Chapter 1: Peace at Last?

***

The war had finally ended after a three year battle. It was January first after Colony 199, and a large celebration was being held. The Gundam Pilots landed in a 'V' formation in L1's central park. Cheers erupted from the crowd as the first Gundam opened revealing the 'Perfect Soldier', Heero Yuy. He was followed in a chain reaction by, the braided baka himself, Duo Maxwell. The third to descend was the uni-banged pilot, Trowa Barton. He was followed by the empathic Quatre Raberba Winner. The final pilot to descend to the park floor was the blade master, Chang Wufei. Relena's pink limo just pulled up to deliver the peace speech. As she exited the parking area she was met by many diplomats and other high ranking people. She handed out many envelopes, shook many hands and hugged many random people. The Gundam Pilots grouped together and started to walk towards the ceremonial gathering. They were all wearing very formal clothing.... well, except for Duo.

Duo was wearing tight fitting black leather pants with a white tee- shirt and black leather jacket. Quatre was wearing a white armoni suit with a white bow tie. Trowa was wearing a gray armoni suit with a black bow tie. Wufei was wearing a white oriental suit with a decorative sword hanging off his belt. Heero stopped short, in his navy blue business suit with a silver tie. He noticed Relena talking to the other four as they approached. Un-nerved by the predicament he was in, he quickly tried to figure out how to get out of there. Unfortunately Relena looked in his direction and screamed her infamous line, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRROOOO!"

"No," he squeaked, without showing fear on his face. His body went ridged and he tried not to run as Relena approached. She skipped merrily towards him as he looked to the ground, wishing she was an ant so he could squish her. He smirked at the thought. As she glomped onto him in a big hug, he asked himself why he left his gun on his desk. "Relena...", he said in a monotone and tried not to cringe.

"I love you Hee-", Relena was cut off by a giant explosion by their left. They were thrown many feet from the blast and Relena was shielded by Heero, unfortunately. The Gundam Pilots dashed to their fallen comrade. Relena got up slowly with her torn clothes knelt by the crumpled form of Heero Yuy. When the others arrived they noticed Heero jerking and small flashes of light. His left hand was silver with wires instead of muscle and he was leaking battery acid. His legs were badly in the same shape as his hand. Duo and Quatre picked up their fallen comrade but faltered under his weight. Trowa picked up the heavy burden and dashed to Quatre's Limo that was waiting for them.

Inside the limo, more sparks came flying from every part of Heero's body. It looked as if he was short circuiting. The space inside the limo was silent except for the hissing and popping noises of Heero's wounds. After many minutes, it was Duo who broke the silence. "What the fuck!?" The other three jumped from the sudden out burst. Wufei spoke first and in quite yet awed tones, "He's an android."

"No shit, Sherlock! But why?" A tear, so small that went un-noticed by the others, ran down his cheek. Duo took Heero into his arms and held him close to his chest. Trowa hugged Quatre as a tear ran down Quatre face from the scene in front of him. "Why?" Duo started to sob into Heero's hair. As the tears fell upon Heero, crackling noises were heard from the malfunctioning body. Blue gray gundanium wings unfolded from his back. Duo looked up in shock and the others stared at the sight before them.

Quatre yelled to Rashid in the driver's seat, "We need to get him back to the estate as fast as possible!" A buzzer sounded from Heero's body. A small transparent screen appeared in front of the four Gundam Pilots. It was a status report of damage and battery check. The battery was almost dead and damage was 86%. The status also registered some memory lost. The screen started to flicker, and it read in bold red letters 'MAIN BATTERY FAILING. SWITCHING TO AUXILLARY POWER.' The screen flickered out and the pilots stared in shock. Duo cast glazed eyes down to Heero's sleeping and battered form lowered his head to whisper a plea into his ear. "Heero, don't leave me. I need you." He closed his eyes as two tears fell onto the motionless figure. The other three pilots looked at Duo in shock even though they knew about his feelings for the fallen 'perfect soldier', but they never realized it was this deep and serious. Duo started to laugh bitterly as he noticed Heero was wearing his green tank top and black spandex shorts under the business suit. Duo grinned at the figure, "You are so stubborn Heero, don't give up this time." The rest of the ride was in silence to Quatre's estate.