~*~ February, 21 AC 219 ~*~

~*~ Peacecraft Manor's Dining Hall ~*~

~*~ 4:30 PM ~*~

"Damn, it's cold out there!" Quatre Raberba Winner called out as he entered the Peacecraft Manor, with his large family following behind him.

"Dad, watch your language," Azia and Ali said together. Azia and Ali were twins, and the oldest of Quatre's eight children at the age of fifteen. They both had short fluffy blonde hair and cool teal colored eyes. Next Callee skipped in. She was petite, with long silky blonde hair and grey-violet eyes. Callee was leading her eight year old sister, Jesseni, and her six year old sister Nada, by the hands into the room. Both of the younger girls had hair slightly darker than Quatre's and teal-grey eyes. Jesseni and Nada looked very alike, and were often confused. The only difference between them was Jesseni's forked eyebrows. Those she had inherited from her mother. Then the last of the Winner family entered. Dorothy Catalonia-Winner holding the newborn Omar Winner, gracefully walked in the room. Hiding behind her, were Aaron, four, and Abul, two, who were too shy to face the room alone. They looked like two miniature versions of Quatre, right down to their outfits. Both boys wore khakis, a light shirt, vest and their heads were topped with little red fezzes.

Already arrived, were the Maxwells. Even thought there weren't as many of them, they seemed to outnumber the Winners. The loudest of the family was the once braided patriarch or the family, Duo. He'd never tried to grow his braid back, but now spiked his hair, as if her were a punk rocker. The next loudest was, surprisingly, Hilde. She was loudly reprimanded her husband, who was hunting for Heero as if he were a wild animal. Then there were the second generation Maxwells. Three in all, none of them looked or acted much like either of their parents. Oldest, was nineteen year old Caitlin. She had a great body, thick black hair and deep blue eyes. The middle child was Ian, seventeen years old. He wore his shoulder length brown hair feathered back, and had mesmerizing brown-gold eyes. Ian and Caitlin shared a common goal: To become fashion models. Last of all was Raymond. The baby of the family, he was fourteen. His short brown hair was worn pushed to his left. In front of violet eyes were a pair of glasses. Raymond was currently partaking in his favorite past time, reading comic books.

The next family to arrive at the party, were the Bartons, Trowa and his twin daughters, Cara and Maya. Several years ago, Quatre and Trowa's romantic paradise ended. Trowa quit his job at the Preventer Offices to reclaim his circus life. Trowa's new life perspective had no point to it, and he had often said he was "living for the moment". Now more social, he got close with many of the female performers in his circus troupe. These relationships resulted in "flings". And in turn, those flings resulted in Cara and Maya. Quatre's life, however, was a little more sophisticated. After his first love left, the Arab moved on to another whom he had his eyes on. Two years after Zechs' wedding, Quatre declared his love for his once enemy, Dorothy Catalonia. And after a year and a half of romantic courtship, the two were married. Their marriage had so far been a happy one, resulting in eight children.

Maya and Cara Barton were identical twins, but even though they shared their looks, their personalities were quite different. Cara was outgoing and cheerful, taking after her Aunt Cathrine and mother Keeta Ishida, the Japanese kabuki actress. Maya was quite and kept to herself, like her father. Both girls resembled Trowa, with blazing emerald eyes, and brown hair with bangs that swept over one of their eyes. Neither of the girls were dressed up much. Both Cara and Maya wore minimalistic dresses and feathers in their hair.

Kiro blushed and looked away as the Barton girls walked in. The Peacecrafts were able to come home due to Calé's expert negotiation skills. Now the peace talks have been brought to Earth. The argument had been going on for three months now and the four diplomats still had not met with the head of the Ciccone family.

To Calé's insistence, Fiona had come to the party. The blonde girl wore the nicest outfit she owned - her Preventer uniform. Her parents had also attended the party. Lady Une and Aller Von Garge sat at a table having a conversation with Zechs and Trey.

Évangalie was flirting with Ian Maxwell, showing off her new dress that she bought in the colonies. Calé was touring the room with Fiona, introducing themselves to the other adults and children.

The last family to arrive, was the Changs. Wufei led his family, a wife and five daughters, into the dining hall. They walked in a single file line, starting with Wufei, then his daughters in age order, and Sally ended the line, carrying the youngest of the children, two year old Jing-Mei. The oldest of the girls, was Jasmine, at sixteen. She wore a traditional Chinese gown with flowers and ribbons in her long black hair. Next was Lena, she was only fourteen. Lena wore a business suit-type dress and had her lengthy black hair pulled back. Suyuan, twelve, was the next girl in line. She wore white karate pants, that were most likely her father's, and a tank top. Her black hair hung framing her face in the front, tied into a bun in the back. Behind Suyuan, skipped An-Mei. The ten year old wore her black hair in pigtails and had donned a sleeveless Chinese tunic. Last of the girls was Jing-Mei. Only two, her short black hair was worn in a pony tail on top of her head. She and Sally wore matching Chinese robes.

"There are a lot of people here, Pu-Fei," Jing-Mei told her father. Wufei responded to the name his daughter had addressed him by.

"Yes, my little dragoness. There are," Wufei told her. To Wufei's surprise, he had not heard Duo sneak up behind him.

"Poofy? Have you seen Heero?" Duo asked.

"What was that, Maxwell?" Wufei calmly said.

"Have you see, oh, never mind," Duo walked away.

Suddenly another pair of large doors opened dramatically. All the lights were shut off, and a pair of spot lights shone on the doors. Relena came out carrying a bundle, that most assumed was a baby. She walked into the room, the spotlight following her. Relena waved to the room's occupants as if they were her adoring fans. No one seem to notice her. After several long moments, Relena realized that she did not have anyone's attentions. Relena stood confused as the spotlights were turned off and the regular lights were restored. She sighed and seated herself at the table with Zechs, Trey, Lady Une, and Aller Von Garge.

Lady Une looked as beautiful and elegant as ever. She wore a nice lavender dress, her hair done in it's familiar Preventer fashion. Aller Von Garge was a Swiss man, about Lady Une's age. He had blonde hair and brown eyes like his daughter. Aller had been the one to replace Zechs after he retired from the Preventers. So far the two couples had been getting along great.

After seeing Relena's reception, Trey smiled at her husband and nudged his arm. Zechs kissed Trey and stood up. He looked about the room, and after mere moments, Zechs had the entire room's attention, including that of the small children.

"My friends, thank you for visiting my home. I must admit, the birth of my niece, the joyous event it is, was only a guise to get you all here," Zechs said. Calé, Évangalie, Kiro and Fiona took cue and stood at Zechs' sides. Relena was as confused as ever. Heero, who had tried to avoid the party until it had become work, finally mad an appearance. To no surprise of his family's, Heero was wearing his military uniform, and was carrying a folder marked, "C. K. I. M. Classified Information". Rather than sitting with his wife and daughter, Heero stood in between Zechs and Calé. He opened his folder and handed a set of papers to Zechs. As Zechs read over the document, Heero was give the floor to speak.

"Former Gundam pilots, Preventers, and associated family, as you may or may not know, the Cinq Kingdom has been threatened with war. For the past three months we've tried, and failed at negotiations. We have now reached a point to where militaristic actions must be taken," Heero read his prepared speech. Relena was in complete shock, as was Quatre, Sally, Hilde, and Wufei. Heero looked around the room and continued.

"I plan on using the Cinq Kingdom's army of mobile suits, only if I have the approval of his royal highness. Pending the agreement of King Peacecraft, I want to offer commanding positions to Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Quatre Winner, and Wufei Chang. I also would like to offer front line positions to Sally Chang, Hilde Maxwell, Dorothy Catalonia-Winner, Kiro Yuy-Peacecraft, and Calé Peacecraft. I will now give you time to deliberate on my proposition. Thank you for your time," Heero concluded. He sat down as far away from Relena as possible. Zechs set down the paper and took back the floor.

"I will inform you first, and release the announcement to the press at a later date. I have already made my decision about this. I give approval to Commander Heero Yuy's plan of attack." Zechs told his friends and family. He bowed and sat down. There was some low murmuring and some applause, mostly coming from Dorothy.

"Oh, Mr. Milliardo! This will be just wonderful. I know you will be victorious!" Dorothy exclaimed.

"You haven't changed at all, Dorothy," Zechs said, rolling his eyes. With friends and family backing them, the Peacecrafts' strength would be put to the test. This would mark the end of almost twenty-five years of total pacifism with in the Cinq Kingdom.