Fa found them thanks to the Leina.
Truly, of all the Shangri-la children she'd met of late – of all the children in general, actually - the little Ashta girl was the nicest she'd run into. Not that Fa disliked Shinta or Qum, far from it, but they were a handful at the best of times (an opinion she would take to her grave – they were with her right now, after all, and they'd become evenmore handfuls if she let them know, the little lovable brats), and more often than not it was her taking care of them.
Leina, on the other hand, was of the responsible sort, it seemed, and she had a fire to her. That asides, Fa thought she was just a real good kid, who wanted to help her brother out. It had shown yesterday, when the girl had come running to her, asking for…
She swallowed back a giggle. No, not asking for anything. She straight up tattled! Though I doubt Leina would see it that way.
And my oh my, the talking-to Leina had given her brother when they had finally made it back to the Argama had instantly made the day's shenanigans worth it.
For all that it had been nice to see, the Shangri-la children hadn't stuck around for long, after the Axis mobile suit had been driven away and breakfast had been eaten, citing work, of all things. Fa still frowned at the memory, and at their youth. That they all had to be working at their age…
The war's taken a lot from… everyone. But, at least, the kids still had their parents, even working abroad, and homes to return to.
Fa… didn't.
Though it hadn't suffered the same fate of what was– what had been known as Gryps 2, her home in Green Noa 1 was gone, seized by the Titans along with her parents. And her parents… they hadn't lasted long in their custody, she'd found out.
Mama… I'm sorry…
All she really had left was Kamille. And even then…
"Miss Fa?"
A small hand took her own, and its warmth jolted the young adult out of her increasingly morose thoughts. "I'm sorry," Fa apologized, hiding the hurt away again. It was something she had gotten painfully good at doing, over the last year. She'd had to. "I was just thinking about some stuff, don't worry. A bit of homesickness can do that to a woman."
Leina stared at her for a moment, then a moment longer, an odd look in the little girl's eyes. Then she closed them a moment longer, before continuing up the stairway, though not before gently squeezing Fa's hand a little longer.
And, oddly enough, the older girl felt something on the edge of her mind like a warm hug.
Before she could begin to digest that realization, though, or what it meant, Leina let go. "They're over here," she told Fa, before her voice raised abruptly. "ONII-CHAN, YOU FORGOT YOUR LUNCH!"
Fa couldn't help but smile as the girl charged forward, shoving a packaged meal at her brother's chest, only to be met by a pair of hands lifting her and spinning her around jovially.
If nothing else, it raised her spirits that the war hadn't sapped every ounce of happiness from the world.
And then she remembered why she had asked to be led here, and her mood dampened yet again. But, they had little choice left at this point. Better to just get it over with.
"Wassup, lady?" one of the kids called, the one with red hair. That prompted more greetings to be sent her way, and Fa only saw it fit to politely return them, before turning towards the boy she'd come looking for.
Said boy turned lazily to meet her gaze as she approached, nodding to her as he simultaneously took the proffered lunchbox from his sister and ruffled her hair. "Hey, miss," he greeted. "Fa, right? Leina's telling me that you wanted to to talk? What's up?"
"I… yes, that's me." Fa sighed, at that, before straightening her shoulders. She… really, really did not want to do this, but the Argama strapped for options, even she recognized that. Of the dozens of pilots that had been on the ship before Gryps II, only she was well enough to pilot.
And, if Axis was chasing them, that wouldn't be enough, especially when they returned to open space. "...And I'm here on behalf of of the Anti-Earth Union Group, on the orders of Acting-Commodore Bright Noa, captain of the Argama." With that said, Fa pulled the letter given to her from her jacket pocket, and held it out to the boy. And, cautiously, Leina's elder sibling took it, broke it open, and scanned its contents.
A strange sort of quiet fell over the group as they watched Judau read the letter, his face filled with a calm musing. Then his sister tugged on his shirt and grunted, leading to the brother visibly rolling his eyes and lowering his hand so they could both read it together.
(Those two truly do care for each other, Fa noted, and her heart ached all the more for Kamille and her mother.)
"So," Judau Ashta hummed abruptly, fingers drumming the railing he leaned against. "Lemme get this straight. You're telling us that Captain Bright wants to hire me, a fourteen year old child from a slum colony, to uproot my entire life just to pilot a mobile suit for some dude I met three days ago? What is he, stupid?"
Fa sighed again, thankfully drowned out by the snickers from Judau's friends… and from both Qum and Shinta. The points he made were more than fair, save the last. "The Captain thinks a lot of your skills, especially for someone so young," she said, not voicing just how much Captain Bright had ranted and raved about 'teenaged boys stealing his mobile suits'.
If what she'd heard around the ship was correct, Judau marked the third time such a thing had happened, which both amazed and horrified her.
(And then the ranting had stopped, and forlorn silence had remained on the bridge.
"Why is it always the young ones?" he had whispered - and for that, there was no answer.)
Judau hummed again, visibly musing. "And what's in it for me, miss? I got a good thing going on here. Good-ish, anyways."
"The work conditions are better!" His sister, apparently, had decided to chime in. "Way better than letting Beecha make you act like criminals!"
"Hey, now."
Beecha's protest went ignored. "Plus plusplusss, the crew could help you with your studies!"
"Pssaah," the boy dismissed, "my schooling's fine. You're the who needs… …"
His words trailed off as his brow furrowed in thought, as if pondering something. Then, slowly, the boy turned back to his sister. Fa could almost see the lightbulb go off in his head. And Leina, for once, suddenly looked surprisingly bashful, Fa noted.
"...Leina?"
"Y-yes, big brother?"
"Why aren't you in school right now?"
The little girl smiled sheepishly. "...Because it's the weekend?"
(It was, Fa checked, flipping up her phone, a Thursday.)
Judau's eyes narrowed. Leina's sheepish smile widened desperately.
"Nuh-uh. Schooltime. Let's go."
"B-but, Judaaauuuu!"
The little girl's protests went ignored as she was promptly scooped up onto her brother's back, before both took off down the stairs. The other three boys watched him go, bemused, then shocked, as Judau showed no sign of stopping.
"He's… he's actually goin' to school," the tall one gaped.
"Ain't no damn way." The orange-haired boy, this time.
The black-haired one held his hands in his head. "When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east..."
Fa blinked. She recalled that discussion, the first time she had met these children, that they didn't have time for schooling, but surely they went with some frequency…?
Her thoughts caused her to miss out on the quick conversation the other three boys shared, and when she focussed, they too were tunning off after Judau and Leina, followed very closely by both Shinta and Qum.
Who had somehow managed to slip past her.
Those kids of mine…
And, with a huff, Fa made to follow.
What a morning.
Absentmindedly bopping her head to the radio's music, Elle's ele-car (no relation) truck rumbled down the road through Shangri-la's U Block market district. She was, she noted, surprisingly calm about her endeavours some time ago – sneaking into port to spy on a Zeon warship had not been something she'd been trained to do. But not only had she managed that, but she'd gotten some great info out of it too! Eat your hearts out, EFID!
The only problem was that said information was that they were going to attack the Argama, and that wouldn't do at all. It'd be pretty hard to recover a mobile suit from a ship's wreckage, after all. Although, if she kept driving around without finding her friends, that one problem was gonna turn into two. She'd tried calling, but the boys hadn't picked up their phones, and Elle was loathe to interrupt Leina's schooltime to help track her brother down. She's been away from school enough this week, Elle frowned. For all that she was close to everyone in the gang, she was closest to the two siblings. Her crush on Judau was a crush, obviously, but Leina?
Leina was like the little sister she didn't have, and Elle was just as invested as Judau was to make sure the girl succeeded in life. Which meant–
Abruptly, the girl blinked at a familiar figure running up the sidewalk, before grinning, and pulling over. She recognized that woman!
"Hey, Argama woman!"
"You seen my friends? The baka boys. Sorry, the idiot boys." She almost forgot that the woman wasn't from Shangri-la, so knowing Japanese was not something she probably knew.
"Oh, they went to school, apparently. Is that… a rare occurrence, here?"
"...Is there something in the water today?" Elle muttered. School? Judau basically never went. Got decent grades, yeah, enough that he kept passing classes, but he attended on a pay-by-class basis – that was to say that he didn't pay regular tuition, but just paid out of pocket for whatever class he chose to attend that day, and exams.
Then she shook her head. Fine, the school it was. But since the Argama woman was here… "Oh, right! Some mobile suits are launching from that Zeon ship in port! They said they're going after the Argama!"
The Argama woman startled at that, an audible hiss escaping her as worry overtook her face. "Today? Now?!"
"Yup," Elle nodded. "That's why we gotta find the–"
Elle blinked in confusion as Fa stepped forward abruptly. And, in one deft motion, the woman gently span her away from the door of her truck, neatly ducked into the driver's seat, and…
"I'm sorry! I'll bring this back later, I promise!"
Elle turned to where her truck should've been, only to find an empty space. Then turned back in time to see her ele-car truck disappear around a corner, out of sight.
…Did… did that woman from theArgama just steal her truck right in front of her?
"Wha– HEY, THAT'S MY TRUCK! THIEF! SCOUNDREL! RAPSCALLION!"
Her truck did not come back.
Elle groaned. "…Darn, there goes my deposit." And she'd spent months eating nothing but instant-ramen for dinner just to save for that hunk of junk on wheels.
…Alright, that was an exaggeration, but still. Phooey.
Ugh, fine. She'd make it to the school on foot, then. Good thing it was close.
That's what I get for trying to be proactive and nice… grumble grumble.
As much as Judau would've preferred to enter the classroom as inconspicuously as possible, the arrangement he had in regards to his schooling – as well as the classroom's layout – foiled that wish outright. So, instead of just beelining to an empty seat near the window, Judau instead marched right up the teacher's desk and passed him a slip from the front office – proof that he had actually paid for today's lessons.
(A bit of a waste, seeing as he wouldn't be staying long enough to finish even this lesson, but keeping to canon demanded a price. Grumble grumble.)
…Only, instead of taking the slip, the teacher looked at him, looked at the attendance sheet, and looked at him again. Then, a single brow rose upwards "...Is it Zeon throwing us at Earth, or are the Titans doing it this time?"
…Did his teacher just imply that him showing up for class meant the world was ending?
"Great to see you too, 'teach," Judau grumbled, ignoring the giggles of his fellow classmates. At the very least, he knew a good chunk of the kids in the room – most of them ran with their own gangs that his had worked with a few times for some big hauls, or attended the tri-monthly held Shangri-la Youth's Worker Union meetings, so he'd had the chance to meet some of them at least once. And speaking of which…
"Yo," he greeted, taking his (canon-ordained) seat by the window, turning to the girl behind him.
"Yo yourself, roommate-stealer," she replied, and Judau snickered. Loddie was one the three other girls Elle shared rent with, though why Elle had insisted on renting was beyond him. There was a guest room with her name on it (literally – every time she had a sleepover, she slept in there, and Judau had gotten in the habit of leaving it ready for her), and he would've gladly had her for half of what she was currently paying… or for free, if Leina put up a big enough fuss.
But, Elle had stated that she liked her room and bed well enough, and Judau couldn't fault her for that. One's bedroom was a sacred place, after all.
Iino settling into his own seat to his right shook Judau out of the errant thought, and he sighed, deciding to tune into the teacher's lecture. Everything was still on track, give or take a few minor deviations, but that was fine.
All he had to do now, was wait.
…
And wait he did. The time passed by quickly, in all fairness, the lesson wasn't even that boring. Judau had always been something of a sucker for history anyways, and today's topic was on the end of the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages, of course, meaning what had been the modern era before U.C. had gone and replaced A.D. on the calenders.
Maaan, if he hadn't already been invested in an entirely different life path already, Judau would've loved to be a historian when he grew up. It didn't even have to be about the Universal Century and everything it'd wrought so far - the last decades of Anno Domini alone were balls-to-the-wall wildin and he loved it.
The formation of the Earth Federation was a whole thing by itself, and that's not eventalking about the wars that preceded it. China did it's whole "long united must divide" shtick then vice-versa a total of three times, Russia ceased to exist when the Chechens finally managed to break away and spark off a couple-dozen similar conflicts, the US tried to take Canada for the oil sands only to get their asses kicked somehow and lose Alaska (but gaining Quebec, somehow), aSecond Mongol Empire existed for the span of exactly five years and a day before fracturing, somehow, Latin America had rallied against the cartels for the "Last War on Drugs" before booting the survivors of said cartels into space when all was said and done, Africa became the hosting-grounds of the proto-African Liberation Front as its nations got absorbed into the new Earth Federation, the Balkans nearly got irradiated three times over, and the Middle East…
…well, the Middle East somehow ended up being one of the calmer places for a while. Until, at least, it gave birth to some of the terrorists responsible for the assasination of Ricardo Marcenas and everything that followed.
Judau frowned. Ugh, Riddhe.
Once again distracted by his musings, the boy didn't notice Iino look out the window in boredom, before blinking. "...Are those the kids are drawing pentagrams?"
Blinking himself, Judau turned, and took in the sight. "Huh," was all he said. "Is that what they teach kids on the Argama…?"
Ah well. If he recalled his canon correctly, whatever the kids were doing with the chalk machine would be what drew the Geze to the school. And, he supposed, so long as those kids were having fun, he wouldn't stop them.
They deserved the break.
Can't imagine having to go through Gryps as a literal child. …Do they even really understand what happe- oh, wait, that's a mobile suit. No, wait, three.
True to his memories, the Geze landed just in front of the school, shadowed by its Gaza-C escorts. And if Judau's old life had thought the Geze was ugly back then, ugh, seeing it for real did not improve its looks. It was, in every sense of the word, a junk suit, and if Judau had zero sense of self-respect, he might've called it the mobile suit embodiment of Shangri-la.
Admittedly, Judau would rather die than admit anything made by the man piloting it as representing his home.
…He digressed.
Right. Okay. Fa should be on her way with the Zeta, so we just gotta to keep the Geze distracted for a bit. Light work! At the very least, Judau didn't need to worry about dying of a heart attack watching Leina nearly get crushed by a mobile suit – the first thing he'd done when he'd arrived was drop her off at her class, on the other side of the building. He would've left Qum and Shinta with her too, but… their shenanigans with the chalk-machine was necessary to the continuance of canon.
"Erm.. this thing on? Oh, it is. AHEM! I AM GEMON BAJACK, SENIOUR MEMBER OF THE SHANGRI-LA JUNKER'S GUILD–"
"Oh brother, this bozo," one of Judau's classmates muttered, followed by wave of annoyed grunts in agreement, even from him. Gemon was… not very-well liked, in the circles the youths of Shangri-la ran in. That, and the Junker Guild had been a thorn in the youth unions most of them were with. Darned adults, trying to use them as cheepish labour, grumble grumble. What was this, old industrial London?
Said Gemon, not picking up on the rubmlings of discontent, continued on. "I AM HEREBY," he declared, though why he was declaring anything to school children was beyond him, "CHALLENGING THE ZETA GUNDAM! FACE ME, OR I'LL SMASH UP THIS SCHOOL!"
…Judau resisted the urge to cradle his head in his hands and weep and/or scream.
Why, why, why were all the adults with access to mobile suits or significant amounts of power closet-terrorists?
Fa had been within sight of the Argama when the radio had begun broadcasting threats from someone claiming to challenge the Zeta Gundam, and the young women's hands clenched tighter around the steering wheel.
That someone, most likely with Axis, was challenging the Zeta wasn't what made her angry – not the main reason for it, anyways. What made Fa angry was that the man, Gemon, was threatening to destroy a school. A school, she knew instinctively, that those kids and her kids had gone to.
We just fought a war to stop things like this! So why…?!
The Titans were defeated, but it seemed like nothing had changed.
Fa wished it was as it seemed. If nothing had changed, she wouldn't be here, swerving a stolen car into the Argama's hanger and hurling herself out the door and towards the Zeta. Kamille wouldn't be laying unresponsive in a Side 1 hospital, his condition unknown to anyone for a hundred thousand miles. She – they, the both of them – they would be home, in Green Noa 1. They'd still be in school, Kamille would still be that fiery boy she'd once chased after, and her parents–
But they were dead, and so were his. Her house in Green Noa 1 had been sold, as had his. There was nothing to go home to. Fa didn't even have the luxury of having Kamille, because even he'd been taken from her.
Her eyes blurred for a moment, and Fa angrily rubbed at them. She didn't have time for that, now. Qum and Shinta, and those Shangri-la children– they were in danger, threatened by the absence of the Zeta.
And she was the only pilot left on the Argama who could fly.
It was Astonaige who greeted her as she began her ascent to the mobile suit's cockpit, the ship's chief mechanic seemingly working on "last minute" repairs, just as he'd been doing since they'd fled from Gryps so many…
(...it hasn't even been three weeks, has it?)
Shoving the mournful thought aside, Fa called down to the mechanic. "Is the Zeta ready!?" she asked, not that it mattered. Regardless of how battle-ready the Zeta was, she couldn't afford to not take it. Not with so many lives on the line.
"She's as good as she'll get with what we got!" Astonaige gave her the thumbs up before scrambling off the runway. Nodding at that, Fa threw herself into the Zeta, got the cockpit closed, and began the mobile suit's startup.
No time for safety checks, she grimaced, before manipulating the Zeta over to the launch deck. Feeling the suit get locked into place, Fa flicked on the comms. "Ready to launch!"
"Got it, Fa, you're good to go!" Torres' voice replied. Keep your head down when you go out!"
"Roger," the young woman responded, taking the brief lull to calm herself. At the very least, being in the Zeta was a way to be closer to Kamille, even if she wasn't at his side like she wanted to be. If she tried listening for long enough, itwas almost like she could hear him, feel him.
Maybe–
Another voice broke her concentration, - Captain Bright, this time. "Fa," he greeted, "if you meet up with Judau, having use the Zeta."
Fa's grip on the controls tightened involuntarily, and something burned in her stomach.
(The captain's lack of confidence in her… it hurt.)
But, Fa swallowed that feeling down, before shaking her head towards the cockpit's camera. "I'll handle this myself, if I can," she responded. I can do this. I can do this! I'm the last pilot the Argama has that's in any condition to fight.
I have to do this.
"If that's how you feel, then I suppose," came Bright's reply, and that hollow feeling in her chest grew just a little more. But, Fa shoved it down again, just like she'd been doing since they'd fled Gryps. She didn't have time for that, not now.
Later, if she survived today, she would allow herself to go see Kamille, and cry.
But right now, the world didn't need Fa Yuiry, the girl barely clinging on to reasons to keep fighting.
"Zeta Gundam, moving out!"
It needed Fa Yuiry, the only AEUG pilot left on the Argama. And it was a role Fa was more than happy to immerse herself in for a while, if only to forget.
A/N: I originally meant for this to be longer, but it's been over half a year and this chapter's part 2 is beating my ass, so here. As much as I really want to cover each episode of pre-leavingShangri-la ZZ per chapter, the muse evidently disagrees.
This chapter, and the next, is mostly centered around Fa – because we respect Fa Yuiry in this house, and I really want to dive in-depth into the mood of the Argama crew post-Gryps and I think Fa is a great way to do that. People like to say that early ZZ is pretty lighthearted – which, it is – but the undertones of Tomino's Zetapression is still there if one looks for it. Honestly, the fact that none of the remaining crew deserted upon making landfall in Shangri-la is a testament to their resilience.
If you couldn't tell, she - and by extsention, the rest of the Argama - is not okay. And considering how the last few months were for them, I think that's to be expected.
The angst potential is real, and I do love me some angst.
Plus, I want Fa to have some agency, at least. I don't know what the episode directors for the first few of ZZ were huffing, but the disrespect on Fa's name will not be tolerated. My girl will stay winning.
Aaaanyways...
NEXT CHAPTER: We continue to respect Fa "only Argama pilot to survive Gryps well enough to keep piloting" Yuiry, Leina witnesses a murder, Judau haggles with a tired married father of two, and Elle steals back her car.
Until next time, which hopefully isn't in another half-year!