Notes: Most of this takes place in episode 23 where we meet Hilde. It's basically to explain why she did such a quick change. Also, Feddies is a nickname for the Federation and anything between the lines of tilda's ~ is a flashback.Enjoy! 

Memories of Maxwell Church

by Catherine Bloom

*~Duo~*  

Duo made a face as he listened to the propaganda being piped into the lounge like area. He watched the cadets down below, trying to march around like real soldiers instead of the toys they were.

“Space will enter a new age all because of the help of our leader Treize and emissary Lady Une,” the voice intoned as Duo kicked his feet up on the table and intertwined his fingers behind his head.

“Please,” he muttered, rolling his eyes behind the dark sunglasses he wore. “Those two have instilled you all with a fear of war.”

“That’s not true,” a sweet, yet strong, female voice interjected and Duo looked at the speaker over the frames of his glasses. He was glad for his training on keeping his emotions in check and invisible. One look at the girl gave him a chill of déjà vu. She was slightly shorter than him with black hair, stylized in the latest spiky fashion, and had light blue eyes. It was the eyes that caught him; they were so familiar.

“This colony has a history of humiliation,” she told him, looking more at her clipboard than at him. “But now we will no longer be afraid to stand up for our colony.”

“Who are you?” Duo asked casually.

“My name is Hilde Schbeiker,” she responded, and Duo was suddenly really glad for his training. He knew her! “I’m one of the volunteers at this colony.”

Duo winced internally as that revelation hit him like a hammer. He kicked his feet off the table and sat up. “Ohhh, you’re a soldier for OZ.”

“Mmm, well I guess that’s a good enough description,” Hilde shrugged, a congenial smile on her face. “The majority of the students training on this colony will be working on the Moon base.”

Duo’s ears perked at this as he stared down at the cadets in rows of six by six. If they were getting shipped off to the Moon base that would be just perfect for him. But how had Hilde gotten caught up with OZ? Idiot girl.

“Guess I better get in line for training, huh?” Duo said, striking the pensive look from his face and replacing it with a jovial smile as he looked toward Hilde. A paper, a registration form, was shoved into his face as he jerked back, instinctively taking it from her.

“The test is a week from today,” Hilde said. “Try it if you want.” And with that she walked off.

“Maybe I will,” Duo said as he watched her walk off and smiled as he pushed his sunglasses back up on his nose as he kicked back, shaking his head. “She doesn’t seem to have changed a bit.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The seven-year-old boy rolled his eyes as he continued saying the rosary. He was getting really tired of it, and he was only on his fifth Hail Mary. Still, it was better than having to apologize.

He’d beaten up some other boys for teasing him, and gotten called down by the dean, again. Father Maxwell had come and gotten him. The Father had apologized to the dean and to the students, but hadn’t made Duo. Which was a good thing since Duo wouldn’t. When they’d returned to the church Sister Helen knew exactly what had happened. She’d talked to Duo with that smile and calm voice that made him want to do anything for her. She had said it was okay, he didn’t have to do anything; but she really wished he’d apologize or say a rosary for what he’d done. He’d chosen the rosary.

There were soft steps behind him, almost like someone was sneaking up on him.

“You’re it braid boy!” the small female voice yelled as someone grabbed hold of his braid and yanked him backwards, sending him to the floor on his back. Then there was the fast paced patter of small feet on the floor combined with loud giggling.

“HILDE!” Duo yelled as he jumped to his feet and ran after the giggling dark haired girl. The rosary left behind at the feet of the crucified Christ. “I’m going to get you!”

He ran down the aisle of pews as Hilde took a turn, keeping one of the long benches between them. They played cat and mouse for over ten minutes before Duo launched himself over the pew and tackled her. “Gotcha idiot girl,” he announced, tickling her mercilessly. “Don’t pull the braid.”

“Okay, okay,” Hilde let out through giggles and gasps of breath. “What were you doing kneeling and all anyway?”

“Praying,” Duo smirked, letting her up. Hilde was his best friend. She didn’t actually live at the church, but she was staying there for as long as it took. Her parents had been killed because her father was very outspoken toward the Federation’s control of the colonies. Her mother and father had been dragged out of their house one day and that was all that was known. A good person, a neighbor, saw this and kept Hilde from coming home from school. He’d brought her too the church and told her that her parents needed to go visit someone, and that she should stay at the church. The church had made arrangements with her grandparents to have her go and live with them. Unfortunately, due to the Federation’s control, it was nearly impossible to get anyone off the colony without going through stacks and stacks of paperwork. So Hilde stayed at the church until her grandparents could get her.

That made Duo a little sad. He didn’t want her to leave like everyone else in his life, but it was probably better for her to be with her family.

“You were praying?” Hilde asked, cocking her head and crinkling her nose. “I know Father Maxwell wants you to be a priest, but that just don’t seem like you.”

“Eh, well the Sister said I had too,” he shrugged, then gave the ‘let’s do something evil’ smile. “Come on.”

“You better not get me in trouble,” Hilde yelled as she ran after him.

He stopped and smiled as he turned to her. “I won’t Hildaguard Rose Schbeiker,” he smirked, sticking out his tongue as he called her by her full name. She hated that. But not as much as… “Coming, Hildey!”

Her face contorted into a gremlin-like configuration as she yelled, “I’m sooooo going to get you braid boy!”

And with that they were off, Duo cursing a couple times when she nearly caught his braid. They ran around and around the church, Sister Helen giving a yelp as they nearly crashed into her legs, and Father Maxwell smiling the ‘kids will be kids’ smile. They ran until Hilde suddenly stopped and let out a shocked noise… “Wow!”

Duo stopped and smiled as he watched Hilde, her head tilted upward and her jaw slack in shock. He let out a small laugh; he knew she’d think it was cool. It was his favorite place, not that he’d admit it, he was a guy after all and didn’t do the mushy stuff. It was the room in the church where they kept all the stained glass. Most of it had been removed from the windows when people, Federation and kids, kept breaking them. They were all beautiful even without the light from outside, but occasionally there were some small beams of light that forced their way into the room and set off a chain reaction, illuminating the room in reds, blues, yellows, and many other colors. The depictions of the Virgin Mary lit up as she held the baby and Hilde stared.

“It’s so pretty,” she finally said, blinking her light blue eyes. “Duo, how come you never showed me here before?”

Duo shrugged as he leaned back against the wall, fingers intertwined behind his head, “I dunno. Just thought I’d show you now.”

“You heard I was going, didn’t you?” Hilde frowned, averting her eyes from the stained glass and looking at Duo. “My grandparents finally got the paperwork though. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Duo felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. Why hadn’t anyone told him? He put on his best smile and cheeriest voice. “Cool, I’m glad. Bet you’ll have fun there. Don’t forget to drop me a postcard.”

Hilde looked at him and then looked down. “I kinda thought you’d be a little sad or something,” she said, kicking the toe of her black shoe on the hard floor. “But thank you for being my friend; and will you come see me off at the spaceport tomorrow?”

Duo felt a wave of guilt, but he had to play it cool. He couldn’t show he was hurting. He’d lived on the street without anyone and it hadn’t hurt this much. “I’ll try,” he shrugged. “You know how Sister Helen is, if she wants me to do stuff around the church and all.”

“Yeah,” Hilde nodded, then looked up and smiled a sad smile. “But I hope you can. I want you to give me a hug off like in all the movies.”

Duo jumped back against the wall. “I ain’t doin’ that! You’re a girl, it’d look weird!”

Hilde looked away before forcing a smile. “At least try to come, okay?”

Duo smiled with resignation as he wrapped an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “I’ll try, but I don’t promise anything.”

Hilde sighed, but smiled. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone, okay?” She said as she elbowed him in the side. “I do want to see you again, eventually. And if you do I’m going to deck you one, hard.”

“I promise, but would I,” Duo began, emphasizing the I as he placed a hand to his chest, “do something stupid?”

“Without a doubt, braid boy,” Hilde replied with a smirk as she tugged on his braid and ran for it.

“I’m going to get you Hildey!” he yelled, running after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Please process this,” Duo said, smiling angelically at the stern man who gave him a skeptical look. “Thanks,” he said calmly, taking the paper back as he walked leisurely toward the gate for the moon base shuttle. “Take care.”

“You! Wait a minute,” a female voice yelled and he froze. ‘Fuck,’ he thought. ‘Don’t do this to me Hildey.’

“What do you want?” Duo asked, lowering his eyelids.

“I said the test is next week,” Hilde said as Duo watched her purple clad reflection in the silver-plating of the wall. “Show me your pass.”

“This?” Duo asked holding up the pass. “Everything’s in order,” he lied, before shaking his head. He didn’t lie, no matter what. He alluded occasionally, maybe even led astray, but he did not lie. ‘Sorry ‘bout this girl,’ he thought as he plastered a grin on his face and threw the duffle bag at Hilde. “Actually, it’s a forgery.”

Hilde let out a curse as she blocked the duffle and fell to the floor. Duo ran past, wincing in regret as she rolled to a sitting position and shook her head. Turning his head away he made dash for the Leo, knocking the guard off into the half gravity, and getting in the cockpit. He was in luck; there was already a pilot suit inside.

Suiting up he hit the external intercom and moved the suit. “Don’t move,” he ordered in his most authoritative voice, shaking his head; he wasn’t good at that. “I don’t want to fire inside the colony.”

The people, even the so-called officers, were to shocked to stop him as he made his was to the port and out into space. “That was too easy,” he muttered, looking back at the colony, hoping he hadn’t hurt Hilde, before he reasserted himself to his mission. “I have to destroy the MS plant on the moon base,” he said, his eyes expertly taking in the Leo’s control panels. “But I’m too far away.”

Yellow streaks flared past the Leo. “Shit,” Duo cursed, turning to find another Leo in pursuit. Deathscythe always warned him when there were approaching mobile suits. “Oh man, just what I need,” he frowned, turning the Leo around to engage.

“If you resist, I’ll kill you,” Hilde’s voice announced over the radio.

“Double shit,” Duo cursed, intentionally missing as he flicked on his own radio. “I’ll use that threat on the next pilot who has no business on the field,” he yelled. ‘Hilde, go away,’ his mind screamed. ‘Be safe you moron.’

“I’m fighting for this colony,” Hilde yelled back, unfazed.

“I’m fighting for the colony too,” Duo said quietly as the words hit home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ouch,” Duo mumbled, rubbing at the bruise on his shin.

“Duo, are you okay?” Sister Helen asked, worry etched on her face as she fell to her knees beside the boy and checked him over for bleeding and major injuries. “What happened?”

“She didn’t see the car coming,” he said, looking over at the wide eyed Hilde who was bouncing behind the Sister asking in a near constant litany, ‘is he okay?’

“He’s fine Hilde,” Sister Helen said, laying a hand on the girl’s shoulder and smoothing back her dark bangs. “Calm yourself.” Hilde seemed to obey as the Sister turned back to Duo and finished checking him over. “Tell me the whole story,” she said, giving Duo the smile he couldn’t say no to. If there had been a mother out there for him, he hoped she had been like Sister Helen.

He gave his nose a swipe with the back of his black sleeve as he explained. “Hilde was walking in the street,” he began. “And I distracted her,” he admitted as Hilde gave him a small glare over the Sister’s shoulder. “And there was a car coming, so I pulled her out of the way and I banged myself up. Nothing special.”

“Duo,” Sister Helen smiled with an almost motherly look as she pulled the boy into a hug. “That was very good of you, but please be more careful. Father Maxwell and I, not to mention Hilde, would be so sad if you got hurt.”

Duo blushed as she hugged him and gave her a small push away. Getting hugged by a girl, even a nun, in public was embarrassing. “I’m okay,” he said with a dazzling, happy go lucky grin. “I won’t make you worry, promise.”

Sister Helen smiled, brushing his cheek with her palm as she got to her feet and petted Hilde’s head. “You did the right thing coming to get me,” she told the still worried girl. “Be careful yourself, I want you to stay with us for a long time too, okay?”

“Okay,” Hilde nodded as the Sister began walking back toward the church.

Duo frowned. Sister Helen had been at the rationing station all day long, trying to explain to the Federation man that they had children at the church and need just a little more water for drinking. Of course she had been denied. The thing that he and Hilde had been talking about was the fact the woman had come back there was a large bruise on her. Contrary to popular belief nuns were not physically attached to their habits; though Sister Helen was rarely out of hers. She had been changing back when the arguing Hilde and Duo had stumbled in, and saw the ugly bruise on her upper arm as she played peacemaker between them. Arguing about the bruise was what had distracted Hilde.

“You win,” Duo sighed, not believing he was giving into a girl. She was right. People like Sister Helen and Father Maxwell put their faith in God; that he would bring them through. All the humiliation and pain didn’t deter their faith. So no amount of convincing on his part was going to make them stand up for themselves. But someone had to, and as far as Duo was concerned it wasn’t going to be God.

“You’re right too,” Hilde said, kicking at a rock as she walked toward Duo. “Thanks for savin’ me.”

“Be stupid to get hit by a car,” he said, sticking his tongue out as he put his hands behind his head. The high collar still was driving him crazy. “Maybe faith works for some people, but I still think we should fight.”

“Well,” Hilde said, wavering a bit. “I guess anyone’s better than the Federation and we need to fight to get them to go away. Dad used to say the Feddie’s are like a plague eatin’ away at the good people of the colony and leaving the bad to survive.” She shrugged, “but I dunno, maybe all the good people don’t believe in fighting or got killed and the bad people won’t fight to help.”

“I’ll fight for the colonies,” Duo said, feeling a burst of determination.

“So will I,” Hilde piped in agreement as Duo rolled his eyes. “What?”

“Hildey, I’m gonna fight so you and Sister Helen and Father Maxwell don’t have too,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“You’re just saying that ‘cause I’m a girl,” Hilde accused as she put her hands on her hips.

“Am not,” Duo denied.

“Are too,” Hilde said as they argued the entire walk back to the church.

“Am not!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why’d you have to get involved Hildey,” Duo sighed, clenching his fists as Hilde charged him again. “I told you I’d fight so you didn’t have to. What’d you think I was lying?” He threw the Leo’s gun away and yelled over the radio. “We’re both fighting for the colonies, so why are we fighting each other?”

‘Why can’t you just be another pilot?’ his mind screamed at an unknown source. ‘Why does it have to be my friend? Why won’t you just give me a little slack?’

“Afraid, huh?” Hilde screamed over the radio as her Leo aimed a punch at his own. Duo easily blocked both attempts.

“I told you we’re not enemies,” he tried again, but Hilde always had been a bit on the stubborn side.

“I have volunteered for this job and promised to do my duty,” she retorted and Duo rolled his eyes. She’d always been a good girl too, by the book and all.

“Damn, you’ve still got that one track mind,” he cursed quickly weighting his options. There was Hilde’s support quickly coming up behind him and… Shit, they were firing and they didn’t seem to care who they hit as long as they got him. “Stay away from me,” he yelled, throwing Hilde’s suit out of range as the beams began to impact the Leo. He let out a cry as the cockpit shook and some of the overhead consoles began raining down.

‘So much for being Mr. Nice Guy,’ he sighed as a corner of a console hit him in the temple and he was knocked unconscious. His last thought was that at least Hilde was safe.

*~Hilde~*

Hilde walked down the hallway toward where the prisoner was being held. She was angry. He didn’t have a right to save her. He was her enemy. Though she did admit there was a familiarity to him. That was the whole reason she had approached him on the colony. She’d hoped he would look up and say ‘Hi Hilde, long time no see,’ and she could say ‘I knew you looked familiar, but I forgot your name.’ But that was just a foolish hope, everyone she knew from her younger years was dead or far beyond her reach.

At times it made her want to cry. It was the whole reason she joined OZ. They weren’t the Federation, and as far as she knew they had never taken anyone from her. It was stupid she knew, but it was all she had.

As the pressed the entry code into the pad imbedded in the wall she felt a self-conscious twitch as her hand spasmodically tightened on the gun she held. She had no intention of using it, of course, but her commander had wanted her to take it since the prisoner seemed so dangerous. It seemed so unnecessary to her. Her father had once told her to only pick up a gun if you intended on using it; because if you pick it up you will feel compelled to use it. “Give me a little credit dad,” she mumbled as the door opened and she entered.

The boy tied to the chair looked up as she entered, he smirked and shook his head as he looked down again. She frowned. He was still very familiar looking.

“Why did you help me?” she asked, wanting a straight answer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the boy said calmly, as if he were talking about the weather.

“I was ready to die,” Hilde continued, the feeling of déjà vu was driving her crazy. “I don’t want any help from the enemy.”

The boy looked up at her with a semi-smile. “You said your name was Hilde,” he said. “It’s very pretty.”

Hilde stepped back. No one had said her name was pretty since she was a little girl. Most people made fun of it or made snide comments. She shook her head, he was just trying to distract her, and it was working.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head down as he continued talking in that pleasant, almost soothing, voice of his. “Since when have the colonies played such an important part in the war? When the Federation attacked from Earth, all the joy drained from their faces. I fought so that happiness can be restored to them. But, look at what happened when I came back from Earth, the people themselves had abandoned all hope of joy.” He looked up at her, “since when had the colonies become this insane?”

“The consequences of Earth’s war has reached into Space,” Hilde replied. It was a page out of the books all OZ recruits had to read. Her mind was still on what the boy had said. It was so familiar, as if she had heard it, or at least something similar, before.

She frowned. He was just trying to confuse her, wasn’t he? She stepped forward and placed the gun to his forehead. “This is the decision of space itself,” she said and he leaned back and closed his eyes again, a sad sardonic smile on his lips.

“What a brave woman,” he commented. “Where are you taking me?”

“To the moon base,” Hilde answered. He was being too calm about all this. “We will interrogate you there.”

“Great,” he said in an almost cheerful tone. “My goal is to destroy the moon base.”

“You can’t do that,” Hilde informed him, pressing the gun harder toward him. “Why won’t you recognize me as your enemy? I won’t let you do this.”

“I hate to say this, but there’s nothing you can do to stop me from completing my mission,” he said gently, as if in a warning. “It would be foolish to try.” His eyes opened and Hilde was surprised she hadn’t noticed there violet-blue shade before. It was an odd color. “But you remind me of myself. You’re a lot like me when I went to Earth and fought all alone.”

“Don’t mock me,” Hilde said.

“I guess we’re both a little foolish,” he said, closing his eyes again, and Hilde jerked back. What had he just said? “It’s no wonder a solder is ready to die at any time. So many friends in the colonies will die now. Let’s try to live our lives to the fullest, believing in the paths we choose for ourselves. We can’t be soldiers if we aren’t as foolish as this.”

Hilde’s mind reeled as she lowered the gun. Where had she heard that before? It must have been in a book or something, but where? She turned her back on the boy without another word and left, walking almost mechanically toward the lift. Why was he so familiar? She leaned her back against the wall as the lift took her back to the commander.

So much of what he said sounded so recognizable. He’d also said her name was pretty. Only one person had ever said that to her besides her parents. A boy with violet-blue eyes and…a long brown braid… her mind remembered. “Duo?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hilde curled into a ball, clutching her knees to her chest as she sobbed. She knew her parents were dead. She wasn’t the idiot everyone seemed to think, but they tried to hard to keep her from knowing she had to let them believe it was working. Still, everyone knew her dad’s outspoken rage toward the Federation was going to get him in trouble. Her mom had given her the ‘sometimes bad things happen to good people’ talk the first time her dad had gotten arrested. It wasn’t a shock, but she missed them so much and she didn’t want to go to live with her grandparents on another colony. L2 was her home.

“Oi, you okay?” someone asked as they gently poked her repeatedly in the ribs. “Hello?”

“Leave me alone,” she half-yelled, half-sobbed as she swung out blindly at the person. The poking ceased and she sat in the quiet with only her crying for company. Finally she was able to control herself, after all she didn’t want someone to come down and ask her what was wrong. It had taken her forever to find this secret place under the stairs.

Lifting her head up she yelped and slammed herself against the wall as she came face to face with a violet-blue eyed boy with a long braid. He was crouched in front of her and smiling, eyebrows cocked in curiosity.

“What do you want?” she asked, scrubbing her tears away on the back of her sleeve. “I wasn’t crying or anything.”

“’Course not,” the boy shrugged. “I just came down ‘cause I heard you,” he rolled his eyes, “I heard you not crying and wanted to see what was wrong.”

“Nothin’,” Hilde replied, attempting to hold back sniffles.

“Also, Sister Helen said to go help the new girl find her way around or help with the dishes,” he admitted. “So what’s your name?”

“Hildaguard Rose Schbeiker,” she answered, finally getting a hold of her sniffling. “But don’t call me that.”

The boy smirked and cocked and eyebrow. “If ya don’t want to call you it, why’d you tell me?”

“You asked my name,” she replied smartily. “You can call me Hilde though.”

“Hilde,” the boy nodded. “That’s a pretty name.”

Hilde blinked. “I usually get teased about it.”

“Well, I like it,” the boy shrugged, standing up.

“What’s your name?” Hilde asked.

“Duo,” he announced proudly.

“Duo what?” she asked, standing up as well.

“Just Duo. I’m an orphan so it’s cool,” he smirked.

Hilde wrapped her arms around herself, remembering she was now partly an orphan as well. She felt Duo looking at her before she was on the ground giggling as he tickled her. “Stop it,” she yelled between giggles. Finally he did and she swatted him and yanked on his braid. “Why’d you do that,” she managed to get out, still smiling.

“I don’t like when people are sad,” he replied. “There’s too much of the goin’ on.” He grabbed her hand and yanked her up with him. “Come on.”

“Where we going?” Hilde yelled as he dragged her up the stairs and down past the chapel, where the tiptoed since there was a sermon going on. “Where we going?” she asked again in a whisper and stuck out her tongue as Duo simply winked and shhhhed her. When they were finally out of the church he let out a big yawn and stretched. “It’s cold out here,” Hilde complained, blowing on her fingers to keep the circulation flowing.

“Yeah, check this out,” Duo yelled and Hilde followed him to frozen patch of water left by the rain.

“Ice?” Hilde asked in shock. There was a bit of climate control and it wasn’t supposed to get that cold inside the colony.

“Yeah, the Feddies refuse to fix the climate control; so we get all the seasons,” Duo explained as he stepped on the ice.

“Be careful,” Hilde warned as Duo slipped, his feet flipping over his head. “I knew it,” she said, trying to hide a smile as she helped Duo up.

“There we go,” Duo crowed in success. “Now when was the last time you smiled twice in one day? Hmmm? I don’t know how you survived without me.”

“The last time I smiled twice was before the Feddies came, and all the joy drained from everyone’s faces,” Hilde sighed, sitting down on the ice next to Duo. A tear dripped down her face as she sniffed. “If I’d just stayed home sick it might have been different. It was so dumb of me to go to school and leave them. I knew the Feddies were angry with dad. Why didn’t I stay?” she pounded the ice with her hand, sending a spider web crack across it.

“I guess we’re both a little foolish,” Duo said, looking up at the metal sky. “Maybe if I’d done something I wouldn’t be a war orphan, but let’s just try to live out lives to the fullest for now, and believe in the paths we choose, okay?”

Hilde looked over at the braided boy. He hadn’t seemed like the type to think about things, he seemed like the type to just let it pass and not care. Duo seemed like a real person, not selfish, but kind.

He looked over at her and smiled. “Either way let’s go see if we can sneak some food from the kitchen.”

Hilde rolled her eyes and smiled, she took it back.

“Come on Hildey,” he coaxed as if he was trying to catch a cat.

“Don’t call me that,” she warned with a smile. “My name’s Hilde.”

“I know Hildey,” he laughed.

“If I’m Hildey then your… braid boy,” she yelled as she jumped at him to pay him back for the tickling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

‘I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier,’ Hilde thought in shock as she stepped off the lift, her head hung slightly. She had assumed he’d been killed in the Maxwell Church disaster. But that was still not excuse for not recognizing her best friend. What kind of person was she?

“Did he tell you anything?” her commander asked, breaking her from her thoughts.

“No,” she answered quietly as she walked into the room.

“I see,” the man nodded, clearly not expecting her to have any information.

“Captain,” she began slowly. “In this case, wasn’t giving him a reprimand enough?”

“I’ve been given orders to kill anyone from the resistance,” he said and she knew the look he was giving her. It was the ‘are you crazy’ look.

“Even though a friend is involved,” she asked, staring at him from the corners of her eyes, hoping he’d get the message.

“I know, I feel bad about this too,” the commander replied, standing up. “But a soldier must be prepared to die at any time for the sake of duty.”

Hilde frowned at his back as he turned and answered the beeping of the commlink. He didn’t get the message. He didn’t understand there was no way in Heaven or Hell she was allowing Duo to be taken in for interrogation. The ship suddenly rocked and she grabbed onto a seat, holding on with her strength to keep from being thrown.

“It looks like the third engine bay was deliberately set on fire,” someone yelled over the radio and Hilde looked up.

“Duo!” she realized as she took off in a blind run toward the bay. ‘Don’t leave you moron,’ she silently screamed as she made herself go faster. ‘Don’t!’

As she made it to the bay she grabbed hold of the doorframe for support and let out a couple pants. She saw the braid flip up as Duo got into the beaten Leo. “Duo!” she yelled and the brown haired boy popped out again.

“So you’ve come already?” he yelled good naturedly, as the smile she remembered so well played on his face. “You have a great sense of timing,” he said, as his face changed to the devilish was he always looked just before he was going to do something Father Maxwell of Sister Helen would disapprove of. “I’m going to blow the hatch now. Stay back if you don’t want to get hurt.” With that he jumped back down into the cockpit.

“What?” Hilde gasped as the beaten Leo moved. ‘You idiot,’ her mind screamed. ‘At least take a fully functional Leo.’ The Leo pulled a gun from the rack as it moved forward. “Wait, Duo!” Hilde screamed. ‘Don’t go! I just found you again!’ her mind screamed. ‘And you promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid,’ her mind remembered. ‘This IS stupid!’

“Duo!” she screamed again as he blew the hatch. The wave of decompression nearly sent her spiraling as she managed to pull herself in and close the door, watching him fall out into space. Her eyes were that of a horrified little girl. “Duo you can’t die…”

She bit her lip as she made a run for the other mobile suit bay.

“What are you doing?” one of the guards yelled as she pushed past him and got in the cockpit of her Leo. “Open the hatch,” she yelled over the radio as the Leo moved to its feet. “I will blow it if you don’t,” she threatened, and was amazed when the hatch actually opened. She closed her eyes and thought about what she was going to do. If she left out that hatch she kissed a career and maybe her life goodbye. If she didn’t she wouldn’t even be able to say goodbye to a friend. A smiled curved her lips, as if there was even a choice.

Her Leo leapt into space as she keyed up and looked for Duo. Her heart jumped into her throat as she saw the three mobile dolls attacking and Duo’s Leo lying prone on the moon. The dolls were going in for another pass as she took a deep breath and fired at the middle one. “Please, be alive.”

There was a brilliant explosion as the doll died and the other two peeled off to regroup. Hilde smiled as her Leo sauntered down to the moon’s surface. She knew the dolls were behind her, targeting, but she would not give the friend signal. She didn’t lie.

“Idiot!” Duo’s voice yelled over the radio. “You’ve got to give them the signal that you’re a friend or they’ll shoot you!”

There was a small jolt as her Leo landed and she removed her helmet. “I can’t do that,” she replied, smiling even though he couldn’t see it. “I know who the real enemy is now.” With that she raised the gun of her Leo and fired, destroying the doors to the factory. “Duo, go now. Do what you have to.”

“Hilde… you…” Duo’s voice wavered and Hilde smiled proudly. She wasn’t ashamed. Her best friend needed her; her friend who wanted to protect those he cared for so they wouldn’t have to fight needed her. It was the only honorable and logical thing to do. “Whatever it is you have to do,” she said. “I’m behind you all the way.”

The rain from the mobile dolls’ guns began to rain down as Duo’s voice cracked over the speakers. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be of any help to you now.”

“I’ve told you I’m ready to die,” she retorted, silently adding, ‘but hopefully not until I see you again.’

“Yeah, right,” his voice said, breaking up as he used the last of the Leo’s boosters to get into the opening Hilde had provided. As he skidded in the base she heard, “But Hilde, you shouldn’t die a fool’s death,” before the radio broke up beyond comprehension.

“Same for you Duo,” she smiled as her commander… no, former commander’s voice broke over the radio. “Hilde, what the hell are you doing? You let him in the base.”

“Yeah,” Hilde smirked to herself. “I did.”

*~Still Hilde but there’s a time change~*

Hilde walked down the street admiring the displays in the windows. It had been only a couple weeks since she’d broke with OZ and let Duo get into the factory. She had been very lucky that her service record up to then was clean, is all they did was give her a dishonorable discharge. She winced a bit at that. In some ways it hurt more than the firing squad, but at least she was alive. Now if only Duo was as well…

Turning the corner she began digging around for the keys to her house. Well, it was actually her grandparents, but they’d left it to her in their will. In truth it was a little shop ‘Schbeiker’s Mechanical Miracle.’ She wanted to reopen it, but her expertise was only in smaller thing like house hold gadgets and larger things like mobile suits. Still, she got a few calls from old customers; it was a healthy living.

Opening the door she set the groceries on the floor as she walked in and began flipping on the lights. She was lonely, but the extra light helped, sometimes. Walking into her room she frowned as the top light flickered out, with a sigh she walked over and turned on her bedside lamp, screaming as the shadow moved.

“Aa!” a male voice yelled, as the shadow flipped off the bed with his hands over his ears.

“Duo?” Hilde asked as her eyes adjusted.

“Aa, aa,” the boy nodded, smacking his head as if trying to get his hearing back to normal. “Oi, you got a set a lungs on you.”

“Duo,” she yelled, her eyes filling with tears as she jumped toward him, bouncing off the bed and sending them both crashing to the floor. She hugged him tightly before letting him go and slugging him in the stomach. “That’s for doing something so stupid.”

“I deserved that,” Duo agreed, holding his stomach and exaggerating how hard she hit him. “I was hoping you didn’t remember.”

“How was I supposed to forget?” Hilde asked, standing up. “You’re the only person who ever liked my name.”

“Hildey?” he smirked as he got up off the floor.

“Don’t make me punch you again, braid boy,” Hilde smiled. She was so happy, but she still couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to recognize him. “I’m sooo sorry I didn’t know it was you sooner, and I’m sorry I held a gun to your head, and tried to kill you…”

“Hey,” Duo stopped her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just really glad you’re alive.”

“I’m glad you’re alive too,” Hilde agreed. “What about your mission?”

Duo sighed as his smiled faltered and he looked off. “I’m not even sure who’s fighting who anymore,” he frowned running his fingers through his bangs. “I don’t want to impose, but can I crash here for a while?”

“Of course,” Hilde smirked. “Did you actually think I was going to say no?”

“Not really,” Duo smiled. “But I got my partner, my Gundam, stashed out back and that might cause some problems.”

Hilde blinked at the thought of a huge, near indestructible, mobile suit outside in her junk and parts pile. It was almost humorous. “I don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” Duo smiled, giving her a kiss on the forehead. “You’re the best.

Silence enveloped the room as Hilde looked down, not knowing what to say. She hadn’t expected that. When they were kids he refused to hug her, well to hug her and call it a hug.

“I’m hungry,” Duo smiled, hooking a thumb in the general direction of her kitchen. “Can I get something to eat?”

“What’s mine is yours,” Hilde smiled, gesturing toward the kitchen as they began walking toward it. Duo picked up the groceries as the passed the door and began digging around while Hilde sat at the kitchen table. She smiled as she watched him. She liked Duo a lot; she knew that. He was her best friend, even though he’d been out of her life for nearly eight years no one, male or female, could take his place. She didn’t want to loose him again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hilde stared at the ground as she kicked at the metal. Duo wasn’t there to see her off. Sister Helen had come, but Duo had gotten in trouble at school and couldn’t come. Hilde sighed. Why couldn’t he have behaved, just once?

“Hilde,” Sister Helen said, kneeling down beside the girl and straightening her travel clothes. “I know you’re disappointed that Duo didn’t come.”

Hilde snorted. That was the understatement of a lifetime.

“But Duo likes you a lot, that’s why he couldn’t come today,” Sister Helen smiled sadly, bushing Hilde’s bangs out of her eyes. “He doesn’t want to feel the hurt of loosing you.”

“Really?” Hilde blinked.

“Really,” the Sister nodded. “He is too used to loosing things important to him. When you see him again, will you hold on to him? Please, for me? I want to know that he’ll be okay.”

“I will,” Hilde nodded. “But where will you be?”

“I don’t know,” the woman smiled. “But I have a feeling we won’t be there for him, and I want someone to be.”

“I’ll take care of him forever,” Hilde promised as Sister Helen smiled and thanked her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Duo, do you like me?” Hilde asked as she watched the boy make what could only be loosely described as a sandwich.

“Yeah, I like you,” he smiled, looking around for the mustard. “You’re the only person that’s stayed alive on me, and you were always a good friend.”

Hilde closed her eyes and grinned, “I’m in like with you too, Duo.” With that she leaned over and kissed him on the lips, finally fulfilling a dare made so long ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Help!” Duo yelled as he ran to Sister Helen and kept her between him and the source of his distress.

“What is it?” the Sister asked, worried that someone could make the braided boy yell for help. Whatever it was must be truly terrifying. “Duo, what’s wrong?”

“She’s trying to kiss me!” Duo yelled, pointing as Hilde ran into the room panting and out of breath. Seeing Duo she lunged for him, but the boy kept the nun between them. Helen brought her hand to her mouth to hide the mirthful smile forming there. This was just too adorable for words.

“Keep her away! Keep her away!” Duo yelled, though there was a smile on his face as he manipulated the nun to keep Hilde away.

“You said I wouldn’t do it,” Hilde yelled at him as she lunged, barely missing him. “It’s your own fault for daring me.”

“I didn’t think you were a crazy girl,” Duo said, tickling her sides as he made a run for the door, leaving the chuckling Sister and Hilde behind. “You can’t get me!”

Hilde’s eyes narrowed as she got up and ran after him. That boy was getting kissed whether he wanted it or not!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hilde pulled back, looking at the astonished boy. All and all she was glad she hadn’t been able to kiss him eight years ago. It was so much more fun now. “Dare completed,” she smiled, sitting back down as he rolled his eyes, making a comment about hanging around with a crazy girl.

Hilde smiled; hopefully Duo wouldn’t be so stubborn about letting her do that again, someday…