Back To Reality

Alright, this is a repost of this chapter. I noticed a couple of spelling errors and one I thought was rather important, so I went back and fixed it. It's my first fan fic so reviews are more than welcome and appreciated. The next chapter is already being worked on and I hope to get it up soon.

I suppose I have to go through the motions…I don't own Gundam Wing, sadly. If I did I'd probably be fairly wealthy by now.

Chapter 1

The alarm clock blared in his ear. Only half conscious, a blonde haired youth groaned, brows furrowing in annoyance and pulled one of two pillows over his head. A few minutes later the offending noise only grew louder. Reluctantly, Quatre Raberba Winner slowly opened his eyes. Vision still blurry and unfocused, he reached over and slapped the alarm clock into quiet submission. With a resigned sigh he pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing his eyes into wakefulness before glancing at the clock. It was five fifty am.

Quatre dragged himself out of bed and headed into the bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Most of his friends would still be in bed for another half hour he knew. Old habits die hard though. The former gundam pilot had never shaken his routine of waking up early in the mornings. However, prepping for a battle or going over an endless supply of information on his enemy had been replaced for the more mundane task of getting ready for a day of high school.

It had been two years since the Mariemaia Incident and everyone had returned to their 'normal' lives. For Heero, that meant constantly standing watch over Relena as her bodyguard; Duo had gone to work with Hilde in the scrap yard (Quatre thought they made a good couple); Trowa had unsurprisingly returned to the circus; Wufei now worked with Sally Po as a Preventer; Relena was keeping herself busy as the diplomatic Vice Foreign Minister; and Quatre...Quatre had decided to go to high school.

It had seemed an odd decision at first to the others, but the ex-pilot wanted to experience some form of normalcy and high school had seemed like the best way to do it. A normal high school experience was a little trickier than initially believed however. Even with his sisters making most of the decisions regarding the wealthy family's business, Winner Enterprises Incorporated, Quatre had felt claustrophobic. On his home colony he had been constantly surrounded by businessmen and women who, despite their good intentions to include him in some of the company's business affairs, simply didn't give him the freedom he so desperately wanted.

So Quatre had decided to leave the colony and attend a high school on Earth. The blonde had loved the earth since he had set foot on the vibrant planet. It had seemed the perfect answer and so in August of AC 197 Quatre Raberba Winner began attending class at Wilmington Academy. It was a quaint city on the coat of what had been Europe. The city housed a moderate number of people, but yet had not detracted anything from the beautiful coastal vistas and stunning landscape.

These thoughts were not on the young Arab's mind however, as he dressed in his uniform consisting of a vibrant red collared button-up shirt, red and black striped tie, black blazer with the school's logo, and finally, black slacks and shoes. Not the most flattering thing he'd worn, but it wasn't hideous either. He waited to put on the blazer though. For the moment it rested upon his briefcase style school bag beside his desk, which was situated against the opposite wall to the bathroom.

Quatre checked himself over for the final time, then grabbed the bag with the blazer and descended the sleek black stairs that lead from the split second story that housed two bedrooms, a den, a full bathroom, and a laundry room, to the first story main room. The whole house, though small, had a modern feel to it along with an open floor plan and plenty of beautiful windows, giving the place a bright and welcoming atmosphere. Setting the bag and blazer next to the door, he walked across the room into the kitchen. The blonde poured himself a quick breakfast consisting of a bowl of cereal and orange juice. Dawn was in full swing with the sun throwing radiant hues of orange, red, and yellow across the water. He paused for a minute, enjoying the beauty of Earth. He was still as awed by the lush planet as he had when he first arrived over two years ago. It was a sight he knew he would never get tired of watching.

As part of his routine, the youth turned on the small TV that hung against the wall amongst the cabinets to watch the morning news. "The conflict between the ESUN and the Republic of Eastern Eurussia has only intensified with the newly seceding country declaring that it has obtained armaments, including mobile suites. The mobile suites are believed to include Taurus and Aries among others, though this information has neither been confirmed nor denied."

Quatre shook his head. The conflict was getting worse and he believed a militaristic conflict was highly probable. Relena Darlian and other representatives from the Earth Sphere Unified Nation and the newly formed Republic of Eastern Eurussia (which consisted of what had formerly been Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom) had been in discussion for nearly a month now, trying to establish a peaceful resolution between the two entities. The Republic wanted to secede from the ESUN because they disliked being under the control of the ESUN. In the interest of not seeming like a dictatorship and keeping the peace, the ESUN allowed the fledgling country to separate itself. The real problem stemmed from the Republic's demand of rights to armaments. This demand was rejected by the ESUN for reasonable fear of a war. Now however, it all seemed in vain. It seemed to Quatre as if the Republic was hoping for a fight.

In two years of moving forward, it seemed as if they had just moved two years back.

Quatre sighed. It was time to leave. The golden haired youth donned the blazer before swinging his school bag over his shoulder and walked out of the house, locking the door behind him. It took between half an hour and forty five minutes to the Academy, depending on traffic. It was a little far, but he thought the view his house offered more than made up for the extra travel time.

As it was, the walk from his residence took thirty minutes along picture perfect scenic roads that wound lazily amongst traditional earthy homes to the little tram station that took him within ten minutes of Wilmington Academy. As he walked along the now familiar route to the tram Quatre's mind turned away from the depressing world news to a more personal matter. It was mid August and Heero's birthday, which Duo had somehow found and revealed, had come and gone without any word or excitement. Not that he had really expected much else, but Duo had told him that he was hoping to snare Heero from work as Relena's bodyguard to throw a party. Obviously it hadn't worked.

The thought saddened the blonde ex-pilot. He missed the others, especially the tall banged pilot of Heavyarms, Trowa Barton. The two had developed a closeness that was something more than simple camaraderie amongst soldiers. Quatre missed him the most, not in small part to his attraction to the silent youth.

Quatre had realized his attraction to Trowa after he thought he had killed the other in a battle. At the time Quatre had been inconsolable after his father's murder by his own colony and as a result of Quatre's devastated frame of mind, the blonde pilot had created a new mobile suite, the Wing Zero. Enraged by the death of his father and the betrayal of the colony, Quatre had set out to destroy the colonies. In the process, a battle ensued between himself and Heero and Trowa. The intense battle resulted in Quatre regaining is state of mind at the expense of Trowa's welfare. At the time, it was believed that Trowa had not survived.

This was later revealed to be untrue when Duo found Trowa working once again at the circus with Catherine, albeit without any memory of being a gundam pilot. He later regained those memories after piloting Wing Zero in battle.

Despite Trowa's forgiveness, Quatre had never truly forgiven himself for causing so much harm to someone he cared so much about and had brought his deep feelings for the older pilot into revelation. Since then, the blonde had kept any romantic feelings for the other boy to himself. Trowa was hard for Quatre to read from an empathic sense and he didn't want to ruin their friendship that he cherished.

Quatre's thoughts of Heero's nonexistent birthday party led to thoughts of the other pilots and inevitably, Trowa. His meandering thoughts stayed with him all the way to the tram station, through the smooth, uneventful ride, and all the way to school. He was finally brought out of his daydreaming by calls from a group of friends near the entrance to the Academy grounds. The young Arab smiled and waved a casual hand in response.

Back to reality.