Heyo, took me a lot of time just to type this out. I wasn't very pleased at first but then I finally decided on a good ending and yes I like writing cliffhangers but you can't blame me because that was my last one for this story. Do I really need a disclaimer? I mean sheesh, it's SO annoying… A lil hint of sap. No real sap but just a teeny hint of sap. Well need I say more? Read on!

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Chapter 15

Starlight Star Bright

"Miss Noin, this is as you guessed my brother, Milliardo. Beside him is the former Colonel of OZ, Lady Anne Une," the honey blonde-haired girl stated, a placid smile taking form. Lifting her hand forth for a handshake, Noin waited for Milliardo's hand. Confused, Milliardo brought his hand up slowly and shook Noin's before she shook hands with Anne.

"It's a pleasure to meet you two," the raven-haired beauty grinned and turned back towards the other, reconnecting the circle. "Hey Duo, I think we can start the cooking now that everyone's arrived." The braided boy leapt up instantly and darted across the brief patches of caked mud, towards the barbecue stove, turning the knobs and rushing to get it ready and fired up. Everyone just stared at him and sighed.

"Duo's never gonna change," Heero muttered softly to himself, walking over towards his friend, knowing that he would need help.

"Why don't we go and take a seat instead of standing up?" the short blonde-haired Arabian suggested. He glanced at his friends and walked over to the picnic tables. The others followed him, fitting smugly onto three tables. Milliardo insisted sitting near Noin, well at least on the same table.

The young prince kept thinking what he should say to her, he just didn't know how to explain such personal things especially since she didn't know him better than she did a stranger. "So er... Noin..." he muttered, twiddling his thumbs nervously.

"Ah!" a sharp cry from Heero changed the whole atmosphere. Noin looked up at two cookers and chuckled. Duo had tried to flip beefsteak in the air but it landed on his comrade's arm, reddening it severely. "Duo you idiot!" Relena leapt up from her seat and swiftly darted next to her spouse, putting an icepack to sooth the burning area.

Noin stood up and walked over to the barbecue stove, suggesting a better idea then letting Duo cook unattended. "Hey Heero go take a seat with Relena, I'll take over here." The perfect soldier grunted and left the danger zone.

"Oi, Duo!" Hilde yelled. "Be more careful!" Duo continued to concentrate on 'cooking' the onions until they became a little darker than they were supposed to.

"Relena, you were pretty quick," Sally grinned, looking at the two lovers.

Looking up from Heero's arm, Relena spoke innocently, "I was prepared that's all."

"I wonder if you would do the same for Duo if Heero was the one to flip the steak."

"But Heero wouldn't drop the steak..."

The former White Fang leader gazed at the young woman standing next the ex-pilot. He absorbed her features into her mind, she was just as beautiful as before. She even seemed a little taller but people said that you grew until you were twenty-five and until today, he hadn't believed it.

It was a joyful evening as the friends chatted endlessly to each other while eating the delightful meal. Time seemed to have past fairly quickly as they were all having a great time. "Oh boy, I'm so full," Duo muttered, leaning casually against Hilde. He placed a hand on his stomach and smiled with satisfaction. "So Relena, have you been busy in your position as Vice Foreign Minister?"

"Very busy in fact," Relena stated. "Only half a week ago, I had to go to two different conferences on the same day. One happened to be in Africa and the other in Asia, with only six hours apart to travel."

"Poor girl," Sally sighed.

"Well I'm sure she was accompanied by a certain someone," Duo teased, giving Heero a quick glance, who immediately looked down to avoid the others seeing him blush.

"Stop teasing the poor boy Duo," Anne muttered, sending him a stern yet playful look.

Noin smiled and sat quietly among the group, listening to the fun-filled chatter amongst her comrades. Her mind wasn't actually paying any attention to the noise, she was thinking about something else, something to do with her past.

Suddenly she felt someone nudging her lightly on the arm. She turned around to see Milliardo looking at her with great concern. He spoke softly to her, "Noin, are you tired? You don't seem to be yourself right now."

"I'm fine, just drifting off a little I guess," she replied, trying her best to sound relaxed. "What time is it?"

"It's nearly nine thirty. Duo's a little drunk so Hilde accompanied him back to the hotel..."

"Nearly nine thirty? It was only eight a while ago... I guess I must have dozed off or something." Noin glanced around to see her friends starting to clean up the mess. "Oops..." Pulling herself off the bench, she helped with the cups and cutlery, leaving Milliardo to stand by himself.

"Catherine, we'll give you a ring in the morning," Sally yelled across the street and Trowa and Catherine headed a different direction to them.

"Alright!" Catherine shouted back, giving them a quick wave as they disappeared around the corner. The big group walked down the brilliantly lit streets, making their way to the hotel. Occasionally they heard a few cars zoom pass and the creatures of the night scuttling up and down trees.

"Nearly there..." Anne stated, lifting her arm to point at the luxurious hotel ahead. Abruptly, the sound of a mobile ringing disrupted the silence of the night. Noin swiftly dug into her pocket for her mobile and pressed a button on the keyboard before bringing it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she muttered. Milliardo, who was walking beside her, tried to eavesdrop on her conversation but failed to hear the voice of the other person. "Ok, I'll be right there. Near the circus tent? Bye." She tapped the same button again and put it back into her pocket. "I've got to meet someone right now. You guys can go back to the hotel without me." Flipping her bangs with the back of her fingers, Noin gave them a reassuring smile and darted off to the direction Trowa and Catherine went.

"Will she be ok by herself? It's not exactly that safe for a woman to walk around in the streets by herself. Especially since they're..." Wufei stopped on his words immediately when Sally gave him and strong pinch on the arm.

Sally uttered, "She'll be fine."

The platinum blonde man wore a worried look on his face. "You guys know who she's meeting?" He was hoping to receive a positive answer but instead the others just shook their heads or said "no". "I'm gonna go with her just to make sure she's ok. Bye for now." Perhaps he was just worrying too much not nevertheless he rushed off without waiting for a reply.

He winced, squeezing his eyes shut as he ran blindly for a few seconds before daring himself to open his eyes again and face what might be the truth.

Waiting patiently by the circus tent, the dirty blonde-haired woman nibbled on her nail. It was a habit of hers. The trees blew small gushes of the warm night air at her bare arms and face, brushing her skin. She held her bag in front of her and leaned on the tree. Her friend was supposed to be meeting her there but it was just a matter of when. Slowly a figure walked up to her and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

"Oh hey Kevin," she muttered casually, not bothering to turn around and look at her partner. The young man beside her smiled and lifted his hand off her shoulder and instead wrapped it around her waist.

"When's your friend gonna be here?" he questioned in his low gentle voice as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Soon, I hope. We've only waited for three minutes. She's probably coming from her hotel or something."

"It's been quite a while," Noin uttered from several metres away, slowing into a walk as she approached the matching couple.

Briskly, the woman jumped from her position and darted up to the raven-haired woman, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Lu! It's been ages." Accenting on the word 'ages', the woman squeezed her friend tighter before eventually letting her go.

"Mai, is that your boyfriend Kevin? The one you've been telling me about?" Mai grinned and nodded. Swiftly, Mai introduced the two to each other.

"How about some coffee or tea?" the light brown-haired man suggested, seeing the two had plenty to talk about.

Busily chatting away again, Mai lead the two to a dainty café half a block away from their meeting area. Mai, being the first to walk in, selected a table for four by the window with soft green leathery padding on the back of the benches. "You two have a nice chat first, I'm going to go to the bathroom quickly. Kevin, can you order me an Iced Coffee, please?" Mai asked as Noin and Kevin sat opposite each other.

"Sure, no problem." He watched as his girlfriend walked to the bathroom and turned his attention onto the menu. "So Lucretzia, what do you want to drink?"

Noin traced her finger down the menu, reading all the available drinks on the list. "I think I'll have an Iced Tea."

He panted lightly as he ran up the street, scanning for any signs of Noin. If it weren't for the traffic lights and busy roads, he would've caught up with her, needless to say see her at least. Milliardo let his body take a quick break and scanned around to see if Noin was still around. He stood up straight and walked to the T-junction and sighed. Still no glimpse of her. When his hope seemed to have died away, he saw a raven-haired woman walking into a shop with a young man behind her. It was good, he found her but it was pretty awful to see a guy with her.

Slapping his head gently, he growled at himself, "Milliardo, Milliardo, Noin's just probably with a friend. You're just thinking too much." He strolled up to the café and walked straight into the shop. But he was careful not to let Noin recognise him as he headed towards for the table diagonally away from where Kevin sat. Actually Noin probably couldn't see him anyway, she was busy choosing an item from the menu. From where he sat, he could clearly see the table and the two, chatting happily to each other.

Noin chuckled, "I can't wait until the wedding."

Smiling cheerfully, Kevin responded, "Let's hope it'll be soon."

This didn't seem right, not at all. He was meant to be with Noin, not that guy who was merely taller than Noin. With all his effort, he tried hard to restrain his anger towards the man and gritted his teeth as he stared straight at Kevin, the 'evil' one. Luckily the waitress had come along and stopped at the Noin's table as she turned around towards him. They were ordering drinks, which reminded Milliardo what a cafeteria was for. He began to feel the warmth of his body and rolled up his sleeves, bearing his muscular arms. Somehow, he felt that he was being watched.

"Excuse me sir," a voice suddenly sounded, startling Milliardo a little. "Do you want to order anything?" Beside him was the middle-aged waitress who served Noin earlier on. She seemed a little agitated, most likely because he hadn't ordered anything yet.

"Um... just give me a coffee without a marshmallow." His gaze was fixed on the table with the 'enemy' and his beloved.

"Sorry sir, coffee doesn't come with marshmallows..." Milliardo just gestured her to leave the table and the woman immediately left, stomping her way back to the counter. She seemed rather stressed because she was mumbling all the way there but Milliardo couldn't care more or the less. The waitress walked back his way again with three drinks on her tray and gave him a cranky look just as she placed the tray on Noin's table, putting down the drinks carefully. She turned and left the table again, making her way towards the bar.

He looked at the drinks, the Iced Coffee looked nice, so did the Iced Tea and the Cappuccino... Wait three drinks for two people? It didn't make sense.

Mai walked down the corridor from the bathrooms, admiring the fancy wallpaper as she strolled. She was glad that she could see her buddy again, how long was it since they last saw each other? What seven years? Eight years? How ever long it was, she was glad to see her again. Approaching the main room, she noticed a young main in his early twenties gazing at her table. He had long light blonde hair that flowed down above his waistline and a rather handsome profile. His T-shirt sleeves were rolled up, showing his muscles. But what triggered her mind the most were his ice blue eyes, the eyes of a crush she once had who had vanished a few years ago. Apparently he had disappeared after an accident in space because he had no will to fight anymore after his best friend died. His life was tragic, a trap waiting to happen.

Mai looked more closely at the man, he seemed so familiar, especially his hair and eyes. They were the same features of her crush she had for at least four years, he resembled the one and only Zechs Merquise. She gasped and her smile broadened, shouting gleefully, "Zechs Merquise, I remember you! You're Zechs Merquise!" Mai ran up to the nerved gentleman and started speaking. "Zechs, remember me? I'm Mai from the Specials Lake Victoria Academy!" Her racket had definitely caught his attention and in fact, it had caught 'everyone's' attention, even Kevin's and Noin's.

"Mai... Sorry I don't recognise that name," he muttered, narrowing his eyes and he tried to think. But his eyes drifted off to his left, spotting Noin looking back at him, half dazzled half-uncertain. "Hey Noin..." his expression changed immediately as he sweatdropped, laughing ridiculously just like a fool. He stopped the nonsense quite quickly too.

Noin kept staring at the young man. Only one question floated in her mind, 'what the hell was he doing here?' But she dismissed the thought after a few seconds with more positive thoughts. Eventually, Noin broke the silence and asked, "Care to join us?"

His reply was swift and simple. "Yeah." Noin stood up and let Mai sit next to the window, opposite Kevin and sat back down again as Milliardo sat next to Kevin.

"Hey Zechs, is your real name really Milliardo?" Mai questioned, obviously interested in her friend's past that was never truly revealed except the time when he declared that he was leader of the White Fang.

"Yes."

"Do you actually remember me? You know the one always hanging around Lu. I was the one who introduced you two."

Milliardo looked at her doubtfully and shook his head, cursing himself mentally for being so forgetful. Suddenly it sparked his mind, of course he remembered her, she was the girl that had pestered him non-stop for two whole weeks, except for the time when he escaped into the gravity room. Well he had to be thankful to her if not he'd never have met Noin or in a case like this become such great friends with her. "Sorry Mai, I'm a bit forgetful. I remember you from the first day, you were one of the first cadets I met."

"Well at least I'm in your memory. Anyway, meet my boyfriend Kevin Rancher. Kevin this is my classmate Zechs Merquise," Mai smiled as the men shook hands with each other.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Noin staring at him, her eyes conveying the question 'why are you here?' So he answered it without waiting for her to ask. "I was just a bit bored tonight after the friendly gathering so I decided to come here. I'm a bit disappointed at myself that I didn't see you guys."

Shaking her head, Noin tried her best to show a happy face as she gave him a remark, "Pretty poor eyesight there. It's good that you came, now I don't have to walk back to the hotel alone."

Kevin seemed to have caught onto the conversation by the way he spoke, "So you mean you two came together?"

"No," Noin replied immediately, "we came for a gathering. Truthfully, I don't really know him all that well..."

With a shocked glance, Milliardo felt his heart pulverized, crushed. How could Noin say that to him? After all those years of being best friends and then something deeper than that, how could she say that?

"So what happened after graduation? I mean you two were pretty close together just like best friends. I know I left about one and a half years after Zechs came but surely you guys were still friends," Mai said in confusion.

Noin came up with a lie for she had forgotten about what exactly happened and what happened between the 'so-called' friendship they had and she especially didn't want Mai to know about the incident after the Eve Wars explosion. "We were still friends I guess. Just normal friends."

Milliardo picked up the scent of disturbance in Noin's voice. It was subtle but Zechs recognised it instantly. He knew Noin better than he knew himself or his own actions, whether they were right or wrong and he knew Noin was inwardly depressed. "Actually after the graduation I left the Academy and served under the duke as a Count and Noin was an instructor at Lake Victoria. Life was too busy so we never really kept much contact except when I visited her in my spare time before my new mission in AC194."

"Well at least you two had fate and saw each other again, just like the way Lu and I met each other again on the net. Which I believe as fate." Mai always had a way to cheer everyone with hey ramblings even though she didn't know about it, which was definitely a good thing about her.

For quite a long time, they had a nice chat and an especially long one, which bore the two men. "Woah, it's nearly eleven thirty," Kevin muttered, checking his watch after a short nap. "Wasn't this place meant to close at ten thirty?"

Mai glanced at her partner and smiled, "Not today."

"What's so special about today?"

"Today is night shopping which means that it opens until eleven forty-five. But since Kevin's still got work tomorrow, I think it's best that we go." Slowly, they got up from their seats and stretched a few of their limbs. Milliardo strode over to the counter and paid for the drinks as the others waited at the door for him. "Lu, we have to go shopping sometime this week while you're still here. It'll only be fair to spend a few days with me since we haven't seen each other for a long time."

Pushing open the door, Noin smiled and obediently said, "Yes Miss Mai."

"I wouldn't mind meeting your friends either. From what I've heard they've also been involved in the war as a MS pilot right? They must have been close to the action."

She simply repeated what she had said before, "Yes Miss Mai," except with a less enthusiastic tone in her voice.

"I'll see you two around sometime. Take care!"

Heading in separate directions, the two pairs waved for the last time that night and walked off. Taking quick glimpses of Noin, Milliardo found himself once again absorbed in her beauty. Half of his mind suggesting him to tear away before he smashed into a tree or lamppost and the other advising him to keep staring at her for it may be quite some time before he could do that again.

"So tell me Milliardo, all those things you talked about in the café. The things about you on a new mission, are they true?" Noin enquired, speaking in a soft volume just loud enough for the one beside her to hear.

"Yes and there's one more thing you need to know…" his low voice was cut off by the sound of a mobile ringing. It was his own mobile with the simple ringing tone. "Hello?" He paused. "Relena… I'm just coming back with Noin to the hotel. We're nearly there. Ok, bye." They were only a few metres away from the hotel entrance and Milliardo slowed his pace unnoticeably, causing Noin to do the same as him without realising. He halted, turned and looked at Noin in the eyes, gazing deeply into those serene eyes.

Noin felt inappropriate with the whole idea of stopping in front of the hotel. While the welcoming doors stood still waiting for her to enter so she could take a warm and luxurious bubble bath.

She tried to tear away from his beautiful ice blue eyes that gazed at her with so much love and affection but it didn't happen. She just stood there like a statue, frozen as he bent forward a little, his hands nearing her waist.

A sudden shout from inside the hotel caused the two to break apart swiftly. A head popped out from between the two glass doors and looked at them, it was Relena calling for Milliardo. "Milliardo! Where were you? We've been waiting for you for two hours and boy did you take your time," Relena scolded.

"What do you mean you've been waiting for me?" he questioned, the word 'confusion' imprinted over his forehead.

"We were worried about you. You've been gone since nine thirty and it's nearly twelve," she stopped in her words, thinking of something else to say. "Come on, let's go." Dragging her brother into the hotel, she gave Noin a quick smile a pulled him through to doors and waited for the elevator to come down. Behind the two siblings was the former instructor, giggling at Milliardo's childish behaviour as he tried to pull his arm out of Relena's grip, nearly resulting to Relena hanging in the air.

As the walked out of the lift, Milliardo unlocked his door with the key card and gently turned the handle, entering a room of dimness. He sighed and flicked on the light switch. "Surprise Milliardo!" Relena yelled, pointing to the neatly setout table with two massive presents, one wrapped in silver and the other in gold.

"Relena… who are these from?" he stuttered, gaping at the two objects.

"The gold one's from me and Heero and the silver is from the others. Happy birthday," she smiled sweetly, looking up at her brother with those sparkling eyes. "They were going to make you a surprise party but then I thought you wouldn't want one so instead we just bought you presents. Sally was going to hand it to you personally but then you didn't show up at ten so everyone went to bed instead."

"It's very nice of them."

"Yes now open them. It took us a long time to decide what to buy for you."

Standing quietly at the doorway, Noin forced a bigger smile and slowly trudged back to the elevator and waited a couple of seconds before it showed up with its gaping doorway, ready to swallow her in. She took a step forward and tapped a button, waiting patiently for it to stop at level twenty. She shared a room with Sally and since they booked a room at a different time to the others, they acquired a room with a much more splendid view of the scenery below them. It even had a small balcony. As she starting turning the handle, she sighed and with no reason at all, walked off back to the elevator.

Slowly she stepped out of the doors and headed towards the stairs that reached the rooftops where she could enjoy the company of the twinkling stars in the night sky and the beaming moon that shone down at the howling wolves back on Earth. The moon was much closer to L3 than it was to the Earth. Laying down on her back, she tilted her head back and rested it against the cold pavement floors and gazed deeply into the moon.

"Hi Noin, what are you doing here?"

"Just staring into space. What to join the club?" Noin asked, her eyes still looking up at the stars. It was obvious who the person was. She could remember his voice from anywhere. There was no reply but she felt his presence next to her.

For a long time they enjoyed the silence of the night. It felt just like the first time when they met, in the gravity room. Milliardo clutched at the pendant hanging on his necklace as he watched the night sky. Bringing it out, he stared at it instead of the sky. Soon Noin took notice of it and sat up. "Can I see your pendant?" Sitting up, he nodded and brought the necklace over his head and passed it over to her. She studied it carefully. It was chipped as if one piece of it was gone so inotherwords, it was just a broken pendant. The formidable man looked as if he was scared as he waited for Noin to comment. She had been studying at it for ten minutes at least.

"Noin…?"

She didn't respond and reached for the necklace she had on and pulled it over her head, connecting her pendant to Milliardo's pendant. Matching perfectly, her eyes widened and her body seemed to have relaxed. A smile formed on her face as she looked up at Milliardo cheerfully, speaking a single word full of passion and liveliness, "Zechs…"

Milliardo too, seemed to have jumped for joy as he realised what she had just said. She remembered or at least she realised something that she had wanted to know. "Noin… We're together once again and not even the everyday war of life with separate us." With a gleeful grin, she wrapped he arms around his neck and laughed softly.

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So how'd you like the ending? It took me a long, long time just to think how I should type the BBQ section but I'm happy now that I've finished. Now I'm gonna start that new ZxN fairy tale I have in mind… ^^ I also hope to get quite a few reviews for this last chapter or else I won't rack my brains out as much as I will in my next stories… jk!! Well cyas, Chibi Tsuki