Author's Note: Bwahaha! It's the final keystroke for Altron and Jurai. Yikes! Sorry, but something happened to my dear chapter and only part of it uploaded and that part was in only 2 paragraphs! Hopefully it worked out this time, if not, try, try, again.
A note to my reviewers: Arigato!
Wufei sighed and stared out at the stars. The shuttle they were trying to smuggle in was slow, and it was making him nervous that Ayeka would find some way to follow him. He sighed again.
Quatre watched Wufei and couldn't help but smile. He knew what was bothering his friend, he who had been asked to walk five of his twenty-something sisters down the aisle. It had to be that woman he'd seen at Wufei's new place. Sadly, there hadn't been time to share pleasantries, but she seemed quite the mystery. Not once had Wufei mentioned a lady friend. Trowa came over to Quatre's seat and looked at Wufei. "What's with him?"
The platinum blond sat back and said quietly, "Our dear Wufei is in love." Trowa looked honestly stunned.
"You can't be serious," Trowa said, looking back at Wufei as the young man stared out the window.
Quatre's eyes were shining, somewhat excited. "You know what this means? It means Relena and Heero actually have a chance."
Trowa was thinking about something else, though. "Is it that girl we saw at Wufei's?" He was picking up his memories of their arrival and could picture a rather tall and slender young woman with purple hair and…dark eyes. "I wonder what she's like. Knowing Wufei she has to be strong, but then I'm amazed she didn't come with us."
"Maybe he wouldn't let her," Heero said from behind them. They looked up and saw his dark eyes looking down at them. "We'll be arriving soon, suit up." The Gundam pilots went in back to put on their uniforms with the exception of Wufei who would be hiding in the Shenlong. While back there, Quatre shared the news with Duo.
He blinked in shock. "No kidding, ha! I never would've guessed Wufei would fall for someone without having them trip him." Quatre laughed, the other two snickered silently. Duo sighed and strapped the gun to his side. "I just wish I didn't have to worry Hilde like this."
Heero paused in his preparation, but other than that didn't seem to have heard. "Ready?" he asked. The others nodded. "Wufei!" he shouted. "We're ready to go!" Up in front, Wufei was making his way to the cockpit and disengaging the autopilot. He looked at the colony looming up in front of him like the skeleton of a dead moon and checked his clearance codes before sending them in.
"This is shuttle 6 from L1. We had some delays, but have the parts for the new Vegas…"
Ayeka set foot on the colony and looked around. Her shoulders slumped slightly. Wufei wasn't here yet. The mumble of other people behind her reminded her to keep moving and she picked up her briefcase. Her family heirloom was quite useful. She'd put it on and a ticket and briefcase had appeared with a uniform. She was the very picture of an intelligence officer, and had been secured passage on the new shuttle. It had gone faster than she expected because she'd beaten Wufei here. Well, where to now?
For a while she followed the flow, then she found herself in a tall building with a bunch of people dressed like her. Someone spotted her and ran over. The young man saluted. Ayeka mirrored him. He looked straight ahead as he said, "Commander Jurai, I have been told to show you to the office. Please follow me." She eventually ended up by herself in a private office. There was only the bare essentials in it, no art or anything.
Ayeka sat down and then wondered exactly what else had been mysteriously arranged for her. She decided to bide her time, whatever this new asset of hers was up to, it seemed to know what it was doing. There was a knock and a man with a plumed hat that looked rather like a fez came in. He was old, well over sixty, and there was something about him she didn't like.
He smiled and bowed slightly to her. "I understand you uncovered the leak in our security, very sharp for someone so new to your job. However, I'm here to invite you to a gathering of our troops before we send them out." Ayeka stood, beginning to catch on.
"Shall we go now?" she asked.
Dekim Barton, the head of the Barton foundation, nodded. "This way."
They went down several floors and Ayeka became a little nervous. How long would this illusion last? If it wore off while she was in a room of soldiers, she would be in trouble. But first, they made a stop at a fairly elegant room with a large desk and swivel chair.
Dekim bowed to the chair and Ayeka copied him. "Miss Mariemaia, the men are assembled," he said. Ayeka straightened and almost gasped. The leader, Mariemaia, was a child! She looked about seven, and had bright red hair and amazingly blue eyes. Her small body in its uniform looked out of place. Ayeka had the amazing urge to put those red locks in pigtails and telling her to go out and play.
Mariemaia looked up at Ayeka somewhat suspiciously and said, "Who is this?"
Dekim said, "This is Commander Ayeka Jurai, from intelligence." The girl's eyes flashed.
"It is an honor to meet you, Ma'am," Ayeka said. This seemed to satisfy the girl and she walked to the elevator. Ayeka and Dekim followed.
Heero, Quatre, Trowa and Duo felt horrible. Not only had they gotten caught, but Wufei and the Shenlong had been cornered. It was as if they had been expected, and now they were being dragged to the front of an assembly of the brat brigade. Each was under the control of two guards, but as they were led up the steps, one fell back so as not to clutter it. A small group was already there, consisting of about five people.
They kept their heads low, trying to come up with creative escape plans. "Here we have the Gundam pilots! The worst enemies you could bare to have because they call themselves your friends at whim." The was the sound of a gun being prepped for firing. Wufei looked up and his eyes met the cold ones of the geezer holding the weapon. Just as Wufei prepared to fight back, there was a shout.
"Stop!" Everyone turned, startled to have their attention turned from the impending execution. A young woman with nerdy glasses and a uniform with hopeless brown hair was coming forward. Dekim frowned.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" he said. Dekim aimed at Wufei again and scowled. "They must be eliminated!"
There was no time to react, Dekim pulled the trigger. The bullet never hit, it bounced away, as if Wufei were made of bullet-proof glass. A stunned silence filled the room until a young voice cried out, "I knew you were a spy!" Eyes turned to Mariemaia, who was glaring at an exotic young woman wearing the strangest clothes they'd ever seen. Her purple hair was incredibly long and her red eyes were filled with anger. She had one hand extended towards Wufei. Somehow, that nerdy thing had become this warrior. Battle marks were on her cheeks and her clothes had a strange white glow.
Everyone was shocked, except for Wufei. He looked at her and said, "Ayeka! When did you get your powers back?"
Dekim turned and said, "What powers? What are you talking abou—" He didn't get to finish that sentence because Ayeka's hand suddenly appeared on his throat.
She had a dead serious look on her face, and she spoke in an intense, quiet voice. "You play head games almost as well as your master did. Do you know why Kagato didn't come to help you as promised? That was never the plan. It was to be him on the throne with me by his side so that he could rule both dimensions, but Wufei killed him."
The other Gundam pilots turned to Wufei, who kept his eyes on Ayeka as she squeezed the life out of Dekim Barton. His eyes bulged and she threw him across the stage and he lay still. Mariemaia pulled out a gun and aimed at Ayeka. "I-I'll shoot!" she said, her little hands trembling.
Ayeka held out her hands and a green wall of light appeared. "Shoot all you want, but it won't get through. It will reflect off this shield and might hit you, so I don't recommend it." Mariemaia didn't move for a moment, then she frowned in concentration and fired a shot.
The bullet did reflect off, but it didn't hit Mariemaia. Becoming more confident, she got off a few more rounds before the inevitable happened. One bullet hit dead on and went back the way it had come. Mariemaia's eyes went wide and she fell back, her shirt bloody. Wufei dashed over and caught the girl as she fell. Ayeka turned to the stunned troops, who looked like they wanted to wake up from this nightmare, and said, "Only the weak have to continually exhibit their strength. In a war there is only weak people! It takes strength to live peacefully because it means you must find other solutions! This, and the lesson that war will only breed resentment, death, and destruction, are your Excellency's ideals! This is not it!"
The soldiers left holding the other four pilots let go as if hypnotized. Some in the crowd were whispering and the strict lines were beginning to blur. The pilots came forward and they encircled Wufei. Ayeka knelt beside him and asked, "Is she Okay?"
Wufei nodded. "It didn't hit any vital organs, but she's bleeding heavily." He looked at Ayeka with hard eyes. "When did you get your memory back?"
She tapped her forehead and he saw her headdress. "This thing stored a lot of who I am. I think I even uncovered some of my ancestors' memories today." Ayeka's battle gear vanished and became her normal clothes. She ripped the bottom of her shirt off and pressed it against the wound. "Let's get her to a hospital, this nonsense is over."
~Epilogue~
"Mom!" Mariemaia called. Ayeka stuck her head out the window and looked down. Her adoptive teen daughter, Mariemaia held up a brown paper package. "This is for you!"
Ayeka sighed. "Bring it up!" Ducking back in, she looked at the mess around her. Who'd have thought a child of Heero and Relena could have so much energy? Odin was mischievous and loved to play with everything if not carefully watched. Sadly Ayeka hadn't been monitoring his every movement and he'd gotten into the boxes of things she'd managed to put away when Antu was born.
Someone came in and she said, "You can leave it wherever you find the space."
"What?" Ayeka winced and turned around. It was Wufei holding Antu in his arms. Wufei looked at the six-year-old in his arms and back at Ayeka. "Didn't you put this all away so he couldn't touch it?"
She sighed and said, "No, I just thought you were Mariemaia with that delivery for me. How did it go?"
Antu smiled and said, "I hit Dad really hard!" The combination of black hair and red eyes was a little eerie on a child, but Antu's peers hadn't noticed just yet. Still, Ayeka found him absolutely adorable.
She smiled and said, "I know! Isn't it fun?" Antu nodded enthusiastically. Wufei looked at the ceiling and turned around.
"Why don't you go downstairs and watch TV?" Wufei said as he set the boy on his feet. Antu nodded and ran off. "He's going to start flying soon…"
Ayeka shook her head. "No, not for a while. First puberty, then we can worry about his Juraian heritage." She sat down and put a hand to her head. Wufei frowned.
"Are you Okay?"
She smiled a bit and stood up. Ayeka lazily draped her arms around Wufei's neck and said, "Maybe it's because our family of four is about to become a family of five…or six."
Wufei frowned. "Or six?"
Ayeka nuzzled his neck and said, "Washu thinks it's twins…and Antu sure didn't take this much out of me."
Wufei kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her. "Two more students, hmm…?" Ayeka chuckled and turned her face up for a quick kiss.
"Mom—! Oops!" Mariemaia said. Wufei and Ayeka stepped apart. Mariemaia looked at the mess and set the box on the bed. "Uh, here." She turned and left, closing the door.
Ayeka picked up the box and opened it. "What's that?" Wufei asked.
His wife frowned. "Um…I don't know. Oh!" A blue light was coming from it and formed the shape of a young woman with light blue hair. "Tsunami?"
The hologram smiled. "Hello, Ayeka. Washu has decided to share with us that you have your memory back. Tenchi and Ryoko are pretty well settled as the rulers of Jurai, don't worry about that, but could you perhaps visit once in a while? I want to meet my nephew! Bye!"
Ayeka blinked, her eyes teary. "That was Sasami. Little Sasami has grown up and I missed it." Wufei sat down beside her and put an arm around her.
"You would have missed all the fun and excitement of raising Antu if you'd stayed."
"And I would have missed you. Maybe a little reunion is called for." Ayeka went to the door and opened it. "Children! We're going on a trip…"