Disclaimer: No. I still don't own Gundam Wing. I didn't in chapter three either, but I forgot the disclaimer.

And by the way, thank you Saiya-jin Patricia. I feel so warm and toasty inside when I read your positive reviews.

*

"I think there is some explaining to do…"

*

Lola looked as if she was going to throw up once Heero said this. Her hands moved lightning fast and she looked like she might cry. Now I felt bad for my treatment of her earlier. I pinned this on her in a way.

Well the least I could do was make it a bit easier on her. So I decided to leave the room, and when I returned, I threw a pair of pants at Anita. If Lola was going to tell these people anything, we would all be dressed, for crying out loud. Anita grumbled something about a free world, and then slipped the jeans on, also buttoning a few of the buttons on her shirt. Good, she was getting the point.

After Anita dressed, everyone's attention returned to Lola. I had made it clear that I didn't know anything. Grace didn't know anything about it either, and neither did Anita. At least they didn't know anymore than I did.

Lola looked lost. Her breath was shaky and she never seemed to focus on anyone in the room.

"Well…" she croaked. "Tate was sent a box…"

"Yes, we know that," Wufei said.

"and inside the box were pictures…"

"We know that, too," Duo smiled.

"Tell us something we don't know," Wufei supplied to Lola as if he was becoming very bored with the entire situation.

"and letters, lots of letters, and birth certificates, and diary entries, love letters, and death certificates, and…" Lola said all of this very fast so that I could barely catch all of it. But she paused at the end. She took breath.

"And…" Heero supplied.

"and I know what you all are."

Once she said this, there was quite a change in atmosphere. Duo stood up, Quatre leaned forward and Trowa leaned back. Wufei looked as if he would have moved if he didn't have a cast on, and Anita jumped because of Duo's swift movement. Grace stepped back, not understanding the change, and I turned toward Lola. What were they?

Only Heero didn't move. He struck me as the kind of person that very few people could surprise. His eyebrows rose, and he looked questioningly at Lola.

"What are we?" he asked, a hint of caution in his voice.

"You're the Gundam pilots," she said simply.

What?

Huh?

Where did that come from? How did she come up with that? Gundam pilots? Weren't those guys up in space, or something?

Obviously I wasn't the only one that thought this was strange. Anita looked at everyone in the room as if seeing them in a new light. Grace's eyes widened, and our guests just looked at each other as if Lola was going mad.

Then they started to whisper to each other, and it all started to make sense to me.

*

"…the likely hood that someone would have pictures of all five of the Gundam pilots…"

*

How had I not seen it before? They had even said as much in the car to each other when we went to eat. How had I missed that?

Dumb! Dumb! Dumb!

I was looking around the room now. I felt like I had just met these people all over again. Gundam pilots.

That changes everything. We weren't looking at just anybody's forgotten past or anything. We were looking at real living history. These people would be known for ages, and they were sitting in my kitchen.

I wanted to take a picture.

Fortunately I refrained.

"How do you know this?" Quatre asked, visibly trying to remain calm.

"I read some of the documents. It said as much in them. It didn't take to much to figure it out once I got a few things pieced together," she replied.

"What's wrong with us knowing?" Anita asked, somewhat annoyed. Celebrity wouldn't faze her.

"We went to great lengths to keep our identities secret," Quatre began.

"And the fact that you people know who we are now changes some things," Duo added. "We might have to do some more covering up."

"Well I didn't know until I went through the box, so I think you've done a fairly good job so far," Lola supplied.

"Yeah, but if you know, then the person that gave you that damn package knows too," Duo moaned. "I don't wanna go on another search and destroy mission," he whined.

"What do you mean by destroy?" I asked stunned. I didn't like Veronica, but I didn't dislike her that much.

"Well, we have to make sure she doesn't tell anyone else, and we have to find out where she found this out from. Make sure that they don't tell anyone else," Quatre said.

"What else did you find out?" Wufei asked. This guy just didn't get off the subject at hand.

Lola looked kind of annoyed now. I think Wufei might have gotten on her nerves. She had this look on her face that clearly said don't push it.

"Well?" he prompted. "Did you find out anything important?"

"I know that after your wife died, they cremated her and put her remains on a flower field. That has some importance to you, doesn't it?" she asked getting very aggravated. Whoa there girl! She was getting rude now.

"You had a wife!?" Duo half exclaimed, half asked.

"Yeah," Wufei whispered. "I didn't know they did that. She would have liked that." He sounded sad. I felt bad for him.

Clearly Lola did too because she then whispered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blurt it out like that."

Wufei didn't say anything, he just stared. There was a sadness in the room. All of us girls had lost someone important in our lives. We knew what it was like. I got the feeling the guys did too.

"What else do you know?" Trowa asked. For some reason every time he said something, it sounded out of place. He never seemed to speak, so it was weird when he did speak.

"Well, there was a letter about you to your grandmother. Your mother said your sister, Catherine, named you because your parents couldn't think of anything, and she thought you were beautiful like a god. Triton. God of the sea.

There were things about you, after you were taken from your family. They knew they wanted you as a pilot. They had been worried about the real Trowa Barton from the beginning of the plans for Operation Meteor. You were considered backup."

Trowa's eyes widened at this. I don't think any of them really knew what she was telling them. This was all new to them. I had the urge to stop her. She shouldn't be telling them this.

"And you," she said, pointing at Quatre, "your mother died giving birth to you, but your father didn't want you to know, because he didn't want you to blame yourself. He wanted you to feel as if you had a place with you sisters, so he told you that you were a test tube baby like your sisters, but you're really the first naturally born child in the colonies. He named you after her."

God, what was getting into her? Now she was on a roll, so she wasn't going to stop. She continued with Heero.

"And you. You were a test tube baby. Your mother couldn't conceive and she wanted a baby so badly. Then she died, and your father had to give you away to an orphanage, he couldn't raise you alone with out her. Then some guy named Odin Lowe got a hold of you. And you lived with him. And they knew they had to have you once they met you. You had to be a Gundam pilot."

Heero looked horrified. I was starting to think that she was going way too far. But the only one left was Duo so I just let her finish what she started.

"Duo. But that's not your real name is it?" Lola asked.

"No," he replied simply. I think he was afraid of what she was going to tell him.

"John Dempsey. You ran away from home to the colonies, and lived on L2 in an orphanage at a church. Maxwell church. That's the one from the Maxwell Church Tragedy. You lived there. I'm guessing that's where you got Maxwell. I don't know about Duo."

"Solo," was his one word reply. "No one has called me John in years. How did you know it?"

"You told Sister Helen…once…she wrote it down. That was the only time your real name or past was mentioned. She was musing over why such a nice boy was alone and the irony of your name."
Duo sighed. Lola was quiet now. She just gave everyone in that room a lot to swallow. Grace slid down on the floor. Anita's eyes were wide. I was staring into space, wondering what to do now. The rest were just sitting there, breathing, trying to figure out what she just told them.

"You wouldn't lie, would you?" Heero asked quietly.

"No," Lola said softly.

"Wow."

"Yeah, wow," Duo agreed with whoever spoke.

"So," Grace started, "anybody want some cheesecake?"

"Good timing, Grace. Really," came Anita's sarcastic reply.

"What?" Grace asked looking around. "I always feel better after some cheesecake!"

"You can give me some then," Quatre sighed.

"Cheesecake all around," Duo exclaimed, and the rest seemed to agree.

Later…

Once we had all consumed our cheesecake, the guys asked to see the pictures and documents. Lola got them out, and they all went over everything, and a few hours layer, they all came to the same conclusions that Lola had come to.

"How did this Veronica get all of this stuff?" Quatre was musing to himself.

"I am starting to wonder that myself."

"I think we need to find her," Heero said ominously, "she might know more."

Suddenly eight heads turned towards me, and I yelled, "Don't look at me! What makes you think I know where she is?"

"Well she did send it to you…" Wufei started.

"Doesn't mean I know where she is," I bit back.

"Do you know where she lived last? Maybe she still lives there. And if not, maybe she left a forwarding address," Quatre offered.

"I'd have to think about that. Ummmm, no," I answered quickly.
"Then we'll have to do this the hard way," Heero said.

"What is the hard way, exactly?" Anita asked, very interested, I'm sure. So he was cute. She didn't have to drool on him. He was also creepy as hell.

"Oh no, not that damn laptop!" Duo cried.

Suddenly, Heero left, and came back just as quickly, with a sleek black laptop, and was typing away furiously on it. And he could type fast. Really fast. Like I'm-not-sure-if-he-was-actually-typing-real-words fast.

He continued like this for a while, or at least until the rest of us got bored with it and started to drift away. I was sitting on the couch in the living room with Wufei and Duo, while Grace was in the kitchen with Trowa and Quatre. Anita drifted off outside. Lola was sitting on the floor beside my feet, rubbing her tummy.

"Are you okay?" I asked, concerned.

"Oh, yeah," she assured me. "The baby is kicking like crazy though."

"Ooh, can I feel?" I pleaded. I have always wanted to feel a baby kick.

"Uh, sure," she consented. She took my hand and placed in a little below her belly button. Well, actually, she didn't have a belly button anymore. It disappeared in around the seventh month. But anyway, there, right below her skin, was this awkward movement. It felt like feeling something bounce around in really thick rubber.

It was amazing.

I oohed and awed and did all the appropriate things one should do when touching another person's stomach. And Wufei looked at me like I was nuts. Duo looked more amused.

"Does it hurt much?" he asked.

"Not really, not like that would," Lola answered, pointing at Wufei's cast. "What did you do anyway?"

"Well," Wufei started.

"He was pushed down a flight of stairs by a four year old," Duo replied. "I wasn't there, but I heard the whole thing from Sally."

Wufei looked completely mortified by that one. "I-I was n-not," he stuttered. "I was chasing a criminal and I fell down the stairs mid-pursuit."

"Yeah, after being pushed by a four year old," Duo muttered.

I snickered at this, and Lola lightly laughed.

"Did you get him?" she asked.

"Of course," was Wufei's reply.

"Sally did," Duo whispered, behind his hand. "He was to busy writhing in pain."

Wufei's eyes took an I-will-kill-you-later look and he got up to go to the kitchen. I can only assume because he wouldn't be ridiculed there.

Duo got up to follow him, and I stayed with Lola.

"Do you have any names yet?" I asked.

"No, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately."

"Hmm, if it's a girl, you can always name her after me," I said with a smirk on my face.

"I don't think so."

"Well," I said, mock stunned. "I have never been so insulted in my life!"

I dramatically got up, and started towards the kitchen. I was going to find out what Grace was doing. And what all those guys were doing. But only because they were with her. Really.

Lola got up to follow, and we both found Grace in the kitchen making food for supper. God, she never stops cooking. It was chicken and cheesy broccoli. My favorite.

Lola and I sat, and then we all stared at each other.

"So…"

"So."

"Well, where are you from?" Quatre tried at small talk.

"Earth."

"Well, Earth is pretty big. You got some place more specific than that?" Duo asked sounding slightly exasperated.

"Well, I was from North America, and it was by the sea, but that is all I can remember. We moved a lot when I was young," I answered.

"I was from the Midwest in North America," Lola replied. "I think a few hundred years ago the area was called Iowa or Illinois. Weird names, huh?"

Grace had finished the chicken, and I got up to help pass it out. We left some for Heero and Anita, whenever they decided to join the rest of us normal people. We ate a few minutes in silence. I got up to walk around for a drink.

"So where is the…" Quatre started. I knew what was coming, and behind Lola, I was giving the please-dear-lord-don't-ask hand wave and pleading with my eyes. "…father?" he finished looking confused.

"Somewhere off screwing around I'm sure," she began. She continued ranting for the next few minutes about jerks and abandonment, all the while wilding stabbing the chicken with a glint in her eye. I took her hand, hoping she wouldn't try to stab me too. She finished with snarling, "Well I hope he's happy with Dolores, or whatever the hell her name is…" Then her eyes went wide as if she just realized where she was, and she looked around blushing. "Sorry," she said looking upset. "I'm still a bit bitter…"she mumbled. She turned to leave the room, with a hint of tears in her eyes.

"Wow," Duo said stunned. "Way to be tactful, Quatre."

Quatre blushed, not knowing what to say. He looked upset and made to go after her, but Grace stopped him.

"She likes to be alone," Grace said. "Besides, you couldn't have known it would upset her so much."

"Still," Quatre said, looking into the other room.

"There isn't much you could say anyway. She doesn't blame you. Just let her work it out on her own. She'll be fine. Really," I tried to assure him. This is coming from someone who had suffered the wrath of Lola many times.

Wufei looked unconvinced. "She's probably just overly emotional. Almost all women are…"

Whoa.

He didn't really mean that.

He has ten seconds to redeem himself.

"Especially when they're pregnant. Sally isn't ever like that…" he continued. Breathing slowing, heart rate returning to normal. Killing urges subsiding. "But women are weaker beings…"

Now I have to leave. I am not above murdering a chauvinistic jerk in the middle of our kitchen, but I wouldn't want to leave the mess for Grace to clean up.

"His name was Michael Chancellor. He was nice. We all thought it would work out," I said before I left the room to go find Lola. "Don't worry, I'll take care of Lola."

I looked around the house for her, but she didn't seem to be anywhere. I passed Heero, still wildly typing on his laptop, and absently eating the chicken I'm sure Grace brought to him. I then walked out side. I heard sniffling in the corner. Success! I had found her!

When I rounded the corner, I didn't find quite what I had expected. It wasn't Lola. Or at least not only her.

It was Lola and Anita. Lola was crying on Anita's shoulder, and Anita was patting her back, whispering to her. I had never thought to see this in my whole life.

Those two getting along was like seeing oil magically blending with water. Impossible. I stood by the edge of the wall, listened to them.

"I don't think I can do it alone…" Lola confessed.

"You don't need him. He was slime and he didn't deserve to have you or be around the baby. You did the right thing. You're doing the right thing," Anita soothed.

"You really think so?"

"Of course I do. This is me talking here, I would never lie to you," Anita said.

"I guess so."

"What do you mean you guess so? You know so. You will live and prosper, and all that jazz. It will be great. You'll wake up in the morning, and you'll see your baby smile, and all of it will be worth it. The pain, the sorrow, the long hours of labor. I just know it," Anita assured.

"Thank you…" Lola murmured, sniffling and wiping her nose. She then hugged Anita, and got up. I ran off before I fainted from shock, and got back to the house before they noticed me.

Once inside, I was scared half to death by Heero yelling in triumph.

"Ah ha!"

After my blood curdling scream, and the confusion that followed, we all had settled, and Heero announced his news.

"I found her. She's not all that far either. Up north about 250 miles. We could do that easy. Although we might have to hike for a while."

Whoa.

We?

What did he mean by 'we'?

Because if he thought I was going, he had another thing coming.