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Children of War

By,

Luna Dragon

Akiko yawned as her eyes opened. The ex-boys, as she referred to them, had let her and her friends sleep at the Preventers' headquarters. Kaiya and herself had gotten a room, while Rei and Ami had gotten a separate one. Groggily, Akiko checked the clock. It buzzed 9:30pm in big red numbers.

'I've been asleep for more than seven hours,' She thought. 'And I still feel like I haven't slept in ages.'

Groggily she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and stretched her arms, letting out a giant yawn. Jumping off the bed, she walked out of the room and down the halls. 'That's strange,' She thought sleepily. 'Why am I the only one who's not asleep?'

Walking down the stairs she noticed, unsurprisingly, Ami on a small laptop computer. "Hey, it's compact." Akiko said with a grin.

Ami smiled from her seat on the couch. "An invention by the notorious Professor Tomoe and myself." She said.

"What are you doing up so early?" Akiko then asked as she sat down.

"Trying to hack into Professor Tomoe's database."

Akiko frowned. Why would she be doing something like that? "Why? We're through with him aren't we?"

"Not necessarily. Apparently he's called for you and Kaiya. Another mission . . . a more complicated one." Ami said as Akiko moaned.

"Please tell me you declined for me?"

Ami shook her head. "If I did, he'd put the earring on you two again, and like I said, he wants this mission to be a success, and he wants proof of victory. That only adds to the complications."

"Damn bastard." Akiko murmured. "What's he want this time? I'd be happy to give him a one way trip to hell. The proof would be obvious, and there are a few complications, but I'd still be happy to do it." Ami looked at Akiko with a puzzled expression. She just shrugged, "I'm still tired and my mind isn't working correctly right now." Ami shook her head again. "What's the mission?" Akiko then asked.

"He wants Ms. Relena Peacecraft kidnapped, not dead or hurt, and he wants you and Kaiya to bring her to him."

"What?" Akiko shouted, loudly. "He wants us to kidnap the . . . the Queen of the World or whatever she is?"

"Quiet!" Ami snapped. "You'll wake someone--"

"What's going on?" Duo asked groggily as he stepped in the room, having been the only one who heard the shout since his room was right next to the living room. He eyed the two girls suspiciously with a raised eyebrow.

"Up." Ami finished pointlessly before sighing and continued to work on hacking into Professor Tomoe's database.

"We got another damn mission from the Prof." Akiko explained. "A very . . . hard mission that reads in big bold letters: there's-no-way-we're-doing-this-damn-mission-whether-you-want-us-to-or-not."

"What's the mission?" Duo asked.

"He wants Relena Peacecraft." Akiko answered. When Duo's eyes widened, she added, "Delivered to him alive and well."

He sighed in mild relief as he sat down on a couch. "And you can't refuse?"

"Picture me and Kaiya--"

"Kaiya and I," Ami corrected absentmindedly, still trying to hack into the Professor's database. "The correct terminology is 'Kaiya and I'."

"Picture Kaiya and I," Akiko muttered, emphasizing the words, "two crazy psycho chicks with earrings on our ears, bent only on kidnapping Relena and killing anyone who stands in our way."

Duo shuddered, remembering his own encounter with Kaiya. "Point taken." He said. "So what's the plan?"

Akiko shrugged.

"I'm working on that now." Ami answered. "Rei's gone to see Setsuna and the Professor to buy the time we need. Heero and the other's are trying to hack into the Professor's other main computers, and Sally Po and Kaiya went to warn Relena and her guards to stay alert tonight at the party."

"And we weren't woken up? I feel left out." Duo said.

"Tell me about it. Here I was, sleeping through this." Akiko added.

"We had nothing else for you to do," Ami said. "Besides, Duo is still injured and recovering, and you" --she glanced quickly at Akiko-- "wouldn't get up."

Akiko blushed as Duo snickered. "I do have a plan . . . and it might work." She said as she eyed Duo and his braid evilly. He stopped laughing.

"What?" He asked.

"You're hair is long, but not short enough. If I could cut some of it and dye it blonde . . . and put some make-up on you . . . with a few adjustments . . . I can make you look like Relena?" Akiko suggested as Ami laughed softly.

"No way, babe! I'm not acting out as Relena or any other girl for that matter!" Duo protested as he put one of his hands up protectively, the other clutching his yard-long braid.

Akiko sighed and shrugged, giving up her hopeless idea. "Okay, fine, but now that I'm up, I'm going to pay the Prof a visit."

"You'll only get controlled, and end up meddle with this." Ami said. "Rei and I were never supposed to meet any of you."

"First off," Akiko said. "I know what I'm doing and I have a small plan that might just work." She waved and grinned before walking out to go get ready. "Second off, Duo, don't call me babe."

Duo blinked in confusion and Ami sighed. "Is she serious?"

"Most likely. I've seen her files before and it always questioned her . . . approaching methods." Ami answered.

"She could get herself killed," Duo murmured.

"Then go and help her if you're well enough." Ami suggested. "You're main capability is stealth, right? It might help her."

Duo sighed. "Have nothing better to do," He muttered, than grinned. "Besides, the babe might need the help."

"I said not to call me that!" Akiko shouted from upstairs.

Duo grinned sheepishly, 'Gotta remember not to get on her bad side . . . she can be scary when pissed off.'

~*^*^*~

~~~Hotaru's Dream~~~

"Who are you?" Hotaru asked in the doorway of the newcomers. They had arrived no more than a week ago on her father's complex, going on missions as Hotaru had to sit back and watch the news of all kinds of murders and information leaks. These two newcomers were the cause of it, her father's new colleagues, new puppets to manipulate into his workers for all kinds of things from stealing weapons or information, down to assassinations.

"You're father's new assistants." One of the girls' with teal eyes answered plainly.

"Ah, come on Kaiya, lighten up." The second girl murmured. There was a brief coldness in her eyes that vanished when she smiled. "My fine under-amused friend is Kaiya. My name's Akiko, and I'm at your service." She did a fake bow and laughed. "And who are you?"

Hotaru stumbled back a bit. Did they not understand what they were doing? How could they be so carefree when they were going on illegal missions and murdering innocent people like pacifist leaders? She held back a growl and kept her face stern. "I'm Hotaru Tomoe, the Professor's only daughter."

Akiko smirked. "Cool, our boss has a child, a daughter at that. I'm beginning to think he likes women to do his biding." She stopped, as if realizing exactly who she was talking to. "Uh, I didn't mean to offend your pops or anything, uh, I--"

"Don't listen to Akiko," Kaiya interrupted, startling both girls. She had been so quiet they forgot she was there. "She's a little on the . . . undisciplined side."

Hotaru frowned as Akiko shifted uncomfortably. "You don't like doing this?" She asked.

Akiko stepped back and sat on the bed. "You're not gonna kill us if we say no, are you?"

Kaiya growled. "Watch who you're talking to!" She shouted as she eyed Hotaru's smug face suspiciously.

"I'm just saying what we're both thinking." Akiko snapped.

Hotaru stepped inside the apartment and out of the doorway and the shadows. "So it is true, you don't like your . . . work?" She half asked, half declared.

"To say that is the biggest understatement of the century." Akiko murmured but shut up when Kaiya glared at her.

"Then why do you do it?" Hotaru asked.

"We don't have a choice." Kaiya answered.

"Everyone has a choice. You could pick up and leave. My father holds no power over that." Hotaru said, glaring at the two.

Kaiya shook her head. "Try telling that to the Professor."

"Ah, don't tell me you want us to leave? Now I feel sad." Akiko replied. "And besides, we've got no where to go. Prof's got us cornered. It's either their lives or their weapons or their information, verses us. He tells us what he wants and we get it." She paused. "And besides, we don't enjoy what we do, no matter what."

"Our feelings our set aside during our missions." Kaiya added. "It's either kill or be killed, and we like to chose the latter."

"Listen Hotaru," Akiko said. "If we had a choice to quit, we would be long gone and back home. But the problem is, we don't have a choice because your father would kill us, believe or not, and because we don't have a home to go back to."

Hotaru nodded solemnly but said nothing. 'These two . . . they're different from my father's other 'puppets'. Maybe they'll live long enough to realize what they're doing and put a stop to it.' She thought. 'Just maybe . . .'

~~~End of Dream~~~

Hotaru's eyes opened with a moan, accompanied by a furious migraine. She rubbed her sore temples as she contemplated her dream. It was only one of the three she had had constantly, whenever she slept. They were all so real, as if they had happened. And maybe they did, maybe her subconscious was bringing them out.

But if not, she had no way of knowing. She had amnesia, as Sally Po informed her. It was strange. She had seen Akiko and Kaiya before, just a while ago. They had arrived here and talked with Heero and the others, and it made Hotaru wonder if she did know them from somewhere.

She sighed, her headache wasn't helping her remember exactly who she was. Reluctantly prying herself from the bed she was given, leaving her room and stopping in the hallway where she saw the small blare of a computer through an opened door. Quietly, Hotaru walked over and stood at the doorway, staring at the back of Heero Yuy, while getting a strange feeling of daija vu upon remembering her most recent dream.

"Is there something you need?" Heero asked without turning around. Hotaru almost jumped; startled. How could he know she was there.

'He is the Perfect Soldier.' She thought, then mentally smacked herself. 'How'd I know that?' She asked herself silently. "No," Hotaru answered Heero's question. "I just wanted to know . . . why did you question me like some kind of criminal yesterday?"

Heero said nothing for a while, his face dimly reflected off by the loading computer screen. It changed, and his monotone face disappeared, leaving Hotaru with a strange feeling. "Do you truly want me to answer that question or should you find out for yourself?" He asked.

Hotaru shook her head and sighed. "If I knew who I was, I'd be able to answer that." With that said, she walked away.

Briefly, Heero turned his head slightly, watching the daughter of the inauspicious Professor Tomoe walk away with a sad and confused expression on her face. "You wouldn't want me to tell you who you are, when I can barely figure out who I am myself." He whispered once she was out of hearing position.

With his monotone face back in place, and his Prussian blue eyes glaring at his laptop computer screen, he set back to the matter at hand: Finding out exactly what Professor Tomoe had planned for them.

**********End Chapter**********

AN: Uh . . . hi minna-san . . . . uh sorry for taking so long. *dodges cans and other objects being thrown at her* *pops out from behind Wufei who's wearing a blue shirt, white pants and white cape, looking extremely sexy.*

LunaDragon: Heehee . . . gomen . . .

Wufei: *looks down at LunaDragon after he rolls his eyes* What's your pathetic excuse this time, pathetic onna?

LunaDragon: *glares* I'm not a pathetic onna, Wu-man.

Wufei: Don't you start! I get enough of that with the braided baka!

LunaDragon: *snickers* Gomen nasi, again, that it took SOO long. You see . . . I have this sort of *cough, cough* writers block . . .

Wufei: Again.

LunaDragon: Don't make me sick Rei-san and Sally-san on you!

Wufei: *pales at the thought of being chased by the most annoying women around and shudders*

LunaDragon: *laughs* About the writers block, it's starting to leave, cause I know all I'm gonna do, it's just that I don't know how to lead up to it. *sigh* Anyhow, REVEIW PLEASE!