Chapter 7- Blueprints

Allenby was training vigorously in the woods that morning. Rushing through the trees, she swatted madly at the air, pretending to spar with someone. Unlike yesterday, however, she was having a total rush. She felt like she was 17 again, though it was only four years ago.

Just then, a familiar ki touched her senses. She froze in her tracks, her fist still extended. "Wait that's."

Meanwhile, Sven was whistling cheerfully as he worked at the computer. "Oh, we have some emails from the big fish back home!" he piped. "I had better print them out."

He felt so refreshed today and he didn't know quite why. Maybe it was because of the conversations he shared with Allenby the night before. Or it could have just been the fresh morning air. Whatever the reason, everything he did had more enthusiasm in it.

As his printer began to eject all kinds of papers, Sven saw some thing out of the corner of his eye. Wheeling around, he stood up. "Who are you guys?"

"Wait a minute! Who are you?" Domon asked, pointing a finger at him. "Why are you here with Allenby's gundam?"

"How do you know Allenby?" Sven demanded.

"My name's Domon Kasshu from Neo Japan. And I."

"Oh! Domon Kasshu!" Sven smiled warmly. "Scared me there for a moment! Allenby's told me about you and the Shuffle Alliance! I'm glad to meet you!"

Rain walked up behind the two men. "So, what's your name, sir? Are you Allenby's partner?"

"Yes I am. I'm Sven Johnsone." He shook her hand and then Domon's.

"So I guess Allenby remembered where I said I trained as a boy." Domon remarked.

"Oh, I see." Sven scratched the back of his head. "I wasn't sure how she knew of a place to train right off like she did."

"Domon's here to do some more training too!" Rain piped. "Is it alright if we."

CRACK!!!! "AAAAUUUGGH!!!"

All three jumped at the sounds. "Oh no, Allenby!" Sven dropped his printed material onto the ground and ran towards the woods. Allenby was sitting on the ground, covering her face with her gloved hands.

"Allenby, are you alright?" Rain called, running after Sven.

"Damn it! I think I broke my nose on that branch!" she cried.

Domon was about to come and help when a light breeze blew away some of the papers. His brown eyes fell upon what appeared to be blueprints. "Hn?" Bending over, his red cape falling over his shoulders, he retrieved it. What he found made him cringe. "The berserker system."

That night, the four were sitting around the campfire, chatting away. Allenby held a damp cloth to her nose, occasionally moaning as the pain surged through her face. Rain was talking about her and Domon's engagement and wedding. Sven was listening politely as he prepared the chicken. Only Domon appeared to not be paying attention, his fiery gaze glued on Allenby's partner.

Finally, he spoke. "Allenby, can I speak with you for a moment?" He got up.

She looked up at him and nodded uncertainly. "Um.okay sure. Save a piece of chicken for me, okay Sven?"

He nodded. "Okay!"

Domon led the way into the first clearing of the woods and stopped. "Allenby, I thought you said that you had removed the Berserker system from your gundam."

"I did, Domon. Right after the 13th Gundam fight is when I did. Thank goodness too, I don't think I could stand being under its control."

He shoved a piece of paper at her from beneath his cape. "Then why did I find this by Sven's computer?"

Allenby frowned and snatched the paper to examine it. For a moment, her eyes widened, but then narrowed back down again. "This doesn't mean anything, Domon. It's probably an old file that he found."

"The date is only a month ago." He corrected. "Look Allenby, I think there's something that Sven is trying to hide from you."

These words hit Allenby like a high-speed car. Sven? Hide something from her? She couldn't believe it! And she would NOT believe it.

Just then, Sven called over to them. "Dinner's ready!"

Allenby stomped back towards camp, leaving Domon in her wake. He watched her with sadness in his eyes rather than anger. 'She's gonna be broken- hearted again.'

Sven had a pile of papers out by his feet as the two approached. He noticed the sheet in Allenby's hand. "Oh! Good! Allenby, you can toss that into the fire to keep it going."

Caught by surprise, she cocked her head at him. "Burn it?"

"Along with the rest of these." Sven said, pushing the others into the crackling flames. Domon stopped in his tracks, shocked.

Allenby just looked at him and he smiled. "You already said you wanted nothing to do with the Berserker system, right? Well, then we can use all this to feed the fire!"

The blueprints were tossed into the flames beneath the chicken. And as it and the other papers burned away, so did her doubts.

.......

Later that night, Domon and Rain had retired to their tent to get some sleep. Domon lay awake on his sleeping bag, gazing up at the top. "Hn."

Rain noticed his troubled expression. "Domon, what's the matter?"

"It's that Sven guy." He told her, keeping his voice low. "There's something about him and having those blueprints that I just don't trust."

"Domon, he burned them." She said. "Allenby is a smart girl. She knows to trust him and I think he can be trusted." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Now go to bed and stop worrying."

"Yes Anata." he muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, Allenby sat up restlessly in her tent. Seeing an empty canteen by her side, she decided she was thirsty and crawled out into the moonlight. It was cold in the Guyana Highlands at night and all she had on was a white camisole and shorts. Her teeth began chattering as she reached the banks of the lake and kneeled down to fill her container.

Just then, something warm fell upon her shoulders, shielding her from the chill. She wasn't entirely surprised, since she was hoping he'd be out and about as well. She lifted her head to meet his gaze. "Hi Sven. You thirsty too?"

He nodded as he finished placing his hooded sweatshirt over her. "You might say that." Then, he too knelt down to fill a glass.

This was it; he was so close to her, so close that she could feel his warmth. Scooting over, she wrapped her arms around him and pushed her head into his shoulder. She felt every muscle in his body tense up and didn't have to look to know he was blushing. Still, she simply burrowed closer, nuzzling her head against him. "Sven."

He laughed shyly. "Wow, you must have really been cold, huh? Heh, heh."

"I'm glad you're here, Sven." she whispered gazing up at his beautiful blue eyes, eyes that seemed to sparkle like hers.

Those words were what broke the spell. Slowly, Sven shifted so that he could return the embrace. It seemed kind of awkward at first, but not to them. The young man closed his eyes in contentment. "I'm glad to be here, Allenby."