JT

This is it. My masterpiece. This is the fic that explains it all, well at least all that I have to explain as of now. I warn you: BE AFRAID. BE VERY AFRAID. Other than that, read on and enjoy! I hope you like it, I sure did. *sniff* I'm so proud of myself! Oh and in case you're wondering, Jeri Tyler is the name of my character in my version of Gundam Wing fanfics. She's not the most perfect person you'd meet, but I know you'll learn to love her. Tell me what you think and I'll try to continue on with the story. This is the first of three parts in the story so far. Note: I originally started this fic with my best friend Angel, that was back when I was called Cruiser. I kinda changed my name since then, but I still use the name Cruiser in the fic at certain times. As soon as I figure out how to link to other sites, I'll link this to Angel's (aka Uriko, Taiyo or Fae-chan) site and you can tell her what you think so far.

None of the original Gundam Wing characters belong to me in any way. The five new female Gundam pilots:Jeri Donnica, Katira, Kiara and Lucerous, do belong to me or were given to me with permission of other people. **Note: THE CHARACTER JERI TYLER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME*** SHE WAS ORIGINALLY CREATED AND DOES BELONG TO CRUISER, who so graciously helped me write these fanfictions whenever I didn't have the time to. (which was frequently ^_^) If you wish to use her character in any way, YOU MUST CONTACT HER AT HER SITE OR E-MAIL HER AND ASK FOR PERMISSION. Cruiser can be reached at SAILORCHCK@AOL.COM And E-Mail me at Celestial_Angel@Japan.com~THANKS AND ENJOY~

In the year A.C. 197, the United Earth Sphere Alliance, or rather the United Nations, was preparing to launch their newly established plan of action: Operation Rebirth. Their aspirations for complete pacifism were finally being fulfilled, the Earth and the Colonies were on a path to peace and equality. However, the OZ organization had other plans for the future of humanity; they decided that their goal was to do whatever they could to stop Operation Rebirth from being executed, even if it meant destroying the Earth's leaders. No one could stop them from sabotaging the plan, not even the Gundam Pilots.

Together, the two of them finished off the squadron, and OZ retreated. "Woohoo!!! That was fun! We sure taught OZ a thing or two, huh?" the strange pilot declared. Heero said nothing, just stared. "Why did you help me?" Heero asked. "What do you mean, did you think I was just going to let you die?" the other pilot answered, puzzled. "I'm not afraid to die, as long as my mission is fulfilled. That's all that matters." Heero said. "Well, your 'mission' is fulfilled. So, are you gonna tell me what you were doing in that colony? No one comes here other than OZ soldiers, and they don't even stay long." the other pilot replied.

"That's my business, thank you." Heero said, beginning to get annoyed at this pilot's enthusiasm. "Well, well...excuse me, Mr. Cranky. I was just wondering, you don't have to have a cow. Geez, what do I get for trying to be friendly? Rejection, that's what I get! I tell you, there's no respect, no respect at all!" the pilot said, yelling at Heero. Heero laughed at this little outburst, realizing he was being a little rude. "So, what are YOU doing at L6? I thought you just said there was nobody living here." Heero asked, raising an eyebrow. "As a matter of fact, this is my home colony. I was born, raised, and probably will die here. You from earth?" the stranger said, arms crossed across their chest.

" No, I'm actually from L1, but now I work on earth, as a part of the United Nations. What's your name?" Heero ventured. "Jeri Tyler is my name, kicking OZ's butt is my game; but you can just call me Jeri. What's yours?" Jeri said as-a-matter-of-faculty. "Name's Heero. Heero Yuy. I was sent here on a mission to destroy those carriers. Wait a second...what kind of mobile suit is that?" he said, curious. "Hello, are you blind? Can't you recognize a Gundam when you see one?" Jeri said, looking at Heero incredulously. Heero blinked a couple of times. "A Gundam? You pilot a Gundam? I didn't know there were any more made." he said unbelievingly. "You see, my Gundam wasn't 'made' like Wing Zero was, sugar. It just so happens that yours truly built it herself." Jeri stated proudly.

"You BUILT your Gundam? Incredible. Wait...HERSELF?" Heero said, still a little confused. "Oh, I can see why you'd misunderstand. I know, this'll help clear things up." Jeri said. She reached up and took off her goggles, revealing a pair of clear, sparkling, emerald green eyes. Then, she took off her baseball cap, her long, chestnut brown hair tumbling out from under it. She looked much more feminine now, and Heero was even more confused. "You're a girl? I've never met a female Gundam pilot. What's your Gundam's name?" he asked. "My Gundam? Oh, this is Cruiser. We've been cruisin' the galaxies for 'bout four years now. How long have you been piloting Wing Zero? I hear your Gundam's one of the most famous mobile suits during the wars. It must be an honor or something to be meetin' ya, right?" Jeri said, flashing a smile.

Jeri's smile didn't help to clear things up. Heero just stared at her in disbelief. 'She's beautiful, and so strong. She's nothing like any of the girls I've met. She just destroyed that whole fleet of mobile suits all by herself. I don't think she should have taken off those goggles. I can't stop looking into her green eyes. Wait, what am I saying? I've never had any interest whatsoever in a girl. Sure, Relena might have been cute, but she's an airhead. Anyway, I need to focus on my next mission.' Heero thought, shaking his head. "Heero, are you okay? You look like you're sick or something." Jeri asked, worried. "Yeah, I'm okay. Well, it was nice to meet you, Jeri. I'll be heading back to earth now." Heero responded.

"What in the world is taking Heero so long?" Duo Maxwell whined for the umpteenth time. Trowa Barton rolled his eyes. 'He can be so ANNOYING sometimes. I hope Heero gets here soon; he's the only one who knows how to make Duo shut up.' Trowa thought. "Relax, Duo. He'll be here soon, geez, can't you have a little patience?" the green-eyed Gundam pilot said. "Patience? Patience isn't in my vocabulary, I'm afraid I don't know the meaning of that word." Duo said lightly. "Of course it isn't, the only words in YOUR vocabulary fall under the category of death and destruction." Wufei Chang interrupted. "Of course, Wufei. The God of Death does not know the concepts of patience and such nonsense; Shinigami's motto is kill 'em before they have a chance to kill you." The braided pilot answered. Everyone groaned.

Suddenly, Trowa's laptop started to beep, indicating an incoming message. "Heero's on his way...hmm." Trowa said, eyes widening. Quatre Winner came over to the laptop, looking over Trowa's shoulder. "Hmm? What's that supposed to mean?" The blond Arabian pilot asked, bewildered. "According to Heero's message, it appears that he has someone with him, but he didn't say who it was." Was Trowa's reply. This caught the attention of all the pilots. "Someone's with him? I wonder who it is..." Quatre said. The same question seemed to be on everyone's mind. "Well, it seems we're just about to find out; Heero, and whoever he's got with him, just landed at the base and are coming to the hangar." Trowa said. "Well, what do you guys say we go meet this 'mystery person?" Duo asked, looking around. Everyone nodded, and the four pilots headed in the direction of the hangar. They most likely expected another boy who was a mobile suit pilot; they were in for the surprise of their lives.

"Wait a minute, sugar...how many other Gundam pilots did you say there were? Four?" Jeri asked, powering down Cruiser. "Yeah. There's Duo, who pilots Deathscythe; Trowa, his Gundam's name is Heavyarms; Quatre, he's got Sandrock; and lastly, Wufei, the pilot of Nataku." Heero replied. "Well, this is going to be fun; I wonder if I'll be able to remember them all." She answered. "Trust me, you will. I KNOW you'll remember Duo; he's about as weird as they come, but he's an excellent pilot. And Wufei, he's got this whole 'justice' thing going with him; don't tell Wufei, but the guys and I nicknamed him Justice Boy." Heero said, smiling a little. "Justice Boy? Wow, he's gotta be a real pain in the butt, right?" Jeri said, stifling a laugh. Heero just nodded, which caused Jeri to crack up.

"Well, let's just get this over with." Jeri said, with a determined look on her face. Heero suddenly got an idea. "Wait a minute, Jeri. What do you say we have a little fun?" he asked, which caused Jeri to raise an eyebrow. "What're ya up to, sugar? I haven't known ya for very long, but so far, I know you're capable of just about anything." She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Here, come here and I'll show you." The Japanese pilot replied. He whispered his plan in Jeri's ear, this made her laugh out loud. "Excellent, Heero. If you're as good at pulling pranks as you are at piloting Wing Zero, I think I've got some competition." Jeri said, still giggling. "I'm okay, I guess; it's Duo you should watch out for when it comes to pulling pranks." He replied.

"Hey Heero, what took you so long?" Duo, a.k.a. Shinigami asked. "Sorry, Zero was low on fuel." Heero lied. Duo cast a skeptical glance towards the Japanese pilot, not completely believing his story. "So, who's this?" Trowa asked curiously. "Oh, this is Jeri. Jeri, I think you already know them." Heero said, gesturing towards the pilot at his side. "Yeah, I know them. Let me guess; you're Trowa, the blond is Quatre, the guy with the braid is Duo, and you must be Wufei. It's nice to meet y'all." Jeri responded in a fake-masculine voice. The other four boys blinked a couple of times, looked at each other and nodded.

"How'd you know?" Duo asked. "Lucky guess." Was Jeri's reply. 'He' stepped forward and shook Trowa's hand politely. "So, Jeri. What brings you to earth?" Quatre ventured. "I'm on a mission. But can't tell y'all; confidential and all, you know." Jeri responded. "Yeah, confidential. Anyway, why don't we all go inside, have a couple drinks, and get better acquainted?" Heero asked, trying not to laugh. 'This is great, Jeri's going along with this perfectly! I can't wait to see the look on their faces.' Heero thought, grinning inwardly. "Sounds good, let's go." Jeri replied. As soon as they were in the residing quarters, Heero stopped, grabbing Jeri's wrist. "Jeri, I think now's the time." Heero whispered to her. Jeri nodded slightly.

"Say, is it hot in here, or is it just me?" Jeri asked the five boys. Duo stared at the strange pilot. "Well, you do have a space suit on, it's probably stifling in that." He said. "You're right, and this hat is bugging me." Jeri replied, smiling. Duo just blinked. "Um...okay. Why don't you take off your gear and relax." The American suggested. Jeri and Heero exchanged glances. They both nodded. Jeri took off her glasses first, her eyes were still slightly hidden beneath the brim of the cap. Next, she slowly reached up to her hat, then quickly snapped it off. Her long hair flew out from under it, she shook it a little to tame it. She wiped her hand across her forehead.

"And now, to get rid of this annoying space suit." Jeri said. She unzipped the long front zipper and slid out of her black suit, which had (of course) green trim. What she had on shocked everyone, even Heero. Her clothes consisted of a long-sleeved, tight-fitting, black leather shirt, which had a criss-cross drawstring that held it together in the center. The shirt, to be frank, looked as if it had been painted on, it modeled Jeri’s curvaceous torso perfectly. The pants she was wearing, though, were of quite the contrast. Along with her leather shirt, she also had on some baggy camouflage pants, and forest green combat boots, tied together with black shoelaces.

On both hands were black, fingerless gloves, on her neck was a slightly heavy, ball-chain necklace. Her ears had about five holes in each of them, fitted with green and black studs and two small, silver hoops at the top. Heero might not have noticed it before, but the front section of her hair was streaked a light green on both sides of her face, lighting up her features a little. She also had a silver chain across her waist, where her shirt stopped short and part of her very tightly-muscled stomach showed.

Her choice of weaponry was very interesting indeed. She had two brown leather holsters slung across her hips in opposite directions. The holster to her left held a compact, shiny, silver gun; which, if you looked closely, had a small, taser-like device on the top. On the holster to her right, there was a silver, cylindrical object that had a round opening on both ends and a small, black button near one of the holes. None of the pilots had seen a weapon like this, it was very strange. She was also donned with a medium-sized, emerald green backpack on her back. If that wasn't enough, Jeri appeared to have some sort of sharp weapons on her back, beneath her backpack. There were two light, black leather straps that crisscrossed across her shoulders, forming an X in front of her body. These weapons were hidden beneath her backpack, so no one could see exactly what kind of weapons they were.

"Whoa, okay...this is a new thing. Um, so...you're a girl pilot?" Duo choked out, still staring at Jeri. Her style was a little odd, kind of a G.I. Jane look; but nonetheless, she was very attractive. Jeri looked at the five of them in the eyes, smirking a little. 'This is pretty funny. They probably don't realize that their jaws are almost to the floor. Better not tell them yet, this is just getting good.' She thought. "Yeah, I'm a girl. My full name is Janine Elizabeth Tyler. But I'll warn you about this one time; call me Janine, Elizabeth, Lizzie, Liz, Beth, or any name other than Jeri or Jeri Tyler, and you'll regret it. You do, and I won't guarantee that you'll live till tomorrow, got it?"

The five pilots just blinked. 'okay, this is going well.' Heero thought, trying to regain his composure. She was even more beautiful than he had imagined, her voice was low for a young woman, but it was rich and it complimented her. "Um, yeah, I've got a question. What's that thing in your right holster?" Duo asked, pointing to the strange weapon. "Oh, this? I'll show you." Jeri said, smiling. 'Wait till they check this baby out.' Jeri thought. She stepped backwards a little and pulled out the weapon. She held it horizontally in front of her with her left hand. Then, she pressed the black button on the right side. To their surprise, a bright green beam of light shot out of the right side, creating a humming noise. There also appeared to be a small button near her pinkie finger. She pressed that and a similar beam shot out of that side. She caught the look of surprise in the boys' faces and smiled. Jeri then swooped it around her a couple of times in great arches.

"Whoa! What is THAT? I've never seen anything like that before." Duo said, blinking a couple of times. "This is a double-bladed lightsaber. It's a really cool weapon to use; it has a stun mode, which knocks my opponent unconscious. It also has a kill mode, which, quite simply, annihilates anyone I wish to kill." Jeri stated. Duo whistled loudly. "Cool! I wish I had one of those, my job would be SO much easier." Duo said, gazing at the lightsaber longingly. "Cruiser actually has one of these lightsabers on him, connected to his right wrist. My job isn't exactly easier, but it goes a lot faster. Y'all have probably thought this yourselves before, but there are so many people to kill, and not that much time." She responded. "Ain't that the truth." Heero replied. They all laughed a little.

"Also, what are those things on your back?" it was Wufei who spoke this time. "Oh, yeah, almost forgot about those. I'll take 'em off too, they're not exactly heavy or anything, but I'll show y'all, just 'cause I'm so nice." Jeri said. She took off her backpack and set it on the floor near her feet. She unsheathed one of the weapons and revealed some sort of a miniature katana. It was small for a katana; they're usually pretty long and heavy, but it was very sharp and looked dangerous. The handle was black with a leather strap wound around it. Right above the handle, just before the blade, was a symbol that appeared to be carved by hand. She then pulled out the other sword, which was similar in appearance and size. This one, though, had green leather wound around it and a different symbol on it. The symbols were gold, but they were pretty small and one could only see what they were by looking closely.

"Okay, that's pretty cool. Can I see them?" Wufei asked, his eyes fixed on the mini-katanas. Jeri shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, I guess. But scratch them and die. Here, Duo. You can see my lightsaber if you want." She said. Duo's eyes lit up, he cautiously reached for the lightsaber. Jeri made sure to put the device on safety; if Duo actually hit someone, it would only leave that person numb for about an hour. Once the lightsaber was in his hands, Duo pressed one of the buttons, watching the beam of light shoot out of it. He swung it around slowly in front of him. "Cool." Was all he said. Jeri handed Wufei the katanas, amused at his fixated stare. He ran his fingers over the tip of the blade, firmly but not as to cut himself. His eye then caught the symbol on the sword. "Jeri? What does this symbol mean?" he asked, looking up. "That one? The one on the black sword symbolizes my ruling planet, Saturn. Right on the rounded edge of the handle is the symbol of my element, earth."

"And this one?" Wufei asked, indicating the sword with the green leather that was in his left hand. "The symbol of the green sword is my zodiac sign, Capricorn. Also, if you look at the bottom of the handle on that sword, you'll notice the letters JET. Those are my initials; but they're originally my father's. His name was Jacob Elijiah Tyler, he was the one who made the katanas. I got them as a birthday gift when I was thirteen, the same year I became a Gundam pilot. My father was a great man, devoted to complete pacifism; but...he...he died two years ago, was murdered under the hands of OZ."

Jeri looked down at her feet, her hands were folded behind her back. To her surprise, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Another hand reached to her chin and lifted her face upwards. Her gaze met the cool, intense, Prussian blue eyes of Heero. His eyes were usually hard and cold, but Jeri's story seemed to have an effect on them. Now, they were soft and full of concern. "Jeri, look at me. Listen...don't ever be afraid of what happened in the past. You're probably not going to believe this, but...well...just know that if there's ever a time that you need to let off some steam or just talk...I'll be here, okay? I'm always ready to listen to anything, all right? I know how it is to be alone, we all do. I know that being lonely sucks big time, so if you ever need someone to listen, I'm your man. Hey...are you okay?" Heero said, noticing that Jeri's usually cheery face was flushed, her green eyes lost their seemingly-eternal sparkle. A lone tear ran down her cheek, she didn't seem to notice it.

Just as Jeri looked like she was going to break down into tears, she sniffed and wiped away the tear with the back of her hand. She blinked a few times, shaking her head. "Thanks, sugar, it's mighty sweet of you. But I can't cry, not now, not ever again. Told myself I'd never cry again. Crying is a sign of weakness, and I can't afford to be weak. A Gundam pilot who's weak is someone who is a failure. Anyway, I'm sorry for all this. It's really kind of y'all to take me in like this." Jeri said, looking around at the five pilots. "Hey, Jeri. It's late, why don't you crash here, with us? There's a spare bedroom next to ours, if you want." Quatre came over to her and placed a kind hand on hers. "Thanks, Quatre. Thanks, y'all, I appreciate it. Sure is mighty sweet of you. I'll take up your offer on a spare bedroom, I'm all tuckered out." She replied, smiling her warm smile again.

Jeri went to her backpack and picked it up. Duo handed her back the lightsaber and Jeri returned it to the holster. Wufei handed her the katanas, smiling. Jeri sheathed them and stood up, brushing the hair out of her eyes. She tucked some hair behind her ear and sighed. "So, where to?" she asked, looking at Quatre. "This way, down the hall. It's the first door on your left." Quatre replied, leading her down the dimly lit hallway. "Geez, Quatre! How many rooms are here?" Jeri asked, laughing a little. "Actually, there are ten bedrooms; five on the left and five on the right. We always have guests, so it's good to have extra room." The blond replied.

"Thanks again, y'all, you don't know how much this means to me. Anyway, goodnight." Jeri said as she disappeared behind the doorway of her bedroom. Duo was standing next to Heero and leaned on his shoulder. "Man, where'd you find HER?" he asked. "Yeah, she's something, isn't she? I didn't find her; she found me. I was struggling with the mission to destroy the carriers because of some mobile dolls I had to fight. She bailed me out by helping me destroy the squadron. I didn't know she was a woman then, she had that disguise on. I never imagined that any single woman could have that much strength and power. It's unbelievable how strong she is. She's only seventeen, and she's already achieved a lieutenant rank in a military organization, for crying out loud! I'm glad she's with us; I wouldn't want to have to fight her in a battle." Heero said, looking at his fellow pilot.

Duo nodded. "Yeah, it's unbelievable, all right. She gorgeous, isn't she? She has this whole sorta G.I. Jane style, but her eyes are so clear, I couldn't stop staring into them!" he responded. "You said it. But anyway, we'd better hit the sack, I'm so exhausted. See you tomorrow morning, Duo." Heero said with a yawn. He disappeared into his bedroom, which was right across the hall from where Jeri was sleeping. Duo yawned, stretching his arms in the air. "Night, Heero." He replied, going into his bedroom next to Heero's.

Jeri had just closed the door to her room when she heard voices. Heero and Duo were talking about something. She usually didn't like to eavesdrop, but she was curious as to what they were talking about. She put her ear to the door when she heard her name spoken. She heard every word they said; Heero thought she was 'something', and Duo said she was gorgeous. It was surprising that Duo had said it, she had expected Heero to say those words, but she still new she had done something to him; the first time they met, he had kept staring into her eyes. She always had that kind of effect on men, and it kind of annoyed her.

Jeri Tyler awoke in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. She looked around, her eyes wide. "W-what? Where am I?" she said. She stood up and walked to the door. Her backpack was at the foot of the bed, her sheathed katanas resting on top of them. Her two holsters hung on a peg in the wall. The outfit she wore the day before lay on a chair nearby, her combat boots sat next to the chair. She was clothed in her pj's; baggy green pants and a black, spaghetti-strap tank top. "Whoa, this is weird. I don't remember where I am...what happened?" Jeri said outloud. There was a small clock on the bedside table; 8:45 a.m. She also found a small calendar on the wall to her left; it was Saturday, June 13, A.C. 197. Jeri yawned and stepped into her pink bunny slippers, which, suddenly, were at the foot of her bed. "Well, better get up and find out where the heck I am." She said.

She quickly ran a brush through her chestnut hair. Jeri put her hair up into two braids on the sides of her head. Even though she was wearing her pajamas, her black, fingerless gloves remained. So did the ball-chain necklace and the earrings. Stretching her arms high in the air, Jeri opened the door of her bedroom, looked both ways, and headed to a door she discovered to be the bathroom. Opening it, she flipped on the light and locked the door. She stared at her reflection in the oval mirror, scrutinizing herself. 'Well, might as well get ready for the day I’ll have, wherever I am.' She thought. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face with a toothbrush and washcloth that she spotted next to the small sink. Rubbing the sand out of her eyes, she opened the door; and ran smack into none other than Heero Yuy.

"Aaaaaaagggghhhh!!!!!" Jeri screamed. Heero's eyes widened. "Morning, Jeri. Sorry if I scared you." He answered. Jeri was on the break of hyperventilating, her hand clutched her chest, she was taking in deep breaths. Heero's eyes might have been wide, but hers were about double that size. "I'm...I'm okay, I think. I couldn't remember where I was or how I got here, so I was a little shocked to run into you, sugar." Jeri replied, regaining her composure. "But you remember now, huh?" Heero asked, concerned. Jeri nodded her head. "Yeah, I remember. So, where's everyone else?" she asked, looking up and down the hall.

"Either asleep or having breakfast. Why don't we go find out?" Heero replied. "Sure. How come you're up so early?" Jeri asked, cocking her head to one side. "I usually get up around this time. I also heard some noises here; I'm usually the only one to get up this early, so I wondered who it was." He responded. "Sounds good, sugar. Let's book it" Jeri said, smiling at him. They walked to the kitchen and looked around. Quatre was the only one there at the time; he was reading the paper, a mug of green tea in his hand. His face was hidden, so he couldn't see who came in. "Morning, Quatre. You're up early this morning." Heero said.

"Mornin', y'all." Jeri said cheerfully. Duo yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Morning, Jeri, Heero, Quatre. Lovely day, huh?" he said, still yawning. Trowa and Wufei looked at him and rolled their eyes. "What he said." Was Trowa's reply. Duo sat down with a large bowl of cornflakes and a bottle of chocolate syrup. Jeri raised an eyebrow. "Duo, what're ya doin' with that?" she asked. "This? I always have this for breakfast." Duo replied. He poured the chocolate syrup on top of the cereal and dug in with his spoon. Munching on the concoction, Duo said, "Twy it, it's dewicious." With his mouth full.

"Right. *cough* Anyway, did y'all get a good night's rest?" Jeri asked the sleepy pilots. "Sleep? Oh, yeah, I got some sleep. Any missions yet, Heero?" Duo responded. "No, not yet. Looks like we get a little vacation for a change." Heero said, munching on his muffin slowly. "Cool." Duo said, finishing his cornflakes. Jeri went for another cup of coffee. "This is REALLY good stuff, sugar." She called out to Quatre, who just smiled. "I like my coffee strong, real strong. It helps me get hyped for a battle. But since there's no action for me either, what do y'all say to some hand-to-hand combat training?" she asked.

The pilots looked up at her. "Combat training?" Trowa asked, interested. "Yeah. I like to see what I'm up against from time to time. Any of y'all up to it?" Jeri said. She laced her fingers together and popped her knuckles. Getting up from the table, she put her mug in the sink and turned around. "Time for a stretch." She bent down and grabbed her left ankle, then stood up, pulling her leg up with her. She balanced on her right foot and pulled her leg up until her foot was almost behind her head. The others' eyes almost popped out. Duo whistled slowly. "Whoa, how did you do that?" he asked. Jeri raised her head to look at the braided pilot.

"It's not easy, I'll tell you that. It takes a LOT of practice to perfect it. Gotta stretch every day to remain flexible." Jeri stated. "Yeah, I can imagine so." Duo said, scratching his head and yawning. Jeri did a couple of swift punches in the air. "So, anyone up for a little fight? I promise I'll go easy on ya." Jeri said, performing a really high kick. "You'll go easy on us, huh? I'd like to see the day that the great Shinigami is defeated, and by a female too." Duo boasted. Trowa rolled his eyes. Going up to Jeri, he whispered, "You'd better go REALLY easy if you fight him. He's just a bigshot, with an equally big ego." Into her ear.

"Hey! I heard that!" Duo shouted. Heero laughed. Quatre just shrugged. "Anyway...I'm going to go change. Anyone who wants to train can meet me outside in ten minutes." Jeri said, tossing one of the braids over her shoulder and exiting the room. Heero stood up and threw his muffin wrapper away. "well, I think I might just see what that girl's got, behind that talk of hers." He said. Quatre put his mug in the sink and folded his newspaper. "I've got some work to do, I'll see you guys later." With that, he left the room in the direction of his room. Trowa and Wufei looked at each other, Duo just yawned some more. "Man, am I ever tired! Well, what are you guys planning to do today?" he asked the other pilots. Wufei stood up and smacked Duo upside the head.

The four Gundam pilots just stood there, gawking. Heero scratched his head. "So, who's ready for this? C'mon, I dare ya. Any volunteers?" Jeri said, her hands on her hips. She glared at the four boys, walking towards the center mat. Taking off her shoes and socks, Jeri stretched a little, doing a series of high kicks and jabs. Thrusting her arms in the air, she bent backwards and held a bridge-like stance. Then she kicked her legs backwards, performing a back walk-over. Duo's eyes widened. "Crap." He said under his breath. Heero looked at the braided pilot and smirked. 'This should be good.' He thought.

The two circled each other a couple of times, not averting their eyes from another. Suddenly, Duo leapt foreword and thrust his right fist towards Jeri's face. Jeri just smiled and sidestepped it, throwing Duo off-balance. "All right, you asked for it. No more mister nice guy." Duo growled. Jeri raised an eyebrow. Duo leaped in the air, did a front flip, landed inches from Jeri's face, and swept his left leg around, knocking Jeri off her feet. Jeri's eyes widened, but her smirk returned shortly after. " Wow, sugar. I guess you DO have some strength behind that mouth of yours. I'm surprised." She said.

Heero saw this and whistled. 'Whoa, this chick sure can punch.' He thought, raising an eyebrow. Duo rubbed his sore jaw, which was starting to bruise. His eyes narrowed and he pushed himself back onto his feet. The rest of the fight consisted of quick jabs and fast kicks; some were avoided, some weren't. Jeri was working herself to a sweat, which was unusual. One mistake she made during the fight was leap in the air and aim a kick at Duo's head. Duo must have expected her move, because he grabbed her ankle and threw her a few feet to his right.

Jeri landed hard, she decided she was going to show this braided big-shot what she could do. She charged at Duo, screaming fiercely, and tackled him to the ground as hard as a linebacker. Duo's eyes widened, he didn't like where this was going. Jeri straddled his waist, pinning his arms to his sides, and landed a barrage of punches to his face and his ribs, Duo didn't take them lightly. Duo somehow managed to free his arms; he grabbed Jeri's wrists, stopping her from pummeling him further. Jeri's face wore a fierce expression, some of her chestnut locks had fallen out of her braid. Their faces were only inches apart; Jeri could see what damage her fists had done to Duo's face.

His beautiful, cobalt blue eyes had an ugly blackish-purplish bruise circling them. His jaw was fashioned with a reddish-bluish bruise on the left side of his face where Jeri's uppercut had connected. Jeri wasn't unhurt, either; her upper lip was swelled and bleeding, there was a large bruise on her right temple, thanks to Duo. Her knuckles were white and bleeding from all that punching. Jeri's expression softened, she overdid things this time. She unclenched her fists, Duo released his grip on her.

"Gee, I'm mighty sorry for what I did, sugar. I guess I went overboard. Do you forgive me?" Jeri asked cautiously. She lightly touched Duo's jaw with her fingers. Duo winced at the pain in his jaw, but he smiled. "It's okay, Jeri. I get fired up in fights, and I do a lot of damage, sometimes more than I should. You were awesome, I had a hard time keeping up with your quick moves. Of course I forgive you, I know it wasn't intentional. The great Shinigami has a sense of justice, integrity, as well as mercy and kindness. I might be known as the God of Death, but I'm very forgiving." Duo replied, grinning. Jeri sighed in relief. She got off of Duo and stood up. Duo then got to is feet, rubbing his jaw once more.

Three sets of eyes met their gaze; Heero's eyebrows were raised, Trowa's eyes were widened, Wufei just stared, not completely believing that whole fiasco just happened. Duo brushed himself off and tossed his braid over his shoulder. Jeri straightened her shorts; there was a big, ugly bruise on her left ankle from when Duo knocked her off her feet. She just seemed to notice it, the pain shot to her brain. She yelped and knelt down, rubbing her throbbing ankle. Duo went to her, grabbed her hand, and put it around his shoulder, helping her walk easier. "I'm really sorry, Jeri. Here, let me help you. That ankle is going to hurt a lot more before it heals. I'll get an ice pack for you." He said, helping Jeri over to a nearby chair.

"Thanks, sugar, you're mighty sweet. I see you're not exactly peachy either. I'm awfully sorry about your jaw, especially the black eyes. At least now I know you aren't afraid to hit girls." She smiled sheepishly. Duo grinned. "Yeah, you really nailed me. I usually don't hit girls, but I know that wouldn't have mattered to you; you still would have pummeled me." He replied. Jeri laughed, still rubbing her sore ankle. "Here you go, Jeri. I hope your ankle gets better." Heero suddenly appeared with an ice pack. "Thanks, sugar. Really appreciate it. Y'all are too sweet, I'm afraid I'll end up getting spoiled with all your kindness. Really, I don't deserve this." Jeri responded, smiling warmly at the pilots. Heero winked at her and smiled a little. "Of course you deserve it, Jeri. We're just glad you're having a good time, and that you're on our side, we need all the help we can get." He said.

Jeri applied the ice pack to her ankle, a relaxed expression on her face. "Ooh, that's mighty nice. It feels a whole lot better. "So, what're y'all gonna do, since you have no missions today?" Jeri ventured. The other two pilots looked at each other. "Not sure yet. We hardly ever have a day off." Duo said, shrugging his shoulders. Heero nodded in agreement. "Might not do anything at all. Whatever happens, happens." He said. Jeri got an idea, her face lit up. "Hey, I've got an idea! How good are y'all at playing some poker?" she asked the two boys. Duo and Heero looked at each other, then back at Jeri. "We're okay. I haven't exactly played in at least a year, my skills may be a little rusty. Why, you suggesting a game?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I am, sugar. If you're up to it; since I won't be getting much action today, why don't we all play a game of my special kind of poker?" she said, grinning. The pilots' eyes widened. "Sure, why not. Just what kind of poker did you have in mind?" Duo asked, curious. "You'll see, sugar. Let's gather the rest of the gang, and I'll tell you my rules." Jeri said, a mischievous grin on her face. "Okay, I'll go get Wufei, Quatre and Trowa. Heero, you help Jeri to a chair in the kitchen. See you two in a shake." Duo said, walking out of the room. Heero nodded; he leaned down and picked up Jeri in his arms. Jeri's face turned pink. "I don't know if that's what he meant, sugar. I'm perfectly capable of walking." She said, a little embarrassed. "It's okay, we'll get there faster. You're okay with this, aren't you? It's not like I'm going to bite you or anything." Heero answered, looking at Jeri's flushed face. "Uh, sure it's fine. You don't have to, that's all." Was Jeri's reply. She took in a deep breath; Heero probably noticed how embarrassed she was. 'now he'll think I'm stupid.' She thought.

Heero carried Jeri to the kitchen and placed her gently in a chair. She propped her foot up on a small stool that Quatre had placed under the table. Heero sat down next to her; Wufei sat next to Heero, then Trowa, next came Duo, and finally, Quatre on her right. Quatre turned on the small lamp that hovered just above the round table that the pilots sat around. He also handed Jeri a new pack of casino-style playing cards. Jeri was wearing her green baseball cap backwards; her hair trailed to her waist in a tight braid, the same outfit she was wearing when she and Duo fought. And, as always, her black, fingerless gloves were on her hands. Heero noticed that when the light of the lamp hit her fingers, a bright light glinted off of her silver fingernails. He raised an eyebrow. "Jeri...what's that on your nails?" he asked.

Jeri's head snapped up at the question, she looked at Heero. "What? My nails? Oh, these. I always have these babies ready to bail me out if I'm over my head in trouble, which happens frequently." Jeri answered. None of the five boys seemed to understand. Jeri stood up, hobbled over to one of the brick walls of the kitchen, and ran her fingernails over it. When she lifted her hand, four quarter-inch gashes remained in the wall. Everyone's eyes bugged out. "Okay...what's on them, steel?" Quatre asked, bewildered. Jeri shook her head and smirked. "Gundanium alloy, works like a charm. Use these on the opponent's face and body, and they'll have scars for life. I make sure to get some reapplied every year, touching up the surface." She answered.

"Awesome, Jeri; that sure is something you don't see everyday. Anyway, why don't you tell us the rules of 'your' poker?" Duo asked. Jeri shrugged her shoulders. She began to quickly deal out a hand to each of them. "Okay, boys, this is how it goes. Same basic rules, except for a few; instead of poker chips or money, we use gummy worms, marshmallows, that sort of stuff. Also, the winner gets to make the losers do something really funny. The dealer calls all the shots. Y'all understand?" Jeri said, looking at the five, then glancing at her hand. "Oh, and by the way...no offense or anything, Duo, but...you look like some sort of psychotic, deranged raccoon." Wufei said, which made Duo glare at him. All of a sudden, the braided pilot reached across the table in an attempt to strangle Wufei. Wufei scooted his chair back and laughed. "Ooh...I'm REAL scared, Duo. What are you going to do, scratch me to death?" he said, which made him laugh even more. Jeri rolled her eyes. She then pulled out a huge bag of mini-marshmallows, a package of gummy worms, and a bag of cheese puffs. "Let's get started." Trowa said. Jeri smiled at him, which made Trowa raise an eyebrow.

"So, boys, make your final bets and show your hands." Jeri said, peering over her cards. She had a large pile of marshmallows planted in the center of the table. Trowa, Wufei, Heero, Duo and Quatre each added a pile of an assortment of food in the middle as their final bets. Jeri smirked. "Heero; I'll raise you two marshmallows, three gummy worms, and one cheese puff." She said looking at him. "I'll meet your bet, but I'll stay there, just to be careful." Heero responded. Duo rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Heero. You can't ALWAYS be careful, it's boring how cautious you are. Hey Jeri, I'll raise you ten gummy worms and six marshmallows." Duo said, placing his bet. "That's more like it. I'll meet your offer. Anyone else want to make a bet?" she asked. They all shook their heads. "Okay, gentlemen. Lay down your hands." Jeri said.

They all laid down their hands: Trowa had two pair; Wufei had a straight; Quatre had a flush of diamonds; Duo had a full house. It was all between Heero and Jeri. Heero gulped. 'here goes, I'm gonna regret playing with her, I just know she'll make me do something humiliating.' Heero thought to himself. He laid down his hand; a pair of kings, a joker(wild card), a three of spades, and...a five of clubs(pretty sucky hand, huh?). Jeri's eyes widened. "Wow, Heero...man, uh, okay. Anyway, read 'em and weep boys. Mighty sorry, y'all." She said, looking awfully smug. Her hand was...a royal flush...in SPADES. Heero's eyes closed and he slammed his head on the table. "Crap, crap, crap." He muttered to himself, but of course everyone heard him.

"Let's see...what will the consequences be? Hmm...I don't know...maybe Duo can help me think of something . Duo? Got any ideas, sugar? Heero said you were mighty good at causin' mischief." Jeri said, looking at the braided pilot. Duo's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Oh yeah, this'll be good. I think I have an idea; but on one condition, you let me off the hook and only use this trick on the others, do we have a deal?" He said. Jeri thought about it for a second, then nodded. Duo stood up and walked over to where Jeri was sitting. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. Jeri's expression lit up, her eyes sparkled. She giggled at the suggestion. "So, what do you say?" Duo asked her. "Sugar, you're a genius! Couldn't have thought of a better thing. Thanks for the idea." Jeri said. She leaned up and gave him a gentle hug, which he returned.

Heero had a nervous look on his face. "I KNEW I shouldn't have played this game with you, Jeri. I can't even imagine what you and Duo have planned for us. Just get it over with already." Heero said, his head still on the table. Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei just looked at each other. Duo laughed and reached over to grab some gummy worms. Jeri munched on a cheese puff, the same gleam still in her eyes. "Wait and see, sugar...wait and see. We're not going to do it right away, so y'all will have to have patience." Jeri replied. Suddenly, a look of extreme pain appeared on her face. "Argh!" she cried. The pilots' heads shot up at this. Jeri yelped again and scooted her chair backwards. Her eyes bugged out, her hands flew to her left ankle, it was throbbing once again.

Heero, being the one closest to Jeri, put a hand on her shoulder, a concerned look on his face. "Jeri, what's wrong? You ankle hurting again?" he asked. Jeri just glared at him. " No, Heero, it feels good. What does it look like? Of course it's my ankle, what else would it be?!" she shouted. Heero cringed at her outburst. Jeri closed her eyes tight and cursed under her breath words Heero never thought a girl like her even knew. The pain only lasted for a few minutes, and soon Jeri's eyes opened. She looked around; when her eyes fell on Heero's, her face softened. "I...I'm mighty sorry about that, sugar. The pain was just too much, I had to let it out. Anyway, it's okay. I feel better now." Jeri said apologetically. Heero just smiled, relieved she had calmed down.

"It's okay, Jeri, I understand. I'm just glad you're okay. Here, this'll help." Heero responded. He reached out, lifted the ice pack off Jeri's ankle, and began to rub it gently with both hands. He obviously didn't realize that Jeri's face was flushed a dark red. The others must have noticed it , though. Their eyebrows all raised, they each looked at one another. Heero just kept massaging Jeri's ankle, easing the pain. This made Jeri turn an even darker red. She covered her face with her hands, trying to get the natural color back into her face. Duo's eyes got a mysterious gleam in them, he smiled a little. 'well, lookey here. It seems that Jeri has a thing for Heero. This will be interesting, very interesting indeed.' He thought happily.

Heero stopped rubbing Jeri's ankle and looked up, their faces only about six inches apart. "Is that better?" he asked. Jeri just nodded, her face back to its normal color. "Yeah, it feels better now. Thanks." She said meekly. "Um, hey, Jeri. Is it okay if I ask you a question?" Quatre said, looking at her. Jeri's glance left Heero's to look at the Arabian pilot. "Sure, sugar, ask away." She responded. "Um, well, this may sound a little weird, but...why do you always wear those gloves?" he asked cautiously. Jeri looked at the gloves on her hands, as if she just realized she was still wearing them. "Um, these? Well...I..." she said, trying to avoid the subject. Quatre must have realized her discomfort. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to...I was just curious." He said.

"Well, I'll tell you. But y'all have to promise not to say ANYTHING until I'm finished, okay?" Jeri said, looking around at the five of them. They all nodded. Heero put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her with caring eyes. "Hey, you can tell us. I said I'd always be there for you, didn't I? I'm here for you, we're all here for you." Heero said, looking her in the eyes. "Okay...but we'd better go sit down somewhere comfortable; it's a long story. How about we clean up here, and settle down on a couch or something?" Jeri said, noticing the mess they had previously made. They all looked around, agreeing with her suggestion. Together, they quickly picked up the food, drinks, and cards. The table was straightened up, the room back to how it was before. "Here, let us help you. That ankle looks really bad." Heero suggested. With that, he picked Jeri up in his strong arms again and carried her to a long, green sofa in a room nearby.

Duo went and got a fresh ice pack, Quatre grabbed some pillows. Heero lay Jeri down to stretch out on the long couch, placing the ice pack on her ankle once more. Quatre propped her up, putting the pillows behind her back. Trowa, Wufei and Heero sat on the couch facing the one Jeri lay upon. Quatre sat on a chair nearby, Duo just sat down on the floor, his back against the couch the other three sat upon. Jeri sighed heavily. "Okay...here goes. I always wear my gloves because...well...I guess I'll just take them off." She said slowly. She then reached to one of her gloves, undid the closure on it, and pulled it off. Beneath the glove was an Ace Bandage, wrapped around the wrist and winding halfway up her hand...she took off the other one; it had a bandage on it as well, wound the exact same way. Heero's eyebrow raised.

Jeri then undid the pin on the bandages, and slowly unwrapped them. What was there was definitely a shock to the pilots...on both her wrists were several slash marks, scars and ugly bruises. On her left hand was a long scar that ran from the tip of her index finger all the way down to her wrist, winding halfway around it. On the same hand, there was another scar that went from the top of her pinky finger, across her palm, twisted around her wrist once, and ran all the way down her arm, from her wrist to her elbow. The scars were deep yet faint, so none of the pilots had noticed them before. On her right hand, her middle and ring finger were slightly crooked; a long scar that ran from the very top of each finger all the way down to the base of her hand topped it off. Heero's eyes widened. 'who did this to her? What did she do to deserve this?' he thought. "Jeri...who did this to you?" Heero asked softly. Jeri's mouth turned up a little at one side. "Well...no one did this to me. I did this to myself." she said, closing her eyes, not wanting to see their reaction.

"I already told you guys that my dad died when I was fifteen; my mother was shot to death the following year by the same soldier, trying to protect my family. Well...if things seemed bad enough, I was captured, beaten, and sexually abused that same year, when I attempted to infiltrate an OZ military base. I feared they might kill me; I may be tough for a girl, but I'm scared to death of dying. But that's why it's weird; the scars on my wrists are from the numerous times I tried to commit suicide by slashing them. The OZ soldier who beat me broke my fingers; I tried to realign them, but they're still a little crooked. He also shot me in the ankles, so I would have a tough time escaping; I somehow managed to extract the bullets, and they thankfully healed. To make matters worse, my little sister and brother were shot right in front of my eyes just about three months ago. I watched in horror as the same OZ soldier who imprisoned me and killed my parents and siblings beat, shot, and brutally murdered my older sister the next day. I figured that my life couldn't get any worse than it already was: I was wrong. My older brother died fighting for the colonies shortly after that; his mobile suit was rigged with a detonator. Seconds after he boarded and took off for space, it exploded. I was there when he died, I saw everything that happened." Jeri said flatly, looking at her mangled hands as if she just noticed how much they hurt.

"My whole family had just been taken from me, I was the only one left, I was lonely. I tried to end my life once by actually jumping out of a fifteen-story building; I don't even know now how I survived the drop. I figured that if I died, I could join my family in Heaven; I guess God didn't think the same thing. He wouldn't let me die, not yet. He led me to discover that I could seek revenge for OZ's evildoings. I left home and never returned. My Gundam is all I have left now. Together, we seek out the blood of OZ, we won't stop our rampage until they're all dead. Those S.O.B.'s need a taste of their own medicine. I became the Goddess of Death, the Mistress of Destruction, four years ago; that's what I still am and always will be. The only reason why I'm so cheerful is that I don't think that those around me should be sad; if I hide my past from them, they're in no danger of getting hurt. There aren't very many people that I hold dear; I try not to get too close to anyone." she looked heavenwards and closed her eyes tight.

"I'd previously heard stories of the legendary Gundam pilots, and I figured you might know a little how I feel. I've heard stories of the Maxwell Church Massacre, I heard of the assassination of Heero Yuy, I know about Wufei's home colony self-destructing, how his wife died. I heard about the assassination of your father, Quatre. Trowa, I know that your colony was annihilated. Since we've all been through similar things, I thought we could talk about our different perspectives on life." she smiled, looking at each of them.

Suddenly, Duo got up and sat next to Jeri. Her placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Jeri, you're right. We do know how you feel, we've all been lonely before. But believe me; having friends is the best feeling in the world. It's a whole lot better than being all by yourself. And you can know this now: from now on, we'll be your friends, all of us. We're here whenever you need us, for whatever reason." Duo said, giving Jeri a big hug. Jeri's eyes filled with tears, but she didn't cry. Heero suddenly appeared at Jeri's feet. He lifted her chin with his finger and held her face in his hands. "Jeri, listen. Duo's right, we are your friends now. Friends are there for each other, through think and through thin. Friends see each other through hard times and good. So think about this: I know you think if you cry, you're weak, right? But none of that is true. I cry sometimes, and I'm pretty strong. Crying is nothing but an act of getting your emotions out, it's perfectly fine if you cry. Just let it all out, you'll feel better afterwards." Heero said, looking her in the eyes.

Jeri just stared at him. All of a sudden, she threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face into his shoulder. She broke down; first crying silent tears, then letting out some choked sobs. She just started to mumble indecipherable words, shaking her head. Heero just sighed, smiled and wrapped his lean arms around her. He held her for a long time, rocking her back and forth, whispering 'it's okay, let it out' into her ear. Jeri seemed to cry forever, so much pain was bottled up inside of her for so many years. Heero looked around at the others.

"She hasn't cried in a long time; there's a great deal of pain in her. A girl like her shouldn't be so sad, it's not right." He said. They all nodded. Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei got up and left the room, all of them wearing a sorrowful expression. Duo patted Heero on the shoulder. "Just be there for her, man. She cares about you a lot, and I know you like her too. Just hold her, it'll all be okay sooner or later. But, like I said before about her ankle; the wound always gets worse before it gets better. Just hold her, Heero, it's all you can do." Duo said, and left the room.

Picking up Jeri's gloves and bandages, Heero scooped the sleepy girl into his arms and headed towards her room. When he got there, Heero placed her gently on her bed and smiled at her. "See? Now, doesn't that feel a WHOLE lot better?" he asked. Jeri flashed a smile, this one was from the heart. "Yes, a lot better. Thank you, Heero. Y'all are such good friends, you were there for me. It feels good to actually have friends." Jeri said, giving him a hug again. Heero returned the smile. "Anytime. We'll be there for you anytime. And me, especially." Jeri's eyes widened. "I'll always be there for you. You're special, Jeri. Don't ever forget that. Your past may have been hard, but just focus on the future. You're very special; you light up people's lives, mine the most. I care about you, Jeri, I care about you a lot. Don't ever stop smiling, such a beautiful face as yours shouldn't have on anything other than a smile." Heero said.

He lifted her chin with his hand. Then, Heero Yuy did something he'd never think he would ever do. Leaning down, he brought Jeri's face to his. Their lips met in a tender kiss, the kiss of true innocence. It only lasted for a couple seconds, but when they pulled away, it seemed forever. Jeri had been kissed before, a lot of times. But Heero's kiss was different from all the other times. This kiss was so perfect, Jeri would cherish that one moment. She'd hold that memory in her heart forever.

"There's no escape, your running is pointless. "a strangely familiar voice proclaimed. The voice sent a chill up her spine; she realized she knew who was speaking: it was the same OZ soldier who murdered her entire family single-handedly. She looked at him through horror-stricken eyes. There was a long cut that slashed across her face, her skull was bleeding from a previous fall. Jeri saw him; he was staring at her, his cruel, gray eyes burning through her body and into her soul. He was pointing a gun at her head, a smirk on his twisted face. "Finally, the last of the Tyler clan is destroyed. I thought I got rid of you at the base, I guess you managed to get away. I've waited so long for this day; you kind of people are an obstacle for OZ, and the only way we get rid of obstacles is by destroying them. Say good-bye, Tyler." He said.

Suddenly, her bedroom door flew open, and Heero Yuy rushed to her side in the darkness. The lights were off, but Jeri could sense his horrified expression. Jeri screamed, thinking it was the soldier coming to kill her this time for real. Heero's hands came to her shoulders, trying to stop her shaking. The hallway light came on, and Trowa, Duo, Quatre and Wufei all appeared at her bedside. Jeri's hands flew to her face, they were shaking uncontrollably. Her expression was frightened, her green eyes raced around the room, looking at each of them "Jeri, Jeri look at me! Jeri, please tell me what's wrong! What happened, Jeri? Did you have a bad dream?" Heero shook her, trying to get her to look at him. Her gaze rested on Heero's, her eyes were still wide.

"Heero? Oh, Heero! It was horrible, just horrible! I had a nightmare. I dreamt that the man who killed my whole family was chasing me. I ran as fast as I could, but he still caught me. My body was thrashed, I couldn't even move. He said something about the last of the Tyler clan being killed, that my family was an obstacle for OZ and the only way to get rid of us was by murdering us all, one by one. Then, he pointed his gun right between my eyes and...and...and pulled the trigger. I saw my whole life flash before my eyes, I knew I would die." She replied, starting to sob.

"Jeri, just remember, it was just a dream, none of it was real. We won't allow him to come anywhere close to you." He said, squeezing her hands in his. "You guys, you're so kind to me. I've never known what it's like to have friends, it's a totally new feeling." Jeri answered, smiling weakly. She lifted her face from Heero's shoulder, her face was wet with tears. She let go of his embrace reluctantly, and sat up on her bed. Heero looked into her eyes, making sure she was okay. "Jeri? Are you all right?" he asked, deeply concerned. She nodded her head, smiling warmly.

"I'm okay now, thanks to you all." She said, giving him a hug. Heero was still quite concerned. "Just to make sure, how about I sit in here and see that you don't have any more nightmares." He suggested. "That would be great, I'm sure I'll make it." Jeri said. She gave each of the five boys a big hug before they left the room. Duo turned off the light in the hallway, winking at Jeri before exiting. Jeri laid back down, Heero tucked the covers around her. He leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips; Jeri's eyes closed, a slight smile on her face. Heero sat down in the chair near the bed, looking at her sleeping form protectively.

Jeri didn't have any more nightmares, the rest of her dreams were peaceful. She woke up sweating, but only because of the heavy sheets that encased her. She kicked off the covers and sat up. Heero was still asleep in the chair, his arms were crossed over his chest and his head drooped slightly to one side. Jeri smiled and got up out of the bed, her hair was tangled and she still wore the clothes as yesterday. She walked over to Heero and draped a light blanket over him. She brushed some of his dark brown hair out of his eyes, leaned down, brushed a soft kiss on his forehead. She would have kissed him on the lips, but Jeri didn't exactly want Heero to be awakened.

Her attempt to leave the Japanese pilot snoozing worked to no avail, as soon as Jeri turned to leave, a hand caught her wrist. She spun around, her eyes wide. Heero was holding her wrist, preventing ler from moving any further. "Heero? I'm mighty sorry if I woke ya. I was just gonna grab some coffee and get ready for the day. Heero smirked at her, a corner of his mouth turning up slightly to a half-sided grin. He stood up and stretched his arms in the air, yawning. "Did you sleep well, sugar?" he asked. Jeri's eyebrow raised, she put her hands on her hips. "Hey! That's my saying, SUGAR...get your own. But anyway, I slept fine, thanks a bunch for staying up and making sure I didn't have any more nightmares. I don't know how you did it, but it worked like a charm." Jeri replied, smiling at him.

Heero approached her, grinning. "Aww...I'm mighty sorry, sugar. Didn't mean to, ya know." Heero mocked. Jeri's face turned red in humiliation. "WHAT!?!? What's with talkin' with MY accent? I ain't gonna take this from the likes of ya, I'm gone." Jeri screamed in his face. She spun around and hobbled out the door. Heero threw his head back and laughed. He ran up to her, scooped her into his arms, and walked to the kitchen. Jeri was still pretty irritated at Heero's mimicking, her arms were crossed over her chest and she refused to look him in the eyes.

When they got there, all four of the other pilots were sitting at the table; Duo was eating his cornflake and chocolate syrup concoction, Trowa had a mug of decaf coffee in his hand, a newspaper in the other, Quatre was washing the dishes with his back to them, and Wufei was about halfway done with an english muffin. The sight of Heero with Jeri in his arms, Jeri wearing an annoyed expression, stopped everyone from moving; except Quatre of course, who was oblivious to what was going on. Duo's spoon froze in midair, his eyes glued to the couple that just entered. Wufei's muffin was halfway to his mouth when he froze, Trowa had the mug to his lips, but he didn't drink any of it. "Hey, guys. What's up? Jeri decided that she needed a caffiene boost, and I had nothing better to do, so here we are. How did everyone sleep?" Heero asked, a smile still on his face. Jeri just looked away from them all, not forgetting what Heero had done.

None of them spoke, they all just stared. Quatre turned around, curious to who spoke; he was about to say something, when his mouth hung open and his eyes bugged out. The plate that he was drying slipped out of his hands and came crashing to the floor. He didn't even move to clean up the mess he had just created. Jeri turned to look at the boys, wondering what just happened. She saw them all frozen, a plate that Quatre had apparently dropped was in pieces on the tile floor. "Hey, what's wrong? Why are you all just staring?" she asked, peering at them. She brushed some of her dark hair out of her eyes and looked up at Heero questioningly. "What's with them?" she said. Heero shook his head, "I have no idea. Hey, what's wrong? Did someone die or something?" he called out to his fellow Gundam pilots. Quatre finally seemed to notice that he had dropped a plate, and started to pick up the pieces and throw them in the garbage can.

Duo put the spoon back in the bowl and pushed it away towards the center of the table. He still stared at Heero and Jeri, not saying a word. Trowa set his mug on the table, just in case he might drop it. Wufei just stuffed the muffin into his mouth and finished eating it, brushing the crumbs from his mouth. Duo set the bowl in the sink and sat back down at the table. Trowa finished his coffee, put it in the sink, and turned to face them. Quatre just stood there, still not sure about what to say. Jeri hopped down out of Heero's arms and stood up, leaning her weight on her right foot. She hobbled over to the table and sat down, wincing at the pain in her ankle. Heero got her a mug of black coffee as a sort of peace offering for what he did before. Jeri smiled at him, she had forgiven him already, but she decided that a cup of coffee was the only thing that would make her cheer up. Heero sat down next to her, a poppyseed muffin in his hand this time. "So, is anyone going to tell us why you all are so shocked, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" Heero said, glaring at the other four pilots. Duo smirked at them and said, "Well, for one; none of us expected you two to come into the kitchen in such a...shall I say, intimate position, and two, Jeri's ankle looks like it was hit with a Mac truck. Man, I didn't know I could kick THAT hard!" his eyes widened. Jeri looked down at her ankle; it had in fact swelled to about twice its size, the bruise covering about a third of her foot and lower leg. She made a face, 'I wonder how long it's going to look like that, it certainly FEELS like a Mac truck hit it, thanks to Duo.' She thought.

Heero smiled at them, a smug look coming over his usually grim and emotionless face. "I had to carry her, you know. It would have been tomorrow by the time she managed to hobble over here." He smirked at the idea. Jeri's face turned bright red and she jabbed him in the ribs with her right arm. It didn't hurt that much; but guys always have to pretend they're hurt or the girl will hit them harder. Heero plastered a fake look of pain on his face and made a puppy face. Jeri just rolled her eyes. "Oh poor baby, like that hurt at all; Heero, stop faking that you're hurt, it's starting to annoy me." Jeri stated flatly. "I'm sorry, Jeri. Will you EVER forgive me for being so arrogant?" Heero asked, draping an arm over her shoulders. Jeri thought about it for a second, then decided it was pointless to be mad at him. 'he looks so ridiculous when he's trying to act pathetic.' She thought, smiling a little. "Well, I MIGHT forgive you, I really can't stay mad at you for anything, can I?" she asked, a sweet smile on her face. Her green eyes sparkled, 'I know exactly what he's going to say next, it's obvious.' Jeri said inwardly.

Heero knelt down on the floor and took Jeri's hands in his. He looked deep into her eyes and said, "Thank you, Jeri. I don't know WHAT I would do if you didn't forgive me, I'd be just devistated. You are the most merciful, the most forgiving, the kindest, the sweetest..." Jeri just burst out laughing at how silly he looked. "Heero, stop it, you look ridiculous! Fine, I forgive you but for crying out loud, get up. And while you're at it, get me another cup of coffee." Jeri said, pulling Heero to his feet. Heero grinned at her. "Yes, master." He said in an imitaition-Igor voice. He walked to the pot of coffee on the counter, dragging his right foot behind him. This made Jeri laugh even more. She got up and hopped to the counter where Heero was filling up her mug. She grabbed his free hand and spun him around. "Tell you what, I'll forgive you for good if you do one thing for me." She said, batting her eyelashes at him. Heero just blinked. "Oh? And what would that be?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Jeri cupped his face in her hands. "Kiss me, you fool."she replied. Heero grinned from ear to ear. He let go of the coffee mug, pulled Jeri into his embrace, and kissed her. Jeri wrapped her arms around his waist, and stood on her toes so she was eye-level with him. The couple was definitely oblivious to the other pilots and what just might be happening around them. When they finally parted, it had seemed forever. Heero and Jeri turned around, only to be met by several catcalls and whistles from the other pilots. Quatre had his index and pinky finger in his mouth and the result was a high-pitched whistle. Trowa and Wufei were applauding the performance, Duo was catcalling. Jeri's face flushed pink and she buried her head in Heero's shoulder. Heero smirked and slipped his right arm around Jeri's slim waist. He then lifted her chin with his left hand, making it so that he was gazing into thoese clear, emerald green eyes that had captured him. Jeri looked at him innocently, a light shade of pink on her cheeks. He leaned down and kissed her again gently.

"Hey, you two! Gert a room already. None of that in public, for crying out loud!" Duo shouted. Heero and Jeri laughed at the remark, the natural color back into Jeri's face. She reached up and kissed Heero on the lips, then pulled away from his embrace. Jeri then walked over to Duo and slugged him playfully in the stomach. "Hey, bofriend or no boyfriend, I can still kick your sorry butt." She proclaimed, glaring at the braided pilot. Duo rolled his eyes, the dark bruises that had previously circled his eyes had faded to a light blue. The bruise on his jaw though, had swelled and was now covering the lower half of his jaw and part of his left cheek. Even though Duo looked like he was in serious pain, he still had a comical grin plastered on his face.

"Oh yeah? C mon, you and me, right here, right now." Duo replied, sticking out his tongue. Jeri had an interested look on her face, and she suddenly sweeped her right arm around Duo's head and captured him in a menacing headlock. Duo looked like he was choking, and he shrank to his knees, trying to pry Jeri's arm off of him. "Do you take it back? Do you promise not to make those remarks anymore?" she asked, tightening her grip on Duo's neck. Duo just glared at her. Jeri shrugged her shoulders, "well, I guess my nails can convince you."she said, and twirled her sharp, metallic fingernails dangerously close to his face. Duo's eyes widened. "Yes, yes, I promise. Now can you please let go?" he asked, his face turning a light blue shade. Jeri released her grip on him, and Duo stumbled backwards, his hands massaging his neck. Heero stared at his girlfriend in amazement. "Wow, Jeri. I didn't know you could make Duo turn that shade of blue." He said in disbelief. Jeri reached down and pulled Duo back to his feet. Duo didn't protest, the memory of thoese nails being so close to his face was fresh in his mind.

One thing that was different from before was the fact that Jeri wasn't wearing her black gloves. The pilots were a little suprised to see Jeri's bare hands, since they were so accustomed to her wearing them. Heero didn't seem to mind; it didn't matter whether Jeri had her gloves on or not. He came up to her and laced his fingers together with hers. Jeri's hands were small compared to Heero's, and when he held her hand, his hand seemed to envelop hers. Jeri tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and smiled. "Well, I'm going to take a shower, change, and go do something, there's got to be something to do around here. I'll see you all later." Jeri stated. She leaned up and kissed Heero briefly, then walked in the direction of the bathroom. Heero sat down and finished his muffin that he never got a chance to eat in the first place. Duo sat down and rolled his eyes. "Great, she just HAD to go take a shower, like I'm in enough trouble already." He complained.

Heero looked at him like he had gone insane. "WHAT are you talking about, Duo? What do you mean she 'just had to'?" he asked, bewildered. Duo smiled evilly. "You'll see, all in good time, Since I was let off the hook from losing that game of poker, I decided I would show her just how evil I can be at pulling pranks." He said proudly. Duo then got a paranoid look on his face. He got up from the table and started to walk out the kitchen. All four of the other pilots looked at him, still not understanding what Duo was talking about. Heero knew that his braided friend was probably going to pay dearly for whatever he had done to his girlfriend. He wasn't about to do anything about it, but he KNEW that Jeri would most likely kill him for it.

Just when it looked like the Gundam pilots are going to have a peaceful day, a piercing scream shattered the silence. Duo's eyes went wide and he ran out of the room as quickly as possible. The other piolts looked around for the scource of the scream. Just then, a sopping wet and very MAD Jeri walked into the room. She had a towel around her, but the thing that shocked the pilots was the fact that her long, brown hair had been dyed a bright, neon orange. The look in Jeri's green eyes was murderous, her hair was plastered to her face and there was a puddle of water starting to form where she was standing. "Where is he? Where is Duo?" she demanded, glaring at them all. All four of the pilots just stared at her hair and how strange it looked. "Well? WHERE IS DUO?" Jeri asked once again, this time half-screaming. The four pilots pointed to thier left, where they had last seen Duo flee. Once Jeri had stomped out of the kichen, the remaining four looked at each other.

"Oh, man. Duo's in for it now! Did you SEE her HAIR?" Quatre asked, trying not to laugh. Trowa nodded, "Hey, Heero...I never knew your girlfriend looked so...stunning." He added, his eyes twinkling. "Yeah, she looks good in orange, it suits her well." Wufei said, smiling. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I think we'd better prepare for Duo's funeral, Jeri's gonna KILL him for sure. One thing that I've learned since I've known Jeri, it's that a girl's hair is sacred, and one would only mess with it if one has a death wish. Anyway, I know you guys just liked the sight of my GIRLFRIEND in a towel, admit it." Heero responded, crossing his arms over his chest. Quatre flushed a light pink, but he soon regained his composure. Wufei smiled at him, and he leaned forward, his elbows on the table. Trowa rolled his eyes and got up from the table, putting his mug in the sink. "Yeah, we did. Get off of it already, Heero! It's no new thing to see a girl in a towel, it's just something that happens." Wufei said sarcastically. "You're only saying that because you were married, Wufei. It may be no big deal for you, but it's not exactly an everyday thing for any of us. Well, maybe Quatre's seen a few of his many sisters like that when he was growing up, and I'm not really saying I think he saw them that way accidently or anything." Heero commented. His fellow blonde pilot acted as if he hadn't heard what the Japanese pilot ????????????? Quatre finished washing the dishes and went to exit the room, but stoped before he went out the door. "Heero, I wonder what she'll do to Duo. She does look funny with orang? hair, tell her I think she should keep it that way." He ,commented, and left the room laughing. Heero smirked, knowing that Quatre spoke the truth. Suddenly, Duo came flying past the kitchen, a panicked look on his face. "Later, guys! If I live, that is." He said quickly and ran past the room in the direction of the hangar. Jeri's form appeared at the kitchen door, then it was gone as fast as it had come. Seconds later, she reappeared, Duo's long braid clenched in her hand. Duo was literally being dragged across the floor. A look of annoyance became him, he was too used to Heero and the others pulling him by his braid to even recognize the pain it looked like he should have been experiencing. Jeri was still in her towel, her hair was dripping down her back; she let go of his braid.

"Duo, you have NO idea how NOT cool this is to mess with my hair. Do you have a death wish or something?" Jeri asked, glaring at the braided pilot. "Hey, remember, I TOLD you that Duo was good at pulling pranks. Anyway, I'm sure it'll wash out, eventually. It's not such a big deal." Heero said, stepping in between the two. Jeri looked at Heero incredulously. "What do you MEAN it's not a big deal? What the HECK was he thinking, dying my hair? I'd like to stay a brunette, if you don't mind. Duo, why in the world did you put orange hair dye in my shampoo?" Jeri asked, looking at Shinigami. Duo threw his hands in the air and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought it was funny. Anyway, like Heero said, it WILL wash out, it's just kool-aid. You'll only have orange hair for about a week." He replied, grinning inwardly. Jeri's eyes widened, but then they returned to their normal size.

"Well, I'm still TICKED at you, but I'm not really mad. I think I'd look cool with orange hair, it looks just wicked with my eyes, wouldn't you say?" Jeri asked the pilots. They all nodded nervously. Heero came over and whispered into her ear, "Yeah, it looks hot, Jeri. But if I were you, I'd go put on some clothes, I don't think any of the guys are accustomed to seeing you in a towel and if I'll have anything to do about it, they won't be used to it any time in the future." Jeri finally seemed to notice the others' discomfort, so she nodded and headed towards her room. As soon as she left the room, the four other boys let out a sigh of relief. "Man, is she ALWAYS like that? No offense or anything, Heero, but your girlfriend does the oddest things." Duo said, watching her go.

Heero just smiled. "Yeah she is, don't you love her?" he asked, looking at the braided pilot. Duo was just about to open his mouth when three pairs of hands came over his mouth. Trowa grinned and said, "don't listen to him, he doesn't know what he's talking about." "Yeah, you'd better not listen to him." Wufei added. "Heero, a word of advice; don't let Jeri walk around like that anymore, Duo's drooling at her with her clothes ON, but he's gone when she was in that towel. I think you've got some competition." Quatre advised.

Jeri suddenly reappeared in the room. This time, her now orange hair was tied up in a high ponytail that reached to the middle of her back. Half of the braid was braided and wrapped around the other half and tucked into her green scrunchie. She wore a black tanktop and her camoflauge pants. Her gloves were back on, her ball-chain necklace on her neck. The forest green combat boots were back on her feet and her holsters were slung across her hips. She was carrying her backpack in one hand and her sheathed katanas in the other. The earrings never left her ears, and her metallic nail polish remained.

Heero saw what she was wearing and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Jeri. Why do you look like you're going to battle? Do you have a mission?" Heero asked. Jeri smiled and put her katanas on her shoulders, then her backpack over them. "As a matter of fact I do. And so do you all." She replied This caught the attention of all five of the boys. "No, we don't. We weren't notified. How do you know?" Duo asked skeptically. Jeri smirked. "You'll see, just wait." She retorted. Suddenly, Heero's laptop beeped. He walked to his room to retrieve it. He set it down on the table and opened it up. Clicking on the incoming message button, all the pilots, including Jeri(who was looking awfully smug at the moment) gathered around the Japanese pilot. Heero's eyebrows raised, and he turned to look at Jeri.

"We DO have a mission today, guys. Jeri's right; we're assigned to infiltrate an OZ military base on the L7 colony cluster. It's gonna be tough, so we gotta leave today. Good thing I refueled Wing Zero. Any last repairs needed on anybody else's Gundam?" he asked the five pilots. They all shook their heads, they had taken the precaution of repairing and refueling their Gundams in advance. Heero nodded, then closed his laptop and put it away in his room. When Heero returned, he was wearing a black t-shirt and some black jeans. Fortunately, all the others were already dressed and ready to go. "Let's go." Heero commanded. Jeri did a mock-salute, whirled around, and marched out the kitchen and in the direction of the hangar.

The six of them took off and headed towards the L7 Colony cluster. Jeri's face came over the screen in Heero's Gundam. She smiled, she was wearing her black Raybans, but her hair still hung in the ponytail. "Heero, good luck on this mission." She said sweetly. "Aren't you going?" Heero asked, curious. "Yeah, I'm going, but I was just wishing you luck, that's all." Jeri responded. Just as Jeri was about to close the com-link, Heero said, "Wait a second, Jeri. I have a question. If you always seem to have the same missions as we do, who issues your missions?" he asked. Jeri smiled even wider at the question. "I'm not assigned missions from any source or anything, like you all are. I give myself my own missions, and those missions are always successful, no matter how deep in trouble I get myself." She replied, and closed the com-link. Heero's eyes widened. "You WHAT!?!?!" he asked, but Jeri was already ahead of him, the green Gundam called Cruiser landing on the docking station of Colony L7.

The mission was certainly no piece of cake, and soon the Gundam pilots found themselves over their heads in trouble. Heero and Jeri had separated from the other four pilots. Heero was just about to be shot in the shoulder when Jeri jumped in front of him and used her lightsaber to deflect the bullet. That was the last shot that the soldier would ever shoot, for Jeri reached into her backpack and pulled out a grey, spherical object. She threw it in the direction of the soldier, who had a confused look on his face as to what the object could be. The ball hit the ground and exploded with a blinding light. Jeri took Heero's hand and led him in the direction of the principal command headquarters.

They got there, but soon found out that Duo, Wufei and Quatre had been captured and imprisioned. Trowa had arrived seconds earlier, and was trying to disarm the colony's self-destruct command. He managed to disarm the thing, but the oxygen to the prisoners' cells was suddenly cut off. Trowa tried to turn it off, but it was password protected, and the password was encrypted. There was no use, the other pilots didn't know what to do. Jeri ran to the cell and pounded on the steel doors. "NO!!! They're gonna die! We can't just let them die!" she screamed, unable to do anything. She srank to her knees and took her head in her hands. Heero looked at his girlfriend sorrowfully; they had been in this sort of situation before, but it didn't look like they were going to escape this time.

Duo, Wufei, and Quatre were running out of air and fast. "What are we going to do?" Wufei asked, trying desperately to free himself of his handcuffs. "This is the end; we're gonna die, aren't we?" Quatre asked fearfully. "Oh, man! This is so NOT cool. What a dumb way to die, huh guys?" Duo asked, grinning half-heartedly. "You're not going to die, we're going to escape." A strange voice proclaimed. The three boys raised their heads. There seemed to be another person in the cell with them, but the face didn't seem to have a body. "Who's there?" Wufei asked. The voice didn't respond, but there suddenly was a huge explosion, and the door to the cell was blown to bits. Jeri had thrown one of her exploding spheres, and the oxygen was turned back on. The four prisoners rushed out of the cell.

The six Gundam pilots were reunited, and together they were successful in the infiltration mission. But just as they were about to escape back to the hangar, Duo, who was behind all the pilots, was shot in the leg. "Argh!" he said, and fell to the ground, holding his leg. The other pilots were too far ahead of Duo to make it back to him before he was shot again, but right as the soldier raised his gun to fire once again, he stopped and fell to the ground. Duo tried to get up, but he couldn't; the pain was too great. Jeri looked behind her to see what the soldier was doing; but he wasn't doing anything at all, he was dead as a doornail. There was a small, chinese star in the back of his neck. "What? Who did this to him?" Jeri asked. Suddenly, the same person who talked to the imprisoned Gundam pilots appeared: She was around five foot six feet tall(about two inches shorter than Trowa. All the other pilots are around five foot seven feet tall, except for Jeri, who's only five foot five.), she had extremely short, golden blonde hair, that came just above her pierced ears. The girl had deep, chocolate brown eyes, fair skin, a slim waist, and long, long legs.

She was outfitted with a long-sleeved, dark purple, hooded sweatshirt and cut-off jean shorts. There were white sneakers on her feet, and a pink backpack on her back. She had what seemed to be a small, black velvet pouch hanging from one of the loops on her shorts. There were two large, silver guns on her hips that were encased in twin holsters slung across her small waist. "I did, I thought you might need my assistance." The stranger replied. Jeri blinked. "I know you; I don't know how, but I do." She said, staring the girl in the eyes. The strange girl looked at Jeri unbelievingly. "I...I don't believe we have met. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Donnica Lentuevo, I'm glad to be of service." Donnica said, bowing. Jeri shook her head a few times, then shook the other girl's hand. "The name's Jeri Tyler. Are you by any chance a Gundam pilot?" Jeri said. "Yes I am." Donnica responded. "Were you by chance once on a mission in the L9 colony cluster about a year ago? Trying to infiltrate the OZ military base?" Jeri ventured.

Donnica just stared. "Why...yes, I was. Why?" she asked. "You were captured and imprisoned, right?" Jeri asked, not yet answering the other girl's question. Donnica nodded. Then, a look of realization bacame her. "Why...I do remember you! Jeri Tyler, daughter of ambassador Jacob Tyler for the peace movement on L6?" Donnica asked. Jeri nodded. "Oh, my gosh! I can't believe it's you again! I'm really glad you managed to escape the prison, I barely came out with my life. It's good to see you again." The tall girl proclaimed, giving Jeri a big hug. Donnica looked over Jeri's shoulder at the others, and peered down at Duo, who was a few feet behind Jeri. "And who might these guys be?" she asked. Jeri looked behind her and laughed. "Oh, them. I almost forgot they were there. Y'all, this is my long-time friend and former cell mate, Donnica Lentuevo. Donnica, these are the guys; you've heard of the famous Gundam pilots, haven't you?"

"The guy that was shot is Duo, the tall guy over there is Trowa, the blond is Quatre, the Chinese guy with the ponytail is Wufei, and that studmuffin over there is none other than the famous Heero Yuy." Jeri said, pointing each of them out to Donnica. Donnica smiled and shook each of their hands firmly. She reached down and pulled Duo to his feet. "Man! That looks like it hurts. Here, let me get that for you, Duo, right?" Donnica asked. Duo nodded at her. Donnica reched at Duo's leg with her right hand, Jeri came over and supported Duo with her left arm. Fortunately, the bullet wasn't embedded into his leg, so Donnica grabbed the bullet with her fingers, and miraculously pulled it out. Duo closed his eyes tight, but he didn't feel any pain at all.

Donnica held the bullet between her first two fingers, then she pulled out a white cloth from her backpack and wrapped it tightly around Duo's right leg to compress the wound. The two girls pulled Duo to his feet, and placed him gingerly into the cockpit of Deathscythe. Duo smiled at the two and said, "Thanks, you two. Donnica, thank you especially for pulling out the bullet. How come it didn't hurt?" Duo asked. Donnica smiled. "It's a secret, I can't tell anyone. Maybe you'll find out later." She responded. "Donnica, do you want to stay with us? We've got our own little HQ, and we'd just love it if you stayed. "Sure, I'd love to. Got nowhere else to go, so why not. I'll just start up my Gundam here, and we'll be off." Donnica smiled down at the shorter pilot. "What's your Gundam called?" Duo asked. "Oh, my Gundam. I've cristened it Swiftstryke, cool name, huh?" Donnica replied. Duo and Jeri nodded. "Anyway, let's go." Jeri called out to the others.

"So...Donnica, I hope you'll enjoy your stay here, it's not a resort hotel, but it's our home." Quatre said, showing Donnica around the HQ. Donnica stared in awe at how big all of it was. "It's absolutely magnificent, Quatre, I love it. It's a heck of a lot better than what I'm used to. Back where I'm from, on L7, I usually slept on the floor in wherever I happened to be at the moment. My parents left me when I was ten; I'm an only child, they didn't seem to like me at all, not even a little bit. I lived in a boarding house up until I was sixteen; the people there didn't even know I was there, nor cared for that matter."

"The Gundam I pilot was meant for some other pilot with high hopes of bringing peace to the Colonies. I stole the Gundam, thinking that anywhere I could go would be better than the place I was in then. The pilot that was supposed to fly this Gundam was murdered by OZ the same night that I stole it. People found out that I took it, and said I was the one who killed the pilot, that I thought I could do the job better. I left that stinking colony and have never returned, except for today. I don't know why I returned, I just felt that I needed to be there, that I was supposed to be captured."

"When I first stole the Gundam, my hair had grown to about my waist, so yesterday, when I had that feeling, I decided that if I was to return to L7, they would recognize me and kill me. So, I took my knife and chopped of my hair, hoping the short hair would help me look like someone no one knew about, someone who could easily help infiltrate an OZ headquarters unnoticed; my plan worked perfectly. Well, that's kind of why I was there to help you all escape, I just felt it was the right thing to do. I get these feelings...premonitions, if you will, that I'm needed somewhere and to do something for someone. I'm just glad I got there in time. That's the exact same feeling I had when I stole the Gundam...I was to believe that if I stole it, it would be for the better. Anyway, I thank you all for your generosity, I will most certainly enjoy my stay here." Donnica said politely.

Jeri smiled and gave her blonde friend a reassuring hug. "Don't you worry, sugar, I know you'll have a mighty good time here. These guys sure know how to have fun; you must play some poker with us sometime, it'll be a blast." She said. The other pilots all looked at each other as if to say 'great, now we're in for it' simultaneously. Jeri smirked at them, knowing exactly what they were thinking. Donnica looked at her brunette friend(well, orange-haired friend now) and raised an eyebrow. "Um, Jeri? May I ask you something?" Donnica said cautiously. Jeri looked at her and nodded. "Well, I may be wrong, but...weren't you a brunette the first time I met you?" the tall girl asked, pointing to Jeri's bright orange hair. Jeri laughed lightly and glanced over at Duo meanacingly. "Why yes, sugar, I am a natural brunette. But Shinigami here thought it would be funny to put orange kool-aid powder into my shampoo this morning without me noticing. It looks wicked with my eyes, wouldn't you say?" Jeri said, running her fingers through her long hair. Donnica laughed. "It looks cool, that's all I will say for now." The blonde replied. "Don't worry, Duo will soon experience what a mistake it is to mess with Jeri Tyler, the Mistress of Mischeif." Jeri said, grinning.

Heero came up to her and slipped an arm around her waist. "I'm sure Duo will regret he ever altered the natural color of your hair, am I right?" he said, looking at Jeri. Jeri smiled sweetly. "Oh yes, he will, sugar...he will. I have a great plan for him in store. Now, I'm going to grab something to eat and get changed; being a chick who kicks OZ's butt 24/7 is not my thing. Kicking butt is, but a girl needs some sort of break, for crying out loud. Hey, I've got an idea...anyone in for a movie? I promise we won't watch a chick flick, I know how guys always snooze during those. How about a horror flick? Real blood and guts, garuanteed." Jeri asked the others. They all laughed. "Great idea, I LOVE horror movies. They're good for snuggling. You know, the girl gets real scared and the guy's supposed to make it all better, my favorite type of flick." Heero grinned.

"Scared, you say I am, huh? Well, I'll show YOU who's scared." Jeri said, jabbing Heero in the ribs. "And don't EVEN try to beg on your knees like you did this morning, or there'll be no snuggling." Jeri retorted. Heero went all Bambi eyes and latched onto her arm. "Oh, please, Jeri...snuggling is required, you know how it is. I'll just die if I don't get to snuggle, please, pretty please?" he asked in a little kid's voice. Jeri burst out laughing. She reached up and kissed him on the nose. "Fine, but the more time we waste, the less time we snuggle." She said, giggling. Heero's eyes widened and he released her arm. "Go, then! Hurry, hurry, hurry! I'll get the goodies, you get the movie." He said in mock-devistation. Jeri went to her room and came out in a few minutes.

The other six pilots had gathered in the living room, some lounged in chairs, some laid on the floor, some sat on the plush green couch.Jeri came back with a movie entitled The House on Haunted Hill. She was wearing a pair of green pajama pants and a loose white t-shirt. Her hair hung loose, flowing down to her waist, silky and shining(and orange). Her gloves were gone, her necklace and earrings weren't there, she also wore her pink bunny slippers on her feet. She popped the video in the VCR and turned on the big-screen TV. Heero turned off the lights and sat down on the couch. Jeri sat down and leaned back against her boyfriend, one of Heero's arms was wrapped around her waist and the other was grabbing some popcorn from the nearby bowl. Duo sat on the opposite couch, saw the two lovebirds and said, "Hey, if I hear any mushy talk, my pillow will make contact with your head, got it?" Donnica was perched on the far side of the couch that Duo sat on, smiling inwardly. Jeri stuck her tongue out at the briaded pilot, then leaned back against Heero again.

"You're just jealous that you don't have someone to snuggle up with. Now, if you would please duiah dei, the movie is starting." Jeri replied defiantly. Duo rolled his eyes, not having a clue as to what the heck 'duiah dei' meant. He knew, though, that she was insulting him in some other strange language. Jeri glanced over at the braided pilot, then her gaze fell on Donnica, who didn't look like she was enjoying this very much. Jeri got up from the couch and walked over to where Donnica was perched. She whispered into the blonde's ear, "Hey, Donnica...Duo looks pretty lonely on the other end of the couch...why don't you just scoot a little closer to him, he might get the idea. And if he doesn't, I'll beat it into him. He likes you, he's just shy around girls he just met." She suggested. Donnica got a frightened look in her eyes and shook her head slowly.

"Oh, no, Jeri...I couldn't, I'm too chicken." Donnica replied fearfully. Jeri smiled and scooted over to where Duo sat. She draped an arm around his shoulders, Duo looked at her skeptically. "What is it, Jeri?" he whispered. "Duo, I think Donnica could use some comforting, she awfully lonely. C'mon, Duo...you set me up with Heero(not that I'm complaining or anything), now it's my turn. Donnica likes you, I know. And don't EVEN try to pretend that you don't like her. Tell you what, I'll pay you five bucks to go and put your arms around her, and ten bucks if it turns out you two aren't made for each other, okay?" Jeri said, laughing a little. Duo thought aout it, then nodded. "Cool, but Duo; you tell ANYONE and you'll regret it." Jeri said, her fingernails scraping the back of his neck lightly. Duo tensed. "Sure, Jeri, I won't breathe a word, okay?" he replied. Jeri smiled and kissed him on the cheek. She pulled out a five from her pants pocket and slipped it into Duo's hand. "Thanks, sugar. You'll thank me later, I know it. Donnica's a really nice person, once you make her feel comfortable. Now go turn on your charm and romance that girl, you two make an adorable couple. " she said cheerfully.

Jeri got up from the couch and sat back down. She leaned over and whispered into her boyfriend's ear, "Heero, watch this, it's so CUTE. I decided to get Duo and Donnica together, don't they make the cutest couple?" Heero smiled and kissed her. "They do, now Duo will have someone to be with, and Donnica won't be so lonely. Genius idea, my love." He replied. The couple watched as Duo stood up and sat down next to Donnica, and, to their disbelief, draped an arm around the blonde pilot. Donnica's eyes widened, but then she relaxed, and settled back into Duo's arms, leaning her head on his shoulder. Heero and Jeri gave each other a thumbs-up, then watched the rest of the movie with their arms around each other.

Jeri Tyler woke the next morning in Heero's arms, on the same couch they sat on the night before. She had a blanket draped over her, but Heero had nothing to warm him. The others were gone; it appeared that she and Heero had fallen asleep after the movie, and none of the others wanted to disturb them. Jeri yawned and stretched her arms, looking around. She twisted around and kissed her boyfriend behind his ear, trying to wake him. All Heero did was mumble something and hold Jeri tighter in his arms. Jeri choked and laughed a little at how easy it was to wake him up the other day, and how hard it was this morning. She wasn't exactly complaining or anything, but if they suddenly had a mission of some sort, she'd have to wake him, no matter how comforting his embrace was. Jeri decided she would doze for another hour or so, then get up and get ready for the day.

An hour later, Jeri awoke again, not completely wanting to get up. Heero's face was buried in her neck, and his breath tickled her skin. Jeri sighed heavily, thinking how peaceful they were, and how terrible it would be to get up and leave his comforting embrace. She kissed Heero on the lips briefly, then took off the blanket that covered her. She then nudged him until one Prussian blue eye peeked out at her. Heero opened his other eye and smiled, kissing Jeri on the neck. Jeri giggled, then took his face in her hands. "It's morning, my love...time to wake up." Jeri said softly. Heero sighed, then released his arms from around her. Heero ran his fingers through Jeri's bright orange hair and laughed. "You planning to become a brunette again? I kinda like you with orange hair, it makes you look sexy." He murmured. Jeri sat up and lifted her arms in the air, yawning. "I just might keep it this way, but I'll most likely wash it out. I happen to like being a brunette, thank you. Now, what do you say we get some grub?" Jeri said, brushing Heero's dark hair out of his eyes and kissing him on the nose.

When Heero and Jeri reached the kitchen, no one was there. Jeri raised her eyebrow, then just shrugged her shoulders and poured herself a cup of black coffee. Heero sat down at the table, a chocolate chip muffin in his mouth. Jeri sat down next to him and sipped her coffee. "Where do you suppose the others are, sugar?" she asked Heero. Heero finished his muffin and wiped the crumbs from his mouth. "I haven't a clue. Maybe they're out on a mission.That gives us the day alone. What do you want to do?" Heero asked, putting his arm across the back of Jeri's chair. "I don't know, what is there to do here?" Jeri replied. They looked at each other. "How about some weight lifting?" Heero asked, Jeri shrugged. "Sure. That sounds like a good idea." She answered. She finished her coffee and put the mug in the sink. They both walked out of the kitchen and into the weight room.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Trowa walked into the weight room, looking around nervously. Jeri and Heero looked up. Jeri stopped doing pullups and hung upside-down from the bar. Heero sat up on the bench, breathing heavily. "We're doing good, sugar. Where are the others?" Jeri asked, cocking her head to one side. "I don't know, probably went on a mission or something" Trowa replied. He smirked inwardly. 'well, you could say that...' he thought to himself. "So, you guys okay, no one dying or anything, I hope? I think the air conditioner broke down this morning, before you guys got up." The tall pilot asked. A faint giggle could be heard from somewhere above, but to Trowa's fortune, neither Jeri nor Heero heard it. Jeri stood up and went over to where Heero was sitting. She rested her arm on the weights. "Yeah, it must have, because it sure is hot in here." She replied. Trowa smiled and backed up a few steps. "Here, let us cool you off." He said, laughing evilly. Jeri and Heero looked at each other, bewildered.

No reply was heard, but the other four pilots dashed out the opening of the vents, laughing evilly. Duo, who was obviously the one who set it all up, was laughing the hardest. Wufei and Donnica came up to him and gave him a high-five. Quatre was rolling on the ground laughing, when Trowa ran around the corner. "Hurry, you guys! They're after me, we need to run!" he shouted over the commotion. The five youths dashed to the hangar and hid in their Gundams, still laughing uncontrollably. "Shh! They'll hear you and catch us!" Trowa said into the walkie-talkie. They all quieted down, and hid like that for a half-hour.

"That's it! I'm going to KILL him! I know Duo set this fiasco up, I just know it! He's dead, DEAD!" Jeri screamed. Heero was busy picking the balloon pieces out of his hair and clothes. He and Jeri were dyed blue from head to foot. "I'm going to take a shower, before this stuff settles in. It's enough trouble having neon orange hair, but this is ridiculous!" Jeri said, and stomped off to the shower. About twenty minutes later, she came back out, her skin back to it's normal color. Her hair had actually turned back to its original chestnut brown, her bangs bright green once again. She was wearing her cut-off jeans and a green tank top, her long hair tied up into a tight bun. She was NOT happy with a certain braided pilot, her gloves were back on and her jewelry returned. Heero just stared at his enraged girlfriend. "So...I'm just going to wash off, later." He said, kissing Jeri on the forehead.

All of a sudden, Heero's laptop beeped in his room, but Heero was in the shower, so Jeri went and turned it on. There was an incoming message: The Gundam pilots were supposed to go to L8 and try to help deliver a new machine; possibly another Gundam. 'great, as if there are enough of us already.' Jeri thought to herself. 'Then again, the more the merrier, right? The more people we have to help out, the easier our missions will be. Let's just find out the name of the pilot, shall we?' Jeri thought.

She clicked on the insta-mail link to Dr. J and the other Gundam architects. Jeri's hands flew over the keyboard, writing a letter asking who they should be looking for at L8. A minute passed, then the response came. "Hmm...it's another girl, interesting." Jeri said softly. Heero was taking a long time in the shower, and that was good in Jeri's opinion. "I might just abort this mission, if it doesn't look like that good of a mission. Good thing Heero isn't here; he'd just say 'mission accepted' and go blow something up for no apparent reason. I'd better research this further, then decide what to do. What Heero and the others don't know, won't hurt them." She said to herself.

After a few minutes, Jeri discovered that the pilot's name was Katira James, a rebel military officer, currently residing on L8 as an undercover spy. She was undergoing a code name; a certain Lorana Kennedy. She was supposedly a student at the colony's military school, and was chosen to pilot the newly crafted Gundam. No one other than the Gundam Architects actually knew the real identity of Lorana Kennedy, and she was a whole other person when she became Katira James; much more efficient and ruthless. There was no picture that appeared, the message just stated that she was a petitie young girl of seventeen, long black hair, her eye color was unknown. It also stated that her Gundam, though the name was unknown, was extremely fast, and so was the pilot. "Well, well, well...looks like we have a new friend. Katira, we're coming, ready or not. I'm coming to get you, you're in for a time." Jeri said slowly, a sly grin becoming her.

Suddenly, Heero came out of the shower. While he was drying off, Jeri snapped shut his laptop and sat on his bed, trying to be as calm as possible. She plastered a fake smile on her face, put her hands in her lap and sighed. When Heero entered the room, he had a towel wrapped around his waist and was drying his dark hair with another one. He came over and sat down next to Jeri. He leaned over and kissed Jeri on the cheek. Then, realizing Jeri's nervous air, asked, "Honey, what's wrong?" Jeri laughed nervously. "N-nothing...nothing at all. Um, it's just...we've got another mission...on L8, that's all. We have to help deliver a new mobile suit, possibly a Gundam. We leave now, is that okay with you?" she asked, breathing heavily.

Heero cocked his head to one side, not completely understanding. "Uh, sure it is. I'll go find the rest of the guys, and we'll leave. I'm just going to change, so it'll be a minute before we can go." Heero said. Jeri nodded, feeling a little uncomfortable about lying to him. 'well, we DO have a mission...I just didn't tell him the whole story. Oh well, they'll all find out eventually.' Jeri thought to herself. He threw on some clothes, and they both headed towards the hangar, where the others were (obviously)hiding. "Hey, y'all! We've got a new mission! Good thing you're dressed, we're leaving now. Everybody get their Gundams started up, and let's fly." Jeri shouted. Five heads popped out of the cockpits of each Gundam, they all nodded. Jeri and Heero jumped into their Gundams, started them up, and took off towards Colony L8.

Just then, Jeri felt something cold and metal-like against her neck. She slowly turned her head, and found herself at gunpoint. There was a magnum-type gun pointed right between her eyes, the trigger cocked onto automatic. The laser beam that showed where the bullet would end up was centered on her forehead. Jeri gulped and glanced upwards. There, right above her, was who appeared to be the female pilot they were supposed to find. The girl was about five foot tall, with extremely long, midnight black hair that went down to mid-calf. She was wearing black goggles, so Jeri couldn't see what color her eyes were. "Hold it right there, just what do you think you're doing with my Gundam?" the strange pilot said, not moving the gun from Jeri's head. "Well, uh, you see...we were on a mission to escort a new Gundam, and...well, I suppose that you're this Gundam's pilot, am I right?" Jeri asked meekly. The other pilot lowered her gun and returned it to the holster at her side. She then reached down and took Jeri's hand, helping her to her feet.

When Jeri stood up, the other pilot only went up to her chin. Her dark hair pooled about her shapely form. The petite pilot reached up and took off her black goggles, revealing deep, violet eyes. Jeri smiled; this girl wasn't very scary, 'just wouldn't want to be on her bad side' she thought. The other girl bowed, and shook Jeri's outstretched hand. "My name is Jeri Tyler, pleased to met ya, sugar." Jeri said kindly. "My name is Lorana Kennedy. Pleased to make your accquaintance." 'Lorana' said politely. Jeri rolled her eyes and said, "I know your real identity, you know...Katira James." Katira flinched, then sighed. "I guess it's not really a secret anymore, huh?" she asked. "Don't worry; besides the Gundam architects and I, everyone knows you as Lorana Kennedy, and believe me, your secret's safe with me. If you don't want anyone else to know, I won't squeal." Jeri assured the dark-haired pilot.

"Thank you, Jeri, that is most kind. You are the most gracious and kindest person I've met. Jeri? Is it okay if I stay with you? I have nowhere else to stay...I was just wondering." Katira asked cautiously. Jeri smiled warmly and nodded. "Sure, I'd love it if you stayed with us, it'd be the best." Jeri said. Katira sighed heavily. "Thank you ever so much, Jeri. This is most kind." The smaller pilot replied. "Okay...so why don't you say we finish this mission, huh?" Jeri asked. "Yes, that's a good idea." Katira replied. "Oh, yeah...I think you'd want to meet the other Gundam pilots. There they are, I'll introduce you." Jeri said, and she steered Katira in the direction of where the others stood.

Trowa looked up, wondering where Jeri could be. Suddenly, the brunette pilot appeared with someone else, someone very short. This girl who was with Jeri appeared to have really long, black hair and the most intriguing violet eyes. Jeri and the other girl approached the group, the strange pilot looking rather embarrassed. Jeri smiled at them all and said, "Y'all, allow me to intrduce the newest edition to our little team; this is Katira James, and she pilots the Gundam over there. Uh, Katira...what's your Gundam's name?" Jeri said. Katira blinked, then giggled softly. "Oh, yes, my Gundam...this is Sapphire." Ketira replied. "Cool name, Katira. Anyway, these are the other Gundam pilots: The tall guy with the green eyes is Trowa, the guy with the braid is Duo, the tall blonde chick in the purple sweatshirt over there is Donnica, the Chinese guy with the ponytail is Wufei, the blonde, Arabian dude is Quatre, and the cute guy in the corner is Heero." Jeri said, grinning. Katira smiled and waved at them all. "So, the mission is accomplished, why don't we all go back to the hanger and chill out? Today's been really busy." The brunette suggested. They all agreed and with that, the now eight Gundam piolets took off in thier mobile suits towards the headquaters.

"My goodness gracious! Was that a great mission, or what?" Jeri said, looking around at the others. The others rolled their eyes. "Yeah, sure, Jeri...real alphanumeric. No offense or anything, hun...but today's mission was kinda boring." Duo said, powering down Deathscythe. "What do you MEAN, boring? We got another hand to help us, and we need all the help we can get!" Jeri cried, throwing her hands in the air. Heero was holding his head in his hands. "I'm getting a headache, this isn't funny, guys. Jeri, honey...just calm down, we're definitely glad to have Katira helping us. And Duo...SHUT UP!!!" he said, breathing heavily. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his first two fingers, trying to calm down. Jeri got a concerned look on her face and went over to Heero, placing her hand on his forehead. "Heero? Sugar, are you feelin' okay?" she asked, lifting his chin so he was looking her in the eyes. Heero smiled meekly, then sighed. "I'm fine, just fine. I was just getting a headache. Duo's whining does that to me often, and usually I end up punching him or something...but today, since we have guests, I was trying to stay calm amd let it pass." He replied. Jeri smiled relieved that nothing was really wrong with him, "I believe that Duo can be annoying , I've had to syop myself from clobbering him too many times." She thought, smirking. "So...what do y'all want to do? We've got the whole dayto goof off." Jeri asked, looking around. "Whatever. Do you have anything in mind? I'm game as long as it has nothing to do with cards." Heero responded. Everybody except Katira and Donnica laughes, the two girls just stared at each other, having no idea why playing cards would be so funny. "Okay.....yeah. May I ask what's so funny?" Katira asked, raising an eyebrow. Jeri just laughed some more, then explained to the two clueless girls. "Well, the first thing we all did was play some poker. We played with my rules; basically, the guys didn't really enjoy it, and they're making sure they never play that game with me ever again." Donnica just scrached her head, still not completely understanding. Katira laughed and shook her head, she had seemed to have gotten the point.

"Hey! I know...anyone like to play tackle football? That's one of my favorite ways to pass time." Katira suggested. Donnica nodded. "Sure, I'm game. Actually, I prefer soccer... but I'll give it a shot, No pun inteded." The tall blond piolet replied. Heero grinned, "Oh yeah, this will be a hit!" he said enthusiastically. Jeri rolled her eyes, but then agreed. "Why not. But guys? Go easy on me, okay? My ankle's still not completely healed." She said eyeing each one of them. "Well, we'll make sure to throw the ball to yoy, then just LET you run the touchdown, okay?" Duo said, smiling smugly. Jeri's face turned red. She reached for the braided piolet, but Heero held her back. "Allow me, please." He said. Jeri blinked a couple of times, then nodded slowly. Heero smiled, then walked calmly over to Duo; then punched him in the stomach as hard as he could. Duo let out a puff of air, and sank to his knees.

"Hey....I was.....just....playing, okay? You.....didn't really......have to........do that.....or...anything. That....really hurt....you know,....ouch." Duo choked out. He then stood up on shaky legs, his arm wrapped around his middle. "I couldn't resist, you were bugging me all day today. First, the kool-aid incident this morning, than your stupid winning. Now, you insulted my girlfriend, I wasn't about to let THAT slide. "So, why don't we go outside and get the game going?" Heero said, glaring at him. Duo stuck his tongue out at Heero, even though he still was a little out of breath. "All right! Let me just get the ol pigskin, and we'll get going." Katira said, smiling. She rushed to her room; the third door on the left, and came out in a few minutes, a football under her arm. She had some jean shorts on and a long-sleeved, camoflauge shirt. Her long, black hair was french-braided on either side of her head, the braids hanging to her waist. Her violet eyes were clearly visible now, and they sparkled with delight.

Once outside, the eight youths divided into two teams: the first team consisted of Jeri,Donnica, Trowa and Wufei; Heero, Duo, Katira and Quatre were on th? second team. Wufei and Quatre were both the QB?s, Katira and Trowa were the centers. Jeri and Donnica were th? recievers for their team; Heero and Duo were the recievers for theirs. When the pilots took their positions, Trowa and Katira faced each other, Katira preparing to hike the ball to Quatre. Well, you gonna hike it, or am I gonna have to help you? Try to do it while we're still young?; I'd like to end the game before my eighteenth birthday, if you don?t mind? Trowa said sarcastically. Katira smirked, her violet eyes glinting evilly. _You want me to hike it, huh? Okay, here we come, ready of not._ The shorter pilot retorted. _24, 32, 15&hike!_ Katira shouted, then snapped the ball backwards toward her blonde team mate. Trowa rushed forward in an attempt to take the ball away from his opponent, when Katira held him back by shoving him in the opposite direction. She was very strong for her petite size; Trowa was having a hard time getting past her. By the time he did get away from her grasp, Quatre had rushed off to the far side of the field, out of his reach. Wufei rushed toward the blonde; he tackled the smaller quarterback to the ground before Quatre had a chance to get rid of the ball.

"All right, Wufei! You da man! This is second down, three yards to go." Donnica cheered. They set up the ball again, and Katira snapped the ball to Quatre again. Quatre was ready this time; he threw the ball to Duo, who was about forty yards from the end zone. To the braided pilot's surprise, though, Donnica appeared out of nowhere, and grabbed him around the waist, bringing him to the ground. Duo dropped the ball, and Jeri suddenly came and snatched it up. She ran as fast as she could to the other end of the field, the rest of the opposing team rushing towards her. Wufei and Donnica ran alongside her, knocking down anyone who tried to tackle her. Five yards before Jeri reached the end zone, Heero stood in front of her and wouldn't move. Jeri couldn't exactly go around him; Duo was closing in on her,. So, thanks to some quick thinking, Jeri rushed at the Japanese pilot at top speed, but stopped in front of him, zigzagged around the confused pilot, and dove into the end zone, the football clutched securely in her right arm.

Several cheers were heard, and Jeri breathed a sigh of relief. She got up, threw the ball to the ground, and started to do an end zone dance. Heero was on the ground at her feet, just missing Jeri as she dove into the end zone and scored. Jeri looked down at her boyfriend and reached for his hand. She then yanked him to his feet, put her arms around his neck, and said, I think you may have a little struggle getting by me, I'm a tough girl. Don't worry, I won't work you too hard. She whispered. "Hey, I'll just have to try harder, that's all. You were great, Jeri." Heero replied. He kissed her on the nose, then nibbled the top of her left ear. Jeri giggled, and closed her eyes, her head resting on his shoulder. Suddenly, a cry could be heard.

"Hey you two! No interacting with members of the opposite team, it's illegal! We're supposed to be playing against each other, not making out in the middle of the field, for crying out loud! This is football, not tonsil hockey!" Duo shouted. Everyone just laughed. Jeri draped her arm over Heero's shoulder, and took the football in her other hand. She shoved it at Duo, the braided pilot wincing at the pain from when Heero punched him there. "Oh, yeah? Let' keep this game going, Mr. Bigshot. We're kicking your butt and you know it. Heero's just being a sweetie, which is more than I can say about YOUR attitude. Now, show me what you've got." Jeri said.

"Okay, okay...so, are we going to play, or are we just going to sit here and argue?" Duo said, rolling his eyes. Katira came up to him and snatched the football away from his grasp. "Let's get it on, I can kick all your butts!" she exclaimed. The pilots resumed their positions and started another play. Katira stopped before the snap and formed a 'T' with her hands, signaling a time-out. When her team surrounded her, she bent down and said, "All right, you guys. Here's the plan: I'm going to hike the ball backwards to the QB; but instead of throwing it to the receiver, Heero will go behind him and Quatre will pass the ball to him, but pretend to throw the ball to Duo. Then, I'm supposing Trowa will run after him, and the closest person will tackle Trowa before he gets a chance to tackle Heero. The remaining two will watch out for anyone who tries to stop us, is that understood?" Katira looked around at the other three. They all nodded, then headed back to their positions. "Are you guys ready? Try to get back before tomorrow, okay?" Wufei said, a bored look on his face. Katira glared at him, then turned back to the ball, but not before giving him the finger.

Wufei's eyes narrowed. "Bitch..." he muttered. Katira heard what he said, but she blew it off and focused on the ball. "13...21...45...hike!" Katira said, and snapped the ball backwards to Quatre. Quatre backed up, allowing Heero to get behind him, handed the ball to the Japanese pilot, and pretended to throw the ball to Duo, who had ran ahead of them. Wufei took the bait and ran to Duo, tackling him to the ground. Donnica and Jeri also fell for it and rushed in that direction, but Trowa saw their plan and rushed to Heero, who was only about twenty yards from the end zone. "Oh no you don't..." Katira said under her breath. She ran around in an attempt to make it look like she didn't see him.

Trowa just kept running towards Heero, not knowing that Katira was nearby, planning to tackle him to the ground. Before he knew it, Katira ran between Heero and Trowa, grabbed the tall pilot around the waist, and dragged him to the ground, all in the blink of an eye. Trowa was too dazed to realize that he was on the ground, Heero had run to the end zone, scoring for the opposing team. Katira, who was still on top of him, cheered for her team, then looked down at Trowa and smirked. "Too fast for you, am I? That's what you get when you play with me. Try harder next time, all right? Well, I'd better get off so we can play, huh?" Katira said, standing up. She reached for Trowa's hand and pulled him up to his feet.

Trowa blinked a few times, still not believing what had just happened to him. Katira just smiled and giggled. "Well, it looks like we have the ball, let's see if you can keep up with me this time." Trowa said. Katira flipped one of her braids behind her shoulder and took her position. Trowa grabbed the ball and hiked it backwards to Wufei, who dashed around Trowa and bolted for the endzone. Before Trowa knew it, Katira had leaped onto him and brought him to the ground once more. Since Trowa had been tackled, Duo decided to give it a shot and try to chase Wufei, not allowing his team to score. He ran towards the unsuspecting pilot, shoved him to the ground, and somehow managed to grab the ball and run in the opposite direction, to his team's end zone. Duo kept running, but Donnica appeared in front of him, stuck out her left arm, and clotheslined the braided pilot. Duo fell forward, but since Donnica's arm kept him from going any further, he fell backwards, landing hard on his back. Donnica stared down at him, smirking. "Is that all? C'mon Duo, you've got to have some sort of strength behind that mouth. Get up, you're not dead yet." she said, pulling him up and shoving the ball towards him. Duo glared at her, then grabbed the ball and set it down on the ground.

Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei got an assignment to destroy a Command Post of OZ on the colony L9 the colony was terribly destroyed fifteen years ago by OZ and any one that wasn't dead would be used for hard labor, the children where trained to fight for OZ against other's. Wufei, Trowa, Duo, Donnica, Katira and Heero where distracting the Mobile Doll's so Quatre and Jeri could destroy the base. You need to go to two different sides of the base in order to destroy it." Herro told them over the com-link. "We got a deal sugar," Jeri told Heero while heading North, and Quatre just headed south.. When Quatre went to the south side of the base he got in trouble OZ units discovered him and he was captured after he managed to destroy his part of the building.

"Die ute day." said the stranger. Quatre could not see what the person looked like, "I have to finish my mission." Quatre told the stranger silently When suddenly the stranger took a bomb and ran towards an opening in the ceiling and jumped down, Quatre leaned over the ceiling to see if the person was all right and he saw this person using the weapon that he thought was a knife, holding it facing outwards and striking forwards with the blade. Then he set the bomb and then pointed right as if saying to go that direction. "Fine by me." said Quatre and left. It was dark and he didn't know if he could trust the stranger but he had no other option so Quatre went right and ran down the corridor then he saw another opening in the ceiling and jumped down then set the bomb and ran. Once the bombs went off Quatre wondered if the stranger was aright, but he thought it was no use worrying over the problem so they all went back to base.

Once back Quatre couldn't help wondering about who the stranger that helped them was, The stranger was also talking in another language while he was with him. He decided to tell the others. "Uh, guy's, during the mission there was someone else helping, some one set one of the three bombs I had. This person was also speaking in another language I didn't understand, he said something like *Die ute Day* It wasn't that clear," Quatre told them. "Die ute day? That sounds almost familiar..." Jeri whispered to herself. "Why do I think I've heard that phrase before?" Duo asked, not completely remembering. Jeri's ears perked up at those words, she stifled a laugh, remembering what it meant.

The next day Jeri went to have breakfast and like usual Duo had cornflaks and Chocolate Syrup, Trowa had his decaf coffee, Wufei had his muffin, and Quatre was reading the paper when Heero walked in through the door and kissed Jeri, when Duo said "Oh! I forgot, we have a mission again to clear the L9 colony from OZ since we blew up OZ's command post." "Fine let's go" said Heero. they got there in an hour after they left. There where over fifty military unit's of OZ but order's are order's so they abided and got to work but three hour's later they where beginning to give up hope of going home. "We need some help," Said Jeri "I wish my friend were here." she said to herself and went on with the fight when suddenly a huge explosion pierced the sky. "What was that," asked Heero when suddenly a Gundam appeared. "What the...?" said Duo, "Not another!" "Who's there?" asked Jeri trying to get a com-link established. Then the screen went up, what looked like a man was looking into the screen. "Who are you?" asked Heero confused when Quatre said "It's the one who helped me at last night's mission," The stranger said nothing. Let's talk in private, y'all." said Jeri and left to talk. The mysterious pilot followed as did the other's. When they all got to where Jeri took them they all got out of their Gundam's and the last one was the new pilot as he jumped down from the Gundam.

"Jerie?" said the pilot "Kiara?" Jeri said "KIARA! Hey!" Jeri asked the new pilot, "Uh," said the pilot, "Uh, she doesn't look much like a stranger, y'all," "This is my friend Kiara," Jeri told the pilot's "Tudo Bem?" Kiara asked the group. "Just peachy, sugar" said Jeri, "Como vive?" asked Kiara "I'm doing fine, just fine," Jeri said as the other's looked at each other wondering what the heck she was sayin. "Um, Jeri what exactly is she saying?" asked Heero with a questionable look on his face. "Huh, Oh, Oi is Hello, Tudo Bem is-Is everything fine? and Como vive is How are you? any more question's y'all?....Didn't think so." Jeri said returning to her conversation with Kiara "Hey come and stay with us, sugar, you can trust these guys," Jeri told her reassuringly. "Uhh......just awhile," she said, Yo, Kiara? you don't look like a girl, I mean your hair is shorter than most girls'," said Duo.

"Oh, dis is just up in a bun." she told him and took her hair down. Kiara has jade green hair with a braid running across the top of her forehead, Her hair ran down to the middle of her back, she had wicked black eyes. She wore a white spaghetti-strapped shirt, some jean shorts and a green wrap-around skirt over the jeans so she can take the skirt off if she had to. "What kind of weapon do you have?" asked a very intrigued Duo, "Huh, oh dis is a Japanese short sword." she said taking it out of its holster to show Duo, "It's made out of bamboo, very delicate." she told him, then she took out two long swords "Dis is a long sword," she told Duo handing him one, "May I see that?" asked Wufei, for he was very interested in ancient Oriental weaponry. He looked at it, turning it over and over so he would see all of it, then gave it back. "Hold on, I have more," she said and climbed her Gundam then pulled out a humongous bag and threw it down "Look out below," she said then jumped down "Dis is a bow and arrow set," she said putting them in Duo's hand "and dis is a lot of Japanese throwing stars and knives," she said giving one to everybody, "I have more but dey are at home, these are the ones I use mostly, My Gundam Carbuncle has a crossbow, two katanas and a lot of other stuff," she said telling the other's. "Whoa, "I" have the crossbow," Jeri told her.

"You can stay here, Kiara, we have more beds." said Quatre "Tank you but no, I must go home, you can contact me there," she told him and walked out of the room, "Don't think of it as being rude, she's had a tough life, just try and be nice...it's all we can do," Jeri told him and went to talk to Kiara, "Why don't you stay here Kiara, it's safe," Jeri told the girl, "You know why I can't, Vonce I get done with dem and me problem is solved I will tink about it," Kiara explained to her "Fine but stay here till tomorrow, ya hear," Jeri said "Fine," Kiara said and they both went to find the other pilots, They found them in the kitchen. "I vill stay here tonight, only tonight," Kiara told them.

Jeri was in the tub when Heero came in and sat down next to the tub and dropped something in the tub, "Hey Jeri what's up?" asked Heero "I don't think you came to ask me that sugar, Then just get out while I relax," said Jeri and Heero said" Fine" and left the room. All the guy's where talking when two piercing screams came out, Duo and Heero ran out the left door, It took awhile for the girl's got dressed then barged out and Jeri yelled "WHERE IS HEERO?" while Kiara asked "WHO DE HECK DID DIS TO ME?" when finally the girl's noticed each other Kiara had Ruby Red hair as did Jeri but Jeri's whole body was red when Jeri told her "Duo did that to you" "They both planned this to get me, I just know it. Last time, Duo decided it would be funny to dye my hair neon orange, I'm not surprised that they did it again." Jeri said "Let's get dem, They never vill mess with us again again, they do not know what we can accomplish together," Kiara told her " now, WHERE ARE THEY?" the girls both yelled, The guy's pointed to the left where the guys last tried to make an escape and the girls ran after about five minutes later two guy's came running into the kitchen yelling "HIDE US," So Quatre put them under the cupboard and then the girl's came running in yelling "WHICH WAY DID THEY GO?" and they all pointed right then the girl's ran away again. "Boy that was close," Duo proclaimed "Wonder what are they planning to do to us?" said Heero "If they can find us," said Duo and they laughed and left the room.

"Vhat should ve do to dem?" asked Kiara "You're the brain, you tell me," Jeri said. Kiara sat on Jeri's bed, trying hard to think of something misceivious to do to the boys. "There is one ting ve can do to those boy's, we can .........Vell, just follow my lead, K" said Kiara, Jeri nodded and the girls left Kiara had no trouble finding Duo and Heero then they set them down and Kiara said "Play cards wit us, losers buys hair dye and winner gets to do whatever they want to the losers?" "No way she would beat us up," said Duo "Then either dis as your punishment or something else," Kiara said. The guys got together and decided this wasn't punishment, "We'll play cards with you," said Duo "Fine. Poker my way, but ve bet with MONEY," said Kiara, Duo and Heero where beginning to regret saying yes to playing cards. "Ante up, ante is ten dollars," Kiara said, everybody anted, Duo had an Flush, Heero had a Full house, Jeri had a Royal Flush in Diamond's, and Kiara had a Flush . "Bet ten bucks." said Duo pretty sure of himself, "I'll see that and raise you twenty," said Jeri, "I see that and raise you twenty" Kiara said "I see that," said Heero.

"Show your hand Duo," mocked Jeri "...hmmmm, a flush; Heero, a full house, huh, Kiara?" "Same as Duo," " sorry Kiara I......WON. Read 'em and weep boys...a royal flush, I win," Jeri said mocking Duo and Heero as she took her one hundred and sixty bucks, "Ante," said Kiara everybody had to Ante and so the game went on, Heero had a nice hand, [a Royal Flush in Diamond's] while Duo had Three of a kind,[Pretty sucky hand Huh] and Jeri had four of a kind in King's While Kiara had a Royal Flush in Spades. "I bet fifty bucks," said Heero, thinking he would win, "I see that and raise you twenty," Duo said bluffing, "That's it, I'm out," Jeri said, "But you cant fold that's not the rules," Duo told her "Anyone can fold if de price is too high," said Kiara "Fine," Duo said under his breath, "I see that and raise you fifty," Kiara said just daring Heero to raise it, "I see that," said Heero, "Show your hand's," said Jeri "Hmmmmmmmmm, a three of a kind why Duo you should have folded," said Jeri "A royal flush, ladies, I win," said Heero reaching to take his money, "Wait a sec, ye haven't seen My hand." said Kiara "A Royal Flush beat's everything." said Heero, confused. "Yes, but it doesn't beat a Royal Flush in SPADES," said Kiara taking her three hundred and thirty bucks.

"Ante up," said Jeri. "We have no more money over tens," said the boys, "We only have eight bucks left, thanks to you two," they said again "good, just enough to get the natural colors back into our hair. Maybe now you'll learn that any time the two of us put our heads together, you'd better think before you pull anymore pranks." said the girls and left with their money. Jeri turned her eyes onto Duo and said, "Oh, and sugar...I think indigo would be a nice color for my hair, just a piece of advice; ruby red's really not my thing." She finished, winking. She then blew a kiss to Heero, and the two girls left the broke boys with no money at all,[Except the eight dollars to buy Hair Dye!]

Kiara fell asleep soon during the night whene she suddenly screamed. Everyone quickly gathered in the room especially Jeri. "What happened?" Quatre asked Kiara just looked up at Jeri and said "Tis him again," "Who is this "Him"?" Heero asked Kiara "In my dream, vell, more like a flashback of my past, vhat happened vas I vas a little girl about six or seven living with me Mum, Dad and two brothers when OZ attacked our colony, L9 of course and ve vere all taken prisoner. The same night HE appeared and slaughtered me family but I somehow got away, I just ran until I found de Hanger you see my fathder had parts to make Gundams he made a not complete one in another area but taught me how to pilot dem so I put on a space suit and ran towards the closest mobile suit I could find but de man dat killed my family showed up and said, "If I can't kill you myself by hand then sending you to space will," and vith dat he pressed a button and de hanger opened up to space and I flew out into space, Somehow I landed on a colony in the L6 area, A nice family took me in and helped me grow up, Adopted me if you'd say. Me step-sister and I got along perfectly and ve still are the best of friends but later on, her family was murdered by da same man as mine just because he was looking for me, Me step-sister got away but I vonce more vas taken to OZ, I was taught to become a ruthless solder there and also there I became a Commanding Officer and still am to know where my mission is supposed to be. But I still and always will feel responsible for getting mine and my adoptive family murdered." Kiara told the others. "But before I was taken back to OZ my step-sister and I made a promise never to cry again for certain reasons, and that we will see each other again some day, which has come true. I did see my step-sister again. and dat's what happened and dat's also the reason I don't live vith anyone." The whole group stared except for Jeri. "Um, What is your step-sister's name?" Quatre asked after he recovered from the story. "Well, I thought you'd figure it out already, her name is Jeri Tyler." she responded then everyone stared at Jeri. "......WHAT," she yelled at them a little annoyed ,at their staring. "Ve both are still looking for dat man so he can't kill anymore familys." The girls said. The guys [and girls] just stood there when finally Jeri and Kiara said. "There's still time for sleep." So the others left while Jeri and Kiara talked about other things.

Heero and Duo thought that they had gotten away from the Dynamic Duo, a.k.a. Jeri and Kiara, but they were just about to get a taste of their own medicine. Heero woke up yawning, and was about to get up out of bed and get some breakfast, when he realized that if he were to go anywhere, he'd need to fall down. Trying desperately to move, Heero discovered that he was tied to the rafters in the living room with a very durable length of rope. He had a rainbow afro stuck to his head, and if that wasn't the worst of it; he was wearing a dress.

Duo Maxwell awoke to what he thought would be a day of bad-guy-butt-kicking and practical-jokes-on-the-girls-to-piss-them-off-even-though-I'll-regret-it-later day. But he was in for a big surprise, a very big surprise indeed. He opened his eyes and moved his arms to stretch them over his head, but he found that he couldn't. Duo moved his feet, but they wouldn't budge either. Also, he realized that wherever he was certainly wasn't where he usually fell asleep. The great Shinigami had picked the wrong two girls to pull a prank on, for he had been tied upside-down to the flagpole outside the headquarters building, in his pajamas, and with bleached hair.

Jeri and Kiara finally woke up and decided to head to the kitchen for some food. The others were all there: Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Donnica and Katira, but Duo and Heero were nowhere to be found. Quatre handed Jeri her usual mug of black coffee and asked, "Jeri, you wouldn't know where Heero and Duo are, would you? Kiara, what about you?" Jeri and Kiara looked at each other, pretending not to know what Quatre was talking about. "I don't know where they could be, sugar...Kiara? What about you?" Jeri asked innocently. Kiara blinked. "No, I just voke up, how vould I know about such a ting?" she replied. Kiara's hair was back to its original jade green, Jeri was a brunette once more, her bangs were dyed a dark purple this time. The brunette sat down at the table with the others and sipped her coffee, her eyes glancing around cautiously.

Just then, two voices were heard, two seemingly pissed voices. "Hey! Kiara, Jeri! This is NOT cool, you know!" Duo's voice shouted from outside. "You do realize that this means war, don't you? Jeri, honey...if I didn't love you so much...I'D KILL YOU! I DO NOT LIKE THIS, IT'S PAYBACK TIME, MISSY!" Heero shouted from a few rooms away. Trowa, who was the closest to the door, ran to the direction Heero's voice was heard. "Oh my GOD! Guys, you have to SEE THIS!" he called out. The remaining bunch ran to the living room, Kiara and Jeri followed reluctantly. "Wonder what we're in for now?" Jeri asked her jade-haired friend. "Ve're in for it, now, zat's all I can say." Was Kiara's reply. When the two girls got there, Heero was still trying to wriggle out of the ropes. He had a bright green dress on that went to mid-thigh and, to Heero's fortune, didn't have a low neck. When his eyes sought Jeri's, they were genuinely annoyed. Jeri just bursted out laughing. Kiara saw what her friend had done and covered her mouth, trying to stop laughing, but to no avail.

Jeri somehow regained her composure and stood up when an idea struck her. "Hey, no one move, I'll be back in a shake." She said, using Duo's phrase. Kiara eyed her friend knowingly. "Vaht are you up to, Jehri?" she asked suspiciously. Jeri just winked at her and dashed into her room. She came back with a Polaroid, an evil grin on her face. She aimed the veiwfinder so Heero's body was centered, and clicked the shutter button down. A medium-sized photograph popped out of the front end, and Jeri held it in the light so it would develop faster. The others(minus Heero, of course) all crowded around her, waiting for the picture to develop. When it was done, they couldn't stop laughing. Even Quatre, who was usually the one who didn't like these prank-wars, was practically falling over at the sight of the great Heero Yuy in drag.

What they saw was definitely NOT what they had expected to see. Duo's face was red, considering the fact that he was upside-down and the blood was running to his brain. But the thing that surprised them all was the color of his once brunette-colored hair. He looked like what Zechs Marquise might have looked like when he was seventeen, except for Duo's hair was longer. His teddy bear pj's were clearly visible, he also had Jeri's pink bunny slippers on his feet. This made the group roll on the ground in laughter. Jeri took a picture of Duo; Kiara stood next to the braided pilot and put her arm on top of his slippered feet, made a peace sign, and smiled. Jeri and Kiara high-fived each other in victory, and gave each other thumbs-up signs. Jeri then pulled out a pocket-knife from the folds of her robe, went up to Duo, and sliced the ropes that were restraining him. Duo put his hands on the ground below him to somehow attempt a light fall, but all he did was fall on his head.

He stood up and untied the remaining ropes from his hands and feet, brushed himself off, and glared at the group of Gundam pilots. "Well, I guess we're even. Truce?" Duo asked, approaching Jeri and Kiara. The two girls looked at each other, then back at Duo, not saying anything. Jeri reached out and shook Duo's hand, forcing a calm smile. "Sure, I guess. Well, Duo...we'll see you later, okay?" Jeri stated, and the two ladies rushed back into the residing area of headquarters. Duo blinked. "I admit, it was pretty clever to do that...but it wasn't THAT funny or anything." He said, not realizing what else they had done to him. Quatre appeared at Duo's side and took in a deep breath. He produced a rather large mirror from his jacket pocket. "Um, Duo...I think you'd better take a look at your hair." He choked out, and tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. Duo's eyebrow raised, and he raised the mirror to his face to examine just what Quatre was talking about.

Back inside headquarters, Jeri and Kiara had set a ladder up, just below where Heero was tied. Jeri took out her pocketknife and sliced the ropes, releasing Heero of his restraints. Kiara stood under them, and caught Heero when he was freed. Kiara stood Heero up and brushed him off, smiling at the sight of him in drag. "Let's see, um...here ve go. I'll just take zat vig off for you." Kiara said. She reached up and grabbed the edge of the wig, undid the pins that fastened it to his head, and pulled it off. Jeri laughed uncontrollably, still remembering when he was tied up. Heero glared at her and stomped off to his room, refusing to speak to her. Jeri and Kiara watched him go, looked back at each other, and gave each other their secret handshake.

This is the end of part 1 for now. A bunch of the end sections were mysteriously lost to me and I'm going to try to rewrite them. Y'all have yet to meet Lucerous, anyway.....and there's also a big angsty blown-up pilots part. That part was pretty fun. But anyway, this is as long as it's gonna get for a while. Pray for me. *cringe* If you want, feel free to go ahead and read parts 2 & 3, but if you do, there will be a lot that you won't understand. I PROMISE I'll rewrite the rest of these parts so you don't go insane from not knowing about what happens. In the meantime, go ahead and read my other fics. By the time you've visited all of my site and gone to all the links and junk, I'll probably have the rest of this fic rewritten. Sorry for the trouble! ---Sphynx-chan---