�So�if you�re my sister, can YOU maybe tell me what my real name is?� Duo asked as he plopped down in a chair, immediately lifting the front two legs off the floor by leaning back. Somehow they had all come to the decision that inside the hangar was better for talking than in the backyard, and they had moved the new Gundam into its place inside.
Nataku
paused and glanced around at the other four pilots, taking a longer glance at
the black-haired boy standing towards the back of the room. Yes, Doctor G had told her about him�how the
name she had been given would upset him.
But she didn�t know why. �Um�I
don�t remember our real names either, but when Doctor G told me about you, he
said you had picked the last name Maxwell, so he told me that I was a Maxwell
too. And my first name�well, that was
given to me by someone else.� She met
Wufei�s gaze for half a moment before he stalked out of the room.
�Well,
we�re pleased to have you here, right?� a startlingly feminine voice spoke up
from Nataku�s left, and she blinked upon discovering it was the blonde. �It�s always good to have more friends.�
���
Her brow knitted in slight concentration, and she took a step closer to
Quatre. �You�re�Quatre Raberba Winner,
right?�
The
boy smiled cheerfully and nodded.
��Are
you sure?�
��Sure?�
She
reached out and put a hand on Quatre�s chest, feeling around. �Yeah, I guess so�poor guy, your voice
hasn�t broken yet huh?�
There
was a thud from across the room, and when Nataku and Quatre looked, it had come
from Duo, whose chair had fallen over backwards from him bursting into
laughter.
�I
don�t think that�s funny at all, Duo!�
Quatre sniffed.
Nataku
sweatdropped. �Anou�..anyway�I know the
rest of you guys too! Heero Yuy, I was
told a lot about you�I really want to see you in action.� She gave a cute grin, but a �Hn� was the
only response she received. �Okay,
quiet type, gotcha.� She walked over to
Trowa, peering up at him. �You can see,
can�t you?�
���
�You�ve
just been spoken to in the form of a question, that usually implies that some
sort of reply from the second party, namely you, would be necessary. Since this was a simple question, a simple
yes or no answer will do.�
�Yes.�
�Thank
you.� She smiled. �I know you too, Trowa Barton. And I have a
present for you.�
��For
me?�
The
braided girl took his hand and made him hold it palm up, then dug around in her
pocket until she found what she was looking for. She then placed the brass-coloured bullet in his hand. �It�s not much, but if you�re a good boy I
might give you more, and then maybe eventually you won�t have the ammo problem
anymore.�
Trowa
apparently didn�t find the little joke amusing. Nataku sighed. �You are
no fun.�
�So,
Taku-chan!� Duo called as he pulled himself from the floor. �Did you have anything with you, or just
your sweet little self?�
�I
only had a couple things��
�Well
let�s go get �em. We�ve got a room for
ya in the living quarters.�
�Great!�
Nataku
and Duo walked over to the Gundam Igtenos, climbing up to the catwalk that went
by the cockpits of the other Mobile Suits as well. She opened up the door of Igtenos, and leaned inside the cockpit
to grab the small bag she had tucked away.
�Um�listen,
Taku-chan�� Duo spoke up from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder at
him. �I�ve never had any family
before. This is�really new for me.�
�You�re
not gonna get all sappy on me are ya aniki?�
She closed the cockpit door and turned to face him, smiling. �It�s new for me too�but we�ll just have to
get used to it. Don�t worry about
it. Just act like you�ve known me
forever! It certainly won�t be hard,
Doctor G told me I�m a lot like you.�
She paused, and gave that infamous grin. �Anyway, this is all I�ve got,� she held up the bag, �but I am
picking up something I shipped from the colony.�
Duo
blinked. �You can�t have stuff
shipped--"
�Oh
hush. I know enough not to ship it
here! I�m picking it up at the post office.
Besides, it�s�kinda big, I don�t think they�d ship it any farther than
they had to.� She sweatdropped.
�What
is it?�
�It�s
a surprise.�
���
�So are you gonna show me my room or are we
gonna hang out on the catwalk all day?�
�Sorry,
this way.�
Duo
led her down into the living quarters of the hangar, and the very last room at
the end of the hall way was the door to which he opened. �Here ya go.�
She
peered inside. �Hmm�cozy, huh?� she
said with a hint of sarcasm. The room
was small and simple, with a single door that Nataku assumed was to a closet, a
twin size bed against the wall, not a single window, and a small bedside table
at the head of the bed, with a lamp and a drawer.
�Hey,
don�t knock it, if you were with Doctor G I�m sure you remember those damn
cots, six people in a room snoring, hardly get any sleep. We�re lucky to have rooms to
ourselves.� He coughed. �And, uh�since there�s a girl around now,
it�s probably good that we do.�
"Yeah.
It�d be a real tragedy if any of you guys saw me naked, huh aniki?"
Duo
puffed up protectively. "Of course! I have a sister now, so if you decide
to date any of these wackjobs they have to have my permission."
"Aren�t
you sweet." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I�m gonna get
settled in now, call me if anything happens okay?"
"Right.
Ja, Taku-chan!" Duo promptly bolted.
Nataku walked into the room, closing the door behind her, and sat down on the small bed. It was surprisingly soft. "Well�this is gonna be better than I thought." She opened up the small bag she carried and first removed a gun, placing it under the pillow. Then she took out a small black leatherbound book, tied shut with a string. She sighed as she ran her fingers over it. Her journal, the one she�d written in every day since she was taken to Doctor G�s. She tugged on the string and let it fall into her lap, carefully opening the book to whatever page it happened to land on.
Her
face fell as she recognised the handwriting of her younger self, only four or
five years after she had moved to the hangar where Igtenos was being built.
That day�it still hurt her thinking about the possibilities, but she read the
entry anyway�
Today
my very best friend Hitomi said something that disturbed me. We were working on
Igtenos, as usual, and she suddenly spoke.
�I
envy you, being in the military,� is what she said to me. Odd already, but it gets
worse.
�I
wish I could be a pilot.�
�Who
says you can�t?� was my answer.
�I
don�t have a suit�� Hitomi paused, and when she looked to me, I saw her eyes
had lit up. �I know! I�ll join OZ!�
I
cringed. I know we�re both a bit too young to fully know what�s going on, but I
was sure she had to know that OZ was the enemy. �But then we�d be enemies. We�d
have to fight each other.�
She
only seemed to brighten. �It�ll be alright. If we ever see each other in
battle, we�ll just disable each other�s suits, and not kill each other.�
�Alright.�
This stung me. I silently prayed that we would never meet each other, or even
better, that Hitomi would never join OZ. But somehow I know that she will. I
have a bad feeling about this�
Nataku
sighed, dropping back to lay on the bed. "Hitomi, please don�t make me
kill you�"
A
red light went on in the hallway, and Duo burst into the room. "Taku-chan,
mission. Hurry up!"
"Right,
coming!" Nataku hopped up from the bed, and ran into the main hangar with
her brother.