CHAPTER 2

Pilot 01.

You are to collect the other pilots and return to your gundam hanger at 1630 tomorrow. There have been some unexpected events, and you must be updated on information.

"Mission accepted." Heero said, reading the e-mail. He then turned to find the other pilots.

~

Black. No, a swirling void of purples and reds and blues - they didn't look too good together.

Ugh...What the hell did she do to me?

Before she could even blink, Makoto had felt a burning pain in her chest before she'd collapsed. She hadn't even time to move out of the way. And now she was -

Dead? She felt dead, and she should know, having died for Kami knew how many times, but...this was a strange place to be for the dead.

It was then she deigned to look at herself. First, she saw her normal body, ever so faint, but complete.

Except, of course, for the gaping, burning hole in her chest, which just so happened to be emitting a pure white light. Well, that did explain the intense pain she seemed to be feeling. But she couldn't move her body, couldn't curl up, couldn't cover he wound. She could only stare at her chest, as the light expanded, spreading to the rest of her and burning outward, breaking through her skin. She wanted to scream, but it had already burned away her voice...

"Makoto. Wake up." With difficulty, she opened her eyes. "You have been through an extreme amount of pain. Do not move. Just listen. You may not understand why I did what I did, but you will when you get up. You will also notice you are no longer in your apartment bedroom. Your new living quarters are in the dorm room of a school. This is no normal school. It is a forefront for a military base, and while there are many students who attend, only a select few are members of that base. The rest of the students are your average, everyday students. You are currently situated in the girl's dorm. In time, you will be shifted to the mixed dorm. You may not appreciate this, but it has to be done."

There was a pause.

"You are currently listening to a tape. Don't worry, you will see me, and somewhat more often than you used to. When you get up, burn this tape in the fireplace. Every room I situate you in will have a fireplace. It's not for any specific purpose, but I thought you might appreciate it. I have placed what I believe to be most necessities in your room.

Pause.

"This tape will be silent for an hour. By then, most of the aftershocks of my attack will have worn off, and though you will be somewhat sore, the majority of your pain will have passed, allowing you to walk for short distances. You have been given three days by the 'school' authorities to recover. In an hour, I will give you a guide of your room, and more information about your new duty, as well as explain your new memories. And what happened to you. You will promptly fall back asleep right, about, now."

~

"So what did Doctor J want, anyway?" Duo asked playfully, as he walked along. "I mean, the war's over, isn't it? But we're still running around, pulling off missions-"

"Duo," Quatre cut him off quietly. "We're not supposed to talk about that so openly."

"It's called mopping up." Trowa said softly.

"Do you still want to head to the shopping center? Heero needs to update his laptop, and I need to go grocery shopping." Quatre asked.

"Yeah, why not?"

~

Two hours earlier.

"Good, Makoto. You're awake again. If you get up and look around your room, you'll see that adjoining it is a bathroom. It contains a spa, a shower, a toilet and sink. Within the mirror cabinet you will find shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste and toothbrush, deodorant, anti-perspirant and a very well designed first aid kit, which I assure you that you will need.

You have two wardrobes. The one in the corner left of the bathroom door holds your school clothing, including the regular, your PE gear and also your fencing gear. You may or may not choose to do fencing. We will discuss this later, when you have a chance to see me. It also holds some casual clothing, jeans, blouses, skirts and one or two dresses, and a few pairs of shoes.

The wardrobe in the corner on the other side of the door also contains casual clothing, but all designed by me. I like to admire my design abilities, as I am a fashion designer. It also contains a few formal gowns and clothing, as well as a few durable sets of clothing, which you'll need. As my designed clothing is by far superior, I will be expecting you to choose your clothing more from this wardrobe." A smile could be heard in Setsuna's voice.

"Next to that wardrobe, you will find a small dressing table with a set of drawers, one large one and four small ones. In that large one you will find underwear, nightclothes, and probably other stuff I can't seem to remember. In the four small ones you will find from the top, starting from the left - hair accessories including your hairbrush, make up and jewelry. The last drawer has a lock with a key. The key is, at this point, on top of your dressing table.

This drawer contains a few of your new weapons. A gun, a knife and a set of fans as well as other things which you will discover for yourself. You will wonder at their presence in your drawer, but as your new set of memories kick in, you will understand their presence. The foot of your bed is currently facing the door to the hall of your dorm. To your right, facing the bathroom door is the fireplace I mentioned. Also to your right, in the corner, is a desk with approximately eight drawers.

This is your study table. In seven of the drawers are your subjects, currently 7 are filled. Maths, Science, Geography, which are your compulsory subjects, and Home Ec. and Food Technology, which I knew you would wish to choose. English, which is spoken by the colonies. Your last subject is for you to choose with me. This is, however, your homework and study table.

Those drawers will be filled with relevant research and revision material to last you through the rest of this year and next. Some people would consider this cheating. I do not. I consider it preparation for exams and assessments that have, as of yet, not been written or drawn up. this is a favor from me to you, as despite your new duty, I wish for you to do well in your education. You're no Ami, but you are a fairly intelligent girl. And you are ahead in your studies, due to the fact that you have been tutored by me for the last 4 years."

"I've WHAT?" Makoto asked aloud. That didn't make sense.

"I understand that won't make sense, but I will explain. Later. In the last remaining corner on your left, is your project table. This has 6 drawers, and is where you will complete your projects and assignments. Your projects for the rest of the year have been placed in one of the drawers, so if ever you should be bored, you can have an early start with them. Take note that they probably won't be given out for another few months to the other students. I think you're feeling very happy that I've taken you under my wing." Setsuna added wryly. "In one of those drawers is your new, personalized laptop, and on your other study table are your materials needed for school. I believe that is the end of our tour. Now get up, and sit in the comfy chair by the fireplace."

Shrugging, Makoto did so. Though she was mildly sore, she seemed fine. There was nothing a walk wouldn't cure. "Right. I'm sitting."

"I will now explain my actions. In attacking you, I eliminated your human body, or the body you were reborn in. This was necessary, as, with your magic expanding and growing stronger, you could not have been able to handle it without the proper knowledge needed to control it. The jovian form has a gift of remembrance. If one inserts a memory into the jovian, such as a mage inserting a memory of how to do a fire spell, a jovian can not only view that memory but experience that memory, thus learning a fire spell. You do not have fire magic. As an Enchantress, you have nature magic, which means green, weather and healing. Healing is an interesting magic in itself, but that is not the point."

Mako conceded that. "Before your mother died in the silver millennium, she inserted those memories into you, though she wasn't a healer. The memories that give you knowledge and experience in healing magics have been inserted by me. Now, as you have been reborn in a ways, you have been given a new set of memories, where I have trained you from your childhood in the arts of fighting, hacking, infiltration and piloting. Thus, the knowledge had been placed in your mind to sufficiently equip you. You will retain your old memories, but after a while they will grow vague so as not to cause you mental confusion. I felt it would be wise for you to keep them."

There was a pause. "Okay," Makoto said slowly.

"That is the simplest I am able to explain to you, in a short amount of time. Now, get up and look in the mirror. You will notice a difference."

The tape said no more, waiting. Makoto walked to the dressing table. And almost screamed. "Oh. Shit."

Whoever was is the mirror, it was not Makoto.

Instead of a tall, well-built giant of girl, there was a delicate, slender frame of a pixie. Her face was finely structured, her hair reaching mid-thigh, a little shorter than Minako's. And it was so the wrong colour. It was red gold, like fire, but too red to be fiery. Red-gold like embers, a much quieter colour, though a much more unique one. The only feature that had not changed was her eyes, and even they seemed to sparkle more. She touched her ears, glad she had at least her usual rose studs with her.

"Yes. Your jovian form, which you will require information on. Jovians were creatures of the sky and trees. You will now find that you are light, extremely so, and very, very, quiet naturally. You are surprisingly strong for your frame, but not as strong as for it to be an advantage to you. Jovians had a knack of fading into their environment, which will be useful in the future. You are currently a little shorter than 5'1, and you weigh approximately 30 kilos. All memories have been modified so as to accomodate your new form. You have always been like this. Simple as that. You still have your fighting abilities, and they have been enhanced in speed and agility due to your new form and the fact that I persuaded you to take up dancing."

"You did." Makoto stated flatly. She knew there'd be change, but...nothing so drastic. A new home, a new look, a new duty, new skills, a new life... there was so much to get through in so little time.

"If you take the key and open the locked drawer, I can explain about the fans. Do so." Makoto opened the drawer. "In the Silver Millenium, the trend was very conservative relating to women. This was a strain on jovian women, who could fight with the best. Creatures of nature, they disdained clothing that restricted their lack of movement and the ability to defend themselves. So jovian nobles created special fans for the noble and royal women. Light as cotton, they are extremely strong and sharp, with the ability to deflect the strongest of gunshots and cut through almost any material. And they also have magical properties that may be useful to you, whether you do or do not use magic. This is the royal set, the only set strong enough to survive the destruction of the Silver Millennium. It is a set of twenty, with different properties. You will find them extremely useful. The patterning on them is the ancient jovian language, which you should be able to read. You are also the only person able to access their properties, something you could not have done formerly. The fans may vary in size, and you have the ability to adjust their size for convenience.

Apart from the fans, the knife and the gun, you will find a dagger with an ornamental handle. It is to be worn as a hairpiece. I will demonstrate later. You will find a set of twenty hairpins in a small velvet sack-lock picks. You have normal lock picks in another bag. You fill find arm ornaments that can hide knives within them. I believe that should be all." Setsuna's voice turned gentle.

"There is also a map for the school and surrounding area, such as the mall. This is very sudden, Makoto, I know. But of all the senshi, you were always the best at adapting. You have a lot to get through, and it will be hard at first. I hope it gets better, because I - no we - need you. But it won't all be duty. Your bank account currently holds 50 000 American dollars' worth of money in it. You have an allowance of 1000 dollars a week. It may seem like a lot, but I assure you you'll need it. Each dorm has a common room for the residents, with a kitchen and television.

I think I've given you enough today. On the bookshelf between your study table and bed, you will notice one thousand dollars in cash on the uppermost shelf. With hardly any T.V, you won't have much to entertain yourself. The bookshelf is empty. I suggest you take the money and go shopping. You can get familiar with your surroundings and start making yourself at home. And buy a few books for the bookshelf. There's a list of software you have to buy for your laptop. Be back by 4 and head to administraion for your timetable."

There was silence. Makoto reached over to take the tape out of the radio recorder thingy.

"Oh, and if I find they all happen to be romance novels, I will hunt you down myself. This tape will end now. Feel free to throw it into the fire, which will never get out of control and burn down your room. "

Makoto regarded the tape. "That's...nice." She said finally. "I think I'll go shopping now." Heading to Setsuna's wardrobe, she quickly selected a light, long white skirt starting a little above her waist and ending at her calves with light blue patterning at the hem. A matching light jacket and sleeveless light blue shirt went with it. She grabbed a small handbag and headed over to the bookshelf, grabbing the money and getting her laptop out of it's drawer. She then grabbed her room keys off the dresser and headed out. There was a lot to think about, but she could do it later.

~

Quatre was about to go insane.

Politely ignoring the red marks on Duo's face where he had failed to successfully hit on several girls, looking out for Wufei saying anything stupid at the wrong time, and trying to keep Heero from pulling his gun out on anyone and everyone, he was regretting ever suggesting a trip to the mall. At least he knew Trowa wouldn't do anything stupid. "Um, Heero, where did you say that software shop was?" He asked faintly.

"Hn."

"Oh. I see." He replied politely, not understanding at all. Migraine, migraine, no, Quatre, calm down...see...you can do it...

"Quatre?"

"Yes, Trowa?"

"I think Duo ran off again."

"Oh no." He made a half-hearted attempt to care and looked around - before he saw a familiar figure walk past. That's - but wasn't she on Earth? In Japan? "Makoto?" He asked aloud. The figure paused before looking around. "Over here!" He called. At least he could be polite to her.

"Quatre?" She asked, confused as she walked up to them."The last time I saw you was in Japan. What are you doing here?" her soft accent added a slight lilt to her words. It sounded melodic, in Quatre's opinion. He smiled. "I could say the same of you, miss Makoto. I live here. Japan was a trip Duo and I made." He immediately cringed. She was Duo's old girlfriend, and Duo wasn't good at breakups.

She paused. "Oh. Duo." She said finally. "Well, I actually moved here. Orders of my new guardian. Today."

"Oh." He said, surprised. He remembered her mentioning she was an orphan, but... "So you're figuring your way around?"

"Well, yes. I almost got lost to the mall!" She laughed suddenly. "I'm not quite used to your streets yet. But I'll get the hang of it. I'm just, well, shopping."

"Groceries?"

"Nope. Books. And well..." She lifted up her green and white laptop. The latest model, actually, Quatre recalled. "I need to upload some software and look into some upgrades...when I find the computer store...if there's a computer store...I think my aunt mentioned there was, but...yeah. Do you know where...?" She paused. "So who are your friends? I don't think I've met them."

Quatre glanced at them. The three were silently gazing at him and Makoto. He sweatdropped. "Uh, um... Well, this is Wufei," He said, gesturing to him. Wufei looked at her. She blinked. "This is Trowa." Trowa smiled and shook her hand. "...And this is Heero."

"Konni- I mean, hello," She said, smiling slightly.

Heero regarded her. "Konnichiwa." He said, bowing his head. She smiled again, startled, before she talked to him in Japanese. He grunted, and she frowned slightly, before turning back to Quatre.

"So do you know if there are any bookstores?" Makoto asked. He pointed her in the direction and recieved a genuine smile before she set off. He turned to his friends.

"You know, you could have been more polite." He said pointedly.

"Right. So who the hell was that, Winner?" Wufei snapped. "Why do you bother with onnas?"

"Actually, that was Duo's old girlfriend - before he dumped her. And not very nicely. She took it quite well, and brought me some snacks to eat on the shuttle back to L1." Quatre told them. "She's quite nice, if you'd bother to speak to her."

"Why would I want to speak to some stupid onna?" Wufei asked icily. He paused. "Even if she is that baka's old girlfriend. She was stupid to get with him in the first place."

"Wufei!" He snapped. Then he sighed. "Look, I'm going grocery shopping, you guys go wherever you want, we'll meet back in two hours. And please, someone go get Duo." With that, they split up.

~

If Quatre was here, then Duo must be too. Makoto was not happy about that. But there was nothing she could do about it. Looking through the books, she picked up three intriguing fantasies and a spy novel. She could grab more later.

She wondered how he was doing.

Makoto paused, but decided not to hit herself. That would attract attention. Looking back, Duo was a bit of a player. She really shouldn't have fallen for him. But something drew her to him. She guessed she thought she could 'heal' him or something. He was only looking for something to amuse him during his stay. He'd told Makoto as much when they'd met. She knew he'd leave, but Makoto hadn't thought he'd reject her. She sighed. The past was gone. It was a whole lifetime ago. Literally.

Now. That computer shop. Makoto quickly paid for the books, before she noticed him. Duo. Hitting on some girls, by the looks of it. She stared, then shook her head and turned away. Before she noticed one of Quatre's friends. The messy brown haired one. Looking first at Duo, and then at her, and back at Duo. She made nothing of it. "Excuse me", she asked the cashier, "do you know if there's a computer or software store in the mall?"

"'Course, sweety," she responded, giving Makoto the directions, who smiled and thanked her before turning to leave. Bag of books in one hand, she was glad her laptop was light and small. Come to think of it, it was very feminine. She almost laughed. Almost. Trust Setsuna's taste. Mako herself would have just gotten the most convenient one.

She tried to ignore the unnerving stare the boy was giving her.

It wasn't working.

At all.

What was with him? She'd only asked him if he was Japanese, but no, he couldn't even be bothered to answer. A grunt. A grunt! Some people. Though that Wufei boy was worse. She'd wanted to smash his face in. Come to think of it, she wanted to do that to practically every boy in the area.

What the hell were they staring at her for? Boys never stared at her before. Only her eyes. Or her chest. Not that she had much of one now. Her new form lacked in that area. Which was probably a good thing, actually.

Bloody perverts. They better not show up at her new school. They probably would. Dammit. She suddenly wished her hair was brown again. A dull, brown, normal colour.

Boys in general, Makoto decided, were jerks. Horny, ecchi little jerks. No manners. About the only nice one she'd ever met (excepting Mamoru, Umino and Motoki) was Quatre.

Though Duo was quite charmi-

Duo's the little bastard who's trying to hit on three girls at once! She cut herself off. She was not going to give in to those extremely self- destructive thoughts about the cute, funny - d'aaaaarrrrgh!

Ah! Relief. The shop was right in front of her. She went in. To be greeted by -

"Hey, Yui! Come for another update and who's this pretty little lady?" The guy called without missing a beat. Stupid lecher. There were perverts everywhere.

"Exactly how old are you?" She asked him, even as she looked behind her to see Heero enter behind her.

"Still young enough for a-" He started suggestively. Her look shut him up. "Right. So what is the miss looking for?"

"Right. I just got my laptop, and I'm looking for the software packages on this list." She said, as she pulled it out. "Do you have this stuff?" The man went over the list, nodding. "Yep. The latest stuff? You'll probably want this too, Yui. Come with me. Are you sure you can afford it, miss?" He asked her. "This stuff is fairly expensive to get all at once."

"I'm not sure," She admitted. "I'll have to see the prices, but I think I came to pick up something. A prepared package?" She reached into her handbag and gave him the envelope Setsuna placed there. He reached for it and opened it, looking at the documents. Before he whistled.

"Right. This is all in document? Who the hell organised this?" He asked, eyeing her.

"My guardian. Mei -" She cut herself off, eyeing him. "What does it say?"

"You've got your package prepared, miss. And paid for. You can install the stuff here if you like."

"Paid for?" She asked confused. Then what the hell was the cash for?

Computer games, Setsuna said in her mind, duh. And whatever else you want.

"Uh huh, missy. The powerpoint's over there, next to the desk."

"Right. Thanks. The packaging?" He passed over a whole bunch of boxes. She took them and headed over to the desk, plugging up the laptop.

In her own life, Makoto didn't even have a laptop, and she knew crap-all on how to do this sort of thing. She knew the basics of computing, yes (she took it as a subject), but she never went through the practical stuff...

If only Ami were here, she thought to herself. But memories, and knowledge started rising in the back of her mind. She'd done this before...

Before she knew it, her hands were already moving, automatically loading and waiting for the first programs to install, rerouting systems resources to make it as fast and efficient as possible. It would still take fifteen minutes though. Keeping an eye on the laptop, she got up and started browsing through the games.

"Neat li'l chick," the man observed before he turned to Heero."Don't get many of them in a store like this. You'll be wanting the update versions." He passed one more stare at the girl before getting various boxes for Heero.

"Hn." He snapped, somewhat edgy. Watching the man look over a girl like that had unsettled him. Duo did it all the time, but Duo was Duo. He guestured to the boxes.

"Oh. Yeah." The man shoved them at Heero. He picked them up and walked to the table, placing himself across from Makoto's laptop and updating his own software. The next half-hour was silent as they got on with their work, both somewhat edgy. Heero for no known reason, and Makoto because she knew that stupid pervert was looking at her. And she honestly didn't know what to do about it.

It had never happened before, and Minako always managed to publicly humiliate the people who did it to her, but Makoto didn't have that kind of technique. Whenever someone tried that on Usagi, Mamoru would always pay them a visit. Makoto didn't have a boyfriend. If this was the old her, she'd scare the shit out of the guy, but the new Makoto didn't have the value of intimidation. This sucked. Just finish, and get the hell out of here as fast as you can, Mako. He's not worth it. He's not worth it. He's not...She'd finished her installing, and packed up, placing the CDs in their covers and replacing them in the packaging. She could finish the smaller programs later. Looking up, she saw Heero was done too. Figures. He was probably better than her anyway. They walked to the door together.

"See ya 'round, Yui! And feel free to come again, sweetcheeks!" The stupid bastard winked at her. He's not...screw this.

"Excuse me," she said icily, "Is this how you treat all your customers?" he had the audacity to smile. Smile!

"Sorry, sweety, but you ain't gonna stop me. 'Sides, it's only the ones with cute -"

"CUTE WHAT?!?!?!" The poor man obviously had no self-preservation in the face of an enraged Kino Makoto.

"What're you complaining about?" he asked breezily. "It's not like you have an impressive chest, so that's practically your only - "

She didn't even need to think. Shifting both bags and laptop to one hand, she walked up to him, her fist connecting with his jaw. He hadn't even time to stagger before she caught him with a terrific backhand. The nameless shop clerk dropped. "AND NO! I WON'T COME AGAIN YOU PIECE OF -" She then launched into a tirade consisting 11 or so different swear words repeated several times. Realising she had been mixing up her Japanese with her English for the past five minutes, she stopped.

Composing herself, and ignoring stares from wide-eyed male customers (and applause from the females - "Wow, and I thought I could bitch slap!"), she proceeded to effectively stalk out the door.