Ok so you actually liked the filler chapter. I really 
didn’t know how to make the transition work. Anyway…this is 
chapter 3. I’m not sure what’s going to happen…it’s just 
coming to me as I write…so be prepared for surprises.
The day was June 12 AC 197. Five young men…still 
young boys, walked out of a club, in the wee hours of the 
morning. The oldest of them, a 17-year-old Japanese boy, 
with deep Prussian eyes, and the wildest hair you could 
ever imagine had been the first to exit. He had an air of 
seriousness about him; no smile seemed to ever cross his 
face. Yet the other boys knew he smiled, he smiled when he 
fought, when all his training was put to good use, that was 
when he was his happiest. Then next boy out had his hair 
slicked back. The black hair looked like it might actually 
be painful, but his black eyes didn’t betray pain, well…not 
physical pain. His 17-year-old face wore a scowl, and could 
be heard yelling about justice to the boy next to him. This 
17-year-old boy had an elfin look to him, always smiling 
and having fun. His cobalt eyes held mischief and mirth. 
His long brown hair swayed slightly in its braid. He had 
one hand on the small boy next to him. The 16-year-old 
looked like he was barley able to stand. His golden hair 
moving slightly in the breeze and his blue eyes seemed to 
be slightly glazed. The last one out was a tall 16-year-
old. He seemed to be supporting the smaller boy. His 
visible emerald eye, searching the surrounding shadows and 
his long brown bang started to sway a bit.
"Duo how could you let Quatre drink so much? It’s an 
injustice to be your friend." Said the black haired Chinese 
boy.
"Oh pipe down, Wu-Man. He’s having fun, right you’re 
having fun Q-Man?" The braided American asked the small 
Arabian.
"Yes, Duo." Quatre said softly.
"Trowa can you take him home?" The Japanese pilot 
asked the tall Frenchman.
Trowa nodded.
"Brother never was one for words." Came an angelic 
voice from above them.
Heero quickly pulled out his gun and Wufei was in a 
fighting stance.
"Calm down, boys. It’s only me." The female figure 
walked forward. Bright green eyes, and golden brown hair 
came into view, as well as the tall well built form of 
Trowa’s twin sister Makoto…or should I say, Ken’s twin 
sister Lita?
"Makoto!" Duo seemed to squeal, but before the over 
active teen could take a step forward, the 16-year-old 
Makoto ran and glomped him.
"Hiya Duy." She said while she hugged him fiercely. 
She then turned and glomped Trowa. "Hiya, Trowa." Makoto 
smiled and kissed his cheek. "It’s been too long. Have you 
seen Catherine? Is she ok?" Makoto asked.
"Yes, I have seen Cathy, and she is fine." Trowa said 
hugging his sister with his free arm.
Makoto looked to the drunken boy next to her and 
sighed. "You did this to him Duy, didn’t you?" She asked.
"I didn’t force him to drink." Duo pouted.
"I’m guessing you didn’t tell him how much alcohol 
was in a Red Death though. Just because it tastes like 
Fruit Punch doesn’t mean it is Fruit Punch." Makoto 
grinned. "How far do you have to go to get him home?"
"It’s about a mile and a half. We walked here as 
well." Heero said in monotone.
"Well that won’t work. You guys are more than welcome 
to sober him up at my place. I have coffee and tea." Makoto 
said. She looked into Quatre’s eyes and saw something…a 
glimmer of some alternative means in those eyes. "Duo 
you’re an idiot." Makoto said sternly.
"What I do now?" Duo asked.
"Trowa give him to me." Makoto said as she stepped in 
between Quatre and Trowa.
"What’s wrong?" Trowa asked, giving up being at 
Quatre’s side, but not happily.
"How many times has he gotten drunk with you guys?" 
Makoto asked as she started to walk to her apartment.
"I don’t know. Maybe six times, the most." Wufei 
said, not really caring.
"You’re all fools." Makoto turns her head to Quatre. 
"Listen to me…try to block them out…its only going to get 
worse if you don’t." Makoto said softly.
"I’ll try Miss Makoto." Quatre said softly.
"It’s just Makoto." She smiled.
"Mako…what’s wrong with him?" Duo asked. He had 
started to remember the last times Quatre was drunk, even 
though he had very little to drink, he was almost to the 
stage of passing out.
"Quatre’s an empath, am I correct?" Makoto asked.
"Hn." Heero replied. He was starting to understand 
what she was getting at. "Step away from them." He said in 
his demanding mono voice.
"What’s wrong Yuy?" Wufei asked.
"Quatre is an empath and can feel emotions and 
feelings. When he has a bit to drink this ability hightens 
as all of his other senses dull. The reason he seems so 
drunk is because he’s picking up your feelings of 
drunkenness. Even though you may be able to handle it all, 
you are still FEELING the effects of the alcohol…Quatre is 
picking all of it up. You guys are making him even more 
drunk." Makoto said.
"I’m so sorry, Q-man. Is there anything I can do to 
help?" Duo said, his happy expression gone and sadness in 
his voice.
"You all need to sober up. Come on." Makoto said 
leading them to a locked door next to a restaurant. She 
took out a key and opened the door. "In to the kitchen, 
Juno." She yelled up stairs.
"Who are you yelling at, onna?" Wufei asked.
Makoto ignored the onna comment. "I told my cat to go 
into the kitchen. Come on up." Makoto walked slowly with 
Quatre as the others followed behind.
Reaching the top step Makoto turned on all of the 
lights. The studio apartment was well furnished but lacked 
all walls, except those surrounding the bathroom. The large 
room was huge. On one wall sat a large desk, a full size 
bed and a dresser complete with mirror. The wall next to it 
held three portable closets and another dresser. In the far 
corner a large walled section jutted from the wall 
containing the bathroom. Next to that was a full kitchen 
set up complete with cabinets that left the kitchen open to 
the room, but if you were seated at a table you wouldn’t be 
able to see it. In the center of the large room were a love 
seat, a pull out couch, and an entertainment center. Things 
were sectioned off by Japanese style cloth walls, basically 
curtains attached to wire framing with Asian designs.
"Nice place." Duo commented as he sat on the couch.
"Thanks, I worked hard for it." Makoto said as she 
led Quatre to the bed. "Tro, do me a favor and get a bottle 
of water out of the fridge for me." Makoto said softly as 
she sat Quatre back against the wall. "Don’t lay down, 
it’ll make it worse." Makoto said softly to Quatre. "Heero, 
Wufei, you and Duo are more than welcome to watch TV or 
something." Makoto spoke.
Wufei sat cross-legged on the love seat and closed 
his eyes. He seemed to start meditating. Heero walked 
around the room.
Trowa walked back with a bottle of water. "Makoto, 
why is there a leopard in your kitchen?" Trowa asked.
"Oh that’s my cat, Juno." Makoto said handing the 
water to Quatre. "Drink this slowly. I’m going to start 
some coffee for you all." Makoto said standing.
"Lita…you still haven’t changed. You use to call the 
lions, cats when you were younger." Trowa said shaking his 
head.
"They are cats Tro, and call me Makoto. Lita is 
dead." Makoto said walking into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I know, just like Ken is dead." Trowa said 
sadly.
"Find anything good, Hee-chan?" Duo asked watching 
Heero look around.
"Hn." Heero replied.
"Oh that much. She must be loaded." Duo joked.
Heero ignored the comment and kept looking. Something 
about Makoto left him with too many unanswered questions. 
One: Why would she look for Duo first, before looking for 
her real brother? Two: How could a 16-year-old waitress 
afford to live in this place? Three: Why did all of her 
dressers and drawers have a lock on them…and why were they 
all locked?
Makoto walked in moments later with a tray full of 
coffee, tea, and sandwiches. "I know you’re probably not 
hungry, but if you eat, the alcohol will be absorbed 
quicker." Makoto said sitting next to Duo. 
Duo dug into the sandwiches. "Vees aww weewy goow." 
Duo said with his mouth full.
"Thank you, Duo. I’m glad you like them." Makoto said 
smiling. She picked up a mug of jasmine tea, a cup of 
coffee, and a few crackers. "Here you go, Quatre. Are you 
feeling any better?" Makoto asked handing him the tea and 
crackers. Trowa sat next to Quatre and Makoto handed him 
the cup of coffee.
"I am feeling a little better. How did you realize I 
was an empath, and how did you know that, that was what was 
bothering me?" Quatre asked as he sipped the hot tea and 
nibbles on a cracker.
By that time the others had turned to face Makoto to 
hear her answer. "I could see it in your eyes. When I was 
picked up after the fire at Maxwell Church I was trained 
just as Duo, and I’m sure you all were, just I wasn’t 
trained for a Gundam. My teacher was into "Alternative" 
ways to fight. She taught me about empathy, about 
spiritualism, and about shadow walking." Makoto continued.
"Shadow walking?" Wufei asked. He had heard of the 
others, empathy Quatre had, spiritualism and powers, he had 
learned about on L5, but shadow walking was new to him.
"Shadow walking is very difficult. It took me years 
to finally figure out how to do it." Makoto said softly. 
She had gotten up to get a mug of green tea. "Juno, come 
girl." A leopard lazily walked out of the kitchen and sat 
at Makoto’s feet. "Shadow walking allows me to become a 
shadow. I am able to travel in the shadow realm for as long 
as I like, just to get to another place. See I’ll show 
you." Makoto stood from the bed and walked over to the 
shadow created by the couch. She closed her eyes and seemed 
to melt into the ground. Moments later she reappeared next 
to the entertainment center, standing in its billowy 
shadow. "That is how I earned my nick name, Ákuma." Makoto 
said as she once again took her seat.
"Ákuma, what’s that mean?" Duo asked.
"Devil." Heero replied.
"Ah, yes, pilot 01 would know what it meant." Makoto 
nodded her head wisely.
"Devil, why would you want your nickname to be 
devil?" Duo asked hysterically.
"Well I didn’t pick it. And why, pray tell, did you 
name yourself, Shinigami? Duy, dear, God of Death? Have you 
really become that morbid?" Makoto asked shaking her head 
with a huge smile on her face.
"Point noted." Duo said turning back around to get 
another sandwich.
"So why were you never sent on missions?" Wufei 
asked. "Are you like all other onnas and just weak?"
"Listen here smart ass, I was sent on missions almost 
as frequent as you were. I am actually on a mission as we 
speak." Makoto yelled then covered her mouth. "Kuso."
"You are still given missions?" Trowa asked.
"I was given this mission a long time ago, and the 
mission has only just begun." Makoto said.
"What is your mission?" Heero asked in his demanding 
monotone.
"I can’t tell you." Makoto said bringing her knees up 
to her chest.
"Why, will you have to kill us if you do? Five 
against one are good odds in our favor." Wufei said almost 
in a mocking tone.
"If I told you, you’d never let me carry it out. It’s 
bad enough you were hell bent on screwing up my other 
mission." Makoto said putting her chin to her knees.
"What was your other mission?" Quatre asked. He 
seemed to look like his normal self once more.
"Mission One: protect the Prince. Mission Two: 
Protect the Protectors." Makoto said looking at Juno. Juno 
raised her head and Makoto absently scratched behind her 
ears.
"Your first mission was to protect a prince. Working 
with royalty must have been fun." Duo said hyper.
"Working for him was fun, but seeing as how Heero 
here tried killing him every chance he got, my work was cut 
out for me." Makoto said staring at Heero.
"The only one Yuy was bent on killing was Zechs." 
Wufei said with a snort.
"Yes, Milliardo Peacecraft, Prince and future King of 
the Sank Kingdom." Makoto said.
"Kuso, you were working against us?" Duo said 
pleading.
"I had to protect the rightful heir of the thrown. If 
Relena should become ruler of Sank…all the peace you’ve 
fought for will be for nothing. Relena doesn’t know how to 
keep her ideas to herself. When she starts pushing her 
ideas onto the world, the world will do everything in its 
power to stop her, even if that means the on set of war. 
Milliardo just wants to live his life in peace. He doesn’t 
want to deal with the world, he just wants to see his 
kingdom happy again." Makoto said with determination in her 
eyes.
"Makoto, you said your second mission was to protect 
the protectors, what did you mean?" Quatre asked.
"My mission is to protect you five. Milliardo is soon 
to be wed, and doing so will automatically make him the 
King. He will be forced to rule, and being who the 
Preventers are…and what they stand for, I’m figuring Wufei 
would have to convince the four of you to help out and 
become the King’s guards. Thus making me the protector of 
the protectors. Catch my drift?" Makoto asked leaning back.
"Wufei, did you know of this?" Heero asked.
"Yes, báka onna, I was going to tell them after my 
wedding." Wufei mumbled.
"Yeah well, you guys are more than welcome to crash 
here for the night. I know the wedding is tomorrow and 
Wufei needs his beauty sleep." Makoto said with a smile.
"I don’t need any, onna beauty rest." Wufei grumbled.
"That’s right Wu-man, nothing would help that mug of 
yours." Duo said almost immediately.
"Maxwell, I’ll kill you." Wufei yelled as he jumped 
up from his place.
Makoto stepped in front of Duo. "No fighting in my 
house. You want to fight take it outside." Makoto pointed 
to the window. A flash of lightning shot across the sky and 
the roar of thunder shook the windowpane.
"Yeah, Wuffers, no fighting." Duo said mockingly.
Makoto turned her head and bopped Duo on the head 
with her hand.
"Ouch what was that for?" Duo asked rubbing his head.
"Just because I won’t allow you to fight, doesn’t 
mean I can’t." Makoto said jumping away from Duo’s quick 
hands. "Ok boys, I refuse to let you outside in this mess. 
You all have a wedding to get to in a few hours, and you 
don’t need to be sick for it. Two of you can take the pull 
out couch. The others have the floor. I’ll get pillows and 
blankets for you all. Makoto walked to one of the portable 
closets and unlocked it. The whole thing was filled with 
pillows and blankets. She threw one each to the boys.
"Makoto, why do you keep everything locked?" Trowa 
asked.
"Some of the draws have important items in them, so 
if someone comes in to rob the place, they won’t know what 
thing to break into first. If I only locked the draws with 
the important stuff in them, well then, they would know 
what draws to go for, right." Makoto explained.
"What important stuff?" Duo asked lying down on the 
floor.
"Letters that I wrote and was never able to send, 
weapons, books, this crystal Hotaru gave me before she 
left, Bobo…" Makoto was about to go on.
"BOBO! You still have him!" Duo yelled excitedly.
"Did you think I would throw him away. What kind of 
fool do you take me for?" Makoto asked.
"One that would throw out a stuffed animal when she 
got older." Duo said.
"Hmm, be like than then. I won’t give him back to 
you." Makoto said turning so her back faced them. Duo 
jumped on the bed and started bouncing on his knees. His 
eyes were wide and full of tears. "Oh I hate that look. I 
can’t believe you can still do that. Fine I’ll get the 
damned panther." Makoto said pushing Duo to the floor and 
easing her body over the end of the bed. She opened the 
draw, pulled out a black bag and tossed it to Duo. She then 
locked the draw and pulled herself back on her bed. "Duo in 
that bag is Bobo, but also a bunch of letter I wrote to you 
through the years. The last one is dated for yesterday." 
She then threw Trowa a smaller bag. He was on the pull out 
couch with Quatre. "Trowa, I would have written more to 
you, but I only got my memories back a few years ago. I had 
no idea what happened to you, that was why I was seeking 
Duo first. I figured the Gundam Pilots could help me find 
you, and I guess they did." Makoto smiled.
"Makoto how can you afford this place?" Duo asked.
"Training pays off Duy. Just because I wasn’t trained 
for a gundam, doesn’t mean I wasn’t trained for combat, or 
other skills." Makoto said shutting the light.
"You stole the money?" Duo asked amazed, you could 
hear him sit up from his place.
"I look at it as, lessening the enemy’s paychecks." 
Makoto grinned.
"How?" Trowa asked.
"I hacked into the OZ database. It’s not hard to do. 
Most of the top security passwords are all the basic ones, 
Sex, God, Password, and Love, not to mention a few 
birthdays and anniversaries. Now go to sleep." Makoto said 
rolling over and closing her eyes.
Hours later Makoto opened her eyes to a bright sunny 
morning. No matter how later she had gone to bed the night 
before; she was always up by 9 in the morning. She 
stretched and turned her head to look at the clutter in her 
living room. Quatre and Trowa slept peacefully on the pull 
out couch; Duo was against the back of the couch sleeping, 
his blanket and Bobo pulled up to his chin. Wufei was 
asleep next to coffee table, his face peaceful and youthful 
looking. Makoto looked down and found an extra blanket on 
her. She was wondering why she was so warm. She looked to 
where Heero had settled for the night and found nothing. A 
pillow was in front of the portable closet that usually 
housed it and the soft sound of a computer’s keys could be 
heard from the kitchen. Makoto stood and stretched once 
more before walking to the kitchen.
"Good morning Heero, I hope you slept well." Makoto 
said walking to the coffeepot and flipping the switch.
"Hn," Heero replied.
"Are you attempting to get into my laptop? I could 
just tell you the code. It’s rather involved." Makoto said 
from over his shoulder. Heero froze as her arms went over 
his and she typed quickly and efficiently. Screens would 
pop up and close as Makoto kept typing, all the while Heero 
was frozen watching the screen blink and watching the soft 
hands fly across the keyboard. "There, now you can get in 
and research me." Makoto said walking away.
Heero went back to the laptop, but strangely he 
missed the warmth that Makoto had brought to him. He shook 
the thoughts from his head. "I can’t get tied up in this 
right now. My number one priority is to protect Relena. I 
have to find out if she will truly be in danger if she 
becomes Queen. If she is then I will help Makoto to make 
Zechs King. After that, my mission will be complete and I 
can…I can…I can what? What will I do once my mission is 
complete?" Heero thought to himself.
"Heero would you like some tea?" Makoto said into his 
ear.
Heero turned his head quickly to see emerald eyes not 
an inch from his own. "Hn."
"I’ll take that as a yes then. Green tea, right?" 
Makoto asked as she stood.
"Yes. How did you know?" Heero asked in his monotone.
"I saw that’s what you chose to drink last night. 
Even though Jasmine tea will calm you, you still chose 
Green Tea. You also didn’t put any sugar or anything into 
it and even when you took a sip you didn’t add anything, 
showing that you knew that it was slightly bitter and still 
enjoyed it." Makoto said grabbing some food out of the 
refrigerator.
"I could have just tried it for the first time last 
night and found that I liked the bitter taste." Heero said 
nonchalantly.
"Yes, well then if that was the case, you wouldn’t 
have minded Green Tea this morning anyway." Makoto grinned. 
She took out a frying pan and started to crack some eggs 
into it.
"What are you making?" Heero asked.
"Breakfast." Makoto said breaking the yolks and 
flipping the eggs. She put some bread in the toaster and 
put some apple turnovers in the oven to heat.
Wonderful smells made their way into the living area 
slowly waking four sleepy eyed boys. Duo shot up and ran to 
the kitchen being forcefully blocked by a large female 
leopard.
"Hiya, Juno. It’s me Duo. Remember me?" Duo said not 
showing fear and attempting to pet the cat, which just 
growled at him.
"She’s not allowing anyone in because Makoto is 
cooking." Trowa said from behind Duo.
"Mako…let me in I’m hungry." Duo whined.
"Not until it’s done." Makoto said.
"Why is Hee-chan aloud in there then?" Duo almost 
cried.
"He was here when I woke up, and I know he won’t 
attack the food before it’s done. Juno the others are aloud 
in, keep Duo in the living room." Makoto said.
The large cat seemed to nod and bit on Duo’s shirt 
pulling him in the living room.
"How are you able to talk to animals?" Quatre asked.
"Trowa never explained?" Makoto asked a bit 
surprised.
"Trowa doesn’t like talking about his past." Wufei 
said sitting at the table.
"Well our mother worked with animals her whole life. 
It’s not really talking to them…it’s more like telling them 
through feelings, I guess Animal Empathy. Some people call 
what we are animal psychics. That’s just crap. We just have 
a deeper understanding of them." Makoto said as she put the 
food onto the plates and put them on the table. "Ok Duo, 
come and get it." Makoto yelled. Duo jumped up and ran into 
the kitchen sitting quickly and shoveling his food in. 
"Well at least I know he still likes to eat, though I wish 
after 10 years he would have gotten some manners." Makoto 
said sighing.
"What time is it?" Wufei asked, as he saw no clocks 
on any of the walls.
"It’s about 10." Makoto said.
"Kuso, the wedding is at 2. I still have to get back 
and get ready." Wufei said jumping up and rushing around.
"Hold it. You guys can borrow the car if you want and 
I’ll pick it up later." Makoto said eating slowly.
"That’s too nice of you, Makoto." Quatre said 
standing and putting his dish in the sink. The others 
followed suit.
"Makoto please join us tonight." Quatre said.
"I would love to." Makoto said smiling.
Heero was sitting in the driver seat.
"9 sharp, Makoto." Duo said shaking his finger.
"Yes sir." Makoto said saluting. "Oh and Heero, don’t 
press the green button. It will make the platform in the 
back, for my bike, pop out and the people behind you might 
not like that." Makoto grinned.
"Hn."
"Take care brother, dear. I’ll see you tonight." 
Makoto said waving as Heero drove off, the platform coming 
from the back of the car. Wufei and Heero’s voices were 
loud, one yelling about justice, the other yelling "Omae O 
Korosu."
Well that’s the end of chapter 3. I’ll send this out 
as soon as FF.net is up and running correctly again. The 
next chapter has the wedding reception, two special dances, 
Relena bashing and Minako’s cameo. Usagi might make an 
appearance…but if I bring her in it won’t be the last time 
she’s seen. Review and let me know what you think. Ja ne 
minna.
PS – I have slight hinting of a Trowa/Quatre pairing. 
I know many people find yaoi and yuri offensive and I don’t 
wish to upset you too much. If you don’t wish to see this 
then let me know. Just don’t yell at me. If I don’t get too 
many complaints then I’ll go along as I had planned. If I 
do get a lot of complaints then I’ll just make then close 
friends.