A Normal Life
By: Jade Starlight

Chapter Seven: Training, Gundams, and the First Mission


Relena swirled around, ducking Alondra's punch, and swiftly moved up, grabbing
her right arm and twisting it around. She held her in a locked position.
"Nice job, but not good enough," Alondra panted out. She grabbed Relena's leg
and yanked hard, sending her crashing to the ground. Relena quickly rolled out of the
way as Alondra went to stab her in the head. She flipped onto her feet, facing her foe.
"Ya know, someone could lose an eye with that," Relena said. She swiftly kicked
up, sending the sword flying into the air. Then she kicked Alondra back, and she flew
into the wall, sliding to the ground. Relena jumped up, caught the sword, and landed in
front of Alondra, who was climbing to her feet, panting hard. Relena raised the sword to
her chin, slowly directing her up.
"Give?" Relena asked, a smirk on her face. Alondra nodded, and they started
laughing hysterically.
"Man, you should've seen your face when I had you on the floor! It was
priceless!"
"Oh yeah, what about you?! You looked terrified a couple of seconds ago in that
lock!"
"Girls!" Dr. Hino yelled. They immediately stopped laughing, and stood straight
as a pin, directing their attention to him, hand up ready to salute.
"Sir!" both girls yelled. Dr. Hino glared at them, and then smiled. The two girls
hugged him tightly.
"Excellent job Relena! You have successfully beaten everyone's scores. You are
now the fastest and most skillful pilot around," he said, a huge grin spreading across his
features.
"How fast was I this time?"
"Just under a minute."
"Definitely not shabby, Lena!" Isis said, entering the training room.
"So, wanna do it again?" Alondra asked. Relena shook her head.
"No. I gotta shower. I feel disgusting!" she said, leaving the room.
"Well, ya look like it too!" Isis yelled when Relena disappeared, or so she thought.
"I heard that! Thanks a lot!" Relena replied sarcastically, appearing in the
doorway. The girls all started laughing, as Relena walked to the elevator. She went to
the second floor, and walked down the long corridor. She was immediately greeted by
Duo.
"Yo, Lena! How'd it go?" he asked.
"Great! I am now the fastest out of my team! Dr. Hino says I beat Alondra in
under a minute!"
"That's awesome Lena!" Duo yelled, picking her up. He twirled around, bear
hugging her, as she tried to get him off.
"Duo, I know, but do you really think it's worth squeezing me to death?" she said,
giggling in between words. He sheepishly put her down, and smiled.
"Sorry, I just got excited."
"No prob, now I gotta go bathe," she said, opening her door. Duo waved, and he
left, as she shut the door, and headed straight for the bathroom.
An hour later, she was out of the bath and fully dressed, brushing her hair while
looking in the mirror. She opened the door and left the bathroom, walking over to her
laptop.
"Hey Heero," she said, not once looking at him, as he appeared from behind her
now open bathroom door.
"I can never slip by you now, you know that? It's not fun," he said, walking over
and glancing at her computer screen.
"I know, but it isn't like you have a reason to anyway," she said, shrugging. She
opened her e-mail box and found a letter from her brother. "Well, I guess everything's
going good in Sank. That's a relief," she said, moving on. This had no title. She read it,
and she smiled widely.
"What is it?" Heero asked.
"Well, Dr. Hino wants to show me my Gundam," she said excitedly. She grabbed
Heero and started leaving, but he stopped her and kissed her before they left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ah, Miss Relena. How nice to see you again," Dr. J said, approaching the couple
as they entered the hanger. Relena merely looked at him and nodded. She hadn't really
talked to him or any of the other scientists since she found out the truth about herself a
year ago.
"Relena, over here girl!" Amara yelled, waving her hands around so she'd see her.
Amara was on the open door to the cockpit of a Gundam.
"Hey! Is this yours?" Relena asked, as she and Heero stood under the legs,
examining it. Amara was lowered down, and she greeted Relena with a hug.
"Yep! Isn't it great?! By the way, how'd the test go?"
"Yeah, it is awesome, and the test was fine. I am now faster than all of you, and
Hino says I'm also the best skilled!"
"Lena, that's terrific!" Amara squealed, once again hugging her friend. Heero just
looked at Relena, a small smile on his face, before Amara could catch it.
"Relena, we're ready now," a voice said. She looked over to see Trowa standing
against the wall, awaiting her presence.
"Trowa, hey! We're coming!" she said, running over to him.
"This way," he said, leading the three into the other hanger.
When Relena saw something huge being covered by a large sheet, she knew it was
her Gundam.
"Well Relena, are you ready to see it?" Dr. Hino asked. Relena shook her head
excitedly, as she watched it being unvailed. She never expected what she saw.
"Dr. Hino, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed. She turned to the others with a huge
smile on her face. "Don't you think so?"
"Definitely, Lena," Amara said. The boys just nodded.
"Do you want to know what it's called?" Dr. Hino asked. As Relena continued
gawking at the machine, she slowly shook her head.
"Sure," was her response.
"It's name is Dammi, which means 'gentle princess.' It only seemed appropriate
for you."
"Thank you very much!" Relena said, hugging Dr. Hino. She let go and walked
over to the cord that would bring her to the cockpit. "Can I?"
"Of course. Go check it out," Dr. Hino said, waving her on. She held on as she
was raised up into it.
"Dr. Hino, we have the status on her Gundam. Shall we give it to her?" Dr. J
asked. Dr. Hino nodded, awaiting Relena's return. She jumped down off the cord,
landing with gracefulness on the floor.
"Here are the stats Relena. I hope you like it," he said, handing her a folder with
papers in it. She took it and immediately started reading it.
"Let's see. It has a buster rifle, a beam saber, a buster shield, a beam cannon, and
two crown disks. Crown disks?" she asked, looking up at Hino.
"Yes. They are somewhat like the beam halos on Cupid, only yours can cut
anything in half, and they never have to be recharged."
"Really? Awesome! Let's see," she looked back at the paper. "I also have the
Zero System," she did a double take and her eyes went wide. "WHAT?!"
"Yes, you have the Zero System. I feel that you are capable of handling it, so I
installed it in your Gundam."
"Do you have any idea what that does to people? I could end up losing it and
destroying everything!"
"But you won't. You always used that, before you were handed over to the
Dorlians," Dr. J stepped in.
"I what? No way is that possible!"
"It is true. You were trained to use that the first day I found you, and you used it
for seven years."
"Um, I think I'll leave now," she said, still shocked. Heero followed, as Trowa
and Amara simply shrugged, and left to attend to their Gundams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Relena, wait please," Heero said, running to catch up to her. She stopped the
doors to the elevator from closing, awaiting his presence. When he got in, he attempted
to start a conversation, but she was deep in thought, and there was no pulling her out.
When they reached her room, she went straight to the computer, and started
hacking away.
"Relena, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to find out everything I can about my past."
"Are you sure you want to do that? You may find out about things you regret,"
Heero warned. Relena ignored that last statement, and he knew not to press her anymore.
he sat that and studied her determined face, because he'd never seen her like this before.
She just continued typing her way through every access code to the system in the
compound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So, Millardo is in trouble? And you want someone to go protect him?" Quatre
asked, as Dr. Hino printed out the reports for his new file.
"Yes, and I know exactly who can do it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heero had left Relena's room a half an hour ago. She was so wrapped up in her
search that she actually didn't pay a whole lot of attention to him for once. He didn't like
her behavior though, bacause it seemed very unhealthy for her. As he laid on his bed, and
began to dose, he heard "You've got mail," from his computer.
"Terrific," he groaned, reaching the computer. Within seconds he had opened up
the new mail. It was a mission. As quickly as he read it, he typed the words
Mission...Accepted. Grabbing his jean jacket, he waltzed out the door and back to
Relena.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn it! Nothing!" Relena cursed. She jumped up and started pacing, running
her fingers through her hair.
Okay, think, Relena. Where else would the information be?! She continued her
pacing for several minutes, and then pounded her fists on the wall hard, releasing her
frustration.
"Did I come at a bad time?" Relena spun around to find Heero in her doorway,
looking at her amusingly.
"No, no you didn't. What's up?" She walked over to him, anger and frustration
nearly gone. Heero raised an eyebrow, but got right to the point.
"I'm leaving tonight, in about an hour. It's a new mission."
"What is it?" she asked, rapping her arms around his waste. he wrapped his
around her, as she rested her head on his chest.
"It's confidential. I can't say."
"Hm," was all Relena said.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. It's just, well, every time you leave, there's a chance you may never
return," she whispered. He pulled away a little, and lifted her chin up.
"I will always return, because I have you to come back to," he said, and then he
kissed her gently, before breaking away. "Wait for me," he said, pausing at the door.
"Always," Relena whispered, as he disappeared from her sight.
Relena sighed, before falling into a deep sleep.


Relena ran down a large corridor. There were doors on every side of it. The
numbers read 100, 101, 102... Relena glanced form sign to sign. Where's number 113?
she thought. She heard gunfire, followed by yelling.
"She went that way! Kill her!" a man's voice yelled. She frantically searched for
room 113. 110, 111, 112...ah ha! 113! She ducked into the room.
"Who are you?" a demanding voice said. Relena turned to face a women who
appeared to be in her late twenties. She was standing near the balcony.
"It doesn't matter. I've found my target." Relena raised a gun, pointing it at the
woman, who just stood there. Her finger pulled back the trigger slowly, and just as she
was about to shoot...BAM!!! A bullet pierced her arm.
"Damn you! You'll die for what you've done!" Relena turned to face a young
man in his late twenties also. He was dressed in a uniform that looked very familiar to
her.
"Wrong," was all Relena said, before running with lightning speed across the
room, onto the balcony railing, and jumping down three stories.
"You'll die!!!" the man yelled after her, as she landed gracefully and kept
running. When she was clear in the trees of the forest, and no one had followed, she took
out a detonating switch. Two seconds later, the mansion was up in smoke and flames.
"Mission...Complete," Relena whispered with a satisfied grin on her face.


"Oh god!!!" Relena screamed. She quickly quieted herself when she realized it
was a dream. Or was it? she thought. Sweat was poring down her face. In the middle of
her thoughts, a message came in on her computer. It was her first mission. She quickly
typed Mission...Accepted, before changing into clothes, and grabbing her "tools." She
snuck out of the compound and headed for her destination: the Sank Kingdom.