Gundam Girls

by Maria Rocket

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(Author's Notes: Yep, this is very much an AU fic! Yeah, I know the girls as the gundam pilots thing has been done many times over, but I wanted to do my own little twist on things. ^_^ As a result of the AU thing, some of the characters will be somewhat to very out of character. And the events are going in order of pilot, not as they actually happened, and yes, I know the scenes aren't the way they happened, I didn't mean them to be. ^^; Oh, and there's strong lemony type content in one scene, as well as extreme sappyness. Well...you've been warned. ^^; )

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***

Trembling beneath the giant hand of the Wing Gundam, Heero Yuy peered up from the dust floating around him. The crumbling remains of the building behind him did not fall on him, because the gundam had shielded him at the last moment. His steel blue eyes widened, as he realized that this confirmed his suspicions.

"Relena? Is that you?"

Within the giant mecha, a young girl wearing a pink party dress was frozen with shock at her actions. "Why...why did I save him?" Relena whispered to herself. "I'd be better off if he died...wouldn't I?"

"Relena! Speak to me!" Heero cried out. He still couldn't believe it. The girl he'd found washed up on the beach the other day was really a gundam pilot!

When she turned up at St. Gabriel Academy, he'd been glad to see her well, and he was extremely curious... It wasn't everyday that he met a girl that could knock down over three men and rip off an ambulance in record time. ...Not that he looked favorably on that sort of behavior, being the son of a pacifist aristocratic family. He'd even been named after the assassinated pacifist leader of the colonies, which his family frequented. Still...Relena impressed him.

Even though she repeatedly threatened to kill him. He hadn't taken her seriously at first, even when she ripped up her invitation to his birthday party. However, when he followed her to a military base and found himself with a gun pointed at his head, he knew she was very serious. Thankfully, he was saved by another mysterious girl with short black hair and a strange reddish beret.

He hadn't seemed very thankful at the time though, and was angry at her for shooting Relena. He had jumped out in front of Relena to stop the other girl from shooting any more, confusing both girls greatly. Well, at least he'd stopped them from trying to kill each other. The girl with black hair was a gundam pilot too, but he hadn't seen her since she helped Relena escape from the hospital.

'You're going to leave me again, aren't you, Relena?' Heero looked up sadly. 'Why do you keep running from me?' He saw another mobile suit rushing towards them. "Releeeeeeeeennaaa!!!"

"I can't do it..." Relena whispered in amazement. "I can't kill him." This couldn't be, she was supposed to be perfect. Ever since the Cinq Kingdom had collapsed, she had been trained to be the perfect soldier by Dr. J, who had taken in the orphaned princess. She shouldn't have a problem with killing anything that was an obstacle, not even an innocent boy. She could see the mobile suit coming up from behind her on the display in the corner of her eye. "What's wrong with me!?" She screamed in anger and frustration at herself, and turned the gundam towards her attacker. Pouring all her emotion into her attack, she destroyed the other mobile suit in one explosive blow.

Relena breathed heavily. She had to get out of here. Away from anyone who might see her gundam. And away from Heero.

"Relena!" Heero ran towards the retreating gundam. "Wait Relena!" He felt himself becoming angry. She really was going to leave him without any explanation at all. He thought it was ridiculous, but he felt hurt that she wouldn't even keep the one promise she repeatedly made. "Where do you think you're going!?" He shouted. "If you're going to kill me, then kill me!" He glared up at the mecha, feeling really stupid. But his heart was pounding, and he wanted her to give him some kind of satisfaction. If she wouldn't tell him who she was, or what she thought she was doing, she would at least give him this much attention. He just prayed he was right about her.

The gundam paused. Then it turned and walked back towards Heero. The boy froze. Was Relena actually going to kill him? He didn't move. He didn't wince. Not even as the arm of the gundam plowed into the ground just inches away from him. Heero's eyes just gazed up at the gundam.

"Relena."

"Heero." Relena blinked, feeling something pass between them. She could feel something formed between them at that moment, and she didn't like it at all. She had to get away. Now.

Back on the ground, Heero watched as the gundam transformed and flew away from him. When he couldn't see it anymore, he closed his eyes and turned his head towards the ground. A single tear slid down his cheek.

***

With a heavy heart, Duo Maxwell fell back onto his couch. His violet eyes drifted towards the hallway. He knew she was there, preparing to leave. He'd come home from shopping that afternoon to find Hilde exchanging harsh words with what looked like a group of thugs. They left, but now Hilde was leaving too. She was taking her gundam and going off to fight again.

And she had made him promise to stay behind. He tugged at his braid, wondering when he'd started taking orders, especially from some girl in a funny hat.

'Because I love her,' he realized, and had to cover his face with his hands. 'Oh God, help me.' This is what he got for looking at the wrong pretty face for too long. Maybe this was God's way of telling him to get back to Maxwell Church, and back to seminary. He fingered the white collar at his neck.

He wasn't sure why he wore it. At first it had been a reminder to himself that once the colonies were safe again, he'd go back to studying for the priesthood. But during his stint as an OZ soldier, he'd run into Hilde Schbeiker, pilot of the Deathscythe gundam. She turned him back on the right path, away from OZ. But he didn't return to the church. He just wanted to be with her. And part of him had hoped she'd make him take off that collar for good one day...

Now, he just didn't know. The sound of a doorknob turning caused his breath to catch in his throat. He pushed himself up to face the girl with the short black hair and icy blue eyes standing in the hall. She was sad, but determined. To him, she looked like an angel. His angel of death.

"So you're really going then, huh?" Duo didn't mean to sound as bitter as he knew he did.

"I have to, Duo. You know I do."

"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't." Hands on his knees, Duo pushed himself to his feet to face her. He stared her down. "Hilde, no one in the colonies is going to appreciate anything you do for them. They're too thick in their heads right now." In a sudden gush of emotion he went over and grasped her hands tightly in his. "Why fight for them?"

Hilde avoided his eyes. They were begging her to stay, and she knew if she looked at them too long, she wouldn't be able to deny them. With a frown, she pulled her hands away and put her back to him. "Duo, I didn't become a gundam pilot looking for appreciation. I do what I do because it's the right thing. Even if the people of the colonies can't see that now. And if I don't protect them, who will? Relena's probably gone and self-destructed again, and Midii...well, I don't know if Midii will ever see battle again. Dorothy and Meiran may still be out there though, and they can't go it alone. That's where the Goddess of Death comes in."

"Hilde..."

'Damn that husky voice of his,' Hilde thought to herself with a frown. Did he have any idea just how hard it was for her to leave the little heaven they'd made there together on that backalley of a colony? She closed her eyes as she felt his arms encircle her, and his head come to rest against her neck. His soft brown hair was brushing against her cheek, and warmth of his body was pressed into her back. She felt her knees wobble at the feel of his warm breath against her neck.

"I..." Duo tightened his arms around her. "I want to go with you."

And Hilde remembered exactly why she had to go. And why she had to keep fighting. Forcing back her tears, she pulled out of Duo's embrace and walked away. "Duo, you can't! I... I can't explain... but it's better this way." She couldn't possibly explain to him about how her parents died, and how the orphanage she'd grown up in had been destroyed by the war. She couldn't tell him how everyone she loved always died...

"Duo, take care of yourself through this, okay?" Hilde smiled and walked back to him for a moment. She tugged on his braid affectionately. "Later."

Without another word, she left. Duo tried to run after her, but it was too late. He just stood in the doorway, looking out after where she'd disappeared into the night. His hands clenched the doorframe, and he wondered if he'd ever feel that familiar tug on his braid again.

***

The screams of panicking people and animals filled the air. It sounded like a stampede, and there really were a few elephants charging out among the people desperate to escape. But it wasn't just the circus tent that was coming down around their heads. The entire colony was shaking...and there was no escape.

A frightened teenage girl with pale blonde hair stood in the midst of the panic, looking confused and lost. She didn't see the lights that were about to crash down on her. But she turned when she heard that familiar voice, though at a volume and an emotion she'd never heard before...

"Midii! Look out!"

Triton was running towards her with fear in his eyes. Then he ran right into her, knocking her out of the way, and sending her hard to the ground. There was the sound of metal and glass shattering behind them. Midii shook with fear. She didn't know what was going on, and the stress was unnerving her. She could feel Triton trembling with tenseness on top of her. Finally, he lifted himself up from shielding her and looked down at her.

"Midii, are you okay?" There was worry etched into those deep green eyes. He helped her sit up.

"Ummph!" Midii threw her arms around him and hid her face in his chest. She began to cry uncontrollably. "I-I'm scared, Triton..."

The tall boy gathered her to him and stroked her hair soothingly. "It's okay, Midii, it's okay... Nothing's going to hurt you."

Not anymore. Not if he could help it. Triton looked down at the whimpering girl in his arms with a touch of sadness. Her mind was a blank, and she was a cowering wreck. He could hardly believe she was the same girl he'd known so many years ago with the tough unbending spirit.

Triton had first met her years ago, before he and his older sister Catherine had been taken in by the circus. Their parents had died, and Catherine had been sick. So in desperation, he'd hired himself out to spy on a group of rebel mercenaries. That's when he met Midii Une.

She had been so like himself, trying to support her family all on her own. Except that she'd resorted to joining the mercenaries. The more he got to know her, the harder his job became. But in the end, all the mercenaries were dead, except for Midii. He'd loved her too much to let her die. But he'd felt like death when he saw the look in her eyes when she realized he'd betrayed them to the enemy. Midii wouldn't forgive him, and deserted him there on the battlefield.

His heart had broken in two that day, and Midii had taken part of it with her. He never thought he'd see her again.

Then one day she appeared at the circus. By chance he saw her in the stands, and nearly fell off the lion he was riding in his shock. He wasn't sure if she recognized him, but if she did or not, she refused to acknowledge him. Surprisingly, she was hired by the circus manager soon afterwards, and started helping Catherine in her knife throwing routine.

Triton wasn't sure what set his pulse running faster, the knifes his sister threw so close to Midii's head, or the skimpy feathery costume Midii wore for the act.

Still, Midii refused to notice him, even when he confronted her. He knew she remembered him, he could see the emotion in her eyes, no matter how well she tried to hide it. But she would not speak of it. So the heartwrenching days went by, until he finally learned her secret.

Midii was a gundam pilot. One day during a performance to a troop of OZ soldiers, she'd destroyed the entire tent and went on a rampage with her Heavyarms gundam. She almost destroyed herself as well, but Triton stopped her. He never knew why, but even as he yelled at her about how much he cared about her, something in her eyes had changed. He remembered how surprised he'd been when she suddenly pulled him to her in a fierce hug.

Part of him had hoped that maybe he would have a chance at last. Then she left again, taking that strange Relena girl that'd been asleep in her trailer for a month with her. But he never gave up hope. Midii had returned to him once, maybe she'd come back again.

And she did.

He didn't know what had happened to her since they'd last seen each other. But this time Midii really didn't recognize him at all. She didn't even know who she was. Something terrible had happened to her out in the battlefield, and she was an amnesiac wreck of her former self. Fate had sent her his way again though, and he meant to make sure nothing ever hurt her again.

"Triton!" Catherine came running up, weaving her way through the crowd. "The lions are on the loose! We need you out here now!"

"Cathy, look after Midii for me..."

"No..." Midii whispered.

Triton looked down in surprise. "Midii?"

Her eyes lifted to meet his, still frightened, but clearer than he'd seen them in a long time. "T-The colony is under attack... I have to go help defend it. That's what I'm supposed to do...that's what that girl was trying to tell me the other day, wasn't it?"

Triton was silent. The other day, he'd found a girl in a beret trying to talk to Midii, and he could tell from what she was saying that she was probably another gundam pilot. Midii had been very upset, and he'd ordered the strange girl out of the tent. He'd hoped that Midii would forget, but apparently whatever the other girl had said had triggered something, if not memories.

"Midii, you belong here, with m...with the circus." Triton traced the soft curve of her cheek with his fingers. He loved her, and he was afraid of her leaving him again. Fear pounded inside of him. "Don't talk about silly things..."

Midii's eyes searched his, then she smiled fondly. "I have to go. I know now, I have to go help that girl and the others she was talking about."

"Please don't..." Triton could feel the tears in his eyes. "Don't leave me..." he whispered. Then his eyes widened as she leaned in to kiss him tenderly. Then he closed his eyes and let the tears stream down his cheeks as she lingered on his lips. There was a burning in his chest, and he knew his heart was dying again.

He bit back a sob as she pulled out of his arms and stood. She turned and walked away from the tent. "I'll come back, Triton. I promise." Then she disappeared into the crowd.

"Midii!" Triton cried. He tried to run after her, but felt a hand pull him back. He turned to see Catherine shaking her head in sympathy. "She'll be killed..."

"You have to let her go," Catherine said sadly. "If you really love her. And if she loves you, she'll always come back to you."

The boy with the long brown hair hanging in his face turned away in anguish. Midii might come back to him, but who would she be when she returned next time? If she returned? He wanted the old Midii back again, but he was afraid that if she got her memory back while out there, she would remember that she couldn't forgive him for what he'd done in the past. And if she remembered, he doubted she would come back. She couldn't really love him.

Triton stood there, alone again.

***

Smoothing a lock of her long platinum blonde hair behind her ear, Dorothy Catalonia reached out and rang the doorbell. She looked up at the large mansion. It was the largest mansion on the L4 colony. It belonged to Mr. Winner, but he was rarely home, since he was always at his office building, looking after his corporate empire. And she was glad of that. It made it much easier to see his son, who was usually home on his own. Finally the door opened, revealing a smiling woman in an apron.

"Miss Dorothy!" She smiled. "What a surprise! We were all so worried after you disappeared!" She ushered the girl inside. "Mr. Winner isn't home right now, but Master Quatre is in the library. I'll go tell him you're here right away!"

Dorothy quickly reached out and pulled the woman back by the arm. "Don't bother yourself Miss Collins, I'll just surprise him," Dorothy smiled. She quickly walked off through the mansion, glad that Miss Collins hadn't inquired about the astrosuit she was still wearing.

Finding her way to the library was simple. She'd been there countless times before. After all, she'd lived there in the mansion for a few years before becoming a gundam pilot.

Sitting quietly at his desk in the library, Quatre was busy studying. When the door opened and shut, he looked up. Seeing Dorothy, he jumped to his feet with a wide smile. "Dorothy! You're home!"

His arms were crushing around her within moments, those arms that pulled her to him that she'd missed so much. She didn't get a chance to greet him, as her mouth was captured almost immediately by Quatre's urgent kiss. Their embrace became so heated and breathless, that she didn't even notice when Quatre lifted her off the ground, even though she wrapped her arms about his neck as he did so.

She hadn't seen Quatre since she left for Earth months ago, and it had been far too long. His angelic face was always with her, and the separation had been torture. Before she left with the gundam, they had been inseparable for years. Ever since that day they met far above the Earth...

She had been running away from home, having grown tired of living with her war obsessed grandfather. By funny coincidence, Quatre had been running away from home at the same time, though he had been on his way to Earth while she was heading for the colonies.

Dorothy heard the click of a lock.

Both their shuttles were hijacked by the Maganac Corps, and they met as hostages. Luckily the Maganacs meant them no harm, and Quatre gained their admiration in battle. Not to mention her own... Quatre decided to return home, but she had decided that wasn't an option for her. So Quatre offered to take her into his home, and she gladly accepted.

Quatre also took in a scientist called Instructor H.

With a sweep of his arm, Quatre cleared everything off his desk. Still kissing Dorothy, he carefully lowered her onto it. Her arms pulled him down as well, and his body glided down to meet hers atop the expensive glossy wood.

When Quatre had learned that she was working with Instructor H to become a gundam pilot, he had been upset. He hadn't really disapproved of her actions, since though they were both pacifists, they both agreed that something had to be done about the situation the colonies were in. But he had been afraid that she would be hurt. In the time they lived together, their affections for each other had turned to love, though they hid it from Mr. Winner, afraid he might separate them if he knew. Quatre had tried to convince Dorothy to let him take her place, but she refused to allow him to do so. She told him that his father would be heartbroken if he left, and that he was needed there on the colony.

Quatre only grudgingly agreed.

His soft hands slid down Dorothy's bare inner thigh. She raked her fingers down the back of the golden silk of his hair, to pull at his trembling shoulderblades. Her hands pulled him close enough to hear his excited gasps against her ear. Then he moved over her sharply, and the muscles along his back clenched against her fingertips. Dorothy cried out in pleasure.

When Sandrock Gundam was complete, Dorothy left Quatre behind, unsure if she would ever see him again. But she was sure she was doing the right thing. She was going to protect the people of the colonies and her precious Quatre. It had nothing to do with striking back at her domineering grandfather. Nothing at all.

When she first arrived on Earth, the Maganacs followed her around to assist her in her mission. She discovered that Quatre had asked them to protect her, and found their undying loyalty to him suddenly transferred onto her. It was vastly annoying. But in time, she had to admit that she found the Maganac Corps to be likable and faithful allies, and she was touched by Quatre's concern for her. However, she became increasingly reluctant to get them involved, so she stole away from the men to act on her own. She was a perfectly capable woman, after all. Although she soon found it to be in her best interests to work with the other gundam pilots when she found them.

As Quatre moved over her and within her, again and again, Dorothy let all the failures she felt from the past months melt away. His intimate touch was like a healing. Even though the rest of the world and the colonies had turned against her, Quatre still loved her. And she told him that she loved him back, with his every movement.

Lifting her leg up along his glistening back, she could feel the music in his body reaching a crescendo. With a shuddering gasp, she arched against him as she felt the song of his soul pour into her, and her emotions and sensations dissolved into light and color. The last thing outside of this ecstatic realm that she was aware of for an undetermined amount of time was the sound of Quatre's deep groaning.

"Dorothy..." An out of breath whisper with a hint of playful mischief tickled her cheek. "Dorothy Slippers..."

At this, Dorothy squinted her eyes open and glared up at the smiling angel hovering next to her face. "I hate that name."

"I know," Quatre giggled and pressed his lips to her temple. When Dorothy had first moved into the Winner household, she'd accidently tripped twice on the staircase. No one had found it funny at the time, but afterwards Quatre had taken to teasing her about it. Especially when he found he could get her attention with the name, even if it wasn't the most favorable kind of attention. But sometimes he wasn't at all picky, as far as Dorothy was concerned.

Her fingers played across the surface of his face, and he smiled. "I've really missed you, Dorothy," he caught her hands and kissed them.

"I've missed you too. You've been in my dreams so long, my prince of the stars," Dorothy traced a fingertip down his neck to his shoulder. "Every night I would look up and try to find you among those jewels in the sky..."

Quatre looked down shyly, though he was too flushed to tell if he was blushing. "I've missed you so much princess, that my father's suspected me of being sick from time to time." He met her eyes with an adoring smile. "And I am. I'm love sick."

Laughing, Dorothy tucked her face against Quatre's neck. "Speaking of your father, maybe we should move someplace a little more private."

"Mmm..." Quatre murmured into her hair. "My father's busy at a meeting. He won't be home for several hours at least."

"Naughty little angel," Dorothy sneered.

With a sly smile, Quatre leaned in and claimed her mouth once more with a small purring sound. It seemed as though they might resume their previous activities, when a sudden noise distracted them. They pulled out of their kiss with a soft smack, and turned to look.

It was the door knob turning. It only clicked, since the door was locked. This was followed by loud knocking on the door. Pushing his hair away from his eyes with a look of annoyance, Quatre was about to order the person on the other side of the door away, when a trembling voice called out.

"Master Quatre, you'd better pick up the phone." Miss Collins muffled voice said from the other side of the door. "It's your sister, Iria...about your father."

"Iria...?" There was a quality to Miss Collins' voice that sent fear shooting through Quatre. He pushed off the desk and quickly pulled his clothes back on. Dorothy immediately did so as well.

She was sliding her hair band into place when Quatre finally took Iria's call on the library's videophone. She couldn't see Quatre's face, but she could see Iria's tear streaked image. Dorothy was staying out of view, and from where she was, she couldn't hear what was being said. She grew alarmed when Quatre sunk to his knees.

A moment later, he broke the connection, and slumped over completely. He was crying with an expression of terrible grief. Dorothy rushed over and knelt before him. She held him close.

"What's wrong, Quatre? What did she say?"

Quatre drew a long shuddering breath. "My father...he's dead. I knew he was upset about the colony manufacturing weapons...but I never thought..." He leaned into Dorothy, his voice breaking. "They killed him... They killed him..."

Dorothy didn't cry, but she held onto Quatre's shaking body. "Oh Quatre..." She opened her eyes and stared out blankly. She could feel his pain like a knife through her soul.

No longer capable of speaking, Quatre just choked on tears of agony. Dorothy felt a silent rage building up inside of her. It wasn't right. These people of the colony, for whom she'd risked her life for countless times, wanted to see her dead. And they'd killed Quatre's father, despite everything his family did for the colonies. They'd made her suffer, and they'd made her angel prince suffer.

The coldness she'd swallowed for so long, kept at bay by Quatre's warm heart, surfaced within her. She gathered Quatre to her chest and stroked his hair soothingly. Her eyes were like ice.

"Don't worry, my sweet Quatre. You'll have justice... I'll make them pay for hurting you." Dorothy smiled wickedly.

***

"Justice... There is no justice in this world," muttered the girl with black eyes. She glanced back at the towering gundam leaning into the cliff behind her. "And if there ever will be, it won't be brought about by the likes of me. I'm too weak. Too weak to pilot you, Wufei."

Meiran dragged her foot in the dirt where she sat. "How did I even wind up in this mess?" She frowned at the water further down below her. "I can't even go home now. I've failed."

She considered throwing herself down from the cliff, or even self-destructing. At least that way, she'd be with Wufei again. Wufei...if she hadn't been so weak he'd still be alive. She clenched her fists. Her stupid, stupid husband... He'd been much stronger. But she'd taken on a battle she couldn't win, and he'd died protecting her. Now everyone in the colonies and on Earth would pay for her mistakes.

Wufei was supposed to be the gundam pilot, not her. She couldn't even defeat that OZ flunky, Lady Une. Meiran glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting, coloring the world orange. The clouds had a reddish tint to them. The color of blood. Of which she'd seen enough.

A beeping sound called out to her from within the mecha.

"No..." she whispered sadly. "I can't help you. I'm not worthy."

The girl and the gundam sat in silence.