The delegates filed out of the auditorium, eager to seek out their respective lunches. Noin, pleased that her presentation had gone well, and also that it was over, took a deep breath and started gathering her notes from the podium.

Someone cleared his throat, and Noin looked up to see a young man making his way through the aisles of seats.

"Can I help you?" she asked, straightening her papers and smiling pleasantly.

"I think so. You’re Miss Lucrezia Noin?"

"Yes," she nodded, pushing the notes into her bag and stepping off the dais. Relena and the others would be impatient to start lunch. She was supposed to meet them five minutes ago…

"That’s…formerly Lt. Lucrezia Noin of Oz?" he inquired, continuing forward with his hands plunged deeply into the pockets of his jacket.

"That’s right," she told him, a little impatiently. What was he getting at?

"Also Instructor Noin of the Lake Victoria Base?" He paused a few steps in front of her.

"Yes. What can I –"

"I just wanted to make sure there was no mistake," he told her. Seconds later, Noin was blinking down the barrel of a pistol. "I…I’ve come to execute you for your war crimes." He steadied his violently trembling right hand with his left.

If he hadn’t been pointing a gun at her, Noin would have laughed in his face. "My… my what?!?!"

"The crimes of the students are the crimes of the teacher," he asserted, not looking at her.

Noin sighed. "You’re talking about Alex and Mueller, aren’t you?" she predicted, sitting down on the stairs.

"You…you remember them?" he sounded surprised in spite of himself.

"Yes. Very well, actually. They were cadets my first semester of teaching." That had been hard– she’d had a few students older than herself, and earning their respect had been a challenge. "They…they were good boys when I knew them," Noin said softly, wrapping her arms around herself.

This last statement seemed to strengthen his purpose. "Good boys?! Those good boys of yours were the maniacs who destroyed the Alliance’s Mogadishu Base! They surrendered, but your good boys killed them anyway." His hands shook more than they had been before, and he took a moment to compose himself. This was obviously some kind of personal grudge. Noin wondered – had he been there himself? Or was this for his father, or a brother, or a friend… "An execution, they called it," he continued, voice thick with emotion. "Well, that’s what this is -"

"Zechs held me responsible too," Noin interupted. "He told me… what a mistake it was to teach mere technique." Noin propped her elbow on her knee and rested her forehead in the palm of her right hand. She remembered boasting to Zechs that her students wouldn’t fall in battle. That they wouldn’t overdo things…"I tried to teach them more. I tried to teach them about honor and compassion and –"

"Apparently they didn’t excel in those subjects," he retorted, starting to squeeze the trigger.

"No," Noin said, not looking up. "I guess not. And there were other teachers in Oz who must have found them more able in other subjects…"

"So you’re laying the blame on someone else?" he demanded angrily.

"The only people responsible for the actions of Alex and Mueller are Alex and Mueller," Noin told him calmly.

"No. You taught them how to pilot the mobile suits. If you hadn’t taught them –"

"Someone else would have," Noin finished.

His eyes narrowed. "But you did. So it’s your life for the hundreds they took."

"That doesn’t make sense," Noin answered, finally looking up to see the man with the gun pointed at her fall into a heap on the floor.

Wufei was standing behind him.

"You should pay more attention, woman," he told her, taking the pistol out the fallen man’s limp grasp.

Noin smiled. "Wufei Chang, you are the last person on this planet I want to owe my life to-," she started.

"You’re welcome," he interupted. "And you do owe me."

Noin stood as Wufei started to drag the unconscious man out of the auditorium. "To be that calm while someone was trying to kill you…" He shook his head. "You must not be quite as weak as I thought you were," he admitted grudgingly. "Either that, or you’re just not as intelligent."

Taking the compliment and ignoring the insult, Noin stooped to pick up her bag, and it took her a moment to realize that she was shaking. Wufei gave her a scornful look.

"I’ll file an incident report and take care of your friend here. You go find Relena," he ordered briskly.

"But...I don’t think he deserves to go to prison…" Noin argued, ignoring her trembling hands.

"Get a hold of yourself, woman," Wufei said scathingly, still dragging the unconscious gunman.

"No, I mean it. He was just –"

"Noin," Wufei interupted, using her name for probably the first time in his life, "he was going to kill you."

That was a genuinely frightening thought.

It wasn’t that no one else had tried to kill her before – Wufei here had even made some efforts towards that end at one point in time. But…this was somehow more personal. It wasn’t as though she’d been that man’s enemy that he’d have to defeat to stay alive – it was that he’d decided that Lucrezia Noin didn’t deserve to live anyone.

No wonder she was shaking.

"Go," Wufei ordered impatiently. "I’ll let Relena deal with you," he muttered.

Noin went. Although, to be honest, Relena wasn’t the sibling she wanted to see right now…

"Noin! There you are!" Relena exclaimed in relief as Noin entered the restaurant and approached their table. "What kept you?"

"Hey," Duo interupted, "where’s Wufei? Didn’t he find you?"

"Yes," Noin responded. "He…I…."

"Miss Noin, you look terrible," Quatre said standing up. "Are you okay?"

"Not …really," she answered, collapsing into an empty chair, and putting her head in her hands for a moment.

"Noin…" Relena began, putting her hand on Noin’s shoulder. "What’s the matter?"

Noin looked up and took a deep breath. "I’m fine. I…"

"Some idiot tried to shoot her," Wufei supplied, from where he’d arrived silently in the doorway. "You walk slow, woman," he told Noin.

"What?!" Relena demanded.

"I said that she wal-"

"No!" Relena interupted angrily. "What’s going on? Who tried to-"

"Almost two years ago, two Oz pilots who’d been my students at Victoria completely destroyed an Alliance base. I…guess this guy blamed me," Noin explained calmly, hands shaking a little less noticeably.

"Oh Noin," Relena said compassionately, hugging her, "that’s awful."

"It was fairly awful, yes. But I’m fine. Calm down," she said, amused by the fact that she was comforting Relena.

"You made the headlines," Zechs told Relena dryly, tossing the newspaper onto the desk.

His sister’s expression suddenly grew stricken. "But…I…how did they…" she stuttered, looking bewildered.

"The conference…it’s in the newspaper…" Zechs held up the article with a picture of Relena standing at a podium.

Relena let out a breath of relief. "Oh, that."

Zechs was suddenly no longer distracted by the sound of coffee dripping into the pot. "Relena," he began, leaning closer to the screen, "what’s the matter? You looked downright panicked."

"I…wanted to tell you a little more gently, but…" Relena looked down at her folded hands.

"Relena, you’re starting to scare me," he told her, making an attempt at a smile.

Relena looked up and made eye contact. "Milliardo, some...someone pulled a gun on Noin yesterday, right after her presentation," she blurted.

"Wh – what? My God…is she all right?" Zechs stuttered numbly.

"She’s fine. She was late for lunch, so we sent Wufei to find her, and –"

"Where is she?" he pressed, ignoring her.

"It’s 2:30 am, Milliardo," Relena replied, patience sounding a little strained. "I imagine she’s asleep."

Sleep – that was right. "Why are you up?" Zechs asked, blinking at the clock. He hadn’t realized what time it was…

"I had a late seminar, and I wanted to talk to you."

"But…Noin is okay? You’re sure?"

"She was just a little shaken. Well, more than a little shaken." Relena admitted. "Milliardo, I think it would mean a lot if you…" she began hesistantly.

"I’ll be on the next shuttle," he agreed.