SHIN KIDOU SENKI GUNDAM WING

SAINAN NO KEKKA
ACT X, PART IV

 
 
Scene XII: Fire From Heaven

 
The controls of Epyon were so different from that of a Taurus: lighter, leaner, more deadly even as sticks and sheets of metal under his hands. He could feel the power surging under the Gundanium muscles. After more than a year of waiting, Eypon was ready and eager. Epyon was hungry.

Epyon wanted blood.

Rebuilding the Gundam had taken less time than he expected. He was down in the hangar for most of the week, not letting himself rest, fearing that if he took the time to think about what he was doing, he would have to stop. Dimitrios hadn't asked what he was doing or where he was all day. The old man had probably had much practice with Treize's peculiar quirks and habits, and Zechs was grateful for it.

Zechs. He was Zechs now. Not Milliard. Both names made his head hurt. He had been Zechs during the war, then Milliard. Then Zechs again and then Milliard.

Lady, my name is Milliard Peacecraft. Zechs Merquise is dead.

But this time it was different. This time, Zechs Merquise really was dead, burned up in the last battle in a blaze of sacrificial glory like Treize had always wanted for him. He hadn't wanted to be like Treize, but it was only too late that he had realized that it had in fact been his destiny. That Treize had been right yet again about him.

Zechs Merquise had died in the Eve Wars and Milliard Peacecraft had died on A007. So was he now a living, breathing ghost, doomed to haunt the earth for all eternity?

It was the evening of the ninth day when he had pounded in the last bolt, welded the last portion of metal in place and sat back on his heels, exhausted, seeing through blurred vision the towering form of the Gundam rising above him. The green eyes were dark and the gleaming finish had been permanently dulled by fire scorches that even his careful restoration work had not been able to erase, but all the same, it did not matter. He could almost feel the Gundam calling to him, the eerie crowned head and the whip-tail offering a silent challenge.

Are you still worthy to pilot me, Zechs Merquise?

He placed one hand on the cold Gundanium armor of its leg, closing his eyes, trying to remember the feel of power that piloting this craft had given him. This mobile suit, Treize's last gift to him. The way it had gathered under him, the way it had leapt forward at a mere touch, faster and more beautiful than anything he had ever seen. A shooting star through space. Lucifer, the vengeful angel.

He wondered if that was how Treize had seen himself. Knowing that he could never be the savior of the world, had he made himself into the archenemy?

"Treize?" he said aloud, as there was a grinding sound and the hangar door behind him creaked open.

He spun around, hand fumbling for the gun at his belt, not even stopping to wonder who had breached his sacred hiding place. He had brought it up and around, pointed towards the noise, before he realized that the weapons was pointed between the eyes of a slightly smiling old man.

"Di-Dimitrios?"

The old man nodded, no longer smiling now. "I am sorry to disturb you, Master Zechs. But...there is something you should see."

"How long have you known about this place?" he demanded, not dropping the gun.

Dimitrios did not seem fazed at all. "I've known," he said simply. "I have only been down here twice, however, and that was before the war." Gesturing to Epyon. "I did not want to disturb your endeavors these past few days, and I regret having to do so now."

"You knew?" Zechs said again, hoarsely.

Dimitrios smiled, sadly. "This place is a testimony to the greatness of Master Treize. Before he died, he asked me to take care of you. So I have, in all the ways I could." His eyes hardened in a way that Zechs would never have thought possible. "But now, it may be too late."

"What are you talking about?"

"Come with me, please," Dimitrios said. There was a pleading note in his voice that frightened him, and he put the gun away with clammy hands, casting one last look back at Epyon before following the old man out of the hangar. The door slammed shut behind them.

It seemed a long walk to the surface, and yet he felt like it should have been longer as they emerged out of the tunnel to the first floor of the house. He heard someone talking, realized that the vidscreen was on in the next room. "Dimitrios, what's going on?"

The servant gestured to the entrance to the den and he walked through wonderingly, glancing towards the vidscreen as he absentmindedly drew a chair to him and sat.

"-be back in just a minute with more news on this breaking story," the pretty anchor said, and the picture of the newsroom dissolved into the bright colors and loud music of a car commercial.

He felt a chill. The last time there had been a breaking story, they had succeeded in throwing the world into another loop of mass chaos. With a sinking sensation, he realized that the news hounds had uncovered something else, probably related to the Gundam story, and that it was important enough that Dimitrios had breached his unspoken promise and gone down to the hangar to fetch him. What could it be? he wondered. Had they discovered the A007 rebellion? Had one of the pilots died?

He suddenly realized he had been entirely cut off from the world since his return to Earth. Une might have needed him, and she had no idea where he was. In a time of crisis, when he had the opportunity to show how much the new world peace meant to him, he had run away yet again. He was always running away.

Does it matter? Noin is dead.

Before he could begin to digest the importance of that thought, the commercials ended and the screen flashed back to the logo of the World Nation news before once again showing the face of the pretty anchor.

"Good morning from Geneva," she said. "I'm Akiko Kawamura, reporting live from the World Nation news headquarters. Tonight we have had a special request from the president of the World Nation himself, President Sidney Alderman, to present this breaking story. This is something that concerns all of us, as residents of this new and peaceful world, and in the face of the recent crisis with the Gundam pilots, it may have great repercussions."

He leaned forward a little as the screen flashed to a picture of the Preventers Headquarters. He blinked as it zoomed in on the main tower, wondering what all the construction cones and machines were doing there. Had Une ordered additional construction?

"As you all know, the Preventers Headquarters was attacked last week."

He froze.

Attacked?

He gripped the arms of his chair so hard that it hurt, staring at the vidscreen as more pictures panned out, obviously of the afore-mentioned battle. Fire. Smoke. The quality of the footage was blurry and he could hardly make out anything more than shadows of buildings, but it was enough. His throat was dry and he forced himself to relax, to sink back against the cushions of the chair and to listen, to process the information in his head.

"The attackers are thought to be one of the many terrorist organizations that are massing throughout the world and the colonies in the face of the Gundam threat. However, there were no known survivors within the ranks of the attackers so this theory will mostly likely remain unproven."

Terrorists...that made sense. He was willing to bet that many of the leaders of these terrorist organizations were former White Fang soldiers, not willing to give up the ghost of a cause long dead. He wished he could speak with them. Tell them that it hadn't been worth it, tell them that he had been wrong.

But he couldn't do that. That part of him he had left behind on the Libra, when he'd sacrificed himself to bring about an end to the war.

"The terrorists did no real damage to the base or to any of the key personnel within," the voiceover continued, showing more recent, clearer pictures of the headquarters. The main building did not seem to have been damaged, though there was much construction going on by the main gate. "General Une was evacuated to Bern during the attack, with General Sally Po left in charge of the Geneva base. However, little did any of us known that in fact, this was what had been planned all along."

He sat up slowly, feeling time stretch, as it always seemed to do when something terrible was going to happen. Images flashed in front of his eyes - Etille's worn face, Dorothy's accusing eyes. Noin.

"Major General Sally Po has been declared an official traitor to the World Nation."

He didn't even feel shocked. There was no rage, no anger at Sally for destroying everything that he and Une and all the others had worked so hard for, just an endless question.

"Why?" he whispered.

The picture of the newsroom flashed back again, showing Akiko gathering her notes in front of her. "Our correspondent on base, Runako Kouyate, has more on the story."

The picture changed to that of a pleasant looking African man holding a microphone and lit by camera lighting against the rapidly darkening Geneva sky. "Thank you, Akiko. General Sally Po was one of the founders of the new Preventers military in January 196 at the end of the war. She was the deputy commander of the Preventers as well as the commander of Mission Support Command and the head of personnel. All those credits are as impressive as they sound. General Po rose through the ranks of the Federation as a doctor before allying herself with the Gundam pilots during Operation Nova and gaining the admiration of then-Lady Une."

He found it vaguely amusing that the next shot was of the inside of Sally's office. It looked much as he remembered it, except that many of the books and personal trinkets that had characterized it were missing. "Little did anyone know that Po had her own version of peace and justice for the Earth, and apparently, it didn't involve the World Nation or the Preventers. While acting as a loyal commander and role model for thousands of troops on Earth and in the colonies from AC 196 to 197, Po was secretly gathering her own forces, both in the ranks of the Preventers and out of them, to form her own rebellion."

A picture of Sally in her Preventers uniform. "Much of this information has yet to be unclassified, but it is clear that Po was behind many of the formations of various terrorist cells throughout the world, as well as rebellions on the outlying mining colonies. The largest of these rebellions was on mining colony A007 in the Outer Territories."

That was Sally?

He stared at the screen for another second before feeling a weird bubbling start to rise in his stomach. His head was light and his vision had suddenly blurred again, as if he were drunk, but his brain felt remarkably clear, as if the last of the fog had been cleared away, and he wondered how he couldn't have seen it before . A007. It hadn't been just a rebellion after all. Noin had been right. It had been something else....

Noin.

If Sally had been behind the rebellion, that meant that she had been behind Noin's deployment to A007. She had been head of personnel. She had sent Noin.

She had meant for Noin to die.

He took a deep, ragged breath, wringing his hands together to stop them from shaking. He had been meant to die too, on A007. It hadn't been just Noin...Sally had gotten Une to transfer him too, so that he would be out of the way. And he, foolish man that he was, had taken Dorothy...if Sally's plan had worked, Dorothy would have been killed too.

"Damn it," he said quietly. "Damn you, Sally. What did you have to go do that for? Wasn't one war enough? Wasn't one...?"

Runako Kouyate was still talking and he caught snatches of speech about terrorist attacks and conspiracy theories and something about a Pierre Gils-Reve. He glanced up at the screen at that to see a picture of a young officer that looked very familiar. He wondered how many Sally had managed to sway to her cause.

"Right now we have reports of fighting in Asia Minor as well as minor skirmishes across the Balkans. Po's forces, according to the Preventers, are trying to seize missiles from silo sites around the globe. Her true intentions as well as her whereabouts are unknown, but General Dermand Etille, commander of the Geneva base in General Une's absence, has stated that the Preventers are working with all deliberate speed to try to determine this information."

He was only mildly surprised to see Etille on the screen next, obviously at some sort of news conference. He looked different than Zechs remembered him - perhaps it was the Preventers uniform.

"I cannot give out specific information at this time," Etille was saying, "but rest assured that all who remain in the Preventers are loyal to the World Nation and that we are employing all available resources to combat the work of this traitor who is trying to plunge the world into another war."

He knew what Sally was going after in Asia Minor. The Kashmir base had an entire armament bank of missiles there - the most powerful that they'd had since the arms cutback after the war. He didn't know what Sally wanted the missiles for, and he didn't want to know. He hoped Etille knew what he was doing.

"Master Zechs?"

Dimitrios. The old man was back. Zechs stood up slowly, keeping one hand on the chair arm to steady himself. "I'm done here," he said hoarsely.

"What are you going to do, Master Zechs?"

"Sally's in Asia Minor," he said with a tight smile. "She's a traitor. I am, technically, still the Chief of Operations for the Preventers and the commander of Combat Command. Am I not?"

"I have no heard anything to the contrary," Dimitrios said quietly. "Are you going to Asia Minor, then?"

"I was thinking about it," he heard himself say. "Is there any reason why I shouldn't?"

Dimitrios gazed at him with dark eyes, the Greek features unreadable. "I promised Master Treize that I'd take care of you," he said at last. "But even Treize understood that there would come a time when that would no longer be possible."

"I'm not going to die," he said. "You make it sound so...morbid. I came back from A007, didn't I?"

"Perhaps," the old man replied, watching him. "Did you?"

He didn't answer, brushing past the servant on his way out of the room, stopping in the hallway outside the door. There was an old painting of one of the Khushrenada family on the opposite wall: a young woman, her large, dark eyes gazing at him sadly out of a pale face framed with golden curls.

"She killed Noin," he said at last. "She tried to kill me. She almost killed Dorothy. This isn't...this isn't something I can overlook. Even for Treize. Treize would understand...didn't he say that war goes on forever? We were foolish to think that we could stop it with something as simple as a sheet of paper, the building of an organization."

"I lost Treize to those ideals," Dimitrios said. "I do not wish to lose another."

He clenched his fists at his sides. "I'm not fighting for those ideals," he snapped. "I tried to, once...I tried to sacrifice myself to end war altogether...and Sally just proved that what I tried to do was just pointless in the end!"

I'll do it for you, Treize...I'll finish what you started.

His words, just nine days ago. He'd thought he could do it then, thought he had done his penance and could uphold Treize's high ideals once more. He had rebuilt Epyon to prove it. And now...he wasn't sure what he believed anymore. Sally's betrayal changed everything. If even she could betray him, who could he trust?

What had Treize fought for in the first place? The nobility of man...the glory of war? That didn't seem quite right. Treize was still an enigma to him. But one thing he knew: Treize had believed in the will of the soldier above all else, and Zechs Merquise was still a soldier.

"I'm going to Asia Minor," he said. "Don't try to stop me."

He had slid into Eypon's seat, powered up the engines with smooth, long-missed motions and keyed in the coordinates of the Kashmir base. He didn't know if Sally was there. It didn't matter. As long as there was something there for him to fight...as long as he could match himself against something tangible, a visible enemy, instead of fighting the conflicting emotions inside his mind...it would be all right. He was so tired of feeling like nothing he did mattered.

Noin, what would you do now?

Epyon rose into the air like a silent hawk, pursuing a course westwards. The digital chronometer read just past 0300 hours, and the night around him was quiet and still. The humming of Eypon's engines was a soft buzzing in his ears and the cockpit shivered around him, as if adjusting to all the time it had wasted sitting alone and in pieces under Treize's grand mansion. He adjusted the comm channels, keying in the Preventers frequency, hoping to hear something - anything. If there was fighting going on in Asia Minor, as the news station had said, something would have to come through.

He was not disappointed. Through the static he could hear voices, the clipped tones of mobile suit pilots, but they were soft and tinny and muffled through the bad reception. He was still too far away. Faster. He wasn't fast enough.

"Fly for me, Eypon," he whispered, bringing all power to engines, and the great craft lurched, seemed to pause for a moment in midair, and the g-forces slammed into him as it leapt forward on wings of air. He gritted his teeth. He had grown used to the sudden shift of forces in Tallgeese when he had first started piloting Epyon, but he had been out of the cockpit for too long, and a Taurus was no match for the power of this machine.

The sky grew lighter as he flew westwards. He kept to the higher altitudes, gauging the wind currents. The night flowed around him like a living thing, a blanket of hidden secrets, and the screens around him remained dark. Not that he was afraid. He had conquered the Zero system, and its secrets were revealed to him. He was safe.

I'm going to kill Sally.

The words left a sour taste in his mouth, but he forced himself to wrap his mind around the thought. Kill Sally, the woman who he had trusted for so long - admired, even, for her courage in the face of danger. He supposed he was still courageous in a way, in some twisted, bizarre sort of fashion, if sending friends to their death could be called courageous. He didn't want to kill Sally. But at the same time it had to be done, because only by killing Sally could he end this cycle of war.

She was his true enemy.

His brain seemed sluggish and the crackle of static in his ears was suddenly painfully loud. No, that wasn't the Zero system. That was his own thought. He was sure of it. The Zero system hadn't activated...the golden glow was missing and he was fully in control. Yes.

"...request rein...too many...not able to...hold thi-"

The transmission was cut short in a shower of static, and he gripped the controls tightly, resisting the urge to call in on his own frequency, announce that he was coming to help them. That he was coming to save them. He would save them all. He was the savior of the world, of the colonies, and nothing would stop him.

He was above the Kashmir base now, could see the bright explosions of combat down below on the surface now, and Epyon dove sharply, but he didn't feel the familiar shift of g-forces, felt instead a floating sensation of incredible pain and pleasure all at once and something in the back of his brain telling him that this was wrong, that it was all wrong, and he should turn back.

I'm going to kill Sally Po.

I'm going to kill her.

Kill her, my true enemy.

With a cry, he let Eypon go, felt the great craft screaming through the night air, saw the beginning glow of dawn as he brought the Gundam up sharply and heard the stunned voices on the comm.

"What's that?"

"It's a Gundam!"

"GUNDAM!"

The beam saber was ignited and in Epyon's hand before they hit the ground, and he was guiding the Gundam into the firefight. Who was the enemy? It didn't matter. They were all enemies, the ones who had sent him out to die. The ones who had killed Her...he saw Her face in front of his eyes, saw Her smile, saw Her mobile suit exploding again and again.

Noin!

Kill Sally, She said, Her voice harsh and unnatural and for some reason he thought it was odd that She didn't sound like he remembered. But She turned and looked at him, Her eyes glowing golden like a hawk's and he felt himself falling into Her gaze.

Yes. Kill Sally. Sally.

A wordless cry of rage rose in his throat, spilled out in a long, harsh sobbing breath as Epyon's beam saber rose and fell, as he heard the screams and the explosions over the comm. He was doing the right thing. He was ridding them of their misery, just as Treize had wanted. Just as She had wanted.

He saw the mobile suit rise up in front of him, heard the frantic call of its pilot. "Stop! Colonel, stop! It's us! You're after the wrong people!"

"I have no need for you!" he cried, and Epyon's saber came down, cutting into the Taurus with a shower of golden sparks, because everything was golden in front of his eyes now, glowing with a blazing white-gold, just like Her eyes, piercing into his soul. He saw the explosion as if in slow motion, the golden shards of the mobile suit spilling over into a golden slow flow of molten metal, falling to the golden earth in a shower of golden fire, as the earth melted away.

My life is destined to be stained with blood. It's too late for me to escape from my sins!

No...this is wrong.

"Noin," he breathed, his throat ragged and raw, his hands sweaty and cold. His head was swimming and everything was warm and cold at the same time, and he felt Epyon's presence around him like a living thing, taking him in its coils and slowly wrapping around him, crushing, as he screamed and no one would listen.

Kill Sally. Kill. Kill her.

NO! THIS IS WRONG!

"I...Noin..." he gasped, and he felt Epyon stumble, saw the missile silo in front of him go up in flames as the missiles themselves ignited, saw them shooting towards the sky in a terrible arc of smoke and golden fire.

"NO!" he screamed, pounding on the controls, trying to bring Epyon's cannon to bear on them before they got up through the atmosphere, before they got away...but it was too late and he knew he could do nothing as he watched them streaking away, and he knew that people would die. Because of him.

Eypon was falling.

KILL SALLY! She demanded, those golden eyes digging down to his soul like grasping claws shooting fire. KILL HER!

I CAN'T!

He gave a great heaving sob and felt something inside of him break as the Gundam hit the ground, felt the restraints holding him to his seat give way and he slumped bonelessly down on the consoles, taking deep, gasping breaths, eyes squeezed shut.

It was quiet.

"-craft? Do you hear me? Colonel Peacecraft? Hello? Answer me!"

An explosion rocked the side of the Gundam and he slowly opened his eyes. It was dark, the golden glow gone, though he could still see its echoes in front of his iris if he did not concentrate. Epyon's engines were silent, dead. His hands were shaking too much to even grasp the stick, but he wet his lips, swallowed.

"I'm...here," he said. He could barely hear himself talk. Everything was a blur of light and darkness, and he felt like he would be sick.

"Colonel Peacecraft, get away from here!"

He managed to push himself up on one elbow. The viewscreen was blank, and he fumbled for the control buttons, pushed for an outside visual. The sun was coming up above the steaming wreckage of mobile suits, and he could hear explosions behind him. From the camera angle, Epyon was lying almost face down on the ground. He could see that the missiles were still there, the silos silent and unarmed. They hadn't been released. It had all been an illusion.

The Zero system.

Another explosion. He could see a group of Leos swooping in his direction, their guns pointed at him.

"Peacecraft, they're aiming for you, and if you don't move, there won't be anything I can do to help!"

That voice...

"Etille?" he whispered.

"Took you long enough," Etille returned, and there was a roar as an entire brigade of mobile suits passed over him and dropped down in front of the Leos, taking them head on. "Peacecraft! This is no place for you. You better get you and Epyon out of here."

"I...can't...the engines..."

"From my reading, you have one operable engine left. Both of them cut out when you fell for some reason, but one of them should be working. It's enough to limp back to Geneva on." A Leo exploded, and shrapnel pelted the camera. "Get out of here! This isn't your fight!"

"Then what is?" he demanded. Etille was right - one of his engines still worked. With a groan, Epyon picked itself up from the ground. There was 30% damage to the outside hull, but the Gundanium armor was still strong enough to take on anything a Leo could throw at it. He saw one out of the corner of his eye, turned, jammed the beam saber through it. It was all he could do keep the Gundam upright through that motion. Epyon's balance felt off, and the thrusters wouldn't work properly.

Etille's voice was grim. "Dammit, Peacecraft, this isn't a game! I don't have time for your theatrics...this is a war! Get out of here now!"

He couldn't think straight and Epyon wasn't responding quickly enough, but the golden glow was still gone and he supposed that was good enough. "I'll go..." he said dazedly. "I'll...be back..."

"Get out of here NOW!"

As if on its own, Epyon leapt into the air just as a burst of fire streaked through the air where he had just been. He waited for someone to pursue him, but there was no answering fire, no shaking to signify that he'd been shot out of the sky. His throat was still raw and his hands were still trembling. The Zero system...he thought he had conquered it. He thought that it was a thing of the past.

He'd wanted to it to be different, but it was the same as it had been two years ago. He still wasn't strong enough.

For some reason, his thoughts flew back to that last terrible battle, heard himself shouting again through the echo of memory, It is the stronger that create the weaker!

And heard Heero Yuy's voice responding, a thing out of the distant past. You and Trieze are the same. To protect the weak you destroy justice, but in the end you can't save them that way! All human kind is weak...you and I are the weak!

"I'm sorry...Noin..." he whispered as Epyon began its slow, limping flight towards Geneva. "I couldn't save you..."

Go to sidestory Blessed

 
Scene XIII: The Ones Left Behind

 
She knew, in her bones, that Duo was gone... again.

He was getting damn good at taking off, leaving her behind, and she was getting damn sick of it. This time he hadn't even bothered to leave a note for her, and she had just about had it with him. If this was what life with Duo was going to be like, not knowing if he was going to be beside her from one day to the next, she was ready to tell him to shove it.

She loved him, but she refused to be treated like something he could pick up and set down as he pleased. Sure, he was a Gundam pilot, but that didn't mean he could leave without saying goodbye!

Besides, didn't he realize she could take care of herself? He had trusted her enough to help him retrieve Deathscythe and Zero... It was true that she hadn't exactly followed what he'd been planning, taking Zero without his permission, but it'd all worked out in the end. She was a competent pilot, and she wanted to be at his back, if possible.

If only he would give her that chance, rather than making the decision for her.

Damn him.

Hilde had no clue why she was so convinced he had run off; he hadn't even been gone for twelve hours, and it was barely past midnight, but something in her knew he was gone. She was starting to develop a sense of him, and she knew almost the moment he left the base.

Double damn him to the hell he was so obsessed with sending others to. When she got her hands on him...

That was assuming she stayed. Did he expect her to just wait for him, like a good little woman at home, while he went out and saved the world? Was she supposed to be there for him when he decided that the time was right?

When hell freezes over! She thought furiously. I'm not going to take this lying down, Duo Maxwell! She stalked towards their bedroom, preparing to pack. She had no clue where the hell she was going, but she was sure if she asked Etille, he'd be able to find something for her to do. Heaven knew the Preventers needed competent people right now, with over a fifth of their force defecting with Sally.

Her hand just landed on the door handle when the doorbell rang. She jumped slightly at the unexpected sound, swinging around in confusion before she placed it. "Come in!" she called, confused. Who the hell is calling this late? she wondered.

The door slid open silently, and a man entered. She blinked once, wondering if her eyes were working right. "Trowa?" she whispered. The last thing she had known, Trowa Barton wouldn't have come anywhere near this room, for Duo would most likely have shot him on sight.

Trowa nodded, his enigmatic green eyes full of shadows. "Can I talk to you for a bit?" he asked.

"I'm not playing mediator between you and Duo," she said, playing her hands on her slender hips. Even though Duo was gone, and she was angrier than she could ever remember being with him, there was no way she'd betray his trust. The one thing anyone would say about Hilde Schbeiker in her epitaph was that she was loyal.

Trowa should his head, somehow managing to maintain eye contact as he did so - an amazing talent. "I already saw Duo tonight. We've made our peace."

Hilde was glad for that; it seemed wrong for the pilots to be at odds. Still, a part of her was resentful that Trowa, the man Duo had been ready to kill twelve hours ago, had seen him more recently then she had. "Oh." Her voice was flat.

"Duo wanted me to talk to you." Trowa looked around uncomfortably, and she knew that he was trying to break through his customary silence.

Well. She had no intention of making it easy on him. "Oh," she said again, speaking even more blandly then before. Had Duo been there, he would have run for cover, recognize the brewing storm.

Trowa stared at her for a moment without blinking. "You're angry at him," he said.

"He leaves me on base without telling me where he's going, who he's going with, offering me the chance to go with him, and basically implies that I should just wait for him to come back. Why would I be angry?" she asked in her sweetest voice.

The pilot thought for a second, processing her words seriously, and she wondered just how brain-damaged he was. There was just something not right with Trowa Barton. "You're a lot like Catherine," he told her. "She was angry with me when I left her," he said softly. "I didn't leave a note, either." Even though his voice was quiet, there was a hint of wistful regret in it.

Hilde's retort died on her lips. Apparently he had taken her seriously, and wasn't planning to give her platitudes. "So it's part of your training? Leave without a word, come back in six months and pick up where you left off?" she asked bitterly. "That's no excuse!"

"It's not an excuse. And it's not something we're trained to do - it's just a mistake we're prone to... because we're human." He moved over and sat down on the couch, waving a hand for her to join him.

She almost snapped that it was her room, and that he was being presumptuous, but she knew that carrying on an emotional conversation was difficult for him. Duo had talked about the pilots a lot in the first three months after the war, and sometimes he had wondered if Trowa was slightly autistic... or something. Trowa had a difficulty connecting to emotional issues and understanding them.

Which was one of the reasons Ilene Keets had died.

Hilde didn't blame him for killing the girl. She rather thought that Ilene had gone too far over the edge to be saved.

"Human? How could he..."

"He left you because he treasures you above everything," Trowa interrupted. "He left you where he thought you'd be safe." His eyes grew distant. "There's nowhere safe on this earth, but where he's about to go, he's risking death. And he doesn't want you to do the same."

Her blue eyes flashed dangerous and she leaned closer to him, whether to strangle him or wave a finger in his face, she didn't know. "I can take care of myself!" she insisted.

"I agree. You're one of the most competent women - people - I have ever met. But love doesn't always let people see clearly... and having you there would be an unnecessary risk. Tell me, would you let Duo die, if the mission called for that sacrifice?"

She opened her mouth to say that no, she never would let Duo die, but then her vision in the Zero came to her. "I... yes. If it was needed, I'd kill him myself." She shut her eyes and glanced away, feeling the burn of unshed tears that she refused to let fall.

Trowa seemed surprised. "I... I didn't know you were capable of that. Perhaps they should have taken you."

"They?" she said, pouncing on his slip.

Trowa appeared even more surprised by his uncharacteristic blunder. "You can guess. I can't tell you." He rose, and started for the door. "I just came to tell you goodbye for Duo, since he couldn't do it for himself... that, and he loves you."

She clenched her fists, the tears finally spilling over. Trowa looked over his shoulder, hesitating, before coming back. Kneeling down beside her, he brushed her tears off her cheeks using his thumb. His skin was rough against her smooth cheeks, and she looked up at him through her long lashes. "I... I want to hate him for doing this to me."

He was quiet for a moment before speaking. "Loving a pilot is the hardest thing in the world. Chances are, none of us will die of old age... our luck will run out someday. When I left my sister, I doomed her to always wondering about me, and having no definite answers. To love us, there's always that uncertainty... I wonder how you can do it. You are so much stronger then we are, for you're the pillar of strength we lean on."

She just looked at him blankly for a moment before her coldness came apart, and she fell forward, her face buried in her hands as she sobbed. Trowa Barton merely watched, helpless to offer comfort, for he had no idea how.

She, of course, regretted crying later.

Hilde hated to cry, for she wasn't one of the women who knew how to cry prettily. It always left her face blotchy, and eyes swollen. Besides, she hated losing control, especially over a man. She wasn't some silly girl whose life depended on what the man in her life did to her - not even a man like Duo Maxwell.

She had sent Trowa away almost as soon as she had regained enough voice to speak, not wanting to let anyone see her cry. He had fled almost gratefully, obviously overwhelmed by the emotional storm from the woman he barely knew.

It had been kind of him, in his awkwardness, to try to bring her the message Duo had sent. She knew what it must have cost the Heavyarms pilot to reach out to her, and she appreciated it. But right now, she didn't want to see any of the pilots.

She had allowed herself to indulge in a good two-hour crying jag in her room, throwing her body across the bed. Trowa's words had taken the anger away from her, leaving only the pain. She had let Duo go before, and now she had to do so again. The vision she had in the Zero circled through her mind, of catching the world and letting Duo be shot, simply because the world was more important then one person - even the person she loved more than her own life.

She was a soldier. She understood how these things worked.

She had let Duo go, again. This was the third time.... Were they forever damned into a relationship where they were forced to be separated?

A week ago, he had asked her to let him stay, and he had already taken off...

She gasped, as she remembered what she had answered.

Hilde, will you let me stay?

I love you, Duo. Even if we're not together, I want you to know that.

It bore thinking on. She needed to move, physical activity, to stimulate her thoughts. The gym was open all hours, and there would be few officers there to see the damage she had done to herself in her emotional tirade.

She pushed herself upright, feeling her swollen face that no make-up would disguise. She had never learned how to use make-up that way, anyway. So all she could do was splash some cold water on her face and change into a pair of workout sweats. She'd never been into the tight workout outfits that displayed the body, and since her encountered fleeing the Libra, she had a few nice scars that attracted more stares than she was comfortable. After grabbing a sweatband, a water bottle, and a swimsuit, she decided to go.

The VOQ was blessedly close to the gym, which meant she had a short jog. She was asked to show her ID twice, and did so grumpily, feeling imposed upon. If Duo was with her, she wouldn't have been grabbed. Everyone knew Duo.

Still, she was right. The large Preventer gym was almost empty when she arrived, and she smiled, knowing that she wouldn't have to fight for any of her favorite machines. She'd tried coming at 5 a.m. once, and the place had been nuts.

"Hilde?" a soft voice said.

She spun around, surprised at the recognition. She hadn't met anyone, really, since coming on base, because she'd spent most of her time with the Gundams or Duo. She blinked, trying to recognize the girl in a cute pink and green workout suit like the ones she so disliked. It took a moment for her to place the face, because she always saw this girl dressed in business clothes or formal gowns. "Relena?"

The girl smiled and nodded. "Yes. It's so good to see you..." She held out both hands and Hilde clasped them awkwardly.

"Um, yeah." Hilde wondered what Relena was doing up at this hour, in the gym, on Preventers' base. "It's nice to see you again..."

"It's nice to see you too," the other girl responded graciously. "I've wondered what happened to you after you left the Libra that day, and I heard you were on base with Duo...but I've been so busy..."

Hilde blinked. "Then shouldn't you be sleeping now?"

Relena laughed, though it wasn't a sincere one that met her eyes. "I couldn't sleep. I had a late meeting, so I decided to stay here, rather then go back to Dorothy's. So I had someone get me some clothes to work out in - it's been a while since I've done anything physical, and I think I'm dreadfully out of shape. Sitting behind a desk or listening to Senate sessions doesn't lend itself to physical fitness, I fear." The sweat on her forehead was a testimonial to the work out she'd been doing.

"I doubt it would." Hilde was amazed at how self-conscious the graceful, self-assured ruler of Cinq made her feel, and wished there was some polite way to ditch her. She had come to think, not for company. No one came to the gym at 2 a.m. for company.

The other girl tugged on her ponytail. "I was about to head to the pool... the nice thing about being the so-called Queen of the World is that I'll get it to myself. Would you come with me?"

"Well, I was about to go for the exercise bikes," Hilde said, knowing Relena's quick eyes had noticed she was carrying her swimsuit in her left hand, so she couldn't use that as an excuse.

"I have something I want to talk to you about... I ran into Heero tonight, as he was on his way out," Relena said softly, and Hilde saw the deep sorrow and confusion in her eyes. The queen's slender hands clenched. "Please... I... think you might be the only one who can understand."

"They went together," Hilde said softly. "Just those two, I think."

"Then come?" Relena asked. "I... I really need to talk to someone who won't laugh at me, or call me an obsessive, foolish girl."

Hilde smiled back, feeling a kindred spirit, and amazed in spite of herself. A soldier and a pacifist, both who loved pilots. "Let's go get changed."

The pool was competition-sized, but both girls stuck to the shallow end. Hilde dipped her toes in and sighed. "It's too warm," she complained, before swinging right in.

Relena, on the other hand, eased in more delicately, shivering. "Speak for yourself. I prefer my pools to be around 85."

"You need help," Hilde said, dunking her head and face, hoping it would erase the rest of the damage her tears had done.

"I think we all do." Relena's hair had been piled carefully on top of her head, and her suit was a modest one piece with an attached skirt. Hilde rather thought she looked like someone's mother. "But not for the reasons you think." She looked over at Hilde. "I managed to catch Heero today... right before he left."

"You're lucky. Duo sent a message through Trowa.... I mean, talk about an emotional goodbye."

The girls exchanged bitter glances, and Relena fell backwards into the water, floating for a moment. Hilde did the same, enjoying the weightlessness. It was similar to being in space... the space which she and Duo loved so much. Almost like Zero G... but not quite.

Then on some unseen signal they swam over to the steps and sat together. "It's hard, loving him, isn't it?" Relena asked.

"It's the hardest and easiest thing in the world," Hilde said. "Loving him is easy. Putting up with everything that goes with it is hard."

Relena smiled softly. "I... I think I know what you mean." She stared down at the bottom of the pool. "Sometimes it feels like I'm drowning. I keep trying to surface, or hold my breath just a bit longer, but... well, tonight, I think I took a mouthful of water."

Hilde raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"I told Heero I loved him."

Hilde fluttered her lashes a bit. "Oh...my. And?"

"It didn't go well." Relena didn't seem depressed, merely resigned.

"I gather that. Duo's a bit easier to deal with on an emotional level."

Relena laughed a bit, but there was a hysterical edge to it. "I'll say. Heero's so screwed up that I doubt anything will ever straighten him out. But I love him so much it burns inside me, and I had to let him know, I had to say it aloud."

"Loving a pilot - it takes strength and selflessness. Because we keep letting them go, hoping they'll come back. And we know someday, they won't." Hilde looked at her fingers, which were starting to wrinkle from the water.

"Everyone else calls me selfish," Relena sighed. "Because I keep shoving myself at him."

Hilde laughed. "No, you're not. Heero needs you to love him; it's been the one constant in his life since he descended with Wing. But you need to focus on another goal; your goal can't be Heero."

"What?" Relena asked. Everyone had been trying to get her to do something, and now Hilde, the first person who had told her it was okay to love Heero, was telling her the same? The confusion in her eyes was almost tangible.

"Heero most likely won't live forever. There's only so many miracles he can pull off. I've accepted that Duo won't die of old age... so I've made myself another goal. You need to accept your other duties, so you have something to keep you going when Heero is gone. For the day when he doesn't come back."

Relena blinked slowly. "People have been trying to tell me I should do things. Dorothy has been trying to get me to take a more prominent role in Quatre's trial. Others want me to be the Queen of the World politically. My brother... I don't know what he wants from me. Everyone wants something from me... but all I want is Heero, and he leaves. He left with Duo."

"And we're the ones who get left behind," Hilde said bitterly. "Well, I'm not going to take it lying down... are you?"

Relena turned startled eyes onto the other girl. "What?"

"You're the Queen of the World. Take your throne, your majesty. You're the most powerful politician in known space. You have the power to end Quatre's trial - all you have to do is act, rather than react. You have the power to go against what Heero tells you - that or aid him. I've been watching the trial, and from what you've told me about Heero, all you've done is just sit back and let events take their course. Dorothy's hinted at it, hasn't she? Well, I'm not hinting - I'm telling you... you need to just make up your mind."

Relena's eyes flared. "How - how dare..."

"I dare because someone needs to come flat-out and tell you. You've become a puppet for other politicians. Is that Relena Darlian Peacecraft? Or is she the one who makes up her own mind?"

"I -" Relena stared a moment at Hilde before she started to laugh. "You are one of the craziest women I've met. You've just pissed off the Queen of the World!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Hilde asked challengingly.

"Second, I'm going to call Dorothy and Sylvia and tell them that we're going ahead with our plan. It's all or nothing, but if it works, Quatre's trial is about to blow up. Third, I'm going to figure out exactly how to show my brother and Heero that I'm there for them."

Hilde's eyes sparkled in joy. "Count me into your plans. I'm one of your best resources... but what's your first plan?"

Relena smiled mischievously. "I'm going to drown you for your lesse majeste!" she declared at she lunged forward, attempting to pull Hilde underwater.

 
Scene XIV: Finding the Path in the Darkness

 
The whispers were getting louder.

Une had known that people had thought her organization was faulty from the start, and now she understood why. When the very foundation was built with rotted wood, it was inevitable that the structure crumple. And since Une was standing high on the ramparts, she knew she was going to fall, and the fall was going to be a long and hard one.

Sally Po had betrayed her. The idea seemed unthinkable, but it had happened. Sally had been one of the most loyal people she had known; it was too bad her loyalties hadn't been with the Preventers or the World Nation.

Lopez, the golden child of the Preventers, was still unweaving the webs Sally had spent months spinning. Une feared that they would never uncover all the traitors within their organization, and each report Lopez delivered to her made more and more sick to her stomach. The Preventers had been her unofficial memorial to Treize, and to have it perverted like it had been just enraged her.

She had been trying to protect people, and in the end, she had been used. It was such a bitter pill to swallow.

"Ma'am?"

A quiet voice interrupted her reverie, and she looked up to see Li enter. Gils-Reve was gone, and Une had quickly recalled Li to her side, needing her experience. Li had helped keep the Preventers from falling apart, transferring personnel to the places where organization was worst hit by the defections, and otherwise ensuring the smooth-functioning of operations. Her level-headed coolness was one of the few things that had kept Une from throwing one of her fits.

It was no time for her tantrums.

"Yes, Li?" she asked.

"We have a recommendation from Brown that you return to Geneva and resume command from the main base." The woman's face was carefully devoid of expression as she handed over the hardcopy.

Going back... Une thought. She stared down at the words which spelled out what she had been hoping for and dreading. "It would reassure people that we're back in control..."

"It's wise, politically, as well," Li added. "Etille is leaving for Asia Minor to take command there, and while we can put Lopez as interim commander, he just doesn't have the rank needed to keep the position."

"That's too bad. He'd do a better job then just about anyone else, don't you think?" Une asked on a sigh. "I really wish I could jump him that high..."

"Ma'am?" Li asked, obviously wondering if she was supposed to answer.

"Rhetorical question. What's the other options if I don't go?" Une asked softly, wanting to think this through. Going back to Geneva was... something she was dreading. Her base, the one she had nurtured, wouldn't feel the same, not after the terrorists had violated it.

"Brown goes. Or we yank someone in from one of the branch offices, but that would leave another hole. You and Brown really shouldn't be sitting together. You're too tempting a target. One well-placed missile and the entire command is wiped out."

I could send Brown... she thought, and for a moment she almost took the easy way out. But then she smiled, and looked at Li. "Tell Brown to send Lopez to prepare the base for my arrival. I'll be arriving there tomorrow."

Li looked a bit surprised. "Ma'am? I'm your aide... wouldn't it be better if -"

Une shook her head. "I'm reassigning aides. Brown is going to need you here, to establish a secondary command; he'll tell you what to do, and you need to be cross-trained if what I have in mind for you is going to work. We had all of our eggs in one basket... it's time we learn how to delegate a bit more. And I'm going to train Lopez up to take Sally's place... I have no clue where the hell Peacecraft is, if he's alive, so I'm going to need Etille over in Operations. I need someone, and you're a communications officer, and there's no one else good enough to untangle the mess Sally made. If Lopez can survive my intensive course, he's my next Support and Personnel Director." Her eyes flashed. "We're going to see just how bright our golden child really is."

Lees than twenty-four hours later found Une disembarking the shuttle, blinking in the late afternoon sunlight of her base. She glanced around, wondering who was going to be there to meet her. She had told Lopez no formal side party was necessary, but it would be unprofessional of him to not have anyone there to greet her.

Still, Lopez did tend to be a bit literal, and that was going to be something she had to whip out of him, if he was going to become one of the top brass. She frowned, glancing around the tarmac, feeling irritated. Lopez is really going to-

"General?" a quiet voice said. "Captain Lopez asked if I would accompany you today."

She turned around, feeling surprised. She had known he was on base, and she immediately chalked extra brownie points onto Lopez's card. There was no one she would rather see, and Lopez had somehow known that secret desire of her heart. "Trowa!" she exclaimed, feeling a genuine smile bloom on her face. "It's so good to see you!"

He nodded his head, and there was genuine respect there. "It's good to have you back," he replied, but a slight smile tugged at his lips. "Shall I get your cases for you?"

She laughed and waved a hand. "Let an airman do it. They can throw it in the quarters I never see. I hope someone dusts in there, or else the dust colonies might be ready to apply for admittance to the World Nation," she returned. "I'd rather have you accompany me to my office... I have something I want to talk to you about."

He raised an eyebrow, but followed her, respectfully a step behind. As she walked through the base, she became aware of personnel turning their heads to her, smiles lighting their faces as they snapped her crisp salutes. She nodded back, and she saw there eyes light as they returned to their tasks with renewed determination.

I should have come back a week ago....

Her office was still, and she was aware of the scent of freshly washed carpets and lemon from the cleaning fluids. Une sighed as she kicked the heavy oak doors shut behind her, smiling at Trowa. "I'd offer you coffee, but I have no clue where my aide is, and I have the feeling his coffee is terrible, anyway. He's a bit of an intellectual."

"It's okay," Trowa replied. "I'd rather know what your mind is plotting."

She went around her desk, and fell into her large chair, gripping the armrests. It was the final stage in her homecoming, and it felt right. She studied Trowa, smiling at him gently. He had always been her favorite pilot, simply because he was a soldier. He knew what a soldier's life was like, and she understood what it meant. "You've grown quite a bit since we've last met," she said softly. "Grown older, and wiser, if the sadness in your eyes is any measure."

"General?" he asked quietly, and the confusion on his face was classic. She almost laughed, because in emotions, he was an innocent.

"Trowa," she replied. "Call me Une... there's no need for formalities. I'd like to think that we, at least, can be friends."

He considered it for a moment before hesitantly nodding. "Une." He examined her face for a moment, returning to her shadowed eyes. "As a friend, would it be forgivable if I said you looked like hell?" His voice was unsure, and she realized that few people had offered him friendship.

She laughed lightly. "As a friend, yes. It's a friend's duty to smack a person on the head when they're over exerting themselves." She sighed and raked a hand through her hair, the fingers catching on the knots. "Still, I have little choice. The Preventers are falling apart around me."

"Which is why you invited me," Trowa stated softly. He rose to his feet and circled her desk, looking down at her. "No barriers, Une. What do you want?"

"The other pilots are fighting this war, Trowa... and I wanted to offer you the chance to as well," she returned. They stared at each other, neither backing down. The moment was an eternal one before he broke the silence.

"How? I have no Gundam." There was no anger or accusation in his voice; merely statement of fact. Had it been another pilot, he would have spoken of a loss of his soul... but Trowa was different.

Trowa was an obsolete soldier, and it was up to her to turn him back into the man he should be.

Une nodded. "So let me offer you a way to fight." Her eyes met his and she leaned forward, her hands resting on her knees. "I want to give you control of the Preventers' central missile defense system in Kashmir."

He blinked, and for a moment, she thought she saw genuine shock cross his face. But it was gone too fast for her to be sure. "You what?" he whispered.

"I want to give you control over the missile defense," she repeated. "What do you know about the missile defense system?"

"Not much," he said after a moment. "I heard them debating it on television right when the Preventers were formed. But not much more than that."

Une snorted. "I wanted a defense system that would be competent enough to hit an enemy on the ground, in the air, or in space, including on the colonies. The World Nation said it was too much of a superweapon. They compared it to Libra's cannon."

Trowa nodded. "But you managed to pass it through on the charter, didn't you? I don't think a few nuclear missiles are anywhere near to what Libra's cannon was."

"It's not Libra's cannon," she admitted. "But it's close. I wasn't comfortable with leaving the Preventers' defense to a few mobile suits, and with the World Nation's seeming policy towards total demilitarization, I supposed I overreacted. I regret it now, but the thing cost quite a bit of money, and I'm not about to admit that I was wrong. Yes, they passed it, after Brown and I haggled with them on the issue for days.

"Whatever the case, that system is the key to this war. These are state-of-the-art nuclear missiles that can hit any target around the Earth and the colonies, and if Sally gets ahold of them, we're history. I created the Preventers to be a high-security organization, and security breaches have already happened twice. I don't intend to let them happen again! The World Nation isn't going to get the last laugh, if I can help it!"

"And that's why you want me."

"I still didn't know if I was right to build that missile defense system," she said. "But it's here and it's ready to be used, and if it comes to it, I want someone trustworthy to push the button."

"Why?" he asked. "You can't give control of those to a civilian..."

She locked onto his gaze with burning eyes and stood. He was taller than she was now. They were less than a foot apart, and she was aware of how much change eighteen months had wrought. He was an adult now, and though he had always been her equal, now he was physically one as well. Treize had been taller, but one day, Trowa would be of the same height as the man she had loved.

It was disorienting, to realize that so much time had passed since Treize had died. Trowa had had time to grow up...

"You're not a civilian," she returned, and continued to stare him down. "The only place that the system can be controlled from is the Kashmir base. The controls require manual input, and Brown, Sally and I were the only ones who could operate them. When Sally defected, the codes were changed, so that leaves just Brown and myself. But since Brown's in Bern, he won't be able to operate them... and if I'm not around, I need someone to do it in my stead, whose judgement I trust. Who I can trust." She grabbed his chin in hand, leaning forward so their faces were no more than six inches apart. "I've learned that I can trust very few people, but the world needs to trust the pilots. We put our faith in you once; let me put my trust in you again."

He pulled back, stepping away and turning his head. "Why me? Why not one of your officers?"

"Because, Trowa, there's no one I trust more. The pilots have never lied; they've always stayed true. Quatre is fighting on the political battlefield, while Wufei, Duo, and Heero have gone to the physical one. I'm offering you a soldier's battlefield, where your decision matters."

"I -" He turned around, and she knew he was going to deny her request.

"Trowa, who on this base, aside for you and me, would have the gumption to fire those missiles if the situation called for it?" she demanded, stepping towards him.

He stepped back, as though trying to escape, but his inherent honesty wouldn't let him deny her the truth. "No one."

"That's right. I need you to do this for me, because I believe very shortly those missiles are going to become a large part of this battle. They will be our chance to destroy these renegades, and that means unleashing them...but the cost will be high. You and I know how to weigh these decisions; you and I know what acceptable losses are. No one else can do it, for no one else can live with the burden. So tell me, Trowa, is there anyone else I can trust to do this?"

He met her eyes, and shook his head. "No."

She nodded. "I need you to be my right hand, because I can't be everywhere. When you release those missiles, you'll destroy my career, but it's an acceptable sacrifice. Because I believe."

He smiled at her again, and the gentleness in it took her back. "No." He picked her hand up and squeezed it, and her eyes lit as hope stirred inside that somehow, this man would pull a miracle out of nowhere for her. "Because we believe."

Assigning command codes to Trowa without anyone, even Brown, knowing, wasn't that difficult. She needed to protect as many of her Preventers as possible, especially Brown. She knew that her fall was going to come soon, but she didn't want to take anyone else with her.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith..." she murmured to herself an hour after Trowa left, wondering if there was anything else she could do. "I'm tired," she whispered. "I need to go to bed, and maybe sleep for a while." She rose to her feet to do just that, but on her way out, she jumped a bit at a sudden noise.

The fax machine began to clatter ominously, and she stared at it, for some reason plunged back to the day when she had received the fax reporting Noin's death. She turned to it, wondering if it was reports of more casualties. "I don't need this right now..."

Her eyes quickly scanned the report, and she cursed under her breath. It had only been a matter of time before Sally went after that missile defense system, and apparently she had decided that today was the day. Thankfully, the rebel forces had been repulsed...and Trowa would be doing some very heavy duty security work tonight, if she had anything to say about it. Sally was playing the game, but she could play it too. She'd fought hard for that missile defense system, and damned if she was going to let the World Nation point another finger at her and say that she'd been wrong again, when all they were doing in this latest crisis was sitting back, watching what seemed to them to be a power play inside a military they didn't even really like in the first place. She wondered if even President Alderman realized that Sally Po was much more dangerous than she seemed.

The Kashmir forces had been fighting a losing battle...when...Milliard Peacecraft had showed up. She pursed her lips at that, not surprised to learn that Milliard was back - with Epyon. She had always suspected he had kept his Gundam, but had known better to press him. After Noin's death, she'd let him go have his grief, knowing that he'd be back, and apparently he'd chosen just the right time to show up.

The report went on in cursory detail to explain that Etille had shown up in the midst of the battle with reinforcements to relieve the Kashmir forces. Eypon had apparently been damaged, and Milliard was coming back to Geneva for repairs. She'd have to have a talk with the man when she saw him. He was still her Chief of Operations, and as far as she was concerned, he had a duty to fulfill, whether he liked it or not.

She read it over once more and then threw the report on the desk, heaving a sigh. She'd have to request a more detailed report later...they were ahead in the game...but for how long?

"Well... this does make life interesting, doesn't it?" she murmured. "Maybe it's time for me to light a fire under the World Nation..."

Her eyes lit as she realized that she'd been passive for far too long... and that maybe Milliard had the right of it. She clicked the com on, dialing her exec. "Lopez?"

"Yes?" he replied, his voice coming back almost immediately.

"Can you have that girlfriend of yours track down the best tailor in Geneva?" she asked. "I have a little... project."

"Huh?" Lopez said. "What-"

"Never question a superior's orders, Lopez," she replied. "Can you do it?"

"Sure. Give her two hours," Lopez answered.

"Tha-" Une started, but was interrupted as the fax began to clatter again. She turned to it, expecting the casualty reports, but froze when she caught the heading at the top of the page.

TRANSMISSION FROM SPARTA COMMAND BASE VIA EMERGENCY CHANNEL
THREATCON DELTA ATTACK IMMINENT

She swore explosively. She also forgot the comm was on, because Lopez was knocking on the door, entering the room before she gave permission.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" he asked, panting.

She let the breach pass and pointed at the fax. "I am, but this isn't. Sally just launched simultaneous attacks - one involving the damn missile defense system and Commander Peacecraft in Asia, and the other was with Chang Wufei in Greece... over Gundam Shenlong." She clenched her fist. "She wasn't supposed to know he was there, dammit!"

Lopez's face cleared. "The mobile suits at Sparta. She was going after those...and Chang happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You're probably right," Une said tightly. "I suspected she'd be after the missiles...but I didn't realize she'd be going after the mobile suits in Sparta too. Our security has held so far...but we don't know how many resources Sally has. It's going to be hell."

"We won, right?" Lopez asked. "If she's going against those two -"

Une stared at the second report. "Peacecraft was damaged but Etille came in with reinforcements, and it seems like Sally's forces have withdrawn for the time being. Our Chief of Operations is actually making his way back here." She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. "The battle in Greece is still continuing. Reinforcements have been called from Sparta...but they're not sure if they'll be in time to save Wufei."

Go to Carrington sidestory Trauma

 
Scene XV: The Spirit of This Place

 
Sunrise over Greece was more beautiful than he remembered. The last time Wufei had been here, his vision had been clouded with the fog of war, blinded by the despair he felt over Treize's death. This time, he consciously made the effort to look out over the coastline, to see what he had missed, the golden light rays over the impossibly blue water of the Ionian Sea, silver sand sparkling for miles and miles along ancient shores that had changed little over the centuries.

Shenlong was there somewhere, buried deep under the waves where he had sunk her, thinking that nothing and no one would ever touch her again.

The transport he flew was an older model, a little bulky and not meant for transporting anything more than a few antiquated tanks, but it served his purpose. The newer transports were all being used for the backup effort in Asia, and far be it for him to try to take resources away from people who were actually going to the front lines. It surprised him when he had heard that Etille was going as commander, but he supposed that out of everyone, only the general had the combat experience necessary to outwit Sally.

Still, he wondered if that was enough. It wasn't Sally's wits that had led her to survive this far in the game - it was the sheer fact that she never took no for an answer. He had admired that quality in her once. He supposed he still did, though now it was the deadlier, colder admiration he held for his enemies.

He looked over at his copilot. It was the strangest of circumstances that had brought Machida Varis to him, and even stranger still that the two of them were now allies in this desperate race against time. Varis had actually been the first person Wufei had thought of when Etille had given him the order to bring someone with him. He hadn't actually thought about bringing a backup, though the idea had crossed his mind that he could bring another of the Gundam pilots along. On second thought, however, he discarded it. Two Gundam pilots on a mission together, without a Gundam at their disposal, was too easy a target. Two years ago, that wouldn't have been a problem. But they had changed, grown apart, and been at peace for far too long.

They were out of practice.

He wouldn't have known who to take, anyhow. Heero and Duo were off on a mission of their own. Quatre was on trial, unable to leave Geneva. And he didn't think that Trowa would have gone with him even if he'd begged. The Heavyarms pilot had his sister's safety foremost in his mind, and that meant that wherever Catherine was, he would be.

Varis had come up as a viable alternative: combat-experienced but yet low-profile enough to not render him a target if somehow Sally got a hold of Wufei's mission specifics. The other man hadn't hesitated when Wufei had come to visit him that day, and in fact had grabbed Wufei's hand and pumped it enthusiastically, thanking him for the chance.

You don't know how much this means to me, Varis had said. You won't regret this. I promise.

Sometimes he wondered about the man. Ever since the attack, he'd sensed a change in the other's demeanor, a tightness about the way he carried himself.. He recognized the symptoms. Varis knew that something was about to happen, and like any good soldier, he didn't want to get left behind. That was what he had said when Wufei had first met him in the little border town on the edge of nowhere. It seemed like ages ago, though it had only been two weeks. I know you're innocent, Varis had said then. I want to help prove that. I just want to get back there so I can do something!

Wufei didn't have the heart to tell him that there was nothing glorious about this new war that they were fighting. What had Sally said, that night? You were the one who told me that people were stupid to think the war was over! War is never over! Fight for what you believe in!

Treize had believed in that - the never ending, noble war in which all those who were true warriors accepted their lives and deaths as part of a great natural cause. Wufei hadn't understood that, and he wasn't sure that he did, even now. The world had changed too much, and the stakes were no longer what they had been during Treize's reign. There was no room now for the philosophy of the defeated that Treize had embraced.

He wondered what Sally's explanation of the war was. If she would take Treize's stance, or the Federation's, or White Fang's or branch out on her own righteous crusade. She had tried to sway him using his own argument, and had failed. At the time, he had thought that was because she had been trying to twist his words against him, because he didn't want to believe that she was truly that blind.

To me, it's about China. The China that loves all her sons and daughters...didn't you tell me that? If we come back to her, China will love us...

He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes for a minute against the bright sunlight outside the transport cockpit, and he heard Varis adjusting the thrusters slightly to bring them a little higher above the coastline, hovering.

"Wufei?"

He opened his eyes. The altitude gave them a birds-eye view of the near coastline without bringing them too high up. He had been nervous about setting this course, since their lower altitude rendered them visible to the naked eye, and one never knew who might be watching. Varis, however, had convinced him that speed was more essential than stealth. If he'd had a more advanced transport, it wouldn't have mattered no matter what their altitude was; with the new pinpoint target system built into the things, he had a much better chance of locating Shenlong within a matter of hours.

As it was, he wasn't sure they could even find Shenlong.

"Where should we start?" Varis questioned, leaning his elbows against the console and giving him an appraising glance.

"I know I sunk her somewhere near the coast," Wufei said. "Unfortunately, that doesn't help much. And with my memory as fragmented as it is...we could be in the wrong place altogether. I won't know until I go down and take a look."

"I don't think so," Varis said. He pushed a button and a map came up on the screen. "Your harbor town, from where you took the transport to China after you sunk your Gundam...it's only a few miles down the coast from here. We'll search from here...give me a probable radius and if we don't find it in the next hour, we can adjust our plan."

Wufei smiled slightly. "You're so sure."

Varis shrugged. "It never hurts to try. Not when we have some time."

"You could put it that way," Wufei said thoughtfully. "Let me bring the transport closer down."

He touched the controls gently and the bulky craft glided gently forwards and downwards. Wufei felt the slight pull of g-forces tug at his seat harness, felt himself give in gently to the tugging. It had been far too long since he had flown anything that had even the slightest resemblance to a spacecraft - all he had been in since the war were passenger liners, with their cushy pressurized atmospheres and adjustable gravity.

For once, he was rather absurdly glad that they'd landed an older transport model.

"Cruising altitude 15,000 feet," Varis reported, touching the dials. Air hissed from somewhere behind them and he felt an abrupt shift in the balance of the craft. "Hatch open."

"Thank you," Wufei responded, unbuckling his harness. "You have the controls."

"I have the controls," Varis responded. "Do you need any help with your pressure suit?"

"I think I have it, thank you. If I do, I'll yell."

Varis grinned. "I don't think you'll have trouble. They're not that different from a regular space suit."

"It's been a while," Wufei said. At the narrow cockpit doorway, he turned. "Varis...if you see anything suspicious...anything at all. Warn me immediately. Don't try to take Sally on yourself. The transport can't handle it."

"And you can?" Varis retorted. "If we don't find Shenlong?"

"I'll have more luck than you. She'll only attack the transport if she thinks I'm aboard."

"That's the point," the Special Forces Agent said, almost too softly for him to hear, but Wufei caught the words.

"Varis," he said sharply. "Don't try to die a martyr's death in my name. That won't do me or any of the other pilots, nor the Preventers, an ounce of good. We need you alive."

"We need you alive too," his co-pilot responded, looking at him solemnly. "The same goes for you. Don't do anything stupid."

"I'm a Gundam pilot," Wufei said quietly. "That's my job."

He was out the hatch before Varis could say anything else, sealing it behind him as he entered the small closet-like space behind the cockpit and slipping the oxygen mask over his head. This section of the transport was not atmospherically sealed, and though the oxygen 15,000 feet above sea level was still breathable, he didn't want to take a chance, in case something went wrong. He'd heard too many stories of hypoxia victims who thought they were safe and hadn't taken the proper precautions.

The pressure suits were in a closet to his left. He opened it and took one out, discarding his bulky g-suit and slipping into the slippery plastic-like material. He left the oxygen hose unhooked, shoving the g-suit into the closet and closing the door securely. Varis was right; except for the material and the slight difference in the oxygen tube and mask, the pressure suit was almost exactly like a space suit.

Checking himself over one last time, he took a deep breath, then pressed the blinking button to his right.

The doors of the cargo hatch in front of him began to slide open, groaning and creaking. Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the rear unloading doors in little trickles and pinpricks, crisscrossing the bulky object that lay parked in the center.

There were very few Cancer mobile suits left in the world, and this one had been extremely hard to get a hold of.

Fortunately, the Geneva crew chief had made a few well-placed calls as well as a few well-placed threats, and had managed to persuade the naval crew at Forteleza Sea Station in South America to part with one of their beloved Cancers, promising to return it in prime condition. Wufei wasn't exactly sure that the crew chief's promise would be fulfilled, but he was more than willing to take his share of the blame if anything happened to it.

He'd never been in a Cancer before, but everything seemed to work along the lines of a regular mobile suit. He popped the hatch and dropped into the cockpit, powering the suit on. It hummed to life smoothly and the displays lit as if new. Evidently, the crew at Forteleza loved their Cancers very much.

Wufei made a mental note to write them a thank you letter after all this was done.

He connected his oxygen hose to his mask and then to the port to the side of the pilot's seat, then turned on the comm, flicking a few switches to make sure that it was hot and the line was secure from the Cancer to the transport. It wouldn't do to have anyone tapping into this frequency. He was almost positive Sally didn't have the means to do that.

It was absurd, really, all his worries that she'd find him here. It was true that Sparta Command Base was only a few miles away, but her search there would lead her to a dead end. Most of the mobile suits had been evacuated and hidden once news of her betrayal had been broadcasted, though he didn't know if she knew that. Still, she wasn't stupid. With Milliard Peacecraft still currently missing and Noin dead, there were no important personnel at Sparta worth taking out.

He hoped.

"Varis?"

The comm crackled in his ear for a minute, then he heard the familiar voice. "Everything green?"

"Affirmative. Let her down."

"Roger that. Standby."

He heard the transport creak around him, felt the Cancer's supports shift in response to regain their tight clamp on the cargo hold floor. The altitude reading on the meter showed the transport descending. He watched the digital display roll. 10,000 feet. 8,000. 5,000. 3,000.

There was only a slight jolt as the transport touched, and if he hadn't been looking for it, he would never have noticed the slight rolling motion that signified a successful touchdown into the water. The comm crackled again. "Looks like a go," Varis said. "Launch confirm."

He pulled the throttle. "Launch confirm in five, four, three, two, one, zero, go."

The floor dropped from underneath him and with a resounding splash and faint bubbling noise, he saw the water close around the cockpit, saw the bottom of the transport drifting with the morning sun shining faintly through the water, creating a rippling blue-purple-white glow.

"All systems go," he reported through the mic. "I'm going to head towards point niner three three...will cut through in a radius of approximately five kilometers. I'll see if the scanners pick up anything. We can go from there."

"Acknowledged," Varis said. "I'm launching. Will notify if anything comes up on the scope."

"Roger. Tango mike."

Bubbles drifted past the windshield as the transport pulled away and he gunned the thrusters, propelling himself downward and into the ocean that had swallowed up Nataku. Sunlight filtered down into the water, which grew progressively bluer as the Cancer dove. He had heard that once there had been abundant sea life up and down the Greek coast but that industrialism and pollution in the 20th and 21st centuries had managed to destroy about half of it, and the excesses of the Federation had managed to destroy the rest.

It was a damn shame, really. The ocean here was so beautiful.

The last shafts of sunlight disappeared and the water turned black. He turned on the Cancer's outside lights just in time to see something shoot through the water from the corner of his left eye. He turned to look, but it was gone. A fish?

The Cancer could have easily have descended to the sea floor, as it was designed to comfortably navigate the deepest oceans that Earth had to offer, but that wasn't what he was here for. He reached his designated coordinate point and spent the next hour drifting in a wide radius around that point, sonar turned on, watching the screen.

He found nothing.

Half an hour after that, Varis called to check up on his progress and notify him that maybe they should move along. He agreed. The possibility loomed large in his mind that perhaps they were on the wrong section of the Greek coast. He didn't think his memory was that faulty now to make him think he'd sunk Shenlong off Greece when he actually had not, but it could very well be that he had pinpointed the wrong town and the wrong section of coastline.

Three hours later, he was ready to admit defeat. Even Varis sounded a little disappointed when their search had turned up nothing. "Maybe you'd better come in and take a rest," he said over the comm. "We can come back later."

"I'm sorry," Wufei said. "I shouldn't have assumed..."

Varis laughed ruefully. "It's all right. I-"

There was a short bleeping noise and then silence. Wufei frowned. "Varis?"

Static, then the sound of a connection reopening. "Sorry. I got cut off. I think someone was listening in."

Wufei's muscles tensed and he swung the Cancer back in a wide arc towards the transports coordinates, keying in standby for weapons control as he did so. "Any idea who?"

"No idea. I'm not taking any chances though. You'd better-"

"Hold on a second," Wufei said sharply, pushing up on the throttle and throwing the Cancer into an abrupt halt in the water. There had been something there just then, back there. He backtracked through the scanner log, looking for the blip in the sonar that announced the presence of a foreign object in the water.

There.

That was it.

"Varis, what's your situation?"

"Stable. No sign of other air or sea craft, though I've put the weapons on standby." The Special Forces agent's voice was tight. "Did you find something?"

"Not sure. I'm going to go check it out."

The Cancer dove and he made miniscule adjustments to the dive course, steering it on path towards the anomaly on his scanners. He could feel his heart beating wildly and his adrenalin starting to pump through his body and he cursed under his breath, trying to calm himself down. The last thing he needed was to get jumpy and excited in the face of a probable enemy attack. Varis' words back there had put him on alert, and though it was unlikely, he needed to prepare for the worst.

Which meant preparing to face Sally again.

He saw the Gundam's eyes before the sonar began its wild beeping. She was there where he had left her, half-covered with mud and seaweed and silt, lying silent and motionless on the ocean floor. His throat tightened for a second and he forced his eyes away from her, taking a deep breath.

"Varis? I found her."

There was a long pause, and when Varis' voice came back, it was short and clipped. "Good. Hurry and get her out. We're about to have some company."

He hissed between his teeth. "Sally?"

"Let's hope for the best and plan for the worst, shall we?" The comm crackled. "I don't know what the hell she's doing here since the target's supposed to be in Asia, but - dammit, just hurry."

"I'm moving as fast as I can," Wufei said, already climbing out of the seat and yanking the oxygen hose out of the mobile suit port, fastening it to the oxygen tank he was in the process of strapping onto his back . "I'm going cold mic here. I'll see you in a couple minutes, hopefully with Shenlong."

He snapped off the comm before Varis could respond, checking one last time to make sure his pressure suit was sealed, then moved the Cancer slowly forward and down, towards the unburied parts of the Gundam. Slowed as he reached the entrance to the hatch, which was half-covered in silt and mud. With the Cancer's claw, he brushed what he could of it away, hopefully leaving enough room for him to work with.

Time to see what the pressure suit was made of. And if Shenlong's armor and systems had held through two years of saltwater corrosion.

Water rushed in as he popped the hatch of the Cancer, temporarily blinding him, but the pressure suit adjusted quickly and he propelled himself up and out through the opening, then frog-kicked his way down towards the ocean bottom. Nataku was cold and hard to the touch through the thick gloves of the suit, and he fumbled around, trying to locate the hatch keypad. He finally found it after clearing away several inches of thick sea-goo which had evidently found it a comfortable home. Swallowing, he keyed in the code and prayed.

Nothing happened.

Wufei gritted his teeth and tried again. Still nothing. Frustrated, he banged his fist against the side of the control panel. There was no reason the code shouldn't work - the only reason he could think of was that Shenlong's systems were entirely down, and that would prove a problem. He didn't want to use the Cancer to drag a Gundam up to the surface, especially not if Sally's troops were there and waiting for him.

In the glow of the Cancer's lights, he floated for a minute in front of the useless control pad. There was another way, manual, into the cockpit, but he'd never tried it. Using it would probably damage the hatch mechanism, but right now, that was the least of his worries. In a moment of quick decision, he kicked back to the Cancer, letting himself back into the hatch and grabbing the tool bag from under the pilot's seat.

Shenlong's bolts and hull were rusted and covered with a slimy growth that made it hard to grasp the side of the craft. He steered the Cancer around to top of the hatch so that the lights shone directly onto the square door and began methodically unscrewing the bolts around it, discarding about half of them, just enough so he could wedge the long driver around the edge of the door. There was a latch there, which he grasped and pulled. It turned with some resistance, and a hidden lever popped up on the other side of the door. Placing the screwdriver back into his tool pouch, Wufei took hold of the lever with both hands and, bracing himself against Shenlong, pushed.

With a shuddering slowness and much grating, the hatch slid open.

Water rushed in and he waited till it had filled the entire cockpit before releasing the lever and cautiously putting one foot on the doorframe. He'd gotten the hatch open, but that was no guarantee the systems would work correctly or were even functional. Gritting his teeth, he dropped down into the cockpit, into the familiar pilot's chair.

Everything was as he remembered. The displays were dark and the chair was cocked at a strange angle, but there was a haunting familiarity to this place that he could not miss. He moved to fasten his harness, and his hand brushed something.

It was his sword.

For a moment he stared at it, then lifted it up, settling it next to the left side of his seat, placing his hands on the power-up controls, willing them to work.

Please, Nataku...don't let me down.

For a moment the feeling of déjà vu overwhelmed him and he closed his eyes, stiffening as the memories came rushing back again. With effort, he pushed them away. He'd come this far, willingly, and he couldn't give everything up now, not when the Preventers needed him. They needed Shenlong. Heero and Duo and Trowa and Quatre needed Shenlong.

And he...he needed Nataku.

He placed his finger on the power-on button. And pushed.

The console lights blinked. Once. Twice. And Nataku came alive.

He took two deep breaths, blowing them out slowly, then cleared his mind of everything but the tasks at hand. Get Shenlong back to the surface. Take the Cancer. Get to the transport.

Varis.

He plugged in the mic hurriedly, flipping it to hot, hoping that the communication system still worked. "Varis?" he said. "Varis, are you there?"

"It's Po," came the response. "Did you get it?"

"I've got her," Wufei said shortly. "I'm coming up."

"Hurry."

How the hell does Sally know I'm here?

He let muscle memory take over, went through the pre-flight checklist in ten seconds, took another two to secure his belt and slam the hatch shut, then took three seconds to let the life support system start up. There was a whooshing noise as the atmospheric control sucked the water out of the cockpit and he waited for the familiar hum of the oxygen to kick in. It didn't.

He waited for two more seconds before feeling rather stupid. It had been two years on the ocean floor and he was lucky that the flight system was working properly. He wondered how much longer his oxygen tank would last him, then decided he didn't have time to answer that. Varis was in trouble, and the transport's weapons were no match for any offensive weapon nowadays, much less a mobile suit.

Shenlong's engines roared to life and he swung her around, trying to ignore her slow response time. Reaching out with one of the Gundam's hands, he gently wrapped it around the Cancer, cradling it with both arms, increasing the thruster power so that Shenlong would not start sinking. He hoped it was enough to make it out of the water when he actually got to the surface. Shenlong was not made for marine combat, or travel, for that matter, and one of her engines seemed to be running on less than one-fourth of its usual power. He remembered that it had gone out completely on that last flight to Earth when he had sunk her.

Carefully, he eased the Cancer to a comfortable position, securing it as best as he could. It obscured the viewscreen completely and he cursed under his breath, but there was no time to try to reposition it. Varis was waiting. Sally was waiting. He clenched his jaw, prayed, and jammed the engine controls to maximum power.

Shenlong began to rise.

He closed his eyes and let the giant craft take him upward, spiraling towards the ocean's surface in a shower of silver bubbles, rising towards the sun. The cockpit spun around him and he felt dizzy again. He saw his colony explode before his eyes. He saw her smile.

I was strong, wasn't I? You weren't ashamed of me as your wife?

You're stronger than anyone. Stronger...than anyone.

Stronger than anyone.

Nataku.

"NATAKU!" he cried, and Shenlong burst from the water in an brilliant explosion of blinding spray and sea-foam, and his eyes flew open, the bright Greek sun streaming in through the windows, around the bulky shape of the Cancer still cradled in her arms, and he realized that he was crying.

He had missed her so much, and yet it was no longer the same, no longer both of them joined together in the frenzied ecstasy of battle, in the name of justice. She had been an extension of him, a part of him he had built up in his heart and refused to let go after the fighting was over, but in doing so he had lost a part of himself to what he thought had been her legacy when in fact it was not her at all.

Meilan had believed in the goodness and the purity of people.

I understand now, Nataku. I understand.

"Wufei?"

It was Varis' voice coming from the comm, relief and worry in it at the same time. He felt Shenlong falling, her thrusters unable to support her, and wished, not for the first time, that his Gundam was capable of true atmospheric flight like Wing Zero was. As it was, he doubted that Shenlong could even manage to walk any long distance without system failure.

"I'm here," he said hoarsely. "I'm pretty much a sitting duck right now - neither Shenlong or the Cancer can fly. Where are you?"

"I can see you from here. Go towards the shore, point four-six-six. I'll follow you. I've managed to hold Po off for now. She hasn't really tried anything, but she's been trying to open a channel with me. I don't think she knows you're not on the transport."

"She will soon enough," Wufei said through gritted teeth. "I'm heading in."

Shenlong was not made for swimming, and the added weight of the Cancer was not helping. It was as much as he could do to keep her from sinking altogether. The engines were on maximum power, and he wasn't sure how much fuel he had left, since half the dials on the leftmost instrument panel were broken, and the fuel gauge was one of them.

He saw the sandy shores of the beach at the same time he spotted the mobile suits heading towards him. There were six of them, flying in a tight V formation, old Leo suits that looked like they'd seen better days. Then again, he was sure they were in better shape than Shenlong.

"Long time no see," the pleasant voice greeted him from the open comm channel on the dash.

"Hello, Sally," he said tightly, accepting the transmission. The screen cleared and showed her sitting in the cockpit of the Leo, still dressed in her Preventers uniform. "Shouldn't you get rid of that uniform? I would think you would find it offensive."

"I don't have time to waste words with you," she said, ignoring his question. "I must confess that it was a surprise to find you here, as I was planning on my target being Sparta Command Base. I knew you hadn't destroyed Shenlong, though Une seems to think so."

So she was after the mobile suits at Sparta after all. "I have my own reasons," he said. "And not everything has to do with Une." Shenlong stepped onto the beach and he could feel her structural supports groan. He deposited the Cancer on the sand as carefully as he could, but he was afraid that the extra weight had weakened some of the already unstable support beams to their maximum capacity.

The Leos veered off to his right, circling him. He wondered where Varis' transport was. "I did give you a choice," Sally said, her voice cold and her eyes narrowed. "You chose to refuse me."

"Are you going to kill me then?" he said, keeping any emotion from seeping into his voice, not giving any sign of how much her words hurt.

She laughed. It was not a nice laugh. "I don't know. On the one hand, I need Shenlong. On the other hand, I don't want anything to do with traitors."

"Traitors? This coming from the traitor herself? Your reasoning has no logic behind it, Sally."

He saw her Leo come towards him, shooting over Shenlong's head. The others dropped behind her, landing on the beach, stalking towards him menacingly. He dropped the Gundam instinctively into a battle crouch and hit the power-up for weapons, knowing as he did so that it was no use, because Shenlong's power supply was so depleted that there was no energy left to charge them.

In all essence, Wufei and his Gundam were a sitting target, and he knew that Sally knew that.

"You told me that Nataku was long gone," she said to him, dropping her Leo into the ring, facing him. "You told me that China loves all her sons and daughters that come back to her. How could I have trusted you, someone who doesn't even believe in his own words?"

"I didn't ask you to trust in me, Sally," he said quietly. "You did that by your own choice, from the first day you rescued me from those Federation troops in China during the war."

"I'm not here to mince words, Wufei," she shot back coldly. Any familiarity in her eyes and her voice was gone. He didn't know the harsh, distant woman on the screen. He felt sick. "Give me Shenlong."

"No."

She laughed again, humorlessly. "I didn't expect it to be so easy. But you will give me Shenlong, one way or another."

"What happened to you, Sally?" he said desperately. "I believed in you. We believed..."

"You're a weakling!" she snapped. "A fool!" The ring of Leos closed in. "You gave up your heritage and your legacy for a cause that would never do the same for you! Your Chinese blood doesn't mean anything to you, does it, Wufei? Nataku doesn't mean a thing!"

His hands tightened on the controls, but he felt her words trickle off into nothingness, unable to touch him. "You're wrong, Sally. My heritage means the world to me. Nataku...means the world to me. And nothing, no one, could ever take that away."

"Then why don't you come with me? Isn't Nataku worth that much to you? Doesn't she stand for your heritage!?"

"That's where you're wrong, Sally," he said. "Nataku doesn't stand for my heritage, though she is a symbol to me for everything that my heritage is. Nataku stands for strength. For perseverance. For giving to something and fighting for something that is larger than myself. I've learned to let her go, but at the same time, I know she'll always be with me. Nataku fought and died so that the world could have peace, and I'm not going to give that up!"

"I don't understand," she said, and he could hear, for the first time, the uncertainty in her voice. "I thought Nataku..." she trailed off.

He smiled. "Sally...Nataku was my wife."

He saw the shock on her face, the clarification there, and then the anger and bitterness of betrayal. "You lied to me," she ground through her teeth.

"I never lied. She was my wife, and I loved her, but I never told her until it was too late. I will never make that mistake again. I've changed, Sally - you said that yourself. I've come to realize that the value of human life is worth more than anything in this world. I believe in the will of people, Sally. I believe that human beings are capable of doing the right thing!"

"You're deluding yourself!" she snarled. "The World Nation will destroy us, just like the Federation tried to! You're running from the truth!"

"No, Sally," he said, and he saw the end of her beam rifle glowing and knew that she was no longer the Sally he had known. Or perhaps she never had been. Perhaps it had all been a lie. "You're the one who's running. I've learned that I'm not as strong as I thought I was, but that those who the world sees as weak can still make a difference. You taught me that! You told me that...the death of the heart is the saddest thing that can happen to you. You've killed your own heart, running away from the future because you don't understand it!"

"You're the one who doesn't understand anything!" A shot sizzled past his windshield from one of the Leos on his right, and he ducked, swinging out with the dragon's head on Shenlong's right arm. It brushed the Leo's left side, leaving a long scratch in the gleaming armor.

"I understand that war is not the means to all ends, Sally. Treize taught me that. I know that now. That was why Treize died. Are you going to throw his sacrifice away, Sally? Are you going to let his death mean nothing?"

"Treize was WRONG!" she cried, launching her Leo at him. "Treize didn't care about the people! Treize cared only about himself!"

He had no time to prepare for the assault, felt the Leo ram into him and felt Shenlong fall, striking the sand in a harsh, hollow crash of straining metal. His harness straps bit into his shoulders with the impact and he barely kept from crying out. He could feel the blood seeping through his shirt, the sword a cold bar of steel against the warm trickle.

"Sally-" he ground out through the pain, but there was a blast and he felt her Leo push itself off of Shenlong. Saw the other Leos move quickly out of the ring and form into a fighting formation.

Varis!

"No, Varis!" he cried, but he could already see the transport coming in low and fast, heading straight for the Leos. Sally's picture on his screen fizzled and died as he lost the connection, and then it blinked and he saw Varis at the pilot's controls of the transport, face strained.

"Get out of here, Wufei!"

"Don't be stupid!" he shouted desperately. "I told you not to do this!"

"I'm doing this for you," Varis said, and Wufei saw him smile. "Go now. Hurry!"

He threw Shenlong to the side, heard her engines sputter as he threw all power to them, hurtling out of the way of the Leos and the transport. He saw the Leos open fire. Saw the transport shudder with the force of the blasts, but never falter. "Don't do this! Varis, you can get out of here...we can-"

The face on the screen shook his head, still smiling. "Wufei...you taught me what it truly means to be a soldier. I'm glad to have been your friend. Thank you."

"VARIS!"

The picture vanished, and with a mighty heave and roar of flame, Shenlong lifted off from the earth, gaining momentum, hurtling towards space with a desperation that he hadn't known was left in her. The Greek sun shone hot and unforgiving, blazing through the windows of the cockpit. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look.

With his eyes closed tightly, he did not see the explosion, but he felt it, as if something had been torn from inside him, and he screamed, ripping the headset from his head, grasping the sword with both hands, ramming it through the control panel, through the viewscreen where he had last seen Machida Varis' face. The screen fizzled and died, then burst with a popping sound. He felt slivers bury themselves in his skin, stinging his face as they cut, and he squeezed his eyes and opened them against the pain.

The sky was dark blue and still Shenlong was rising. A few minutes longer and he would be out of the atmosphere and into space. He had not been in space since the war. He took a deep breath, dashing the tears from his face, feeling the salt mix with the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

Another person had died because of him.

"Nataku?" he whispered, staring at what was left of the vidscreen, clenching his fists on the hilt of the sword. "I don't understand."

The stars were visible now, coming out one by one coldly and so far away, father than they ever looked through the comforting blanket of the night sky. He saw her face again, the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she asked him again to reaffirm her own sacrifice for him.

I was strong, wasn't I? You weren't ashamed of me as your wife?

And he heard himself responding.

You're stronger than anyone. Stronger...than anyone.

Varis had not died in vain, but right now he couldn't think of anything noble or beautiful to say about his death. Couldn't think of any way to justify it or to comfort himself or to make himself see that it had been the right thing to do. Perhaps later, after the shock had faded. Perhaps the next day. Perhaps after he had gone back to Geneva and told the others what had happened. Perhaps then.

But now as Shenlong still rose, higher and higher through the darkness, he could only think of Sally staring accusingly at him. You gave up your heritage and your legacy for a cause that would never do the same for you! Could only think of Varis' voice, saying, You taught me what it truly means to be a soldier. I'm glad to have been your friend. Smiling.

Smiling, just as Meilan had been, when she had died.

He would cry if he could, but he had no more tears left.

 
END SAINAN NO KEKKA ACT X

 
Act X Part III | Act XI Part I | Back to Sainan no Kekka