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Disclaimer: I don't own this anime
Chapter Eleven: Visions of the Blind Target: REMEMBER
(A/N: Some events came after the "Endless Waltz" and "Blind Target")
(Heero's POV)
Things couldn't get weirder for the five us yet the plot thickens as the strangers kept on their activity. Some guys were chasing me; Wufei was surrounded and outnumbered; Trowa got a visit from an old friend with a purpose; Duo's transport shuttle got trashed and the Colonial Summit where Quatre was in got bombed. But all of these men had one thing in mind. They want our Gundams and if they are lucky, they might even get us as a bonus. Although it was odd that Quatre didn't made the cut. They wanted him dead for some reason. Of course, he is not the only influential personality they want dead.
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(Backtrack)
Somewhere, A hidden figure watches the live news broadcast on a large screen inside his spacious office. The broadcast is airing the explosion of the very building where the Colonial Summit was held. The monitor is still showing flames shooting out of the ruins and thick black with shades of coal gray clouds the dim blue sky despite of the fire fighters' efforts to extinguish the blaze.
"The blast was caused by explosives." A reporter spoke. "A terrorist bombing at the colony summit! What is the current situation?" said the second one. "The chances of survival for each of the colony representatives present at the summit are to be regarded as hopeless." The third one added.
As the mysterious figure watches the tragedy and listens to the rambling journalists, he shifted his attention as personal call arrives. He pressed the receiver and the image of another, dark-haired middle-aged man, replaces the smoking remains of the skyscraper.
"Were you successful? It looks like everything went exactly as planned, doesn't it?" said the middle-aged man in the monitor.
The face of the mysterious figure comes clear as the lights of the huge screen reflected on his face. A younger man becomes visible not much of a few years compared to the one in the monitor. He answers with a satisfied smile on his lips and looked at the image in front of him.
"U-huh. The young heir to the Winner family is also among the casualties, killed along with the others." Answered the younger male
"And the proof? Is there evidence for his death?" the image questioned him
The man's eyes grew wearer for the man's tone but remained composed on his big seat. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"
"No, that was not my meaning... I am asking because the fate of every one of us is depending on this operation." The man in the screen defended
"There is no reason for concern. Everything is going smoothly. We have already moved on to the next stage."
"But..." the image paused as it looks down to the one seated
"All you need to do is wait. It is all right if you and your men wait a little longer. That is, until the Gundam is in our hands..."
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Meanwhile back at the circus, Ralph Kurt is trying to convince Trowa of his cause. Ralph thought that getting through to Trowa is a long shot even if he tried to speak of the times they fought together. But still he must do or say what he must. Gundam Heavy-arms is his aim. Every each suit is vital for the plan.
"Do you remember? That time when we never knew when death could claim up? How we buried our fears and fought, despite all the confusion? We could all have died at any moment. Guys struggled to keep the terror from consuming them." The tall man with the coat spoke. He looks intently at Trowa and listened to Trowa's silence. "But you..." he paused.
While in his quiet, Trowa had a flashback of his own. It was a time when he was a young boy of maybe 9, standing amidst the smoke and rubble of a newly waged war. He was clad in the clothes of a mercenary and stares blankly and uncaringly ahead of him to a younger Ralph with his fellow soldiers, sheltering themselves behind a ruined building. Ralph's eyes mirror those of Trowa's... Then he snaps back to the present
"You were a perfect soldier. Fearless. There was not a more perfect soldier than you!" Ralph patronized him.
Trowa wouldn't even imagine that somebody would call him a perfect soldier. It was like comparing himself to another Gundam pilot that he knows very well who fits the title more. "You're wrong. Not perfect nor fearless but empty. That was only because I had lost something important from all that fighting."
What words could have Ralph described the teen? As a boy, he could have shot down more mobile suits than all of them put together. His guns were never blank but his face every time an enemy is in front on him. The boy didn't feared death nor cheated it. Death never knocks once. To Trowa back then, he just couldn't hear it. "So you're saying things are different now?"
"I've chosen to live not as a soldier anymore. I'm a human being and I chose to live as the one named Trowa Barton." He said proudly
To Ralph, Trowa's change is really admirable. It is like he is staring at a soldier who has lost the very meaning of the word. He really is just a kid who wanted to have place to call his own unlike the ruins left by the war. It would have been great for him to see the skills of the teen once more but it seems the negotiations are not doing any much help. Ralph's chummy facade cracks, and he smirks. "I see. Is that so? Then you no longer need 'that' do you?"
Trowa maybe no longer a sharp soldier but he is not a naïve civilian either. He could only assume correctly what the guy is talking about. He is sensing the superior gleam in the man's eyes. "Ralph?"
Ralph removed his left arm from the side pocket of his over coat and stretches out his arm in a dramatic gesture to Trowa. He obviously enjoys playing the trump card. Any kind of mobile suit cannot be superior if a superior pilot can't drive it. To achieve maximum efficiency, these two entities go hand in hand. To him Trowa is as good as he's worth to pilot any kind of mobile suit, Gundam or not. If Ralph can't persuade 03 to join, then he'll just ask for the next best thing. "The Gundam... that 'Heavy- arms', hand it to us then! It should be owned by someone who has retained the will to fight!"
What?
Before the negotiations could go any further, Catherine suddenly comes rushing out of one of the tents with a voice that could wake up the whole circus. "Trowa, something terrible has happened! Quatre is..." She restrained for a bit as she sees the man before her brother. "Oh."
Ralph just looked at the girl as he heard her screams. Sounds like the boys are one Gundam pilot short. "So, news travels fast these days. When the federation was under control, we rarely got news from the other colonies.
Trowa didn't like the sound of his tone. He doesn't know yet what happened to Quatre but he has a definite hunch that everything that is happening is not merely coincidental. "Is this your doing? What the hell is it you're trying to achieve?
Ralph just walks away with hands in his pockets once again. Things might get unplanned he lingered. "It doesn't concerns you anymore, since you no longer have the nerve to fight. I'll leave for now. But do me a favor and think about what we've discussed."
Trowa wordlessly looks after him. Something is going on and by the looks of things; he is not the only one who has strange encounters.
"Trowa?" Catherine worried
"An old associate." He said to qualm her. Still he still thinks of the matters. He knows what he must do. "Catherine..." he paused as she grabs his shoulders, desperately trying to persuade him from doing what she thinks he is about to, but he doesn't meet her eyes. "No, Don't! You're going away again, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry." Trowa gently takes her hand. His eyes soften. "I don't want to be dragged into it. But I will surely return to you. Because this is where I can come home to." Catherine knows that look every time she watches him leave like that, her hand tracing the spot on her wrist where his had been just a moment ago. "Trowa..."
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Back at the spaceport, Duo is watching a group of men disguised as tech personnel skulking around his shuttle. It seems they are searching something in particular. He hid his face under his black cap and disappears again, unseen.
Somewhere, A shadowed figure is sitting in a room, the figure outlined by the light falling through the thin curtains as light desperately passes through for transparence. The stillness is disturbed when there is a knock on the door. The figure alarmed by the act and looked upon the door, the God of Death on the other side. "It's me. I'm coming in." Duo with nothing but a smirk on his face and he switches on the light.
"How's it goin'... Deadman?"
The figure revealed by the light is Quatre, who gets out of the armchair he'd been sitting in, with a miserable face. "How mean of you. Don't joke, Duo. I am lucky so be still alive."
Duo can't help but chuckle. "Sorry. It's just that everyone outside thinks that little Master Winner was trapped and toasted in the blast. Our Golden Boy is the news worthy victim of the explosion."
"How is the situation?"
Before he could even talk, Duo peeks through the curtains to check if he's been followed. "Not good. Pretty hopeless, I say. The conference room was completely engulfed in flames and burned up. There were no survivors."
Quatre couldn't feel any better hearing the terrible news of the innocent lives that were taken away by such an underhanded attack "Oh... I see."
If Duo knows Quatre like he thinks he does, he will start blaming himself again for every tragedy that comes. It's just like Quatre to be so caring and thoughtful. Duo tries to lighten him up a bit just on the safe side. "But man, was I shocked. Even I thought you were inside that building. So what happened?"
Before it all happened, Quatre and his aides was walking towards the conference room, when suddenly, an explosion sets off in front of them, flames engulfing the corridor. "That was pure luck. We were late because there was trouble with the car." He cant believe such a troublesome as a motor problem could be such a life saver. "If we had arrived a split second earlier, I'd have certainly been killed as well."
"You got the devil's luck. Comes with being a Gundam pilot." Duo said as he sits down and cross his legs trying to be optimistic.
Quatre just sits doesn't still in deep thought. He is sure the attack was indeed intended because it would make sense to blow up the place along with those important people with a single try. "But who could have done this? What are they trying to achieve with such a crime? What were they after? Is it all of colony representatives... or because I am the heir of the Winner family who was suppose to be there...?
"Maybe it's because you're a Gundam pilot."
"Eh?"
Duo is suddenly serious, stroking his chin in thought as Quatre waits for further explanation from the braided teen. "I had some ominous company back at my shuttle. Snooping around. I wonder whether I've become a target as well?" Duo's head perks up and just smiled to perish the thought for later. "Oh well.... We'll figure it out after we get a chance to speak with him."
"Speak with who, Duo?"
"We've got an appointment with an unusual visitor."
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Back at Wufei's colony, his attackers are spread neatly around him. Wufei, it seems, hasn't even broken a sweat. These guys should have known better to gang him up like this.
The man with the dark shades is now without his glasses pretty messed up and crawling in discomfort. "Guh.... It can't be.... he is just a kid..."
He has such a passion for those five words arranged in such a degrading manner. It seems that some people are still skeptical about all of the OZ and Alliances bases he destroyed single handedly and obliterated countless of mobile suits and dolls alike was done by just a kid. Arrogant adults who underestimate a "kid" like him has always been a big mistake. "Who are you? Why did you attack me?"
You...
Because?
Because... you're a Gundam pilot.
Now who on the right mind would attack a Gundam pilot such as him? It's not like they really pose as a threat when they surrounded him afterall all he did was self-defense. But he knows they wont bother with the trouble if they approached him aimlessly. Beside he already does have a sort of hint that things like this might happen. "Then I understand. If you want Nataku, and you defeated me, she would fall into your hands."
Wufei dons his jacket once more and wraps the white fabric all over his shoulders. "But I won't hand over Nataku to someone who is not just. That I swear on my name." With all said and done, he finally walks away leaving those bodies feeling the embraces of the grass. It's such a good thing he was prepared thanks to a 01's warning earlier. "It looks like the predictions he said are coming true.
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On the other side of a colony, Relena's car is speeding along the road. She is sitting inside, lost in thought. The news about the colonial summit reached her and it shook her up a bit when they said no one could have survived the blast. Chris couldn't do nothing but to worry about the vice foreign minister's trance. "Ms. Relena, Are you alright?"
Relena heard her and stir her head to the girl sitting beside her. "Yes. Better than before. Please hurry, Chris. We have to get to the colony where the incident happened immediately."
"I have arranged for a shuttle to meet us. Please keep calm."
"Why did this have to happen? I should have been there at the conference." She couldn't have believed it herself about what happened. She didn't want to come to the summit because she thought that the matters of unifying the colonies are centered only for the colonies and the people on their behalf. And to think Quatre who failed persuading her to come, is also there at the explosion. That really is the reason why they must make haste. She wont believe it if her friend died like that.
"That you weren't is a silver lining. It's the one blessing amidst this calamity. Should something happen to you; the United Earth Sphere would have been dealt a terrible blow. It would be a grave loss."
"But...!"
Suddenly, there is machine gun fire. The bullet came from the two black cars that were tailing them ever since they left from the administrative building. The bullet shot through the windshield and made it's way to the driver.
Relena and Chris were startled at their seats and shaken profusely as the car skids to a halt against the crash barrier with the front left of the car pressed on it, totally busted. The impact left Relena holding her head and Chris with her hand on her right arm.
The two cars made their move and covered the front and the back sealing the way. As the cars stopped, men in black made their way to approach the car. Relena notices armed men getting out of the cars around them. One guy came close to the back seat of Relena's car with gun in hand. "Relena Darlian, I presume. Get out of the car!"
"Identify yourselves!" Relena shouted from the window
"Shut up and get out!"
"Ms. Relena..." Chris tries to hold her back as Relena's features harden. "You mustn't! Ms. Relena!" The girl held the door handle and turned it to open the door. Before Chris could even stop her from stepping out of the car, Chris holds her right side in pain. "Uh... please Ms. Relena..."
Relena steps outside the car, unafraid and shot a look with the goons. This is the very same look of the girl who didn't blink on eyelevel with the mouth of Heero's gun. "What is it that you want? Is it my life?"
"We'd like you to come with us."
Then out of nowhere, another gun fired, and the men drop their guns as they're riddled by bullet fire. One got shot at the leg, then another got it to the left shoulder and another got it to the arm. Relena is the only one left standing. She turns around to see another car approaching fast, the driver leaning out the window with his gun extended. She sees the familiar face of the shooter with such precision and screamed out loud.
"Heero!"
The car screeches to a halt as Heero jumps out, rushed to her also yelling her name to the air. It's like a knight in shining armor in aid of the fair princess, though if it's just a boy in green tanktop and blue jeans rescuing a vice foreign minister. "Relena! Run!"
The three of them keep running into a nearby alleyway. He would have taken Relena's hand and ran faster but the idea is not applicable at the time because there are two females behind her, not to mention Chris has a hard time keeping up, obviously in pain from her wound. Heero takes a two-feet lead as Relena slows down and helped Chris stable. "Heero, wait! Chris is..."
Chris made an effort to stand up straight, trying earnestly not to be a burden to the girl who stopped for her. "It's alright, Ms. Relena-sama. But where are we going? And who is he?
Relena just turned to her then looks back to the guy who had come for their aid. She smiled at him with glistened eyes. Chris just stood there and watched at the two staring at each other. The stare is just a beginning to fill the void of absence between the two of them.
She didn't mind the pain for a while as it was replaced by a spine tingling feeling. She kinda felt that she is not needed to be at the spot at the very moment. Then Relena broke the trance and decided to answer the girl. "He is someone who we can be trust. At his side, we are safe."
Heero just stares at her blankly and turned away in indifference for her patronizing. He had the urge to say something better but the opportunity for greetings and formality is not compulsory. He punches in a key code at a nearby door. "We are leaving this colony. The plan is to take you to a place where you cannot fall into their hands."
The door slides open and a shuttle became evident within the dim environment. Relena doesn't understand what on earth is going or why Heero appeared to her suddenly but she knows where to find her answers. "Who are they? Why are they after me?
You're not the only one.
Eh?
They're after me, too.
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Back at the colony the circus currently stays at, Trowa walks along a peopled road. He notices men watching him out of the corner of his eye. One of them inconspicuously informs Ralph. "Trowa Barton just passed by."
"Just follow him for now, so he doesn't slip from our grasp."
"He's alone, we might as well capture him."
"Don't underestimate the Gundam pilot. That is the reason the team responsible for Chang Wufei failed."
"But..."
"Don't worry. This time, I will take care of it myself."
Ralph sets out from his hiding spot and started to follow Trowa. "Headed to the Gundam, eh?" Trowa acts as if he doesn't notice his new friends and maintain his cool; a raised eyebrow is the only sign of his discomfort. "Am I being followed? So, what should I do? Perhaps Ralph is nothing but the commander of this unit... I need to know who is behind of it all... but as long as I can't get a shot at the eminence..."
As Trowa enters a narrow side street he suddenly hears a familiar voice. It's the braided one in black. "Heading' somewhere, brother? Why don't ya take advantage of my special express transport? I'll deliver anything. And I got a special today. Helping guys shake unwanted tails."
"Duo...!"
Duo leans smugly against a nearby wall and raised his head to reveal his face under his black cap. "Whatever the merchandise - under these circumstance I'll even give pursuit obstruction service a try."
Shortly afterwards, Trowa's pursuers find themselves in a dead end. Before they can react, Duo lunges at them from above, while Trowa suddenly appears behind the other man and quickly takes him out with a fist to the stomach. When they are down for the count, Duo gestures Trowa to follow him. "This way!"
The two have already escaped when Ralph and his subordinate arrive at the scene. He regards the unconscious bodies with gritted teeth. "Damn"
"How could this be, sir?"
It seems outnumbering the Gundam pilot is definitely not a good idea. Looks like Heavy-arms wont be included in the package just yet. "We failed. Better move on to the next operation. We'll switch to the tactics Commander Sogran recommended."
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Meanwhile, Duo and Trowa arrive at his shuttle. Duo is visibly looking forward to the look on Trowa's face, and gives a thumbs-up. "Mission accomplished!"
Quatre rises from the co-pilot seat, and smiled to see that Duo has brought Trowa. "Trowa! Thank God, I'm glad you're safe."
Trowa is stunned like he has seen a avenging ghost. "Quatre! I heard you were unaccounted for after the explosion at the colony summit."
Duo laughs as he taps Trowa's shoulder. "Gundam pilots don't get blown away that easily!"
"I simply cannot die yet. There are things I still have to do." Said Quatre with glassy eyes with indefinable emotion
Trowa has regained his normal composure but for his eyes. "Ah. Yes, of course." Duo flops down into his seat with his usual unceremonious grace. "Hurry up with your joyful reunion. What's Heero gonna say if we're late for our meeting?"
"Heero is coming, too?"
"Yup. In this matter, the whole Gundam bunch is with us. And that includes him." =====================================
Heero's shuttle flies silently through space. Relena sits beside the sleeping Chris' bed. She is still confused with everything that had happened. There were also a lot of things that she wanted to ask to Heero. When she observed that Chris is doing just fine, she stood up silently and finally joins Heero at the cockpit.
She sees him just sitting there without doing anything. Even his hands are not stirring if it's like the shuttle is moving at a constant direction. She walks from behind him thinking of what to say first. But she wouldn't blurt out everything she wants to know. She knows he doesn't like it. "Chris is lucky that her injuries aren't serious. She's resting now."
Still he remains on the spot. He only averted his eyes to her as she positions herself to sit besides Heero. The space between her seat and his is not that way too distant but quite very near. "You should do the same."
"No, I..." Relena smiles slightly at him. How she missed that expressionless mask he calls face. She can't believe that the closeness is here once more... to be right there at his side after setting off alone just to come for her rescue just like he did many times before.
All that silent smiling made Heero irritated then finally asks. "What?"
Like everything else, his voice remained unchanged. She wouldn't have anything less. She knows she has waited enough ever since their last encounter at that shuttle on her last birthday. It's not it's been a very long time but the her hopes of seeing him again made that time a lot longer than it seems.
"If you'll let me, I'd like to rest here, at your side. This isn't a dream, is it?"
"Relena...."
"I know it's selfish... to want you always by my side." She paused as her hands balled in to tight fists on her lap. Relena thinks of her work and the restrictions it poses on her life. Day after day of her young life she is carrying such a huge responsibility that would seems to be carried until she couldn't anymore.
She remembers sitting in her office, Heero's teddy bear the only thing keeping her company. No words that she heard from him nothing more than a plastered card saying "Happy Birthday". She thought of searching for him but it's not like that she really didn't tried. She couldn't afford to be irresponsible because of her personal desires. She knows that he wouldn't have it if she ever did.
She often wonders if he really thinks about her as much as she thinks about him. She wonders if he really mutters her name all the time as many as she mutters his. She often wonders if he really did care like she does care for him.
It is quite sad for a girl of her stature, driven to a conclusion that he will only shows up if her life is in danger. It's like also thinking that if she would live normally, innocent and safe for the rest of her life, and then he would gradually disappear forever. Is she nothing more than that to him? To be shut out just like that?
"But sometimes... I want to ... see you so badly."
"...I think you're tired. The great hopes of the people always rest on your shoulders. But - you can do it. I am sure you can preserve word peace." Heero commented, typical enough to say such words to dismiss the girl's pain with enrichment.
"But... Not everyone wishes for peace. People are weak-minded. Some desire fear and hatred. At times, love can also become a trigger for violence. And the people now are after us? What do they feel? What do they want?"
No one really knows if he really is as frustrated with his feelings just like Relena. No one really knows what things come up inside his minds everytime he sees her face on every monitor saying her speeches and answering questions. No one really knows what would happen to him if something unfortunate and regretful occurs to her because of his conditional neglect.
A lot might think that the only thing that binds them both is his vow to be there for her aid. He could only wish that both of them could just understand. All that he knows is she is right beside him and alive. What comes after next is highly unprecedented.
Suddenly but not surprisingly, Heero lifts up a hand and gently touches her hair. He let his fingers entwine to her golden locks to feel every single strand's softness and grace. She couldn't help but smile at his playful "fetish" about her hair giving it with such interest.
Then she felt something went down on her spine as he began stroking her cheek in a gesture very soft and unlike himself. It may all seem different but she doesn't care. She is loving it every single bit. He looks at her eyes and she replied with hers.
"Who ever they are... No matter who your enemy might be... I will protect you."
"Heero..."
Heero averted his glare from her and returned it back to the endless space, and keeps on piloting the shuttle, while Relena's head slowly lolls down onto his right shoulder, resting there. He didn't tense up but he did nuzzled up his cheek to her hair.
(A/N: OH MY GOD! Its like Squall and Rinoa all over again! )
Maybe he does feel something for her at least. He seldom shows such display of affections but only when they are completely alone together like this. She admires him for him for doing things at the right place and at the right time. The details won't matter until later. But first...
"Did you transfer into another school?"
"Yes"
"Are you seeing any other girls?"
"No."
"Really?"
"There is this girl with her friends that are really nice to me."
"And."
"I speak when I'm spoken to."
"She's lucky."
"Why?"
"Cause she didn't answered to your gun unlike me."
"Relena, I..."
"It's okay, Heero. It's okay."
(A/N: Ouch! I got her message, did you?)
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Meanwhile, in the back compartment, Chris wakes up from her slumber notices Relena is gone. She sits up in bed and takes a small communicator out of her pocket.
"This is Chris. I am traveling on a shuttle, together with Vice Foreign Minister Darlian and the pilot 01. Destination unknown. I'll contact again for confirmation."
In the front, Relena has fallen asleep on his shoulder. Heero then notices the secret communication through a warning light on the controls. After a while, the light goes off, but he does neither say nor do anything.
================================= Back in the office of the man we now know as Sogran. Ralph Kurt's visage now occupies the large view screen. He doesn't look pleased at Ralph's news. "The pilot of 03 has escaped?"
"I am very sorry, Commander Sogran. I took on pursuit but he gave us the slip! But he was already out of range probably out of this quadrant."
"You understand what that means, don't you Ralph? The Gundam is elemental for what we are trying to achieve." Sogran looks at the screen with hands resting on knee.
"Yes... But I haven't lost everything yet. We still have options. 01 and the Vice Foreign Minister are still under surveillance." Ralph defended
"I'll let you handle that operation. This time, bring me a Gundam! Do not fail me again, is that clear Sir Kurt?"
"Yes, Sir."
After that Ralph terminates the call. Sogran sighed and rested firmly on his big reclining chair. "Damn Gundam pilots... always in the way. You will burn your hands on these Gundam pilots for the last time."
===================================
Back to Yuy's shuttle, Heero sees their destination up ahead. He looks at Relena and gently gave her a small nudge by his cheek as he tries to wake Relena, who is still sleeping comfortably on his shoulder. "Relena. We've arrived." He whispered.
Relena wakes up and her half opened eyes widen as she sees the ruins of a colony through the window.
"This... Where are we?"
"We have cleared the L-3 colony cluster."
"This colony... There is a hole in its wall!"
"About ten years ago, when federation forces gained supremacy over the resistance, they inflicted heavy damage on it. It has become uninhabitable now"
"Why here of all places?"
"There are still usable areas. I've used it before. It's just right for a hiding place.
Then the door behind them slides open and Chris enters the cockpit. Relena turned her head while Heero just sets his on their destination. "Chris? Can you walk? Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes. There is no need to worry..." She paused after seeing the view outside the shuttle. "This is...!" Chris remembers to a time when she still was a little girl. The war rages around her, and a Leo points its smoking gun at her form. Suddenly, someone yanks her away from the scene. It is a younger Ralph Kurt, taking her to safety.
Relena notices her little trance and decided to bring her back to reality. "Chris?"
"No, it's nothing."
Heero watches her silently, suspecting something. The shuttle flies directly through the gaping hole in the hull and lands amidst the ruins of what used to be buildings. Heero is still sitting while the girls observed the wasted surroundings.
"Such desolation - just like the colony where I once lived..." said Chris who turned her gaze away from the scene. "It's dilapidated but the life support systems seems to be active."
Then all three of them heard a call signal flashes on the controls. Something is coming and fast.
"A shuttle is getting nearer." Chris said. "Strange. This area is outside the shuttle traffic routes. No transport routes pass through the area anymore." She thought.
Heero stands up and presses the button to zoom in the image of the incoming ship. "Don't worry. It's them."
The shuttle's hatch opens to Trowa, Duo and Quatre; already waiting for them to arrive as Heero and Relena watches them from below.
(End of Backtrack)
Disclaimer: I don't own this anime
Chapter Eleven: Visions of the Blind Target: REMEMBER
(A/N: Some events came after the "Endless Waltz" and "Blind Target")
(Heero's POV)
Things couldn't get weirder for the five us yet the plot thickens as the strangers kept on their activity. Some guys were chasing me; Wufei was surrounded and outnumbered; Trowa got a visit from an old friend with a purpose; Duo's transport shuttle got trashed and the Colonial Summit where Quatre was in got bombed. But all of these men had one thing in mind. They want our Gundams and if they are lucky, they might even get us as a bonus. Although it was odd that Quatre didn't made the cut. They wanted him dead for some reason. Of course, he is not the only influential personality they want dead.
===============================================================
(Backtrack)
Somewhere, A hidden figure watches the live news broadcast on a large screen inside his spacious office. The broadcast is airing the explosion of the very building where the Colonial Summit was held. The monitor is still showing flames shooting out of the ruins and thick black with shades of coal gray clouds the dim blue sky despite of the fire fighters' efforts to extinguish the blaze.
"The blast was caused by explosives." A reporter spoke. "A terrorist bombing at the colony summit! What is the current situation?" said the second one. "The chances of survival for each of the colony representatives present at the summit are to be regarded as hopeless." The third one added.
As the mysterious figure watches the tragedy and listens to the rambling journalists, he shifted his attention as personal call arrives. He pressed the receiver and the image of another, dark-haired middle-aged man, replaces the smoking remains of the skyscraper.
"Were you successful? It looks like everything went exactly as planned, doesn't it?" said the middle-aged man in the monitor.
The face of the mysterious figure comes clear as the lights of the huge screen reflected on his face. A younger man becomes visible not much of a few years compared to the one in the monitor. He answers with a satisfied smile on his lips and looked at the image in front of him.
"U-huh. The young heir to the Winner family is also among the casualties, killed along with the others." Answered the younger male
"And the proof? Is there evidence for his death?" the image questioned him
The man's eyes grew wearer for the man's tone but remained composed on his big seat. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"
"No, that was not my meaning... I am asking because the fate of every one of us is depending on this operation." The man in the screen defended
"There is no reason for concern. Everything is going smoothly. We have already moved on to the next stage."
"But..." the image paused as it looks down to the one seated
"All you need to do is wait. It is all right if you and your men wait a little longer. That is, until the Gundam is in our hands..."
====================================
Meanwhile back at the circus, Ralph Kurt is trying to convince Trowa of his cause. Ralph thought that getting through to Trowa is a long shot even if he tried to speak of the times they fought together. But still he must do or say what he must. Gundam Heavy-arms is his aim. Every each suit is vital for the plan.
"Do you remember? That time when we never knew when death could claim up? How we buried our fears and fought, despite all the confusion? We could all have died at any moment. Guys struggled to keep the terror from consuming them." The tall man with the coat spoke. He looks intently at Trowa and listened to Trowa's silence. "But you..." he paused.
While in his quiet, Trowa had a flashback of his own. It was a time when he was a young boy of maybe 9, standing amidst the smoke and rubble of a newly waged war. He was clad in the clothes of a mercenary and stares blankly and uncaringly ahead of him to a younger Ralph with his fellow soldiers, sheltering themselves behind a ruined building. Ralph's eyes mirror those of Trowa's... Then he snaps back to the present
"You were a perfect soldier. Fearless. There was not a more perfect soldier than you!" Ralph patronized him.
Trowa wouldn't even imagine that somebody would call him a perfect soldier. It was like comparing himself to another Gundam pilot that he knows very well who fits the title more. "You're wrong. Not perfect nor fearless but empty. That was only because I had lost something important from all that fighting."
What words could have Ralph described the teen? As a boy, he could have shot down more mobile suits than all of them put together. His guns were never blank but his face every time an enemy is in front on him. The boy didn't feared death nor cheated it. Death never knocks once. To Trowa back then, he just couldn't hear it. "So you're saying things are different now?"
"I've chosen to live not as a soldier anymore. I'm a human being and I chose to live as the one named Trowa Barton." He said proudly
To Ralph, Trowa's change is really admirable. It is like he is staring at a soldier who has lost the very meaning of the word. He really is just a kid who wanted to have place to call his own unlike the ruins left by the war. It would have been great for him to see the skills of the teen once more but it seems the negotiations are not doing any much help. Ralph's chummy facade cracks, and he smirks. "I see. Is that so? Then you no longer need 'that' do you?"
Trowa maybe no longer a sharp soldier but he is not a naïve civilian either. He could only assume correctly what the guy is talking about. He is sensing the superior gleam in the man's eyes. "Ralph?"
Ralph removed his left arm from the side pocket of his over coat and stretches out his arm in a dramatic gesture to Trowa. He obviously enjoys playing the trump card. Any kind of mobile suit cannot be superior if a superior pilot can't drive it. To achieve maximum efficiency, these two entities go hand in hand. To him Trowa is as good as he's worth to pilot any kind of mobile suit, Gundam or not. If Ralph can't persuade 03 to join, then he'll just ask for the next best thing. "The Gundam... that 'Heavy- arms', hand it to us then! It should be owned by someone who has retained the will to fight!"
What?
Before the negotiations could go any further, Catherine suddenly comes rushing out of one of the tents with a voice that could wake up the whole circus. "Trowa, something terrible has happened! Quatre is..." She restrained for a bit as she sees the man before her brother. "Oh."
Ralph just looked at the girl as he heard her screams. Sounds like the boys are one Gundam pilot short. "So, news travels fast these days. When the federation was under control, we rarely got news from the other colonies.
Trowa didn't like the sound of his tone. He doesn't know yet what happened to Quatre but he has a definite hunch that everything that is happening is not merely coincidental. "Is this your doing? What the hell is it you're trying to achieve?
Ralph just walks away with hands in his pockets once again. Things might get unplanned he lingered. "It doesn't concerns you anymore, since you no longer have the nerve to fight. I'll leave for now. But do me a favor and think about what we've discussed."
Trowa wordlessly looks after him. Something is going on and by the looks of things; he is not the only one who has strange encounters.
"Trowa?" Catherine worried
"An old associate." He said to qualm her. Still he still thinks of the matters. He knows what he must do. "Catherine..." he paused as she grabs his shoulders, desperately trying to persuade him from doing what she thinks he is about to, but he doesn't meet her eyes. "No, Don't! You're going away again, aren't you?"
"I'm sorry." Trowa gently takes her hand. His eyes soften. "I don't want to be dragged into it. But I will surely return to you. Because this is where I can come home to." Catherine knows that look every time she watches him leave like that, her hand tracing the spot on her wrist where his had been just a moment ago. "Trowa..."
===================================
Back at the spaceport, Duo is watching a group of men disguised as tech personnel skulking around his shuttle. It seems they are searching something in particular. He hid his face under his black cap and disappears again, unseen.
Somewhere, A shadowed figure is sitting in a room, the figure outlined by the light falling through the thin curtains as light desperately passes through for transparence. The stillness is disturbed when there is a knock on the door. The figure alarmed by the act and looked upon the door, the God of Death on the other side. "It's me. I'm coming in." Duo with nothing but a smirk on his face and he switches on the light.
"How's it goin'... Deadman?"
The figure revealed by the light is Quatre, who gets out of the armchair he'd been sitting in, with a miserable face. "How mean of you. Don't joke, Duo. I am lucky so be still alive."
Duo can't help but chuckle. "Sorry. It's just that everyone outside thinks that little Master Winner was trapped and toasted in the blast. Our Golden Boy is the news worthy victim of the explosion."
"How is the situation?"
Before he could even talk, Duo peeks through the curtains to check if he's been followed. "Not good. Pretty hopeless, I say. The conference room was completely engulfed in flames and burned up. There were no survivors."
Quatre couldn't feel any better hearing the terrible news of the innocent lives that were taken away by such an underhanded attack "Oh... I see."
If Duo knows Quatre like he thinks he does, he will start blaming himself again for every tragedy that comes. It's just like Quatre to be so caring and thoughtful. Duo tries to lighten him up a bit just on the safe side. "But man, was I shocked. Even I thought you were inside that building. So what happened?"
Before it all happened, Quatre and his aides was walking towards the conference room, when suddenly, an explosion sets off in front of them, flames engulfing the corridor. "That was pure luck. We were late because there was trouble with the car." He cant believe such a troublesome as a motor problem could be such a life saver. "If we had arrived a split second earlier, I'd have certainly been killed as well."
"You got the devil's luck. Comes with being a Gundam pilot." Duo said as he sits down and cross his legs trying to be optimistic.
Quatre just sits doesn't still in deep thought. He is sure the attack was indeed intended because it would make sense to blow up the place along with those important people with a single try. "But who could have done this? What are they trying to achieve with such a crime? What were they after? Is it all of colony representatives... or because I am the heir of the Winner family who was suppose to be there...?
"Maybe it's because you're a Gundam pilot."
"Eh?"
Duo is suddenly serious, stroking his chin in thought as Quatre waits for further explanation from the braided teen. "I had some ominous company back at my shuttle. Snooping around. I wonder whether I've become a target as well?" Duo's head perks up and just smiled to perish the thought for later. "Oh well.... We'll figure it out after we get a chance to speak with him."
"Speak with who, Duo?"
"We've got an appointment with an unusual visitor."
===================================
Back at Wufei's colony, his attackers are spread neatly around him. Wufei, it seems, hasn't even broken a sweat. These guys should have known better to gang him up like this.
The man with the dark shades is now without his glasses pretty messed up and crawling in discomfort. "Guh.... It can't be.... he is just a kid..."
He has such a passion for those five words arranged in such a degrading manner. It seems that some people are still skeptical about all of the OZ and Alliances bases he destroyed single handedly and obliterated countless of mobile suits and dolls alike was done by just a kid. Arrogant adults who underestimate a "kid" like him has always been a big mistake. "Who are you? Why did you attack me?"
You...
Because?
Because... you're a Gundam pilot.
Now who on the right mind would attack a Gundam pilot such as him? It's not like they really pose as a threat when they surrounded him afterall all he did was self-defense. But he knows they wont bother with the trouble if they approached him aimlessly. Beside he already does have a sort of hint that things like this might happen. "Then I understand. If you want Nataku, and you defeated me, she would fall into your hands."
Wufei dons his jacket once more and wraps the white fabric all over his shoulders. "But I won't hand over Nataku to someone who is not just. That I swear on my name." With all said and done, he finally walks away leaving those bodies feeling the embraces of the grass. It's such a good thing he was prepared thanks to a 01's warning earlier. "It looks like the predictions he said are coming true.
=====================================
On the other side of a colony, Relena's car is speeding along the road. She is sitting inside, lost in thought. The news about the colonial summit reached her and it shook her up a bit when they said no one could have survived the blast. Chris couldn't do nothing but to worry about the vice foreign minister's trance. "Ms. Relena, Are you alright?"
Relena heard her and stir her head to the girl sitting beside her. "Yes. Better than before. Please hurry, Chris. We have to get to the colony where the incident happened immediately."
"I have arranged for a shuttle to meet us. Please keep calm."
"Why did this have to happen? I should have been there at the conference." She couldn't have believed it herself about what happened. She didn't want to come to the summit because she thought that the matters of unifying the colonies are centered only for the colonies and the people on their behalf. And to think Quatre who failed persuading her to come, is also there at the explosion. That really is the reason why they must make haste. She wont believe it if her friend died like that.
"That you weren't is a silver lining. It's the one blessing amidst this calamity. Should something happen to you; the United Earth Sphere would have been dealt a terrible blow. It would be a grave loss."
"But...!"
Suddenly, there is machine gun fire. The bullet came from the two black cars that were tailing them ever since they left from the administrative building. The bullet shot through the windshield and made it's way to the driver.
Relena and Chris were startled at their seats and shaken profusely as the car skids to a halt against the crash barrier with the front left of the car pressed on it, totally busted. The impact left Relena holding her head and Chris with her hand on her right arm.
The two cars made their move and covered the front and the back sealing the way. As the cars stopped, men in black made their way to approach the car. Relena notices armed men getting out of the cars around them. One guy came close to the back seat of Relena's car with gun in hand. "Relena Darlian, I presume. Get out of the car!"
"Identify yourselves!" Relena shouted from the window
"Shut up and get out!"
"Ms. Relena..." Chris tries to hold her back as Relena's features harden. "You mustn't! Ms. Relena!" The girl held the door handle and turned it to open the door. Before Chris could even stop her from stepping out of the car, Chris holds her right side in pain. "Uh... please Ms. Relena..."
Relena steps outside the car, unafraid and shot a look with the goons. This is the very same look of the girl who didn't blink on eyelevel with the mouth of Heero's gun. "What is it that you want? Is it my life?"
"We'd like you to come with us."
Then out of nowhere, another gun fired, and the men drop their guns as they're riddled by bullet fire. One got shot at the leg, then another got it to the left shoulder and another got it to the arm. Relena is the only one left standing. She turns around to see another car approaching fast, the driver leaning out the window with his gun extended. She sees the familiar face of the shooter with such precision and screamed out loud.
"Heero!"
The car screeches to a halt as Heero jumps out, rushed to her also yelling her name to the air. It's like a knight in shining armor in aid of the fair princess, though if it's just a boy in green tanktop and blue jeans rescuing a vice foreign minister. "Relena! Run!"
The three of them keep running into a nearby alleyway. He would have taken Relena's hand and ran faster but the idea is not applicable at the time because there are two females behind her, not to mention Chris has a hard time keeping up, obviously in pain from her wound. Heero takes a two-feet lead as Relena slows down and helped Chris stable. "Heero, wait! Chris is..."
Chris made an effort to stand up straight, trying earnestly not to be a burden to the girl who stopped for her. "It's alright, Ms. Relena-sama. But where are we going? And who is he?
Relena just turned to her then looks back to the guy who had come for their aid. She smiled at him with glistened eyes. Chris just stood there and watched at the two staring at each other. The stare is just a beginning to fill the void of absence between the two of them.
She didn't mind the pain for a while as it was replaced by a spine tingling feeling. She kinda felt that she is not needed to be at the spot at the very moment. Then Relena broke the trance and decided to answer the girl. "He is someone who we can be trust. At his side, we are safe."
Heero just stares at her blankly and turned away in indifference for her patronizing. He had the urge to say something better but the opportunity for greetings and formality is not compulsory. He punches in a key code at a nearby door. "We are leaving this colony. The plan is to take you to a place where you cannot fall into their hands."
The door slides open and a shuttle became evident within the dim environment. Relena doesn't understand what on earth is going or why Heero appeared to her suddenly but she knows where to find her answers. "Who are they? Why are they after me?
You're not the only one.
Eh?
They're after me, too.
=======================================
Back at the colony the circus currently stays at, Trowa walks along a peopled road. He notices men watching him out of the corner of his eye. One of them inconspicuously informs Ralph. "Trowa Barton just passed by."
"Just follow him for now, so he doesn't slip from our grasp."
"He's alone, we might as well capture him."
"Don't underestimate the Gundam pilot. That is the reason the team responsible for Chang Wufei failed."
"But..."
"Don't worry. This time, I will take care of it myself."
Ralph sets out from his hiding spot and started to follow Trowa. "Headed to the Gundam, eh?" Trowa acts as if he doesn't notice his new friends and maintain his cool; a raised eyebrow is the only sign of his discomfort. "Am I being followed? So, what should I do? Perhaps Ralph is nothing but the commander of this unit... I need to know who is behind of it all... but as long as I can't get a shot at the eminence..."
As Trowa enters a narrow side street he suddenly hears a familiar voice. It's the braided one in black. "Heading' somewhere, brother? Why don't ya take advantage of my special express transport? I'll deliver anything. And I got a special today. Helping guys shake unwanted tails."
"Duo...!"
Duo leans smugly against a nearby wall and raised his head to reveal his face under his black cap. "Whatever the merchandise - under these circumstance I'll even give pursuit obstruction service a try."
Shortly afterwards, Trowa's pursuers find themselves in a dead end. Before they can react, Duo lunges at them from above, while Trowa suddenly appears behind the other man and quickly takes him out with a fist to the stomach. When they are down for the count, Duo gestures Trowa to follow him. "This way!"
The two have already escaped when Ralph and his subordinate arrive at the scene. He regards the unconscious bodies with gritted teeth. "Damn"
"How could this be, sir?"
It seems outnumbering the Gundam pilot is definitely not a good idea. Looks like Heavy-arms wont be included in the package just yet. "We failed. Better move on to the next operation. We'll switch to the tactics Commander Sogran recommended."
===================================
Meanwhile, Duo and Trowa arrive at his shuttle. Duo is visibly looking forward to the look on Trowa's face, and gives a thumbs-up. "Mission accomplished!"
Quatre rises from the co-pilot seat, and smiled to see that Duo has brought Trowa. "Trowa! Thank God, I'm glad you're safe."
Trowa is stunned like he has seen a avenging ghost. "Quatre! I heard you were unaccounted for after the explosion at the colony summit."
Duo laughs as he taps Trowa's shoulder. "Gundam pilots don't get blown away that easily!"
"I simply cannot die yet. There are things I still have to do." Said Quatre with glassy eyes with indefinable emotion
Trowa has regained his normal composure but for his eyes. "Ah. Yes, of course." Duo flops down into his seat with his usual unceremonious grace. "Hurry up with your joyful reunion. What's Heero gonna say if we're late for our meeting?"
"Heero is coming, too?"
"Yup. In this matter, the whole Gundam bunch is with us. And that includes him." =====================================
Heero's shuttle flies silently through space. Relena sits beside the sleeping Chris' bed. She is still confused with everything that had happened. There were also a lot of things that she wanted to ask to Heero. When she observed that Chris is doing just fine, she stood up silently and finally joins Heero at the cockpit.
She sees him just sitting there without doing anything. Even his hands are not stirring if it's like the shuttle is moving at a constant direction. She walks from behind him thinking of what to say first. But she wouldn't blurt out everything she wants to know. She knows he doesn't like it. "Chris is lucky that her injuries aren't serious. She's resting now."
Still he remains on the spot. He only averted his eyes to her as she positions herself to sit besides Heero. The space between her seat and his is not that way too distant but quite very near. "You should do the same."
"No, I..." Relena smiles slightly at him. How she missed that expressionless mask he calls face. She can't believe that the closeness is here once more... to be right there at his side after setting off alone just to come for her rescue just like he did many times before.
All that silent smiling made Heero irritated then finally asks. "What?"
Like everything else, his voice remained unchanged. She wouldn't have anything less. She knows she has waited enough ever since their last encounter at that shuttle on her last birthday. It's not it's been a very long time but the her hopes of seeing him again made that time a lot longer than it seems.
"If you'll let me, I'd like to rest here, at your side. This isn't a dream, is it?"
"Relena...."
"I know it's selfish... to want you always by my side." She paused as her hands balled in to tight fists on her lap. Relena thinks of her work and the restrictions it poses on her life. Day after day of her young life she is carrying such a huge responsibility that would seems to be carried until she couldn't anymore.
She remembers sitting in her office, Heero's teddy bear the only thing keeping her company. No words that she heard from him nothing more than a plastered card saying "Happy Birthday". She thought of searching for him but it's not like that she really didn't tried. She couldn't afford to be irresponsible because of her personal desires. She knows that he wouldn't have it if she ever did.
She often wonders if he really thinks about her as much as she thinks about him. She wonders if he really mutters her name all the time as many as she mutters his. She often wonders if he really did care like she does care for him.
It is quite sad for a girl of her stature, driven to a conclusion that he will only shows up if her life is in danger. It's like also thinking that if she would live normally, innocent and safe for the rest of her life, and then he would gradually disappear forever. Is she nothing more than that to him? To be shut out just like that?
"But sometimes... I want to ... see you so badly."
"...I think you're tired. The great hopes of the people always rest on your shoulders. But - you can do it. I am sure you can preserve word peace." Heero commented, typical enough to say such words to dismiss the girl's pain with enrichment.
"But... Not everyone wishes for peace. People are weak-minded. Some desire fear and hatred. At times, love can also become a trigger for violence. And the people now are after us? What do they feel? What do they want?"
No one really knows if he really is as frustrated with his feelings just like Relena. No one really knows what things come up inside his minds everytime he sees her face on every monitor saying her speeches and answering questions. No one really knows what would happen to him if something unfortunate and regretful occurs to her because of his conditional neglect.
A lot might think that the only thing that binds them both is his vow to be there for her aid. He could only wish that both of them could just understand. All that he knows is she is right beside him and alive. What comes after next is highly unprecedented.
Suddenly but not surprisingly, Heero lifts up a hand and gently touches her hair. He let his fingers entwine to her golden locks to feel every single strand's softness and grace. She couldn't help but smile at his playful "fetish" about her hair giving it with such interest.
Then she felt something went down on her spine as he began stroking her cheek in a gesture very soft and unlike himself. It may all seem different but she doesn't care. She is loving it every single bit. He looks at her eyes and she replied with hers.
"Who ever they are... No matter who your enemy might be... I will protect you."
"Heero..."
Heero averted his glare from her and returned it back to the endless space, and keeps on piloting the shuttle, while Relena's head slowly lolls down onto his right shoulder, resting there. He didn't tense up but he did nuzzled up his cheek to her hair.
(A/N: OH MY GOD! Its like Squall and Rinoa all over again! )
Maybe he does feel something for her at least. He seldom shows such display of affections but only when they are completely alone together like this. She admires him for him for doing things at the right place and at the right time. The details won't matter until later. But first...
"Did you transfer into another school?"
"Yes"
"Are you seeing any other girls?"
"No."
"Really?"
"There is this girl with her friends that are really nice to me."
"And."
"I speak when I'm spoken to."
"She's lucky."
"Why?"
"Cause she didn't answered to your gun unlike me."
"Relena, I..."
"It's okay, Heero. It's okay."
(A/N: Ouch! I got her message, did you?)
==================================
Meanwhile, in the back compartment, Chris wakes up from her slumber notices Relena is gone. She sits up in bed and takes a small communicator out of her pocket.
"This is Chris. I am traveling on a shuttle, together with Vice Foreign Minister Darlian and the pilot 01. Destination unknown. I'll contact again for confirmation."
In the front, Relena has fallen asleep on his shoulder. Heero then notices the secret communication through a warning light on the controls. After a while, the light goes off, but he does neither say nor do anything.
================================= Back in the office of the man we now know as Sogran. Ralph Kurt's visage now occupies the large view screen. He doesn't look pleased at Ralph's news. "The pilot of 03 has escaped?"
"I am very sorry, Commander Sogran. I took on pursuit but he gave us the slip! But he was already out of range probably out of this quadrant."
"You understand what that means, don't you Ralph? The Gundam is elemental for what we are trying to achieve." Sogran looks at the screen with hands resting on knee.
"Yes... But I haven't lost everything yet. We still have options. 01 and the Vice Foreign Minister are still under surveillance." Ralph defended
"I'll let you handle that operation. This time, bring me a Gundam! Do not fail me again, is that clear Sir Kurt?"
"Yes, Sir."
After that Ralph terminates the call. Sogran sighed and rested firmly on his big reclining chair. "Damn Gundam pilots... always in the way. You will burn your hands on these Gundam pilots for the last time."
===================================
Back to Yuy's shuttle, Heero sees their destination up ahead. He looks at Relena and gently gave her a small nudge by his cheek as he tries to wake Relena, who is still sleeping comfortably on his shoulder. "Relena. We've arrived." He whispered.
Relena wakes up and her half opened eyes widen as she sees the ruins of a colony through the window.
"This... Where are we?"
"We have cleared the L-3 colony cluster."
"This colony... There is a hole in its wall!"
"About ten years ago, when federation forces gained supremacy over the resistance, they inflicted heavy damage on it. It has become uninhabitable now"
"Why here of all places?"
"There are still usable areas. I've used it before. It's just right for a hiding place.
Then the door behind them slides open and Chris enters the cockpit. Relena turned her head while Heero just sets his on their destination. "Chris? Can you walk? Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes. There is no need to worry..." She paused after seeing the view outside the shuttle. "This is...!" Chris remembers to a time when she still was a little girl. The war rages around her, and a Leo points its smoking gun at her form. Suddenly, someone yanks her away from the scene. It is a younger Ralph Kurt, taking her to safety.
Relena notices her little trance and decided to bring her back to reality. "Chris?"
"No, it's nothing."
Heero watches her silently, suspecting something. The shuttle flies directly through the gaping hole in the hull and lands amidst the ruins of what used to be buildings. Heero is still sitting while the girls observed the wasted surroundings.
"Such desolation - just like the colony where I once lived..." said Chris who turned her gaze away from the scene. "It's dilapidated but the life support systems seems to be active."
Then all three of them heard a call signal flashes on the controls. Something is coming and fast.
"A shuttle is getting nearer." Chris said. "Strange. This area is outside the shuttle traffic routes. No transport routes pass through the area anymore." She thought.
Heero stands up and presses the button to zoom in the image of the incoming ship. "Don't worry. It's them."
The shuttle's hatch opens to Trowa, Duo and Quatre; already waiting for them to arrive as Heero and Relena watches them from below.
(End of Backtrack)