A Childhood Promise
Chapter 8

 In every gift, lies a burden, and in every burden, lies a gift. Take, for example, the gift of love.

 "A new weapon?" Lady Une nodded beside Trieze, solemnly. Catherine had just come back from another mission, with troubling news.

 "Yes. But, it seems that they only have three pilots for these… 'Gundams', and we may be able to find two more to pilot them with. I suggest Trowa and Quatre; they are, after all, some of our best soldiers." The red head inclined her head towards her brother and his best friend. Lady Une, Trieze, and Sally nodded slowly, unsure of the choice. Relena, however, had her intuition kick in at that precise moment. The young soldier… from the beach…

 "If this works, it would be wise to relieve them of their current duties, no?" All heads turned towards her, and they waited patiently for her next words. "If so, I have a soldier in mind that could replace them, perhaps…?"

 "A bold offer." Trieze remarked. "And how, may I ask, do you know he is fit for this job?"

 "I don't." It was blunt, and bold, unlike her. Yet, to trust her intuition was wise, as it always had a knack for helping things get better. "But neither do we have any soldiers in mind, am I correct?"

 "Then we test him." Lady Une watched Relena nod, quite sure of herself. "Very well. Tomorrow, Relena, at dusk, in the courtyard." With that, the meeting was adjourned, and Relena rushed to meet the young soldier on the beach, like she had been in the past few weeks.

*~*~*~*~*

 He was standing there, like always, and Relena wondered if he ever left, or if he really was dead. The soldier never seemed to move from his spot, staring out to sea. And, as always, he turned to her while she descended the steps, and watched her until she was beside him, staring out to sea as well.

 "Soldier." Her tone was completely professional, one that she almost never used with him. It made her cringe inwardly; she thought of him as a friend, not just a soldier.

 "Hn." Well, he answered. Relena turned to him and waited for the chocolate-haired, Prussian blue-eyed boy to do the same. He did, eventually. Now if only she had thought of how to start the topic off.

 "The… Earth United Forces… would like the honor… of… having you on our team… at headquarters." Relena mentally cursed herself. Wasn't she supposed to be a diplomat? Well, then again… she'd actually think farther than to tell someone something.

 The soldier raised an eyebrow at her.

 "In other words, we'd like you to join." There. That was much simpler. The boy nodded and looked over at the large mansion in the horizon. "Umm… I guess we'll see you there tomorrow at dusk? That's when you can be tested... to see what level you're on, and such." Now she was just bumbling like an idiot. Charming.

 "Fine." It sounded foreign, and Relena just had to laugh. Why, she couldn't tell, but there was just something uproariously funny about this situation. Besides, a little laugh could be for anything.

 "Great. Get some rest before tomorrow. You'll be helping protect Mistress Dorlain. If you pass, of course."

 Heero raised an eyebrow yet again. Protecting the mistress, now? Well, now he was definitely glad he hadn't killed the girl for her position; he'd be able to keep Dorlain in sight at all times. What more perfect of a way to kill her?

*~*~*~*~*

 "Leaving? But… how could you? How can you?" Hilde followed the braided man around desperately pleading for him to reconsider. He finally stopped, and turned. A hand came up to cup her cheek tenderly.

 "Babe, if I knew anymore than you did, I'd tell you, believe you me." He sighed, pulling her small frame into his for a hug. "But I don't know. All I can tell is that there's something else we haven't looked at yet, something that can end all this suffering. It's not material, but I definitely don't have to brains to find out…" He trailed off, a thumb brushing over her bottom lip.

 "Duo…"

 "But I promise to come back, sooner or later…" his breath was on her face now, and before she could tell what was happening, it was over and done with. Still, the lingering taste of him sent trembles through her body. Hilde's pulse was beating fast, so much that she nearly missed his next words.

 "The war may be over by then, and my body may be gone, so don't be frightened if you see just me." With that, Duo shoved her away, grabbed his duffel bag and exited the room. Hilde stood, leaning against the walls, stunned at what had just transpired. It finally clicked what he had meant by those words.

 "Duo…" men and women were shoved to the side as Hilde ran down the hallways, towards the cockpit. "Duo! Stop this instant you braided moron!" A fleet of stairs flew under her without notice. Finally, the large doors that led to the cockpit gave way.

 Only to be stopped by patrollers. Two large men in scarlet sits grabbed her arms and kept her from passing those last set of doors. A jet started firing up, and even in the soundproof chamber, the sound was deafening her. A low rumble vibration through the floors, turning her legs into jelly. Hilde sank to the floor, few tears sliding down her cheeks as the jet began to move.

 When it was gone, she slammed both fists to the ground, barely noticing that she had startled the two men. Anger as well as sadness welled up inside her, although only few droplets of salty water was let through.

 "Moron!" So… this was what heartbreak felt like.

*~*~*~*~*

 He entered the courtyard, expected to be greeted with bushes and trees, with lots of grass, but was instead met with a training area. In front of him stood gun booths, with men ranging from all shapes and sizes already up and practicing at five in the morning. Off to the side stood a young man and woman, both with rather reddish hair. Behind them, a door opened, and a blonde stepped out, in clothes as decorated as the first two. Their faces were too far to make out, though.

 The blonde pointed to him, although Heero was pretending not to notice, and the two older ones walked over. The blonde walked off somewhere, behind the shooting area so that he couldn't see. So, she must've been Dorlain, and these two were Kushrenada and Une. This was the perfect opportunity; he'd be able to kill Kushrenada, Une, and Dorlain within weeks, or maybe even days.

 And he'd never have to hurt that blonde girl with those blue eyes.

*~*~*~*~*

 Hilde sat there, on her bunk near the window, wondering if she would see Duo's jet coming back, with that braided moron in the pilot's seat. But she could only hope…

 With him gone, she now realized that she should've gone the extra mile to see him as more than a friend. It was obvious now that he had wanted it. But she hadn't seen it… incredible. She had always thought he was the goofy, naïve one… yet it had been her all along. Funny how you only notice things when they're gone…

 Her thoughts suddenly drifted to Heero, and Relena. They were all gone now… On earth, or out in space… where was everyone she cared about? They all left her behind, and for what?

 A war. The answer came immediately to her, even though she'd rather it not. At least… at least Noin was here. But still, how long until they were separated too? Hilde went to the window and gazed into the starry night. It was beautiful…

 The war was taking everything from her, from her friends to her family, and even the person she loved most. What good was this war for, anyways? What good was going to come from splitting up loved ones?

 Hilde shook her head and tried to force those thoughts out her head. They weren't gonna be good when the battles came. But still... here eye's drifted out the window.

 "Relena… what are you doing now?"

*~*~*~*~*

 "Zechs?" The platinum blonde whipped his head up and came face to face with dark, blue eyes. It was Noin, of course. "Is there something on your mind, Zechs?" The picture he had been looking at was gently picked out of his hand.

 "Noin, what are you-" He stopped at the soft look in her eyes, and dropped his hand.

 "Your sister… you're really starting to miss her, aren't you?" the photo held the still picture of a toddler, tripping over her own two feet as a young, blonde boy made to get her. One side was ripped off.

 "It's impossible not too; she was so young when we were separated." Noin nodded and gave him back his picture. She walked away, back into her room to get ready for the day.

 The first bag she opened held a small slip of paper. Hesitating, Noin flipped it over, revealing two young girls with dark, raven hair, laughing at a scene they couldn't see.

 It was ripped on the other side, a perfect fit for Zechs' piece. Noin shoved it back into the bag.

 As far as he knew, they met when he left. That was all he needed to know.

*~*~*~*~*

Sorry to keep you waiting!! Really, I am. I just took some "me" time… which resulted in a very bad cold. Eh. Well, hopefully I'll manage not to do that too much Anymore! Next Chapter's gonna have a battle!