Chapter 10

"Done."

"Done."

"Done."

"Damn!"

"Whoa! Did I just hear you swear?"

"Shut up Jerry..."

Jerry snickered and leaned back in his chair, smirking as he regarded a red-faced Rayan, who
was glaring furiously at his computer console. Today, he along with Jerry, Aelis, and Wuten
were working with Howard and Heero on their hacking skills. Thomas, Giselle, Wuli, and
Geoffry were outside practicing in their mobile suits. And somehow, today just wasn't Rayan's
day. Though he had, in the end, managed to hack through the various firewalls, he had still
been last out of the four...and had been so since this morning.

Wuten raised an eyebrow at the other two. "It could be worse," he remarked dryly. "My cousin
could be here right now, witnessing you at your finest hour..."

"Grr..." Rayan snarled, and Howard laughed at the antics of the young men. "You've got
your mother's look, eh, now doesn't he Heero?" he chuckled, noting the striking resemblance at
that moment between Rayan and his mother.

"Hn," was Heero's response as his fingers flew over the console, setting up yet another
obstacle. "Alright, next one now," he said, and the four sighed and went back to their
hacking.

later...

As all their children were eating dinner and exchanging stories, the former pilots and Lady Une
were reviewing their profiles.

"They've made excellent progress, especially since it's only been three weeks," Lady
Une said quietly, quickly going through all the papers. "Jerry and Thomas are the quickest
hackers; Giselle will make a fine spy, as will Aelis; Rayan's and Geoffry's versatility on and
off the battlefield will be a great asset; Wuten and Wuli are amazingly skilled in piloting their
mobile suits...They will make a very well-rounded team..." she finished, somewhat uncertainly,
carefully observing the faces of the five pilots.

Heero was stoic as usual; the fact that his one and only child would not fight also added to his
outer facade of indifference; Duo and Quatre looked resigned; Trowa was expressionless; and
Wufei looked grim. Finally, Quatre spoke.

"It still seems unreal, how we are manipulating our childrens' lives right now..."

Wufei let out a harsh laugh. "Believe it, Quatre," he said bitterly. "And we still don't even
know if they have what it takes. Just having the skills isn't enough."

"All of them...they've only known a life in an era of peace," Trowa mused, more to
himself but still addressing the entire group. "I wonder..."

"There is no point thinking about that," Heero stated flatly. "None of us will know how
they will react until they are finally able to experience the battlefield for themselves. Until
then, there is no point in second guessing."

Duo's lips twitched up. "You just gotta love how you always put things, Heero," he joked
weakly, an illusion of the laughing prankster he once was.

elsewhere...

"So, ya think we all got good grades?" Jerry asked as he wolfed down his food. Aelis
rolled her eyes. "It's called chewing, swallowing, THEN opening your big mouth to talk," she
said sarcastically. "Is it really so hard?"

"Geez! What did I ever do to you?!"

"You were born, and tragically, without any manners."

"Oh very funny."

"So just what do you mean, grades?" Riko rushed in, trying to avoid yet another Jerry
versus Aelis confrontation.

It worked. Bursting with pride, Jerry fished out an electronic device. "This taps into the
main room," he said smugly, and turned it on to listen.

A loud screech blasted his eardrums, and everyone fell over at the noise. Heero's voice
floated over. "Nice try, Jerry," he said dryly, and then broke the connection.

Groaning, Giselle made her way over to the dropped microphone. When she saw it, she sighed.
"Idiot!" she scolded. "This design's ancient! My mother made it before she even hit ten
years old!"

"Whoops," he said weakly, trying to ignore the ringing in his eardrums.

"Whoops?!" Wuten snarled, holding his head. "Is 'whoops' the best you can do?! You
nearly blasted out all of our eardrums, you baka!!! Where the heck did you find the design
for this thing anyway?!"

"Er...off of Aunt Reiming's computer?"

"ARG!!!"

"So...I'm guessing that BEFORE that last disastrous attempt on listening in, you
eavesdropped and found out that they were discussing our progress or something?" Thomas
managed, holding his head.

"Yeah. I didn't hear too much-"

"-because you were busy stuffing your face," Aelis interjected.

"-because I was NOT busy stuffing my face!"

"Right..."

"Forget that! Just what DID you hear?" Wuli cut in impatietly, his ears aching.

Jerry shrugged. "Something like, Thomas and I being good hackers, Giselle and Aelis being
good spies, Rayan and Geoffry being flexible, and Wuten and Wuli being good at MS piloting, I
guess," he finished, purposely leaving out the depressing exchange their father's had had
right after that. "No need for them to know..." he thought to himself as he continued to eat.
"It's going to be hard enough for us as it is..."

that evening...

"Clare?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay there?"

Clare sighed and turned towards the voice, in this case, a lump on the floor. "I dunno...you
know how I feel about this," she said softly.

Giselle frowned in the darkness. Though all of them had their own rooms, occasionally, they
slept over in each others. Tonight was one of those nights.

"You two still up?" and the door opened. Giselle winced as light entered the room,
illuminating four more figures: Riko, Eva, Reena, and Aelis. "Sorry we're late," Riko said,
carefully closing the door.

"Nah, we just turned out the light a little early. I was kinda tired after a day's
hard work, so since I was the first one here, we just retired a little early," Giselle explained,
then groaned as Clare turned on the light. "Stupid freaking bright light..." she muttered,
sticking her head under the covers.

Clare laughed at her friend's discomfort. "Come on Giselle! You knew there was NO WAY I was
going to sleep THIS early; I only turned off the light for your sake. I mean, it's only 9:30!"

"Grr..." said the mound under the covers. Grinning, Reena and Eva carefully stalked
over, then ripped off the blanket. "Ack!" Giselle yelped as the others laughed hysterically.
"Ooh that was NOT funny," and she started chasing them around the room, beating them on the
head with her pillow.

"Hey stop it! Stop it!" Clare giggled, then said, "If there are feathers all over my
room, then YOU clean it up!"

That stopped the pillow fight.

"Thank you-Hey!!!" as the other five girls all took their pillows and flung them at her.

Many pillow fights and giggling fits later, the six girls all were sprawled in various poses
around the room. "That was fun!" Eva gasped happily. Being the youngest in the group, she was
always thrilled when the older girls included her in their fun, which was often. Eva was a
very likable child, and the other five girls treated her as a little sister and friend.

"Yeah..." Aelis agreed, somewhat breathlessly, then allowed Eva to snuggle against her.
Soon, the little girl was fast asleep.

As soon as she was, the mood changed. Regarding the others seriously, Clare said, "Okay, I know
this is really stupid and dumb, but part of the reason I invited you guys all over tonight was
'cause I need to get something off my chest. I...I just..."

"I know how you feel, Clare," Riko said gently. "It's this war thing, isn't it?"

"Well yeah," Clare blurted. "Sorry, but...I just HATE it!"

"You have nothing to apologize for," Giselle said flatly. "It's not your fault, it's
that stupid Neo-Romefeller's fault."

"But WHY did they have to come back?!" Clare said furiously, feeling as if she were
about to explode in anger. "Why did they have to come and ruin our lives?! Look at what they
DID to you Giselle! And look at you Reena! Heck, you could lose your boyfriend any day now,
just like I could lose my brother!"

"Fiancee..." Reena said softly.

That got everybody's attention.

"Excuse...excuse me?" Riko choked. "What did you just say?"

"I said, fiancee. Jerry's my fiancee," she said quietly. "We...we didn't tell anyone,
because we felt the timing wasn't right. I didn't want him to seem like he wasn't caring about
this war, because he does. He...really cares about this war; you should see him...he gets so
angry! He wants to fight for peace so badly. He's needed..." and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Aelis stared at her twin, then said quietly, "You...you need him, too..."

"Aelis..."

"Reena, no matter what I say, no matter what I claim to think, Jerry will always be
acceptable to me in my eyes, not that it should really matter what I think anyway. I've seen
how he looks at you...He loves you, Reena."

"Aelis-chan...arigatou..."

After an uncomfortable minute, Giselle cleared her throat. "So...when did he, ah, propose?"

"That evening, after your first round of training. He told Lady Une that he and I were
staying behind for a few minutes because he wanted to show off his gundam to me. But instead,
well, you know, he proposed..." she finished hesitantly.

"Reena, what's the matter?" Clare asked.

"I don't know if I should be happy or not," she rushed. "I mean, when he gave me the
ring and everything, I was so happy! But then, I realized that...we're in a WAR here! He...
CAN'T go around proposing! But I want so badly to be his wife, but at the same time, I know
that I should have turned him down! I'll just distract him..."

"I hate to sound so cold, but what's done is done. If Jerry loves you, then he loves
you. Nothing will change that. Regardless of whether he proposed to you or not, you would
still always be on his mind. It's up to him to see whether or not that'll distract him,"
Giselle stated matter of factly.

"I guess so...You guys aren't mad, right? I know...that I've been spoiled all my
life..."

"If it's spoiled you want, Clare beats us all..."

"And what is THAT supposed to mean, Giselle?!"

"OW! Take that!"

"Ouch!"

"Now now ladies, stop the pillow throwing. You'll wake Eva," Riko cajoled.

"Fine fine..."

"But Reena, one thing: If he marries you, at least teach him some manners...PLEASE?"

"Hehehehehe...I think it's rather CHARMING how he is right now, Aelis."

"Oh please..." and Aelis groaned as the others laughed. Burrowing under the covers, she
yawned and said, "Well, I'm going to follow Eva's lead and go to sleep. I'm exhausted."

"Exhausted? You weren't the one who spent all day in a mobile suit! All YOU had to do
was type away at some computer!" Giselle teased.

"Type away?! Excuse me, it takes BRAINS to hack through the firewalls Heero-sama puts
up! Type away at some computer indeed! Humph..."

"And we all know that Giselle is lacking in the brains department-Hey!"

"Haha! That's what you get for that little comment of yours Clare!"

"Please! Let's just all try and go to sleep," Riko begged, then shot a look at Reena.
"Help me here."

Reena giggled. "You're just like your mother," she teased, but went over and stole both Clare's
and Giselle's pillows. "Hey!" they said furiously.

"Uh-uh. You two don't get these back until you promise that you'll stop beating up on
each other."

"Okay okay...Sheesh! Just when were you so goody-goody?" Giselle sulked.

Aelis grinned. "She's going to be a mother someday, isn't she? She needs all the practice she
can get, especially since it's Reena we're talking about here, along with her incompetent
fian-OW! Hey, no fair! You've got THREE pillows, and two of them aren't even yours!"

*Sigh* "Well, I'M going to sleep, even if no one else is. Good night," Riko yawned,
and rolled over to go to sleep. The others decided to go to sleep also. Finally, only Clare
and Giselle were up.

"Giselle?"

*Yawn* "Mmm...what?"

"I wonder what the guys are doing right now..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hmm...not much on plot development, but at least I got lots of character development in. =P I
still need all the help I can get though! I'm (slowly) getting around writer's block, but
all comments are still appreciated! Arigatou!

Chapter 11

The boys were, in fact, having a small get together of their own. At about the same time as
Giselle sacked out on the floor of Clare's room, Jerry and Rayan wandered down to one of the
rooms where Thomas and Geoffry were engaged in a serious pool game; Wuten was meditating, and
Wuli was alternating between watching the game and the TV.

Wuli waved the other two down. "About time. You two are late."

Jerry grinned. "Well then, if you four don't want the FOOD we brought..."

"Ignore him, Jerry," Wuten said hurridly, snapping out of his trance and giving his
brother a pointed look. Wuli smiled and shrugged, then went forward to relieve the other two
of their burden.

As Wuli took some of Rayan's things, Rayan sighed with relief. Wuli raised an eyebrow at his
friend. "Too delicate for these things, Mr. Winner?" he snickered.

"Carrying several six packs is hard on ANYONE," he retorted.

At this, Wuten frowned. "Six packs?"

Jerry grinned. "Yeah, why not? We deserve a break."

Geoffry rolled his eyes. "Jerry, there is a small thing called a legal drinking age."

"Aw, come on! You're not so far off! What are you, sixteen? Seventeen?"

"Try fourteen, you imbecile."

"Oh heck, it's only, um, seven years off..."

"I think I'll pass."

"Fine fine..."

"I hate to say this Jerry, but with the exception of you, we're ALL under the legal
drinking age," Rayan pointed out.

Thomas smirked. "You're just like your dad! My Tousan told me some story once on how he once
suggested that they celebrate with some champagne after a battle, but YOUR dad insisted on it
being non-alcoholic."

"Hey I didn't say that I didn't plan on drinking any!" he said defensively.

"Oho! Looky here! Mr. I'm-so-innocent-Winner is going drink?"

"Well...maybe..."

"Rayan, my cousin will kill you if you have bad breath tomorrow," Wuten snickered.

"Aw, come on! Let's try not to think about the girls right now," Jerry said jovially,
opening a can of beer. "Come on, cheers!"

Geoffry rolled his eyes in disgust as the four other boys all helped themselves to a can a beer,
then laughed as Rayan grimaced. "Not an experienced drinker, now are you?"

"Just because I happen to prefer wine doesn't mean that-"

"Sure...typical spoiled kid," Geoffry teased, then asked, "So now what? Do you all plan
on drinking yourselves silly?"

"Sure! But of course, we gotta have some fun in the process! How about a drinking
game?" Jerry said eagerly; however, all the others immediately vetoed the idea. "Forget it,"
Wuten and Wuli said flatly. "I would like to live to see my first real battle, but that's not
going to happen if I get caught by my parents, especially my mother..." Wuten added dryly.
"My parents, sister, and Giselle would all kill me," was Rayan's meek reply, and "Have you
already forgotten that little incident a few years back already?! Mom AND Dad nearly killed us!"
said Thomas. Jerry sighed disappointedly.

After an hour or so spent eating and relaxing, Geoffry spoke up. "Exactly what did you two do
a few years ago?"

"Oh...THAT. Er..." Thomas stuttered, turning red. Jerry, however, did not share his
hesitation. "Ah yes, that. Well, our parents were out one evening, so we thought, hey, why
don't we invite a few of our friends over for a little party?"

"Little? Jerry, the years have proved that your definition of 'little' is definitely
skewed."

"Hear hear!" Wuli chortled, while Wuten sighed. "Don't tell me you're drunk already..."
he groaned.

"Yeah well, it was few months from my 21st birthday, so I figured that if there was
alcohol there, it wouldn't be a problem; I'd have to get used to it anyway. So basically, we
partied until we were so drunk that we didn't know what time it was, and the next thing we
knew, we heard my dad bellow, 'JERICHO MAXWELL!!! THOMAS MAXWELL!!! OUT HERE NOW!!!!!' And lo
and behold, there were BOTH our parents, way beyond pissed off, and in Taurus mobile suits!
They practically chased away all the party goers! And of course, they weren't exactly...
happy...with us...hey, it's not THAT funny!" he finished indignantly as he watched the other
four boys except for his brother roll on the floor laughing helplessly.

"Taurus...mobile...suits...!" Rayan gasped, then collapsed, laughing hysterically.

After five minutes of solid laughter, the four slightly drunk young men got to there feet
unsteadily, partly due to the laughter and partly due to the alcohol, and Thomas suggested,
"Why don't we play a game of poker?"

"You're on," Wuli said, swaying a little. Wuten groaned. "He doesn't have a very high
tolerance for alcohol..." he explained.

"Wha? My tolerance...ish perfectly fine..." Wuli slurred.

Wuten rolled his eyes. "Excuse us," he said, then grabbed his brother's collar and yanked him
to the restroom. "Our mother will kill us if either one of us looks hung over tomorrow," he
called over his shoulder and then closed the bathroom door.

Outside, the other four stared at each other. "Now what?" Jerry wondered.

"Oh you'll see," Rayan snickered. Ever since they were fifteen or so, they had been
sneaking little sips of alcohol from time to time, though none of them ever particularly
developed a taste for it. As a result, this wasn't the first time that Rayan had seen Wuli's
lack of tolerance.

Suddenly...

"WHAT?! Mmph mmph gurgle gack cough cough! ARG!!! Gurgle gurgle...OKAY! I'm okay
now...Stoppit! Mmph!"

Suddenly, the door to the bathroom flew open and out stormed Wuli, who was soaking wet. Wuten
followed his twin, laughing his head off, as were the others. Glaring at them sullenly, Wuli
snarled, "Oh ha ha, very funny. Feel free to stop laughing any day now!"

"Did you...did you...stick his head in *gasp* shower or something?! *wheeze*" Thomas
choked out, clutching his sides.

"Toilet bowl first, then shower," Wuten managed, still laughing.

Geoffry, who had recovered first, asked Rayan, "Not the first time, I take it?"

"Oh no. Definitely not."

"WHAT the HECK are you guys doing?!"

All activity stopped. Fearfully, like little boys who had just been caught doing something
wrong (which was what had happened), all six turned towards the voice.

Standing in the doorway were two shocked girls: Giselle and Clare. Giselle was the one who had
asked the question; Clare's mouth was hanging open in shock. No one said anything for a
moment. Finally, Jerry sheepishly raised a hand. "Want a beer?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please don't flame me for this chapter! I personally do NOT advocate underage drinking, so don't
fill my mailbox with threats! Thanks!

Chapter 12

After the other four girls had fallen asleep, both Clare and Giselle had become restless.
Though Giselle had originally been exhausted, Reena's unexpected announcement had banished all
hopes for an easy sleep. This was the same for Clare, though she hadn't been tired originally.
Not wanting to wake up their friends, the two had silently left the room to see what the others
were doing.

As they were passing the door that led down to one of the lower floors that had been
converted to a sort of lounge/rec room, they had heard uproarious laughter, and being curious,
had opened the door and gone down the stairs. Now, they were staring at six extremely
embarrassed and slightly drunk young men (plus one wet one). Finally, Jerry broke the silence.

"Want a beer?"

Clare was still too shocked to say anything; Giselle finally managed to choke out: "Uh..."

Next to her, Clare was slowly starting to take in her surroundings. Finally, Jerry's words
sunk in. "...Beer?"

"Um, yeah..."

"I don't believe this," Giselle muttered, first staring at her red faced boyfriend then
her sober (and wet) cousin and then the slightly drunk but equally embarassed cousin. "Are you
really Rayan, Wuten, and Wuli? Or are you their evil twins?"

Clare was doing the same. She slowly stared down everyone in the room, her gaze lingering on
Thomas, who squirmed under her gaze. "Oh great..." he thought.

The only person in the room who was enjoying himself was Geoffry. He had been the only one who
had not succumbed to the urge to drink, and now he was enjoying every minute of it. "Busted,"
he whispered gleefully. "Shut up," the other five muttered, glaring daggers at him.

Finally though, both Giselle and Clare realized just exactly what they had done, and Giselle's
mouth twitched up into an evil grin. "Soo...care to tell us what you guys were doing?" she
asked sweetly.

Clare was doing the same. Smiling gleefully at her brother, she said, "So Brother, just how are
you going to pay me to keep my mouth shut?"

Rayan's originally flaming face paled several shades. He had been blackmailed by his sister
before, and it was not a pleasant experience. "Er, hehe," he said weakly. "Surely, dear
sister, you don't mean you're going to blackmail me?"

Clare only raised an eyebrow. Rayan groaned.

Giselle walked over to Wuten, who was staring furiously at the floor. Tapping his nose, she
said smugly, "My my Wuten. Bad boy. You accuse ME of being flirtatious etc etc, and what do
we know: you get caught drinking. Tsk tsk."

Then she walked over to the soaked Wuli. "And YOU. Really Wuli, what WOULD your mother say if
she saw you now?"

"Hey I usually stand up for you," he muttered.

Giselle seemed to contemplate this. "True," she mused, then smiled and pat her cousin on the
head. "Very well then, I'll let you off...this time."

Finally, she reached Rayan. Neither said anything for a moment, then Giselle said
pleasantly, "Your breath smells."

"Um, gomen nasai, Giselle," he said meekly. Giselle didn't buy it. Leaning close to
him, she seemed to be about to kiss him, but then she wrinkled her nose and said, "You're not
getting anything from me if you keep on smelling like that."

"Your father still kissed your mother even after she had been on a coffee diet for
three days!" he said indignantly, but immediately subsided when Giselle gave him a look.
"Coffee and beer are two completely different things," she said smoothly, then turned and
walked back to Clare. Smirking, the two started to go back up the stairs. "You guys have until
tomorrow to figure out how to keep us from talking," Clare called. "Sweet dreams-EEP!"

Giselle also let out a shriek as she saw two eyes glittering in the darkness in front of her,
but then she breathed a sigh of relief as the person materialized. "Heero-sama, you startled
us."

"HEERO-SAMA?!" the guys sputtered, turning even paler. "Okay, NOW, we are screwed,"
Thomas groaned.

"Look on the bright side," Rayan said weakly. "Now they can't blackmail us."

"Oh well THAT'S just great!"

"What's going on down here?" and Duo came down. He was followed by Trowa, Quatre,
Wufei, and Zechs. All of them stared for a moment, and immediately, the stares turned into
angry glares. "Jerry..." Duo growled. "Did you start this little drinking binge here?"

"It's not a binge," he said meekly, "and I AM old enough to drink..." he finished
weakly, his voice cracking under his father's glare.

Meanwhile, Heero, Trowa, and Zechs cast a somewhat amused glance around. Zechs turned around.
"Well, since I don't think I need to be involved in this little spat, I'll be heading to bed.
Geoffry...I think if it's best if you do the same."

"Hai, Tousan."

Heero and Trowa also turned to leave. Trowa cast one eye at his daughter. "I wasn't involved,"
she said immediately. Trowa smiled wryly. "I didn't think so," and he and Trowa left.
Geoffry quickly walked across the room to join Giselle and Clare, and the three of them
walked up the stairs, where the three men who had gone up before them were waiting. Giselle
shut the door, and turned and said, "Heero-sama, why did you go down there?"

Heero's mouth twitched. "You two forgot to close the door."

"Oh...whoops."

"What's going on?" and a sleepy looking Reena and Eva appeared.

Clare, Geoffry, and Giselle glanced at each other. "What are you two doing up?" Clare asked.

"Midnight snack."

"Weell...let's just say that Reena, you may not have a fiancee tomorrow, and Eva, you
may not have your brothers tomorrow, and oh fuck..." Clare trailed off as she realized what she
had just said.

It was too late. As soon as he heard the word "fiancee," Zechs' head had immediately
swiveled around to stare at Clare, then at a horrified Reena, then he immediately stormed back
down the stairs. "JERRY!" they could all hear him bellow.

Geoffry was staring also, as was Eva. "Since when were you engaged?!" he sputtered.

Reena burst into tears. "Clare, how could you?!" she sobbed furiously. "I'm sorry Reena, I'm
so sorry!" Clare said miserably, on the verge of tears herself.

*Yawn* "What's going on? It's midnight..." and a sleepy looking Dorothy came out,
followed by Relena and Meilai. "Reena, what's the matter?" Relena said, concerned.

"Everything!"

"She and Jerry are engaged," Geoffry stated.

Relena blinked, surprised. When her voice came back, she said, "Reena, that's wonderful! Why
are you upset?"

Reena stopped in mid-sob. "It...it is?" she questioned.

"Of course!" Dorothy exclaimed. "So now, why are you crying?"

"I thought you'd all be mad!"

"No no, of course not. Isn't that right, Heero?" Relena said, with a pointed look.

"Hn," was the only response. Relena sighed. Heero would never change.

"So...what IS going on?" Meilai asked. "Why is there so much going on right now?"

The others, minus Relena, stared at each other. "You explain," Giselle muttered to Geoffry.

"Oh no. Why don't you?"

"Me? How about you Clare?"

"Um...I think Heero-sama would do better, or even Trowa-sama!"

"Keep us out of this," Trowa said ruefully, smiling at the girl he had come to think of
as his second daughter, just as Quatre and Dorothy treated Giselle as their daughter also.

"Same here," Heero said gruffly. "This is none of our business."

Finally, Giselle sighed. "FINE. I guess I'm stuck," and she began to explain. As soon as she
mentioned Rayan's name, Dorothy's eyes flashed. "Well then, is that right?" she muttered, and
stormed down the stairs. "Dorothy..." Relena called pleadingly, but then Clare said, "Please,
Aunt Relena. You know that when Mother has that look, nothing is going to stop her."

"I suppose you are right..."

The same thing occured with Meilai. She had kept an amused expression on her face the entire
time, but as soon as her sons' names were mentioned, her face became a thundercload. "Drinking,
now are they?" she growled. "Well then..." and she too stormed down the stairs, but she did
come back and thankfully close the door behind her, which Dorothy, in her rage, had forgotten to
do.

Then Clare turned to Reena. "Reena, I'm really sorry," she said dully. But Reena's anger had
passed. Smiling at the remorseful girl, she said, "It's okay. I'm not mad at you
anymore," and the two smiled.

Eva meanwhile was staring with wide eyes. "I remember that," she said in a hushed voice. "I
had never ever seen Mommy or Daddy so mad before!"

"Well then, that's going to be nothing compared to what is going to happen now," Clare
muttered, staring at the now thankfully closed door. "I almost feel sorry for them..."

"Sorry for Thomas, you mean," Giselle muttered, but quietly enough that no one but Clare
heard her. "Ha ha Giselle," she shot back.

"Hey why is everyone up?" and Riko and Aelis entered the room. Everyone sighed, and
Giselle took Riko's arm while Clare took Aelis'. "It's a looong story..." Clare sighed, and
started to guide them back to her room, Reena and Eva in tow. "We'll explain once we get back,"
and they all left.

Back by the door, Relena, Heero, and Trowa exchanged glances. "I think...that I will getting
back to bed now," Trowa said, and quickly made his exit. Geoffry nodded. "Good night," he
said to his aunt and uncle, and he too left. Finally, Relena and Heero were the only ones left.
Glancing back at the door, Relena said wryly, "THIS is our hope for our future?"

Heero sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This is what I was afraid of..."

"Them drinking?" Relena asked, confused.

Heero shook his head. "No, not that. Though it's obviously illegal for the majority of them to
drink, the reality is that many teenagers DO drink. It's not too surprising, though it is
disappointing, that they do also. Unfortunately, they CAN'T BE normal teenagers anymore. But
they just don't realize that..."

And on that bleak note, Heero and Relena went back to bed.