The Forgetten War

A/N: Man, it's been so long since I had the time to write on this stuff, and I am so sorry. I promise not to wait so long between updates next time. Alright, here it is the good stuff.

And for random fact number one. I love popcorn.

Disclaimer: See previous chapters. I don't feel like writing one right now.

So on with the show

Thousands of points of light shown outside the window where Duo sat deep in thought. Most of the lights were stars shining eternally from a distance solar system, some suns even died out before the light reached Duo's eyes in his rare thought state. But a few that shone directly ahead were man-made, they were spacecraft dancing in the darkness on the edge of the colonies. That's where THEY were headed. The Gundams. The boys whose names stuck fear in the hearts of men. Boys who had been trying to live normal lives. The boys who now grown into young men. But so much for that. World would just not let them alone, it needed them to save it, again.

Quatre was piloting the ship toward a massive battleship outfitted for long range outings. The blond had showed up on Dou's door step just a few short days ago, saying that something was happening around the new Mars Colonies. Apparently the trouble was bad enough to call the Gundams out of retirement, well that lest those who did retire. Dou agreed to come along because the quite normal life was beginning to put him on edge, and he need to get his butt back in the pilot's seat. It was times like this, as he sat staring out into space that Dou wondered what ever happen to Pix. It bothered him that they would mostly likely never see each other again, not because of anything she did but because he refused her help when she thought he would need it most.

(A/n: To early in the chapter for a flashback. I think not.)

"No, you're a girl. There's nothing you can do to help me so back off."

"The only reason they choose you was because you're a boy and he's a male pig. There are loads of reasons that I should have been given the mission." Pix was pissed with him, not because he was chosen, she knew that was coming but he thought he would never need any help to carry out the mission. She knew otherwise. She knew outs of things that Duo had no idea about and she was trying to get that through load and clear. "Think this through logically. They'll be looking for a single pilot; if you bring me along they won't even look twice. But a young male walking around with a chip on his shoulder will have them all over you like white on rice."

"Then I'll buff out the chip." Dou simply thought it was to dangerous to keep her involved and he told her as much. The air defeat did not settle well on her but told him a single sentence before she left forever.

"Duo, you don't get it. I was born involved." And he never got the chance to ask her what she meant by that.

Now Duo focused in on the matter on hand, assisting Quatre take in cruiser into the dock of the larger vessel. He was helping because Trowa was the most severely jetlagged of the three and had slept most of the six hour trip to their present location, right in the middle of nowhere. Keeping his attention on the readings before him, he read off distances to Quatre and the blonde weave the ship trough the crowds of ship swamping to get the vessel underway. They had just entered the ship when Wufie's face appeared over the com.

"Hey Quatre, the bitch said to tell you that you own her a dollar. I hope you can find one to spare." The Chinese boy look over and saw Duo sitting in the copilots seat. "Hey, Baka."

"Hello to you to Wu-man," duo waved to the pilot on the screen. "How ya been? The Preventors treating ya good?"

"I have only one complaint, but I shall not talk about her with her boyfriend present." Wufie nodded pointedly in Quatre's direction, but he ignored the suggestion and continued with docking procedures. "By the way, did you make the connection with Trowa?"

"I'm back here."

"Yep, looks like the whole team is going to back together. Just like old times." Duo settled back onto the chair, ready to stretch his legs and get off the ship. But something Wufie said earlier finally sunk in. He turned to Quatre. "You have a girlfriend?"

"Yes." Came the simple direct answer.

"And she's a Preventor?"

"Yes." Quatre finally made soft dock and began shutting down the systems. "You can meet her shortly, if you wish."

"A girl catches your attention. Yeah I want to met her, maybe I can steal her away."

"Doubtful"

The boys gathered their bags and got off the ship and onto the Blazing Sky or BS for short. Duo could not help but notice how much taller Quatre had grown, since once he had been the shortest of the pilot. He held himself more confidently and had lost the boyish innocent face in flavor of a look more handsome than pretty boy. 'Guess we all changed, but the just changed the most.' In truth, three years had passed since the last time the whole group was together and they had all matured into young men, mostly.

They walked through the halls, passing busy persons on their way. Wandering, it seemed, looking for some where to lay their bags down. Quatre lead the way, knowing where their quarters were location, the farthest twenty feet down the hall from and the mobile suit hanger. Trowa and Duo spent those few minutes wondering why they had been pulled this far out into space. All they had been told was that the problem need the Gundams to fix it, and all of them were needed. Quatre knew what was coming, but did not know how to tell the others what was going to happen. Most importantly how were they going to react to Pixie. He trusted her with his life completely, would they do the same. In a few minutes all of that would be over. Pixie said she would meet up with them as soon as she could. "Well, we have to pair off since aren't enough rooms of each to have their own."

"Are you and the mystery girl going to share a room?"

"We aren't like that. She will most likely be sharing one with Candy." Quatre finally found the door he was looking for and swiped card in front of the scanner. As the door moved aside, Quatre stepped inside, but as he did a familiar scent flouted on the air to great him. The supple berry perfume that a mere whiff of could send his senses reeling. She had been here, or still was. And in that moment that he look around the room to find the girl who matched the scent that attacked him, the other boys were forgotten, he didn't even hear them speaking to him.

"I'll share with Heero, he doesn't bother me to much and he seems accept me."

"And I Quatre doesn't mind I'll stay here."

There she was lying across the bed, asleep. The green and black Preventors jacket had been thrown over a chair, and her boots lay on the floor near the bed. Nothing else of hers had found its way into the room, so maybe she was still staying with Candy. Part of him, hoped she was, the part that wanted to take every step slowly and carefully when it came to Pixie, but his hormones were screaming otherwise. Their long absences made being near her so much harder. Sometimes, Quatre wanted to throw on the bed with all that would entailed, but he never did. She meant too much for that just yet. He carefully set his bag on the ground and motioned the other two boys to silence. He sat down on the edge of the bunk and looked down at her peaceful face, imagining all that she had been through. Sometimes it made Gundam training look like child's play. The blonde carefully brushed a hair away from her face, and slowly bent to lay a kiss on the exposed cheek, only half hoping not to wake her. But her eyes fluttered open and slowly cleared themselves of the sleepy daze. "Hey, you."

"Hey, yourself." The sound of a female voice caught the attention of the other two but they stay in their place by the door, not wanting to be seen or interrupt on the tender moment before them.

"I was planning to met you on the flight deck, but," a yawn escaped her lips, "I've been up most of the pass week."

"Anything I should know about" Quatre sat back a little as pixie pick herself off the bed and kick her legs over the side. "No trouble or anything."

"You mean beside the pig on the bridge? No just couldn't sleep." Pixie lend her head

"You and Wufie need to play nicer with each other. You're a team now. Orders are orders." Quatre chuckled as she rolled her eyes and bend to pull on her boots. "Preventors are always going to play the game you want them to, so you have to keep playing by their rules."

"Rules were meant to be broken. I just don't like the guy. He's an excellent pilot, handles himself well in a fight, and isn't afraid to give orders, but he seems to go out of his way to piss me off."

"You two are on opposite extremes. Maybe each of other needs to see where the other is coming from." The blonde got off the bunk and handed her the jacket she discarded before her nap. "You planning to bunk with me?"

"Why, want me to?" Pixie took the jacket from Quatre and headed to the door, finally noticing that the other boys were standing there. Dou and her eyes locked for a moment that expanded into an eternity. She stopped dead in her tracks, she knew that he was coming but she hoped she could be in control of the situation. But the fates decided that neither was prepared of their meeting. Nothing she could say would make the discovery Dou just made easier, she just waited for him to make the move; but waiting was painful. Seconds ticked by. Duo just stared at her, jaw sacking to his chest. 'How did she get way out here?'

"So," when Duo finally spoke "you finally got yourself into the big leagues." He crossed the short distance from the door and embraced the girl he was sure that he would never see again. He knew something was big was going on to get Pix out into the open. When she signed up with Professor G, she had been hiding from some big government something, almost too afraid to surface, but she joined the program with him and excelled at everything G threw that them both. Now after the doc choose his man, she left just as quickly as she arrived. "I thought that you would never catch up with me again."

"Duo, when are you going to figure out that you need to catch up with me?" With the worse of the matter over, Pixie relaxed a little and talked with her friend. "I have years and years of experience on you bro."

"You been good, staying out of trouble." Duo pulled away a little and looked the slim figure over. The face had not changed much, still the same cheekbones and nose, but the rest filled out into womanly curves.

"For the most part, but you know how trouble likes to follow me around." Pixie shoved her arms into the Preventors jacket and headed out the door again. Everything was falling into place. "Well, things are going good around here. The ship almost loaded and ready to go. We're only waiting on one pilot and me and Wuf-boy haven't not killed each other yet. But everybody will time to catch up on the way out there." Pixie snapped the collar of the coat and walked away, not saying where she was headed.

"Out where? All we've been told was that the Gundams were need and to get our collective butts in gear."

"We're going to Mars" Quatre added in, headed down the maze of hallways and elevators. "Pixie thinks something bad is going to broil over out there, and we're going to be there when that happens. That is if Heero gets here in time."

"I know that voice was HIM." Pixie knew that sound anywhere and anytime. For a while it was one of the few that she heard, not knowing any other sound for months on end. Now things were set in motion and she knew deep down in her gut that years of anger and bitterness would cause that boy to explode and the results would disastrous if nothing was done to stop him. She would be there. All her thoughts were wrapped around that need. Sleep, which did not come easy to begin with, was now a hopeless cause, and her mind was racing with the few fact the intelligence network, herself included, had been able to collect.

All four of them filed into an elevator that would take them to the bridge when a yawn escaped from her lips. Her head dropped a few inches to one side with the weight of exhaustion. The rest she stole in Quatre's bunk would have to last until the end of her shift. No one else would take the job for her. Candy and Brian were neck deep into repairs, and all three were taking off extra work.

"Hey, are you really okay?" Quatre's arm was around her shoulders before she relieves he moved to her side. Her head fell to his shoulder and she breathe in the smell of him, cologne mixed with a little sweat. The way he always smelled. For some reason his scent could relax her faster than anything else. It was the reason she caught those few minutes of sleep in his sleep, the aroma was still there, faint but present.

"Nothing a few days of sleep wouldn't cure, but that aren't going to happen." Pixie let her weight rest on him. Of a little while at least, she didn't have to have all the answers or be the strongest in the room. She could just be herself. "No one will fill in my duty on short notice."

"But you're no use to anyone like this." Pixie was about to voice an agreement back stating all the reasons that she HAD to do this. That on one else could possible know everything that had to be done. Tomorrow or maybe the next day, she could get some shut eye. But right now, she had to be on deck. But Quatre silenced her before the words could escape her lips. "I'll fill in if I have to."

"No need, q-man," Duo interjected into the interplay. "I got enough energy to run for two day straight, I cover for Pix. She's lookin' a lot worse for wear."

"see, now you can get some sleep." She just smiled her thanks at Duo and closed her eyes again. She still had get some reports started and fill out some of the endless pile of paper work, but that can wait a few more hours. "Maybe I'll hit the bunk to. The last few day have been pretty hard. By the way, you never did answer my question, are you staying in my room or bunking with Candy."

"I was thinking about staying at least for the night." But she didn't tell him why she needed to have him near because she was not certain of it herself. She buried every motion she ever felt for so long that they were all alien to her. Fear had no place in the soldier's life, but she did not want to see him hurt. Pain was just a passing memory to be forgotten as quickly was possible. Respect she knew, but what she had with the blonde been so much more than that. She felt safe when he was near her. Now, it seemed she couldn't sleep unless it was with him. "Hope that's alright."

"It's fine." 'I just hope I can keep my hands to myself.' "Sorry Trowa, but can you share quarters with Wufie."

"Perfectly fine, I would hate to be in the way." And with that Trowa went back to staring at the numbers that flashed by on the screen, telling them what had been passed.

"Those two will just spend the whole time staring at opposite walls. Booooooooring."

"Just you wait Dou, when everybody gets rested up that's when the fun will begin. It going to take two weeks to get out there, and that's a lot of time to kill." Pixie spoke from Quatre's side. "And the ship is fully decked out for down time."

By that time the door of the lift opened the reveal the bridge of the ship. Pixie let any sign of exhaustion slip off her body as she faced her worst enemy Wufie Chang, proud warrior of the Dragon clan, so proud in fact that he hated being paired with a woman to ready the ship for departure. Both thought little of battling wills and vocabularies in front of the entire crew, but over the months a respect grew out of the contact fighting but each would die before confessing that fact.

"I see that the onna has arrived to take over." He shouted from the front controls. The layout prevented a direct route to where he was standing since the nav board was in the center (think Star Trek, but the door is in the back.) The group walked around the control and down a level to stand in front of the massive windows into space. There Wufie checked several items off his clipboard. "Po and Noun arrived an hour ago with rest of the supplies needed for the Gundams. Yuy is bringing in the Peacecraft girl, and is due in about thirty minutes. The rest will up to you to handle."

"Thanks for the rundown; I think I can handle it from here." Duo deafly took the clipboard from the Chinese boy hands before he could react, a skill learned from years of picking pockets, and gave the list a quick rundown taking special note in the urgent classes coming in with time sensitive materials. "Is everything on here?"

"Yes, but she's" he pointed a finger that the girl in their mists, "Suppose to be taking this shift. You don't even know what's going now yet."

"But, at least in theory, I know how to get a ship supplied, and how to organize the effort for maximum effective. I can do other things than fight you know. Just because I didn't sign up for a Preventors position like you and Q-man here doesn't mean I no good. Besides Pix needs some rest and I'm wired for sound. (A/n: that line is copyrighted so no one else can use it.)" Dou sat down in the nearest empty chair and picked up an abandoned earpiece. After a sound check, he became completely engrossed with what the pilots were saying to bridge and every other cruiser in the area. The cutup personality left his face as a more serious persona took its place. Trowa stay behind to catch up with Wufie and tell him that they would be bunking together.

Quatre slid to Pixie's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. As their steps fell into sink and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "How about getting you to bed?"

"That sounds like a plan." The couple headed to the elevator door unaware that three pairs of eyes followed them out the door. Duo briefly wondered just how close the boy and girl were to each other, and then went back the job of guiding craft into the belly of the beast. Wufie couldn't for the life of him see what Quatre saw in the load; opinionated, moody girl who seemed to have him wrapped around her little finger. Trowa could see what and wondered how the two could work together without their emotions getting in the way.

But Pixie and Quatre didn't care what others thought about their relationship. It was just that theirs. Quatre had been raised in the shot light, and learned long ago not to care too much about what the papers said about him. Pixie relied on herself for so long that nothing got to her, but the things she let though the wall around herself. She lived life the way she wanted and that was one of the things that keep her sane until now. They exited the room and as soon as the closed firmly closed leaving them finally alone, he turned and pressed his lips on hers. They kissed until both were breathless. When Quatre pulled away, he whispered against her lips. "I've wanted to do that for a week. I missed you."

"I missed you too, but we should probity keep the public make out sessions to a minimum. I wouldn't want the other to think that you lost your edge. "

"Haven't I? All I could think about for the last few days was you. That's hardy proper Gundam behavior."

"Since when do I care about doing what's proper? But try to keep your head in the game; I don't want you coming back to me in body bag." Pixie pulled his face back down to hers to steal another breathless kiss. The lift was nearing their deck, and the door chimed as the couple once again broke apart. But a question had begun to burn in Quatre's mind.

"Does that mean that you're beginning to love me?" He counted the seconds until her answer came.

"You know that I don't know how I feel." She pulled away from the warmth of his body and moved down the hallway. Talking about emotions was something that she was never good at. "Can't you just fell me out and talk me?"

"I could, but you need to figure this out for yourself, no supernatural help from the empathy." This was the reason Quatre needed to take every step so slow with her. He didn't want to make a move that would make her uncomfortable. "How about just telling me what you know you feel." The door to the bunk open for them, and the couple stepped inside.

"I know that I don't want you to get hurt. And I don't like our long separations." Pixie shrugged out of her jacket and threw it back on the chair back. Then sat on the floor to pull off her combat boots. Quatre laid his vest in a draw and unbuttoned the top half of his shirt, waiting to take he cue form her. He just leaned against the dresser watching her every movement, filing it away for the long cold night that would come in the future when she would return back to her bunk. He wanted her here with him no matter what it did to his hormones. Her presence was something he needed in his life, and he can feel that she wanted it to, but something was all holding them back. "I know that I can't sleep if you're not with me anymore." She raised her eyes to meet his.

"If you want you can move in here. I would love to have you so close at hand." Pixie got to her feet and let his strong arms enfold her form. In his arms, every other care in the world melted away. He felt safe to her and that was not something she had had for a very long time. But the tender moment was broken by Pixie yawning. "But for now let's get you to bed."

The young woman let him lead her back to the bed and both slipped under the cover, after Quatre removed his shirt. There, wrapped in each other's arms, the teens found comfort and darkness of a deep within moments of their heads touching the pillow.

Almost ten hours would pass before they would wake up to a thunderous explosion shaking the hull of the ship.

A/n: there it is hope you like the new style. Please write and tell me what you think, because believe it or not input is important. Bye bye for now. The next chapter will be p soon.