A Pair of Blackbirds

By Melena Marquis-Noin-Peacecraft

Disclaimer: I won't cry.... so I'll get right to the point. None of the Gundam merchandise is mine. There I said it! Won't my therapist be happy? Anyways... I'm not making any money off of this story! I wouldn't sue me anyways. Somebody already stole all my chocolate sprinkles!

Key

"Saying"

Thoughts

=Scene change=

On with the story!

===

"Thank you," Relena said as she picked up her notes and silently walked off stage.

If she doesn't slow down she'll become sick. She'll work herself to death. Noin thought as Relena moved towards the door of the conference.

Sure enough three weeks later, she could not walk off stage without fainting. Heero, who had been standing by, caught her, and carried her off without saying anything to anyone. Noin just disappeared as this happened, and the concerned audience that left the building did not see her on a vid- phone, or whom she was talking to on it.

"Dr.J please, isn't there something you can do for her? For this peace?" Noin said worriedly. Her face reflected the uneasiness in her voice.

"I can take her here for awhile, but none of the pilots can find out. Understood?" Dr.J replied in a calm, collected voice.

"Great. I'll have to sneak her out, but she'll be there as soon as I can organize it. Thank you so much. Signing off," Noin replied just before turning off the vid-phone.

"Well," Dr.J said. "I can help both, but one must die and the only way to ensure secrecy is to kill then both." Dr.J turned off the vid-phone, and hurried off to finalize the plans. It will be finished.... They will realize who and what they are! He quickly left to finalize the plans for Relena's demise.

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As the shuttle lifted off the ground, Noin had a sense of foreboding. This is the only way Miss Relena. I hope you can forgive me.

Heero, who had been pulled off of security detail, due to a threat from the L4 colony, was watching the take off from a laptop in his room. He did not know it would be the last time he saw his innocent Relena. Relena, even though I'm not there I'm still watching over you. I always will.

Heero, I know you thinking that I'm just a peace object to be protected by you, and the other pilots, but I hope someday you come to your senses, and realize that I love you. Relena was thinking of Heero through the whole trip. She did not know that if anything was even slightly delayed by one second her life could be in more danger than it ever had before.

Here we go. I hope the world is ready to lose its peace sooner rather than later. Dr.J thought as he ran through one last systems check. Then he hit a small green button in his hand, the point of no return had come. The last thing Relena saw before losing consciousness was a pair of Cobalt blue eyes coming swiftly towards her.

All of human kind mourned Relena Peacecraft's passing, but only a few mourned Relena Darlian's passing. Of those who really knew Relena, two mourned strongest, but would let no one on Earth or the Colonies see it... Not even each other. Also, of those who knew her, one mourned not at all.

At first the people of Earth and Space blamed one another. Then after a through investigation was done the death of Relena Peacecraft proved to be an undetectable fuel malfunction, the Colonies no longer blamed Earth, and Earth did not hold the colonies responsible for the death of their beloved peace-bringer.

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"Blue, blue, blue," mumbled a girl in a twin-sized bed. She had been unconscious for a week.

She still mumbles that word, how odd. I wonder why. Dr.J sat by the girl's bedside as he tried to calm her, but she would not be calm and so Dr.J sat and listened to her mumble 'Blue', with an occasional 'Eyes' thrown in.

Suddenly the girl sat up screaming. Dr.J did his best to calm her and as her screaming subsided, sobbing took its place. She slowly rocked with in Dr.J's one good arm. "Who am I?" whispered the girl into the darkness.

So she doesn't remember. That will make my life much easier. "Your name is Reiyna Yuy and you are my granddaughter. You had a slight accident, and we don't know whether you'll recover your memory or not," Dr.J told the girl who was shaking in his arms.

"But why can't I remember?" she asked him. She mentally added Why doesn't this sound right?

Dr.J already had an answer to this. In the week that she had been unconscious he had had a lot of time to think, and come up with answers that were only half solved before. "The accident was mainly to your head, and upper body, the result is your memory loss."

"Ok, I don't know why, but-" Reiyna said as she looked up, into the solitary eye of Dr.J. It was as blue as the ocean, Cobalt Blue. The words popped out of nowhere, and did not seem to be associated with him. "Your eye is..."

"Never mind my child. Are you hungry or thirsty?" Dr.J asked. To Reiyna this seemed weird, as if he did not normally act this way. No, this is right. It's probably just my injury that is causing him to act this way. He will probably change back to normal after I have recovered a bit.

"Here you are Reiyna, you'll need your sleep silly Blackbird," he said as he handed Reiyna a plate filled with food and left the room. Catching a glimpse of something over her shoulder she pulled a lock of her hair over her shoulder and into her face. It was jet black.

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"Where are they?" Quatre Winner asked Duo Maxwell as he stared at a document on his desk. Those two, of any of us, should be here!" His voice had slowly risen; he did not want to take Relena's position as Vice Foreign Minister! Who would trust an ex-Gundam Pilot that had gone crazy? They (meaning the people of space and earth) would be more likely to trust a "Peacecraft" in name if not deed.

"I don't know where the happy couple is Q-man. They're nowhere to be found," Duo responded. He know the only person more likely to find there two was too busy mourning the girl he had never told he loved.

"Alright, I don't think we'll have problems just yet, but keep trying ok?" Quatre said as he bent to the documents on his desk. If we don't find him... the peace we all worked so hard to achieve will be lost!

Duo quietly slipped out and went to search for the missing prince again; he had the same thoughts as the young man behind the desk.

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Weeks went by, but no word came from either of them. Many believed they were being held hostage, but no ransom note ever cam. Others believed the pair to be dead; others' belief was that the couple had eloped.

"Look at this. When the public doesn't know the truth they make it up," said a white-blond man looking at the computer screen in front of him.

"I know," his wife replied. "How much longer?" Noin asked. She and her husband were far from anywhere anyone would look for them. They had come to a small outlaying colony with lots of space to operate unsavory activities in. They had bought a large section of land hear the edge of the bio-dome.

"It shouldn't be long now. They only have to finish the outer shells. Then we can contact the professors to begin sending the fine details along," Zechs replied. He answered the same question every day.... and each day was the same answer, except for today. Today he had said it was close.

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As the weeks went by Reiyna didn't remember anything, but her.... grandfather filled her in on almost everything she wished to know.

"Who're my parents?" Reiyna asked as she cooked dinner with Dr.J. She had been trying to figure out how to ask the question that had been plaguing her, because she had never put aside her reservations that her grandfather was telling her the truth. Then she had decided to come right out and ask it. I've had too many things kept from me. It's time to get some answers. She froze on her way to the oven. Now where did that thought come from? Grandfather's been nothing but open with me... and I have no reason to suspect otherwise. She shook off the feeling in time to hear her answer.

"Heero Yuy was your father..." Dr.J said. He continued to talk, but Reiyna no longer listened. The name of her father just sounded to familiar to let go. She decided to come back to it later. And put the thought aside. But she had just missed her mother's name.

"I'm sorry Grandfather," she said. "I didn't hear my mother's name." Reiyna took their dinner from the oven.

"We don't know your mother's name, you were adopted silly Blackbird," Reyina's grandfather said. As he finished setting the table he thought This will take time, she is very attached to her personality, and she could begin to remember, doctors or not.



"How did I get that nickname?" she asked as she sat down at the table. When will you run out of answers and give me the right ones? All of these answers are wrong.... no matter now right they appear.

"You were trying to fly one day. You said that the bird could have flown right out of the dome, and you wanted to try. The only reason you're alive today is because Odin saved you," he told her. He knew what she was doing, but it was not going to work on him.

"Heh, I guess I was quite the adventurer right?" Here we go. I'm getting close. Reiyna said and thought. "Who was Odin?"

"I guess you were. Odin was in training to help with the war efforts. The day you tried to fly came just before he went into intense training," Dr.J thought to himself She thought she had me there, well this time I'll give her a little something extra of Reyina's life. "Yes, even after Odin left you asked for him, but you would no longer have wanted to see him, because he had to put aside his humanity. Still he often inquired how you were."

"Is the war still going on?" Reiyna asked. When Dr.J nodded she said, "I want to fight."

If she's serious then I had better get started training her. "Are you serious? You want to fight? Its quite possible that you'd die or never regain you memory then," Dr.J said as he hoped that she would say yes.

After a long moment of thought Reiyna said, "Yes, I definitely want to fight. But under one condition."

Oh no. I hope its something I can handle. "What's that?" he asked.

"I want to chose who and what I fight for," Reiyna said. Her tone told the old man that she would never move on this.

Dr.J recognizing that this was part of her subconscious memory coming through said, "That's fine. Odin did just that, and he's still fighting."

"Then let's begin in the morning," Reiyna said. When the half mechanical man shook his head, hers tilted inquiringly to the right.

"I have a surprise for you tonight. It will help with your training," he told her. "I've been working on it for a couple of years now, but you can't play with it till morning all right?"

"Ok," she responded. The dinner and clean up were done in silence.

Then as Dr.J led her down a long corridor he said "You were in love with Odin's when we built his, and you always wanted one of your own. So here she is." Now they were at the end of the hall, and as he finished he threw open the doors.

"Oh my, she's lovely!" Reiyna exclaimed. Standing before her shrouded by shadows at the moment was a Gundam.

"What is this Gundam called, Grandfather?" Reiyna asked as she walked towards it.

"It doesn't have a name yet, that is the system's choice, but the designated number is Zero-Eight." As Dr.J watched her he was hoping that this did not knock any memories back into her head.

He need not have worried. Reiyna was only too happy to live in the present for now. Even if I never regain my memory, I have a lot to look forward to. was her last thought as she fell asleep.

===============================================================

The next day they began training. At first Reiyna did not understand anything Dr.J had her do, but as time went on she began to understand.

At first she was not allowed near Zero-Eight, but slowly things changed as the days became weeks, and the weeks turned to months, until finally the months turned to years.

Dr.J watched the peace slip away and the war slowly return. He saw what happened to everyone over the course of five years (Now 7 since the end of endless waltz) that he trained Reiyna. He even saw Zechs and Noin's moves. His new pupil was diligent to say the least, but she was egger to learn. She still had much to learn. He vowed though, that when he released his Blackbird to the wild there would be two perfect soldiers.

===============================================================

Goodbye Dr.J. Since accepting her first mission, Reiyna had begun to worry about whose side to fight on. And there was that strange conversation that she had overheard between a toneless voice and Dr.J.

The two had been quietly discussing a mission for him: a mission to destroy a camp. Dr.J had trained her will, she was sure that he hadn't know she was there.

The Mission is my only concern now. Mission Objective: To watch for seven Gundams, and discover the identities of the pilots. Then I may decide whom I fight for.

===============================================================

"There are too many Heero! You can't go!" Quatre yelled over the communication lines. "Duo, Trowa, stop him!"

"No," Trowa replied as clam as ever. "Let him go, he won't stop until either they're dead or he is." In the five years since She died, Heero hasn't stopped blaming himself. He wants to be with her, but is too honorable to do it himself. Everyone could see it! They saw the pain of his still being here without her.

Wufei understood Heero's pain; he had lost Meiran the same way. He knew it would be best to let Heero try to find his death, but Heero was too good every time. He killed them all, but never came close enough to death to see her. "Trowa is wrong, we must hold him back!"

Suddenly out of no where "Please Heero, try to think about what Relena would want! She'd want you to go on! Now let's get out of here! You can't remain alive around here right now!" Zech's voice sounded over the link as he put through a video feed link as well.

Five years, I've lived without her! I can't go on, she meant my life, and hers is gone by an accident. I could've gotten her out of. No one could reason with him now, so he ran, straight to the waiting arms of the enemy.

They followed him of course, and to their surprise there was another Gundam already waiting there!

"Come on Zechs we've got to hurry! There are more coming," a voice yelled over the com. As the battle went on the person in the new Gundam was fighting the soldiers around her she also had to deal with the pilots trying to communicate with her. She could not let them see her face, not yet.

"Alright I think we can relax for a moment," Duo said as Wufei took out the last few suits. "So newbie, who're you? Not many people can make Gundams or fly them."

"Hmmm," said the voice that the new pilot had been using. "I will see you next when you need it." With that the new Gundam flew off.

"Zechs, it appears that the pilot knew you. Explain," Trowa said as the other flew off.

"The pilot is very close to me, and if the pilot wishes to remain secretive. I will comply," the Lightning count said as he followed the new pilot off.

===============================================================

"Hmmmmm..... Interesting," said a girl as she watched and listened. The stats, I'm going to need to break into the old OZ records that should have everything I want. I'm glad they were never erased! Let's see, just a little more. Got it! Let's see: Pilots 01, 02, 03, 04, and 05... Download all info. Now back to waiting.

===============================================================

"I really wanna know who was in that Gundam! Let's see what do I know about him? He knows Zechs and is very close to him. Hmmmm.... Only one person I know fits that description, but he's dead!" Duo said as he sat in the kitchen while Hilde cooked.

"I don't know what all you guys were doing, but let's try to forget battles until the next one," Hilde said as she slammed a plate down in front of Duo.

"Awh, Hilde. Ok, babe, I'll forget it, but you have to stop being sore about not being able to help in the fight against the Space Forces." Duo responded to her anger. Then he began to gobble the stew in front of him.

===============================================================

"Come on Trowa, we're up in a few minutes," Cathrine said as she looked over her knives. She was used to his disappearances. Now that the war had started the troop was always ready to adopt members, exchange news, drop members, or go into hiding. Cathrine was their main link to the Rebels. "Trowa?"

"He's gone again Cat," the circus clown that stood in for Trowa with the animal act. "He'll be ok right?" the girl had a sad look on her face.

"Of course he will Xy. He's a Gundam pilot. He's blown himself up and survived. He'll continue to survive," Cat said as she walked over to look at the audience. Upon seeing exactly whom she wanted to get to do the knife act with her she closed the drapes.

===============================================================

I wish I knew who I am. Maybe this circus will jog my memory. All I have is a name: Reiyna Yuy. The girl with extremely short black hair had been wondering who she was for years. Ever since she was very little she had only known the name, but she had never told anyone who she was. Now here at the circus she could relax, and not feel like eyes were on the back of her head all the time.

===============================================================

Unknown to the raven-haired girl, a man was watching her. He was working for someone who had kept tabs on her since she was little. She was quite a pretty thing to bad Mr. M didn't want her messed with. She would have been fun to ... play with.

Here comes the knife-throwing act. He settled in to keep an eye on his charge, and the show. He'd heard she was quite pretty. What's she doing now? he thought as she headed into the stands.

"Here everyone! I need some help!" shouted Catherine as she looked around the stands. "My partner became very ill a little while earlier, and I need a replacement for this show! Any volunteers?" A few daring teens raised their hands, but she noticed that her choosing was not among them. "Alright, thank you all, but here's my new partner," Cathrine said as she laid a hand on the raven-haired girl's head.

What's she doing? Why did she pick me? thought Reiyna as she followed the knife thrower down the rest of the stairs. I didn't have my hand raised, and many others did!

"Alright miss, what's your name young woman?" said the circus master. He never knew which routine she would pull, mostly because of Trowa, but....

"My name is Marissa," said the raven-haired girl. I've never given out what little I remember, and I won't start now.

"All right Marissa, you can all me The Cat," Cathrine said to the taller girl as she led her over to a vertical board shaped and painted like a target. "You just stand right here, ok?"

"Absolutely Miss Cat," she said. She stood against the wall so perfectly still that when Cathrine looked back she could have sworn the girl hadn't breathed.

"Ok, now just stand perfectly still, and I promise this won't hurt a bit!" Cathrine yelled for the audience's benefit. She glanced around quickly scanning for anyone of anything that would tell why she had picked this girl out of everyone there. She smiled when she saw her answer: a man a few rows back with an angry look, who was glaring at her, but glancing over to see if Marissa was still there.

I wonder why he's following this poor girl; she wouldn't even give out her real name. thought Cathrine. As Cathrine took careful aim a plan slowly formed in her mind. Thwack! the first knife hit the wall.

As the game progressed Cat watched the audience, the man, the girl, and her fellow performers. When she had but one knife left she took careful aim, but just as she let the knife go, an elephant trumpeted from another ring, and her hand slipped. The knife lodged itself in the wall knicking the young women in the ear.

Cathrine, apparently shocked, ran over to the girl as the crowd gasped. "Are you alright? I'm terribly sorry! Come, let's get something to help that ear," The young knife thrower exclaimed as she took the girl towards the back of the tent.

===============================================================

As the show went on the man who had been following the girl became more and more worried. What do I do? He thought. Do I go out and around? I might miss her if she comes back here then, Mr. M will punish me severely, and he'll do it anyway if she is hurt severely.

I'm going! He thought just before standing and exiting the big top. As he walked around the side of the tent he kept his eyes open for either of the girls of anyone who might want to send him away.

As he looked around eh didn't see anyone, but when he got nearer the trailers he began to see people in and out of costume. He tried to profess an air of having to be there and hating it, when he was stopped suddenly. "Hey you! You're not one of us, or our friend!" Called a masculine voice from behind him. Upon turning around he saw the most muscular man he'd ever seen so muscular he was ugly.

Oh no! It's the guy who was watching her! He must've headed back this way when he thought she wasn't coming back. Thought the young knife thrower when he looked to see whom The Animal Carrier had stopped. "Come on, Marissa. I've got some ointment that will help that ear, but it's in another trailer." Cathrine said to the thin girl.

What happened to her? thought Marissa. All of a sudden she's quite worried over something. I wonder if it has to do with me? She thought the cut was ok... not deep enough for stitches. As the raven-haired young woman let the brunette lead her to another trailer she began to see a pair of eyes in her mind's eye. Other than the name they were all she remembered. When she saw them they were a lovely shade of blue, they seemed to be looking right at her, but if she looked at them for a long time they slowly changed and appeared to look right through her.

"Hello, anyone awake in there?" asked Cathrine as Marissa suddenly came back to the present. Cathrine had led the girl to a good-sized trailer. She had also grabbed an extra half-baked clown and told him to drive, and to head for the spaceport saying that she was going after Trowa, and the girl was just a friend from long ago who would be going as well.

"Are we moving?" asked the girl who called herself Marissa.

"Yes, we're headed for the space port, and whether you like it or not you're coming to Earth with me," said the performer. She had said the statement with such finality that no one dared argue with her.

===============================================================

Let's begin. I'll work backwards through the pilots, before proceeding chronologically through the One Year War. Thought Reiyna as she pulled up the file on Chang Wufei, 05. As she read through the short biography she watched the bar showing how much of the page was complete.

Reiyna slid down the page, and stopped over one of the many pictures. Hmmmm, a bit scrawny for a warrior, but then so am I. He - he seems - no, he just has one of those faces.

She hit the icon that would show 04's file. Hmmmm.... 14, He was quite young when he started. Wonder what he looks like. Just before she scrolled down the page a flash of blond hair and warm blue eyes showed itself from deep within her memory. When she saw the picture of him she thought Oh well, he was almost as famous as my dad so I probably saw him at some point or other.

As she moved to call up Trowa Barton's file though she heard a voice in her mind "Thank you very much Miss Relena. I'm sure Heero and I -" the voice faded off she thought Why was that voice familiar? And why did I feel as if it were talking to me when it was clearly speaking to someone named Relena. After shaking off the eerie voice and feeling she hit the icon, and got up to get a pop from the fridge.

Upon returning she was the document was completely loaded. She sat down her Coke-a-Cola and began reading Pilot 03, Code name and life: Trowa Barton, Birth Name: Trinton Bloom (Unconfirmed), Age 24. He was the oldest of the original Gundam Pilots then he would have been 17. Weight and height are both slightly over average for the pilot of a Gundam.

What- suddenly two pictures seemed to over lay on the computer. On one of pictures you could only see half of the boy's face, the other side showed a clown mask. "No, my computer must be a little off," said Reiyna just before hitting the 02 button.

She watched the text slowly open on the page. Duo Maxwell: pilot of 02. Nationality: American, US of A. Age 22, Ht and Wt. both typical for a Gundam pilot. Personality: joker, lags for one chosen for this honor. "Come on, Rel-sama. Please, he'll hurt me. You know Heero, he's - " the voice... chestnut hair... and violet eyes.... Reyina's eyes skimmed down the page.... and stopped on the picture. She had seen that braid, the eyes, only they hadn't been as intense as now.

She knew that she had seen him before. Well, maybe he came to visit Odin, or maybe he is Odin part of the intense training could have been plastic surgery, and in any case. I don't remember him. Ok, next pilot, 01. She moved the mouse to click on the icon... when the phone rang.

She quickly clicked before getting up to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Rei? Have you looked over the files?" she knew in an instant that it was her grandfather.

"That is what I am doing now," she replied in a very toneless voice.

"How many have you done?"

"I am in the middle of the originals, I have yet to look at the one from OZ."

"Good, I wanted to let you know, there will be more after you."

"Of course, I understand," Reiyna replied still as toneless as her grandfather.

Click, the phone began dial-toning again. When she walked back to her computer she thought. Sheesh Grandfather, if you didn't want me looking at 01's data why not delete it off the OZ files? Her computer had been turned off.

===============================================================

"Well, who else could possible fly one?" said the chestnut-brown haired boy as he leaned over the darker brunette's chair. "You have to have the ability and be accepted by the machine. Who, besides the six of us, fit that description?" Duo was fairly yelling by the end of this.

The man sitting before the computer was used to the tirades, and ignored them. "Duo, we have to find him, yelling will not help. If you can sit down and try to locate where Zechs was the whole time." He went back to being quiet. Relena, I need your blessing now from wherever you are. I don't think I can do this alone. Maybe your still alive there wasn't enough evidence to do testing on.

"Alright," Duo said as he sat down. "Let's see, Limited number - Wait a minute! What are you doing?" Duo said jumping up and running over to Heero's desk, but by the time he got there the windows had been minimized. "Come on, what are you doing?"

"Duo," Heero said as his face slipped into Heero's Patented Death Glare.

"Ok, already. I'll go do my work you play around. Just see if I let you in on the next thing," Duo said as he walked back to his computer.