“What’s the problem, Miss Noin?” Quatre asked. The four pilots looked uneasy. None of them wanted to be fighting again this soon. She smiled.
“There’s no problem. We just received a transmission from Sally Po. She has Heero, and is looking for Wufei. As soon as she has them both, she’s going to bring them here. The Gundam pilots will be together again.” She watched them all relax.
“What about my Gundam?” Brekke asked.
“Completely fixed.” Howard to her. “But boy, you might want to clean that thing up. There’s stuff everywhere! I’ve never seen such a messy cockpit.” She gave him a flat look.
“Thanks Howard.” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll go do that now, since I have a room to put everything in.” She wandered off in the direction of the repair room.
“Actually, all of your mobile suits were repaired, if you want to see them.” Howard said. The boys nodded eagerly and followed after the girl.
“Noin, Noin! He’s in the area! Zechs is in the area!” one of the crew members of the Peacemillion shouted suddenly from his place on the tracer. The woman came running into the room. Not even seconds after her, the four Gundam pilots skidded into the room. Brekke’s eyes flared as she saw Noin pick up the microphone.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” she all but shrieked. Noin lowered the mike, startled. “You are going to lead him, and with him all of White Fang, to us! That’s not as good as it sounds!” She tried to calm herself down and keep her voice level. “I know you don’t want to believe that he’s our enemy. But I refuse to let you endanger us like that. You never know what could happen. Don’t make battles where there doesn’t have to be any.” she begged.
“Miss Noin, she’s right. You may trust Zechs, but can you say that you trust the rest of White Fang?” Quatre pointed out.
“Yeah, those guys could turn on us in a hot second.” Duo said.
“It wouldn’t be safe.” Trowa said in his quiet voice. Noin sighed.
“Then I’m going out in my Taurus.” she said, her voice brooking no argument. “I’ll be back in a while.” And she turned and walked out. Brekke wilted in relief. That was a disaster narrowly missed. She walked over to the control board, glanced at the screen, and began typing.
“Hey, what are you doing?!” the crew member demanded.
“I’m tapping into her communication channel. Her judgment is clouded, and I want to hear what he has to say for myself.” the girl said, continuing to hack into the line. The three boys came up behind her. “There.” she said, finished. They all stood quietly and waited.
Noin sighted the White Fang ahead, finishing a battle with Oz. She kept to the sidelines, searching for Epyon. She found it, destroying the last few mobile dolls. The other rebels were returning to the main craft.
“Zechs, I need to talk to you.” Her face popped up on his communication screen. He stared at it in shock.
“Noin, what are you doing here?!” he demanded.
“I need to talk to you, Zechs. Please. For old time’s sake.” she begged. He sighed in frustration This was not what he needed right now. “Quinze, I’ll be back in a moment. I have to take care of something first.” Noin lowered her eyes.
“Thank you Zechs.” she murmured.
“I read you Zechs. Hurry up.” Quinze said. Zechs turned Epyon.
“What is it, Noin?’ he asked.
“Zechs, why are you doing this? she asked. “It isn’t you. We should be fighting to stop war in outer space, not encouraging it.”
“Is that what this is about? Noin, I am fighting to stop war in outer space. Earth is the cause of the war in outer space. Without Earth, the battles stop. So. I’m going to destroy Earth.” Noin gasped.
“Zechs, no! There are plenty of people on Earth who want peace, just like the colonies. Destroying Earth is not the answer Zechs!” She sounded desperate.
“No, Noin, you’re wrong. Until the Earth is destroyed, this war will never end. I am going to put an end to battle in outer space. So the colonies can be free.” he said calmly.
“The war to end all wars.” she whispered.
“Yes.” he said, a small smile on his face. “The war to end all wars. Goodbye, Noin.” he said, and with that, turned Epyon and took off for the retreating White Fang spacecraft.
“Oh, Zechs…” Noin whispered, a tear running down her cheek. Defeated and broken hearted she turned her Taurus suit around and slowly headed back for Peacemillion.
Brekke ended the transmission grimly.
“He’s going to…destroy the Earth?” Duo asked fearfully.
“But, the people of Earth want peace as badly as the people on the colonies.” Quatre objected.
“We’ll just have to stop him, won’t we boys.” Brekke murmured, staring at the planet in question through the main window. She shook her head. “Who would have ever thought it would go this far?”
The six young pilots stared quietly at each other in a circle. Sally and Noin stood together and off to the side, watching their reactions.
“Thanks for bringing those two here. I truly believe that with the Gundam Pilots reunited, we really stand a chance of ending this war.” Noin said. Sally smiled.
“No problem, Noin. I agree. If anyone can stop this fighting, it’s these boys. Or, boys and girl, I guess.” Noin laughed.
“She doesn’t mind being called one of the guys. I think you’ll like her Sally. She’s dedicated.” she said.
“When Heero told me there was a female Gundam, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t wait to see what she was like.” Sally admitted. They turned their attention back to the pilots. Quatre was smiling. The six of them together pleased him greatly. This was how he thought they should have been fighting in the first place. Duo stood to his left, a customary grin on his face. The happy go lucky pilot was unfazed by the situation. To his left stood Brekke. She was not what Sally had expected. (What Sally had expected, she didn’t know.) Though she was gaining her weight back with each day, the process was slow and she still needed to gain a few pounds to get back to a full recovery. She was quiet, and said nothing to the other boys. Next to her stood Trowa, who still had no memory. He stared at the two new boys with no recollection on his face. Directly across from Brekke stood Heero. His dark blue eyes widened a fraction of an inch as they took in the sight of Trowa, very much alive, then darted to Brekke, who was stubbornly keeping her eyes on Heero. Wufei looked aloof, his arms crossed over his chest. Nothing new there.
“Brekke.” Heero said finally. “You look…healthier.” Her eyes darted to Trowa and back.
“Thank you.” she said in a flat, quiet voice. Her look told him that he didn’t need to bring up the concern of her health in front of Trowa. The tall boy glanced curiously at her. She ignored it. “Epyon?” she questioned.
“I traded it to Zechs for Wing Zero.” he said, and his eyes turned a shade darker. They were even in uncomfortable subjects now. She only nodded.
“Zero suits you better.” she said simply, by way of an apology. He accepted the truce with a brief twitch of a smile. Noin dissuaded any further argument by speaking up. “Well, boys, make yourselves at home on the Peacemillion.” she said. “We’re in the process of locating the Libra. When we find it, we’ll let you know.” And so they were dismissed.
Duo tugged lightly on one of Brekke’s curls and tossed his head in the direction of the hall. She nodded and the two disappeared quickly. Ever since Quatre had explained the complicated situation between Brekke and Trowa after Duo had caught her crying one very stressful night, Duo had adopted the girl as a sister and they were frequently found together, laughing hysterically. She was actually almost back to normal. She had come a long ways since Heero and Quatre had found her curled up in her bed in the Sanc Kingdom.
Wufei glanced around, then followed Sally and Noin to the control center, and Quatre followed after Brekke and Duo. Heero watched Quatre go, and mentally started when a hand touched his shoulder. It was Trowa.
“They…told me I knew you. Before.” he said simply, in his soft, calm voice. Heero found himself nodding.
“You did.” he confirmed. He wondered where the taller boy was going with that thought.
“Did you know me well?” he asked. Heero rolled his shoulders nervously.
“I suppose.” he said cautiously.
“Could you tell me, then. About my past?” Trowa looked quietly hopeful. Heero sighed.
“I don’t know much, but I’ll try.” he conceded.
They found themselves in the social hall, empty besides the two of them. Heero sat and leaned back against a table while Trowa leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
“What do you want to know?” Heero asked. Trowa exhaled slowly.
“That girl, Brekke. I must have known her well. She gives me strange looks when she thinks I’m not paying attention. Who is she?” He raised his eyes to Heero’s.
“She hasn’t told you?” Heero asked, disbelieving. Trowa shook his head. “Yeah, you knew her well.” Heero told him. “Really well. In fact, she was your girlfriend. You don’t remember?” Trowa shook his head again.
“I don’t remember anything about my former life.” he said. “My…girlfriend? Are you sure?” Heero snorted.
“Oh, I’m sure.” he said. “You two were really close. When the Vay Eate blew up, Quatre and I thought you were dead. So that’s what I told her. She took it pretty hard. She left the base, and the next time I saw her was weeks later, in the Sanc Kingdom.”
“What do you mean, she took it hard?” Trowa asked. Heero looked even grimmer than usual. He was quiet a moment before he answered.
“She stopped eating. When I saw her, she was dangerously thin. I see that she’s gained most of her weight back.” Trowa looked startled. To think that the girl had been skinnier that she was now… “She cried alot, and she drank. She didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to what was going on around her. She would just stare at the floor. She just didn’t care anymore. She still loves you, you know. I can see it in her eyes.” Trowa looked stunned. He swallowed hard.
“Why hasn’t she told me any of this?” he whispered.
“It’s hard for her.” Heero said. “And she doesn’t want you to feel bad. She’s trying to deal with it the best she can.” Trowa’s eyes turned distant for a moment. *“What were we like together?” he asked. Heero shrugged.
“To be honest, I only saw you together once.” he admitted. “But you seemed happy. You loved each other very much. She missed you.” he said frankly. Trowa was staring at a point in the floor about three feet away from him. He sifted through the ashes of his ruined memory, but nothing came.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like to see if Sally and Noin are making any progress.” Heero said.
“Go ahead.” Trowa murmured, only half aware that the boy was still in the room. Heero left in silence, glancing briefly at Trowa before he left. But Trowa remained where he was for a long time.
Brekke was sorting through her belongings and putting them away in various places about the large room the young pilots had chosen to for their sleeping quarters when Trowa came in He stood in the door way and watched her for a moment.
“May I come in?” he asked. She glanced at him over her shoulder as she put a few pairs of folded jeans in a drawer.
“Of course.” she said with a smile. “It’s your room too.” He noted that the smile, though warm, did not touch her eyes. He stepped in slowly, and stood in the middle of the room, hands in his pockets as he watched her drag things out of the pile off stuff she had conveniently shoved under her bed, refold or untangle them, then put them away in the set of drawers she had claimed as hers. “Did you need something?’ she asked. He shifted nervously.
“You know…” he started lamely, then trailed off. Better to just jump in. “I…I don’t remember you.” he admitted finally. Her watched her freeze, her back to him, hand reached halfway up to grab a hanger from the closet. She bit her lip to keep her eyes from watering. She would not cry. He glanced down, then back up again as she turned around and leaned against the wall, her hands behind her back. Her face was very carefully clear of any expression. His dark olive eyes locked with her bright green ones. “I don’t remember you,” he repeated gravely, “but I want to.” The sincere sentence almost ended her composure. She took a deep breath to hold back the tears. Oh hell. Not in front of him. Please, not in front of him… She gave him a sad smile. It was the best reaction she could manage. “Why did you tell me?” he asked softly. She swallowed hard and fought to remain calm.
“I guess I just didn’t see the need to bring up a painful subject.” she said simply, shrugging a little. “It’s not your fault you can’t remember. I didn’t want you to feel bad about it.”
“That was kind of you.” he said quietly. She closed her eyes and smiled.
“You’re trying to make me cry, aren’t you.” she chided him. “Who told you? Quatre?” He shook his head.
“Heero.” he said. Her eyes flicked open in surprise. “Heero?! Really? Well wasn’t that quick. He and I need to have a little talk about respecting privacy, I see.” she muttered. “What all did he tell you, anyways?” She was not certain she wanted to know the answer. Heero wouldn’t have bothered to sugarcoat his words.
“He told me that you loved me very much.” he started. Again she closed her eyes as she smiled.
“I did. I do.” she corrected. “What else?”
“I loved you.” She actually chuckled.
“You did, that’s true. But you’re holding out on me. I know Heero. He doesn’t just play up the good side of things. It’s not his nature.”
“He said that you…stopped eating, because of me. And you cried alot.” Trowa admitted sadly. He couldn’t believe that he could be the cause of so much anguish.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about the first part. I’m eating just fine. You’ve seen me. And as for the crying, I’ve decided I do too much of that. Gundam pilots shouldn’t cry.” She smiled again at him. “Or at least not as much as I have. It’s turning into a weakness. And if I let that happen, then I’ll have to sit through one of Wufei’s tirades. So I’m better. I promise.” He arched an eyebrow at her. She may be better, but she wasn’t back to normal. She returned to putting things away.
“Thank you, for talking with me.” he said finally. To his surprise, she stopped what she was doing and hugged him tightly. It was the first time that she had touched him.
“Thank you.” she said. Then she released him and continued with her work. He watched her for a moment more.
“Well, I’m going to see if they’ve found anything.” he said. “Good night, Brekke.”
“Good night Trowa.” she replied peacefully. He left as quietly as he had come. Brekke found herself staring after him and out into the empty hall for a long moment before she could compose her thoughts and resume sorting out her belongings. She was smiling to herself. She hadn’t cried.
