Stars Shining Over Bloody Plains- Quatre's POV by: Natalie
**Just a little reminder: This is my first Gundam Wing fic. Also, I don't own any of the characters they belong to the Director Masashi Ikeda and The creator of this series who's name I don't know***
Ten years have passed since the beginning of this war. They said that it would end soon but year after year has passed and nothing has changed. I long have stopped from hoping and wondering when this war will end for I know now that when it ends, I will no longer be around.
My Name is Quatre Raberba Winner and this is my story.
It all started as another war between the colonies, with the earth once again as the agressors. I don't understand why they wanted the colonies so badly when they had a beautiful planet for themselves. All they had to do was ask and we were willing to share anything and everything with them. That beautful sphere of blue and green would now become a bloody battlefield once again for reasons no one really knew or understood. Once again, me and the other pilots were called to defend the colonies.
I remember sitting in our apartment playing my violin when Heero's computer bleeped. We all ran in to see what was going on. Duo was off in a corner punching a hole in the wall. The faintly illuminated screen glowed with a short message:
"We have gone to war once again. You will find your Gundams in a base nearby."
"MISSION ACCEPTED" It was Heero who replied. The perfect Soldier. It seemed nothing had changed after three years. He was still cold and stoic as ever except probably when with his fiance Relena wherein he would show warmth and compassion. Those daggers for eyes actually dulled by love. Well... maybe he DID change.
"SHit!!! NO why NOW!!!" Duo screamed. I looked around and into my friends faces. Duo, the ever cheerful one of the group was shaking with fury. It wasn't hard to figure out why. He was a father now, married to Hilde with two twin girls to take care of. Both the twins were the spitting image of their father. The older one Amelia sported a braid that reached up to her waist and the younger twin Lena did the same. They never failed to bring cheer to their household AND mine when they were around just as their father--THE GOD OF DEATH-- did.
Chang Wufei was leaning against one of the walls with an unreadable expression on his face. The martial artist who had constantly "preached" about justice, honor AND the weakness of women had finnally met his match. He had married Sally Po last year and was intent on starting a family-- nearly ordering Sally to give him a son as his first born.
Trowa was sitting quietly as usual but I could tell that the news upset him as well. His eyes were hidden by the long bangs he always wore a habit he claimed to be unable to change. We spent countless times together in my home if not helping with my family business, just talking as we were the only bachelors left in the group. That however, changed when he finally married Catherine.
As I look at them now, I wonder why fate had brought us together again. The thought of war just saddened me. They all had wonderful lives now and it just seemed totally unfair that the possibility of loosing them was about nine in ten. But I guess everyone knew the risks. It's just harder this time--but we understood what it meant to be gundam fighters. We were expendable. Well...I really didn't have anyting to loose so it didn't matter. Although the guys had paired Ms. Catalonia and I together countless times, I'm afraid I've never seen her as more than a friend as I'm sure she had. They all have so much to loose while I have nothing. They'd say I'd loose the family business but does it really matter when everyone is loosing their lives? Perhaps the only real thing that mattered to me was my long time friend Sandrock-- my gundam.
"Good bye... perhaps one day we will meet again..in different circumstances" I whisper as we head to the hangar dimly aware that this mission may be our last.
*****
In an ironic twist of events it was the pacifists that died first. Among them was Miss Relena. It would be hard missing those pretty cobalt eyes full of mirth and occassionally mischief but it was hard for everyone especially Heero. That night of the bombing he was there valiantly trying to protect the one thing that he had once sworn to kill and the one person I suspect that he truly loved. He never left her side even when her heart had finnaly stopped beating and her face had lost it's color. No one was surprised when that same night, a gunshot rang out in the middle of the night. We didn't have to ask what had happened or who it was, for we already knew. We just let it drop. Even Wufei was silent-- perhaps in this situation what Heero did was neither a show of weakness or of strength. However, war does not stop for one persons death. It goes on.
*****
The weeks that followed were no less horrifying than the first. People died, innocent children died and nothing was gained by neither side. Buildings were smashed to the ground and once proud statues and bridges were nothing more than piles of sand being blown away by the wind. My friends were dying left and right and during one particularly grueling battle, I lost two of my best friends. Duo and Wufei were to secure the enemy stronghold in the east of Beijing. It was safe! our commanding officers insisted. There were no more resistance forces, This would be a job that even a damaged Leo could do or so they said.
They were wrong. Now all that was left of them were memories, memories that would be forgotten the very next day by the people they tried to protect. I really felt guilty that time. I asked myself *why* I wasn't there with them if I could make even the smallest difference.
*****
The next day, I learned from Trowa that their deaths were not in vain for they had managed to destroy a vital part of the enemies defence. I had also been told why I was not allowed to go with them and that the mission was mine in the first place. It upset me. I always seemed that they were protecting me from being hurt-- young Quatre--- the one who couldn't kill without praying for his enemies souls---Quatre the one who couldn't save the people he cared about. I carried that bundle of resentment until the day of our final battle.
*****
It was near sunset and the suns' fading light lent an unnatural glow over the plains our gundams stood on. Plains where there used to be buildings and people now just a vast wilderness soaked in blood. I calmly scanned the sky above me as one by one the stars appeared. A small sigh startled me from my thoughts as my friend's face came up on the screen with a small smile gracing his usually emotionless face. I asked what was wrong but he simply smiled and nodded to a shooting star.
"Make a wish Quatre"
"Why? It's just a star." I said bitterly.
"To others it's not just a star-- to them it's hope. Besides, your wish might come true someday." again that smile.
"Alright, I'll make one" I closed my eyes and wearily wished for the same thing that I had been wishing for since the start of the war-- PEACE.
"Quatre, Duo and Wufei had no regrets for taking your mission you know. Wufei was glad to fight for his country and so was Duo for his daughters. They took it because *you* are their hope to end this war. You will be the star that will guide the people."
I was left stunned by his speech. The longest I had ever heard him speak. I hadn't even realized that he was gone the moment I opened my eyes. he had gone off to finish this war.
Three days later, the war was over and I finnally found Trowa's body. He still wore that smile I had seen that day.
*****
Now the war is over and I have watched the world grow anew. New growth replacing those lost and the scars of battle finnaly healing. I am now nearing the end of my life and finally my story ends. I look outside and realize that it is snowing. It's beautiful. I hurry outside to see the first snowfall in seven years here in New york grabbing my journal and a box of matches. The air is chilly but for some reason it warms me. I see a small tin can by the road and pick it up. This will have to do. I reach into my pocket and reveal my little journal-- pages now tattered and the ink blotted I stuff it into the can. I caress the pages one last time and prepare to light the flame. A firm tug on my coat startles me and makes me drop the match.
"Watch'a doing Unca Qwatre?" It's Tala the blind girl from next door.
"Nothing just looking at the stars" I reply.
"Are they pwetty? My Momma says that if a falling star appears you should make a wish."
She scans the heavens with pretty blue eyes that have long since ceased to see. To my amazement, a falling star does appear and I do make a wish-- the same wish I made years ago on the bloody plains.
I open my eyes and realize that she had gone, little footprints the only testimony to her prescence.
I sigh. Tomorrow I will burn it...
I walk back to my flat carrying the tin can and the matches. Tonight my soft warm bed seems to be more inviting and my eyelids heavier.
Slowly I close my eyes for the last time and wait for the dreams of stars shining over bloody plains until my feeble heart slowly stops.
~ THE END ~
AN: Tala- the little girl's name means "star" in Tagalog
**Just a little reminder: This is my first Gundam Wing fic. Also, I don't own any of the characters they belong to the Director Masashi Ikeda and The creator of this series who's name I don't know***
Ten years have passed since the beginning of this war. They said that it would end soon but year after year has passed and nothing has changed. I long have stopped from hoping and wondering when this war will end for I know now that when it ends, I will no longer be around.
My Name is Quatre Raberba Winner and this is my story.
It all started as another war between the colonies, with the earth once again as the agressors. I don't understand why they wanted the colonies so badly when they had a beautiful planet for themselves. All they had to do was ask and we were willing to share anything and everything with them. That beautful sphere of blue and green would now become a bloody battlefield once again for reasons no one really knew or understood. Once again, me and the other pilots were called to defend the colonies.
I remember sitting in our apartment playing my violin when Heero's computer bleeped. We all ran in to see what was going on. Duo was off in a corner punching a hole in the wall. The faintly illuminated screen glowed with a short message:
"We have gone to war once again. You will find your Gundams in a base nearby."
"MISSION ACCEPTED" It was Heero who replied. The perfect Soldier. It seemed nothing had changed after three years. He was still cold and stoic as ever except probably when with his fiance Relena wherein he would show warmth and compassion. Those daggers for eyes actually dulled by love. Well... maybe he DID change.
"SHit!!! NO why NOW!!!" Duo screamed. I looked around and into my friends faces. Duo, the ever cheerful one of the group was shaking with fury. It wasn't hard to figure out why. He was a father now, married to Hilde with two twin girls to take care of. Both the twins were the spitting image of their father. The older one Amelia sported a braid that reached up to her waist and the younger twin Lena did the same. They never failed to bring cheer to their household AND mine when they were around just as their father--THE GOD OF DEATH-- did.
Chang Wufei was leaning against one of the walls with an unreadable expression on his face. The martial artist who had constantly "preached" about justice, honor AND the weakness of women had finnally met his match. He had married Sally Po last year and was intent on starting a family-- nearly ordering Sally to give him a son as his first born.
Trowa was sitting quietly as usual but I could tell that the news upset him as well. His eyes were hidden by the long bangs he always wore a habit he claimed to be unable to change. We spent countless times together in my home if not helping with my family business, just talking as we were the only bachelors left in the group. That however, changed when he finally married Catherine.
As I look at them now, I wonder why fate had brought us together again. The thought of war just saddened me. They all had wonderful lives now and it just seemed totally unfair that the possibility of loosing them was about nine in ten. But I guess everyone knew the risks. It's just harder this time--but we understood what it meant to be gundam fighters. We were expendable. Well...I really didn't have anyting to loose so it didn't matter. Although the guys had paired Ms. Catalonia and I together countless times, I'm afraid I've never seen her as more than a friend as I'm sure she had. They all have so much to loose while I have nothing. They'd say I'd loose the family business but does it really matter when everyone is loosing their lives? Perhaps the only real thing that mattered to me was my long time friend Sandrock-- my gundam.
"Good bye... perhaps one day we will meet again..in different circumstances" I whisper as we head to the hangar dimly aware that this mission may be our last.
*****
In an ironic twist of events it was the pacifists that died first. Among them was Miss Relena. It would be hard missing those pretty cobalt eyes full of mirth and occassionally mischief but it was hard for everyone especially Heero. That night of the bombing he was there valiantly trying to protect the one thing that he had once sworn to kill and the one person I suspect that he truly loved. He never left her side even when her heart had finnaly stopped beating and her face had lost it's color. No one was surprised when that same night, a gunshot rang out in the middle of the night. We didn't have to ask what had happened or who it was, for we already knew. We just let it drop. Even Wufei was silent-- perhaps in this situation what Heero did was neither a show of weakness or of strength. However, war does not stop for one persons death. It goes on.
*****
The weeks that followed were no less horrifying than the first. People died, innocent children died and nothing was gained by neither side. Buildings were smashed to the ground and once proud statues and bridges were nothing more than piles of sand being blown away by the wind. My friends were dying left and right and during one particularly grueling battle, I lost two of my best friends. Duo and Wufei were to secure the enemy stronghold in the east of Beijing. It was safe! our commanding officers insisted. There were no more resistance forces, This would be a job that even a damaged Leo could do or so they said.
They were wrong. Now all that was left of them were memories, memories that would be forgotten the very next day by the people they tried to protect. I really felt guilty that time. I asked myself *why* I wasn't there with them if I could make even the smallest difference.
*****
The next day, I learned from Trowa that their deaths were not in vain for they had managed to destroy a vital part of the enemies defence. I had also been told why I was not allowed to go with them and that the mission was mine in the first place. It upset me. I always seemed that they were protecting me from being hurt-- young Quatre--- the one who couldn't kill without praying for his enemies souls---Quatre the one who couldn't save the people he cared about. I carried that bundle of resentment until the day of our final battle.
*****
It was near sunset and the suns' fading light lent an unnatural glow over the plains our gundams stood on. Plains where there used to be buildings and people now just a vast wilderness soaked in blood. I calmly scanned the sky above me as one by one the stars appeared. A small sigh startled me from my thoughts as my friend's face came up on the screen with a small smile gracing his usually emotionless face. I asked what was wrong but he simply smiled and nodded to a shooting star.
"Make a wish Quatre"
"Why? It's just a star." I said bitterly.
"To others it's not just a star-- to them it's hope. Besides, your wish might come true someday." again that smile.
"Alright, I'll make one" I closed my eyes and wearily wished for the same thing that I had been wishing for since the start of the war-- PEACE.
"Quatre, Duo and Wufei had no regrets for taking your mission you know. Wufei was glad to fight for his country and so was Duo for his daughters. They took it because *you* are their hope to end this war. You will be the star that will guide the people."
I was left stunned by his speech. The longest I had ever heard him speak. I hadn't even realized that he was gone the moment I opened my eyes. he had gone off to finish this war.
Three days later, the war was over and I finnally found Trowa's body. He still wore that smile I had seen that day.
*****
Now the war is over and I have watched the world grow anew. New growth replacing those lost and the scars of battle finnaly healing. I am now nearing the end of my life and finally my story ends. I look outside and realize that it is snowing. It's beautiful. I hurry outside to see the first snowfall in seven years here in New york grabbing my journal and a box of matches. The air is chilly but for some reason it warms me. I see a small tin can by the road and pick it up. This will have to do. I reach into my pocket and reveal my little journal-- pages now tattered and the ink blotted I stuff it into the can. I caress the pages one last time and prepare to light the flame. A firm tug on my coat startles me and makes me drop the match.
"Watch'a doing Unca Qwatre?" It's Tala the blind girl from next door.
"Nothing just looking at the stars" I reply.
"Are they pwetty? My Momma says that if a falling star appears you should make a wish."
She scans the heavens with pretty blue eyes that have long since ceased to see. To my amazement, a falling star does appear and I do make a wish-- the same wish I made years ago on the bloody plains.
I open my eyes and realize that she had gone, little footprints the only testimony to her prescence.
I sigh. Tomorrow I will burn it...
I walk back to my flat carrying the tin can and the matches. Tonight my soft warm bed seems to be more inviting and my eyelids heavier.
Slowly I close my eyes for the last time and wait for the dreams of stars shining over bloody plains until my feeble heart slowly stops.
~ THE END ~
AN: Tala- the little girl's name means "star" in Tagalog