei's eyes widened for a moment as he said aloud, "I'll see if I can find anyone." Clicking several keys, the Chinese pilot soon located something. He informed the others, "I think I found one."
Speaking into the microphone again, Wufei began, "This is Wufei Chang. Commander Hazark, if you can hear me, please respond." Wufei turned to Quatre and covered the microphone as he said quietly, "Make sure that we're talking to the right person and we're not being pulled into something."
Quatre understood the request and worked at the computer in front of the Chinese pilot. Not a moment passed when the commander's voice replied, "This is Commander Hazark." Looking to the monitor, Quatre saw that the system verified the person speaking to actually be the commander that they were trying to contact. He nodded to his friend, "Everything's fine."
Wufei returned the nod and removed his hand from the microphone as he asked, "Commander Hazark, have you seen or heard anything from Kumi Yuy since she left for her mission?" The commander replied, "No. There wasn't anything that we could pick up as far as any OZ troops on the colony." The Chinese pilot went on to question, "How long have you been surveying the area?" Hazark answered, "Over a week." Nataku's pilot shook his head and stated, "Then anyone could have reached the colony prior to that week an stayed there without anyone knowing."
Hazark did not reply right away, realizing that he made a terrible miscalculation in saying that there couldn't have been any OZ forces on the colony. Swallowing hard, the commander said quietly, "I'm sorry... But there's no way of being certain that anyone did that at this time." Wufei growled deeply, "We've been trying to contact Kumi for a while now and there's no response. What does that tell you?" Again, there was a delayed response.
Sette shook her head and took to a headset at a computer beside the one that the Chinese pilot was using. "Commander," she began. "I understand that you didn't mean to make a mistake like this. It happens." Quatre nodded and spoke into his own headset, still at the computer in front of Wufei, "We contacted you to see if there's any way that you could send some Preventers to M29 to check on Kumi and help her since she's obviously in trouble."
No longer beside himself, the commander shook his head to break from his daze. He still couldn't believe that he made such a terrible mistake that could cost the life of a Gundam pilot. Looking to the monitors that showed M29, Hazark watched as something shot past the ship and towards the colony like a shooting star. "WHAT THE HELL!?!" he shouted. The crew in his control room all looked to their screens as they spoke loudly amongst themselves.
The Gundam pilots looked up in shock at the commander's sudden cry. Before any of the pilots could ask what happened, Hazark's voice returned as he said in awe, "You guys are never believe this." Wufei sat up and asked urgently, "What happened?" Hazark replied, "It's Heavy Arms and it's shooting right for the colony." The Gundam pilots almost fell over from relief as they took this news in. Wufei went onto change channels as he called, "Trowa!?!"
In his cockpit, Trowa answered, "I'll contact all of you on Pulsar as soon as I get Kumi out of here." Wufei nodded, "All right. Good luck." The connection was cut off right away, on account that Trowa couldn't afford to break concentration at this point. He went on to break through the ozone of the colony. Beneath the clouds, the storm was raging as rain poured everywhere. Though it was mid-day, the sky was still as dark as night.
The Chinese pilot turned back to his friends as he spun the seat around. "Get comfortable," he told the others. "We'll have to wait like this until we hear anything from him or Kumi." Catherine held her breath after taking it in deeply. Zes gave her support as she took her right hand into hers and squeezed it. Quatre had made his way back to them and took Delapan's left hand. He smiled to the redhead, "I know that Trowa will be fine. He'll take care of Kumi and get them out of there alive." Catherine forced a smile and nodded nervously.
Sette looked to her friends and told them, "I'm going to find Lady Une and the others. They'll want to know about this." Novem nodded, "I'll go with you." The two pilots left the control room quickly. The others just stayed closely together, anxiously awaiting the word of their friends. Relena bit her lip as she thought to herself, 'I had a bad feeling that the other missions were working out too well. God, I just hope that it isn't too late for Kumi.'
* * * * * *
Kumi was thrown against the wall again as she crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Bleeding in many places by now, the pilot still refused to show any signs of pain or fatigue. The silver-haired pilot's left leg had snapped back in the midst of the struggle. Taking this brief moment to set the bone again, Kumi placed the blade of her knife in her mouth and bit hard as she lifted the broken leg and worked the bone back into place. The loud, sickening cracks of the successful placement echoed off the hollow room's walls.
Demetris chuckled deeply, still barely sweating and breathing without effort. Kumi rose as she continued to glare at the man with the blade between her lips. Removing the weapon, she sneered, "Is that really all you have?" Her opponent laughed in great amusement as he replied, "You really don't think that you'll destroy me do you? I'M A FUCKING GOD!" The silver-haired pilot growled deeply, "You've got one word right. But you should have replaced 'god' with prick." Demetris's eyes narrowed as he gave a threatening glare to the pilot. Kumi broke out into a run to her old foe again.
The two pilots fought feverishly as they slashed and made every attempt to have the better of their enemy. It wasn't long again until Demetris managed to kick Kumi in the ribs, sending her crashing into one of the smaller monitors of the massive system that the colony's heart provided. Those monitors showed every area of the colony as a surveillance. As Kumi went on to get to her feet, Demetris turned and prepared himself for the next move. As he turned, one of the monitors behind him caught his eye.
Kumi looked to the man's bleeding back, where the long scar she made was becoming much more grotesque. The giant chuckled deeply. Turning to Kumi, who was still far across the room, he smiled, "We'll be back to take this up again. Right now, I'm going to have some fun with a friend of yours."
Breaking off in a run from the heart before Kumi could react, Demetris headed for his Gundam. While he could have destroyed Excalibur, the OZ pilot was a man who hated to strike anything that couldn't fight back. He wanted to wait until Kumi was in the suit's cockpit before he destroyed it. Taking Capricorn, he shot up through the tubes that would lead him through the colony's surface again.
Kumi ran to the monitor that she realized captured his attention. When she reached the screen, her eyes widened as the bottom of her stomach fell out. There, on the monitor was Heavy Arms, shooting down through the storm as it made its way to the entrance that she made to complete her mission. She whispered, "No...Trowa." Instantly, her feet worked before she could think of anything else. The pilot's arm and bruises were bleeding more with this added pressure, but she didn't pay any mind to that. Kumi reached her suit and quickly climbed into the cockpit. As she flew through the tubes, the pilot strapped the harness on.
Just as Trowa was about to reach the opening in the ground that his partner made, Capricorn flew from the opening. The thunderstorm raged on and had grown worse as lightning brightened the sky for miles while thick blasts of thunder stirred the ground below. The Gundam pilot's eyes narrowed as he hissed, "Demetris." The OZ pilot licked his lips at the image of Heavy Arms. "Back to save your girl again, I see," he chuckled deeply. Trowa growled deeply and fired upon the suit immediately.
Capricorn was quickly upon Heavy Arms as it removed the massive, jagged edge blade from the strap against its back. Heavy Arms removed the blade from its right arm and blocked the first blow that came. The pilots growled as they strained and pressed their blades against each other. The OZ pilot was much stronger than the younger pilot and was able to have the advantage as he outmatched his opponent. Trowa was caught off guard and soon struck hard in the right side.
While the hit gave a terrible impact, as Trowa was jolted in his seat, he was not about to allow the monster against him think that he'd go down so easily. Again, Trowa sprayed the blue Gundam with bullets from every part of his suit. Every shot bounced off the ram-headed suit while Demetris laughed madly in his cockpit. Trowa gritted hit teeth and returned to using the blade in his suit's right arm.
Excalibur shot out of the ground and its large wings opened as wide as they could as it stopped over the battling suits and looked down upon them. Lightning pierced the clouds. Kumi's eyes narrowed as she looked below and shouted, "STOP! THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND DEMETRIS, TROWA! GET OUT OF HERE!" Heavy Arms looked up for a brief moment as there was another standstill while the blades of the Gundams were being pressed against each other.
Demetris shook his head and sneered, "How touching." He then pulled his weapon back and slashed quickly at Heavy Arms, knocking the other Gundam onto its back with an unexpected kick into the chest, right over the cockpit hatch. Trowa was thrown forward then back hard against his chair from the force of the blow.
Quickly, the giant raised the large blade and was hurling it with the sharp end aimed right for the hatch. Trowa looked up with wide eyes to his monitors as blood ran down the right side of his face from a gash that remained there from the last blow. His face paled instantly at the sight of hid impending death.
At the last minute, Excalibur pushed Heavy Arms out of the way and rested on its knees. Its laser blade blocked the metal one of Demetirs. Kumi growled and pushed forward with all of the rage she had in her. This was enough to make the Capricorn step back a few paces while the winged Gundam rose to its feet.
"Not again...Never again," the silver-haired pilot vowed in a deep tone. She made Excalibur run forward and cried out as she lifted the laser blade to meet her opponent's. Demetris held her off and turned to look to the mountain ranges that he had been hiding in for months now for this moment. He sneered wickedly and pulled back a moment as he brought Capricorn into the sky. "FUCK!" Kumi shouted as she punched her controls in frustration and took off in hot pursuit of her opponent. Trowa was back on his feet and quickly followed the other pilots.
The flight was not the easiest, on account of the challenge to see through the pouring sheets of rain and keeping control with the wind gusts as strong as they were. Demetris chuckled deeply as he flew through the storm enjoying the challenge. Kumi was too determined to keep her eye on the suit before she had to worry about anything else. Her look of determination never faltered as she growled deeply to herself, starting to see red again. Trowa was not bothered by the storm as his prime concern was keeping Kumi safe and destroying Demetris, if it was at all possible.
The blue Gundam reached the steep manmade mountains and hid in the opening of one of the massive cliffs there. Kumi was not far behind as she turned the corner of stone that Capricorn had flown past before concealing itself. Knowing that Demetirs was around somewhere, waiting, she stopped her pursuit and stayed stationary in midair. "Where are you?" she growled deeply to herself.
Demetris waited until Excalibur's back was turned before he shot from his hiding place, head first. Kumi spun to him a half-second too late as the huge, round horns of the blue Gundam slammed into her own suit, right in the chest. Capricorn wrapped its arms around the waist of the other suit as they fell at great force. Kumi growled loudly and kept from crying out in pain. Demetris went on to plow the back of her suit into the side of one of the mountains behind her.
Excalibur was released as Capricorn flew back. The silver-haired pilot shook her head to lose the state of shock she was in from the jolt and looked up. Her suit was embedded into the side of the mountain thanks to Demetris's attack. The bearded, dark-haired man looked to the winged Gundam as its pilot tried to free it from the stone.
"It's been a pleasure, Kumi. While I wish that I could stay here and toy with you like this forever, I have a war to win for OZ," he announced loudly along with a roll of thunder from the heavens. At this, the Capricorn's right arm was pointed to the black suit. The arm then transformed into a Buster Riffle just like Wing Zero's and Excalibur's.
Kumi's cobalt eyes widened as she looked into the barrels of the gun high above her. Demertis's blue eyes narrowed as he said quietly, "And then there were nine." The instant he pulled the trigger, Heavy Arms plowed into the side of the Capricorn from nowhere and forced him into the side of another mountain top the same way that Demetris had done to Kumi. Stunned, Demetris shouted at the impact. The beam of the cannons was knocked off target. It was shot too wide and flew downward, as the arm was forced in that direction due to the blow.
It was now that Excalibur was finally nearly freed from it's prison. Kumi looked up to her partner's suit as it overlooked Capricorn. Demetris lifted his head from the controls before his seat. His head smashed into them when he was blindsided. With a wide trial of blood pouring from the deep gash across his forehead, he looked with wide eyes to his controls.
Heavy Arms was over him, in midair while the Capricorn was now embedded in the stone of the mountain. The tall pilot glared to the OZ soldier. The giant wiped the blood across his face and licked what his hand gathered.
Looking up to the dark Gundam firing a spray of bullets upon the his, Demetris waited. It wasn't long until Heavy Arms was out of bullets. The cannons of the guns were silent. He chuckled deeply and said in a low growl, "That was a stupid thing, boy. I might have let you live tonight. You know that this is between me and Kumi. It didn't concern you until now." Trowa continued to shoot daggers through his eyes and replied sternly, "Kumi is my concern."
The OZ soldier's eyes widened again as he flashed back to a stormy night like this years ago...
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Demetris was in a dark alley, aiming a large gun to a Preventer with blonde hair and light blue eyes. Rain was pouring from the Colony's sky as they stood there. The blonde young man was pointing his own gun to the giant as they stood just feet away from each other. "You know that you're making a big mistake, Matt. You never should have gotten involved in something that only concerns me and that mink of yours," Demetris said darkly as he looked to the determined pilot before him. "Kumi is my concern," Matt replied sternly as he fired his gun.
The giant took the bullet in the right side of his chest without blinking. Matt glared and fired every bullet that he had in his weapon, eight in total. Demetris laughed as each bulled pierced his body, but left no signs of pain. The blonde young man continued firing until the was nothing left in his gun. When he was pulling the trigger quickly and nothing came out, Matt's eyes widened as he dropped the gun. It clinked loudly to the ground.
Matt looked to the fallen weapon then up to Demetris. Taking his large gun in hand, the man sneered, "My turn." Without thinking twice, he shot seven times, until there was nothing left in his own gun. The body of his opponent was filled with holes that poured blood as the stunned Preventer fell to his knees, looking up to Demetris before falling forward flat on his stomach.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Present)
Demetris sneered to Trowa, "Famous last words, kid." The gun was quickly aimed at Trowa who had no time to react. The beam was fired and nailed Heavy Army. The tall pilot shouted loudly in agony. Kumi blindsided Demetris now, as he continued to shoot Heavy Arms. Trowa had lost consciousness by this time and his Gundam plummeted hundreds of miles as the other pilots watched. Kumi screamed, "MATT!" Her right hand instantly covered her mouth.
Capricorn's pilot snapped, "Fuck!" Looking to some of the damage done to his suit when he crashed into the side of the mountain, which included some exposed wires in the side of his suit and several internal wreckage. While it was nothing that he couldn't continue the fight with, Demetris knew not to take his chances on account of his opponent that he had been fighting for years now. Kumi would find a way to use those disabilities and win the struggle. He growled deeply, "I'll have to wait and pick up the fight later." Looking to Excalibur, he shouted, "You're lucky lover boy came when he did you little bitch! We'll finish this soon enough!" His blue Gundam shot off.
Now Kumi was torn between flying after Demetris and saving Trowa before he crashed to the ground. Heavy Arms was all ready colliding with cliffs and jagged edges of the mountains below as it fell. There was a good chance that he was already dead. If she hurried, she could easily catch up to her foe and take to the fight again.
After a split moment of looking to her options, Kumi bit her lip forcefully and shot downward after Heavy Arms. She was nose-diving and losing altitude at an amazing rate. The wings gave a large flap to add even more speed. She was soon able to see Heavy Arms as it continued to drop from the sky. Narrowing her cobalt eyes, the silver-haired pilot pushed even harder on her controls.
Sweat poured down Kumi's brow as she growled deeply, "Come on. Come on!" When they were just a few hundred miles from colliding with the ground below, Excalibur shot past Heavy Arms. With a loud grunt, Kumi pulled back on her controls as quickly as she could with everything she had. Once she was able to make Excalibur face up again, Kumi shot the suit's arms up to catch Heavy Arms as it crashed into her.
The impact was great and the two suits fell together as Kumi did everything she could to lift the two up before crashing. She shouted loudly as she pushed forward without losing Heavy Arms in her suit's grasp at the same time. Finally, the Gundam pilot was able to control the fall as she stabilized the two suits in midair, where they stayed for a moment.
Falling back into her seat and panting for air, Kumi closed her eyes as she remained soaked from her sweat and in some places, blood. After a moment to get herself together, the silver-haired pilot looked to her monitors and saw that she and Trowa were only about a mile off the ground. With a deep sigh, Kumi looked to the Gundam that her suit hugged around its waist.
Not wasting any time, the 'Perfect Soldier' lowered her suit onto its feet and from there, Heavy Arms onto its back. Kumi opened her cockpit and jumped from her seat. Sprinting to the other suit, she saw that the hatch of Trowa's cockpit was damaged greatly, along with most of the suit. Between the blast of the Buster Riffle and the fall, the suit was in terrible condition.
Kumi ran to the hatch and removed a pistol hidden in her belt. Firing several shots into the broken metal, she gave some slack on the bent Gundamimum. Punching the remaining lock, the hatch opened freely. Looking into the opening, Kumi's eyes widened and a loud gasp left her.
Trowa was bleeding and bruised terribly as he was slumped in his seat, head thrown back and looking up to the ceiling. "No," was all the 'Perfect Soldier' managed to barely whisper as she lowered herself in the cockpit. Taking Trowa's head carefully while cupping the cheeks with her hands, Kumi gently brought his face to look forward instead of back and up. Once she managed to break him free of the harness, Kumi cradled Trowa easily and carried him out of the suit.
When they were on the ground, Kumi lowered Trowa onto his back and looked to his wounds. Working quickly, she retrieved the first aid kit from her partner's suit. Working on stopping the bleeding first, Kumi whispered sternly to her fallen partner, "Don't you die on me, Trowa." She went on to rip his shirt off and looked to his wounds there first, not paying any mind to the rain pouring on them the whole time.
* * * * * *
Several hours later, on Peace Million, the Gundam pilots along with Lady Une and the Preventers were waiting nervously and anxiously for word on their friends. Delapan was the most nervous, with good reason. Quatre and Zes were still with her to give her support. Derek joined their efforts along with Brian and Novem. Sette was leaning against the wall beside them, arms crossed and eyes closed as she remained deep in thought. Wufei, Sally, Milliardo and Noin were at some of the computers, waiting for anything. Lady Une was behind them along with Mariemaya, Commander Wilcox and General Keiser.
The still silence was enough to drive anyone crazy. Just then, the sound of Kumi's voice came over the system. "This is Kumi Yuy calling Pulsar," her usual monotone voice stated. Everyone on the room, especially the pilots and their closest friends cheered and ran to the computer where Wufei was sitting. The Chinese pilot placed his headset on and nodded, "Kumi, this is Wufei. Where are you?"
Back on M29, the storm had ended and the sky was clear of any clouds. Kumi was sitting in her cockpit with the hatch opened, still very damp in her black outfit. Her hair was dripping only a little at this point from the end of its ponytail. The pilot's right arm was wrapped in medical tape to protect the stitches she had to perform on herself to heal the stab long wound there. She replied, "I'm on M29 with Trowa." Catherine gasped loudly and took to a headset of her own at another computer. "Kumi? Is Trowa all right? He's not hurt is he?" she asked with quickly in great concern.
Kumi answered, "Trowa'll be fine. He's just sleeping now." The redhead sighed deeply and covered her face in her hands as she fought tears. Relena wrapped her arms around her friend while Derek did the same. Sette was handed the headset that Delapan used and asked, "Kumi, is Demetris...?" Her partner said after a pause, "No. He's still alive." The ex-princess lowered her head, dreading the thought of that monster still being out there somewhere. The others all felt the same.
Lady Une went on to ask, "Will you be returning soon?" Kumi replied, "As soon as our suits get the repairs that they need when we return to Commander Harark's ship. It will only take a day or two." The head of the Preventers smiled and nodded, "It's be good to have you both home again." The word 'home' played in the silver-haired pilot's head, having never considered any place home before. She gave her usual, "Hn."
For a pilot that never knew what it was like to be tired, Kumi looked exhausted after the day's events. She listened as her friends went on to say their own 'hello's' and 'see you soon.' With her soldier demeanor, the pilot went on to promise that she would pass their regards onto Trowa when he woke. Soon, everyone had said what they wanted to say, which they did not allow to be too much right now.
Kumi was just about to cut off the connection when a familiar, friendly voice said gently, "Hey, Kumi." Her cobalt eyes widened then softened a bit as she said quietly, "Quatre." The Arabian smiled warmly as he spoke into the headset. He walked away from all the others so he could talk privately with the 'Heart of outer Space' that had connected with him as early as the Eve Wars.
"Thanks for taking care of Trowa out there...I know that you've been through a lot today." The young woman cleared her throat and said in her monotone voice, "Don't mention it." The blonde pilot could feel in his Space Heart that there was a great amount of emotional strain on the young pilot, though she would never let even herself in on that. There was a brief pause and Kumi coughed and said to Quatre, "I have to go." The Arabian nodded, "All right. Don't let the darkness get you tonight."
The young woman was taken back by these words, recalling the time she saved Quatre when he was driven mad during the Eve Wars and promising to keep him from the darkness as he slept. With a small, but stoic voice, she answered, "Never." Quatre smiled again and said gently, "Good night." Kumi replied, "Yea. Good night." She cut the connection off right away, before she cut let her guard down- the soldier that she always believed she had to be no matter what.
On Peace Million, the pilots and their friends were finally able to breathe easier. Quatre made his way back to them and shrugged with his sweet grin, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted." Zes nodded and yawned, "Same here." Wufei stretched as he rose from his seat before the computer. "I think we'll finally be able to sleep a little easier for a change now." The others couldn't agree more as one by one, they filed out of the control room.
Lady Une was the only one who remained as she looked to the main monitor of the galaxy. With five of the seven rings colored in that they needed, there was a lot to celebrate. Still, there were two pilots that they needed to worry about before they could finally truly say that they had something working in their favor with this war.
Closing her eyes, she prayed aloud quietly, "Please, God...Bring all the pilots back safely, whether that means their missions being completed or not." The head of the Preventers opened her eyes and looked back to the monitor. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Lady Une walked out of the control room and prepared for her first good night's rest in quite some time.
* * * * * *
Narration (In Kumi's Voice):
"I always thought that people were weak who followed their feelings, even though Heero believed the opposite with the teachings of Odin Lowe. Sine I never knew what feelings really were, I just assumed that Doctor J was right in saying that they were nothing but flaws and had no place in the life of a soldier."
The silver-haired pilot was squatting before a fire that she had made to keep Trowa warm. He was lying beside the flames, on his back, still unconscious and pale. His wounds were dressed and his shirt was no longer on. All that remained from his waist up were white medical bandages wrapped tightly around his waist and chest for the broken ribs there.
The bandages continued up and around Trowa's right shoulder and arm that fell to his side. His left arm was resting across his chest, the only part of his upped body that didn't suffer any broken or bruised bones. Beneath him was the deep purple, hooded cape that his partner always wore to make some kind of cushion over the hard ground for him.
Still looking to the flames, the young woman let her thoughts take over as she hugged her legs against her chest. She then looked up to the clear, star-filled sky.
"When it come to Heero now, I always find myself thinking of how he's changed...Opening up and allowing his feelings to guide him...And all thanks to a certain braided pilot that finds it difficult to remain quiet...The irony of it all...When I see the two of them together, they don't appear to be weak at all. In fact, if anything, they're actually stronger when they're united...Acting as two halves of a whole...It's a difficult thing to find, especially in times like this...Where war is raging and Death looms around every corner."
Kumi looked to back to her fallen partner with a mixture of concern and anger as he slept. It was something she'd never admit, but it hurt her to see Trowa like this. It brought back too many feelings and painful memories. Taking a rag, the pilot wet it with a cold bottle of water she pulled from a supply carrier waiting by the fire with her and soaked the cloth.
"Sette used to say all the time that I have a metal heart. She still does, though I don't think she means it as much now as she did when we first met. Ever since Matt taught me love, she learned that there might be a real human heart in my chest instead of the one encased in Gundamimum...I don't know whether I'm willing to believe that or not..."
Placing the cold rag on Trowa's forehead, the tall pilot stirred a bit in his sleep and turned his head towards his partner, never waking. Kumi sighed deeply to herself as she looked to his pained face. Pulling a thin sheet over the sleeping pilot, Kumi made sure to avoid causing him any further pain. Running a hand through the top of Trowa's hair, she saw that the gesture seemed to take away some of the suffering as his face calmed again.
"Then again, maybe what Duo told me before we left Peace Million is right after all...that when everything has been said and done, all of us really are human."
Closing her eyes and lowering her head, the silver-haired pilot took Trowa's hand and squeezed it. Holding onto the hand, Kumi hugged her knees to her chest again and watched Trowa as he slept, keeping a silent vigil under the silent stars.
TBC
Gundam Wing: The Second Chapter
Episode 23: Lull Before the Storm
by SkyLark
with help from: Snodin, Traci, Sam, Stormy, Silver Star, Beekay, and Sky
Kumi flew towards M29 as fast as Excalibur could carry her. A look of determination on her face the whole time, the Gundam pilot prepared herself for anything. The large Gundamimum wings gave a massive flap, adding speed to the charge. It was not long before the pilot broke through the ozone of the Colony.
The thick storm clouds were still present, and even more threatening than they were the night before. The moment Excalibur pierced through the dark blanket, a loud and deep roll of thunder echoed through the skies. Looking to her monitors, Kumi surveyed the area below and around her. It was darker than most nights, but her eyes adjusted quickly. After a careful search, it became clear that there really was nothing to be found that belonged to OZ.
The sky above her lit in several places as lightning played in the heavens. Again, thunder sounded following the lightshow. Kumi gave her usual, "Hn." as she again looked to the barren fields hundreds of miles below her. The mountain ranges of the colony did not fall far from where the silver-haired pilot was to enter and reach the heart of M29. Their shadows added to the eerie scene that already existed.
Commander Hazark's voice came over the transmitter as he asked, "Is everything all right, Kumi? Do you see anything?" The pilot replied in monotone, "Just a storm approaching." The Commander nodded as he stood in the control room of his ship, "We were expecting that. The colony has been in need of rain. The people of M29 sat their machine to make a storm that'll last the day. We just received word of that now, but it shouldn't affect anything with the mission." The pilot's monotone voice answered, "Understood." Kumi continued to look through her monitors and said to herself, "It's another storm I'm more concerned about."
While he did not hear this, the commander was beginning to wonder if he was right in believing that OZ really had nothing planned for the Gundam pilot. Hazark went on to ask in concern, "Are you certain that you don't need any support from my men?" Kumi nodded, "Hai. Hold back on your men and keep an eye out should anything make its way to the colony. Other than that, I'll speak to you when the mission is complete." Hazark concluded the discussion by answering, "Affirmative."
The mountain ranges were the things that captured the gaze of the silver-haired pilot the whole time. Kumi looked away and focused on the ground below as she plummeted in a nose-dive. Just before the Gundam was about to hit the ground at full force, Excalibur's right arm was raised along with the Buster Riffle. Taking one shot, the beam of the weapon opened a huge hole into the dirt of the valley.
Excalibur fit through easily and was soon shooting through the tubes that lied beneath. It was not long before the Gundam reached the end of the journey and could not go any further with the small entrance leading to the heart just before the suit.
Kumi ran into the entrance after using a thin ripcord to lower herself from her suit. Once inside, she made her way to the main monitor and was typing away at the controls. Her emotionless face remained as always. Her hands were working quickly and the clicking of the keys was all that could be heard. In less than a minute, the pilot was about to press the last key.
"Mission complete," Kumi said in her 'Perfect Soldier' manner as she clicked the last button. The monitor reacted, then went back to its usual state to cover up what had been done. Kumi looked over the controls to see that everything was back to normal when she sensed a dark figure lurking behind her. The figure was soon standing over her as she refused to move from her spot.
Closing her eyes, the Gundam pilot remained still. A large, jagged blade was being raised over her head and was just about to be thrust down into her skull when she moved just in time, dropping to her knees and using her hands to catch the ground beneath her and she spun and kicked the shocked predator in the side of the legs.
The huge man fell with a choked cry of shock as Kumi got to her feet and glared to him. "Demetris," she growled as a nasty sneer crossed her lips. The large man rose as he chuckled deeply. Demetris shook his head to the pilot and said in a threatening tone, "That's the last time you'll knock me to the ground, my dear." With the large, jagged-edge blade ready, Demetris watched in amusement as Kumi glared to him as she removed her deep purple, hooded cape.
The silver-haired pilot bent on her left knee and lifted the loose material of her right let. A leather halter wrapped aroung her leg hid a blade very similar to that which Demetris was holding. "I've waited a long time for this," the girl said with venom in her voice as she rose again. The dark-haired man nodded and growled, "As have I." Kumi grunted and quickly began to charge towards her old opponent. Demetirs ran forward the same,
The two pilots met in the middle, dueling with their blades and making every attempt possible to slash their greatest foe. While Demetirs had a huge advantage with height, Kumi was able to block and meet his blows with equal strength. After a few minutes passed and neither of the two was able to so much as cut their enemy, Kumi backed to the main monitor and stood on top of the controls. Once there, she flipped high in the air as Demetris shouted and attempted to cut her in half.
As she was mid-air, Kumi landed on the man's shoulders as he bent back up after his failed attempt. Taking her blade, the silver-haired girl cut deep and down the man's back from the base of his neck down to the lower back, on her way down to the floor. Demetris never let out so much as a small cry as she cut into him. The long, deep gash in his back began to pour blood. Never turning to face the pilot, the giant was still a bit bent at the waist as he chuckled deeply. That chuckle became a loud round of mad laughter.
The cobalt eyes of the Gundam pilot widened. The man turned to her as his laughter subsided. He shook his head and waved the blade of his knife to follow his head's movement. "Is that the way you greet all of your friends?" he asked, obviously amused. Kumi's eyes narrowed and the fight was on again as the two battled again.
In the midst of the feud, Demetris managed to grab Kumi's right arm with his right hand and held onto it tightly as his left hand cut a long gash from her shoulder to the back of her hand, similar to the one that the 'Perfect Soldier' have him on his back. This all happened too quickly for the young woman to avoid the stab and she let out a croked cry of pain as the blade cut in and down her skin. Demetris then punched Kumi in the face instantly. She flew back and crashed into the monitor. The impact left a large imprint of cracks in the glass there.
Kumi fell onto the panel below, holding onto her bleeding right arm tightly to prevent as much bloodshed as possible, though the arm was bleeding badly enough as it was. The young pilot was sweating badly and trying to catch her breath where as Demetris just barely had a few small drops on his brow and was breathing easily. The 'Perfect Soldier' growled deeply as her eyes narrowed to the man who was approaching her again.
The giant sneered, "I know you're better than that, Kumi. Come on. Make me sorry I was born." Kumi's eyes narrowed as she growled and quickly jumped for her blade that had fallen before Demetris. The tall man was more than pleased to see that she was anything but out of the fight at this point. Raising the blade over his head, the OZ pilot ran towards the his enemy.
* * * * * *
On Pulsar, Wufei, Novem, Zes and Delapan were sitting together in one of the lounges as they were just finished one of their daily workouts and practices. Catherine turned to the Chinese pilot and asked, "Do you think that we've improved any since the first time we piloted our suits?" Wufei smirked and shrugged, "You're doing fine..." All of the pilots said in unison, "For a bunch of girls." The female pilots sighed or growled and Wufei chuckled deeply. "You wanted my honest opinion, ne?"
A familiar voice came from the door behind the four of them as it chuckled, "Well, what do you know? Mister 'I'm better than you, woman' beat us back here, after all." The four pilots turned back quickly to see Sette and Quatre smiling to them in the doorway. Their friends shouted and cheered as they jumped from their seats and ran to the pair.
Relena reached Quatre first as she hugged him tightly. The blonde returned the embrace gladly. Wufei greeted Sette with a small smile and firm handshake. "Good work on completing your mission," he said sincerely. Sette smiled warmly back and nodded, "Thanks, Wolfman. You did a good job, yourself." Ignoring the insult on his name, the Chinese pilot replied, "Thank you." From there, he went onto hug Quatre.
Dorothy greeted the tomboy with a hug. "And where the hell did you go?" Sette asked with a chuckle. Novem answered, "I had to escort Marimaya here to Pulsar." The two pilots looked to her with wide eyes as they gasped. "Marimaya's here?" Quatre asked. Novem nodded, "She's in another meeting with Lady Une and the Preventers right now."
Sette smiled, "That's a good enough excuse for me for your leaving." She removed a collar with a very short leash from one of her pocket. "But I'm holding onto this, just incase," she warned. Dorothy nodded while the others laughed, since they all felt the same about her taking off.
Catherine was hugged by Quatre as he smiled to her, "I'm glad that you're fighting with us, again." The redhead nodded, "Well, someone has to do it. I guess I didn't like the thought of someone else taking my place after all." The Arabian nodded and hugged her again. "You're too difficult to replace, anyway."
Finally, Relena made her way to Sette. The tomboy held her breath, looking to the Queen of the World for the first time since she left for H7. Zes hugged her as the tomboy hesitated before returning the embrace. She bit her lip and patted her half-sister's back. Zes smiled to her, "It's been too quite around here with you away." Sette laughed, "Yea. I'm sure."
Quatre was the only one there who was able to pick up on the ex-princess's hidden nervousness around the young queen. He looked to the blue-haired pilot with concern, but didn't say anything at the moment. The Arabian turned to the others and smiled, "So what's been going on since we left?" Wufei sighed deeply, "Well, OZ has another Gundam suit. It's called the Sagittarius." Quatre and Sette looked to him in shock and distress. Sette sighed deeply as she lowered her head, "We ran into another Gundam of theirs, too...Scorpio."
Delapan asked, "Have you been able to pick up on any information on the Scorpio that we could use?" Quatre shook his head, "No. We were busy trying to complete the mission on L4." Wufei sighed deeply, "We know that we'll see all of those suits again. Let's just hope they're the only Gundam suits that they have." Zes huffed, "Yea. Only. The five that we've come up against are bad enough as it is."
Novem shrugged, "I hope that we see them again soon. It's the only way we'll be able to learn more about them and know more about their weaknesses." Delapan shook her head, "I don't think those suits have any weaknesses." Zes intervened, "Everyone and everything has a weakness. It's just a matter of finding it." Sette smiled at the queen's remark. "Spoken like a true Gundam pilot," she said aloud. Relena looked to her and smiled.
Quatre went on to ask, "Have any of you seen any of the other Gundams since we left?" Delapan nodded, "We ran into Gemini again. We really didn't have any kind of advantage. But we did manage to hold them off pretty well." Wufei then stated, "That just leaves the Capricorn." Sette's eyes widened as she gasped loudly and shouted, "OH SHIT!"
* * * * * *
Kumi was grabbed by her ponytail as Demetris used this as a means to expose her neck by pulling back on it with great force. Letting out a growl of pain, Kumi was instantly pulled back-first into the tall man. His strong left arm released her hair and wrapped tightly around her waist and arms along with it, bringing a crushing hold around the pilot. Paralyzed, the silver-pilot felt the blade of her opponent being pressed against her neck with his free arm.
Breathing heavily, Kumi narrowed her eyes as she was pinned in the hold. "I've always wanted that pretty head of your on a silver platter," Demetris said deeply as he lifted the pilot up his chest. "That lovely hair of yours always was a turn-on," he said quietly in her ear just before licking her exposed jaw-line with his wide tongue.
Seeing nothing but red at this point, Kumi shouted and used all her strength to free her left arm. The moment she succeeded in this, she grabbed the blade that was held against her wrist. Instantly she spun in the tight hold so she was now facing the pilot and looking directly into his dark blue eyes. "You'll have to do better than that to get it," she hissed.
Again, with all her strength, Kumi forced the man's armed hand to thrust the long blade into his right shoulder. She was dropped like a rock, but landed on her feet as she looked up. Demetris laughed and pulled the blade's handle to remove the weapon from his body without any expression of anguish. He licked the blood-covered blade until it was clean. The silver-haired pilot couldn't help but watch with wide eyes.
Demetris looked to the young woman as he chuckled deeply, "We've never fought like this...Out of our Gundams. I'm enjoying this immensely," he smiled evilly. Kumi glared to him and retrieved her own blade. Her right arm continued to bleed, but thanks to her training, she knew how to slow bleeding from deep wounds like the one she received.
The man laughed, "You look as determined to kill me as Matt did before I shot him...Pathetic." Kumi's eyes widened and her mouth opened a bit as if trying to catch her breath. Demetris laughed even louder now on account of her pain. "I'LL HAVE YOU HEART JUST AS YOU TOOK MINE!" Kumi screamed as she ran to the OZ pilot, who was waiting with a huge sneer across his lips.
* * * * * *
Sette led the charge into the control room with the other pilots right behind her. When they entered the room, they looked up to the monitor in the front of the room that showed the galaxy. From where Trowa's red ring ended to the space between Saturn and Uranus, the area was colored in a purple ring. This was the testimony that Kumi had established the connection there.
Zes smiled in relied when they saw this. "See, Kumi accomplished her mission. Everything must be fine." Sette shook her head as she began to fear the worst, "No. Something must be wrong. I know that Demetris was onto her. He'd never pass up a chance to kill her."
Wufei ran to one of the computers and placed a headset on. "Since she's established the connection, I'll be able to contact her without any trouble," he informed his friends as they gathered around him. After typing a few controls in, the Chinese pilot was finally locked into Excalibur's transmission.
"Kumi, this is Wufei. Do you read me?" he spoke into the microphone just next to his mouth. There was no response. Sette whispered, "I knew it. Something did happen." Novem suddenly gasped as she turned to Zes and Delapan. "Didn't you say that Trowa mentioned going after Kumi once his mission was completed?" The redhead gasped along with the queen. "I never even thought of that. He knew about Demetris, then," Relena said gravely. Wufei continued to type at the computer and hissed, "Damn it. I can't get any response from her" after his third failed attempt.
Delepan asked, "Well are there any ships near M29 that might be able to reach her?" Wufei's eyes widened for a moment as he said aloud, "I'll see if I can find anyone." Clicking several keys, the Chinese pilot soon located something. He informed the others, "I think I found one."
Speaking into the microphone again, Wufei began, "This is Wufei Chang. Commander Hazark, if you can hear me, please respond." Wufei turned to Quatre and covered the microphone as he said quietly, "Make sure that we're talking to the right person and we're not being pulled into something."
Quatre understood the request and worked at the computer in front of the Chinese pilot. Not a moment passed when the commander's voice replied, "This is Commander Hazark." Looking to the monitor, Quatre saw that the system verified the person speaking to actually be the commander that they were trying to contact. He nodded to his friend, "Everything's fine."
Wufei returned the nod and removed his hand from the microphone as he asked, "Commander Hazark, have you seen or heard anything from Kumi Yuy since she left for her mission?" The commander replied, "No. There wasn't anything that we could pick up as far as any OZ troops on the colony." The Chinese pilot went on to question, "How long have you been surveying the area?" Hazark answered, "Over a week." Nataku's pilot shook his head and stated, "Then anyone could have reached the colony prior to that week an stayed there without anyone knowing."
Hazark did not reply right away, realizing that he made a terrible miscalculation in saying that there couldn't have been any OZ forces on the colony. Swallowing hard, the commander said quietly, "I'm sorry... But there's no way of being certain that anyone did that at this time." Wufei growled deeply, "We've been trying to contact Kumi for a while now and there's no response. What does that tell you?" Again, there was a delayed response.
Sette shook her head and took to a headset at a computer beside the one that the Chinese pilot was using. "Commander," she began. "I understand that you didn't mean to make a mistake like this. It happens." Quatre nodded and spoke into his own headset, still at the computer in front of Wufei, "We contacted you to see if there's any way that you could send some Preventers to M29 to check on Kumi and help her since she's obviously in trouble."
No longer beside himself, the commander shook his head to break from his daze. He still couldn't believe that he made such a terrible mistake that could cost the life of a Gundam pilot. Looking to the monitors that showed M29, Hazark watched as something shot past the ship and towards the colony like a shooting star. "WHAT THE HELL!?!" he shouted. The crew in his control room all looked to their screens as they spoke loudly amongst themselves.
The Gundam pilots looked up in shock at the commander's sudden cry. Before any of the pilots could ask what happened, Hazark's voice returned as he said in awe, "You guys are never believe this." Wufei sat up and asked urgently, "What happened?" Hazark replied, "It's Heavy Arms and it's shooting right for the colony." The Gundam pilots almost fell over from relief as they took this news in. Wufei went onto change channels as he called, "Trowa!?!"
In his cockpit, Trowa answered, "I'll contact all of you on Pulsar as soon as I get Kumi out of here." Wufei nodded, "All right. Good luck." The connection was cut off right away, on account that Trowa couldn't afford to break concentration at this point. He went on to break through the ozone of the colony. Beneath the clouds, the storm was raging as rain poured everywhere. Though it was mid-day, the sky was still as dark as night.
The Chinese pilot turned back to his friends as he spun the seat around. "Get comfortable," he told the others. "We'll have to wait like this until we hear anything from him or Kumi." Catherine held her breath after taking it in deeply. Zes gave her support as she took her right hand into hers and squeezed it. Quatre had made his way back to them and took Delapan's left hand. He smiled to the redhead, "I know that Trowa will be fine. He'll take care of Kumi and get them out of there alive." Catherine forced a smile and nodded nervously.
Sette looked to her friends and told them, "I'm going to find Lady Une and the others. They'll want to know about this." Novem nodded, "I'll go with you." The two pilots left the control room quickly. The others just stayed closely together, anxiously awaiting the word of their friends. Relena bit her lip as she thought to herself, 'I had a bad feeling that the other missions were working out too well. God, I just hope that it isn't too late for Kumi.'
* * * * * *
Kumi was thrown against the wall again as she crashed to the ground with a loud thud. Bleeding in many places by now, the pilot still refused to show any signs of pain or fatigue. The silver-haired pilot's left leg had snapped back in the midst of the struggle. Taking this brief moment to set the bone again, Kumi placed the blade of her knife in her mouth and bit hard as she lifted the broken leg and worked the bone back into place. The loud, sickening cracks of the successful placement echoed off the hollow room's walls.
Demetris chuckled deeply, still barely sweating and breathing without effort. Kumi rose as she continued to glare at the man with the blade between her lips. Removing the weapon, she sneered, "Is that really all you have?" Her opponent laughed in great amusement as he replied, "You really don't think that you'll destroy me do you? I'M A FUCKING GOD!" The silver-haired pilot growled deeply, "You've got one word right. But you should have replaced 'god' with prick." Demetris's eyes narrowed as he gave a threatening glare to the pilot. Kumi broke out into a run to her old foe again.
The two pilots fought feverishly as they slashed and made every attempt to have the better of their enemy. It wasn't long again until Demetris managed to kick Kumi in the ribs, sending her crashing into one of the smaller monitors of the massive system that the colony's heart provided. Those monitors showed every area of the colony as a surveillance. As Kumi went on to get to her feet, Demetris turned and prepared himself for the next move. As he turned, one of the monitors behind him caught his eye.
Kumi looked to the man's bleeding back, where the long scar she made was becoming much more grotesque. The giant chuckled deeply. Turning to Kumi, who was still far across the room, he smiled, "We'll be back to take this up again. Right now, I'm going to have some fun with a friend of yours."
Breaking off in a run from the heart before Kumi could react, Demetris headed for his Gundam. While he could have destroyed Excalibur, the OZ pilot was a man who hated to strike anything that couldn't fight back. He wanted to wait until Kumi was in the suit's cockpit before he destroyed it. Taking Capricorn, he shot up through the tubes that would lead him through the colony's surface again.
Kumi ran to the monitor that she realized captured his attention. When she reached the screen, her eyes widened as the bottom of her stomach fell out. There, on the monitor was Heavy Arms, shooting down through the storm as it made its way to the entrance that she made to complete her mission. She whispered, "No...Trowa." Instantly, her feet worked before she could think of anything else. The pilot's arm and bruises were bleeding more with this added pressure, but she didn't pay any mind to that. Kumi reached her suit and quickly climbed into the cockpit. As she flew through the tubes, the pilot strapped the harness on.
Just as Trowa was about to reach the opening in the ground that his partner made, Capricorn flew from the opening. The thunderstorm raged on and had grown worse as lightning brightened the sky for miles while thick blasts of thunder stirred the ground below. The Gundam pilot's eyes narrowed as he hissed, "Demetris." The OZ pilot licked his lips at the image of Heavy Arms. "Back to save your girl again, I see," he chuckled deeply. Trowa growled deeply and fired upon the suit immediately.
Capricorn was quickly upon Heavy Arms as it removed the massive, jagged edge blade from the strap against its back. Heavy Arms removed the blade from its right arm and blocked the first blow that came. The pilots growled as they strained and pressed their blades against each other. The OZ pilot was much stronger than the younger pilot and was able to have the advantage as he outmatched his opponent. Trowa was caught off guard and soon struck hard in the right side.
While the hit gave a terrible impact, as Trowa was jolted in his seat, he was not about to allow the monster against him think that he'd go down so easily. Again, Trowa sprayed the blue Gundam with bullets from every part of his suit. Every shot bounced off the ram-headed suit while Demetris laughed madly in his cockpit. Trowa gritted hit teeth and returned to using the blade in his suit's right arm.
Excalibur shot out of the ground and its large wings opened as wide as they could as it stopped over the battling suits and looked down upon them. Lightning pierced the clouds. Kumi's eyes narrowed as she looked below and shouted, "STOP! THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND DEMETRIS, TROWA! GET OUT OF HERE!" Heavy Arms looked up for a brief moment as there was another standstill while the blades of the Gundams were being pressed against each other.
Demetris shook his head and sneered, "How touching." He then pulled his weapon back and slashed quickly at Heavy Arms, knocking the other Gundam onto its back with an unexpected kick into the chest, right over the cockpit hatch. Trowa was thrown forward then back hard against his chair from the force of the blow.
Quickly, the giant raised the large blade and was hurling it with the sharp end aimed right for the hatch. Trowa looked up with wide eyes to his monitors as blood ran down the right side of his face from a gash that remained there from the last blow. His face paled instantly at the sight of hid impending death.
At the last minute, Excalibur pushed Heavy Arms out of the way and rested on its knees. Its laser blade blocked the metal one of Demetirs. Kumi growled and pushed forward with all of the rage she had in her. This was enough to make the Capricorn step back a few paces while the winged Gundam rose to its feet.
"Not again...Never again," the silver-haired pilot vowed in a deep tone. She made Excalibur run forward and cried out as she lifted the laser blade to meet her opponent's. Demetris held her off and turned to look to the mountain ranges that he had been hiding in for months now for this moment. He sneered wickedly and pulled back a moment as he brought Capricorn into the sky. "FUCK!" Kumi shouted as she punched her controls in frustration and took off in hot pursuit of her opponent. Trowa was back on his feet and quickly followed the other pilots.
The flight was not the easiest, on account of the challenge to see through the pouring sheets of rain and keeping control with the wind gusts as strong as they were. Demetris chuckled deeply as he flew through the storm enjoying the challenge. Kumi was too determined to keep her eye on the suit before she had to worry about anything else. Her look of determination never faltered as she growled deeply to herself, starting to see red again. Trowa was not bothered by the storm as his prime concern was keeping Kumi safe and destroying Demetris, if it was at all possible.
The blue Gundam reached the steep manmade mountains and hid in the opening of one of the massive cliffs there. Kumi was not far behind as she turned the corner of stone that Capricorn had flown past before concealing itself. Knowing that Demetirs was around somewhere, waiting, she stopped her pursuit and stayed stationary in midair. "Where are you?" she growled deeply to herself.
Demetris waited until Excalibur's back was turned before he shot from his hiding place, head first. Kumi spun to him a half-second too late as the huge, round horns of the blue Gundam slammed into her own suit, right in the chest. Capricorn wrapped its arms around the waist of the other suit as they fell at great force. Kumi growled loudly and kept from crying out in pain. Demetris went on to plow the back of her suit into the side of one of the mountains behind her.
Excalibur was released as Capricorn flew back. The silver-haired pilot shook her head to lose the state of shock she was in from the jolt and looked up. Her suit was embedded into the side of the mountain thanks to Demetris's attack. The bearded, dark-haired man looked to the winged Gundam as its pilot tried to free it from the stone.
"It's been a pleasure, Kumi. While I wish that I could stay here and toy with you like this forever, I have a war to win for OZ," he announced loudly along with a roll of thunder from the heavens. At this, the Capricorn's right arm was pointed to the black suit. The arm then transformed into a Buster Riffle just like Wing Zero's and Excalibur's.
Kumi's cobalt eyes widened as she looked into the barrels of the gun high above her. Demertis's blue eyes narrowed as he said quietly, "And then there were nine." The instant he pulled the trigger, Heavy Arms plowed into the side of the Capricorn from nowhere and forced him into the side of another mountain top the same way that Demetris had done to Kumi. Stunned, Demetris shouted at the impact. The beam of the cannons was knocked off target. It was shot too wide and flew downward, as the arm was forced in that direction due to the blow.
It was now that Excalibur was finally nearly freed from it's prison. Kumi looked up to her partner's suit as it overlooked Capricorn. Demetris lifted his head from the controls before his seat. His head smashed into them when he was blindsided. With a wide trial of blood pouring from the deep gash across his forehead, he looked with wide eyes to his controls.
Heavy Arms was over him, in midair while the Capricorn was now embedded in the stone of the mountain. The tall pilot glared to the OZ soldier. The giant wiped the blood across his face and licked what his hand gathered.
Looking up to the dark Gundam firing a spray of bullets upon the his, Demetris waited. It wasn't long until Heavy Arms was out of bullets. The cannons of the guns were silent. He chuckled deeply and said in a low growl, "That was a stupid thing, boy. I might have let you live tonight. You know that this is between me and Kumi. It didn't concern you until now." Trowa continued to shoot daggers through his eyes and replied sternly, "Kumi is my concern."
The OZ soldier's eyes widened again as he flashed back to a stormy night like this years ago...
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Flashback)
Demetris was in a dark alley, aiming a large gun to a Preventer with blonde hair and light blue eyes. Rain was pouring from the Colony's sky as they stood there. The blonde young man was pointing his own gun to the giant as they stood just feet away from each other. "You know that you're making a big mistake, Matt. You never should have gotten involved in something that only concerns me and that mink of yours," Demetris said darkly as he looked to the determined pilot before him. "Kumi is my concern," Matt replied sternly as he fired his gun.
The giant took the bullet in the right side of his chest without blinking. Matt glared and fired every bullet that he had in his weapon, eight in total. Demetris laughed as each bulled pierced his body, but left no signs of pain. The blonde young man continued firing until the was nothing left in his gun. When he was pulling the trigger quickly and nothing came out, Matt's eyes widened as he dropped the gun. It clinked loudly to the ground.
Matt looked to the fallen weapon then up to Demetris. Taking his large gun in hand, the man sneered, "My turn." Without thinking twice, he shot seven times, until there was nothing left in his own gun. The body of his opponent was filled with holes that poured blood as the stunned Preventer fell to his knees, looking up to Demetris before falling forward flat on his stomach.
@ @ @ @ @ @
(Present)
Demetris sneered to Trowa, "Famous last words, kid." The gun was quickly aimed at Trowa who had no time to react. The beam was fired and nailed Heavy Army. The tall pilot shouted loudly in agony. Kumi blindsided Demetris now, as he continued to shoot Heavy Arms. Trowa had lost consciousness by this time and his Gundam plummeted hundreds of miles as the other pilots watched. Kumi screamed, "MATT!" Her right hand instantly covered her mouth.
Capricorn's pilot snapped, "Fuck!" Looking to some of the damage done to his suit when he crashed into the side of the mountain, which included some exposed wires in the side of his suit and several internal wreckage. While it was nothing that he couldn't continue the fight with, Demetris knew not to take his chances on account of his opponent that he had been fighting for years now. Kumi would find a way to use those disabilities and win the struggle. He growled deeply, "I'll have to wait and pick up the fight later." Looking to Excalibur, he shouted, "You're lucky lover boy came when he did you little bitch! We'll finish this soon enough!" His blue Gundam shot off.
Now Kumi was torn between flying after Demetris and saving Trowa before he crashed to the ground. Heavy Arms was all ready colliding with cliffs and jagged edges of the mountains below as it fell. There was a good chance that he was already dead. If she hurried, she could easily catch up to her foe and take to the fight again.
After a split moment of looking to her options, Kumi bit her lip forcefully and shot downward after Heavy Arms. She was nose-diving and losing altitude at an amazing rate. The wings gave a large flap to add even more speed. She was soon able to see Heavy Arms as it continued to drop from the sky. Narrowing her cobalt eyes, the silver-haired pilot pushed even harder on her controls.
Sweat poured down Kumi's brow as she growled deeply, "Come on. Come on!" When they were just a few hundred miles from colliding with the ground below, Excalibur shot past Heavy Arms. With a loud grunt, Kumi pulled back on her controls as quickly as she could with everything she had. Once she was able to make Excalibur face up again, Kumi shot the suit's arms up to catch Heavy Arms as it crashed into her.
The impact was great and the two suits fell together as Kumi did everything she could to lift the two up before crashing. She shouted loudly as she pushed forward without losing Heavy Arms in her suit's grasp at the same time. Finally, the Gundam pilot was able to control the fall as she stabilized the two suits in midair, where they stayed for a moment.
Falling back into her seat and panting for air, Kumi closed her eyes as she remained soaked from her sweat and in some places, blood. After a moment to get herself together, the silver-haired pilot looked to her monitors and saw that she and Trowa were only about a mile off the ground. With a deep sigh, Kumi looked to the Gundam that her suit hugged around its waist.
Not wasting any time, the 'Perfect Soldier' lowered her suit onto its feet and from there, Heavy Arms onto its back. Kumi opened her cockpit and jumped from her seat. Sprinting to the other suit, she saw that the hatch of Trowa's cockpit was damaged greatly, along with most of the suit. Between the blast of the Buster Riffle and the fall, the suit was in terrible condition.
Kumi ran to the hatch and removed a pistol hidden in her belt. Firing several shots into the broken metal, she gave some slack on the bent Gundamimum. Punching the remaining lock, the hatch opened freely. Looking into the opening, Kumi's eyes widened and a loud gasp left her.
Trowa was bleeding and bruised terribly as he was slumped in his seat, head thrown back and looking up to the ceiling. "No," was all the 'Perfect Soldier' managed to barely whisper as she lowered herself in the cockpit. Taking Trowa's head carefully while cupping the cheeks with her hands, Kumi gently brought his face to look forward instead of back and up. Once she managed to break him free of the harness, Kumi cradled Trowa easily and carried him out of the suit.
When they were on the ground, Kumi lowered Trowa onto his back and looked to his wounds. Working quickly, she retrieved the first aid kit from her partner's suit. Working on stopping the bleeding first, Kumi whispered sternly to her fallen partner, "Don't you die on me, Trowa." She went on to rip his shirt off and looked to his wounds there first, not paying any mind to the rain pouring on them the whole time.
* * * * * *
Several hours later, on Peace Million, the Gundam pilots along with Lady Une and the Preventers were waiting nervously and anxiously for word on their friends. Delapan was the most nervous, with good reason. Quatre and Zes were still with her to give her support. Derek joined their efforts along with Brian and Novem. Sette was leaning against the wall beside them, arms crossed and eyes closed as she remained deep in thought. Wufei, Sally, Milliardo and Noin were at some of the computers, waiting for anything. Lady Une was behind them along with Mariemaya, Commander Wilcox and General Keiser.
The still silence was enough to drive anyone crazy. Just then, the sound of Kumi's voice came over the system. "This is Kumi Yuy calling Pulsar," her usual monotone voice stated. Everyone on the room, especially the pilots and their closest friends cheered and ran to the computer where Wufei was sitting. The Chinese pilot placed his headset on and nodded, "Kumi, this is Wufei. Where are you?"
Back on M29, the storm had ended and the sky was clear of any clouds. Kumi was sitting in her cockpit with the hatch opened, still very damp in her black outfit. Her hair was dripping only a little at this point from the end of its ponytail. The pilot's right arm was wrapped in medical tape to protect the stitches she had to perform on herself to heal the stab long wound there. She replied, "I'm on M29 with Trowa." Catherine gasped loudly and took to a headset of her own at another computer. "Kumi? Is Trowa all right? He's not hurt is he?" she asked with quickly in great concern.
Kumi answered, "Trowa'll be fine. He's just sleeping now." The redhead sighed deeply and covered her face in her hands as she fought tears. Relena wrapped her arms around her friend while Derek did the same. Sette was handed the headset that Delapan used and asked, "Kumi, is Demetris...?" Her partner said after a pause, "No. He's still alive." The ex-princess lowered her head, dreading the thought of that monster still being out there somewhere. The others all felt the same.
Lady Une went on to ask, "Will you be returning soon?" Kumi replied, "As soon as our suits get the repairs that they need when we return to Commander Harark's ship. It will only take a day or two." The head of the Preventers smiled and nodded, "It's be good to have you both home again." The word 'home' played in the silver-haired pilot's head, having never considered any place home before. She gave her usual, "Hn."
For a pilot that never knew what it was like to be tired, Kumi looked exhausted after the day's events. She listened as her friends went on to say their own 'hello's' and 'see you soon.' With her soldier demeanor, the pilot went on to promise that she would pass their regards onto Trowa when he woke. Soon, everyone had said what they wanted to say, which they did not allow to be too much right now.
Kumi was just about to cut off the connection when a familiar, friendly voice said gently, "Hey, Kumi." Her cobalt eyes widened then softened a bit as she said quietly, "Quatre." The Arabian smiled warmly as he spoke into the headset. He walked away from all the others so he could talk privately with the 'Heart of outer Space' that had connected with him as early as the Eve Wars.
"Thanks for taking care of Trowa out there...I know that you've been through a lot today." The young woman cleared her throat and said in her monotone voice, "Don't mention it." The blonde pilot could feel in his Space Heart that there was a great amount of emotional strain on the young pilot, though she would never let even herself in on that. There was a brief pause and Kumi coughed and said to Quatre, "I have to go." The Arabian nodded, "All right. Don't let the darkness get you tonight."
The young woman was taken back by these words, recalling the time she saved Quatre when he was driven mad during the Eve Wars and promising to keep him from the darkness as he slept. With a small, but stoic voice, she answered, "Never." Quatre smiled again and said gently, "Good night." Kumi replied, "Yea. Good night." She cut the connection off right away, before she cut let her guard down- the soldier that she always believed she had to be no matter what.
On Peace Million, the pilots and their friends were finally able to breathe easier. Quatre made his way back to them and shrugged with his sweet grin, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted." Zes nodded and yawned, "Same here." Wufei stretched as he rose from his seat before the computer. "I think we'll finally be able to sleep a little easier for a change now." The others couldn't agree more as one by one, they filed out of the control room.
Lady Une was the only one who remained as she looked to the main monitor of the galaxy. With five of the seven rings colored in that they needed, there was a lot to celebrate. Still, there were two pilots that they needed to worry about before they could finally truly say that they had something working in their favor with this war.
Closing her eyes, she prayed aloud quietly, "Please, God...Bring all the pilots back safely, whether that means their missions being completed or not." The head of the Preventers opened her eyes and looked back to the monitor. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Lady Une walked out of the control room and prepared for her first good night's rest in quite some time.
* * * * * *
Narration (In Kumi's Voice):
"I always thought that people were weak who followed their feelings, even though Heero believed the opposite with the teachings of Odin Lowe. Sine I never knew what feelings really were, I just assumed that Doctor J was right in saying that they were nothing but flaws and had no place in the life of a soldier."
The silver-haired pilot was squatting before a fire that she had made to keep Trowa warm. He was lying beside the flames, on his back, still unconscious and pale. His wounds were dressed and his shirt was no longer on. All that remained from his waist up were white medical bandages wrapped tightly around his waist and chest for the broken ribs there.
The bandages continued up and around Trowa's right shoulder and arm that fell to his side. His left arm was resting across his chest, the only part of his upped body that didn't suffer any broken or bruised bones. Beneath him was the deep purple, hooded cape that his partner always wore to make some kind of cushion over the hard ground for him.
Still looking to the flames, the young woman let her thoughts take over as she hugged her legs against her chest. She then looked up to the clear, star-filled sky.
"When it come to Heero now, I always find myself thinking of how he's changed...Opening up and allowing his feelings to guide him...And all thanks to a certain braided pilot that finds it difficult to remain quiet...The irony of it all...When I see the two of them together, they don't appear to be weak at all. In fact, if anything, they're actually stronger when they're united...Acting as two halves of a whole...It's a difficult thing to find, especially in times like this...Where war is raging and Death looms around every corner."
Kumi looked to back to her fallen partner with a mixture of concern and anger as he slept. It was something she'd never admit, but it hurt her to see Trowa like this. It brought back too many feelings and painful memories. Taking a rag, the pilot wet it with a cold bottle of water she pulled from a supply carrier waiting by the fire with her and soaked the cloth.
"Sette used to say all the time that I have a metal heart. She still does, though I don't think she means it as much now as she did when we first met. Ever since Matt taught me love, she learned that there might be a real human heart in my chest instead of the one encased in Gundamimum...I don't know whether I'm willing to believe that or not..."
Placing the cold rag on Trowa's forehead, the tall pilot stirred a bit in his sleep and turned his head towards his partner, never waking. Kumi sighed deeply to herself as she looked to his pained face. Pulling a thin sheet over the sleeping pilot, Kumi made sure to avoid causing him any further pain. Running a hand through the top of Trowa's hair, she saw that the gesture seemed to take away some of the suffering as his face calmed again.
"Then again, maybe what Duo told me before we left Peace Million is right after all...that when everything has been said and done, all of us really are human."
Closing her eyes and lowering her head, the silver-haired pilot took Trowa's hand and squeezed it. Holding onto the hand, Kumi hugged her knees to her chest again and watched Trowa as he slept, keeping a silent vigil under the silent stars.
TBC