DISCLAIMER: Gundam belongs to Yoshiyuki Tomino.

A/N: This is, of course, assuming that they were childhood friends, which is not mentioned (and probably not even implied) in canon. (Also, the number is pretty much random because I am a lazy-ass who could not be bothered to do research for a 10-minute drabble.)

~ At A Glance ~

On his first day of classes at Lake Victoria Military Academy, he was not expecting to see a familiar face. His steps falter as she draws near. They haven't seen each other since they were children, and there is no way she should be able to recognize him with his mask on. She will pass by without giving him a second thought, and it will be like nothing ever happened. They are as strangers now, and no one can be allowed to violate the security of his new identity.

She stops in front of him.

He is frozen, his internal panic lending a hard set to his jaw that most people would find intimidating.

She smiles and says, "It's been seven years, five months, and twenty-six days."

He is so relived that she didn't speak his old name aloud that it takes a moment for what she said to sink in.

"You counted?" he asks, once he finally finds his voice.

"I missed you," she says. She admits it so easily, without an ounce of embarrassment. "And don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she adds, as she starts to walk past him, carrying on to wherever she'd headed before she crossed paths with him. "I'll see you around."

"I'll... be around," he replies lamely.

~end~

What if I could go to sleep for days?
Would you count the hours,
Or would your restlessness consume,
Fading memories of me?
-AFI, "At A Glance"