Episode 12:
Depression of Spirits

        The year is After Colony 216. After Venus' declaration of war, the World Nation scrambles to prepare itself. In the meantime, the Gundam pilots gather on Mars to take control of new Gundams to help combat the Venusian menace.

          "MOM!!!" She shouted, Sally bursting in followed by Quatre shortly after the shout. "He's waking up!"
    "Wha-Where?" Wufei sat up slowly, one hand pressed to his forehead. Meiran promptly threw her arms around him.
    "Daddy! I'm so sorry!" Meiran cried, but smiled at the same time, thankful her father had woken up. Wufei blinked.
    "My... daughter?" He looked lost, "I... don't remember..."

        Meiran stared. She let go of Wufei and stepped back, studying him. 'Don't remember'?? Any happiness she had felt mere seconds ago when he'd woken up died.
    Sally stared as well. He doesn't... remember-?
    "Wufei-?"
    ".... Is that my name?" Wufei blinked. Fresh tears filled Meiran's eyes as she watched silently.
    "Y-yes... You don't remember? You're Wufei Chang..." Sally put a hand on her daughter's shoulder, "This is your daughter Meiran... Don't you remember her? Or me?"
    "I'll... go get the doctor..." Quatre glanced at Sally, who was on the verge of tears now. He quietly left the room.
    ".... no... Should I?"
    "... Yes... I'm Sally, your wife. Meiran is our daughter. You don't remember at all??" Sally sat down in the chair by the bed.
    "I don't remember anything."
    "...." Meiran stared at the ground. She couldn't stand to hear much more of this. It really is my fault... he'd have remembered if I hadn't been such an idiot... the whole thing wouldn't have happened and this wouldn't have happened... I'm sorry, Mom... It should have been me... It'd would have been fitting... Meiran headed for the door.
    "I'll be in my room..." She almost choked on her words and silently slipped out. Wufei watched the door close, confused.
    "Why is she upset? Was it something I did?" He blinked. Sally wiped her eyes.
    "No... It's ... I think she's blaming herself... for this."

        "Most patients recover from these cases of amnesia within weeks depending on the cause of it." The doctor explained to the group gathered in the room and the still confused Wufei, "I relatively sure this could have been prevented had he been wearing a helmet, but there's no guarantee. It's best you take him home in a few weeks once his ribs had mended more."
    "You don't remember cutting my braid??" Duo twitched. Wufei shook his head and raised an eyebrow.
    "I cut your hair?"
    "YES. You cut my beautiful and long hair!"
    "... I should have cut more off."
    "Whaaaat!?" Duo sputtered angrily, then crossed his arms, "Well I guess some things just don't change."
    "Settle down, Duo. He doesn't remember anything. Take it easy on him." Sally sighed, "Or you'll wish you don't remember anything when I'm through with you."
    The God of Death shut up. (For now.)
    "Has anybody seen Meiran?" Sally frowned.
    "I saw her go into her dorm room. She sounded like she was crying." Shino leaned against the wall.
    "Speakin' of missing people..." Duo looked around, "Where's Trowa? I haven't seen him since sometime yesterday." Since the bar... Hmm... Where is that Tiffany?? I bet she has something to do with it... Maybe she kidnapped him- "OW!"
    "You had that 'look' on your face, Uncle Duo." Shino put his gun away after whacking Duo with it.
    "So instead of threatening to shoot people with it, you WHACK people with it!?" Duo rubbed his head.
    "Siduri is the one who threatens to shoot people." Shino reminded.
    "But you're HEERO'S SON. You should be the one threatening to shoot people!"
    "I'm also RELENA'S SON." Shino sweatdropped slightly, "Advocate of total pacifism!"
    "Oh yeah... THEN WHY ARE YOU CARRYING A GUN!?"
    "Dad gave it to me as a birthday present." Shino shrugged.
    "Note to self- I am not letting my child receive any birthday presents from Uncle Heero!" Duo made a face.
    "Oh yeah, you're going to be a daddy. Have fun dealing with Hilde. Noin was unbearable-" Milliardo begun. Noin elbowed him.
    Wufei stared at these weird people who claimed to be his friends. They were.... strange.

        Elsewhere, back in the hangar, more specifically, in Tiffany's office... Trowa woke up and immediately wished he hadn't. His hangover was, to say the least, immense. His head pounded and even the dim light in the office was too much. He was fairly sure that self-detonation would be a more pleasant experience than this. He'd have to ask Heero about it sometime and find out just which was worse. The only sound in the room was that of someone snoring softly.
    Tiffany was sound asleep in her chair, still pulled up next to the couch. There was a knock on the door. Trowa winced as the sound rang in his ears, making his headache worse.
    "HEY! HEY! TIFF! ARE YOU IN THERE!?!?" Momoko voice exclaimed, quite loudly from the other side of the door. Tiffany twitched in her sleep.
    "HELLLLLOOOOO!!?!?!? DON'T MAKE ME COME IN THERE! YO! TIFFANY! PMS TO TIFFANY!" Moe continued to shout. Trowa winced again.
    "I'M COMING IN!!" Momoko barged in, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!!!!!!!"
    Okay, that was it. Trowa's tolerance limit had been thoroughly exceeded.
    "Will you shut the hell up!?" He snapped at the pink haired idiot. Momoko blinked and looked around.
    "Oh. I thought you'd be back in your room on campus by now!!"
    "If you are going to talk, talk quietly!" Trowa muttered.
    "Oh! She's still asleep even after all that yelling I did?? She must be exhausted to not wake up to the Naga Laugh! She hates that laugh.... Dunno why..."
    "I think I do." Trowa glared at Momoko, who continued.
    "But why is she so exhausted!?!?!? You two weren't DOING anything, were you!?!?!!?"
    "GET OUT! GET OUT NOW BEFORE I KILL SOMEONE! PREFERABLY YOU!" Trowa finally yelled, Not Happy. Moe was out in a big hurry.
    "GOMEN NAAAAAAAASAAAAAIIIIIII!!!" Moe could be heard screeching clear across the hangar.
    "What was that about, Moe?" Shannon blinked.
    "Boy... He sounded pissed. What did you do to the poor guy??" Jeanie glanced at the super deformed Momoko who was hiding behind her.
    "Huh? Trowa's still in her office?" Kiandra sweatdropped slightly, "Maybe they-"
    "He threatened to kill me when I brought that up!" Momoko flailed her arms.
    "For the love of Shimeki... The guy has a hangover. MAJOR headache. You NAGA LAUGHED." Shannon sweatdropped.
    "Small WONDER he threatened to kill you. If I was that hung over I'D have threatened to kill you. AND probably followed through!" Stephanie razzed Momoko.
    "The hell was that about?" Tiffany mumbled, not all the way awake yet.
    "... I think I just traumatized one of your co-workers." Trowa sounded very annoyed. That in itself woke Tiffany up the rest of the way.
    "Eh? Which one?"
    "The annoying one." Trowa mumbled.
    "That doesn't narrow it down much."
    "The one with the loud annoying laugh."
    "Okaaaay.... That narrows it down to three." Tiffany sweatdropped.
    "The pink haired one."
    "Ooooh..... Momoko... What did she want anyways? It's only 6 AM, that's too early to be up... " Tiffany twitched and opened her office door.
    "Hi Tiff!" Momoko waved from behind Jeanie on the other side of the hangar.
    "Momoko! What's the big idea barging into my office?"
    "I wanted to tell you we're done! Well... We're still working on Altron and Milliardo's new suit, but all the others we started on are complete. Finished! Kicking @$$ ready! Capable of mass amounts of destruction, and they all look really cool too!"
    "... It couldn't have waited until 8?" Tiffany sweatdropped slightly. Jenna ran in.
    "Hey! BREAKFAST! AND NEWS!"
    "DON'T YELL, DAMNIT!" Trowa snapped from inside the office.
    ".... ahem. Anyways, it's news about Wufei."
    "HOW'S WUFFIE-CHAN!?!?" Kiandra bounded up.
    "WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP YELLING!?!?!?" Trowa was going from Not Happy to Pissed Off.
    "Keep it down, you guys." Tiffany sighed, "So how is he doing?"
    "He doesn't remember jack sh*t!" Jenna smiled for some unknown and probably disturbing reason.
    "He has amnesia?" Trowa emerged from the depths of the office, still looking like hell.
    "WUFFIE-CHAN HAS AMNESIA!?!?!?" Kiandra sniffled, "HEY! MAYBE HE'S AVAILABLE! OW!"
    Stephanie retrieved her trusty wrench.
    "Will you stop yelling?????" Trowa glared at Kiandra.
    "Yep!" Jenna set down her tray full of food, "Doesn't remember a thing from what I heard."
    Momoko wandered over.
    "JUST CAUSE YOU GOT WASTED AND HAVE A HANGOVER IS NO REASON TO BE SO CRANKY AND TAKE IT OUT ON US!! IT'S NOT OUR FAULT - eh-heh..... Shutting up now." Moe abruptly changed her tune as she found herself staring down the business end of a pistol held by none other than a very annoyed Trowa. (Authors: Where'd he get it from? Maybe he hid it in his hair.) Tiffany blinked.
    "Um... please don't shoot my co-worker... at least wait until we're done building the other Gundams... then feel free to."
    "Tiffanyyyyy!" Moe hid behind Jeanie again. Tiffany ignored her.

        "I'm going to have you send just a few more attack forces to Mars soon, Kwannon." Nimeesha stirred her coffee, "It's quite a long distance, so we can't launch an effective assault, but the forces we'll be sending will merely be for appearance while our main forces build up here."
    "And after awhile we're going to stop sending them?" Kwannon blinked.
    "Exactly."
    "Won't they attack us then?"
    "It's a long distance for them too, even with their high speed carriers. We're going to wait until our orbit takes us in front of the Earth."
    "So we're going to attack Earth instead?"
    "Not quite. I'm surprised you haven't seen what we need to do first. Once we stop sending the attack forces to Mars, we will be supposedly pausing the war to try to negotiate. You'll be sent to the Earth as our ambassador, along with my daughter, Tiana. It will be a good learning experience for her." Nimeesha sipped her coffee, "As for my two sons, they are the best pilots we have."
    "Yes... They are. Are you going to involve them in this too, Mrs. Pembroke-?"
    "They'd involve themselves anyway. So I'm just making sure they involve themselves in the right way. They'll be coming with you to Earth and from there, they will go to Mars." Nimeesha smiled, "After all, if we can't destroy or steal their Gundams, we'll just have to make our own."
    Kwannon nodded, understanding. Despite her own skills, Nimeesha could still out plan her at just about anything.
    "I see."

        "So how do ya think Meiran's gonna do? You think she's still gonna pilot Seiryuu?" Siduri flopped down on his bed.
    "I don't know." Shino sighed and laid back on his bed, "It's a really sad state of affairs, isn't it? I mean, the peace was supposed to last."
    "It didn't. It's all Venus' fault, man. Or at least, somebody there. It was their governess who declared war. Man... I don't think I like women. Both my sister and Meiran hit me, and now this governess starting up a war..."
    "Your mother is woman."
    "AND SHE'S THE ONE WHO HAS ME CLEANING TOILETS!" Siduri threw his pillow at Shino, who caught it easily.
    "You didn't have to help your sister steal the Tallgeese!  I wonder where she is anyways?" Shino tossed the pillow back and pondered.
    "She's supposed to write meeeeee." Siduri complained.
    "That would give away where she is, dummy." Shino sweatdropped slightly.
    "Ya know... I think I can describe this whole situation with two words." Siduri grinned.
    "Eh?"
    "It SUCKS!!" Siduri shouted. Shino nodded agreement.
    "People forget how awful war is, I guess. I mean... a lot of the veterans from the whole thing with OZ and White Fang are getting on in years and a lot of them died in the war."
    "Yeah... sucks." Siduri put his headphones on. Shino sighed, not noticing this.
    "People forget and they get ambitious again... And when ambitious people come to power, they'll use any dirty tactics they can to get more than they should. I admit, Venus is probably a harsh environment, being isolated for about half the year on the opposite side of the sun from the Earth, but still... I don't see how starting a war is going to help them. And where did they get the suits they have? Did their governess force people to build them or what? Maybe that's where some of the emergency money went... And how many people on Venus really want a war? Their governess is probably just using them and lying to them like OZ did back when Dad and everybody else was fighting. You know what I mean, Sid?" Shino looked over at his cousin, who was apparently completely oblivious and head banging to his music, "..........."
    Siduri looked up.
    "HUH? You say somethin', Shino??"
    Shino sighed and shook his head, "Nevermind."
    Siduri shrugged and went back to head banging.

        Sally had stayed up with Wufei telling him about.... well... him. Their marriage, their daughter, and what she knew about his past. She was leaving to head back to work today. She wanted to stay with Wufei, but duty called. With the war brewing, the Preventers needed everyone that they could get.
    "Meiran?" Sally knocked on the dorm room door. It opened slowly.
    "...Yeah, Mom?" Meiran looked tired. Her black hair was unbrushed and her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and undoubtedly crying.
    "I have to go back to work now... Are you going to be all right?"
    "... Yeah... I'll be fine..." Meiran brushed some of her hair out of her face. Sally set down her suitcase and hugged her daughter. Meiran didn't really move, she was too tired.
    "... Take care of your father and then come home, okay?"
    Meiran nodded slightly, "... You better go or you'll miss your shuttle, Mom..."
    "I know... Oh... The PMS said Seiryuu is finished." Sally let go and picked up her suitcase, "Be careful, Meiran."
    "Yeah... You too."
    Sally walked away. Wars are always the hardest on the children.

        Meiran walked into the hangar. The PMS and Milliardo were talking about setting up a small celebration for the completion of the suits, or rather, the PMS was trying to talk Milliardo into it.
    "Aw come on! We can go to Keetia's! It's not expensive or anything! Keetia might even let us have the party on the house!"
    "... We'll see. We have more important things to deal with right now-"
    "As if boosting everybody's morale isn't important???" Stephanie made a face. Meiran ignored them and perched up in Seiryuu's cockpit, wondering if she should take it out for a 'test drive'.
    "It'll be fuuuuuuuun!" Jeanie squealed.
    "Yeah! Pleeeeease???" Jenna smiled sweetly.
    "Besides, everybody's been so serious. Gotta loosen up a bit. Wufei will get better!"
    "Yeah! Let's focus on what's going right, not what's going wrong!"
    "All right already! We'll see!" Milliardo sweatdropped.
    "So that's a yes??" Shannon grinned.
    "We'll see!" Milliardo excused himself and escaped the hangar full of crazies.

        "Send them out." Kwannon commanded, "And remember, it doesn't matter if the battle is won. Just fight as best you can. Try and blow up those Gundams if you can. If they order you to surrender... " Kwannon sighed, "Follow your judgment." She shut off the comm.
    "Nice way of covering up the fact not one of them will make it out alive." Nimeesha noted.

Continued In Gundam Wing: A New Era, Episode 13:
"Enter The Gundams"