~*~*~*~*

Things Change

~*~*~*~*


When we were young the future was so bright
The old neighborhood was so alive
And every kid on the whole damn street
Was gonna make it big and not be beat

Now the neighborhood's cracked and torn
The kids are grown up but their lives are worn
How can one little street
Swallow so many lives

-- Offspring


~*~*~*~*

Chapter 2

~*~*~*~*


"Milliardo, I need a response here, it's been two days since we saw Haruka," Relena told her brother angrily. She had been hyperventilating for quite some time now. Heero was the only one that seemed to be able to handle it. They had told him that his new mission was to keep Relena occupied. He only agreed to keep his record clean.

"I've been searching all over, but no such luck. We have it narrowed down to the west side of the Sanq kingdom though," He told her.

"What have you been searching under?" She asked.

"Amara, it is her middle name, I figured she'd keep some semblance of her past. It's in her nature," He told her. They were all gathered in the preventors head quarters in the Sanq kingdom. Every computer was being used. Relena walked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Heero asked from the other side of the room.

"Little girls room," She said, moving off in the direction of the bathrooms. She shook her head lightly as she wandered into a room a few doors down.

"Is it alright if I use that computer for a moment?" Relena asked the man inside. He was supposed to be de bugging systems.

"Of course your highness," He said, moving off to the side.

"Do not let anyone enter," she told him. She sat down and opened a few windows. She started to type quickly. More windows popped up all over the place.

"Um, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing?" The man asked.

"I'm hacking into the Preventor search engines," She told him.

"If they are in use right now, hit alt 4. It will take the people using it off," He told her sheepishly.

"My thanks," she told him with a smile as she started to type again.


"What is going on? Why are the screens gong blank?" Milliardo demanded.

"Someone is taking over the computers from inside the building, more than likely from this very floor sir," Someone answered quickly.

"Who would know what we were searching for? Why would they stop it?" Quatre asked.

"Unless they wanted to take over the search themselves," Duo commented.

"Damnit, where is Relena?" Milliardo demanded of the five boys quietly.

"Bathroom," Heero answered.

"Ten bucks says she's not," Milliardo said with a fierce frown.

"You think Relena did this?" Duo demanded in shock.

"Of course. You do not give the girl nearly enough credit. How do you think she managed to keep track of Heero and the rest of you? She's not an idiot," Milliardo said with a sigh. All of a sudden the computer screens came back up, all with the same name and Address. Duo read it out loud.

"12363 Manchester Avenue, Sanq Kingdom. Co-owned by Haruka Tenno, Rei Hino, and Ami Mizuno,"

"What do you know," Milliardo said with a bland expression. Relena entered the room again with a confused look on her face.

"Why did you stop the search?" she asked.

"We found her," Milliardo answered.

"Why aren't you moving then? Let's go," She glanced up at the screen, "I thought you said you were looking under Amara," She accused.

"What can I say?" Milliardo asked with another bland look.

"Let's go," Relena moved out the door and Milliardo caught her arm.

"Cute trick," he told her. She pulled her arm out of his grasp.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," She told him with a false smile.

"Of course not," He replied. The boys looked on passively and climbed in the back of the Limo that was waiting for them.


~*~*~*


"I'm so glad that we decided to go shopping," Ami said with a smile. The three girls were walking along in the mall.

"The only reason I agreed was so that we could go to Victoria's Secret. I think I have a way to make Miles blush," Haruka said with a wicked grin.

"I needed to get out of the house, and I'm positive that Wufei would never be caught in a mall," Rei said with a shrug.

"You're probably right," Ami said with a smile.

"I really need to meet this guy," Haruka said, chuckling.

"So, about this prank?" Rei asked with a nervous smile. She was constantly avoiding the subject.

"It involves lots of new nightgowns and which of them might possibly look the best," Haruka said with a smile.

"If playing tag in our underwear at midnight didn't work, this one wont," Ami told the other girl.

"But it's worth a shot," Rei said with a smile.


~*~*~*


Relena's jaw dropped at the size of the house. It was bigger than Quatre's home. The damn thing was almost the size of her school. She chided herself for thinking uncouthly. She let one of the Boy's open the door for her, and she stepped out gracefully. She walked up the stone steps and rang the door bell. An austere looking older gentlemen in a white tuxedo with silver bow tie answered the door. He was tall and had silver gray hair and clear blue eyes.

"Hello, we are here to see Haruka," Relena told him with a smile.

"Miss Haruka is not in at the moment. She Miss Ami and Miss Rei have gone shopping," the man told her.

"When are you expecting them back?" Relena asked.

"I do not rightly know madame," He answered.

"May we wait for them inside?" Relena asked. He raised both his eyebrows at the girl.

"Please wait here a moment," He asked. The door closed.

"What? not going to shoot the door handle?" Milliardo asked his sister. The door opened again a moment later. This time it was a tiny girl with short blood red hair and dark blue eyes. She raised an eyebrow.

"Go away," She told them. Relena looked at her in shock.

"Excuse me?" Milliardo asked.

"Bloody 'ell, I said go away. D'you not know english?" She asked. She was obviously english from her accent.

"We are here to see Miss," Quatre started.

"I know why you're here, but we've got our orders. If they aint here, you don't come in. Miles is supposed to get me," She told them with a shrug.

"Why does he get you?" Duo asked, looking her up and down. She was wearing a black halter top cat suit with black sneakers and a wide black leather belt. She only came up to Quatre's chin, making her extremely short, but she had curves in all the right places.

"'cause I aint got any manners. Toodles," With that the door was slammed in their faces.

"How dare she? the trollop," Relena shrieked. She reached for Duo's gun, but he half expected it this time and caught her hand.

"Sorry, but rules are rules. What say we come back in an hour or so?" He asked with a grin. Relena was finally letting someone get her goat. It was priceless. The pacifist princess trying to pull a gun.

"Into the car," Milliardo told them all. They climbed in and drove four blocks over to Milliardo's home.

"I still can't believe that she's been living this close to you for months and you haven't noticed," Relena fumed as they pulled into his drive.

"It's not like we keep tabs on all of our neighbors," Milliardo said stiffly.

"Oh? We'll see," Relena glowered at him. They got out of the car and walked into the mansion.

"Hello all," Noin said with a smile.

"Noin, how long has Mr. Fawn next door been back on the wagon?" Relena asked.

"3 weeks, why?" Noin asked.

"No reason," Relena replied raising an eyebrow in her brothers direction.

"As lovely as the sibling rivalry is, you can stop now," Noin said firmly.

"No rivalry Noin my dear, Relena is just losing her temper. Used to happen all the time when Haruka was around," Milliardo said lightly. Coming around to stand behind his wife. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"That is seriously ruining my good mood. Do you guys have to be mushy?" Duo asked.

"Duo, I believe that the cook is just about done with lunch," Noin commented lightly. The boy was off like a shot.

"I need you to help me search out some information on two people for me, would you?" Milliardo asked his wife. She moved toward the office. HE followed her, and the rest followed him.

"Who?" She asked. Milliardo took off a pin on his coat front hooked it into a little machine on one side of the room. He pressed a few buttons and hen two pictures scanned onto the computer, and were printed out.

"These two," He told her. She put them in the database search engine and smiled as the answer came immediately.

"The girl is Fay Black, 16. Runaway. Her father is the John Black, Duke of Rothford in Great Britain. A rather large settlement. She is the youngest of eight, and one of only two daughters. Apparently she wanted to become a chef and her father was trying to force her to marry," Noin answered. (Damia - "A completely made up dukedom for anyone that cared,")

"Interesting," Milliardo said with a smile, "I never would have guessed with that horrendous cockney accent she sports. Quite amusing really,"

"The man is Miles Sinclair, 58. A well thought of butler. Good at what he does, nothing but good on his records," Noin told him.

"How boring," Duo commented.

"I'm waiting for the explanation dear," Noin told her husband gently.

"Ah yes. Miles opened the door, greeted us and left. Fay came after he left and told us to go away," Milliardo answered.

"I think I like Fay," Noin commented.

"You would my dear," He told her with a smile.

"The onna has a big mouth," Wufei commented.

"She insulted me. I'm going to have to insist to Haruka that the girl be fired," Relena said with a sniff.

"She was under orders," Quatre told her.

"I don't think it was to be rude," Relena said, sticking her bottom lip out slightly. Duo muttered something that sounded suspiciously like spoiled.

~*~*~*


"Oy, the spoiled brat came by," Fay said as she wandered into the garage after hearing girls come in.

"Miss Peacecraft?" Ami asked with a slight frown.

"That'd be the one. She had a couple burley's with her to," Fay said.

"Five?" Rei asked, worrying at her bottom lip.

"And one bloke that looked like a bloody swell," Fay told them.

"You got rid of them, right?" Haruka asked.

"Of course," Fay turned and walked back inside.

"Remind me to give Setsuna a giant hug for finding that gem for us. A finer chef/bouncer we could never have," Haruka said with a smile.

"Unless it was Makoto," Rei said quickly.

"Well that goes without saying," Haruka told her.


~*~*~*


"We're going back now," Relena called as she left the front door. The boys and Noin were racing right behind her. Noin had already explained to her husband about not liking to be left out and how if it happened again he would be getting to know the guest room very well. They all piled in after Relena, and the driver headed back to the house. They knocked on the door for the second time that afternoon.

"May I help you?" Miles asked as he opened the door.

"Is Haruka back yet?" Relena demanded.

"I will have to check madame," The door was closed before they could stop him. A few minutes later he came back.

"Well?" Relena asked.

"They are now home, but they are not receiving visitors," Miles told them. He started to close the door, but Relena put her foot in the way.

"I need to see her," Relena said with a frown.

"Kindly move your foot," He told her. His expression still hadn't changed from that bland look.

"Heero, if he tries to close the door he hurts my foot, aren't you supposed to keep me from getting hurt?" Relena asked with a small smile. Heero walked up to the man and pulled his gun.

"Move," He told him. Miles expression changed then. It went from bland, to amused. He opened the door wide and allowed them access.

"Follow me to the Living room," the obeyed. There were four girls in the room when they entered. A girl with long black hair that seemed alive with purple highlights had there back to them, Haruka and a girl with short blue hair were facing them. Fay was in the process of pouring tea for everyone.

"Bloody hell," she swore.

"What the hell are you two doing here? What the hell are any of you doing here?" Haruka demanded.

"What? No fond welcome for your little sister?" Relena asked, frowning at her.

"I left eight years ago. Did you expect me to welcome you with open arms into my life?" Haruka demanded.

"Heero, I can explain," The blue haired girl started when Heero stalked over to her.

"Then do so," He demanded, his voice as cold as ever.

"I, well you see . . . it's like this," Ami faltered as the hand with the gun twitched.

"I'm waiting," He said.

"Shit, uh, we'll see you later?" Ami jumped up and took off down the hall. She was wearing a short blue sun dress and her long legs took advantage of that fact. Haruka shook her head and looked over at Rei. The girl was like a popsicle. She wasn't moving at all.

"Rei?" Haruka asked.

"Dude, is your friend all right?" Duo asked, moving over to look at her. He started to drool.

"Oy, no slobbering," Fay commanded.

"I'm Duo, will you spend the night with me?" He asked the girl. Haruka grinned lightly.

"You Yangwei se mi mi de ren yang gui zi," Rei cursed in Mandarin (Damia - "She said ' you impotent lecherous foreign devil' k?") She then punched him, "I'm married," She yelled, starting to leave the room.

"Merian?" Wufei asked softly, wonder in his eyes. She stopped mid-step, her head hung low.

"Hello Wufei," She slowly turned and looked at him, pain, sorrow, hope and love all shining in her eyes. He was over to that side of the room in a flash, the girl in his arms. They kept their eyes open as they shared a passionate kiss.

"Merian, I - " Wufei started. Rei placed her fingers over his mouth, and took his hand, leading him out of the room.

"How come Wufei gets the babe?" Duo whined.

"Because he's married to her," Haruka told him.

"Are you married?" Duo asked, all charm once again.

"No, but if you come onto me again, you wont be procreating," She told him with a glare. He sat on the chair that Rei had just vacated and glared at the room in general.

"Oh bother, what got in your knickers this time?" Fay asked with a huff.

"A house full of beautiful women and none of you will pay any attention to me," Duo said with a pout.

"Duo, one is married, one is Relena's sister, and the other is running from Heero. Fay is talking to you though," Quatre told him. Duo perked up.

"Wanna go for a walk?" He asked the red head with a wink.

"Want me to shove a broom up your ass?" Fay turned and walked away. Duo went back to pouting.

"As I was saying earlier, I don't want you in my life. I left for a reason little miss pacifist," Haruka told Relena.

"You were born into privilege and because of this you have certain responsibilities that you cannot just run from as you have been trying to do for the past eight years.

"I left the so called privileged life. I never wanted it. I hated it with a fucking passion. How dare you force your way into my home and try to guilt trip me?" Haruka shouted.

"Because as your sister I have the damned right to annoy you and make you see reason," Relena shouted back.

"Relena cursed? Dude, I never would have thought," Duo said with a smile. Trowa and Quatre just looked at him.

"I think we should take a walk dearest," Milliardo commented, taking his wife's arm and leading her away.

"Well you see, that's the thing. I disowned the family," Haruka said with a shrug.

"You disowned the . . . you can't disown your entire family!" Relena shouted at the older girl.

"But I did. Father knew it. That's why he told you I was dead," Haruka told her.

"Daddy knew you were alive?" Relena asked incredulously.

"Of course he did. Think about it for a moment. Do you really think that I could have hidden from him? I was nine years old for christ's sake," Haruka told her with a snort.

"You were born a lady," Relena started before she was interrupted.

"I didn't want to be a lady. That's why I left. I'm very happy with my life now. I'm a racer and I'm happy with that," She told her sister.

"I know why your name was so familiar. You're Haruka 'presto' Tenno. You've been all over the news lately," Quatre commented. Haruka sent him a smile.

"That would be me alright," She told him.

"Great, my sister is acting like a man," Relena said, throwing her hands over her head. Haruka glared at the girl. Relena was only 5'6", six inches under Haruka's own 6' even, and daintily built at that. Haruka was made completely of wiry muscle. The older had Relena thrown over her shoulder in a matter of seconds and was walking out the door.

"Do we pull our guns?" Duo asked.

"Haruka is her sister," Quatre answered.

"We follow," Trowa announced, striding out to catch up to the two. The followed them out back to a large pool, where Relena was promptly thrown in. The girl in pink swam to the surface and glared at the other blonde, who had a closed look on her face.

"Get out of my house," Haruka ordered her. Relena glared at her sister while vacating the pool.

"No," She said simply.


~*~*~*


Damia - "Sorry about not updating, vacation was hectic. No computer, you all know how it is. Anyway. I counted the votes from friends that decided to call *cough*stevie*cough*, email, and reviews. I really wasn't expecting Ami to win,"


Solatina - "I wish I had a camera on hand for the look on her face,"


Wren - "She had to count twice,"


Damia - "But so we don't let everyone down, the girls will bring in reinforcements. You know what that means, don't you?"


Wren - "More SM girls!"


Solatina - "Did you say S and M girls?" *innocent look*


Wren - "eep,"


Damia - "Not again,"