ngg7

Author's Note:

Karasu- Raven (or so I'm told)

Wakatta - I understand.

Ossu! - Casual "hi!" - Gokou from Dragon Ball Z would use this.

*~*

It was Saturday morning, the free day for the Peacecraft Institute children.

Scarlet arose early, with the sun. She stretched her arms and slipped out of her nightgown into her familiar jeans and riding T-shirt. She braided her hair quickly, wrapping the end of it with the black ribbon, tying it in a bow. She smirked to herself as she checked the mirror, the same redheaded freckle face tomboy peered back at her.

"Good morning, gorgeous…" she laughed to her reflection, then looked at herself. It had been two months since she had last seen Mr. Maxwell… and she knew she was getting closer to a breakdown. It wasn't bad during the day, but every evening she left the school and went to the grove that the team kept the Gundams in, and looked at Bran. She felt she had betrayed her trainer…

She sighed as she slipped on her glasses, she had been wearing them more and more; the headaches she had from not wearing them were more frequent. She brushed up her bangs with her fingers as a knock came to her door.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." She said as she put her eye to the peephole.

Kiyoshi waited with his eternal patience.

Scarlet opened the door and smirked.

"Couldn't get enough of me, eh?" she laughed. Kiyoshi grabbed her wrist.

"There's been an incident, Scarlet. Our Gundams are gone."

*~*~*

Basim, Lian and Max had already arrived at the grove, and Scarlet glanced in disbelief.

"NO! BRAN! ANYTHING BUT BRAN! NO, NO, NO!" she fell to her knees, and covered her face.

"Scarlet… get up. I just figured that would get you out here sooner." Kiyoshi said. Scarlet jumped up, and glared at Kiyoshi.

"Oh very funny. And here I was thinking that you were all emotionless and stuff." She grinned.

Kiyoshi rolled his eyes.

"We need to discuss something, Scarlet." Lian said. Scarlet blinked

"What is it guys…" she began, but looking in their eyes told her all she needed to know.

They wanted her out of the team. They wanted it to be Civilian Scarlet Erin Maxwell from the L2 colony, instead of the Lady of Lost Souls of Gundam Bran.

"Scarlet, we're asking you to leave the team." Kiyoshi said.

Scarlet's face turned hard.

"Oh sure, have Scarlet go back from where she came from, you don't care about what I have do you? Well you know I have no family to go back to. I don't have great uncles who own schools, I don't have grandmothers, and I don't have any friends! Wanna know what I have? I have a trainer, who's out there somewhere, and I have a Gundam, and I have a war to fight! I have four people who are supposed to be my friends, my teammates, but are making me quit because I'm a woman." She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the bottle of pills. She looked at them.

"I'm not sure if Kiyoshi told you, but I have to take these pills when I get stressed, that's why I'm so random, and I try to be relaxed. I was shot in the head when I was five, I'll even show you the scar if you don't believe me. What he doesn't know, is that these pills mean the difference to life and death to me. Sure, it'd be easier to quit and just go back to L2, but where would I go? The apartment I had is gone; everything was in that base. That base was my home, now this school is, and wherever my home was that's where Mr. Maxwell was, now he isn't there for me… at least yet. Can't you see? I'm not here out of honor, or because my trainer chose me, I'm here because I want to be. I had full permission to be able to leave this team when I saw it fit… I have no duties to this team other than to fight because I want to fight."

The boys blinked. They hadn't taken this into consideration. Kiyoshi looked up and saw tears in the woman's eyes. Lian saw them too, and tried to find a fault in them… but was there fault in wanting something so bad to cry? Basim dug the toe of his foot into the ground, and Max leaned against a tree.

"If you want me to leave, fine. We'll split, but then I'm out on my own. I don't want to take the guarantee that I have a place to go, where would I go? I'd go to Kiyoshi's grandmother's home… that's where Mr. Maxwell wanted me to go. He told me before. But I can't accept other people's hospitality, because it's a great big mean existence with sharp teeth, and when life bites I'm gonna bite it back!"

No one spoke as Scarlet turned, and hit the small button hidden at the black Gundam's ankle, the hatch opened and the lead rope came down. She put her foot in the loop and grasped tightly with one hand. The wind started to blow, her bangs got in the way of her vibrant green eyes.

The boy pilots glanced at each other, as she bid adieu with a dismissing wave of her hand. She stepped onto the lowered hatch and got into her Gundam.

The hatch closed as she slipped her glasses on, making sure they were secure behind her ears. She leaned back and fastened her safety belt, she hoped that one of her "friends" would come onto the comm and tell her not to leave… but as she turned on the monitors to the outside of her Gundam, she saw they all stood talking together… her heart sunk.

"Mr. Maxwell… I'm sorry… I'll make sure there's peace, even if I have to fight alone!" she whispered harshly, and glanced to the one picture she had left, the one that she had stuck in one of her books. It was a year ago, her 15th birthday when he had taken her to the park in autumn, and the first time she had ridden a horse. He had been seated on a big bay horse, and she had a smaller roan mare, they were both laughing, it had been so happy.

She started up her Gundam, her fingers flying over the keyboards to the side and the front, activating the thrusters to push Bran upward.

They all turned as the Gundam took off, watching as it changed from the almost human Suit mode to the Raven mode, turning into a fighter jet.

Scarlet flew out of their lives much as she had entered it; leaving behind thoughts and regrets, as well as what Kiyoshi would think a broken promise… she had broken a promise to herself.

*~*

Kiyoshi watched silently as the black Gundam left into the sky.

"Wakatta, Karasu-chan." He whispered.

"Getting weak, Kiyo." He said to himself.

He only started to worry about Scarlet when she didn't come back for eight days.

*~*

She returned to space, working on the L1 colony, working under an alias. She ran a hand through the long, red ponytail as she leaned over a carburetor of some rich person's limo.

"Who in their right mind would paint their limo pink?" she thought to herself as she pulled a wrench from her tool belt. And tapped it softly against the gas line.

The light was dim in her own section of the workshop, so she had hung a light on the hood, muttering a few soft curses beneath her breath… how she came to be working for some fat man who paid her near next-to-nothing, she didn't know.

However, she was picking up Japanese, she supposed that was a bonus. She now knew the four basic ways to call someone a bastard and/or/asshole.

"You! Woman!" the boss called, making Scarlet jump up and bang her head on the hood of the limo. She glanced at him while rubbing her head.

"Step it up! The Yuy and Winner ladies are waiting patiently for their ride!" he called… Scarlet sighed.

"And my past comes back to haunt me." She muttered softly.

She returned to working, when she saw a younger kid, maybe five years old with light brown hair and big, blue eyes looking into the car with her.

"Hey, Kid." She said softly, the kid looked up at her, then gasped, turned, and totted yelling "GRANMA! GRANMA! IT'S THE PICTURE-MAN WITH LONG HAIR! GRANMA!"

Scarlet glanced into the waiting room, and dropped her mouth; she recognized the two people, from the history books at school and a portrait over the mantle place in the drawing room of the Institute. Relena Peacecraft-Yuy, albeit an older one, and if the other one was Winner… that would be… that would be Dorothy, Basim's grandmother.

She quickly turned back over her work, and started to work on the car REALLY fast, if they recognized…

"DUO!" Relena called out into the darkened room, and Dorothy grabbed the braid, and pulled it back.

"HEY! Pardon me, ladies, but I think you got the wrong braid! I dunno a Duo!" Scarlet cried out, her glasses dropping to the floor and the back of her head bashing against the hood of the limo (again).

"Oh! Dorothy, let her go, it's not Duo!"

Scarlet felt the tug on the braid release, she rubbed the back of her head as she tried to focus on the two, then sighed.

"You wouldn't want to hand me my glasses would you? I'm blind as a bat without them, and I WAS trying to fix the limo." She said softly.

"Oh, yes, apologies…" the one she supposed was Relena Peacecraft-Yuy said…

"James… where are the glasses…?" the other said.

"Oh-oh… James made a boo-boo Granma…" Scarlet recognized the sound of broken glass.

"Oh boy…" she said softly, then heaved a sigh.

"Oh… uh…" Dorothy said, then picked up James.

"Miss we'll pay you back for the glasses, who should I make the check out to…"

"Look, Mrs. Winner and Mrs. Yuy, I know you're both like, rich and all but it doesn't really matter, I've been reduced from pilot to minor mechanic in a period of nine days, boy Kiyo and Lian would get a laugh outta this now." She said dimly.

Relena raised her eyebrows…

"Well…" Dorothy said softly "that explains the braid."

Scarlet laughed slightly.

"Yeah, some pilot I am huh?" she said sadly.

"C'mon, Maxwell." Relena said softly. "You look like you could use some time off.

"NO! I mean… I'm self-sufficient! Just because I'm a girl everyone thinks I can't take care of myself! Well you know what? I have an apartment, I have food shopping to do and I have to make a payment on my bike, I have so many things to do I don't know what to take care of FIRST! Maybe I should take care of myself first!" she felt the tightening in her lungs as she reached for the bottle that held her pills with her right hand and the water bottle to the other side with her left as she cried. She took out two pills and slipped them in her mouth, followed by a gulp of water. She laughed slightly.

"Yeah, I'm self-sufficient, I think I'm gonna go and crash or something." She said with a laugh.

James took Scarlet's hand.

"Where's Basim?" he asked.

"Who knows… they don't want me around." she said with a sigh. She picked up the glasses frames from the ground and slipped them into her pocket.

*~*

Kiyo picked up the phone in the dorm room he shared with Basim, it was late at night and the phone happened to be right above him. He was clad in just his boxers; a gun lay on the table beside the phone.

"Yeah? Kiyoshi here." He said rubbing his eyes.

"Kiyo, so good to hear from you, you don't call you don't write I was beginning to get worried! What kind of friend are you huh?"

Kiyo's eyes opened wide as he shouted

"SCARLET?!?!?!"

"Who else would bother to be calling you collect from L1? Well I would, except I'm at your grandma's place, oh tell Basim his grandmother said hi too."

Basim had woken up because of Kiyo's yell, and blinking the sleep out of his eyes,

"Who is it, Kiyoshi?" he asked, looking dazed. Kiyoshi glared at Basim, and sighed.

"Scarlet, what are you doing at my grandmother's home?"

"Well she was hanging out with Basim's grandma and I was repairing their limo and all when Basim's nephew broke my glasses and your grandmother kindly offered to take me in until I can return to Earth…"

"And you're calling to tell me this because you want to make sure it's OK to return?"

"No! I'm calling for you to help get me OUT of here! Your grandmother's making me wear DRESSES and going to DINNERS and I'm not allowed to LEAVE unless I have an ESCORT! Your grandmother's trying to turn me into HER!"

Kiyo thought about Scarlet attending one of his grandmother's parties… and felt sick.

"All right…"

"Besides…" Scarlet lowered her voice "There was a stranger asking for you the other day, and Kiyo, he was wearing a uniform! They're making a move, Kiyo, just like our trainers said… we've got to get back into the swing of things. Bring your Gundams up, as it turns out there's a hangar in your basement."

Kiyoshi raised his eyebrows.

"And how'd you find that?"

"Oh, your grandmother showed me. Other than trying to make me a lady she's all right."

*~*

They all breathed the air of the clogged L1 colony, the braided one smiled at his companions.

"Well, I say we hit the hangar, get a shower then try to find the kids." He said with a grin. The one with the walking stick was tempted to just smack him upside the head with it… just once.

"I'll have to agree with Duo." The one with white hair said "We do need to contact the pilots… gosh that seems weird."

"You can't even SWEAR in your old age, Quatre?"

"Never got into the habit, besides it set a bad example for my children and grand-children."

*~*

The boys glanced around the spaceport that connected the L1 colony where the Yuy family lived to the rest of the universe. Kiyoshi shouldered his pack and started walking; he had been this way when his father went on business trips, and when he took holidays with Grandmother Relena and grandfather Heero. Max was right behind him, being from the circus he saw space ports all the time. Lian was too cold to take in the beauty of the spaceport, which resembled a traditional Japanese house, with rice paper walls and all. Basim was looking around in awe, and had to rush to catch up with the others.

They came out onto the busy street, people hawking their wares to the world, a limo pulled up, and down rolled the window showing the freckled face of the red-haired pilot.

"Pardon me, but do you have any gray…" she started

"Scarlet, move over and let us in now."

"Ah, you NEVER let me have any fun Kiyo! And not even a hello!" she pouted, then moved over opening the door for her friends.

"KIYO!" Someone shouted, and a familiar blue-blonde and blonde couple made their way over… Zechs and Nick… Basim winced at the sight of his cousin.

"Ossu Zechs-san, Nick-san! What's up?" Scarlet said. Kiyo looked at her.

"You speak Japanese, Scarlet?"

Scarlet turned, taking her braid out

"Enough to call someone a bastard."

Zechs and Nick hopped into the all ready cramped Limo, and Kiyoshi spoke over the din

"Back to the Yuy house, driver." He shouted, and glared at his cousin.

"Man! What are you two doing up here, follow Kiyo's example and got outta that stuffy school?" Scarlet asked, sitting all prim.

Kiyo opened the window with the thought of throwing up out of it… instead of listening to his cousin talk to Scarlet he turned to Basim and his cousin.

"So Basim, what are you doing here?"

"Visiting."

"Oh? Who then?"

"Grandma Dorothy is at the Yuy mansion visiting with Relena." Basim answered, he turned and looked out the window. "L1 is very different from L4, isn't it Nicholas?" he said absently. Kiyo sighed and turned back to Scarlet as Zechs gave a yelp of pain, Scarlet glared through her glasses at him.

"Don't you EVER try that with ANY woman EVER Milliardo Peacecraft the Third! Or I'll…"

"Scarlet." Kiyo barked. Scarlet scowled as she turned to Kiyo.

"I didn't do anything!" Zechs replied, and scooted away from Scarlet.

"Not do anything my ASS! He was rubbing my THIGH! Of all the disgusting, low, dirty things he could done he was rubbing MY THIGH!" she put a finger right under his nose, her green eyes full of womanly fury. "You do know, of course, THIS means WAR!"

The limo pulled to a stop and Scarlet got out, slamming the door behind her.

Zechs turned to his cousin.

"Is it that time of the month for her?"

*~*

Scarlet sighed as she kicked a can out of her path… she did NOT let ANYONE touch her, ESPECIALLY not in the way that Zechs was touching her. She leaned against the wall, and felt a hand tap her shoulder… she turned raising her arm as if to block a punch, to stare into the icy eyes of Kiyoshi.

"Hi Kiyo." She said, turning away. He leaned against the wall with her, and sighed.

"What's wrong with you, Scarlet? You don't just go running out in the middle of a street in a strange city."

"I wasn't going to share a car with him. He's rude, self-centered, a smart-ass, I just can't HANDLE another ME!" she laughed slightly, then sighed. "It's weird, here I am, the Lady of Lost Souls, and I'm getting upset… whatever. I'm going back to base." She said, and walked off. Kiyo shook his head and turned around, taking a left; after all, he knew all the shortcuts to his house.

*~*

"Well, it is an honor to have everyone over." Relena said at supper that night, a grand Italian meal of spaghetti, meatballs, sausage, garlic bread, and even accompanied by a customary glass of wine (which Scarlet politely refused, opting to a tall glass of milk). Kiyoshi was surprised; Scarlet wore her hair down, in waves around her face and a green dress that made her hair appear like fire. Obviously Zechs noticed this, and shot winning smiles at Scarlet, who ignored his efforts. She, instead, talked to Max, who didn't say anything the entire meal.