Catherine stands ready with her knives, facing Trowa, whose arms and legs have been fixed to a stand. With a graceful handling of the knives, four of them hit with a 'dong' just a few millimeters away from Trowa's arms and legs.The leading Winner family, who is of Arabian descent, has a great influence in the whole Middle East and owns many resource satellites in the L4 cluster. Offering capital in the outer colonies, they also bear the brunt in the negotiations with Earth with the leading position. Furthermore, the present head of the family follows the ideas of the leader Heero Yuy and is presently for a few colonies, which even now follow the unarmed path, the defender of peace.
Being the eldest and only son of this Winner family, Quatre Raberba Winner has shaken off his opposing father and got into the Gundam called Sandrock, descending to Earth with it. He has now found help with the Maguanac troop and the one country in the Middle East that supports the troop.
In the room made available to him, Quatre is analyzing the information gathered by supporters of his family throughout the world. It's the same room from which he saw off a few days earlier the boy who introduced himself as Trowa.
On the monitor of a mobile phone shaped computer, which stands on the desk, maps and information are displayed. The letters and figures are the damage situation of the OZ military installations everywhere. He has only looked at them briefly, but he has understood that they're scattered all over the world.
"And that's how it is after all. Somebody else beside me is destroying OZ installations. One of them is Trowa, but there may be more. Professor H didn't say anything, but they seem to be there, others who board Gundams like me that is...."
While enjoying the smell of the Earl Grey, Quatre brings the tea cup to his lips.
"I sure would like to meet them all."
Picturing warriors fighting for the colonies, Quatre murmurs this as if he were dreaming.
The leader of the circus, Hawthorne, is proud of the nearly 600 years of history - the founding year was 1667 - but right now he is about to lose patience. It's about the boy he hired just three weeks ago.
He is angry because the boy, even if he hired him himself because he liked him, doesn't work with them when moving, doesn't come for public performances until the very last moment and generally acts in a very selfish way. Also today he has appeared only when there were just a few minutes left until the beginning. To go on stage without doing the exercises satisfactorily is not the way the leader thinks.
This time Catherine has spoken in favour of the boy called Trowa Barton because she somehow likes him, but also after the beginning of the show the leader is not in a very good mood.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting! Here is the big star of the circus, the knife thrower Catherine Bloom!"
Upon the call from the leader, who is bathed in the spotlight, Catherine enters. Her shoulder-length hair is slightly wavy and she is wearing a tightly fitting, bright red dress on her slim body.
The clown coming out behind her has his right half of the face hidden by a mask and his lower body is covered by a bulging, funny costume. He bows to the spectators in an exaggerated way. It's Trowa.
"Let's go, Trowa!"
Catherine stands ready with her knives, facing Trowa, whose arms and legs have been fixed to a stand. With a graceful handling of the knives, four of them hit with a 'dong' just a few millimeters away from Trowa's arms and legs.
The room is filled with applause, also directed at Catherine's pretty face.
"Be a bit afraid! If you aren't, it's not so interesting for Big Sister!"
Giggling, Catherine calls out to Trowa.
As if it were agreed upon, two knives hit near his ears next. In her experiences, no matter which partner she had, he was bound to become afraid.
But she can't read a single emotion on Trowa's face, half of which is hidden by the mask.
Doesn't that boy know how to be afraid? Or, does death not matter to him?
The knives Catherine was throwing when she hesitated, just about miss him and finish cutting the skin at his temple.
After the performance ends with a big success, Catherine asks Trowa who is about to change his clothes in the waiting room "Why didn't you dodge?"
"That's not part of my work."
Catherine smiles bitterly at this answer said without friendliness or any other emotion.
"Didn't you think you were afraid?"
"I must have told you, it's not part of the work, for either of us."
"Are you saying that I can't fail because I'm a pro?"
"Yes, I do."
"Then, I suppose you do trust me?"
Trowa glances shortly at Catherine, then takes off the clown's jacket. A thin but firm upper body is bared.
"I am going to change, are you going to be here?"
When Trowa says this in a deep voice, Catherine starts moving towards the exit in quick, little steps.
"That's because you're unfriendly. But I do think you'd look cute when you're smiling. The basis for it looks good. And this older sister guarantees it!"
After saying this with a friendly smile, Catherine puts her hand to her lip and cries out.
"No way! I forgot the most important thing! I'm sorry for what happened just before."
Catherine bows her head very low.
Taking the shirt into his hand, Trowa answers curtly "I also told you just before. This is work."
"Trowa, smile, smile!"
Just before leaving the room, Catherine throws a friendly smile at Trowa.
As if weaving its way through the South Asian islands, one mobile suit is navigating underwater. The white mobile suit is the Gundam which attacked the Lake Victoria base.
Has he arrived at its target? As soon as the mobile suit has surfaced, it draws the staff like weapon carried so far on its back.
"That the enemy allows it to be so easily invaded... it serves them right!" murmurs the boy inside the cockpit, who introduced himself to Noin as Wufei.
Bringing down the beam glaive, Shenlong cuts the bridge of a battleship in two, then stretches its dragon fang like right arm towards the base. The flamethrower devastates the base totally as if the flames were spit out from a dragon's mouth. Also the four Leos appearing for a counterstrike are quickly cut asunder by the beam glaive.
"This extent of counterattack is collected by Nataku..."
After completely destroying the Alliance base, Wufei calmly returns into the sea.
On the salvage ship, swimming on the Pacific Ocean in the evening, the repairs, refueling and filling up of ammunition of the Gundam called Deathscythe have been finished, and the Gundam is supposed to be stored in the dock. All around the mobile suit, the mechanics are enjoying their after-work wine.
"Hey, Duo!"
An elderly man with a Hawaiian shirt and wearing sunglasses is strolling towards the legs of the Gundam. It's the owner of this ship, Howard. When the elderly man discovers Duo's figure lying on the tarpaulin covered legs, he shouts toward him "The repairs and refueling are done!"
"Thank you!"
Saying his thanks lightly, Duo looks at Howard by only turning his head.
"No problem, you're a good customer after all."
Having said this, Howard pushes his sunglasses up and looks up to Duo. "What's the matter, Duo? What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just thinking that the moon seen from Earth is beautiful."
Crossing his arms under his head, Duo looks at the blurred moon swimming in the sky.
"How about a glass of moon watching wine? But for you it's going to be non-alcoholic."
"Huh? I'll be coming later."
While answering, Duo crosses his legs, and remains lying as he is.
"From the colonies, the moon is huge and you see it way too clearly, it's like a graveyard...."
"Oohh... a graveyard you say..."
Howard slides the sunglasses back down and looks up to the moon.
"So, you're from the L2 colony."
Howard says this as if he were remembering. L2 is, seen from Earth, on the other side of the moon and its position is closer to the moon than Earth. Of course the moon is seen as being much larger.
"Yeah, but the time spent in space was longer than in the colonies."
"Hohooo... the Sweeper Group?"
"Yes, that's it."
In space, different things are floating around, like mobile suits destroyed in a battle or ships being damaged in an accident. They are also dangerous, becoming obstacles in routes. It's the Sweeper Group that collects these things and uses them again. They are, so to say, the recycling enterprise of space.
"Okay, come when you feel like it."
After addressing Duo this way, Howard leaves.
Duo lifts his hand and gives a sign to Howard, then he continues looking at the moon as before.
"How long will I look at the moon..." he murmurs.
"The guy probably won't be looking at something like the moon. He's always throwing his weight around, but it would be better if enjoyed life more. While he is alive."
He smiles bitterly, remembering the boy whose name he doesn't even know.
"What is he doing, the guy..." murmurs Duo while looking up at the moon.
At this time, Heero sits in the mobile suit's cockpit and is looking at the main screen before his eyes.
The system displays on the monitor the picture such as it is captured by the camera in the head part of the mobile suit. This is consequently the reason that, if the head is turned to the right, the view on the right side of the mobile suit is displayed.
Now the monitor displays Relena, who is looking up at the suit and calling out.
"Heero! It's you, Heero, isn't it? Answer me, Heero!"
He can hear Relena's calls through the exterior microphone.
But Heero sits there without answering, no, without being able to answer.
"Why have you saved me?"
At Relena's call, an emotion shows for the first time on Heero's usually expressionless face. Can he be that much at a loss?
"What am I doing... it would be better if she were dead!" spits Heero.
When the collapsed school building has become a pile of rubble falling down on Relena, Heero has seen the scene in the corner of his monitor. Without realizing it, he had handled the control stick. Wondering what he was doing has come after the action was finished.
The shield on the left arm was sticking in the school building, becoming like an umbrella protecting Relena.
"Why? Why is it?"
Heero calls out and hits his own knee with his fist. Why can't he finish off an enemy who is bound to become an obstacle to his missions? At this conduct, which goes against the education and training he received, Heero can't hide his helplessness.
"Aren't you going to kill me? Answer me!"
Not able to stand Relena's questions, Heero lifts the pedals at his feet and has the Gundam retreat from Relena. After manipulating the console panel, he steps onto the pedals one more time.
As if fleeing from answering, Heero pushes the lever above him forward.
Before the eyes of the still calling Relena, jet flames spurt out of the white mobile suit's backpack and it lifts off. Then it changes into its flight form.
"Heero... don't run away... please...."
Being left behind alone, Relena looks up to the mobile suit flying away for a long time.