*Disclaimer: I don't the GW charas, but the charas I created are mine, so
please ask before you use them.  Thank you. ^^*

~~~~~~~
Chapter 2: The Call

     "Damn, it's cold out here," Danny complained as he walked to his
parent's mechanic shop.  He wore a red and white jacket, which he
pulled closer to his body, a black shirt, jeans, black and white
sneakers.  His black, fingerless gloves adjusted the baseball cap,
which covered his unruly chestnut brown hair.  As he walked along the
path, he muttered, "At least the colonies had a regulated
temperature."
     True, Danny did come from the colonies, and the colonies did
have a regulated climate.  This, some people considered, was the
perfect place to raise a family, away from the harsh environments of
the earth.
     But then one day, his father, Duo Maxwell, decided to move his
only son and his wife, Hilde, to the earth.  When asked repeatedly on
the reason why, Duo would just shrug his son off and reply, "It's for
the best."
     "The best?" a voice in the back of his mind questioned.  "Or was
it because of Jack?"  Danny stopped in his tracks at the thought of
his name.
     Jack was a year older than Danny, and an orphan who lived on the
streets.  He was a "big brother" to a small Danny, and Jack showed
his adopted brother the ways of the streets, and also taught him how
to tinker and fix things.  He was so liked by everyone, that even
Danny's own parents sort-of adopted him as a second son.
     But, tragedy struck unexpectedly, as it always does.  One day,
while walking home from the colony school, a mobile suit battle
erupted in the streets.  The suits destroyed buildings, cars,
anything that stood in their path.  Danny was afraid.  Afraid to
move, afraid to stay there, he was glued to his spot as he watched
the two suits fight with each other.
     "Danny!" screamed Jack as he pushed his friend away from the
falling building.  It collapsed on the protective Jack, then all was
silent.
     "Jack?"  All Danny could see was the pile of rubble that used to
be a building.  "Jack!!"
     It hurt to think about that day again, but it has been a year,
and he had to move on.  "Maybe that's why Dad moved us to this stupid
place," Danny thought to himself as he continued to walk towards his
destination, "maybe he wants me to move on."
     The mechanic's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of
the family shop.  The shop, which was usually open and bustled with
activity, was barren with the closed sign flipped over.
     "What the hell is going on here?"  Looking around the building,
Danny saw that there was no forced entries, so it couldn't have been
a robbery.  "Mom?  Dad?  Are you in there?  Why is the shop closed?"
     The sound of the opening lock caught Danny's attention.  A woman
with black hair and blue eyes stood at the doorway.  "Danny?"
responded the woman.  "What are you doing here so early?"
     "What's wrong Mom?"  Danny gazed at his mother with his blue
eyes, the eyes that he inherited from her.  "Are you alright?  Did
something happen?"
     "I think you better come in.  It's getting cold out there."
     Allowing her son to enter, Hilde quietly closed the door as her
son entered the shop.  Rubbing his arms to escape the cold, Danny saw
that his parents had a visitor.  The guest, who leaned against the
counter with her back, had dark brown hair and deep cobalt blue
eyes.  She wore a dark green tanktop with brown hiking boots, yet she
looked familiar somehow.
     "Hanna?  Hanna Yuy?" Danny blurted out as he pointed to the girl.
     "So, you remember me from class?" Hanna replied, not changing
the expression on her face.
     "How can I forget the smartest girl in the class?  Is that why
you're here, because of school?"
     Duo, who came from the back office, told his son, "No Danny,
that's not why she's here."
     Pulling out the disc that Hanna handed to him earlier, Duo
popped it into the video communicator.  There was a flash and Heero
appeared on the screen.  Then, he began to speak.
     "My friends," Heero said, his eyes unmoving from the screen, "my
fellow pilots, you know as well as I do that we don't want another
war to happen.  Libra was bad enough, but now we're receiving rumors
about an organization named Eve.  Eve's goal is to dominate the world
by turning the colonies and the earth against each other and taking
over piece by piece.  Their plan has already been put to action, as
you might have heard on the news.  Please, I beg you, as a fellow
soldier, help us in this battle.  For peace, for the future.  Thank
you and I hope to hear from you soon.  Goodbye."  Then, the screen
went blank.
     Hanna ejected the disc and placed it back into her pocket.
Danny still tried to figure out what was going on.  "Organization
named Eve?"  Danny had to sit down after hearing this news.  "What's
going on here?"
     Duo approached his son, who was sitting on the couch trying to
let all of this new information soak in.  "Well, you might as well
find out about it sooner or later."  Duo took a seat next to his
son.  "You know that I was a former Gundam pilot, and I had others
like me.  We haven't spoken to each other for a while, until this new
force came along.  It started ten years ago, but we thought it
wouldn't add up to anything.  But, me and my fellow Gundam pilots
thought up of a way to stop them.  Now, after all of that time, Heero
has given us the word about all of this, and I don't know what to do."
     Danny looked at his father in a confused manner.  "But, aren't
you going to fight at least?  Protect both the earth and the colonies
from this senseless war?"
     "How can I?" questioned Duo, looking into his son's eyes.  "I
have you and your mother to think about.  If I die, then there would
be no one to take care of you and your mother..."
     "Then I'll go," interrupted Danny.
     Duo and Hilde had looks of utter shock, while Hanna continued to
have the same expressionless face.  "Danny," scolded Duo, "you can't
go, don't you know people get killed out there?!!"
     "You mean like Jack?" Danny answered.  Tears began to weld up in
his eyes, but he held them back.  "Jack died for me, and I don't want
another person dying like that."
     Duo's face softened at the sight of his son.  This was a really
tough subject to bring up, since it caused Danny so much pain.  He
finally understood why his son wanted to do this, and he couldn't
object to that.  Glancing at Hilde, Duo figured out that she felt the
same way as he did.  Duo nodded his approval to his son.  "Fine, you
win.  I understand and you can go."
     Raising an eyebrow, Danny didn't seem to buy it.  "Just like
that, you're going to let me go?"
     "Yes," sighed Duo as he leaned back against the sofa, "because I
understand where you're coming from.  Things like that happened to me
as well."
     "Excuse me for interrupting this lovely moment," Hanna said,
breaking her silent wave, "but I'm going to return here with all of
the Gundam pilots.  I've heard that you're the best man when it comes
to rebuilding mobile suits, so we're going to need all the help we
can get."
     "You're getting others?" asked Danny.  Hanna peaked his
curiosity when he discovered he was not the only one.
     "Yes, there are others.  We just have to find them first."
     "Excuse me, we?"
     "Yes, Mr. I'm-Coming-Along.  You're coming with me, aren't you?"
     "Well, yeah..."
     "Good."  Hanna didn't give Danny enough time to finish, for she
was dragging him outside to her awaiting motorbike.  Throwing him an
extra helmet, she motioned for him to get behind her.
     "Are you nuts?!" was Danny's only reply.
     Hanna gave him a look of sheer annoyance.  "It's either this, or
we walk fifteen miles."
     "Good point, let's go."
     Starting up her engine, Hanna revved it up a couple of times, and
the two teenagers were off, searching for the next Gundam pilot.  Duo
and Hilde came out just in time to see them drive off around the
corner.
     Hilde stood and gazed at the corner where the two teens
disappeared.  "Do you think he'll be alright?"
     Duo placed a hand on his wife's shoulder.  "Danny knows what
he's doing.  Besides, he is coming back, right?"

~~~~~~~
     "Alright people, that's a wrap!" Trowa yelled from the
ground.  "You're all doing great!  Keep this up and we'll wow the
crowd tonight!"
     Trixie climbed down the ladder rope and smiled.  She loved her
life and all the adventures that surrounded it.  Looking over to her
mother, Catherine, Trixe noticed that she was busy practicing her
knife throwing act.  She was precise and consistent, which always
amazed Trixie, no matter how many times she saw it.  Running over to
her mother, Trixie gave her a hug.  "Wow Mom, you're going to
knock 'em dead tonight!"
     Smiling, Catherine hugged her daughter back.  "I hope so.  That
way, more people can come and see us perform."
     Their conversation was interrupted by Eric, the magician and
Catherine's husband.  "Someone just arrived outside and their looking
for Trowa."
     "Trowa?"  Catherine's face showed a slight look of concern.  No
one asked for Trowa unless they wanted to join the circus, they were
asking for something, or... could it be?  "Where are they?"
     "Right here," came a voice from the tent opening.
     The family spins to see a teenaged girl and boy standing there.
Trixie blushed when she saw the boy, since his backwards cap and
bright blue eyes made him cute to her.  "What are you doing here?"
Eric asked.  "You're not allowed in here, the show doesn't start for
a couple of hours."
     "I'm sorry," the girl replies, "but my name is Hanna Yuy, and
this is Danny Maxwell.  We're looking for Trowa Barton."
     "Why would you two want to see me anyway?"  Trowa stepped up
from behind.  Looking at the girl with the dark brown hair, he
said "You said your name was Hanna Yuy?"
     Hanna nods her head in acknowledgement.
     "Then you're Heero Yuy's daughter?"
     "I have this for you."  Hanna hands the disc over to Trowa.
     Examining it for a while, he motions for everyone to follow him
to the office.  When everyone enters, Trowa replays the message that
Heero has sent to all of his fellow Gundam pilots through his
daughter.  After viewing the message, Trowa shakes his head.  "I'm
sorry, but I can't participate in this battle."
     Danny raised an eyebrow.  "Why not?"
     "Because I have too much to do here.  Everyone in this circus
depends on me, and I can't just drop everything to go run a mission.
It's not like that anymore.  Now I have responsibilities."  Trowa
offered the disc back to Hanna, who took it from the Ringmaster's
outstretched arms.  "I'm truly sorry."
     Hanna nodded and said, "I understand your predicament."  She
turned to leave, but Danny grabbed her arm before she could have a
chance to.
     "Wait," Danny replies, "don't you have someone else to replace
you Mr. Barton?"
     "Danny," Hanna says to the mechanic under her breath, "he
refused, it's a failed mission."
     "Please," Danny presses on, "do you?"
     Trowa ponders for a moment.  "Well, there's only one person who
has the same abilities I do.  I also trained her from a very young
age, and she's capable of many feats."
     "Oh no!"  Catherine automatically knew who he was talking
about.  "You're not sending my little girl out there Trowa!  I had to
endure your running away for quite some time, but this is where I
draw the final line."
     Trixie looked at her uncle in amazement.  "You were talking
about me Uncle Trowa?"
     Trowa looked at his niece, who had the reddish-brown hair and
violet eyes of her mother, his sister.  "Yes Trixie, I believe in
you.  You can do everything I can, and possibly quite better.  It's
ultimately your decision anyway."
     "If you believe in me," Trixie says, "then I'll go for it."
     "Trixie," Catherine states as she tries to put some sense into
her offspring, "this is not a game."
     The circus star turned to her mother.  Her eyes glimmered with
hope and excitement.  "I know Mom.  I know I can do it if you believe
in me."
     Sighing, Catherine realized that the call of adventure was too
great in her daughter.  "It was ultimately your decision anyway."
     Trixie's eyes shined as she realized that it was her decision to
enter this war or not.  "I'm going for it!  Uncle Trowa, can Hanna
and Danny stay for the show?"
     "I have a better idea.  Why don't they stay here for a while?"
offers Trowa.  "This way, all of you can rest up for your next
journey."
     "Good," Hanna acknowledges, "we need a rest stop.  Besides, I
still have to determine how we're going to catch a ride to Arabia."
     "Arabia?!" blurts out Danny as he follows Hanna out of the
office.
     "I guess we'd better get out too," Eric nudges his wife
outside, "are you coming Trix?"
     "I'll be right there," Trixie replies as she sees her father and
mother re-enter the circus tent.  She turns to her uncle, the
Ringmaster, with a big smile on her face.  "I promise I'll make you
and the circus proud, Uncle Trowa."
     Smiling, Trowa places a hand on his niece's shoulder.  "You've
already done that.  Now come on, let's show your new friends around."
~~~~~~~

Ok, that's it for chapter 2.  Stick around for chapter 3: The Arabian
Gundam.