Chapter 5

Lily hadn't gone to hang with Duo. Instead she had plans of her own. Heading down the street, Lily swung a right and let the cool breeze sweep past her. She breathed in the nice cool breeze. It was cold out, but for some reason, Lily found it relaxing today. She stared up at the clear sky, the sun shining brightly.

Stopping, Lily stared off in front of her. Nodding, she walked forward. It was quiet here. Flowers were offered, laid on soft ground. Tombstones were labeled, sweet messages for others to read.

Lily stopped once again and looked down. "Hey Erik. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She kneeled down on the soft soil and lit some incense. "I miss you. We used to talk everyday. I never kept a single secret from you. It's funny really. We never argued, nor did we get angry or upset at one another. I know, you're right. I didn't come here just to talk about the past."

A tear streaked down Lily's face and she made no attempt to wipe it away. "This war will never end, will it? For years I have dreamed of peace and never has that dream come true. I've worked so hard to bring peace to these people and now I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth all that trouble. It almost seems like those people don't care. I mean, I don't see them fighting for peace. They just go on with their lives like as if there's nothing wrong."

Lily sighed and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. You're probably ashamed of me now. It's just, I'm lost without you. Erik, I'm desperately in need of your help. I don't know what to do anymore. So much is going on. OZ is back, meaning Koji is probably up to something again. I just want all of this to end. I'm going on a new mission. There's a new OZ base that needs to be investigated. Me and Nikki-chan are going together."

She was quiet for a while before she started talking again. When she spoke, it was hard to keep from crying. "Erik, I'm so scared. Something has been bugging me. I had a dream I was with Koji. I'm afraid it means something horrible is about to happen. I hope I don't turn on my friends. Erik, I really need your help. I better go. It's getting dark, and I need to get some sleep before tomorrow. Happy Birthday Erik."

"Lily, are you sure you're up to this?" Duo questioned his friend.

"Absolutely. Duo, don't worry about me." Lily winked and stuck her tongue out at him. "I'll be just fine. I'm not a gundam pilot for nothing."

"But Lily, of course I'm going to worry about you. Lily, I…"

"Ok, everyone. Sally says it's time to go." Nikki walked into the room and headed over to her Gundam. In all the time that Nikki had been part of this group, never had they seen her se her gundam.

The gundam was a dark purple with some dark green. A large staff was located on it's back. Attached to each of it's arms were daggers.

"Nikki-chan, what's it's name?" Lily asked as she examined the gundam while it stood out against the g-boys' gundams. Lily could tell it's programming was similar to Fire Storm. It was just as advanced, and maybe like Fire Storm, it had a hidden weapon, but Lily didn't dare ask. She knew just how valuable secret weapons were.

"Midnight." Nikki climbed into the cockpit and shut the door. Lily did the same with Fire Storm. After all the pilots were locked into their gundams Sally's face appeared on their screens.

"Alright everyone. Now, if you think that you might need to get out of there, then you better dip. I don't want anything to happen to any of you."

"So, how do you suppose we get in?" Nikki asked Lily. "Especially with these gundams of ours. They are a bit on the obvious side.

"I've contacted some people," Lily answered matter of fact.

"What? Who?"

"Someone who wants Koji dead just as much as we do."

Nikki made no attempt to ask anymore questions. She knew Lily's last answer really meant, 'just shut up and go so we can get this damn mission done and over with.'

Two gundam sat hidden in a forest, their owners heading on what most would probably call a suicidal mission. They moved quickly, not pausing for a second. They wouldn't risk getting caught.

"They haven't noticed us yet, but we should keep moving," Quatre explained to his partner.

"Hai," came Duo's answer. The two boys were tired of running, but they knew that they couldn't just stop here. "There. I see people."

"Lucky us." Duo and Quatre ran into the opening, now surrounded by many people. By the looks of things, there was some sort of ruckus going on. People were running everywhere. Stores were being torn apart. Buildings were caught on fire. Many people were locked up, and some were attacking soldiers and destroying all their surroundings. Duo and Quatre, both in shock from this sight, stopped in the middle of everything. What had happened to these people to make them act this way?

"Duo." Quatre grabbed Duo's arm to get his attention and pointed in the direction of a large vehicle. It was more like a moving building. Two floors had bars for windows and inside you could see people chained up. Many were pulling on the bars, yelling out foul language as loud as they could at the soldiers below them.

"We won't let you get away with this!" one person seemed to shout at the soldiers. "This is our home! Let us have our peace."

"The people are fighting," acknowledged Duo. "That's unusual."

"It's about time," commented Quatre. "Maybe now this war will actually begin to go somewhere."

The two boys, convinced that their job here was done, both headed back to their gundams.

"Looks like our mobile suit carrier is finally here," explained Lily.

"What?" Nikki looked up from her gundam and straight ahead. Sure enough a MS carrier was headed straight for them. "Where…? Lily, who is that? Are they from in OZ? How do you know all these people?" But Nikki never received an answer from Lily. She should have known better. When on a mission, Lily was one of the most serious.

"Sa, iki masho," came Lily's order, and they headed towards the MS carrier. Nikki just gave up on asking anymore questions. Lily always was and always would be in charge. Nikki trusted Lily any other time, so what was the difference with now?

The two girls boarded the carrier and jumped out of their gundams. Nikki looked over at Lily who began changing into an OZ uniform. Nikki wasn't sure what she should do, but only because Lily wasn't letting her in on anything.

"Lily, I…"

"Put this on." Lily tossed an OZ uniform at Nikki and then left the room.

"Mou! That baka onna. Why can't she just tell me what's going on instead of ordering me around?" Nikki slipped into the uniform and headed to where Lily had disappeared off to.

"Domo arigatou," Nikki heard Lily say to someone. When Lily finally came into view, it was only her.

"Lily?"

"Iki masho ka?"

"H-hai."