[11/10/2003-23:07:31] Imagothichippie: Warnings this chapter:

[11/10/2003-23:07:43] Imagothichippie: fluff

[11/10/2003-23:07:45] Star Dancer 225: Drama/angst

[11/10/2003-23:07:52] Imagothichippie: shirtless Trowa

[11/10/2003-23:07:54] Star Dancer 225: Couple of swear words..

[11/10/2003-23:08:08] Star Dancer 225: And a surprise at the end!

[11/10/2003-23:08:10] Imagothichippie: sweaty shirtless Trowa.

[11/10/2003-23:08:35] Imagothichippie: violence.

[11/10/2003-23:08:40] Star Dancer 225: *nods*

[11/10/2003-23:08:43] Imagothichippie: the usual.

[11/10/2003-23:08:47] Star Dancer 225: Hai..

[11/10/2003-23:08:55] Imagothichippie: did I mention shirtless Trowa?

Relena stood in front of a large colonial style house. She checked a piece of paper in her hand. "Yep. This is the place." She tried to enter, but found that the gate was locked. Peering around the yard, she spotted someone practicing gymnastics. "Excuse me!" She called.

The boy looked at her from his upside down position, as he was currently doing a hand stand. He blinked then gracefully returned to his feet and walked over to the gate. "May I help you?" He asked quietly.

Relena was dumbfounded. This was no boy. Oh no. All man. He was shirtless, exposing many tight and rather large muscles on a tanned chest. She blinked, trying to regain her composure and made sure she wasn't drooling. "Um . . . " She pursed her lips. He just continued to look at her, chest glistening in the heat. She gathered her resolve and focused on the man's face. Okay . . . So he was gorgeous. "I'm looking for . . . uh . . . um . . . Heero . . . yes, that's it. Heero Yuy."

He blinked at her. Again. "Wait here." He turned around and went into the house. A moment later he came back out, a very disheveled Heero in tow.

"Relena." Heero stated blandly.

"Hello Heero. May I join you for a bit? I would like to discuss something with you." She said, never taking her eyes off of Trowa.

Heero smirked slightly. "Okay." He pushed some buttons on a keypad and opened the gate for her. Trowa led her into the house while Heero locked the gate back.

"Trowa, where's Heero?" Quatre, who was sitting on the stairs, asked as soon as they came through the door.

"I'm right here, Q." Heero walked in behind Trowa.

Quatre looked relieved. When Trowa came in and told Heero that Relena was here, he got a bit worried. "Oh, good." He then noticed Relena. "Hello Miss Relena, how nice of you to visit." He looked despairingly at Heero.

"Q. . . come here." Heero opened his arms a bit.

Relena was watching all this with a look of slight disappointment. Trowa had the good sense to look away.

Quatre stood and walked over to Heero who immediately wrapped him in a loving embrace. "Q, don't worry. I plan to make us last as long as possible. Relena is not a threat to us. I... love you." Heero whispered.

Quatre almost melted. He would have if there wasn't two other people in the room. He settled for sighing happily.

Relena wiped a solitary tear from her eye. "That was so cute." She whispered.

Quatre looked at her. "You... your okay with us?"

Harmonie chose this moment to come down the stairs. "She damned well better be! After all the trouble I went through to get you two together! Hi Lena!" She descended the last of the stairs and hugged Relena.

"Hi Harmonie. You were right... I just had to come and see for myself." She leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Now who is that hunk of man and is he straight and single?"

Harmonie fell on the floor laughing. Relena looked slightly smug.

'He is single, and very straight last I checked,' a voice sounded in Relena's mind. Aliera smirked as she came down the stairs. "Lena! Good to see you again! How've you been?"

Relena smiled. "I've been very well, thank you."

Harmonie picked herself up off of the floor. All the guys were staring at her oddly. "What? You didn't hear what she said!"

"Hmm, I don't believe you've been introduced," Aliera smirked. "Relena Peacecraft, Trowa Barton. Trowa Barton, Relena Peacecraft."

Trowa nodded at Relena. "Pleasure."

"No, the pleasure's all mine," she replied, nodding back.

Heero looked down at Quatre and then at Relena and Trowa.

"You think..." Quatre asked quietly. Heero nodded slightly in response.

Aliera watched the pair, a smirk on her face. Duo came down the stairs, stopping when he saw Relena.

"Oh, no, not again...." he muttered, a long-suffering look on his face.

"Nah... I think she's over Heero," Aliera whispered to him and gestured to where Heero had Quatre securely wrapped in his arms, "I think she has a thing for Trowa now..."

Duo relaxed slightly. "Oh, GOOD. It's about time." He smiled at Relena. "How ya doin', Queenie? Haven't seen ya in a while!"

"Huh? Oh. Hi Duo." Relena smiled briefly at him then when back to conversing quietly with Trowa.

Harmonie snickered quietly. "Oh, yes, she's got it BAD."

Wufei came down the stairs. "Why is everyone standing around in the entryway?"

"I don't know, but you and I have a triple date with Duo, Allie, Quatre and Heero." Harmonie looked at everyone, hoping they got the picture.

Quatre was the first to catch on. "Oh, yeah...we should go get ready, Heero. We have to leave soon." He grabbed Heero's hand and the two walked upstairs.

"What are you talking about, onna?" Wufei began protesting.

"You know, the date we've been meaning to go on," she answered with a LOOK.

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Duo said, herding Wufei, Harmonie, and Aliera out of the room.

"Wait....where are we gonna go?" Aliera asked.

"Anywhere but here!" Harmonie stated cheerily. "If you three retrieve Heero and Q-tra, I'll go throw together a picnic basket really quick and we can go to the park in the woods by the ocean."

Duo nodded and dragged Aliera upstairs. "Oi, Heero!"

"So. . . " Relena said.

Trowa offered her a small smile in response and gestured towards the living room questioningly. Relena followed, sitting down on the loveseat. She nervously folded her hands in her lap. Trowa sat next to her. "You're over Heero?" It was more of a statement than a question.

She blushed slightly. "Yes....he called sometime ago and explained things to me. It came as a bit of a shock, but I guess I expected it, in a way."

Trowa nodded. "Want to watch a movie?"

"Sure," she nodded.

Trowa gave her that almost smile again. He stood, picked out a movie disc and put it in the player. When he sat down, he sat a little bit closer than he was before.

When the first scary part happened, she jumped and grabbed onto Trowa's arm. He grinned silently to himself and placed said arm around her.

Throughout the rest of the movie, she jumped or hid her face in his shoulder. By the end of the movie, she was almost in his lap.

"Ah.....good movie," she said shakily.

Trowa looked down at her, "Yes. One of my favorites. It's a classic." He smiled again.

She looked down and suddenly realized the position she was in. She 'eeped' silently and looked up to find him looking at her.

He just continued to look at her.

"Um...I'm sorry. I'll just...get up," she stammered, starting to rise.

"No, stay." He pulled her back down. "This. . . is nice."

She settled back down, leaning against his chest. "You're right. It...really is...."

He nodded and sighed a bit, content for the moment.

**********************************************************

"Immature children," Wufei muttered to himself as he watched his companions chase each other across the park. "Even Yuy."

Harmonie smiled mischievously. "Immature, ne?" Before he could react, she reached behind him and pulled out his ponytail and ran off, giggling.

"Woman!" Wufei stood up and pursued Harmonie with a not-quite-pissed look on his face. Despite her large stomach, Harmonie evaded all of his attempts to catch her, twirling his hair tie around her fingers. "C'mon, Wu-babe! Catch me!" she taunted, smirking.

Wufei attempted to look his usual agitated self and stalked over to her. Just as he reached her, Yuy very loudly declared "Hn!"

Everyone walked over to where he was. "What's up, Heero?" Aliera asked, picking leaves out of her hair. Duo had tackled her earlier. Harmonie giggled and 'helped' Aliera get the leaves out of her hair.

"Oz is attacking," was all Heero said. He turned around and sprinted to his Blazer.

"Fuck," Aliera swore and set off at a dead run for Fukaku, the others following. Leaping into the driver's seat, she started it up and contacted Heero on the comm. "Location of attack?"

"Sanq," came the reply.

Harmonie sighed. "At least Relena is here and not there. . ."

"Hai, but we'll have to lock her in the house or something to keep her from following us," Aliera replied, punching the gas.

"We have a cell," Duo reminded them cheekily. Aliera and Harmonie looked at each other. "It would work," Aliera remarked, face carefully blank.

"Yes, it would work, but I don't think I'd be able to stand listening to her rant about being locked up like a common criminal."

"We have velvet ropes and gags," she reminded her.

Harmonie grinned. "Now that could be fun."

"Oooh, yeah..." Aliera turned and looked at Duo speculatively. Duo went a bit wide-eyed. "Um. . . baby?"

"Yes?" Aliera replied, a completely false innocent expression on her face.

"Never. . . never mind."

Aliera smirked and pulled into the driveway of the house, hopping out and bursting through the front door. "Tro! Gundams!" Trowa leapt up from the couch and sprinted for the hangar, typing in codes on a hidden keypad in the remote control.

"What in the world..." Relena started, rising from the couch. Harmonie stopped her with a look. "Oz is attacking Sanq. We're going to help. You are going to stay here. Any questions?"

Wufei gave her a glare. "No. We are going to help. You BOTH are staying here."

Harmonie glared right back. Sally finally broke the silence. "He's right, Harmonie. You need to stay and be mission control. Besides, you're due any day now."

Harmonie pouted slightly. "Fine. Just. . . be careful?"

Wufei nodded and hugged her. "Of course."

"Wufei, let's go!" Duo shouted from the hangar.

She held on a moment longer and kissed him softly. "I love you. . . come back to me." He nodded, eyes suspiciously bright. Kissing her one last time, he caressed her belly, turned and strode into the hangar. Harmonie watched him leave and then steeled herself at the computers to monitor the action.

The six pilots clambered into their respective cockpits and brought their Gundams online. One after another, they shot into the sky to head toward Sanq.

After the Gundams were in flight, Aliera came over the comm. "Control, What are we facing?"

"Imagine your worst possible scenario and multiply it by five," Harmonie replied. "Looks like Oz went all out for this. Enough mobile suits and dolls for everyone to be hard-pressed. You're flying into a dangerous situation, guys." A varied string of curses came over the comm. "Yeah." Relena squeaked. Harmonie looked at her and switched the comm over to her headset.

Aliera chewed on her bottom lip, thinking. "Control, what would you say are the odds of all of us coming out of this alive?" she asked quietly. This was not something she wanted to think about.

"Not good."

"What? What's not good?" Relena asked, beginning to panic.

Harmonie ignored her. "Just take every precaution you can and try to avoid hitting any civilian structures. This will be hell, no matter how you look at it."

Aliera sighed. "Well, that's reassuring," she remarked.

Sally stood up. "I'm going. It may take me longer to get there, but I can help." Harmonie nodded in acknowledgment and sent the specs to her leo. Sally suited up and took off.

"Okay. You need to take out as many as possible as quickly as possible. The suits are hiding behind a wall of dolls. Duo, Allie, drop back about 5-10 minutes and put on your stealth. Heero hit the dolls with your beam rifle on the left side, Wufei hit them with your flame on the right. Take out as many as you can. You should get a good number of the dolls."

A round of acknowledgments came from all of the pilots as they got ready for action. Duo and Aliera dropped back, turned on their stealth system and disappeared.

Duo opened a vidlink to Aliera. "You be careful, okay? I just found you, I don't wanna lose you so soon," he said, serious for once.

Aliera smiled softly at him. "You too. No daredevil stunts. And Duo, if you are told to get out of there, do it. No questions. Harm knows what she is doing. Listen to her. Don't play the hero, and keep your control."

A memory of the previous battle flashed in his mind. "I kind of lost it before, didn't I."

"Hai, but it happens," she replied. "Lord knows I've done it a time or two," she added ruefully.

"You're getting close. Wufei, Heero, get in position. Trowa and Quatre, behind them. Incoming 5 minutes."

Don't get dead," she added before closing the comm window, cueing her music, and flexing her hands on the controls of her suit. "Show time," she whispered.

A moment later, the dolls were in sight. Heero and Wufei swept in from both sides, weapons ablaze, and took out the first line of dolls.

As soon as Heero and Wufei pulled up, Trowa and Quatre swooped in and took out the second line. "Allah, there's a lot," Quatre said, using his shotels to decimate two suits.

Deathscythe appeared a few minutes later. A handful of dolls descended on him from all sides. He stuck out his scythe and spun, taking them all out and disappeared again.

On another section of the battlefield, Aliera appeared with Stardancer. As dolls converged on her, she powered up her double swords and engaged, taking out as many as three at a time. She cursed as one managed to get in a lucky shot and quickly destroyed it.

She shot into the sky, powered up her energy gun, and aimed it at another group of dolls. The beam lanced out, razor sharp, and decimated a few before disappearing.

Trowa somersaulted in Heavyarms and took out the last of the dolls with a blast from his guns.

"Well, that takes care of the dollies," Duo flexed his hands on the controls and dove into a group of suits, coming out of the cloak and holding his scythe at the ready. In other areas, the other pilots were doing the same, occasionally taking a hit but managing to stay relatively unharmed for the time being.

A message popped up in the bottom of Harmonie's screen. Incoming Call. "What. . ." she activated voice only on the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello. Ms. Firefly, I presume?" An elegant voice said.

"Treize?!"

"Correct. Now, may I have something to look at other than a blank screen?" In her bewilderment, she activated the picture. "Ah. That's better. Oh good. Ms. Relena is there. She should hear this as well. I'm in a bit of a situation, normally I wouldn't appeal to the people who are outwardly my enemies, but as the war is about to end, I feel it is time to come clean, so to speak."

"Cut the crap and get to the point, Treize," she said, annoyed. "What's the 'situation,' as you put it, and why ask us for help?"

"Well, I'm not the true leader of Oz. I'm just a figurehead. A figurehead who is about to be dead. They. . ." he cleared his throat. "They have my daughter and they keep me under lock and key."

"What?!?" Harmonie sat up. "Holy shit...I knew there was something, but not this..." she said to herself. She looked up at Treize. "So you want us to get your daughter, kill the baddies, and free you? How do we know you won't turn around and do the same thing again?" she asked, starting to feel sorry for him despite herself.

"Precisely. As for my credibility, you have my word of honor and the location of the 'baddies'. All I want is my daughter and my life back." Suddenly he didn't look like the esteemed leader of Oz anymore but a worn man longing for his family.

Harmonie bit her lip, thinking, then nodded. "Ok, we'll do it. But it might take a while; we're hard pressed as it is. Do you know where you're being kept?"

"What?! You're going to trust him?!" Relena practically screeched.

Harmonie rolled her eyes and decked her. "Now maybe I can get some work done." she muttered to herself. Treize chuckled and sent her coordinates before closing the connection.