Hi Minna! Well, here's chapter 4. I'm sorry it took so long to have it up. I actually
finished it a few days ago, but as most of you probably know, ff.net was down. So, here
it is! I hope you enjoy it!

Usa and Mill
By Tegasus

Chapter 4

Duo looked at the gun for a moment before looking at Usagi and grinning. "Suit
yourself, Bunny, but I do things on my own terms." Usagi's eyes narrowed but Duo ignored
her. "I think I feel like taking out the factory on Luna. Get in my way and we become enemies."

Usagi turned towards the window and leaned her head against the glass. "If that's the
way you wish things, then so be it. Good luck, God of Death." Duo nodded and grabbed his
bag, heading out the door. "Duo."

He stopped and turned back. "What is it Bunny?"

"I want you to remember something."

"And what would that be?"

"Next time we meet, I might not be the Bunny who's your friend anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"I hear an old friend of mine has shed his mask and resumed his identity. The time might
be coming soon when I will have to do the same. This is a strange time, Duo Maxwell. It is very
easy for friends to become enemies in a war with no sides."

"A war with no sides? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Good-bye Duo."

Duo shook his head and stared at the girl's back. "Good-bye Bunny." He turned once
more and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Usagi waited a few minutes until she saw
Duo emerge from the building and disappear down a side street. It was time. She walked over
and picked up the phone, dialing a number she had memorized.

"Hello?"

"Noin?"

There was silence on the other end, then, "Usagi? Dear God! Is that you?"

"It's me, Noin. I think it's time for me to come home."

@~~~~~~~~ @~~~~~~~~

"Ambassador Peacecraft? There's someone here to see you."

"Tell them I'll speak with them tomorrow at the conference."

"She says to tell you don't let her in, that she'll steal an Aries and come kick your
butt." The messenger seemed a little uncomfortable, but the Ambassador just smiled.

"Then by all means, show her in. We wouldn't want any Mobile Suits being stolen,
now do we?" The messenger bowed and left the room. A moment later the door opened
again and a girl stepped through, shutting the door behind her. "I thought you were never
going to speak to me again."

"I wasn't going to."

"Then why did you come back?"

The girl walked over to the window and looked out it. "This war has no sides to it.
Many people are going to die for no reason."

Milliardo walked up behind her, but the girl didn't turn around. "That's exactly what
I'm trying to stop. If the colonies can be made to see that fighting is not the answer, then the
war will stop."

"OZ has too much power. The fighting won't stop."

"It will, even if I have to destroy all the soldiers to do it."

"Oh Milliardo!" The girl turned and threw her arms around the man's waist, holding
him tight. After a moment, Milliardo held her back, content to have her in his arms once again.
"I've missed you so."

"And I've missed you, Usako. More than you'll ever know."

@~~~~~~~~ @~~~~~~~~

"Here it is, Ami. How did you know?"

"I know Heero. He always follows the course that he deems best."

"Yes, but why would he just abandon his Mobile Suit like that?"

"Major Sally! We're picking something up on the radar! Looks to be OZ." The man
looked to Sally for instructions.

"Launch the suits! We can't let them have this Gundam!" An hour later, all of the OZ
suits had been destroyed and their remaining suits had been hauled back on board. "Ami? Can
you go make sure that no one's been injured?"

"Of course Sally. You'll continue with the retrieval?"

"Ya. The sooner we pick this up, the sooner we can get out of here."

@~~~~~~~~ @~~~~~~~~

"So, you think you can fix it, Ami?"

"Definitely. All it's suffering from is some slight damage from a hard water landing. I
should be able to have it fixed within a few hours."

One of the many rebel soldiers ran up and saluted. Sally returned it without thinking.
"What is it, Rick?"

"Ma'am. We have we've intercepted a transmission that a shuttle has crash landed that
has OZ very interested."

"Do you think it's a trap?"

"I don't think so Ma'am. One of the people they recovered fits the description of that
Gundam pilot they captured on Luna."

"A Gundam pilot, huh? Well then, that's all the more reason to get this Gundam fixed.
But Rick? Be ready just case it's an OZ trap."

"Ma'am!" The soldier saluted again ad ran off.

"Well Ami," Sally said turning to the other girl, "what do you think about this? Amazing
coincidence, don't you think?"

The girl smiled. "Major Sally? I have found that there are very few coincidences in life."

@~~~~~~~~ @~~~~~~~~

"Hey! Ruka! You almost done with that rope? We've got about two hours before the
paying customers start arriving!"

"Ya. Just tying the final knot now." She gave the rope one final tug to make sure it
wouldn't come loose. "All done here, Catherine! How's the generator doing?"

The circus girl kicked the old engine on frustration. "It's still acting up. I thought you
said that you'd fixed it!"

Ruka sighed and walked over to the other girl. "I DID! There's only so much you can
do with ancient machines!" She took out a large wrench and hit the side of the generator.
After a few coughs, it started up and lights began to turn on all around the circus. Both girls
watched the motor run for a minute, then Ruka turned away in disgust. "Well, that settles it.
If that old tight fist won't buy any new parts, then this is the last night he'll have power. There's
only so much I can do with rubber bands and paper clips."

Catherine laughed and went out front to start handing out fliers to the passing children.
Ruka was about to go in search of the Ring Master to try to convince him to buy new parts,
when she heard Catherine scream. She ran out towards the front of the tent, but stopped short
when she saw her friend. Catherine was on her knees in the dirt, her arms thrown around a boy.

Snapping out of her shock, Ruka began to take notice of the attention the two were
attracting, and ran over to take the two inside. 'Who ever this boy is, he obviously means a lot
to Catherine. I just wish I could see who it is.'

When she reached the two, Catherine pulled back enough to give Ruka a clear look at
the strange boy and Ruka felt her heart stop. 'It couldn't be! Impossible! Trowa's dead!' A
green eye looked at her with no recognition and the truth suddenly dawned on the girl. The body
might live, but the Trowa she had known for years was gone. He had forgotten everything.

As Ruka stood there, she suddenly felt incredibly alone. She watched as Catherine
helped Trowa to stand and took him inside the tent, but neither of them looked over to where
she stood. As the tent flap closed behind them, Ruka had a vision of another door closing,
only this time her parents had been on the other side. She had tried to tell them that something
bad was going to happen, but they had brushed it off as simply a harmless nightmare. That
was when the green-haired lady had appeared and taken her to Doctor S. Ruka knew that
once again, the life that she had known and built for herself was over. The only reason she
had come here in the first place was the faint hope that Trowa would come back here. When
it had been announced that he had been killed, she had stayed because there had been no
where else to go. But that was past now. It was time for her to go and start over, but this time
there was no green-haired lady to help her. She would have to do it herself.

Ruka stared at the tent. There was nothing there that she really wanted. She had just
gotten paid, so the credit chips were in her pocket and her one treasured possession, a gold
heart shaped locket with the symbol of the planet Uranus on it, was around her neck.

Feeling a small hand grasp her own, Ruka looked down in surprise. Standing next to
her was a small girl who looked to be about twelve years old. Her hair was so black that it
looked purple and when the girl looked up, Ruka was surprised to see that her eyes were the
same color.

"Why do you look so sad?"

Ruka found herself answering the strange girl truthfully. "I've no one left now. Why
shouldn't I be sad?"

"You've got me. I won't abandon you."

Ruka looked down at the girl and smiled. "Thank you. My name's Haruka. What's yours?"

"Hotaru."



Well, that's it for chapter 4. What did you think? Please respond. I need feed back if I'm
going to be able to write the next chapter!

Tegasus