Dark One's Kingdom

Part 3: Earth…

By Princess Raye Fire

She ran down the halls. When she woke up that morning, she knew. Something had happened.

It was dark. Much too Dark. Mars and Uranus meet her and three corridors converged.

After what seemed like 30 minutes they finally came upon the throne room. It took the three of them to open one of the 30-foot doors. They could never have been prepared for what was held behind that door.

Their fellow scouts were there. Not one of them was whole.

-- -- -- -

Across space three voices rang out simultaneously. "Minako! Makato! Ami! Michiru! Mamoru! Serenity! Setsuna! Rini!"

-- -- -- -

Duo awoke from a sound sleep. Any one watching him wouldn't have known, of course. Years of practice helped him learn. It also taught him to awaken by tiny things. Little minute things that broke the normal cycle. Something was up.

He opened his eyes, soundlessly he rolled up on his side to look around.

Hotaru was having trouble sleeping. She was tossing, turning and struggling in her sleep. He'd had dreams that had that effect on him, dreams of fierce battles or bloody raids that would leave him shaking and jumpy for days. Normally, though, Heero was there.

Heero was his best friend. And he -as far as he knew- was Heero's only friend. But then, being a cold 'Perfect Soldier' can have that effect on your social life.

Hotaru was muttering names. They started softly, whispering. "minako…Makoto…Ami" Her voice became slightly higher, up to a talking volume. "Michi*grunt *…Moru…Renity *sob *"

Duo was in motion before he knew what to do. "Su-Na!" She screamed. He was on her cot, with her in his lap, trying to comfort her -or wake her- before he ordered his feet to move. "Ri-NEE!"

-- -- -- --

"Su-Na! RI-NEE!" Hotaru felt some one shaking her. She stiffened in her bed. The pilots were all in the tiny room, around her cot and starring at her.

There were warm arms around her and tears on her face. She traced the arms back to Duo who was beside her on the bed. "Duo-chan." she sniffled. "We-we ha-ave t-t-to go to Earth, Duo-chan. Gundams and all. Do-duo-chan…" she couldn't hold it in any more. She broke into another bought of tears on his bare shoulder. It just felt right.

There was a hand on her shoulder, then another one, then someone was hugging her back.

She pulled back, away from Duo.

Trowa was on the bed behind her, lending his body heat to keep her warm in the space-cooled apartment. Both Quatre and Wufei had a comforting arm, enveloping her and the other two in two half-hugs. Heero was making travel arrangements -including fake papers. And Zechs? He was packing the other boys' things and stuffing her bags into trunks.

They were moving. Going to Earth, because a fellow team member said so.

Hotaru let herself relax in the nest of friends. They barely knew each other, but they were a team. A family brought together not by common blood, but common experiences and a goal, and THAT was all that mattered.

-- -- -- --

That same day, about 8 A.M. the Id's and shuttle tickets came in, now they had to learn the personalities.

Heero and Trowa were going to be twins, James and John Anders. Heero put in green contacts while Trowa died his hair a darker color. They would go straight to Houston, Texas and catch a baseball game -their reason for travel. And then hopscotch their way to Juuban.

Quatre and Zechs would be traveling as a father/son duo, Justyn and Darian Rhoades. They would go to London, England for a 'vacation', then travel to Japan also. They dressed in slightly casual suits, young corporate America at its best.

Duo and Hotaru went right to Japan as a newly-wed couple going to meet the parents. Wufei was with them, playing the pissed of brother that had 'fetch me' duty. Wufei and Hotaru dressed in proper Chinese apparel. Wufei just dressed as he did when he was 15. Hotaru put on a matching dress with blue embroidered flowers on it and put in black contacts to match Wufei better. Duo wore a gray flight suit with a greasy rag sticking out of one pocket and a cap that he hid his hair under.

They would all meet up in 2 weeks, in an old park. From there they would travel to a place Hotaru picked…

Author Brief: Yeah the false identities are a little on the Cheesy side, but they serve their purpose.

P.S. I don't own anything except my interpretations and plot and adaptations and…

That was short but I don't want to give too much away too soon. hehehehe