Disclaimer: Same as always.

The stars are actually quite beautiful when you think about it. They sparkle and entice you into thoughts, ones you might not have thought of otherwise. You dream. You dream of things that could have happened, or you wish of things that you want to happen. You hope. And you feel so small.

Of course, I wouldn't be talking like this if I hadn't been dragged into the woods by a psycho.

We left Lola and Wufei at the house. Lola was too pregnant to go, and Wufei's ankle was broken. This gained much grumbling from Wufei. Something about being left behind with a woman. This annoyed us, but he must have talked like this often, because everyone else just ignored him. We had to talk Anita into going. I wasn't about to leave her there with Lola. Just because they had a little powwow in the back yard doesn't mean they were going to get along when I left. And all I needed was an angry pregnant woman to return to when I got back.

Packing was easy; we weren't supposed to be gone any longer than two days. The guys didn't take long either; they seemed to wear the same clothes all the time anyway. Figuring out how to transport seven people was the hard part. We had our car, which was a piece of crap, and they had a motorcycle and a car. Decisions, decisions. In the end, we took their car, and the motorcycle. Duo agreed to take someone with him on the motorcycle, and Anita looked ready to pounce on the idea. Grace put in that I get carsick, so no one wanted me to ride with them in the car and I ended up riding with Duo.

It was starting to get cloudy by the next day, and I was getting a burning feeling in the pit of my stomach. I mentioned this to Anita, but she told me it was probably just gas. Great. We headed out fairly late in the day, for what reason I don't know. Before we left, we made sure Lola was okay being left behind with Wufei (who had given me the impression of a cross between an angry anti-feminist and a knight in not-so-shiny- armor).

While loading the car, Heero was very analytical about putting in the bags. It occurred to me then, that we were hanging out with soldiers from the war. I remembered the war. How confusing it was, and all of those people dying daily. They were younger than me at the time. I was so suddenly blown away by this, that it took me a second to think straight. What must their lives been like back then? What were they like right now? While I was a not-so-innocent schoolgirl, they were fighting in a war. Man. That's…screwed up.

Suddenly Grace mentioned that Heero was only wearing a green tank top for a shirt. If it was going to rain, he should wear something more practical to go out in the woods (which at the time, I only thought was a threat), and offered to get something from the house for him. Lola argued that he was a big boy and would wear what he wanted to wear.

"At least he stopped wearing that spandex…" Duo started.

"Oh, I don't think I'd mind," Grace murmured absently, with a half smile on her face.

Lola looked shocked by this. She blinked a few times, as if trying to take in the comment, and then said stunned, "Did you just make a joke?"

Grace just smiled and walked back into the house for the rest of her stuff with Lola gaping at her retreating back.

By the time we had set out, I had just realized I was scared to death of riding on a motorcycle. Also, the concept of holding on for dear life to a guy I had met only a few weeks ago didn't strike me as being pleasurable. Unfortunately I had been given my transportation, and there was no turning back. I closed my eyes and I worked hard at holding on to Duo's stomach. I was in for a surprise. Duo's braid would sometimes whip around and hit me while we were driving, but beyond that, there was nothing bad about riding a motorcycle. In fact, it was quite exhilarating.

Then it started to rain.

It didn't start by sprinkling or even by a light drizzle. No, it just poured down, so from one moment we were riding free, to the next moment we smelled like wet dogs going really fast down a highway. Now, the smell didn't bother me. It was the way the rain pelted against my face and my upper body much like little rocks being thrown at me. It hurt and it was very uncomfortable.

As it was getting darker, it became even harder to see and sometimes we stopped to make sure we knew what we were doing. The car didn't seem to fair much better than we were, because every so often they would start going very slow, as if they didn't know if they were on the right side of the road. Soon we decided to stop at a hotel. A fairly nice one with an indoor swimming pool and a warm, dry lobby. I can only imagine what Duo and I looked like standing there. Probably as if we had been out in the rain for hours. Which we basically had been.

There hadn't been plans for a hotel when we had left the house, but it seemed to be in them now. That was the first problem that popped up in my mind, and the second was where I going to get my clothes washed. I didn't bring along all that much to begin with, and what I had now was dirty and wet.

Apparently I missed something when introduced to these guys, because Quatre paid for two rooms without blinking an eye at the cost. We were soon all in chilly, well-groomed rooms lit with dim light from lamps. I shared with Anita and Grace and the guys shared a room.

A bit later…

I don't think we would have talked all that much that night if our rooms didn't have a conjoining door. Anita had the genius idea that we should go swimming, and Duo thought this was wonderful too. He had only been swimming a few times. Apparently pools weren't common in the colonies. So they busied themselves trying to get the rest of us to go along. Which they finally did, but only on the conditions that we didn't have to swim.

So there I was, sitting on the side of the pool, soaking my feet, praying to God that Anita wouldn't get one of those annoying streaks and splash me, and thinking. Grace was sitting beside me, doing the same while Heero was busy typing away. It seems he spends a lot of time with that laptop of his. I understood what Duo was saying then. Quatre was reading a book, and drinking tea, while Trowa did the same as Grace and I, but on the other side of the pool.

Anita and Duo were having a grand old time in the pool just swimming, sometimes racing, other times looking as if they were plotting something. It was those times I made sure that I tried to be fairly far away from the side of the pool. We were decidedly quiet though, for being at a pool in a hotel, looking like teens on a road trip. It was then our little conversation started.

"So where did you say you were from again?" Duo asked while performing a backstroke.

"North America. Where are you all from?" I replied, curious.

"Well, I am from L2, and Quatre basically owns L4," Duo said. So that explained the rooms. Quatre's loaded. And that was probably why Lola knew who he was even though I didn't. "And lets see, Heero said he was from L1 once, and I know that Trowa lives on L3 with his sister. Wufei lives on L5."

"So you all come from the colonies?" Grace asked.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Do you like it there?" she asked. "Is it nice?"

"Hmm, well, I always liked it up there. It's the only place I ever knew as home. But Earth is nice too," he answered.

"I've always wanted to go up to space," Grace sighed dreamily.

"I never knew that…" I started. Grace was one of my best friends, and she never told me this. What else didn't I know about her?

"Well, I never told anyone."

I was a little annoyed now. Why didn't she ever tell me? What else hadn't she told me? Why was I so bothered by this? It then occurred to me. I was taking not know that Grace wanted to go to the colonies like a child, but these people had found out things they didn't know about their lives and were taking it amazingly well. Then my big mouth opened up and commented on this.

"You know, you all are taking this situation extremely well compared to how I would take it."

Duo stopped suddenly and turned around. His usually cheerful face was suddenly serious and he looked thoughtful. He then answered me in a quiet voice, I can only assume so that no one else would hear. Apparently Quatre, Heero, nor Trowa had heard my observation and Duo wanted to keep it that way.

"Well, when you think about it," Duo replied, "you didn't tell anyone anything we didn't already know. You did tell Heero and Quatre things they didn't know, but not the rest of us really. You see, Wufei already knew his wife was dead, and Trowa already knew Catherine was his sister. I already knew my real name. I never did intend on telling any of them about it, though."

He paused then, he had a small smile on his face. But then he continued with his serious face. "Quatre didn't know about his mother, but after the second time we came to see you, he talked to a few of his sisters, and they told him the truth. He's had a little bit of time to get over it, or at least accept it. Heero, though. I don't know how he's taking his information. I mean he never knew about his parents, I think he always assumed that Odin Lowe guy was his father. Heero has never been known for showing his emotions, so I don't really know how it has affected him, if at all. "

"But that's not important…" he said suddenly.

"Yes it is," Anita said.

"Well, not really. The fact that you know is more important than what you found out. I mean, if you know, then whoever told you knows. And whoever told them knows. And who knows who else knows who we are!"

"Wow, I think that is the most I've ever heard that word in one paragraph. But why does it matter if we know or not who you are?" I asked. He made his way toward me in the water, and I was yet again reminded of the shark out for the kill.

"Because, that means someone else knows. You people have no idea how much time and energy we put into hiding our identities after the war. It took a lot of work, and we were never completely sure if we had gotten ride of all of the information. Obviously we didn't." He sighed and leaned back against the side of the pool beside my legs. "Now we have to do another cover up job."

"Why are we coming along?" I asked. I was still mad at them for taking me on what I saw as only a wild goose chase.

"Because you know her, and you could probably talk some sense into her."

"Why am I here?" Grace asked.

"Backup," Duo replied. Grace's eyes widened and Anita was ignoring us as she so often did anyway. "Although why we brought her along is still news to me," he said motioning towards Anita.

"How did you find us?" Grace asked.

"Well, we got a message, from who I now think is this Veronica person, and went to find you. It said we should steal it at night, or try to get it during the day at our own risk. Which if you ask me, from what I've seen of you people, wouldn't have been much of a risk on our part."

"Why thank you," I replied, not sure if I should be insulted or flattered.
"Have you gotten wet enough yet?" came a growled question from our stoic friend at his laptop. "I'm getting tired, and we still have to go seventy miles, twenty of which we will have to hike. So the rest of you will need your rest too." We all agreed to this, and retired to our rooms.

A few hours later…

I was snoozing comfortably in my bed and Grace was beside me while Anita was in the other. There was a knock on our door, and a blonde head peeked in. I am very territorial when I am tired, and I had to remind myself this was one of the nice guys before I ripped off his head for interrupting my sleep.

"There is a phone call for you, I don't know what it is about but Wufei wants to talk to you," Quatre whispered anxiously. I got up quickly. What would Wufei want to talk to me for?

It became pretty apparent when I saw him on the videophone. We didn't have one of those, so I assume he was using his. One look at his and Lola's face said everything. Why did she have to have the baby while I was away?! I looked out the window. Going back was out of the question, I wanted to see the baby born, but I didn't want to die in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Wufei's face was anxious. He looked like he was going to faint. Lola looked like she had just finished a marathon and wanted to kill Wufei.

"Why did you leave me with her? You didn't say she was so far along! What am I suppose to do? I have never been around a pregnant lady before, let alone one giving birth!" He said all of this in a very angry tone and very quickly. I had very little sleep, and I was about to explode myself. I should have seen this one coming. Lola was breathing hard in the background, moaning loudly. She was so red in the face and sweat was trickling down her face. Suddenly I was scared.

"I don't know what to do. Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" I cried at his worried and stunned face.

"In this weather?"

"Well then why not the ambulance?" I screamed. My friend was having a baby on the floor of our kitchen with only a guy who I'm pretty sure knows beans about women in attendance. Oh God. Lola's face was getting redder, and she looked like she was going to pop. Wufei turned around looking lost. "What about hot water and towels?" I suggested.

"I've already done that."

"Then make her comfortable. I don't know what else to do," I replied, defeated.

Wufei then turned around to look at Lola. Her face was a stunning shade of vermilion and I assume this startled Wufei because he yelled at her, "Hey! Breathe! Breathe!"

"Breathe!?" she screeched back. "Breathe!? I am breathing! YOU BREATHE!"

Wufei then walked over to her, and then walked back to us when she about slapped him. He then growled, "You people are no help!"

That's when he hung up. Or when we lost connection.

Either way I didn't get much sleep. Quatre looked astonished and the rest of them looked back at each other. Even Trowa didn't look his usual impassive self.

It was a few hours later that we got another call. I was a few moments away from falling asleep from pure exhaustion. When the phone buzzed my head shot up, and I ran to Quatre's side to see a tired looking Wufei.

"Is she okay?" I asked automatically.

"Yeah," he replied. "They're both fine. It was a girl. Now I'm stuck with two girls." He sounded so tired I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

From Wufei's account he only had two words for giving birth.

Wow. And…

Eww.

"I don't think I shall ever have children now," Wufei sighed. "Not after that. I mean, that looked really painful. And I don't think I could ever put a woman through that." This coming from a war hardened soldier.

"Are you sure they are okay?" Heero asked.

"Yeah."

"Well then, we're going to bed. Have fun." Heero then hung up on Wufei. "You need to get to sleep," he said to me. I was tempted not to, just to find out what he would do. He was treating me like a child, much to my exasperation. I ended up doing what he said anyway. He was right. I was tired. It had been a long night. I wondered what Lola was going to name the baby.

The next day…

Now we were trekking through the woods. Yet again we got a late start. We had to pack up all of our stuff again. Grace and Anita wanted to know all about the baby. I told them what I knew and said we'll find out more once we got back. We had lunch and then decided to take our time setting out.

We parked the car and motorcycle behind some bushes and headed out. It was late by the time we had done this. About six. It was very apparent after the first mile or two that Grace and I were out of shape. We were getting very tired while everyone else seemed to be walking quite comfortably. By the time we had walked ten miles, we were tired and wanted to rest. Heero decided we could afford the time and we camped for the night. We got ourselves situated to a relatively dry place, and set up camp. Trowa and Duo went out for firewood, and we got dinner ready. Leftover sandwiches from lunch. Yum. After that we settled down, and everyone was quiet.

I looked up at the stars. They were beautiful. I had never noticed it before, because I had always lived in the city or close to a town. The stars are so hard to see close to the lights of Earth.

I mentioned this to everyone, and Quatre commented that you could see even more when you're in space. "The atmosphere doesn't get in the way. It's like there are twice as many stars when you're up there."

Grace got that dreamy look again. I wish we could take her up there, but it was too much money, and we were working like crazy trying to afford the house. It was Grace and my little project. We were going to prove to everyone that we could make a home together, without help from our families. Or what was left of them. It had taken us a year to make enough money for the down payment. But now we were on our way.

Then Lola came, and now we had someone else, or two. And there was Anita, but she was leaving. I have to admit, I'd love to go to space too, and now that peace was picking up with the colonies that would be realized much easier. But we were too well grounded.

So I let Grace dream on her perch by the fire, and contented myself with looking up at the stars.