Lucrezia Noin, Royal Guard of the Sanq Kingdom, was stationed at the GW Headquarters near the edge of the Sanq Kingdom's natural ocean boundary. She was sitting at the comm link system, worrying over the young, stubborn, and perhaps naive leader of the Sanq Kingdom. Relena Peacecraft had insisted on going alone to this conference. she pointed out that OZ had guarunteed her personal safety. She also voiced her own beliefs that she must become independent in order to be a competent leader of the Pacifist Kingdom. Lucrezia Noin had eventually consented to Relena's arguments and made her promise to act with utmost care. Noin was slightly startled as she suddenly felt a warm, compact body jump to her shoulder. She reached up her hand and stroked her cat-like pet, Nimitz. She thought back to the space mission named "Expidite." It had made it's first voyage to Mars and Expidite's crew built a space station on the red planet. They discovered that there was, in fact, life on the distant planet. Soon, scientists began to study the lifeforms there. This particlular species was absent-mindedly named treecats. Since there were no trees on Mars, Noin found it hard to believe that any competent scientist would name the 'cats that. "Bleak!" Nimitz "bleaked" softly in her ear and purred when she scratched him behind his ears. Treecats were very sensitive to emotions that clashed around them. For this reason, treecats tend to only accept humans that are emotionally stable for companions. It is said that if a treecat and its human companion are separated, that the 'cat will die. Because of this, treecats and their human companions are unusually bonded with each other through emotions and gestures. "Beep, Beep!" The comm link LED blinked instantly, interrupting her thoughts. Noin tapped in authorization codes and turned on the vid link. Pagan's voice was heard before a slightly blurred image came on-screen. "Did she arrive safely?" Noin skipped the formalities. "Yes. She is with Miss Dorothy Catolonia right now at OZ Headquarters in the New Edwards Base---" "--Dorothy?!" Noin was aghast, "Wait until Zechs hears about this! He doesn't regard Miss Dorothy as one to be trusted with the leader of the Sanq Kingdom, you know." "She was the representative chosen to greet Miss Relena for the conference," Pagan frowned at Noin apologetically. "Be ready to pull her out of there if anything happens, Pagan. I don't want my neck wrung by Zechs if anything happens to her. Not to mention the chaos the world will be thrown in if their only example of total pacifism is eliminated from the picture!" Noin sighed and rubbed the tip of her nose with thought. "Right. I will be right outside the front entrance. Pagan out." Lucrezia Noin stood up and leaned back against the consol. She looked at Nimitz and sighed, "We have got to convince that girl of the dangers of assassins from OZ." Nimitz cocked his head and looked at Noin curiously. She laughed and rubbed his head.

*****

Relena sat on a comfortable couch next to Dorothy inside the lobby at the New Edwards Base. She looked at her hands and sighed. Dorothy looked up, "I'm sorry to have you wait. The conference will be held in the next half-hour." "No, it's not your fault, Dorothy. I'm just a bit nervous about these peace-talks that I've been holding," Relena looked thoughtfully at the girl sitting next to her, "Will you also be attending this conference?" "Yes, I will be representing the Dermaile Association today," Dorothy glanced away, pain in her eyes. "I'm sorry about your grandfather," Relena put a hand on Dorothy's shoulder, "and I hope that we will come to a consensus at this meeting today." "I thank you for your concern, but I'm afraid I won't be helping you at all at this meeting," Dorothy continued at Relena's puzzled face, "I don't believe that your dream of total pacifism is possible in the world. I believe that man is a fighting machine. WE never cease to find ideals and circumstances over which to fight." "That may be, Dorothy, but I believe that we humans can get past our circumstances and work for a better future. Humans may be fighting machines, but that does not mean we are not capable of peace," Relena put her hands in her lap and steadied her eyes on Dorothy's face. "I do admire your ability to unite the nations of the earth and your attempts at a better future for the world. But I must point out that there are many powers who feel that war is a necessity if peace can be found," Dorothy returned Relena's look as if in defiance. "War may be the shortest path to peace, but that does not automatically make it the best way," Relena sighed, "Dorothy, what feeds your hunger for war and fighting?" "My love for war is only natural in any human being. We love to weigh the battles and guess the winners for each fight that takes place," Dorothy glanced thoughtfully at Relena, "I believe that you have a love for war yourself." Relena stared at Dorothy and searched her own heart. Was it possible that underneath all of her exterior talk and mask that she was just like Dorothy? She stopped herself, knowing the truth. "Dorothy, I don't have the same passion for war that you do, and I'm glad of it. Too many people suffer in the midst of battles. Humans need to look beyond their own lust for power and see the pain that the struggle for power causes to the people around them," the leader of the Sanq Kingdom knew that in her heart, she was tired of the pain that the constant wars were causing her people. "Miss Relena, Miss Dorothy, we are about to start," the steward made a gesture with his hand, "this way, please."

*****

Heero stepped into Miss Noin's office of security and Nimitz bleaked and perked his ears foward at the young man. Noin looked up at Heero and nodded. "The conference has started. We will see what happens now."