Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Urbania ❯ Broken Cycles ( Chapter 14 )

Serena looked in a mirror for the first time in a little over three months. The sound of raiding all around her was blurred out by an aspiring headache that was creeping forward from the back of her head. She unbuttoned her blazer and looked at her stomach, which was hidden by a tank top that didn't quite reach the waist of her capris. She looked ok from the front. She turned to the side. She shook her head, making sure she wasn't hallucinating. She looked back at the mirror. Her stomach, though not huge, was completely out of her bottoms. She touched her stomach, not knowing what to think: for the past five or six weeks, she'd been bloated, nauseous, exhausted, grumpy, and famished. She'd tried to put the truth off, hoping it would go away, but the truth doesn't 'go away'; she was pregnant, and only one man could possibly be the father.

Relena slipped away from unloading the spoils to find Serena, who'd disappeared. She looked this way and that, carrying with her a bag of jerky, cheese, bread, and oranges. Serena wasn't in the sleeping spot they shared, or in Patricia and Nadine's tent. She checked Yumi's post. Yumi had neither seen nor heard from Serena all day. Relena dropped her hands to her side in frustration, and sat down on a rotted log in a remote part of the camp. She unloaded a piece of jerky and some cheese and shoved it in her mouth, smacking her lips. She looked around. A breeze from the sea blew her ragged hair, and she smelled the thick scent of blood that the company had brought in. When she stood to stretch, she noticed a familiar heap ten feet away.

"Serena!" Relena rushed over, and pulled her to a sitting position. Serena opened her eyes, completely dazed.

"Where am I?"

Relena pulled the cork from her canteen and poured lukewarm water into Serena's mouth. Serena accidentally breathed some of it in, and coughed.

"Are you alright?"

Serena looked around. "I swear, I was walking to our spot, I had to rest, I didn't know you needed me, just a little rest…"

"Serena," Relena took her shoulders, "What is the matter with you?"

Serena shook her head. She couldn't lie to Relena. "My period never came back."

Relena looked at Serena blankly. She just stared at her. Serena's eyes began to moisten.

"Please say something, Relena, please."

Relena released Serena's shoulders and settled back on her knees. "A baby could never survive here…"

"I know! I know!" Serena began to cry very hard, "I don't know what to do! Please help me, Relena!"

"Shh, its okay, I'm here." Relena assured, hugging Serena. Serena pulled away suddenly. She froze, her eyes darting. She stood up.

"Who's your nemesis?"

"My father."

"Who is your father?"

"Tenchi 'Loyal Six' Masaki."

"Who?"

"Loyal Six, I said, Tenchi Masaki!"

Loyal Six had been Ryo's father. Now Master Wildfire would be this child's father. There had to be an end, and this had to be it.

"I have to go to him."

"What?"

"I have to go to him. I have to. He deserves to know that he will have a child soon."

Relena stood up, and looked around. "Serena, are you crazy? What do you think Patricia will say?"

"She'll say what she'll say. But I have to tell him. He has to know." Serena started away. Relena hurried after her.

Patricia was seeing the last of the booty from the recent liberation to storage when Serena came into sight.

"Serena!" she called excitedly, "I've been wondering where you two were! I need you to help the new girls get bedding a places to sleep, and after that, they need lessons."

"Patricia, I-"

"Need to speak with you privately." Relena cut her off. Relena gave Serena a look.

"Very well," said Patricia, "Let's step into my tent for a few moments. Patricia took sure, confident steps to the tattered shelter she called home. She pulled back a cloth for privacy and let Serena in first. Serena sat on Nadine's bed and Patricia sat on her own bed. She laid her rifle next to her.

"What can I do for you, leaderette?" she asked with a generous smile. Serena forced a smile.

"Patricia, I've been tired-"

"I've noticed, and I'm glad you have, too. I'll tell you what. You take tomorrow off, and start alternating days with Relena-"

"I've been bloated and angry and dying of starvation, too."

"Honey, most all of us are menstruating like hell, and you should know by now that Sanada wasn't the first to do the birth control thing-"

"I haven't menstruated at all since you picked me up."

Patricia stopped, and looked Serena dead in her eye. "What are you trying to say?"

Serena slowly stood up and turned to the side. She pulled her blazer back. Patricia winced ever so slightly.

"I'm pregnant."

Patricia watched her best liberator slowly sit back down. She didn't know what to say or do. Abortion was out of the question. A miscarriage was no guarantee. I knew she was too good to be true…

"I don't know what to tell you, Rena. We don't have the means for you to have a safe delivery. Doctor Khushrenada is far too busy to help, I know, and the nearest functioning hospital is…Sendai. Plus, you'll need to breast-feed it, and that will take so much from you, and you're already in poor health. I don't know what to tell you. Who will care for it?"

Serena held her head down and tears were falling in her lap. Patricia bit her lip. "Please, Serena, don't cry…"

"I have to see Ryo. I have to tell him."

Patricia was suddenly angry. "Why the hell would Ryo give a rat's ass about your baby? He wouldn't give a shit if it were his own child!"

Serena looked stunned at Patricia. "I just…"

"I told you, Serena, stay away from him. I forbid you to see him. I could have killed him and been even greater than I am, now. I try to be too sympathetic sometimes. And it's for his good, too. You know there are other groups besides us liberating. They want to kill him, too. Why endanger him, since you love him so?"

Serena didn't know what to say. She was prepared for an uncooperative response, but not a lashing out. Patricia leaned into Serena's face.

"I'm very serious, Serena. Don't think about him. There are probably women all over that can care for the child while you're away, and there are, I'm sure," she forced herself to say, "a few good men that could be a father. But not that dog Sanada. Forget him. You're above and beyond him. You're free. Be grateful." Patricia angrily flipped the cloth and stomped outside. A gust from the flip made goose bumps rise on Serena's skin and her hair stuck to her lips. She heaved, holding back tears. Relena looked inside.

"Serena…"

"She hates him. There's nothing I can do. I have to forget him. I-"

Relena walked right up and backhanded Serena harder than ever a man had before, flattening her on the bed. She was shocked for one second, then shot up to eye level with Relena.

"Don't." Relena said, stabbing Serena with realization. "Don't. Never in my life have I ever seen anyone more solid than you, Serena Tsukino. Don't you dare waver now, don't you dare. I would rather die than see you be worked over by anyone. I saved you from Heero in the past because I knew better than not to believe in you. You are power, Serena, and you are right. You know what is right because you listen to your heart. Don't ever doubt what your heart tells you, and it's telling you the same thing mine is telling me: we have to go back to them, Serena."

Serena looked almost terrified, but Relena went on, "You know how he feels about you, Serena. You know how he would feel about the baby. I know he has a side he didn't always show. I know that side is the true him. You have to believe in you, Serena. I believe in you. Patricia believes in you. Nadine believes in you. Everyone believes in you. You follow your heart. And you teach us to follow ours. Show them how to do it, Serena."

Serena threw her arms around the best friend God could give any human. They hugged tightly. Nadine peeked in.

"Hey girls, get your ammo. We're going on a surprise raid."

Serena let Relena drive this time. She was too anxious. She might get into an accident.

The raid wasn't too interesting: just another abandoned community, probably heard they were nearby and up and left without bothering to pack anything. Patricia and Nadine insisted on partying and celebrating as if they had achieved some great victory, but in reality were celebrating the acquisition of so many supplies and still having energy to celebrate. Neither Serena nor Relena participated in the festivities. Patricia poked Serena in her arm.

"Hey you, join in, grab a partner and dance." She said more like an order than an invitation. Serena just looked at her and then looked away.

When the time came, Serena offered minimal assistance in loading up the jeeps for transport back to camp. Patricia called to her to put her back into it, and Serena hollered that her back was too weak to put into it. Patricia approached Serena.

"What is up with you?"

"You know what's up with me. I can't dig it anymore. I'm trying."

"Not very hard. The Serena I know wouldn't let some little thing stop her." She groaned callously, and turned her back. Strike two, Serena thought for the first time since her first fateful dinner with Ryo.

When everything was loaded up, Patricia called Serena to ride with her.

"Didn't have it today, I suppose?" she began when the car started.

"It'll be hard to get back." Serena replied mindlessly. Patricia followed Nadine, who led the motorcade back to camp.

Patricia didn't know what to say to her best liberator. There had to be some way to resolve these new tensions.

"So when ya due?"

"When does it look like?" Serena said, rubbing her swelling belly.

"Better question: if there was birth control constantly being exercised where you and Lena are from, how could you have gotten pregnant? Maybe one time you skipped a meal and did your thing without realizing it?"

"I can't think of a time-" Ryo's attack…doctor's diagnosis…the novel…missing dinner…back to the room….best night ever… "…oh my God…"

"You know when?"

"How long have I been with you all?"

"Mmm.." Patricia thought. "Pretty much three months."

"And two weeks. Three months and two weeks, I've been pregnant. Oh, my God."

"We're going to have to drop the child off somewhere up north. You can visit when the revolution is over."

That did it. That was strike three. Nobody was going to take away Serena's child before it was even born, and dictate visitation rights. Not Patricia. Not Nadine. Not Mistress Valentine. Nobody. Serena looked at Patricia blankly.

"And what do you propose I do until then?" she asked solemnly.

"You need to stay and fight for me, Serena. I won't keep you long. When this is over, I'll let you go about your business."

Serena was in genuine shock. She'd heard Patricia say things like this before, but never did she realize how self-centered it all was. "Stop the car."

"Why?"

"Stop the car!"

The tires screeched and the jeep came to a sudden halt. The motorcade around them stopped and looked to the stalled vehicle. Patricia flashed Serena an angry look.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"This isn't about you. This is about the women of Tokyo and other cities that are being held captive and enslaved. This is about them-"

"The hell it ain't about me. After all I've been through, I deserve a little fame, a little glory, but just when I got some, you and your pretty little friend show up and steal the spotlight, for every day of toil I put in is a second-long scratch-fest and the rest of the day a joy ride. It was me that got you started. You owe me your allegiance."

"You're selfish. You're jealous. You have the experience of a master, but lack the purity of a pupil. I'll never bow to you." Serena opened the car door, slinging her rifle over her shoulder, and her food bag in her pocket. Patricia grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to a place where corruption has ceased, not been passed to those who weren't previously in power."

Serena snatched her wrist away and stepped out of the car.

"Serena, if you shut that door, don't get back in, and don't come home."

Serena slammed the door. "I am going home." She crossed around the front of the car, and began to walk away. Patricia stood up and above the bar above her head.

"Fine, you ungrateful whore! Be his toy! I just hope you're good enough for him to dock his ship in your harbor!"

Serena stopped short. She turned her head to look Patricia in her dark eyes. "What did you say?"

"You know he's found another girl, Serena. There maybe a revolution upon us, but not everyone is revolting."

"You are, and in more ways than one."

"You have to inject that bastard with testosterone to get a reaction out of him, anyway!"

That hit Serena like a ton of bricks. Patricia was the prostitute that raped Ryo. All hope, faith, and loyalty Serena had poured into Patricia and Nadine ran drier than the cracked pavement. No doubt Nadine had helped her…there were two, Ryo said, two.

"You raped him…"

"What?" Patricia grumbled, not believing what Serena had just revealed.

"You and Nadine raped Ryo!"

"Master Wildfire needed a taste of his own medicine. He deserved-"

Serena shot at Patricia, missing her by a no more than one inch. "You don't know him. You don't know what he did and didn't deserve. How dare you. You're no better than the scum of the earth you claim to bring down. I hate you." Serena looked at Relena. "Relena, I'm sorry, but I can't stay here, with these people under this tyrant. I know you want to, and I know you want to avenge your pain. Please don't let me ruin that."

Relena, who'd been riding with Nadine, jumped out of the car, also with her rifle, canteen, and food in her gigantic pants. She stood at Serena's side. She laid a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I told you-I know better than not to believe in you." They both looked at Patricia.

"What, bitches?"

"Go to hell, Patricia."

"See you there, Serena."

Patricia slung herself down into the driver's seat and drove ahead of Nadine, taking over lead of the huge band. Serena's friends watched her silently, and Mistress Valentine smiled. Serena recognized that smile of hers. It was an 'I'm proud of you. Stay strong.' Smile. Serena smiled back her 'Thank you. I will.'

"Ryo," Sage shook him. Ryo snapped back into reality. He was sitting by the fire in the middle of the far side of the first room. He looked at his friend. He groaned a response.

"Hey man, you ok? You've been clocking out recently."

"I guess that's what several months underground does to ya." Ryo muttered through a forced smile. Sage smiled back. The sound of leather boots crossing the hard floor. Heero laid a heavy hand on Ryo's shoulder. Ryo held Heero's wrist.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine," Ryo insisted, standing up and walking away from the fire. He stood against the wall. They had received news from a group of fleeing Men of Cye's death at The Arena, shot dead in the head-after the two ladies he was with beat him down and escaped him. "I was just thinking…"

"About Serena?" Heero asked quietly. Ryo nodded very gently, so as not to betray his longing for her. Heero looked away.

"Why didn't you stop me…." Heero murmured.

"What?"

"Why didn't you say 'Heero, lighten up, she's trying,' or something. Why didn't I realize that I cold lose her?"

"Heero…" Ryo looked at his friend. Heero slurped up some mucus through his nose, and wiped his eye.

"Sorry, Guards have to be strong."

"Heero I told you. I told all of you." Ryo stepped away from the wall and addressed Quatre, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei. "It's over. I'm not your Master anymore. You don't have to stay and Guard me."

"We're not going anywhere, Ryo," Heero promised.

"We don't want to," Duo chimed in. "Our reign many have been short, but it was great. I want things to stay a much like they were as possible."

"You guys…" Ryo sighed. Kento and Rowen sat on the opposite side of the fire, observing the scene.

"I'm wondering," Rowen started thoughtfully, "If we should make a run for it."

"No," Kento argued, "This whole city is crawling with those crazy liberators. They'll kill us."

"We could protect you," Duo and Quatre offered in unison.

"Yeah," Heero agreed, "but we'll have to be stealthy."

A knock from above stopped the surge of hope throughout the hideout. All nine froze. Heero sighed, and checked his rifle, dismounting it from his shoulder and holding it ready. He left the first room to the smaller, darker, second room that held their food, water, and blankets. He opened the door to the blank third room where they'd congregated until the liberators began to move through their area, and they pushed back to hide. Heero pulled a string in the ceiling of the third room and a staircase like one would find leading to an attic within a roof. He climbed the steps, pushing open a trap door at the top. There was room enough for him to take one step away from the trap door, and close it. He opened the door. He sight made him drop his rifle to the floor.

"Ryo…!"

Ryo unfroze and took the long path to the front door. He climbed the steps and was hit by the sun for the first time in days. He squinted and stepped into the bright light.

There, before him, stood a beautiful angel.

"Hello, Ryo," the angel greeted sweetly. Ryo didn't know what to say or do. For the past months, she was all he'd thought about or really seen. Relena stood some feet away from Heero, and he watched her profile intently. Relena seemed to be more focused on the reunion of power and his love, might.

"Hello, Princess," he greeted hoarsely, a lump and tears inhibiting his speech clarity. Serena looked at Ryo blankly at first, then let her face melt into a caring gaze as she saw the happiness in his tearry eyes. He made half a move to put his arms around her but she flashed him a hard look and said,

"I'm here because I have to tell you something."

"They let you come and see me?"

Serena lowered her eyes. "No. I…I just…."

"What, Serena?"

"I left. I quit. Relena and me. They were really horrible people, so we left-"

"No! No! Serena, no! You can't sacrifice your position to see me! You can't! You have to go back, you have beg that woman that raped me for-" Ryo stopped. Serena nodded her head.

"I know Ryo. I know what she did. She hurt me when she hurt you. I told you she was horrible."

"Serena," Ryo took her by her shoulders, sending God thanks for being able to touch her again, just for this one second, "You can't do this for me. You have to go back."

"I have to tell you something."

Ryo shook his head. Tears began to run along his crows' feet and spill over the rims of his eyes. "Why, Serena, why did you do this for me…"

"I'm pregnant."

Ryo looked at her. Sorrow turned to disbelief. "What did you say?"

"I'm pregnant, Ryo. You're the father. I had to tell you that. I know you don't care. I know you didn't mean to. That's ok. Relena and I are going to leave this place soon, and you never have to see me again-"

Ryo held her close all of a sudden, cutting her off. "Yes, I do."

Serena's eyes trembled. "Huh?"

"Yes, I do. I do care. And I do have to see you. I need you."

"No you don't," Serena pulled away and turned away.

"Look at me!" Ryo yelled, his voice shocking the air. Serena saw this man, once powerful, once proud, once great, now a lowly, shamed, hunted animal. She could see it in his eyes, and read it on his face. He fell to his knees, taking Serena's hand and soaking it with more painful tears. She couldn't look away. She began to cry, too.

"I'm nothing, Serena. I don't deserve you. I'm not worth you. You deserve better than me."

"Ryo," She pulled him to his feet and forced him to look into her eyes. He was totally flushed. "It's my decision whether or not I deserve you."

Ryo squeezed his eyes shut, and nodded.

"And I say you do deserve me." Ryo wrapped his arms around her waist, which was considerably larger than he'd remembered it to be, and she held him around his neck.

"Serena,"

"Yes, Ryo?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Ryo."

Ryo pulled away and looked into her eyes. "Serena, I am so much in love with you. I tried to, but I can't live without you."

"I know, Ryo. I know you love me. It took Relena to help me figure that out and believe it, and she helped me realize how much in love I am with you."

"Serena," Ryo reached into his pocket and pulled something out, hiding it in his fist. Kneeled before his princess. He opened his fist, revealing a small ring with a huge diamond. "I want you to marry me."

Serena was completely and utterly stunned. Never in a million years would she have foreseen this.

"Please marry me, Serena. I refuse to live without you."

Serena started crying. "I will marry you, Ryo."

Ryo stood tall and slipped the ring onto Serena's finger. It was a little too big, but Serena wouldn't lose it. Ryo sniffed

"Look, there's stuff you should know about me," he started with a smile.

"Nice timing," Serena rolled her eyes.

"I always leave the toilet lid up, I snore, I know I smack when I eat, I can only do one thing at a time, and for some reason, freeze-dried foods make me hard."

"First of all Ryo, I lived with you for a number of weeks, and with the exception of the last one, I knew all of that, but now that I know that last one, we just found something we can serve at the wedding reception."

Ryo and Serena laughed heartily. Relena and Heero smiled. Ryo looked at them.

"I guess you guys need a minute." Ryo smiled at Heero. Heero nodded. Relena didn't look at Ryo. Ryo guided Serena in, opening the door for her and letting her down the steps first. The door closed. Relena shivered in the coolness of the eve. Heero started to take off his jacket for her.

"Stop. I don't need your help."

"Why did you come back to me?"

"Who said I came back to you? Serena came back to tell Ryo she was pregnant. I came with her because I knew she was right to leave."

"How do you know it was right for you to leave?"

"I trust Serena implicitly. I know that if I believe in her, good things will happen, and if they don't, she's still the best friend I've ever had."

"You came back, just to be with Serena?"

Relena didn't answer.

"Relena?"

"I'm sorry. I'm getting used to talking around you."

Heero paused. "That really hurt, Relena."

"Oh, excuse me for inflicting a tiny bit of real pain for all the momentous degradation you brought to me."

"What do you want, Relena? What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me why, Heero. Why did you do all of those things to me? Why did you hurt yourself?"

Heero's voice became shaky and unsure. "I don't know…"

"Oh, God, Heero," Relena fumed.

"I don't know! What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have done such horrible things to you, you bastard! Do you even know what happened to me? No, you don't. Well, Heero, it's time to listen. I was nine years old when my mother was viciously raped by my father, no less, and he made me watch. I couldn't. I ran away. Hunters left me alone, for a time, because I wasn't 'developed' enough for anyone to want to buy me. Then, of course, I did develop, and my life changed. I spent all my days running and trying to escape the Hunters. I lived like that for years, Heero, years. The one day they caught me. They caught me, and I thought the world was coming to an end. I was petrified. Then I was bid on. God, what a feeling. What a feeling. What a feeling. Then I saw you in the crowd, you and your Master Wildfire. You whispered something to him, and he bade on me. He bought me for you for two hundred dollars. I remember everything, Heero. I was your first woman ever. But no," Relena smiled and took a sip from her canteen, " there was no way I was going to give it up to a man I didn't love, and had never even met. So then, you know how badly I fought you." Heero sighed as he remembered the times. One time she'd beaten him pretty badly, almost as bad as Serena had beaten Cye. He remembered the first beating he'd ever given her, and she received it defiantly. She pretended to enjoy it. No other man would beat her for him, so he always had to do it. He got tired of doing it, as it became and everyday occurrence, and Relena just wouldn't be tamed. "And remember, Heero, when I woke you up, and told you if I didn't get my whippings right then, I would be just awful all day, and then you'd have to give me forty lashed instead of thirty?"

"And I gave you twenty-five," Heero remembered.

"Dammit, that's not the end!" Relena screamed, bring tears to both of their eyes. "You forget how you lost me in a bet with a neighboring community. You don't know what the fuck happened to me, but you were sure glad I was broken, weren't you? Weren't you? Answer me!"

Heero nodded.

"I didn't see the light of day for two goddamned weeks, Heero. I didn't know what was day and what was night, and I had to sleep chained to a wall. They wouldn't give me food or water unless they remembered, and then it would be rotten or not nearly enough for a tortured soul. I cried the whole time. Not once did I stop; I cried in my sleep, Heero, my sleep. I was awakened every time to being raped, sometimes by the man that raped me the day before sometimes by a different man, always threatened with death, never seeing their faces. It was cold. It was dark. It was dirty. I was naked. I was bitten by God knows how many rats and fleas, Heero, and I had to piss and shit all over myself and the cell. They still came and raped me, they still came."

Heero was in awe. Now he knew.

"When I got back, the first thing you did was beat the living day lights out of me, until I was unconscious. You treated other people's dogs better than me for the next two years, and then when I leave you, you have the audacity to ask if this is goodbye?"

Heero was crying now. He was on his knees. "You know I love you!" he wailed, "You know I didn't know what to do! I was a kid, I swear to God I love you, Relena! I know I hurt you! I had to! They would have kicked me out! They would have kept you! I never would have seen you again! That's why I never could be loving with you at home! That's why I cherish you outside the community! They would have exiled me and I never would have seen you again! You were my first! I know the guys always went to whore houses and shit and laid it down all over the place, but I swear to God, Relena, I never had another woman. You were my woman. You are my woman. I'm your man. I love you. I'm so sorry." He cried harder. He crawled to her and threw his arms around her waist, inadvertently pulling her down with him and she fell into his lap. He cried all over her. "Please, Relena, I beg you to forgive me."

Relena moved from his lap and stood on her knees. She took the hands that covered his face. "I forgive you, Heero Yuy." She whispered.

Heero stopped his crying. He looked into her eyes. She touched her lips to his. He kissed her gently.

"Don't ever leave me again, Relena."

"I won't, my Heero."

They stood and embraced. A jeep resounded in the distance. Heero looked over Relena's shoulder. There were two jeeps, as a matter of fact, and Mistress Valentine was hanging from one of them.

"Oh, my God, they found us," Heero muttered, eyes wide.

"No, wait," Relena stopped him from bolting back inside. She waved to the approaching vehicles. "Get Serena."

Heero hesitated, bit called down to Serena to come up. Sere stepped out the moment the jeeps reached them. Her best friends and Mistress Valentine jumped out, and they hugged. Hilde, Midii, Dorothy, Sally, and Lucretzia all jumped out and embraced Relena.

"What are you guys doing here? How did you find us?"

Mistress Valentine spoke. "We don't have time to explain. Patricia is furious. She's launching a search for the whole lot of you day after tomorrow. She's going to try to get the two of you back to help her rule, and if she can't she's going to kill you."

"'Help her rule?' 'Help her rule' what?"

"Japan. We heard her talking to Nadine. They aren't liberators. They're conquerors."

Relena and Serena looked at Serena's Mistress in shock. The others looked like they'd already heard the news.

"Their real plan is to liberate women that have been oppressed like you and Relena, put a gun in their hands, and use then to help them rise to power. After all women in Japan have been liberated, they'll form a massive army under Patricia, and then she'll have total control. She needs you and Relena to get the job done faster and possibly stay in power longer."

Relena's jaw was on the ground. Serena was numb with shock. They'd been used.

"What can we do…." Relena muttered without thinking.

"It's not as simple as assassinating them. We have to get word out to oppose them. You have time to get out and get pretty far. You two know where the other liberators have gone, north and south. Get there. Warn them. Stop Patricia."

"Do you have to go back?" Relena asked.

"Yes," answered Mistress Valentine, "we told them we were going to check out a community that was rumored to be abandoned, and convinced them it was small enough for us to handle on our own."

"I still can't believe this," Serena shook her head. Mistress Valentine looked over her shoulder at the sun.

"It's getting late. You need to leave either tonight or early tomorrow morning. She's starting when she is because that's when all of Tokyo will be liberated. Had it not been for you two, Tokyo would have taken much longer to liberate. Remember, day after tomorrow, she'll be around here, so get out ASAP. We'll try to do what we can to slow her down or distract her, but we can't guarantee anything. Please go, my loves, and be careful."

Serena and Relena both hugged Mistress Valentine. They hugged their friends good-bye and kissed their cheeks. Their friends loaded up and started their engines. They waved goodbye long after they disappeared. Serena and Relena, two great liberators-turned-puppets, stood side by side.

"I'd better go north." Serena said simply. "Nadine told me stuff about up north that might help."

"I guess I'll go south," Relena replied, "I was born down that way. It runs in my blood." They simultaneously turned an entered the tiny room with the trap door. Serena opened the trap door for Relena to go in first, and closed the door, locking it to the outside world. The revolution was over. This was war.