Ayashi no Yuugi II: Final Sunrise

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.

Serenity Maxwell: The two Lieutenants thought they were hallucinating because Gaia and Cosmos, who had, several months ago, went by the names Tsukino Arashi and Tsukishirou Miyuki, while their codenames were Tenou Kotori and Tenkou Sakura. Admirals Tsukino Arashi and Tsukishirou Miyuki supposedly died in a mission gone awry on January 5, 200 AC.

In the previous chapter, it was April 7, 200 AC, and Cosmos and Gaia came back with a new mission from the Powers That Be, only this time, they are using the names Kayla Mitsuki and Alexa Morse. They look similar to their previous incarnations, and did the same thing they usually did in the past out of habit, so it's understandable that they confused some people.

I hope this clears things up!

Chapter 2: Beginning of the End

XoXoXoXoX

Name: Kayla Mitsuki
Age: 20
Colony: L3 X29810
Description: green eyes, red-black hair
Origin: Japan
Parents: Unknown

Birth Date: March 10, 182 AC

Basic Report:
Age 6, Enrolled in Spica Training Academy in 185 AC
Age 10, Graduated from Spica Training Academy with Honors, Valedictorian; Enrolled in Orion Tactical Graduate Academy in 189 AC
Age 13, Graduated from Orion Graduate Academy with Honors, Top Three; Enrolled in Sagittarius Political University in 192 AC
Age 16, Graduated from Sagittarius University with Honors, Top Five as Admiral, Second Class, Type Two Unlimited in 195
Age 20, Joins Preventors as Sakura in 199 AC

Current Status: Active; Codename Sakura Snow; Newly Appointed Pilot 07 of GTK; Attending to CSA Mission EX98

XoXoXoXoX

Name: Alexa Morse
Age: 20
Colony: L4 X78450
Description: Amber eyes, Violet-black hair
Origin: Northern Europe
Parents: Unknown

Birth Date: June 17, 182 AC

Basic Report:
Age 6, Enrolled in Spica Training Academy in 185 AC
Age 10, Graduated from Spica Training Academy with Honors, Valedictorian; Enrollment Mission, Gains Codename Tenou; Enrolled in Orion Tactical Graduate Academy in 189 AC
Age 13, Graduated from Orion Graduate Academy with Honors, Top Three; Enrolled in Sagittarius Political University in 192 AC
Age 16, Graduated from Sagittarius University with Honors, Top Five as Admiral, First Class, Type Two Unlimited in 195
Age 20, Joins Preventors as Tenshi in 199 AC

Current Status: Active; Codename Tenshi Tenou; Newly Appointed Pilot 08 of GTK; Attending to CSA Mission EX98

XoXoXoXoX

Name: Shinn Asuka
Age: 21
Colony: L2 X97260
Description: Violet eyes, chestnut hair (usually in a braid)
Origin: America
Parents: Unknown

Birth Date: December 12, 182 AC

Basic Report:
Age 6, Enrolled in Spica Training Academy in 185 AC
Age 8, Graduation Exam, Gains Codename Duo in 187 AC
Age 9, Graduated from Spica Training Academy with Honors, Valedictorian; Enrollment Mission, Gains Codename Maxewell; Enrolled in Orion Tactical Graduate Academy in 188 AC
Age 11, Graduated from Orion Graduate Academy with Honors, Top Three; Enrollment Mission, Gains Codename Shinigami; Enrolled in Sagittarius Political University in 190 AC
Age 13, Graduated from Sagittarius University with Honors, Top Five as Admiral, First Class, Type Two Unlimited; Joins GTK; Began Training as Gundam Pilot 02 in 192
Age 16, End Training as Gundam Pilot 02; Begin Operation Meteor; Search for Kamui as Duo Maxwell and Shinigami begins in 195 AC
Age 20, Kamui Power retrieved in 199 AC

Current Status: Active (Emergency Only); Attending to CSA Mission DL23

XoXoXoXoX

March 9, 200 AC; 3:05 PM

Colony L4, Winner Estate

Duo stalked into the kitchen and plopped himself into a chair with an irritated sigh, tugging furiously at his braid.

Quatre looked at the boy and said, "I take it that the lesson didn't go very well."

"Gee, ya think?" Duo snarled.

Quatre smiled, unfazed. "He'll master the spell."

"He had better," Duo snapped. "I'm not going to be here to train him for the rest of his life. My time in mortal guise is ending, which means I have to teach him twenty years of control in five years."

"Duo?"

"Yes, Quatre?"

"I thought you're not leaving until 208?"

"I'm Shinigami. I know when lives are going to be lost for no good reason, and there's a war brewing on the horizon."

"Duo?"

"Yes?"

"Please tell me you're joking."

"Sorry, Qat, but it's the truth."

"Oh God."

"My sentiments exactly."

"Is that why you want him to learn so quickly?"

"Yes and no."

"Huh?" was Quatre's intelligent reply.

"Yes, because we may need a Shadow Sacrifice, and no for the exact same reason."

"Oh." Pause. "WHAT?"

Wufei entered the kitchen in time to see Duo raise an amused eyebrow, looking remarkably like Zechs.

"Maxwell, do you have any idea how unsettling it is when you start imitating other people?" Wufei asked quietly.

"Death is always unsettling, Wuffers," Duo grinned.

"MAXWELL! YOUR BRAID IS MINE!"

Duo sidestepped Wufei as the Chinese boy lunged at him and gave the ponytail a nice hard yank. Wufei roared in anger as the immortal in mortal guise grinned unrepentantly. Quatre sighed, and watched resignedly as the two young men began their game of cat and mouse, inevitably destroying various expensive items.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

March 9, 200 AC; 4:39 PM

CSA Transfer Shuttle TERRA

Destination, L4 Preventor Headquarters

A young woman, age twenty, with black hair and purple highlights sat calmly in the pilot's seat of the cockpit of CSA Transfer Shuttle TERRA, her amber eyes flitting from screen to screen, never lingering on any of the three screens for more than twenty seconds at a time. The woman, known as Alexa Morse, wore her CSA Admiral's Uniform casually, and her pale face was impassive as she rattled off conditions and coordinates into the com-link in her ear.

In the back, a young woman of similar age, known as Kayla Mitsuki, also dressed in the uniform of a CSA Admiral, with black hair and red highlights, and green eyes, studied the machines around her. Her eyes flitted from the screen of the mini-computer in her hand to the machines, checking this link or that connection, constantly rattling off the status of the machinery.

Although both women's concentration was wholly on their tasks, they still recorded and analyzed the other's words and filed them into mental databases with one hundred percent accuracy. They were the second generation of CSA born Perfect Soldiers after Admirals Tsukino Arashi and Tsukishirou Miyuki.

XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX

March 9, 200 AC; 5:59 PM

Colony L4, Winner Estate

It was an irate God of Death that stormed down the stairs and out of the house that evening, startling his four housemates, all of whom were, like him, Preventor Agents and ex-Gundam Pilots. Quatre rose to his feet, murmuring an apology to Trowa, and abandoned the chess match in favor of chasing after Death.

The blonde pilot found the American in the garden next to the lake.

"Duo?" Quatre said quietly. "What's wrong?"

"The Triad and Lady Une have come to an agreement," Duo snapped, his eyes flashing with barely restrained anger. "Two new Agents, both of whom are CSA and Preventor Agents, will be replacing the original 07 and 08. They will arrive in two hours, and they will be staying here on L4 in Arashi and Miyuki's old home, which is a thirty minute drive from the Winner Estate."

"Duo?"

"What, Quatre?"

"Calm down."

"I will not calm down!" Duo bellowed. "They're expecting me to work with two green Agents, both of whom will have to take on the most difficult, most complicated, suicide missions that the CSA and Preventors have, and they will be expected to complete them without mishaps! The last six pairs of Pilots sent to replace Tsukino and Tsukishirou failed miserably, and didn't make it through their first mission in case anyone has forgotten!"

"I'm sure this pair will last longer."

"We wish," was the immortal's tired reply.

"Duo?"

"Yes, Quatre?"

"How can you be so sure that these two won't last longer than the last twelve?"

"I don't."

"Then why not give them a chance?"

"I-I'm not sure I can…" Duo said quietly. "I know that Gaia and the others are attending to their duties in the Divine Realms, but I feel like I'd be betraying them if I admit that someone else can replace them in GTK." He smiled wryly. "Funny isn't it? Don't you find it funny that an immortal of my caliber can doubt my own ability?"

"Duo," Quatre took Duo's face in his hands and said firmly, "Immortal or not, you can't always be perfect. I don't expect you to be perfect. I told you this once before, and I'll say it again, when I see you, I don't see a malevolent figure in black who wanders around cutting lives short, I see you, Duo. I see a twenty year old boy with feelings, one who was thrown into war at a young age; I see one that killed to survive, to protect the ones he loves, one who fights because he cares. I don't see the scythe wielding figure that is Death, I see the braided American who is my friend."

He pulled the immortal into a reassuring embrace. "It's alright to feel. It doesn't make you a bad immortal; it makes you a special one."

Duo chuckled dryly. "Hey, Quatre, how is it that you, a mortal, always know what to say to make me, an immortal, feel better?"

"Sometimes the lights that burn brightest burn shortest," Quatre answered lightly.

Duo smiled a true smile and returned the hug. "I think I'm ready to go in, Q-ball."

"Hey!"

Duo grinned as he ducked under the Arabian's swing and the two friends returned to the mansion, with Duo running for his life while the Arabian chased him, throwing several good-natured death threats at the immortal.