Helen tapped her fingers on the window absently as the shuttle landed in the spaceport of colony L3. She stared at her fingernails and was amazed that she had been able to get all the grease out from under them. Next to her on the seat sat Indigo’s birthday present. Her slightly wavy blue-black hair had been pulled up into a tight, high ponytail, and she was dressed comfortably in blue stone washed jeans and a loose, long sleeved cream shirt that had a loose neckline and fell off her shoulders.
She stopped tapping and watched the anxious shaking of her fingers curiously. Why was she so nervous about seeing her friends again? Or maybe it was because of that strange dream? She had been having that dream for the last three nights, and each time it was more graphic and realistic. Last night she had barely been able to stop herself from screaming.
A cheerful announcer came over the loudspeakers, telling the passengers that they had arrived on L3-X7211, where the Bartons were with the circus. Seth was still traveling with them as well. She grabbed the gift and stood up, it was going to be a long day.
~~~
"I still have a really bad feeling about this," Indigo grumbled as she watched the road, waiting for her friends to arrive.
"Well, it’s too late to cancel now. If you want, we can have the party in a bomb shelter."
Indigo only snorted.
"It was only a suggestion." Seth sighed, he glanced at the road and asked, "So who do you think will get here first?"
"David," Indigo answered absently.
"Huh? Why David?"
"Because there he is," Indigo pointed bat the black Limousine with the license plate that read ‘WINNER1’ rolling up towards the circus tent.
"Hun, I would have thought the Changs would be here first."
"You would have hoped, you mean." Indigo grinned.
"Hey! Same goes to you!" Seth shouted.
"Oh don’t worry about it, they’ll be here next." Indigo sighed. She stood up and forced a smile as she greeted David.
"Hey Davie! How are you? You look a little pale, are you sick?"
"No," David shook his head, "I uh…I just haven’t been getting much sleep lately."
"Well, that makes three of us. But then again, Seth and I live at a circus so you can’t really expect to sleep well, now can you?"
David laughed, "No, I guess not." He looked around, "Am I the first one here?" He wondered.
"Yes you are, so you get the honors of helping us finish the decorations." She grabbed his arm and dragged him towards Seth, who was busy trying to figure out how to set up a big umbrella.
Indigo was correct in her prediction of who would arrive next. The Changs got there shortly after David, and then Jason came after them. It was another hour before Helen finally showed up.
"Hi Indy! Sorry I’m late, and happy birthday!" She gave the younger girl a hug and handed her the gift.
"What took you so long Helen? We were waiting for you."
Helen blushed, "I really hate to admit that I spent all this time in the bathroom, but I had so much grease under my nails and it took forever for me to get clean."
Indigo laughed, "Well, that’s what you get for working and living at a scrap heap. Come on, everyone else is here already!"
Helen smiled and followed Indigo to the group.
"Hey! Helen!" Jason waved to her. "You look great babe!" Helen sighed and rolled her eyes as she made her way to the rest of the teens. She found a seat next to Jason and ignored him as he draped his arm around her shoulders.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you guys, what have you all been doing?" Helen smiled and pushed Jason away from her without even looking, nearly knocking him off his chair. She noticed that everyone looked pretty tired.
"Wow, it doesn’t really look like anyone here is in the mood for a party. Not even you, Indy."
"I know," Indigo sighed, "It seems that no one has been getting a lot of sleep lately."
"Maybe it’s the full moon." Jason suggested. "Who wants to share first?"
Jasmine raised her hand and grinned evilly for no apparent reason. "I will. Joel and I have been having the same dream these last few days."
"Really? So have me and Seth." Indigo gasped.
"What about?" David asked cautiously.
"That we were all here, at this party and we all…died." Indigo started.
"And we were killed by mobile suits." Jasmine said quietly.
Helen’s jaw dropped and Jason made a big spectacle out of spewing his drink all over David.
"No way!" Helen screeched. "That’s the exact same dream that’s been keeping me awake!"
"And me," David said softly.
Jason was too busy choking on the juice that had come out of his nose to answer, but the others thought it was safe to presume he had had the same dream.
"This is too weird…" Joel muttered. "Why would we all have the same dream…?"
~~~
"They’re catching on Mother, do you think we’re ready yet?" The girl asked. Her mother smiled at her. "You’ve been wanting to go to them for almost a year now, Bippy, and I told you that it was up to you."
"I know, but I need some advice. Do you really think we have enough information to help them?"
"We don’t have much of a choice now, you heard what they said didn’t you?"
The girl nodded, "I guess I’ll go then." She stood up and grabbed her bag, casting a weary glance at her hands, safely hidden under long leather gloves. Sighing, she took a deep breath and headed for the young teens. It was time for them to know the truth.
~~~
"Ma’am, that girl is going to warn them. Do you think we should eliminate her…?"
The young woman near the back of the room only smirked. "Now where’s the fun in that? Let her believe she is helping them. There’s nothing she can do."
Her young partner looked as if he wanted to say something, but she held up her hand to silence him. "You just continue on with the plan. Leave the rest up to me."
"All right…if you say so…" He sighed and turned to head back to his duties.
"You just wait my friends," The woman snickered, "You’ll find out your true destinies soon enough. You will pay for your sins…"
~~~
"So do you think it will come true?" David asked anxiously, looking up at the darkening sky.
"I don’t think so," Helen sighed, "It was only a dream after all."
"Maybe we should go inside, just incase." Indigo said, moving a bit closer to Joel.
"Don’t bother, it was only a dream after all."
The teens stopped and looked around. Jason was especially shocked as he spun around and this time really did fall out of his seat.
He forced himself to open his eyes and he blinked a few times before looking the new person over from head to toe. He saw white platforms shoes, blues jeans with holes in the knees, two gloved hands twitching nervously and red-brown hair hanging like a veil over the girl’s face. Her nervous fingers brushed imaginary dirt off of her baby blue tank top and she slowly raised her head.
"Br…Br…"
"Brittney!" Seth finished for him as he leapt from the table and grabbed his sister tightly in his arms. Brittney smiled and gladly fell into his arms. "Hi Seth,"
"How the hell did you…?" Helen gawked.
"It’s a…really long story…"
"Well give us the short version. People don’t just raise from the dead!" Indigo shouted. Jason was still lying on the ground in total shock. Brittney looked at him and giggled. She broke away from Seth and squatted down next to him. "Hi Jason, I missed you, you know."
Jason sat up and stared at her for a long time before whooping with joy and throwing himself on the girl.
Brittney laughed as they both fell back to the ground and returned his joyous hug.
"I thought you were dead, I thought you were dead," Jason chanted. He hugged her tightly and refused to let her go.
"Uh…Jason? I can’t breath."
"I don’t care,"
"But you’re going to make me die a third time!"
"Don’t you have nine lives?"
"That’s cats, Jason."
"Well you could have fooled us," Helen chuckled. "Jason, get up you moron!"
"Don’t mind her, she’s just jealous." Jason told Brittney.
Brittney chuckled but Jason was soon yanked from her arms and back up to his feet. A very angry Helen stood there holding Jason’s collar. "Now, why doesn’t Brittney here tell us how exactly she escaped that blast?"
"Gladly," Brittney returned Helen’s dangerous glare.
She stood up, brushed herself off, and closed her eyes as she recalled her story.
****FLASHBACK****
Jason had disappeared, and the Neo Zion soldiers were practically on top of her. It was now or never. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the detonator and felt the structure shudder underneath her. The soldiers stopped and looked around. ‘Maybe I can still make it…’ Brittney thought hopefully. As the bomb in the hanger beeped at the dumbfounded soldiers, she dashed away from it.
The bomb exploded, throwing her from her feet. She landed on the ground and banged her head on something hard. She felt the blood momentarily before looking up and seeing a mobile suit heading for her. Brittney screamed and covered her face and the mobile suit fell. It must have been some sort of miracle, but she was still alive. The mobile suit had landed at an awkward angel, and was now shielding her from the flames surrounding her. Still the dancing fire licked at her arms, which were shielding her face. Screaming in pain, she crawled towards the wall where it would be a bit safer. But still, there would be no escape for her. The bombs that had gone off already were the small ones, which blocked off the exits.
She was praying for her life when she noticed what had happened from the impact of the suit. Behind the wall was an elevator door that had been covered up.
Curious, Brittney inched towards it and pried open the doors. It was an elevator! But what was it doing there? Of course! They were in Brussels, where the presidential residence was. She remembered learning about the palace. During the Barton incident it was more than just a house, it was a shelter! The base must have been built over the old residence unknowingly. She climbed into the elevator and pounded on the buttons.
"Please work, please work!" She chanted. She managed to get the doors closed and the elevator started moving slowly downwards. She knew the larger, more powerful explosive would be going off any second now. This was her only hope; it had to work!
She felt the building shudder violently and the elevator shook and creaked. She could hear the building crumbling above her. The elevator swung, tossing her around, before the cable snapped. Brittney screamed as she tumbled down and crashed to the ground. The elevator was crushed by the impact, but somehow Brittney managed to find a small opening to get out from. She crawled out and started at the empty space. She had made it! She climbed over the debris from the explosion and headed for a distant flicker of light. It was incredible, she knew, and impossible, but for some reason she had been spared.
****END FLASHBACK****
"Afterwards my mother found me and I’ve been staying with her for the last year, healing and researching." Brittney finished her story.
"But then…why didn’t you come to us sooner, Brit? You know we would have welcomed you." Seth asked.
"I know," Brittney sighed. "That’s why I’m coming to you now. I can’t explain everything, but this war is not over yet."
"Huh?" David gasped. "What do you mean?"
"There’s someone out there who wants you dead, I…I came back to warn you, Neo Zion is not completely dead."
"That’s impossible!" Joel cried angrily. "There’s no way the Neo Zion could get organized without Norris. They weren’t even that organized with him!"
"Well, technically they’re more of a subdivision of Neo Zion. They call themselves the Matatara foundation."
"The Matata…what? I can’t even say that!" Jason spat.
"Matatara," Brittney repeated, "And guys, this battle is going to be a lot tougher than the war against Neo Zion…"
