Here's the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy it.
Chapter 15
It had almost been a week since Quatre and Duo left, and it was now Christmas Eve. Serena was a tad disappointed that her brother wasn't back yet. Amara, Michelle, and Rashid were doing all they could think of to cheer her up, and sometimes it would work, if only for a little while. But, that never stopped them from trying.
As of Christmas Eve, Serena could be found lounging around on the couch in the living room, watching the TV, and nothing the three tried seemed to detour her from doing so. She seemed to be determined to just lay there and absently watch the TV. There wasn't much the three of them could do at this point, but just watch her, and tried to have a conversation with her, and to make sure she actually ate something, which wasn't that hard to do, so long as they made sandwiches, she would absentmindedly eat those, as she absentmindedly watched the TV.
At some point, the channel Serena had the TV set to, started to show a live broadcast of the President of the Earths Sphere Unified Nation's speech on MO-II, a speech about it being the celebration and the one year anniversary to the end of the war. The three of them noticed that Serena started to perk up a bit at this, as if she were actually paying attention to what was on the TV, instead of absently listening to it like she had been doing.
"We are here to remember the many lives that were lost and sacrificed as a result of a foolish war." The President said, at the podium that was being used. "However, those loves were not lost in vain. That is because those brave souls have taught us a valuable lesson and left us a legacy to reflect on for the future. And then, finally, we have been able to attain peace." Just then, the phone rang, though, Serena didn't pay much attention to it, as her eyes were still glued to the TV, and didn't even notice as Rashid left to go and answer the phone, as she continued to listen to the TV. "Those many precious lives have become the foundation of what we have today. So, we've all learned from the lessons of the past and can look forward to a future that will benefit us now and will encourage future generations to pursue the path to peace. It is our sincere wish that this peace will last forever." Once Serena realized that was the end of the President's speech, she started to ignore what was going on on the TV, again, as her thoughts started to go back to the way things were a year ago.
"I still wish that I could've helped during that war." Serena commented, not really paying attention to the fact that there were people in the room with her.
"Serena, you know that there was nothing we could do." Michelle pointed out; Serena now realized that Amara and Michelle were in the room with her.
"That's right, Kitten." Amara agreed. "That entire war was out of our hands."
"But, still…" Serena started to say, but was cut off by Rashid coming back into the room.
"Miss Amara, Miss Michelle, there is a Miss Meioh on the line for you." Rashid announced, waiting for the two to follow him back to where the phone was.
"Trista?" Serena questioned, surprised that she was calling, and asking for Amara and Michelle.
"Wonder what she could want now." Amara said, seeming to be not too thrilled by the fact that Trista was calling and asking for them. And right after that comment, Amara and Michelle glanced at each other, then followed Rashid out of the room, leaving Serena on her own.
"I wonder too." Serena softly said, after the three left the room.
It didn't take too long for them to come back into the living room. Amara and Michelle looked a little sad and disappointed about something. But, Serena didn't seem to notice, as she was back to lying on the couch and staring at the TV.
"Kitten?" Amara said, trying to get Serena's attention. It took Serena a moment for her to look away from the TV and look over at Amara, but she did succeed in getting Serena's attention, even if it was eventually.
"It's time for the two of us to head back down to Japan." Michelle said, hating to be the bearer of bad news.
"I see." Serena said, a bit of sadness in her voice, as she looked away from them. "So, that's what Trista wanted."
"We don't really know what she wanted." Amara explained. "All she said was to come back down to Earth. She didn't give us any reason as to why. She also didn't give us much of a choice, either."
"Oh." Serena simply said. "Well, that does sound like Trista." That also left her wondering if Trista knew anything, and didn't want her to know about, hence not telling Amara and Michelle the reason as to why she wanted the two back on Earth. "Well, it was nice having the both of you visit me for as long as you have, but I guess you can't stay here forever." And that could pretty much be seen as a dismissal for them to leave whenever they were ready.
"Don't worry, Kitten, we'll come back and visit again sometime." Amara said, trying to reassure her princess.
"Right." Serena said, nodding her head, letting them know she understood.
Realizing that was as good enough answer they were going to get out of her, they inwardly sighed, before going upstairs to gather their stuff, to get ready to leave. It didn't take them very long to come back downstairs. Once they got back downstairs, Rashid offered them a ride to the space port, but they refused, saying that they got there on their own, they shall do the same thing while leaving. So, before leaving, they said their goodbyes to Serena, and final reassurances that they would come and visit again. Serena gave her goodbyes as well, and watched as they left.
"Well, looks like it's just you and me now, Rashid." Serena said, after they left. Rashid didn't say anything to that, other than putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Rashid got a small smile in return.
It took them awhile for them to get to the space port, mainly because of traffic; it would seem everyone was out and about. But, once they did get there, they were able to get a flight back down to Earth and bought the tickets for it, the only downfall was that they had to wait an hour for their flight, which gave Amara time to grumble.
"I bet you she's up to something." Amara complained, not happy with not getting a reason as to why they had to leave.
"She most likely knows something." Michelle commented. "She usually does. After all, it is her job to keep watch over time."
"Yeah, and it's probably something she doesn't want Kitten to know." Amara continued to complain.
"And if that's the case, that's probably why she didn't give us the reason why she wanted us to leave." Michelle theorized.
"One of these days, I'm just going to let her have it." Amara threatened. Who knows if that would actually happen.
The two of them descended into silence after that, as they waited for their flight. Once it did get there, neither would notice that they were leaving the colony just as Quatre was getting back to the colony.
It had been just a little over an hour after Amara and Michelle left, and Serena was back to laying on the couch, absently watching the TV again, much to Rashid's disappointment. Moments later, someone came in through the front door. Serena really didn't notice, not really paying attention, that was, until Rashid spoke up.
"Welcome back, Master Quatre." Rashid said.
Hearing that made Serena shoot up on the couch. Just sitting, looking, wanting to see if her brother really was back. And he was. Though he looked a bit pressed for time.
"What's the matter, Quatre?" Serena asked, wondering what the urgency could be about.
Quatre looked from his sister, a bit surprised by how she reacted when she found out he was there. But then, he turned his attention back to Rashid. "We have a problem, Rashid." Quatre announced.
"Why don't we talk about it up in your office, Master Quatre?" Rashid suggested, figuring it was about something he didn't want his sister to know about.
"No, it's alright, Rashid." Quatre said, a slight shack of his head. He then looked over at his sister. "A promise is a promise." Both Rashid and Serena were a bit confused by this.
"What promise?" Serena questioned, the only one of the two to voice their confusion.
"Amara has been hounding me to tell you." Quatre vaguely explained.
"To tell me what?" Serena asked. "Does it have anything to do with her trying to keep me away from you and your friends?"
"That was her reasoning." Quatre answered.
"Then, what is it?" Serena asked, starting to get a little impatient with getting an actual answer.
"What Amara wanted me to tell you is that…" Quatre started to explain, then paused for a moment, then he let out a sigh and continued, "…She wanted me to tell you that I'm one of the Gundam Pilots." The expression on Serena's face turned to surprise. But, Quatre didn't give her any time to say anything to it, as he looked back to Rashid. "And speaking of the Gundams, we need to go and get them back."
"Whatever for, Master Quatre?" Rashid asked, a bit surprised by what Quatre just said.
"Duo contacted me on my way back here. He told me what has been going on, and what he and Heero are planning on doing." Quatre explained.
"What do you mean, Master Quatre?" Rashid asked, still a bit confused behind the reasoning as to why they had to get the Gundams back.
"Are your friends the other Gundam Pilots?" Serena asked, at roughly the same time Rashid asked his question.
"Yes, they are." Quatre answered, deciding to answer his sister first before turning back to Rashid to get down to business. "Duo said that he and Heero were trying to go after Relena, since Heero found out she had been kidnapped, and while they were trying to do that, they found out about something else."
"And what is that, Master Quatre?" Rashid asked.
"That Dekim Barton…" Quatre started to answer, when Serena interrupted him.
"Barton…?" Serena questioned, surprised, she was starting to wonder if this person was related to her brother's friend, Trowa.
But, all Quatre did was glance at his sister for a moment, before turning back to Rashid, and continued on with his explanation, as if he were never interrupted, "He's trying to start up Operation Meteor again." This seemed to surprise Rashid a bit, but understanding was starting to sink in. "Duo and Heero have gone to head them off, from dropping the colony onto Earth."
"What!?" Serena said, volume a little high from her surprise, with a bit of anger hidden in there somewhere.
"It was a part of the original plan of Operation Meteor." Quatre explained.
"Original plan?" Serena questioned.
"Yes." Quatre answered. He was kinda hoping that she wouldn't have picked up on that part. "The original plan was to send a colony crashing into Earth and then send in the Gundams to take over."
"And…you…and your friends were a part of this?" Serena asked, a bit stunned by this.
"Not technically." Quatre answered, but Serena didn't look all that convinced, so he continued to explain, "The reason the original plan failed was because the five of us went against it. In a way, we did things differently."
"Differently how?" Serena questioned, she wanted to know all the facts before her brother left the room.
"The five of us took the Gundams and headed down to Earth before the original plan was to even begin." Quatre explained.
"I see." Serena said, still not totally convinced, she had this feeling that her brother was leaving something out. But Quatre didn't give her much time to say anything else, as he decided to get back down to business.
"Rashid." Quatre said, turning back to Rashid, but he wasn't standing where he was before. It looks like he had disappeared while the two of them had been talking.
"Yes, Master Quatre?" Rashid answered, from off to Quatre's right. Quatre and Serena looked in that direction to see Rashid standing there with three other Maganac's with him. It would seem that Rashid was thinking the same thing Quatre was.
"It looks like you're ahead of me." Quatre commented, a slight smile on his face. It was obvious now what he had been up to while the two had been talking.
"Of course, Master Quatre." Rashid said, a slight smile on his face to, he was somewhat amused by this.
"We should get going if we're going to catch up with the Gundam disposal block." Abdul suggested, standing slightly behind Rashid.
"Right." Quatre agreed, turning to leave again, with the help he came looking for, but his sister stopped him before he could get too far.
"I'm going with you." Serena stated, as if it were fact, while she held onto Quatre's wrist, which is how she stopped him from going anywhere.
"Serena, I think you should…" Quatre started to say, wanting his sister to stay out of harm's way, but Rashid interrupted him before he could finish speaking.
"Master Quatre, I would think it would be fine if she at least saw us off?" Rashid suggested.
"I suppose that would be alright." Quatre agreed, after thinking about it for a moment or two.
With that said, the group got ready to leave, heading over to the space port to get a shuttle for themselves. Everything was going fine, until it was time to leave. And that's when all hell broke loose. At least, it did between the twins, when Serena decided to argue with Quatre again.
"Quatre, I'm going with you!" Serena stated in a voice that was supposed to leave no room for argument, but of course, Quatre wasn't going to agree.
"No, it's too dangerous! I don't want you to get hurt!" Quatre said, trying to get her to stay where it was safe.
"You don't get it! Do you realize how much I wanted to help during the war! I couldn't stand it, just standing back and watching things happen!" Serena said, almost shouting, tears starting to show in her eyes. He could feel the turmoil and frustration within her, and he had this feeling that she could feel his as well.
"Please Serena, stay here were its safe." Quatre pleaded, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I can't, Quatre, I can't. I know how to fight! I may not know how to pilot a mobile suit like you and your friends can, but I can fight, I can help." Serena stated, trying not to cry from frustration.
"No, you can't. This is a battle drawn out with mobile suits, if you can't pilot one, then you can't help." Quatre explained, still trying to get her to stay where it was safe.
Serena sighed, seeing that this argument was going nowhere. Quatre slightly smiled, thinking that he had won. "Tell me, Quatre; have you ever heard of the Sailor Scouts before?" Serena asked, seeming to be calmer now. The smile disappeared from Quatre's face, wondering where this came from, and also wondering where his sister was going with this.
"Yes, I've heard of them. They are well known in Tokyo, Japan back down on Earth, right?" Quatre replied, still wondering where this was going.
Serena looked Quatre in the eyes, with a serious expression on her face and in her eyes. "I'm one of them." Serena simply stated.
"What?!" Quatre almost shouted, taken aback by what his sister just said. She couldn't be serious about that. She just couldn't be telling the truth. She just couldn't.
"It's true, Quatre." Serena said, sensing Quatre's disbelief. "I'm the leader of the Sailor Scouts. I am Sailor Moon! You told me your secret, now you know mine." 'At least half of it.' Serena added with a thought to herself. Serena wasn't ready, just yet, to tell him that she was the Moon Princess as well.
"But, how?" Quatre asked, still not quite believing what he was hearing.
"That, I suppose, is a rather long story." Serena replied.
"And we really don't have the time to talk about it either." Quatre said, more to himself than to his sister. "We'll continue talking about this when I get back."
With that said, Rashid walked up to Quatre, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Master Quatre, we should get going."
"Right." Quatre said, with a nod. But, before either of them could move, Serena stopped them as she spoke.
"This conversation changes nothing! I'm still going with you, and that is final!" Serena shouted, storming past them and into the waiting shuttle.
"Don't worry, Master Quatre, we'll make sure she stays on the ship." Rashid said, trying to reassure him, as they watched Serena disappear onto the shuttle.
"I can't believe both of us were hiding something from each other." Quatre said, with a sigh, "I suppose I don't have much choice now, do I?"
"It looks that way." Rashid said, as the two got onto the shuttle as well.
Once everyone was in the shuttle and sitting where they should be, they took off, heading for the ship they would use to go after the Gundams with.
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It would seem that no one has tried to guess what I'm diving into yet, oh well; the next chapter should be a big enough hint.