Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. You know the rest.

Heero stared into the flames of his campfire. They danced and sparked above the logs, hypnotizing him with their rhythmic motion. With effort, he pulled his gaze away from the fire to glance around, making sure that no one had discovered his hiding place. It was a habit he had developed long ago. He sighed. He could not understand what he was feeling right now. He felt... lonely. He actually missed the other Gundam pilots, especially Arys. His gaze settled back on the fire and he could see her face wavering behind the flames. He wondered what it was about her that had drawn him to her. Then, he remembered what Arys had said to him more than a month ago at the Cinq Kingdom's Institution.

"We're too much alike, Heero..."

And she was right. They were too much alike. It was amazing they had fallen in love with each other. He supposed there were exceptions to the adage "Opposites attract." But in other ways, Arys reminded him very much of Duo. Her love for playing pranks. Her sarcasm. Whenever she was under the influence of the Zero System was the only time she was ever truly distant.

And then, there was Relena. He knew now what he had felt for her. His protectiveness of her stemmed from the fact that she was the Earth Sphere's hope for peace. Hadn't he said so many times? Even Arys had admitted that Relena was the only one who could accomplish the peace they all fought for. And Arys did not even agree with Relena's ideals.

Heero leaned back to study the stars. Somewhere out in space the Libra space fortress drifted. Arys was on board that space fortress. He was going to have to find her, help her regain her memory somehow.

The sound of a low-flying plane interrupted his thoughts and Heero turned his head to see a carrier slowing to a landing position above his campsite. Heero immediately leaped to his feet and pulled out his gun. He faced the landing carrier fearlessly as it touched down to the ground. A slender figure jumped down from the passenger door and landed easily on its feet. Heero lowered his gun when he saw who it was.

"Sally Po."

Sally smiled at him. "Heero Yuy, I believe I have something you want."

Heero frowned slightly. "And what would that be?"

Sally waved him over to the back of the carrier and the cargo door slowly lowered to the ground. She scrambled up the ramp and directed Heero's attention to the tarpaulin-covered form sitting in the cargo area. Heero walked up to it and lifted the tarp to see underneath. Instantly, he knew what it was.

"The Heavyarms."

"Yes," Sally replied. "And I need some help getting it to Trowa. Will you help me?"

Heero nodded and walked back down the ramp. When he reached the ground, he turned back to Sally. "Is there room for the Zero?"

"Heero, we're taking the Zero whether or not there's room."

"Good." Heero disappeared around to the side of the plane.

________

"Wufei." The voice pierced through the silence of Wufei's cockpit. He turned his Gundam around to find a space mobile suit carrier blocking his view of the stars.

"Heero?" Wufei snapped out of his temporary insanity when he realized that it was one of his fellow Gundam pilots who had called his name. "What are you doing here?" He had spent the past few days fighting anything and anyone with abandon, not caring who or what they fought for. The pain of watching his home colony self-destruct had driven him over the edge.

Heero's face appeared on Nataku/Altron's comm screen. Wufei looked down at the dark-haired pilot warily.

"Wufei, we need your help." Heero moved off-screen and waved someone else into the seat. It was Sally Po.

"The World Nation and White Fang have gone to war. We must stop them, and you Gundam pilots are our only hope." She smiled at him. "Yes, we are weak, Wufei, but if we fight together, we can be strong."

"You speak the truth." Wufei nodded. "I will help."

__________

"We're coming up on one of the World Nation's assault forces now." Sally's voice came over the intercom.

Heero and Wufei were sitting in the bunk room, talking. When they heard Sally's announcement, they immediately stood to their feet and headed out of the room for the cockpit. Heero came up behind Sally's chair and put his hand on the back as he leaned down to see what was on the radar screen.

"Two mobile suit carriers. They're heading for one of the colonies. A colony in the L3 cluster, I think."

Heero straightened up.

"Will you take care of them, Heero?"

"No."

Both Wufei and Sally looked at him in astonishment.

"No?" Sally asked, still shocked.

Heero backed away from the chair and glanced at Wufei, his face impassive. "I think you should go, Wufei. Take the Zero."

"Me? Why?" Wufei actually looked worried.

"The Zero System can show you many things, Wufei. Including your mission." Heero's cryptic answer confused the other two soldiers. He did not bother to explain and left the cockpit.

Wufei nodded. "All right, Heero Yuy."

Sally gave him a concerned look. "Be careful, Wufei. The Zero System is dangerous."

"I know."

______________

Duo, Quatre, and Trowa floated toward the two pilots who had just arrived at the Peacemillion with Sally Po. Wufei, who now knew his mission after using the Zero in a space battle, looked almost glad to see them. His mission was the same as that of the other four Gundam pilots with him. Destroy the World Nation and White Fang. Both were threats to the peace of the solar system.

"Took you guys long enough. Seems like we've been waiting forever for you guys to show up," Duo said with his characteristic lopsided smile.

Noin floated up behind them. She greeted Sally happily. "Sally Po. It's good to see you again." Noin shook Sally's hand heartily. "I think we're ready."

"We're missing one pilot." Heero spoke up in his usual monotone.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"What are you talking about, Heero? Arys is..." Quatre couldn't bear to finish as tears threatened to fill his eyes. He choked them back.

Heero shook his head. A small smile lit his face. "She's alive. I saw her, talked to her, held her. She was not a ghost." Heero raised his head to gaze at the others. "We ran into each other at the Romefeller Foundation Headquarters on Earth."

"All right! I knew she was too good a pilot to die on us like that!" Duo slapped Quatre on the back. "You hear that, Quatre? She's alive!"

Quatre smiled slightly and glanced at Heero. "Where is she, Heero? How is she?" He still looked worried.

The smile vanished. "She's working for White Fang and is currently stationed on the Space Fortress Libra. Zechs Marquise found her after she self-destructed and he became her teacher. She lost her memory so all she knows is what Zechs has taught her." Heero's blue eyes saddened. "She doesn't even remember me."

Wufei and Trowa looked confused.

"I hate to interrupt, but Heero, who is Arys? You never told me about her." Wufei leaned against the railing behind him.

Duo grinned widely. "I can't believe Heero didn't tell you! She's only the girl he's madly in love with!"

Heero glared at Duo. Duo just stuck his tongue out at him. Heero sighed at Duo's childishness. Apparently, the news that Arys was alive had caused Duo to revert back to his old ways.

"It wasn't necessary for you to know about her," He said to Wufei. "But if you really want to know, she's also a Gundam pilot. She used to work for OZ, but when she found out how they were using her, she became their enemy."

Trowa finally spoke up. He still had not regained his memory, but he was quickly relearning everyone's names and how he knew them. "Is she a good pilot?"

"Better than good. She can use the Zero System without going insane. She's trained with the system for the past five years."

"Then, I think we need her to join us."

"Trowa's right," Noin agreed.

Sally nodded. "We can use all the help we can get. Is there any way you can convince her to come with you?"

"Yes."

______________

Arys stared at the console in front of her. Dare she do this? Zechs had saved her life, but somehow, she knew that what Zechs was doing was wrong. Yes, Romefeller Headquarters was located on the Earth, but that did not constitute enough of a reason to destroy the Earth itself. Arys raised her head, determination lighting her gray eyes.

Let's go.... Silverwind

She had not been able to break herself of the habit of calling her Gundam Silverwind. So, when she spoke to it in her mind, that was what she called it. The name was currently her sole tie to her life before her memory loss. She hated to lose it completely.

Alarm klaxons began ringing as Arys throttled forward, heading for the closed cargo bay doors.

Open the doors, Silverwind.

The bay doors slowly began to open, revealing the stars beyond.

Arys bowed her head as she waited for the doors to fully open. As soon as it was clear for her to leave, Arys raised the Silverwind's new "angel wings" and the Gundam shot forward.

"I'm sorry, Zechs," Arys whispered as she left the Libra behind without a backward glance.

____________

"Zechs! The Archangel is leaving the Libra without take-off clearance!" Quinze scanned the console in front of him. He had been monitoring the positions of the approaching World Nation assault forces when he had seen the radar blip indicating the Archangel shoot out of cargo bay fifteen.

Zechs sprinted over to Quinze's station and leaned down to look at the screen. He frowned and went to the comm system. He keyed in to the Archangel's comm frequency and spoke into the microphone.

"Arys, if you do not return to the Libra right now, I will be forced to send out the mobile dolls."

Arys' face replaced the perpetual view of the stars on the front viewscreen. She looked haggard. "I can't do that, Zechs. Send out the dolls if you must, but I refuse to return."

"Why, Arys?"

The haggard look disappeared, and a fierce determination filled her eyes. "What you're doing is wrong, Zechs Marquise. I don't want to be part of it."

"Where will you go? I taught you everything you know."

"I've regained my memory, and I'm going to find my friends. My real friends, Zechs." Arys bowed her head respectfully. "I thank you for saving my life, Zechs Marquise, but I cannot help you destroy the Earth. You must do that on your own." Her face flickered off the screen.

Zechs waved a hand at Quinze. "Send out one squad of mobile dolls. We can't let her escape."

"But, sir!"

Zechs' ice-blue eyes flared with anger. "Just do as I say!"

"Sir." Quinze keyed a code into his console. Five green lights lit up across the top of his screen. "Virgos deployed."

"Goodbye, Arys." Zechs waited patiently for the Virgos to reach the Archangel. He would send out mobile dolls until the Gundam was destroyed.

______________

To be continued...