Chapter 8
"Thanks guys, for taking me out to lunch." Lily stepped out of the building and looked around. The five g-boys stood behind her. They were so nice. Lily liked this, being able to hang out with people, being claimed as a friend, but most of all even having friends.
"No prob," said the ever so cheerful Duo. "What else could we do to get your mind off that annoying girl?"
Lily grinned. "Aw...aren't you just so sweet?" Duo raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" Truely she wanted to know, but she also wanted to tease Duo.
Duo shrugged. "I don't know. You're my friend, why not?"
Lily's grin grew and it had an evil tint to it. "I think Braid Boy has a crush on me. What do you think boys?" She looked at the other g-boys who were grinning and nodding. Lily doubted that it was true. A guy like her? Ha! Anyway, it was just fun though. She had forgotten the meaning of fun, but being with these boys was bringing it all back. She could finally remember once again.
"What? You guys are nuts!" He poked Lily on the forehead. "You, my dear, have got a screw loose. Weirdo."
"Why thank you," a very cheerful Lily said. The five g-boys quit playing around and just stared at Lily. Never had they seen her so cheerful before. It just was too much for them. To have her laughing and talking with them was a surprise all in itself, but for her to be smiling so brightly? It was a Lily they had never known and they all knew that this was the real Lily.
Lily stopped her chatter and looked at the five boys. "What? Is something wrong?" Quickly the five boys snapped back to reality. They each smiled and shook their heads. It may have been different, but they loved this Lily. Never would they do anything to lose her the way she was right at this very moment.
Lily grew more and more fond of these boys everyday, and she found it much harder to lock herself away from them. She couldn't keep up her shell and so here she was, laughing with them and having fun. She loved it though and she loved these boys. To her they were like family. They were few of the only people that she could ever trust.
"We're going to the base now. Do you want to come?" asked Quatre.
"Sure." Lily smiled and they each walked off.
* * *
"We're here!" shouted Duo. Sally poked her head around the doorframe of her office and smiled.
"Good. I think Noin and Une wanted all of you in the main room. Nikki's already there." Sally's smile faded. "It doesn't seem good news. Looks like you boys have got yourself a new mission." So what else was new? They always had new missions. It didn't surprise them in the least.
The boys nodded and Lily followed them into the main room. There they found Nikki arguing with Noin and Une about their new mission. Nothing new there either. Ever since that girl had come everything had been a mess. Yuriko was hardly around anymore, and Sally, Une and Noin were always angry about something.
Lily, tired of all the trouble that Nikki was always making, burst into the room and pushed Nikki back just a little. "Stop it. I come here to explain the new mission only to find that you're already arguing about it before I even start? No. I don't think so. Nikki, sit down. Une and Noin, I'll take care of this." Une and Noin nodded and sat down on the couch. Lily was pissed and they sure as heck didn't want to mess with her.
"You mean you were coming anyway?" asked Duo. He couldn't believe it.
"Yes Braid Boy. Now sit down like everyone else." Lily sounded way too serious to be messed with so he sat down. When she was angry you didn't want to mess with her. "As you all know, a new mission has been put at hand. I already talked to Yuriko about this and she completely agrees."
"What exactly is the mission?" demanded Nikki. Lily glared at her and Nikki growled. You could practically she the daggers that they pointed at each other. Talk about enemies. They were worse than that.
"Girls, please calm down," ordered Une. Lily sighed and nodded. Nikki just murmured something and crossed her arms. "The mission is more important then your little quarrel." Lily looked at Une, but decided against saying anything to that. Une was after all her guardian. She raised her for eleven whole years now.
"I'm here to tell you the location of the new OZ base. It's not very easy to get to and even if you did, it's near impossible to get in." She looked at everyone around the room. They all seemed relaxed, except Nikki, but that was to be expected.
"Then what are we going to do?" asked Trowa.
"Well, that's where my oniichan and his friend come in." Of course, Timmy and Daichi. If anything, there was always a way that they could help out. And they were the first part of the plan.
"You have a brother?" interrupted Heero.
"Actually yes, I do. They're the two boys Yuriko helped that day. Anyway, they will be taking you to the base, including your gundams. Thing is they only have two mobile suit carriers and each one is only able to carry two gundams. Since there are seven of you, four will go with the two and the other three will take a different way."
"What does each group do?" asked Wufei.
"Well, group one is the four. That consists of Happy-go-Lucky-Weirdo, Braid Boy, Circus Boy and Perfect Soldier. They are to go inside and find the main computer. Perfect Soldier will take a disk of mine and spread a virus in the main computer. It's important that it be the main one because it's somehow connected to all the other OZ base computers. Braid Boy and Happy- go-Lucky-Weirdo will find the mobile suit rooms and destroy all existing mobile suits there. Circus Boy will hack into the backup computer and find out if we need to know anything else, then he'll put a virus in that system. Any questions about the first group?"
"What will your brother and his friend do when we get there?" asked Duo. That actually was a very good question. Lily couldn't believe that he would actually ask something so important, knowing Duo that is.
"Timmy and Daichi will go find Koji. Since Koji probably doesn't know yet that they've betrayed him they'll continue to pretend to fight by his side. If he'd of known he would have sent a search for them and killed them as soon as he had captured them." It payed off to know so much about the enemy. That was one good thing about the enemy being someone she knew. The best part though was that it was someone she hated more than anything and so she had no problem with killing him.
"Okay then," started Heero, "what about group two?"
"Well, the only ones left are Yuriko, Sexist Pig and Blondie. Yuriko has that one planned and will explain it to you on the way. Anymore questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Now I think that Sally has you all set up for some training today, ne, Sally?" Sally walked into the room and smiled.
"Sure do. Everyone ready?"
"One more question," interrupted Nikki. "When does this take place?"
"When we say you're ready," explained Lily. Nikki growled and got up.
"Since when did you become the boss of me?"
"Since we hired her," stated Noin. "And Queen Relena said that whatever mission comes up Lily is in charge."
"What?! That's not fair!" Nikki shouted, very frustrated now. Why the hell did Lily always have to be in charge of mission plans? She could come up with one if they would ask her to, but they never did. It was always Lily. So what if she was extra smart. At the same time she was also extra annoying.
Lily just grinned. "Your fault for always playing around Nikki." It was true. Nikki never took anything seriously, but do you think that she would actually ever admit to that? So she screwed up the only mission plan that she had made up and she had screwed up on one or two of their missions, but that didn't mean anything.
"You stupid...I don't even know why I...I would've done...I'm so much...I don't...Ugh! Never mind. Let's just get this damn training over with." Nikki turned heel and stormed off to the training room. Lily just burst out laughing. It was always so much fun to get Nikki frustrated like that.
"I love annoying that girl." Lily finally stopped her laughter and straightened up. "Anyway, there's training to be done now." The g-boys each nodded and everyone headed to the training room.
They walked in and Nikki just glared at them. "About time. What took you guys so long? It's only a room over."
"We know where it is Nikki, obviously since we're here now. We were talking. Do you have a problem with that?" Nikki just continued to glare at them and walked to the middle of the room. "Ok boys, good luck. Nikki's pretty good." Nikki smirked and got into her ready position. Pretty good? That was an understatement.
"Come on boys, if you're chicken though...well then..." Each boy growled and formed a circle around her. They didn't like being called chicken, especially by someone that they didn't like. Lily just sat down and watched as the fight began. She felt sorry for the boys, but it was the same with Yuriko. They just had to learn to stand up to them. It was five against one and she found that really ridiculous. This was really for their own good.
Heero, looking for a chance and taking it, lunged toward Nikki and she just moved to the right then back to the left dodging Trowa's punch. Quatre just stood there, once again not knowing how to help. He may have been good with guns and his gundam but actual hand-to-hand combat was not his thing. Finally he saw an opening and tried to punch Nikki, but instead found himself flying forward as she grabbed his arm and flipped him.
Nikki gracefully swung around and locked her fist with Wufei's jaw. He fell back mumbling something about women not fighting. Trowa thought he would use that moment and attempted to punch her but Nikki just caught his hand and twisted it. From behind, she kicked Heero who had jumped at her. Duo tried to knock her off her feet but Nikki just jumped up, spun, kicked him in the face and landed gracefully on her feet. Nikki just looked at the five boys and shook her head.
"And I'm supposed to work with them?" Nikki looked at Lily and Lily got up from her seat. She knew that it was pathetic and that they needed more practice but she was the only one who could insult them like that. She hated Nikki and these boys were her friends. Nikki was just lucky to be working with them.
"At least they know what teamwork is." Lily glared at Nikki and walked over to the boys. "And you know what I'm talking about Nikki." Nikki hated that. She hated it when Lily would bring up the past. So she screwed up. Everyone makes mistakes, and the way she saw things was it really wasn't her fault, or at least that's what she kept trying to tell herself.
"Haven't the slightest clue of what you're talking about." She tossed her hair back and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it down.
"Only because you don't want to remember. He would still be here today if it weren't for your stupidness and stubborness. Grow up Nikki. Move on with life." Now Nikki was mad. He wouldn't be here. It was all Lily's fault. All because she was so clumsy. None of that would have happened if Lily hadn't of been there, if she hadn't of been so close to the guy. If he hadn't of cared so much for her, none of it would have happened.
"Easy for you to say. It's not my fault that you can just move onto another guy. After Erik it was just so easy for you to move onto Koji, wasn't it?"
Lily felt tears begin to sting her eyes and slapped Nikki. "You stupid Bitch. You'll never understand." It's not like she knew. She cared about Erik and she did love Koji at one time, but that was all in the past. It wasn't how Nikki saw it. It was all completely different. Nikki didn't know, wouldn't listen to the whole story.
Nikki held her cheek. "What's wrong? You gonna cry now? Huh? 'Cuz you sure didn't the day of Erik's funeral. It was like as if you just pretended to care about him the whole time."
Lily regained her control and said, "I don't cry in front of people. I won't allow myself to. And Erik only died because you were to stupid to know what you were doing."
"Shut up! You don't know anything! All you know is how to be the cold hearted non caring person you are, just like your stupid partner Yuriko. You don't care about anyone. You never will!"
Lily growled. "Not my fault that that's the only thing that we were taught. You know what? Take care of the damn mission yourself. It'll be up to Yuriko if she works with you or not. Mind you though it won't work without her. Ja!" Lily stormed out of the room before anyone could say anything. She just wanted to get out of there, away from the memories. She just wanted to leave all the pain behind. Why did it always have to come up when Nikki was around? She would never escape the memories. They haunted her.
"Lily! Damn!" Duo looked at Nikki. "Now look at what you've done you stupid Bitch. Come on guys, let's go." All five boys, Sally, Noin and Une all left Nikki by herself in the room. They didn't want to be around her any longer. All she ever did was cause trouble and chase both Lily and Yuriko away. Why Relena sent her, they didn't know, but they were better off with Yuriko and Lily.
"What have I done now? I've really screwed up." Nikki fell on her knees and started to cry. She didn't understand any of what was going on and it's not like she really hated Lily, it was just their past. All she wanted was to forget, but she couldn't. Not with Lily around. Not with him still in her mind.
Duo stood just outside the room and shook his head. "The poor girl. What happened between the two of them to make each other hate the other so much? Maybe I should call Lily later and see if she's okay." He walked away from the room and left the base to go home to his apartment.
* * *
Duo threw open the door to his apartment and headed for the phone. He dialed Lily's number and waited for her to pick up. He heard someone pick up the phone and waited for an answer.
"Hello?" What's going on? Duo was confused. That was a guy that had just picked up the phone. But why? Lily didn't have guys living with her, did she? But he thought that she had lived alone.
"Ano... is Lily home?" he asked nervously, hoping that it wasn't the wrong number.
"No. This is her brother." Duo let out a long sigh. So that's where her brother had gone to stay after they all returned that day. It made sense now. "Would you like me to leave a message for her?"
"No, that's okay. I'll just call later. Thanks though." Duo hung up the phone and looked around his apartment. "Great! Now what?" He had really wanted to talk to Lily.
* * *
Lily sat outside on a bench and watched the little kids run around on the playground. Her eyes were red and puffy, and tears were stained on her cheeks. She thought back to the day her and Nikki first met.
"I don't cry, huh? I hate this! Why does she hate me so much anyway? What happened that first day anyway? I don't understand any of it. None of this makes sense."
~ "Lily, we've a new pilot I'd like you to meet later," said Relena. That wasn't anything new and it was actually much better this way. Now Lily wouldn't be working alone with just Erik.
"Hai, Queen Relena. I'll go see her later, ok?" Lily looked at Relena and Relena smiled and left. At this time Lily and Relena did get along. They were friends, kind of. But Lily was nice then and just a little more open.
"Lily, hey!" Lily looked up and Erik ran her way. "Did you hear? The new pilot is here."
Lily smiled and said, "Yes Erik, I heard. I'll go meet her later. What are you up to?" She loved seeing Erik. He was her best friend and she trusted him more than anything.
"Oh, not much. Just finished Yuriko's gundam." He wrapped his arms around her waist. "You doing anything tonight?"
"No, why?" Lily stepped in closer to Erik and set her arms around his neck. "Plan on taking me anywhere?" They were so close, but everyone knew that they were only friends.
"Maybe." Lily just smiled and settled into his warm embrace. She loved being with Erik.
"Hmph. I thought you were a soldier," they heard someone say. Lily let go of Erik and turned to face the person. It was someone new and she had never met the person before. It must have been the new pilot.
"I am a soldier. Who are you?" demanded Lily. She hated rude people, but did her best to get along with them and at least be nice.
"Nicole Meiou, the new pilot. You must be Lily."
"I am."
Nikki looked Lily up and down and sneered. "Some soldier. Don't even look like one. I knew I'd hate this." Nikki then walked away.
"What was her problem?" asked Lily. "She seemed really rude." Lily had a bad feeling about his. That girl didn't seem to like her at all and she didn't even get the chance to really get to know her.
"I have no idea," said Erik. "I have no idea." ~
"I really wish I knew why she hated me." Lily got up and left the park. You would have thought that it had seemed obvious, but it wasn't. Not to Lily at least or anyone else. Even Nikki was really confused about it.
* * *
Duo laid stretched out on his couch with a pillow covering his face as he thought hard about the incident at the base. There was a loud knock on his door and he shouted, "COME IN!!"
He heard the door open and then it clicked shut. He heard the person walk towards him but still didn't remove the pillow to see who it was. The person walked over until they were right beside his couch and staring down at him.
"You know, it's not good to just let anyone come in. You never know if they're dangerous or not," said a very familiar voice.
"Well Nikki, you can't do anything. You have to work with me and I'm sure Lily or Yuriko would kill you if you tried anything." He heard Nikki growl and just smirked, finally removing the pillow and looking up at her. "So why are you here?" He got up and went to his kitchen to get a glass of water.
Nikki threw herself onto his couch, making herself at home. "No reason really. Just felt like coming here to annoy you. I was bored at home."
"Well, you're doing a great job of it." He walked back out with his water and sat across from her on the other chair. "Look, I'm busy. Why don't you just go home?"
"I don't want to. And besides, you didn't look busy. You were just laying here on your couch like the lazy person you are." Duo just glared at her, trying not to say something mean. He might not have liked the girl, but there was no point in losing his temper. She wasn't worth it anyway.
".........Well, I better go." Duo quickly got up and left the apartment before she could say anything. Nikki just sat there blinking.
"Ok...that was weird." She got up. "Guess I'll leave then. Man, he's no fun." She walked out, shut the door behind her and left. She was hoping to have more fun and to tell the truth she had kind of wanted to talk to him, but he obviously didn't want to. She didn't understand how Lily could stand this loner thing. Nikki needed friends. She hated to be pushed away... Like with Erik.
"Thanks guys, for taking me out to lunch." Lily stepped out of the building and looked around. The five g-boys stood behind her. They were so nice. Lily liked this, being able to hang out with people, being claimed as a friend, but most of all even having friends.
"No prob," said the ever so cheerful Duo. "What else could we do to get your mind off that annoying girl?"
Lily grinned. "Aw...aren't you just so sweet?" Duo raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" Truely she wanted to know, but she also wanted to tease Duo.
Duo shrugged. "I don't know. You're my friend, why not?"
Lily's grin grew and it had an evil tint to it. "I think Braid Boy has a crush on me. What do you think boys?" She looked at the other g-boys who were grinning and nodding. Lily doubted that it was true. A guy like her? Ha! Anyway, it was just fun though. She had forgotten the meaning of fun, but being with these boys was bringing it all back. She could finally remember once again.
"What? You guys are nuts!" He poked Lily on the forehead. "You, my dear, have got a screw loose. Weirdo."
"Why thank you," a very cheerful Lily said. The five g-boys quit playing around and just stared at Lily. Never had they seen her so cheerful before. It just was too much for them. To have her laughing and talking with them was a surprise all in itself, but for her to be smiling so brightly? It was a Lily they had never known and they all knew that this was the real Lily.
Lily stopped her chatter and looked at the five boys. "What? Is something wrong?" Quickly the five boys snapped back to reality. They each smiled and shook their heads. It may have been different, but they loved this Lily. Never would they do anything to lose her the way she was right at this very moment.
Lily grew more and more fond of these boys everyday, and she found it much harder to lock herself away from them. She couldn't keep up her shell and so here she was, laughing with them and having fun. She loved it though and she loved these boys. To her they were like family. They were few of the only people that she could ever trust.
"We're going to the base now. Do you want to come?" asked Quatre.
"Sure." Lily smiled and they each walked off.
* * *
"We're here!" shouted Duo. Sally poked her head around the doorframe of her office and smiled.
"Good. I think Noin and Une wanted all of you in the main room. Nikki's already there." Sally's smile faded. "It doesn't seem good news. Looks like you boys have got yourself a new mission." So what else was new? They always had new missions. It didn't surprise them in the least.
The boys nodded and Lily followed them into the main room. There they found Nikki arguing with Noin and Une about their new mission. Nothing new there either. Ever since that girl had come everything had been a mess. Yuriko was hardly around anymore, and Sally, Une and Noin were always angry about something.
Lily, tired of all the trouble that Nikki was always making, burst into the room and pushed Nikki back just a little. "Stop it. I come here to explain the new mission only to find that you're already arguing about it before I even start? No. I don't think so. Nikki, sit down. Une and Noin, I'll take care of this." Une and Noin nodded and sat down on the couch. Lily was pissed and they sure as heck didn't want to mess with her.
"You mean you were coming anyway?" asked Duo. He couldn't believe it.
"Yes Braid Boy. Now sit down like everyone else." Lily sounded way too serious to be messed with so he sat down. When she was angry you didn't want to mess with her. "As you all know, a new mission has been put at hand. I already talked to Yuriko about this and she completely agrees."
"What exactly is the mission?" demanded Nikki. Lily glared at her and Nikki growled. You could practically she the daggers that they pointed at each other. Talk about enemies. They were worse than that.
"Girls, please calm down," ordered Une. Lily sighed and nodded. Nikki just murmured something and crossed her arms. "The mission is more important then your little quarrel." Lily looked at Une, but decided against saying anything to that. Une was after all her guardian. She raised her for eleven whole years now.
"I'm here to tell you the location of the new OZ base. It's not very easy to get to and even if you did, it's near impossible to get in." She looked at everyone around the room. They all seemed relaxed, except Nikki, but that was to be expected.
"Then what are we going to do?" asked Trowa.
"Well, that's where my oniichan and his friend come in." Of course, Timmy and Daichi. If anything, there was always a way that they could help out. And they were the first part of the plan.
"You have a brother?" interrupted Heero.
"Actually yes, I do. They're the two boys Yuriko helped that day. Anyway, they will be taking you to the base, including your gundams. Thing is they only have two mobile suit carriers and each one is only able to carry two gundams. Since there are seven of you, four will go with the two and the other three will take a different way."
"What does each group do?" asked Wufei.
"Well, group one is the four. That consists of Happy-go-Lucky-Weirdo, Braid Boy, Circus Boy and Perfect Soldier. They are to go inside and find the main computer. Perfect Soldier will take a disk of mine and spread a virus in the main computer. It's important that it be the main one because it's somehow connected to all the other OZ base computers. Braid Boy and Happy- go-Lucky-Weirdo will find the mobile suit rooms and destroy all existing mobile suits there. Circus Boy will hack into the backup computer and find out if we need to know anything else, then he'll put a virus in that system. Any questions about the first group?"
"What will your brother and his friend do when we get there?" asked Duo. That actually was a very good question. Lily couldn't believe that he would actually ask something so important, knowing Duo that is.
"Timmy and Daichi will go find Koji. Since Koji probably doesn't know yet that they've betrayed him they'll continue to pretend to fight by his side. If he'd of known he would have sent a search for them and killed them as soon as he had captured them." It payed off to know so much about the enemy. That was one good thing about the enemy being someone she knew. The best part though was that it was someone she hated more than anything and so she had no problem with killing him.
"Okay then," started Heero, "what about group two?"
"Well, the only ones left are Yuriko, Sexist Pig and Blondie. Yuriko has that one planned and will explain it to you on the way. Anymore questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good. Now I think that Sally has you all set up for some training today, ne, Sally?" Sally walked into the room and smiled.
"Sure do. Everyone ready?"
"One more question," interrupted Nikki. "When does this take place?"
"When we say you're ready," explained Lily. Nikki growled and got up.
"Since when did you become the boss of me?"
"Since we hired her," stated Noin. "And Queen Relena said that whatever mission comes up Lily is in charge."
"What?! That's not fair!" Nikki shouted, very frustrated now. Why the hell did Lily always have to be in charge of mission plans? She could come up with one if they would ask her to, but they never did. It was always Lily. So what if she was extra smart. At the same time she was also extra annoying.
Lily just grinned. "Your fault for always playing around Nikki." It was true. Nikki never took anything seriously, but do you think that she would actually ever admit to that? So she screwed up the only mission plan that she had made up and she had screwed up on one or two of their missions, but that didn't mean anything.
"You stupid...I don't even know why I...I would've done...I'm so much...I don't...Ugh! Never mind. Let's just get this damn training over with." Nikki turned heel and stormed off to the training room. Lily just burst out laughing. It was always so much fun to get Nikki frustrated like that.
"I love annoying that girl." Lily finally stopped her laughter and straightened up. "Anyway, there's training to be done now." The g-boys each nodded and everyone headed to the training room.
They walked in and Nikki just glared at them. "About time. What took you guys so long? It's only a room over."
"We know where it is Nikki, obviously since we're here now. We were talking. Do you have a problem with that?" Nikki just continued to glare at them and walked to the middle of the room. "Ok boys, good luck. Nikki's pretty good." Nikki smirked and got into her ready position. Pretty good? That was an understatement.
"Come on boys, if you're chicken though...well then..." Each boy growled and formed a circle around her. They didn't like being called chicken, especially by someone that they didn't like. Lily just sat down and watched as the fight began. She felt sorry for the boys, but it was the same with Yuriko. They just had to learn to stand up to them. It was five against one and she found that really ridiculous. This was really for their own good.
Heero, looking for a chance and taking it, lunged toward Nikki and she just moved to the right then back to the left dodging Trowa's punch. Quatre just stood there, once again not knowing how to help. He may have been good with guns and his gundam but actual hand-to-hand combat was not his thing. Finally he saw an opening and tried to punch Nikki, but instead found himself flying forward as she grabbed his arm and flipped him.
Nikki gracefully swung around and locked her fist with Wufei's jaw. He fell back mumbling something about women not fighting. Trowa thought he would use that moment and attempted to punch her but Nikki just caught his hand and twisted it. From behind, she kicked Heero who had jumped at her. Duo tried to knock her off her feet but Nikki just jumped up, spun, kicked him in the face and landed gracefully on her feet. Nikki just looked at the five boys and shook her head.
"And I'm supposed to work with them?" Nikki looked at Lily and Lily got up from her seat. She knew that it was pathetic and that they needed more practice but she was the only one who could insult them like that. She hated Nikki and these boys were her friends. Nikki was just lucky to be working with them.
"At least they know what teamwork is." Lily glared at Nikki and walked over to the boys. "And you know what I'm talking about Nikki." Nikki hated that. She hated it when Lily would bring up the past. So she screwed up. Everyone makes mistakes, and the way she saw things was it really wasn't her fault, or at least that's what she kept trying to tell herself.
"Haven't the slightest clue of what you're talking about." She tossed her hair back and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it down.
"Only because you don't want to remember. He would still be here today if it weren't for your stupidness and stubborness. Grow up Nikki. Move on with life." Now Nikki was mad. He wouldn't be here. It was all Lily's fault. All because she was so clumsy. None of that would have happened if Lily hadn't of been there, if she hadn't of been so close to the guy. If he hadn't of cared so much for her, none of it would have happened.
"Easy for you to say. It's not my fault that you can just move onto another guy. After Erik it was just so easy for you to move onto Koji, wasn't it?"
Lily felt tears begin to sting her eyes and slapped Nikki. "You stupid Bitch. You'll never understand." It's not like she knew. She cared about Erik and she did love Koji at one time, but that was all in the past. It wasn't how Nikki saw it. It was all completely different. Nikki didn't know, wouldn't listen to the whole story.
Nikki held her cheek. "What's wrong? You gonna cry now? Huh? 'Cuz you sure didn't the day of Erik's funeral. It was like as if you just pretended to care about him the whole time."
Lily regained her control and said, "I don't cry in front of people. I won't allow myself to. And Erik only died because you were to stupid to know what you were doing."
"Shut up! You don't know anything! All you know is how to be the cold hearted non caring person you are, just like your stupid partner Yuriko. You don't care about anyone. You never will!"
Lily growled. "Not my fault that that's the only thing that we were taught. You know what? Take care of the damn mission yourself. It'll be up to Yuriko if she works with you or not. Mind you though it won't work without her. Ja!" Lily stormed out of the room before anyone could say anything. She just wanted to get out of there, away from the memories. She just wanted to leave all the pain behind. Why did it always have to come up when Nikki was around? She would never escape the memories. They haunted her.
"Lily! Damn!" Duo looked at Nikki. "Now look at what you've done you stupid Bitch. Come on guys, let's go." All five boys, Sally, Noin and Une all left Nikki by herself in the room. They didn't want to be around her any longer. All she ever did was cause trouble and chase both Lily and Yuriko away. Why Relena sent her, they didn't know, but they were better off with Yuriko and Lily.
"What have I done now? I've really screwed up." Nikki fell on her knees and started to cry. She didn't understand any of what was going on and it's not like she really hated Lily, it was just their past. All she wanted was to forget, but she couldn't. Not with Lily around. Not with him still in her mind.
Duo stood just outside the room and shook his head. "The poor girl. What happened between the two of them to make each other hate the other so much? Maybe I should call Lily later and see if she's okay." He walked away from the room and left the base to go home to his apartment.
* * *
Duo threw open the door to his apartment and headed for the phone. He dialed Lily's number and waited for her to pick up. He heard someone pick up the phone and waited for an answer.
"Hello?" What's going on? Duo was confused. That was a guy that had just picked up the phone. But why? Lily didn't have guys living with her, did she? But he thought that she had lived alone.
"Ano... is Lily home?" he asked nervously, hoping that it wasn't the wrong number.
"No. This is her brother." Duo let out a long sigh. So that's where her brother had gone to stay after they all returned that day. It made sense now. "Would you like me to leave a message for her?"
"No, that's okay. I'll just call later. Thanks though." Duo hung up the phone and looked around his apartment. "Great! Now what?" He had really wanted to talk to Lily.
* * *
Lily sat outside on a bench and watched the little kids run around on the playground. Her eyes were red and puffy, and tears were stained on her cheeks. She thought back to the day her and Nikki first met.
"I don't cry, huh? I hate this! Why does she hate me so much anyway? What happened that first day anyway? I don't understand any of it. None of this makes sense."
~ "Lily, we've a new pilot I'd like you to meet later," said Relena. That wasn't anything new and it was actually much better this way. Now Lily wouldn't be working alone with just Erik.
"Hai, Queen Relena. I'll go see her later, ok?" Lily looked at Relena and Relena smiled and left. At this time Lily and Relena did get along. They were friends, kind of. But Lily was nice then and just a little more open.
"Lily, hey!" Lily looked up and Erik ran her way. "Did you hear? The new pilot is here."
Lily smiled and said, "Yes Erik, I heard. I'll go meet her later. What are you up to?" She loved seeing Erik. He was her best friend and she trusted him more than anything.
"Oh, not much. Just finished Yuriko's gundam." He wrapped his arms around her waist. "You doing anything tonight?"
"No, why?" Lily stepped in closer to Erik and set her arms around his neck. "Plan on taking me anywhere?" They were so close, but everyone knew that they were only friends.
"Maybe." Lily just smiled and settled into his warm embrace. She loved being with Erik.
"Hmph. I thought you were a soldier," they heard someone say. Lily let go of Erik and turned to face the person. It was someone new and she had never met the person before. It must have been the new pilot.
"I am a soldier. Who are you?" demanded Lily. She hated rude people, but did her best to get along with them and at least be nice.
"Nicole Meiou, the new pilot. You must be Lily."
"I am."
Nikki looked Lily up and down and sneered. "Some soldier. Don't even look like one. I knew I'd hate this." Nikki then walked away.
"What was her problem?" asked Lily. "She seemed really rude." Lily had a bad feeling about his. That girl didn't seem to like her at all and she didn't even get the chance to really get to know her.
"I have no idea," said Erik. "I have no idea." ~
"I really wish I knew why she hated me." Lily got up and left the park. You would have thought that it had seemed obvious, but it wasn't. Not to Lily at least or anyone else. Even Nikki was really confused about it.
* * *
Duo laid stretched out on his couch with a pillow covering his face as he thought hard about the incident at the base. There was a loud knock on his door and he shouted, "COME IN!!"
He heard the door open and then it clicked shut. He heard the person walk towards him but still didn't remove the pillow to see who it was. The person walked over until they were right beside his couch and staring down at him.
"You know, it's not good to just let anyone come in. You never know if they're dangerous or not," said a very familiar voice.
"Well Nikki, you can't do anything. You have to work with me and I'm sure Lily or Yuriko would kill you if you tried anything." He heard Nikki growl and just smirked, finally removing the pillow and looking up at her. "So why are you here?" He got up and went to his kitchen to get a glass of water.
Nikki threw herself onto his couch, making herself at home. "No reason really. Just felt like coming here to annoy you. I was bored at home."
"Well, you're doing a great job of it." He walked back out with his water and sat across from her on the other chair. "Look, I'm busy. Why don't you just go home?"
"I don't want to. And besides, you didn't look busy. You were just laying here on your couch like the lazy person you are." Duo just glared at her, trying not to say something mean. He might not have liked the girl, but there was no point in losing his temper. She wasn't worth it anyway.
".........Well, I better go." Duo quickly got up and left the apartment before she could say anything. Nikki just sat there blinking.
"Ok...that was weird." She got up. "Guess I'll leave then. Man, he's no fun." She walked out, shut the door behind her and left. She was hoping to have more fun and to tell the truth she had kind of wanted to talk to him, but he obviously didn't want to. She didn't understand how Lily could stand this loner thing. Nikki needed friends. She hated to be pushed away... Like with Erik.