Jaid: Lalalalalala!

Naga: Is that supposed to be singing?

Jaid: Uh-huh! I'm happy! ^___^ I luv Christmas break.

Naga: You have to go through exams first.

Jaid: . Sure, ruin my mood…

Naga: Just trying to help.

******************************************************************

"Give me some room, onna."

"I can't!" Sally hissed in exasperation. "This place wasn't made for two people."

"You think?" Wufei growled sarcastically.

Sally blew out a breath in an effort to keep calm. She noticed that Wufei got 'cranky' when he was trapped in a situation that he had no control over. Which was the majority of the time, now that she thought about it.

"I hope they don't have heat sensors." She said idly.

Wufei rolled his eyes.

"Well, I don't." Sally drove her elbow into his back. Wufei gave a slight grunt. Sally smiled in some satisfaction, then grunted as Wufei nudged her back. Sally retaliated, driving her elbow in harder. Wufei, who was facing the door, pushed her back against the wall with his body. Sally hit the wall and then pushed him against the door…just as Hilde opened it. The girl cried out and jumped back as Wufei fell to the ground, Sally on top of him.

"What is wrong with you two?" she demanded. Sally was laughing hopelessly and couldn't answer. Wufei pushed her off of him and stalked out of the room, but not before Sally saw the bright red his face was becoming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``````````

"You okay?" Duo asked softly. He and Hilde were in the cockpit.

"I swear, I almost had a heart attack." She answered. Duo smiled and squeezed her hand.

"Still want to join them?"

Hilde was quiet. "Yeah. Yeah I do."

Duo nodded and looked out the viewport. "Okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"We are honored to have you here, sir, but I can assure you that all the ships have been searched, but no criminals-"

"I am not looking for mere smugglers or mercs." Heero broke into Commander Torquin's nervous speech. "These people could appear as you or I, but they are traitors who need to be dealt with."

Torquin nodded. "Of course. We are doing the best we can. Perhaps we can notify you if we find something…?"

Heero gave a sharp nod. "That is acceptable." With that, he turned on his heel sharply and strode out of the room. It wouldn't hurt to look around the city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Simulation is complete. Winner is player 1. Please exit capsule." The computerized voice announced. The young woman smiled wryly as she exited and brushed away some of her dark hair. The other player also came out, then shook her head.

"I don't get it, Lucy." She said, blinking red eyes that were a symbol of non-human heritage. "I've gone over every strategy so far and you still can kick my ass."

Lucrezia Noin laughed. "Well, you'll get me one day, Kagura." She said. Kagura shrugged, tucking some black hair behind her ear.

Both women had the rare position of being female TIE pilots. Added to that, they were in one of the most famous squadrons, The 181st. Kagura's position was doubly rare, since she was more than half alien and it was well known the Emperor did not regard aliens favorably.

"Oh joy, here come The Three Bakas." Kagura made a face. Three young man passed by and their leader gave Kagura a wink. She replied with a dangerous glare. Lucrezia shook her head and continued walking.

"Tonight we have off!" Kagura sang as she caught up with her friend. "What are you going to do?"

"Stay in my room." Lucrezia answered.

Kagura made a face. "How boring."

"I'm going to call my family. It's Mom's birthday. We'll probably talk for a while."

"I wish my family was as friendly as yours." Kagura said dryly. "As it is, I'm expecting my Dad to assassinate me at any second."

"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

"Nope." Kagura said, but there was a glint in her eye. "I'll see you later. I'm going to go to the gym before I shower."

"Bye!" Lucrezia called before entering the wash rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

Midii loaded the dish cleaning machine, hearing some of the Maguanac's small children playing 'outside'. Quatre had invited her to see other parts of the enclosed city, but she had lied, telling him she didn't feel well. The house was the only place she felt sure she would not run into Nanashi…or Triton as he called himself.

Feeling rather guilty for the fact that she had lied to Quatre and also having the guilty pleasure of being comfortable in her cowardice, she walked out into the living room. She flopped down on the couch and sighed deeply. She couldn't get his green eyes out of her mind. She could still see them boring into her.

"Aunt Midii?"

The blonde looked down to see a tiny brunette. She smiled. "Hello, Rin. Do you need something?"

"No." Rin shook her head. "Uncle Quatre just asked me to come and check on you 'cause he was worried."

"Well, you can tell him I'm fine."

Rin nodded and headed for the door.

"Rin?"

The girl turned. "Yeah?"

Midii sighed and wondered if she was going to regret this. "Wait up. I'll come with you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're certain of this?" Rashid asked, as he and Quatre looked over the base. They were in an office like building, where Rashid kept files and money. There was a wide viewport that allowed one to see some of the small, artificial city.

"It was her. But she didn't kill me." Quatre said.

"Her timing was off. She'll only kill at twilight." Rashid rumbled. Quatre sighed.

"I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have come here…"

"Don't worry about it, Master. Twilight Sazuka is an assassin, but she has honor. She won't attack if innocents are hurt."

Quatre smiled. "I suppose that is spoken from experience?"

Rashid chuckled. "Partly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"Where to now?" Duo asked.

"Yavin IV." Sally answered.

"Geez, you guys like the number four or somethin'?" Duo muttered. Hilde poked him in the side.

"Oh, by the way, Wu-man." Duo drawled casually.

The dark haired rebel twitched. Sally tried not to smile.

"You kinda owe me for those stabilizers you wrecked." Duo continued, punching in coordinates for Yavin.

"Hn." Wufei grunted, crossing his arms and glaring at the back of Duo's head. "Not entirely my fault, baka. The onna here-"

"Oh no, you are going to pin this on me." Sally interrupted.

"How'd you do that anyway?" Hilde asked.

"Yeah, dude. The Rebellion handing out heavy power vibro blades or something?"

Wufei's jaw had tightened. "That is none of your business." He growled. Duo shrugged and decided to drop it…for now. Pulling back a lever, the ship jumped into hyperspace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`````

"Down here." Dorothy whispered. Relena couldn't help but grimace as they squeezed past two rather large Dundruns who had had too much liquor recently.

"Are you sure it's safe down here?" she whispered.

"Safer than in the hands of the Imperials." Dorothy responded with the slightest bit of wolfish humor.

They were in the "bad" section of Neeron; the city they had landed at in Celross III. Relena had never seen anything like it and she would have preferred not to have the experience. It was all dirt, mud and garbage. People shouted at each other, ribald signs pointed ways to where you could purchase things most normal people didn't want to think about, and the sound of people fighting, weapons being discharged made a sharp contrast to the almost noiselessness of some areas. Relena didn't like it much.

"Where are we going?" Relena asked.

"Somewhere safe." Dorothy answered. "No more questions."

"Dorothy, I am not a child." Relena stated stubbornly. "I think I should be allowed to know where we are going."

"It would take to long to explain, Highness." Dorothy said, grabbing Relena's arm and pulling her. "Trust me."

Relena's lips pursed but she nodded. "I expect you to explain whenever we get to…wherever we're going."

A smile tugged at Dorothy's lips. "Of course, Miss Relena."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

"Hey, Bloom."

Triton looked up from the piece of machinery he was tweaking. "Bit."

"I was just wondering if you knew where the boss was." Bit said. "I gotta talk to him about this part we need."

Triton nodded a direction and watched the blonde walk away. Bit was the group's main mechanic, though he wasn't a bad pilot. The guy had an ego the size of a solar system and the annoying habit of not curbing that ego, but he was an easy-going, laid back guy that Triton found himself alternatively irritated or amused by Bit.

"Excuse me."

Triton looked up again. It was the swoop rider that Cloud had pointed out yesterday.

"Yes?"

"I don't know if you remember me from yesterday-"

"You were with Midii."

Quatre nodded. "Yeah, I was." He was quiet for a moment. "Look, I just…I don't know why I came over here. She was really upset seeing you yesterday."

"She would be." Triton nodded, picking up his tools and going over to the container that held them. Dumping them in, he rummaged around a bit and found the one he was looking for. Turning, he realized that the blond was still there. Something occurred to him as he studied Quatre. Small, slender, pale blonde hair, fair skin and innocent expression.

"You one of Midii's brothers?" he asked, kneeling by the machinery he was working on.

"No." Quatre answered slowly. "I wasn't aware she had them."

Triton looked up. Midii's family had always been the biggest thing in her life. He couldn't help but wonder if something had happened…shaking the thought away, he looked back down.

"Maybe you should ask her." He said softly. "It's not good for partners to be kept in the dark."

"Maybe not." Quatre answered in a soft tone as well. Triton heard him walk away. He looked up and watched as Quatre exited the hanger. Something in that boy's eyes had stirred something in him. Triton shook his head again and dropped his tool in the container. It didn't look like he'd get much work done today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``````

Humming to herself, Lucrezia came back into her room, running fingers through her still wet hair. Walking over to the desk comm, she smiled in expectation as she typed in the number for her family.

A few minutes later, a dark haired woman's face appeared. "Lucy!"

"Hi, Mom. Happy Birthday!" Lucrezia said. Her mother laughed and called the family over, much to the young woman's delight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~```

The tall young man walked down the hallway. Coming the other way was a dark haired woman with red eyes.

"Kagura." He said. The woman stopped sharply and saluted.

"Yes, sir?"

"At ease."

Kagura relaxed slightly.

"Have you seen Lt. Noin?"

A slight smile tugged at her lips. "No, Commander, I have not. I believe she was going to spend the evening in her rooms, sir."

"Thank you. Dismissed."

Kagura watched him walk down the hallway and then laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

Lucrezia was laughing at a story her younger brother was telling when there was a beeping sound, announcing a visitor.

"Just a minute, kid." She said. Standing, Lucrezia went and opened the door.

"Oh, Commander-"

"We're off-duty."

Lucrezia smiled softly. "Zechs then. Can I help you with something?"

"Not really. I was going out for a drink and wanted to know if you would come with me."

Lucrezia hoped she wasn't blushing. She had been waiting for an invitation like this since she had been training with him…but the noise on the comm made her remember what day it was.

"Sorry, I can't. It's my mother's birthday and…" she let her voice trail off. Zechs nodded.

"I understand. Enjoy your time with them." He said and waving bye, he walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

"I can't believe you did that, Kagura." Bentaro laughed. Kagura narrowed her eyes, then punched the door command. Lucrezia, her roomate, sat at the desk comm, still as a statue. There was only fizz on the display.

"Lu?" Kagura said. Lucrezia turned to her. The woman's face was white with shock.

"Bentaro, beat it." Kagura snapped, not turning. Bentaro stepped back and allowed the door to close.

"What is it?"

"It doesn't exist." Lucrezia mumbled blinking. "It just disappeared."

"What are you talking about?" Kagura said.

"Alderaan. My planet. One minute I was talking to my family and the next…static. I tried to re-open communications, but the computer said that the planet doesn't exist."

Kagura pulled her out of the chair. "Of course it exits. Damn computer's broken or something." She said, typing furiously. Lucrezia nodded and sat on the bed.

"Kagura!" Bentaro burst in. "There was a news cast in the rec room. Some planet just exploded."

Lucrezia's face went completely white again.

"Shit." Kagura spat then turned the full fire of her gaze on Bentaro. "Get out, krish'na." She hissed. Bentaro gulped and backed out quickly. Kagura turned back to her friend.

"Lu?"

"Oh my gods." Lucrezia gasped. "Oh my gods, no."

"It's fake. It can't be. The only way for a planet to do that is to crash into it's sun and they would have evacuated Alderaan if that was the case. Lu? Lu, are you listening to me?"

"Then why does the computer say that Alderaan suddenly no longer exits?" Lucrezia asked. Her voice was low and slightly shaky, but calm.

"I don't know." Kagura admitted. Lucrezia swallowed.

"Could I be alone for a little bit, please?" she whispered. Kagura nodded.

"Sure." She said softly, stepping out of the room.

*************************************************************

Jaid: Some sadness there, but at least my second fav female chara was introduced.

Jad: I thought Lu was your favorite.

Jaid: Now for the A/N and all that stuff.

Guest apperances: Kagura, Rin, Bit, and Bentaro. Twilight Sazuka was mentioned, but she hasn't shown up per say yet (meaning we haven't done a scene with her), so it doesn't matter if you count her or not. Good luck guessing! (If somebody knows where Bentaro comes from, they get a double kudos from me [and you don't count Kelley, if you're reading this!])

Respond to the Reviewer

Okay, just one thing to say before I begin: where did you guys all go? I only got two reviews for the last chatper! Two!!! *sigh* Okay, rant over.

Blue eyes – Thank you for the encouragement! ^__^

Midii Une – Ehh, I'm hoping that little flashback will come up soon…I just haven't found a place to put it.

Contest Results!!!

Well, we had two tries this time and I'm very happy!

Blue eyes – Nope, sorry. He's my own made up character.

Midii – Yup. But he's the only FF character that's going to show because I don't know much about it.

Keep trying!!!