how angels are born

PART 4

Virg lined up each black duffle bag on the ground next to the black jeep. Duo lay out the same amount of guns and ammo in front of each of the eight bags. Zech’s voice could be heard over the main speakers.
“We’ll be there in about 2 minutes everyone,” he said.

Heero, Quatre, Wufei and Trowa entered the docking bay. They each walked up to a duffle bag and began placing their guns and ammo in the bags. Finally, Une and Zechs arrived and began doing the same.

“Everyone’s been given the same amount of explosives and weapons. We set it so that the explosives each one of you are carrying are on a different frequency to everyone else, just uncase any of you don’t have time to set your explosives. So whatever bombs you set, will be the only ones that explode when you detonate them.” Virg said. She handed everyone a small black box. “These are how we’ll all communicate with each other. If you’re going to detonate the explosives, you better give everyone a clear warning.”

Heero opened his box. It was a head set with one ear piece and a microphone that stretched out to the corner of his mouth. Everyone began loading their stuff into the two jeeps. Heero ran into out of the docking bay.
“Heero! Where you you going?” Duoled.led.

Heero ran back to the rec room. He’d left his laptop there. It was open and the screen was flashing.
‘A message.. now?’ he thought to himself. He clicked the screen and Dr J’s face came up on the screen.
“Heero. I hoped that I’d catch you in time.” Dr j said.
Heero crossed his arms.
“What is it J?”
Dr J adjusted his glasses.
“I need you to bring me a copy of Emanuel’s research. The information could be useful to us.” Heero grumbled.
“Why should I J?” he grumbled.
“If you get it, I’ll let you give it to us in person, so you can see your mother.” Dr said. He cancelled the transmission before Heero had a chance to respond. He closed the laptop and left it on the shuttle.
When he returned to the docking bay, Duuatruatre, Wufei and Trowa had already left in the black Jeep. Virg already had the engine running.

“Hurry up Heero!” she yelled.
Heero placed his duffle bag in the back of the jeep and jumped in the passenger seat next to Virg. Soon as Heero had sat down, Virg pressed the pedal and they were off.

“Where’d you go Heero?” Une asked.
“I forgot my laptop in the rec room. When I got there, Dr J left me a message. He said that we’re to bring back a copy of Emanuel’s research with us.” Heero said.
“Why would he want a copy? He’s the one who was going to send us to destroy the place.” Virg yelled. Lady Une put her sunglasses on.
“There are things going on in that base that not even you know about Virginia. I can understand why they’d want to see the results of Emanuel’s research.” she said.
“What do you mean Une?” Virg asked. “What else did they do there?”
“You’ll soon find out Virg.” Lady Une said.

“Looks like the other’s already went in,” Zechs said.
“I hope they left us some treats,” Virg said. She tied up her hair then put on the head piece and smiled at Heero. She then put on a pair of blue glasses and pressed the side of the lens. Heero looked at the brunette.

“Virg, are those what I think they are?” Heero asked. “You didn’t destroy them with your guardian suit!” Virg nodded.
Zechs looked at Heero.

“What are you talking about Heero?” Zechs asked.
“The glasses are from Virg’s Guardian Suit. They performed the same purpose as the helmet in the Epyon suit.” Heero replied.
“Then why are you using them if you destroyed your mobile suit?” Zechs asked Virg.
“I modified them. I put trackers on everyone’s duffle bag. If I click the side of my glasses, I can pin point where everyone is.” She replied.

“Enough talk. Let’s go.” Lady Une tucked a pistol in the back of her pants and they were off.

“This place is creepy,” Duo said into the microphone on his head piece. He could hear Wufei’s voice through the headphone.
“If your scared Maxwell, you can always go back,”
“I’m the Great Destroyer. People fear me! I don’t fear them Dragon boy.”
“You’re weak Shinigami,” Wufei said stubbornly.
“Shut up guys,” scolded Trowa. “I cant hear anything but you two yelling loudly. My ear hurts from the sound of you two babbling,” Trowa said into the microphone. Quatre giggled. He held up his pistol as he turned another corner. Then stopped and placed a small explosive in the bottom corner of the hallway.

“Guys, we’re here.” Virg’s voice could be heard through the headphones. “Did ya save us any treats?”
Duo held the microphone on his head piece.
“I don’t think there are any treats to go around Virg. There’s no one here.” He said.
“Virg, you and I should stay together,” Heero said. He remembered his dream and he wanted to make sure that nothing would happen to her.
“Alright,” she said. Quatre heard their conversation through his headphones.
“Virg, I suggest you and Lady Une stay together. You both know this place and I think it’d be better if you two stick together. Heero you come with me,” Quatre instructed. Virg nodded and walked down the dark and narrow hallways with Une.
“Where are you located Quatre?” Heero asked.
“Corridor C5. I’ll wait for you here.”

“Where is everyone? I’ve opened almost every door I’ve walked past, and everything’s abandoned or empty. Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Duo complained.
“Just keep looking around,” Wufei muttered.

Heero Qua Quatre around the corner. He took off his headpiece.
“You didn’t let me walk with Virg,” He said. Quatre also took off his headpiece so no one could hear their conversation.
“I figured that if u didn’t walk with Virg, then you’re dream might never happen. I’m just being cautious,” Quatre replied. He smiled and both pilots put their headpieces back on. Quatre shone the torch that was attatched to the top of his gun onto a large yellow door.

“That’s funny,” he said to Heero. “Why is this door different.”
Heero walked up to the old rusty door and examined it. He ran his finger along the door and looked back at his finger.
“Dusty. Looks like it hasn’t been used in years,” Heero said. He hit the open switch and the door flew open. The room was dark and empty.
“Everything’s been abandoned. It’s like everyone just packed up and left,” Quatre said. “Let’s try some of the other rooms.”

Duo walked around the dark corner of the long narrow hallways.
‘I wish someone would at least turn on the lights,’ he thought to himself. He turned around to see if anything was behind him. As he turned back around, he walked into someone.
“Oomph!” Duo grumbled. The braided boy took a step back and shone his torch on whoever he walked into.
“Do you mind not shining that in my face baka,” Wufei said stubbornly as he squinted. “So much for stealthy Duo. You’re getting rusty.”

Duo huffed.
“Geeze Chan,” Duo’s face went back fronoyenoyed to his usual self. “Did you find anything?” he asked. Wufei shook his head.
“Something’s not right. There’s nothing and no-one here.” Wufei said back. The two boys headed back down the narrow passages.

“I remember a door that Emanuel never let me go in,” Virginia whispered. “I just don’t know where it is. Oh! This place is like a bloody maze!” she yelled. Lady Une rubbed her ear.
“Stop yelling. I can hear you know,” she scolded.
“Sorry.”
“I’m guessing that Emanuel’s extended his base underground. That would explain why there’s no one here. Come on. I know where that door is.”
Virg followed Lady Une down the long and winding hallways. After a few minutes, they reached a large red door.

“This is it! I remember Emanuel would punch in 2675 and go in. I saw him type it into the keypad once, but I never dared to go through,” Virg whispered. She walked up to the keypad and typed in the four numbers.

A little light on the keypad flickered from red to green. The door flew open. The room past the door was bright. There was no one inside. On one side of the room was a large view screen that took up the whole wall. On the other end was a large window.
“Guys, Une and I have found something. I think you should all get here now. We’re in corridor G7,” Virg whispered through the microphone.

* * * *

“Whoah!” Duo whispered in amazement. The eight soldiers cautiously walked around the room.
“You guys should take a look at this!” Duo waved his hand, ushering the others to the window of the far side of the room.
“I can’t believe it!” Zechs whispered.

On the other side of the window was large room, about the size of a football field. On the far end, directly opposite the eight pilots was the Destiny MS. It was hooked up to wires and computers. Men in orange overalls walked too and from the suit, writing things on their clipboards or readjusting things.

“Is thim? im? The commander guy?” Quatre asked. He pointed to a man near the right foot of the mobile suit. The man had light brown hair and was tall. His eyebrows were dark and forked. He wore a long black cape, which was draped over one shoulder. He possessed a large deep scar on his right cheek. The man was talking to one of the workers in the orange overalls.

“That’s Emanuel alright,” Une replied. Virg turned and walked to the main computer next to the window. She sat down and began typing.

“What are you doing?” Duo asked. Virg continued to look at the screen as she spoke.
“I’m setting the self destruct for this place to go off in an hour. If we haven’t detonated our explosives by then for some reason, then this place will blow automatically.” She replied. She stopped and frowned. “I set the self destruct sequence, but there’s something weird here.” Virg pointed to the map on the screen. “This room is completely cut off from the rest of the base. It has the highest security too. I’m going to go check it out.”

Virg got up from her chair and headed for the door.
“Virg wait!! There’s something going on down there!” Duo yelled. He pointed out the window. Virg re-joined the rest of the team and looked down at what was going on.

“It’s Emily!” Heero gasped.
“And they’ve got Hilde too!” Duo gasped also. The group looked down at the soldiers holding Hilde’s and Emily’s arms. Emanuel walked up to them and began talking. He then ushered the soldiers to take the two girls away.

“We have to save them too.. Gee.. this just got more interesting,” Zechs muttered. Duo glared at him. Zechs toostepstep back and raised his hands.
“What!? It was a joke! Don’t be so serious Maxwell..”

Heero turned from the window to the rest of the group.
“Emanuel probably knows we’re here now. Duo. You, Zechs, Trowa and Quatre go and rescue the girls. Virg, Une and Wufei, come with me,” Heero instructed. “We’ll go and check out that room. Maybe there we can get a copy of Emanuel’s research.”

The 2 groups split up and headed on their own separate missions.

“And how do you propose we get into that room? It’s got the highest security,” Virg said to Heero as they ran down the halls.
“If we shoot the guards, the gunshots will be heard,” Une added.

The four reached the large yellow door.
“Where are the guards? The cameras?” Wufei whispered. Virg shrugged.
“Maybe there aren’t any. Maybe it has a higher security clearance rather than guards!?” she replied.

Heero examined the side of the door. There was a plain green pad attached to the wall.
“Fingerprint ID,” Heero said to the others.
“Fuck,” Virg muttered. Heero turned to lady Une.
“When you were training here, did you know about this room?” he asked her. Lady Une nodded.
“I’ve been in here once, when..” she drifted off. “Emanuel added my fingerprints to the access data so that I could come in here. He’s probably deleted them by now.”

“Try anyway. You never know. For all we know, he probably didn’t think of deleting your ID.. I hope,” Heero answered.

Lady Une shrugged and moved to the green pad and placed her hand on it. A red light scanned her hand. The little red light next to the pad turned green.
“Phew!”

The thick yellow door flung open. The room was dark. There were six large, round green lights shining down from the roof. Each light shone down onto a large six foot glass cylinder.

“What the f...” Wufei mumbled.
Each glass cylinder was filled with liquid. Virg walked up to one of the cylinders and placed her hand on it.

“Who would do something like this?” Virg asked.
She looked inside the cylinder to see a small boy, about the age of 2 or 3. He had short dark brown hair. He seemed to be sleeping. A tube ran from the top of the cylinder to the boys mouth. A large nozzle that was attached to the tube covered his mouth and nose. The boy was wearing a pair of black underwear as he floated in the cylinder.

“This.. It’s.. Who..” Wufei muttered. Virg took her hand off the glass. She looked to her right and saw five other cylinders, each with a small toddler in each. But one cylinder was completely empty.

Heero looked up at the top of the first cylinder where Virg was standing.
“Yuy,” he muttered. Virg turned around.
“What did you say Heero?”

Heero pointed to the top he che cylinder. In large black lettering spelled ‘YUY’.
“Oh my go..” Wufei drifted off. He looked at the remaining cylinders.
“Maxwell, Winner, Barton, Chan..” He gulped as he read the word ‘Chan’.
“Anista,” Virg read the sixth and final cylinder. She turned to lady Une.

“Who’s Anista?” she asked Une.
“You should be asking ‘who are these children?’” Une replied.

The four soldiers could all hear Duo’s voice from the headphone on their headpieces.

“Guys, Emily’s been . Si. Situation is critical.. I don’t think she’s going to make it.”


* * * *

“Come on! We don’t have much time!” Duo shouted at Hilde and Emily. Duo took Emily’s hand and ushered everyone out of the room. He then followed with Emily.

“Stop right there!” a deep voice boomed from behind them. The six turned around to face who it was that called them.
“Emanuel,” Quatre mumbled. Emanuel was standing opposite the group holding a pistol directly at them.
“Stop or I’ll shoot,” Emanuel boomed. Duo, Quatre, Trowa and Zechs each held up their own gun.
“It seems you’re out matched and out done Emanuel,” Zechs commented. Emanuel smiled.

“We’ll soon see,” Emanuel muttered. In one quick move, Emanuel fired his gun and bolted out the side corridor.
“After him!!” Zechs shouted as he led the pursuit. He, along with Quatre and Trowa sped around the corner. Duo and Hilde remained where they were.

“Mr Duo..” Emily muttered. Duo hadn’t even noticed that he’d let go of her hand to get his gun. He looked down and saw the little girl lying on the floor. Blood was pouring onto the floor, creating a large puddle.

“Oh! Duo, what are we going to do!” Hilde whispered as she examined the wound. She put pressure on the little girl’s waist to try and stop the bleeding. Duo placed his hand on the microphone on his head piece.

“Guys, Emily’s been shot. Situation is critical..” he turned his back to the two girls. “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”
The little girl lifted her hand onto Hilde’s.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
“For what?” Duo asked as he turned around.
“For.. for getting in the way.” The little girl lowered her head back onto the floor. Duo sat by her side. He could feel the blood on the floor soaking into the knees of his pants.
“You weren’t in the way Em. We’ve all fallen in love with you in this short time.” He whispered. The little girl gasped for air.
“I love you guys t.. too..” she said with her last breath. Her hand dropped to the floor.

“She’s gone,” Duo said, not realizing his microphone was still on.


“You go that way, I’ll go this way,” Zechs yelled as the three pilots reached a fork in the hallway.

* * * *

“Emily’s gone..” Virg mumbled. She lowered her head.

“This cant be right..” Heero muttered as he typed away on the computer. Virg and Wufei were still examining the five toddlers in the glass cylinders. They turned and stood behind Heero.

“This says that there were two girls taken when operation destiny began. Une and a girl named Marianna Anista. M1 and M zero,” Heero continued. He pulled up the file on Anista. There was a picture of a girl at the age of about 15. She had long brown wavy hair and bright green eyes.

“V.. Virginia, that’s you,” Wufei mumbled. Virg’s bright green eyes widened.
“H.. how .. that’s me, but the computer says the profile is from 20 years ago,” Virg stood in shock. Lady Une pointed to the bottom corner of the screen, just below the picture.

“Marianna Anista died 20 years ago. When Operation Destiny was created, a 10 year old girl was chosen to operate the destiny suit. I was also taken away from my parents shortly after birth and was to be raised to also proceed with the mission. When I was 5, Anista died. She’d fallen from the suit in a freak accident and broke her neck. The scientists that guided each of you in operation meteor cloned Anista. That clone is now known as Virginia.” She explained.

Virg shook her head in disbelief.
“That.. I’m a.. no! It’s not possible!! You knew about all of this didn’t you Une!?” she yelled.. she backed away slowly from the computer and walked up to the glass cylinders. She put her hand on the glass and looked up at the toddler named ‘Maxwell’.
“Then these kids are clones too?” Virg asked. Une nodded.

“By the age of the toddlers, I’m guessing that Emanuel somehowned ned each Gundam Pilot during the wars a few years ago,” Une replied. She turned to Virg and pointed to the last empty cylinder. “You were born in that cylinder seventeen years ago, Virginia.”

“Guys, there’s something else. It says that the last clone that was in the container marked ‘Anista’ was born seven years ago. The profile says that she’s also a clone from Anista. It says that she was named.. Emily,” Heero stopped and turned to face Virg who was now standing beside the empty cylinder.

Virg looked back at Heero. Her bright green eyes looked into the Prussian blue eyes of the Japanese pilot.
“Heero, just make the copy of everything for Dr J, and let’s get out of here. I don’t want to be in this room anymore,” Virg closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tears.

‘Copy Complete’
Heero hit eject on the disk drive. Just as he was bout to pick up the disk, Zech’s voice could be heard booming through the headphones.
“Emanuel knows we’re here. He’s on the loose. Get out of the base now! We’ve all set our explosives, now let’s go and blow this place up NOW!”
Heero, Virginia, Wufei and Une ran out of the room. Zech’s voice could still be heard over the headphones.

“I think he’s heading your way guys! Go now! We’ll meet you outside!” Zech yelled. Heero and the others headed out the door and down the dark and narrow hallways.

“Shit! The disk!!” Heero yelled. He stopped and turnedund und to go get the disk. Wufei and Une continued to escape. Virg stood in the middle of the hallway and spread her arms out.

“I cant let you pass Heero,” She insisted. She pulled a gun from the back of her pants and cocked it. She then pointed it at his head.
“There are things here that we shouldn’t have seen. No one needs to see this place. Emily’s dead because of ie hae have the chance to leave here and never come back; But only if we leave now Heero.” Virg pleaded.
Heero shook his head. Virg continued.
“I’ve set the explosives to blow everything up. This place should never have been created.”
“No. I won’t leave. I need the disk!” Heero shouted. He tried to pass Virginia but she placed the end of the barrel of the gun on his chest.

Heero began to remember what happened next in his dream. He knew that if he pursued, then he’d get Virg and himself shot.
“Fine. Let’s go,” Heero yelled, grabbing Virg’s hand. He pulled her down the hallway.
As they were running, a shot was fired. Heero saw the bullet bounce off the wall near his shoulder. Heero quickly ran around the corner, pulling Virg along with him.

* * * *

“Come on Hilde!!” Duo yelled as he began shooting towards the guards around the corner. “There’s nothing we can do about Emily now! Let’s go!” he yelled.
Hilde stood and caught the gun that Duo threw to her. She cocked it and stood behind Duo. Duo grabbed Hilde’s hand and pulled her along the narrow and dark hallways.

“The hallway’s clear. Let’s make a run for it now while we’ve still got the chance.” He muttered. Duo and Hilde stopped as they reached a fork in the hallway. Duo let go of Hilde’s hand and held his gun with both hands. He scoped the left, then the right.
“All clear. Let’s go,” he whispered. Hilde nodded and watched Duo continue to run. Hilde quickly followed.

“AHH!” Hilde shouted. She could feel a sharp pain in her leg. Unable to hold herself up, Hilde fell to the floor.
“Duo!! Help!” she cried, but Duo had already run around the next corner. She turned to the guard who shot her and fired. The guard screamed as he fell to the floor.
“Shit! Help! Duo!” Hilde cried. She stumbled to her feet, applying all her weight to her good foot. She tried to hop along the long and winding hallways without crying out in pain.

Hilde reached another intersection in the dark labyrinth. She didn’t even bother to check if there were guards and began to turn the corner. Hilde stopped in her tracks as she saw a guard in his bright orange overalls come around the next corner. The man aimed his gun at Hilde.

“Watch out!” Wufei yelled as he pushed Hilde into the left corridor. The bullet zinged off the wall and missed the two of them. Wufei, still holding onto Hilde, slammed his shoulder into the ground as he tried to break her fall. Hilde landed right on top of Wufei.
“Wufei! Are you alright?” Hilde cried. Wufei scrunched up his face.
“No time! Let’s get out of here!” Wufei looked at her bleeding shin. “Can you walk?”

Wufei could hear Duo’s voice through the headphone.
“Guys, I’ve lost Hilde! She was right behind me!” Duo cried.
Wufei groaned.
“Maxwell, she’s alright. I’ve got her and we’re on our way out now!”

* * * *

“Don’t stop!” he yelled back at Virg. “No matter what, keep going!”
Heero felt as if he’d been running for what seemed forever. Finally, He and Virg reached the rest of the soldiers and threw their duffle bags into the red jeep.

“Blow this place!” Heero yelled. Zechs hit the detonation buttons then explosions could be seen throughout the base.

“I hope this is the last of operation destiny,” Virg smiled.
“Yeah, but we didn’t get the disk,” Heero grumbled.
Duo smiled at Heero and Virg.

“What are you smiling at?” Heero frowned.
The braided boy reached his hand to the back of his pants. He grinned from ear to ear as he pulled out a red disk.

“I figured you forgot this,” Duo smiled. “I was still following Emanuel when I passed the room you guys went to check out. I saw this disk still in the drive. I saw the babies in the tubes. You better explain all that to us too you know!” Duo explained.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. We’ll debrief each other when we get back.” Une ordered.

* * * *

Everyone sat at or around the dining table back at Heero’s old safehouse. Hilde sat with her leg up on Wufei’s knees as he bandaged up the wound.
Virg sat outside under the shade on the balcony. She sat on a deckchair and watched the rain as it blanketed down onto the city. She could faintly hear Heero and the others explain what happened in the base. She didn’t pay attention to what they were saying. She let her thoughts drift off.

‘I’m a clone? Am I real? Virginia doesn’t exist. I’m just a copy of a girl named Marianna. If I wasn’t created, would anything change? I have no parents. No family. All I have that keeps me in this world is Heero.. Duo.. the others.’

Virg looked out at a puppy trying to find shelter under a tree.

‘Emily’s dead. All the clones are dead. All except me. I’m the only evidence of that place left. Do I have to be destroyed too?’

Heero pulled out his laptop and booted it up.
“I’ll inform Dr J that we’ve destroyed the base and that we’ve got the disk. He said that if we got the disk, I could hand it to him in person so that I could meet my mr.” r.”

Duo looked out the door. He could see Virginia sitting on the balcony.
“Be right back,” Duo said as he got up from his seat. He walked out towards Virg. He stopped at the door to the balcony.

“Lovely weather isn’t it?” Duo joked as he looked out at the rain.
“I wouldn’t know. I’m not real,” She muttered. Duo walked out to where she was sitting. Virg had pulled her knees up to her chest. Duo pulled out another chair and sat directly opposite her.

“Of course you’re real. Don’t think you’re not real because of the way you don’t have parents. I don’t know who my real parents are! But I do have family. And so do you. You’ve got a brother named Heero who loves you very much. The scientists are like fathers to you because they raised you. You’ve got lots of friends who also love the person you’ve become. I love you. I don’t care if you came out of a test tube or a cabbage patch. I love you.” Duo held Virg’s hand. Virg smiled slightly. Her bright green eyes looked into Duo’s.

“I love you too,” V,” Virg whispered. Her eyes became watery. Duo watched as a tear trailed down Vi che cheek. He cupped her face in his hands. Wiping away the tear with his thumb, Duo bent forward and kissed her gently on the lips.

* * * *

“I’ll send you the co-ordinates now Heero,” Dr J smiled. Heero wrote them down and terminated the connection.
“Do you want us to tag along when you meet her?” Quatre asked. Heero shook his head.
“It’s alright. I might ask Virg to cohoughough.. I think she’s got a few things to ask the scientists.” Heero turned and walked out of the room along with Trowa and Quatre. Lady Une looked at Zechs. Zechs was looking out to the balcony. Lady Une followed Zech’s line of sight. He had a clear view of Duo and Virg out on the balcony.

Zechs looked back at Une.
“She’s going to be okay,” He said to Une. Une smiled back at him.
“I think it’s our queue to go now,” Une said as she stood up. Zechs and Lady Une said their good byes and left.

Wufei closed the door behind Zechs and Une, then sat back down next to Hilde. Wufei scrunched up his face when he accidentally banged his shoulder against the back of the chair.
“Wufei! Are you alright?” Hilde cried. Wufei nodded.
“I’ll be fine,” He replied arrogantly. Hilde sat back in her chair. She understood that Wufei was an arrogant guy, so she wasn’t angry about the way he responded.
Wufei looked down at Hilde’ bandaged shin. He lifted her leg up so her foot sat on his knees.

“Good thing the bullet only scraped the skin,” Wufei said as he looked into her bright blue eyes.
“Yeah. Thanks for saving me Wu,” Hilde smiled. “You were really brave. I guess you think I’m weak now huh?” she bowed her head. Wufei put her foot back down and moved his chair closer. He placed his fingers under her chin and lifted her head till her eyes met his.

“You’re very strong Hilde. Even for a woman. I’m honored to know you,” Wufei whispered. Hilde smiled. She saw Wufei moving in closer. She closed her eyes and moved her lips towards his. She could feel his lips press up against her own. Wufei’s tongue pushed its way through her lips. She moaned slightly as she mimicked Wufei. She caressed his tongue with hers. Wufei placed his arms around Hilde’s hips and lifted her up and placed hero hio his lap with one fluid movement. Hilde moaned slightly when she realized Wufei had lifted her up. She put her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him deeply.

* * * *

“What’s going on here huh?” Quatre said sarcastically. Heero, Trowa and Heero followed Quatre onto the balcony. They stood around Virginia and Duo who were liplocked. Virg and Duo released from their kiss and looked up at the three gundam pilots standing in front of them.

“What?” Duo joked. He grinned cheekily from ear to ear.
“Everything alright?” Heero asked. Virg nodded.
“All fine,” she shrugged and smiled slightly.

“You wana come with me to space? J’s given me the co-ordinates of the satellite their on. I’m going to finally see my mother.” Heero asked.

Virg nodded.
“Yeah. Alright,” she said as she stood up. She took a step closer to Heero and hugged him. Heero smiled.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” Heero said softly.
The five pilots exited the balcony and headed for the kitchen.

Hilde was looking through the cupboards and Wufei sat at the table.
“Don’t you guys ever go shopping? There’s nothing to eat here!” she squealed. Wufei rolled his eyes.
“Women..” he muttered. Hilde turned and glared at him, then smiled.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s all go out for pizza!” Duo smiled as he headed for the door.

* * * *

“Heero..”
“Yeah.”
“You know how you’re going to see your mum finally..”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think..” Virg looked down at her fidgeting hands.
Heero turned to the brunette and placed his hand on hers.

“What is it?” he asked. Virg looked back at Heero.
“Do you think.. She’ll let me call her Mother too?..” she mumbled.

Heero smiled.
“I don’t see why she wouldn’t.” he kissed her on the forehead.

“We’re nearly there guys,” Duo said as he steered the rolsrols of the shuttle. “Oh! Hey, we’ve got a call from Relena!” Duo hit a red button below the view screen. Relena’s face popped up on the screen.

“Hey Relena!” Virg, Heero and Duo all seemed to say at once.
“Well! I didn’t know I’d be so welcome!” she smiled. “I’m just calling to see if later this week you could come back down to earth. I want all of you to accompany me and the others on a yacht cruise. I’ve already talked to Quatre and to Hilde, and she said she’s bringing Wufei with her..”
Duo raised an eyebrow.

“Wufei?”

Relena smiled and nodded.

“Yeah.. Hilde said her and Wufei had gotten .. er.. a lot closer lately.” Relena said.

“Woah! I would never have guessed!” Virg smiled. “Good on Hilde!” she said as she looked at Heero.

“Yeah, we’ll be down on Earth again hopefully soon in the next day or two. Oh! We have to go now Relena, but we’ll give you a call when we get to Earth okay?” Duo replied, then cancelled the transmission.

“Well guys, we’re at the co-ordinates Dr J gave us. I just don’t see a sattelite .. or anything anywhere!” Duo said. Virg got up from her seat.

“That’s because they’re in cloak .. baka,” Virg muttered. Heero giggled but muffled it with his hand.
“I’ll send out a transmission to anyone near by,” Virg grabbed the microphone. “This is the shuttle X549G. We’re accompanying Gundam Pilot Heero Yuy. We request boarding clearance.”

A second later, the sattelite came out of cloak. It looked just like another resource satellite. A young female voice could be heard over the speaker.
“Dr J said he’s expecting you. You can land in the fourth hanger.”


Duo landed the shuttle and the three pilots got out of the shuttle. The five scientists stood in the docking bay, waiting for Heero and the others.
“Good to see you made it,” Dr G sniveled. Duo pulled the red disk out of his back pocket.

“You mean good to see the disk made it?!” he grumbled as G took the disk off him. Duo stuck his toungue out at G while he wasnt looking.

Heero Turned to DR J.
“Where’s my mother?” Heero asked. He had a crossed look on his face as he crossed his arms.
“You look like we’ve kept your mother hostage. Cheer up boy. She’ll be here in soon.” Dr G sniveled. The hanger door on the other side of the room flew open.
“Ah, here she is now..” Dr J said happily as he pointed towards the door.

A woman of her late thirties walked into thom aom and walked towards the group. Herght ght blue Japanese eyes gleamed as she caught sight of Heero. Heero saw the thin black haired woman and smiled. Virg turned to Duo.
“I’ve never seen Heero smile like that before..” She whispered to Duo. Duo nodded.
“Me neither. Usually we only see him smile when he’s got a cheeky grin, piloting Zero or when we crack jokes. No. This smile is different. He’s truly happy..” Duo whispered back.

Heero stood anxiously as the dark haired woman walked towards him.
“Ah, Eve..” Dr J said calmly and softly. “I’d like you to meet-“
“My son..” Eve said calmly. She stopped walking and stood about a foot away from Heero. They were eye level with each other. Heero had grown taller over the years and now he and Duo were Trowa’s height.
“M.. Mother?” Heero mumbled. The woman smiled.
“Heero.”