Jaid: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!!

Jad: *sings* And a Happy New Year!

Naga: Oh brother.

Jaid: Come on, you can’t be dark during the holidays!

Naga: Humbug.

Jad: Oh great. We have our own personal Ebenezer.

Naga: *grins* And proud of it too!

Jad: Why do I even bother?

Naga: That’s a good question. Why do you bother?

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For A/N, comments to the reviewers, and updates on the contest, then go to the bottom. Enjoy the story!

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"Highness, we’re here."

Dorothy’s voice startled Relena out of sleep. Rubbing the rather painful crick in her neck she straightened. "We’re on Celross III?"

"Yes. I’m going now. I just want you to come and seal the hatch behind me." Dorothy said. Relena unbuckled herself and followed the taller blonde. Dorothy pressed a few buttons and the door opened as the ramp lowered. She turned to Relena.

"There’s a viewpoint in the cockpit that allows you to see who’s outside of the ship. Don’t open it, unless you see me, alone. Understand?"

"Yes." Relena nodded.

"Good." Dorothy had put a loose, off white cloak over her jumpsuit and she put a hood over her head. "I’ll try and be as quick as I can." She started to walk down the rampway. Relena reached over and closed the hatch, then sealed it, feeling very much alone.

* * *

Midii walked into the main hangar of the fueling station. Abdul passed and gave her a grin and waved with his grease-covered hand.

"Quatre’s over that ways, Mids." he said over the noise. "Be careful; he’s worse than me at the moment."

Midii smiled and went on her way. She found Quatre next to a smaller shuttle, his hands and some of his face streaked with the black grease. He had changed from his rather subdued, but still nice, clothes that he usually wore, into a pair of loose tan pants, and an off-white tunic. He was looking at an engine compartment and muttering to himself.

Midii’s smile turned into a grin and she tapped him on the shoulder. He whirled around, and his face broke out in to a smile when he saw her.

"Hi." he said.

"Hi yourself." Midii answered. She motioned to the basket she held. "Mara sent lunch for you and me to share."

"That was nice of her." Quatre said. "Just a minute, I need to get cleaned up." Grabbing a rag, he wiped off his hands.

"It’s all over your face you know." Midii commented rather dryly.

"Huh? Oh." Quatre rubbed his face. "That better?"

Midii laughed. "I think you used the wrong side of the rag. It’s worse."

Quatre sighed. "Where’s a mirror when you need one?"

Midii laughed again and took the rag from his hand. "Here, I’ll do it."

Quatre stood still as Midii wiped his face off and she was suddenly very aware of how close she was too him. Abruptly turning she went to the basket and took off the cover.

"Let’s eat, okay?" she said, hoping he hadn’t seen her blushes. Quatre shrugged and agreed.

* * *

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do?" Duo asked. Wufei ground his teeth; this was the third time he had explained to the baka.

"Stop at the coordinate points and transfer the data." Hilde said, knowing that Duo was trying to get a rise out of Wufei. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he does it right."

Wufei gave a sullen nod and Sally hid a smile behind her hand. She liked the young couple; both were friendly and easy to get along with. Well, at least for her. Duo seemed to be counting how many ways he could push Wufei’s buttons. Really, he’s worse than Wes and Hobbs both! she thought. Not to mention more successful.

Standing, she walked over to where the black-haired man stood, facing the wall. Hilde and Duo were engaged in a conversation. Sally leaned her back against the wall next to him.

"If you just ignore him, he’d stop." she said in a low voice.

"No he wouldn’t." Wufei’s voice came back in a deep rumble. "I think he honestly has a death wish."

Sally chuckled. "Don’t worry about it, Chang. Going to let some smuggler get the rise out of you?"

Wufei’s head snapped up, black eyes full of fire. "No." he bit out. All of a sudden, the fire died and he looked down again.

"Wufei, what’s wrong?" Sally asked, now concerned. She followed his gaze to where Hilde and Duo sat laughing and then saw some pain in his eyes.

"I’m sorry, I forgot." she said.

"Her ghost keeps following me." Wufei said quietly. "I don’t think-" he broke off and stalked out of the room. Sally sighed and looked back down at the ground.

* * *

"This is the hyperspace vector?" Heero asked. The man who had handed him the datapad, nodded smartly.

"Yes, sir." he answered in a crisp tone.

"Tell me why you did not go after it?"

The man, a mere aide, swallowed hard. "We were occupied. Sir." The ‘sir’ had been added hastily, as if an afterthought. Heero took no notice.

"Perhaps you will allow me to see your superior before I leave." Heero said blandly. "I’m sure my employer would like to know why the Princess was allowed to escape."

* * *

"Are we there?" Sally asked as she and Wufei burst into the cockpit.

"Yup." Duo answered, taking the ship off of autopilot. "I’m assuming that big blocky ship is our target?"

"Yes." Wufei answered, giving the data pack to Hilde. She loaded them and began to ready the computer for information transfer.

"Do you want to contact them?" she asked. Wufei leaned over the comm.

"Tantaeve IV, this is the…The Lady Helen." Wufei said.

"Lady Helen, we read you." The Alderaanian ship answered. "Do you have the clearance code?"

"Transmitting now." Wufei answered, typing it in. There was a pause.

"You’re clear."

Wufei nodded to Hilde, who started the transfer.

"How long is this going to take?" Duo asked.

"Not too long, I hope." Sally told him.

* * *

Dorothy pulled into another alley as a contingent of stormtroopers walked down the street. She didn’t want to take any chances, though it was likely they wouldn’t recognize her. What she really needed to look out for were bounty hunters at this point.

She had already bought enough food supplies to last them, as well as bought some low grade weapons and a few changes of clothing as well as necessary items. All she needed to do right now was to get fuel and then beat it.

So intent was she in her thoughts that she did not notice the Psadan until she had bumped into him.

"I apologize, good sir," she began in the traditional tone, but then she recognized him. "Saugn’de." She said dryly.

The Psadan grinned, the sun reflecting off his blue/gold scales. "Miss Dorothy." He said with a heavy accent.

"What does he want now?"

Saugn’de frowned. "Information. He no happy."

"Tell him that it’ll take some time. I can’t do this all in one night." Dorothy hissed.

"He say can’t hold off Empire much longer. They want Princess." Saugn’de warned. "He want to know where you go."

Dorothy ground her teeth. "Alderaan." She said. "We’re heading to Alderaan. Will he be happy with that?"

Saugn’de grinned grotesquely again and bobbed up and down. "Yes, he be very pleased. Very pleased."

"Good. Now get out of here." Dorothy said in obvious disgust. "I don’t want to smell your stench for a very long time, hear me?"

"Yes, Miss Dorothy." Still grinning, Saugn’de scuttled out of the alleyway and melted into the crowd. Dorothy sighed and headed for a comm station.

* * *

Heero boarded his shuttle and prepared to take off. He had questioned the ship’s captain; not something he felt necessary, but his superior thought that inspiring fear at time was a good way to keep control. Punching in the coordinates, he again looked over the report he had been given. The Princess and an aide were the only ones missing from the ship. He looked over the aide’s information and raised an eyebrow. Duchess Dorothy Catalonia. This added a whole new twist.

* * *

Triton and the rest of the merc crew exited their main ship. They had stopped on a fuel station before going on. As was common with fuel stations, there were large enclosed platforms that the ships would land on to be fueled and sometimes fixed. The smell of grease, oil, and sweat was in the air, as well as the slightly stale taste of re-used air.

The boss and a few others would handle the arrangements for the fueling, while the rest would probably head to the small, enclosed, make shift city that most fueling stations carried. Triton was no different. The job had been a hard one and had left them with Security forces on their tail. Triton wasn’t even sure if they had out run them completely.

"Hey, Bloom!"

Triton turned to see a comrade.

"Yeah, Cloud?"

"Look over there! Isn’t that that kid from the Red Devils team?" the blonde man asked. He followed a lot of the swoop races and was a big fan of some of the swoop gangs.

"I wouldn’t know." Triton said, barely glancing at the slender blonde who sat a hundred or so yards away.

"I wonder who that girl that he’s with is."

Triton glanced over again, and felt as if his heart had stopped beating. The girl had her back to him, but there was no mistaking that slender frame or the posture that held it.

No, it couldn’t be her. She’s dead…isn’t she? He thought. The girl turned and Triton saw a pale, angelic face framed with blonde hair. It was her. The girl who had betrayed his swoop gang years ago.

Midii Une.

* * *

There was tenseness about the cockpit that Hilde did not quite understand. She supposed it had to do with Sally and Wufei being tense, which had rubbed off on her and Duo. The transfer was almost complete. Hilde sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"Oh shavit." Duo muttered.

"What? What is it?" Sally demanded.

"There’s a ship coming out of hyperspace and-" Duo didn’t finish his sentence.

"Lady Helen!" The Tantaeve IV frantically called. "Imperials have just come out of hyperspace; is there any way to speed the transfer up?"

"No." Hilde answered. "It’s almost done. Can’t you hold them off?"

"Not for long." The other said. "We’ll do our best."

"Maxwell," Wufei snapped. "Do you have laser turrets on this thing?"

"Yeah, Major Po, stay up here with Hilde. Babe, take my chair." Duo stood and motioned to Wufei. "C’mon, I’ll show you where they are."

"Unidentified ship, this is the Blockade. Please designate yourselves."

"Blockade this is the Lucky Eight." Hilde answered, using one of their cover names.

"What is your business." The Imperial ship asked.

"Temporary repairs." Hilde said. "We met with some pirates a couple of systems back and got damage."

"What sort of damage?"

Hilde glanced at Sally and then back to the comm. "May I ask why it’s important?"

"No, just answer the question."

"We lost several of our stabilizers." Hilde answered. "The ship is old and we didn’t want to risk-" She stopped abruptly as Sally got up and left. "We didn’t want to risk going further without replacing them."

"I see. Hold please." The comm shut off.

Hilde leaned back in her chair and looked at the transfer time. Just a few minutes. If they could hold off for a few more minutes…

Sally came back in and sat down. "I went to tell Wufei what you said. He’s taking care of it."

Hilde looked at her, confused.

"In case they decide to inspect. I’m sorry about the damaged parts, but I’ll help replace them later." Sally promised. Hilde smiled weakly to show that it was all right.

"Lucky Eight, we will be pulling you in for an inspection. Please shut down."

"But that’s not-"

"Please shut down." The comm shut off again. Hilde looked at Sally.

"Do they know who you are?"

"No, but they’ll ask and they know who Wufei is too." Sally said, her face tight.

"Transfer complete." A voice said. Hilde shut the computer off and cut the power. "Get Wufei and meet me in the cargo hold."

* * *

Midii walked quickly back to the enclosed city, smiling to herself. She had had a good time with Quatre. He seemed a lot happier here than anywhere else, she mused. Not paying attention to where she was going, she hit something solid. (A/N: Yep! It’s the dreaded Make-Midii-Bump-Into-Trowa device that I so often use. ^__~)

"You." She stepped back. "Nanashi…"

"I have a name now." He said emotionlessly. "Triton."

Midii looked down. "I see."

"And what name are you going by this time?" He said, in the same monotone. Midii felt her cheeks flame.

"My own." She said defensively. She looked up, to see his deep green eyes. Eyes that she had always gotten lost in and almost did so now, until she heard Quatre’s voice behind her.

"Midii, wait up! I’m coming home with you."

Triton stared past her, to the slender young man walking up. Quatre put a hand on Midii’s shoulder.

"Something wrong?" he said, his voice amiable, but a guarded look in his green/blue eyes.

"No." Midii managed to say. "I, this, I mean…" she fumbled for a few moments, then said quietly, "This is Triton. An…an old friend."

"Oh." Quatre looked at her sideways for a moment, then extended his hand to meet Triton’s. "Please to meet you. I’m Quatre."

Triton nodded, shook Quatre’s hand, then was on his way. Quatre watched him walk away and then turned to Midii. She was slumped against the wall slightly and he leaned a little over her.

"An old friend?" He asked, sounding slightly worried. "Midii, are you all right? You’ve looked as if you’d seen a ghost."

"I did." She murmured too low for him to hear. Looking up, she saw the concern in his face and smiled. "I’m fine, it was just a slight shock." She said with forced cheerfulness. Linking her arm through his, she began to walk. "Let’s go home."

"You’re sure you’re okay?" Quatre asked.

Midii looked into his eyes again. Should I tell him? Can I? She opened her mouth, then hesitated. No, I can’t. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. That was the past. This is my future.

She smiled brightly at him. "Yes, I’m fine." She said reassuringly. Quatre seemed to relax and smiled back. Falling into step again beside her, they began to chat.

His past may be chasing him, but so is mine. Midii looked at him again. But I’m not going to let it ruin his homecoming. Not now.

* * *

Relena was half asleep again, when the cockpit’s computer announced a visitor. Calling up the viewpoint, Relena saw Dorothy. Quickly, she went and unsealed the hatch.

"Stand back." Dorothy directed as she began to carry some things in.

"Do you want me to help?" Relena asked.

"Can you start the preflight checks?" Dorothy asked. Relena nodded and went back to the cockpit. About half an hour later, they were ready to go.

"This is the Misty Waters, requesting permission to take off." Dorothy said to the docking bay directing tower.

"Negative, Misty Waters. All ships are to be impounded."

"What?" Dorothy said. "Impounded?"

"Yes."

The blonde glanced at Relena. "Affirmative." Dorothy cut off the communication and began to shut down the ship.

"What are we going to do?" Relena asked worriedly.

"I’m thinking, I’m thinking." Dorothy murmured. Suddenly, she smiled.

"Highness, come with me and let’s get you some more suitable clothes. Then we’re leaving."

"But, if the Imperials are looking for our ship-"

"Don’t worry, I’ll erase all mention of who we are." Dorothy told her. "You’re just going to have to trust me, Miss Relena."

Relena swallowed. "I know."

"Then come."

* * *

"In here." Hilde said. Duo was in the cockpit, rewriting their log. She opened a compartment in the wall. It would barely squeeze both Sally and Wufei in.

"You’re joking." Wufei deadpanned. "There’s no way she and I can fit in there."

"It’s the biggest space we have!" Hilde told him, a note of desperation in her voice.

"Come on." Sally said, grabbing Wufei’s arm. He scowled, but squeezed in with her. Hilde closed the compartment and ran to the stairway that led to the under part of the ship. Duo was already there.

"Finished?" she gasped.

"With the log, yeah." Duo answered. "What in the hell did he do to our stabilizers?"

Hilde looked at the machinery that was blackened and twisted. "I dunno…a really fancy vibroblade?"

Duo raised an eyebrow. "No vibroblade I know can do this." He sighed. "Why don’t you get back up to the cockpit, hun. I’ll begin repairs."

"Right." Hilde answered. She ran up the stairs and towards the front of the ship, when a tremor occurred, knocking her down. Hilde felt the slight gravity shift as the ship was pulled in the Imperial Destroyer. Getting up, she continued to run and finally flopped down into the pilot’s chair, gasping. Suddenly, the ship came to a jarring stop. Looking out of the viewport, she saw the Tantaeve IV was gone.

"Lucky Eight, we are sorry for the inconvenience. Please continue with your normal business." The Blockade told her. Hilde blinked, then reached for the comm button.

"Copy that, Blockade." She answered. The comm switched off and Hilde watched as the Destroy glided away, and then finally went into hyperspace.

"Well, if that doesn’t beat all." Hilde mused as she got up to go get Sally and Wufei out.

* * *

That night, Midii leaned against the large viewport. Most everyone else was asleep, she mused. It was late. Closing her eyes, she began to think of when she had first met Triton.

Midii stumbled through the sparse and dirty city. Hearing a click of a laser gun, she gasped and looked up. A boy about her age was holding a laser rifle, his one visible green eye fixed on her. She cringed and tightly grasped the small information transmitter hanging from her neck. The boy looked at her, then lowered the weapon.

"You shouldn’t be out in Mos Eisley this time of night." He said in a monotone. "It’s dangerous."

"I know." Midii swallowed. "But…I don’t…"

The boy stared at her some more, then jerked his head forward. Turning, he started to walk and with some shock, Midii realized that he wanted her to follow him.

That had been five years ago, when she was only fourteen. How she had changed since then. Midii smiled wryly. She’d never guessed that she would run into him again. Not after what had happened.

Midii stood shakily, looking at the damaged swoops, the dead bodies and the bloody sand around her. Nanashi stood there, no expression on his face. Midii swallowed.

"How much did they pay you?" he asked. Midii looked at him in surprise, clutching her transmitter.

"The rival gang." Nanashi said. "How much?"

"Enough to buy my father’s freedom from Jabba the Hut." She whispered.

"So that thing was the transmitter." Nanashi took his eyes off her face and lowered to her hand. "They followed our every move."

"Yes." Midii stared at him. "And you’re the only survivor. Again."

Nanashi broke the luck necklace she had given him and tossed it on the ground. "Because of this?" he asked.

"That charm held a transmitter in it too." She said. Nanashi pulled out his gun and pointed it at her.

"So even you get mad." She said softly, sadly. She stepped forward a little. "When you saved me, you said I was you. But it’s not true; you’re a lot more fortunate than I am."

For the first time, surprise showed on Nanashi’s face. "Fortunate?"

Midii slowly took off the transmitter off her neck and held it in her hands. "You don’t have anything or anybody to tie you down. You don’t have any name, any past and now, you don’t even have comrades." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I have a name, Midii Une! I have an imprisoned father and three little brothers."

‘I love…I love you.’ She thought.

"I couldn’t have survived this long without making deals and spying for the gangs around here." She said aloud, clutching the transmitter. "I couldn’t have survived without getting all these people KILLED!!" Tears were streaming down Midii’s face. ‘I longed to be like you.’

She looked up at him again and took another step forward. "I can’t even tell the guy I like how I feel about him and do you know why?"

Nanashi didn’t say anything, only looked slightly sad.

"Because I’m not EMPTY LIKE YOU!" she yelled, sobs catching in her throat. "I’m filled with things! My family! My job! MY GUILT!" her voice echoed through the empty canyon.

‘Always.’ She thought. ‘I wanted to be with you always, Nanashi.’

"That’s why…that’s why I HATE empty guys like you." She cried. ‘I loved you!’ her mind shouted. ‘I loved you!’

"That all you have to say." He said calmly. Midii sniffed and looked at him in shock.

"You really are empty." She whispered.

"You’re better off than me." He told her. "You have a place to call home." He raised the gun a little higher. "Good-bye, Midii."

‘He’s going to kill me. But why shouldn’t he?’ Closing her eyes, Midii bowed her head. "Good-bye, Nanashi." She said softly, then inwardly cringed as she heard two blaster bolts. When she didn’t feel any pain, she cautiously opened her eyes. Smoking in the sand were the two transmitters. Gasping she looked up.

"Wait! Nanashi, wait!" she shouted.

Nanashi stopped, but did not turn. "You got the wrong guy. I’m not No-name. I’m…I’m a traveler looking for a place to call home." He looked up. "And maybe the stars will give me the answer." So saying, he walked away. The red light from the setting of Tattooine’s twin suns fell around the canyon as Midii just watched him go.

"Midii?"

The young woman turned to see a rather sleepy looking Quatre standing there, frowing.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked. "It’s late. Or early, depending on how you look at it."

Midii smiled and then realized that she had been crying. Turning back to the view port, she wiped her eyes. Quatre came up behind her and she could feel his warm hands on her shoulders.

"You’re not okay." He sated. Midii laughed in spite of herself.

"Just old memories." She said.

"Really?" he asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Midii shook her head and turned to face him. "I just didn’t realize how much the past is still with me. I thought that when you took me off Tatooine, I’d be able to forget."

"We never forget the past. It’s what makes us." Quatre said softly. Midii looked up at him.

"I guess your right." She leaned against. For a few moments, there was silence, then Midii pulled away.

"I think I’ll go to bed now." She said and started to walk away. "Oh, Quatre?"

"Hm?" he looked at her. She opened her mouth and almost told him, then shook her head.

"Never mind." She said, then walked away. Quatre watched her disappear down the hallway then looked back at the stars. There were times when Midii confused him.

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Well, sorry about this update taking so long. I feel awful about it, but I’m afraid that updates will be few and far between. I am having a very difficult time at school, plus there’s the holidays. I’m going to try to get some writing time in the summer, but that is doubtful because my mom wants me to get a summer long job at a camp. But I’m going to try!!!

Oh, and the past conversation between Midii and Triton (Trowa) I got mostly from Trowa’s Episode Zero. I just changed a few things. ^__^

And now, it’s time for:

Respond to the Reviewers

Blue eyes – Okay, I think that’s been explained, but if your still confused: Heero’s tracing Relena, Relena and Dorothy were headed to Celross III, and Wufei’s group was headed to meet the Tantaeve IV.

Ley – Thank you so much for the encouragement! It really means a lot to me. ^__^

Midii – Thanks. ^__^ lol, yup, Heero’s got the impossible mission in this story. As for the picture, I’m kinda redoing it because to tell the truth…the first one sucked. As soon as I finish, I’ll scan it and send it to you, okay?

And now for the contest:

Midii was the only one who tried! Come on you guys! Oh well. Midii got it right and I’m so glad you enjoyed the little scene with Ryou and Relena, Midii! Too bad he’s a captive of the Empire, but he might resurface; you never know. (I like him too much to kill him off, lol). Do you watch Yu-Gi-Oh?

Okay everybody, there was only one guest appearance this time. See if you can figure it out. Have fun!