"Zechs?"
The sharp smell of something like burnt sulfur stung Zechs's smell.
He bolted away and moaned, grabbing the back of his head. He looked up to
see a blonde woman with iced blue eyes.
The woman would be eighteen years older than him that year, making
her thirty-seven. The skin around her eyes and mouth was starting to
wrinkle, much like Zechs's mother and aunt. But this woman, no matter the
age, would have a fierceness to her that no one else could match. Not even
her sister.
"Where are the other kids? Our agreement was that you would get them
and get out, I gave you a large enough team. Where's Barton?"
Zechs shook his head and stood up, dusting his clothes off. "She was
using us all along, Madam Catalonia. She'd hit me in the back of the head
with her gun and they all took off."
"Are you making an excuse, Peacecraft?"
"No, madam, only stating a fact."
"Very well, then. I have men stationed at every opening to the maze.
They will not escape us."
"What if they come back out this way? I know you don't have guards
stationed this close."
"Don't need them." She brushed over her eyebrows, the thin lines that
were the only difference between Dorothy and her. "They wouldn't come back
out this way, and you know it as much as anybody else." She turned and
snapped her fingers as she walked out. "And by the way, I will be writing
this on you record. I asked you to bring back my daughter, if not anyone
else, and you failed in that first assignment. Is that fair?"
Zechs looked down at his feet. "Yes, Alanis."
It was a slow and careful movement, but Julia managed to do it without threat of a headache. She opened her eyes, slowly so the lights didn't blind her, and looked up. She was in Zero's arms again, and he was looking over at the wall. Something about his expression made her sad. He looked scared. "Zero?" her voice was soft, questioning, and shaky. She was still a little under the influence of her fear, but seeing him like this.... Zero looked down at Julia, a soft smile ran itself over his face and he pulled her up a little to hug her. "I was scared for you, Julia." "I know, Zero." She raised her hand up and stroked his face gently. He didn't look afraid anymore, he looked more at peace. "We're going to have to get out of here. If Zechs was able to get those capsules into Julia, then he may be able to control her by saying something or using a remote control." The two of them looked over at Alex, Zero shook his head. "But how? They probably have every entrance blocked-" "But this one. We know she isn't going to block this entrance because she doesn't know what we know." "Who's 'she'?" Julia asked. Tarmine interrupted, "You're forgetting Zechs. He's smart. He knows that if we're cornered we're going the only way we can. And we still have to watch out for the soldiers. Even if we do get out of here, they'll be stationed all around the labyrinth." "Who's 'she'?" "Then we'll fight our way out." Alex said. "Who's 'she'?" Zero shook his head again, "They have more than likely emptied our weaponry." "Come on, you guys, you're purposefully not answering my question. " The two girls looked over toward Julia, Zero looked down. They all looked away at the same time. "What?" "We can't tell you yet." Alex said softly. "Why not?" "It has to do with something we were sworn not to tell you. In the name of your father, we're not going to tell you until we have to." Julia nodded and sighed. "Fine. If my father wanted to keep it a secret from me, then I'll wait until the right time." The three of them looked at eachother, then back at Julia. "That was easier than I thought." Alex mumbled. Tarmine nodded, then started back up with getting out of the medical room. "Alright. We need to get out of here and soon. We don't have enough supplies here to take care of four people and a dog. I say we get up there and figure out what to do from there." "That sounds like something Julia would come up with." Zero said softly, pinching Julia's side. She giggled, "That's something I wanted to come up with." "Then it's settled, we get up there, probably through one of the tunnels that lead into the house." Alex said. She then went over to where Julia and Zero sat, held one of Julia's hands. "Get up, I have to do something." "Ok...." Julia looked at her unsure, but slowly got up from Zero's lap. She stood up shakily in front of Alex, and the looked at the darker haired girl. "What?" "This is just for all of our safety." Julia's eyes widened a split second before she was bent over with Alex's fist in her stomach. "Wh...why....?" "Like I said, for our safety." The last thing Julia remembered was falling into someone's arms, then the room went black.
"I don't see why you had to punch her." Zero pouted. He was carrying Julia over his shoulder, her whole body limp. She was unconscious and had been for the last ten minutes. "If Zechs could control her mind like that, we don't know if he can control her mind now. It was for our safety as well as hers." "Couldn't you have just given her a shot or something?" "Stop whining, Zero, and keep walking." Tarmine said pushing the butt of the gun into the small of his back. Alex sighed as they came to the last door, opening it carefully. She looked outside, gun raised, and looked back in. "They totally demolished my whole house. Are you sure they took my parents and yours to some base?" "I'm pretty certain. They can't take them anywhere else for at least forty-eight hours. And she'll want to set a trap with them. That was her plan the whole time. She's gonna keep them alive for us to go and get, and that was the only thing I'd heard her say, 'If someone rats us out, we still have this back-up plan.' It's kinda sad, really." "Yeah, real sad. This woman pretends to die during child birth, then gets her husband killed six years later, and you think it's sad." "Shut up, Zero." "Make me, Tammy." "Children." The two of them looked over to Alex. "Come on, we don't have all day." "Right." Tarmine said. She went over to the door as well and they held up their guns, walking out carefully. Zero was close behind, stopping for a second to gently change carrying positions to where his left arm was under Julia's knees and his right under her back. The girl's right cheek was lightly pressed to Zero's chest, and the same side arm draped lightly over her stomach, the other dangling loosely. The past few hours had brought dawn to the scene. They could see all the damage that had been done well. It was like some psychopath had come in with a wrecking ball and bombs and had blown everything up. Wind gently brushed by, and smoldering ashes lit up in half-hearted flames. The three teens all looked up to see the same thing, a mobile suit, the new model Scorpio, that was hovering above them. "This just keeps getting better and better." Alex mumbled while stepping backwards. Zero felt Julia move and looked down at her as the Scorpio was landing. She had woken up, and was looking at the mobile suit. "That worked well, Alex." Zero said softly. Julia looked from the suit to him and grimaced. "She punched me, didn't she?" "Yeah." They both looked back to the suit as Zero gently let Julia down. Tarmine and Alex backed up and they each circled around Julia. The cockpit opened to reveal a blonde woman, as well as Zechs.
The blonde woman smiled, and Julia suddenly felt like this person was familiar. Very familiar. She walked into the palm of the suits hand as it came to the cockpit. Gracefully she rode it down to the ground, stepping off even more gracefully. She walked over to the four, and Julia felt all three of the people around her become tense. "Hello Zero, Tarmine, Alex." "What do you want?" Alex asked, hiding her gun in back of herself. "Oh, you know what I want." She came closer, pushing Zero out of the way, making sure to dig her grab into his wound. Julia stared at the woman, her lips pressed tight. "You look a lot like your father. What a shame." She had a German accent, subtle but there. She was almost sickeningly thin, and when she gave an awkward grin the corners of her eyes and mouth crinkled. "What do you mean by that, you old hag?" "Oh! And her father's sense of humor too!" The lady clapped her hands, and she suddenly looked twenty years younger. It was a trick of genetics. The brunette could tell this woman was part Lunarian. She could change the difference in age automatically. "She doesn't know who you are." Zero whispered, almost sounding as though he were begging her not to say anything. The woman's eyebrows went up, her eyes wide, then narrowed. "No one has told her?! What did you people tell her?" "You were dead." Julia froze. This was the big secret. This woman, this evil, wretched traitor was her mother. "You're not my mother." "Oh, indeed I am. Look at my eyes, my lips. They're the only resemblance we have of eachother. You are my daughter, and I will be taking you with me." "Over my dead body." Zero whispered. "Oh! Gladly!" Before anyone had time to react the woman put her hand to Zero's chest and his eyes rolled back, shutting, then he fell to the ground. "Zero..."
Zechs grimaced as he watched what Alanis did, turning his head when Zero fell to the ground. He looked back and saw Julia just standing there, not moving. Her eyes were suddenly blank and her whole body seemed to relax. He grabbed a small transmitter that sat in his pocket, clicking it on. Quietly, he spoke into it, "Julia," her face turned upward for just a moment, then she bent down beside Zero. "He's not dead, Julia. What your mother did just now only rendered him unconscious. In a couple of minutes he'll be back to normal." Even from where he sat, he could see the relief on Julia's face, and even more when she put her fingers to his neck artery. She looked from Zero to the two girls, then to her mother. "You're not my mother. The woman my father loved wouldn't have just done that." "Well, you see, your father may have loved me, but I didn't love him. My name is Alanis Catalonia, sister of Dorothy Catalonia...." she reveled in the surprised looks of the three girls. "And we are not the most trustworthy of people around here. You should know that mostly by now." Julia's face was angry, so was Tarmine and Alex's. Julia stood from Zero's felled body and gave a death glare Heero Yuy would have been proud of. Zechs smiled and then tried to hide it, not having to as soon as Julia started forward and fell limp beside Zero.
"Good job, Zero. That big mouth of yours gave all of us some help. Now we don't have to find the base, their TAKING US TO IT!!!" Alex grinned as she watched Tarmine and Zero fight, then frowned when she looked over to Julia. She was sitting in a corner, knees to her chest, face toward the wall. "I DIDN'T KNOW SHE'D ACTUALLY DO THAT!!!" "SHE SHOULD HAVE FREAKIG KILLED YOU FOR ALL I CARE! ALL YOU EVER DO IS OPEN YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SHOULDN'T!" Julia looked over to the two fighting teens and stood up. She walked in between them and shoved her hands to each of their chests, breaking them apart. "What good is it to have an enemy when we ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE TO FIGHT WITH?! Shut UP and sit DOWN and try to think of a way to get out of this. I don't find this anymore fun than either of you do, but at least I am NOT blaming it on OTHER PEOPLE!" She turned around and walked back to her corner, sitting tighter than before. They were all in a truck. A very big truck. And they were being taken to the Plague base their parents were being held in. There was no way to get out of the truck and make it to a main road alive. Unless you were to stop the truck. "That's it." Alex said, a little too loudly. The other three looked at her a little oddly. "Talking to yourself again, Alex?" Julia asked with a sardonic grin. "What? Oh, no. Listen. If we were to stop the truck and get to drive it where we need, then we can use their map and get away for ourselves. There's a base somewhere near here that has old-type mobile suits, we could use them to raid the Plague base." "Great thinking, Alex. Do you suppose we could stop at the salon and get our hair done while we're at it?" "I sense a strong amount of sarcasm, Jules." "Well, DUH. And how, Genius, do you suppose we stop the truck?" Alex just looked at Julia. "Yeah, you have been hanging too long around me." "I know, here." They both looked at Tarmine as she took out her gun. She walked over to the back wall and pointed it where the driver's head should be. "I shoot, we stop, get out, and make it to the nearest road." "Good idea." Zero said. Julia and Alex both stood up to stop her, but Tarmine fired the gun. "Not good." Alex said softly. "Why?" The truck lurched to the right and both Tarmine and Zero fell over, followed by Alex and Julia. The world seemed to spin as the truck flipped over a few times, finally ending in a slide and a few tumbles down a steep hill. There was another slam as the truck smacked into another hillside, and the moving stopped. Alex sat up quickly, then grabbed her head. Blood ran down her arms and forehead, and a sickening dizziness overwhelmed her, darkness threatening to overtake her vision. As hard as she fought it, unconsciousness barreled into Alex and she slumped over to lean against the wall. "Ah hahaha! Hehehe! Come on, Alex!" "Wait Julia! I can't run in these stupid things as well as you can! I'm not used to dresses." The two girls ran through the fields, still wearing the flower girl dresses they'd used earlier in the day. It had been one of Zero's sister's weddings, and they'd been the flower girls. Alex the resentful one. "Haha! Hehehe! You can't catch me!" The smaller girl raced quicker into the tall grass, her long hair coming out of its bun. Alex sighed, hitching the white, frilly, dress up to her knees. Her dark brown hair had fallen out long before Julia's. "Where are we going anyways, Julia?" "You'll see! You'll like it too! It's real neat!" Her childish laughter came back to Alex as they both entered a dark forest of mostly weeping willows. As they went in farther, the forest seemed to glow by its own light. Lightening bugs flew by here and there, showing off small mushrooms that also seemed to glow. "Umph! Hey, hehehe, watch where you're going!" Julia smiled brightly and hugged her best friend. "Just a little further." The small six year old grabbed onto the other girl's hand and led her to a veil of leaves from one of the largest weeping willows Alex had ever seen. She pulled them back and revealed a lagoon that was lit by an inner light. They stood on a cliff about fifty feet above the water, giving them the ability to see all of the area nicely. There were shores on the other side of the lake, decorated by weeping willows and night lilies. The water also had lilies in it, and the sound of frogs and crickets came up from the bog as well. "Wow, how did you know about this place?" Alex asked with awe. She walked out a little further and sat down on the edge of the cliff. Julia joined her and dug into her small flower basket, bringing out some small dinette cookies she'd snuck from the wedding. "I used to come here with daddy... before he died." She looked down and then over at Alex. It had only been half a year since her father had died, and if she wasn't talking about him she was happy as a clam. But this little child seemed to want to talk about her father every chance she got. Alex looked out at the scenery even as Julia continued. "He said that this was mommy's favorite place in the whole world. She loved so much to come here and swim with him, and he told me this is where he prayed when mommy died. And I remember it, too. When I was just born he took me here and held me and told me he loved me, and mommy loved me even though she was gone and never got to hold me. And that even if I couldn't see her, she was still here on earth watching over me." She suddenly stopped and started to cry. The darker headed girl looked over at the smaller, slightly younger child. She sat cross-legged and pulled Julia into her lap, hugging her gently. "It's ok, Julia. You got us all, and we love you too." "I know... I just... miss him. My mommy died 'cause of me, and my daddy died 'cause he didn't listen to me. I told him not to go, I asked him to stay home with me, and he didn't. He left me after telling me he'd be back as soon as he could, and he never came back. And I don't want to lose all of you. I don't want to lose anymore fam'ly." Alex's eyes closed as tears met them, then opened them and let one tears escape. "You can't lose any of us, you didn't even lose your mommy and daddy. We're all here, and we'll always be here. You're like my sister, and you can't lose your sister." "What about the others?" "You can't lose them, neither. My mommy and daddy are like yours, and Tarmine and Zero's family is ours too. And," she giggled her seven-year-old giggle. "I think Zero likes you!" "Likes me?! Yucky!" they both broke out in a giggle fit, and by the time they were done they were both laying on the ground, the tops of their heads touching. "So, you're my sister?" "Forever." "I like that." Alex smiled, "Me too."
"It's not gonna work," Tarmine said for the fifth time. She sighed as Zero looked over at her while he wiggled one of Julia's hairpins in the lock on the door. "Jules got it to work once." "That was on a door that had a lock that locked from the inside as well as the outside. This one only locks from the outside." Zero looked over to Julia helplessly. She was shaking awake Alex and mumbling to herself. "It's your fault." he said to Tarmine. "Nuh uh, it's yours." "Yours!" "YOURS!" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Julia yelled. They both stopped and looked at her. Zero sighed and scooted beck from the door. "Now what are you doing?" "I think it's just jammed, we'll have to break it down. He looked at Tarmine, who's arm was badly bruised and bleeding. His gaze then went to Alex, who was holding her arm too. A trickle of blood was running down her forehead. She had just woken up, and was giving off her 'death glare'. "I'll help." Julia said in an oddly cheerful voice. "Alright." "On the count of three." Her and Zero both stood a little back from the door. "One... two... "Zero!" SMACK. "I never said 'three'." "I knew that." "It seems that when I hit my head it transferred the after shock into Zero's brain. Good going Zero." Alex said sarcastically. "We never said he was the brightest crayon in the box." Julia said with a grin, helping Zero up. "Alright, wait 'til I count to three." "Ok." Zero said with a bright red blush. "One... two... three!" Zero and Julia both ran full-tilt toward the door. BOOM. Alex looked at the two, shook her head as they fell to the ground, and stood up and walked to the door. With one swift movement she pulled it open. "Obviously neither are you are the bright crayons." "I'm sorry, my mother's blonde." This time her voice had a soft, menacing tone to it. "I wanna know what happened. You guys seem to know an awful lot about my mother. I want to know what really happened." "Later, Julia, right now we have to get out of here." "I'm not moving until I'm told." Zero looked to Tarmine, Tarmine to Alex, Alex back to Zero. "Please." Zero looked at Julia. Tears were in her eyes, and her arms were crossed over her chest. She only did that when she was really upset. If he didn't love her as much as he did, he wouldn't have thought to tell her. But he had to. "You guys go ahead, I know my way to the base. I'm gonna stay with Julia for a minute." The two girls nodded and walked out the door, Alex looking back a second before they both disappeared into the woods. Julia looked to Zero, she was fighting back sobs and it showed. She made small sounds in her throat, like she was whimpering. "Jules... I..." "Why didn't... you tell me?" She did whimper. "You guys... lied... to me. All... my life." She kept sniffling between words, tears falling from her face to the ground. "I would have, but your father didn't want you to find out what really happened." "So you all... lied! What else have you...lied about? Do you really... care for me? Or is that a lie too!?" Zero's eyes widened and he took a step back. Of course not, of course it wasn't a lie. But he saw where she was coming from. "No, Julia, it isn't a lie. I love you more than anything on earth. In this universe. The only reason we had to keep this from you is because your father didn't want you to know your mother was a traitor." "Even when he was... dying? I mean, come... on, Zero. No one would want to keep... that kind of secret if their... lover was a... traitor." Zero looked down, then back up at her. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she cried. "I just want to know." "Then I'll tell you what I know. Ok? But you have to stop crying and smile for me when I'm done, then we can go kick Plague butt." Julia, despite her crying, laughed softly. "Ok." Zero took in a deep breath and began. "A year before you were born, your mother and father were having small arguments. Nothing bad, but it made Alanis very angry at Duo. She joined a small group with her sister, Dorothy, and they started recruiting people to join their military, the Plague. The first few people were women, then men and all started to join too. Alanis and Dorothy and the first few people started to spread a rumor it was the Gundam Pilots' faults they were in a depression. "Then the remaining troops of Oz, the Barton Foundation, the Trieze Faction, and the Alliance got involved, helping to manufacture weaponry. Alanis started getting ideas on how to get rid of Duo, but she'd have to disappear for a while before she got the plan into action. That's when..."
"Who were the first women?" "Dorothy, you mother, my aunt Ilea. And we found out last night that Sally Po was involved. Wufei Chang had also been one of the first members." "Lady Une didn't join?" Zero paused. Damnit. "No, she wasn't. She had nothing to do with your father's death, either. Or... she did, but not purposefully." "So I shot the wrong person." Zero sighed, hugging her tightly. "You made a mistake. You didn't know. They framed her well, and even we thought she was guilty for some time." Julia didn't say anything, so he continued the story. "That was when Alanis came up with the idea of dying during childbirth. She got Sally Po to tell Duo about it after she delivered you, and they'd gotten Alanis out of the hospital without anyone to know any better. "A year later Duo saw your mother at a summit meeting. She'd cut her hair and died it black, but he said he could always tell it was her because of her eyes. She was representing an enemy military, and he hadn't told anyone until he was dying after being shot by Alanis. He said he always loved her, but he loved you a million times more. That's why he didn't want you to know."
Tarmine stopped in mid-step, looking around her. They'd been walking for half an hour, and she'd been hearing things around them. "Alex, are you sure you didn't hear that?" "I'm busy trying to figure out these directions. You went and drove us off the cliff, so I getta get us to the base the hard way." Tarmine scowled over her shoulder, then continued to walk. "Hey guys! Wait up! We're almost there." Both girls turned at the sound of Zero's voice. He was running and pulling Julia along with him. She still looked sad, but the depression look was gone. Both Tarmine and Alex sighed, slouching a little as Julia gave off her fake smile. It fooled everyone but her real friends, and it was really starting to bug them all. "It's about time, Zero. We're lost." "No thanks to you." Alex mumbled. Julia looked at the two, then looked at Zero. "It's just a third of a mile ahead, not that far." Zero nodded and kept his eyes on Tarmine. "Why did you decide to shoot the guy?" "I didn't know we'd crash." "Children." "It seems we have to say that often." Alex said with a sarcastic tone. Crack. "What was that?" Julia asked looking around. "You heard it too? I've been hearing it since we got out of the truck, it's like someone's following us." The four kids looked around, Zero pulled Julia closer to his body, wrapping his arms around her protectively. Tarmine took out her gun and put in one of the exploding bullets she'd stored in her pocket. Suddenly seven people jumped out at the four and they all stood there shocked for a moment. Each of the strangers puled out automatic weapons and pointed them at the small group. Tarmine recognized the barrels of the guns as being the exact right size for the bullets she had. Bullets that went in clean and exploded in less than five seconds, leaving a gaping hole in the body of their victim. Bullets that, with the exception of going in wrong, killed their victim without hesitation.
It was a slow and careful movement, but Julia managed to do it without threat of a headache. She opened her eyes, slowly so the lights didn't blind her, and looked up. She was in Zero's arms again, and he was looking over at the wall. Something about his expression made her sad. He looked scared. "Zero?" her voice was soft, questioning, and shaky. She was still a little under the influence of her fear, but seeing him like this.... Zero looked down at Julia, a soft smile ran itself over his face and he pulled her up a little to hug her. "I was scared for you, Julia." "I know, Zero." She raised her hand up and stroked his face gently. He didn't look afraid anymore, he looked more at peace. "We're going to have to get out of here. If Zechs was able to get those capsules into Julia, then he may be able to control her by saying something or using a remote control." The two of them looked over at Alex, Zero shook his head. "But how? They probably have every entrance blocked-" "But this one. We know she isn't going to block this entrance because she doesn't know what we know." "Who's 'she'?" Julia asked. Tarmine interrupted, "You're forgetting Zechs. He's smart. He knows that if we're cornered we're going the only way we can. And we still have to watch out for the soldiers. Even if we do get out of here, they'll be stationed all around the labyrinth." "Who's 'she'?" "Then we'll fight our way out." Alex said. "Who's 'she'?" Zero shook his head again, "They have more than likely emptied our weaponry." "Come on, you guys, you're purposefully not answering my question. " The two girls looked over toward Julia, Zero looked down. They all looked away at the same time. "What?" "We can't tell you yet." Alex said softly. "Why not?" "It has to do with something we were sworn not to tell you. In the name of your father, we're not going to tell you until we have to." Julia nodded and sighed. "Fine. If my father wanted to keep it a secret from me, then I'll wait until the right time." The three of them looked at eachother, then back at Julia. "That was easier than I thought." Alex mumbled. Tarmine nodded, then started back up with getting out of the medical room. "Alright. We need to get out of here and soon. We don't have enough supplies here to take care of four people and a dog. I say we get up there and figure out what to do from there." "That sounds like something Julia would come up with." Zero said softly, pinching Julia's side. She giggled, "That's something I wanted to come up with." "Then it's settled, we get up there, probably through one of the tunnels that lead into the house." Alex said. She then went over to where Julia and Zero sat, held one of Julia's hands. "Get up, I have to do something." "Ok...." Julia looked at her unsure, but slowly got up from Zero's lap. She stood up shakily in front of Alex, and the looked at the darker haired girl. "What?" "This is just for all of our safety." Julia's eyes widened a split second before she was bent over with Alex's fist in her stomach. "Wh...why....?" "Like I said, for our safety." The last thing Julia remembered was falling into someone's arms, then the room went black.
"I don't see why you had to punch her." Zero pouted. He was carrying Julia over his shoulder, her whole body limp. She was unconscious and had been for the last ten minutes. "If Zechs could control her mind like that, we don't know if he can control her mind now. It was for our safety as well as hers." "Couldn't you have just given her a shot or something?" "Stop whining, Zero, and keep walking." Tarmine said pushing the butt of the gun into the small of his back. Alex sighed as they came to the last door, opening it carefully. She looked outside, gun raised, and looked back in. "They totally demolished my whole house. Are you sure they took my parents and yours to some base?" "I'm pretty certain. They can't take them anywhere else for at least forty-eight hours. And she'll want to set a trap with them. That was her plan the whole time. She's gonna keep them alive for us to go and get, and that was the only thing I'd heard her say, 'If someone rats us out, we still have this back-up plan.' It's kinda sad, really." "Yeah, real sad. This woman pretends to die during child birth, then gets her husband killed six years later, and you think it's sad." "Shut up, Zero." "Make me, Tammy." "Children." The two of them looked over to Alex. "Come on, we don't have all day." "Right." Tarmine said. She went over to the door as well and they held up their guns, walking out carefully. Zero was close behind, stopping for a second to gently change carrying positions to where his left arm was under Julia's knees and his right under her back. The girl's right cheek was lightly pressed to Zero's chest, and the same side arm draped lightly over her stomach, the other dangling loosely. The past few hours had brought dawn to the scene. They could see all the damage that had been done well. It was like some psychopath had come in with a wrecking ball and bombs and had blown everything up. Wind gently brushed by, and smoldering ashes lit up in half-hearted flames. The three teens all looked up to see the same thing, a mobile suit, the new model Scorpio, that was hovering above them. "This just keeps getting better and better." Alex mumbled while stepping backwards. Zero felt Julia move and looked down at her as the Scorpio was landing. She had woken up, and was looking at the mobile suit. "That worked well, Alex." Zero said softly. Julia looked from the suit to him and grimaced. "She punched me, didn't she?" "Yeah." They both looked back to the suit as Zero gently let Julia down. Tarmine and Alex backed up and they each circled around Julia. The cockpit opened to reveal a blonde woman, as well as Zechs.
The blonde woman smiled, and Julia suddenly felt like this person was familiar. Very familiar. She walked into the palm of the suits hand as it came to the cockpit. Gracefully she rode it down to the ground, stepping off even more gracefully. She walked over to the four, and Julia felt all three of the people around her become tense. "Hello Zero, Tarmine, Alex." "What do you want?" Alex asked, hiding her gun in back of herself. "Oh, you know what I want." She came closer, pushing Zero out of the way, making sure to dig her grab into his wound. Julia stared at the woman, her lips pressed tight. "You look a lot like your father. What a shame." She had a German accent, subtle but there. She was almost sickeningly thin, and when she gave an awkward grin the corners of her eyes and mouth crinkled. "What do you mean by that, you old hag?" "Oh! And her father's sense of humor too!" The lady clapped her hands, and she suddenly looked twenty years younger. It was a trick of genetics. The brunette could tell this woman was part Lunarian. She could change the difference in age automatically. "She doesn't know who you are." Zero whispered, almost sounding as though he were begging her not to say anything. The woman's eyebrows went up, her eyes wide, then narrowed. "No one has told her?! What did you people tell her?" "You were dead." Julia froze. This was the big secret. This woman, this evil, wretched traitor was her mother. "You're not my mother." "Oh, indeed I am. Look at my eyes, my lips. They're the only resemblance we have of eachother. You are my daughter, and I will be taking you with me." "Over my dead body." Zero whispered. "Oh! Gladly!" Before anyone had time to react the woman put her hand to Zero's chest and his eyes rolled back, shutting, then he fell to the ground. "Zero..."
Zechs grimaced as he watched what Alanis did, turning his head when Zero fell to the ground. He looked back and saw Julia just standing there, not moving. Her eyes were suddenly blank and her whole body seemed to relax. He grabbed a small transmitter that sat in his pocket, clicking it on. Quietly, he spoke into it, "Julia," her face turned upward for just a moment, then she bent down beside Zero. "He's not dead, Julia. What your mother did just now only rendered him unconscious. In a couple of minutes he'll be back to normal." Even from where he sat, he could see the relief on Julia's face, and even more when she put her fingers to his neck artery. She looked from Zero to the two girls, then to her mother. "You're not my mother. The woman my father loved wouldn't have just done that." "Well, you see, your father may have loved me, but I didn't love him. My name is Alanis Catalonia, sister of Dorothy Catalonia...." she reveled in the surprised looks of the three girls. "And we are not the most trustworthy of people around here. You should know that mostly by now." Julia's face was angry, so was Tarmine and Alex's. Julia stood from Zero's felled body and gave a death glare Heero Yuy would have been proud of. Zechs smiled and then tried to hide it, not having to as soon as Julia started forward and fell limp beside Zero.
"Good job, Zero. That big mouth of yours gave all of us some help. Now we don't have to find the base, their TAKING US TO IT!!!" Alex grinned as she watched Tarmine and Zero fight, then frowned when she looked over to Julia. She was sitting in a corner, knees to her chest, face toward the wall. "I DIDN'T KNOW SHE'D ACTUALLY DO THAT!!!" "SHE SHOULD HAVE FREAKIG KILLED YOU FOR ALL I CARE! ALL YOU EVER DO IS OPEN YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SHOULDN'T!" Julia looked over to the two fighting teens and stood up. She walked in between them and shoved her hands to each of their chests, breaking them apart. "What good is it to have an enemy when we ALREADY HAVE PEOPLE TO FIGHT WITH?! Shut UP and sit DOWN and try to think of a way to get out of this. I don't find this anymore fun than either of you do, but at least I am NOT blaming it on OTHER PEOPLE!" She turned around and walked back to her corner, sitting tighter than before. They were all in a truck. A very big truck. And they were being taken to the Plague base their parents were being held in. There was no way to get out of the truck and make it to a main road alive. Unless you were to stop the truck. "That's it." Alex said, a little too loudly. The other three looked at her a little oddly. "Talking to yourself again, Alex?" Julia asked with a sardonic grin. "What? Oh, no. Listen. If we were to stop the truck and get to drive it where we need, then we can use their map and get away for ourselves. There's a base somewhere near here that has old-type mobile suits, we could use them to raid the Plague base." "Great thinking, Alex. Do you suppose we could stop at the salon and get our hair done while we're at it?" "I sense a strong amount of sarcasm, Jules." "Well, DUH. And how, Genius, do you suppose we stop the truck?" Alex just looked at Julia. "Yeah, you have been hanging too long around me." "I know, here." They both looked at Tarmine as she took out her gun. She walked over to the back wall and pointed it where the driver's head should be. "I shoot, we stop, get out, and make it to the nearest road." "Good idea." Zero said. Julia and Alex both stood up to stop her, but Tarmine fired the gun. "Not good." Alex said softly. "Why?" The truck lurched to the right and both Tarmine and Zero fell over, followed by Alex and Julia. The world seemed to spin as the truck flipped over a few times, finally ending in a slide and a few tumbles down a steep hill. There was another slam as the truck smacked into another hillside, and the moving stopped. Alex sat up quickly, then grabbed her head. Blood ran down her arms and forehead, and a sickening dizziness overwhelmed her, darkness threatening to overtake her vision. As hard as she fought it, unconsciousness barreled into Alex and she slumped over to lean against the wall. "Ah hahaha! Hehehe! Come on, Alex!" "Wait Julia! I can't run in these stupid things as well as you can! I'm not used to dresses." The two girls ran through the fields, still wearing the flower girl dresses they'd used earlier in the day. It had been one of Zero's sister's weddings, and they'd been the flower girls. Alex the resentful one. "Haha! Hehehe! You can't catch me!" The smaller girl raced quicker into the tall grass, her long hair coming out of its bun. Alex sighed, hitching the white, frilly, dress up to her knees. Her dark brown hair had fallen out long before Julia's. "Where are we going anyways, Julia?" "You'll see! You'll like it too! It's real neat!" Her childish laughter came back to Alex as they both entered a dark forest of mostly weeping willows. As they went in farther, the forest seemed to glow by its own light. Lightening bugs flew by here and there, showing off small mushrooms that also seemed to glow. "Umph! Hey, hehehe, watch where you're going!" Julia smiled brightly and hugged her best friend. "Just a little further." The small six year old grabbed onto the other girl's hand and led her to a veil of leaves from one of the largest weeping willows Alex had ever seen. She pulled them back and revealed a lagoon that was lit by an inner light. They stood on a cliff about fifty feet above the water, giving them the ability to see all of the area nicely. There were shores on the other side of the lake, decorated by weeping willows and night lilies. The water also had lilies in it, and the sound of frogs and crickets came up from the bog as well. "Wow, how did you know about this place?" Alex asked with awe. She walked out a little further and sat down on the edge of the cliff. Julia joined her and dug into her small flower basket, bringing out some small dinette cookies she'd snuck from the wedding. "I used to come here with daddy... before he died." She looked down and then over at Alex. It had only been half a year since her father had died, and if she wasn't talking about him she was happy as a clam. But this little child seemed to want to talk about her father every chance she got. Alex looked out at the scenery even as Julia continued. "He said that this was mommy's favorite place in the whole world. She loved so much to come here and swim with him, and he told me this is where he prayed when mommy died. And I remember it, too. When I was just born he took me here and held me and told me he loved me, and mommy loved me even though she was gone and never got to hold me. And that even if I couldn't see her, she was still here on earth watching over me." She suddenly stopped and started to cry. The darker headed girl looked over at the smaller, slightly younger child. She sat cross-legged and pulled Julia into her lap, hugging her gently. "It's ok, Julia. You got us all, and we love you too." "I know... I just... miss him. My mommy died 'cause of me, and my daddy died 'cause he didn't listen to me. I told him not to go, I asked him to stay home with me, and he didn't. He left me after telling me he'd be back as soon as he could, and he never came back. And I don't want to lose all of you. I don't want to lose anymore fam'ly." Alex's eyes closed as tears met them, then opened them and let one tears escape. "You can't lose any of us, you didn't even lose your mommy and daddy. We're all here, and we'll always be here. You're like my sister, and you can't lose your sister." "What about the others?" "You can't lose them, neither. My mommy and daddy are like yours, and Tarmine and Zero's family is ours too. And," she giggled her seven-year-old giggle. "I think Zero likes you!" "Likes me?! Yucky!" they both broke out in a giggle fit, and by the time they were done they were both laying on the ground, the tops of their heads touching. "So, you're my sister?" "Forever." "I like that." Alex smiled, "Me too."
"It's not gonna work," Tarmine said for the fifth time. She sighed as Zero looked over at her while he wiggled one of Julia's hairpins in the lock on the door. "Jules got it to work once." "That was on a door that had a lock that locked from the inside as well as the outside. This one only locks from the outside." Zero looked over to Julia helplessly. She was shaking awake Alex and mumbling to herself. "It's your fault." he said to Tarmine. "Nuh uh, it's yours." "Yours!" "YOURS!" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Julia yelled. They both stopped and looked at her. Zero sighed and scooted beck from the door. "Now what are you doing?" "I think it's just jammed, we'll have to break it down. He looked at Tarmine, who's arm was badly bruised and bleeding. His gaze then went to Alex, who was holding her arm too. A trickle of blood was running down her forehead. She had just woken up, and was giving off her 'death glare'. "I'll help." Julia said in an oddly cheerful voice. "Alright." "On the count of three." Her and Zero both stood a little back from the door. "One... two... "Zero!" SMACK. "I never said 'three'." "I knew that." "It seems that when I hit my head it transferred the after shock into Zero's brain. Good going Zero." Alex said sarcastically. "We never said he was the brightest crayon in the box." Julia said with a grin, helping Zero up. "Alright, wait 'til I count to three." "Ok." Zero said with a bright red blush. "One... two... three!" Zero and Julia both ran full-tilt toward the door. BOOM. Alex looked at the two, shook her head as they fell to the ground, and stood up and walked to the door. With one swift movement she pulled it open. "Obviously neither are you are the bright crayons." "I'm sorry, my mother's blonde." This time her voice had a soft, menacing tone to it. "I wanna know what happened. You guys seem to know an awful lot about my mother. I want to know what really happened." "Later, Julia, right now we have to get out of here." "I'm not moving until I'm told." Zero looked to Tarmine, Tarmine to Alex, Alex back to Zero. "Please." Zero looked at Julia. Tears were in her eyes, and her arms were crossed over her chest. She only did that when she was really upset. If he didn't love her as much as he did, he wouldn't have thought to tell her. But he had to. "You guys go ahead, I know my way to the base. I'm gonna stay with Julia for a minute." The two girls nodded and walked out the door, Alex looking back a second before they both disappeared into the woods. Julia looked to Zero, she was fighting back sobs and it showed. She made small sounds in her throat, like she was whimpering. "Jules... I..." "Why didn't... you tell me?" She did whimper. "You guys... lied... to me. All... my life." She kept sniffling between words, tears falling from her face to the ground. "I would have, but your father didn't want you to find out what really happened." "So you all... lied! What else have you...lied about? Do you really... care for me? Or is that a lie too!?" Zero's eyes widened and he took a step back. Of course not, of course it wasn't a lie. But he saw where she was coming from. "No, Julia, it isn't a lie. I love you more than anything on earth. In this universe. The only reason we had to keep this from you is because your father didn't want you to know your mother was a traitor." "Even when he was... dying? I mean, come... on, Zero. No one would want to keep... that kind of secret if their... lover was a... traitor." Zero looked down, then back up at her. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she cried. "I just want to know." "Then I'll tell you what I know. Ok? But you have to stop crying and smile for me when I'm done, then we can go kick Plague butt." Julia, despite her crying, laughed softly. "Ok." Zero took in a deep breath and began. "A year before you were born, your mother and father were having small arguments. Nothing bad, but it made Alanis very angry at Duo. She joined a small group with her sister, Dorothy, and they started recruiting people to join their military, the Plague. The first few people were women, then men and all started to join too. Alanis and Dorothy and the first few people started to spread a rumor it was the Gundam Pilots' faults they were in a depression. "Then the remaining troops of Oz, the Barton Foundation, the Trieze Faction, and the Alliance got involved, helping to manufacture weaponry. Alanis started getting ideas on how to get rid of Duo, but she'd have to disappear for a while before she got the plan into action. That's when..."
"Who were the first women?" "Dorothy, you mother, my aunt Ilea. And we found out last night that Sally Po was involved. Wufei Chang had also been one of the first members." "Lady Une didn't join?" Zero paused. Damnit. "No, she wasn't. She had nothing to do with your father's death, either. Or... she did, but not purposefully." "So I shot the wrong person." Zero sighed, hugging her tightly. "You made a mistake. You didn't know. They framed her well, and even we thought she was guilty for some time." Julia didn't say anything, so he continued the story. "That was when Alanis came up with the idea of dying during childbirth. She got Sally Po to tell Duo about it after she delivered you, and they'd gotten Alanis out of the hospital without anyone to know any better. "A year later Duo saw your mother at a summit meeting. She'd cut her hair and died it black, but he said he could always tell it was her because of her eyes. She was representing an enemy military, and he hadn't told anyone until he was dying after being shot by Alanis. He said he always loved her, but he loved you a million times more. That's why he didn't want you to know."
Tarmine stopped in mid-step, looking around her. They'd been walking for half an hour, and she'd been hearing things around them. "Alex, are you sure you didn't hear that?" "I'm busy trying to figure out these directions. You went and drove us off the cliff, so I getta get us to the base the hard way." Tarmine scowled over her shoulder, then continued to walk. "Hey guys! Wait up! We're almost there." Both girls turned at the sound of Zero's voice. He was running and pulling Julia along with him. She still looked sad, but the depression look was gone. Both Tarmine and Alex sighed, slouching a little as Julia gave off her fake smile. It fooled everyone but her real friends, and it was really starting to bug them all. "It's about time, Zero. We're lost." "No thanks to you." Alex mumbled. Julia looked at the two, then looked at Zero. "It's just a third of a mile ahead, not that far." Zero nodded and kept his eyes on Tarmine. "Why did you decide to shoot the guy?" "I didn't know we'd crash." "Children." "It seems we have to say that often." Alex said with a sarcastic tone. Crack. "What was that?" Julia asked looking around. "You heard it too? I've been hearing it since we got out of the truck, it's like someone's following us." The four kids looked around, Zero pulled Julia closer to his body, wrapping his arms around her protectively. Tarmine took out her gun and put in one of the exploding bullets she'd stored in her pocket. Suddenly seven people jumped out at the four and they all stood there shocked for a moment. Each of the strangers puled out automatic weapons and pointed them at the small group. Tarmine recognized the barrels of the guns as being the exact right size for the bullets she had. Bullets that went in clean and exploded in less than five seconds, leaving a gaping hole in the body of their victim. Bullets that, with the exception of going in wrong, killed their victim without hesitation.