Babies and Gems

"It's bare," Wufei complained as he looked around Mei-Lin's new colony. "Really bare. More like people huddling up in a treehouse."

"The numbers are not great, but it's not a treehouse," Mei-Lin corrected him. "Food delivery is getting course corrected. Not much is being done with the housing yet."

"You don't have anything." He didn't like it. "There's barely food delivery, you have to leave to other colonies to go get food. You are still sleeping in tents. Where are the beginnings of the houses at least?"

"It takes time," she reminded him. "We are not the biggest issue out there with our numbers, Wufei. I am just glad that I am not the only one left."

"It's hard to tell like this." He clearly didn't like it. "Move in when there is housing and the food is correct. They have your contact information, as long as you let them know you are moving in later when things get more worked out, they will contact you."

For one, it was probably a good idea. This was not the best place to stay. She had been there a week and it zapped up money like crazy. The nearest colony for food was still a shuttle away. Shuttles weren't free. It cost more to bring back the food than to buy the food.

Then again? She was comfortable being beside Wufei. Even after the whole Revenge of the Lost thing, he had taken care of her as he went back to being a Preventor. He worked between the colonies and Earth, sometimes living in his colony, and sometimes staying on Earth. She had still not built any kind of life for herself yet. Her justice was met, and it was over.

This should be the end between their association. Yet, Wufei still believed the leaders were still out there, and they could be a problem. He wasn't cutting her off his support yet. "I know I should stay. It is a pain to get anything but already boxed up food."

"Which isn't gluten free. You need to have access to plain meats and vegetables," he agreed. "You were a little better on Earth, but you still suffer from the small plagues of life. Getting used to being back on the colonies, along with not finding what you really need to eat. This place is fine for people living here, but not for you. Even now, I can tell you are experiencing side effects."

He was right. Her eyes were hurting so she was uncharacteristically wearing darker shades. She was a migraine sufferer, but gluten made them worse and more often. All she wanted to do was curl up in a real house in real darkness instead of in a tent with just a fan.

A woman decided which battles to fight. It sounded like she didn't need to fight this battle yet.

"Grab your bag, this place isn't fit for you yet. They said they would be starting housing this week, and I don't see a single panel of wood. That is running behind, and without even one article or word about it, it means they see it as no big deal."

Right. She leaned on him lightly. Leaders still missing, she would lean on his assistance a little longer. She couldn't argue, she didn't want to stay either. She went to go get her bag from her tent. She came back toward him and she followed him into his Preventor shuttle.

He turned off most of the lights in the back, and slipped some pills into her hand. Oh, she hated feeling like this. She watched as he also had an ice pack ready for her. "I am sorry I could not stick it out, Wufei. I am getting closer."

"It's lack of progress and communication. It's fine," he insisted. "Circumstances out of your control don't make you weak. You were never weak," he said right before he headed to pilot the shuttle.

Oh. She could tell he was thinking about his mother again. Although he thought he had lost her years ago, along with everyone else. There was something about her that hit home. She had given him a traditional time of sympathy to see what it had been. He eventually confided in her the truth.

He had a suspicion they had done that. She was always there, and then one day, she was just gone. The Long clan said she couldn't watch over him anymore, but it didn't make any sense to him. They were fine with money. They respected each other.

It wasn't until he heard it from her own mouth that it really hit home though. He could hear it in her voice. She didn't brush off the words or blame. He believed that she was placed on another colony and left alone with a night of food. That Superior knew of her identity and fetched her to RTL. With nowhere else to go, and a purpose again, she followed into it not understanding the consequences yet.

He believed that was why she did what she did, and why she eventually pulled out. He still didn't have anything bad to say about her. She lived the best she could, for what she had been allowed to do.

Long tradition was rougher than Zhangs, but she knew that tradition too. That was why it was essential to make sure one never appeared less than perfect and married into the main clans. Even that had not saved Wufei's mother.

That place was horrible. She couldn't get what she needed, and she's in pain. Sleeping in a tent still . Zero progression from what they promised. Wufei was reasoning his own actions out. She didn't deserve any of that, she could come back when the colony started to function for her. There was no need to deal with that kind of ineptitude to start making it on her own. She needed to at least access the basic foods, not boxed foods. Most of them had that annoying wheat and gluten in them, and it wasn't a good way to keep eating anyhow.

Besides, there were still strings of Revenge of the Lost out there. If anyone asked why he was still hanging around with her when they went to his colony, that excuse would still work to make them back off.

He looked through his camera to check on his passenger. She was starting to lull to sleep, curling up on her side with the ice pack. He had given her more than a couple of pills for a headache, he knew she wouldn't be doing well so he asked Sally Po previously for some stronger medication. He hated leaving her there in the first place, but her integrity wanted to see it through at least a week. He couldn't disturb that.

A month, maybe more. Until that place was right for her and her needs, he would still watch over her.

Emergency Unit 41

"No, no, no. Not so fast you two." Dorothy bent down to tuck in the clothes of some of her favorite gems. Well, favorite was a strong word. Best gems? Best personality. Cutest age. Also, best chances to help her. "I wanted to talk to you before you go on your big adventure."

"What is it, Platinum?" Bubblegum Diamond asked. A name that was technically forbidden since Bubblegum wasn't a color, but even Crystalia had no problem allowing it in Revenge of the Lost.

"I know you both are so eager to go up to the colonies, to go see your brand new Aunt. But, things are going to be tough up there. Food will be a real problem. Shelter too, you'll have to be on the floor for several nights without your own beds. It's going to be just as miserable there as here, without beds." She watched Bubblegum Diamond clench tighter to her doll she carried around. "I do know someone though. If you can keep a secret?" Oh yes, she bopped that head up and down. "If you secretly ask to go to the colony on this paper instead, they'll pay for the tickets, and so much more for you."

"Really?" She asked.

"Oh yes. You know how some people just can't resist the charms of a cute little girl." She pinched one of her cheeks more playful than rough, making her smile. "He is going to think, 'Oh my, how cute this little girl is!' You know how easy those people are to pushover to your side. He'll be very helpful, and give you lots of money."

"Lots of money?"

"Yes. Why just go to your Aunts and put such burden on her?" She stuck a piece of paper in Bubblegum Diamonds overall pocket, right in front. No one ever checked the pocket in front of a girls overalls. They were too small to stick anything more than a piece of paper in. "Where's Kenny?" Since Kenny was a very young child, younger than Bubblegum even, he was allowed to be taken care of just without a code name.

"Kenny!" She yelled without subtletly.

Platinum watched him walk up. "Don't make a fuss when you arrive either, okay? I've packed you both a great big lunch for when you get up there. Don't eat it until you get up there." She gave the package to him and he took it with glee. "Do not open it and snack on it on the way to the colonies. You'll be hungry when supper arrives." She patted Ken's head. "You listen to your sister, no matter what happens. Your sister is the boss until you reach your Aunts, and I don't want to hear a word about it."

"Okay!" Ken gave her a hug. "Love you."

Dorothy gave him a brief hug. "Love you too. Listen to your sister." She looked toward Bubblegum. She hoped she worked with her number skills good enough. "Don't forget the numbers game if you get stuck. What do you do if you get stuck on a number?"

"Yell really loud!" Bubblegum Diamond yelled at her.

"Correct."

"Not correct," Red Emerald complained as she came by. "Platinum, I hate that you trained them to do that."

"Whenever she's in trouble, she will yell. It's a good skill to learn," Dorothy remarked. "A creative skill."

"An annoying skill," Blue Ruby said from beside Emerald. "At least they'll be gone to their aunt's soon."

"Yes, to our Aunts." Bubblegum Diamond said it a little higher than subtle, but Red Emerald and Blue Ruby were both amateur trash when it came to their understanding of things. Of course, it wasn't their fault.

Before the zero system was tested on them, they probably had a lot more of their faculties. They were probably a lot more loving. The zero system changed people. Withered them down. "Now? Two plus two." It was even withering her down.

"Four," Bubblegum Diamond answered her.

"Don't forget greetings," Dorothy warned her. "Four plus four."

"Eight Miss Platinum."

Good. "Eight plus Eight."

From the top of her voice, Bubblegun Diamond yelled. "I'm just a cute little girl, I don't know my math that high!"

"Correct," Dorothy answered. "It is sixteen. Good job."

"Terrible job. They are going to be terrible on their poor Aunt," Blue Ruby answered. "Glad I am not going."

"Glad you are not going too," Bubblegum Diamond said with a curtsy.

Perfectly trained. Dorothy just watched them walk off. "You two have a safe and fun journey. Don't forget to see the babies before you go." She watched them run to him.

She had no idea what she had wanted to name her baby. When she first came out of the machine, she had so many more memories. It took another round before she figured out that she needed to start writing things down.

Like, her name was Dorothy Catalonia. She liked to be polite, to a point.

As time waned by, she wrote more and more things down, noticing them fade little by little. She wrote down every code she could remember in her head, labeled what it belonged to. She wrote down names she could remember, how they died, or how they were important to her.

She remembered someone who read and played violin with hair just a smidge bit darker than Amira's, but matched Zara's almost precisely. She knew from where she had been, this was technically her enemy. Quatre Raberba Winner.

But she also wrote down super important facts that would get them out of there. Zara and Amira were his, with Zara being his heir to his family fortune, and if she made sure that it was absolutely clear that they were his? She could either take a great deal of his  money, or get a ring on her finger. Whichever. Whatever it took to get out of that miserable place.

She knew from pictures she found of herself in the press, and seeing she was in a Romefeller foundation, she used to have very fancy dresses. She had large eyebrows too, gigantic. Very strange. She didn't understand why she would wear her eyebrows like that. It would be a mystery that would hopefully reveal itself again one day.

She didn't understand several things about herself, but she couldn't ask about that kind of thing where she resided. They didn't care if she wrote things down, but she couldn't ask them questions. After all, they fed her. They sheltered her. They treated her. They took care of her twins, which they were extra angry about because it should have just been one girl.

When she told them it was probably the drug they had used on her, unknowingly, they didn't like that and shoved her back in the zero system for awhile.

So, yes. They were taking care of her and her children. They were also slowly demolishing her mind. Once she reached some point they seemed to like, they lessened the time in the zero system.

But, they still put her in there, and they put her in it the more they didn't like her answer to something. The more she pretended though, gave them the answers and actions they wanted, the more she stayed out.

The more she stayed out, the more she had less lost moments in her memory. The more she could remember facts. The more her memory was okay, short-term and long-term. She didn't know exactly how the zero system worked, but it focused and put stresses in certain directions on how the brain worked.

Right focus, right spot, perfectionism. It's why some kind of someone that she knows she once fought in a fight used it to protect a princess she was very fond of. Relena. No, Miss Relena. No, she wasn't a princess anymore. She was something big. Important. It wasn't a princess of anything anymore. Anyhow, they used it.

They used it in a more raw form. A different form than what she felt through it. The zero system could be sculpted to be used in different ways. Like, her future planned husband had used it correctly as this strategic . . . "Oh that's right." She stabbed him. Shoot. 

Well, whatever, she still had his ring. He must have gave it to her, it looked expensive. She didn't wear it on her finger, she had just had it safely in her pocket all this time. Probably. It was probably his ring, who else could afford it? If not, maybe he'd know whose it is. Then she'd just get some shut up money from him if he didn't want his kids and she'd hunt the other one down.

Whichever! As long as she got her children and her out of that place because leaving it was not easy and the longer she was there. The less likely she would ever escape.

Kenny excitedly started to move, wanting to move up. Dorothy sat Zara and Amira up to see the others.

Ah, if only she wrote down what one of the babies had been named. She had at least gave some honor, or maybe more accurate proof, that someone of Arab descent was the father by picking out Arab names for them. She would need that. "Someone's going to miss you two so much."

"Bye bye babies," Kenny said as he waved to Zara and Amira.

"Bye bye babies. We are going to the stars," Bubblegum Diamond said. "We are going to be up in the sky." She pointed upward. "Super high up in the stars."

"Yes. To the stars." Dorothy looked upward too. There were no windows there, but she didn't need windows. She could imagine how bright the stars were shining that night. This is almost all over. One more spark on this world, and it'll be over.

"Packed up?" Crystalia came over toward them. "Let's go." She gave Bubblegum Diamond a paper. "Give that to your pilot when you get through the line. After you arrive, your aunt will be ready to meet you up there. Are you big enough to take on this task?"

"Yes, Crystalia," Bubblegum Diamond insisted. "I take paper and give to pilot."

"Yes. This one. You need to do this right," she warned the little girl. "Revenge of the Lost doesn't have what it used to to protect you. This is the best we can offer. Do you have food?"

"Food food." Ken held the food. "Food."

"Don't eat that until you get there. Share it with your aunt. She'll need some help." Crystalia sighed. "Bless her for helping with this. Let's go."

"Bye bye. Bye bye Platinum!" Bubblegum Diamond waved. "Bye bye baby!"

"Bye bye. Bye bye. Bye bye." Kenny added his own goodbye. "Bye bye!"

"Good luck on your new journey into the stars," Dorothy said to both of them. "Don't forget to say goodbye to everyone individually, they will all miss you so much."

"Platinum!" Both Red Emerald and Blue Ruby cursed her as they endured another round of goodbyes.

She watched the kids move off. Make it to your destination. Make it. Please. If you don't, then I'm more than just an accidental Juliet who is losing her memories. I'm killing all the Romeos Juliet's too. She looked toward Zara. I'm killing the future of everyone. She looked at Amira's bright smile and smiled back. No, this has to work. He'll surely get the message. I have given it my all.

Quatre Raberba Winner was supposed to be one of the nicest people. She saw that. She remembered his kind smile. They read together. She heard him play something sometime. She had to go with instinct.

He would care enough to help.