'Lo!  'Tis me!  This is the first in a six part Gundam series I plan on finishing one of these days, I believe I'm done writing four though only two are typed.  Okay, it's Blah Blah time.

    I own nothing, ('cept my computer) *hugs Frankenstein the computer*  (It's made of lots of different computers.)

Warnings:  This is probably the most mild fic I've ever written, no lemon, no language.  Good for all ages.

Also, I had this fic came to me as a dream... I kept having the damn thing until I wrote it, so if it's weird, I wasn't in charge of it, my subconscious was and who knows what our minds are thinking when we aren't paying attention?

I've been warned that fanfic readers don't like made up characters.  If you don't like them at all and never will, don't read this story because I picked the main female character out of my mind and wrote her in.  

Also, if you are a deep lover of Relena or any of the other female characters, I recommend not reading any of the Gundam series I plan on posting because I made up all the girls that the Gundam pilots end up with because I think they deserve girls their ages.  (I hate Relena and missed the episodes with Hilde.  Relena is not cast in the best light in the later stories, but I just write it how I see it.  Relena lovers, you have been warned!)

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            Lily

               Lily ducked as a sword swished over her head, striking out with her own.  The man in the black cloak blocked her stab attempt and pressed his steel blade against the soft pale flesh of her throat.  Lily sighed, she’d lost and she knew it.  Tears glistened in her eyes as she bowed her head, blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back falling forward, covering her face.

“Get it over with,” she whispered, “kill me.”

The man in black pulled the sword up slowly, forcing Lily to stand, “I would rather kill myself then harm a beautiful girl like you.”

He pulled the sword away and reached for Lily.  She felt herself compelled to him and when his lips brushed against hers, she didn’t pull away.  His lips were soft and full, the kiss was sweet, almost chaste.  A horrible ringing made the man in black pull away from her, “A bomb!”

Lily sighed heavily, “It’s not a bomb… it’s my wake-up alarm, it’s time for school.  This is just another dream.”

The man in the cloak blinked at her, “How do you know this isn’t real?  You could be wrong.”

Lily sighed, “Nope, I’m pretty sure it’s a dream, first of all, I’ve had this dream before, second of all, nothing interesting ever happens in my life.  No dangerous sword fights, no mystery men in long black cloaks, no thrilling romances with the mystery men.  Real life isn’t like that, at least, mine isn’t.”

The man covered his ears, nodding fiercely, “Okay, I get it, now can you wake up and turn off that annoying alarm?”

Lily sighed again, “I will, as soon as my mother comes in to make sure I get up in time for school, like she does every other boring, dull day…”

“LILY!”

Lily rolled over and smacked her alarm clock; the fierce beeping stopped abruptly, “Yeah, Mom, I’m up.”

“All right, Lily, your breakfast will be ready when you get down stairs,” her mother closed the door with a smile.

Lily flopped over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, “Isn’t my breakfast always ready when I get down stairs?”

Lily stepped into her walk in closet, peering at her clothes with a frown.  She had come to the startling realization that her life was predictable, boring, and completely… well… it was just not exciting.  Living in the same stupid house she had been born in, on the same stupid colony, in the same stupid part of the universe that she always had.  There was no surprise, no adventure.  Well, after she’d realized it, she’d begged her Mom to let her buy a whole new wardrobe, put a little change in her life.  Her mother hadn’t especially liked a lot of the outfits, but as long as they didn’t make Lily look cheap, there wasn’t much she could say to stop her from buying the stuff.

‘They just don’t look like what you used to wear,’ her mother had said.  ‘Exactly,’ had come Lily’s reply.  She was sick of the knee socks and the pastel skirts with their matching dress jackets.  The only thing that didn’t change in her wardrobe was her school uniform.  Some variation of a plaid tweed jumper and a white blouse were what every female student in the universe was wearing to school pretty much. 

Lily thumped down the stairs in her bare feet and walked into the small, clean kitchen where she’d eaten her breakfast every day since she’d been able to stomach solid foods, and she’d probably even eaten her strained peas in her highchair in that same small, clean kitchen.  Lily sighed; she really needed to stop depressing herself with her own lack of spontaneity.  She sat down, returning her mother’s smile and began eating her food.

Her mother washed the dishes that Lily’s father had left from his breakfast.  He had left long before Lily had woken up, like he did every morning.

“Mom… why doesn’t anything interesting ever happen to me?”

Lily’s mother turned around, “What do you mean, Lily?”

Lily set her dishes on the counter; “Don’t you ever get bored living here?  I mean with your life, not unhappy with the life you chose, just a little… I don’t know.”

Lily’s mother began cleaning the dishes again, “I think I understand what you’re talking about… why don’t I give you some money and you can go to the circus right after school, it just arrived yesterday, that’ll be something different.”

Lily smiled, “Yeah, the same circus that visits every year… but I guess I could check it out, see if anything’s changed.”

“Go get your bag and remember to put some other clothes in it, I don’t want you ruining your uniform,” her mother pushed her toward the stairs.

Lily flipped through her closet, deciding what to take.  She chose a short reddish-orange, tank dress that made her bright blue eyes sparkle and her blonde hair shine.  She tossed a pair of flat-heeled, black, ankle-high boots into her bag with the dress and ran from the room.  She hopped down the stairs two at a time, kissed her mother’s cheek, and ran out to catch the bus.

Lily’s boots made a soft crunch on the hay that lay underfoot of the circus grounds.  She made her way in and out of the same stands and game huts that had come the year before.  Nothing was different.  Lily stared at her shoes as she walked.

Turning the corner around a tent, she walked right into someone and was knocked to the ground.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking—”

She stopped abruptly in mid sentence.  A guy about her age, perhaps older, stood looking down at her.  The force of them colliding should have thrown them both to the ground, but the guy stood as if a pebble had just bumped him and not a fifteen year-old girl.  His hair was brown and hung over his forehead, as if he was trying to hide behind it.  Half of his face was covered with a clown mask; half of a big red smile and a purple star around the eye were painted on the mask.  The other side of his face was exactly the opposite, he wasn’t frowning, but he definitely wasn’t smiling.  His uncovered eye stared, no, watched her, taking in every detail of her without ever wavering from her face.  He was dangerous, Lily didn’t know what made her realize it, but she knew he was.  His clown costume was a red and white checked tank top, tight across his chest with suspenders that held up his neon green clown pants with red stars.  Red elf shoes with curled up toes covered his feet.

“You’re with the show?”

He stared down at her, unblinking, “You’re psychic, right?”

Lily blushed and stared at the ground, being serious obviously didn’t mean he wasn’t going to make fun of her.

His hand came into view.

She looked up at him, “What?”

He held his hand closer; “It’s a peace offering, I didn’t mean to offend.”

Lily nodded and accepted it, his hand closing over hers.

“Trowa!” someone called from behind them.

A young woman wearing a pink leotard with a black skirt and short, curly red hair ran up, “Trowa, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!  We’re on in twenty minutes, we should set up.”

Trowa nodded to her, “I was just making sure this girl was all right, we kind of collided.”

The woman looked Lily up and down and a smile spread across her face, “Oh… just don’t be late, okay?”

She headed toward the back entrance of the tent, gave them one last knowing smile and disappeared inside.  Trowa shook his head slowly.

“What?” asked Lily, she was beginning to feel clueless.

Trowa turned back to her, “Nothing, are you all right?”

Lily nodded, “No harm done, just a little dusty,” she said, brushing herself off, and picking up her bag.

Trowa held his hand up before her face, staring at her.  He flipped his hand with a quick gesture and a ticket appeared between his fingers.

Lily gasped and he smiled slightly, “Here, take this, it’s a free ticket to come see the show.”

Lily accepted it, “Oh, thank you, I’ll make sure I don’t miss it.”

Trowa nodded to her and disappeared into the tent.

Lily smiled down at the ticket for a moment before pocketing it.  The circus didn’t seem so boring anymore; she had about ten minutes before they started letting people in to see the big show, so she wandered a little.

“Hello, young one, care to hear your fortune?”

Lily whirled around to find a tall thin woman with black raven hair that fell nearly to her knees beckoning her inside a small purple tent.  The woman wore a white dress with beads of all different colors sewn on at random and she wore a dark green cloth tied over her hair, bandana style.

Lily stepped in timidly.  The woman sat in one of two chairs that were pulled up to a small round table.  The table was covered with a blood red cloth with black fringe and a crystal ball sat on a stand in the middle.

“Come, Dear.”

Lily sat down hesitantly, setting her bag on the floor, watching the strange woman closely.

“Ten dollars,” said the woman, her eyes watching Lily.

Lily almost opened her mouth to argue but she caught a glimpse of the woman’s dark eyes.  There was no difference between her iris and her pupil.  Her eyes were solid black surrounded by white, like a drop of ink on a white cloth.  Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out a ten, laying it down on the table.  The woman untied her bandana and smiled, covering the money with the dark green cloth.

The woman ran the long fingernails of her left hand over the ball, not touching, just hovering above it.

“What do you wish to ask?”

Lily thought about it for a moment, “When will I get some adventure in my life?”

The woman smiled then lowered her eyes to the ball; “I see a great adventure in the very near future.”

Lily sighed, “Yeah right, near future, that means I’ll trip and fall in a man hole on the way home, right?”  She rolled her eyes,”  Look, just tell me that I’ll meet the man of my dreams in a few years, get married and have 2.5 kids, okay?”

The woman turned her fierce black eyes on her, “Don’t mock me, Lily!”

Lily’s eyes widened and she gasped, “How do you know my name!  Who are you?”

The woman pulled the green cloth off of the table and the ten was gone.  She smiled when Lily’s eyes widened in surprise, “I am Madam Serafina.”

Lily watched the woman closely.

Madam Serafina gazed back at the crystal ball; “You will travel far, to Earth and all over it.  You will meet five men and save their lives.  You will kiss each one and shed tears in front of them.”

Lily leaned back in her chair, “Well, I said I wanted drama and adventure, didn’t I?  That does sound interesting.  But why would I travel to Earth?”

Madam Serafina smiled, “That is where the five men will be.”

Lily nodded, “Okay, then why do I kiss them, why do I have to cry in front of each one, I hardly ever cry, and I don’t kiss guys that often…”

Madam Serafina stared into the crystal ball, her eyes shifting back and forth, “You cry to prove to them that you’re human, you kiss them to prove that they are human.  You’ve dreamed of such things, why can’t you do it in real life?”

Lily stared at the fortune teller in disbelief, “What do you know about my dreams?”

Madam Serafina smiled mysteriously, “Enough.  I know that you want for what I’m telling you to be real.  You want to travel and have adventures, I’m giving you your chance.”

Lily took several deep breaths; she’d wanted a little excitement, but nothing quite so… weird.

“Who are the men?”

Something flickered through the woman’s eyes; “Do you know of the Gundam pilots?”

Lily laughed, “Who doesn’t?  They’re the only reason we’re no longer under military control; they’re fighting for our freedom…   Wait, are you saying I’m supposed to save the lives of the five guys protecting us?”

Madam Serafina nodded, “They are going to be ordered to self-destruct, you can’t allow them to die.”

Lily jumped to her feet, “Are you kidding!  I have to put myself in a lot of danger to get to them, and they’re going to all be about to self-destruct while I sooth their egos, what if they self-destruct with me standing there talking to them!”

Madam Serafina remained silent; her dark eyes watching Lily.

Lily sat down slowly, “And what if I refuse to believe any of this?”

Madam Serafina’s face fell and she looked very sad, “Then the men will die and we will have no hope.”

Lily stared at her hands; “If I choose to do this, how do I know that they won’t just blow themselves up as soon as I walk away?”

“Because,” said Madam Serafina, “before you leave them, they will do something for you, something normal that one human being does for another, just to be polite.”

“Why should a random act of human kindness tell me that they won’t kill themselves?”

Madam Serafina leaned across the table, “These men have been trained to the point where they don’t do anything very human once inside their Gundam’s, if they do something nice for you, it proves you’ve softened them enough so they won’t commit suicide.”

“Well, you’ve just thought of everything, haven’t you?” Lily snapped, “and exactly how am I supposed to get to Earth?”

Madam Serafina smiled, a glint of amusement sparkled across her black eyes, “That’s for you to figure out, but I believe you have a friend in the show that could help you, the circus is leaving for Earth tonight, you know.”

Lily was confused for a split second, and then she reached into her pocket and pulled out her free ticket.  She stared at it for a moment before jumping to her feet, “The show!”

She turned on her heel and ran out of the tent.

“Remember, you have to save the men, all of them, the world needs them.”

Lily turned around to tell Madam Serafina that she would remember, but she wasn’t there.  Neither was the tent, there was nothing but an empty gap between the ring toss and a booth where you threw a ball at milk bottles.  Lily’s mouth gaped and her heart was beating furiously.

“It’s not possible.”

She shook her head, was it possible that it hadn’t happened?  No, it had happened, she was bored, not crazy… not yet anyway.

She looked up at the top of the main tent, “My friend in the show…”

After the interesting show in the big tent, Lily had hidden behind a bunch of boxes till after closing time.  She leaned back against the cold bars of an empty cage, “What am I doing?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

Lily looked up startled.  The clown from earlier was standing on top of the box in front of her.

Lily didn’t know what to say; she really hadn’t been planning on getting caught.

She stared at the floor for a moment, then met his gaze, “Is that costume uncomfortable?”

It seemed to surprise him and he tilted his head slightly, “No, actually, though I wouldn’t wear it if they weren’t paying me as much as they do.”

Lily nodded.

Trowa sat down on the box and resumed staring at her expectantly; “We closed about twenty minutes ago.”

Lily nodded again.

“What are you still doing here then?” he asked.

Lily bit her lip, “Nothing, I’ll leave now.”

She stood and shouldered her bag.  The clown didn’t argue, just watched her as she headed for the exit.  Lily was walking toward the circus entrance when she heard a man’s loud voice.

“Close up this truck, we’ll finish loading up the other one and send it soon after, make sure the shuttle doesn’t take off till we get the big tent loaded onto it.”

Lily crept around the deserted huts.  A man, Lily recognized him as the ringmaster, was yelling at the men loading crates onto a truck.  The men tied the tarp down over the back and got into the cab.  The ringmaster headed for the main tent, “Start taking it down, boys!”

Lily put her bag over her shoulder and ran for the truck, hoping that it wouldn’t leave before she got to it.

Lily woke up to someone opening up the back of the truck.  A big burly man began pulling at one of the many boxes when he spotted her, “Hey, kid, what are you doing back there?”

He grabbed for her but she scrambled past him and took off running.

“Hey, kid!  Somebody stop her!”

Lily ran across a large field and didn’t stop till she came to a small stream.  She hid down among the reeds, waiting for someone to come after her.  After a while, when no one had come, she crept out and looked back in the direction of the circus.  They were raising the big tent.

Lily smiled; Trowa would be getting into his silly costume soon.

Standing in the middle of a field of flowers, she stopped, looking at the sky.  The sky.  She’d never been on Earth, never seen the real sky… just the fake one on her colony.

Lily turned in the opposite direction of the circus and began walking.  She was finally on Earth, and she had things to do.

Quatre sliced through the center of a Mobile Suit that had been heading toward him.  His Gundam’s head turned, making sure none of his enemies were moving.  His screen blipped and the scientists appeared on it.

“Hello,” Quatre said slowly, it was unusual for them to contact him, something must have happened…

Lily ran over the destroyed Mobile Suits’ sprayed parts.  She stumbled her way over the desert sand, tired and hungry.  She’d been traveling for days with a band of desert gypsies until she finally saw a battle between a Gundam and other Mobile Suits.  It had been farther to run than she’d thought from the gypsy campsite.  She bent over to catch her breath, her hands on her knees to keep her from falling over.  She looked up and saw the Gundam.

She smiled, and tears of joy began running down her face.  She ran with a burst of energy that rushed through her.  She was waving and calling as she ran, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

Quatre had tears welling up in his own eyes as he looked at the screen showing Rashid, “Goodbye, my friend.”

He flipped the screen off before the big man could say anything and took the self-destruct controller in his hand.  He closed his eyes and forced the tears out.

“Wait!”

He opened his eyes and looked down.  A girl was standing next to the Gundam.  If he blew up, he would take her with him.  Quatre let his breath out slowly and opened up the hatch on his Gundam’s stomach. 

Quatre’s feet touched the sand and Lily slammed into him, knocking them both to the ground.

Quatre lay on his back, surprised.  Lily climbed up off of him and allowed his to sit up before throwing her arms around him and hugging him.

Quatre pushed her away enough to see her face, “Who are you?  And why are you crying?”

Lily burst into fresh sobs though she was smiling through her tears, “My name is Lily, and I’m crying because I’m so happy that I got here in time to save you!”

She threw her arms around him again and kissed him.

Quatre pulled away with his eyes lowered, a bright blush making his cheeks burn.

Lily smiled, slightly blushing herself, “Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

Quatre smiled back, shaking his head, “It’s okay…”

She stood and offered him a hand up, “Sorry about all of this, but I have to go find the others…”

Quatre took her hand and got to his feet, “Wait, why are you so happy you got here to save me, and what others?  The other Gundam pilots?”

Lily tilted her head to one side, she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to tell them everything, well, she’d never been told not to… “Well, you were just about to self-destruct, weren’t you?”

Quatre eyed her suspiciously, “How did you know that?”

Lily sighed, “That’s why I was sent to Earth, I’m supposed to save all of you…”

Quatre blinked rapidly, “You came to earth… from the colonies?  All this way just to stop me from self-destructing?”

Lily nodded, “And now I have to go find the others, I hope I get there in time…”

She turned around and walked off into the desert.  Quatre stared after her for a moment before running to catch up, “Wait, Lily!  Can I help you in any way?”

She turned around, that’s right, he was supposed to do something nice for her, she’d almost walked away without him doing it and he could have gotten right back into his Gundam and blown himself up.

“Stupid me,” she murmured as he caught up.

“I can’t really think of anything,” she said mildly.

Quatre thought for a moment, “My mechanics are coming to pick me and my Gundam up, would you like to come back to our camp, you can have dinner and if you are going to be hunting for the others all over the world, you’ll need some different clothes.”

She smiled, that was definitely an act of kindness, “Sure.”

Lily unzipped the tent that Quatre had given her for the night and looked around.  The sun hadn’t risen over the desert camp yet and no one was up.  She wished she could stay with them for another day, laughing around the campfire like she had the previous night, poking fun at Rashid’s hair, which looked remarkable like devil horns, but she had places to go, pilots to save.  She shouldered her bag, which was now bulging with new clothes; a parka thick enough to go to the Antarctic with, hiking boots, and a scarf to wrap around her head if the wind should start blowing sand at her.  Lily cast one look back over her shoulder at the silent camp and slipped off into the desert silence.

Duo looked out at the snow covered landscape and shivered inside his Gundam, “Wouldn’t want to be out there…”

One of his screens came to life and the scientists appeared, they all exchanged looks and Dr. G stepped forward, “Duo, we have a new assignment for you…”

Lily ran toward the big black Gundam with all her might.  It was easier said then done, considering the Parka was too big and the hood kept slipping over her eyes.  She pushed it up yet again and noticed that the Gundam was no longer moving, “They must be telling him to self-destruct!”

She ran, waving her arms with all her might, but he didn’t come out, “He doesn’t see me!”

She ran up to one of the giant feet of the Gundam and began banging on the Gundanium Alloy until her fists throbbed with pain, “Come on, you can’t do this!”

The Gundam leaned forward slightly and looked down at its foot and she stopped pounding on it.

The Gundam lowered one hand to her and she scrambled up onto it.  The hand raised to the open platform at the Gundam’s stomach where Duo stood waiting.  She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, tears of relief welling up in her eyes.  Duo had to grab the side of the hatch opening to keep them both on their feet.  Lily pulled away smiling, rubbing her tears away.

Duo gasped to catch his breath, “Now, I’m not one to complain when a pretty girl that I’ve never met before comes out of no where and lays a big one on me, but who are you?”

“My name is Lily, and I have come from the colonies to stop you from committing suicide,” Lily explained.  She saw him about to comment but she held her hand up, “I just know you were going to self-destruct, don’t ask how, I’ve already saved Quatre, I need to find the others.”

Duo wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but he let it go, far be it from him to argue with a pretty girl that could kiss like that, “Well, I can give you a ride back to a populated continent, can’t I?”

Lily smiled, “That would be great.”

Lily stood by the same small stream she’d stopped at when she’d first gotten free of the circus’s moving truck.  She watched one of the Gundams walk by, the ground shaking slightly.  Mobile Suits littered the ground.  Lily couldn’t understand how the Mobile Suits could start a fight that close to the circus; maybe they didn’t care if they hurt the civilians.  The Gundam stopped abruptly, in mid step.

“Huh oh…”

Trowa nodded to the screen of scientists, “Yes.”

The screen went black and he picked up the self-destruct control.  A red blur out of the corner of his eye made him look up.  There was nothing there; he focused his attention back on the task before him.  Now he would see how right Heero was.

Lily scrambled up on top of one of the still Mobile Suits so that she came up to about the Gundam’s chest and waved her arms, “Hey!”

The hatch opened and a figure stepped out, “What are you doing here?  Who are you anyway?”

Lily was taken aback, “Trowa!”

He nodded, “And you are?”

She was still getting over the shock of the sweet clown she’d met on her colony being a Gundam pilot, “I… I’m Lily, I’m here to stop you from self-destructing.”

Unlike the first two, Trowa didn’t even blink at the fact that she knew about what he was going to do; “Just go away, I don’t want anyone getting caught in the blast.”

He began to go back inside and Lily jumped down onto the hatch.  He turned around and her fist connected with his jaw, angry tears burning her eyes.

Trowa finally looked surprised, his eyes wide open, his jaw set, the shock of being punched making him freeze for a moment.

“Why?” he growled.

“What?” she yelled at him, rubbing her cheeks, “Why what?”

“Why is it,” he said, his voice dangerously soft, “that you and Catherine can’t just tell me that you don’t want me to commit suicide.  You’re probably going to tell me that I can’t because I’ll be leaving behind people that love me, just like she did, but neither of you can tell me that without punching me first.”

“I’m sorry, forgive me,” Lily whispered, kissing him.

Trowa looked even more surprised, but the anger was gone from his voice, “Catherine never did that…”

Lily smiled, “Does that mean you forgive me?”

Trowa sighed and nodded.

“Come on,” he said, “let’s go back to the circus and I’ll get some ice for your hand.”

Lily looked down at her hand and realized for the first time that it was throbbing, “Ow…”

Trowa raised his eyebrows slightly, “Next time, don’t punch me.”

“There’s not going to be a next time,” Lily said, climbing down.

Trowa sighed and nodded again, “Yeah, you’re right.”

Trowa led Lily into a small trailer that held the circus costumes.  Catherine looked up in surprise, “How did she…?”

Trowa shook his head and she stopped.  Lily cradled her hurt hand and smiled, “Hi, I kind of ran into Trowa again, do you have some ice?”

Catherine smiled, “Ran into him? With your hand? I’ve been there before…”

Lily nodded, “So I heard…”

Catherine looked curiously at Trowa and left.

Trowa cleared away a couple of costumes and pulled out a stool, “Sit here for a moment, I’ll be right back.”

Trowa disappeared and Lily glanced around, trying to ignore the pain. 

“I don’t even know your name.”

Lily turned back to the door where Catherine stood.

“Lily,” she said.

Catherine nodded, “Well, Lily, I want to thank you.”

Lily frowned, “What for?”

Catherine smiled, “I have a feeling that when you punched Trowa, it was similar to the reason I did.”

Lily smiled back, “Yeah, but there’s no reason to thank me, I’m just doing what I was sent to do.”

Catherine didn’t press as to what the reason she had been sent was, simply smiled again and disappeared.

Trowa came back a moment later with a bowl of ice, a rolled up bandage, and a towel.  He set the bowl down and took Lily’s hand; “This is not going to feel good.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

Trowa eased her hand into the ice water and she fought back a scream and settled for breathing fast, trying to get used to the water.  After a moment, she could open her eyes, “Thanks…”

Trowa gave a brief nod.

Lily pulled her hand out of the water and dried it off on the towel, then allowed Trowa to wrap it in the bandages.

“Thanks,” she said again, then noticed the purplish-green bruise flourishing on his jaw, “Oh, did I do that to you?”

Trowa turned away, “No, it’s okay, it doesn’t hurt at all… much.”

Lily soaked a corner of the towel in the ice-water and held it up to his face, “Come on, let me see.”

He glared at her for a moment, but turned his face back to her.  She pressed the towel to his jaw.  He didn’t even flinch. 

“Doesn’t it hurt?” Lily asked, “Come on, be truthful.”

Trowa stared at her for a long moment before answering in a completely monotone voice, “It hurts, it hurts a lot.”

Lily smiled, “That’s better, for a moment there I thought you were some sort of machine that felt no pain.”

Trowa gave the barest of smiles, “No, I guess I’m more human then I thought.”

Lily leaned against a really big tree and took a deep breath.  She’d never realized how out of shape she was, “That’s it, when I get home, I’m not moving for the rest of my life.”

She stumbled into a small clearing and gasped.  A Gundam was sitting in the field, leaning against a small mountain that looked more like a giant boulder.  A small figure wearing white pants and a dark blue tank top stood looking up at it, a long white coat draped casually over one arm.  She crept up slowly, not knowing whom the person was.

“Goodbye,” Wufei said, looking up at his Gundam.  He began walking toward it when he felt an itch in the middle of his back.  He dropped the coat and turned quickly, ready to defend himself, “Who are you?”

Lily held her hands up in defense, “My name is Lily, I’ve come to save you from self-detonating.”

Wufei dropped his hands, “A girl?”

He let out a loud, harsh bark of laughter, “And I thought I was going to get one last fight when I felt someone creeping up behind me, too bad.”

He turned around and continued walking.

“Wait!” Lily cried.

He turned around and stood looking at her.  She walked up and kissed him.

He pulled away and pushed Lily to the ground, disgusted, “Don’t touch me.”

Lily stared up at him, why was he being so… unreasonable.  It was supposed to work, he was supposed to…

“That’s it, isn’t it, the kiss is supposed to make you realize you’re human and you… you don’t want to be human, you don’t want to care, do you?”

Wufei turned and began walking toward his Gundam again, hanging his jacket over his shoulder.  Lily stared after him for a moment, all he seemed to understood was fighting, well, then that was what she was going to give him…

Lily pulled herself to her feet slowly.  She ran after Wufei and leapt at his back.  He turned, his jacket sliding off his shoulder.  He grabbed her outstretched arm and used her own momentum to send her into a tree.  His jacket hit the ground a moment later.

He bent and picked it up, folding it over his arm.

Lily’s eyes fluttered and she tried to sit up, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

Wufei watched her for a moment as she tried to get back up, using the tree as a brace.  She slipped and fell again, crying out in pain, tears running down her cheeks in streams. 

Wufei sighed and walked over to her.  She curled her legs underneath her, both hands covering her face.  He bent down, offering her his hand and she winced, jerking away from his hand like she thought he was going to hit her.  She backed up against the tree and screamed when she hit her sore back against the bark.  Wufei looked at her then withdrew his hand slowly.  A slight drizzle rained down on them as he stood watching her.

Lily’s eyes widened in fear as a few cold drops of water hit her through the tree’s branches, “What is it, god, what is it?”

Wufei jerked back like she’d hit him, “What?  Where are you from?”

It began to rain harder and the sky darkened to a cold gray.  Lily whimpered slightly, “The colonies.”

Wufei nodded, “Well, that explains it.  It’s only rain, water from the sky, it won’t hurt you…”

Lily huddled against the tree, trying desperately to stay out of the rain.

Wufei knelt down beside her and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her to her feet.  Normally he wouldn’t help a pitiful girl, but she was, after all, only human.  She moaned softly whenever thunder rumbled in the distance.  The sky was almost black and her dress was soaked through to the skin.  She shivered against Wufei and he slipped his jacket over her shoulders.  He left her standing alone for a few moments to throw netting over his Gundam to make it blend in better.  He led her to a small indented overhang in the mountain where he had a bag and a small fire going already.

“What do you have in that bag?”

Lily looked up startled then down at the bag she was clutching as if it were a life force, she hadn’t remembered picking it up again, “A Parka, some hiking boots, a scarf, and my school uniform."

Wufei raised his eyebrows but didn’t say what he was thinking, “Is your school uniform a jumper and a blouse?”

She nodded mutely.

Wufei took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Well… I’m going to go get some more dry wood… you should change into your jumper, but not the blouse, that’ll just put pressure on your ribs, I think they’re bruised.”

Lily stared after him as he walked into the woods.  She shivered under his coat, which was also soaked through, and decided that he was right.

When Wufei returned with an armload of dry wood, Lily was spreading out her wet dress and his coat near the fire to dry.  She wore her jumper, minus the blouse, but the Parka was zipped up to her chin.

Wufei fed the fire in silence while she leaned back against the stone wall; not sure she wanted to get too close to him again.

Wufei stayed crouched near the fire for a few moments, staring into the flickering flames, “What do you care if I self-destruct?”

Lily took several practice breaths and winced.  Wufei stood up and walked over to her.  She tried to pull away from him but he held the Parka sleeve tightly.

“I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to see how bad it is.”

Lily stared at him for a long time before nodding and unzipping the Parka.  She blushed immediately, standing in the middle of nowhere, wearing nothing but a bra and her school jumper, it was all a little too strange for her.

Wufei put his hands on her lower ribs, not in a personal way, just applying pressure to her sides every now and then to see whether or not her ribs were cracked.  He traced his fingers along her ribs to her back and pressed gently.  Lily drew her breath in sharply.

Wufei walked over to his pack and pulled out a rolled bandage.  He wrapped her ribs carefully and tied off the cloth, “Just a few bruised ribs, nothing serious.”

Lily slid the Parka on carefully and zipped it up against the night air and her own modesty, “First my hand, now bruised ribs, I’m just falling apart.” 

Wufei rolled out a sleeping bag and looked up, noticing her watching him, “You can have the bag.”

Lily nodded, “Thank you, but where are you sleeping?”

Wufei stood up, “Don’t worry about me.”

Lily got into the sleeping bag and tried to sleep.  Wufei sat cross-legged next to the fire, his back facing her.

Lily yawned and winced when her chest strained against the bandages, but the pain wasn’t as sharp as it had been before.

Lily opened her eyes and sat up carefully.  Wufei was sitting against the stone wall, his eyes closed, his chest rising and falling evenly.

She stood slowly, making as little noise as possible.  She rolled up the sleeping bag and laid it next to Wufei’s backpack. 

Lily packed her own bag quickly and tiptoed into the woods.

Wufei opened his eyes once she was gone and smiled, she only had one more left, “Good luck,” he whispered.

Lily walked along the beach with her black boots swinging in her hand.  She’d changed back into her dress; the Parka had been way to warm for the beautiful sunny day that had risen once she’d finally reached the ocean.  She closed her eyes and smiled, letting the sun hit her full in the face.

A five-minute walk down the beach, Heero sat in his Gundam, his head hung low, his eyes shut.

The mission had been aborted… again.  He knew what he had to do.

Heero took the self-detonator with him as he went to the stomach hatch.  He opened it, letting the sea air blow through his hair.  His green tank top moved with the breeze.  He held the self-destruct control out in front of him at arm’s length, his eyes staring strait ahead, seeing everything and nothing at the same time.  In the very back of his mind, a voice spoke, “Do it… NOW!”

His thumb tensed over the button.

“No!”

Heero eased his thumb away from the control button slowly and stood at the edge of the hatch, looking down.

Lily fought to climb up to the hatch, her own clumsiness and her bruised ribs preventing her.  She lost her footing and fell back to the ground, screaming as pain shot though her body.  She forced herself to bite back a second scream and started climbing again.  Heero stood above her, watching silently.

Lily climbed up onto the hatch and threw her arms around Heero’s waist, sobbing against him, burying her head in his side.

Heero didn’t move for a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder, “Why are you crying?”

Lily raised her head enough to see his face, “Because I was so afraid that I wouldn’t get here in time, I stopped the others, but if I couldn’t get here in time, it would have all been for nothing.  If you self-detonate, you will be sentencing the colonies to death, they need you!”

She broke into fresh sobs and buried her face in his chest.

Heero looked out over the ocean; “I have to, not because I was ordered to, but because we are not needed.  The colonies don’t need us.”

Lily shook her head, her forehead still pressed against his chest, her hands clutching at his shirt, “You’re wrong, the colonies don’t need your Gundams, they need you.  You five guys are more important to our survival then any man-made machine.”

Heero held her for a moment, “Who are you?”

“My name is Lily,” she whispered.

“Lily,” he said, “why are you here?”

She sniffled, “I came from the colonies, I was sent to save you five, all five of you were about to self-detonate when I stopped you, I have to save you all because if even one dies, there is no hope for anyone.”

Heero put his arms under hers and helped her stand up strait.  He rubbed his thumbs in slow circles on her cheeks, wiping away the tears.  He leaned in slowly and his lips brushed hers. 

“Way to go, Heero!”

Heero pulled back from Lily quickly, almost sending them both toppling over the edge of the hatch.  The other four Gundams stood around them in a half circle, their respective pilots standing on the open hatches.

Duo waved and gave them a thumbs up sign, “Way to go!”

Heero glared at him but Lily turned his attention back to her, “Heero?”

He glanced at her face, “Lily, I’m…”

She pressed her finger to her lips and he stopped.  “Now,” she said, smiling, “why did you do that?”

Heero stared at the ground as if he were angry with himself, “I don’t know, I just felt like… like I had to kiss you, I still do… I would have if Duo hadn’t opened his big mouth.”

“Go for it!” Duo yelled behind them.

Lily laughed softly and tilted her face up to be kissed.

Heero hesitated now that he knew they had an audience, but finally he kissed her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her against his chest tightly.

There were catcalls and whistles from the other pilots, as well as several shouts about getting a room.

Heero gave Lily a small hug and she gasped.  He released her quickly, “What is it?”

Lily put a hand to her ribs, trying to catch her breath, “I have a few bruised ribs…”

“Who did that?” he asked.

Lily smiled weakly, “Wufei, but it wasn’t his fault, really.”

Heero raised his eyebrows and Lily laughed softly at him, “I got this from punching Trowa,” she said, holding up her hand.

Lily rolled over on her bed and stared at the ceiling.  She’d been home for only two days, and after the adventure she’d had, she had slept for most of those two days.

Trowa had taken her back to the circus with him where he and Catherine had put her on the shuttle for home.  She’d called her parents, told them she’d run away with the circus, but she wanted to come home now.

Her parents had been so relieved to have her back, they hadn’t even yelled at her.  The bruised ribs were from a circus accident and the new clothes had been going away gifts.  At least, that’s what she told them.

Lily sighed, she’d had enough of an adventure to keep her happy for years… but she did miss her new friends.

Her mother came in and Lily sat up, “What’s up, Mom?”

Her mother had an especially big smile on her face; “Your father and I have a surprise for you downstairs.”

Lily jumped up and headed for the door, but her mother blocked it, “You have to get dressed first, silly.”

Her mother rummaged through her closet while Lily stripped off her nightgown and pulled on a fuzzy, orange angora sweater.

Her mother pulled out a few things, raising an eyebrow at them and returned them to the closet, “You see, Dear, after you called to say you were coming home, your father and I sat down to have a talk.  I told him all about how you had been bored, and we decided to apply for a foreign exchange student to come live with us.  We figured that if you had someone else living here, you might not be so bored, you’d have someone your age to talk to and hang out with all the time.”

Lily pulled on a little black skirt and zipped up the back, “Really, that sounds cool, is that the surprise?  If the foreign exchange student downstairs right now?”

Her mother nodded, handing an orange belt to her, “Yeah, so hurry up, don’t leave him waiting downstairs for you.”

Lily buckled the belt and reached for her black boots, “Him?”

Her mother turned at the door, “Yeah, he came all the way from Earth, he’s a little strange, but I’m sure you’ll get along fine.”

Lily rolled her socks down to her boots and stood up, “How do I look, presentable?”  She pulled her blonde hair back in ponytail, “What’s his name anyway?”

Her mother smiled, “Beautiful, Lily.”  She turned and headed toward the stairs, “I believe his name was… hmmm… I forgot, it was something interesting though.”  Her mother disappeared down the stairs.

“I’m so sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name, what did you say it was, Dear?” her mother’s voice carried upstairs.

Lily left her room and started down the stairs as the guy answered, “My name is Heero Yuy, Ma’am.”

Lily froze halfway down the stairs, “Heero?”

THE END?

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Well, there it is.  Really long, huh?  Yeah, I'm sorry about that.

Thanks for reading, Dark Mistress Ivy

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