A young woman was running for not only her life, but the life of the infant in her arms.

She had never thought she would become a mother, let alone at her age. Unfortunately, the state of the people she was forced to live around meant she couldn't risk letting the boy stay with her like she wanted.

She had far too many enemies with the old bloods, enemies that wouldn't hesitate to murder her son in front of her to get her to cooperate. She was willing to risk her own life to force them to do what she wanted. She wasn't about to risk her child's life, and they knew it.

Hiding him was the better option.

Now any normal mother might chose one of the better colonies, like L4 or L5. Maybe even L1 at a stretch.

She chose L2, considered the 'slums' of the colonies and full of rogues.

It took her only a few days to set things up. Her son would be in a simple orphanage that had no ties to the Alliance or any other military organization. He would grow up unaware of his parentage until she had dealt with the main threats, and he would at the very least have a chance of surviving past his eleventh birthday.

She did place one thing around his neck, under several spells to insure he never lost it. It was a simple necklace made of what looked like either common metal or silvery string. It was actually made of mithril, a metal more valuable than platinum or gold. It was so fine that it looked more like string than metal chains. On the necklace was a simple locket and a pair of rings. The rings would remain under charms until she found him again or he was old enough to actually see through the charms on his fifteenth birthday. If she hadn't found him by then, then she was either incapacitated or dead.

By then he would legally be able to claim his status as heir, and old enough to make up his own damn mind without listening to adults. Teenagers rarely listened to adults at that age, and if they did then they usually had ulterior motives of their own.

As long as her son didn't grow up to be someone like Draco bloody Malfoy, she could care less. She just hoped he took more after her and not the bastard they tried to saddle her with before she discreetly arranged his death via muggle means.

But not before he got her pregnant. It was a miracle she had hidden her growing stomach, but then she was used to hiding how she actually was from people. Not even Mrs. Weasley suspected.

The moment she stepped foot back on Earth, she was captured, placed under a powerful sleeping potion, and put in a cell until they could find her child. There was no point trying to torture her in cooperating...she was notorious for being more stubborn than a dragon. Nothing they did would get her to do anything...unless they had her child.

Dumbledore had trained his weapon well. Too well. She was stubborn, willful, and not entirely inclined to follow orders she didn't agree with on a personal level. Entirely why the old bloods hated her.

Far better to keep her out of the picture until they had solid leverage over her.

Unfortunately the orphanage was burned down...however her son escaped thanks to a local street gang. Solo, the secondary leader of the gang, took the toddler in as one of the crew.

When asked, he would claim that the eyes had got his attention.

Ten years. Ten long years was how long she had been potioned with the Draught of the Living Death.

It had taken her allies eight of them to find out who had taken her, and another year to find where she was. From there they had quietly bid their time before they struck, and when they found her she was still in the same condition she had been when she was put into a forced sleep.

One of the benefits, or drawbacks, of Draught of the Living Death, was that the one who took it was literally placed in a state of suspended animation until the antidote was administered. In her case, it left her a new mother that was stuck at 18 years old with a child that had to be going on ten now.

She expressed her rage and displeasure the best way she knew how. And the Aurors wisely stayed the hell out of her way, as most of them were women.

To be quite honest, the maiming she gave them was tame to what she COULD have done to them all.

She was a Black, after all.

Melody Potter-Black was pissed as hell, and she would have gone on a rampage against the old bloods had she not been put on a mandatory month-long seclusion by Nymphadora, who had been promoted to head of the Aurors on Melody's recommendation.

It had been a miracle that Melody knew how to perform CPR, after Nymph had been hit with a spell that stopped her heart. She had barely survived, but made a full recovery. Sadly the same couldn't be said for Remus.

At least Teddy, Melody's godson, didn't grow up without a parent.

"Dammit Nymph, let me out of here! I've been under a damn potion for ten bloody years! I've lost a decade of my son's life because of those bastards and I want some bloody payback!"

Nymphadora winced.

"You're lucky I was able to skate what you did to your captors. Any more and you know the old bloods will claim bias. You'll have to get them to cast the first spell and you know it Mel," said Nymph.

"I want my son."

"And we're looking for him as we speak. Now, were there any identifiers we can use?"

"The Potter and Black family rings, for one," said Melody flatly.

Nymphadora paused.

"You left the Potter and Black family rings with a newborn?"

"On a mithril chain he wouldn't be able to see until he's fifteen, and no one else would either. And since he can't see it, he wouldn't be tempted to sell it. And by the time he can see it, he'll be old enough to make his own decisions without me having to worry about him being brainwashed by the magicals."

Her cousin stared at her in absolute disbelief. Though in a way it made sense. By the time her son was fifteen, he would be old enough to claim the position of heir, and old enough to understand right from wrong.

And if he was her son, then Nymphadora had no doubt the child would be as strong-willed and mischievous as his mother.

For now, they honestly had no way of finding her son. Especially since Melody had placed him on a colony, which negated most magics. The odds of him still being on L2 were next to none.

It was easier to wait five years until he was old enough to see the rings and try to find out what the crests meant. For a mother, though, five years was a long time to wait. Melody needed something to pass the time.

So she decided to go muggle for a while. She was so pissed with the magical world that if she stayed, she might very well go on a homicidal rampage of the 'pure' bloods.

It was simply easier to call them "old", "mix", and "new" bloods. No more derogatory terms, no more insults because you happened to have 'muggles' in your recent family tree.

Naturally the public adopted the terms, because the "New" bloods outnumbered the "Old". It kept things simple and less insulting.

Melody qualified for the title of 'old' blood, but she preferred to be called 'mixed' because her mother was a muggleborn.

She met a man named Howard, who sympathized with her desire to find her son. She became the official cook for a group of salvagers called the "Sweepers", since they traveled a lot.

Since Melody had been the one to place the spells on her son's necklace, only she would be able to see them automatically. Her son would see them when he was old enough, but she hoped to find him first. Fortunately Howard knew about magic, because she only had to explain she was under a well known potion for him to understand why she still looked only twenty when her son had to be roughly ten.

Melody was not a very happy woman. She was friendly to the others, but every time she saw a mother and child she would go quiet and there was this air of sadness around her...and rage.

Every Sweeper knew her story...she had to leave her newborn son at an orphanage in L2 to protect him, and was held captive for ten years by terrorists. It was a miracle she hadn't been brainwashed, but they all knew how hard-headed Melody was. The only thing she had to identify her son was a necklace with a locket and two rings.

Melody had quickly made a name with the group, so every sweeper was on the look out for a boy with a silvery necklace that had a locket and two rings on it. Considering how thin the chain was, it was unlikely they would find him very easily.

Still, everyone loved her cooking and generally went out of their way to stock up on fresh food and meat.

"So what's the situation with the colonies this month, Howard?" asked Melody.

"Nothing good."

"Well I'm all ears at the moment."

Howard sighed. If Melody were any other woman, he wouldn't say a single word about the Gundam project. But Melody wasn't any other woman. She was someone who would understand why the colonies refused to be oppressed by those who lived on Earth any longer.

Needless to say she was somewhat pissed about the whole 'child soldiers' idea.

"They expect children to clean up the mess that the adults have made? That they are still making?"

"Unfortunately," said Howard, about as happy about it as she felt.

"Let me guess...they're using mostly orphans to fight for them," said Melody in disgust. Howard said nothing, but his silence was pretty damning. "Is there any way to contact the ones using orphans?"

"What's your plan?"

"My family has houses all over the place. Not like I'm using the damn things. And I have doubts that the Alliance or OZ would be quick to storm a house owned by magicals, if they could find it. Besides, it would mean five more people on the lookout for my son," said Melody.

"What if they're muggles?"

Melody smirked, and brought up what looked like a cheap bracelet.

"How do you think I keep track of them? I went to all the ones on record and the one that isn't, then I renewed the wards under a key system that will default back to the original scheme if my line ends. I can simply make extra keys for the pilots, if they're inclined to use them. And I doubt the house elves will care about cooking and cleaning for a few extra people. They seem to enjoy it and I never mistreat mine," said Melody.

"I'll see what I can do, no promises though."

By the time Melody had earned the confidence of the "Mad Five" as she called them privately, she had only met three of the five pilots.

Heero Yuy was a cold child, but he seemed to warm up around her. He accepted the 'bracelet' with quiet dignity and the list of extra safe houses.

Wufei Chang was...slightly irritating...but he at least understood why she was helping them out. He could understand a mother trying to find her son that she had to hide away for his own safety. Hearing about the honorless dogs of the English magical clans was enough for him to agree to keep an eye out, and she had heard worse than his sexist comments about women.

Quatre was an adorable teen, and ironically enough she had meet him years ago. She held a quarter of the same company Quatre's family owned, and had come to a few Christmas parties before she was captured. He was the only one who knew to keep an eye out for the Black and Potter family crest on a pair of rings. Strangely enough the Winner family was related to the Malfoys, not that either side acknowledged the relation. In an ironic twist both sides were ashamed to even be reminded of the other's existence.

The pilot of L2 was still in training, and L3 was a bit of an ass.

And in the year AC (After Colony) 195, Operation M was launched.

Melody had no idea that the very Gundam project she barely tolerated would end up reuniting her with her lost son.

Duo Maxwell had an...interesting...life, if one thought to call it that.

While it hadn't been the happiest of childhoods, he had known what a real family was like for over two years and what real friendship was. Still, he couldn't sit back and let the Alliance bully the colonies any more. Especially since they were the ones that had destroyed his family in the first place.

So when the scientist who made his buddy handed him an odd, ornamental bracelet, he had to raise an eyebrow.

"What's this thing?"

"Special key to some safe houses that not even Oz would dare check without some serious backing. The one who owns the places is someone that the Alliance would think twice about pissing off. You have to have this on you to find them, let alone enter without the security throwing you out."

Duo shrugged, before putting it on his right wrist. It wasn't until he got to Earth that he noticed the odd crests on the inside of the metal. Crests that looked strangely familiar for some reason.

He felt the bump of the locket against his chest. After the destruction of the church, Duo had found out he had been wearing a locket he didn't remember putting on. Alongside it were two old, rather important looking rings.

It took him five minutes to open the thing, and when he did he realized that he had a picture of his mom the entire time and didn't even notice it.

She was really pretty looking. Soft green eyes that looked like jewels, a warm expression on her face, and black hair like ebony that went down to her shoulders. She also had this healing scar in the shape of a crescent moon on her forehead, which was slightly weird.

But the thing that struck him most was that she had the aura of a fighter, a survivor, just like he did. Something about her said that she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty to get something done, even through a single tiny photo.

Duo had the feeling that if he ever found his mother, he'd end up following her lead without a second's thought. He just hoped she didn't hate him for what he had to do in order to insure peace.