Gundam Girl: Hey, the ML should be happy I finally got this out. As for the FFN crew, thanks for reviewing, guys! Here's chapter 2!

Sea of Emotion

Heero followed Trowa and the others onto the ramp that lead to the Golden Wave's entrance. Quatre volunteered to take his bag to his dormitory room for him, while Wufei unlocked the doors of the corridors that would lead them to Captain Merquise.

"Now just enjoy yourself, relax, have fun, and be careful!" Duo said cheerfully, mocking the perfect den mother.

"Hn."

"Jeez, you need some sunshine, Yuy. I thought you'd get enough of it in Florida. Sheesh."

"Shut up, Maxwell," scowled Wufei.

"Whatever you say, Wu-m-"

"Don't even think about it," the Chinese behavior monitor warned, sliding his slanted eyes toward him with little kindness.

"Check."

They pulled open the final door to reveal a room where the décor consisted of purple curtains on floor-to-ceiling windows and royal blue carpets. Looking out one of the windows at the rising sun was a tall man with blond hair of a length that grazed the back of his thighs. His head turned to reveal stunning blue eyes. Heero could have sworn they matched Colonel Darlian's, except for the factor that his wasn't frosted over with ice.

"Ah. Mr. Yuy." He smiled and extended a hand. "I'm Captain Zechs Merquise. It's a pleasure to have Florida's finest joining our crew."

"An honor to meet you, Sir," Heero returned, shaking his hand. "I'd like to thank you for inviting me."

"No need for that." Captain Merquise laughed. "We get one or two new members nearly every other week. Some people say that we are free with our calls, but I actually spend a lot of time deciding my crew. I hope you won't think little of me."

He struggled not to frown. The man acted like a comedian, not really the type of people he preferred to have ruling over him. Still, he had a sort of respect for him, and besides, he HAD been invited to the ship. "No, Sir."

"Good. I really have nothing to doubt about you, Yuy, since you've already passed Colonel Darlian's inspections. Understand, her judgment is far better than mine. What she says in almost like the word of God on this ship."

"Sir." Heero nodded his agreement.

The captain looked somewhat amused. "Dear goodness, another stoic. Eh, Duo?"

Duo grinned after feigning a sigh. "I tried, Sir."

"I'm sure. Well, Yuy," he concluded, "get situated. I'm sure these men will explain the rules to you."

"Sir," the four of them chorused before exiting the room.

"What was that room?" Heero asked when the door shut.

"Captain Zechs uses it to greet new members or to dismiss them. The Colonel uses it sometimes, too. Many have seen her go in. But that woman's as much of a mystery as what garbage is on the bottom of the sea."

Wufei cut in with business. "We don't have a 'lights out.' This isn't summer camp," he explained. "Breakfast is at eight o' clock. My advice would be to get up at six if you want a shower in the morning and aren't set to get it at night. Bathrooms are pretty crowded around that time. Also, if you're caught in the women's dormitory without an invitation, you could be seriously punished. This ship is run strictly, and foolishness is hardly tolerated."

Duo smiled slyly and whispered behind his hand, "That's why I'm never caught. Besides, I always have an invitation, though sometimes it's from myself."

Heero winced. This guy was nuts. And he ran the weapons?

"Last thing: If you're interested, you can always join the rest of us at the bar after eight when all posts are handed over to the elderly-kinda people," Wufei added. "There's a party there every night. I'm not really into fun, but they kill time."

"But they ARE fun," Duo objected.

"I don't care, Maxwell."

"Yeesh, Wu-man. Get some Prozac."

Wufei stopped cold, and turned towards the gabbing braided moron. "What did you just say?"

"Uh..." Duo gulped. "Get some Prozac?" He hurriedly looked at his watch. "Oops, it's my time of the month. So I'll feed Trixie before the idiot kills himself with that knife again, gotta jet." This was all said very quickly with no thought whatsoever and therefore making no sense.

Trowa blinked and sighed. "Don't even both to decode that. All you'll get is gibberish." Heero smirked.

"Right."

Trowa made a small shifting of weight. "But you really should make an appearance tonight."

"You're in on this, too?"

He shook his head. "I'm only saying so because it will satisfy Colonel Darlian that you're getting on well. She used to bring in the men from miles...out to sea, of course."

Heero perked at this new bit of information. "Really?" he asked quietly, pretending to be uninterested.

Trowa's smirk was nearly undetectable. "See for yourself."

---

"'And I know that the heat goes on.'" Hilde sang softly in the nurse's office as Relena walked in. "Yo, Lena, what's up?" She turned and frowned. "You looked ticked. New arrival?"

"Yeah, that Yuy guy."

"Ooh." She sat down on the stool nearby. "So is he cute?"

"How the hell do I know?" she asked. "And I thought Duo was your boyfriend."

"He is." She grinned. "But that doesn't mean I can't look. Besides, I know he's the only one for me."

Relena snorted. "Cut it, Hil."

Hilde smacked her forehead. "Oops," she said sarcastically. "I forgot. You don't have time for love."

"That's not what I'm here for," Relena retorted. "I'm here to run Zechs's ship, and keep men quiet."

"Jeez, Lena, I know you prefer not to be used as a dog's drool item, but it wouldn't hurt you to let a guy slap you with a towel once in a while, if you know what I mean." Hilde sighed. "Even Sarah makes out with Quatre."

"Boy, did you make bad timing with that," the aforementioned woman said as she walked in. "I resent it, but yes, I do live, if that's what you mean."

"You guys, I'm here for a Band-Aid, and then I'm out." She stuck up her finger. "Cut myself on a damn vegetable peeler."

"You're helping out with dinner?" Hilde asked. "Why?"

"Brownie's sick. I'm not about to let her go near the food. I can't have soldiers barfing all over the place."

Quatre entered, smile in place. "Colonel, are you grumpier than usual today?"

She sighed. "Yes, Quatre. Did you get the newbie settled?"

"Yuy's fine." He raised an eyebrow. "He asked about you a bit."

"Not a surprise," Sarah commented before kissing him. "Every new guy asks about Relena." She grinned. "Of course, it would be inconvenient to respond to it."

"Precisely!" she exclaimed. "You can understand, then!"

Sarah gawked, then giggled. "Relena, I was only kidding. You don't run on automatic, sweetie."

Relena grunted. "Whatever. See you at the bar."

Hilde whirled on Quatre. "So? Is this Yuy a looker?"

Quatre winced. "To you, probably. Not to you, he's antisocial and off- limits."

"Says who?" she asked. "Is he taken?"

"A: You're DUO'S girlfriend." She frowned and hit him in the head. "And B:" He grinned. "He's perfect for Relena."

"That so?" she asked in awe. "Is ANYBODY perfect for Relena?"

"Twenty bucks he kisses her," Duo called, answering her question. "By the time Cinderella-on-ice has to make her exit."

"You're on," Quatre agreed, and they shook hands. "Come on!" Kissing Sarah's cheek, he bound for the door.

"What's the rush?" Duo asked, drawing away from Hilde's lips.

Quatre grabbed his braid and pulled. "We have to get Trowa and Wufei to toss in their bet."

---

Heero Yuy did not consider himself a lucky man. Most of the time, he didn't even believe in luck. But this - if this wasn't luck, he didn't know what was.

He was sitting in the lap of luxury and not even paying for it. Instead, people were paying him. As he ran his fingertips over the glossy surface of the cherry desk and dresser, he thought back to when he was younger. He hadn't lived this well since before his parents had died. It was almost funny. His parents had made their cash on the sea, too. Here he was, fifteen years later, doing the exact same thing.

It felt odd... but reassuring. Like he could actually live up to his hopes, be someone. He was unsure, very much so. But he was ready to explore the possibilities. He needed to explore them.

He propped himself up on his elbows and stared at the burning red digits of his clock. 7:30 p.m.- he'd spent most of this day in his room thinking about joining this ship as repairs were made in Panama's harbor. If he went down now he could probably get a sandwich and a beer and then come back up before they left that early morning.

Deciding his course of action, he swung his legs down the side of his bed, stood, and crossed to the door.

When opened, he saw the grinning face of Duo Maxwell, fist raised in a poise to knock.

"Hey, Yuy!" he greeted. If he was going to win his bet with the opposition, namely Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei, he'd have to prop the newbie out of his what-am-I-doing-here phase and make him get on with Relena. "Just checkin' to make sure you were on your way down. Dinner's almost over and then it's party time!"

Heero raised a brow before stepping and closing his bedroom door. "I'm coming for dinner," he said tersely. "But you can keep the party time."

"Oh, hell no, Yuy!" The man was ridiculous. He firmly believed it. "That's not the way we work around here. You gotta come out to the bar, meet the chicks, specifically my girlfriend Hilde, who loves to meet the new people, and show us some moves. Everyone dances," he added. "I've heard stories about Wufei slinking Doctor Po around. Haven't seen it yet, unfortunately, but oh well."

They'd begun to walk down the corridor and toward the dining area.

"Leave me alone, Maxwell."

"Hey, I know you haven't seen her yet, but Sally's hot! Wufei must have a thing for older women... You listening?"

"No." Heero turned a corner and they came to a set of doors. He paused, and Duo wouldn't have the hesitation.

"In we go," he said happily, and opened a door. He gave Heero a shove inside where chatting employees laughed and made noise and ate the nightly special.

Duo called a young shorthaired woman over and her smile easily brightened the room.

"Heero Yuy, meet Hilde Schbeiker. She's the prettiest nurse on this ship. She can fight in a submersible too, which helps when we're in a bind."

"Oh, so you're the mysterious new recruit," Hilde said with a slight hint of cockiness to her tone, much like her boyfriend's. "Well, it's good to finally meet you."

"Pleasure," Heero nodded.

Hilde raised a dark brow. This quiet, distant was the man Quatre insisted was perfect for their Relena? She could understand the logic, and he was attractive, too, but the whole package seemed a bit over-wrapped. "Yeah," she affirmed, a little uncomfortable at his one-word reply. "Well, have a good night." She kissed Duo's cheek and went back to her conversation with a longhaired girl with oddly shaped eyebrows.

Duo crossed his arms, unimpressed. "You suck," he commented. At this rate, how would his buddy score with Darlian? He couldn't even catch Hilde's eye. Not that he wanted her to, simply that... Oh man, he was gonna lose sixty dollars!

"Hn," Heero replied. "You wanted me to be attracted, Maxwell?" His hard eyes flickered to the braided man's. "I've got no problem figuring it out. You've got your eye on some other girl, and now you want this Hilde out of your hair." His eyes went back to Hilde and her talking partner. "The tall one, maybe?"

Duo's eyes bugged. "Dorothy?" He visibly paled. "I take back what I said before. Pal, you've been out in the sun too long. It's frying your brain. No one wants that chick."

Heero only grunted again.

Duo got Heero his sandwich just as eager young crew members began to push back tables for dancing space, open the bar, and adjust the lights so that a rainbow of colors streaked across the room. Everything looked festive.

Except for Heero. Always them, never Heero.

Of course, he was the newbie. Other people, normal people, could have been a member of the Golden Wave for only a week, but they had easily slipped into the action at night.

Heero sat on a bar stool to the left of a couple making out and nursing a cup of brandy. It was obvious that he didn't belong here, among the people who did. He'd brought books with him, he could have gone back to his room and indulged with a new King novel.

He couldn't entertain that thought for very much longer when Colonel Relena Darlian stepped into the dining-room-turned-dance-hall. She had changed her clothes and had gone from the tight green uniform he'd attempted to admire earlier to a black number that resembled Olivia Newton John's get-up at the end of "Grease."

She was getting stares from both single and unavailable men as she made her way past the crowd, hips rocking smoothly in the black leather that clung to them. The same material stretched across ample breasts to come off-the-shoulder and ran down to three-fourths of her arms.

Stunning, Heero couldn't help but admit. It was almost as though she was made to look nothing but irresistibly sexy. And when her journey across the floor ended on the bar stool next to his, he nearly bit his tongue.

She ordered a strawberry daiquiri, slid the money along the counter in a sensual way that she probably didn't even know about, and then received the drink with a curt thank-you.

He did bite his tongue when she turned to look at him.

"What brings the newcomer to the bar tonight?" Relena raised an eyebrow, no tease detected in her tone. "You're not going to stay in your room and contemplate why the hell you're here, on this ship?"

Heero took another gulp of beer. "I was invited," he said simply, "by Maxwell."

"Oh. Well, he would be the one. If you'll excuse me," she stood, and even through the rainbow of lights scattered across her face, she was as prim and businesslike as usual, "I have to go change the shift with Captain Merquise." She stopped as a force caught her arm. Turning back, she cast a wary glance at her captor.

The newbie shook his head. "Let the captain handle it."

"Mr. Yuy," she began. "What nerve do you have to get in my way?"

"My name is Heero, please, Colonel. And my nerves want a dance with you." He looked out toward the floor filled with young couples shakin' it unashamedly. "I've been told that a while ago you were quite the temptress."

"Well, that was a very, very long while ago, Mr. Yuy, and-"

"Heero."

She fought to get over the irritation of being interrupted. "Heero. And no, I will not dance with you."

"You forget, Colonel, I'm a Florida boy. If you're worried I'll embarrass you, don't. I won an award, thanks to required dance lessons at my stupid jock high school." He smirked lightly. "And if you fall thanks to rusty moves, I'll catch you, for sure."

The competitiveness that she had forgotten she possessed sparked. "Rusty? Mr. Yuy, I can assure you that my moves are anything but rusty."

"Well, you'd better get on it." He stood and began to pull her away from the floor. "Because I'm about to kick your butt."
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