Standard Disclaimer

A.C. 202

Duo Maxwell stared into the artificial colony sky, arms crossed and long brown braid blowing in the wind, saying he was angry was putting it mildly. "Hilde … hadn't I done enough?" he asked the sky. No answer. "I'll get it back Hilde," he vowed "they don't call me the god of death for nothing."

Hilde walked into the dilapidated house that she and Duo shared to find Wu Fei in a heated argument with Duo. "Soldiers fight Duo! It's who we are. The colonies need us and I won't sit back and allow this so called peace to anilahate the colonies chance for independence." Wu Fei was uncharacteristically agitated while Duo was strangely quiet. Finally he addressed his fellow Gundam pilot, "You're being used Wu Fei. The colonies aren't in any danger and racing off to do battle will only start a war." Wu Fei gestured to the silent Hilde, "Has this woman made you weak, or did I never notice how spineless you are?" Duo leaned towards Wu Fei who had now succeeded in provoking him, "Who sent you here Wu Fei? This isn't like you to ask for help, you fight alone." Wu Fei calmed himself somewhat, "If you don't want to help at least let me take Deathscythe Hell, you have no use for him." Duo backed up a bit laughing, "Don't make me laugh, like I would ever let anyone use my Gundam! Least of all those alliance bastards." Wu Fei turned and headed for the door, "You may have to take a side in this yet Duo." and with that he slammed the door and was gone.

Duo noticed Hilde for the first time and immediately a smile warmed his face, "Oh, Hey babe. Let me help you with that." Duo took a bag of groceries and started to put them away as though nothing had happened. Concerned, Hilde asked "What was all that about?" "Nothing." Duo answered darkly. Hilde placed her hands on her hips and faced Duo, clearly agitated, "DUO?!" Duo held up his hands in mock surrender, "Alright sorry. Wu Fei has joined the Colony Alliance. Negotiations with the Earth Sphere have hit a road block, and it looks like some colony hot heads are going to take matters into their own hands." Puzzled, Hilde asked, "The Colony Alliance? I've never heard of them." "Those are the colony hot heads." Duo answered, " They don't want the colonies to have anything to do with the Earth Sphere because they can't forget how the Earth controlled and used them. They want all the colonies to unite as one nation with no association with the world government." Hilde slapped her head in amazement, "Wow, how do I let this kind of info get past me? But Duo, their requests seem reasonable, I mean we're both from the colonies, don't you remember how it was?" Duo frowned, "I remember, and so does everyone else, but the colonies' people want to be apart of the Terran Organization and they are right to want that. Living as separate nations is what caused our past wars, this is our best chance to coexist peacefully." Now it is was Hilde's turn to frown. "You seem worried. If allying itself with the earth is what the colonies' leaders want then what is the problem? The CA can't be much of a threat." Duo stopped putting away groceries and looked down, "Normally I would agree, but talks have stalled and people are getting restless…and now Wu Fei…" he trailed off thoughtfully.

Hilde shrugged and started putting groceries away, "Talks have stalled, well I wouldn't worry about that. Talking is Relena Peacecraft's specialty." Duo sighed, "Your right, but Relena isn't doing any talking. No one has seen her for about a week and it is rumoured she resigned her position. I hope that this is just a rumour or things could get ugly." Suddenly Duo brightened, "Hey, what am I worrying about? Relena Peacecraft drops out of sight? That sounds like a job for Heero Yue." Duo chuckled, "Yea, I'm sure Heero will take care of this. Now for more important matters; what's for supper babe?" Hilde slammed the cupboard shut and glared at Duo. At the least he could see that she wasn't amused. "Um, I meant how about I take you out for dinner?" Duo asked cautiously.

Thousands of miles away, Heero Yue sat in a spartan room engaging in his evening meal. He paused with his fork in mid air and focused on the latest newscast concerning the Earth sphere-Colony talks. " … and with still no word on the whereabouts of Relena Peacecraft, the Earth Sphere has decided to temporarily replace her role in the peace talks with vice president of the United Nations, Allen Nafel. This decision has led to accusations from the colonies that the World government is stalling and the colonies have refused to speak with anyone but Miss Peacecraft. In response the World government has accused the colonies of rejecting peaceful negotiations…" Heero tuned out of the newscast, he had all the information he needed. Things were unraveling. He dropped his fork and walked over to his lap tap. "I don't want to kill anymore." he thought as he started typing. Yet he was a soldier, and if there was meaningful battle to be fought, he knew he would fight, it was his fate, but so long as there was peace he was safe from that fate. Unknowing as to how much he was mirroring Duo's thoughts, he said to the empty room, "I will take care of this."

Relena Peacecraft wasn't accustomed to shirking her responsibilities, but presently she didn't have a choice in the matter. She looked around at her surroundings. She was also not accustomed to hanging out in prison cells. "How did I let this happen?" she thought, and immediately knew the answer. She had done this to herself by foolishly trusting a young man she had barely known. "Kianu, how could I have been so wrong about you?" The sound of footsteps approaching broke Relena from her reverie, and she composed herself to meet her abductor. The squeaky hinges of the cell door denoted the entrance of a young woman, slightly younger than Relena. Relena stood, completely taken aback by the young woman's appearance, "Dorothy?" The young woman laughed, "Oh no Miss Peacecraft, though I can understand your confusion, the resemblance between my sister and I is quite remarkable." The young woman extended her hand to Relena, "My name is Aya Catalonia."

Next time: Relena thinks back to her meeting of a young man named Kianu, and Heero attempts to rescue her.

This is my first attempt at a Gundam fanfiction. If you have any feedback, suggestions or questions email me at jaimelynn1978@yahoo.com.

Chapter 2