Disclaimer: I do not own or have any title, interest or right in either Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. This fanfiction is not being used for commercial purposes. I own all other rights (to the extent legally permissible) in connection with this writing.

CHAPTER 5: APPROACH OF WAR

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"...hence it is said: 'The law was not made for the just, but for the unjust'; which is not to be taken to mean that the just are not bound to fulfil the law, as some have misunderstood the text, but that the just are inclined of themselves to do justice even without a law." - Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa Contra Gentiles, 1264)

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Colony: X18999 (Residential Block C-2); March 23; 2:15 pm

Hotaru wore a frown as she put down the phone. The hospital had no clue as to the whereabouts of her Aunt Setsuna. No one had seen her for more than a day. One of the hospital attendants had found her purse, but nothing more.

The slender girl paced around anxiously in the small living room. The entire colony was still in a state of emergency, and the local law enforcement officials were too busy chasing down supporters of the former regime. No one was in a position to help her find her Aunt Setsuna.

Hotaru stood silently for a moment, considering her options. After a few moments, Hotaru grabbed a dark purple jacket and went out the door.

* * * * *

ESUN SC-390 Cargo Vessel; March 23; 3:10 pm

Rei Hino was quietly listening to some music while she flipped through the files of documents in front of her. The small mini-disc player that she was listening to was cosmetically designed to look like an earring, and was clipped to her left earlobe.

Rei Hino and sixty other employees of ESUN were seated in the passenger cabin of the large cargo vessel. The rest of the vessel was full of food, water, medical supplies, and other humanitarian provisions for the civilians of Colony X18999. The large SC-390 cargo vessel was a loud and uncomfortable ride.

The raven-haired beauty glanced at the brunette sleeping soundly next to her.

Makoto Kino had taken specially prescribed medication that would keep her in a semi-conscious state for the duration of their flight. The young brunette lived in absolute terror of flying, ever since her parents had died in a space flight accident when she was a child. Makoto never flew anywhere for leisure, but only for humanitarian missions. Makoto insisted that Rei keep her heavily medicated and in a semi-comatose state until they reached a colony.

"Is she going to be like that the entire trip?" a voice from across the aisle asked.

Rei glanced over to her left and saw a tall, slender man with a long pony- tail. He appeared to be eyeing Makoto with some disdain.

"She's afraid of flying, Taiki," Rei responded irritably. "Leave her alone."

"Afraid of flying? She should have chosen a different profession," Taiki responded with a hint of disgust in his voice.

"She is one of the most capable workers that I know. She may be asleep now, but she makes up for it when we get to our destination, Mr. Kou," Rei defended her friend. "Which is more than I can say for you."

Taiki Kou shrugged. "ESUN regulations require a monitor from my agency to watch over a humanitarian mission. I don't expect you to be happy about my presence. But you'll just have to get used to it."

"I still don't understand how someone from the ESUN Technology and Information Agency qualifies as a monitor for a humanitarian mission," Rei grumbled.

"Don't worry, once we get there, my hands will be full with my own work. And I'll stay out of your hair," he informed her in a cool voice.

Rei turned back to her papers. With Makoto unconscious and Taiki sitting nearby, it looked like it was going to be a long trip.

* * * * *

Colony: X18999 (Industrial Block M-3); March 23; 5:50 pm

Dr. Setsuna Meiou was sitting quietly on the bare floor of a locked room. The room was devoid of any furnishings, other than a small blanket that lay next to her. After being kidnapped, she had been taken to this abandoned building with her captors and the former president of X18999, Treize Kushrenada. The former president had been placed on a makeshift operating table, and Setsuna had performed a major operation and several, less invasive follow-up procedures to stabilize her patient. Afterwards, she was locked into this particular room. Setsuna was fed regularly and allowed to use the restroom, but was otherwise confined.

Setsuna had determined that her captors were former government officials and soldiers under Treize Kushrenada. Setsuna never really paid that much attention to the political affairs of the colony, and she had no strong opinion of the man one way or the other. But she was beginning to develop a strong dislike for his followers.

There was a knock on the door.

Setsuna raised her head briefly. She suspected it was one of the guards delivering her meal. At least this time they were polite enough to knock.

"Yes, come in," Setsuna responded, feeling somewhat odd that the guard was waiting for permission to open the door.

The door slowly opened up to reveal two silhouetted figures.

"Good evening, Doctor Meiou," a familiar, smooth voice greeted.

It took Setsuna only a moment to recognize the voice of former president Treize Kushrenada. Her eyes widened in surprise. He had made quite a remarkable recovery, considering his injuries. She was also surprised that someone of his stature, or at least former stature, would even bother come to visit a captive doctor.

"Good evening, Mr. Kushrenada," Setsuna responded in a neutral voice. Now that he was healed, she was not entirely sure what would be her fate. After all, it was well-known that the former president was in hiding, and Setsuna realized that she could prove to be a liability as long as she was alive.

"You will address him as 'Your Excellency'," the other figure hissed. Setsuna recognized this voice as well. It was the voice of the woman who had taken her from the hospital at gunpoint. She did not have any fond memories of this particular person in the past day and a half.

"It is quite all right, Colonel Une," Treize said in a calm voice. "Please wait outside while I talk with Dr. Meiou."

"Yes, sir," Colonel Une responded stiffly. Setsuna could almost feel the glare from the woman as those words were uttered.

Treize Kushrenada walked gingerly into the room and shut the door behind him. Once the door was closed, Setsuna was able to observe more than his silhouette. The former president had made quite a transformation. He had looked haggard and disheveled in the operating room, but he was now sharply dressed and well-groomed. His calculating, blue eyes studied her with a mixture of amusement and interest.

"I wanted to thank you, for helping me," Treize told her graciously. "And I also wanted to apologize for the rudeness of my subordinates. They should not have taken you by force. You are a doctor, and should be treated with respect."

Setsuna paused for a moment. "You are welcome, Mr. Kushrenada. I'm sure your subordinates acted out of concern for your well-being. But I would appreciate it if you could let me return to the hospital. There are others who need care..."

"You are correct about the fact that there are plenty of others who need care," Treize interrupted in a cool voice. "We have several former soldiers and government officials here who have been injured and need immediate medical assistance. We are not in a position to have other doctors treat them. So I was pray that you would be willing to help them. Afterwards, I promise that we will safely return you to the hospital."

Setsuna grimaced slightly. She had a feeling that she was being dragged further into a situation that she wanted no part of. But she also realized that she had little choice, and grimly suspected that her other options were far more unpleasant than performing medical care.

"Of course," Setsuna agreed hesitantly, staring at the ground.

Setsuna's eyes continued to look at the floor, and she failed to notice the expression on the face of Treize Kushrenada as he looked upon her.

* * * * *

Space Carrier: 1LSS Amuro Rey; 3rd Fleet of the L1 Colony; March 23; 6:35 pm

Minako was gliding down the hallway of the space carrier, when she caught sight of a familiar figure. Lieutenant Commander Heero Yui had just rounded the corner and was now just a few feet in front of her.

"Good evening, Heero!" Minako smiled pleasantly. She was wearing a standard white officer's uniform. Minako noted that he was still wearing his flight suit.

"Hn," came the reply.

Heero seemed intent on walking past her, but Minako spun around and walked next to him.

"By the way, I never did get a thanks for letting you use my room," Minako remarked quite casually.

"Thanks," Heero grunted, as he continued marching down the hallway.

"I figure you should at least take me out for some ice cream or something as a gesture of gratitude," Minako suggested with a smile.

Heero glanced at her. "You can get ice cream at the mess hall. It's free."

Minako gave an exaggerated sigh. "You really have no sense of how to treat a girl, do you?"

"Hn."

"Well, you're going to learn how to treat a girl properly," she told him primly. "You can start by taking me out on a little date this evening."

Heero barely turned to look at her. "Why should I?"

Minako bit her lip and frowned. That was a good point. She had not thought about finding a reason to force him to take her on a date. In fact, she was usually too busy fending off guys. This was a position Minako had never been in. After a moment, a sly smile crept across her face.

"Well, I could tell everyone that you slept in my bed last night..." she hinted dangerously.

He glared at her. "So what?"

Minako was infuriated. She did not have to take this. She was trying to be nice. In fact, she was going out of her way to be nice. And he insisted on being a cold, emotionless rock.

"Fine! Be that way!" she snapped.

Minako whirled around and started to head down the other way.

She discovered that she was being restrained by Heero's grip on her upper arm. Minako turned and glared at him.

"What do you want, Heero?" she asked in irritation.

"When?" he asked. His intense, cobalt blue eyes studying her.

A look of confusion crossed her face. The look slowly transformed into an expression of surprise.

"For our date...?" she trailed off.

"Yes," Heero confirmed in his monotone voice.

"2100 hours."

Heero nodded and released her. He continued marching down the hallway, leaving Minako standing in shock. This was totally unexpected. She had teased and flirted with Heero, because she believed that it would be safe and that he would never accept any of her flirtations. But now he had taken up one of her offers.

"Do I really want to go out with this guy?" she asked herself thoughtfully.

* * * * *

Colony: X18999 (Residential Block C-2); March 23; 7:20 pm

Wufei and Hilde slipped through the shadows of the darkened alleyway of the residential district. The SEAS commanding officer and his subordinate were returning from a reconnaissance mission. The SEAS team had established a concealed base of operations about a mile away in a deserted salvage yard.

"I still can't believe it took you that long to pull up the information," Wufei growled. He had exchanged his combat fatigues for civilian clothing. The young man was wearing a simple white shirt, denim jeans and a leather jacket.

"It's not my fault those looters had fried most of the connections I needed to access the data!" Hilde retorted irritably. She had also changed into civilian clothing, wearing a simple light blue shirt and a matching skirt. The young woman had also opted to wear a fashionable, red beret on top of her head. Hilde carried a large purse, which contained her laptop. Wufei also suspected that she stored a couple of weapons in there as well, but he had opted not to inquire any further.

"It took you three hours!" Wufei shook his head. "I've never seen you take that long in those conditions."

Hilde glared at him. "Hey! I don't recall..."

A small cry interrupted her words.

Wufei and Hilde immediately ceased talking. They pulled themselves into the shadows of a nearby wall. The voices of a young girl and two men could be heard nearby. The young girl did not sound happy.

"Let me go!" a quiet feminine voice demanded.

"Listen up, sweetie!" a gruff voice said. "It's past curfew and you're not supposed to be out here. We are authorized to take you in!"

"But I was running late! My home is only a block away! Please let me go!" pleaded the feminine voice.

Wufei and Hilde crept quietly towards the edge of the alleyway. They could see a young girl with dark hair struggling against two uniformed soldiers.

"We might consider letting you go, as long as you're friendly enough, cutie," leered one of the soldiers.

"I'm not going to stand here and take this!" Hilde growled in a low voice, as the soldiers continued to harass the young girl. She began to roll up one of her sleeves.

"I'll handle this," Wufei told her in a crisp voice.

Hilde blinked in astonishment. "What? By yourself? Wufei, I can..."

Wufei raised a hand and glared at her. "Meet back up with the others. The information you've retrieved is critical. That's a direct order," he commanded in a voice that would not tolerate disobedience.

Hilde muttered something underneath her breath, but she spun around and headed down a different alley.

Wufei wasn't entirely sure why he was doing this. It was definitely not part of his mission parameters. In fact, he was possibly jeopardizing the secrecy of their mission and his team's safety. But something within him refused allow these men take advantage of this young girl. Perhaps it was his stubborn sense of justice. He suspected that it was more than likely going to get him killed one of these days. Wufei hoped he wasn't making a mistake.

Wufei boldly strode out into the open and cleared his throat. He kept his hands behind his back.

"Let her go," he told them in a cool voice.

One of the soldiers turned to glare at Wufei. "Another curfew breaker! We'll let you go if you leave us alone right now."

"Let her go," Wufei repeated calmly. He rested his hand on the pistol beneath his belt.

"Why should we? Who is this girl to you?" snarled the other guard.

Before Wufei could reply, the young girl cried out, "Brother!"

It took all of Wufei's training not to look surprised. This girl was not his sister, but she was obviously clever enough to make the pretense. He decided that he would follow along with her lead.

"Take your hands off my sister, please," he requested, in a somewhat more subdued tone.

The two soldiers glanced at each other, feeling a little more awkward.

The young girl seized the opportunity to break free from the soldiers' grip. She scurried up to Wufei and latched onto his arm.

"You don't look like brother and sister," one of the soldiers grumbled suspiciously.

The young girl piped up. "It's not my fault, but he didn't get Mom's good looks!"

Wufei stiffened somewhat and stared at the girl. She looked up at him with her violet eyes.

Wufei shook his head. "Our mother is worried. She sent me to look for you. You know you shouldn't be breaking curfew."

"I'm fine now! These gentlemen were just asking me some questions. But they were going to let me go home! I'm sure these men didn't realize that Mom is friends with the new mayor!"

The two soldiers blinked slowly. "The new mayor...?" one of them asked hesitantly. A weak smile crossed his face. "Yeah, well...why don't you go one home, little girl. It's dangerous out here."

"Thanks!" the girl waved at them, and tugged Wufei along with her.

"Where are you dragging me?" Wufei whispered angrily. "I do not need to go in that direction!"

"Thank you for saving me," the girl said in a hushed voice. "But they're still watching us. It would be dangerous for both of us if we didn't continue with this charade. Come on, my home is just up ahead."

"Your home?" Wufei exclaimed in a strangled voice, as she continued to pull him along.

"Yes, my home," the girl informed him in a sober voice. Her face was calm and serious. "My name is Hotaru? What's yours?"

"Wufei," he grunted.

"Why did you help me?" she asked, her inquisitive, violet eyes staring at him.

"It was the right thing to do," he mumbled, refusing to look into her eyes.

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Comments/Responses/Notes to Reviewers:

Serenity-Kaiba - Thanks for your review. Yeah, I admit Heero was probably a little OOC last chapter, and possibly this chapter too. I just find it hard imagining Heero asking any girl out on a date, so I had to turn the tables a bit. I'd like to hear what you thought about this chapter.

Sadie Joyce - Myst Lady - I always try to brighten someone's day! I'm actually enjoying writing the Setsuna/Treize interactions, and I will have more in store later. As far as my knowledge of military affairs, it was a hobby of mine and I also read up on lots of military history, among other things, for fun (yes, I've been accused of being bookish). Hopefully Heero wasn't as much of a meanie in this chapter.

Venus of love - Thanks for your review! The Heero/Minako interaction is somewhat challenging, but quite fun to write. I hoped you liked this chapter as well.

Angelight - I wanted to thank you for pointing out a mistake in my story! That was supposed to Yaten being rude to Ami (I've re-uploaded the last chapter to correct that mistake). I feel really terrible about the mistake (I try to make an effort to proof-read my work, but I guess I let that one slip). I'm glad you like the technical writing. As I told Myst Lady, military affairs was a hobby of mine and I also read up on a lot of military history (and a lot of history in general) for my own amusement (yeah, I need to get a life). And you are correct, I intend to tie up all the various plots and events together, so that it will hopefully make sense in the end. I'm glad you like my portrayal of Usagi (I borrowed heavily from Sailor Stars, when she is relatively more mature). All people have different dimensions to their personality, and I try my best to reflect that in all the characters I write about. Wow, I wrote a lot...sorry for my babbling.

Blue-Eyed Canadian Authoress - Well, no one has fallen head over heels for each other yet (even though Minako got her date, she's still not in love...and she's not even sure that she really likes Heero). I will definitely work on the Ami/Quatre pairing next chapter. And Mamoru will remain alive as long as he suits a plot/character development purpose. If a character gets killed off, I usually do it for a reason (that doesn't mean I won't kill him or any other character off). Thanks for your review, it did get some wheels turning in my head (but I won't reveal what...at least not yet).

Thanks again, everyone!