The Eypon hovered above the mass of wreckage that used to be Romefeller's assault force. Zechs Marquise shook his head at the evidence of destruction floating on the waves below him. He could tell from looking at the circumference of the wreckage that the assault force had been wiped out with one single blast.

"What could have done this?" He asked aloud.

Then, a blip appeared on his radar. A human signature. Zechs brought the Epyon down close to sea level. Ahead of him, a body floated on the crest of a wave. He flew closer. Then, he recognized the form magnified on his screen. It was that girl who had come for Heero.

"Arys Walker."

Arys' face was calm, peaceful, and ethereal. Zechs was afraid that she was dead. He picked her up in the hand of the Epyon and brought her to shore, where he gently laid her on the sand. The cockpit of the Epyon popped open and Zechs walked out to see if his fear was indeed true. He touched her pale face, but she remained still. Zechs took her wrist and felt for a pulse.

"Please be alive." Zechs did not know why he wished for her to be alive. He hardly knew the girl. He had only heard about her from Treize and that had been a long time ago.

He felt her pulse flutter a bit, and Zechs sighed with relief. She was alive, but she was badly injured. There were numerous scrapes and bruises all over her body, and she was still unconscious. Zechs picked her up in his arms and wondered how he would get her to a hospital. He was about to place her back on Eypon's palm when the girl stirred slightly. Zechs looked down at her as her eyes flickered open. He waited a few seconds until empty gray eyes stared up at him. She studied his face for a few moments and then spoke.

"What happened?"

"I don't know" was his honest reply.

"Oh." She struggled from his arms and managed to stand on her feet. Zechs supported her with an arm about her waist.

"You're injured."

Arys raised an arm experimentally. She gave him a puzzled glance. "I feel no pain." She frowned. "In fact, I feel nothing at all."

Zechs stared at her. The girl looked like she had been in an explosion and she felt nothing? How could she walk about as if there were nothing wrong?

Arys glanced at him. Now, her previously blank gray eyes were filled with confusion. "I don't even remember my own name." Her eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

Zechs stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "I saved your life."

Arys tried to walk away from him and almost fell to the ground. Zechs caught her in his arms again..

"There's something wrong with my right leg. It's not working right."

Zechs examined her leg. Her ankle hung at an odd angle to the rest of her leg. "I think it's broken."

Arys gave him a wry smile. "Thanks for saving my life, but I think it might have been better if you had let me die."

Zechs was not amused. "It would have been better for both of us."

Arys ignored the callous statement. "Well, as soon as you dump me off at a hospital somewhere, I can take care of myself."

"I can't do that."

Oh, so you're going to kill me."

"No."

Arys stepped away from him, trying to stay on her feet without falling over. "No? Then, what do you plan to do with me?"

"Nothing. You'll have to heal on your own."

Arys grimaced. "I'm perfectly capable of doing that. There's a first aid kit in my..." Arys looked around. "Where's my...?" She hesitated.

Zechs finished for her since she couldn't think of the word. "Gundam?"

"Is that what I'm trying to say?" Arys shook her head. "I can't remember anything." Her eyes pleaded with him to help her understand. "Who am I?"

Zechs took her arm, his ice-blue eyes raking over her face. "Your name is Arys Walker." He pointed a finger to his chest. "My name is Zechs Marquise. We're both Gundam pilots."

Arys looked up at Eypon. "That's your Gundam?"

"Yes."

"Where is mine?"

Zechs motioned to the ocean and the husks drifting on the waves. "Out there. On the ocean floor in pieces."

Arys looked out at the ocean. She studied it for a few moments and then shook her head, bewildered.

"I... I don't remember."

"You self-destructed."

"I did? How do you know?"

"I don't. I assumed that from the level of destruction of the assault force. Only a Gundam's self-destruct device could do that much damage."

"Why? Who was I fighting?"

Zechs sighed. He was beginning to feel as if he were talking to an inquisitive child who could not stop asking questions. But Arys was not a child, not at heart anyway. She had simply lost her memory completely.

"Romefeller."

Arys' brow furrowed as she tried to remember. "Romefeller..."

"You have much to learn, Arys."

Arys nodded, then glanced up at him, her gray eyes wide. "Will you be my teacher?"

Zechs smiled slightly. "Child, I'll teach you all I know about this war."

The Arys who had existed before the battle shone for a few seconds through the child-like innocence. "Good."

Zechs had her sit down on the ground. She gingerly poked her ankle, as if touching it would bring the pain it was supposed to. She shrugged. Zechs almost laughed at the sight. He was standing on the beach with a girl who could not feel any pain, and he had already told himself that he would take care of her. Relena would be proud.

"I have a first-aid kit in my Gundam. I'll take care of your injuries and then we'll find a place to spend the night."

"All right, Zechs."

_____________

"Heero, hey Heero!" Duo's voice pierced through the haze in Heero's mind and Heero slapped the comm button. Duo's image materialized in front of him.

"What is it, Duo?"

"Are you all right, man?" Duo looked worried. "You've been really quiet."

Heero nodded. "I'm fine. Just thinking." He glanced up from Duo's image to study the stars weaving by his Gundam. For some reason, they reminded him of Arys.

"Arys?"

Heero swept a hand across his eyes. "I can't believe she's dead. I keep thinking of when she said goodbye to me in the storage chamber, of her face when she told me she loved me right before the explosion." Heero buried his head in his hands. "I can't get her out of my mind."

Duo gave Heero a sympathetic look. "Do you think it's possible that she survived?"

Heero shook his head. "Not unless she somehow managed to escape from her Gundam before it exploded."

"Knowing Arys, it's something she would do."

"I... I don't want to get my hopes up." Heero straightened up and reached for his flightstick. "Duo, I need to go somewhere, alone."

"Where?"

"Back to Earth."

"But why, Heero? I would think that'd be the last place you'd want to go."

Heero shook his head. "I need to do something."

"What?"

"Conquer the Zero System."

"Why Earth, though?"

"I don't know. I just feel closer to... her there."

Duo nodded in understanding. "Well then, good luck, Heero. I'm going to head back to the colonies and see if I can find Quatre or Trowa."

"Goodbye, Duo." Heero yanked his flightstick and turned the Zero around.

Duo watched as the Zero blasted away, heading back to Earth.

"I hope you find what you're looking for, Heero." Duo sighed. "I hope that we all do."

_____________

A group of pilots sat inside a roadside diner/tavern. All of them were normal pilots, except for one. The bartender carefully observed every person who came into his establishment. One pilot in particular interested him. His long blond hair hid most of his face. He sat at the counter, his head down, eyes closed. He kept twirling the glass in his hand on top of the counter. It was not a nervous gesture; it seemed to be a deliberate habit that helped him to focus.

The bartender's gaze moved to the young woman standing by the door. She too stood with her head down, eyes closed. He was sure she was no pilot. She could not have been more than fifteen. Her dark hair cascaded down her back in rippling waves. The casual black pants, belted black jacket, and black leather boots she wore spoke of wealth. She wore no hat so her features were clearly visible to him. She had a delicately featured face, a little pale and thin, but beautiful nonetheless in a cold sort of way. It was as if her face had been chiseled from stone. The girl raised her head suddenly, and her eyes focused on him. He immediately turned away but not before he had caught the flash of steel-gray in her eyes. He shivered. Yes, she was beautiful but there was a dangerous air about her. He risked another glance at her to find that she had stepped into the shadow of the front door. He looked out the window to see that the trucks outside were getting ready to leave. Pilots began filtering out of the tavern, heading for their trucks. The blond-haired pilot remained where he was, eyes still closed.

"Hey, buddy, why aren't you leaving with the rest of the pilots?"

The pilot raised his head, silent. Ice-blue eyes pierced the air between the bartender and the pilot. The bartender shivered again.

"He's not a pilot," The woman at the door answered, coming out of the shadows for a few moments.

The man raised a hand and she instantly melted back into the shadows. Apparently, they had some kind of unspoken communication going on between them.

The bartender shrugged to hide his discomfort and went back to wiping the counter.

"She's right. I'm not a pilot." The man's deep voice interrupted the bartender's work.

"Then, what are you?"

"I am..." The man shook his head. "I don't know."

The bartender sighed. "Well, I suppose you're entitled to keep your business to yourself."

"Thank you."

Five men burst into the diner. All were dressed in unfamiliar uniforms, except for the leader. He wore a blue vest over his khaki uniform.

"Are you Milliardo Peacecraft?" The leader asked as he approached the counter.

The young woman stepped out of the shadows, unnoticed, and stood behind the group of men as they gathered around the blond man at the counter. She pulled a gun from an unseen pocket and held it ready at the leader's head.

I knew she was dangerous. The bartender decided to go to the other end of the counter and remain uninvolved.

The blond man raised his head, staring straight ahead instead of at the speaker. "I no longer go by that name. My name is Zechs Marquise."

The young woman moved to the left until she was capable of covering the whole group from out of their line of sight.

"Fine, Zechs Marquise. Will you come with us?"

Zechs smiled absently. "I suggest that you ask more politely or the young lady standing behind you will make sure that you never bother me again."

The whole group whirled around to see a slip of a girl holding a gun on them with practiced ease. Her eyes were distantly cold.

"Arys, if they move a muscle, shoot them." Zechs finally turned around to face the man in the blue vest. "I warn you. That young lady is a sharpshooter. She'll kill you before you can even get your gun out from its holster."

"I don't planning on killing anybody, Zechs Marquise." The leader's voice was completely calm.

Zechs placed his hands on his knees. "Then, what do you want?"

"We need you and your Gundam, Zechs."

"Why?"

"To fight for the White Fang."

Zechs stood to his feet. He towered over the leader. "I have heard of White Fang. Your purpose is to defeat OZ."

"That is correct. And we need your help."

"Our purposes coincide. I accept."

The leader put out his hand. "My name is Quinze."

"Quinze, do you have the machinery to recover a Gundam at the bottom of the sea?" Zechs merely looked down at Quinze's hand as if it were a strange animal. Quinze soon withdrew it.

Quinze gave him a puzzled look. "Well, yes, we have procured a few ships and submarines. We're planning on selling them soon though. We have quite an ambitious project to finance."

"We will only need them once. Arys, come here."

Arys holstered her gun and came to stand beside Zechs.

"Arys Walker, this is the leader of the White Fang, Quinze."

Arys nodded slightly, her face empty of emotion. Quinze nodded back, chilled by the girl's utter detachment.

"Arys is also a Gundam pilot. However, while mine is hidden, hers lies at the bottom of the sea. She self-destructed to destroy an entire Romefeller assault force."

Murmurs swept through the men standing behind Quinze. Only Quinze remained unimpressed. "Is she with you?"

The girl herself replied to his question. "Yes." Her voice was low, almost too low for a girl's.

Quinze touched a hand to his temple, fixing his glasses, an obvious nervous gesture. "Then, she is welcome as well."

Arys smiled coldly. "Thank you, Quinze."

Quinze shuddered involuntarily.

______________

Zechs trudged up the snow-covered hill, wondering how White Fang was faring at finding Arys' Gundam. He knew that more than likely the Gundam was shot to pieces, but if White Fang wanted it bad enough, Quinze would find a way to put it back together again. He topped the hill and looked down at the snowdrift lying at the base of the other side. Underneath the blanket of snow, lay the Eypon.

"Well, Epyon, looks like we've found our purpose in life." Zechs smiled grimly. "Destroy OZ."

Zechs turned his head up to the sky and studied the soft flakes floating down to land on his head. "It's so peaceful out here, so pure, so unlike what we both are, Eypon."

______________

Arys scanned the screen in front of her. Her finger shot out to trace a shape coming to focus on the screen. "There. That's my Gundam."

Quinze pushed up his glasses and punched a button on the console. "We've got it. Subs one and two head for these coordinates. Help sub three."

"Understood."

"Object confirmed. It is a Gundam. Attaching to hoist now."

The ship groaned slightly as the hoisting cable tightened suddenly. Arys licked her lips, tasting the snow that had landed on them. She made her way through the ship's crew to the deck and watched as the cable lifted her Gundam from its temporary grave in the ocean depths. With another groan of the ship, the Gundam rose halfway out of the water and Arys peeked over the rail to inspect it as it rose even further into the air. Her Gundam was missing an arm and half of its right leg, but otherwise it looked repairable. Instinctively, Arys reached up behind her ear and tapped her transmitter.

Silverwind.

Arys jerked back slightly. She remembered her Gundam's name! Zechs would be glad to know that. He had been trying to help her get her memory back for the past month but nothing had worked.

Silverwind's eyes flashed for a moment and then went dark.

Arys, you are alive. That is good.

Arys smiled.

"Silverwind, it is good to see you again. Now, I can use what Zechs has taught me."

A few of the crew members looked at her, puzzled. Why was she talking to her Gundam? None of them had seen the Silverwind's eyes flash in reply to Arys' mental call.

Silverwind was unable to respond. The crane heaved the Gundam onto the deck and the ship dipped slightly. Quickly, the ship regained its equilibrium and Arys stumbled over to her Gundam. She put a hand on the remains of its severed leg.

"Rest for now, Silverwind."

She turned to Quinze, who was eyeing her with something akin to fear.

"Do you have engineers who can repair it?"

The fear swept off his face. He looked pleased. "We have something better than that. We have the engineers who actually built your Gundam. I'm sure that with a little persuasion, we can convince them to rebuild your Gundam for you."

Arys nodded. "Excellent. Now, we will defeat OZ together, Zechs Marquise."

A few of the crew members behind her gasped. Arys looked up to see that the Epyon hovered above the ship, its eyes glowing eerily through the falling snow. Its appearance reminded her of a story she had read once, when, she couldn't remember. About a man who was visited by three ghosts. The Epyon resembled the image Arys had in her head of those ghosts.

"I see they found it, Arys." Zechs' voice filtered through the ship's comm system. "It appears to be in fair condition."

Arys nodded, knowing that Zechs was looking at her on his comm screen. She walked over to the comm console and gazed down at Zechs' image on the screen.

"Zechs, White Fang has the Five in their clutches."

Zechs drew back a little from the screen. Then, he leaned forward, a smile on his face. "This is working in your favor, Arys. They can upgrade your Gundam for you, provided they agree to do so."

Arys pulled out her gun and ran a slender finger down the long barrel. Her smile was threatening. "They will, Zechs. A little persuasion goes a long way."

"I like the way you think, Arys."

"You've taught me well, Zechs. And now, it's time to put those lessons to good use."

"Indeed." Zechs reached off-screen. "Here are the coordinates for an abandoned OZ base on the shores of a neighboring kingdom. We'll meet there. I'll arrange for the sale of the ships and subs during your journey."

Arys had waved Quinze over to the console before Zechs' orders came through and the White Fang leader studied the coordinates carefully.

"It will take a few days for us to reach these coordinates."

"Of course, it isn't easy to find a buyer who won't talk."

"Do what you have to, Zechs. We'll be at the base when you arrive."

Zechs gave Quinze a stern look. "Good." He looked at Arys. "Make sure they don't mess up things, Arys."

"Yes, sir."

_______________

Author's notes: Welcome back! For some of you, you've probably just finished Circle of the Earth and you were wondering whether or not Arys had died. Well, I decided not to let you all wait and tell you right away in the sequel to Circle of the Earth. Just what does this author have in store for our favorite Gundam characters? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! :-)