If it weren’t for the overflowing trash can in the kitchen, Yeri would have thought the previous day had just been a dream.

The first thing she had noticed after coming downstairs was that the blankets she had set on the couch were still folded neatly, right where she had left them. Seulgi hadn’t come back, and if Yeri didn’t have school to get ready for, she would have been tempted to go look for her.

She was about to head back upstairs to dress when she heard knocking.

“Do you think this is a hotel?” Yeri grumbled, yanking it open the front door irritably. “You can’t just come and go- … oh, ‘morning Irene.”

Irene blinked at her in confusion for a moment, a little startled. “Is everything alright?” Then she smiled wickedly. “A lover’s quarrel~?”

“WILL YOU STOP!!!” Yeri shrieked, throwing the door wide and stomping away, letting Irene let herself in. “Besides!” she called as she marched up the stairs in exasperation. “You’re the one she called ‘hot’ yesterday.”

Irene flinched as she heard Yeri’s bedroom door slam shut.

“Hot, hmm?” Irene glanced around the living room, impressed that they had managed to clean up after she left. Either Yeri had matured quite a bit in the months since Irene had been deployed to Earth, or this Seulgi person was a good influence on her. The living room was so tidy that it looked like Seulgi hadn’t even touched the blankets folded and stacked on one end of the couch, and as Irene wandered into the kitchen, she wondered where the mysterious girl could be.

“Yeri?” she called as she reached into the familiar cabinet for some tea.

“Yeah?” came a muffled voice from upstairs that Irene could barely hear.

She raised her own voice a bit as she asked, as nonchalantly as she could, “Does Seulgi have other friends here?”

“No!” Yeri shouted down. After another moment, Irene heard the bedroom door open and Yeri’s footsteps on the stairs.

“Do you know what she goes to school for?”

“No,” Yeri answered again as she pushed Irene away with her hip to get at the fridge.

“Does she have a job-”

“Oh my god, Irene! Just don’t!” Yeri said exasperatedly as she found some leftovers to shove into her school bag.

Irene didn’t have a single clue what Yeri could be referring to. “Don’t what? I’m just asking some questions.”

“About me?”

Both Yeri and Irene shrieked as Seulgi let herself into the kitchen through the unlocked back door.

Seulgi put her hands over her ears. “Geez…”

“Where have you been?!” Yeri yelled. “You look like you’ve been rolling around in a compost pile.”

“And no offense, but you kind of smell like it, too,” Irene added, covering her smile with a hand. Her amusement shifted to curiosity though as she realized that Seulgi was wearing the same outfit as yesterday.

Seulgi raised her arm to smell and winced. “I was out exercising,” she said quickly, catching Yeri’s eyes.

“There’s more shirts in the closet… good luck finding pants though,” Yeri said, eyeing Seulgi’s long legs once again.

Irene cleared , mentioning before taking a sip of her tea: “If you need me to do some laundry…”

“You don’t have to do that!” Seulgi admonished. Some civilian doing her laundry while she was neck deep in a military operation!

Irene smirked. “Well they’re my clothes after all, and I want to get those stains out. Hurry up and go shower.”

Finally relenting, Seulgi beamed with a mock salute and headed upstairs. Yeri waited until she heard the door to the bathroom shut before wheeling on Irene. “What are you doing?”

Irene blinked at her. “Having some tea?”

Yeri rolled her eyes. “Do you like Seulgi?”

Irene paused for another sip. “I think she’s nice,” she said quietly, clearly not wanting to be overheard.

Yeri groaned. This must be how it felt when an older sister got a boyfriend.

Irene laughed, then sighed. “Don’t worry, I don’t really have time to get involved. Besides, I don’t know anything about her.”

The reminder that Irene might not be staying added a solemness to Yeri’s mood, and she stopped pretending to be annoyed. “I hope you can stay.”

“I hope so, too.” It was an honest sentiment. If Irene were allowed to stay, it would mean that hostilities between the Earth Federation and the Republic of Zeon had truly ended, and that she could find a position in research instead of being on active duty. Unfortunately, the only reason she was even back in the colony to begin with was because Zeon forces had discovered her work in Antarctica and chased her all the way up into space, to the top secret facility in Libot.

And after yesterday’s attack, it was likely that her unit might have to run again.

“Aren’t you going to be late?” Irene suddenly realized, glancing at the clock on the microwave.

“I’m worried you two are going to do something weird in my house,” Yeri grumbled suspiciously.

“GO TO SCHOOL.”

Once Yeri beat her hasty retreat out the front door, Irene sighed. She wasn’t exactly sure what kind of TV Yeri had been watching since she’d been gone, but Irene was not going to “do something weird” with a girl she met less than 24 hours ago. She put her mug in the sink and headed up to Yeri’s room, tiptoeing past the bathroom where she could thankfully hear the water still running - no repeat embarrassments from yesterday.

Irene opened Yeri’s bedroom door to a predictable disaster, wondering how anyone could live like this. Snack wrappers littered every surface, her bed was a mess of clothes, video game controllers, an entire series-worth of books… This much laundry would take her all day, but she had to be back at the base in the afternoon, so she went around the room and picked up the most necessary items, including Seulgi’s soiled shirt and jeans.

If she didn’t know any better, she'd say some of these stains looked - and smelled - like machine oil.

Well, if there was anything she had practice with, it was getting oil stains out of clothes. Oil and blood stains. She took the bundle back downstairs, smirking to herself as she started the load to a string of curses from the shower’s occupant. No doubt Seulgi hadn’t been prepared for the sudden loss of hot water.

Predictably, Irene heard the shower shut off after another minute, and Seulgi came downstairs in one of Yeri’s oversized t-shirts and pajama bottoms, still patting her hair dry with a towel.

“Yeri’s hot water heater must be the size of a coke can…” she sighed, though her expression was still good-natured.

“You smell much better, at least,” Irene teased, crossing her arms. “How did you manage to get so filthy just from ‘exercising’?”

“I fell?” Seulgi half-asked as she hung the towel around her neck and went into the kitchen. She hoped Yeri might have something in the fridge that wasn’t expired yet…

Irene watched her for a moment. Seulgi didn’t seem to want to expand on her answer, so Irene thought it best to drop it. “Are you looking for something to eat?”

“Yeah, I’m starving. I haven’t uh… had breakfast yet,” she confessed. She had been out all night without any cash to grab anything to eat. She wasn’t into stealing, especially from innocents like Yeri, but she didn’t know how long she would be grounded for and would eventually need to eat.

“Here, go sit. I’ll make you something.”

Seulgi nearly hit her head on the top of the fridge as she stood up in surprise. “What?”

“Don’t look like you’ve never had someone cook for you before,” Irene laughed, shooing her away from the fridge.

Except it was true. Seulgi had never had someone cook anything for her before. Well, with the exception of the cafeteria food the recruits ate.

When Seulgi’s silence drew out, Irene turned and looked at her. While she appreciated that Seulgi looked at her like she were some sort of angel, she still couldn’t understand the dumbfounded expression. She took Seulgi by the shoulders, spun her around, and walked her out of the kitchen all the way to the couch in the living room.

“Sit.”

Seulgi did as she was bidden, immediately sinking back into the cushions as she realized she hadn’t sat down properly in at least eight hours.

“Now stay here and I’ll make us breakfast.”

Seulgi couldn’t see her around the corner in the kitchen, but she could hear her: opening cabinets, moving pots and pans around, switching the stove on, grabbing things out of the fridge, it was oddly comforting. There was a homey-ness to the noise that Seulgi relished, and she laid down, with her legs and arms crossed, as she rested her head on her unused blankets. As her eyes slid shut, she imagined that she really was visiting Yeri on a break from school. She imagined that she was used to having home-cooked meals. She imagined what it might be like to have someone like Irene in her life.

“I’m honestly surprised Yeri has tomatoes. Do you like tomatoes?” Irene poked her head into the living room. “Did you two go shopping recent-”

But Seulgi was asleep.

It was several hours before Seulgi woke to a complaining stomach. The clock above the television informed her that she was very late to breakfast - late to lunch, too - and she groggily pushed herself upright. At some point during her extended nap, she must have pulled the blankets over herself. And got a pillow from upstairs for her head?

“Irene,” she mumbled, seeing a folded purple note on the coffee table addressed to her. While her sleepy mind was still catching up with reality, she realized there was no way the older girl was probably still hanging around, waiting for her to wake up. With two fingers, she reached over and snatched up the note, running a hand through her hair as she yawned.

Hey Sleepyhead,

Breakfast’s in the fridge. The laundry’s all put away so don’t worry about it. I didn’t see any of your luggage in Yeri’s room, so feel free to keep using any clothes of mine you find. Let me know if you need anything else.

Here’s my cell number by the way. You know, if something comes up about Yeri ;)

Irene

Seulgi had to admit, that was quite possibly the most roundabout way of acquiring a girl’s cellphone number she had ever experienced. With a sudden burst of energy, she pushed up from the couch and headed into the kitchen to see what Irene had left her. She pulled Yeri’s phone out of her pocket, intent on snapping a selfie of the food to show her appreciation. And after that, she had a lot of work to do.

+++

Irene tried to hide a smile as she glanced down at her phone in her lap.

“Lieutenant?”

“Yes?” Irene asked, shoving her phone in her pocket.

“Your opinion on the additional armor plates? The numbers are within an acceptable range, but it shifts the center of gravity from the suit’s thighs into the hips. You’re the test pilot. What do you think?”

“‘Alex’ is very agile,” Irene considered. “Sacrificing mobility for more armor changes the purpose of the suit, don’t you think? What if we just had two versions?”

The other officers and engineers around the table scratched down notes and conferred with each other quietly. She distinctly heard some protests whispered underbreath.

“And you’re comfortable with the way ‘Alex’ handles now?” the lead engineer persisted. “The additional durability might be a blessing on the battlefield.”

“I’ve always thought that the best defense is a good offense,” Irene replied with a smile. “Gundam ‘Alex’ isn’t meant to withstand a drawn-out assault. It’s built to end fights, and end them quickly.”

+++

Yeri whipped her head around as she felt a balled up piece of paper connect with her temple. She swallowed an exclamation and tried to appear calm as the teacher droned on at the front of the classroom. As nonchalantly as she could, she slowly leaned down to pick up the paper and uncrumple it.

Stop spacing out

Yeri glared back at Nayeon who simply pointed up to the front of the class for her to pay attention. Yeri still wasn’t over Nayeon’s reaction to her heartfelt confession, but the fact that she had a real life mobile suit pilot staying at her house made up for it a bit. She couldn’t wait until after school to tell Nayeon all about it.

It felt like an eon before the bell finally rang and Yeri was already packed and ready to bolt, rounding Nayeon’s desk to grab her on her way out.

“Yeri-?”

“C’mon, we gotta find Chuu.”

“She’s got choir-”

“This is more important!”

Nayeon was taken aback by Yeri’s enthusiasm, but was simply happy that the younger girl didn’t seem to hold a grudge over their fight the day before. She let herself be dragged all the way to the music room until Yeri left her at the door to find Jiwoo. Nayeon had barely caught her breath before Yeri burst back out of the room with Jiwoo in tow.

“Yesterday you didn’t even want to talk to us but now you’re-?” Jiwoo began as she was led along by the wrist.

“Where are we going?” Nayeon asked as she followed after them.

“The roof. You guys aren’t going to believe this!”

Yeri slowed only when they finally pushed out onto the sun-drenched, fenced-in roof. Once an old tennis court back when their school had a team, the painted lines and sections had long since faded in the harsh light that beat down on their colony. Yeri stepped ahead and wheeled around on her heel to face them.

“Did you guys see the fighting yesterday?” she began in a rush.

Nayeon's curious smile dampened a bit, not quite sharing in Yeri’s excitement. “I’m just glad they caught them all.”

“Before even more people were hurt,” Jiwoo added. “Imagine if we didn’t have those patlabor units!” The colony may be neutral in the war between the Earth Federation and the Republic of Zeon, but they still had their own defense force to deal with intrusions.

Yeri’s expression fell into disappointed confusion. “But they weren’t here to attack the colony.”

“How do you know?” Nayeon asked. “Why else would they appear out of nowhere? Zeon’s desperate since they were on the losing side of the war.” Her sociology class had been following the terms of the cease fire pretty closely even though the whole situation still felt too fresh, too raw to be used as a tool for instruction.

“They’re only here because the Earth Federation has a base here, remember? If anything, you should be mad at them for putting everyone in danger!” Yeri argued.

“Isn’t that just a rumor?” Jiwoo asked, looking between Yeri and Nayeon. She could see both girls were getting a little worked up, the same way she had found them the day before. She had never seen them fight this much in all their years of being friends.

“I have proof, though,” Yeri said, swinging her bookbag in front of herself to retrieve her phone. And for the upteenth time she had checked that day, when she realized her phone wasn’t in its usual pocket, her face fell. That’s right. Seulgi still had it. “C-come with me,” she pleaded, surprised at her own stuttering. “I’ll show you.” She knew they wouldn’t. It was dangerous and they didn’t believe her anyway.

“Where to this time?” Nayeon asked, not wanting to get dragged around again.

Jiwoo glanced through the fence, out over the rooftops of the neighborhoods that surrounded the school. “You mean to the base?”

“If it even is a base,” Nayeon reminded. “And if it is, then we definitely shouldn’t go. We could get in big trouble!”

“But then at least you guys would believe me, and not blame Zeon for having to step in.”

“Say you’re right,” Nayeon said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Say the Earth Federation does have a base in Libot. They’re breaking the treaty, and Zeon retaliates. War erupts again.” Her anger softened and she trudged up to Yeri, wrapping her arms around her neck and burying her face into her shoulder. “And you enlist and get sent to Earth, and you get hurt becoming a hero,” she finished, her voice muffled against Yeri’s shirt.

Jiwoo hugged them both. “There’s a lot steps in there that have to happen before we get to that point, though, right?” she asked hopefully. “I mean Yeri can’t enlist until she graduates, and that’s still a few years away. A lot can happen between now and then.”

Nayeon pulled away a bit so that she could look at Yeri, and Yeri was surprised to see that her eyes were glassy. “That’s why I don’t want to go to the base, Yeri. I don’t want to know anything about it.” She paused as she seemed to rein in her runaway feelings. “Because you’re probably right.”

“Wait, you believe me?” Yeri asked, dumbfounded.

Nayeon nodded and looked out over the colony towards the spaceport. “Well… why else would Zeon attack?” she sighed.

“If it’s true, Yeri, we shouldn’t go anywhere near it,” Jiwoo iterated worriedly. “If they attack again, that’s where they’ll target.”

“Tell me you won’t go there again,” Nayeon begged. “At least, not until this whole thing with the Zeon pilots gets figured out?”

“What thing with the pilots?” Yeri asked, ignoring Nayeon’s plea. “Are they still here in Libot?” She couldn’t help the intensity of her expression, but tried to calm down, seeing how surprised Nayeon and Jiwoo were.

“Yeah, they’re still here. I thought you knew?” Nayeon said, blinking.

“We should be the ones asking you, since you seem to be in the know about all of this,” Jiwoo added.

Yeri wished she had caught herself up on the news after Seulgi left with Irene, but she had wanted to clean up a bit for her foreign guest and then ended up going to bed straight after. “What are they going to do with them? Do we know where they’re being kept?”

“I doubt they’re going to say something like that on a public news station,” Nayeon said dryly. “But I’m pretty sure they’re still in Libot since I thought I saw something about negotiations going on between Zeon and the Federation.”

Jiwoo concurred with a nod. “If I were the Libot government, though, I’d want them gone ASAP. I wouldn’t want Zeon to think we were holding them hostage or something.”

“But if they just hand them over to the Earth Federation, then Zeon will know the colony’s got some sort of deal going on with them,” Yeri pondered.

Jiwoo shuddered. “Do we have to talk about this on the roof? Ugh it feels like there’s going to be another attack any minute.”

Nayeon gave Yeri a faint smile, which the younger girl returned. “Fine, let’s head inside.”

“Yeah, you’re super late for choir anyway, Chuu.”

“But Yeri,” Nayeon spoke up again before she disappeared back inside, “Promise me you’ll stay away from the base? Please?”

+++

Yeri only felt a small pang of guilt as she stepped off the bus and saw the sprawl of the spaceport near the edge of the colony. The massive turbines of the colony’s impossibly complex HVAC system provided an ambient roar in the background, always present beneath the noise of the traffic and different classes of spaceships taking off and landing. All of the activity was thrilling, but there was something else that drove Yeri anxiously up onto the balls of her feet as she walked: she wanted another peek at the Federation’s base.

Nayeon’s doubt followed by her belief in Yeri was confusing and Yeri needed another confirmation for her own sanity that she wasn’t just making things up. She dearly wished Seulgi hadn’t confiscated her phone, but maybe just seeing it again for herself would be enough.

Before Seulgi crash-landed practically in her own backyard, she had thought that maybe a base in Libot might mean that Sector 6 was going to join the Earth Federation alliance and add its scientific efforts to their expansive military. And maybe that part was still true, but instead of looking on at the massive steel hangar with hopes for her own future, her eagerness dwindled.

She felt the excitement draining out of her, pulling her heart down into her stomach as she warily followed along the chain link fence that separated her from government property. When Nayeon had so blatantly disregarded her assertions the day before, Yeri had started to doubt what she had seen herself. Maybe the senior was right. Maybe Yeri was letting her imagination run away with her. Maybe Yeri wanted to believe that this scientific colony wasn’t just a home for researchers and industry leaders, but touched the war in a more meaningful way.

And the Republic’s attack had proven her right, confirming her suspicions in the best and worst way possible.

She tried to keep to the tangle of brush on the other side of the fence as much as possible as she crept closer. She heard the approach of cars and ducked even lower; it was just like the first time, when she had watched a train of massive trucks driving in a line towards the hangar, but this time, it was a line of cars that sped past, and one van.

They were all marked Libot Patlabor.

After they passed, Yeri hurried along the fence as quickly as she could, wondering why the colony’s defense force was swooping down on this supposedly unused storage hangar at the back of the spaceport’s airfield. Were they finally going to shut down the Earth Federation’s illegal operations? She labored her way up a small hill as she neared the hangar and laced her fingers through the fence as she peered down at all the cars pulled up in front. She itched to be able to take a couple of photos.

Patlabor officers alighted from the vehicles in their uniformed jumpsuits, holding automatic weapons across their chests. Some waited where they had stepped out of the cars, while others scanned the area, slowly walking towards the large van they had been escorting. Yeri held her breath, as it occurred to her what might be inside that van. Or rather, who.

One officer opened the doors at the back of the van and gestured with his weapon that the occupants should come out, and when they did, Yeri couldn’t help a gasp. It was a group of four, two women and two men, all dressed in mint blue prison coveralls, their hands cuffed in front of themselves. They filed out one by one, and once they were surrounded by the officers, they were marched into the hangar.

Yeri was thrumming with the possibilities swirling around in her head. Those must be the other Zeon pilots, but why did they have an armed ? Why were they being taken to the base? Were they being turned over to the Earth Federation? What was going to happen to them?

The faintest shout from below reached her ears as she stared hard at the door the officers and prisoners had disappeared through. Yeri’s attention was drawn away as the shout repeated itself, and she suddenly noticed two of the Patlabor officers at the bottom of the hill she was crouching on, waving at her and pointing.

“Oh -” she bit off as she scrambled away from the fence, determined to run all the way back to the bus and head straight home. She needed to tell Seulgi.

+++

After breakfast, Seulgi had walked back to the forest as casually as she could in broad daylight, but once she reached the edge of the woods, she hustled to her mobile suit, praying that no one had stumbled on it. There was little she could do to conceal it, considering it was nearly 18 meters long lying on its back. But, miraculously, there it lay, undisturbed like some forgotten, ancient ruin reclaimed by nature. Seulgi guessed that the neighborhood kids being in school might have something to do with her luck. She knew that if she had grown up with a forest like this anywhere near her home, she would have played in it every day.

In the daylight it was easier to see what the critically damaged areas of her suit were, and where to begin focusing her efforts. The night before had mostly been spent huddled up in her cockpit going through systems checks and making electrical repairs, but now she had to face the real problem - the reason why she had crash-landed in this forest in the first place: the gaping anti-aircraft hole in one of her rear booster rockets.

Thankfully the reason Seulgi had been grounded after crashing had more to do with the impact of the crash itself and not the attack on her suit, but she knew something like this might take some critical systems offline if she couldn’t get it fixed. Like interstellar flight. She might be stuck on this colony if she didn’t leave the suit behind when the time came. She had a lot of work to do.

+++

“Two… hundred…” Seulgi huffed as she sprawled out on Yeri’s living room floor. Gone were the days when astronauts had to incorporate hours and hours of physical activity into their daily schedules in order to retain bone density and muscle mass in microgravity - no, Seulgi was just stressed. She had tried to get some more rest after returning to Yeri’s, knowing that she was probably going to be out again all night, but try as she might, sleep evaded her. Her mind swirled with mission failure procedures and the timelines that she was now racing against. The only way she could think of to relax was to sweat it out: situps, pushups, squats, jumping jacks, anything she could think of that didn’t require gym equipment - though the gallon of milk in the fridge had served as a good dumbbell.

Luckily Yeri had a plethora of shirts with the sleeves cut off so that she didn’t ruin anymore of Irene’s nice button-downs, but now she was definitely going to need another shower. And some more food.

She went into the kitchen, set on defaulting to her favorite high-carb, high-calorie snack (noodles), and cheered when she found them in abundance - the only food left in Yeri’s pantry. After zapping the cup in the microwave, she headed upstairs, hoping Yeri’s computer wasn’t password protected. The T.V. was great for basic coverage of yesterday’s events, but Seulgi needed to dig deeper.

She settled herself in Yeri’s obnoxious gaming chair, a design she was more used to seeing inside the cockpit of a mobile suit than at a desk, and impatiently waited for for her computer to boot up. She hesitatingly clicked the mouse on Yeri’s user and was shocked when it brought up the desktop, no questions asked.

Actually, Seulgi had a lot of questions. Yeri’s desktop was as messy as her room, full of shortcuts to games, default applications, random image files, folders with nondescript names like “junk” or “crap” or “school”, and beneath all the clutter, she could see that Yeri’s background picture was a news still, a screencap of a squad of Zeon Zakus ominously towering over a Terran city skyline.

The headline on the bottom of the picture read: Earth Federation Withdraws to Antarctica.

Seulgi split her chopsticks, stirred her noodles, and set to work researching the previous day’s attack.

+++

Irene tossed her bag on her bed, rolling her neck and shoulders achingly. The entire day had been filled with meeting after meeting, each beginning in the same way: “This is First Lieutenant Bae Irene, and she will be our new supervising officer/consultant/chief engineer/test pilot,” whatever she was responsible for with each unit at the facility. By the last hour of the day, her head had no more room for names or numbers, and she had said as much to the last crew, telling them that she trusted their work and would follow up with them regarding their questions later in the week.

She just wanted time to relax and process her new situation, starting with changing out of her power suit. She carefully hung up her blazer in the closet and stripped down to her cami, when she heard a yelp and a crash from across the way, in Yeri’s bedroom. Realizing her blinds were open, giving her neighbor a perfect view into her own bedroom, Irene called across the narrow side yard, “Everything alright over there?”

An arm reached up into view giving Irene a thumbs up. “Yup, perfectly fine. No worries. Everything’s a-okay. Just peachy…”

It was Seulgi’s voice, and soon the girl herself came into view, righting Yeri’s large desk chair from where it had tipped over onto the floor.

“Did you fall?” Irene asked, her concern marred by the amusement in her tone.

“I’m fine! I just stripped- er, tripped. I’m not hurt!” Seulgi amended hastily.

“Uh huh.” Irene would have to remember to shut her blinds next time she changed. “What’s that all over you- are those noodles?”

Seulgi looked at herself glumly and called back across to Irene, “It was an early dinner, but now…” This is what she got for peeping, she supposed.

Irene bit her lip. “That’s not much of a dinner,” she hinted.

Seulgi stopped plucking at her soiled shirt and raised an eyebrow at Irene. “Did you have something else in mind?”

+++

Seulgi cleared before answering the front door in one of Irene’s crisp shirts. The older girl laughed immediately as she recognized the subtle pattern of tiny blue bunnies embroidered into the white fabric. “I’m starting to think you didn’t bring any of your own clothes at all,” she mused.

“Not anything I can wear out to dinner,” Seulgi admitted. “Speaking of which, how come you have so much stuff at Yeri’s anyway?”

Irene took a step back so that Seulgi could come outside, and they walked together to the street. “Yeri’s always been kind of like a little sister to me, I guess,” she said, linking their arms together. “I babysat for her parents a lot before I… went off to school, so I just started keeping some extra things there in case I needed to stay the night.”

Seulgi nodded along, but when they reached the curb she broke in, “Are we driving or walking?”

“Walking,” Irene laughed. “It’s not far - just a small cafe.”

“So you’re saying I didn’t need to dress up after all?” Seulgi asked jokingly.

“I’m not complaining,” Irene returned.

Seulgi couldn’t explain it, but seeing Irene happy was making her happy as well. It was such a light, floating feeling, quite a contrast from how tense and stressed she had been all day. She tried to let herself enjoy it without thinking of her emergency timetable and the consequences even one wasted hour could have, but every house they passed had its own family, and how many other neighborhoods were there in Libot? How many schools? The clock was ticking, and thousands of lives rested on Seulgi’s shoulders.

Irene poked her cheek. “Earth to Seulgi.”

Seulgi smirked in spite of herself, snapping out of her dark reverie. “Seulgi, reporting in from Sector 6, over.”

Irene grinned at her curiously. “Requesting permission to ask your thoughts, over.”

“Permission granted, over.” Seulgi laughed. “It’s nice here. This street is really quiet.”

“Libot is unusual,” Irene said, following Seulgi’s gaze to the rows of cookie-cutter homes. “It started as a kind of experiment - scientists wanted a ‘control group’ colony in this sector, one that mimicked your typical mid-sized city on Earth, complete with suburbs, but really I think they just wanted a place to raise their families.”

Seulgi knew the history of Libot - she had read all about it in her mission briefing - but she was content to listen as Irene explained. Afterall, it seemed like this was Yeri and Irene’s hometown of a sort.

“I can kind of understand why Yeri wants to leave so badly,” Irene said after a brief pause. “The colony feels a little… artificial.”

“Maybe, but she wants to go to Earth. Hasn’t she ever been there before? It’s nothing like this anymore.” Seulgi made a little gesture at the manicured lawns and groomed hedges.

“Some places still are,” Irene mused. “There’s a lot about Earth I don’t think Yeri understands, but something tells me she won’t believe it until she sees it for herself.”

“I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Irene gave her arm a squeeze, trying not to let the realities of war spoil the mood for their date. “Then it’ll just be up to us to help convince her to stay.”

Seulgi was too shy to respond, not used to having someone being so familiar with her. It didn’t count when her squadmates did it; they were just playing around, but with Irene, it felt more like… the older girl was giving signals. How Seulgi dearly wished her team was here right now to help her decipher them.

“Wait... Isn’t that Yeri?”

Seulgi’s gaze snapped forward, spying the high schooler herself approaching them from farther down the sidewalk. She gave a wave and smirked, causing Yeri to pick up her pace. Seulgi could already see the expression on her face and wanted to laugh.

“What are you two doing?” Yeri asked, eyeing their linked arms.

“Going to dinner,” Seulgi said with feigned innocence.

“Ugh, you’re going on a date? With my babysitter?” Yeri said caustically.

“You’ll understand someday, squirt,” Seulgi laughed and reached out to ruffle Yeri’s hair, but the ‘squirt’ ducked away.

“I can’t believe I spent all day- and you just- you know what? Fine. Just don’t expect the door to be unlocked when you get back!”

Seulgi had a smart remark about making other arrangements for the evening, but bit back her retort knowing full well she did have other plans for the rest of her evening. After dinner with Irene, however fun it would hopefully be, she would have to get back to work.

She felt Irene pull her closer as she jeered at Yeri. “Well then it’s a good thing my parents aren’t home either, then, hmm~?” A statement that silenced both of the other girls.

For a moment, anyway. “I can’t believe this,” Yeri grumbled. “You’re here for two days, and you’re already… I’m going home.”

“Do you want me to bring you any-”

“NO!”

And with that final refusal, Yeri stomped away.

Irene laughed loudly and tugged Seulgi along so that they could continue their walk. “Don’t worry, she won’t actually lock you out,” she teased. “At least I don’t think she will…”

Seulgi couldn’t help smiling, even as she tried to think of a way to steer the conversation away from her evening accommodations. In another life, she would have ditched any other plan for a chance to hear Irene laugh like that for the rest of the night.

“Seulgi?”

“Hmm?”

“Oh, nothing,” Irene said. “You just seem a little quiet.”

Irene let her hand slide away from Seulgi’s arm as they approached what looked like a row of small shops and cafes. The street was a little busier here, and everything from the laid brick of the sidewalk to the wrought-iron enclosures of the open-air seating borrowed from an aesthetic Seulgi recognized as distinctly Terran. As she drank it in, it made her want to iterate her thought from earlier: it was a nice neighborhood, a safe neighborhood.

And it made her heart sick with worry.

This was the second time Irene had noticed Seulgi’s expression shift rather dramatically since they began their short walk. She supposed she noticed because Seulgi’s big smile was something she found herself craving more and more as they got to know each other, but between those smiles she had watched the younger girl’s expression darken and her demeanor grow serious. There seemed to be a lot on her mind, and Irene wasn’t sure she felt comfortable enough with Seulgi yet to ask about it.

“I was thinking we could eat here,” she suggested, stopping right in front of Seulgi.

Seulgi with her eyes glued to the brick facades of the buildings stopped up on her tiptoes to keep from running into Irene, putting her hands lightly on her shoulders for balance. “Whoops- sorry! Here?”

Irene smirked up at Seulgi and took her arm again. It was a little Italian bakery and deli - not exactly what she would have chosen for a first date if she had had more time to plan it, but it was still better than the instant noodles she had caught Seulgi eating. Although… “They have noodles if you’re still craving that,” she teased.

Seulgi hung her head shyly. Even instant noodles from Yeri’s pantry were better than the freeze-dried rations she had been filling up on during her mission so far, but how could she explain that to Irene? And as they entered the deli and took a silent moment to read over the hand-chalked menu signs posted up on the back wall behind the counter, Seulgi tried to let herself relax and enjoy this moment. She could put aside the war that wasn’t hers for an hour or two, right? Her superiors weren’t going to advance the mission timetable while she ate, were they?

But an hour or two quickly turned into three as Seulgi and Irene ate and talked and laughed well into the evening. “So you’re an engineering student?” Irene asked as she poked at the lone olive left on her plate.

“Yeah, mechanical engineering,” Seulgi clarified. It wasn’t true, of course, but her years of practical experience more than qualified her for an academic title. Not only was she the pilot of a special class of Zaku unit, but she was also its certified mechanic.

“Really? That’s funny, because so am I,” Irene said lightly, wanting to keep things easy with Seulgi. If this ever turned into something more, she was sure Seulgi would understand the initial secrecy. “Where are you going to school?” It would have to be someplace pretty unique for Seulgi to be on vacation right now, or perhaps she was taking a term off, and though asking such a detailed question was an invitation for Seulgi to ask for more in return, Irene already had much of her alias thought out and ready.

She just couldn’t help wanting to know more about Seulgi.

If Seulgi hadn’t been entirely caught up in the way Irene’s small, delicate hand tucked some of her dark hair behind her ear, she might have given a moment’s thought to her answer before blurting out, “Munzo.”

Irene forced herself to calmly ask, “Oh? Isn’t that in Sector 3?” doing her best to keep her tone casual and conversational. She made herself pick up her glass of water and take a sip without looking up at Seulgi.

“Uh, yeah, that’s right,” Seulgi said, faltering. “I-in the Republic.” Maybe it would be best to just acknowledge the proverbial elephant between them. “I guess that’s kind of a taboo place to mention lately…”

Irene nodded solemnly. “Especially after yesterday, attacking a neutral colony…” She didn’t want to insult Seulgi - a citizen has very little control over what acts their zealous government commits - but she couldn’t help giving in to a scathing tone.

Seulgi’s brows contorted in a mix of concern and frustration. “I’m sure they had a reason; why would they attack Libot randomly?” She was heading down a dangerous path, but there was a strong desire to try and smooth over Irene’s ill will towards the Republic.

Irene brushed the condensation from her glass with her thumb. “Was their reason to kill 23 innocent civilians? Because that’s what happened.” She sighed; she really didn’t want the Republic of Zeon to spoil her date, so she quickly spoke again. “If you’re from Munzo, all the way out behind the moon, how did you end up meeting Yeri?”

Seulgi wasn’t as prepared to leave the subject as Irene was and had trouble switching gears. “Oh… well I was doing a transfer program on Earth,” she clarified, still feeling guilty about her team’s death toll. If they hadn’t been interrupted by Libot’s Patlabor defensive units, maybe they wouldn’t have had to fight. They could have gone straight to the Federation facility and any casualties there would have been strictly military.

Irene felt bad about bringing up the recent attack, seeing Seulgi’s troubled expression. Both of their homes were involved, like a strange retelling of Romeo and Juliet, Irene thought. Hopefully the ending would be different, but perhaps she was getting ahead of herself. “I’ll admit, I’m pretty concerned that her parents trusted someone like you to take care of her while they’re gone,” she continued, redirecting the conversation by idly teasing Seulgi. “A peeping tom and such a messy eater…” she continued, frowning pointedly at a tomato sauce stain on her shirt that Seulgi was wearing.

Seulgi took the bait easily and pouted as she glanced down at her shirt. “I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when I arrived,” she admitted. “I guess it’s a good thing you’re visiting too, then,” she added, looking up at Irene with a sly smile.

“Seulgi, are you flirting with me?” Irene accused, even as she blushed.

“Why, is it working?” Seulgi asked, her smile getting larger.

Irene’s eyebrow twitched as she struggled to maintain her composure. “We’ll have to see. You’re welcome to keep trying, though,” she said, busying herself by standing and pushing in her chair.

Seulgi took a last long sip of her water and scrambled to follow after Irene as she left.

She trotted to catch up to Irene who had paused at the sidewalk to wait. Seulgi stood a pace away a little awkwardly, wondering and perhaps slightly hoping that Irene would again initiate some contact as they strolled back home.

“You know one thing Earth has over the colonies?” Irene mentioned as she looked up at the dark, star-studded sky.

Seulgi glanced up as well, then back down at Irene’s breathtaking profile, caught in a golden halo from the streetlamps.

“Sunsets.”

Seulgi felt a smile tug at her cheeks. “I guess that’s what happens when you only need an atmosphere thick enough for a tiny colony.”

“It’s really a shame,” Irene sighed. Seulgi came up beside her and offered her an arm that Irene readily took, even going so far as to rest her head on Seulgi’s shoulder.

“Munzo doesn’t have a sky,” Seulgi murmured, gazing upwards. “They figured they could fit twice as many people in the colony if they made the whole thing solid.”

Irene thought that sounded awfully sad, but she didn’t want to sound rude. It’s where Seulgi grew up after all. “Earth must have been quite a change for you, then,” she said instead.

Seulgi smiled down at her. “A lot of things have been changing for me recently, I suppose.”

Seulgi hadn’t quite struck Irene as someone who had a way with words, but there was something about the way she said things that made Irene’s face flush and her own thoughts muddle. She hoped Seulgi’s classes wouldn’t start up again too soon.

The walk home was spent in much the same way as their dinner: the conversation easy, the company enchanting, the time feeling far too brief. Seulgi couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit of disappointment as she saw a familiar pair of houses come into view.

Irene had been silent as Seulgi quite gentlemanly walked her up to her doorstep, but seemed to finally regain her voice again as they paused there. “I really don’t think Yeri locked you out, and I probably shouldn’t keep you any longer since you’re here to watch her, but…” Her courage failed as Seulgi took another step closer, a mix of anticipation and trepidation in her open expression.

But…

Irene couldn’t help leaning in herself, level with Seulgi as she stood on the lowest step of her veranda. Her eyes slowly closed as Seulgi took her hand, pulling her just a little bit closer to place a soft, lingering kiss on her cheek.

“Goodnight, Irene,” Seulgi whispered before stepping back.

Irene gave her a faint, crooked smile, amused at both herself, and Seulgi’s gentleness. “Goodnight, Seulgi.”

Seulgi didn’t even pause to see if Yeri had indeed locked her out. Once Irene was inside, she headed straight back to the forest, more determined than ever to save them from Zeon’s directives. Though even as she worked through the night, there was another thought that plagued her, making her sigh with regret every time she remembered it. Why hadn’t she been braver? She should have just done it.

She should have kissed her.