A/N: Finally another chap!! Sorry its takin so long guyz…but with skewl and everything life is kinda hectic and all…I will get these out as fast as I can so sorry in advance for any delays in postings. Thanks for reviewing!!! hint hint
Arctic Blaze
By Dolfinz
CHAPTER 7
Only weeks later, Andraya had fallen into the customs of the hangar, and became one of the gang. She got along with everyone around her, and certainly pulled her weight in regard to repairs and maintenance.
One night she had wandered onto the roof of the hangar, where she had first seen Arcticblaze in action. It became her custom to come here almost every night to watch the water and the stars. It reminded her of her place in the universe, and her responsibility as a soldier.
Leaning against the railing at the top of the stairwell, she watched the waves crash against one another under the silvery light of the full moon. Sighing, she remembered her days as an OZ soldier, of all the bad treatment she had put up with and the homes she had lost.
"I see you've found one of my favorite spots on a full moon," a voice said from behind her, breaking into her nostalgia. Starting slightly, Andraya turned around to find Duo coming up the steps. When he reached the top, he came to lean on the railing beside her.
"Yeah…it's really nice out here at night," she said, glancing sideways at her friend. She could sense something odd about the way he was acting tonight, but she couldn't figure out just what. They stood in silence for a few moments, and for the first time, it felt awkward to Andraya.
"You're not going anywhere, are you? I mean, you're positive in your decision to join us, right?" Duo said, looking down at the waves.
"Of course!" Andraya said, taken aback by the question. "Why do you ask?"
"I didn't mean it in an accusing way," Duo said quickly, finally meeting her gaze. "I just…wanted to make sure you're not going anywhere anytime soon."
"Well, I'm not," Andraya said, still wondering why he had asked the question. Didn't he trust her? Hadn't the past few weeks proven her loyalty once and for all?
"Good." Duo's gaze returned to the horizon.
"That's not why you ask though, is it?" Andraya said, knowing there was something else he had to say.
With a sigh, Duo just lifted his gaze to the moon for a moment, then turned around and headed back to the hangar. Andraya watched him retreat, not quite certain of what was going on.
After a few moments, Andraya cleared the thought from her mind and headed back to the hangar as well.
"Duo?" Andraya called, looking around the hangar.
"Up here, Andraya!" the response came from somewhere inside Deathscythe.
"Doing repairs at this hour?" Andraya called, walking along the catwalk towards Duo's Gundam.
"Yeah…the comm system is goin' haywire and--DAMN IT!" A sharp crack split the air, recognizable to Andraya as an electrical short.
"Argh! Hey, Andraya?" Duo's head popped out of Deathscythe's cockpit. "You think you could do me a favor and go to the comm room so I can test this thing out…when I get it working…" Another crack.
"Sure, Duo." Andraya laughed to herself a bit as she headed towards the comm room adjacent to the hangar. This kind of thing always seemed to happen to Duo.
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
With a sigh, Andraya once again glanced at the comm display in front of her, and once again found it to be blank. Duo must be having some pretty tough problems back in the hangar, she thought. She was about to get up and go see what was going on when a comm station behind her began to beep softly, alerting her that it was receiving an incoming message.
"What the hell…" she mumbled to herself, pivoting to face the beeping console. Quickly scanning the info on the screen, she became aware that the message was being transmitted from an OZ base somewhere to the west, probably from the HQ in Tokyo. She was about to disregard this communication and end the transmission when her eyes swept across the sender's name.
Zia Yang.
"ZIA?!" Andraya exclaimed, pressing the button to activate the transmission.
"Hey-hey, 'Draya! So surprised to see me?" Zia said with a smirk. She had her light brown hair tied back in a tight ponytail, and wore the OZ uniform Andraya had come to loathe.
"Well…yes!! I mean…the base--"
"I wasn't even in the base. I was in a training program off site when that Gundam came. I'm so glad I tracked you down, 'Draya! I thought you had gone down with the base…"
"Hell, no! I fought to the end," Andraya said. Then switched my loyalty…
Zia chuckled. "I thought as much. So how come I had to dig so much to find where you're at? The coordinates don't check out as any OZ facility in MY database…"
"It wouldn't." Andraya began to play with the hem of her jacket, which called Zia's attention to her outfit.
"Yo, 'Draya! What's with that leather get-up?" Zia asked, looking at Andraya's black leather jacket over the light gray tank top. "Find someplace to ditch that wretched uniform?"
"Well, Zia…I…" Andraya knew saying what she was about to would only anger her friend, but she knew she had to do it. Zia looked at her quizzically. "I joined the Gundams."
"You…..oh," Zia said, looking oddly at her friend. "I might have thought as much, from your location and all…"
"Zia, I thought it was the right thing to do, I--"
"No need for explanation, 'Draya! This is a war! Stuff happens."
"I guess…"
"Hey, my boss is naggin' me to get back to repairing some of these new Dolls we got in yesterday. Take care, Okay 'Draya?"
"Yup, you too Zia." Andraya cut the connection. For a moment she just stared at the blank screen, remembering how proud Zia used to be of her when they had first started out as soldiers. Remembering the few good times she had had in her life.
Suddenly remembering what she was supposed to be doing, Andraya pivoted back to the comm station Duo would be contacting her on. The transmission had gone through while Andraya had been talking with Zia, and Andraya hadn't answered.
"You know, Andraya, I really trusted you."
"Wha--" Andraya looked up from the screen to see who had spoken. "Duo?!"
Duo only glared rather uncharacteristically back at her.