Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Dawn and Moon Wars

Chapter Three

"What happened to her?" Relena asked as she watched the Master Healer and her apprentice force medicine down Dorothy's throat. "Noin..."

Captain Noin saw the fear in the young princess's face and forced a smile. "I don't know, my Star."

Relena chewed her lower lip, "Honorable Healer." The Dawn's Star stepped forward and the Master Healer curtsied.

"My Star, you honor me."

"Please, what is wrong with my friend?" Relena pushed aside a strand of Dorothy's hair. "She is so pale..." The Star didn't see the curious look sent her way by the Master Healer's apprentice.

"Her elemental powers turned against her..." The Master Healer frowned, "It's rare for such a thing to happen to one so young... It happens when one's magic is either stressed or..." She hesitated and Relena's sharp eyes were immediately on her.

"Speak, Healer, by order of the Star." Relena's usually warm, sweet voice was now cold and imperial.

Sally's mouth fell open as she watched the Master Healer pale and a hint of fear show on her usually stern, hard face.

"Please, my Star!"

Relena's eyes narrowed, "Do you disobey your Star?"

"No!"

"Then tell me. Prove your loyalty."

"Relena..." Noin took a step forward, but Relena raised a hand toward her. The Captain swallowed and stayed silent.

"A female's magic... When mixed with a male's can sometimes... overreact... In the old days before the Mother set things right, men and women would unite their powers... As they bonded sometimes the female's magic would rebel, but it would already be too late. Once the bonding process begins nothing can stop it and nothing can destroy it.

"What do you mean by bonded?"

"Once a male and a female's powers united they would forever be bonded. They'd be able to feel each other, know each other completely. Some compare it to the old myths of soulmates."

"Males cannot hold power, though." Noin finally spoke, "It is against the law. Dorothy's magic probably turned against her because she tried an advanced spell.

Relena hesitantly nodded, reverting back to her sweet personality. "Will she survive this backlash?"

"Yes, my Star." The Master Healer turned a sharp glare toward her apprentice, but the other woman was too busy staring at the princess.

"Oh, Dorothy..." Relena blinked away tears and sat at the edge of the bed. "You're more than an Advisor to me... You are my best friend, my soul sister. I need you."

      *

"Did you hear?" A short man leaned against a tall tree, his arms crossed over his bare muscled chest. "The Star's Advisor suffered a magical backlash and is bedridden."

"Yes, I know... She has bonded with an elemental male mage. We must find him." The taller man stared up at the moon, his long blond hair waving in the soft wind.

"Why?"

"The Advisor is the Star's most trusted friend. If she's bonded we may be able to use her."

The shorter man nodded, his near black eyes surveying the dark night. "I hear she was to choose a slave and bear a child."

"Poor girl."

"Don't pull that crap. If the Advisor's to have a child then the Star's time to produce is also close."

"Watch them both closely, Wufei."

"Another watches the Star." Wufei informed him, no real worry playing in his voice.

"Who?"

"A man dressed in black with the grace of a cat."

"The Panther... So, she is one of his targets now... Watch him. If he tries to kill her before it is time then kill him." A flicker of pain seemed to cross the taller man's eyes, but disappeared before Wufei could be sure he'd seen it.

Wufei nodded, "Yes, Evening Star."

"Do not call me that... Soon a new rule will reign..." He continued to stare at the moon. "Look. The moon is smaller than the sun yet holds its own majesty and its elemental powers equal that of the sun."

"So you shall be the Moon?"

"Yes."

Wufei hesitated, "Millardo... Do not let revenge cloud your senses." The soldier turned and left his leader staring up at the moon.

      *

Hilde watched as the Star sat beside her sleeping friend. 'She's so human... Not what I expected at all...' Her eyes traveled to the sleeping figure. 'What made her run away? When I first met her she seemed so brilliant and full of life. She seemed to spout philosophy at the drop of a hat and now... This is only my second day as a Sword-in-training and already life seems so much wilder.'

"You do not have to stay." Relena spoke, turning slightly to stare at the young guard. "I know you must be tired."

"No, my Star. I'll stay by your side as long as you need me." Hilde blinked as Relena sent her a radiant smile.

"Thank you."

Dorothy moaned, "Please... Help..." She blinked and opened her eyes, wincing slightly as she slowly sat up. "I feel like I've been trampled by a wild horse."

"Close. You suffered a magical backlash." Relena reached over and pick up a vial the Master Healer had left for Dorothy. "Drink this. What spell did you try?"

Dorothy paled, "I... I don't remember..."

Hilde raised an eyebrow, "Are you feeling well, Lady Dorothy?"

The blond turned sharply and stared at Hilde. "Yes, thank you... You're that new girl... What's your name again?"

She smiled, "Hilde. Just plain Hilde."

"I like it." Relena said, a smile playing across her lips.

"Thank you, my Star."

"Hilde... In privacy could you please just call me Relena."

"My Star, I do not think that is possible. You are the Morning Star, my princess. It would go against every regulation if I called you by your first name."

Relena sighed, "The Morning Star..." Her eyes lowered to the ground, "My name is Relena, yet all see me as only the Morning Star, their princess."

Dorothy took her hand, "I don't. Just as you don't see me as just your Advisor."

Hilde watched the exchange with surprise, then swallowed as the Star's gaze turned toward her once again. "Could you please inform Dorothy's mother that she has awakened."

Dorothy winced, but didn't say anything.

"Yes..." Hilde's whole body cowered for a second as she forced the name out. "Relena."

Relena stood and walked toward Hilde, taking both her hands. "Thank you." She smiled at Hilde so sweetly that Hilde could swear that the Mother herself stood before her.

      *

"Galea! Galea!" Sally wandered at the edge of the fighting ring, searching hopelessly for her catriffin. "Galea!"

"Sally." She stopped and looked around at the sound of her name and her eyes soon fell on a smiling slave with a catriffin in his arms.

"Galea!" Sally ran forward and took the catriffin from Duo and hugged her. "Naughty Galea! You had me worried sick!" Galea purred and ignored her owner's scolding. Sally sighed and turned a smile toward Duo. "Thank you for taking care of her."

"My pleasure."

Sally's eyes widened as they took in his garb. "Gladiator... No..."

Duo tried to give her a comforting smile, "Don't worry, lass. I'll be fine. After all, I'm the God of Death!"

"What?!"

"The God of Death." He winked, "It's a nickname."

"More like the God of Fools." She muttered and he laughed. Sally didn't understand this slave and the way she acted around him. Ever since their first meeting she couldn't forget what he'd told her and it was hard to treat him as any other slave... Sometimes he felt almost like an equal.

'It's treason for me to be even thinking such things! We could both be killed!' But Sally knew that just talking to him like this wasn't any harm. At worst some people would begin to think that she was getting ready to bear and had chosen him as the child's sire.

Sally blushed at the very idea. She knew she was of age, maybe even a little over, to bear. If she didn't choose a sire soon then the Dawn and Galaxy Council would make a public announcement commanding her to choose or else they'd choose for her. The idea of such humiliation made many girls make rash decisions.

"You seem a bit distracted today." Duo said after she'd been silent for a few minutes. His eyes kept darting around the ring to make sure none came too close. He knew he was under close watch. The Dawn and her Council knew who he was... He bit back a curse as he saw a Sword watching him from a corner of the ring. He turned back toward the young apprentice and his look softened. 'Many of these women have been brainwashed with these ludicrous ideals... Sally's a nice girl. Damn Priestesses and their Dawn!' Then a strange thought suddenly occurred to him. 'If Sally's been taught this whole Mother nonsense all her life... Then could the Morning Star be like her? A girl just following the example of her elders? Maybe she's not the beast I've been painting in my mind for so long...'

"Oh... Well, I met the Star." Sally spoke slowly, unsure if she should be telling this strange slave. But she felt compelled to tell him. Of course, she didn't realize Duo held the elemental powers of fire and water, a combination that allowed him to control the Power of Speech. By invoking it he could have someone pour out their deepest, darkest fears and dreams but he rarely used it for such things... Instead he used it to gather useful information.

"Really?" Duo summoned his power and a tiny ball of light formed in his hand. He quickly closed his hand in a fist around it, hiding it from prying eyes.

"Yes, her Advisor needed the Master Healer's help. I was just dragged along." Sally sighed and raised an eyebrow as she noticed how tense Duo had grown... Especially his right arm.

Duo struggled to keep his hand closed as the ball grew and seared into his palm. "I heard that she was hurt, but no one seemed to understand what caused it. Actually many were surprised at the fact that the Star's Advisor could even feel pain."

"Surprised? She's only human."

"The Star's Advisor has a reputation in the barracks..." Duo's face clouded and Sally wondered what exactly the slaves said about the young Advisor. "What really happened to her?"

"My mentor seems to believe it was a backlash of power."

"What do you believe?"

Sally shifted uncomfortably and lowered her gaze to the purring catriffin in her arms. "I don't know... She felt strange... As if she wasn't herself, but..." She heaved a sigh, "It's hard to explain."

Duo fought to keep shock from showing on his dirt stained face. 'Could it be? It can't be though! It hasn't been done in centuries! The Evening Star mentioned prophecies, but her?! The Star's own Advisor?' His eyes narrowed as he studied Sally. 'I must risk it... If it's true then I must get to the Advisor.'

"What you felt," the glow brightened in his damp hand, "did it remind you of elemental powers?"

Sally blinked and rubbed at her eyes, a strange opal like glow kept blinding her. "Yes."

"Describe it."

She closed her eyes and found her mouth moving of its own accord. "It was like... as if the sun and moon had melded together and there was a brilliance. She shone with it, but nobody else saw and it was gone in such a brief second..." Sally opened her eyes and watched as the opal light before her faded.

  "So it's beginning..." Duo whispered in a low, dangerous tone and Sally's hold on Galea tightened.

*