"Kindness in us is the honey that blunts the sting of unkindness in another."
- Grantland Rice

Kindness

I swear I really had to stop passing out so often. Perhaps it was a side effect of having my memories erased, but then again, I could be just having very low tolerance for stress.

Well, it was probably a combination of both.

I was gradually regaining consciousness, and things were feeling a little off. The bed wasn't the soft, comfortable one back in Feldt's room. This one was rock hard, and the sheets felt funny - warm, scratchy - with a faint whiff of straw.

I sniffed some more. This was definitely not the sterile air of the Ptolemaios. In fact, it smelled like - baked potatoes? No, scratch that. Baked potatoes with an array of exotic spices.

Wait, what on earth?

I sat up abruptly and saw the last thing that I had ever expected to see.

Children, close to ten of them, in all age and sizes. They were dressed in plain clothes, and bore features similar to each other – dark skin, black hair, onyx eyes.

And they were all staring at me with genuine curiosity.

"Look, she's awake!"

"Do you think she's fierce?"

"How am I supposed to know? You talk to her!"

I cursed inwardly and rubbed my head, which was beginning to pound. "Where is this place?"

"Katharon." The answer came from a smiling young girl that looked no older than twelve. She dashed out, yelling in a high-pitched voice, "She's up, she's up! The green-haired girl is up!"

Katharon. How could I have forgotten about it? At any rate, it seemed that we had managed to land without any major incidents. I hopped off the bed and tried to make my way to the door, but the gaggle of kids stood in front of it, blocking my way.

"No, you can't! He specifically ordered you to rest up in here!"

"He told us he'd appreciate our help if we could make you sleep more!"

"We have to help him out, so that you can rest well and be healthy again. He said that if you did not do that, you would faint, and be a…a nuisance to him!"

A nuisance to him? Oh, that him. I smirked, having quite a good idea of who it was, all right. Did he actually manage to talk the kids into helping him out like this?

"I don't know why you all follow his orders, but I have to go out of this room too, you know. Besides," I paused and thought for a moment, hoping this reasoning would work, "I'm hungry."

Oh, they were good kids, that was for sure. They scrambled to a side and allowed me to pass, which I gladly did.

It did look like a secret base – there seemed to be steel girdles and heavy metal walls everywhere I looked. I wanted to explore around some more, but this was a straight hallway with no other twists and turns. Where was everyone else then? I padded onwards in silence, ignoring the fact that the kids were now on my trail - giggling, laughing and being annoying by asking me all sorts of questions.

"Was it fun in space?"

"Can you bring me to see the moon in the future?"

"What's your name, big sister? Can you tell us? Pretty please?"

I sighed. "I'm Eri, and please - direct any space questions you have to the Gundam pilots. Look, will you all just stop following me?"

"They never have the time to play with us much," One boy stated mournfully. "And besides, some of them are scar-y."

Laughing silently at the thought of a hissing Tieria harassed by kids, I asked, "Don't you find me scary as well?"

"No! You look like a kind person, Eri. And you have the nicest, prettiest eyes ever! We like you!"

I wasn't really sure how to respond to a compliment like that, but I felt an odd rush of sympathy for these kids. Had they been living here all this while without having the chance to play on lush green fields in the outside world? I didn't know much, but I knew that the Middle East was having a war, and for them to be living here - it just meant that chaos was rampaging out there.

That, and the small joy I felt knowing that they actually liked me - along with the fuchsia eyes which I myself found disconcerting.

"Eri, let's go to the kitchen. We have food there!"

They forcefully dragged me over before I could protest.

The kitchen was warm and cosy, with a pot boiling right over a simple stove. The Princess of Azadistan looked up, startled, but quickly smiled to cover up any traces of anxiety.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah." Not knowing what else to say, I hastily added, "You all…uh, have a nice place here."

"It's one of the few sanctuaries left. These children here have all lost their parents in the war – that's why we take them in and try our best to give them as normal of a life as possible. Potatoes?"

"Uhm, yes, please. Thank you."

"Princess Marina! We want some too!" The kids ran towards her, arms outstretched.

She laughed. "Now, now, where are your manners?"

The entire atmosphere was warm and cheery, filled with bright laughter. I relaxed slightly, but felt a sense of anger stir deep within my heart. This war had killed many, including the parents of these children. Who knew how many children themselves were dead out there? I gripped my fists tightly, frowning. Did any of them deserve these violence?

Celestial Being fought for righteousness – to stop more wars from happening, didn't they? If that was the case, then I would always be aiding them in any way possible.

I snorted. It seemed like these annoying children had gained my affection in just a short span of time.

"Uh…thank you for the potatoes. Do you know where the others are?"

"Your friends should be at the meeting room."

I gave her my thanks and walked out, not even knowing where the meeting room was at. Thank goodness the kids did not bother following me around this time. I wouldn't have known how to deal with them.

"Where are you going?"

The slim lady with glasses perched on her nose scrutinized me carefully, arms folded in front of her chest.

"Uh, I…was looking for the others."

"Oh, you were the new member of Celestial Being that they were talking about. I'm Shirin Bakhtiar. This is your first time at Katharon, correct?" She carried on carelessly, not even waiting for an answer. "The rest of the Meisters are still having a discussion with Klaus. Interrupting would not do any good. In the mean time, I'll show you around."

I followed her curiously. She didn't seem to be angry; it was probably just in her nature to be brusque.

"This base is hidden out of sight from the prying eyes of the A-Laws. We move around as discreetly as possible, but it's been getting harder – they're closing in, and a war in the future would most likely be inevitable." She shook her head, lost in thought. "Here is the hangar. As you can see, our resources are limited. The mobile suits we use are nowhere as useful as the Gundams that Celestial Being has."

It was true. I could tell that these deep blue mobile suits were old models from just a simple glance. How on earth was Katharon supposed to face up against the A-Laws like this?

"We have a medical room not too far away from here, bedrooms are on the other side – what's the matter now?"

"…The kids…"

She sighed, wiping her hands on the beige khaki pants that she wore. "We don't have a choice. They live here, and we don't let them out much. The Middle East is always under heavy surveillance – kids playing around in an empty desert would only raise suspicion."

"We're…in a desert?"

"I could show you the outside for a little while. What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Eri, and yes, I'd like that."

She nodded in acknowledgement and turned to the heavy metal wall, entering codes into a number pad as she did. There was a hiss and an opening wide enough for a person to slip through slid into existence.

"We use this opening to move around when it's only us humans. It attracts less attention that way."

I squinted at the sun. It was a dark red, indicating that dusk that had fallen across the land. As far as I could see, there was nothing except endless sand that extended until the horizon. I coughed pathetically and rubbed my eyes. The wind was blowing the sand into my face, and it itched.

So this was how the outside looked like.

"It's…barren," I said, disappointed.

"Yes, water is scarce. Crops can't be grown here."

I stood there for a moment, staring at the unknown. Shirin walked away with an "I'll be back in a few minutes," leaving me alone, lost in my own thoughts.

This place was nothing but an endless mound of sand. Where were the mountains, the sea, the flowers? I stared mournfully, sliding into a sitting position as I did. Something about the emptiness of it all made me recall the words from Tieria a few weeks ago.

"Of course not, seeing as they've abandoned you here…"

Abandoned…no way. Could I really have been that unwanted? I held a fist to my heart, feeling the lonely ache there. Celestial Being had only taken me in because they deemed that I wasn't a threat. I was abandoned, so there was no way I could be one.

Screaming at a vast desert wasn't the most productive thing I could do, but I wanted to – so I did.

"This – is – totally – utterly – USELESS!"

There wasn't an answer except the hiss of the wind, and I wasn't expecting one anyway. Well, that was until –

"Your childish demeanour is highly disturbing."

I gritted my teeth, feeling my face flame. How long had he been there watching me? "Aren't you supposed to be with the others?"

"You stirred up too big of a racket to be ignored." He crossed his arms and looked at me coolly, unfazed by my glare. The sunset cast a ruby hue to his purple hair, matching the color of his eyes.

"Using kids to make me stay in bed? Ever the creative, aren't you?"

He went silent, and I huffed impatiently. Oddly enough, our roles had been reversed today. I was the one getting worked up while he was being calm and somehow…amused.

"Stop looking so smug," I snapped. "I don't even know what's so funny. Well, what's next? Are we leaving anytime soon?"

"We will leave when resupplying is done tomorrow morning."

The sun had almost disappeared. All that was left was a tiny patch of red on the horizon. I frowned. Perhaps it was time to go back inside. Tieria must have been thinking the same thing, for he spun on his heel and began to walk back.

I wondered where Shirin was. She was probably too occupied to come back out.

"You like those kids, don't you," I muttered under my breath.

"What a ridiculous notion. I said no such thing."

Oh, yes. It was my turn to be smug and triumphant now. "So you do."

"Enough. Such matters are of no importance."

I smiled softly. He would never admit it, would he? "They like you too, you know. Your orders – they followed them well by putting up quite a bit of a resistance to stop me from leaving the room."

He scoffed in irritation, but I thought I caught a small smirk cross his face. It was gone just as quickly as it came, but I smiled, knowing that I hadn't imagined it up.

Perhaps he was more than just a pig-headed, apathetic, arrogant jerk after all.

Uh huh. Feed me a review and inspire me by telling me what you think. I do hope that all new and old readers enjoyed this chapter, though. :)

- Anne