Wing Zero and Epyon

As soon as Zechs saw that the Wing Zero was approaching, he throttled forward to meet the Gundam. It was time...

Without preamble, the Wing Zero leveled its twin buster rifle at the Epyon and fired at half-power. The Eypon flew right through the incoming beams of energy and decelerated as it approached the Wing Zero.

"There are conditions for the creation of ultimate peace. First, the disposal of all weapons. Further, taking from people their desire to fight!" Zechs said as he flew away, drawing Heero closer to the Libra.

Heero responded by firing his rifle at the Eypon again.

"The Libra will be dropped. It is the only way left towards peace," Zechs told him, calmer now.

Heero glared at Zechs, anger burning in his eyes. "The people who've lost Earth will hate you. The colonists will be dependent upon you! While you're alive, the same mistakes will continue to be repeated!"

You show great passion, Heero Yuy. Zechs smiled to himself. I respect you for it.

The Eypon's whip flew toward the Zero and wrapped around the Zero's buster rifle. With a quick yank, the powerful weapon flew from the Zero's hand. Zechs smiled again, but it was more of a smirk.

Now, the battle is even.

Noin watched the ensuing close-combat battle with an emotionless expression on her face. She felt as if her heart had turned to ice.

"Zechs plans to die here. He doesn't want a legendary end. He plans to take all of the sins of humanity and cleanse them! Heero should know this... he should...." Noin bowed her head. "Oh, Zechs..."

__________

Libra

Inside the Mobile Doll control room, Trowa was busy cutting the wires to the mobile doll control system, while Dorothy knelt in the middle of the room, her head bent away from the third Gundam pilot.

"While fighting, I slowly destroyed my heart. That's why my heart has been dead for so long. Perhaps I have no worth as a human, but I have to stay alive." Trowa picked up a packet of wires and slit through them with a knife. Icons representing the mobile dolls slowly disappeared from the viewscreens as Trowa destroyed the system.

Dorothy raised her head, her blue eyes staring into the darkness of the room. "What reason do you have to live?"

"Because I have a home to go to."

Dorothy stifled a sob. "Unlike you, I... don't have a home to go to anymore..." Dorothy bowed her head, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Trowa walked over to Quatre, who was now conscious and fighting the pain that kept arcing through his body. "Can you stand up, Quatre?"

Quatre looked up at his best friend. "Tr..Trowa.. Please... Don't worry about me. Take care of her." He grimaced as Trowa took his arm.

"Don't worry. She can take care of herself." Trowa helped Quatre to his feet. Quatre leaned heavily on Trowa's shoulder, gritting his teeth against the pain.

Quatre nodded slightly. "You're right."

Dorothy remained silent as the two boys floated toward the door. Her helmet drifted by her and she grabbed it, holding it against her chest. Trowa and Quatre stopped in the doorway and turned to look back at her. She glanced up, surprised. She had expected them to leave the room without another word.

"You ought to hurry." Trowa nodded to her, standing in the light streaming from the hallway.

"Please, you have to survive this," Quatre said.

Then, the two boys stepped fully into the hallway and the door closed. Dorothy stared at the door for a moment, still seeing the boys standing there, looking at her with compassion in their eyes. She hugged her helmet to her chest and cried, feeling the cold emptiness of the room around her.

___________

In space

Duo scanned his radar screen, then looked at his viewscreen to make sure he was right. The mobile dolls around him blended in with the space debris according to his radar, and he realized why.

"Hey! They stopped moving," Duo said softly, confused. The Deathscythe flew up to one of the mobile dolls and tapped it on the head with a clenched fist. The fist bounced off with a resounding thunk. "Anyone home? Guess not."

Suddenly, the familiar face of the third pilot popped up on his comm screen.

"Trowa!" Duo exclaimed with a huge grin.

"Mission accomplished. Returning now." Trowa nodded to Duo.

"Roger! How about Quatre?" Duo asked.

"I'm ok...." Quatre's voice sounded weak. He looked about as bad as he sounded too. Duo wondered what had happened to him.

"Have either of you seen Arys or Heero?"

Both pilots shook their heads.

"I'm here." Arys looked as bad as Quatre when her image showed up on the comm screens of the other pilots.

"Arys?" Quatre forgot about his injury for a moment when he saw Arys' pale face. "What happened?"

"I've got a bullet buried in my shoulder. I can't get it out by myself. When this battle's over, I'm going to need someone to dig it out for me," Arys' voice was soft, and her eyes were slightly glazed over. Duo realized that she had lost a lot of blood and was probably feeling light-headed even though she couldn't feel the pain from her injury.

Duo made a face. "Well, I think we'll leave that to Heero. Are you sure you can make it through this?"

"I can't feel the pain, Duo. I'll be fine." Arys' eyes temporarily lost their blank look. She leaned forward, an inner fire burning in her gray eyes. "We have to finish this."

Duo nodded. "Right. If we live through this, we'll celebrate with some expensive champagne."

"That sounds great.... as long as its non-alcoholic," Quatre replied with a weak chuckle.

_____________

MO-II

"Lt. Comm. Noin! Lt. Comm. Noin! This is MO-2! Please reply! Lt. Comm. Noin! Lt. Comm. Noin!" The comm operator kept repeating in the background.

Sally glanced at Lady Une curiously. "Why are you attempting to communicate with her?"

"You'll see presently." Lady Une bent down next to where Sally sat at one of the consoles.

"Colonel! Communications established!"

Noin's face appeared on the main viewscreen. She saluted smartly. "It's been some time, Colonel."

"Are you monitoring Heero and Zechs's battle?" Lady Une straightened up and walked forward until she stood in the middle of the rows of consoles in the command center.

"Yes." Noin had a suspicious look in her eyes that only Lady Une could see.

"Transmit what you're seeing to us through a direct line." Lady Une hoped Noin would listen to reason.

Noin remained impassive. "I'm not a member of Oz anymore. I won't take your orders any longer."

Lady Une smiled. It was a foreign expression, but it softened the hard lines that had permanently set into her face. "This isn't an order. This is a favor asked from someone who also desires peace."

Noin pondered Lady Une's words for a moment then nodded. "Roger." She reached off-screen.

Insantly, Noin's face vanished off the main screen and images of the Wing Zero and Eypon replaced it. The MO-II crew watched as the two clashed with their beam sabers. Lady Une waved to the comm operator.

"Broadcast this to the entire Earth sphere."

"Yes, Colonel." The comm operator flicked a switch on his console and pushed the transmit button.

The battle scenes went out to the Earth, the colonies, and any ships flying through the area. Lady Une walked over to the comm operator and picked up the mike he was holding.

"This battle doesn't hold any meaning for those on the colonies or the earth but this is a battle which MUST be fought because this is a battle on the parts of both to protect the colonies. AC 195... The curtain endeavors to fall upon the history of wars; but these two MUST fight or peace will not be accomplished. Do you feel it? The grief of this fight? Do you see it? The peace that extends behind this? This is the enigma of peace which must be addressed by everyone!" Lady Une spoke with authority and Relena stared at her with growing respect.

She has broken free of Treize's grasp on her. She will make a wonderful advocate for peace... Relena bowed her head.

___________

Peacemillion: Propulsion Room

The professors were frantically trying to set off the propulsion system to create thrust in the ship's dead engines. Doctor J was hunched over on the ground, leaning against the propulsion room's control console as he fiddled with a few wires underneath it. He looked up at his fellow scientists with a frown.

"It can't be altered with the usual methods." He sat back and glared at the mess of wires in front of him.

Professor G hunkered down beside him. "Then we have to extract the boiler limiter on the propulsion cylinder."

Doctor J grinned widely, the fingers of his claw snapping against each other in anticipation. "You create an uncontrolled reaction to prevent one? That's one of my favourite tactics!"

Professor G stood to his feet as Doctor J performed what Professor G had suggested. Then, they both began tapping buttons on the console. The doctors heard a slight movement behind them. The sound of boots clinking on the metal walkway. The click of a safety being flicked off.

"No one move, please." Quinze's voice was quiet, deadly.

Doctor J turned around. "Quinze, long time no see."

Quinze fired a single shot. The bullet hit Doctor J in the arm. The scientist fell to his knees, gripping his arm. Apparently, Quinze did not want to kill them just yet.

"I told you not to move," Quinze said as he took one step forward.

"Kill us, that suits us fine. Our work is finished." Doctor J ignored the pain in his arm and staggered back to his feet.

"You people have caused me a great deal of trouble. How many times will you interfere with Operation Meteor before you're finally satisfied?"

"The Gundams were to avenge Heero Yuy, both then and this time," Doctor J replied.

"If you hadn't modified the mission instructions for the pilots, humanity would have understood it sooner!" Quinze was beginning to lose his temper.

"True.... but we think the earth and humanity are more worthwhile!" Doctor J exclaimed, about to lose his temper as well.

"Shut up!" Quinze's hand tightened around his gun.

"Looks like you'll have to allow us our interference one more time." Professor G reached behind him and pressed one button on the control console.

With a cool look, Quinze fired. And a ball of flame devoured the Peacemillion's propulsion room.

_____________

Wing Zero and Eypon on the hull of the Libra

Zechs zoomed forward, ramming into the chest of the Zero. Heero pulled back, struggling to get the Epyon off the Zero.

"You and Trieze are identical. You destroy justice to protect the weak but you can't save them that way in the end!" Heero shouted.

"The weak are created by the powerful! Because the earth was powerful, it made the colonies their servants and dominated them!" Zechs thumbed a button on his controls.

The Eypon, with a powerful upward thrust of its beam saber, disarmed the Zero, sending the Zero's beam saber whirling off. Zechs triumphantly arced the Eypon's beam saber to point at the Zero's head.

"There! The contest is mine," Zechs said.

Heero's eyes were impassive as he studied Zechs' image on his viewscreen. "I've always detested weaklings. Always worrying over when the next struggle would come, never trusting anyone, never saying what they wanted to say. I could never forgive them...."

Beneath the Gundam's feet, the Libra rocked as part of it exploded into space in a pillar of fire. Heero and Zechs did not seem to notice the blast, while Noin did.

"Oh, no!" Noin's Taurus floated away from the Libra. Zechs glanced at his viewscreen to see Noin's suit drifting away.

Heero recovered his beam saber while Zechs was distracted by Noin. He swung his beam saber and pointed it at the Eypon's head. The Eypon stopped in its tracks, its eyes flashing.

"All of humanity is weak. You and I are weak!" Heero shouted, waiting for Zechs to make the next move.

_______________

MO-II

"Peacemillion and Libra are moving away from the earth," The screen operator stated with a sigh of relief.

Lady Une smiled as people began to pat each other on the shoulders. She watched the Libra begin to move out of Earth's orbit. Sally turned to say something to Lady Une, distracting her from the viewscreen. Lady Une did not see that one of the portions of Libra was continuing its descent into Earth's atmosphere.

"No! A portion of the Libra is still falling!" The screen operator frantically tapped his console as he tried to get a closer image of the block.

"What?!" Lady Une whirled around from Sally to glance at the viewscreen again.

The comm operator put a hand to his ear in surprise. "A transmission has been received from the colony representatives!" He tapped his console and static flickered over the comm system.

"We, the colony representatives have come to a decision regarding the surrender of the earth! We of the colonies request that White Fang change their demands. For many reasons, we strongly desire to co-exist with the nations of the earth. A cessation of hostilities is declared and we hope that the nations of the earth will follow suit. Our ambiguous decisions and behaviour have greatly perturbed many people and for this we apologize deeply."

"It's one of the colony leaders!" The comm operator exclaimed.

Sally stepped forward, standing beside Lady Une. "At last, we have taken the first step toward peace."

Lady Une did not look encouraged. She pointedly glanced at the viewscreen. "But the Libra is still falling."

____________

In space

Arys throttled forward along with the other Gundams. The broken-off portion of Libra would reach the Earth's atmosphere in only a few minutes. She did not know how the four of them were going to get to the chunk in time, much less destroy it. Suddenly, the world seemed to fade to gray around her, and Arys shook her head, trying to clear it. She was still losing blood. She did not know how long she would last before she could get to a medbay. Heero was the only one who could end this war and she had no idea where he was.

"Where are you, Heero?" She whispered.

Duo was watching the falling portion of Libra with an angry look on his face. He seemed to blame the chunk for its descent. "We need more time!"

Quatre spoke up. "We have to demolish part of that block to diminish the devastation on earth!"

"It will be difficult." Trowa's controlled voice came over the comm.

Arys glanced at each Gundam pilot on her comm screen. "But we have to try..." The viewscreen seemed to shimmer surreally.

As her vision began to blur again, Arys realized that she needed something to keep her from falling unconscious.

The Zero System.

Arys hesitated when the thought came to her. But it was true. Using the Zero System would give her the strength to make it through until the end came, whether that end was life or death. Arys pushed the button to activate the Zero System. The viewscreens around her glowed yellow-gold,and Arys sighed as she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the color of her eyes matched the viewscreens. She tried to relax as her emotions drained from her, but they came flooding back to her along with echoes of another presence. A familiar presence. Arys blinked in confusion.

"Heero?"

Apparently, linking was a permanent thing. She could feel him even though they had not established a connection during the battle.

He must have his Zero System activated and it's acting as a wall.

"Arys? What are you doing?" Duo sounded worried. The eerie yellow glow of her eyes made him nervous.

"It's all right, Duo," Arys said. "I needed some help."

Duo could not understand how the Zero System could "help" anybody, but then he remembered that Arys had practically lived with the system for years. If anyone could handle it, Arys could.

"All right, Arys, but if you go crazy, we're going to have to shoot you," Duo said, trying to lighten the moment.

Arys made no comment.

The Altron suddenly appeared amongst them and then passed them by with a blast from its engines. The four other Gundam pilots were shocked to see the Chinese pilot show up.

"Wufei?!" Trowa said.

Then, they saw what Wufei was carrying. It was the Zero's buster rifle.

___________

Libra

Heero glared at Zechs as he held the Zero's beam saber at the Eypon's throat. "It's finished, Zechs."

"No, not yet." Zechs looked nothing like a defeated enemy.

The Eypon flicked its whip at the hull of the Libra and gouged a hole into it. With a leap, the Eypon dropped into the hole and inside the space fortress.

"I won't accept that I'm the weak one!" Heero heard Zechs say as he disappeared. Heero pulled back on his flightsticks and the Zero leaped in after the Eypon.

__________

MO-II

"This is bad." Howard was studying the block's schematic on a console screen.

"The propulsion system?" Sally walked over to where Howard was sitting.

Howard pointed a finger at the blinking red dot within the block of the Libra. "It's still attached of course. Even with a single block, the world will plummet into an endless winter!"

One of the OZ crewmembers touched his earpiece. "Gundams 02, 03, 04, 05, and..." Here, he paused. "...an unidentified Gundam...."

"Yes?" Lady Une came over to his station.

"They've infiltrated Libra's A block."

Relena stepped forward. "Isn't that where Heero and my brother are?"

"Are they going to hold their cards until the last hand is played?" Lady Une asked softly as Libra's A block continued to fall.

___________

Inside the Libra

"The colonies have chosen their path towards peace freely. Your actions are meaningless!" Heero toggled to his machine cannons and fired them at the Eypon.

The Eypon flew forward and slammed into the Zero, knocking it backwards and through the wall behind it. The Zero continued firing its machine cannons, forcing the Eypon to leap upwards toward the ceiling.

"I was born to lead a life drenched with blood. It's too late to evade those sins. Let's finish this now, Heero!"

The two Gundams faced each other like knights with their swords raised for a charge. Heero stared down at Zechs' image on his comm screen sadly.

"You ought to be seeing your future!"

The Zero and Epyon stood across from each other. The expanse of the hallway seemed to shrink. The Zero's eyes flashed green along with the Epyon's. The two warriors flew toward each other at great speed. Both mobile suits raised their sabers to strike. The sound of scraping metal echoed throughout the hallway. The Zero and Epyon landed in crouched positions on opposite sides. Heero stared into the blackness at the end of the hallway. Zechs did the same. The Zero stood erect and looked over his shoulder at the Epyon. It was still crouching. Heero saw the Epyon's head look down. With a loud clank, the Epyon's left arm fell to the floor. The sound reverberated for what seemed like an eternity.

I lost. Zechs looked down and closed his eyes. He heard the Zero's footsteps coming toward him.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Zechs finally spoke.

Heero remained silent. Why had he let Zechs live? Perhaps it was that long-buried compassion he had told Arys about. It seemed like ages ago that he had spoken to her about their past memories. He had been fighting and killing for so long. It was time for the killing to end.

"Heero!?" Quatre's visage popped up on Heero's comm screen. The fourth pilot looked drained, but other than that, he seemed fine.

"What is it, Quatre." Heero's voice was monotonic as it usually was, but inside, he was glad to see that the Arabian boy was still alive.

"Thank God I've finally found you! This block is still plummeting towards the earth!" Quatre sounded frantic.

Heero clamped his hands around the controls of his Gundam. "Understood... I'll annihilate the propulsion system."

The Zero blasted down the corridor toward the block's propulsion system, leaving a defeated Zechs behind.

___________

Duo wildly swung the Deathscythe around, trying to take out as much of the corridor around him with each swipe from the blade of his scythe. "Before this chunk falls to the earth, we'll chop it into little pieces!"

He slammed the scythe into the ground below his feet, gouging a hole in the floor.

Trowa shot his double gatling gun into the walls of another corridor far away from Duo, shredding them to pieces. "Never forfeit hope until the finale. That's what I learned piloting the Heavyarms."

Arys fired the Archangel's Shiv rifle at the ceiling, dropping shrapnel into piles around her. She pulled out her beam saber and began slicing into the walls, reducing them to ribbons of steel. As a last-ditch effort, she powered up her beam emitters. Putting the Archangel's hands together, she fired off a large blast. The hallway shuddered. "This is our way of redeeming ourselves for the trouble we caused in this war."

Quatre bowed his head as a jolt of pain shook him, but he raised his head, fighting it off. "Our chances of success are almost nil... but it's better than not doing anything!"

An explosion nearby rocked the Sandrock and Quatre struggled to keep the Gundam upright. A mobile suit caught the Gundam, keeping it from falling.

"Are you ok, Master Quatre?!" It was Rashid, from Quatre's Maguanac Corps.

"Everyone.... you shouldn't be here!" Quatre exclaimed in shock.

"Don't worry! We'll help, too!" Rashid said.

"We've made it this far! We're going to do it anyway." Another Maguanac Corpsman said.

"Let us do it, Master Quatre!"

"I'm sorry I involved you in this battle, everyone...." Quatre bowed his head.

_________

The propulsion unit of the Libra

The Zero decelerated as it reached a huge cylinder that rose high above it.

"Is this it?" Heero asked himself as he deactivated the beam saber.

Heero brought up his machine cannons and triggered them, but they had run out of ammo. He looked down at his screen. He had only one choice left.

"My final recourse is... the self-destruct mechanism." He reached for the cylindrical device and pulled it forward.

Please, don't let it be you who must die, Heero. Arys' desperate voice echoed through his mind.

He remembered his reply to her words. I promise to come back to you.

Heero studied the self-destruct device he held in his hand. He held it in front of his face, his thumb over the button that would blast him to oblivion. Regret pierced him for a moment, but he pushed it away, knowing what his duty required of him.

"I'm sorry, Arys. I have to break my promise, for you, for the Earth, for the colonies, and all those who wish for peace."

The Eypon flew down in front of the Zero out of nowhere. Heero almost dropped the self-destruct device.

"There's one more thing essential to consummate peace. A heart that is considerate and comprehends others.... one like yours. You're too honorable, too pure; you need to live. But I'm going to live to the bitter end!" Zechs' voice cut off with a sharpness that told Heero what Zechs was going to do.

Zechs whipped out the Eypon's beam saber and roared away to slash at the block's propulsion system. With a loud boom that echoed through the walls, the system exploded, sending fire and smoke blowing towards the Zero.

"Zechs!?" Heero was completely surprised by the Eypon's appearance. He struggled with his controls, trying to see through all the smoke.

"More strictly as a soldier than anybody else!" Zechs' voice came to him faintly

"No, Zechs!" The Zero tumbled back to a safe distance as Heero watched the Epyon, horrified.

"Until we meet again!" The Eypon flew upwards to take out the remaining portion of the cylinder with its beam saber.

And the entire room seemed to implode in on itself.

__________

MO-II

"Propulsion system explosion confirmed! But... one portion continues to fall! It won't incinerate!" An OZ crewman stated, nearly frantic.

The crew watched in stunned disbelief as the explosion ripped away part of the block. One large portion still fell though and had already begun to heat up from the friction of hitting the Earth's atmosphere.

Lady Une looked resigned to the Earth's fate. "There isn't any way to prevent the disaster! Tell the Gundams to get out of there!"

___________

Libra

The Zero punched its way out of the Libra, shredding a wall in the process.

"Zero! Show me the way!" Heero said aloud.

The viewscreens glowed golden for a moment and then faded to black.

Your buster rifle's coming, Heero. You know what to do with it.

Heero jerked back in his seat.

"Arys?"

Yes, I'm using the Zero System. I can hear your thoughts, Heero, but I can't help you. He could almost see her smiling at him. But you don't need my help this time... Arys' voice trailed off, but Heero could still feel her presence.

An explosion rocked the hallway. The Altron broke through a wall near the Zero, still carrying the buster rifle. Wufei's face appeared on Heero's comm screen. The Altron tossed the buster rifle to the Zero.

"Here.... You forgot this."

The Zero caught it and snapped it to its left arm.

Heero placed his hands on the controls, determination filling his eyes. "Mission accepted."

____________

"Master Quatre! We've reached our limit! There's nothing more we can do!" Rashid told Quatre.

"Everyone go ahead. I'm going to fight just a bit longer." Quatre's tone was final.

Abdul looked distressed. "Haven't we done enough already?!"

"If you die this way, it will be for no purpose!" Auda tried to convince Quatre.

Quatre refused to leave. Was there really nothing more they could do? He would never forgive himself if they did leave and then realized later that they could have done more. There were so many people on the Earth.

The comm channel clicked on and Wufei's voice came over the frequency. "I've given Heero his buster rifle." He sounded triumphant.

"Did you hear that, Master Quatre?"

"Affirmative! We'll only be in his way. Everyone withdraw!" Quatre tightened his hands around the Sandrock's controls and throttled forward to find a way out of the block.

Duo couldn't resist letting out a whoop. "All right!"

Arys flicked a switch to spread the Archangel's wings. "If anyone can save the Earth, it's Heero!" She pushed forward on her throttle lever and the Archangel rocketed toward a hole in the Libra's hull that she had made. As she moved forward, Arys closed her eyes, letting the Zero System guide her. She sent one last message to Heero before leaving the Libra. I love you...

As soon as she was clear of the Libra's hull, she switched off the Zero System and felt an empty tiredness settle over her. "My work is done."

"Acknowledged. Leaving the area," Trowa said as he unloaded his entire arsenal of ammo into the Libra's walls. As soon as the weaponry hit, Trowa blasted backwards from the resulting explosion and then throttled forward to leave the Libra through the gaping hole.

__________

MO-II

"Libra has infiltrated the atmosphere! A unit is advancing ahead of it! It's...it's Wing Zero!" An OZ crewman reported from his station. He brought it up on to the main viewscreen and then zoomed in on the Gundam's position.

Relena stepped forward, her hands clasped to her chest. "Heero?"

Howard stared at the viewscreen, not believing what Heero was going to attempt. "He's going to try the impossible!"

Sally shook her head. "No, he can do it!" C'mon, Heero.

"But he's reached the re-entry point!" The OZ crewman stated.

"No.... the Gundam pilot I know has always been capable of accomplishing anything." Lady Une spoke with confidence. She even had a smile on her face.

"That's right.. I believe in him.... Because Heero gives hope to everyone!" Relena said emphatically.

__________

Wing Zero

Heero held back a gasp of pain as the Zero's system began to short out from the re-entry heat. The friction from entering the atmosphere was making the cockpit almost unbearably hot. The Gundam spun to face the object that would destroy the Earth. Heero fired his thrusters to slow down. The Zero raised its twin buster rifle to aim at the falling block. Heero squinted at his viewscreen. On his radar screen, the green target crosshairs jumped around, unable to get an instant lock.

During those few seconds, Heero's life seemed to flash before his eyes. And a will to live overwhelmed him with its intensity.

He had heard Arys' last message before her presence had left him. I love you... He had felt the words rather than heard them. And when he had felt those words, the last layer of ice hanging about his heart melted.

They care about you... He had spoken those words to Arys only a few hours ago. And he realized that those words were true of him too. There were people who cared about him, who loved him, who did not care about his past or what he had done.

I promise to come back to you. He had made a promise. Would he be able to keep it?

You'd better. He had seen the teasing glint in Arys' eyes, but underneath the teasing, he had sensed a deep-seated fear that she would never see him again. In spite of her fear, she had put an unconditional trust in him. She trusted him to do the right thing.

I promise to come back...

The crosshairs leaped around the screen, refusing to turn red.

"I will..." Heero whispered, gritting his teeth against the pain of the electricity jolting through his body.

He struggled to keep control of the buster rifle as it jerked around due to the turbulence in the atmosphere. Pieces of the Zero's armor began to peel off, flying in front of his viewscreen like falling snow.

I promise...

"I will..." He said louder, as the green crosshairs seemed to move in slow-motion.

Finally, the crosshairs flashed crimson and the targeting system beeped triumphantly, but Heero did not hear it over his own desperate shout.

"I WILL SURVIVE!!"

A lance of golden energy poured from the barrels of the twin buster rifle and blasted toward the falling block. The beam covered the block in a wash of yellow destruction and then passed over. For a moment, the block only crackled with energy, and then with a high whine, the block exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere along with a wave of blinding white light. Heero closed his eyes and leaned back as the shockwave enveloped the Wing Zero.

From a safe distance, the other Gundam pilots watched anxiously, wondering if Heero had survived the blast. The block disintegrated into meteoric dust behind a wall of white. The dust fell harmlessly into the atmosphere. The Earth's sky would be alight with falling stars that night.

Arys leaned forward in her seat, worriedly scanning the area around the blast. She ignored the blinding light, searching frantically for the Wing Zero. She nudged away her weariness as anxiety for Heero overtook her. But deep inside, she knew he was alive.

"There he is!" She shouted as she caught sight of the Wing Zero in flight mode. The Gundam looked battered and was shooting sparks off in every direction. Nevertheless, it was flying. You survived, Heero.

"You did it, Heero!" Duo exclaimed excitedly, throwing his fist in the air. He wore his trademark grin.

"Hmph. Of course he did." Wufei acted like he knew all along that Heero would save the Earth.

"He's quite the guy..." Trowa said, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

"I understand now... Heero is the Soul of Outer Space..." Quatre raised his head to look at the Wing Zero. He smiled.

Heero pulled back on his controls and performed a victory roll that pushed him back in his seat from the resulting G-forces. He hardly felt it. Heero closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Mission complete."

**********************

THE END

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"One of the greatest enemies we must face is the one that lies within ourselves."

Author's endnotes: Author comes out from behind a virtual curtain onto a virtual stage Well, GW fans, I hope I didn't overwhelm you all with the length of this fanfic. I was NOT expecting it to get so long. But it was loads of fun! I have to acknowledge that my brother wrote a lot of the cool battle scenes. I was impressed by the attacks he came up with. Usually, I came up with the outline for what happened in the battle and he would just fill in between the lines with something ultra-cool (like Wufei holding those Virgo torsos). So, you're all probably wondering, if your brother wrote all the battle scenes, what did you write? Well, I wrote all the romantic parts, most of the dialogue (except for the last few chapters), and Arys Walker. The last few chapters probably seemed extremely familiar to experienced Gundam Wing fans, but the scripts I used helped me to understand what was going on at the end of the series and I just had to stick most of the original dialogue in there. There are a few quotations in here, courtesy of my brother, that you may recognize from two other movies: Star Wars and The Matrix. And, yes, it's an abrupt ending, but the ending just seemed to FIT there. If you all are thinking to yourselves, well, what happens next? That, my friends, is a whole other story and one that you will have to write for yourselves. You all were a great audience and thanks so much for reading! Goodbye and goodnight! Author bows at the waist, smiles, and exits stage right

Author's little brother's endnotes: Sounds of a scuffle and shouts of "You can't go out there, it's over!" fill the air. Author's little brother runs out onto the stage. Howdy, folks! Behind every big sister fanfic author is a critizicing, annoying little brother. That would be me! Well, I hope you liked the fanfic. I myself liked all of it except for the mushy parts. I really didn't like making Heero a loyal boyfriend, but poetic license, I guess. As for the battles, working with all of the Gundams was very cool. To tell you the truth, writing battles between Zechs and Heero was hard. Saber battles aren't my style. The others were quite fun. Deathscythe was my favorite to write about. I would have liked to use Wufei more, because he has the most weapons. Oh, well. Maybe next time. If there is one... ;-)

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. I own only Arys Walker and her Gundam. Please do not post this story without my permission. If you would like to post this story on your site, please e-mail me after Aug. 21st at lbamb038@bju.edu. I'd be happy to give my permission. Thanks.