A New Ally (1) Chapter 8: Breaking News Brief
It was Christmas Eve, A.C. 195. Duo and Aly were returning to the medical ward of the PeaceMillion after breakfast. They both silently hoped that Hilde would be awake when they arrived.
When they reached the medical ward, Duo stopped in front of the window looking into Hilde's room. His eyes grew wide with excitement. He pushed off the ground swiftly and flung open the door to Hilde's room, rushing in.
With a small smile, Aly slowly drifted into the room after the longhaired pilot. She decided Hilde must have been awake for him to be that excited.
Silently, Aly closed the door that Duo had left open. She leaned against the wall beside it and crossed her arms over her chest while she wordlessly watched the scene before her.
"Hilde! You're awake! Are you OK now? How do you feel? How long have you been awake?"
The doctor standing at the foot of Hilde's bed had been about to speak when Duo started talking in an enthusiastic rush. He looked as though he was not sure whether to be annoyed or amused by Duo's interruption.
Hilde laughed lightly, her eyes shinning warmly.
"I'm fine." Hilde glanced at the doctor and Duo followed her gaze.
"Oh. Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt..." Duo said with a sheepish grin. The doctor opened his mouth to speak, but Hilde interrupted him.
"Hello." Hilde said with a warm smile at Aly. The IceAngel pilot was caught off guard the slightest bit. She had not been expecting anyone to notice her.
"Hello." Aly replied.
"I'm Hilde. I'm sorry I don't know your name. Duo, the king of polite behavior, here didn't bother to introduce us." Hilde said with a side-glance and a grin at Duo.
"Oh...Yeah. Sorry." The DeathScythe pilot grinned sheepishly again. Aly smirked. She could tell she was going to like Hilde.
"I'm Aly. I think he was about to speak." Aly said, nodding towards the doctor. He smiled gratefully at Aly. Hilde and Duo both looked at the doctor. They had forgotten he was even there.
"I simply wanted to give you some instructions. In the event that the medical wing is evacuated, I need you to cooperate with the med.-transport people. I don't want to risk your stitches getting ripped." The doctor said to Hilde.
"All right." Hilde said seriously.
"Do you have any questions for me?" The doctor asked.
"None that I can think of." Hilde said.
"All right then. I will leave you alone now. I know your friends are anxious to speak with you. I saw them waiting outside earlier." The doctor stepped out the door with a nod at Hilde before he closed it behind himself.
"Stitches huh? Sounds like fun." Duo drifted over and sat on the edge of Hilde's bed.
"Oh yeah. It's wonderful." Hilde said dryly. Duo grinned at Hilde.
"Hey. You don't have to stand all the way over there. Come here." Hilde said to Aly. She gestured towards the empty seat beside her bed.
"Thank you." Aly drifted over and sat down in the empty chair. Hilde nodded.
"What's going on in the outside world?" Hilde looked at Duo who was sitting on her other side.
"Not much. We think the next battle is going to start soon." Duo said gravely.
"I wish I could be out there helping you guys instead of stuck in this stupid bed." Hilde frowned and picked at the blanket on her lap.
"You have helped Hilde. The other pilots are busy going through that data you brought right now. They've already started forming some tactics based on it." Duo said in a reassuring tone.
"I wish I could have done more though..." Hilde said.
"Don't worry about it. You've helped enough. Now you need to help yourself get better." Duo said.
"I guess so." Hilde seemed disappointed.
"Oh stop it." Duo said.
"What?" Hilde asked.
"Quit feeling like you aren't helpful because you are." The longhaired pilot said.
"Duo's right. That data you stole from Libra really is helpful." Aly said. Hilde looked up then, surprised that Aly had spoken.
"Thanks." Hilde said with a soft smile. Aly nodded as a response.
There was a knock at the door. The trio turned to see Sally Po stick her head in the door.
"Hi. Sorry to bother you guys, but Duo and Aly, you're needed in the hanger. The other pilots are there, waiting for you. They're going to launch soon. And Ms. Schweiker, a med.-transport person will be here soon to take you to the shuttle." Sally said.
"Thanks." Duo said. Sally nodded and closed the door. Duo and Aly both stood up.
"I will see you as soon as the battle's over. OK Hilde?" Duo said as he and Aly drifted towards the door.
"OK. Don't do anything too crazy then." Hilde said.
"Who me?" Duo grinned mischievously.
"Crazy idiot." Hilde shook her head in dismay, but she was still smiling. Duo drifted out the door, his laughter trailing behind him. Aly was about to drift out but stopped and glanced back in.
"I hope you feel better Hilde." She said softly.
"Thanks. I hope I can talk to you more someday. Perhaps when this war's over." Hilde said.
"Sure." Aly smiled and nodded. She closed the door behind herself and drifted after Duo, towards the cargo hold of the PeaceMillion.
Duo and Aly went down the hallway in silence. It was not until they passed by Heero and Wufei's room that Aly spoke up.
"Do you think Heero is OK?" Aly asked.
"Huh? Heero? Yeah he'll be fine. He just went to rescue his beloved Relena." Duo said with a smirk.
"Beloved Relena?" Aly asked.
"Relena Peacecraft Dorlain, that girl he went after as soon as he found out she was on Libra." Duo shrugged.
"Relena? Heero's in love with Relena? I've known Relena since we were both little. I can't really imagine her with Heero." Aly looked a bit skeptical.
"Not really beloved. It's just that...well...Heero acts a little strange whenever he's around her. Truth be told, I'm a little surprised he went after her. She practically stalks him." Duo said with another smirk.
"Relena? I can't see her as the stalker type. I know she has always been a bit sheltered...but I still can not picture her stalking someone." Aly said with a frown.
"Well, maybe not stalked...She just seems to appear wherever Heero is. It's strange. I don't know what to think of it really." Duo said.
"Hrm..." Was Aly's only response.
The pair had reached the door leading to the cargo hold. Duo opened the door and was about to pass through, but stopped. He stood in front of Aly, blocking the doorway.
"Aly I need to ask you to do me a big favor." Duo said.
"What kind of favor?" Aly asked. She was curious of what Duo would say.
"I want you to guard the med.-transport shuttle. I want you to make sure Hilde makes it to MOII safely." Duo said.
"What? I can't. I have to help you and the other pilots with this battle." Aly said.
"Aly...please. I-I want to know that Hilde is safe." Duo said. Aly frowned.
"If you want to make sure she is safe, you should escort the shuttle. The others will understand." Aly said.
"No. You have to do it."
"Why me?"
"Because...I know you will come back." Duo said, looking down at the ground.
"What do you mean?" Aly asked. Duo paused and concentrated on the floor. He seemed to be thinking hard on how to voice his feelings.
"It gets harder everyday to fight. The odds are always against us...If I go with Hilde, I don't know if I can force myself to come back and fight. But, I know you will come back." Duo said.
Aly was silent for a moment. She wasn't sure what to think. She did not believe Duo would really back out on his fellow pilots. On the other hand, Aly knew what battles could do to people. The bravest person could run away in fear.
"Fine. I will do it. But, I am coming back as soon as Hilde's safely on MOII. I am going to help you and the others fight." Aly said with her lips drawn in a look of determination.
"Thank you." Duo said. He smiled sadly at Aly. She nodded at him.
Without uttering another word, the two drifted into the cargo hold and onto the catwalk. Technicians standing on the catwalk handed them both their flight helmets before drifting out and away from the danger of the MS thrusters.
Aly pulled on her helmet and drifted into the cockpit of her gundam. Sitting down in her seat, she pulled on her shoulder harness and hit several buttons on the control panel. The door of the cockpit hissed shut and her three screens came to life with an eerie blue glow.
Pushing more buttons, Aly's center screen showed the view in front of her gundam. She could see that the other gundams and Noin's white Taurus were revving up and preparing to launch as the hatch slowly opened.
Blowing a wisp of hair out of her face, Aly connected a line to the PeaceMillion's control room. An image of Howard came onto her left screen.
"Hey Aly," Howard accosted. "What's up?"
"I am going to escort the med.-transport shuttle to MOII. I need you to tell me where it's leaving from." Aly said.
"It's leaving from the South hatch in twenty minutes." Howard said.
"Thank you." Aly blared the thrusters of her gundam and zoomed out of the PeaceMillion, flying around the other side to wait for the small shuttle to exit the South hatch.
"No problem. Anything else I can do for you?" Howard asked.
"Yeah. I need you to relay images of the battle to me. I want to stay posted on everything that happens." Aly said mechanically.
"OK, I will send the feed now." Howard said. His image was replaced by several different views of the battle in progress around Libra.
"I will let you know if I find out any cross information from the opposing sides too." Howard said.
"Thanks."
"Good luck." There was a click and the line of communication went silent. Aly watched as an image of the DeathScythe appeared on her left screen. Duo sliced through one of the mobile dolls in front of himself. Before zooming out of view again.
Glancing at her center screen, Aly could see the South hatch slowly opening in preparation of the shuttle launch. The IceAngel pilot knew it would be a long time before the shuttle actually came out of the hatch after it opened.
Rapidly pushing buttons on her control panel, Aly calculated the distance from the PeaceMillion to MOII. A read-out on her right screen informed her that it would take ten to twenty minutes to reach MOII. She looked at her left screen again and frowned. The HeavyArms and DeathScythe were both flitting on and off screen, followed by brilliant explosions as the two gundams destroyed more mobile suits.
With little effort, Aly jumped down from the cockpit of her gundam. She drifted slowly to the ground, landing to the left of the IceAngel's left foot.
Surveying the port around her, Aly located the exit leading to the commercial shuttle ports. Aly had landed her gundam in a private dock. She had not wanted anyone to notice the gundam laying around on MOII.
Less than five minutes later, Aly was accompanying Hilde in an ambulance ride to the hospital of MOII. She had already explained Duo's request to the ex-OZ soldier. However, Aly had left out Duo's reasons for not going personally.
The ambulance stopped and Aly jumped out, waiting as Hilde was wheeled out and into the sliding glass doors of the hospital.
Once Hilde and Aly were alone in Hilde's hospital room, Hilde grew anxious. The ex-pilot instructed Aly to turn on the small TV across the room so the two girls could see the news on the battle.
The pilot of the IceAngel did as she was asked. Aly switched the TV on and stepped back to sit on the edge of Hilde's bed while they both studied the screen.
On the screen, the ex-OZ pilot and the gundam pilot saw images of the violent battle outside of Libra. A voice came onto the news, breaking the silence.
"Hello, this is Max McConnel reporting live from our International News studio here on the L1 Colony. At this current stage of the battle, both White Fang and OZ seem to be evenly matched. However, just a little while ago, four mysterious mobile suits entered the battle. These suits, which officials believe to be the same rebel gundam pilots from yesterday's battle, seem to be helping the OZ side gain an advantage over White Fang.
This just in, it appears that Libra has started moving around MOII and is heading towards Earth. Also, the PeaceMillion, the large ship that was nearly destroyed by the Libra base two days ago, has started moving around the battlefield and towards Libra..." The reported explained.
Aly stopped listening and turned to Hilde. The former OZ pilot gave Aly a slight nod before the IceAngel pilot sprinted out the door at full speed. She was glad for the colony's gravity; it allowed faster travel than floating on PeaceMillion.
In ten minutes, Aly had reached the shuttle port. Out of breath, yet charged with adrenaline, Aly flopped down in the cockpit of her gundam. The engines roared to life as the girl rapidly pushed buttons, prepping the gundam for takeoff out of the shuttle port.
Howard appeared on Aly's right screen. She glanced at it briefly while trying to focus on her hasty departure from MOII.
"Aly! Where've you been? I tried contacting you earlier." Howard said.
"I was checking on Hilde. Had to keep a promise." Aly said simply.
"Well, we've decided to fly the PeaceMillion into Libra's main cannon. We're hoping to destroy it that way." Howard said.
"You're what?" Aly was shocked, but the surprise did not reach her face.
"We're sending the PeaceMillion into Libra's main cannon. Everyone has already been evacuated. They're heading for MOII right now." Howard explained. Aly noted then that Howard was wearing a space suit.
"What about the other pilots? Any news?" Aly changed the subject.
"Not yet. But, for some reason Wufei is fighting Treize." Sally Po came on screen, replacing Howard's image. "Here I will send you a relay." Sally disappeared off screen. An image of the Shenlong and the Talgeese II came onto Aly's screen.
"We don't really know what else is going on aside from that. None of the other pilots have contacted us." Howard spoke again.
"I am headed back towards the battle field now." Aly said.
"Good lu-brace yourself!" Howard shouted. The connection went dead as the PeaceMillion crashed into Libra's main cannon.
Swearing under her breath, Aly glanced at her left screen, bringing up several news stations. One in particular caught the girl's eye. It was the same station she had been watching in Hilde's hospital room. She hit several buttons, maximizing the image and minimizing all the others to the bottom corner of the screen.
"I have an announcement that was just released from OZ; the OZ leader, Treize Kushrenada, has just been killed. His mobile suit was just destroyed by one of the gundams. We do not know anything else about OZ at the moment.
We have just been informed that the PeaceMillion has crashed into Libra's main cannon. Three gundams have just entered Libra. Officials believe that the gundams plan to destroy Libra from the inside." Max McConnel, the reporter said.
With a quick movement of her fingers across the keypad, Aly turned off all of the news stations. She brought all of her screens back to focus on the battle that was directly in front of her. With her adrenaline pumping, Aly flew straight into the battle, heading for Libra with as much speed as possible.
Aly jerked at the controls of her gundam as it wielded the beam staff in both hands. She knew about the plan to dismantle Libra from within, but she still felt that she needed to speak to her fellow pilots personally and find out what was going on.
In a matter of moments, Aly had caught up with Libra. She sent out a communication line, searching for one of her fellow pilots within Libra. At that moment, she saw the HeavyArms, DeathScythe, and SandRock gundams zoom out of Libra.
"Duo!" Aly called as she connected a line with him.
"Hey Aly." Duo said as his face appeared on her right screen.
"What's the news?" Aly asked.
"Heero's off somewhere nearby, fighting Milliardo Peacecraft. Some crazy girl stabbed Quatre. Trowa dismantled the Mobile Doll system. I dropped the professors off with the PeaceMillion. They are working out some crazy plan to throw off Libra's balance...What the hell...?" Duo trailed off. Aly's eyebrows knitted together as his image was replaced by that of the Epyon and the Wing Zero battling. A strong, yet soft female voice came onto the line.
"The battle you are witnessing has no significance to either Earth or the colonies. But it's necessary just the same. Because in reality, it's a battle to save the colonies.
This year in After Colony 195, the history of battle is finally about to come to an end. Unless these two continue to fight, peace will never be achieved.
Can you feel it? Can you feel the misery of this combat? And can you see the peace that awaits us?
This battle is making each one of us look for a solution to secure the peace." Lady Une stopped speaking.
Aly's gundam was knocked backwards as an explosion erupted from Libra. She saw that it was traveling away from the Earth.
"Was that the Professors' crazy plan?" Aly muttered.
"Guess so." Duo chuckled. Aly watched as a chunk of Libra continued to fall towards the Earth. The Epyon and the Wing Zero both flew inside; still locked in a fierce battle.
Quatre, who had opened a line between all of the gundam pilots, called out to Heero. The remaining four pilots rushed towards the falling Libra piece.
Heero contacted Quatre, informing him of his decision to destroy the Libra piece's power system. The four other pilots, along with the Maganac Corps, who had miraculously appeared, attempted in vain to smash up the deadly Libra piece.
Milliardo Peacecraft destroyed the power system, and all of the gundam pilots and the Maganac Corps flew away to a safe distance.
"You think that worked?" Duo asked Aly.
"I'm not sure..." She frowned. Keeping her gundam hovering close to the DeathScythe, SandRock, and HeavyArms, Aly watched the Libra piece as the explosions tore through it. The block continued to fall towards the Earth. Aly felt her heart racing. She, like the other pilots, was not sure what to do.
That was when Wufei reappeared. He was carrying the Wing Zero's buster riffle. Wufei gave the beam weapon to Heero before he hovered beside the others in anxious anticipation.
Heero blared the thrusters of his Wing Zero gundam. He was racing to get ahead of the Libra block as it entered the Earth's atmosphere.
"I hope he makes it..." Aly heard someone say over the com-link. She was not sure who had said it, but she knew she agreed with them.
Heero had the Wing Zero facing the Libra block as it plummeted down towards the Earth. The friction from falling was tearing up his gundam. But he did not let that stop him as he fired his buster rifle at the Libra block.
"Ore wa..." Aly realized Heero had been speaking to himself, but it was barely audible on the com-link.
"Ore wa..." Heero repeated softly. He fired at the Libra block right as he shouted out, "Ore wa shine nai!"
The com-link went silent. Quatre and the other pilots watched as the Libra block exploded from the blast Heero had fired. They began to feel their stomachs sink when Heero had not returned.
"Where...?" Aly whispered.
"He made it! You've done it Heero!" Duo exclaimed in happiness. Aly let out the breath she had not realized she was holding. On her center screen, she could see Heero's gundam flying into space in flight mode.
"Yeah naturally." Wufei said with a smirk.
"Heh...he's quite the guy." Trowa added.
"Now I get it! It's Heero who's the heart of outer space!" Quatre exclaimed.
"Mission complete." Heero said monotonously. Aly heard all of this, but she did not move or comment. She simply watched the Wing Zero as it disappeared into the darkness of space.
On Christmas Day, A.C. 195, Aly sat in the window seat of her hotel room in Tokyo, Japan. With her cheek against the cool glass, she watched as hundreds of people walked by on the busy streets below. Everyone was cheerful and festive. Christmas was not a very big holiday in Japan, but all of the people were feeling more like celebrating that year since the Eve Wars were finally over.
"Merry Christmas Aly." A warm voice said from behind her. Aly looked over her shoulder and saw Quatre standing behind her. She could barely make him out in the low light cast from the window.
"I thought you were supposed to be resting. You were only in the hospital for an hour." Aly said with a smirk.
"I was. But, I don't feel that bad. Just tired. The doctors said I just can't exert myself. And I have to take all the painkillers they gave me for the next few weeks. Besides, I wanted to come see you. Duo said you had locked yourself up in your room." Quatre smiled innocently.
"How'd you get in anyway?" Aly quirked a suspicious eyebrow at him. "Duo picked the locks didn't he." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes. He did." Quatre said with a shy smile.
"One of these days..." Aly let the threat hang in the air.
"May I sit down?" Quatre nodded towards the window seat. Aly slid over and Quatre sat beside her. The pair sat in silence for several long moments while they looked out the window at the streets below.
Aly laid her head gently on Quatre's shoulder. He smiled softly without looking at her. With a bit of a strain caused by his stab wound, the SandRock pilot put his arm around her shoulders.
"What are you going to do now that the war is over?" Quatre asked, breaking the silence.
"I guess I will go home to L7. Start where I left off. Only now, I won't have to pretend I have a normal life. I can have a real one." Aly replied softly.
When Quatre did not respond, Aly felt her stomach sink. She felt guilty for purposely not including him in her plans for the future.
"What about you?" She finally asked.
"I think I'll go back to L4. Help take care of my father's business...now that he's gone." Quatre said.
"It's so weird. It seems like the war ended so fast...almost makes me wonder if it really ended or I imagined it all."
"I know what you mean." Quatre said empathetically.
"What do you think the others will do?"
"Not sure. It was strange to say good bye to them all. We were brothers-in-arms, but I guess a part of me wished we were closer than that." The blond boy sighed sadly. Aly nodded silently.
"What I hate most of all is that you can't come with me." Quatre said softly. Aly felt the same guilty pang as well as a wave of nostalgia pass through her.
That had been one of her main reasons for shutting herself up in her room. A part of her had not wanted to deal with parting from her friends. She had only found them a matter of weeks before. And, since the war was over, she was not sure how often she would see them again.
"It won't be forever." Aly smiled softly at Quatre. Grabbing his hand in hers, she laced her fingers through his and gave his hand a light squeeze. Quatre smiled back.
"Yeah. Not forever..." Quatre said as they both looked out the window again.
In the months that followed the Eve Wars of After Colony 195, many peace conferences were held between the Earth and the colonies. The Earth and the colonies passed a new formation of the Earth's Sphere Unified Nation. The pilots and soldiers who had fought so hard to obtain peace hoped that this new peace agreement would last...
On July 30th, A.C. 196, Heero, Aly, and Quatre were walking down a less crowded street on the outer edge of the city of Tokyo, Japan. The three pilots had all run into each other at the shuttle port. They had all received a recent message from Duo asking them to meet at a safe house in Tokyo. With few words of reunion, the trio had decided to travel to the safe house together.
For a short distance, the trio was forced to walk through one of the busier sections of Tokyo with the large multimedia screens and bright neon lights. A gathering crowd around a news screen caught Aly's attention. She froze in the middle of the street as she noticed a picture of the L7 colony had appeared on the screen.
Walking closer to the screen so she could hear, Aly frowned. Heero and Quatre had noticed Aly's sudden pause and had stopped a ways behind her, blending in to the crowd.
"We interrupt the current news to bring you this breaking news brief. It seems that the L7 Colony is experiencing some technical problems. There have been several minor explosions on the colony, and officials say that the entire colony could explode at any moment.
Emergency shuttles have already evacuated sectors three through five. However, the capital of the colony and the rest of sectors one and two are still waiting for emergency shuttles..." The female reporter paused for a breath.
Aly felt her eyes growing wide. Her house on L7 was in sector 1, and her father's office at the international embassy was in sector 2.
The satellite image of L7 showed it glow eerily. As Aly's eyes widened in horror, she realized that it was the first wave of an explosion. The colony burst outwards in a tsunami of orange and red. Snowy static filled the screen as the satellite was destroyed from the blast.
"We have just had it confirmed. The L7 Colony just exploded...god...all those people." The reporter seemed to be speaking to herself.
"No..." Aly stepped back further into the crowd. She could not hear any of the people around her as they began speaking all at once.
"No..." She repeated. She began shaking her head slowly as she stared blankly at the screen.
"Aly? Aly are you OK?" Quatre started to reach for Aly's shoulder, but he was blocked by the crowd as it shifted slightly.
"NO!" Aly screamed. She turned away from the news screen. Shoving her way through the crowd despite several startled protests, Aly sprinted away from the lights of the city.
"Heero! You have to stop her! She's lost it!" Quatre called to Heero who had managed to escape the confines of the crowd. Heero frowned, nodded once, then sprinted off in the direction Aly had run.
Heero had been running for nearly five minutes and had not found Aly. He paused to glance over his shoulder, realizing how far away from the city he had traveled. The thought occurred to him that perhaps he had gone the wrong way. Brushing back the self-doubt, he took off running again.
It was not until Heero reached Tokyo Bay that he found Aly. She was walking towards the edge of a pier, ignorant of the crashing surf below. Pursing his lips, Heero watched her for several seconds while he considered his options. Not wanting to upset her already shocked system, Heero silently and meticulously walked up behind Aly.
The young girl reached the edge of the pier, one step from walking all the way off. With lightning fast reflexes, Heero reached out and grabbed her around the waist, jerking her back from the edge.
Snapping to attention, Aly looked down at the crashing surf below with wide, startled eyes. Quickly realizing how close she had been to falling off the pier, Aly started to shake violently.
"It's all right. You're safe now." Heero said softly. 'What the hell am I saying?' Heero mentally growled at himself.
Aly spun away from the edge of the pier, burying her face in her rescuer's chest as she started to cry uncontrollably.
"I-I would have fallen if you hadn't..." Aly said shakily, between sobs that racked her body.
"You're safe now." Heero said. He slowly put his arms around Aly in an attempt to comfort her. The perfect soldier felt very awkward. He was not used to comforting people. And, the whole situation made him feel uneasy.
The emotionally overwhelmed girl slowly sank to a sitting position on her knees and Heero kneeled down with her. Instinct told him that he needed to keep his arms around her until she stopped shaking. That instinct made Heero feel even more self-alienated by his own reasoning.
"No it's not all right. Heero...you don't understand...I've never been alone before..." Aly whispered.
Heero was unsure what to say. He had always been alone. It never really occurred to him that someone would have such a problem with being on their own; especially a former gundam pilot.
'But she was always the innocent one...' A small voice in the back of Heero's head rationalized. Glancing down at Aly when she had ceased shaking, Heero tried to see her face. He realized she had fallen asleep.
Getting to his feet slowly, Heero gathered Aly in his arms and walked back down the peer. Quatre ran up to him. He was panting from running all the way there.
"What...happened?" Quatre asked, studying Aly's limp form in Heero's arms.
"She almost walked off the edge. I pulled her back. When she realized what almost happened, I guess she passed out." Heero said monotonously.
"Where are you taking her?" Quatre fell into step beside Heero.
"Back to the safe house." Heero replied.
"Then what?" Quatre had finally gotten his breathing back to normal.
"I'm not sure. She needs to get somewhere away from media attention. I think I will take her back to L1 with me after the meeting with the others." Heero replied.
Quatre's eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs. He could not believe that Heero, of all people was being so considerate.
"I guess that's the best thing for her." Quatre said as they reached the safe house.
The blonde boy knocked on the door. Duo was the one who answered it. He took one look at Aly and glared daggers at Heero.
"What did you do?" Duo exclaimed.
"Nothing." Heero shoved past Duo and set Aly down on the couch. The other two pilots, Wufei and Trowa, walked in from the kitchen.
"What happened to her?" Trowa tilted his head towards Aly who lay very still on the couch.
"When she found out about the L7 explosion, she freaked out and took off running. Heero stopped her right as she was about to walk off the pier. She realized what she had almost done and passed out." Quatre explained.
"She will be fine. She just needs to rest." Trowa said as he brushed Aly's hair away from her face.
"All right. Then...I guess I will explain why I had you all meet here." Duo said. Looking carefully at Aly, he decided to lead the way back to the kitchen where they had left their drinks behind. The former gundam pilots gathered around the island and waited for Duo to explain.
"I wanted us all to unanimously decide what to do now that it's a time of peace... All mobile suits have been ordered to be destroyed. I was not sure if I wanted to destroy the gundams though." Duo said.
"As much as I hate to part with SandRock, perhaps it is best to get rid of the gundams." Quatre said thoughtfully.
"That would be wise, but how do we do it?" Wufei asked. The group fell silent as they all thought.
"Well...we could send them into the sun...with one of the L4 disposal blocks." Quatre offered.
The group considered his idea for several long moments. After a long gap of wordless debate, they all decided that they would send their gundams to Quatre by that December.
Without further discussion, their little meeting was concluded. Everyone went their separate ways, not even bothering to say their good byes to each other. The reunion had been very brief. All though the pilots all had slight hopes of a warmer reunion, they hoped that they would not need to come together again. For that would mean that another battle needed to be fought.
August 1st A.C. 196, Aly followed as Heero led the way into his L1 apartment. It was very late in the night and both of the pilots were exhausted. They had spent the previous day on planes around the world before finally taking a shuttle to L1.
When Aly had awoken in the safe house, Heero had explained to her Quatre's idea for the disposal of the gundams as well as his personal idea on bringing her with him to L1.
Aly had simply accepted all of the information Heero gave her. She did not really comment either way. Her very mind and soul felt numb from the previous night's events.
The IceAngel pilot had been too wrapped up in her own depressed thoughts to sleep at all in the previous two days. Heero had a bit more energy than her after taking an hour long, power nap on the shuttle ride to L1.
Heero half dragged Aly to the bed. She had been dead on her feet from two nights of emotional stress and lack of sleep. The young female pilot barely had the energy to argue as Heero laid her down on his bed and pulled her shoes off.
The WingZero pilot pulled the covers over Aly, then went to the closest and pulled out a medium-sized Japanese futon. He laid it out on the floor beside the bed and threw a blanket on top. Reaching past Aly to grab one of the extra pillows on the bed, he saw her struggling to sit up.
"Lay down." Heero ordered, but he did not say it with much emphasis.
"I can't sleep on the bed while you sleep on the floor. It's bad enough you had to practically carry me in here." Aly said. Her voice sounded strained.
With a lot of effort, Aly pushed the covers back and sat up all the way, turning to slide off the bed. Heero pushed her back down and pulled the covers back up.
"Sleep." Heero commanded, his tone stern that time.
The female pilot opened her mouth to speak again, but Heero cut her off.
"Don't worry about it. I rotate between sleeping on the futon and sleeping on the bed. You are not inconveniencing me." Heero said as he spread the covers out. He switched off the dim lamp on the nightstand before lying down and pulling his blanket up under his arms.
"Heero." Aly whispered, trying desperately to fight back drowsiness.
"Yeah?" Heero asked.
"Thanks." Aly said before she fell dead asleep.
"You're welcome." Heero said to the empty air. He rolled over on his side and fell into a light sleep.
-End Of Chapter 8-
Author's Notes:
Hey Minna-san! Sorry this chapter took so long. I went to work with my mom a couple weeks ago. I stole her laptop and wrote 7 pages while she worked. Then, before I got a chance to transfer the chapter to my computer, my mom reformatted her laptop.
So, I had to rewrite all I could from memory and then add the rest I had not gotten to. What this means is that I am sorry for the technical problems that cause late chapters.
I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. The first part I wrote based on my notes from the final episode of the American version of the series. (That speech from Une I really copied word for word!)
If anyone would like to know what Heero said before he blew up Libra, it translates to "I will...I will...I will not die!" That quote was actually taken from the Japanese version. I thought it was more believable that Heero would encourage himself in his native tongue rather than in English.
Oh, and, I have decided that I may start answering people's questions or responding to comments in the end of each chapter from now on. As always, questions and comments are welcome (and encouraged!).
Well, that's all my babbling for this chapter. I hope you liked it Minna-san! Please R&R it means a great deal to me!
-AlyRain
(October 14th, 2003)