"Are you in here Seth!" Brittney screamed as she entered the hanger. She looked around the huge space and sighed. This was the last place her brother had been seen, so it was a likely place to start looking for him.
Cheryl was having a fit because she needed to run tests on Seth if he wanted his Gundam completed.
She noticed something lying at the bottom of a mobile suit and walked closer to investigate. It was a pair of heavy gloves that were usually worn when working on a mobile suit.
She curiously climbed up and heard moving from inside. But she soon realized that there was more than one person in there. Brittney didn’t have to guess who was in there with her brother.
She hummed as she slipped down and walked to the control room. She tapped a few buttons and was soon connected to the correct mobile suit.
"Seth?" She cooed. She smiled as the interior of the mobile suit was brought up on the screen.
"Whoa!" A blur of skin and black hair fell the floor as soon as Brittney appeared.
Seth grunted and nearly jumped out of the seat.
"Well good morning Seth, have a nice sleep?" Brittney snickered.
She heard someone off screen moan.
"Brit? What are you doing? Couldn’t you knock?"
"Oh please," Brittney rolled her eyes. "What is that on you shoulder?"
"It’s a uh…" He looked at the article of clothing stuck to him and blushed. Suddenly a slender hand shot up and grabbed it from off screen. Brittney resisted the urge to laugh.
Brittney was so glad she could only see his head and shoulders. She didn’t want to see his attire, or lack of it at the moment.
"What do you want, Brit!" Seth cried.
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that if you want to pilot your own mobile suit you should probably go see my mom about those tests."
"OK! I get it!" He slammed his hand down and cut off the link. Finally, Brittney allowed herself to laugh and she really wished she had a camera.
~
Seth looked down at his girlfriend who was glaring at him after being thrown down to the ground.
"What was all that?" Jasmine demanded as she clipped on her bra.
"Um…Brit says I need to do these tests…"
"Right now?" Jasmine fished out her watch from the pile of clothing on the ground and stared at it. "Its only…holy flying cows! It’s so late! I should have started training over two hours ago!" She jumped up and grabbed her shirt quickly. Only…it was his shirt. "Bye Seth," She leapt from the suit and ran off.
"Wait a minute!" Seth called after her. He would have chased her, but he didn’t have enough clothes on for that. "What am I supposed to wear?" He muttered.
~~
"Noin, I’m making arrangements to transfer all the kids’ families to safe houses." Midii reported.
"Good," Noin said, "We don’t want a repeat of the Toronto incident."
"Helen’s taking it pretty rough, I guess."
"Yeah," Noin sighed. "She’ll be OK soon enough."
"She’d better be. We can’t afford to lose one of our best pilots."
Midii frowned and went back to work. "I can’t believe how that happened. This Cassius girl is ruthless."
Noin agreed. "We’re making plans for our first attack on the enemy. Do you know how Cheryl is doing on those new Gundams?"
"She’s still working on the plans, from what I heard. I doubt Brittney and Seth would be ready for your first attack anyway. You’d better leave them out of it."
"Hm," Noin’s face fell, "I don’t know if I can. Cheryl will have to just pick things up. Which reminds me…has anyone seen Seth yet today?"
"No…actually I haven’t."
It was as if he were on cue. At that very moment, a grumbling Seth walked into he room.
"Seth!" Noin smiled, "What…what are you wearing?" She looked at the too-small baby-blue tank top he was wearing, which was obvious made for a woman.
"Do not go there!" Seth growled.
"Um…ok…" She watched as Seth stormed through to the other side of the room and out the opposite.
"Well…" Midii said after an awkward moment of silence. "That has got to be the weirdest thing I’ll see all day."
~~~
"OK Miss Instructor! I brought you food if you’re hungry!" Jeff smiled brightly as he walked into Helen’s room. He saw that she wasn’t in her bed anymore, which as a good sign.
"Go away," Helen hissed.
Jeff looked to his right and smiled. Helen was sitting curled up in a big armchair, staring at a framed photograph in her hands.
"You’re awake! Are you hungry?" Jeff grinned, ignoring her comment. He stopped just behind her and looked over her shoulder at the picture.
"Is that your family?" He asked.
Helen only nodded.
"I’m sorry about what happened."
"Why would you be sorry?" Helen shot, "It was me that brought it about. I shouldn’t have gotten that bitch angry. I…"
"Hey…hey! Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m sure there was nothing you could do. You can’t dwell on this, that Cassy chick was the one who pushed the button, remember?"
"Cassius," Helen corrected.
"Whatever." Jeff rolled his eyes and took the seat next to her. "Listen to me, Helen, you have to come back soon."
"And why is that?"
"Because, I-we miss you."
Helen looked up at him questioningly.
"And besides," Jeff said quickly. "David can’t handle instructing. He’s not the teaching type."
"You have a point there." Helen admitted.
"You see! Come on, I know how to cheer you up!"
"I don’t wanna," Helen whined.
"Oh come on Helen, stand up!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.
"Instructor Helen," She snapped.
"Sorry, Instructor Helen." Jeff groaned. He dragged her out the door of her room and down the hall.
~~
Indigo stared helplessly at the group of rookies before her. "Well uh…David? What do we do?" She wondered.
"I…I don’t know! Helen usually does all the work."
Indigo sweatdropped, "You mean to tell me you haven’t had a clue what you’ve been doing?!"
"Not at all…" David grinned.
Joel sighed and took a look at the plans. "It says we’re supposed to test them on something…" "I hate tests," Indigo frowned, "Let’s skip that."
"Yeah…"
"How about we go play basketball out in the quad!" Indigo cried happily.
"Well…" David started.
"Sounds good to me," Joel interrupted. "Who needs training anyway?"
~
‘Oh great,’ Saber thought to himself, ‘these new guys are even more clueless than David is! Why can’t Helen come back? This is so pathetic. They should have never made it to top ranks.’ He sighed as he watched as the rest of the group eagerly followed them to the basketball courts. Saber, however, had other plans. He didn’t want to hang around doing nothing all day. He could think of much better ways to spend his time.
It wasn’t like he was the only one playing hooky. That annoying black guy Jeff was nowhere in sight. Saber snuck away from the group and headed down the hall in the opposite direction.
~~~
"Do you enjoy torturing me or something?" Brittney glared dangerously at her beaming mother.
"You look adorable honey!" Cheryl cooed.
Brittney’s face darkened even more, and she let out what sounded like a growl.
Cheryl just kept on smiling.
"That’s it! I’m taking these out!" Brittney grabbed at the pigtails in her hair and started to storm off.
"Oh no you don’t!" Cheryl protested. "You’re keeping those in Missy! They look good."
"No,"
"Yes,"
"No,"
"Yes!"
"No f*cking way!"
"What did you just say to me?!"
Brittney ignored her mother and yanked the elastics out of her hair.
"NO!" Cheryl shrieked.
"You do enjoy this, don’t you?"
"Well, of course I do dear…I missed you growing up after all and…"
"Oh please!" Brittney groaned, rolling her eyes. "I have work to do, see you later mom." She opened the door and nearly ran right into Jason.
"Jason! What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you of course." Jason flashed her his famous grin. "You hungry?"
"No,"
He frowned, "Come on, just a snack? Please?"
"Why? Are you hungry."
"You must forgive my daughter," Cheryl chuckled. "Growing up as a soldier, she has very little experience flirting."
"Mom!"
"AH, I see… Well then Brit, here’s the deal. You say ‘Yes I am hungry’, and I’ll be happy and stop bugging you."
Brittney glared but reluctantly agreed. It was better than spending time with her obsessive mother.
Jason dragged her all the way down to their rooms and inside his.
"Jason…" Brittney sighed, "I don’t know what your planning but…"
"Shh," Jason cut her off by pressing his fingers against her lips. Brittney wasn’t taking the bait. She narrowed her eyes at him and waited. "I have a surprise for you…" He whispered.
~~~
"Ice cream!" Jeff cheered. Helen looked up at him as if he was nuts.
"You dragged me all the way into the colony after my entire family was killed just to go to some ice cream place in the middle of nowhere!"
"Hey! This is the best ice cream on the entire colony!" Jeff argued. "I’ve been here before. Come on, I’ll buy you a banana split. They always make me feel better."
Helen groaned but still followed him inside. The place was packed with parents and small kids, but mostly teens. It was hard enough for them to get in, let alone find a seat. They took a small booth in a corner and waited for the waitress to come.
"Hi there!" she said cheerfully, "Can I take your order?"
Helen looked over and glared at Jeff, and then at the perky waitress. The waitress faltered and squirmed under Helen’s glare.
"Get us the biggest banana split you can manage!" Jeff said with a huge smile, apparently unharmed by Helen’s mood.
"R-right away…" The waitress hurried off to fill their order.
"Oh!" Jeff gasped suddenly, "Did you want anything, Helen?"
"Huh?" Helen gave he a bemused look. Jeff burst out laughing. "You see! You do want ice cream!"
Helen muttered something under her breath and dropped her head to the table to wait.
Helen must have really scared the waitress, because it was less than two minutes before an enormous banana split arrived in front of them. Helen picked up her spoon and took a big bite. "I love banana splits," She muttered.
Jeff grinned and congratulated himself on a job well done.
~~~
"Do you get the feeling we’re being left out?" Joel asked indigo absently.
"Is that a bad thing?" Indigo grinned. She glanced at the preoccupied rookies and then at David, who was scanning through lesson plans.
"At least we get some time to ourselves." She scooted closer to him and leaned against his shoulder.
Joel sighed. "I have to get out of here." He got up quickly and helped her to her feet as well.
"Where are you going?" indigo asked as she followed him.
Joel grinned at her; "Don’t you want to get out of here?" He asked.
"And do what…?" Indigo asked suspiciously.
"Oh…I can think of something…"
Indigo blushed and could only blink as she watched Joel head off towards the exit of he quad.
"That little…" She growled when she came back to reality. She glanced at David to make sure he wasn’t watching and then ran after her boyfriend.
~~~
"That idiot was supposed to check in over an hour ago." Cassius grumbled to herself. She tapped her finger on the controls impatiently. When he finally contacted her, he would be in for a major lecture. She knew she should have chosen someone more reliable to be her mole, but unfortunately he was the only one she really trusted.
Finally, the equipment beeped, signaling the arrival of a message.
"It’s about time." She snapped when he finally appeared.
"Sorry," He apologized, "I couldn’t get away."
"Well, do you have anything yet?"
"No,"
"Why not!" Cassius screamed.
"Don’t yell, Cassius, I’ll get you more information than you can dream of."
"We’ll just see about that." She snorted. "And don’t get caught calling me! It would ruin all our plans!"
"Right," He signed off quickly.
"Why am I always surrounded by morons?" Cassius groaned.
~~~
"What is all this?" Brittney asked as she eyed Jason’s snack.
"Strawberries and chocolate of course! What else could you possibly have for a snack?" Brittney sweatdropped. "This wasn’t exactly what I was expecting?"
"Why not?" Jason frowned, "Don’t you like strawberries?"
Brittney rolled her eyes. "You are so pathetic."
"What do you mean?"
She chuckled, "Strawberries and chocolate, please Jason, if you liked me you could have just said something."
"Say something! That’s no fun. Don’t you think it’s romantic?" He fluttered his eyelashes at her.
"No…not really."
"You know what’d be really romantic…?"
"What?" Jason asked eagerly.
Brittney smiled and took a slow step towards him. She carefully slid her arms around his neck and angled her face up to his. "If you’d…" She trailed off as she placed a lingering kiss on his mouth.
Jason didn’t even let her finish the sentence. He crushed her against his body and pressed his lips firmly against hers. Brittney squealed and stumbled backwards until they both fell onto the bed.
He didn’t even pause for air as he plunged his tongue deep into her mouth and mercilessly explored the dark cavity of her mouth. Brittney returned the kiss tentatively with her own tongue.
Jason eventually pulled back and smirked at her.
"Romantic enough for ya?"
"Oh yeah…" She gasped as she pulled him back down on top of her.
~~~
After their trip to the ice cream parlor, Helen and Jeff returned to the base as quickly as possible.
They laughed and talked on their way back.
"Glad to see you’re feeling better, Instructor." Jeff laughed.
"Yeah…thanks a lot Jeff. I guess I needed to get my mind off things. They walked down the hall towards their rooms. "I have one more thing I want to show you…" He said quickly.
"Huh?"
"But uh…" He looks down at the shirt he had spilled ice cream all over. "Maybe I should change first?"
Helen looked at him and laughed. "Alright I guess…I’ll wait for you."
"Thanks." He quickly dashed off the other way towards the small dorm rooms.
~
Jeff didn’t take long to get changed. He came back about ten minutes later, out of breath. He had probably run all the way to his dorm to get changed.
"So where are we going?" Helen asked.
"You’ll see," Jeff smirked. He took her arm and slowly led her towards the exit again.
"This way, Instructor."
Helen rolled her eyes, "Stop calling me that." "But I thought that’s what you wanted to be called."
"Not anymore, it’s getting annoying. I’m afraid I’m going to forget my own name!"
"Oh, OK, sorry. So I can call you ‘Helen’?"
"Yes,"
"Cool,"
~~
"Where have you taken me, Jeff?"
"It’s a park silly!"
"Yeha I see that…why are wwe at a park. The case does have a quad you know…"
"This place is different. It’s really, really cool!"
"Why…?"
"You’ll see…"
"He dragged her across the park to where there was a small pond and a lot of trees. "Sit down," He ordered.
Helen reluctantly obeyed. She was still confused as to what they were doing there.
"Now wait…"
"Wait for…"
"Shh!" He slapped his hand over her mouth. "Be quiet or they won’t come."
Helen glared at him and mumbled through his hand but eventually she agreed to sit quietly on the ground next to Jeff.
In a few minutes, a few faint lights began to appear in the trees.
"What the…" Helen waited. More and more appeared, floating around like they were spirits.
"Fireflies!" She gasped. "But what are they doing here on the colony?"
"They brought them over." Jeff explained. "My Grandmother used to tell me stories. When someone dies, their spirits return to the earth in the form of these fireflies. She collected them, convinced they were old friends. It was cool really, believing that no one ever really left you…"
Helen studied him carefully. "It is a beautiful thought but…"
"But…" Jeff urged.
"But I don’t believe it."
"You don’t have to. You just have to think about it for a moment. Just say…that one there is your mom. The way it darts around like that…"
"That was just like her," Helen giggled. "Why do you go through all this trouble for me?"
"Why? Because I uh…I’m worried about you, Helen."
"Hm," She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed deeply. "I’m still gonna miss them."
"I know you will…"
