DISCLAIMER: Gundam Wing belonged to
Sunrise and co. I’m not making any profits out of this, so don’t sue. Oh, those
you think you’ve never heard before belong to me. And feedback is very welcome,
people!☺
TIMELINE: The story takes place after Survival of the Fittest, I’d say almost two years.
By Arayelle Lynn.
The silence in the room was so
thick that it could be sliced with a knife. As soon as Duo and Rasid arrived at
the Preventer headquarters, they were greeted by the grim faces of their
friends. Each relayed what they’ve learned so far but none seemed to be able to
answer the numero uno question.
Why Quatre had turned against
them?
At first, Relena, Trowa and the
others were inclined to accept Duo’s earlier hypothesis. That someone was
puppeting Quatre into committing treachery against the ESUN. But the presence
of the Winner daughters, safe and sound, and their statement as well as the
Maganac’s forced them to rethink the hypothesis.
“We don’t know what really happened.
Quatre just threw us into the street,” Erea Winner had said earlier, her face
lined with worry as well as hurt. “He didn’t say anything hurtful. He just
ordered his bodyguards to ‘escort’ us off the colony.”
“And he fired all of us without
any reason,” the still-shocked Abdul said. He too, felt a little betrayed.
“And Quatre wasn’t acting
strange before that?” Wu Fei had asked, watching them carefully. He turned to
Trowa. “Are you sure that Quatre never give out any indication that he might do
this?” His words were directed to all closest to the Winner’s heir.
Trowa shook his head. “I never
saw or contact Quatre after I left the colony,” he had answered, thinking of
the secret, personal mission he had been in. “And I doubt it has anything to do
with him seeing Kylie that day.” He looked at Duo for confirmation.
“He’s right,” Irin Winner
interjected. “Quatre was himself after that. In fact, he almost returned to his
usual self. No, this wasn’t about her. Something’s terribly wrong here.”
Lady Une frowned, deep in
thought. Then, she called up one of her agents and told him to escort the
Winners to their temporary quarters. She waited until they were all gone before
addressing the remaining people. “From the statements I’ve heard, it seems that
there was nothing that could cause Quatre’s defection. It seems more logical to
say that he’s doing everything willingly.” She sighed. “I don’t want to say
this in front of the other Winners but it seems that Quatre has just become an
enemy.”
Silence ruled the room. And that
had been a while ago. Now, the silence was almost deafening.
“It seems that way,” Zechs
agreed, finally shattering the long silence. “That means, we will have to
consider him an enemy from now on.” He closed his eyes. “Which is bad. He is,
after all, a Gundam soldier.”
“Now, just wait a minute,” Duo
cut in, breaking away from Hilde’s reassuring hold. “Let’s not be too hasty.
There’s still this question of why Quatre defected in the first place. I say we
give some time to find out what before starting to blow one of our own to space
dust.”
Zechs turned to Trowa and Wu
Fei. “Is this a normal reaction of a Gundam pilot?” he prompted. “Do you people
always hastily destroyed those who you think would endanger the peace but when
it comes to one of your own, you hesitate?” he challenged.
Wu Fei didn’t take a second to
answer that. “No.” Duo looked up to protest. “Our job is to protect the peace.
That’s an oath we Gundam pilots took at the end of the Eve War. If one of us breaks
it, it becomes our utmost responsible to stop him.” He then remembered the time
when Heero was determined to destroy him for supporting the Mariemaia’s Army.
He then looked at Duo. “And I
mean what I said. Quatre Winner has become an enemy,” he said. “You know I will
kill him. And if Heero was here, he would’ve said the same thing too.”
“But…”
Trowa interrupted Duo. “You’re
right,” he said with a hint of reluctance. “We have no choice but to consider
Quatre as an enemy.”
Duo looked at him, then Wu Fei
and finally Zechs. “You can’t be serious!” he began but then he relented, after
some serious thoughts. “You guys are right. Guess we have no choice in this
matter.”
“What?” they heard both Relena
and Noin said, shocked. “But why? Quatre’s your friend, remember? Your leader,”
Relena reminded them. She was still hoping to come out with a reason as well as
a solution.
Duo shook his head. “Not
anymore. Not when he broke his oath to protect the peace.”
“But if we could just contact
him and persuade him,” Relena tried again.
“It won’t help, Miss Relena,”
said Rasid, after being silent for some time. “He has tried to destroy Duo
once.” He paused, thinking over what he had to say. “In my book, those who
betrayed a friend should be considered an enemy. And Master Winner has crossed
that line when he trained his weapons at Duo.”
The leader of the Maganac then
turned to the rest of the Gundam pilots. “Though we pledged our lives for
Master Quatre, he freed us from it by firing us. And since there are only three
original Gundam pilots left, we the Maganacs would be honored to fight by your
side in this conflict.” He looked at his men, who nodded. “We’re determined to
sacrifice our lives for the peace that Master Quatre had once fought for.”
Wu Fei nodded, seemingly acting
as a leader of the Gundams. “We accept.”
Lady Une leaned back,
considering the situation. “What you’re offering is noble, Maganacs but there
is still one thing we can do while we wait for Winteridge and Quatre to launch
their attack on the Earth Sphere.”
“Hmm… what’s that?”
“Find out why all these are
happening.”
>>>@@<<<
Relena rested her eyes for a
moment. She had tried numerously to patch through to L4’s communication channel
and had succeeded into getting Quatre’s attention on the fifth day. He had
answered her call personally, giving her that irresistible innocent smile of
his.
Only there was no longer warmth
in that smile. Relena could clearly see the malice written all over his face.
“Relena, what an expected
surprise,” Quatre had said.
“Quatre, tell me. Why are you
doing this? Why have you betrayed your friends?” she begged.
Quatre feigned shock. “Betrayed
my friends? No, I have not. I’m only trying to express my dissatisfaction over the
ruling government’s management of situations. And Duo just got caught in the
middle.”
As he said that, Relena could
clearly feel the chill in his voice. She shuddered, involuntarily. Had she been
wrong? Is Quatre truly an enemy now? “But you doing this… Wu Fei and the others
are preparing to destroy you as we speak. They’re targeting you as an enemy,
Quatre.” She leaned forward. “Please, Quatre. Tell us what is wrong.”
For a moment, she saw his face
softened. But then it was replaced by the cold mask he must’ve learned from
Kylie or Heero. “What’s wrong is that the Earth Sphere could no longer do its
job to protect mankind. And I’m here to make sure the person who could do it,
be at the top.”
“Meaning Winteridge?”
“Yes. He’s the likeliest
candidate for President of the world.”
“But what about your friends.
You’ll be fighting them too.”
Quatre frowned. “Them? If they
truly considered me as enemy, then I don’t have any choice in that matter, do
I?”
“Is this about Kylie? Are you
still upset that she was killed all because of McGarth’s actions?”
“This is not about Kylie,” said
Quatre, calmly. Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Relena. I know this
distressed you because we’re friends but it’s time that you consider me as your
enemy too.” His eyes grew cold again. “After all, I won’t hesitate to kill you
if you become an obstacle to my goal.”
Then the transmission was
broken.
Relena leaned back, closing her
eyes. She didn’t know why but talking to Quatre seemed to drain her. She was
about to lull herself to sleep when she heard the door slid open. Surprised,
Relena saw who entered her office and stood.
“Dorothy!”
Dorothy Catalonia walked over to
Relena. “Miss Relena. I’ve been trying to get in touch with you,” she said but
Relena could clearly hear the tremble in her voice. The blond girl sighed,
heavily. “I guess, you heard about Quatre.”
Relena embraced the girl. She
had totally forgotten about Dorothy. The girl had been dating Quatre Winner
before any of this started and they should’ve find out how she was feeling when
she heard about it. But Relena had been so busy and so in shock that she had
forgotten all about her.
“Let’s take a seat,” she
suggested, ushering Dorothy to a sofa nearby.
When they were seated, Relena
studied the girl. Though her face was calm, Dorothy looked pale. Relena knew
that although Dorothy looked calm, she was deeply disturbed by this turn of
event. And her next words confirmed Relena’s suspicion.
“I tried to talk to Quatre but
he wouldn’t even see me,” said Dorothy, breaking the silence. “He said that…
that we’re over. That he’s breaking up with me.” A tear rolled down her cheek
and she quickly wiped it. She looked at Relena. “What’s going on, Miss Relena?
Why is he doing this?”
Relena sighed, for she too was
trying to find out the answer. Although she could come out with a well-thought
speech in an emergency meeting, she found herself failed to come out with any
excuse as to make the girl feel better. And so, she settled for the truth.
“We don’t know but we’re going
to find out.” She then held Dorothy close. She knew that the girl was in verge
of tears. “Let it go, Dorothy. I know it hurts, so let it go.” As she said
that, Dorothy’s body racked with sobs. All the pain, fear, betrayal and shock
were poured into the tears. And Relena held her until she finally quieted.
“I want to help,” said Dorothy,
finally. She detached herself from Relena. “I want to help you guys find out
what’s wrong with Quatre,” she offered. There’s a look of fierce determination
in her eyes. Relena didn’t know how to decline her offer and so she nodded.
“Okay.”
>>>@@<<<
As soon as he broke off the
connection, Quatre Winner leaned back. From the shadows, someone placed a cup
of tea on the desk. “You did well, Master Quatre. Relena Darlian seemed to be
more confused than ever,” said a soft female voice.
Quatre took a sip from the tea
and chuckled. “And you, my dear, are very cruel. This is the cruelest game I
have ever been in. Does that came from your cruel heart or that ingenious mind
of yours?” he said to that someone.
“Call it what you want. I’m just
glad that we get to play around with them.”
“Now, now, my dear. Don’t get
too carried away. We don’t want them to miss the fight, do we?” said a man,
coming out from the shadows. His next words were directed to Quatre Winner.
“Though, playing the Gundam pilots around to give us more time to prepare is
rather an ingenious plan, don’t you think?”
Quatre grinned and patted the
hand on his shoulder. “The most ingenious, Winteridge. While the Gundam pilots
are busy making sense of my ‘strange and sudden’ betrayal, we would have more
time to prepare the attack on Earth Sphere.”
“But we have to remember not to
fool around with them too much. They might catch on with the plan if we’re not
careful enough,” said a new yet familiar voice. That person still stood in the
shadows, his arms folded as he leaned against the wall.
The hand on Quatre’s shoulder
shifted as the girl moved away to stand before the person against the wall.
“Just like you to spoil my fun, Heero Yuy,” said the girl, pouting. Then she
grinned. “But things are happening according to plan, remember? Quatre’s on our
side now and his resource satellite will give us all the things that we need.”
“But what Heero said is true. We
can’t overplay things,” Winteridge reminded. “Remember, the Gundam pilots are very
resourceful.”
“Yeah, I know,” said the girl,
her voice was suddenly serious, mirroring the one on Heero’s face. She looked
outside the Winner’s office, her hand caressing the gun tucked in her belt. A
smile of pure evil crossed over her lips. “I just can’t wait to get everything
started.” She glanced at Heero and Quatre. “Wouldn’t it be nice to see some old
friends again?”
Heero, Quatre and Winteridge
came to stand next to her. They all watched the scenery before them. “Don’t
worry. You’ll have your fun once the fireworks start,” said Winteridge,
reassuringly. “And when the time comes, no one would dare to stop you, my dear
Kylie.”
“So, do we proceed with the next
phase?” Quatre asked, changing the subject.
“The heart of the Earth Sphere
Unified Nation is still beating, isn’t it?” Winteridge asked him back.
Knowing exactly what the duke
was referring to, Heero and Kylie nodded. “Leave that to us,” said Heero and he
left the room with Kylie following him close behind. Winteridge watched the two
go, raising his wine glass in salutation.
“Ah… you’ll never get a more
perfect soldier than those two.”
>>>@@<<<
Relena stared at the moon,
longingly. Whenever she was disturbed, or feeling helpless, she would always
stand on the balcony and stared at the moon. Somehow, the silver light seemed
to give her the strength that she lacked lately. And it all started the night
when he was gone.
“Heero,” she sighed, thinking of
her lost knight-in-shining-armor. When he was alive, his very presence was
enough to provide her with great strength. Now, she only had the memory of him
to draw it in to. That, and the unfulfilled love that both of them shared.
“Heero, I wish you’re here with
me,” she whispered for more than thousandth times. She clasped her hand in a
silent prayer. “I need you so much. I can’t do this without you here, Heero.
I’m not strong enough.”
She half-expected Heero to
appear like he usually did. But no one answered her call. She had lived two
years without seeing Heero or sensing him, that she was beginning to accept his
demise. “Please, lend me your strength, Heero,” she prayed, closing her eyes in
reverence.
Suddenly, Relena heard a
rustling noise. Her eyes flew open as she saw someone walking in the garden. It
was Dorothy.
Relena watched the girl as she
moved around the garden, occasionally, staring at the moon. Relena had invited
Dorothy to stay with her for a few days. She knew that in her present
condition, Dorothy would be much better having someone near. And since Relena
herself had a share of lost loves, she thought that she would be a perfect
company for Dorothy.
And now, seeing the longing,
hurtful look in Dorothy’s eyes as she stared at the moon, a profound sorrow was
beginning to creep along Relena’s spine. Thinking that a distraction was the
perfect medicine for now, Relena made her way towards Dorothy.
Dorothy jumped when someone
touched her shoulder. She turned. “Miss Relena,” she voiced, clearly relieved.
Smiling, Relena took Dorothy’s
arm. “Let’s take a walk, shall we?” she suggested, gently. Without waiting for
an answer, Relena led Dorothy deeper into the moonlit garden.
>>>@@<<<
“I don’t understand it,” said
Zechs, pacing back and fourth. “Why aren’t they doing something?” he mused.
“They said that they were going to attack the Earth Sphere, so why aren’t they
attacking? Dekim Barton did attack the
“I know,” said Noin, as she
prepared for bed. “It drives all of us crazy too. Wu Fei and Duo are now nearby
the L4 colony cluster and Jupiter colony respectively on a stakeout and Trowa
is doing god-knows-what. Probably watching the Mars colonies. We’re all aching
to know what Winteridge has in mind.”
Zechs chewed his lips in
frustration. Noin watched in amusement. She hadn’t seen that gesture for quite
some time now. The only time Zechs was this engrossed was when he tried to solve
a puzzle given by Treize during their years at the academy. That time, Zechs
was so frustrated that he was beginning to chew on everything. Of course, he
was only in his early teenage years and Noin had thought that his habit was
gone when he reached 15. ‘Guess old habit’s hard to forget,’ she thought.
“Winteridge is planning
something. I just knew it,” he wondered, furiously. He knew something was amiss
but he couldn’t think of what. Then, a pair of arms draped onto his shoulders
and clung around him, reassuringly. Feeling his tense muscle relaxed, he rested
his head against Noin’s.
“You’ll figure it out, Zechs. I
know it,” said Noin, her voice soft and gentle. “If not, we’ll face this
together,” she added, kissing him on his cheek. Welcoming her attempt, Zechs
pulled her into his arms and kissed her on the lips.
“Thank you, Noin. For being
there for me,” he said, staring at the face of the woman he loved the most.
A moment later, Zechs broke his
gaze by turning back to the computer terminal. Knowing that the spell was
broken, Noin casted her attention to what was being displayed on the screen.
“You’re right though,” she said, settling next to him on the sofa. “It doesn’t
make sense that they’re not doing anything. All they have done was raising
their defense system to avoid infiltrations.”
Zechs frowned, not at what she
said but at something his mind was nagging him about. “It’s like Winteridge was
waiting for something. Waiting to make a statement,” he wondered, saying it
more to himself.
“A statement?” Noin echoed.
“Hadn’t he made that already?”
Zechs shook his head. “No.
That’s only to tell people, especially those in the government, that he’s
declaring independence,” he explained. “What I’m saying is that maybe
Winteridge was waiting for the right moment to start a war.”
As soon as he said that, a
horrified thought came to both of them. As one, they looked at each other and
seeing the fears on their faces. “Relena!” they gasped in unison.
>>>@@<<<
Finally done with their evening
walk in the garden, Relena and Dorothy returned to the summer house. They made
their way towards the kitchen where Dorothy had promised to make a special
lemon herbal tea she learned from her grandfather. But before they could get
there, there was an explosion.
Relena and Dorothy were thrown
across the hall. Smoke and dusts began to cloud the air. Dorothy coughed,
feeling for Relena. When her hand touched the young minister, she found that
Relena was knocked out cold.
“Relena,” Dorothy rasped,
fighting the coughing fit. She was about to check her friend for injury when
she heard voices.
“Let’s find Miss Darlian and get
this over with,” said a female voice.
Hearing that, Dorothy
immediately knew who they’re after. Spotting a small table nearby, she pushed
Relena under it. Then, Dorothy made sure that the tablecloth covered Relena as
much as she could. After that, she staggered her way towards what she believed
to be the entrance.
She looked back and saw the
forms of two people among the smoke and dust. Just then, a coughing fit hit her
and the two whirled at her direction. “There she is!” said one of them, a male.
By then, Dorothy was already outside the house, running towards the dark and
empty streets.
She ran, knowing that she must
lead the assassins away from Relena. She knew that what she was doing could get
herself killed if they catch on her. But Dorothy knew that Relena’s life was
more important than hers. Especially now that the world’s in verge of war.
As she ran, Dorothy wondered who
they were. Or if they were sent by Winteridge and Quatre to do Relena away.
Still, she couldn’t believe that Quatre had anything to do with it. But then
again, it’s hard not to suspect Quatre since not many people knew the location
of Relena Darlian’s secret summer house. Only she, Zechs, Noin, Pagan and the
Gundam pilots knew about it since they had once used it as a place to help
Quatre heal his emotional wounds.
So deep she was in her thoughts,
Dorothy didn’t realize that she had entered a series of small alleys. When she
finally discovered where she was, Dorothy hit a dead end. Surprised by it,
Dorothy tripped and landed on the dirty pavement. A sharp pain shot through her
spine.
Struggling to get up, she heard
a sound of a gun being cocked. She froze. “You!” said the attacker, surprised
was evident in his voice. “You’re not Relena Darlian,” he stated the obvious.
Dorothy herself was surprised
too. But not at the statement. “Heero!” she gasped, her eyes widened in shock.
‘Heero, alive…! How?’ she wondered, trying to get over her shock.
‘What’s he doing trying to blow
Relena sky high?’
Though surprised, Heero’s gun
didn’t wavered. Instead, his eyes narrowed. “Never mind. I’ll eliminate those
who stand in my way. And that’s you, girl.” He trained his gun evenly on her
forehead. Dorothy closed her eyes, furiously thinking what kind of game that
fate was playing on her.
But the shot never came.
Instead, she heard a grunt and scuffling sounds. When she opened her eyes,
Heero was on the pavement, unconscious. Standing before him, Dorothy saw…
“Trowa!” she breathed in great relief. Trowa, in his part, put an index finger
on his lips.
“Quiet. There’s another one
lurking around,” he whispered, helping her up.
However, as soon as Dorothy’s
weight fell on her right ankle, she cried. “My ankle! It hurts,” she moaned,
almost fell again but Trowa quickly gathered her in his arms. He supported her
over his shoulder.
“Quiet now,” he advised. “We
must get away.”
They ran, or rather, Dorothy
hobbled as Trowa very nearly carried her. They made their way into another
series of alley without stopping to see if there’s anyone following them. “Why
are we running away from the summer house?” she asked, seeing that they’re
getting too far away. She was worried about Relena.
Trowa glanced back before
leading her into another alley. “Because he has a reinforcement that we don’t
want to meet,” he simply answered. Then, they ducked into a small and dark
doorway. “Let’s be quiet for now,” he whispered, shielding her with his own
body. Dorothy could almost feel his breath on her cheek as they waited.
>>>@@<<<
When Heero came to, he saw a
pair of feet standing before him. As fast as lightning, he dove for it,
thinking that it was the enemy. But the feet jumped out of the way, with the
same speed. “Looks like someone got a jump on you,” the owner of the feet
quipped. “Though I’d never recall Relena Peacecraft to ever learn the art of
self defense.”
She helped him up. He rubbed the
lump behind his head. “It wasn’t Relena Peacecraft. It was Dorothy Catalonia.”
Kylie blinked. “You’re saying
Dorothy did this to you?” she asked, with a hint of amusement.
“Not her,” said Heero,
irritably. “We’re actually chasing after the wrong person. And the person who
jumped me is a Gundam pilot.” That certainly caught her attention. She stared
at him, disbelief.
“How? Winteridge specifically
told us that the Gundam pilots are being watched,” she argued. “Even our spy
said that they’re at the expected designated place. So, how can there be one
here?” she demanded.
Heero wiped the blood from his
split lips. He hadn’t the chance to see who attacked him because of the fist
than landed so quickly on his face. But he was certain that it was one of the
Gundam pilots. “I don’t know. Maybe they’ve fooled us somehow.” He looked at
her. “Come on. We can’t afford to leave any loose ends.”
>>>@@<<<
They waited for what seemed like
forever. When they finally heard the sound of footsteps, Dorothy felt the
muscles in Trowa’s arm tense. He pushed her even further into the darkness as
they held their breaths, thinking even breathing could give away their
location.
The footsteps lingered around,
searching for their preys. Then, after a few heart-stopping seconds, the
footsteps faded, indicating that their hunters were leaving. Dorothy then felt
Trowa squeezed her arm, and somehow she understood that he was telling her not
to make a single move. After waiting for quite some time, she felt his muscle
relaxed as he released her.
She breathed a sigh of relief
and slid down onto the floor. All the while, the painful throbbing in her right
ankle grew even more unbearable. Involuntarily, a moan escaped her lips and her
savior knelt before her, cradling the ankle with a gentleness that Dorothy
never thought possible coming from him.
“Don’t move,” he said, his voice
soft. She watched him examined the now-swollen ankle, delicately. “It’s not
broken, just sprained,” he diagnosed. Then, he ripped the sleeve of his shirt.
Green eyes met blue ones. “This will hurt a bit.”
She gritted her teeth as Trowa
started to bind the swell. But to her surprise, he was delicate enough that
Dorothy hardly felt any pain. Time seemed to stop and silence ruled over them as
Trowa worked on her ankle while she watched.
“Did you know that that was
Heero?” she asked, quietly. The tranquility of the environment were smothered
by the grim fact.
Instead of answering, Trowa kept
his silence. She took it as a yes.
“What’s he doing trying to kill
Miss Relena? I thought he protects her.”
Still no answer.
But something told Dorothy that
even the Gundam pilot hadn’t all the answers.
He continued binding her ankle…
“That was mighty brave of you.”
This time, it was Trowa who broke the silence. “Drawing Heero to you like that.
You could’ve gone for help but you did not,” he said. There’s a hint of admire
in his voice. “He could’ve killed you, you must’ve realized that.”
She shuddered, the frightening
experience finally dawned on her. Yes, she could’ve been killed. Heero’s the
most skillful assassin around. “It seems like a good idea at the time,” she
replied, defending her actions. “I can’t let them kill the Vice Foreign
Minister, can I?”
“Right,” Trowa agreed, a ghost
of a smile played across his lips.
Then he stood up. He checked the
surrounding first before extending his hand to her, helping her up. Dorothy
dusted herself as they stepped back into the alley. “We’re safe now,” Trowa
declared, his eyes watching every shadows in every corner.
He turned to her. “You should be
able to make it back on your own safely,” he stated, starting to move away.
“Wait!” Dorothy grabbed his arm.
She almost felt Trowa flinched, or so she thought. “Where are you going? What’s
happening to Quatre?” she asked, pleadingly. She didn’t want to be left alone
especially after what just happened.
But her questions put the grim
mask back on the Gundam pilot’s face. He felt him tensed and his jaw twitched.
He looked at her with his steel, hard eyes, which had seen many battles.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out,” he said, his voice was suddenly gruff.
Then, he broke away from her
grasp. A few seconds later, Dorothy was all alone.
