Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Magic Knight Rayearth. They belong to Bandai and CLAMP, respectively.


World 2 World
Chapter V: The Threat

"They are in my way."

They are not a threat—they have no power in this world.

"What about the Heaven's Tear?"

A minor problem. Once the bearer has been disposed of, the jewel will lose its influence.

"It would be hard to dispose of her when she keeps company with such important figures."

No matter. There are still many opportunities.

"It would be unwise to attack her directly, lest we arouse suspicion with the other two knights. I suppose her new companions will be useful after all."

We are not ready to be revealed so publicly.

"We will not reveal ourselves. There are many in this world that would start a war by assassinating the Earth's beloved queen."

And if that fails?

"I am not without a backup. However, I doubt we will need him."

Perhaps. But if we do, will he succeed?

"We shall just have to see, won't we?"

As you wish.


"Wah! It's so big! The windows are huge too! Oh!"

Hikaru was running back and forth in excitement, finding new amusements at every turn.

"Hikaru-san, one would think you've never been in an airport—or spaceport in this case," Fuu said, smiling at the other girl's enthusiasm.

"I don't think she has," Umi muttered, too tired be entertained by Hikaru's excitement. She didn't have the energy to deal with the bubbly redhead—all she wanted to do was get on the shuttle and sleep for the remainder of the trip.

"Tired, Umi-san?" Fuu inquired, receiving a yawn in reply, which did not go unnoticed by Quatre.

"After we leave the atmosphere, the ride should be fairly smooth if nothing happens," Quatre informed the tired girl, smiling, "and you'll be able to sleep for awhile."

"Thanks," Umi replied, muttering quietly to herself, "if I don't have another dream."

Last night, when she finally fell asleep after tossing for more than an hour over the stupid kiss, she had a strange dream. All she saw was a figure seemingly talking to nothing, but a voice similar to the Rune gods replied. It was over as quickly as it started, but it woke her up nonetheless, and kept her awake for the rest of the early morning. It was a wonder how Hikaru could be so energetic when the sun was just rising.

"Heero," Quatre asked, glancing at the young Preventer. "Where are Wufei and Sally?"

"There was a breach at headquarters. They'll join us in a few days," Heero answered.

"Quatre, are we there yet?" Hikaru interrupted as she ran back and hugged the blonde's arm.

Dorothy glared at the girl latched onto her boyfriend's arm, snapping, "No. We haven't even boarded the shuttle because of your incessant running."

Hikaru hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry."

"Dorothy," Quatre began.

"No, don't start with me. It's true."

Quatre sighed. "Do not worry, Hikaru-san. We arrived here early, so we are not really late for our shuttle."

The sparkle returned to the redhead's eyes. "Okay then, let's go!"

Hikaru released Quatre's arm and ran off again, only to be stopped by a distinctive shout of frustration from Dorothy.

"Hikaru!"

She stopped and turned around. "Huh?"

"The shuttle is this way," Noin said, pointing in the other direction towards the outside dock.

"Oh." Then she ran off in the right direction.

"What did she have for breakfast?" Umi wondered, shaking her head. Hopefully, Hikaru burns off all the energy before boarding, or she would never get her much-needed sleep.

As the group boarded the plane, Umi's eyes took in the large cabin in awe, gazing at the large couch-like seats. There were two columns of double seats on either side of the private shuttle, with another pair down the center aisle in the very back. Umi trudged to the last pair and collapsed onto one of the seats, thinking she was now too curious about taking off into space for any sleep.

Fuu grabbed Hikaru's hand and led her to another one, knowing the water knight wanted her peace and quiet for the trip. Quatre and Dorothy situated themselves in the front, as did Milliardo and Noin. Relena placed herself in an empty seat behind her brother and graced Heero with a small smile.

Heero really did not want to deal with Relena, but neither did he want to sit across from the source of last night's sleeplessness. But glancing at the blue-haired girl, he found that she was fighting drooping eyelids and thought, with a hint of smugness, that she did not sleep much either and thus would be too tired to start a fight with him. Quickly making his decision, he merely gave a slight nod to Relena and proceeded to seat himself across from Umi.

Umi scowled at the intrusion. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sitting."

"You're hilarious. Now move."

"I don't see why I should."

"Because you're too close for my liking. Now go away and leave me alone."

"That's not what you said last night."

Umi's eyes nearly popped out upon hearing his whisper. She growled and grabbed the pillow under her head, smacking Heero on the shoulder.

Unfortunately, Heero had not anticipated that move and could not dodge the fast albeit soft blow. Staring at her in shock, he sneered and grabbed his own pillow, prepared to retaliate.

"This is your pilot speaking. Please sit back and fasten your seatbelts as we will now be preparing to lift off."

Heero scowled as he replaced his pillow, annoyed that he'd missed his opportunity to counter. No matter, he'd hit her when she least expected it.

Umi forgot about Heero as she stared out the window, excited at the thought of their taking off to space. First, the three of them are thrown into a fantasy world, and now the future? How much luckier could they be? Well, as long as nothing horrible happened in this world as well.


"Wah! It's so big!"

"What? You can't even see any of the colonies yet. Even if you could, they'd be mere dots," Dorothy said as she turned her head to glance at the redhead sitting behind her.

"I mean space! It's so big!"

"No really," Dorothy muttered sarcastically.

"Umi. Umi! Wake up! We're in space!"

"Hm?"

The water knight drowsily rubbed her eyes and glanced around in slight confusion. Finally realizing where she was, she stretched herself from her curled position on the seat, yawning as she pondered over Hikaru's words.

"Wait, we're in space?"

Umi immediately sat up, wide awake, and looked out the window. It was completely dark, save for a few blinks here and there. It confused her for a moment as her mind tried to process the endless darkness.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"You did, Umi-san," Fuu replied as she glanced back with a smile. "You must have been very tired to have slept through all the motion."

Hikaru nodded fervently. "It was a very rough ride! Even worse than we're thrown around in our mashins!"

Fuu turned toward her companion and covered the shorter girls' mouth.

Umi's eyes darted around nervously, making sure no one had heard. Realizing that the others were either sleeping or caught up in their own business, she sighed in relief, tuning out Fuu's quiet lecturing. She turned to her side and noticed that Heero was no longer sitting there. As relieved as she was, she looked around and found that he was nowhere in sight. Not that she should care, but she was merely curious as to where he had disappeared.

Still a little drowsy, Umi unfastened her seatbelt and followed the signs to the restroom. Finding it occupied, she groaned and prepared to walk away as the door slid open. Although her previous curiosity of settled, she found that anxiety was now rising in her chest.

"Um, hello."

That sure was a lame greeting, but finding herself mere inches from his face did nothing to help her nerves. Why didn't he say something? Why didn't he move?

Heero's eyes roamed over her face, from her nervous blue eyes to her cute little noise, and then down to her slightly open mouth and luscious lips. Not really thinking, he grabbed her and pressed her body to his own. Pulling them into the restroom, he closed the door, pushing her against it and kissing her hungrily.

At first, Umi thought to push him away, but his talented tongue just had to dart out and destroy all sense of logic in her mind—not that she ever had any when he was around. After his tongue licked her lips a second time, she completely gave in and allowed her arms to wind around his neck, one hand running through his hair.

Heero let one of his hands slip under her shirt to stroke her surprisingly firm yet soft abdomen, the other running through her long, silky hair. He let his tongue slip inside her mouth to caress and taste. Hearing her moan softly, he broke off the kiss, leaning down to trail his mouth along her neck.

Suddenly, the shuttle lurched violently, throwing both occupants out of the restroom and sprawled onto the floor.

Umi yelped as she fell backwards, squeezing her eyes shut as she sensed her head reaching the floor. However, something secured itself around the back of her head so that it absorbed the impact instead. Still, nothing protected the rest of her body and she winced as she felt her back crash into the ground. Prying her eyes open, she found herself looking at a profile of Heero's face.

Heero kneeled above her, knees on either side and one hand on the floor while the other cradled her head. His eyes darted quickly to the cockpit before glancing down to check for any injuries on Umi. Seeing none, he pulled her into a sitting position and leapt up, rushing to the front of the shuttle.

"Umi! Are you all right?" Fuu asked as Umi returned to her seat and buckled the seatbelt on tightly.

Umi nodded, slightly breathless—from the kissing or the falling, she wasn't sure. "What happened?"

"I think we're being attacked," Hikaru replied.

"Attack us?" Umi asked. Why would anyone want to attack a civilian shuttle? Sure she was the daughter of one of the wealthiest and most respected business couple in Japan, but that's in a completely different time period! It's not as if they had any important figures on board.

"They must know Relena-sama and Quatre-san are onboard," Fuu said, straining to see through the open door to the cockpit.

That's right. They were traveling with one of the most important figures on earth and one of the wealthiest businessmen as well as delegate of the space colonies. Of course they would try to attack the shuttle. Umi rolled her eyes at her own stupidity.

"What should we do?" Noin asked as she now sat protectively beside Relena.

"Shoot them down, of course," Dorothy replied.

"Apologies Dorothy-sama, this is a civilian shuttle and does not carry any weapons," the pilot said.

"Then how is it that we haven't been shot down yet?" Relena asked.

"The ship has defensive mechanisms, but against the current enemy, there's no way we'd survive—"

Another explosion and a now blinking red light interrupted the pilot.

"Move," Heero commanded as he moved to stand beside the pilot's chair.

"Yes sir," the pilot responded immediately, gladly allowing for the ex-Gundam pilot to take the controls.

Heero strapped himself in as Zechs placed himself in the co-pilot's chair. The pilots rushed into the cabin, securing themselves into the first two seats.

"You're in for a rough ride, girls—so hold on tight," Dorothy called back.

Before Umi had the chance to ask any questions, a sudden jerk of the shuttle caused her to be flung to the side, the secured seatbelt squeezing the breath from her body. As she opened her mouth to release a scream of shock and frustration, the shuttle twisted violently, threatening to turn completely upside down.

"Wah! What's going on?" Hikaru wailed as she clutched tightly to Fuu's arm.

"It's Heero saving our butts!" Dorothy yelled back.

"Can't he save our butts a bit more calmly!" Umi shouted into the front, her hands grasped tightly to the armrests. If this was what the jewel had in mind as a test, then she didn't want her wish! It wasn't worth it! Hell, she didn't even remember what she wished for in the first place! Why did these things always happen to her? Although she felt slightly sorrier for Fuu since she had to deal with Hikaru's death grip.

"Where in the world did these mobile suits come from? Even the Preventers have a limited supply that are locked down," Milliardo growled, only narrowing his eyes further as the shuttle lurched again and another red light began blinking. "Shit, the fuel tank level's dropping dangerously fast—they must have hit the tank."

"What! Wouldn't we have exploded then?" Umi asked, exchanging panicked glances with Fuu.

"I understand that Japan's not exactly on the best terms with the ESUN, but are they really so ignorant?" Dorothy sneered. "Nearly 95 of the population now uses the new fuel especially designed to not explode under high temperatures."

"Really?" Fuu gasped in awe.

"Not now, Fuu," Umi warned, knowing the scholarly tone her friend's voice all too well.

"Preventers units are on the way from L4," Milliardo informed them.

"Hn." Heero glared at the two mobile suits in front of him before swerving out of their line of fire. He could have them within the colony's defense systems before the units even arrived. Even with Milliardo and Noin's training, those new recruits were nearly useless.

Umi screamed as she was flung forward to her seatbelt's limit. Eyes ablaze, she snarled to the current pilot, "Do you not know how to fly a shuttle? Even I could fly this thing better than you!"

Heero's eye twitched. It actually irritated and—he hated to admit—hurt him for her to insult his piloting skills. Although Duo could very much match his skills in this particular area, he was still quite proud of his ability. Really, he'd never been annoyed because someone insulted his capabilities—then again, no one ever insulted his capabilities.

Turning sharply again and switching off a few systems to conserve energy, he motioned for Milliardo to take the controls. Heero removed himself from the seat and stalked back to the cabin, stopping in front of the blue-haired girl.

"What? Finally acknowledging the fact that I'm right? Wait a minute, who's flying the shuttle?"

"You are," he growled as he unbuckled her from her seat and grabbed her wrist. He then dragged her toward the cockpit. "If you think you can fly better, than I'd like to see you try."

Umi blanched. "What?"

"Heero, that's not funny," Noin cut in. "This is not the time to be scaring the girl out of her mind."

"I'm not scared," Umi huffed quietly.

"Don't worry, Noin-san," Hikaru piped in and loosening her grip on Fuu's arm, "we trust Umi. We've actually been in a plane that she piloted."

"Maybe it's not a good idea," Fuu countered, recalling that trip. Umi had tried to serve from hitting a bird, realizing too late that she was piloting a small jet and not driving a car.

Heero ignored their frightened cries and Quatre's gaping expression, pushing Umi into his previous seat. Staring at him in horror, Milliardo immediately proceeded to scream his lungs out.

"Are you insane! There are lives at stake here! This is the girl's first time in a shuttle and you expect her to fly it! When we're being attacked by enemy suits!"

Heero shrugged. "I know what I'm doing."

"I don't think you do," Milliardo countered, but still keeping his eye on dodging the enemy.

"Excuse me," Umi interrupted hotly, her stubborn pride overriding her logic, "but I think I can fly a shuttle. I've flown a plane better than most experience pilots."

"In the middle of a battle?" Milliardo interjected.

"I think dodging lightning bolts could be considered close enough."

Sensing that Heero was ready to pry him out of his seat by force, Milliardo finally backed down and moved aside to let Heero sit in the co-pilot's chair.

"We're going to die," Milliardo muttered, "and I'm allowing it. Noin, Relena—please forgive me."

Quatre craned his head forward, sweat sliding down his forehead. "I don't think—"

Umi sat down and gripped the wheel, just as they were hit again and an electronic voice announced that their defense was down 50. At least this should be easier since there were defense systems. Even with the mashins she doubted she had this much protection.

"You won't be able to increase your speed—we need to use as little fuel as possible if we want to make it to the colony."

Umi decided not to mention that she didn't know how to boost the jets anyways. She focused on steering the shuttle, keeping one eye on the radar. A blinking light showed one of the enemy suits right on their tail and she saw the other slightly to their forward right, so she kept a slowly veering path and allowed for the first suit behind them to come within mere meters of the shuttle. As the suit seemed to match the shuttle's pace, Umi immediately banked a hard left, just in time to see a light shoot past them and straight at the second suit. The shot destroyed the second suit's weapon.

Umi narrowed her eyes as something started to pulse in her pocket. As she remembered the Heaven's Tear, the steering wheel jerked sharply, directing the shuttle towards the second suit. A little surprised, she stared at the wheel in slight concern, wondering what the jewel was up to.

Noticing her concerned look, Heero actually felt a flicker of doubt. It seemed she wasn't sure what she was doing, and that stunt back there was quite dangerous—for a young woman, that is. But she did say her parents were part of a secret society that protected the president of Japan, so it's plausible she had some training. His pushed his thoughts away as he noticed that she was headed directly for the second suit.

"What are you doing?" came Milliardo's slightly panicked voice through the open door. He was craning his head and could see their path. "We're supposed to avoid the mobile suits, not try to destroy them on a suicide mission!"

"I'm not on a suicide mission," Umi replied, although she also doubted the jewel's actions—but only a little. "It's just a…game of chicken."

"There are civilians on board! Even Heero wouldn't think of doing something so dangerous with civilians on board!"

Heero scowled. How dare that 'Gundam-pilot-wannabe' assume to know what he would or would not do? True, he wouldn't risk the lives of civilians, but he would still do something like this if he was certain that he would succeed—and he never failed (of course, completely forgetting about that time he tried to and couldn't kill Relena, and then when he accidentally assassinated Noventa).

Everyone braced themselves as the shuttle neared the strangely immobile suit. Only when there was a few meters' distance between the two objects did the mobile suit's boosters suddenly turn on and lift the mobile suit up, crashing into the first suit that had been following shuttle from above. The explosion from above rocked the shuttle, but Heero managed to help Umi guide the shuttle safely away.

Milliardo immediately jumped up and into the cockpit, bellowing, "Are you insane? If that pilot had been like Heero, then we would all be dead now!"

Heero scowled again. He did not like how he was constantly being used as a bad example, despite the truth of the statements.

Umi sighed quietly before turning to look at the standing man. "Hey, I think I did pretty well."

"Yes, you did," Milliardo commented slowly, darting a suspicious glance at the girl. "How did you know how to fly so well?"

"Well, my parents taught me to fly their private jet," Umi replied. It was the truth—her parents thought it would be interesting for her to learn to fly. "The shuttle's not much different, except the thrusters—I didn't really know how to work those."

"Then maybe next time, you'll care to learn about those before you try to get us killed again," Milliardo hissed.

"Kyaa! There's more!" Umi cried as four mobile suits appeared around them.

"Ignore them," Heero dismissed.

"Preventers MSU—Mobile Suit Unit—of L4," Quatre explained as he also entered the cockpit. "Each colony and country has an MSU, with at least five mobile suits each. Japan should have one too."

"Oh," Umi replied sheepishly. "I'm not really up-to-date on current events."

"Clearly," Milliardo muttered. "Now please kindly remove yourself. Heero and I will land the shuttle."

Umi huffed silently but stood up and moved back into the cabin, ignoring the fearful yet relieved faces of the other occupants.

"That was very dangerous, Umi-san," Fuu scolded despite her smile.

"I'm sorry to have worried you, Fuu," Umi apologized with a smile before her face turned serious. "But I need to talk to you guys later—about the jewel."

"Okay," Hikaru replied, beaming. "But that was a fun ride—can we do it again?"


Preventers teams and news reporters bombarded the group as they stepped down from the shuttle. Heero and Milliardo immediately walked to the side and began directing the Preventers. Noin kept close to Relena as they joined Quatre and Dorothy in addressing the media.

"Umi-san! Umi-san! Dorothy-sama informed us that you were the one safely directed the shuttle to safety and destroyed both enemy mobile suits!"

"Yes, please tell us how you managed such an amazing feat!"

"No, Umi-san, over here!"

"No, we have questions over here, Umi-san!"

"Over here, Umi-san!"

"Umi-san!"

Umi blinked as all the reporters swarmed around her, each trying to capture her attention. It seemed that even in the future, the media never changes. Sighing mentally, she faced all of them calmly with a slightly superior look. Sensing her preparation to speak, the reporters quieted down and watched her in anticipation, like a cat waiting to pounce on the cornered mouse.

"Ladies and gentleman, thank you for your considerations. However, I am afraid that I do not have the right to speak as I am not the true 'hero.' I can tell you that Heero Yuy was the one who actually safely guided us away from the enemy and into the colony. If you have any questions, I'm sure he will be more than happy to answer them for you. Thank you."

Leaving no room for arguments with her firm tone, Umi immediately turned on her heels and grabbed Hikaru and Fuu, dragging them away. She applauded herself on dodging the reporters successfully—just like back home with her parents—and directing them to Heero. Unfortunately, she noticed the reporters were hesitant to move towards the ex-Gundam pilot, so they instead flocked back to Relena and Quatre.

Heero caught Umi glancing at him disappointedly and replied with a smug smirk. He had to admit she handled the reporters very well, and did not bask in their attention as he had expected. Although her attempt to turn the reporters' attention to him had failed—she still had a lot to learn about him—he silently applauded her abilities to deal with the media.

"Um, hello, I'm Taylor. Uh, Taylor McCarthy. I'm, um, I just want to make sure that you girls are safely—I mean, arrived safe—I mean, are safe."

The three knights turned to glance at the tall blonde before them. Umi's eyes traveled quickly across his face and body in appreciation. He was quite good-looking, with the clear blue eyes and nicely-toned body, but he reminded her of Ascot with that stuttering..

"Hello McCarthy-kun! I'm Hikaru!"

"And I am Fuu." She offered a polite hand, which Taylor accepted timidly.

"Wah! Those things are landing!" Hikaru exclaimed as the mobile suits entered the hanger. The short girl ran towards them in excitement.

"Hikaru-san! I apologize for running off, Taylor-san," Fuu said as she quickly ran after the redhead.

Umi shook her head and smiled. "Hikaru's always like that. I'm Umi, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Taylor smiled as he took her offered hand and brought it to his lips. "Pleasure's all mine."

Umi raised an eyebrow. Apparently, she was wrong—he was rather charming and not shy at all.

"I heard about your heroic actions," Taylor commented, still holding her hand.

Umi tugged her hand back gently. "Actually, I just wanted to prove something."

"And did you?"

"Prove it? Of course," Umi grinned. After all, she never backed down from a challenge—despite an implied one—and always succeeded. Noticing that Taylor's eyes started to wander to the ground and that he shuffled his feet nervously, she cocked her head to one side in confusion.

"Are you all right? You look a little pale." Umi reached a hand to pat his shoulder, but he backed up slightly. She drew her hand back immediately, slightly offended.

Seeing her frown, Taylor quickly explained, "I'm sorry. I'm usually not shy around beautiful young women, but I'm already risking my neck by coming here to talk to you."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"Well, we all think you're very beautiful, but are quite afraid to come talk to you. We've seen him be quite protective of Relena-sama, but that was when he was her personal bodyguard, so it's understandable that he would be suspicious of anyone trying to cause her bodily harm—"

"Taylor," Umi interrupted, holding up a hand, "you're rambling."

Taylor scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just that I don't think he'd appreciate us talking to you at all, what with the way he's been glaring at us for even coming too close. But I had to come because Zechs-sama assigned me to check up on you guys—"

"Taylor, what are you talking about? Who are you so afraid of?"

"General Yuy, of course!"

"Heero? Why would you be afraid of him?"

"Because you're his girlfriend."

"What?"

"You're…not?"

"No! Who told you I was his girlfriend?"

"Duo-san. So you and General Yuy are not together?"

"Of course not! That's preposterous! Duo's so dead the next time I see him!" Honestly, Heero's girlfriend. Sure, they made out twice, but that didn't mean she liked him. Fine, she was attracted to him, but she still absolutely hated him! Wasn't it reasonable that you found someone attractive but still did not like him at all?

"—Umi?"

Umi stared at Taylor, realizing that he had asked her something. She had been too caught up in her thoughts to pay attention to him and now felt slightly guilty. He looked like he was expecting an affirmative or negative answer, and she didn't want to offend him.

"Um, sure."

"That's great! I do have work but I usually leave by seven. I'll come to Quatre-sama's house around then. See you tomorrow night!"

Taylor ran off with a wave before she could reply. She wasn't exactly sure what she had agreed to, but it seemed as if he was coming to Quatre's tomorrow night—for dinner, she assumed. That was strange.

"What are you doing?" a deep voice interrupted her thoughts.

Umi glanced back and raised an eyebrow at Heero's glare, and rolled her eyes, "Don't worry—I explained everything to him. But I can't believe Duo spread a rumor like that!"

Heero ground his teeth together, once again reminded of Duo's antics. He had been annoyed, wondering why she had answered 'yes' to Taylor, but now his anger toward Duo had been rekindled.

Noting his angered expression, Umi realized that he was talking about her inviting Taylor to Quatre's house. She released a nervous chuckle and explained, "Oh, you mean that. It was an accident! I wasn't sure what he had asked, so I just answered 'yes.' I didn't know he wanted to have dinner with Quatre and Relena. What a weird idiot, but I guess he was too shy to ask them himself especially since he's so afraid of you. Besides, I'm sure Quatre won't mind an extra guest. Maybe I should go tell him anyways."

Heero stood there as she quickly dashed off in Quatre's direction. His earlier jealousy dissipated as his lips quirked up in a wicked smile. It seems Umi didn't realize she had accidentally accepted a date with Taylor—imagine her surprise when that "weird idiot" showed up tomorrow expecting to take her out. Well, he'd make sure that didn't happen.


Author's Notes:

The story seemed too fluffy, so I tried to put some action in there—unfortunately, I have never attempted to write anything action-related before, so that probably came out horribly. Well, this chapter was really hard to write, and it didn't come out that well anyways. But I couldn't revise it without making it completely different.

Anyhow, I tried to make Heero jealous, but that didn't really work out since my perfect image of Heero includes his never getting jealous. Nevertheless, I will try again when Taylor makes his appearance in the next chapter. I also tried to make Umi oblivious to Taylor's advances, because she's apparently very ignorant in regards to these things.

So after I revised it, I added that little mysterious scene in the front. Those who have read the whole story probably already have an idea as to who are talking. Also, I added a little of the Heaven's Tear and its powers in there, since the jewel disappeared in the last chapter. Anyways, stay tuned to find out just who were talking at the beginning and why someone's sent mobile suits to attack our beloved figureheads again!