The next day, Miko is up again before everyone else and again, makes breakfast for everyone. Heero is next up and Miko has his plate and coffee waiting for him. Wufei is the next up and Miko asks him what he ususally eats for breakfast.

"Rice," is the only thing Wufei says.

"Well, sorry I don't have rice, but I have eggs, toast, bacon and fresh fruit," Miko appologizes.

Wufei thinks for a few minutes, "Well, I guess some fruit wouldn't be too bad."

Miko slices him an apple, an orange and puts out some grapes for him.

"Tea? Coffee? Milk? Water? Juice?" she inquires.

It turns out Wufei drinks milk with his fruit and then Duo gets up and starts complaining about how everyone is so noisy when they get up.

"Duo, what do you want for breakfast?" Miko asks.

"Whatever you feed me I'll eat," Duo says through a yawn.

Miko starts to make breakfast for Duo, Trowa, and Quatre and finishes just as Quatre comes downstairs.

"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" greets Quatre.

Duo just shudders and glares at Quatre with a look that says, "Dude, shut up!"

She waits a few more minutes for Trowa to get up and when she doesn't, she asks Heero to go check on him. Seems she's not so eager to repeat the experience from last night. Heero comes down from the living quarters and announces Trowa is not in his room.

"What? But I've been up since 5:30!" Miko shouts, "He must have left last night!"

Just then the outside door opens and Trowa glides in holding a big bag of Dunkin' Donuts and coffees for everyone.

-' "Morning?" He says as he puts the bag down on the counter. "I brought doughnuts and coffee."

Heero cracks up laughing as does Wufei and Duo, Quatre berates him for not leaving a note, and Miko just stares at the whole odd scene.

After he sits down, Miko quietly asks him if he's hungry for eggs, bacon and toast.

"Sure. That sounds good, as long as I can have some of Quatre's tea with it," Trowa replies.

Miko just shrugs and Quatre gets up to start boiling water for the tea. Miko puts some eggs on the plate, then the bacon, then she puts some bread into the toaster to make toast.

"Miko, have u told the others yet?" whispers a voice in her ear.

Miko gasps softly. Trowa had snuck up behind her so quietly she hadn't heard him. After recovering from her shock, she shakes her head a little. Trowa just nods and slips his arm under hers to grab his plate. Miko shivers a little befores shrugging and sitting at the table grabbing a doughnut on the way.

"I need to tell you all something," she begins. "I won't be able to go with you to protect the Winner colony."

Quatre drops the tea cup he was holding and rounds on Miko, "You're going to leave when we need you?"

Miko looks down and blushes in shame. "Well, I... I mean..."

Trowa stands up, "We uncovered some information about the assasination corps. She needs to infiltrate as soon as she can," he explains calmly.

Quatre just nods as he starts to clean up the tea and broken pieces of the cup. "I wish we could postpone you leaving though. I think we could really use you out there."

Miko laughs a bit at this. "I think you five will be ok. I mean, you all accomplished so much before I came around."

As soon as Miko finishes her sentence, Trowa jumps in, "Four, I'm going with Miko."

Everyone turns to stare at Trowa, who stands there looking not at all perturbed.

Duo starts in on him, "Dude, how can you leave now?"

"Does the little lady need protection from the big bad asassins? Isn't that what she's going there to do? Infiltrate and risk her life?" Wufei gowls.

Miko steps between Trowa and Wufei, "He's not going with me. He's needed in the battle that is to come," She turns to Trowa, "I'll call if I need help, but you are needed in that battle. Your skills are unique to you, and you are needed."

Trowa hangs his head and nods. Quatre comes up and places his hand on his friend's shoulder in comfort. Miko walks away and starts to pack her things for her trip.

While Miko packs, the guys work on their machines and devising plans and battle tactics. Occasionally Miko helps out by pointing out some alternative or by helping with the mechanical aspect of things, but mostly she cooks for them.

The night before Miko leaves, she makes a large pan of stirfry for everyone. Lots of rice and noodles too. After the meal however, is when things start to get interesting. Heero corners Miko in the hangar to talk with her.

"I never properly apologized for accusing you for murdering her," Heero starts. "But I am sorry. I know you well enough now to know you wouldn't kill anyone. Yet, I don't want you to end up dead either, so..." Heero holds out his favorite gun to Miko. "Use it if you have to. It's a good gun."

Miko takes the gun and nods, "Thank you Heero. I'll come back alive, I promise."

A short time later, Miko is in the Gym weilding a staff and practicing some difficult moves. When Wufei walks in with his own staff and challenges her. They go on for a while, using a combination of martial arts and their own interpretation of use of their staffs. The dramatic fight comes to a close as Wufei takes a well timed swipe at her legs and catches her off guard.

As he stands over her with his staff pointed at her throat, "I win," are the only words uttered. Miko nods accepting her defeat and accepts the hand offerd her to help her up. "It was a good fight Miko. Thank you," Wufei says as he turns and walks out of the Gym.

Some time later, Miko walks into her conservatorium and sits at the piano. She starts to play a sad tune and after a short while starts to sing along with it. "When the moon won't shine, and flowers don't bloom, when the rain keeps falling and the world won't turn. That is when we are at the end. The end of everything..." And while her voice isn't exceptional, it is fitting for the song.

Quatre listens at the door and he spills one single tear at the end of her song. He walks in and looks at Miko. "That was so beautiful," he compliments. Miko nods her thanks and then Quatre picks up a violin in the room, "Do you mind if I play with you?"

Miko just shakes her head no and begins to play another song. Trowa watches at the door as the two play in perfect harmony for a while. After a fifth song, Miko decides she's going to play a videogame.

When she arrives in the room, Duo is playing Soul Calibur against the computer and winning pretty convincingly. He's playing as Abyss so he has some little advantage. Miko picks up the 2nd player controller and smiles at him. "Let's see how you do against a real opponent." She challenges him.

Duo again picks Abyss, while Miko picks Kilik. They fight in the underground sanctum and all three rounds are extremely close, but Miko comes out on top as the winner of two. Duo just laughs at the outcome. "Miko, noones ever beat me at a video game before. I want to give you a prize of sorts..."

He disappears for a few minutes then comes back in with a pair of scissors. Before Miko can say or do anything, Duo reaches back and snips off his braid just below the base of his skull. "Here. I want you to have this. HEY! Don't look so sad! It'll grow back..."

Miko reaches out tenatively to take the braid from Duo and just looks at it. "Thank you Duo." She realizes that him giving up this piece of his identity is a huge thing for him to do. Duo shrugs and leaves the room.

Miko goes to her own room to tie the top off of the braid so it doesn't all come undone. When she finishes, Trowa is standing in her door.