"How did you like the party?" Dongwoo asked as he pulled into the driveway of Ailee's house.

"Not so much," she replied honestly. "How do you guys ever have fun when you spend all your time cooped up in a nice, shiny space where old people come along and talk to you all about the weather and other odd things."

He laughed heartily. "You get used to it," he said with a shrug. "Hey, Ailee, before you go..."

"Yeah?"

"Are you busy tomorrow?" he asked tentatively.

"As far as I know, no. Why?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me?" he asked, trying to keep his voice even and calm. He was flustered.

She stared at him with eyes wide open and her jaw hung loose. It was quite unbecoming--she knew, and vaguely tried to mend it--but her body refused to cooperate, as if it wanted her to look as stupid and shell-shocked as she felt.

Close. Open. Close. She felt like a fish that was scrambling for air, but in her case, she was scrambling for words.

Dongwoo watched her curiously. "I-it's okay if you don't want to, you know. It's-"

"No, I mean, yes," she blurted out. "Wait. Let me get this out properly." She took a deep breath. "I think I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so okay, I'll go out with you."

"Great," he grinned gratefully. "Uh...so do you mind if I fetched you at 10?"

She thought for a moment then replied, "Sure. See you tomorrow, then?"

He nodded. She got out and walked over to the door. Dongwoo waited in the car until the door opened for her. The door creaked open to let her in. She waved good-bye to him for the night and the car pulled out from the driveway.

"So, a date with the second prince of South Korea. Not bad for a regular high school student," Mia commented nonchalantly as Ailee locked the door behind her.

"How did you know?" she asked defensively.

"Oh, please. Everyone at school knows that Dongwoo's looking at you. And the absurd amount of time you spent out there in the car instead of asking him to come in to chat meant it was something awkward or private, maybe both," she explained.

"Why are you here, Mia?"

"I came by as soon as I could to explain to everyone what we saw this evening. Tieria's not too happy with what we saw, and there's a chance we'd need to ask Saji to come in and help us out," Mia replied, motioning for Ailee to follow her to a room that was unoccupied.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you and I need to step up our game and gather more information on them. I have a feeling that the members of the student council aren't just friends because of a random encounter," she explained. "And the seven boys that hold the positions right now seem to be connected beyond normal friendship: I doubt normal kids could pull of such an event with so many big names in attendance under such short notice.

"Ailee, just the fact that Sunggyu designed something like that means that the army means business. What business? To destroy Celestial Being first or to destroy their enemies first?" she asked.

"But I don't think... Do you think that the boys are helping to destroy other countries?" Ailee asked warily.

"We will never know, Ailee. Not unless we find out for ourselves. Please, Ailee, this is our job. Wouldn't it be less painful to emotionally detach yourself from them now than later? Later will feel more like a betrayal than anything else, because you can no longer remove yourself from your attachment to them. But now...now it's still shallow. It will bleed, but it will not kill you just yet," she replied.

Ailee sighed. "Do we really have to do this?"

"You tell me," Mia replied. "I no longer have anything to go back to; nothing to lose. Do you?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I really don't know."

"I hope you find out soon," she replied. "I would like to fight by your side, Ailee, but I'd rather not have you shot out of the sky because of your reluctance."

Mia stalked out of the room, leaving Ailee to ponder the events of the night. The house was quite still, but she knew it wasn't because everyone had gone to bed. If what Mia had said was true, then everyone was downstairs, working overtime.

~°~

Rays of sunlight pooled into the room, raising a reluctant Ailee out of her bed. She'd forgotten to pull down the blinds, and now it plagued her by waking her up hours before she would have liked.

With a groan of frustration, she rolled herself off the bed, falling with a soft thud before lethargically walking to her desk. She ran a brush through her hair quickly before marching off to the bathroom for a quick shower.

The scent of bacon and fresh pancakes wafted into the bathroom, causing her stomach to growl.

When she got out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, she was surprised to see everyone up and about. Marie was at the stove with Allelujah helping her. Ian sat on the table, absentmindedly munching on a pancake as he went through what Ailee suspected was a new weapon design that he was working on. Setsuna had a pad of paper and a pen with him, a glass of milk in his hands.

"Looking for someone?" Lockon asked, leaning on the doorframe she'd just passed. He had a mug of coffee in his hands, a wry smile on his lips.

"Why is everyone up so early?" she asked.

"Ms. Sumeragi sent us a mission plan," he explained. Before she could ask, he continued. "And it said you needed to gather more information about those boys while the rest of us sat back and waited until we needed to move."

"Not much of a mission," she commented.

"Oh, but it is, Butterfly. Because you see, it seems Katagiri's going to start paying extra attention to the school."

"How did you know that?" she asked.

"Mia had to leave early; she needed to meet Sunggyu for a little meeting about his bomb," he explained. "But that means that Setsuna needs to leave the school--he's met Katagiri before. And he knows Setsuna is with Celestial Being."

"We were actually thinking of pretending that she doesn't know," Setsuna commented as he approached.

"And how would you do that? You're supposed to be engaged," Ailee asked. "It's not good to lie to your fiancée."

"Truthfully, I'm not lying to her," he replied. "But that would keep her off track. His track, at least."

Lockon sighed. "I knew it was a bad idea to throw you in with the lot."

Ailee quirked a brow up at him. "Oh, before I forget--Dongwoo and I are going out today."

"Where will you be going?" Lockon asked.

"I...I don't know," she replied. "I forgot to ask."

"The enemy could just tell you to go out with him and he can throw you into a boat to be shipped off to the farthest corner of the earth for all you knew," Lockon sighed. "Really, Butterfly?"

"Come on, Lockon. You don't seriously believe that, do you?" she asked.

It was his turn to quirk a brow at her. "Dazzle me."

"She'll be fine," Setsuna said, pulling out a gun that was tucked into the waistband of his pants at the back. He handed it to her, first. "Take this with you, just in case."

"He's not going to kill me," she replied. "This is going to make him suspicious."

"It's for your own safety, Ailee," he replied with a stiff tone.

"I don't think Mia carried one when she left the house," she told him, challenging him.

"No, no she didn't," Marie inserted randomly. "She left it with me."

"See?" she commented, opening her palms as if to say what do you say to that?

"But then again, she did come from Azadistan," Allelujah commented.

"Krugis," Setsuna corrected.

"Which does not exist anymore, but yeah," Allelujah mended. "Just take it, Ailee. Better to be safe than sorry."

"Can't I just carry pepper spray?"

"It's not Dongwoo we're worried about," Lockon said. "The thing is, someone else might be keeping an eye out. If something happens, you need to have something to protect yourself, and possibly him as well."

She glared. "Okay, first, tell me how I'm going to tell him why I'm carrying a gun."

"For safety reasons," Marie said.

"To make sure he's not kidnapped," Allelujah offered. She gave him an odd look. "What? I take it you forgot he's a prince?"

She sighed. "I can't just have a gun. It's not normal."

"It's licensed to Mia," Setsuna said.

"Huh?"

"Tell him Mia's a marksman," he said. "Because Mia is a marksman. Her Dad made sure that she can go against any kind of opponent, Ailee. Kidnapping wasn't uncommon in Krugis at that time. Where do you think some of the child soldiers came from?

"And if that's not enough for you, tell him that you asked her to teach you how to handle a gun. The story is that the two of you will be shooting tonight and you might not have the time to go back home to fetch your gun. Is that good enough for you?" he asked.

Reluctantly, she took the gun and said, "All right."

Not long after they cleaned up, the doorbell rang. Dongwoo stood on the other side of the door, smiling.

She opened it, telling him that they could go immediately--everyone else had already gone out. However, the truth was, everyone was still inside, just downstairs working.

"So, where are we going?" she asked.

"Have you seen the Han River?" he asked. She shook her head. "The Han River it is!"

As he drove, they talked about random things, trying to get to know each other more. They even played guess the song by singing snippets of random songs they suddenly remembered to pass the time.

They soon ran out of songs, but they'd reached the Han River. It was a beautiful place, but in the blistering heat of the noon sun, they opted to come back in the late afternoon when it would be less hot.

"So, tell me about your family," Ailee randomly asked. She figured it was something anyone can ask without being suspicious, even if it was on the internet that he was the youngest of two children, the heirs of the throne of South Korea.

He took it in stride, and told her about them. When he finished, he asked her about hers. A pained expression must have flashed on her face, as he retracted his inquiry and diverted the conversation.

They walked back to the Han River as the sun began to climb down the sky, allowing the night's coolness to begin its work. A gentle breeze wove itself between and through them.

"Wow. We practically spent the whole day away," she commented, prompting an amused grin from him.

"Do you need to be home before dinner?" he asked.

"No, not-" she began, but her phone suddenly rang, its tone ringing urgently into the peaceful afternoon air. "Sorry, I need to take this," she said, before quickly walking a few steps away and answering it. She came back not long after, with a sad smile on her lips. "It seems I have to go whether I like it or not."

"Your brother?" he asked. She nodded. "Then allow me to take you home."

~°~

Mia leaned on the door of the car, waiting, as the fog began to descend over the city. Today was one of those rare days when the city was wrapped under the lethargic haze of the fog. To the untrained eye, it was as if an early evening settled over the city--but the sun had yet to set, her watch told her so.

The clicking of shoes over the stoned streets told her that her guest was probably coming. She desired nothing more than to finish it once and for all, but forced herself to the position she'd assumed: arms crossed over her chest, back slightly slouched, one foot firmly on the ground as the other dug into the dirt, toe-first, to give the feel of nonchalance even when her mind told her body to get ready.

"Hello, Experiment 12," the man that approached called, nodding his head in greeting.

She cocked a brow. "That's one thing I haven't heard in a while. So what do you want?"

"We hear you've been in  contact with the princess," he said.

"Are you sure I'm the right one?" she asked.

"You're the only experiment left," he said with a shrug.

"No," she said. "Unfortunately, I don't." She pushed herself off the car's door. "Anything else?"

"We need to find her, 12. North Korea will stay in its indefinite position without her," he told her. "Or you could always choose to bring back evidence that there's no more heir to the throne."

"So you want me to kill her?" she asked incredulously.

"That would be acceptable as well," he shrugged. He gave her a knowing look.

"All right," she replied. He seemed to smile in relief. A cruel smile spread on her lips. The man's eyes widened in shock as he jerked forward, blood spilling from his lips. "But not before you go."

He couldn't even form a coherent sentence as he clutched his stomach. There was little he could do to stop the bleeding, though, as she laughed at his agony.

"It's too bad I can't keep you alive longer," she said whimsically, in a voice that should have been used by a child talking about a friend. "It would be so much more fun. After all, I still need to pay each of you back for what you did to me and my Daddy."

"You... wouldn't... even be alive..." he struggled to say.

"If it weren't for you?" she asked: mocking. "It would have been the lesser evil for all of us. Then you wouldn't have such a rowdy experiment stronger than any of you with a thirst for your blood. Or you wouldn't have an experiment that hates your guts. My father never deserved what you put him through."

She hit him in the face with the hilt of the knife in her hands, breaking a tooth with a loud, satisfying crunch. Voices from afar drifted into her ears, and she said, "Even less time, then. I hope Hell is a lot more welcoming to you than the depths of my heart." She slit his throat with a well-practiced flick of her wrist.

At first, he tried to stop the bleeding, wrapping his own hands around his throat as he tried to breathe. But with his windpipe open to the outside world, the air and the blood spurted out like a morbid fountain, draining him of life. And in a few moments, his whole body went slack, but his eyes still held the betrayal and the hatred he held for the child that killed him.

"Oh my god," Ailee whispered, stumbling across Mia and her victim. Her hands covered and nose.

"The things I do for you, my Princess," Mia told her coldly. Then she asked, pleadingly, "Do you truly not remember me?"

Ailee stepped backwards as Mia stood up, blood splattered all over her clothes and person. She dropped the bloodied knife and walked towards Ailee with slow, deliberated steps.

Ailee stumbled and fell. She crawled away from Mia, hands fumbling for her phone, hitting the distress button.

"Ailee, Ailee, why?" Mia asked. "I am your friend; your guardian. I was made for you, my Princess. My sole reason for existence is to serve you. Why do you throw me away?"

It was like a twisted, dark version of what would have been a romantic confession.

Ailee moved as far and as quickly as she could, hoping the other meisters would be able to get there as soon as possible. She hit a tree, and the gun fell from her purse. She pulled it out, realizing that it would be useful, and aimed it at Mia, who laughed mockingly.

"Do you think a gun will protect you, Ailee?" she asked. She pulled out a gun from behind. "Let's even things out, shall we?"

"Wh-what do you want from me?" Ailee asked, her hands and voice shaking. She was too terrified of the person in front of her not to though she wished she wasn't trembling quite so terribly. It wasn't part of her training, and even if it was, reality was not the same as theory.

Footfalls sounded from afar. They were loud, but Ailee understood that those were the other meisters. They were coming. It gave her a little hope.

"Me? From you?" Mia asked. "Sometimes, I wish you would just die. You useless little coward!" She stepped forward, and Ailee muttered a weak, "Don't come any closer."

One step. Another.

"I said don't come any closer!" she screamed.

"What has become of you, the great heiress of the crown?" she asked, a faint trace of mocking laughter was in her voice as she stepped closer.

Ailee fired a warning shot. But her hands were trembling too much and her eyes wouldn't focus that she accidentally shot Mia in the arm. Blood welled from the wound, yet the hand was steady.

"Do you know what those people did to me?" Mia asked with a ghostly voice, flicking her head in the direction of the dead man.

Setsuna tumbled through the trees, gun ready. But his concentration wavered when he saw Mia looming over Ailee, both pointing guns at each other. Lockon and Allelujah came not long after, each having a similar sense of shock.

"What the hell is going on here?" Lockon demanded angrily, stuffing his gun into his belt as a make-shift holster.

"Allow me to introduce you all," Mia said, her tone shifting to one that sounded as though she belonged to the circus: a ringmaster introducing the act that the whole circus was proud of. "the princess of the North Korean dynasty: Princess Lee Ye Jin, also known as Amy Lee. The crown prince's beloved little sister, and the last living member of the Lee dynasty."

Ailee's hands shook even more. Her eyes widened with terror, realizing that Mia did know her, and probably had a really good reason for threatening her, yet she didn't know why.

"For all of you, though, you just probably know her as Ailee Campbell, the Gundam Meister that pilots the Aegis. Aegis," she spat the last word, full of hatred. "You do not deserve such a machine. You have always used others as a shield when you should be the shield."

"Stop moving!" Allelujah cried, aiming his gun again.

"Will you shoot me, Allelujah?" Mia asked. "And you, Setsuna?" She stepped forward.

"Stop moving," Lockon growled.

She stepped forward. Lockon fired. Allelujah flinched in shock, as the bullet entered beside the one Ailee had fired. Sparks flew from her arm. Eyes were wide open with disbelief. Mia merely smiled coldly but with relief--as if it was a cue she was waiting for.

"You see, Ailee, I am Experiment 12, the only successful cyborg soldier born from a clone," she declared, sparks flying from her arm. "A little blood, a few short circuits, but don't worry, they made sure I could take the beating," she continued, then laughed an empty laugh that sounded more as a cry for help than a sound of joy. "The only experiment out of hundreds of clones, Ailee! Aren't you happy? You have your own super soldier, one that not even the Super Soldier Institute can match."

She fired at the tree above Ailee's head. Ailee squealed in terror.

"I would never kill you," Mia coldly assured. "Not until you correct every little wrong that you and your people have caused!"

Another shot. This time, Allelujah fired. He was aiming at the gun in Mia's hands, but the shot bounced off without even loosening Mia's grip. She fired at his gun.

"Do you think that a fully organic soldier like you can compete with me?" she demanded. "I am barely even alive, Allelujah. I am barely even human." She shot at Setsuna and Lockon's guns as well with fine precision. "I would never have come for you if you did what you were supposed to!" she screeched at Ailee. "I'm not monster enough to destroy what happiness you have found if only you did something for the people whose lives you have destroyed!

"My father may as well throw me out," she confessed, but tears began to trickle from her eyes. "I will never forgive you for abandoning us, Ailee. Do you know how much it hurt? To be made a machine? To have your one and only family be tortured in front of you and killed as inhumanely as possible just so you'd fight? DO YOU?!"

Ailee began to cry and blubber incoherently as she shook her head.

"No, of course you wouldn't!" Mia roared. "You've been sheltered all your life, and even when your kingdom was crumbling around your ears, they had the escape route all planned out for you!

"Sometimes I wish you'd just die," she confessed. She aimed the gun at Ailee's head. "But I want you to suffer..." she aimed at Ailee's ankle. "...if you cannot fulfill your duty."

A gunshot resounded, followed by another. Ailee screamed. The ground by her foot was disturbed, turned over by the force of impact of the bullet. She was crying.

...while Mia was on the ground, bleeding.

Lockon's gun was still smoking. His breath was labored and shallow. Allelujah's eyes were wide open with shock, while Setsuna dashed for Mia. He gathered her in his arms as she bled.

"Ah, that one I forgot," she sputtered, as blood trickled from . Her hands were shaking.

"Mia, Mia... Stay with me, you're going to be all right," Setsuna begged.

She shook her head, the motion labored. "I can't move. I can hardly breathe, Setsuna." She raised a trembling hand towards the car. "I have a last gift... Ian..."

"No, no, Mia, don't say that," Setsuna asked, gripping her tighter as tears began to fall. He thought again, and fumbled to stop the bleeding. "You're going to be okay, Mia."

"I'm sorry," she whispered as her breathing got more difficult. "Forgive me, Setsuna. I really do love you."

"Mia! Mia!" Setsuna screamed. But she was gone. "Mia..." he called, begging. He sobbed into her lifeless form, mourning the loss of the last but most important friend he had from his time as Soran* and as Setsuna.

With gritted teeth, Lockon threw his gun to the ground beside Ailee and walked away. Allelujah dropped to his knees.

...and Ailee cried.

*Soran was the original name of Setsuna before he became a member of Celestial Being.